The beginning of Genesis sets the scene for who God is, who we are and what our purpose is. The first stories are important because we see what happens when the first spanners get thrown in. We see how God responds - how he judges!

I believe that God's judgment is rooted in his love for creation, not his anger towards it. We need His judgment because it is his wisdom, clear thinking, comment and contribution to what is going on. God is the expert, he sees the pitfalls and He does not have a history of being deceived. When the world has diverted off the path, God is the perfect person to help us get back on track.

The lessons to be learnt from the stories at the beginning are profoundly simple as ideas, but very hard in practice.

Lesson 1 - Personal God

Noah lived surrounded by un-Godliness yet he was ‘righteous and blameless' (the first time these two words are used in the bible)

The story of Noah, like with Enoch previously, shows us that one man can live with God even when everybody else around them is positively evil. An amazing example and challenge that is hard, not least because, if you are anything like me, you want to be liked and you want to make other people feel comfortable. Which is, of course, quite Godly too; and something we hold in tension as we undertake the call, made by Jesus, to be ‘peacemakers'!

Noah's relationship with God involved personal two-way communication. It wasn't just about personal survival - God used Noah to change the world. Multiplying, what is essentially, a very small offering and using it to do something remarkable. A story that is so familiar throughout the bible, feeding of five thousand from a small boys packed lunch being just one, that it makes me wonder why we feel so small, incapable and ineffective so much of the time. When he has something small to work with - he works with it. A mustard seed can move a mountain!

Apparantly Charlie used this quote in his talk too - but I cant help mentioning again:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead (20th Century writer)

Lesson 2 - ‘Plan A' God

Noah was part of the fresh start for the earth. God wiped the slate clean, washed the earth of all the bad stuff and gave Noah a chance to start again - an opportunity that many of us might like ourselves.

But God's plan is the same as before. He repeats the edict given to Adam and Eve:
"Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth."

In fact, as we read through the bible, the plan doesn't really change too much: ‘Multiply, scatter, govern'.
God's calling to Abraham is increase/multiply. His descendents were to be as numerous as the dust on the earth or the stars in the sky.
Jesus said "Go and make disciples of all nations"(Matt 28), "you will be my witnesses ......... to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1)

Jesus even links the end of the world to the fulfilling of this ‘plan A':
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."(Matt 24)

There are also continual references about God being the God of the whole earth: "The earth is the Lords and everything in it" (Ps 24:1)

Everyday I take a brief look over the skyline of London. Lots changes, yet I see a great city that is a small representation of what god cares about and where I am meant to be ‘multiplying, scattering and governing'.

Sometimes I think we want a new ‘plan' when we haven't really dealt with the last one. Noah's story reminds us to go back to the last thing God said to us, to pick it up and to commit it back to God. In his story God wiped away all the other people, which some of us might think would be rather handy too. But God has promised never to do that again (there is no long-term future for a throw away culture).
It didn't take many generations for the world to get back to its pre-flood condition, with evil all over the place. So we might as well make it work with those around us.

If you tried following God's ‘plan A' and it went wrong - chances are he will call you back to it. And I wonder whether you will find it easy to move on spiritually until you do. Noah moved on: He clearly gets on with the Job because the world is getting populated and he has managed to tame the ground and produce wine.

He has been true to his name - ‘rest' or ‘comfort'.

But, as proved so many times in our lives - the place of rest can be the most dangerous:

Gen 9
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness.

The great man of God, ‘righteous and blameless', at the top of his game is found drunk, naked, in shame needing to be covered up - a painfully familiar story: which includes you and me!

For Adam: God made the clothes of skin. Noah's two sons covered him up. For us: Jesus doesn't just cover our shame but he deals with it by taking it upon himself.

This story is also a picture of how our sin effects others.
It breeds amongst the people around us. Noah's son Ham sins by taking advantage of his fathers nakedness: voyeuristically. It wasn't Noah's fault that Ham fell but it didn't help that he created an environment where it was easy for him to fall. It's not Ham's fault that some of his descendents ended up being destroyed in Sodom and Gomorrah but he probably had an impact. We all have an example to set.

Back to ‘Plan A'

After Noah the next person to throw a spanner in God's plans is Nimrod. He was a man of great strength and power. "He was a mighty hunter before the lord." And his name means "we shall rebel".

