Rev. David Boyd

I don't usually watch Jeopardy, the TV question program with Alex Trebek. You have to answer everything with a question. Janet must have been watching it and I entered the room and the answer was something like, "an ancient Mesopotamian primordial epic involving a flood." And I was able to answer, "What is the epic of Gilgamesh?" Gilgamesh was the ancient warrior who fought the forces of chaos, symbolised by a flood, and who won.

Many scholars of the Ancient Near East, the areas of modern-day Iraq, Iran and the Middle East, have found similar myths among the different cultures and traditions involving many epic stories such as flood stories and creation stories. Our biblical stories involving Noah and the flood and the creation of the world involving Adam and Eve have strong parallels in the ancient Mesopotamian cultures of the area. Because these epic stories often involve mythical battles between the forces of chaos and a warrior-hero, some scholars believe that the bow of the rainbow in the story of Noah and the covenant God made with Noah's family, the story we read this morning, has its history in the bow and arrows that Gilgamesh used to subdue chaos. It is thought by many scientists and historians that there was a great flood at one time in the Ancient Near East that was immortalised in epic poems and sacred Scripture, and that was interpreted in a variety of ways by many different cultures.

There are at least two things, though, that are fundamentally different in the story of Noah and the flood and the covenant God made with Noah's family when compared to other flood stories of the Ancient Near East. The first fundamentally different aspect to the story of Noah and the flood is that Noah isn't engaged in a battle. Noah is simply told that God was upset with the behaviour of people and a great flood was going to come; but since Noah was OK with God, Noah would be spared and he was to take with him, 2 of every species of animal. Noah simply unquestioningly does what he is asked. He doesn't do battle with the elements or with God or even with other people. He simply builds the ark and rounds up the animals. No cosmic battle here.

The second fundamentally different aspect to the story of Noah when compared with other flood epics is that God made a covenant with Noah that stretched into the future in perpetuity; it wasn't just for Noah or his immediate family. The covenant that God was to make was for all future generations. This was something fairly uncommon, that God would make a covenant involving a perpetual promise. The other uncommon feature to this covenant was the idea that it was God who was promising to do something; people didn't have to promise to do anything. God promised to never again send a flood and thereby inflict chaos on the world, but we human beings don't have to do anything in response; it is rather remarkable when you compare this covenant with other Ancient Near Eastern covenants. Usually, the stronger party exacts a huge promise on the part of the weaker party. Not with the God of Noah. We don't have to do anything.

One of the important aspects of this story is that water in the Ancient Near East symbolised chaos. It makes some sense when you realize that theses areas were very dry, in some cases almost desert-like. So, when water came, it was wondrous and beautiful, giving life in the spring and enabling people, animals and plants to survive. But when too much water came, it could be overwhelming. We know what flooding is like here, but we can easily climb to higher ground up the mountains. In many of the geographical areas of the Middle East, you couldn't climb to higher ground and a flood could be devastating. Hence the comparison with chaos.

Well, here's the million dollar question, "So What?!" Everything I've said so far is interesting, but you might well wonder what any of this has it to do with the first Sunday of Lent or anything in particular. Well, that's a good question!

Let me suggest two things. Firstly, this story of Noah and the flood comes within the pre-history of Genesis; there are a number of stories that follow a similar pattern: God creates, humans enjoy life, humans get greedy, humans do something horrible, God brings punishment, and finally God relents and even repents of the punishment against the humans involved. We have the stories of Adam and Eve, the story of Cain and Abel, the story of Noah, and then the story of the Tower of Babel; this prehistory ends with the introduction of Abraham and Sarah. But God never follows through on the threat to destroy in any of these stories. God repents of violence and gives a second chance.

The second interesting thing about the story of Noah is the nature of the covenant God made with humans. God was bound to the covenant, but humans were not. In other words, we could do what we wanted and God would never exact a punishment from us. Free will remained intact.

Where I'm heading is the idea that God doesn't demand things from us on pain of punishment. Life isn't about a great cosmic battle with chaos. I believe very sincerely, that what the story of Noah teaches us, and certainly the story of Jesus, is that life is about living freely and openly in gratitude and love. Our battle, perhaps, is with ourselves, against want and ignorance. As we live, we seek to live with graciousness, with gratitude, with a profound sense of thankfulness and with love. And we don't strive for these things with sword of Damocles hanging over our heads ready to fall. We do so because God is about love and wants the best for this world. You can never punish someone into doing something good. It can only come from a relationship of love, support, and giving. Jesus embodied this very clearly and calls us to the same life.

And what is more, this life of gratitude and love freely offered opens us to greater awareness of those who struggle with poverty, oppression, and death on a daily basis. The most powerful stories are the stories of those who, because of their own profound sense of gratitude at life, wish to create life and give back. I've been reading some of the stories of the people who work for MSF, Médecines Sans Frontières, Doctors Without Borders. It's extraordinary the gifts they offer others and the sacrifices they make out of a sense of love!

But this is where the story of Noah can lead. Because God leaves us an open covenant, our response can be about love; it can be about gratitude; it can be about others. It must be! So, if we are to take something on for Lent, as many wish to do, take on the radical desire to live gratitude, to be thankful, and to share love with others. Engage in simple behaviours that lead to an increase in gratitude. Engage in random acts of kindness and love. Do for others as you would have them do for you. The benefits to the world will be immense. And maybe God will put the bow in the sky, not as reminder of a bow and arrow, but as a smile of many colours.

May it be so, dear God.

Amen.