Genesis 6:11-22, 7:24, 8:14-19

Noah's Ark� What is the first thing that popped into your mind? Probably pictures from a child's Bible Story book of animals filing in to a large wooden boat 2 by 2. Maybe a rainbow and an elderly couple.

The story of Noah's Ark is a perennial favorite for introducing children to the stories of the Bible. "The Lord said to Noah there's gonna be a floody floody Lord said to Noah there's gonna be a floody floody Get my children (clap) out of the muddy muddy Children of the Lord. The Lord said to Noah go build me an arky arky Lord said to Noah go build me an arky arky. Build it out of (clap) gopher barky barky Children of the Lord."

But there is much more in this biblical story than just fodder for children's stories. And some of that theological meat is contained in the Ark itself. So today I want to explore some Ark Theology or Arky-ology. No, we are not going to dig up the remains of Noah's ark. Instead we will examine the theological significance of the Ark.

Noah's Ark, how big was it? The Bible gives the measurements in cubits: 300 x 50 x 30. A cubit is the distance from the elbow to the tip of your finger. So it is hard to tell exactly how big a cubit was for Noah. If he had long arms it could have been 2 feet. But on the average a cubit was probably about 18 inches.

Assuming a cubit of 18 inches the ark would have been 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had three decks and a roof. The decks would have been about 15 feet apart. It had no sail or rudder. But it did have a door that was big enough to let the animals and people in!

How much space is that? That is about 101,250 square feet of deck space. It would have been 1,518,750 cubic feet of space.

All those measurements are fine but I wanted to get a feel for how big it actually was. So I took some measurements. 75 feet is about one and a half times the width of the church. It is a little over 50 feet from one side to the other so picture that 1/2 again. It is a little over 15 feet from the floor to the ceiling so a few feet shy of the ceiling would have been the height of one deck on the ark and there would be two more like it above. Now you can see that part, but to get an idea of it length you have to imagine this room, half again as wide, extending all the way to the back of the parking lot. That is about 450 feet. To get a perspective on the square footage our new building is a little over 11,600 sq feet of floor space. The ark was about 9 times that!

While that is much larger than this church, we all have been in buildings larger. But this was made entirely of wood. And you couldn't go to the lumber yard and buy pressure treated plywood back then either. The massive planks used to build this structure had to be hand cut with bronze age tools. They didn't have power tools or epoxy tipped nails driven in by an air hammer either. They probably didn't even have nails. It was probably held together by pegs and faith.

The sanctuary for the last church I served was built in the late 1800's. Once while we were getting a leak in the roof fixed I went up in the oldest section of the attic. The main part of that structure was built before the invention of power tools and it is amazing how much wood was used. Imagine how massive the timbers had to be to not only support the weight of the ark itself, but also large animals and a stormy sea! The ark would be a massive structure in our day, but it must have been utterly amazing to the people of Noah's day.

So why all this talk about the size and structure of Noah's ark? As you might have guessed it has a religious significance. You see the ark is a symbol of the church. Back in Noah's day "the world was corrupt in God's sight and the earth was filled with violence."(6:14) We live in the same situation today. The world we live in is corrupt and full of violence.

Back in Noah's day God sent Noah to build an ark. The purpose of this Ark was to save the animals and as many people as would enter the ark from the wickedness of the world and the coming destruction. 2,000 years ago God sent his Son to draw people unto himself and build a church. Not a physical structure made of wood like the ark, but a spiritual structure made of people who have given their lives to Christ. And this church is designed by God to be big enough and strong enough to carry us through the storms of this world; to save us from its corruption and violence and the coming judgment.

Just like the ark it has exacting specifications. God told Noah to make to ark of cypress or gopher wood. This was no ordinary wood. It was the highest quality of wood. In the same way God calls us to build the church out of people. But not every person will do. Only those who have given their lives to Christ are suited for being built into the church. We are called to be strengthened by the prayer and study to do the job. Most importantly God told Noah to make the ark big enough to hold all those who needed to be saved from the flood. And the door had to be big enough to let them in. In the same way God calls us to make the church big enough to accommodate all who will be saved and the door must be wide enough to let them in. The ark had no sail or rudder. It was not a boat. It was a big box. Noah and his family were told to simply seal themselves up in it and float. They were to trust God to guide them through the wind and the waves. In the same way we are called not to control the church but to trust God to guide us in the direction. That doesn't mean we don't make plans and try to carry them out. It means that we realize that our plans need to be God's plans or they are useless. And that ultimately it is God who will guide us through this world of violence and corruption.