Nimrod built places to show the strength of man - including Babylon:

Gen 10
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel - because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

It seems that ‘Plan A' is being contradicted again! The people have started to settle and build cities.
Cities are not evil, but as with all things they have the potential to be used for evil: In this case the cities provided so much variety and opportunity that it was possible for them to stop travelling and settle there. They could forget God and their need for a relationship with Him. They could set up men as rulers rather than God.

And, to top it off, they built a tower to make a name for them selves so that they might not be scattered across the earth.

A tower is a high place, visible, to remind people of the turning points in their lives. They help remind us of who we are and where we have been. They are symbolic of what is most important in your life.

Other people, notably Abraham, built altars in the high places of life to remind themselves, and others, of who God is and how grateful they were to him. They used their power and success to build a place to the glory of God at which people would worship him. At Babel this was the opposite, the tower was built in the high place to the glory of man.

Lesson 3 - Power

This story encourages us to ask what we are building with our power?
Are they places that show our glory or God's glory?
Are my children, my house, my business, our church, for the glory of me/us or God?

I love the fact that so many verses in the bible end - "to the glory of God"

God's response to Babel:
God comes down to see the tower (which says a lot about the best achievements of men.)

It seems that the people have stopped scattering and are heading for problems. And it is not helped by the fact that they all speak the same language - more than just language - this was full understanding (we often talk in the same language yet misunderstand each other).

Imagine it all being much clearer - understanding culture and experience?
The sky is the limit.

But how terrible if the wrong person gets into leadership? Like Nimrod who took his power by aggression? Perhaps it would be better if a few people did miss his point?

• If people didn't understand him it could lead to all kinds of benefits.
• It would force the people to spread out and it would spread the power.
• It would humble people as they worked out how to communicate.
• It would mean they would have to help each other.
• It might mean that they would stop relying on the strength of man and turn back to God: after all, the more power you have in men's eyes the easier it is to consider God irrelevant.

Out of concern/love God makes a judgement:
He says ‘come let us' confuse - and he introduced different languages:

It is very interesting looking at language origin and language evolution because, from the little I have read, studies seem to conclude that at some point in history languages were suddenly and deliberately confused. This is because the nature of speech suggests a common origin yet the nature of the languages suggests different origins.

So - as God introduces different languages the people start to scatter again:

It also struck me this week that if we stop going for what God has called us to then we start to misunderstand each other. We hear the same words but miss the meaning. And then we find problems with mistrust.

Yet as we go for what God calls - to scatter and multiply - we start to understand each other again - I think it is because it is rooted in love.
That universal language.

To conclude:

• Are we multiplying and scattering?
• We are having children. Are we multiplying children of God - a bit.
• Are we scattered? Yes and no!
• Yes in that we live all over the world now. But are we scattered in our streets? Are we scattered in our families? Amongst work colleagues?
• Or - are we building a city within a city? A safe community that means we don't have to scatter?

It seems we have so far to go and we are so small - yet, back to the beginning - our stories tell us that God takes very little and works with it - multiplying.

Prayer

• Personal - To remember the calling of God given to us personally.
• Plan A -To help us scatter for the purposes of God's kingdom.
• Power - To use our power to build altars to God rather than towers to us.

Fin and Lucy Wood and family are long-term Bear members now serving God in Uganda and working with the Watoto charity

Gosh its been so long. Sorry for the lack of updates. Fin had to send his machine back to the UK for hard drive issues, Watoto opened new babies home in Gulu, we rescued a puppy, had a number of birthdays and shows to attend to and oh yeah, the world cup has started!! 
Its been a full season as Fin started his new job as Facilities Team Leader at Watoto.  Lucy started a group for local Jaja's (elderly ones) with a group of friends providing tea, bread, support and friendship for them. Some are very isolated and alone so its been great to see them connect and make new friends. 
We have said bye to some friends and welcomed new ones in the transient place that is Kampala. We look forward to a visit with Lucy's sister Helen and family over the summer. We are excited to be going back to the UK for 4 weeks at Christmas; got a great deal on tickets with BA, lets hope there are no strikes!!
Well we hope the photos take you on a journey of our last few months in Uganda. Some photos may be hard to view and experience, its ok, some of life is hard to view and experience. We are grateful for the small and big ways your love and support reaches us here in Kampala. A massive thank you. Your news is important to us also so please do fill us in on what's new for you too.

