St Margaret's Church Prestwich

Rev Helen preached this sermon on Wednesday 19 February 2025. Here it is for you again:

What do you do when you get lost? How do you get on the right track and find your way? I mean today there are many different devices and gismos to help you but there have been many different things over the years to do this.

• You could use a compass – A bit old school but works well
• A watch, apparently you can use a watch and the sun to help you find your way. I guess the issue with that in this county is finding the sun!
• You could use the stars – it’s how the maji found baby Jesus, sailors also use the stars
• Sat Navs and Map book (A – Z)
• Google maps (other navigation apps are available). Where ever you are you can find your way.

They do help people who don’t have a good sense of direction (and I do count myself in that!). We all have our favourites I use my google maps, if you hand me a paper map I would start doing annoying things like turning it upside down and spinning to the way we’re going.

In the story we have heard today in the Old Testament is about people on a journey which would need quite a bit of navigation and traveling. It’s the story of Noah which I’m sure you will be aware of. The rain that God has used to flood the earth and it has finally stopped, the arc is bobbing along and those aboard are wondering when it will be safe to leave the arc and if they can get to land. It’s estimated they were on the arc for about 370 days so I can imagine everyone was ready to get off, especially with all those animals!

Noah has a plan to see if he can get to land, he doesn’t use a compass, the stars or the sun, he decides to use a raven. Now before you think Noah has been on the arc bit too long ravens were used for navigation, the vikings did it and this is why. If you let a raven fly about your ship it will look for land, if it doesn’t see it then it will just fly around the ship until being called down, if it spots land it will fly off towards it and the ship would follow it, easy (I will be honest that information is from Horrible Histories, Vicious Vikings but I trust Terry Derry). The raven comes down and finds nothing.

The next day Noah lets out a dove, that begs a question straight away why did the raven get the sack? Just saying poor Raven, well doves are also known for their navigation skills and being able to find their way. They are a kind of homing pigeon so not only do they fly off they can find their way back, messenger birds. They don’t just show the way they stick by your side and guide you. That’s what the dove did until it was safe to disembark.

Now it’s not easy when you get lost. Think of them bobbing along on the arc for all that time, not sure when the end will be just being at sea and afloat. Maybe your navigation device is defective, like the poor raven, still not over that everytime I hear this story. They have been on a tough journey but they are not alone with this journey, because before Noah built the arc God made a promise to him that he would be on a journey and kept safe by God, then when Noah leaves the arc another promise is made to him by God. God has protected Noah and his family and has promised that this will never happen again, never will God wipe out the whole of creation. God promised that humanity would be protected and cared for in the future. That’s the overriding message here in this story where ever you stand on it, historically accurate, myth or anything inbetween. Follow God, be God’s and no matter what journey you are or on or how lost you get God’s got you. Maybe that’s the reason it had to be dove that led Noah to safety, God’s spirit has appeared a few times as a dove, we’ve reverently heard the story of Jesus Baptism when this happened. God was there and taking them to safety. God is there with us, when we are celebrating and the way seems clear or if we get lost and need help, we are never alone while God is with us. I’m going to read a poem now about how we are not alone on our journeys. I have a coin in my purse with parts of the last four lines of this poem in my purse to remind me that I am never alone when I’m going on a journey, God’s is with me. You might know it, it’s called footprints:

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”

He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”