"Pay Attention to the Details" (Gen. 6:9-22, 7:15-16)
- Rev. A. L. Torrence,
Pastor of the Cross of Life Lutheran Church
“Make yourself an ark” were the words given to Noah. God gave this feeble old man blue prints for building a floating “tay-bawh” which is the original Hebrew word for this ark (or better translated as a large box that floats). And that amazing thing about these plans given to Noah about this ark – is the detail. God tells him what specific materials too use; how much to use, and what it should look when its all done. It is as if the divine carpenter reached his hands down from heaven and inscribed a blue print in the perishable mind of a feeble old man. He tells him details: make this ark of gopher wood (300 cubits in length, fifty cubits in width and thirty cubits in heights). It seems so important for Noah to get all of this down. I am about to do a something that will change the face of this earth. Pay attention to these details Noah. Tell your neighbor, “Pay attention to the details.” He says, "I want an ark of Gopher wood with three decks." It has to be three levels high – a level for each of the Godhead – the top level for the Father – the creator and provider, the second level for the son – redeemer and savior – and the bottom level for the holy Ghost – sustainer and comforter. Yeah, Noah you got to pay attention to the details. You see, sometimes we forget that our God is a God of details. He is a God of. Order. He does not operate sporadically and on a whim. God has a plan. God gave similar details in Exodus and Leviticus to Moses and the children of Israel when they were construct the Ark of the Covenant and tabernacle in the wilderness. God gave them detail instructions on how to build a place of worship and even better yet, how to build a people of worship. He told them not only about preparing the house of worship but he told them about preparing their hearts for worship. In the first epistle to the Corinthians, our lord, Jesus gave his people detailed instructions concerning worship. He said for as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord’s death till he come.” WE need to understand our God is also a God of details. God will get specific about some things and obscure with other things. God got detailed in his architecture plans for this ark. He told Noah, "Make yourself an ark."
But, like I said we have to pay attention to the details. He gave Noah the plans for building of this structure. There is no doubt that when Noah leaves his personal meeting with God, he has a plan. He has a vision. Yet, one would have to ask the question if placed in his shoes – where am I going to get the resources to do this? Surely, Noah must have wondered about the cost of this project. He must have thought about the manpower needed to pull it off. He must have wondered about the time and effort this would cost him. I mean, when Noah showed these plans to his family, I wondered how did they react? I wonder what the conversation was like every time Noah told them the things they needed to do to get this ark completed? I wonder if Noah had to go out and get three bids on the gopher wood? I wonder if he was told, “well lets be careful with our spending this month because we are exhausting our account”? I wonder if he had to wait to see if some one was giving away supplies such as hammers, nails, and rope? Or did he have to write a grant for all of that stuff? All God told Noah was, “make yourself an ark.”
Sometimes, all we have to go on is a command. And the very act of moving and acting on that command is a test of our faith. From Noah’s act of faith – we learn three important things. We learn that we too are called to build, to gather, and to enter in.
First, we are called to build. Ask Your Neighbor “Are You Ready to Build?” We are to prepare physically for what is about to take place in the life of this church. We are to make for ourselves an ark. -”We are to build.” The writer of Ecclesiastes proclaims that there is a time for every matter under heaven, a time to break down and a time to build. For what God is calling us to do – this is our time to build. One of my major concerns when receiving this assignment to lead this congregation was the physical edifice. For months, I struggled with what I would call something of an obsession with getting God’s edifice up to par from mopping floors to replacing light bulbs. Together, we felt the call to claim ownership of what given has given us. We painted. We cleaned. We repaired. We got to know this building intimately. We putted out the old blue prints. Looked them over to see what was what. We learned what switched turned on what light and what key turned what lock. And, I could never quite understand why God would have me to be so concern with the physical building. At times, I thought I was getting too caught up with the building. Until I realized that what God was doing. He was and is teaching us together that before we can set sail this ship of Zion, before we could effectively begin any evangelism programs, before we could really invite guests and strangers to this church which we call home, we had to prepare it for their arrival. Unfortunately, we live in the age of sight and sound. With Mass media marketing techniques running rampantly through our society, people have become visually selective. Our catholic forefather had some thing right with including the visual arts in worship. There was something correct in commissioning frescos and murals that attempted to visually capture the beauty of God. It’s a concept that is being revived in our contemporary society. People want an atmosphere of worship. They want to enter into a facility that let’s them know that that are on holy ground. That’s why, we as stewards over God’s temple try to make sure that garbage is removed so our visitors will not have to step over trash to get to the altar. We had to make sure that the grounds were kept so that our visitors would see God’s temple and not a building that should be condemned. And the truth of the matter is that we are still preparing physically. Tomorrow, we have the organ removed and sent off for repairs. We have proposals in hand for a new air conditioning system. We have proposals in hand to have our pews upholster and refinished. Why are we doing all these things? For I believe that God has spoken those same words to us, “Make yourself an ark.” For years many of us have been in the mode and mindset of that of a renter. People who are temporary using space.” But, this place although is it in the name of our ELCA synod, this place belongs to us. We did not have to build it from the ground up. We did not have to take out a second mortgage. All we have to do is one-day buy it at cost not at value (175,000 to $200,000). For a space like this, that is virtually free. Truly, God is telling us what he told the Israelites who came out of captivity that, “I will give you houses you have not built and lands you have not toil.”