 
We start with a shot of a premature baby at Bulrushes which is our Watoto babies home in Kampala.  Here we care for babies that have been abandoned. Fin's work has taken him there quite a bit recently and he has built relationships with staff and babies. It's hard to see but amazing to witness babies growing and full of life who would otherwise be dead due to abandonment.

Not sure who is filling whose love tank here but Fin does cherish these moments that spur him on in the work he does looking after all the facilities for Watoto.   



picture says it all............................  



The babies home in Gulu which is currently caring for 10 babies who have been abandoned. It was all made possible through a significant gift from a significant partner of ours in the USA. We dedicated it just last week and it was an amazing experience hearing testimonies of how it has changed many lives in Gulu. God is faithful. God is rebuilding Gulu. Its a privilege to be part of that.  



The chill out zone in baby Watoto Gulu. Isn't it a pretty place..........  



2 wonderful ladies that we have come to know. Nicola on the left, a kiwi who oversees the babies home in Gulu and Annie, an American who is the team leader for  baby Watoto's operations here in Uganda. 



Savanna turns 4 and she was so keen to get a bikini...............so she did!!  She looks a bit pink in this photo due to a birthday make over from one of her sisters!  


Its cultural here to take a cake into class and share it with everyone on your birthday................so she did. Teacher Sylvia is the one who keeps our sweet pea in check. They get on really well.  
 
The other cake for the party.......  

Remembering David Rennison, Lucy's dad, one year on at Namirembe Cathedral a special place here in Kampala.   
 
We found Socks on the road near our house and rescued him for a few days then gave him to our friend Jimmy to look after. Sadly he caught some disease and did not make it. He is in doggy heaven right??


Seth in the car with Socks in the boot!!   


Seth's other Godfather here in Uganda. The one and only Sam Bbosa, a dear friend and colleague from Cherish days.  


Celebrating her birthday; Beatrice daughter to Naomi who works with us.  
 
Anna-May in her school production, 'Year 3's Got Talent', at the national theatre where she sang on her own in front of everyone.........well done!!

Keziah who was a goblin in her school show and did so well with the best Ugandan accent!   

 
Our local church - Watoto Church South

Our lovely pastor, Eddie and his wife Martha with baby Kayla. Wonderful people serving us all at Watoto Church South.

  
Living hope, a project of Watoto Church, is now caring for and serving around 700 women and providing employment for them in Gulu.

Quite a common site here in Kampala........private number plates on big cars!! 

Another common site.................an overloaded boda boda, how do they do it!!

A tougher site to see, some street kids asleep in the drain on the main road into Kampala. Fin was driving past one morning and was actually quite affected by the site and wrote a poem entitled, "solar powered street kids". Thinking a lot how there are lovely solar powered street lamps but street kids with no home sleeping under them.  
him and her....

...................friends really

thanks again for looking, reading, praying, giving and loving us. enjoy your summer or winter where you are with our love and thanks Fin, Lucy, Seth, Keziah, Anna-May and Savanna

Everything you need to know for Sunday 13 June

Calling all Men at the Bear - We are having a sailing weekend in Norfolk on Fri 1 Oct (evening) to Sun 3 Oct.  We will be based in a cottage beside the river and will explore the Broads in sailing boats and a motor launch.  The cost is £40 each for the weekend. Spaces are limited and going fast so if you want to go please get £10 deposit to Daniel Alston, for his details email info@thebear.tv

Children and Youth – if you would like to support the younger members of The Bear, we are still looking for Sunday morning helpers in the Fireflies (3-4 yrs) and Electric Eels (5-7’s) age groups. It is really important for these kids to have great male role models and if we were allowed under European law to ask specifically for men to take this on, we would! Shame we’re not allowed; also looking for male youth leaders and mentors. Please contact info@thebear.tv for full terms and conditions.

Youth Social  – This Friday Bowling Trip (Year 7+) meet at 7:15pm at SCC or 7:30pm at Surrey Quays. Youth will be dropped home afterwards. Please contact Bex Keer for details.

The Bear Minibus – is for hire. If you would like details contact info@thebear.tv

Non Bear Notices

Annual Fundraising Bike Ride for Bench – Saturday 24th July you can join in this fantastic, fundraising bike ride for the work of BENCH from Tower Bridge to Kingston Bridge in Surrey. The ride is 26 miles on Cycle paths £20 / £10 Concessions. More details to follow. See Bill Green or Declan Flynn if you are interested. Get training…….

