The Great Flood, Part One: The Place of Safety | Genesis 6:11-18

*Preached at Grace North Church February 16, 2003.*

The Huron Indians, in their creation mythology, tell us that in the beginning there was nothing but water. Many animals lived in or on the water, but there were no people anywhere. Then, one day, a woman fell down from the upper world. The Hurons speculate that she was pushed from the upper world by her husband, which perhaps tells us something about Huron marriages. In any case, two loons saw her falling, and dove to save her. They caught her and bore her on their backs. Then they cried out to the other animals to help them.

Soon many animals had assembled, including the great turtle, who agreed to relieve the loons of their burden for the time being. The woman crawled onto the shell of the great turtle, and a grand council of the animals began. "What should we do," the great turtle cried out to the assembled animals, "How shall we save the life of this woman?" After much debate, it was decided that the woman needed dry land to live upon.

But there was no such thing as dry land. The great turtle told them that there was earth at the bottom of the sea. All they needed to do was to dive down and get some. Many of the animals tried, the beaver, the musk-rat, and many others-but all without success, and in fact, many died in the attempt. Those that did make it back alive were taken to the great turtle. He searched their mouths for some spot of dirt, but could find none.

At last the toad went down, and after a long time rose again, almost dead. When he searched his mouth, the great turtle found a tiny speck of earth, which he promptly gave to the woman. She took it and placed it on the great turtle's shell. This was the beginning of dry land. The land grew and extended on every side, forming at last a great country, an island of safety which is supported by the great turtle even today.

The great flood is a myth which has its analog in nearly every mythology we know of. All of them tell of a time when water alone covered the earth, and how a place of safety was found for human beings. In the Huron story it is the animals which save the human, but in the great flood myth of the Hebrew peoples, the story of Noah, it is the human which creates a place of safety for the animals.

In this story, humankind has become very wicked, and God decides to wipe the earth clean and start fresh with a single, faithful family. So God tells Noah that a great flood is coming, and that he should build an ark, a great boat, in which he and his family, and every manner of beast and bird can take refuge when the waters strike.

This Noah does. Even though his neighbors taunt him, and his family threatens to leave him for being a loon himself, Noah doggedly pursues his Quixotic vision. He builds the ark, and collects the animals. And just when everyone is sure he's crazy, it starts to rain. Then, suddenly, his family realizes the old man is not quite as batty as he seems, and so they hop on board and get cozy with the bats, and every other sort of beastie.

Just like the land on the back of the great turtle, the ark becomes a place of safety, where humans and animals alike can find refuge from the wild and storm-tossed seas.

Noah and his ark is a favorite myth of children everywhere, but it is important for we adults as well, as the ark has become an archetypal image that continued to assert itself in the human imagination throughout our long cultural evolution. The next time we encounter such imagery in the Hebrew scriptures is in ancient Israel, when Moses dictated the Law to the children of Israel, who were themselves newly rescued from slavery.

In the book of Numbers, one of the Five Books of Moses, God tells his people that they shall select six cities to be Cities of Refuge. You see back then, if you killed a person, it was the duty of the relatives of the person you killed to hunt you down and kill YOU. And if you meant to kill the person you killed, such justice would be deemed most appropriate. But what if you DIDN'T mean to kill the person? What if it was an accident? Then you were to flee to one of the Cities of Refuge, where the revenge of the slain person's family must wait until a fair trial could take place. If, after the trial, you were judged innocent, that the death was indeed accidental, then you would be free to remain in the City of Refuge. If, however, you left the City at any time, the vengeance of your victim's family could still be lawfully extracted from you. The killer must remain within the City of Refuge until the high priest's death. Only after the death of the high priest, could the person guilty of manslaughter return home without fear of vengeance.

History does not tell us how well this system worked, but it is an intriguing notion just the same, and one that carried on for quite some time, right up through the medieval church, when a church's sanctuary was sanctuary indeed. A criminal need only flee to a church to be safe from the long arm of the law, or at least until true guilt could be established. The church, then, became the City of Refuge for those whose punishment outweighs their crimes.

