Genesis 9:8-17 Fred...
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Genesis 9:8-17
Fred Buechner has this to say about this simple, timeworn story of Noah and his covenant with God:
And the turbulent waters of chaos and nightmare are always threatening to burst forth and flood the earth. We hardly need the tale of Noah to tell us that. The New York Times tells us just as well, and our own hearts tell us well, too, because chaos and nightmare have their little days there also. But the tale of Noah tells other truths as well.
It tells about the ark, for one, which somehow managed to ride out the storm.... The ark is wherever people come together because this is a stormy world where nothing stays put for long among the crazy waves and where at the end of every voyage there is a burial at sea. The ark is where, just because it is such a world, we really need each other and know very well that we do. The ark is wherever human beings come together because in their heart of hearts all of them ... dream the same dream, which is a dream of peace -- peace between the nations, between the races, between the brothers -- and thus ultimately a dream of love. Love, not as an excuse for the mushy and innocuous, but love as a summons to battle against all that is unlovely and unloving in the world. The ark, in other words, is where we have each other and where we have hope.
(from "A Sprig of Hope," in The Hungering Dark [Seabury, 1981], pp. 41-42)
Genesis 9:8-17
Art and Marci had only been in their new home a couple of months when a hurricane was forecasted to hit their state. They watched the news nightly for the latest update. Fortunately the worst of the hurricane missed their town. Following the rain, Marci went out to survey any damage to their home. As she did she noticed a vivid rainbow high in the sky.
The rainbow reminded her of God's promise made to Noah and all humankind, "I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." Marci took a picture of the rainbow and placed it in her Bible. No matter what happened God would see them through any difficulty.
What Marci did not realize that day was there would be another hurricane that would cause damage to their home and others in their community. Part of their roof was torn off by the forceful wind. In addition, debris from neighbors' homes tore up part of their lawn. To make matters worse, they would live without electricity and running water for a week.
Through that difficult time Marci continued to look at her picture of the rainbow. She never felt that God had deserted her or her family. God was present and would see them through.
Noah and his family embarked on dry ground with the realization that God would not desert them. God was serious about the covenant he made with Noah and all humankind. The Lord God told Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
Genesis 9:8-17
For most people, rainbows symbolize hope. Certainly for Christians and Jews, we think immediately of the promise made by God that a flood would never again cover the entire earth. But other stories of the rainbow abound and shed a bit of light on its power to captivate.
In medieval times, German people believed that no rainbows would appear within forty years of the end of the world. Thus seeing the rainbow, one knew there was at least forty more years to live.
The Irish legends hold that at the end of the rainbow one will find leprechauns and a pot of gold. In Japan, the rainbow is called "The Floating Bridge to Heaven," which is similar to some North American Indians who talk about the Pathway of the Souls. Both ideas suggest that the rainbow leads to heaven.
Maybe Wordsworth said it best when he penned the words, "My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky: So it was when my life began; So it is now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, or let me die!"
1 Peter 3:18-22
Sometimes the Old Testament may seem like a waste of good paper. After all, Jesus didn't come until the New Testament. Besides, have you seen how much thicker the Old Testament is than the New Testament? It's full of laws that we don't follow and already fulfilled prophecies. Today's New Testament reading, however, takes us back to the beginning. When we think of baptism, we usually only go back to John the Baptist. We don't flip back a few hundred pages and remember Noah's ark. And why should we? There was no crazy man proclaiming God's news, no dove descending from the sky, no voice of God. Oh, wait. Noah was that crazy guy. The dove flew back with a branch. God was a major player in the whole story. As 1 Peter says, "Eight persons were saved through water" in Noah's ark. Through baptism, we are marked to share in Noah's heritage and God's promise never to destroy us. The Old Testament gives baptism a new depth; it becomes a reminder of God's power instead of some random bath in the middle of Israel. I guess that Old Testament isn't such a waste of paper after all.
