Why I’m so GLAD I saw Noah, the Movie

Hi Friends,

So, I went to see Noah this week, mostly because I’m a big fan of Russel Crowe’s acting and I’ve been waiting for this one for months.  Yes, I read many negative reviews from Christians, have a lot of friends who hated it, and saw all kinds of declarations on Facebook from friends who refused to see it.

I went to see it anyway, and I’m so, so glad I did.  Why?  Because I saw Jesus.  Or more precisely, I saw the wonder and beauty of what God did for us at the Cross, and how when there was no other way but death, God provided something, Someone, beyond anything we could have imagined to save us.  He gave us Himself, to die in our place.  And that was a truth that I saw so clearly, so beautifully, through the Noah movie.  Let me explain . . .

First of all, you should know that this is not a review of the movie.  I did not go to see Noah as an “evaluator” of how close I thought it stayed to the biblical text.  I didn’t go in as a critic, a reviewer, or a judge of whether or not this movie depicted events as they were most likely to occur from the text.  Instead, I went in a God-hunter ... to enjoy, and find what truth God may reveal through a biblical movie made by a person who is seeing the story from the “outside” -- someone for whom this story is not “old news” read a hundred times.  There’s nothing I like better than to find the wonder of God in unexpected places.

And that’s just what happened as I experienced Noah.

Spoilers ahead ...

So, let’s just cut to the chase.  What took my breath away in this movie?  Here it is:

There is a point in the movie when Noah gets a glimpse, just a glimpse, but a true behind-the-curtain glimpse at the sin in us all.  Not just the bad things those bad people out there do, but a glimpse at the sin nature that is within him, within us all.  And that glimpse changes him profoundly throughout the rest of the movie.

For a moment, he clearly sees what Christians have claimed as a foundational truth:  For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Not just that we have all done some not-so-good things, but that we have ALL been fundamentally corrupted by sin and evil is within us all.  

And he comes out of that experience knowing beyond a doubt that death is the only solution.  Death not just for the bad guys, but for ALL of humanity.  There is no “innocence,” there is no “righteous/good enough.”

Some have complained that our biblical hero, Noah, has been turned into a homicidal maniac by unbelieving filmmakers.  But the truth in the movie is that Noah is indeed turned into a homicidal maniac ... but by a glimpse into the true nature of sinful man.  Isn’t this what God himself tells us when he says, “The wages of sin is DEATH.”

So, I was left breathless, thinking, wondering, what would it be like for me, what would I be like, if I truly saw, even if just for moment, the reality of corruption and sin within me?  What if the veil was pulled back and I encountered the raw truth of sin?  Perhaps I too would believe, not just as a doctrine to which I give mental assent, but truly believe in my soul of souls, that death is indeed the only answer.  The wages of sin really is death.  There is no other answer.  There is no “not so bad,” no “righteous compared to others,” no “good enough.”  There is no one righteous, the Bible tells us, no not one!  And that is a powerful truth revealed in the Noah movie.  Revealed so that Noah is changed ... and so was I.

So Noah struggles throughout the rest of the movie with this choking, incredible truth:  Sin is within every human, and there can be no Eden, no paradise, while man, any man, survives to propagate.  The sin in man will corrupt the whole world.  What answer is there for this oh-so-biblical truth?  What answer but death for every single human being, even the babies?

Is that not the foundation of our faith?  Is that not the first point of the gospel itself?  We cannot save ourselves.  No one is good enough.  We are all hopelessly, helplessly corrupted by sin within our very being.

And yet (spoiler alert!), Noah cannot kill the babies.  He cannot end humanity.  AND GOD CANNOT EITHER.  Love intervenes.  Mercy wins.  And we know, we know as people who live in a broken and fallen world, that Noah was right.  Our sin, embedded in our very nature since the fall of Adam and Eve, will ruin the world, hurt each other, destroy any hope of Eden.  We cannot, will not, have Eden while sin persists within us.  

And so Noah ends, with the reality of the sin within not wiped out by a global flood, with the knowledge that a new beginning is not really a new beginning at all.  Sin remains.  

And the rainbow comes, promising that God will not choose the one option to eradicate the horror of the sin-disease: the end of humanity.  

