Covenant #1 (Lent) Rainbow

**If it's ok to say, I really LOVE this sermon :)



Gen 9:11 God said, “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."
New Orleans LA, September 2005, Anderson Cooper: I mean, that`s how bad it is, Nancy. We have seen bubbles coming out of homes, and that is gas leaks that is making the water froth up. You can smell the gas when you`re driving around in your boat. So I mean, there`s no telling what`s in this water. It is -- it`s everything you can possibly imagine in one just dirty soup. There is still 50 percent of the city underwater. Parts you simply just can't get to.
No more floods, huh? Gen 9, the flood story is probably pretty familiar to most. You may even hear it and begin to tune out a bit…Noah, a flood, beautiful, clean and orderly animals marching off a large wooden boat with a 7 year old’s depiction of a rainbow in the background. Then, you really start to tune out. The promise that God would never again flood the world sounds like it may have been broken…not just in New Orleans, but in countless cities and countless hearts that are flooded with pain. One may think, “yes, the whole world may not be flooded, but my world is under water. I’m gasping for air in my lungs and everything around me has been destroyed. Anyone ever felt this way? It makes us wonder if these Biblical promises are more than just words on a page. If the story is still for us. Does the story of an old man surrounded by docile animals matter in a world where people are still cleaning up from Katrina? Does the story of a God who promises never again to destroy the earth hit home to this community, as we watch factory after factory closed and wonder if you need to move heaven and earth to prevent your own destruction? That’s why we’re here…that’s why we’re doing this thing called “Lent” why we’re meeting together, on Sundays and Wednesdays with the hope that Easter will come (this Wed at Grace with Pastor John preaching, check bulletin for details). That’s the challenge, no, that’s the invitation to bring these ancient stories, of broken people, living in sin filled broken times to life for us. To discover how these words come alive and create an unstoppable phenomena in the world. Are you up for the challenge?
Genesis 9: “And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.”
CNN February 2006, New Orleans: Funding and volunteers are still needed 6 months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Even now, 6 months later, thousands of residents remain displaced and in need of housing, food and clean water.
Thousands of years ago, God said to Noah “I will establish a covenant with you…” A covenant is a solemn, unbreakable bond made between God and God’s people. An unbreakable promise, signified by a rainbow. A signal, that God is in relationship with us, that He has made a promise with us. This doesn’t mean God takes away all forms of destruction, we still have floods, water still destroys, but a covenant signals to us God’s relationship with humanity has changed. (by the way, you’ll hear of a new covenant every week during Lent in the Old Testament reading, so be on the lookout for them). Each covenant builds upon itself, the previous promise is kept, and a new, more earth shattering promise emerges. This first covenant is a pretty big promise, because Noah, and all the people who follow after him know that anything water touches is changed. The waters of the flood touched the earth, they destroyed every living creature, they cut off every living creature from God…water did this. And God promise, makes a covenant that water will no longer cut off and separate His people from Him. God is changed, humanity is changed…WATER is changed by this covenant. Water will no longer be used to separate God from God’s people. Remember how I said covenants build upon each other? Let’s take a look at the gospel reading…Jesus’ baptism. “just as he was coming out of the water the Spirit descended upon him like a dove. And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” Anything water touches is changed and the waters of Baptism change all those who are touched. See, it began with God and Noah…water was changed! God declared that water was no longer something that cut people off from Him, instead, the waters of baptism join people together and send them out into the world! The waters of baptism changed the baptized, they spring forth people of God to flood the earth, to touch it, to transform it. Water transforms. Noah was touched by water and sent out adrift in a wild sea for 40 days before God reaches out to him and makes a covenant with him. Jesus is touched by water and is set adrift in the wild desert for 40 days (NO ACCIDENT THERE!!!) before reaching out and making a covenant with us. You are touched by water, baptized and sent out adrift in this wild world before the Holy Spirit reaches out and leads you to share the everlasting covenant of Christ with others. Water transforms.
The waters of baptism touch us, flood our hearts with the living, breathing, spirit of God, and we in turn flood the world. The flood waters of Noah destroyed all that God made, cut it off the world from God. The flood waters of baptism, restore all that God has made. These waters flood our broken planet, our broken lives, with grace hope and justice. But how is this story still for us, as we live in a still imperfect, often painful and separated world? Where is their evidence that the waters of baptism are transforming everything they touch?
Jesus, Justice & Jazz ELCA 2009 national youth gathering homepage: Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered, and sent for the sake of the world. Working with local congregations and organizations, young people will be immersed in volunteer service as they participate in recovery efforts resulting from the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Our youth, a total of 15 people from this congregation (including myself), touched by the waters of baptism and filled with the Holy Spirit, are traveling to New Orleans in July. We will be challenged, to take what was muddied and help to make it clean. We will join 36,000 young people and together, we will flood New Orleans with the waters of the Holy Spirit, taking what appeared to be hopeless and fill it with new life. Not only will 36,000 baptized Lutherans give to the city, we will be met by the Holy Spirit in this place, and the spirit will flood us, and transform us. We will be given a gift by this city and it’s people—God’s covenant will come alive. The story of Noah won’t be simple words on a page, it will live and breathe on Burdon street, and in the Lower 9th Ward. A rainbow will no longer be a symbol, but the hope, the reassurance to us all that God transformed water, and He is transforming US. These 36,000 people will then be driven out by the Spirit to proclaim this hope to the world.
But, that’s just one story, one example. Is the story still for us? This question is the challenge set before each of us this Lenten season. How will YOU answer? AMEN