|
There
Shall Be Showers of Blessing The
Rainbow as a Blessing for Life
Scriptures
Genesis 9:8–17; Psalm 25:1–10; 1 Peter 3:18–22; Mark 1:9–15
Theme
Baptised and Enlisted into God’s Kingdom.
Sermon
Summary
At the beginning of this Lenten season, let us prepare our hearts, to journey towards the cross
with Jesus, by remembering the perpetual covenant of God, given as a blessing, to all of
humanity through Noah.
Introduction
*This sermon is part 1 of an exploration of Genesis 9:8-17 and shares sections with The Battle Belongs to the Lord: The Rainbow
as Battle-Cry
8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9“I now establish my covenant with
you and with your descendants after you 10and with every living creature that was with
you —the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark
with you— every living creature on earth. 11I establish my covenant with you: Never
again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to
destroy the earth.”
12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and
every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13I have set my
rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15I will
remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.
Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16Whenever the rainbow
appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God
and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
17So
God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant
I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
(Genesis 9:8-17) 
1. Regardless of any controversy arising over questions of its historicity, this story is crucial
for our Christian worldview.
a. A worldview represents a person’s unique beliefs and values, which influence his or her
behavioural choices (i.e: their somewhat unique way of comprehending and interacting
with the environment around them).
b. This passage is deep enough to accommodate two somewhat divergent interpretations
when coupled with the scriptures assigned by the RCL lectionary:
i) The Gospel reading, Mark 1:9-15, draws out the battle imagery of God's covenant
with Noah.
ii) The NT reading, 1 Peter 3:18–22, draws out the baptismal imagery.
c. Both
interpretations have interesting implications for developing
a Christ-centred worldview.
Since the baptismal imagery is probably the most beautiful, we will now reflect on this passage
from Genesis from this perspective and consider the battle imagery this evening.
The
Story of Noah and the Great Flood
1. The gist of the story of Noah and the great flood is this:
a. God
felt grief over the state of His creation, particularly
over the wickedness of humankind.
b. The
righteousness of one person, Noah, made all the difference
to God, so that He was inclined to spare humanity from
total extinction.
c. Noah is instructed to build an ark, through which he can save his family and sufficient
breeding stock to maintain animal kind on the planet.
d. The rains fall; the flood rises; the planet is transformed; the ark, with its passengers, is
spared.
The Sunday School rendition is pretty and quaint, acceptable enough even for toys made by
Fisher Price. Yet, this watered-down, sugar-coated, and simplified version misses the majesty
and power of God revealed by the rainbow, as well as the revelation of God’s basic inclination
towards Creation.
God
is Pro-Life
1. God establishes a covenant with Noah, on behalf of all of Creation, that “never again will
the waters become a flood to destroy all life” (Genesis 9:16).
a. The covenant with Noah is a royal grant rather than a suzerain treaty.
There are many types of covenants in the Bible. The covenant with Moses, for example,
takes the form of what the scholars call a suzerainty agreement; it’s laid out according
to the same format as the treaty a conquering emperor would impose upon a newly
defeated king. There’s an element of negotiation to it: “I’ll do something for you, and
you do something for me in return.”
This
covenant with Noah is different. It’s what biblical
scholars refer to as a “royal grant.” In
a royal grant covenant, a king rewards a loyal subject
by granting an office, or land, or an exemption from
taxes. In a royal grant covenant, it’s only the
superior party who is bound by its terms. There are
no conditions imposed upon the inferior party. The covenants
God makes with Noah, Abraham, and David all fit this
pattern. In each of these cases, it is God alone who
chooses to make covenant, to be bound by a solemn oath.
b. Although God limits the human lifespan to 120 years, He thoroughly represents
Himself as pro-life.
i) God provided a Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden that would provide humans with
healing and longevity (3:22).
ii) God renews his mandate to humanity to “be fruitful and increase in number and fill
the earth” (9:1, 7; cf 1:28).
iii) Humans and animals were initially herbivorous (1:29); from the time of this
covenant with Noah, humans are allowed to be carnivorous (9:2-4).
iv) With
this covenant, God indicates that He will adversely
judge the killing of a human whether by an animal or
by another human (vs. 5ff).
“Human beings are to have complete discretion
over the lives of animals, but not over human life.”
c. This covenant is universal and perpetual (vs. 12ff).
