In Search of a Rainbow

 

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth.  Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you.  Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”  Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come.  I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.  When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures.  Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.  When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.”  Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”  Genesis 9:8-17

These promises of God’s to Noah and his descendants are always a welcome read after the horrors of the previous chapter’s judgment.  The whole earth is engulfed in a tsunami of God’s wrath, and every living creature (except those on the ark) is destroyed.  A rainbow of hope is more than a pleasant sight, it’s restoration of life and a reason to go on. 

Noah and family spent a year in a floating wildlife park, waiting for the waters to dry up.  We’ve been waiting that long in Coronavirus-watch-mode, and, frankly, it’s been just as dark, smelly, and frightening.   

During this time we have all been waiting for the rainbow to appear.  It dawned on me that I’m beginning to identify with old Noah as he sent out birds from the ark, looking for land.  I watch the news each day eagerly anticipating news of a breakthrough, a super-vaccine, or some immunity uncovered in a gene.  And each day is a little more disappointment heaped on the pile of floodwaters of (my grandsons would call them “Rona-waters”).  No land in sight; skies still gloomy.

Enter the God who precipitated the flood, and now delivers the dry land with a promise that the worst is over.  The sight is awesome, rainbows of promise bursting through the sky like a new day’s glory, and there is, once-again, hope.  This is a rainbow of which Dorothy, the tin man, scarecrow, and cowardly lion could never imagine.  For Noah and his tribe of 7, this wasn’t Oz, it was Eden returned!

Is this not the ending for which we all long, to have a new beginning, and a new outlook?  It’s three-parts joy and one-part nervous anticipation of a new day’s challenges.  What will after-the-storm bring to this world?  Will we begin to live-into the covenant as was offered to Noah?  Will we be different than the generation Noah left behind at the dock?  They were a sorrowful stench in the nostrils of Heaven.  They found no faith, even with righteous Noah preaching the message of coming judgment – for 100 years. 

Our world has had a greater witness than Noah’s.  We’ve had the prophets of old, Micah, Jonah, Isaiah, and many more.  We’ve had the forerunner, John the Baptist, telling us to prepare.  We had the loving ministry and word of The Incarnate Word of God, witness of the cross, and two-thousand years of the church’s testimony. 

And our world hears little of it.  Sometimes the church barely acknowledges it.

And yet, it’s all part of God’s holy plan, all evidence of the coming fulfillment of prophecy, and the sovereignty of Heaven’s will.  There is coming a time (and could it be soon?), when all nature will testify to the glory of God, His plan to wipe away every tear, put death to death, and retire the idea of time.  And His judgment, separating the sheep from the goats, darkness of night’s ignorance from the light of His glory, and establishing the eternal Kingdom of holiness and joy will be complete…the final splash of color in a rainbow of promise.

For You Today

Being on the right-side of history is an easy call to see.  It is Christ, the hope of glory, who calls you into this search for a rainbow of hope…and it is Christ who extends his loving hand for you to step up into the ark of His covenant.  It’s more than just shelter in the storm, it’s eternity in His presence!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

Pictures of Truth

 

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Hebrews 3:1-5

And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest.  For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire house.  But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself.  For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.  Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant.  His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later.  But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house.  And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.  

As God’s “undershepherd”, Moses was in charge of faithfully leading the flock to follow Yahweh’s direction…and that was always (and still is) pointed in the direction of home…to the Father.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that whatever leadership Moses exhibited as he shepherded the Israelites away from bondage in Egypt, and to the brink of the Promised Land was illustration of the truths God would reveal later. 

Whenever you look at a leader and make a judgment call as to how well he or she did, you focus on what is accomplished.  But, you also (should) want to know how it was done.  It’s that old saying about how you played the game that counts.  In the Kingdom of God it is entirely about “how”.  Consider:

·       In 2 Samuel 6:6-7 we see Uzzah near the ark of the covenant; he reached out to keep it from toppling over as it was being carried; Uzzah was immediately executed by God’s power.  He thought to accomplish something worthy, but he disobeyed in how by touching what God had said was too holy to handle.

·       In 1 Samuel 13 King Saul ignored God’s instructions to wait for Samuel to offer the sacrifice before battle.  Saul sealed his loss of the kingdom by dishonoring the how of serving God in favor of the what he wanted to accomplish.

