Children's Sermon, "Shelter in a Storm"

“Deluge, Covenant, and the Rainbow,” 1983, Art-glass Window, FPCE

Children’s Sermon to accompany “Through the Bible,” № 4, Genesis 6:11-22

“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.”–Genesis 6:18

In today’s worship service, we’re reading part of a famous story from the Bible.  Part of the story is pictured in one of our art-glass windows (We walk to the window). There are a lot of things going on in this window.  What do you see? (Answers include the ship, the rainbow, the sun, and the water).  Does anyone remember the Bible story pictured in this window? (Answers lead us to “Noah and the Ark.”).

One of the most interesting things about this window, I think, is who we see in it, and who we don’t see.  Let’s start there.  In this window, where is Noah?  Noah is inside the ark. We don’t see Noah, and we don’t see the animals.  But if you look closely, you will begin to see a figure that the artist blended into the background.  The artist’s description says,

… there emerges between the Rainbow and the Ark the outline of a large human-like figure--neck, shoulders, torso, and curved arms (the two black arcs on either side of the clouds of the Deluge, as if sustaining it); while above, the disc of the Sun is surmounted by another rainbow (with colors reversed), suggesting a nimbus around the head of God.

Depending on the light, and where you stand in the room, you may even see in the figure of the sun what appear to be eyes, and a nose, and the line of a mouth.

In the window we don’t see Noah, but if we look closely, we see God.  God is in the background of everything going on in this window. God is right there, if we able to quiet our minds and open our hearts to see.  In my opinion, this is just as it should be, because the story in the Bible is more about God than Noah and the Ark and the animals. The story is about God’s judgment, but it is also about God’s promise of protection. When we stay close to God, when we trust and obey God, God is our protector and savior from all the dangers we face. God is our shelter in times of storm.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for the story of Noah. Thank you for promising to be our shelter and protector from the storms of life. Help us to trust you. AMEN.