Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Scripture: Genesis 6:11-14, 9:8-13

“Unfortunately, saying ‘I don’t know’ has fallen out of vogue in Christian circles, and I’m still trying to get used to saying it myself…Most of the people I’ve encountered are looking not for a religion to answer all their questions but for a community of faith in which they can feel safe asking them.”

Sarah Bessey

“Deep suffering makes theologians of us all. The questions people ask about God in Sunday School rarely compare with the questions we ask while we are in the hospital.”

Barbara Brown Taylor

The story of Noah’s Ark has some very troubling elements and raises some difficult theological questions:

• God regrets making humankind and God kills innocent animals.
• God, except for a small handful of people, kills the whole world in a very torturous way.

There are, of course, lots of explanations for the questions this text raises that have been given by theologians, scholars, and other “experts” in the field, but to me, none of them really satisfy. Often, the Bible raises big questions and then just moves on. Jesus didn’t always explain his parables, for example, and Paul never told us why some of his planted churches had female leaders while others were told to keep their women silent. If we look at the Bible as a black and white instruction manual, then we are missing out on the rich lessons it truly has to offer us. Noah’s ark, despite being a text full of violence, ends with God’s consistent practice – the transformation of bad things into redemptive things. The bow—a weapon of violence—becomes a symbol of peace. Perhaps the terrible experience of violence in this text is what moves God away from its future use. Jesus radically transforms some things in the New Testament – a manger becomes a sacred place, humble Shepherds become honored guests of the divine, and a podunk town gets famous. Later, the cross—another symbol of violence—becomes a symbol of humility, love, and reconciliation. Perhaps our response to this divine tendency could be to transform the common usage of our everyday things – money as a tool to help others and not ourselves, education as a ticket to service and not a paycheck, and our life as a gift to enjoy and not a thing to brag about. How will you transform the things in your life this Christmas?

Danny Steis, a former Yates minister who now works for Reality Ministries, is married to Johanna and father to Marley and Ruby.