Flood - a sermon for Kids Camp Sunday September 10 2023
Everyone knows the story of Noah and the Ark.
But I’m wondering how well
do we really know the story.
Let’s try a little quiz…
Do you know how many Flood stories
there are in the bible? 2.
In Genesis, there are two creation stories,
There’s the 7 days: “In the beginning”
and there’s Adam and Eve.
Similarly, there are 2 flood stories,
2 different authors or editors
interwoven,
and like the creations stories,
there’s discrepancies.
Here’s an example:
Genesis 5:32 After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Ten verses later:
Genesis 6:10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Not even my sermons are that repetitive!
Next question:
How many animals did Moses bring on the ark?
None - Moses wasn’t on the Ark, Noah was.
So how many animals did Noah bring on the ark?
Genesis 6:19 - and of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
Genesis 7:2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female.
So, did Noah bring two of every animal,
or some animals 14?
Likely the latter, with the clean animals,
because animal sacrifice was normal,
part of worship of the Divine.
If you only have two of each animal
and then commit sacrifice;
you’re out of that animal!
Noah is righteous - that means that, once saved,
he would offer sacrifice
from the saved, clean animals.
So, likely 14 of each clean animal.
One final question - just for fun,
do you know how long the flood lasted?
Well, it rained and poured for forty day-sie, Daysies.
but the waters remained for 40 more,
and swelled on the earth for 150 days.
That’s getting close to a year of flood.
Whether you are familiar
with the story of Noah and the Ark or not,
it is a messy story.
You’ve read the children’s books,
but this is not just a children’s story.
It is a story of a broken man,
a broken and corrupt humanity,
a broken creation
and a destructive, violent God.
Frankly, it’s hard to make sense of the flood.
For many people, they just want to know
did this story actually happen?
Did God actually flood the whole earth?
There is a flood story in another ancient writing,
the Epic of Gilgamesh.
There is no archaeological evidence for a global flood;
at least nothing recognized as authentic.
Yet there are other cultural stories about it.
Did the flood actually happen? I don’t know.
And, dare I say, I don’t think that part matters as much.
I don’t believe the stories in Genesis
are scientific,
it’s not about proof.
I believe it is about who God is,
and how God deals with evil and corruption
in the world.
The root word for the corruption
that human beings were causing before the flood
is the same root of the word for the destruction
that the flood brings.
“In other words,
the destruction of the earth is the direct result
of the violence and corruption of human beings,
the violence and corruption that fill the earth
long before the flood waters cover it…
In other words,
as a modern saying puts it,
“We are punished not so much for our sins
as by our sins.”
In the Flood, human corruption
leads to the corruption of the earth itself.”
But this is not merely eye for an eye here.
That’s the old way of understanding God.
God is grieved at the sin,
the corruption of humanity.
For better or for worse,
God chooses Noah and his family
- or better, God calls Noah and his family -
and saves them from the flood.
More importantly, God remembers Noah and his family.
It is not enough for God to save and leave alone.
God remembers them.
God gets to work for them.
God sends a wind - ruah - God’s own Spirit, dare I say,
to dry up the flood waters.
This is much like the first creation story,
when God’s Spirit - ruah - wind
swept over the face of the waters
bringing forth a new creation.
God’s Spirit brings forth life after death.
Here’s the problem:
people continue to be corrupt,
people continue to be violent
and rude
and arrogant
and mean
and unrighteous.
God does not promise to never flood the earth again
because humans are changed.
It is because God is changed.
the rainbow is God’s reminder.
So God makes a covenant - a promise -
and is forever committed to Noah
and his family
and his descendants
and to Israel
and to us
and to all humanity;
to all creation.
God will never flood the earth again.
The only way for mercy
and peace
and love
to flourish in this broken and corrupt creation
and in this broken and corrupt humanity
is for God to be radically,
mercifully,
righteously,
graciously,
peacefully,
lovingly committed to us -
to you.
I believe God promises to never deal with violence
through violence
because peace cannot be forced;
love cannot be forced.
It can only be given;
and in giving love and giving peace,
then can it be fruitful and multiply.
Noah and his family are not just saved;
they do not just receive the covenant:
they are called to be fruitful and multiply,
and not just in the reproductive sense.
Violence breeds more violence.
If you want violence to multiply,
then be violent.
If you want hate to multiply,
hate.
But if you want righteousness
and love
and mercy
and peace to multiply,
then be righteous,
be loving,
be merciful,
be peace.
Be fruitful and multiply.
So now we are called
in righteousness,
in love,
in mercy,
in peace,
to let that be fruitful and multiply in us.
