The Rainbow Covenant
Illustration: ‘House M.D’ House often clashes with his fellow physicians, including his own diagnostic team, because many of his hypotheses about patients' illnesses are based on subtle or controversial insights. His flouting of hospital rules and procedures frequently leads him into conflict with his boss, hospital administrator and Dean of Medicine.
In actual fact he can be extremely offensive
Some people can be extremely offensive. Respect for people and their property has taken a dive; we just need to look around the church grounds to experience some of this disrespect. Rubbish dropped near the bins but not inside them. Graffiti along the outside walls etc...
What about us, were we ever offensive to our parents?
Once my twin brother had a massive fight inside the house and yet did we care about the damage we were doing to the room we were in or the items in that room
Of course not, we didn’t care about anything, other than winning fight, having our own way
We didn’t care at all about our parents place at that moment in time
The same can be said about the people before the flood
The reason for the flood, God concluded, was that the world had betrayed his intent
The noble decisions of God had been treated shabbily
The people disrespected God and His creation
Therefore God dealt with that reality with great seriousness
Creation had refused to be God’s creation
Refused to honour God as God
Both the world and God had been denied their real character
In various ways “creation had exchanged the truth about God for a lie, worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator.
All that was very good had become bad
So God destroyed it
But something happened
Illustration: As their excitement grew, the crowd strained forward for a better view. The air grew hotter and so did the contest as Gilbert with the White Hand also hit the bull's eye every time, just the same as Robin Hood. The apparent ease with which this feat was achieved caused the onlookers to hold their breath in amazement. Little John, Will Scarlet and Much shot well, but not well enough, and had to drop out. Archers were eliminated one by one till Robin Hood and Gilbert were the only two left in the contest.
A willow wand replaced the targets and the crowd became hushed - you could hear a pin drop. Robin Hood split the wand with his first arrow. Gilbert, for the first and only time that afternoon missed, and it was enough to lose him the contest. Robin Hood split the wand with both of his next two arrows to prove he was the best archer in the North of England.
Although this is part of the story about Robin Hood, I want us to consider instead the weapons he used rather than the man himself.
The bow and arrow
When I think about a bow, I think about arrows
And then my mind is drawn back to when i was slightly younger to where I made a bow out of bamboo and fishing line. I use thin garden steaks as arrows
Looking back it was quite a dangerous weapon
Recently I helped our youngest son make a bow and some arrows (not too sharp)
Whenever I think about the bow and arrow I can’t help seeing them as weapons
Weapons used for hunting and to doing battle with enemies
Today we hear about another bow
But this bow is in the sky and no matter where we look there aren’t any signs of arrows
Now wouldn’t you agree that a bow without arrows is pretty useless?
Unless
Unless it no longer needed anymore
“Never again!” says God
In extraordinary resolve, God now says, “Never again”.
Never again will God take up the bow and arrow to destroy
On the basis of God’s “never again”, the rainbow sign is established
The bow is a promise to all of creation
It is a at the same time a reminder to God of a vow he will honour
George Mendenhall regards the bow not as a weapon but as an undrawn bow
That is
The creator has won victory over the chaos and perhaps also over his inclination to punish
God is no longer in pursuit of an enemy!
God makes an irreversible commitment that the post-flood, post-chaos situation is decisively different
What has changed is not anything about humankind or creation or waters or floods
What has changed is God
God has made a decision about the grief and trouble of his own heart
The promise of God is that he will not again be provoked to use his weapon, no matter how offensive his creation becomes
Isn’t this wonderful?
But hang on a minute!
All we need to do is look around to see that awful stuff is still happening to creation so where does the ‘never again’ come into our situation or the worlds situation?
Can there be no further destruction?
Looking around us
Reading the newspaper
It seems
God has again released the flood waters
Maybe not just with water, although Australia has had its fair share of flooding over the last couple of years
But through earth quakes, tsunamis and a plethora of other disasters
Illustration: Cantabrians gathered for the memorial service for the February 22 earthquake victims on Wednesday last week. It’s been a year since the devastating earth quake in Christchurch and they are still being rattled by after shocks
Surely some people who go through such awful events feel that God is punishing them
But
For all of us who regard such events as punishment for sin have failed to understand the change in God
In earlier chapters in Genesis 6:5-7:10 there is a simple structure of indictment-sentence in which God resolves to punish the guilty
But that has been changed
The one-to-one connection of guilt and punishment is broken
God is postured differently
From the perspective of this narrative, there may be death and destruction
Evil has not been eradicated from creation
But we are now assured that these are not rooted in the anger or rejection of God
But rather through evil
Through the choices people make
Through the unwise use of resources
Through Pollution
Through War
To name a few
Humanity on either side of the flood has not changed
And yet the relation of creator to creature is no longer in a plan of retribution
Because of a revolution in the heart of God, that relation is now based in
unqualified grace
“Never again” says God “will I allow the sin and wickedness of my creation to cause me to destroy it, no matter how much it grieves me!”
And to top it off an implication of this promise is that God will try everything else
God will seek us and seek us, despite or perhaps because of God’s knowledge of sin, every grief and every shame
That veils our vision of God’s reality and of our won as God’s creatures
What is even more amazing is that God’s seeking led to God leaving his throne
To come to be with us in Jesus Christ
Unlike gods like Zeus with his lightning bolt and Thor with his hammer
God stepped into time and space to be with us in our humanity so we could know him
To know how much he loves us
And grieves for us when we turn from him
See the rainbow in the sky; see I have laid my weapon down!
I make this promise, no matter what my creation does
I will never again destroy it!
Conclusion: So what?
We’ve heard that this story is really about God and God’s change of heart: It’s all about God
Humanity is left twiddling their thumbs
So is there anything we can take from the reading today for our lives?
First: God has promised not to destroy the earth because of sin, however that doesn’t mean we will be without pain and suffering, which is cause by sin
Second: we need to recognised that God wants to have a relationship with his creation no matter how bad it is
God will seek us and seek us and seek us no matter the cost to God. God steps into the quagmire of sin as Jesus Christ so we can know him
Third: in knowing God we will know that the task to exercise authority over the rest of creation with care and respect of life remains the same as in the day of Noah.
See a rainbow and hear the words ‘Never again!’
Never again!
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