Evan Almighty The Story Behind The Movie

He wiped the sweat from his brow and took another look around the desert that surrounded him. The Sun baked the ground into a rock like consistency and the reflected heat simmered like pools of cool water on the hard surface. It was going to be another scorcher. I’m getting too old for this type of work." he thought as he picked up his tools turning around and surveying his masterpiece, it was almost finished and it was ginenormous. one hundred and fifty metres long, 25 metres wide and fifteen metres highit was the biggest boat he had ever seen. As a matter of fact it was the only boat that he had ever seen.

His name was Noah and the Bible says that he was a righteous man. You know his story, you learned all about it in Sunday School.

But have you ever really thought about building a large, a very large boat in the middle of a country that had no major body of water and had never seen rain? It had to be an act of either insanity or faith and the Bible tells us that it was an act of faith because in Hebrews 11:7 It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.

The story goes back to Genesis 6 which was read to us this morning by Rob. God had decided to destroy the world because of it’s unrighteousness and the evil that had become so rampant and there was Noah standing face to faith. I wonder if any of us would have joined Noah in making it into the faith hall of fame, after all the people who are mentioned are simply ordinary people who did extraordinary things through the power of God, they were sure of what they hoped for and certain of what they did not see."

We went and saw Evan Almighty the other night and it was a funny movie, I know that some folks have had some theological problems with the movie but if you are going to the movies to get your theology you might be looking in the wrong place. Maybe you’ve seen some of the previews on TV or at the theatre, a brief synopsis. Evan Baxter is a Junior Congressman who prays that God will help him to change the world. And God takes him up on his request, commanding him to build an ark because of an impending flood, sound familiar? And compressed into an hour and half movie representing a total time span of several months Evan does what it took Noah considerably longer to do.

During the course of the movie we get some interesting glimpses at the ridicule that Evan faces as he deals with this seemingly ridiculous and Herculean task. Probably one of my favourite scenes is when Evan is explaining what he’s trying to do to his wife Joan. Clip #3

You all know the story of Noah and the Ark; everybody knows the story of Noah and the Ark. Even people who are vehemently nonchurched know the story of Noah and the ark. It is probably the best known story in the Old Testament and it is celebrated by everyone. You don’t find depictions of David and Goliath or Daniel in the Lion’s den in stores, but you can always find Noah or his boat. And people are always looking for the silly boat. Here’s a hint; even if they found the Ark in perfect condition tomorrow the sceptics would still disbelieve, and if they never find it the faithful would still believe. It was built out of wood and has been exposed to the elements for more than 5000 years, if they find it the miracle wouldn’t so much be the story of Noah as it will be the story of a wood boat that was still around after five millenniums, and I want some of that gopher wood for the next deck I build.

And so this morning the message isn’t about Evan and his story it’s about Noah and his story. The Evan thing was just a blatant ploy to get you here on the first long weekend of summer.

Story of a Boat I grew up around boats, my dad was a captain as was his father before him and his father before him. I have a hat that says skipper on it and that along with the 14 fourteen foot speed boat I have in NB means I’m keeping up family tradition. And I love stories about boats. As a boy I remember reading Two Years Before the Mast, Treasure Island and Billy Bud and the Horatio Hornblower books, and as a teen I read The Serpent’s Coil and Grey Seas Under. And so I’m a sucker for stories about boats and what a boat this was.