God is pro-life because He intensely desires to remain in a positive relationship with His
creation, which includes but is not limited to human kind. He felt grief and disappointment
over our rebellion and wickedness, and, although He was inclined to –and would have been
completely justified in– destroy His creation, He choose to rescue and restore us because of the
righteousness of one person. The story of Noah and the Great Flood is overwhelming in the
depth of its implications.
The
Rainbow as Blessing
1. Being pro-life, God institutes a new order of non-violence through the Great Flood
a. The Great Flood brings about a new start for humanity, a new relationship with God
i) Rain symbolises death, to some degree.
ii) The rainbow is a sign of life
b. The rainbow is a sign of blessing, which is for everyone.
i) God is always present and alway blessing, both naturally and supernaturally.
ii) God is always wanting the best for every person, therefore He gives generously.
Too much of Christian history and theology has emphasised the judgmental and jealous God.
He is, certainly, both of these things: God is the only being who is able and justified in holding
us accountable for our evil and sin; and, God is jealous for our affection and worship and will
not share us with another.
Nevertheless, the rainbow reminds us of God’s unreasonable and unexplainable positive regard
for us. The rainbow encourages us to maintain a positive outlook for the state of the world
around us, and even a positive outlook for ourselves. This positive outlook can be maintained
extraordinarily well if we are the baptised and faithful.
Baptism
as Fulfilment
A rainbow itself is made of tiny droplets of water, suspended in the air. The sun shines
through these drops of water, and its light is refracted, as through a prism. It is this
refraction, this splitting up, of white light that creates the rainbow’s bands of colour.
In a certain sense, therefore, the rainbow is made up of the storm itself. The water that
once cascaded down upon the earth, sweeping everything before it, has now become a
sign of grace. The dread reality that once called forth only terror is transformed into
something beautiful.
We can see a similar thing in certain churches and shrines that are renowned as places
of healing. Displayed on the walls of such places are items like canes and crutches: cast
aside by confident people who believed God had healed them. A cane or a crutch is not
often a symbol of hope; rather, it is a mark of sadness, a reminder of human limitations
and the frailty of the flesh. Yet, when hung upon the wall of a church where people
come for healing, that very thing is transformed into a symbol of hope: and all by the
power of God.
The same is true of relics of the Berlin Wall. Before the collapse of Communism, the
Wall had been the very icon of political oppression, a symbol of despair before the
stifling power of the totalitarian state. Yet, after that giddy night in 1990, when
demonstrators, realizing the guards had departed, hoisted themselves upon it, smashing
it with sledgehammers —the wall 82 was transformed into a symbol of freedom. The
Germans broke it into tiny pieces, and sent the pieces all over the world, so freedom-loving people everywhere could rejoice in their new, hopeful reality.
The
same may be said of another symbol, even better known
to us than the rainbow, or any other image [...] the
cross.
1. This whole scenario prefigures baptism, an extraordinary symbol for God and from God.
a. Baptism is “for” God in that the believer commits him/herself to a pure conscience (“a
person’s moral sense of right and wrong, chiefly as it affects their own behaviour”)
before God (1 Peter 3:21a).
i) With baptism, the believer is declaring their acceptance of a Christ-centred
worldview, that their behaviour will be based on a morality finding its source and
inspiration in God.
ii) What other basis exist?
b. Baptism is “from” God in that Jesus’ death and resurrection makes this eternal life
possible (:21b).
i) After the manner of the tree of life found in the garden of Eden.
ii) The life poured into us through baptism is far superior to the blessing of the
rainbow.
Conclusion
The season of Lent leads us into a kind of death, engaging us directly in the power and sorrow
of Jesus’ death. The season of Lent also prepares us for the blessing of the Easter-life. Lent
and Easter share symbolism with baptism –it should be no surprise to you that Easter was
traditionally the time when baptisms were performed.
Let us begin our own season of Lent by committing ourselves to time spent in sorrowful
reflection upon the pain that our sin causes us, as well as the pain God suffers and suffered from
our sin. Let us journey with Jesus to the cross, where the universal and perpetual blessing of
the rainbow reaches its pinnacle of the blessed gift of eternal life.
When we are sad and despairing, O God ... show us the rainbow.
When we are racked with doubt ... show us the rainbow.
When we fear we are all alone ... show us the rainbow.
When we find ourselves believing sin has won its final victory over us ... show us the rainbow.
In the name of Christ, who by his cross brings us redemption. Amen.
sermon delivered by Ian Forest-Jones
at Hurstville Church of Christ
on Sunday, 5 March 2006
[email]
< back |
