God’s Persistent Presence

 Genesis 6: 11-22

“11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.”

Humanity had become corrupt. And this corruption had spread even to the earth. So, God determined to destroy all of humanity as well as the earth.  The only exception to this destruction was Noah and his family, and the animals that God sent into the ark.

Noah was faced with the daunting task of building a huge ark exactly to the specifications that God had given him. Once that was done, he was to collect two of every living thing and put them onto the ark.

Scholars estimate that it took Noah somewhere between 75-100 years to build the ark.  We are not told if Noah had ever built even a small boat, but even assuming that he had, I am sure he had never built anything like the ark.  

And I am certain that Noah was not familiar with the care and maintenance of all of the animals that were going to show up on his doorstep once the ark was complete. 

But, God is a personal God.  He is involved.  He does not call us into a task and then abandon us.  He continues to lead us and guide us in the task to which He called us.  

Noah had the help of the greatest boat builder and zoologist of all time.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Noah Persisted

Genesis 6: 5-8

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.”

I wonder what Noah must have felt and experienced as the only righteous man on earth; the only man who still followed the path of God.  In a world full of wickedness, what was it like to be the only believer?

I am sure Noah’s neighbors thought he was strange.   I am sure they laughed at his odd religious habits.  I am sure they thought his prayers to God were useless and his worship frivolous and not relevant.

Nevertheless, Noah persisted in his love for and devotion to God. 

Noah’s persistence is a lesson for all Christians today, in this modern world.  The church is struggling and there are fewer believers, but, as Noah knew, God is still present, God is still the same God of creation, and

God continues to offer us His love and His salvation.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Garden

 Genesis 2: 8-17

“8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

God placed the first humans in a place specifically designed for them; a place where all of their needs were met.  They were also confronted with a choice; whether to obey God or disobey God.  

They were free to choose.

They chose to disobey Him.  And they were banished from Eden.

Although we are no longer living in the lush garden of Eden, God still offers us the abundance of His presence and His love.  And, God still presents us with the same choice of obedience.  

Each day we either choose to obey God or to disobey God.  

The choice is ours.

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? (Luke 6:46)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Seventh Day

 Genesis 2:1-3

“1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”

People seem to be busier today than ever before.  With our dependence on our cell phones we are always connected to our work, always within reach, never out of touch.

But God believes that we should rest; that rest should be a part of the rhythm of life; that we should plan for rest the same way that we plan for work; that we place the same importance on our rest as we place on our work.

God created something beautiful and wondrous.  

And then he rested so that He could enjoy the fruits of His creation.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Sixth Day

 Genesis 1: 26-31

“26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

God created humankind in His image and gave them dominion over every living thing on earth, plants and animals, seeds and fruits.  

Being created in His image meant that we were capable of love, grace, mercy, kindness, goodness, forgiveness, patience, wisdom, righteousness and justice, truthfulness and faithfulness.

God gave us free will so that we could choose the path of love, grace, mercy, etc. over other options.    After all, none of these attributes would mean anything if we could not freely choose them.

Dominion meant that humankind was to choose to manage God’s earth with the attributes of His image (love, grace, mercy, etc.,).

Instead, because of humankind’s bent to sin and fallenness, we have twisted the definition of dominion to mean dominance and control.  As a result, the earth is suffering under our dominion.

Almost a year before he died, Professor Stephen Hawking, a world renowned physicist, wrote that, in his estimation as well as other scientists, humankind has 100 years to find another planet and move to it before the earth becomes uninhabitable.

If we move to a new planet in a 100 years or so, will our basic nature as humans remain the same?  Will we manage the new planet in a different way that we managed the one God created for us?  

Will we choose to manage it as God would manage it?  

Will we manage it in His image?

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Fifth Day

Genesis 1:20-23

“20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.”

God’s creation is a creation of abundance the breadth of which we are just beginning to realize.  According to the latest estimates there are 100 billion galaxies in the universe containing 200 billion trillion stars. There are 3,200 solar systems in our galaxy alone.

On our earth, scientists estimate that there are 8.7 million species of animals, but the vast majority of them are unknown to us and it could take us up to 1,000 years to identify them all.

Humankind knows only a small fraction of the knowledge that is available to know in the universe.

God’s creation speaks His name to us.  The whole of the universe sings out, saying,

“God is truly great and wonderful.”

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is humankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Fourth Day

 Genesis 1:14-19

“14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”

Since the beginning of time, people have valued light.  We learned to guide ourselves by the stars and the sun.  We have used fire as a source of heat and light.  Because very few of us like to sit in a dark room, we invented artificial light so that we could light up our houses at night.

We are a people of light.  Light gives us good physical and mental health.  The sunrise brings a new day and a new beginning.  Light gives us hope.

The God of creation is the God of new days, new beginnings, new hope.

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)