Genesis 9:8-17 Psalm 25:109 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:9-15
“I have set a bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
At the end of the creation story in chapter 1 of Genesis, we read that “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good.” By the time we get to the 4th chapter, Cain has murdered Able, the reality of evil and wickedness was growing along with the population, and as we get to chapter 6, God determines he needs to start over, that the level of depravity and violence among humans and animals had reached a point that the only option was to purify his created order via the famous story of the flood which spreads out over the next three chapters culminating in God’s covenant with Noah we hear in today’s reading from Genesis. The Genesis story tells us that “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” How could things go from ’and all that he had made was very good’ to this same creation ‘grieving his heart?’
The author of Genesis tells us that ‘the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.’ However, the author also declares that God found favor with Noah, for he was a man “blameless” in his generation who “walked with God.” The original plan of God was to have humankind oversee God’s “good creation” but with violence continually active in their hearts, this governance turns into violent and evil oppression against both humans and animals. This story emphasizes that God destroys the people he has created because of their immoral behavior.
The story continues with the building of the arc, the collection of the animals, the rain that lasted 40 days and nights, God’s “remembering” of Noah, God renewing the land by the blowing of his wind over the earth, the sending of the raven and doves to see if the land could once again support life, Noah’s offering of a sacrifice in gratitude for all that God had done, God’s commitment to never again “curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” and ends with a charge from God that man is once again to “be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.” This is the important backstory that brings us to today’s reading of God and his covenant with all of creation with the sign of the rainbow.
Violence, corruption, immoral behavior, wickedness, and treachery are still a reality of our lives and our world. I find myself occasionally enraged by what goes on around me that is blatantly oppressive, vile, vindictive, and deadly. I truly can’t get my head around how awful and depraved life must have been in the days of Noah for God to become grieved at what he had created. History gives us far more examples of human wickedness than we need to understand the point of our sinful nature: slavery in all its forms, religious persecution against a wide variety of peoples of faith, ethnic cleansings, human trafficking in the labor and sex trades, mistreatment at best and death at worst for people of the “wrong skin tone” or “political party” in countries throughout the world, including our own, and the atrocities perpetrated against the Uyghur community in China’s reeducation camps. The level of man’s inhumanity to man is more than heartbreaking, it’s a diabolical sin straight from the gates of hell against God and all of humanity. We are made in the image of God and yet how we collectively treat our fellow human beings simply defies understanding and underlies our deep-seated sinful nature. It’s as if God just concedes that humans will continue to be violent, to shed the blood of others, and do things that dehumanize each other even in this post-flood world. (adlib comments regarding the fellow who sucker-punched the Asian woman in NY....the white-supremacist, Neo-Nazi who desecrated Temple Beth Shalom in Spokane). All I could say to myself was “my God.”
Are you ready for some good news? In spite of humanity’s propensity for violence and unfathomable and horrific behavior against others, God pledges to renew the covenant first made with Noah at the beginning of the flood, that never again will God destroy his creation with a flood. Remember, earlier we heard that God would not again “curse the ground because of man.” Don’t think of this promise to never again destroy the world via a flood as some sort of loophole....rather understand it in the broadest context of God promising not to destroy his creation a second time. God made this covenant with “all living creatures” and the rainbow is the sign of this covenantal relationship between God and the whole earth. This glorious and colorful sign that hangs in the sky is for us to remember that God made this covenant, that he will keep his promise, and that we are loved, prized, and valued in his eyes, and that each of our lives have a unique purpose.
So what’s the antidote against all this wickedness? What should our response be to his everlasting covenant of love and goodwill?
In part, I think we get a rather straightforward answer in our reading from Mark’s Gospel. “Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’” Jesus calls us to repent and believe in the good news. If our behavior or words tear someone down, we’re to repent. If our attitudes are not based on love and gratitude to God, we’re to repent. If we focus so much on ourselves and not our neighbors, especially the ones most vulnerable among us, we’re to repent. If we find ourselves acting greedy and self-serving, we’re to repent. If institutions that represent us act in ways that do not support the dignity of every human being, we’re to call them to repentance. The rainbow offers us a reminder that God gave his created order a second chance to live into the kingdom that he had planned in the first place and that has now come near.
As we begin our collective and individual journeys through this season of Lent, may we experience the joy that comes from seeing God’s colorful promise of renewal, everlasting protection, and hope whether the days be
filled with rain or shine. Let us be on the lookout for opportunities to offer this same joy to others. May God’s unique love for each one of us guide our feet in the paths of righteousness and truth as we faithfully bring the light of his rainbow and promise to a world that is saturated with darkness but that God nonetheless “calls very good.”