I assume Noah followed God's specifications when he built the ark. I assume that because it worked! The problem is we don't always follow God's specification for the church. We give ourselves to God to be built into his church without properly dedicating ourselves to his service. God needs Christians who are spiritual redwoods, but most of us are spiritual balsa woods. Now you can't change balsa wood into maple, but a spiritual light weight can grow closer to God and become stronger. Once we have surrendered to God's will, then we will suitable for the church of Christ.

We also fail to make the church big enough. Now I am not talking about the physical structure but the spiritual and social structure of the church. Too often we scale down the church to fit our designs. We either actively or passively exclude people who fit God's specs but not ours. Sometimes it is people who don't dress well enough or who dress too well, or people who are not well educated or are too well educated. Sometimes we try to exclude those who have different theologies or stances on social issues or ways of worshipping.

But perhaps our biggest failing is in the area of sails and rudders. We try to control the church. We try to control where the church is going. It is one thing to try to discern the direction God is calling us, but it is another to try to decide where we want the church to go. Like Noah we have to seal ourselves up in the ark and trust God to guide the way.

The ark was not just a box that would sit there. It was sealed with pitch so that it would float. Often when the ark is pictured it is on a calm sea but I imagine it was pretty stormy and chaotic at times. If we would realize that this is the real picture of the church it would clear a lot things up. If we understood that our world is a chaotic and violent place, then we would realize that a sail and rudder will only get us in trouble. We can't control the direction we are headed any more than we can control the wind and the waves.

This image of a lone boat in the vast sea might make us realize that we Christians are all in the same boat. We were all perishing in the chaotic and violent waves of this world when Jesus rescued us and pulled us into his boat. And it doesn't matter what our socio-economic or ethno-political background is, we are all in the same boat. It doesn't matter what our theology or our preferred mode of worship is. What matters is that Jesus reached out a hand to save us and we accepted it. In a life boat there are no princes and paupers. We are all merely survivors!

The church is a life boat. It is an ark designed by God to save all who will but enter it. Let us remember that God will destroy this world. Not with a flood this time but with fire. And we who are in the ark will be saved, while those who aren't will perish!

Matthew 7:21-29

I have heard it said that the three secrets to business are: Location, Location and Location. I have also heard is said that the three secrets to planting a church are Location, Location and Location. I guess this church is proof that statement. I don't want to take anything away from the wonderful people here and all the hard work that has gone in to making Grace such a strong church, but location has played a big roll in this church's growth. The location attracts people and once they step in the door they meet the people and realize they want to keep coming back. Paul Wood and the charter members of the church should be commended for their choice of location.

Just as location is important to a business or a church, Jesus knew that location was important to our spiritual lives. The passage I read from Matthew is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus outlined his teachings starting with the Beatitudes, including the Lord's Prayer, and then concluding with the passage I read this morning. He said, "Not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom!" Jesus doesn't want lip service. He wants hearts devoted to him. It all boils down to whether we know Jesus in our hearts or not.

Then he explains himself with a parable. The person who does what Jesus says will be like one who built on a foundation of solid rock. When the storm came the house stood firm. But those who hear and don't do what Jesus says will be like one who built on sand. When the rains and waters came it washed the sand out from under the house and it fell. When we build our lives on something other then Jesus the solid rock our house will fall.

I see a lot of people building on sand today. Some people build their house on wealth and fame. They think that they can find meaning in being rich and well known. They believe that the one who dies with the most toys wins. So they try to accumulate riches and get their names on all the important people's rolodexes.

But it's all a false hope. Wealth and fame can get you a lot, but they can't buy happiness. When a person builds on wealth and fame they are building on sand. Fame comes and goes and fortunes rise and fall. When the storms of life assail who will help them?

And what about ultimate things. You can't buy salvation. You can't earn forgiveness. You have to be poor in spirit and if your faith is in wealth then you can't be. Wealth and fame are houses built on the sand.

