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^©

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

Covenant Sign

[1]

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

After the Storm - Part 2

[i]

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

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.                Genesis 9:8-13^(NLT)

I watched a movie last night about the USS Indianapolis.  In 1945 the ship carried the atomic bomb to its staging area in the Philippines, later to be dropped on Hiroshima.  On its return voyage to the states it was torpedoed and sunk.  The crew numbered nearly twelve hundred, 300 of which immediately went down with the ship.  Another nearly 500 either drowned or were eaten by sharks in the 5 days it took before rescue ships arrived.  The movie was graphic, and the violence portrayals were more than disturbing.

Rewind to Noah on the ark.  Having just seen the worst destruction ever in the history of mankind I think it is safe to say Noah was probably a little hesitant about leaving the ark. 

That floating warehouse and zoo had been the place of safety for over a year.  Inside was dark, smelly and safe; outside had been the scary, violent unknown.   If I had been Noah, when God said:  OK, it’s time to leave your little boat, I believe I would have tried to pull the covers back over my head, and meekly whine:  That’s OK, I’m good here; I’ll just stay inside a little longer, if you don’t mind.

It’s scary to venture where you’ve never been, or where you’ve been hurt before.  Noah and family had probably been scared half to death by what they’d seen and experienced in the storm that howled and pitched their boat like a twig in a tornado. 

The men of the USS Indianapolis were adrift for 5 days, and more than a few of them became delusional in the face of little hope being rescued.  Noah and family had little hope that there was going to be anything in their future but water and this rocking barge that stank from a year’s worth of life with animals in a small place.  I can imagine Noah’s sons asking:  Dad, are we there yet?

But eventually the waters receded, the land dried-up, and the Lord made a covenant with Noah’s family, which even included the animals:  Never Again!  To seal the deal, God signed this covenant with His multi-colored signature across the entire sky – the rainbow of God’s promise. 

God said this would be a forever reality, and even though we see floods sporadically, with loss of life and property, God’s promise has been true that there has never been another flood to wipe all humans off the face of this earth.

The storms come and go; God’s promise stands.

For You Today

Listen once again:

Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants…. Genesis 9:8

Are you one of Noah’s descendants?  Well, unless you’re a chimpanzee or a platypus, the answer is “yes”.  So you’re included as a beneficiary of God’s promise to never again destroy the earth. 

What other of God’s promises can you think of that have your name written on them?

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

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NOTES

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[i] Title image: Erik Christensen, via Wikimedia Commons

Covenant of the Rainbow

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.  I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”  God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:  I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.  When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”  God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”           Genesis 9:8-17 (NRSVA)

Saint Benedict, who wrote the guidebook for monastic living, said that a monk’s life “…ought to be a continuous Lent.”  He also recognized that not many people have the strength of discipline to live Lent all year long, so he suggested using Lent to “wash away the negligence of other things.”[1]

After nine long months Noah and his family stepped out of the floating zoo onto dry land.  If you consider what they had been through, you can sense what Lent tries to convey to our understanding.

The Ark was a LONELY place

Remembering that every living human being and animal on planet earth had succumbed to the flood waters, and that Noah and his seven family members at that moment comprised the entirety of humanity, made “global community” a very small scope with an overwhelming sense of aloneness.  Lent should speak of the aloneness man faces without a Savior.

The Ark was a DARK place

Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King have made a fortune with the terror of the darkness.  In antediluvian times darkness was to be feared.  Even today we cannot shake our natural fear of the dark.  Noah’s little family huddled against the darkness of a storm, surrounded by the darkness of a closed ark.  Lent should speak of the darkness in our souls which craves the light of God.

The Ark was an UNCERTAIN place

No matter where Noah looked there was water!  God had promised…but, would they have enough food to wait out the waters?  God had said they’d be safe…but, the animals were restless.

Fear of the unknown is perhaps the most emotionally-paralyzing prospect of human existence.  If there is anything that makes a dog bark, or a child cry, or the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up, it is uncertainty. 

For Noah, if God was that angry to wipe man off the face of the earth – what did that mean for him?  Had he dodged a bullet only to face God alone and in the dark?  What was to become of them?

