The young parents were excited to show me. Dragging me into a small bedroom with a “you gotta come see this quick” attitude and a bounce in their step, they showed me the room created for the son who would be born in just two weeks. The clean, light chemical smell of the paint still lingered in the air and the crisp lines of what they had painted on the walls grabbed the eyes.
Around the entire room were painted blue waves with a couple of birds swooping over them and dolphins happily jumping out of them. Above the crib, floating on the waves was found the boat: Noah's Ark. It was their pride and joy. Animals were painted, sticking their heads out of the Ark with smiles on their faces. There were giraffes with smiles, sheep with smiles, monkeys with smiles, elephants with smiles, crocodiles with smiles, cows with smiles, pigs with smiles, and a Noah at the bow of the boat with…a great big smile. I looked at the parents and they blended in with the latex paint creation they had made, huge smiles on their faces.
“So, what do you think?” they asked expectantly.
“It’s very happy,” I smiled.
Now, do not misunderstand me, I think that children should grow up happy, and having smiles everywhere is one way to make sure that happens. I am aware of the fact that a person smiles when they see someone else smiling. I also understand that the very act of smiling can lighten your mood and improve your life. I am aware of that fact.
But, were the parents aware of the fact that the story of Noah is not a happy story? They forgot to paint all the dead corpses of the entire population of the world floating on the water…with smiles on their faces…of course. They forgot to bring in the special candle that will fragrant the air with the happy smell of dead, rotting animals of the world. They forgot that the Noah story is not all that happy. It is like painting images of the holocaust on the walls of your child’s room with the survivors standing in the forefront with big smiles on their faces; “WooWhoo, I survived.” It is not right. They had painted one of the most disturbing events of the bible on the walls of their soon to be infant’s room. This was not right.
There were two weeks yet. This could still be solved. I looked them square in the eye and said, “I think that…I like the Noah story, it’s cute.”
Aaaauuuugh!!! Strike out! Pastor Jira, you are a wimp! Where are your values Pastor Jira? When will you learn to take a stand Pastor Jira? This whole room painting project was such an airheaded thing to do…and you confront them with, “it’s cute?”
But, it is a good thing that I kept my mouth shut because the couple then said one of the least air headed things I have ever heard. They pointed up to the ceiling, and painted across the ceiling, stretching like giant arms ready to embrace you, from one wall to the other, was a rainbow.
“We want our child to grow up knowing that no matter what they do, God loves him and will not hurt him. Do you see how the rainbow will hug him while he lays looking up from the crib? It’s like God is hugging him at all times. That was the promise wasn’t it? That God would never destroy us again. That God was in it for the long haul, no matter what? That’s how we feel about our soon to be baby. Like God, we are in it for the long haul, no matter what,” the very pregnant mother talked to her belly and smiled.
In an instant, the Noah’s Ark themed room went from one of the most, cheesy airheaded ideas, to one of the most profound and faithful I have ever heard from a young couple. I guess painting a child’s room with Noah’s ark and a rainbow is no different that hanging a Roman torture device on the wall of the room: the cross. It is a symbol of the promise God has made to us. God promises not to destroy us. God is in it for the long haul. The arms of the cross are opened wide to embrace everyone.
It is a good thing to wake up every morning to people and animals smiling at you. It is good for your mental health. It is good for the world to start the day smiling. But, it is an even greater thing to wake up every morning and see, first thing as you stare at the rainbow on the ceiling, that you are embraced by God.
In the rainbow, we see a God who promises to stick it out; no matter how messy the world gets. We see a God who chooses mercy over anger. We see a God who would go to any length for us. We see Jesus who is willing to die for us. How would your day be different if that was the first thing you saw each morning?
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