Some people build their lives on self-centeredness and self-gratification. They live by the Motto: "Look out for #1." They figure that they can't depend on anyone else so they might as well rely on themselves. This attitude is built right next to and adjoins the house built on self-gratification. "You only go around once in life," they say, "So grab all the gusto you can."

But self-gratification is even more fleeting than wealth. You eventually have to pay the piper. Doing whatever feels good to you at the moment always leads to disaster. What if I felt like flying? Should I go jump off a cliff? It might feel good for a short while. Of course the fall would not hurt me, but the sudden stop at the end is the real killer.

Living for the moment and only for self is a house built on the sand. It will eventually lead to destruction. An individual can only do so much we all need to depend on someone or something else at some time. And being self centered eventually leads to a shallow existence. "And the fall of that house was great."

Then there are those who build their lives on pride and ego. They think they are safe because they're better or more deserving than others. They point to all their volunteer work and all their good deeds and say, "I deserve something from God." They falsely believe that their faith is in God when really they have built the same neighborhood and on the same soil as those who built on self. They are really relying on their own abilities not on God. Like those who rely on wealth they are trying to buy salvation though their good deeds.

This is the location where many religious people build their lives. The religious leaders in Jesus' day are just one example. They said long prayers and dressed in religious clothing just so that people would look at them and say, "Oh look at that Holy person." They would say, "Lord, Lord, look what we did in your name." And there are still people today who do that. They think that their hard work will save them or that their years of Sunday School and tithing will earn them forgiveness.

But they have built on sand just like all those materialists and hedonists they look down their Holier-than-thou noses at. But in all their work for Jesus they never get to know him. They are willing to use his name to make them look good, but they don't know the person behind the name. And in the end Jesus says to them, "I never knew you, go away from me you evil doers."

Where are you building? What is the foundation of your life? What is it that gets you out of bed every morning? Do you do it to make a buck? Do you do it to look good in others eyes? Do you do it because it feels good?

Where are you building? On the sandy soil of self or wealth or pride? Do you work for these things or for Christ?

If you are building on anything other than Christ then your house is doomed to fall. Start building of Jesus the solid rock. Let him be the reason you get up in the morning. You can still gain wealth and fame, do good deeds, and even find some gratification. But the meaning of your life will not depend upon any those things. It will depend only upon the one who died for our sins and who gives us eternal life!

Psalm 46

Solid as a rock. When we want to say that something is dependable we say "It is as solid as a rock." Two weeks ago the ground shook in northern Iran. At last estimate 50,000 people died. 50,000 and countless other homes lost and lives destroyed. All because solid rock trembled.

Scientist tell us that the solid rock beneath our feet is little more than a thin crust floating on molten lava. This crust is broken up into huge plates. As the centuries go by these plates inch their way this way or that. It is so slow that we usually can't feel it. It is along the lines where these plates meet that earthquakes happen. But every now and again these huge sheets of rock Get hung and the tension builds up Finally it is released in a great geological shudder of the earth below us. Solid as a rock?

Down in Summerville where I grew up we know about earthquakes. Any good Summervillian will tell you that the great Charleston earthquake of the late 1800's was really misnamed. The real center of the great earthquake was Summerville. In fact at one time the train that ran through Summerville was called the earthquake route. Summerville sits right on the line between what Scientists call the Atlantic and the North American Plates. Some say the Summerville fault is the second largest fault in the continental United States It is second only to the San Andreas Fault in California. That is the same fault line that killed hundreds of people just last year. Oh the Fault in Summerville hasn't killed anybody since the 1800's In fact the occasional tremors it caused were a source of amusement and a curiosity. For a week after such a tremor people would talk about it. "Did you feel it?" "Yes I think I did." They weren� t dangerous, but they were a constant reminder that the Rock beneath our feet is not solid.

The earth beneath our feet is not the only thing which we depend on to be solid which we later discover is actually shaky. One could depend on it to change. In Summerville we thought we could depend on the weather. We used to say we had two seasons in Summerville not four. These were the rainy season and the dry season. During the rainy season we would have sudden rain storms. My sister jokingly called Summerville Monsoons. That abundance of rain made it easy to grow tomatoes and azaleas. But the weather, which coastal people depended on to grow their vegetables and make their gardens beautiful, turned mean last September. The sun and the sea and the wind which make the coast a nice place to visit worked together to play a dirty trick on my home town How many people were killed? I forget exactly. The same wind and rain which cause the wisteria vines to hang from the trees in cascades of lavender and white took down the trees they hung from.

