Postkiwi Duncan Macleod

“May the Lord smile on you”
Numbers 6:25 (New Living Translation)

“Noah was a pleasure to the Lord”
Genesis 6:2

Day 9 in The Purpose Driven Life has Rick Warren using the story of Noah and the Ark to explore the question, “What Makes God Smile?”

Noah loved God supremely.

The NRSV translation says, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.” . The New Living Translation has put the Hebrew concepts of into classic Evangelical language: “Noah consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with Him.” Genesis 6:9b (New Living Translation)

Walking with God - that’s the image I find helpful here. It implies that Noah’s life with God was not linked with a daily quiet time - reading the Bible and praying about the day. He didn’t have a Bible for starters. He had to find a way of living his life without blame - with integrity. Although I believe that our relationship with God is supreme, I don’t think we can understand that relationship on the same level as the relationship between two people.

Noah trusted God completely.

This an interesting one. It’s obvious that the in the story of Noah that he does get the ark built. But we don’t know about the process. We don’t know if Noah doubted, or if he complained, or if he made excuses. What counts is that eventually that ark was ready when the rains came.

I like Bill Cosby’s take on the events

Noah: Right … Who is this really? What’s going on? How come you want me to do all these weird things?
God: I’m going to destroy the world.
Noah: Right … Am I on Candid Camera? How are you gonna do it?
God: I’m going to make it rain for a thousand days and drown them right out.
Noah: Right … Listen, do this and you’ll save water. Let it rain for forty days and forty nights and wait for the sewers to back up.
God: Right…

See the skit as performed on the Jack Parr Show in 1963.

Click on the image below to play the video in YouTube (HD)

Best of Bill Cosby at Amazon.com

That complete trust in God involved some conversation between Noah and God. It was not a case of blind trust.

Noah obeyed God wholeheartedly.

It’s a big assumption to say, as Rick Warren does, that Noah didn’t have any questions, objections or reservations. Where in the Bible does that come from?

I firmly believe that calling people to ‘instant obedience’ without understanding is dangerous and manipulative. This is the language of cults. Certainly there are some things we need to do without understanding all the subtleties. Forgiving someone can be an obedient action before the desire or attitude kicks in. But I don’t think God treats us as robots who obey. Try ordering anyone around like that and see what happens.

God smiles when we praise and thank him continually.

Noah offers his sacrificed animal to God after he gets to dry land. Rick uses this act as a reminder that we are called to offer our thanks and praise to God, obviously avoiding the slaughter of animals as we do so.

A thankful attitude does make us more pleasant to be with. I’m sure God enjoys our thankfulness and appreciation

Noah used his abilities.

Rick points out that those abilities included making love to his spouse, bringing up kids, planting crops and eating meals. He reminds us that God gains pleasure in watching us enjoy his creation, using all our senses. Amen to that.

I like the way Rick reminds us that God enjoys us at every point of our development. God is not an unpleasable teacher or parent.

Today’s a helpful reminder to me that pleasing God is the highest priority of my life. I’m not here to curry favour with anyone. I’m here to live the life God calls me to. There is no shortage of people with a plan for my life. “Work this way. Speak this way. Apply for this position. Aspire to this ambition.” I’m strengthened by the reminder that I’m living for God’s pleasure.