covenant

Faith in the Flood

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Faith in the Flood

November 05, 2023*

By Pastor John Partridge

Joshua 3:7-17             Matthew 23:1-12                               1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

There is an old joke about a flood and a faithful saint of the church. The weather forecast was for torrential rains and flooding and people were advised to evacuate. But when two sheriff’s deputies came to the door of this faithful saint asking them to leave, they simply replied that “God will provide.” And so, the rains came, and the flood waters rose. Soon the first floor of their house was under water, and they moved all their valuables up to the second floor. About that time, a Boy Scout came by in a canoe and offered to carry them to safety, but they refused and simply said, “God will provide.” It continued to rain and to flood waters continued to rise, and soon, this faithful saint of the church was sitting on their roof. And, as they were sitting on their roof, the National Guard arrived in a helicopter and offered to lift them out of their distress, but they again declined saying, “God will provide.” Not long after that, the flood waters carried that saint away and, when they were welcomed at the pearly gates of heaven they cried out, “God, why didn’t you save me?” And God replied, “Well, I sent two sheriff’s deputies, a Boy Scout, and the National Guard. What more did you want?”

I have always liked that joke because it’s funny and because it points us toward one of the church’s common failures. Well-known Croatian theologian Miroslav Volf said, “There is something deeply hypocritical about praying for a problem you are unwilling to resolve.” The question isn’t whether our lives will have storms and floods, the question is what we will do when we face them. That is what we see in Joshua 3:7-17, because as the people of Israel prepare to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, Joshua commands the priests to take a step of faith… right into the middle of the flood.

7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. 8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”

9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”

14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So, the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

The Jordan River is at flood stage and is a raging torrent. So violently does it flow that Jericho isn’t even watching this border as closely as they might because Baal is the god of rivers and storms, and this was the season that they could see his power and knew that he was protecting them. After the adventure with the spies, Israel almost certainly knew that as well. Further, as one of the two spies who had lived through the 40 years in the wilderness, Joshua was personally aware of this. Nonetheless, God commands Joshua to tell the priests who carry the arc of the covenant, to “go and stand in the river.” Just go and stand in the middle of the raging torrent of the harvest flood. Worse, the banks of the Jordan are often not gentle slopes but rapid drop-offs that would be invisible in the muddy floodwaters. I’m sure that those priests had some concerns, but they also had faith in God and faith in Joshua. With the weight of the ark on their shoulders, and almost no chance of catching themselves if they stumbled, the priests do as they were asked and boldly step into the rushing water.

And the water stopped.

As soon as their feet touched the water, the water stopped flowing and piled up in a heap upstream of them and, as the priests stood in the middle of the riverbed, the entire nation of Israel crossed the river on dry ground. The people of God, and especially those priests weighted down with the ark of covenant on their shoulders, didn’t just pray for God’s deliverance and their entry into the Promised Land, they acted on their faith, and they stepped out into the flood.

But the priests and the leaders of the church aren’t always that faithful and aren’t always the best example for people to follow. That was the case in Matthew 23:1-12 when Jesus tells the people to live their lives differently than Israel’s leaders.

23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacterieswide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Jesus says that although the teachers of the law and the Pharisees hold important leadership positions, and although the people must be careful to follow their instructions and do as the leaders teach, they should not live by the example that those leaders provide. Those leaders lived a life that was all about the show. They wore flashy religious vestments and large phylacteries, which were prayers or scriptures that were etched in silver, copper, or even on baked clay tablets. While rabbis routinely wore tassels on their robes, these leaders had to had bigger, and longer tassels then everyone else. And, whenever there was a banquet, or when they went to church, they had to have the most visible, and most important seats in the house so that everyone could see how important they were. But while they put on a good show, they didn’t live lives that demonstrated the things that they taught. Jesus said that the people who would be the greatest among them, would first be a servant to others. Following Jesus, honoring God, and living a life of faith wasn’t about looking good, it was all about having the humility to live a life that acted on faith and did the work of the kingdom of God.

That’s exactly the message that we hear Paul telling the people of the church in Thessalonica in his letter that we read in 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 when he says…

9 Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless we were among you who believed. 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

Paul asks the people of the church to remember the example that he and his fellow missionaries provided for them as they lived among them. They worked, and they worked hard, day and night, so that they would not be a burden to the church, but they also lived lives that were holy, righteous, and blameless. They did not rule over them as some leaders do, but encouraged and comforted them, and treated them as if they were their own children so that they could urge them to live lives that were worthy of the God who called them into his kingdom. Paul says that he and his associates continually thank God because the people of the church not only received the word of God but allowed God to work through them. They didn’t just accept Jesus and have faith in Jesus, they lived out their faith through their actions.

The people of Israel had faith in God and believed that he would lead them into the Promised Land, but the evidence of that faith was visibly seen when the priests carrying the ark of the covenant boldly stepped forward into the raging flood waters of the Jordan River.

While Jesus acknowledged that the people should be obedient to their leaders, he also told them that in order to honor God, they had to do better. Rather putting on a good show, a true life of faith is a life that serves others and demonstrates God’s love through the actions of the believer.