But there is another sense in which the Church was seen as the place of safety, which goes back to the early church fathers. For they spoke of the church as the new ark. Like Noah's ark, where all the animals found refuge from the flood, the church became the new ark, where all peoples could find refuge from the world. For the world was, figuratively speaking, on the brink of destruction. In the first few centuries of the church, people expected the end of the world in their own lifetimes. If you were a part of the church, you were "on the ark", so to speak. If you were not part of the church, you were not on the ark, and so would not be saved when the storm of fire arrived. Thus, preachers everywhere spoke of the world's imminent demise and exhorted people to make haste and "get aboard the ark."

This is not only part of our religious history, this imagery is also part of our national heritage. For in New York Harbor, there stands a statue that was a gift of our friends the French (and let us not forget that they are our friends). The Statue of Liberty stands as a symbol to the poor and the oppressed peoples of the earth. The promise of the statue is simple, if your life has been hard, if your government is despotic, if you long for freedom and safety, you are welcome here. The United States of America has, for most of our history, seen itself as THE great city of refuge, granting a place of safety and prosperity to all who would come aboard this troubled but seaworthy ark.

I worry if, in becoming the aggressors in a global conflict, we are not somehow betraying this great vocation of ours to be the City of Refuge to the world. We are supposed to be the place of safety, and yet we are making the world a very unsafe place indeed. Many people are speaking out against this war. I have never seen a more unpopular military action in all my days. But I also feel weak and defeated, as our leaders seem hell-bent on war, regardless of whether or not they have a mandate from the people.

But this is not news; we often feel disempowered when it comes to national politics. And, to some degree, we do have very little power. So what can we do to keep America's vocation of being a City of Refuge safe? We can make it so in our own neighborhood, even if we cannot do so in the nation at large. For while we are part of the United States, truly it is in Berkeley that we live, move, and have our being. And it is within this community that we are called to most consciously live out this dream.

Is Grace North Church a place of safety? Is it a place where absolutely everyone can take refuge and find healing and community, regardless of their skin color, religious affiliation, criminal record, sexual orientation, mental health, or social standing? Do we want it to be? It is certainly what I believe God is calling us to be. And it is something I feel we do well, Not perfectly, certainly, but if trying counts, then WE count.

It is a holy calling, one that has been the responsibility of the people of God in every age. The creatures felt called to create a place of safety for the woman who fell from the sky. Noah felt called to create a place of safety for his family and all the wild beasts of the earth, perhaps returning the favor. Moses felt called to establish Cities of Refuge where those guilty of manslaughter could find their own lives spared. The church fathers felt called to create a place of safety from a world they were sure was doomed. And America's own founding fathers felt called to create a place of safety for the poor, the tired, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. And we, in 2003 are being called to create another ark here in this very place. Let us declare Grace North Church to be a City of Refuge, and let us declare this reality to everyone who needs it. Let us take refuge ourselves, and let us cultivate a place of safety here for one another. For in the eye of the storm, there is calm, a place of safety. You are called to BE that calm, and to offer that place of safety to your neighbor. Let us pray

O God, in the beginning you moved over the face of the deep, and brought forth land, our first place of safety. Help us, when we are tossed to and fro by the many storms of life to take refuge in thee, and to seek refuge with thy people. Heal us and make us strong, so that like that little piece of earth stuck to great turtle's shell, our place of safety may expand and enlarge, and become big enough to shelter many souls. Give to us, we beseech thee, generosity of spirit, that we may act out of our own sense of safety and create a City of Refuge large enough for all who in need of it. Grant to our souls peace, and help us to make here a place where peace can be extended to all we know and touch. For we ask this in the name of Jesus, who also fell out of the sky, and who goes to prepare a place of safety for us in the life to come. Amen.