1 Peter 3:18-22
Many kinds of organisms called flukes can infect humans. The pattern of liver fluke infections needs two hosts: a human and a water snail. Humans eat poorly washed herbage upon which are fluke cysts. Within the human, the larvae hatch, mature, and fluke eggs pass in the human feces. The eggs hatch free-swimming larvae, which invade host snails in water and then shed more larvae into water to infest herbage. The cycle is repeated if this herbage is poorly washed and eaten by humans. It's estimated that 40 to 100 million people in the world suffer from liver or lung fluke infections.
The cycle of reinfection and suffering is like the sin that continues to replicate itself and for which humans suffer the consequences of their own and others' sin. Through Jesus, God intervened in this cycle. Christ suffered for sins once for all to halt sin and to bring us to God.
1 Peter 3:18-22
Peter compares the church with Noah's ark, which was saved by water. God had instructed Noah to build an ark to save Noah's eight family members and the animals of the world from destruction by floodwaters that cleansed the earth of a corrupt civilization.
Baptismal fonts are often eight-sided, reminiscent of Noah's family members. Today many fonts are filled with water and placed in the narthex at the entrance to the nave, since baptism is our entry rite. You may dip your fingers in and make the sign of the cross on your forehead as you enter the worship space, remembering your baptism. Our worship space is frequently referred to as the nave, from the word navis, or naval.
Baptism is not only a purification rite but a partaking of the resurrection. Baptism is not a matter of physical cleansing but of a cleansing by God, as we die to sin and are raised to new life. It only takes a few minutes to be baptized, but can take a whole lifetime to discover what it means to be baptized.
God judged evil and brought about good through Noah, sealing the covenant promise in the water of the rainbow. God judged evil and brought about good through Christ, sealing the covenant promise in baptism.
1 Peter 3:18-22
I once heard it said that we have lost sight of the "once for all" dimensions of life. Certainly the sacrifice of Christ is one of those dimensions. It has happened "once for all" and does not have to be repeated. This all makes me think of the US Post Office and their policy of package deliveries. Unlike UPS who gladly leaves a package in the garage or at the doorstep, the postal people leave a claim check if you're not home when they bring a package, asking you to come down to the post office and claim your package. So much of faith is claiming what has already been offered! God in Christ offers us a plethora of claim checks. There is the claim check of grace, stamped with the question, "Will you be accepting this?"
1 Peter 3:18-22
The young lady is totally frustrated: Her favorite tennis outfit is dirty and she is sure that it will never be clean again. Her mother offers the solution; the outfit will be washed in Clorox 2ô. The daughter is skeptical about the solution. A few seconds later she is telling her mother how wonderful she is as she walks away with the favorite tennis outfit as good as new. The viewer is then informed they can experience the same results.
Human beings also get dirty with sin. It often appears there is no possible way to get clean. Human beings are ruined forever. There is a solution to this problem, namely, Jesus, the Christ. At first, we may be very skeptical that Jesus can make us clean, but then we see what he can do. It is through the work of Jesus that we are made clean and as good as new and we will live with Jesus in his kingdom. Peter tells us all is not lost -- Jesus makes us clean through his death and resurrection. We are to live in that hope, and we are to thank God for what he has done for us through Jesus Christ.
Mark 1:9-15
Roy recalls that early in his Christian journey he was encouraged to read the Bible. He only read a few chapters in Genesis before losing interest. Later he started to read the Bible but again lost interest and stopped. Before long he realized that he was trying to understand everything he read, all the details, like he would a textbook. A friend from church suggested that he begin reading the New Testament. It would be easier to read, his friend assured him, and he would learn much about Jesus and his teachings.
"This approach helped me," Roy says. He read a chapter every day. He was struck with the humanness of Jesus. He was touched with the realization that Jesus faced temptations in his life like everyone else. He discovered that Jesus was able to resist temptations by quoting the word of God. That encouraged him to continue reading the Bible.
For the next year Roy diligently read the New Testament. In the process his faith was strengthened. "I still find it to be a rich and rewarding experience," Roy explains. "I can identify with the disciples who had wonderful learning experiences as Jesus explained his teachings."
