One
of the ideas weaving its way through the Old Testament, which is often overlooked,
is the idea that the sin of humanity, the evil we do, the ways in which we harm
one another, affects the world around us. Our sin, often times plays out in
aspects of the natural earth becoming corrupted, becoming sick, or even seeming
to rebel against humanity in response to sin and evil.
Once
the Israelites get to the promise land, they find that when they do not follow
God, when they do not live the way they are called to live, the very earth upon
which they live bears the consequences of their sin, it turns against them. In
many cases it seems that the land moves against them; their crops don’t grow,
the animals die, the locusts swarm, there are droughts, fires, earthquakes and
other natural disasters. God continually tells them their happiness in the land,
which God has given them, is dependent upon them living in the ways God calls
them to live. In short the land of milk and honey will only be so as long as
they love God and love one another as the covenant they made with God calls for
them to so. Jesus summed up the covenant when he said that, loving God with all
our hearts, souls and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves were the
greatest of all the commandments. What God desires of humanity is that simple,
is for us to God and to love each other. Sounds easy, but generally we are so
incredibly bad at it.
The
initial occurrence of this theme of the sin of humanity taking a toll upon the
created order of things, which weaves its way through the pretty much all of
the Old Testament, from this point forward, the flood. From the time of the
Fall, where Adam and Eve turned away from doing what God had called them to do,
to do what seemed right and good in their own minds, onward, we have several
example stories of people doing harm to one another and rebelling against the
love of God by mistreating one another. And in this first incidence of the
world around us being affected by our sin, and a natural disaster causing harm,
is directly linked to the ways in which humans choose to rebel against God and
refuse to treat each other with love, kindness and respect. The flood occurs
because humans were increasingly failing to treat each other with love or even
common decency.
The
scriptures tell us that once the first humans left the garden, things did not
go so well. Although, Adam and Eve may have lived at peace with each other and
with their children, their children did not live at peace with one another. Their
elder son turned on the younger killing him in a fit of rage. And things only
go from there. First there is Lemech, who not only takes two wives, something
which prior to that did not seem to be done, but then he boasts to them about
killing a man. At the beginning of chapter 6 we are told there are those who
are called “Sons of God.” Now “Son of God,” is the same term which is often
used of David and others in the OT were considered righteous or particularly
close to God. These “Sons of God,” who were considered to be “righteous” the
men to whom others should look as examples of how to live, decided that they
could just take any of the daughters of men they wanted to be their wives. It
can be concluded, that thus begins the horrible human practice of daughters
being property to be handed over or considered objects that can be simply taken
as wives, either way, without their own consent. But that is just the
beginning, then there are mighty warriors (the word Nephilim for whatever
reason goes untranslated in most translations), men who are also looked up to,
for their strength and their might, who then decide taking women to be their
wives, is too polite for them, they would just “go into” any woman they so
choose.
And
these are the actions on humanity’s part that grieve the Lord and cause God to regret
ever creating humanity. When we treat one another poorly, when we not only fail
to love each other but actively seek to do harm to one another, when brother
turns on brother, when nation rises against nation, when we harbor hatred,
scorn or malice in our hearts against another human being, we are going against
the way God desires for us to live. But when the earth was young and humanity
was still finding its way, the actions by humans that grieve the heart of God,
so much that God begins to regret even creating us; those actions are how women
were treated. It is how the “good” men of were choosing to act in relation to
women, that grieved the heart of God so.
I
want to be clear here. When a husband raises his hand against his wife God
cares. When a woman is taken into a dark alley and used and abused and
discarded, God cares. Whenever a woman is bought or sold for the purpose of
using her body, God cares! God cares whenever a woman is mistreated or harmed.
And as people of God we need to know that. God cares and God sees. If you have
ever been a woman used or abused in any way, please know that, God sees and God
cares and it grieves God’s heart each and every time these things happen.
But
let me also be clear. It is not just women God cares about. The abuses of men
against women are what is listed here, but the breaking down of the loving
relationship, which God desires to be between men and women, particularly
between husbands and wives, simply serves as an example here as the kind of
thing which grieves God’s heart. Whenever ANYONE is used and abused, treated as
an object, as less than human, bought or sold or having their humanity stripped
from them in any way, God cares. It grieves God’s heart. It literally pains God
when we mistreat anyone, or when any group of people are mistreated because
they are not who we are, whether we do so individually, as society, or as a
part of a broken system. As people of God our hearts should also be grieved by
these kinds of thought, attitudes and actions. When we see them in the world
around us our hearts are broken in the same way God’s is. And we should be actively
working to right these kinds of wrongs in whatever ways we possibly can.
(Ok
side sermon over)
Gen
6:6, tells us that when God saw what was being done, that God was grieved by
the actions of humanity. It was too much. God wishes that humanity had never
been created. God desires to wipe the slate clean, to start again. And so a flood comes upon all the earth. The
sin of humanity, against one another is so great that the very earth upon which
they dwell rebels against them. God sends a flood, to wash the earth clean, which
wipes out nearly all of humanity. God spares one man, Noah, and his family
along with as many of the creatures of the land and the air which are able to
be crammed into a tiny little boat.
