03-01-09
To fully appreciate this morning’s passage, we
need to remind ourselves of the story that comes before. This morning’s
story has its origins in God’s anger and frustration. We don’t like to
talk about God’s anger. Most of us don’t worship a wrathful God. In a
world already infused with anger, we prefer to reflect on the merciful God,
the God of this morning’s passage, the God of mercy and covenant. In this
morning’s passage the flood has subsided and the rainbow is in the sky. An
everlasting promise has been made…a promise that carries with it the
generosity of God’s grace. But in chapter 6 of Genesis we encounter the
troubled mind of God.
In chapter six, we read these words, “The
LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that
every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6
And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it
grieved him to his heart. 7 So
the LORD said, ‘I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have
created, the people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the
air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ This is a far cry from God’s
delighted statements of the goodness of creation which gladdened God’s heart
throughout our traditional creation narrative. In short order, creation has
managed to infuriate God. God is so annoyed by the wickedness of humankind
that God is sorry that he ever made us, so annoyed that God decides to wipe us
off the face of the earth.
This, to me, is a profoundly disturbing portrait
of God. In human terms we would say that God was so angry, that God had,
perhaps, committed a crime of passion. Do I dare say such a thing? I read this
and think that this illustration of God’s anger and regret is one of the
best examples of how we were created in the image of God. Is there anyone
sitting here today who has not felt there anger rise to a danger point before?
Have any of you ever felt a nearly uncontrollable rage towards another person
or situation…a rage that has either caused you or nearly caused you to
engage in a set of very poor and hostile choices? Passions can be aroused in
every arena of life. Some of us, through personal experience, can understand
God’s regret and frustration at watching his creation fall apart.
“On the other hand, I can’t imagine that many
of us are very comfortable with a God who is as unstable as our worst
instincts.” I’m
guessing most of us are not comfortable with a God who blots out
creation in a fit of frustrated fury. God is God and we are not. God is in
control. God does not make the stupid choices that we do. And yet, we meet a
God in today’s scripture that seems contrite. We see a God who has had
regrets. We meet a God who promises never to destroy God’s creation again,
no matter how self-serving, destructive, power hungry, and arrogant we become.
God knows that we try. God not only recognizes the ways we fail to be God’s
image in the world, but also the creativity and beauty of his creation.
This morning’s text marks an important change
in the mind of God. And since we are created in God’s image, changes in the
mind of God are meant to be instructive to us.
Several years back the
movie
City
Slickers struggles, in an often
comedic way, with the question of how and where do we find meaning in life? We
meet a couple of aging 20th
century urban professionals who are searching for meaning in life, and they
decide to become cowboys on a real cattle drive. They have lots of time to
ponder and one character, Phil, begins to realize that he is over 40 and he
hasn’t done a whole lot with his life. His childhood friend Mitch recalls
that when they were kids playing ball, if the ball w as out of reach in some
way, they would call out “do over.” Mitch suggests that Phil can call a
“do over” and start his life anew.|
In a sense, the end of the flood story marks a new beginning for
creation. The parallels to the first creation are unmistakable. In chapter 9,
God says to Noah and his family, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth.” Sound familiar? In the first creation story, God instructs Adam and
Eve to eat anything they like but the fruit of the tree in the center of the
garden. In chapter nine God tells
Noah that they can eat anything on earth except for animals with their blood
still in them. And in case we have missed that this a “do over” situation,
God says again, “be fruitful and multiply, abound on the earth and multiply
in it. (Gen.9:7).|
Notice however that God has changed the deal.
This new creation isn’t simply about saying, “let’s try this creation
thing again.” God has changed the terms. In the first chapter of Genesis God
tells humanity to fill the earth and subdue it, to have dominion over the fish
of the sea and birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the
earth. This second time around, there is no command to subdue and dominate. In
Noah, the new creation looks and feels different. The idea of subduing and
dominion may not be the best idea for humanity.
To make the point crystal clear, God then
explicitly includes humankind, the animals and all creation in the covenant of
the rainbow. God says, “This is the sign of the covenant that I=2 0make
between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future
generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and the earth.” This “do over” story gives us
another chance to care for all creation. All parts of creation share the same
covenant with God. This covenant magnifies our responsibility to care for all
of creation. We humans, trees, animals, and mosquitoes, we are all in this
together.
The first creation was characterized with a lot
of dominion and subduing. People were dominating and subduing. And so was God.
In fact, God got so angry at the people of the earth that God took the
dominion and subduing to its full conclusion and submerged the earth under
water. I can imagine God looking at the destruction and saying, “oh no, what
have I done?” The God I know is creative by nature, not destructive. The God
I know wants what is best for us, doesn’t give up on us. We see that God in
this morning’s passage. We meet a remorseful God, who says God is not going
to act like that any more.
And God uses the rainbow as a sign of this new
covenant with creation. What a beautiful image. It takes several elements of
creation working together to create a rainbow. Every time a rainbow graces the
sky it is a reminder not only to us of God’s covenant, but a reminder to God
as well. Perhaps God knows that God will be furious with the people again
someday. In fact we see that anger dotted throughout the pages of Biblical
history. How can one look at some the injustices of the world today, and not
be angry? You bet God gets frustrated, God exercises great patience, and God
weeps, at the tragedies of our world. Yet, God is reminded as well, of the
promise God has made with all of creation, every time that rainbow is in the
sky.
God will never destroy us again. Good news. And
like our creator, we too have passions that boil over. God is aware that
anger can lead to horrific destruction and desperation. Sometimes those
passions are righteous anger directed at injustices in the world or at
people or nations that are truly despicable.
Sometimes rage will arise because we feel afraid or frustrated or
trapped by life, and we may strike out more randomly. Sometimes we may lose
our temper over almost nothing at all, deep seeded anger that boils to the
top at unfortunate times. God’s own example does not tell us that we never
should feel anger. Fury is a part of us. God
is more concerned about how we act out our passions, and how our angry
choices affect others deeply.
I think in the end, the flood story, is really a story of God and
God’s mercy. God saw the tragic combination of a people with the capacity
for fury, combined with a world order of dominion and subjugation. This was a
recipe for disaster. God knew that and changed the order of creation to
cooperation and interdependence, and a rainbow stood in the sky as a reminder
that rage acted on can destroy the very fabric of creation.
God has set an example for us. We are in a season of
forgiveness. We are in a season of deep spiritual reflection. We are in a
season of transformation. And we have a God who chooses mercy and grace. We
have a God that regrets destruction. We have a God who wants the best for us,
and to show us ways to address the evils of this world without coming unglued.
It is okay to be angry. Turn to God in your anger. God is big enough to take
even the most intense rage. And God will work to cover that rage with grace.
God has set a bow in the sky, to remind us that we are all in this together.
Thanks be to God. Amen.