Following Jesus' baptism he was "immediately" taken to the wilderness where he would be tempted. He emerged stronger and ready to begin his ministry. His first words recorded in Mark's gospel were, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
Mark 1:9-15
In his novel, Shoeless Joe, Ray Kinsella hears a voice but it isn't a voice from heaven. Rather it is a voice over a loudspeaker, which prompts Ray the farmer/insurance salesman, to build a baseball field on his Iowan farm, where Shoeless Joe Jackson could once again patrol left field. The voice, which only Ray could hear, prompted him to kidnap writer J. D. Salinger and take him to a Red Sox game at Fenway, then to traverse the country resurrecting other infamous Chicago Black Sox players.
Jesus hears a voice from heaven that affirms his identity, leads him to the wilderness to be tempted, then to the cross and resurrection that effects our own bodily resurrection at the last day. Kinsella's voice may be more romantic and adventuresome, but the voice Jesus heard is far more important and eternal.
Mark 1:9-15
Brenda spoke to the administrative board with a quavering voice, filled with emotion. "I don't want to go, I am afraid, but I must go because God will not let me do otherwise, and I need your help."
She went on to tell us of her prayers and the sleep she had lost because her soul was burdened for a group of young people who lived nearby in an unchurched community. The many wild tales that came from the community would fill a large book. Drug abuse, robberies, and brawls were common occurrences.
The administrative board answered her plea. Brenda, with the help of her husband and others, went into the community because the Spirit had driven Brenda. Today, a youth program has been established, and many youth have been reached for Christ.
"The Spirit driveth him into the wilderness." Nearly 2,000 years later we are enjoying salvation from sin because Jesus was willing to be driven by the Spirit who seeks to drive us into creative wilderness confrontations in our day.
Mark 1:9-15
Tradition has it that George Friderick Handel was so overwhelmed and awed by his reading of the book of Revelation that he exclaimed, "I do believe that I have seen the heavens opened and God upon his great white throne." On the strength of that "vision" Handel went on to write his greatest work, The Messiah. Since that time, many who have listened to, or participated in performing, The Messiah, have also seen the heavens opened.
Jesus saw the heavens opened. On the strength of that experience, he endured temptation by the devil in the wilderness, ministry, and ultimately death and resurrection.
Fred Buechner has this to say about this simple, timeworn story of Noah and his covenant with God:
And the turbulent waters of chaos and nightmare are always threatening to burst forth and flood the earth. We hardly need the tale of Noah to tell us that. The New York Times tells us just as well, and our own hearts tell us well, too, because chaos and nightmare have their little days there also. But the tale of Noah tells other truths as well.
It tells about the ark, for one, which somehow managed to ride out the storm.... The ark is wherever people come together because this is a stormy world where nothing stays put for long among the crazy waves and where at the end of every voyage there is a burial at sea. The ark is where, just because it is such a world, we really need each other and know very well that we do. The ark is wherever human beings come together because in their heart of hearts all of them ... dream the same dream, which is a dream of peace -- peace between the nations, between the races, between the brothers -- and thus ultimately a dream of love. Love, not as an excuse for the mushy and innocuous, but love as a summons to battle against all that is unlovely and unloving in the world. The ark, in other words, is where we have each other and where we have hope.
(from "A Sprig of Hope," in The Hungering Dark [Seabury, 1981], pp. 41-42)
Genesis 9:8-17
Art and Marci had only been in their new home a couple of months when a hurricane was forecasted to hit their state. They watched the news nightly for the latest update. Fortunately the worst of the hurricane missed their town. Following the rain, Marci went out to survey any damage to their home. As she did she noticed a vivid rainbow high in the sky.
The rainbow reminded her of God's promise made to Noah and all humankind, "I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." Marci took a picture of the rainbow and placed it in her Bible. No matter what happened God would see them through any difficulty.
What Marci did not realize that day was there would be another hurricane that would cause damage to their home and others in their community. Part of their roof was torn off by the forceful wind. In addition, debris from neighbors' homes tore up part of their lawn. To make matters worse, they would live without electricity and running water for a week.
Through that difficult time Marci continued to look at her picture of the rainbow. She never felt that God had deserted her or her family. God was present and would see them through.