Global Day of Prayer – Pray for the nation and the world on Sunday 13th June 2010 at West Ham United F.C. Artists include Graham Kendrick, Dave and Pat Bilborough, The All Souls  Orchestra and X Factor finalist Bev Trotman. Pick up a leaflet at front desk.

Textile Workshops - at Here For Good in Sydenham SE26 5EX:

1. Gillian Arnold introduces and teaches on heat-transfer skills: 3 June - 24 July 10am-3pm.
2. Diana McKinnon will work with machine and hand embroidery: 19th July, 10am – 4pm.

    

   Betting Shops on the High Street - ‘Deptford high street is being destroyed by betting shops. Deptford will become another poor area where locals can no longer shop or eat.’ If you are concerned about the rising number of betting shops in Deptford, please follow the link below for more information.
   

It is finished!..........................  The Bear has been sold!..................  Goodbye beloved building!  

Your keys are no longer in my pocket!  Your bills and licenses are no longer in my name!  Your boiler is no longer my problem!  Your blocked drains are no longer mine to clear!  

I shed a tear in memory of 21 years of dedications, baptisms, worship, prayer, learning, dancing, defending, building, laughing, crying, embracing, screaming, eating.

You have been empty and full, filthy and sparkling, loved and neglected, cared for and abused.  You have allowed us to reshape your insides without complaint.  You have remained steadfast serving silently through all our ideas, our visions and our fancies.  You have harboured the beginning of fledgling careers,  People inspired within your humble walls will change the world.

Farewell old friend - may your new owner be good to you!  May you stand giving light to the community when we are long gone.

Forest Gump Goes to Heaven

The day finally arrived. Forrest Gump died and went to Heaven.

At the Pearly Gates, he is met by St. Peter himself. However, the gates are closed, and Forrest timidly approached the gatekeeper.

St. Peter said, "Well, Forrest, it's certainly good to see you. We've heard such a lot about you, but I must tell you though, that the place is filling up fast, and we have been administering an entrance examination for everyone. The test is short, but you have to pass it before you can finally get into Heaven."

Forrest responded, "It's really good to be here, St. Peter, sir, but nobody ever told me about an entrance exam. I do hope the test is not too hard. Life was a big enough test as it was."

St. Peter continued, "Yes, I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions"

First: "What two days of the week begin with the letter T?"

Second: "How many seconds are there in a year?"

Third: "What is God's first name?"

Forrest left to think the questions over. When he returned the next day he saw St. Peter, who waved him on up, and said, "Now that you've had a chance to think the questions over, tell me your answers."

Forrest replied, "Well, the first one -- which two days in the week

begins with the letter ‘T', that one's easy. That would be Today and Tomorrow."

The Saint's eyes opened wide and he exclaimed, "Forrest, that is not what I was thinking, but you do have a point, and I guess I did not specify, so I will give you credit for that answer. How about the next one?"

"How many seconds in a year? Now that one was harder," replied Forrest, "but I thunk and thunk about that, and I guess the only answer can be twelve."

Astounded, St. Peter said, "Twelve!! Twelve?? Forrest, how in Heaven's name could you come up with just twelve seconds in a year?"

Forrest replied, "It's obvious, there's got to be twelve: January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd..."

"Hold it," interrupted St. Peter. "I see where you are going with this, and I see your point, though that was not quite what I had in mind...but I will have to give you credit for that one, too. Let us go on with the third and final question. Can you tell me God's first name?"

"Sure can!" Forrest replied, "Its Andy."

"Andy?" exclaimed an exasperated and frustrated St Peter. "Ok, I can understand how you came up with your answers to my first two

questions, but just how in the world did you come up with the name Andy as the first name of God?"

"Gosh, that was the easiest one of all," Forrest replied. "I learnt it from the song,

ANDY WALKS WITH ME, ANDY TALKS WITH ME, ANDY TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN.'

St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates, and said: 'Run, Forrest, run.'

Try these for some alternative versions of Jesus' famous affirmation of the fact that God's power is made perfect in weakness.

Firstly, imagine if the beatitudes were not written by Jesus but by people like you and me. They may have read like this according to J.B Philips.