So
Noah builds an ark, gathers all the creatures of the land and the air inside
and closes the door. And the rains come and the floods fill the earth and they
all remain safe inside throughout the duration of the floods. Once the flood
waters recede they emerge from the ark onto dry land, a new earth so to speak,
with the chance to begin again, to try again, and to do better this time.
And
it is then after all the animals have been saved along with Noah and his family
that God comes to Noah and makes this covenant; the rainbow covenant, which is
a covenant with all creation. God tells Noah that this covenant is being
established with you, and your descendants after you and with every living
creature, with all flesh. This covenant is not made simply between God and
Noah, it is not simply made between God and Noah’s family or God and Noah’s
decedents. It is not even a covenant made between God and all of humanity. It
is a covenant made between God and all creation. Never again will God allow the
floods to wipe out the earth again.
And
so God sets the rainbow in the sky. The idea of the rainbow being a promise is
so ingrained into our thoughts and our minds, that I am sure none of us ever
question. Why a rainbow? Why is the rainbow the symbol of the covenant, why not
the sun parting the clouds, or the sight of rainwater drying on a leaf. What it
is about the rainbow that made it the symbol of the covenant?
You
may notice that the word rainbow, actually never appears in this passage, the
word that is here is “bow.” Just “bow” without “rain”, before it. It is a bow
that is seen in the sky. Not the kind of bow that small children learn as one
of their first life skills, but a war bow. It is the kind of bow that shoots
arrows. God hangs up the war bow promising to never use it against humanity
again. God flooding the earth is seen as an act of war against humanity,
against all creation. In times of peace weapons are hung on the wall. A weapon
that is seen on the wall is not in use, it is on the wall. It is on display,
everyone can see that it is there and not in the hand of an enemy or one who is
seeking to destroy you. So as a sign to all creation God hangs the war bow in
the sky, where it can be seen. As long as it is in the sky it cannot be used to
bring this kind of destruction against humanity again. God’s war bow which was
once used against humanity is hanging on the wall of the sky for all to see.
Whenever
the bow comes after the rain, the rainbow is in the sky; we can see it there
and know that it is remains there. It is not in the hand of God about to be
used. As long as bow is in the sky it is not a war bow, it is a bow of peace.
And
whenever we see it there we can know that God remembers the covenant
made with all creation. The bow is sign to us that God does not forget the promise
to never destroy all the earth again with a flood. It is not there so that we remember;
it is not there so that we can never forget. It is there so that we can know
something about God. God does not forget the covenants God makes. God will
always remember this covenant (and every other covenant God makes.) God does
not forget.
These
early stories of the Bible are here to tell us about God, about who God is,
about the character of God and what matters to God. The story of the flood
tells us that how we treat one another matters to God. What we do to our fellow
human beings matters to God. It hurts God when we harm one another. War, abuse,
maltreatment of other people, the reducing of other humans to less than human,
to objects or possessions, matter to God. It grieves God when we are unable to
treat our fellow humans with the same love, and respect we give to God.
How
we treat each other and how we are treated matters to God. I matter to God. You
matter to God each and every one of us matter to God. There is nothing anyone
can do that will make any of us stop mattering to God. God care about us and
what happens to us. God cares and it grieves God when are hurt, in anyway.
But
not only does humanity matter, but all of creation matters. God makes the covenant
following the flood with all of creation, not just Noah and his family, not
just with his decedents or all of humanity but we all flesh with all creation.
The whole earth and everything on it matters to God. Everything matters, the
earth and everything in it. It all matters! We all matter.
The
covenant God makes with all creation following the flood tells us something
else about God. It tells us that God
does not forget. Humans forget all the time. We forget where we put out keys, we
forget what we ate for lunch on Wednesday, we forget small things as well as
important things, we forget birthday and anniversaries, we forget commitments and
the promises we make. There are so many things we forget each and every day,
but God does not forget. God does not forget the small mundane things, but more
importantly God does forget the important things. God does not forget promises
or covenant. This means that God will not forget you. No matter how you may
feel, no matter what it seems like, God will not forget you.
God
will not forget how much God loves you, how much God cares for you. We all matter to God. Everything matters to
God. The earth and everything in it matters to God. The love of God is so vast,
so huge that it encompassed everyone and everything. There is no one who is beyond
the love of and there is nothing and nowhere on the whole earth that is beyond
the reach of God. God’s love extends to everyone, everyone and to everything on
the whole earth. The entire earth is filled with the love of God. We all matter to God. God desires to be in
relationship with each and every one of us. God’s love is extended to all of
us, to each of us. And none of us are ever forgotten. God does not forget. God
will never forget any of us. Not you not me, not you, not anyone! Were all
loved, we all matter, and none of us are ever forgotten.
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