Noah and his family embarked on dry ground with the realization that God would not desert them. God was serious about the covenant he made with Noah and all humankind. The Lord God told Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
Genesis 9:8-17
For most people, rainbows symbolize hope. Certainly for Christians and Jews, we think immediately of the promise made by God that a flood would never again cover the entire earth. But other stories of the rainbow abound and shed a bit of light on its power to captivate.
In medieval times, German people believed that no rainbows would appear within forty years of the end of the world. Thus seeing the rainbow, one knew there was at least forty more years to live.
The Irish legends hold that at the end of the rainbow one will find leprechauns and a pot of gold. In Japan, the rainbow is called "The Floating Bridge to Heaven," which is similar to some North American Indians who talk about the Pathway of the Souls. Both ideas suggest that the rainbow leads to heaven.
Maybe Wordsworth said it best when he penned the words, "My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky: So it was when my life began; So it is now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, or let me die!"
1 Peter 3:18-22
Sometimes the Old Testament may seem like a waste of good paper. After all, Jesus didn't come until the New Testament. Besides, have you seen how much thicker the Old Testament is than the New Testament? It's full of laws that we don't follow and already fulfilled prophecies. Today's New Testament reading, however, takes us back to the beginning. When we think of baptism, we usually only go back to John the Baptist. We don't flip back a few hundred pages and remember Noah's ark. And why should we? There was no crazy man proclaiming God's news, no dove descending from the sky, no voice of God. Oh, wait. Noah was that crazy guy. The dove flew back with a branch. God was a major player in the whole story. As 1 Peter says, "Eight persons were saved through water" in Noah's ark. Through baptism, we are marked to share in Noah's heritage and God's promise never to destroy us. The Old Testament gives baptism a new depth; it becomes a reminder of God's power instead of some random bath in the middle of Israel. I guess that Old Testament isn't such a waste of paper after all.
1 Peter 3:18-22
Many kinds of organisms called flukes can infect humans. The pattern of liver fluke infections needs two hosts: a human and a water snail. Humans eat poorly washed herbage upon which are fluke cysts. Within the human, the larvae hatch, mature, and fluke eggs pass in the human feces. The eggs hatch free-swimming larvae, which invade host snails in water and then shed more larvae into water to infest herbage. The cycle is repeated if this herbage is poorly washed and eaten by humans. It's estimated that 40 to 100 million people in the world suffer from liver or lung fluke infections.
The cycle of reinfection and suffering is like the sin that continues to replicate itself and for which humans suffer the consequences of their own and others' sin. Through Jesus, God intervened in this cycle. Christ suffered for sins once for all to halt sin and to bring us to God.
1 Peter 3:18-22
Peter compares the church with Noah's ark, which was saved by water. God had instructed Noah to build an ark to save Noah's eight family members and the animals of the world from destruction by floodwaters that cleansed the earth of a corrupt civilization.
Baptismal fonts are often eight-sided, reminiscent of Noah's family members. Today many fonts are filled with water and placed in the narthex at the entrance to the nave, since baptism is our entry rite. You may dip your fingers in and make the sign of the cross on your forehead as you enter the worship space, remembering your baptism. Our worship space is frequently referred to as the nave, from the word navis, or naval.
Baptism is not only a purification rite but a partaking of the resurrection. Baptism is not a matter of physical cleansing but of a cleansing by God, as we die to sin and are raised to new life. It only takes a few minutes to be baptized, but can take a whole lifetime to discover what it means to be baptized.
God judged evil and brought about good through Noah, sealing the covenant promise in the water of the rainbow. God judged evil and brought about good through Christ, sealing the covenant promise in baptism.
1 Peter 3:18-22
I once heard it said that we have lost sight of the "once for all" dimensions of life. Certainly the sacrifice of Christ is one of those dimensions. It has happened "once for all" and does not have to be repeated. This all makes me think of the US Post Office and their policy of package deliveries. Unlike UPS who gladly leaves a package in the garage or at the doorstep, the postal people leave a claim check if you're not home when they bring a package, asking you to come down to the post office and claim your package. So much of faith is claiming what has already been offered! God in Christ offers us a plethora of claim checks. There is the claim check of grace, stamped with the question, "Will you be accepting this?"
