Genesis 6:11-22; 7:11-12 & 18-23; 8:1-5 & 15-19; 9:1-3 & 12-16

When I managed to raise my head off the pillow this morning after a day of lifting and shifting helping Laura and Hella to move yesterday (Elaine and I have the bruises to prove it!), I realised that it was raining and that I was about to write my sermon linked with Noah and The Flood. I thought to myself, God sure does have a sense of humour - talk about making it realistic!

Anyway, I'm sure most of us know the story of Noah and The Great Flood but if not then I expect we got the gist of it from tonight's reading. Actually there is enough archaeological and geological evidence to suggest that there was indeed a great flood which covered the earth many thousands of years ago, so these biblical writers were perhaps not as mad as some of us may think!

God was so disappointed and heart broken about the way the Human Race had developed that God felt something needed to be done so that people and animals could start again in the hope that next time it might be different. I don't know if any of you have a rift from someone you care about in your own family? I do. My Brother. It saddens me greatly to think that a gulf has emerged between us because of misunderstandings and because of selfishness. E will tell you that I have tried so hard to talk to him and make progress in our relationship, but my Brother refuses to see further than his own perception.

Now if I feel drained because of his attitude towards me and his refusal to acknowledge me, then how much more must God feel absolutely devastated and heart-broken when God's creation wants no more to do with their Creator. At the point of The Flood, God was so aware that everyone had turned their back on their Maker apart from Noah, that there was only one way forward and that was to start again.

Now the way in which Noah responded to God's command was amazing - he was in tune with God in such a way that he heard what God had told him. It must have been so clear because he even knew what size to make the ark. How many of us would build anything because we thought God had told us? Let alone then tell everyone it was going to rain so hard and so much (remember this was the Middle East where there isn't much rain anyway), that they would all drown if they didn't get on this boat that was standing on sand!

The thing is why did God have to do it? It was such a heart-rending thing for God to do. God had tried to make headway with the people that God loved, but they had all chosen to turn their back on the One who had given them life. How difficult it must have been for God to decide to do something that drastic. God knows the way we think and the things we decide to do so God must have known that only Noah and his family had God in their lives, therefore it was only this small group of people who could give the Human Race any hope for the future.

If we see plants in our houses that are overgrown and probably dying, what do we do? Well, most people know that they need cutting back. Why? Well because that way, the small stem left can regain all its energy from the root and begin to grow as it was intended to in the first place. Then what happens over the next few weeks, especially if we remember to water and feed it, is that new shoots start to appear and a healthy plant begins to emerge, looking younger and more vibrant than ever before.

I believe that was God's purpose in allowing the Great Flood to happen and I believe that is God's purpose for many of us in this church today. There were 2 results of The Flood: (i) was that God promised never to allow something so shocking to ever happen again and (ii) Humanity was given another chance. Noah and his family took that opportunity to draw close to God and to allow God to be very much a part of their lives. Because of this incident, ultimately, Judaism was established and this led eventually to God sending Jesus to give us all the ultimate opportunity to know God intimately.

God pruned creation to enable wondrous things to occur and to allow a personal relationship with God to develop and I believe that God wants this church and each one of us to grow and blossom beyond our wildest imaginings. But to do so, we have to be willing to be pruned. You might say, "Well, what does that mean?"

Well it will be different for each one of us although it often involves a willingness to change in one way or another.
I. It might be that God is asking us if we are really willing to move on from this building because if we are, then we will grow in strength.
II. It might be that God is asking us if we are willing to commit to this church in membership or to commit to God through baptism because God has a purpose in us being here and if we say yes, we will blossom more and more.
III. It may be that God is asking us to give something up that is not helping our witness as a Christian or something that is hurting our own bodies - if we have the courage to follow God's calling, we will see God move in our lives and other people around us blessed by God in a new way.
IV. It may be that God is challenging us to cut back on some time that we spend indulging in something for ourselves when God wants us to spend just a little bit more time in prayer and worship so that God can draw closer to us and we can hear what God is trying to say to us.

How much do we really want to grow? How much are we willing to give over to God to allow to be pruned so that we can really mature in new spiritual ways? What is God asking us to prune back tonight so that the Holy Spirit can nurture and cultivate us? Let us never think that when we become Christians we have arrived, but may we always remember that giving ourselves to Jesus is just the beginning.

One more thing, whatever God asks us to do, let us remember that there will always be a rainbow waiting at the end of it to remind us how much God loves us.