Sermon February 26, 2012

Genesis 9:8-17

Psalm 25:1-10

1 Peter 3:18-22

Mark 1:9-15 

“Blessed Connections”

Sometimes I fool myself into thinking that my choices and my behaviors have little or nothing to do with those around me. I don't do it in every second of every day, but when I get lazy and don't think or reach out to other people, I forget that everything that I do and say—and many of my thoughts and feelings—impacts other people, sometimes profoundly. And I am reminded how desperately I—and all of us—need the grace of God.

The natural world carries messages of God’s grace. We will encounter some of these messages in the readings through Lent. Ancient people understood: all creation fell and rose together, what affects one species affects all – human actions have planetary and even cosmic implications. The oneness of creation under God’s grace shines in every rainbow arching through the clouds, a witness to God’s promise that the earth from which we come will never again be reduced to its primordial chaos.

And though God's creation is one it is also broken, troubled, as broken in some times and places as it is beautiful in other times and places. And many times the beauty is revealed in very painful moments.

The scripture that we read this morning from Genesis describes God's promise to Noah and all of creation, the first covenant God make in the scriptures. This promise—this covenant—conversation occurs after the flood story that describes how God was so angry at human beings and their murderous actions that God decided to destroy every one of the people except for Noah, Noah's wife and their three sons and their wives. All people accept the household of Noah were destroyed in this account of an earth-covering flood.

The story of a universal flood isn't exclusive to Jewish scriptures—the story of a flood is contained in many ancient texts. What makes the biblical account unique is that it wasn't about a battle between gods, who destroyed human beings because they distracted them from their lives. Those gods then decided to use water to wipe the planet clean and start over. The biblical story is about God's outraged response to humanity's violence against each other—and saving the one family who were righteous and could be trusted to teach that to subsequent generations.

And then the story continues in this morning's scripture when God see the destruction of the flood and promises never, ever to do it again. And God sets a reminder in the sky—not a reminder to human beings or to the other living things of creation—God said, '¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵I 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. ¹⁶When 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.’(Genesis 9:14-16)

God wanted to remember the promise and covenant of life, so that life would be the result of God's actions toward all of creation. Though God's destruction stopped humanity's violence against other human beings, God saw the promise, the covenant, had to be made with God and all living creatures who suffered destruction and loss in God's anger.

Though there was brokenness before the flood, God's covenant was an attempt to re-join, to re-member the unity of creation bringing it closer to God's harmonious and unified intention.

In the flood story and especially in its conclusion, we are reminded by repeated affirmation:

1. I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, ¹⁰and with every living creature
2. This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature
3. it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth
4. I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh
5. I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth
6. This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth

Six times in ten short verses, God says that Noah (the human family) and every creature and the earth itself are together, one party, in this covenant.

The rainbow covenant binds us to each other and all living things:

“Compassion can be roughly defined in terms of a state of mind that is nonviolent, nonharming, nonaggressive. It is a mental attitude based on the wish for others to be free of their suffering and is associated with a sense of commitment, responsibility and respect towards the other.”¹

What I do has an effect on you (all of you) because I am connected to you and what you do (all of you) has an effect on me (and one another) because we are connected. Sometimes and with some people that effect is more obvious—the closer my relationship to you, the more immediately what I do impacts you. Unless we are very close, you might be able to ignore what I do for awhile.

And when relationships are broken in various degrees, from slightly imperfect to incredibly estranged, the brokenness impacts us all. The story of the flood describes that kind of brokenness, when humanity was so incredibly murderous, violent, bloodthirsty that God chose to destroy life rather than preserve it—things must have been bad. And yet, when it is all over with, though God has no assurance and must have the very real knowledge and awareness of our violent capabilities and future, God promises never to destroy life on that scale again. God promised never to over turn the order of creation to the destruction of the primordial watery chaos that preceded creation.

So if we are compassionate, as God realized the need to be compassionate in this first covenant, then we recognize that for anyone to live in peace, in kindness and in free of unnecessary suffering, we must all make choices that promote peace, kindness and justice for all living things. If God can recognize a need to promise never to destroy again, we, too, need to recognize how our hands cause pain and acknowledge and confess how our choices contribute to war, apathy, and injustice.

And we can recognize that making different choices can make a difference for the good in this world. It might take some time, study, conversation, contemplation, prayer, etc. to figure out what the better choices are, but I am positive that all of our lives can be made more compassionate, just a little bit at a time.

Throughout our scripture readings this morning, we have seen how lives are transformed in relationship to God and to one another. In 1 Peter, the author compares Noah and his family's passage through waters to baptism, where the life of an individual becomes one with the Body of Christ—and takes on those attributes. In Mark's gospel, it is in Jesus' baptism where he recognizes and God acknowledges Jesus as God's Beloved Son. Together these texts—along with the text from Genesis, show us the power of relationship and how transformation means life, hope, salvation, and redemption from evil for all of creation.

When we know our brokenness, we know how it is that God has made us whole. When we understand how we have fallen short, we recognize how it is that God's compassion has drawn us the rest of the way. When we realize that we are never alone, but always and every day connected to God and to all living things, we realize that our lives can be blessings and so can the lives of all living things.

To the glory of God, our compassionate and loving creator, redeemer and savior. Amen.

1The Art of Happiness: a Handbook for Living by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C.Cutler, MD
(Australia, Hachette, 1998), p. 114