An Invitation to a Safe Place: God's Grief, Grace, and Guidance

Sermon delivered by: Pastor Harold W. Finch, Sr. on August 7, 2011

Scripture - Genesis 6:5-8 (NIV)

 ⁵ The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. ⁷ So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

• Evil and sin that goes unchecked brings death and destruction (which is what God saw in His creation). Because of the evil He saw in His creation, he became grieved.

1. God's Grief -  We live in a modern society where we can access various amount of technology. We have cars, computers, and cell phones, etc. Whenever something goes wrong with your technology or item, you would take it to the manufacturer to get it fixed. Have you ever noticed that when a company has the same or similar issues with the same item that was created? They issue out a recall. This is what God was experiencing when he saw that there was evil among us. God, our manufacturer, became angered, tired, and dismayed that mankind continued to "malfunction" -- disobey, ignore, work and follow other agendas outside of His will. Because of the deliberate "malfunctions" in mankind, God's final decision was to destroy mankind, although He did not want to create mankind again... which led to his grace.
2. God's Grace - Because God did not want to "manufacture" mankind once again, He wanted to look around to see if there was at least one man that He could find favor in. Scripture says "...Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD," which meant God did not have to completely start over with mankind. Because of God's mercy and grace, God will always try to find some kind of way to give us a chance, in some form or fashion. God will always give us multiple chances to dedicate our lives to Him (God even told Noah to warn the people about the destruction that would eventually come). Noah's dedication to God saved his whole family from God's judgement; Noah's dedication to God led him to be completely faithful to His commands as God guided him.
3. God's Guidance - When God called on him to build the ark, He gave Noah and his sons specific directions on how to build the ark, and to continue to preach to the people about God's judgement that was coming soon. After the ark was completed, Noah had to gather up two of every animal. Eventually when everything was completed, the rain came, and God shut the door to the ark when Noah, his family, and all of the animals where on the ark. The key point that we learn from this story is that although Noah never knew what rain (or a boat for that matter) was, he trusted and had faith in God's guidance. Noah may not have understood why God told him to do a particular thing, however Noah followed without hesitation.

Today, the church is the new "ark". The church is where we go for a "safe place," as Noah and his family did when the rain came. There were many people who tried to come to the "safe place" but there was no recovery to be found at that time (remember, He closed the ark door to where no man could open).When God gives us a command, it is not up to us to decide whether or not we should follow it; even when we do not understand what God has us doing, He has the answers and we will be blessed in the long-run.God always asks us to do right; it is always possible. As people, we are stubborn and we like to follow our own agendas; however, God just wants us to love, be kind, and live peaceably with each other. "The worst us yet to come, before it gets better... God will not bless your mess until you do it His way; It's gonna rain, and if you want to be in the safe place then just be obedient to God... We can celebrate the fact that the rain subsided; we can celebrate God today because he has invited us into a safe place, where we can find peace and joy." It is is also important to remember that "it's not enough to do the right thing, but to do what's right," and God never suggests anything, but He tells you what needs to be done so you can be used for the building of His Kingdom.