Flood and Corruption - A sermon for Sunday September 13 2026

(Slide 1 - Narrative Lectionary)

Welcome to year 1 of the Narrative lectionary.

Last year was our first year using the

Narrative Lectionary, technically year 4,

working our way through John’s Gospel.

This year, year 1, we will eventually find our way

through Matthew’s Gospel.

However, from now until Christmas,

we will be hearing some of the great stories of faith

from the Old Testament.

The theme for the coming weeks is

“God of the Covenant”

we will be hearing about

what God promises, and

how God keeps God’s promises.

I ask my confirmation students this question:

How many creation stories are there in the bible? Often the answer is one - from Genesis.

The answer, however, is 3.

Sometimes we forget about the Gospel of John:

In the beginning was the Word

and the Word was God

and the Word was with God.

The first two creation stories are both found in Genesis.

There’s the first creation story:

In the beginning…

God’s Spirit moved over the waters…

let there be light.

Then there’s the second creation story:

The Garden of Eden.

Man and Woman,

Adam and Eve.

Two different creation stories,

both recorded in Genesis,

weaved into one,

but they don’t exactly work well together.

Unlike last year,

our journey through the Narrative lectionary

does not begin with one of these creation stories,

rather it begins with destruction.

We begin with Flood and Promise.

(Slide 2 - Flood And Promise)

Many of you are familiar with the story of the flood

and the ark

and the rainbow.

So, for fun, I’ll ask you all a couple of questions:

Do you know how many Flood stories

there are in the bible?

Like the creation stories,

there are 2 flood stories,

interwoven,

and they don’t always fit well together.

If you don’t think the bible contains contradictions,

then take a close reading of the flood stories,

and you’ll see it.

(Slide 3 - Scripture: click for second example)

Here’s an example:

Genesis 5:32 After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Genesis 6:10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.

You can’t tell me there’s one author here.

no one author would bother repeating this.

Not even my sermons are that repetitive!

(Slide 4 - Torah - click for text)

Tradition has told us that

Moses wrote the first 5 books of the bible:

The Pentateuch, The Torah -

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers

and Deuteronomy.

Moses is the key character,

but it is highly unlikely that he wrote them.

(Click)

Deuteronomy 34:7 says “Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated”

Something tells me Moses didn’t write that.

(Slide 5 - JEDP)

There is an academic biblical-critical

understanding or theory

of the authorship of the Pentatuch

called the documentary hypothesis.

It states that there are (at least)

4 different authors or editors:

J, E, D and P.

J stands for the Yahwist author

because that is the name the author uses for God -

YHWH

(It is J because this began in Germany

and YHWH in German begins with a J.).

E is for Elohist -

as this author names God Elohim.

D is the Deuteronomist -

primarily the author of the book of Deuteronomy,

and P is the priestly author or source -

with emphasis on the Levitical law.

Throughout the Pentateuch

you will find one of these four sources

combined in the text,

likely written in the time periods seen in the graph.

Here in the flood story,

we have two of these author/editors at work:

the Yahwist and the Priestly source.

Much like having 4 different gospel authors

and, thus, 4 different accounts

of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection,

each author or editor has their own

motive and emphasis,

culture and context

and audience.

It is helpful to read these ancient texts

knowing who the source might be.

Here’s an example of why this is important

in reading the flood story:

(Slide 6 - Ark)

Do you know how many animals Moses

brought on the ark?

Ah, you have to read closely.

Moses didn’t bring any animals on the ark -

but Noah did.

If you read closely Genesis closely, you’ll find this:

(Slide 7 - Text)

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 7 pairs?

If you only have two of each animal

and then commit sacrifice;

you’re out of that animal!

For the priestly author,

it is important that Noah is righteous

and makes sacrifice after surviving the flood.

It is the Yahwistic source who tells us that

God decides to destroy humanity.

These little differences matter.

One final example - just for fun,

do you know how long the flood lasted?

(Slide 8 - Text - click for each line)

Most say 40 days: here’s what the text says:

Genesis 7:12 The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

Genesis 7:17 The flood continued forty days on the earth…

Genesis 7:24 And the waters swelled on the earth for one hundred fifty days.

How long did the flood last?

40 days? 80 days? 150? more?

Invite scripture reader forward.

(Slide 9 - Flood And Promise Scripture Reading)

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 no children’s story.

It is a story of a broken man,

a broken and corrupt humanity,

a broken creation

and a destructive God.

Now is our task to make sense of this all.

