The Bird with a Leaf in its Mouth

Noah surrendered. Long before the rain started. Long before he and his family got in the ark.  Long before he went in search of animals to keep safe in the ark.  Long before he even built the ark.

I am sure he asked, on more than one occasion, “What now, Lord?”.  Or “What exactly is going on here, Lord?”.  Perhaps even “Can you reveal more to me, Lord?”.  But, it was from a place of surrender – as a liver of life in service of the one true God.

The account is not actually about Noah.  It is about God and His expectations of His chosen people. At a time when those expectations were not being met by any but Noah and his family, the account is also about how God needs to, and does, deal with this shortfall.

In his recent book Surrender, Bono (the lead singer of U2) quotes  himself, at one of the band’s early concerts,  “I can’t change the world, but I can change the world in me”.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to surrender our lives to Him, as an act of thankfulness for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross – in our place, once for all of us, a full pardoning for our sinfulness being the result.

To live a “Micah 6:8” life – 

Acting justly – that is, putting justice before our own needs, the other before ourselves, surrendering our own interests or perspectives to those of God.

Loving mercy – mercy, the very definition of extending loving and gracious acts in the direction of the other, with a clean heart – full of love – in the direction of the undeserving.

Walking humbly – surrendering our position to God, placing ourselves last in the hierarchy.

Again in Surrender, Bono quotes from U2’s 2000 hit "Beautiful Day" a reference to Noah’s surrender: 

“See the bird with the leaf in her mouth, After the flood, all the colours come out.  It’s a beautiful day.”  

Out of the desolation caused by God’s righteous anger being experienced comes a symbol of eternal hope – the bird has found new life and the rainbow is a constant reminder of God’s covenant with us – of grace and mercy, a call to humble walking with Him.

As the year is now in full swing, and we hang tight to these promises of God, let’s ponder how we live with each other, unified in God yet fully cognisant of the diversity of life experiences and expressions of Christian faith we bring to our community, with the words of Paul to the church in Corinth:

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

… If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut,

Doesn’t have a swelled head,

Doesn’t force itself on others,

Isn’t always “me first,”

Doesn’t fly off the handle,

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn’t revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

… We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. … But it won’t be long before … we’ll see it all, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing Him directly just as He knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Long may this be our template for community life together.

Shalom.