First Presbyterian Church
God's Bow
Sermon for March 1, 2009
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Our text from Genesis is on page 7. It tells us about the first covenant after Noah and his family left the ark when the great flood was over. There's a lot of repetition in this passage because in Hebrew, if something is important, you say it again. The more times you say it, the more important it is. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Genesis 9:8-17.

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.

11 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."

12 God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I 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.16 When 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."

17 God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

This ends our reading from Genesis.

Let's listen to our choir sing “Where Still Waters Flow.”

Anthem

Noah sent out a dove to let him know if the waters were receding. When the dove didn't come back, he knew the flood was over, and it was safe to leave the ark. A dove is in our gospel reading as well.

The gospels record the stories of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. The gospel of Mark tells the good news of Jesus, and begins his gospel with the baptism. Our gospel reading begins on page 34 in the new testament. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Mark 1:9-15.

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.

11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

This ends our reading of God's word.

A few years ago, I was traveling in a car with a pastor and his wife to attend a conference. I didn't have to drive, so I was free to look at the scenery through Idaho and Utah and Colorado. It was early November, so there wasn't any snow yet, just a smattering of rain as we drove. Off to our left, was a rainbow lying on the ground. I could see the red orange, and yellow part of the rainbow through the gap in the hills. It was just the very top of the arc. I didn't think such a thing was possible, but there it was—we all saw it.

I saw another rainbow years ago, shining bright on the hill west of Baker City. I tried putting that rainbow in a quilt, but I wasn't all that happy with my efforts; it did not look like the breathtaking rainbow I saw. I learned that painters can't paint rainbows easily, and even photographs don't do rainbows justice; because the color comes from inside the light, not from any pigment.

In our text from Genesis, God says three times in our reading “I establish my covenant with you.” In later stories of covenants with Moses and with Abraham, the covenant is always cut (Hebrew, caraht). That comes from an old tradition of sealing a contract by cutting an animal, putting each piece on either side, and both parties walking between the pieces; that's why a covenant is said to be cut, not made.

But in Genesis 9, the covenant is established (Hebrew, qum), or more accurately, it is “raised up” or “put up.” God says, “I put up my bow in the clouds.”

When I was in high school the only sport I excelled at was archery. And by excel, I mean I was in the top 50% of the class, instead of the bottom 50%. Our class was the first one each day to have archery, so we had to carry out the targets and the arrows and the bows. We had to string the bows; they weren't allowed to be stored in the shed unless they had been unstrung. You want the string to be taut, so the bow has to have a little spring in it. If we left the string on all the time, eventually, the bow would be permanently bent, and wouldn't have that spring.

The last class had to unstring the bows and hang them up at the end of the day.

So in Genesis, God says, “I put up my bow in the clouds.” God's bow is unstrung; stored away, seen but not used. God said, “ I 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.” In other words, God intends to be at peace with the world. The world is not threatened by God.

In our gospel text, Jesus is driven into the wilderness by the same spirit that descended on him. The wilderness: the same place John the Baptizer had his ministry. And we know what happened to John the Baptizer – he was executed by the king. Why would the spirit put Jesus in peril like that? Jesus is in peril throughout the gospel. 1 But Jesus isn't alone. He was there forty days – as long as the flood, as long as Elijah's flight from the wicked king. Jesus was tempted by Satan, and with the wild beasts; dangerous situations. But he was ministered to by God's messengers, or as we usually translate the word, “angels.”

God was still well-pleased with the Beloved Son, but that didn't keep Jesus out of danger. His ministry wasn't all heavenly voices and proclamation. But ultimately, the dangers didn't defeat Jesus.

Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom, the realm of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” The good news that God is for peace, God's realm is come near; it is never too late to repent, to allow God's goodness to work in our lives, to believe in the good news, the gospel, that God's faithfulness endures and will minister to us. Amen.

1 Brueggemann, et al. Texts for Preaching, Year B, p. 199.