Happy are the pushers, for they get on in the world
Happy are the hard boiled for they never let life hurt them
Happy are those who complain for they will get their own way in the end
Happy are the blasé because they never have to worry over there sins...                                                                                                                                                                                           Happy are the slave drivers for they get results
Happy are the knowledgeable people in the world for they find their way around
Happy are the troublemakers for they make people pay attention to them.

Or for a version a bit close to the real one; care of Daniel Moyler.

Blessed are the meek who scratch in the dirt
For they shall inherit what's left of the earth
Blessed are the kings who've left their thrones
They are buried in this valley of dry bones

Blessed all of you with an empty heart
For you got nothing from which you cannot part
Blessed is the ego, it's all we got this hour
Blessed is the voice that speaks truth to power

Blessed is the sex worker who sold her body tonight
She used what she got to save her children's life
Blessed are you, the deaf cannot hear a scream
Blessed are the stupid who can dream

Blessed are the tin canned cardboard slums
Blessed is the spirit that overcomes.

If you'd like to compare these to the real ones then check out Matthew 5

Some more thoughts on different lines in the beatitudes over the next few weeks...

Being led by the Spirit is one of our core values at the Bear.  It is also one of the distinguishing characteristics of a ‘son of God’ (which of course includes daughters – Rom 8:14).

It’s down to you to be listening to the Spirit in your own time and it is great to hear God speak when we meet together, but once a month a number of us get together to listen and pray on behalf of the church.   We call it the ‘prayer and prophecy’ team and our aim is to be watchmen, warriors and midwives -  watching for what is going on in the spirit, battling together in ‘spiritual warfare’ and praying for the birth of new things.  This group is invaluable for helping create stability and confidence in church life. 

Last night we felt led to spend most of our evening praying for the children at the Bear.  

It may seem hard to hear from God or get involved in church because children ‘limit our expressions’ or ‘make too much noise’; but maybe it’s actually harder to hear from God without them?

Psalm 8:2 says: “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”

Maybe silencing the children actually gives voice to the enemy? 

There is something about hearing the kids worship and seeing them serve that melts the hardest hearts and gives us insight to the unconditional love of God.

It’s pure and the kingdom of God is exemplified by it.  So pray for them and protect them if you can – whether they are yours or somebody else’s.

Paul

By Charlie This week the Parker Homegroup - I'm the only one in the group who calls it that - was reading Genesis 20. It's the story of Abraham wandering to a new land, then pretending his wife is his sister (actually she was also his sister) in order to give her to the King so that he would not kill him. Jeremy Kyle has nothing on these people.

We focused on just one line really which was this in Genesis 20 verse 1:  'Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar,'.

The great Daniel Tissingh hosting the session pointed out that Abraham was sitting on an amazing promise to become the father of God's nation but was apparently spending much of his life still just wandering around staying 'for a time' in a foreign land. He asked whether we sometimes think that our purpose in life is to achieve a whole range of goals, when in fact our purpose is to live in God's promise and just move around more fluidly.

After all if you were planning Jesus’ three year teaching ministry you would never have left his wandering around a bunch of peasants in an obscure corner of the Roman empire. You would have had him speak in the Roman senate, go to the court of Herod and talk with the great rulers of the age. Jesus in contrast went to the people near him and just begun demonstrating the kingdom of God in action.

Perhaps Dean argued Abraham's strength was that he did not always have to have a definite plan he just went where he went knowing that the promise was enough.

This thought brings me back to the idea of sabbath which has been running through our homegroup's discussions for a few weeks as a rather elegant motif. I said some weeks ago that the point of sabbath is that when you stop doing things yourselves you are able to recognise your own limitations. It is a moment to say 'Your are God and I am not' or as Louie Giglio puts it. 'I am not but I know I am'. This puts our whole life back in proper perspective. Check out his talk it’s great.

All of us face the challenge of wanting to strive to achieve things in life. We need to pay the bills and also fulfil our potential with the talents God has given us. But at the same time we much not ever lose sight of the reality that we are in fact fairly insignificant dots in the universe, rendered significant not by what we achieve but by who God makes us and the value he places on our lives.

So for the time being perhaps the lesson from this verse of Abraham and Louie's talk is this: You are called to be faithful not successful, to go deeper and not necessarily further. Amazing things happen to the humble but our focus is to be first and foremost on seeking the kingdom of God - the other stuff will come in God’s own good time.