1 Peter 3:18-22
The young lady is totally frustrated: Her favorite tennis outfit is dirty and she is sure that it will never be clean again. Her mother offers the solution; the outfit will be washed in Clorox 2ô. The daughter is skeptical about the solution. A few seconds later she is telling her mother how wonderful she is as she walks away with the favorite tennis outfit as good as new. The viewer is then informed they can experience the same results.
Human beings also get dirty with sin. It often appears there is no possible way to get clean. Human beings are ruined forever. There is a solution to this problem, namely, Jesus, the Christ. At first, we may be very skeptical that Jesus can make us clean, but then we see what he can do. It is through the work of Jesus that we are made clean and as good as new and we will live with Jesus in his kingdom. Peter tells us all is not lost -- Jesus makes us clean through his death and resurrection. We are to live in that hope, and we are to thank God for what he has done for us through Jesus Christ.
Mark 1:9-15
Roy recalls that early in his Christian journey he was encouraged to read the Bible. He only read a few chapters in Genesis before losing interest. Later he started to read the Bible but again lost interest and stopped. Before long he realized that he was trying to understand everything he read, all the details, like he would a textbook. A friend from church suggested that he begin reading the New Testament. It would be easier to read, his friend assured him, and he would learn much about Jesus and his teachings.
"This approach helped me," Roy says. He read a chapter every day. He was struck with the humanness of Jesus. He was touched with the realization that Jesus faced temptations in his life like everyone else. He discovered that Jesus was able to resist temptations by quoting the word of God. That encouraged him to continue reading the Bible.
For the next year Roy diligently read the New Testament. In the process his faith was strengthened. "I still find it to be a rich and rewarding experience," Roy explains. "I can identify with the disciples who had wonderful learning experiences as Jesus explained his teachings."
Following Jesus' baptism he was "immediately" taken to the wilderness where he would be tempted. He emerged stronger and ready to begin his ministry. His first words recorded in Mark's gospel were, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
Mark 1:9-15
In his novel, Shoeless Joe, Ray Kinsella hears a voice but it isn't a voice from heaven. Rather it is a voice over a loudspeaker, which prompts Ray the farmer/insurance salesman, to build a baseball field on his Iowan farm, where Shoeless Joe Jackson could once again patrol left field. The voice, which only Ray could hear, prompted him to kidnap writer J. D. Salinger and take him to a Red Sox game at Fenway, then to traverse the country resurrecting other infamous Chicago Black Sox players.
Jesus hears a voice from heaven that affirms his identity, leads him to the wilderness to be tempted, then to the cross and resurrection that effects our own bodily resurrection at the last day. Kinsella's voice may be more romantic and adventuresome, but the voice Jesus heard is far more important and eternal.
Mark 1:9-15
Brenda spoke to the administrative board with a quavering voice, filled with emotion. "I don't want to go, I am afraid, but I must go because God will not let me do otherwise, and I need your help."
She went on to tell us of her prayers and the sleep she had lost because her soul was burdened for a group of young people who lived nearby in an unchurched community. The many wild tales that came from the community would fill a large book. Drug abuse, robberies, and brawls were common occurrences.
The administrative board answered her plea. Brenda, with the help of her husband and others, went into the community because the Spirit had driven Brenda. Today, a youth program has been established, and many youth have been reached for Christ.
"The Spirit driveth him into the wilderness." Nearly 2,000 years later we are enjoying salvation from sin because Jesus was willing to be driven by the Spirit who seeks to drive us into creative wilderness confrontations in our day.
Mark 1:9-15
Tradition has it that George Friderick Handel was so overwhelmed and awed by his reading of the book of Revelation that he exclaimed, "I do believe that I have seen the heavens opened and God upon his great white throne." On the strength of that "vision" Handel went on to write his greatest work, The Messiah. Since that time, many who have listened to, or participated in performing, The Messiah, have also seen the heavens opened.
Jesus saw the heavens opened. On the strength of that experience, he endured temptation by the devil in the wilderness, ministry, and ultimately death and resurrection.