So let us remove our familiarity

and open our hearts and minds

to hear God’s Word anew today.

Reading: : Genesis 6:16-22; 9:8-15

The reading may be announced:

A reading from Genesis.

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, "I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord. 9 These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 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. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them." 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

8:6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; 9 but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark; 11 and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him any more.

9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." 17 God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

The reading may be concluded:

Word of God. Word of Life.

The assembly responds:

Thanks be to God!

(Slide 10 - Evan Almighty)

Did you ever see the movie Evan Almighty?

It’s a modern-day take on Noah and the ark

Except with Evan.

God says to Evan to build him an arky, arky

Sorry - the song’s been in my head all week

So Evan prepares for a flood

- and it kind of happens -

a flash flood.

It didn’t last 40 years,

it didn’t even last 40 minutes.

Genesis 7:10 says that,

after Noah loaded all the animals and people

onto the ark

“And after seven days the waters of the flood came on the earth.”

Noah waited seven days for rain!

Evan waited seven minutes.

The movie Evan Almighty is not about the flood.

It is about doing what is right.

It is about being faithful to God.

Much in the same way,

the flood story isn’t exactly about the flood.

(Slide 13 - Flood and Promise)

So is the story about God changing?

is it about the animals

or how they forgot to bring along the unicorn

or about Noah's righteousness

or about God’s violence?

After all, this is our God we are hearing about

and it is messy and difficult

to make sense of a story

with so much violence

and death

and destruction.

For many people, they just want to know

did this story actually happen?

Did God actually flood the whole earth?

Was there a giant flood thousands of years ago

and the story lasted through many generations?

There is a flood story in another ancient writing,

the Epic of Gilgamesh,

there’s a Chinese legend of a great flood.

There is no archaeological evidence;

at least nothing recognized as authentic.

Did the flood actually happen? I don’t know.

I’m not sure that this story being included in Genesis

- twice -

is about proving that such a great flood happened,

nor is it about the animals

or the giant ark

or even Noah being righteous.

I believe it is about who God is,

and how God deals

with evil and corruption in the world.

Relying heavily on the work of

Terry Fretheim and Kathryn Schifferdecker,

we begin with the problem of this death and destruction:

corruption.

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.”

#ClimateChange

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 - 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.

The flood did not change human violence.

God is changed. God is changed.

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.

Maybe this is the third creation story in Genesis:

It is the creation of life out of death,

it is the creation of grace,

the creation of a new way of understanding God:

God does not commit violence to erase violence.

Rather God remains committed to humanity,

even to those who commit violence.

God’s work brings new life

out of our brokenness and death.

Noah and his family are not just saved;

they do not just receive the covenant:

they are called.

They are called to be fruitful and multiply,

and I’m not convinced it is not only

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.

That’s redemption -

and that’s how God deals with evil and corruption -

through the very people;

Noah and his family,

and Moses

and Jacob

and You and me

the people who are evil and corrupt in the first place,

calling us to be people of righteousness,

love,

mercy,

and peace.

Suffering

and corruption

and violence

and evil will remain.

God wont annihilate.

But God will redeem.

You and I are invited into this redeeming.

You and I are part of God’s covenant and call.

Put differently,

God called Noah to save what he could,

and who he could.

He could build one giant ark

and save just a few.

Maybe our call isn’t that much different.

People today experience all kinds of floods:

floods of despair and hopelessness,

anger and hatred,

floods of poverty and hunger and illness

and maybe there are some people

that are drowning in those floods

that we can extend a hand to.

Like Evan Almighty,

God wants to change the world

and rescue and redeem people

when their flood waters rise.

Like the flood,

We are punished not so much for our sins

as by our sins.

Maybe people find themselves in their own kind of flood

and it is their own fault.

Extend your hand anyways.

When you find yourself in that kind of flood -

waters of regret

or shame

or guilt -

trust that God remembers you

like God remembered Noah and his family.

God keeps God’s promises.

God will not annihilate you.

God will keep you and hold you in your flood.

So in this world of violence,

and hatred,

and corruption,

and unrighteousness,

May you trust that, like Noah,

you are called to a different way of life…

a life of faith.

May you be found righteous - build your ark!

May you do what God asks you to do,

even if it seems crazy.

Most of all,

May you learn like God learned:

Don’t return violence for violence,

do not return hate with hate,

but may you give love,

give mercy,

give forgiveness,

give peace - and see it multiply.

Thanks be to God. Amen!