A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. The Rev. Vern Tozer is the minister of Knox Church, Listowel, Ontario.
We all know Noah – we realize that he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. We are aware of his trials and triumphs. And we are aware that Jesus said that days like those of Noah would again come to the earth. The coming of the Son of Man will be like what happened in the time of Noah.
Those were the thoughts that came to me as I considered this topic. I wrestled with this matter, and then I received what some will see as an inspiration and others may consider a deviance of sorts. I began to imagine something and then I allowed my imagination to grow. I wondered what would happen if Noah were alive today – living in our Synod, within the bounds of one of our Presbyteries, and a member of one of our churches. So I transferred Noah to an average Presbyterian Church – Knox Church beside the Petro-Canada station, and to an average Presbytery – the Presbytery in the Valley – and I found that Noah was a disturber. I discovered that Noah was nothing but trouble. He was an embarrassing and noisy man. He would not give up and he would not stop that confounded banging with the hammer. Bang, bang, bang – day in and day out!
Here’s what happened. The town council in Peaceful town, in the Presbytery in the Valley, received a delegation of disturbed citizens at a special meeting one Monday evening. The people were protesting something that upset the whole town of Peaceful. A large weird article was being constructed in the back yard – the cornfield – of Bill Noah. Now Bill had lived there, on the same street, with his wife and three sons, all his life. He was somewhat different; everyone knew it and overlooked it, because he was quiet and dedicated to his family. But for some strange reason, a few weeks ago he began to gather boards together, went to the Pro Hardware and bought every nail they had. He quit his job at the mill, and began hammering away night and day in his cornfield.
These angry citizens who gathered for the council meeting expressed concern about Noah but wanted the council to protect their property values and to do something about that constant banging and noise coming from Noah’s back yard. There was a light-hearted suggestion that Noah might be starting a church because he was heard telling people they better listen to God. The mayor instructed that that remark should be stricken because there was no place for religion in politics, local or national!
The council jumped with glee! They had Noah for sure on no less than three counts: 1) his land was zoned agricultural; 2) he had not secured a building permit and had not submitted drawings for his whatever; and, 3) he was contravening the anti-noise bylaw which was recently passed by the council unanimously!
Noah’s religious practices were bringing him in to direct conflict with society, with the government, and with the law. Noah was served with an order to “cease and desist” for the good of himself and the town of Peaceful. Most people nodded their heads and decided that would fix him! No matter what Noah thought or believed, there was no place for a person to allow their faith or their conscience to interfere with their politics and the laws of the land. All faith must bow to what the government said.
Every good, God-fearing citizen should know that the government must be honoured. Didn’t the Christians learn that in the first century?
The banging continued the same as before and the pace even seemed to increase! What was in it for Noah? Certainly his religion must be promising him rewards. Would the T.V. crews soon move in to report this eccentric behaviour? Where was Knowlton Nash? Did Noah believe he would get a government grant for this make work project? Would he soon be selling tickets – another serious offence, since he had no licence?
The whole matter of Noah’s project was appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board and, as we know, it could remain there for years and years.
But things are not at rest in Knox Church by the Petro-Canada station! No sir! There was a hasty meeting of the Kirk Session called right after church. Bill Noah was an elder there, but he didn’t have time to attend the meeting – so much the better because he was the matter on the agenda!
If anything excited the Session in Knox, it was when someone proposed or tried something new! And did the words ever fly back and forth – what could they do? Noah had got religion! He was now a fanatic and if anything frightened the Session more than the nuclear bomb, it was a person who took his faith too seriously! You see, Noah had received no approval whatsoever to do what he was doing. He had not discussed his message from God with the Session! Some of them said, “We knew it – we knew it all along! Noah never did behave like the rest of us and confine his religion to the hour between eleven and twelve on Sunday morning! I knew he was trouble right from the day when he led the service when our minister was sick!” And further, so the Session realized in horror, he was casting a bad reflection on the whole congregation. He was setting a precedent – a serious precedent – and the whole Session, including the minister, gasped at that statement!
