“CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?”
GENESIS 6:9-12, 8:14-19

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
13 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.
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.
16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.
17 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.
18 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.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.
20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.
21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out.
15 Then God said to Noah,
16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you.
17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.
19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

Can you hear me now? That’s the tag line for the Verizon cell phone commercial. Most of you have probably seen the commercial. It shows a Verizon employee who travels to all kinds of out of the way places. When he gets there he holds his Verizon cell phone up and asks, “Can you hear me now?”
The commercial is effective because Verizon knows that people get frustrated when they’re having a conversation and suddenly the person on the other end of the cell phone can’t hear you.. It’s also frustrating when you’re having a conversation and the person you’re talking to doesn’t want to hear what you have to say.

It happens from time to time.
Sometimes it’s a child who doesn’t like it when you tell him that he has to clean his room or go to bed.
Sometimes it’s a parent who doesn’t like it when you suggest that they really need to move into an assisted living facility.
Sometimes it’s a friend who doesn’t like it when you tell them they were wrong and that they did something that they shouldn’t have done.

It’s frustrating when someone doesn’t want to listen to what you have to say.
Judith Viorst is a best selling author who tells a story about a mother who got very frustrated when her son wouldn’t listen to what she had to say. While interviewing children for an essay on “What Makes A Good Mother” she met a little girl by the name of Megan. Megan told her, “My mommy got so mad, that she yanked the plate off the table and all the mashed potatoes flew into the air." Viorst pretended to be shocked and asked, "And why, would a mother do a thing like that?" "Well," Megan said, "she told my older brother, Mike, he's 11 years old, to eat the potatoes on his plate and he said 'Later.' And then she told him again to eat the potatoes and Mike said 'Soon.' And then she told him he had better eat those potatoes right now and he said, 'In a minute.' And then she stood up and Mike finally took a bite and told her, 'How can I eat them? They're cold!'" That’s when the mashed potatoes flew into the air.

It’s frustrating when someone won’t listen to you. That’s why I wonder if God was frustrated right before the raindrops started to fall back in the days of Noah. Now here’s the thing. If God’s love is from everlasting to everlasting then God must have done everything possible to warn everyone about the danger that was looming just over the horizon. The only one who was willing to listen though was Noah; good old Noah.

Unfortunately, my first encounter with the story of Noah and the Ark was a little traumatic. The encounter took place while I was sitting a dentist’s waiting room. I must have been six or seven at the time. As I sat there I saw a Children’s Picture Bible on the table in front of me. So, I opened it up and started reading the story about Noah and the Ark. On the first page there was a picture of good old Noah building the Ark. When I turned the page though I was horrified to see the Ark being tossed around by the wind and the waves while the people outside the Ark were drowning and crying out for help. I remember thinking to myself, “If only they’d known a little sooner what was going to happen.”

Today, my faith tells me that the problem wasn’t with God. The problem was with them. They weren’t listening to what God was trying to tell them.

Why is it so hard sometimes to listen and accept what God is trying to tell you?
Sometimes its because your pride gets in the way. You don’t want anyone telling you what to do or how to live your life and that includes God.

That’s the problem that a rabbi found himself dealing with one day. It seems the rabbi and the synagogue’s Council members weren’t seeing eye to eye. So, the Council president called a meeting to settle their disputes once and for all. However, while they were airing out their differences the Council president became impatient and called for a vote. Slips of paper were handed out and after the votes were counted he announced the results. “Well rabbi,” he said, “it’s 11 to 1 against you. We have the majority.” At that point the rabbi rose to his feet and said very indignantly, “So, you think this vote proves that you’re right and I’m wrong? Well you’re wrong again.” The rabbi then raised his hands to the heavens and cried out, “I call upon the Holy One of Israel to give us a sign that proves that I’m the one who’s right.” As soon as the rabbi spoke the words there was a loud clap of thunder and a brilliant flash of lighting. The lightning struck the mahogany table in front of them and split it in two. The room was filled with smoke and the Council members and president were all thrown to the floor. Meanwhile the rabbi stood there completely unscathed. Slowly the Council president picked himself up off the floor. His hair was singed, his glasses were hanging off of one ear and his clothing was completely disheveled. “Okay. Okay,” the president said with a trembling voice. “The vote is 11 to 2, but we still have the majority.”

Some people don’t listen to God because their pride gets in the way.
So the clouds get darker and God says “Can you hear me now?”
The wind picks up and God says, “Can you hear me now?”
The rain begins to fall and God says, “Can you hear me now?”

Some people have just the opposite problem when it comes to listening to God. They don’t listen because they’re convinced that they’re not good enough or important enough for God to actually speak to them. Do you ever feel that way? Do you ever think that God only speaks to saints and important people? If you do then go back and take another look at the Old Testament. What you’ll discover is that most of the people God spoke to back then were simple every day people. Take another look at the Gospels and you’ll see that Jesus spent most of his time talking to simple every day people.

Whenever there’s a problem on the horizon you can be sure that God is going to speak to you. Somehow, someway God is going to try and get a message to you. Some people don’t listen though, not because their pride gets in the way or because they’re convinced that they’re not good enough or important enough. They don’t listen because they want a solution to their problem that’s quick and easy.

Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works. God knows that the best solution to a problem is usually the solution that’s going to be hard. God knows that the best solution to a problem is usually the solution that requires you to swallow your pride or to accept a reality that you can’t change or makes you work and sweat a while before things get better.

Just look at what happened to Noah. Noah listened to God and he had to go out and build and ark. He then he had to go and round up all those animals. Then he had to spend 120 days on that ark feeding those animal, taking care of them and cleaning up after them. Can you imagine what it must have looked like in the bottom of that Ark? It must have stunk big time on that Ark! What Noah had to do wasn’t easy and he did it when he should have been enjoying his Golden Years. Noah, after all, was 600 years old at the time.

God’s solution to your problems and the problems that you see in the world around you usually aren’t quick and easy.

That’s why God just might be speaking to us in the story about the woman who felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. One day she decided to get away from all of her problems. So, she went shopping. As she wandered through the mall she eventually ended up in a store that she’d never seen before. The man behind the counter looked strangely familiar. So, she walked up to him and asked, “Are you Jesus?” The man smiled and said, “Yes, I am.” Jesus explained to the woman that he owned the store and he encouraged her to take a look around. He told her to make a list of everything she wanted. Then, when she was done Jesus told her to come back and he would see what he could do for her. Well, the woman quickly took him up on the offer. What she saw in the store brought her great joy. Everywhere she looked she saw signs advertising things like peace on earth, no more hunger or poverty, harmony in families, clean air and no more drugs. The woman quickly wrote what she wanted and then went back to the front of the store. When she got there Jesus took a look at the list, then reached under the counter and handed her several small envelopes. “What’s this?” the woman asked. “Seed packets,” Jesus said. The woman wasn’t very happy. “You mean I don’t get the finished product?” “No,” Jesus said. “This is a store that deals with faith. You come in and see what you want. I give you the seeds. You go home and plant the seeds. Then, I help you nurture them with courage and love, wisdom and a few sacrifices here and there.” “Oh,” the woman said. She thought about it for a second, then turned around and left without buying anything.
Noah listened to God and ended up building the Ark. I wonder what God wants to say to me today. I wonder what God wants to say to you today. I wonder how many of us will be listening. I wonder how many of us will wait until the raindrops start to fall. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes
June 1, 2008