Advent Day 4

Remember our last story? Adam and Eve and the spark of hope God gave them? Let’s fast forward now through many generations. Adam and Eve’s family had grown into many different families. They lived, they worked, they laughed, they took care of their children, they saw the light of the sun circle the earth countless times.

But it appears that they lost something. They lost the spark. They let in a kind of darkness that creeps into a heart and spreads to others around you. They fought. They killed. They mocked truth and grew very wicked in their ways. Children watched their parents...as children are known to do. Boys who had angry fathers became angry men. Girls who had rebellious mothers most certainly learned how to be rebellious women. Those people raised children. Their children fought and relationships were broken. And it became very hard to say “I’m sorry.” (That is a phrase of Light afterall.)  

You can probably remember being in a group of people who are all in bad moods. Or people who are all being unkind to one another. You can try to keep your spirits up, you can try to be the one who smiles and lets others have their way...but after awhile, you get tired. You break down. Before you know it, you are the one yelling or saying those cutting words. You need help in order to your head in the middle of so many unhappy people.

So imagine a place where evil ruled every day. Yet in this wicked, stormy time, amidst all of the evil: the anger, the rudeness, the mockery...one man kept the flame alive. One man continued to walk with God. He certainly wasn’t perfect and I think he knew it. The truly righteous people always know they are less than good. No, he wasn’t perfect, but he hoped. He believed. And when he received news of what he needed to do to be saved...he acted.

And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,  for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.  Make yourself an ark of gopher wood....For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.  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.” Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

When Noah obeyed God, people made fun of him. They mocked him. No doubt he felt very alone and perhaps he was tempted to quit and let their darkness spread to his heart. But when God makes a covenant (or agreement) with someone, He will not allow them to quit. He keeps their spark alive. He and He alone. Like a giant set of hands cupped around a candle.

Another will come...a great, great, great (and so on) grandson of Noah. He will walk on the earth, he will work and live and eat and laugh. He also will offer a way through the storm. His life will bring a new covenant, a new agreement, and a greater light than the world has ever seen. And you can be sure that those who join in this covenant will be mocked, made fun of, and hurt. But you can also be sure that God will never allow them to lose their spark.