The God who persists
The scripture for this week is lengthy. Click here to read Genesis 6-9, or read it from a proper book.
Genesis 6-9 contains a lot of bizarre stuff in it. Mostly, it's about The Flood. You all know the story. Noah builds a boat big enough to house his family and all of every kind of animal ("We're gonna need a bigger boat"). It's wild stuff. But the actual Flood isn't the most interesting part. At least, in my opinion.
Genesis 6 starts with a recap of events that are almost never talked about when it comes to scripture. It talks about the fact that great heroes once roamed the earth- these heroes were the spawn of divine beings and humans (sounds very Greek mythology, yes?). It doesn't say much about this- and I wish it said more. But I draw attention to it just because people rarely do. It's okay for the Bible to be fascinating and confusing. It is whether we like it or not...why run from it?
All this transitions into one of the most openly emotional sections of all of scripture: God experiences sadness and regret. Why? Because creation did not go as planned. Humans have minds of their own and their behavior is often out of alignment with God's initial hopes. And so God decides He wants to start over, kind of. He doesn't want to start all the way over, though. He wants to start over by using what's already here: the best of humanity and the best of the animal kingdom. God wants the future to include the present. He wants to start fresh with what is already here. He does not want to start from scratch. And so they pile onto the boat.
God, during the course of this story, experiences acceptance. He recognizes, perhaps, that humanity is going to struggle to model God's vision and values for human life. And, rather than fighting this, He chooses to embrace it. So, once the boat is safe from the flood, God makes a promise: He will never do this again. He then offers the remaining people some instructions, the same instructions Adam and Eve were given. To be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth, to care for the animals. And so on and so forth.
After He makes this promise and offers these instructions, God also offers a warning: Don't harm people. This seems a bit ironic- I suppose- given that God himself just allowed a flood to wipe out most people. Yet, in giving this warning, God re-emphasizes that the divine image exists in all human beings, in spite of his surprise, disappointment, and/or regret. God adapts to the reality of all that humanity is- but He doesn't change His mind about humanity. Humanity represents the divine image...and there's something holy and sacred about us.
In spite of all the reasons God could completely reject His creation, He finds a way to sustain it, and He continues to rely on it, and put His trust in it. And He continues to see the good in it. Not merely the good- but the divine image itself.
I can't help but wonder if you doubt whether or not God loves you, cares for you, or wants to provide for you. I'd imagine some of you think God deals with you begrudgingly. Almost as if, if he didn't have to, He probably wouldn't.
These are the messages our shame sends us as we think about the various ways in which we haven't lived the lives we wish we had. I imagine many of us have the same shame looking at these stories- why did we do this? Why did humans get so off track God felt the need to take such drastic action?
But- these stories aren't really about what humans get right and what humans get wrong. This is part of the story- but it's not what they're really about. These stories show us a God who is creative, and a God who is willing to allow His creation freedom and independence in order to pick a path. He is, at times, surprised by that path, even saddened by it. By His pursuit of His creation continues.
Now- of course- there is the uncomfortable part of this story. What kind of God wipes out a huge part of His creation? There's no good answer to this- but it may help to know that in many of the other flood stories from this time period in other religions- God has no interest in starting over, He just wants to destroy. So even though there's something uncomfortable to us about this God- we also know there's something deeply unique about how He interacts with His creation.
What's so unique is that He persists. Let's once again fill the earth. Be fruitful and multiply. God's learned something about how creation works- and He's decided that He can roll with it. I won't send another flood like that, God promises. And why?
Because no matter what else humans are- they represent the divine image. It's part of our nature, and that makes us sacred. You are sacred. Perhaps you've done things you wish you could take back- but you were still created in the divine image. That makes you sacred. It makes you valuable. It makes you worthy. Worthy of love, protection, and acceptance.
God put humans in charge of a reason. When a boss leaves an employee in charge, they pick someone who can do the job. They pick someone they believe in. And so my question to you, in closing, is this:
