Maintaining Unity and Harmony

Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 through 3, says: “I therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all humility and meekness, bearing with one another patiently in love, diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Let us pray: Lord, we thank You for Your Word, which is living and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword, penetrating even to the deepest parts of our being, Lord. We ask You this morning to prepare our hearts to receive from You, Lord, and that we may hear a renewing and refreshing Word, Lord, one that challenges us and causes each of us to grow in our walk with You, Lord; that through these words we may draw closer to You, Lord, and that we may put into practice what You want us to do, Father, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Okay, so we are going to focus on those three verses, but we are going to do different things as we go along, so I want you to be a little patient and follow me. The New International Version says—these verses are a little different in this version—and this is what the New International Version says: “Therefore I, who am a prisoner because of the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the calling you have received, always humble and kind, patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Paul is urging people to make an effort.

And to tell you a little about the historical context in which Paul wrote this letter, Paul was imprisoned in Rome and was already near the end of his life, but even so, he had a message for the people who lived in the city of Ephesus, for all the Christians who lived in Ephesus. And the city of Ephesus was a city regarded as the first great metropolis of America; it was a very important city for trade because it was on the way to Rome, and it was a city inhabited by people who were Jews and Gentiles, people who were believers and unbelievers.

And yet there was a problem of elitism and social classism in that society, which posed a problem for the Christians who lived there. It was a very elitist society where bosses had great authority, even over the very lives of the people who worked for them. The patriarchal figure had the final say, and fathers did whatever they wanted with their wives and children; at school, the teachers did as well. It was all very hierarchical and rank-conscious, and there were many problems concerning submission and unity, et cetera, et cetera.

So Paul is writing to these people and telling them that they have to remain humble and kind and be patient and tolerant, and these are themes that you see throughout the entire Book of Ephesians in the Bible. Now, the apostle Paul identifies himself at the beginning of the Book of Ephesians, and he says that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ. He is saying that he has the authority to address the people in Ephesus, whether they are Christians or not, to speak to them and perhaps correct one of the things that needs to be changed.

But at the same time, throughout the letter, he presents himself as a servant of Christ. He helps the people understand that, even though he has all the authority in the world to address them, he wants to do so peacefully; he wants to establish a friendly dialogue with each one of them, and he identifies himself as a servant of Christ, which is one of the things he did from the time God called him to serve Him. He said to Him, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” That was the level of willingness with which he presented himself before God after having been a person who persecuted Christians, who killed Christians, and who wielded a great deal of political power in different cities.

And he presented himself merely as a servant of Christ and wanted to address matters concerning how Christians could learn to grow in love. Once you are a Christian, it does not mean, “Now I am a Christian; I go to church.” No. There is a process of growth that has to take place in the life of every believer. It does not happen overnight; it is a process. So he was pointing out these things.

He spoke about unity in Christ: Jews and Gentiles, stop fighting over claims that we are better and you are worse. There was an attitude whereby the Jews regarded the Gentiles as second-class citizens, and that was not right. So Paul is saying that they must be united in Christ, practice Christian fellowship, submit to one another, and he spoke about reconciliation and salvation through grace, which is one of the main themes in the Book of Ephesians, where he says that we are saved by grace and not by works.

So he told the people of Ephesus: Ladies and gentlemen, we all share in the grace of God, regardless of whether we are Jews or Gentiles; we have all received this grace. So there should be no room for fighting, because we have all been reconciled together with Christ through God’s sacrifice. And he speaks about unity in Christ as believers and about Christian fellowship. That is the background of everything that was happening in Ephesus, and with all this in mind, today I want to speak about living a life worthy of the calling we have received as Christians.

And we are going to talk about the implications of living a life worthy of the calling I have received. What is that calling I have received, and what is my role in society as a Christian? So in verse 1 Paul says: “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called, and live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” This implies that we are representatives of Christ on Earth.

I like the picture of the tree, of the little plant, because it is a picture that conveys growth, and it is a growth that has to be rooted in the ways of God. It is a growth that must be nourished by attending church, reading the Bible, applying what the Word says in our lives, and maintaining a life of prayer regardless of which church one attends. It is about developing a relationship with Christ that can take root, something that is not superficial; so it is a process of growth.

So with this in mind, what did God call us to do? We have to take part. Well, in verse 2 he says: “With all humility and meekness, bearing with one another patiently in love, diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The New International Version says: “Always humble.” In other words, God has called us to be humble; He has called us to be kind, patient, and tolerant of one another in love. And verse 3 in the New International Version says: “Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

Unity in the Spirit—unity within the church, outside the church, in workplaces, and in places of study—is not something that is going to happen automatically. You have to sacrifice your own self and go the extra mile to try to remain in harmony with everyone. So when Paul says that he wants us to live a life worthy of our calling, he is telling us: Let us be representatives of Christ and live a life so that, when people look at us, they know: he is a Christian; she is a Christian.

Now, we are part of the Body of Christ. We have to work hard to maintain unity, but what does that mean? So I focused on the words in verse number 2—humility, meekness, and everything else—and I tried to find out what the opposite of those things is so that it could inform me and tell me what not to do. Because sometimes it is very easy to say, “Oh, this is what we have to do,” but how do you do that? By avoiding what you are not supposed to do.

So when he says humility, what is the opposite of humility? Pride. Therefore, we have to avoid being proud. We are going to face different situations in life where we will feel tempted to act out of pride, right? We have to avoid that. Then he talks about meekness. I started looking up the meaning of the word meekness because it is something you hear and sort of understand, but I said, “But where does that come from?” I found it; I Googled it, right? The power of Google. It says: “Meekness is the condition of being meek,” okay?

It is an adjective describing a gentle and mild condition; in other words, a meek person is a gentle person who avoids being rude. And what is an example of avoiding being rude? Many people say: “No, the thing is, I have no problem telling people two or three truths to their face, because the truth must be told, and Christ died for the Truth.” And we agree that the truth must be told, but we have to be careful about how we tell the truth. The truth must be spoken with meekness, gentleness, and kindness so that the message can be well received.

Then he talks about tolerating others and seeking to have others tolerate us as well. “No, because this is just the way I am; this is how God made me, and I am not going to change.” No. If you want others to tolerate you, you have to change, and we also have to tolerate people who are in the process of changing. So if we want to fight for unity and for everyone to remain united, we have to stop gossiping—gossip in the church, gossip at work, gossip at school—because all that gossip is contrary to peace, okay? Where there is gossip, there is no peace, because everyone is always taking shots at one another, and there is constant back-and-forth and all of that.

Now, these things are difficult for us because it is hard for us to focus on the good things in others. We always focus on other people’s mistakes and want to change them so that they will operate according to our way of life. You always associate with people who are similar to you, with people who like the same style of music, the same clothes, et cetera, et cetera. When someone is different, you immediately have a little red flag that says, “What is going on?”

We have to be careful about that. We have to appreciate people, and it is difficult to take our focus off the bad because sometimes you may have a very good history spanning years with that person, but as soon as that person makes a mistake or does something wrong, you forget everything good about that person and begin to deal with them solely on the basis of the mistake they made. So we have to be careful about that and be patient and humble, forgive one another, and walk in peace.

One of the recommendations is that we pray for the people who irritate us. I know that I have irritated many people in this church throughout my time here, but I am very grateful for the patience many of you have shown me during the process of growth I have been going through. In the same way, I have to show patience toward the people who irritate me, because many of you irritate me—you truly do. (Laughter.) You see, that is truth in love, isn’t it?

So one of the things to emphasize is that change has to begin with us. Instead of wanting other people to change and praying for them to change, we have to sincerely ask God: “Lord, what are the things I have to change?” So we have to do this, and it is not easy.

Now, with all these principles in mind, I was thinking: “What illustration can I use so that people can relate to it and we can make this a little more enjoyable?” And I thought of Noah’s Ark. We are going to begin a journey; we are going to explore, and in the end, I hope everyone understands what that has to do with it. I spoke with my friend María Celeste from Al Rojo Vivo. Now we are going to turn off the lights, and she prepared a very interesting report for me that I want to share with all of you. We are not actually friends; I found it on the Internet so that—(laughter).

So I have the video here. This is what happens when we are live. If this were a graduation, we would all be there. Okay, so let’s maximize it there, and there, and now we’re ready. Two minutes; don’t worry.

Report: “Now we are going to enter a replica of Noah’s Ark, built step by step according to the instructions in the Bible, something that is getting people all over the world talking. Mary Gamarra has the footage from the Netherlands.”

María Marra: It is immense; it truly looks as though it came straight out of a movie, but it did not. This ark is not just another Hollywood invention, but rather the vessel that now floats on a small river in the Netherlands thanks to one man’s nightmare: Joan Huibers.

Joan Huibers: “I dreamed that the Netherlands was flooding. The next day, the idea of building Noah’s Ark occurred to me.”

Mary Gamarra: “Soon afterward, the man, who owns a construction company, got to work. Determined to recreate Noah’s Ark exactly as the Holy Scriptures describe it, he even used the biblical measurement of the cubit, the length of a man’s forearm from the elbow to the fingertips. Joan’s Ark measures 300 cubits—that is, 450 feet long. To give you an idea, it is as long as a soccer stadium and four stories high. The vessel was designed to be a tourist attraction with a religious message. After three years of hard work, they are only months away from finishing it; the only things missing are the animals.

”

"For now, I have begun filling it with life-size animal replicas." Each elephant, for example, costs him approximately 11,000 dollars, but not all the animals are plastic, and according to Joan, little by little he will add more pairs of real animals.

But what possibility is there that his nightmare of an immense flood might become a reality? As a result of global warming, if Greenland melts as experts have predicted in recent years, the Netherlands would be completely underwater. Joan’s Ark, like Noah’s, has an upper window from which to release the dove when the catastrophe is over. Now the only question left to ask is: could everyone on board be saved if a devastating flood really occurred, or if, as in the Bible, it rained for forty days and forty nights?

Joan Huibers: "No, I don’t think so."

Mary Gamarra: There you have the answer straight from the creator’s mouth: no. Even so, it is an Ark that is simply Al Rojo Vivo. Mary Gamarra, Telemundo."

Okay, interesting, isn’t it? That actually has nothing to do with Ephesians, but I wanted you to see it in case anyone gets the idea of going—invite me, pay for my ticket, and we’ll go and experience all of that. No, but seriously, seriously, seriously, this Noah’s Ark thing is very impressive, and while I was thinking about it, I remembered a musical written by the singer Marcos Vidal. He is Spanish; I believe he is now a pastor, and several years ago he wrote a musical in which he told the story of Noah’s Ark from inside the Ark—what life was like inside the Ark and how they survived the entire time they were there.

And he compared the Ark to a church, and the animals to the people in the church, right? So today I don’t want to be calling you animals or anything like that. What I want is to study the characteristics of these different animals and see what we can learn from each one of them so that we can see how to live a life worthy of the calling we have received.

So here are some of the pictures of that place in the Netherlands, and it is very interesting because, for example, I believe this man spent three years building this project, while Noah in the Bible spent around 120 years. And throughout this whole construction process, I began thinking about the construction process we are going through with the new sanctuary. I put myself in this man’s shoes, and I imagine that when he began—in fact, if you go and read more about it online, you will find that his wife did not agree with him—many people thought he had gone crazy, thought it was an unnecessary waste of money, and began criticizing him. I imagine there were times when he felt impatient.

And I began thinking about the situation of our church, where we have already spent a long time trying to build this, and the tendency of many of us may be to grow impatient and lose faith, saying, "Hey, when are we finally going to finish this, and how long are you going to keep asking us for money?" And I want to point that out so that we will be careful not to do all these things, because you never know how God is going to work or how God is going to do things.

In Noah’s case, he spent 120 years building the Ark and being subjected to the ridicule of many people in his day. Nevertheless, he focused on doing what God had commanded him to do, and he was patient for 120 years without a single drop of water in his surroundings. He remained confident in what God had promised him, and in the end God fulfilled His promise and made it rain.

Now, in the musical he wrote, Marcos Vidal says that they were in the Ark for a total of one year and seventeen days, and there they were, day and night, week after week and month after month, shut in between four walls with all kinds of sounds, all kinds of smells, headaches, etc., etc. Nevertheless, as their leader, he had to face the situation he was in there. He had to endure the neighbors’ ridicule, but in the end God fulfilled what He had said.

And he says in the musical that when the door closed, that was simply the beginning of their journey. When the door closed, the Bible says that they spent six days inside the Ark without moving because it had not even begun to rain. Just imagine everyone in there for six days, going, "Come on, is it going to rain here or not? What happened now?" People began to lose heart, lose faith, and criticize Noah himself, and all the animals began to get agitated. In fact, that musical will be available in the bookstore. There is a CD and a DVD of the musical Marcos made, so if you want it, you can order it there after the service and enjoy it with your family.

So he says that they became agitated and began to grow restless, talk, and criticize. But there was one animal that did not seem to care about any of it. He said that, with complete indifference, it did not care about the cries of the others, the sound of the water, or the fear of its companions. They all became anxious because thunder began to rumble and rain began to fall, and those were things unknown to them that they had never heard before, so they became even more frightened.

And in the midst of all that, there was one animal that indifferently climbed onto the highest plank and, impressed by its own beauty and the color of its outstretched wings, began to sing. So, what animal do you think I’m talking about? The peacock. There was a peacock in the Ark, and it began to sing, saying: "There is no one on earth or sea who has not heard mention of the great beauty of my figure and the sighs I provoke as I pass by. God blessed me and looked upon me; He clothed me with His beauty. I am the most perfect reflection of His Hand, and there is no one like me." What tremendous humility that peacock had, right?

So I believe this is where we begin to see the connection with what Paul is talking about in Ephesians. He is saying: avoid being like the peacock. He said that, to the peacock, the storm was of no importance, nor were the animals or the people who were suffering. In its mind, there was room only for itself and no one else. And then, in his musical, Marcos says that there are many people in the church who behave like the peacock.

There are many people who are completely indifferent to the needs of the church. They are completely indifferent to the different ministries in the church, and whenever volunteers are sought, they look the other way and do not get involved in serving. They are only concerned with coming to church themselves, receiving, and being fed themselves, but they do not want to give; they don’t want to give back to the community.

So we have to be careful. Instead of thinking, "So-and-so is a peacock; such-and-such is a peacock," ask yourself: "Am I a peacock, and how can I change the way I am so that I can live a life in keeping with what God has called me to do and begin to live in humility?"

Now, there was not only a peacock in the Ark. There was another animal that lived for others. This animal was always looking for ways to help others and be useful, and it gladly volunteered to assist with anything, and it is very nice to find people like that. Years ago, when I was a teenager in the Dominican Republic, my church put on this production—we performed the musical at church—and I played this next animal he describes, the one that is always looking for ways to help others, be useful, etc., etc. And when the director of the production assigned me this animal, I said, "Why are you assigning me this animal?" "No, the thing is, I think you have a personality like this animal’s, and I think you can do a good job." In the musical, René González was the one who played this animal.

And the animal I am talking about is the donkey. (Laughter.) "But why do I have to be the donkey?" "Well, because you are always working," etc., etc. Now, what happened to the donkey in the Ark? Listen to what it says: "The problem with people who are like donkeys is that people often take advantage of them and abuse their good hearts. In the end, if the helpful person is not careful, he begins to complain and turns into an unbearable grouch and an unhappy person." And that is what happened to the donkey.

And the donkey began to sing and said: "Working from sunrise to sunset every day, they never let me rest on any day; like a beast of burden, I labor under the desert sun, working flat out. They have no right to treat me like a slave in spring, autumn, winter, and summer, like a beast of burden, always working the same, always the same." And that was the donkey’s song. He was fed up with working because he felt that people were taking advantage of him. And then do you know what the donkey said? "Let someone else do the work," because the donkey had grown tired of working. If anyone needs something, let them call Noah; that is what the captain of this Ark is for.

This makes me think about the different problems we have in the church, where people want the pastor to solve everything—in this case, Pastor Miranda. Everyone wants a piece of Pastor Miranda. A plate broke: "No, I have to speak with Pastor Miranda. I don’t have to speak with Gregory; I don’t have to speak with Samuel, much less Jhonathan. I am the very last option. Pastor Miranda, Pastor Miranda."

So be careful that we do not have a few little donkey traits here and there, right? But look, the little donkey went even further, and he said: "Okay, call the lion, because this is not a jungle where he can think he is king of anything. No, sir: this is a ship, and here we are all equal, so now you know." Listen, that donkey was angry. Now, what can we learn from the donkey?

There are many people who are helpful and always go the extra mile, but if you are one of those people, the moment you begin to feel irritated by everything going on around you, take a break, okay? Let your leader, your colleagues, etc., know: "I need a break." Now, that does not mean that everyone should go on break at the same time, because someone has to do the work. But it is important to make time for yourself, to be built up and ministered to. And perhaps it is not so much a matter of taking a break as it is of finding a balance where you can serve but also be spiritually nourished. Okay, these are some of the things we need to keep in mind.