And that leaves us, or at least it left me, pondering the real question left open at the movie’s close:  So will He, can He ... will He provide another way ... a way Noah could not imagine, a way beyond anything we could dream, a Way to do what seems impossible, to redeem a sinful, integrally-corrupted, humanity?

And of course, for those of us who live on this side of the Cross, we know that He did!  Jesus took upon Himself our death, our sin, our corruption.  When death was the only answer, he took that Death on Himself and redeemed us.  He provided another way!  God Himself had to become man to save us from something so vile, so evil, so integral to our very being ... the sin within us all.  God did that for us, because there was no other way but the death of us all.  

In the movie, Noah knew it.  And by watching him, I came to know it too - know it in the very core of my being.  I deserved death.  I should have died.  But Love Himself, Mercy Himself, came down and became a man Himself, to die for me.  To save me.  

While we were yet sinners ... while we were horrible, corrupt, evil -- all of us!! ... Christ died for us.  For you, for me.  He found another way.

And that is a Love so amazing, so divine, that it takes my breath away.  

That is the God I encountered in Noah ... not, perhaps, the God that the movie intended to show me, but in showing me just a glimpse of the reality of the sin within and how hopeless and helpless we are in the face of that sin within us all, I could not help but be overwhelmed with ...

WONDER

AWE

GRATITUDE

AMAZEMENT

and incredible

JOY

for what Christ has done for me.

So, if you go see Noah, I urge you to not go as an evaluator of what’s biblical and what seems far-fetched, but go as a God-hunter, a Truth-hunter.  Go with an eye to what our options really would be if it weren’t for Christ.  Go to see what God may whisper to you!  See if you can discover the wonder of Christ.

When God Takes You Where You Don't Want to Go

Hi Friends,

I just finished the page proofs for my newest book, WRESTLING WITH WONDER, releasing with Zondervan Publishers this coming September.  (YAY!)  As I was reading and proofing, I came across this little section that I've been pondering today.  I thought I'd share it for any of you who may be in a place in life where you didn't want to be, or who have faced things you didn't want to face, or are struggling with God saying "no" and instead allowing challenges that may seem like a nightmare-come true.

Right before this section, I talk about the prayers of Jonah (Jonah 4:2), Paul (2 Corinthians 12:7-9), and Jesus (Matthew 26:36-46).  Here's my thoughts . . .

EXCERPT:

The reason these men’s prayers weren’t answered in the way they’d hoped was not because God abandoned them, or because God didn’t love them, or because they’d used a wrong prayer formula. It wasn’t because they didn’t have enough faith, or had made God mad, or weren’t worthy.

            Instead, it was because God was accomplishing his will not only for them, but for others around them. God was up to something that required more faith, more trust, more submission to his will. God had another plan. Saying “No!” to their prayers was the only way to accomplish that plan, God’s vision, for them and for us.

            Just like Jonah, Paul, and Jesus, God takes us where we don’t want to go because he is doing something that is meant to glorify him through our lives, meant to bless others through us. His vision is bigger than our comfort, more glorious than our need for health, happiness, satisfaction, or even earthly life. He is doing something more, something wondrous, something nearly unimaginable.

            In John 21:18-19, Jesus tells Peter:

“Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

            God’s main concern isn’t to make our nightmares go away. It’s to build our character, teach us to trust him more fully, and help us to make a difference in the lives of those around us as we find the deep places of God in the dark places of life. God’s will is that, by life or by death, we would glorify him.

            So when he leads you where you don’t want to go, remember he is with you. He loves you. He is working his will. Yes, even in the nightmares.

            Because there, he is whispering to you, “There is no other way to make you into the person I created you to be. There is no other way to affect the lives of those around you. This is the way, walk in it (Isa. 30:21).”

            Through fear, through terror, through every nightmare-come-true, he is saying, “Follow me!”

Worship, Work, and Psalm 100 … here's something to chew on!

Hi Friends,

I just finished doing a bunch of work for Skyline Engineering, and I was reminded of the study I did on Psalm 100 and work awhile back.  I dug it up and am pondering what it means to worship… what it means to worship at work!  

Anyway, I thought you might find this helpful too.  So, wherever you work -- at home, on the road, in an office, outdoors -- may your work and worship reflect the truths of Psalm 100!