Please forgive the grammer here they are the raw notes from my talk on Sunday, Charlie.

There are lots of avenues we can go down with Genesis: You can trying to figure out where the events fit in history and struggle with the things that are just hard to believe. But today I want to put that aside and look at what this story of Noah teaches us about the nature of God and the nature of his love for us.

Its a big story running to several chapters so I’m going to just read some sections of it

5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
9 This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress [c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
he LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven [a] of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."
5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth
For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. [b] , [c] 21 Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind
But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.
5 Then God said to Noah, 16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."
18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though [a] every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
22 "As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease."
Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.
6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.
7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."
12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

First glances – A judging God

At first glance the story of Noah is one where we see this sort of awful God standing from a great height and wiping out humanity. A sort of Elizabeth I kind of sovereign – off with their heads. Wipe out the people. For that reason its often one of the passages that people point to in the old testament when they say ‘this book is really just reflecting the violent God-myths of a primitive people. The God painted here is a violent, feckless, brutal ruler.

But I believe the closer you look at the passage the more you see actually the picture of a very intimate God.

But a special kind of Judge

This is I think a picture of God as both sovereign and intimate father. As both judge and caring creator.
Chapter 6 opens with the extraordinarily poignant words ‘God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth’.
The last time we heard that phrase was a few chapters earlier when God had finished creating the world and it says he looked ‘and saw that it was good’. Now he looks and sees violence all around him.
He looks and while he still detects the beauty no doubt of nature, while he can still separate the honest men from the rest he is confronted with a picture which is dreadfully depressing.
I find it impossible to not share that view of the world much of the time. I know there are those people who struggle with the idea of God as judge, the notion of a God who wants to rid the world of evil. I struggle with the alternative. I struggle with any faith or belief system which says. ‘There’s a good God out there’ but somehow he can tolerate all of these dreadful things we see around us. The suffering, the destruction of nature, the wars, the lies and most of all the sheer painful relentless progress of death.

The God of Noah is a God who finds these things utterly intolerable and not just intolerable in the way an emotionally-detached headmaster is appalled by the pupils he never really likes. He is appalled as only a father can be.

The passage reads: 6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
This is the picture of a God who is personally affected by the decisions people make, who grieves and even wishes he had never created man. This is a God who snorts with indignation.
It is the same picture of God we see when Jesus weeps over the body of his friend Lazarus who had died, furious at death’s intrusion into life.
David Atkinson writes: ‘Here is the pain of creative love. Here is the wounded Spirit of the artist whose work is rejected, the broken heart of the lover whose love is not returned’.
History somebody once said is written in the tears of God.

So while the story is about God’s sovereign intervention, about his judgement and justice it is the picture of a judge who is more invested in the life of the defendants than any parallel with a human judge would do justice to. He is a judge who sits on the bench and weeps because it is his own children in the dock.
This is still the God of today who is furious at the violence, the suffering and the monotonous death that is in the world and grieves for the suffering of his children while also being revolted by the things people do.

And to further emphasis this more complex picture of God than many people perceive the central focus of this story is not the flood but God’s relationship with one man.
The intimacy of God

The story is of course not just a distant picture of God as judge but also a picture of God as the intimate friend of Noah. God’s mercy and his judgement are working themselves out together in this story.
Some people read passages like this as implying there is a psychitophrenia to God, he is one minute the judge the next the intimate friend but there we see that he is both these things simultaneously. Even as he judges here, revolted as he is by the things people do, he is also pouring out love and mercy.
In verse 7 ‘I will blot out man’ and yet in verse 8 ‘but’ Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord’
This of course is shown in God’s relationship with Noah
The passage says that God looked at Noah and said ‘I have seen that you are righteous before me’.

We can assume a lot about Noah from that statement because we know what righteous people are like in God’s eyes, they are meek, they are peacemakers, they love justice, they have humble hearts, they are poor in Spirit in that they know where they end and where God begins.

Even as the world is in a state of moral chaos Noah’s faith and obedience to God is seen by God. The storms rage but he is protected by God. In fact the passage says God ‘shut him in’ to the ark. Held him like a womb inside it. IN other words ‘grace found Noah’

Scholars of Hebrew texts tell us that stories like this one were written using a clear literary device intended to build towards once central phrase and then move away from it. The focal point of the text is supposed here to be three words ‘God remembered Noah’.