If you pay attention to how Jesus accomplished what He did, you see why the Hebrews text says Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses.  For instance, in the wilderness temptations Satan offered Jesus power, might, and glory if he would just acknowledge Satan’s power.  Jesus didn’t blink; He told the devil to get lost! 

Moses’ faithfulness as a leader was only illustrative of the faithfulness of Christ, in the same way a road sign that points to the destination is never the destination itself; it merely shows you how to move in the right direction.  And, if you’ve read the sign, understood the sign’s meaning, and judged it to be true, but you never take the first step afterward…you’re no closer to the destination than a baby eagle flying, if he is too frightened or lazy to peck his way out of the shell his mother is sitting on.

Pictures are good.  Ever since the advent of the digitized world, we all take a lot more of them…a whole lot more!  The best pictures are high resolution, vibrant colors, and interesting subjects.  Moses was a pretty good picture of leadership that pointed to the truth of God’s best.  Jesus is the best, most complete picture of God’s beauty and holiness. 

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, thank you for the holy pictures we see in the Scriptures of how you are to be worshipped and served.  May our steps in this world not just accomplish what you desire – may we accomplish your will with the kinds of steps that honor how you would be served and worshipped.

For You Today

The signs you’ve seen in Scripture point to your journey with Christ; the kinds of steps you take, the how along with the what.  How’s that journey working for you?  Or did you forget to take that first step.  If you’ve still got one more breath left in you, it’s not too late to start.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!       

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on Hebrews 3 see Think Carefully  

Promise of the Rainbow

 

Monday, May 18, 2020

Genesis 9:8-17

Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth.  Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you.  Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”  Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come.  I have placed my rainbow in the clouds.  It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.  When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures.  Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.  When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.”  Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”

The picture today is one my daughter took at the beach in Jacksonville, Florida this past Mother’s Day.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a rainbow from a perspective where you’re able to see the whole bow, ground-to-sky-to-ground, the full rainbow.  Mostly I see parts of rainbows, sometimes just a hint, and sometimes a half. 

This is so like the promises and miracles of God.  There are times you see just a hint that God crossed your path and left a blessing.  At other times you’re blown-away by the sheer magnitude of the gift and the power that is behind all of what He does in your life, because you get the full picture, and it leaves no doubt as to just how awesome and gracious is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…and little me.

I’m a lot older than I used to be, and at this stage of life you look back…a lot!  The gift of a family that still loves me, challenged by distance – not just the social distancing of late, but hundreds of miles and several states – well, it’s just a miracle gift and blessing, of which I can’t claim any credit.  I look at my bride and there’s a rainbow that stretches to this day from that first glance in a high school corridor back in 1964.  And in that glance there was a rainbow of promise; I couldn’t recognize it then, but I can see God’s hand though the years. 

We married a year and a half after graduating high school; I was just a week away from leaving for serving in Vietnam.  We would spend the next year only “seeing” each other in letters.  Three children, nine grands, and several great-grandchildren later, Elizabeth is still my closest, longest, and most needed relationship on this planet.  The best of all is she is aware, and approves the fact that she is still #2 in my life and allegiance, second only to Jesus. 

We live with problems, challenges of difficult circumstances, and bodies that don’t hold together nearly as good as they used to, nor as well as our minds (stuck at age 25 thinking) demand.  But that is not proof of the absence of God’s love or care; to be certain, it is just the opposite.  Our challenges in the autumn of life are like God’s rainbows, colorful, and covering the sky from time to time.  But they are not as painful as I once imagined they would be at this age.  They are more like rainbow reminders of the strength of God’s good promises, both here, on this planet, with mercies and strength as our day demands, and a foreshadow of splendor for the day after my last today…the eternity of joy with all the family I’ve had here on earth, and wonderful surprises, gifts, and eternal joy in my new home in glory, close to the One whose love I have only just begun to appreciate!

For You Today

I have a new passage of Scripture that I depend upon to center my heart and life as each morning dawns…it comes from (of all places), the Lamentations of Jeremiah:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”  Lamentations 3:22-24

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Carrie Brownworth Wynne (with permission)

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Genesis 9 see Promise Over the Power and  Lenten Walk - Part 16 and  Covenant Sign

Noah's Sermon

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Thursday, June 15, 2018

It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood.  He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before.  By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.  Hebrews 11:7^(NLT)

In the past 40 years I’ve had a constant battle to keep my sermons short enough to prevent a lynching.  Someone once said there is a close comparison of a long sermon with a hostage situation.  But, truth be told, I’ve got nothing on Noah!