And Paul says much the same thing. The proof of the message that they taught was found in the way that they lived, and the proof that the church had believed was seen, not in the words that they spoke or in the worship of their people, but in the work that they did among those who did not believe.

We may laugh at the imaginary saint of the church that prayed to God but ignored two sheriff’s deputies, a Boy Scout, and the National Guard, but the truth is that faith demands that we do more than pray.

Real faith is found in the actions of the church.

Real faith is when we roll up our sleeves and get to work.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Covenant of a Clear Conscience

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“Covenant of a Clear Conscience”

February 18, 2018

By John Partridge*

 

Genesis 9:8-17                                   Mark 1:9-15                           1 Peter 3:18-22

 

 

Have you ever watched the news when there is a press conference to announce the end of a particularly difficult labor negotiation?  I don’t care if it’s the steel workers, or the school board, or a Major League Baseball franchise, there is one word that you seem to hear over and over during the press conference, and that is… contract.  I usually sounds like, “We’re here today to announce that all parties have agreed to this new contract.  Negotiating this contract was difficult and although everyone didn’t get everything that they wanted, everyone was willing to compromise to reach an agreement on this contract.  Thanks to this contract, we can all get back to work and be successful together.”  Doesn’t that language sound familiar?  It does, because the repeated word, “contract” is important, and it is one that the negotiators want to emphasize.

 

In our society, a contract is something with which we are familiar.  Almost all of us have signed contracts at one time or another.  We know that those contracts are legally binding on all the parties that sign them, and that there are penalties and even fines that can be incurred if anyone fails to live up to their part of the deal.  Now kick that all up a notch and you can better understand the biblical idea of a covenant.  A covenant was not just a religious thing; it was a legal one that was often used between nations.  Like contracts, covenants usually included a list of what was expected of each party as well as a list of what terrible things would happen to anyone who failed to live up to their part of the deal. The signing of a covenant was often combined with one or several animal sacrifices as a symbol to everyone that the signing of the covenant required the shedding of blood and the breaking of that covenant would also bring about the shedding of blood or death.

 

With that in mind, then I think we can better appreciate the significance of God’s words contained in Genesis 9:8-17, where God describes his promise to Noah, to all of humanity, and to all of creation after the global flood had ended.

 

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

 

Just like those news conference we mentioned earlier, God mentions the word “covenant’ seven times in nine verses and in addition, repeatedly refers to “every living creature,” “all generations,” “never again,” and “everlasting.”  God wanted to make a point that this was a solemn promise that God intended to keep and that humanity never needed to worry about God going back on his promise.   At least from this one disaster, we were safe.

 

And then, thousands of years later, Mark records for us this story and the words of Jesus in Mark 1:9-15.

 

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

 

Jesus went to John at the Jordan River and was baptized by him.  Following his baptism, Jesus went out into the wilderness for 40 days and was tempted by Satan.  But after all of that, the message that Jesus shared with the world was that the kingdom of God had come near and that everyone should repent and believe the good news.  With the coming of Jesus, heaven is torn open and comes to earth.  Instead of heaven being a place that was far away, the kingdom of God had come to earth and lived among humanity.  God was no longer far away, but as close as your neighbor, as close as your next breath, as close as your own heart.  God was no longer confined to heaven, but entered into the hearts of those who believed.  But the baptism of Jesus also symbolized something even more important and the Apostle Peter explains that in 1 Peter 3:18-22.

 

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

 

In this passage, Peter speaks about God’s new covenant with his people, and that is the promise that comes through Jesus Christ.  Peter reminds everyone that since the days of Noah, water has been a symbol of salvation and rescue, but Noah and the ark only managed to rescue eight people.  With the coming of God’s new covenant, Jesus entered into the grave and revealed the truth to those who were imprisoned there (Note: theologians aren’t clear whether Peter was referring to the spirits of dead people who lived in the time of Noah, or if these were fallen angels who had been imprisoned by God).  But Peter makes the bigger point that baptism becomes for us a symbol of Jesus’ three days in the grave and his subsequent resurrection.

 

Baptism, Peter argues, is not about washing and cleanliness, and it isn’t even about ritual purification in the way that the Jews had traditionally done it.  Instead, baptism is a symbol that we take upon ourselves where we join with Christ in the grave (which is the water), pass through the trial that is death, and emerge from the water not only purified, but conquerors of suffering, trials and death, forgiven and resurrected to a new life in Christ Jesus.  It is because of this that we have received the new covenant of God through Jesus Christ, or what Peter calls “the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.”  Once we have received the gift of Jesus Christ and have given our lives to him, we no longer need to fear God, or worry about the sins that we have committed in the past because we are assured that we are a forgiven people who died with Christ and have left our guilt, our shame, and our sin in the grave behind us.

 

This is the gift that we have received.

 

This is the gift of the covenant of a clear conscience.

 

And so as we leave this place and move forward into the future, we are left with two tasks: First, we should rejoice and give thanks to God that we have been given such an invaluable gift.  And second, because this gift is so incredible, we must not keep it to ourselves but instead we must find ways to share this good news with our neighbors, our friends, our family, and with all the world.

 

What will you do with your gift?

 

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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646.  These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org.  To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn.   These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.