As God honoured Noah’s obedience something truly remarkable happened. Something happened which is an antidote to anyone who doubts they have a real contribution to make.
We see this world of chaos all around, destruction, death, violence and in the middle we have one man and one man’s relationship with God that becomes what has been called
‘the still point in a turning world’

All through the Bible we see God using people. God finding often very fragile people and blessing them in such a way that they for a moment became the vessel in which God carries his plans for the whole of humanity..

An American anthropologist called Margaret Mead once said ‘a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has’.
I think of Desmond Tutu

The story here reminds us that people who stand humbly before God can see extraordinary things happen in their lives, that the most storm-tossed environment, the most horrific ordeals can not touch the place of safety that is provided by knowing God. Incredible things happen to the humble. Those people who seek first the kingdom of God can see extraordinary things happen.
But is this really about grace.

Some of you will probably be listening to me talking about the compassion of God at work here and you will say. ‘Listen maybe God did save one person but he killed potentially thousands’. Surely that is not a balanced equation. Or more to the point even if the evil in this world does deserve death then surely it is a bit much to paint a compassionate God when only one person could have been saved.
This of course is the problem facing many of us today. We look at the world around us and we see this much suffering and this much happiness and we say ‘;this is not enough evidence of a good God’. Perhaps someone thinks that and encounters the Christian and the Christian says. ‘you should come to church, God’s doing amazing things...only last week he cured my ingrowing toe nail’. And the person retorts ‘ Right well that’s great I guess but I just saw the news and a hundred thousand people were just wiped out by a tsunami’.
Christians cannot sell a good God based on the sum total of the good and the bad that happens in the world. There is too much terrible stuff going on. And we cannot pretend that when God looks at this world he does not just grieve, just weep for the suffering of his children.

That’s not to take away from the good things God does in our lives. He cares enough to bless us in ways that would seem insignificant to anyone else but to us are deep deep signs of his love for that. I celebrate it as what happens in a life touched by the kingdom of God. But its not enough.

The truth is of course that the God shown in Genesis never asks us to form our view on him based on the good things he did for Noah. Neither does he ask us to formulate our view of him based on the good things that happen in the world – though many of them point to him and its our job to point to him.

The greatest insight we have into the heart of God comes in what Noah symbolises. God saved him, he held him in the ark – the ark was his saviour.
In Genesis Jesus is the ark just as in exodus he is the manna from heaven, in Leviticus he is the sacrifices. The whole Bible is full of Christ.

The story of Noah’s ark speaks of a God not who drops in occasionally with random and ultimately insufficient acts of kindness but of a God who promised to Noah in his rainbow and to us in the words of Jesus himself to carry out one total act of kindness. One ultimate act of grace in sending his own Son to provide an ark for all of us, a place of safety in life’s storm – a passage to the promised land.
A solution to the problem more complete than wiping it out, more loving than simply watching us carry on.

The covenant God makes with Noah is that he will find a way for a coming together of people with God and it is a covenant he makes not just with a few ancient people but he says with ‘every living creature’.
There is no easy way to face the suffering of the world. There is and should not be any glib theological solutions preached on the subject. But there is this truth. God provided an ark for Noah and he is providing an ark today, a place of safety, a new life.

Like Noah we apprehend that reality most easily at the end of ourselves WHERE we get to the beginning of God. But like Noah there is a greater promise.
Noah’s alter

Noah’s response to his salvation is to stand up on what we could call his ‘easter morning’ and build an alter to thank God, to remember his ongoing need for the grace of God.
God takes responsibility for so much doesn’t he, our salvation, our justification, our peace, our joy, our destiny. He provides the ark but what he asks is that when he comes, when we encounter him he would find us trusting in him.

Last week we went away with our homegroup here at the Bear and I spoke for peobably an hour over two days on the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount and didn’t get very far then as we were leaving and I suppose together pushing against a feeling of being a bit held back, perhaps a bit spiritual directionless in that moment Dan said something : ‘We just have to remember that se just have to give God just a little bit for him to do great things.’

Let’s just try to be a little bit like Noah, a little bit full of conviction that our trust in God matters even if nobody else in the room shares it. Our faith in God can deliver great things against the most unimaginable odds. Our conviction that amazing things happen not to the striving and the proud but to the humble can bring transformation in this world.