By most accounts it took Noah around 100 years to preach his sermon.  He built the boat God ordered; that ark was Noah’s sermon, the witness of what God would do to judge the sins of humankind.  I recall studying the 100 Years War in World History, but it’s hard to even imagine a sermon that long.  Once the Apostle Paul preached through a whole night[2] – so long a youth in the crowd named Eutychus fell asleep, and then fell out of his window seat to the pavement below.  He died from the fall (which could start another sermon, talk about being slain in the spirit!), but Paul prayed him back to life.

Getting back to Noah’s sermon – the boat would eventually house the entire world’s population of eight humans, and a zoo of animal pairs, the new beginning point of life on planet earth.  In reviewing the construction planning part of the conversation between God and Noah there is a detail that seems conspicuously absent:  God never mentioned giving the ark a rudder to steer the ship ^{(See Genesis 6)}. 

In the normal course of things, a ship without a rudder is a disaster looking for a place to happen.  But in this case a rudder was entirely unnecessary; God would do the steering (besides, Noah and crew had no clue as to the destination – and there was no dry land or port left on earth to which they could go.  You don’t need a steering wheel when you don’t know where you’re going, and there’s nowhere to go.).

Which brings me to the point of Noah’s sermon…three points, really (every sermon’s got three of ‘em):

a.      God does hold us accountable, and there is judgment for our behavior, either now with a flood of God’s attempts to bring us back into the fold of fellowship, or later with a much more serious consequence.

b.      What God did with the human population then, providing an ark of safety and a preacher/message calling them into that boat…God always does for His creation; there once was a manger and a cross!

c.      What God spoke to the people was a message of loving concern to join Him where there is a new beginning, and a profoundly joyful sense of security; He still offers that.

For You Today

If you’re already in that ark of Heavenly safety, safe and secure from all alarm, enjoying that fellowship and joy divine, there’s a good chance you want that for your friends, neighbors, and family. 

Let Noah’s message of accountability and a paid-for boarding pass on Salvation’s Ship be your message to everyone…. just don’t take 100 years to preach it.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day. 

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[1] Title Image:  By Chris Light [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

[2] See Acts 20:9

Lenten Walk - Part 26

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Thursday, March 22, 2018

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others.  Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.  You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.  Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.  When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.  

Philippians 2:3-8^(NLT)

I have often inserted a memo-to-self at the end of this passage.  It is in the form of a challenge question for Russell:  Give me a list, preacher, of those for whom YOU would die like a convicted felon, pinned to a tree!   I have to admit my list might be pitifully-small…my wife and kids…their kids.  The list might include a few I’ve known who inspire great admiration because of their goodness.  I suppose, if I unpacked my list and picked it down to to the bone and marrow, my list includes those who impress me – as important to me.  And I am comfortable with that until I remember the first part of Paul’s instructions, to remember the interests of others as well as my own.

When I begin to seriously consider that responsibility to others, my list grows bigger quickly.  And then it is a bigger problem, knowing when to cut the list off.  And that becomes quite a conundrum; how good to you have to be to make my list?  How much bad stuff do I have to know about you before you don’t make the cut? 

This exercize becomes a migraine of epic proportions.  How do you choose who is worthy of your attention, being on your list, let alone suffering, or even dying for them?

Usually, about the time my mind gets to this complicated level of list-building, with its maze of who’s-in/who’s-out rules, qualifications, disqualifications, and exceptions, my head hurts sufficiently to crumple up my list and toss it in the recycle bin.  It is always then, in this nightmarish wondering that I realize I’ve fallen into the trap one more time of Russell playing God, instead of Russell listening to, accepting from, and following-after God. 

God has not called me to build a list of worthy recipients I would choose to bless.  I’m not called to build another ark to choose and save a few, two-by-two.  I don’t need that much wood; you don’t need more than a few logs to build a cross.  God has called me to be a servant to all…just like Jesus. 

It is the mind of a servant God is after. 