Now, after the donkey there was another animal. This animal is like those people who always see everything in black. From the day it entered the Ark and the door closed, this animal had not stopped lamenting because it missed the countryside and feared that it would never see the light of day again. This animal was extremely pessimistic, and I am talking to you about the nightingale. The nightingale is an animal that sings very beautifully. It generally sings at night; it likes to sing at night, and it has a beautiful light. Listen to what happened to the nightingale.

This was the nightingale’s song: "No one can see or understand what my soul feels in the anguish of my loneliness, because I will never again sing when the day dies and darkness falls upon the forest. I will not be able to fly by the light of the moon, nor will I fall asleep in the red light of the sun at dawn. I will no longer see the meadow dressing itself up in springtime"—with the flowers and all of that, right?—"I will no longer see the sunset, nor will I know whether it is autumn or winter. I will no longer hear the wind; I will not see the snowflakes falling. I will not be able to fly by the light of the moon, nor will I fall asleep in the red light of the sun at dawn."

"And Noah said: from that day on, life inside the Ark was total chaos. The donkey declared a permanent strike and no longer wanted to help anyone. The nightingale continued crying every afternoon, and although its voice was very beautiful, we were already more than fed up with hearing it complain with the same song every day." So the others went about their own lives, demanding their rights and complaining whenever they did not like something.

In other words, there is a saying that even beauty becomes tiresome, and that is what happened with the nightingale. Can you imagine listening to one person singing the same old song day and night, all the time, for a year and seven months? No matter how beautiful their voice may be, even beauty becomes tiresome. But the point is that if you identify with the nightingale, you should try to see the positive side of things, because the nightingale complained that it would no longer be able to see things, that it would never be able to return, this, that, and the other. But, child of God, you are inside the Ark; everyone outside is dead. So give thanks to God because you are inside.

So that was what was happening with the nightingale. Now Noah, trying to bring a little order to the situation, said: "Let’s establish a system." He was very systematic and said: "Let’s set a specific time for everyone to eat; let’s organize the different activities, etc., etc.; let’s see how this works." Nevertheless, it did not work because everyone wanted to eat at a different time, everyone wanted to do different things, and those are things that happen in the church. Sometimes in the church, you try to create structures and other things, but there is always someone who disagrees, always someone trying to find a fifth leg on the cat.

So imagine how Noah felt as the leader of this vessel when faced with such a situation. Many times our leaders feel powerless because they cannot please everyone. All the people within a church—and not only within the church, but also in their workplace and at school—have different characteristics and different needs. We have to put up with them, we have to be patient, we have to be humble; we have to put into practice what Paul is telling the people in Ephesus.

And guess which animal irritated everyone: the tortoise. The tortoise. The tortoise had the biggest problem because it always, always, always arrived at the last minute. Have you ever known people like that? Look, sometimes when I have a meeting with the volunteers, the meeting starts at seven and I tell them six thirty to see whether they will arrive at seven, and even then they arrive at 7:15. So there are people who are like the tortoise: Sunday after Sunday, they always arrive late to church.

So people became irritated with the tortoise. One day the hyena became irritated with the tortoise and said to her, “Look, you are a disaster. You are always late, and because of you nobody can eat, because we cannot eat until everyone arrives,” etc., etc. That was wrong of the hyena, because this is not a person we should point an accusing finger at; we should be tolerant, etc. Now listen to the tortoise’s song. The tortoise said: “I am a disaster; I am always late. There is no medicine for my illness. I was born tired and cannot recover from the terrible effort it takes to walk. This little house weighs too much; I carry it on my back everywhere I go, and I am very sorry that you have to wait for me, but I feel tired; I cannot go on.” Even the tortoise rebelled, looking for excuses for her lateness, right?

Many times we are like tortoises, always looking for justifications and excuses for problems that we need to change. Now, the other animals did not remain silent. They sang and answered the tortoise by complaining to Noah—again, poor Noah. They told him: “Noah, that tortoise is exasperating, and no one can stand such slowness. She is as heavy as an elephant, and waiting for her is ruining my health.” Because of all those complaints from the animals, the tortoise hid inside her shell, frightened and feeling rejected by all the individuals who were supposedly her companions on the Ark.

Many times that happens in our churches. When someone repeatedly fails, everyone begins to complain, and sometimes they do not tell the person directly; they go and tell the leaders. When that person finds out, they feel rejected and isolate themselves. So we have to be careful not to be the kind of people who accuse those who fail, those who are always late. We must build one another up in love.

Paul told the people in Ephesus: “Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit; bear with one another, tolerate one another, help one another grow.” That was what needed to happen, but it had not happened. Noah continues speaking and says that the days went by like that until he discovered that a sheep had been bitten; someone had bitten the sheep. He asked who had done it, but no one admitted to it. Everyone began making excuses, and he said, “But someone must have bitten this sheep,” until suddenly they heard a sound that made them all turn pale, made them all turn pale, and the next animal poked its head out: the serpent. Okay? Everyone was frightened.

At first many of them said, “And what is the serpent doing here on the Ark?” Everyone was frightened; no one trusted anyone anymore. The serpent had bitten one of them; the animals began forming little groups and criticizing one another. Distrust came in, gossip came in, and everyone started going on about the serpent and who knows what else. Then everyone began to sing, saying: “The serpent is here; it cannot be. A mixture of light and darkness. No one quite knows whether she is good or evil. Her smile is so friendly, her words are like honey, and that fire in her eyes makes all your skin stand on end. No one quite knows whether she is good or evil. She gazes at you pleadingly, begging for your friendship, and invites you to come closer, but she tries to deceive you. She slithers little by little, drawing closer and closer; if you look at her, she enchants you, and if you approach her, she devours you. She always comes up behind you when you cannot see her; she conceals her intentions and pretends to be faithful to you. She watches you from afar, hidden in a corner. Never trust her, because she is false and insincere.”

That was the animals’ song about the serpent. Many times that happens in our churches. When we meet someone who struggles with different things, who is not perfect and who perhaps has serpent-like characteristics, our instinct is to distance ourselves from that person—and not merely to distance ourselves, but to warn everyone else to stay away from that person.

How is that person going to change? How will that person be restored if we turn our backs on them and turn everyone against them? Noah spoke with the animals on the Ark and told them, “Everyone, listen: when someone fails, the only wrong the serpent committed was biting the sheep. Yes, it was wrong, but we are not going to crucify her for it. If that serpent is here, it is because God, in His mercy, had mercy on the serpent as well, in the same way that He is having mercy on each one of you.”

So in the church we are going to have imperfect people who will make mistakes again and again. We ourselves will make mistakes again and again, and how good it feels to be forgiven when one makes a mistake. We should therefore extend that same forgiveness to another person when they fail.

Look at what the Bible says in the Book of Galatians 5:22–26. It says: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control; against such things there is no law. But those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, and if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.” That was part of what Paul wrote to the people in Galatia.

Immediately after this chapter, look at what it says in chapter 6: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any fault, you who are spiritual should restore that person in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ, for anyone who thinks they are something when they are nothing deceives themselves. So let each person test their own work, and then they will have reason to glory only in regard to themselves and not to someone else.”

Brothers and sisters, when someone fails, everyone speaks badly of and criticizes the person who failed, but no one reaches out a hand or helps them so that they will not do again what they did, and the result is that everyone feels alone. That was what happened on the Ark, and only one animal did what everyone should have done: the deer. When the deer saw that situation, he began to pray, and this was the deer’s prayer: “In need and amid an inner storm, we sail through a world of pain. Day by day our strength diminishes, and we long for Your Presence and Your warmth.” He was praying to God: “And we come before You with an emptiness in our being, and here we are before You, Lord; You can see us, longing to see the dawn once again and the sunlight upon the earth that You created with so much love.”

As soon as the deer began to pray—it was a prayer of repentance—all the other animals repented and began to sing with the deer. God heard their prayer, had mercy on them once again, and at that moment, according to the work written by Marcos Vidal, the rain stopped and everyone was happy because God had heard their prayer.

How good it is to find people like that, people who, in the midst of adversity in the church, keep praying for the weak and for the strong. There are many grandmothers who may not serve in any ministry, but I am sure they are the spiritual warriors who pray behind the scenes for our church day after day. How good it is to have people like that behind you.

Now, after the rain stopped, the water had not yet gone down, and they remained inside the Ark for a long time, waiting for the water to recede. Then discouragement set in again, and they began to despair once more; they had already forgotten the prayer they had offered and the repentance they had experienced. So when they all began to despair, Noah looked for another animal—the dove—and sent her outside to explore and find out what was happening. The dove flew and flew and flew. She found no dry land and returned to the Ark.