Lent ought to speak of the uncertainty which life in the 21^st century smears over our hearts.  But, then…

The Ark Brought Noah to a NEW PLACE

God’s promise (or covenant) was unequivocal and was not predicated upon anything mankind would do or keep from doing; God just promised – NO more catastrophic floods to start over.

God’s promise was also not just to Noah, but to his descendants – you and me!  And God said He would always keep watch over that promise.  So, every time you see a rainbow, you and God are staring at the same thing at the same time.  That should spark chill bumps up and down your spinal column, when you consider the context in which the promise is made.  God has chosen to never again destroy the planet.

So God Keeps His Promises?

The whole point of the flood account making it into Holy Scripture, and that of Lent is to keep before us the reality of just how far God goes to keep His promises.  He’ll go as far as a cross and an empty tomb! 

Lent should do more than cause us to give up drinking or chocolate for a few weeks.  It ought to be as life-changing as spending 40 days and nights in the terror of darkness, loneliness and uncertainty of the storms – and then coming out into the light of God’s marvelous promise!

What’s It All About, Preacher?

Let me not “toy” with you here.  If you’re like me you occasionally trudge through dry spots – valleys, really – where you are just going through the motions, hitting the high spots and wondering if things will ever get better.  You are empty spiritually, depleted physically and strained by time and commitment, and surrounded by conflicts.  Life stinks!

This is where Lent comes in, friend!

I recently read some excerpts from a work by Debra Farrington[2], who quotes monastic guides for stepping out of the ark – and finding sunlight and firm land.  In it she suggested a few things that began to light my Lenten fire.

 Let me share a few of them as a suggestion to those of us who may have an empty spiritual gas tank today:

Re-Connection

Re-connect with God.  That presupposes that there has been a “disconnect”.  We don’t mean for it to happen, but somewhere in the middle of living life and doing all that people expect, the one person in our lives that should not be neglected is God. 

Like a light that’s been turned off, or dimmed too much, we need reconnection.  We need to take a slice from whatever time we now spend on worthless things – or even good things – and do the best thing; we need to reconnect with the One who loves us.

Lent means coming out of the darkness to reconnect with light!

Recreation

We Americans have a hard time not working more.  Surveys suggest that in the 1990’s the average American added a week of work to his schedule each year.  And it’s getting worse!

Lent means coming up from the darkness of tending the Ark’s residents and leaky hull, to grab a breath of fresh air and play with the doves hanging out on the mast. 

Relaxation

Scripture is plain at this point; it is a waste of time to stay up late and rise early if you’re trying to do it all in the flesh.[3] 

Every so often I will find myself violating that principle.  After multiple late nights of meetings or ministry I’m strung-out and still have to prepare a sermon and a zillion other items for Sunday.  I awake early and have to use a whip and cow prod to get myself out of bed to do devotions and study.  Pursuing a relationship with God is much better accomplished when one has had rest. 

Lent comes to the over-amped, under-rested saint and says, “God is on the job; go take a nap”!

Release

Jesus said that our lives do not revolve around things.  The poorest American has much more than 80% of the world’s people.  We have enough stuff!

Lent says, “Be Detached from all this stuff and see how much you can do to help someone else”.

The Bottom Line

I have found myself in one of those valleys recently…all dry, parched and spiritually depleted.  I’m glad Lent is here.  My game plan is to:

·        Reconnect with God each day – I’m not on vacation, but I’m taking a little extra time to talk to my Lord.

·        Recreate – Scratch the dog’s ear each time I pass her in the hallway, take Elizabeth for an ice cream cone.

·        Rest – The TV is off!

·        Release – I’m going to let go worrying about stuff, and start hunting for some way to be a blessing to someone else.

The covenant of the rainbow was something God gave to assure us that God was not interested in destroying mankind.  During Lent it should also speak to us that He’s not particularly fond of seeing us self-destruct either. 

Lent – a season of life!

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[1] Homiletics Online

[2] Debra Farrington, Living Faith Day by Day; How the Sacred Rules of Monastic Traditions Can Help You Live Spiritually in the Modern World, (Perigee, 2000)

[3] Psalms 127:2