THOUGHTS ON WORK, WORSHIP, and PSALM 100

Where do you worship?  When I ask most Christians that question, I always get the same answer – the church they attend on Sundays.  And no wonder.  On Sunday mornings we go to worship services, are called to worship by worship leaders, sing songs led by worship teams.  In our culture, worship is what we do on Sunday mornings.  Work is what we do the rest of the week.

            But a closer look at Psalm 100 shows us that maybe we’ve got it all wrong.  Psalm 100:2-3 says:

² Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  ³ Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his….

            At first glance, these verses don’t seem to have anything to do with our work  That is, until we realize the Hebrew word used for “worship” in verse two is the same word (abad) used in Exodus 20:9: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work …”  It’s also often translated “serve.”

week.

            Consider the difference when we read Exodus 20:9 in that way:  “Six days you shall worship, you shall serve, and do all your business . . .”  Worship, then, is not just that thing we do in the church building on Sunday mornings.  Worship is what we do in our business; it’s what we do the other six days of the week. 

            If worshipping God, serving Him, is for our workday, then how does that change how we go about doing our regular work?  Again, Psalm 100 helps us to understand.

            Verse two calls us to worship the Lord with gladness.  What attitude do we bring to our work?  Do we complain about it as if it’s a burden?  Is our work something we just get through to make a few bucks?  Or do we engage in our business with an attitude of joy and thankfulness?  If work is worship, then our attitude needs to be one of gladness to serve.

            Psalm 100 also calls us to come before His presence with singing.  While our actual work situation may not allow us to literally sing, we can, at least, pay attention to what’s coming out of our mouths at work.  If work is worship, then things like grumbling and gossip are out of place.  Instead, our speech needs to be more like a song – filled with light and grace. 

            Verse three reminds us to know that the Lord is God and we are His.  We are not the “god” of our workplace.  When we manage others, interact with customers, deal with fellow workers in the workplace, we do it with humility knowing that God is the “big boss” and we are not.

            In the end, Psalm 100 tells us that the Biblical view of worship is for everyday, for our work days.  It’s not just a Sunday event.  We do it with gladness, grace, and humility, knowing that we are worshipping our real boss in heaven.

Quotes to Live By

Hi Friends,

So, yes, I overdid it yesterday.  Alas!  Tried to squeeze too much into one day (and this is not the first time I've done that . . .).  Got up early to shower and make sure I didn't put on deodorant or lotion for my yearly mammo (oh joy. ;-/), then finished a script for a Easter drama for our big all-church kids event for Easter (ooooo, that's going to be so fun!), then had a meeting with our church's outreach director (fabulous lady!) to talk about the kids' Easter outreach events we're doing at 3 apartment complexes next month (those are going to be awesome too -- we are probably going to have the chance to share Jesus with around 150 or more kids in our community, plus do fun crafts, games, etc.  How amazing is that?!). Then talked to our church preschool coordinator (another fantastic lady!) about the Easter all-kids event and other kids-ministry related stuff, then took Bethany to FIX, recruited for the Easter drama, took Joelle to dinner and yogurt, took her to FIX, recruited more, went to Zumba (ouch, my knees!! gotta do something about that!), back to pick up at FIX and talk to a bunch of kids about a bunch of stuff, take a friend home, stop at Subway (really, Bethany?!!?), home, take care of a bunch of paperwork, finally fall in bed after 10:30pm.

Makes me tired just reading all that!  So, no wonder I'm feeling a bit "off" today and needing some recuperation time.  Do you ever do too much and need some time to get your feet back under you?  What helps you?  For me, I am today reminding myself of the four quotes I keep on "stickies" on my computer.  Here they are:

1) Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.  --Psalm 116:7 (sent by my friend Ethel Herr, who has since found  her real and everlasting rest in heaven!)

2) I want and I choose that which leads to God’s life deepening in me.   --Ignatius of Loyola (sent by my friend, Diane Pate, who understands how I am)

3) Remember … YOU ARE ALLOWED TO CHOOSE LIFE !!! (sent to me by the wiser me!)

4)  For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 

so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in knowledge of God;

strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously 

giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

Colossians 1:9-12
(sent to me recently by my friend, Patricia Schooley, who "gets it")

Okay, off I go to have some rest … while watching Thing One and Thing Two (otherwise known as Jayden and Jordyn), and meditating on these words of life from friends.