It is rather disturbing when the earth beneath your feet cannot be trusted to stay still. I don't want to scare anybody this morning. I just want to testify to the truth. Rock is not as solid as some would think. The elements of the weather are fickle. The very things we depend on for food, the earth and the rain, can destroy us

Of course I'm not really talking about rock this morning. The rock under our feet is just a metaphor, and image, for the things which we stand on. Many times the things we trust in to keep us safe, to protect us, shudder and shake beneath our feet It could be our family our jobs our money, even our country. It could even be our beliefs. Sometimes we trust in these things to give stability to our lives and instead they shake us up. Its disturbing when the things we trust in to give us stability begins to shake beneath our feet.

I believe that the writer of Psalm 46 knew what I am talking about. To the best of my knowledge Jerusalem was not on a fault line and floods or hurricanes were not a problem for them. But the psalmist knew of these things. The Psalmist spoke of the Mountains quaking and the waters foaming. But Jerusalem had a much greater danger to face. The people of Israel were surrounded by people who would attack them at any time. They faced the danger of being killed by the people which lived around them. I like my neighbors'. I haven�t met them all but Neighbors are nice people usually. But neighbors weren�t nice people for the Israelites. Their neighbors were dangerous. The very people we would think we could depend on for help were the very people who were trying to kill the Israelites.

Because of this danger of attack they would build Great fortresses. They would take hewn rock. and build great fortresses in which they could take refuge. when the nations around them raged they could totter a kingdom. So the Israelites took refuge in great fortresses of solid rock

But as we have seen Pock is not so solid. Look to Eastern Europe. Even an iron curtain can't stop the force of souls which yearn to breath free. We have seen that walls of reinforced concrete, like the Berlin wall, will fall from the shouts of people for freedom. The Psalmist knew that the rock which made the walls around the city could crumble. whoever wrote this Psalm knew that the rocks of this world could not make a dependable refuge. The Psalmist knew what it felt like when the things that we depend on begin to shake beneath our feet. The psalmist knew that feeling of uneasiness and fear or even terror.

When the very rocks upon which we stand begin to shake, where can we stand? The answer is no where. There is no place on earth to escape the ravages of wind and rain. There is no place on earth where the mountains will not tremble. There is no physical fortress on earth to take refuge in when your neighbors turn against you. The Israelites tried to take refuge in their walled cities and they were carried off into captivity.

Some suggest that America is a refuge from the evils and injustices of this world. They have suggested that while Rome was founded on the strength of steel, But that America was founded on words Words like "We the people" and "freedom of the press" and "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal." They say that Rome fell. but that the foundation of America is stronger because the pen is mightier than the sword. Some even suggest that America will stand forever. I agree that our foundation is stronger, but they are still human words as much as they ring with truth. Even the words upon which our country are founded, as worthy of respect as they are, are not a sure refuge from the hatred of the peoples around us. The recent event in Canada, with Quebec threatening to leave the country, is evidence that words like democracy and freedom are not a sure defense against political and national quakes.

"Where do we go when the rock beneath our feet shakes?' is the wrong question. The right question is "Whom can we turn to when the earth quakes and the waters of life rage?" The Psalmist knew the answer. when the neighbors of the Israelites attacked, he didn't say the walls of Jerusalem are my refuge. He or She faithfully proclaimed, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

In this world the earth will shake, the waters will rise, and our neighbors may try to kill us. But in the refuge of God the water don't flood and kill. In the holy habitation of the Most High There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early,

The powers of this world can totter kingdoms and kill the body But the power of God's voice alone can melt the earth. If Christ is on our side who can be against us. What do we have to fear from the nations? God has the power to destroy their chariots. To both begin and stop wars forever. If we take God as our refuge and not the shaky fortresses of this world, we will be safe. We will be safe because as the Psalmist said, "The Lord of Hosts is with US; the God of Jacob is our refuge

(During hymn announcement:) Martin Luther knew about fortresses and refuges and the fact that old friend could turn on a person. His own church turned on him when he tried to reform it He wrote "A Mighty Fortress is our God, A Bulwark never failing. Our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal."

"Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right One on our side, the One of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is he; Lord Sabaoth, his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle."

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