Noah was instructed to first build an ark. Then He was to gather the inhabitants for that ark. Noah had the plans and the vision for his ark. Some how, he got the materials to complete the task. But, we always assumed that this man knew how to use a hammer and nail. The theological academy has always assumed that Noah came from a background of carpenters. There is nothing in the text that suggests it. So, we really do not know how skilled Noah was at building anything. Furthermore, I doubt it very seriously if Noah became a zoologist over night. Exactly what kind of evangelism program did Noah have to come up with to gather these animals?
I tend to believe that there are times when God will call the untrained, the unskilled, and the uneducated to accomplish his will in the earth. Think about it. No one is ever really prepared to accomplish the task that God gives him/her. Feeble old Abraham was not prepared to become the father of faith for many nations especially since he thought Sarah and he were well pass their child bearing years. But God used him. David really was not prepared to become king of Israel, especially when his family only thought he was talented enough to shepherd sheep. But God used him.
The twelve disciples were really never prepared to “go into all the world and preach the gospel” especially, when many of them could only see themselves as fishermen, tax collectors, liars, and thieves. But God used them. God has a history of using earthen vessels, untrained, imperfect people to carry out his will throughout the earth. He has a habit of using the broken, the downtrodden, and the forgotten to do his will. He desires to use us. That why we are being spiritually prepared to go out, like Noah, and gather those to come into his ark. He wants to teach us what it means to be contagious Christians. He wants to refine our skills so that we can confidently testify and witness to strangers. He wants us to learn what it means to be a disciple, taking up our cross daily and following him. That knowledge does not come by osmosis but by seeking his face in the written word. Reading our bible. Coming to bible study. Increasing our prayer life. Committing us to worship every week rather than just communion Sundays and fourth Sundays when the children sing. We have to become spiritual prepared so that we can go out and gather the clean and the unclean. God wants the saved and the unsaved. Bid them all to come into the ark. Come into his church. We have to prepare ourselves spiritually to receive young teenager parents. We have to prepare ourselves spiritually to have rap sessions with at risk youths. We have to prepare ourselves to received the unchurched who may not know when to stand, when to sit, when to pray, how to dress, and how to act. We have to spiritually make our hearts and ark for God; so that we will contain his words of wisdom and comfort.
Noah was told to build, to gather, and to enter in. Ask your neighbor: are you ready to enter in? When the time came, Noah had to enter into the ark with his family and those hand picked animals leaving behind some relatives, some neighbors, some co-workers, and some friends who he knew would perished. Now if Noah was as righteous and blameless, as the text would lead us to believe, surely he pleads with his friends to come inside with him before God would seal the door. He and his family had to consciously make the decision that should no one join them, still they would follow the Lord. If their closest friends would never come to no the Lord, they would remain faithful and obedient to the will of God. Noah properly felt in his heart they some of those who would perish were good people. They went to work, paid their taxes, cared for their children, and occasionally donated to charity. They were good people; except, they did not believe in God. Whether we like it are not. The truth of the gospel is that only the righteous shall see God. No matter how good you think you are, no matter how much you have striven to do good things, unless you are willing to enter in to the Ark, you will perish. Unless you are willing to move from being a friend to the body of Christ to becoming a member of the body of Christ, You will perish. Scripture tells us that Christ is returning for a church without blemish not an individual but he is coming for a church – the church universal. What I like about this story is the fact that God instructed Noah to get both the clean and unclean, symbolizing the Jews and the Gentiles. God is coming for a church of composed of Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians Baptists, Pentecostals (main line churches and storefront churches). God is coming for the church universal: Africans, Europeans, Hispanics, and Asians. And the truth of the matter is that with so many fellowships, so many different types of Christian institutions in today’s society – there is really no reason for you not to enter into membership with one of them. By entering into membership, we enter into fellowship with other believers. We enter into discipleship with Christ. We make a former commitment in front of the world, that God will be the head of our lives. By entering in, we come into an ark of salvation and redemption. In the instructions given to Noah about building this ark, God told Noah to cover it inside out with pitch. The Hebrew root word used for pitch means to pardon sin. That pitch covering the ark represents the pardon God has given to its inhabitants from sin. By officially entering into the body of Christ, you will acknowledge the fact that you have been pardon from sin.
And I don’t know about you, but I have made up my mind to enter in. I’ve made up my mind to come into his house with thanksgiving and to enter his gates with praise. I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in. I want my name to be in heaven’s roll book. Yea, I know someone is saying right now, well I just don’t believe that if I’m not a member of some church, God will not let me into heaven. I’m not saying that. But I am saying that our God is a God of details. Why take chances. You don’t take such risks when following other instructions to for your life. You follow the details when it concerns your finances. You pay attention to details with your relationships. Well, why take chances with eternity? There’s a storm out on the ocean, and it ‘s moving this old way. If your souls not anchored in Jesus, you will surely drift away. Make sure your anchors hold unto the solid rock – that rock is Jesus. For many of us, God is asking that final million-dollar question. I am asking you, “Is that your final answer?”