Many of us may search and search and then return to the Ark, but we come back discouraged. That was not the case with the dove. The dove said, “At least I breathed the pure air outside, and I have hope because He who began the good work will complete it on the final day.” And the dove began to sing; she began to encourage everyone, who had once again become discouraged. The dove said: “It does not matter what price must be paid or when we may return; it is more important to keep moving forward and achieve our goal when we arrive. It does not matter what price must be paid or when we are going to arrive; our hearts will sing with joy when the stars shine over the sea.”

“Okay, there is no land, but when the stars shine over the sea, over the ocean, we are going to thank God because the stars are shining. That means there are no clouds and it has stopped raining.” And she said: “Sailing at dawn, one feels faith growing. There is no reason to be sad or think about turning back; sailing on the blue sea, there is no room for anxiety. We can sense the land where a new light shines.”

Brothers and sisters, no matter how many problems we have in our society, no matter how many problems we have at school or anywhere else, we must remain confident that if we do our part and begin to live the way Christ has called us to live, we will bring a message of hope, just like the dove, to the people in our workplaces.

And at that moment, after the dove sang, Noah says that this was when they saw how good God had been to each one of them. They understood that God had saved all of them from drowning, not because they were good, but because God had mercy on each and every one of them.

And at that moment, it mattered very little to them whether the peacock was proud, whether the tortoise was slow, whether the donkey was a grouch or whether another animal was a pessimist. What mattered most was that God had somehow brought them all into the Ark and protected them from the flood. That was the greatest salvation they had experienced, and something they said they would never forget. Once they focused on what was good, the donkey stopped being a grouch and became kind again, because he truly did have a gift for service and a gift for work. The nightingale stopped crying, and even the serpent apologized to the sheep.

Change happens when we recognize what is wrong within us, focus on what is good and decide to change. Then the door of the Ark opened and the water receded. Before everyone ran out of the Ark, they stopped and began to pray, thanking God for what He had done. The Bible says that Noah built an altar, and Marcos Vidal says in his work that Noah built the altar together with the animals and that they all wrote a song to God. Look at what the song says.

It says: “As long as there is light upon the earth, we will never forget what we are or that we owe it to You.” This refers to the rainbow that God promised Noah. It says: “As long as the sun shines and we can breathe, remind us of the gift of forgiveness and Your great goodness.” They said: “Today we inherit the earth and are free from all condemnation, not because of our power or our courage, but because You saved us from the water through Your love and Your mercy. In spite of what we are like, You made us one in You.”

And they spoke of how they would never forget what we are and that they owe it to Him as long as there is light. This made me think about the metaphor of light found in the Word, where God says that we are the light of the world, and I began to think about the homes of light, which are our church’s small groups. And when it says, “As long as there is light illuminating the earth, we will never forget that we owe it to You,” I said, “How beautiful it would be if, as long as there are people of faith, as long as there are Christians, the world never forgets what it is and that we owe everything to God.”

But in order for us to be light and walk in the light, we have to cast off the things that pull us toward living in darkness. Every one of us has some weakness; none of us is perfect. Nevertheless, we have all received the Grace and Mercy of God.

So, brothers and sisters, that is how this story of Noah’s Ark connects with what Paul was telling the people in Ephesus: that they should tolerate and bear with one another and walk in a manner worthy of the calling they had received from Christ. I think that when we decide to represent Christ in our workplaces and in our churches, we are saying that we will turn away from pride, turn away from lies, turn away from all those things that do not build others up, and examine ourselves to see: What characteristics do I have?

Am I like the donkey, am I like the peacock, am I like the serpent, like the turtle? Instead of going around saying, “So-and-so is a donkey; be careful. So-and-so is a serpent; be careful.” No, that is not our job. Our job is to change ourselves, and if each person makes changing their own concern, there will be no need to change anyone because everyone will be on the same page.

I would like the worship team to come up here, and once again we are going to sing Marcos Witt’s song “Heal Our Land,” which was the song with which we ended our time of worship. I want us to sing it again and to sing it with an attitude of prayer, asking God to do what we are singing.

This song says, “I come to You; guide me and sanctify me in You.” That is what we are asking God, telling Him that we want to walk in His Truth, that He would take us, embrace us, and that our hearts turn back to You today. As we sing that to Him, I want us to ask God for forgiveness for the times we have criticized a brother or sister in our congregation, for the times we have behaved like any of these animals in the Ark, and to resolve to change and allow God to transform us, so that we may be more optimistic like the doves and use our gifts in our places of study, at work, and in our churches. Amen?