And furthermore, it was noted, Bill Noah had been neglecting his church attendance lately – too busy doing the Lord’s will, he said, banging away at the thing he was building! And you know what is most frightening about all this, said one wise elder, more people are going down there to see him on Sunday mornings than are coming to church. And you know what else? Some people have openly said that Noah is a better preacher than our own Rev. Smiles here! They declare there is more substance to his messages – there’s more meat to his sermons. Whereas the message our minister, ordained and inducted, gives each week is sad, Noah’s message is even worse, and if there is anything that makes Presbyterians rejoice it’s sad news!
Our minister says our congregation is going to die – Noah says the whole world is going to die – and what Presbyterian wouldn’t travel miles and miles to hear news like that? And the worst fear, so terrible that the elders whispered it in a closed meeting, was that the news of their religious member might get out – the Presbytery might hear – the church offices would spread the gossip, and they would probably never find someone who would accept a call to their congregation in the future. Who wants to minister to fanatics?
Lo and behold, the senior elder revealed that he had even heard that Noah was holding the odd prayer meeting there beside his contraption. That was the last straw – the meeting became an uproar, an immediate vote was called for. Yes, even a standing vote – Noah was suspended from the eldership for: “following a divisive course”, acting without Session approval and conducting Christian Education classes without the sanction of the Session.
The message was delivered; that evening they listened and the banging continued. The hammering stopped not for a moment. It was difficult to sleep comfortably. It was very hard for the elders to be restful and the minister tossed and turned and watched the clock all night.
There he was, telling sad and terrible things – speaking of doom and gloom. The Presbytery alone had the right to do that!
Since there was no response from Noah after the minister visited him and tried to reason with him, other action must be taken. Noah’s reply to the minister was: “I must listen to the Lord and do as he says.” It was decided to take the step of referring this to the Presbytery in the Valley. If there was something wrong – some great trouble in Knox by the PetroCanada station, then the Presbytery would be only too happy to hear it! After all, who was better equipped to deal with and spread the problem and the news than the Presbytery?
What disturbed the Presbytery most, in its wisdom, was the matter of authority. Noah was not licensed to preach the gospel. Noah had no authority to start a building without referring this to the committee on architecture, and no authority to use funds without congregational and Presbytery approval, and in any case, if he were licensed they would not allow him to be involved in part-time work. He was too old for a special course – at least 600 – so they had him!
There he was, telling sad and terrible things – speaking of doom and gloom. The Presbytery alone had the right to do that! It was the right of Presbytery to give warnings and issue vague threats and to speak for God. How come this elder would take that upon himself? God works through the Presbytery, does he not?
Noah was certainly disciplined by the Presbytery in the Valley – but Presbytery strangely failed to act, at least right away. A committee had to be appointed, with proper terms of reference. One member said they must determine exactly what Noah was building, so it could be the Boat or the Ark Committee. And so to this day, nothing has happened beyond the lengthy moving, animated discussion which took place at the last regular meeting.
The last time people listened, the banging was still going on. Noah was still hammering away and preaching and sharing his faith. He was secure and confident in the knowledge that in spite of having trouble with the local laws, in spite of running afoul of his own Church and Session – disturbing the Presbytery – the Lord was with him and he was involved in the work and the will of the Lord.
And I understand that unless things changed, somehow, and unless people – within the town of Peaceful and the congregation of Knox by the PetroCanada station, and the members of the Presbytery in the Valley – awoke to what was most important and paid attention to the banging and the hammering, and the message from the Lord, that the waters would rise – the whole town would be washed out – Knox by the Petro-Canada station would slip down the drain and the Presbytery in the Valley would be drowned in a sea of Gestetner ink – and Noah would sail away into history – and onto the honour roll of those who served the living God in faith and fear.
By now you have decided whether I am hammering away with nonsense, with foolishness, or both. But if my suggestions about the way we do things, and the way we serve or do not serve the Lord, have stirred one uncomfortable thought – have struck one responsive chord – then I have accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. We must begin to get down to the really serious issues. The issues of life and death, of faith and hope, the will and word of God, and stop playing around with man’s creations and man’s institutions, which are often dead and unresponsive. We must begin hammering away, banging away, night and day, to the Glory of God.
As it was in the days of Noah, so also shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man, even so come, Lord Jesus.