For You Today

If you’re worried (like I tend to be) about whom to serve and save…don’t be so much.  Just keep your eyes, ears, and heart open; God will bring them across your pathway, and you’ll find yourself doing strange and wonderful things you never imagined.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Lenten Walk - Part 16

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Thursday, March 8, 2018

Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth.  Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you.  Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”  Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come.  I have placed my rainbow in the clouds.  It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.  When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures.  Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.  When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.”  Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”  Genesis 9:8-17^(NLT)

Noah needed this!  After a year like he’d just had he needed a rainbow!  The beginning was bad enough; through years of struggle to build the ark he’d endured the insults of the whole community referring to him as that crazy old man building a boat the size of Kansas…and not even a pond nearby.  His wife and three sons helped, but, in the backs of their minds even they must have wondered if the community naysayers were right; had their father lost it?  Was Noah deranged?  And then God brought all those animals…messy, smelly, loud, and some dangerous.  If this was going to be a fun cruise, Mrs. Noah and the boys didn’t recall seeing anything like that in the brochures!

And then it started raining!  And God shut them in the dark ark!  And they could hear the screams, people begging to let them come aboard; and then it was silent.

A year later it was silent again as they stepped off their floating houseboat onto dry, uninhabited, silent earth. 

Although I cannot say for certain, my guess is one of two conditions existed:

·       Planet earth was the smelliest place in the universe with all the corpses of animals and humans rotting everywhere, the devastation of the mother of all tsunamis worse than the path of a midwest twister.

·       Planet earth was new and pristine, God having miraculously restored some order to what man managed to mess-up since the time of Adam and Eve.

Either way, there is one thing you couldn’t mistake:  once all those animals, snakes, birds and mosquitoes disembarked the ark and dispersed into the surrounding mountainous areas, Noah began to take-in just how very alone he and his family were.  And it was quiet…very quiet.

And at that moment came the words Noah needed:  Never Again!  With that short, powerful promise God spoke comfort to the whole human race – all 8 people – it was assurance that God would never again let the floodwaters destroy everything.

You don’t have to fast-forward very far to see who broke the covenant; Noah laying drunk in his tent, and his family’s fear and disobedience, evidence that we forget very quickly…even when God has led us through the worst storms.

We also need those words, never again.  I believe these are the same words we hear echoing from heaven after the cross, God having endured the pain of forgiving our sins at the cost of His own dear son:  Never again; this sacrifice is sufficient and permanent!

These are the words we hear about our forgiven sins when the enemy tries to bring them up, to trip us up:  Never again; those sins are under the blood!

These are words we need from time to time in our walk through a season of Lent; these are the words we need in our walk through life. 

For You Today

Keeping the right perspective on the promises of God is vital.  When God says never again, His nature and character have the power to sustain such a promise.  We, on the other hand, must remember when we say never again, to include:  with God’s help!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Covenant Sign

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Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come.  I have placed my rainbow in the clouds.  It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.  When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures.  Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.  When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.”  Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”  Genesis 9:12-17^(NLT)

We watched the flood movie last night.  It’s a story that virtually every culture has, Christian or not; it’s our story with God.  Although the producers of the movie took some license with what Scripture says or doesn’t say (and what Bible movie doesn’t), it’s still a good watch, and presents the main themes of the Genesis account well. 

In searching for a little background I came across this tidbit from Wikipedia.org:

The story of Noah starts with this concept of strong justice, that the wickedness of man will soon be met with justice, and it ends when the rainbow comes and it says, even though the heart of man is filled with wickedness, I will never again destroy the world... So it ends with this idea of mercy. God somehow goes from this idea of judging the wickedness to mercy and grace. So we decided that was a powerful and emotional arc to go through, and we decided to give that arc to Noah.^[44]

From creation to fall, from fall to punishment, and from punishment to grace and redemption is a wide emotional arc, indeed! 

The film plays a little fast and loose with the facts; there are fallen stone-encrusted angels, of the three sons of Noah only Ham has a wife, and the evil distant cousin of Noah’s, Tubal-Cain manages to sneak aboard the Ark.  The story, however, remains intact from a theological understanding.  Upheaval in the life and death struggle for survival is humanity’s story.  We are, as Job says, bound for trouble as surely as the sparks fly upward from a fire!

Rainbow are iconic symbols of hope, and watching the movie leads you to a very basic and comforting conclusion, that when God promises something He does not exempt us from struggle; wickedness on the part of humans is as existential as the goodness and faithfulness of God.  But God assures us nonetheless that His promise of redemption is stronger than mankind’s self-destructive will.

And for that I am unendingly grateful!

For You Today

Can you ever look at a rainbow and not think of the flood…both of judgment, and of grace?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy Pixabay.com