We began our sermon time looking at these images and listening to a short selection of each of these songs I had purchased.
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“Look, Look, Look to the Rainbow” (from Finian's Rainbow) (the part with Petula Clark singing these words: Look, Look, Look to the rainbow, follow it over the hill and the stream. Look, look, look to the rainbow.)
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“Somewhere over the rainbow” (from The Wizard of Oz) (the part with Judy Garland singing these words: "Somewhere over the rainbow way up high. There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow.)
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“Rainbow Connection” (from The Muppets) (the part with Kermit the Frog singing "Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what’s on the other side. Rainbows are visions but only illusions and rainbows have nothing to hide.”)
Why are there so many songs about rainbows?
What is a rainbow? It’s a magical treasure map leading to a pot of gold, guarded by a leprechaun. How many of you have heard something like this legend about a rainbow? Although there was a time when I searched the sky for the “end” of the rainbow, hoping to spy the pot of gold, this is not the first thing I think of when I see a rainbow. What about you?
What is a rainbow? A rainbow is an optical and meterological phenomenon. We see it when the sun shines on droplets of moisture (rain, mist, spray, dew) in the earth’s atmosphere. What we see is the spectrum of light shining through and reflected by these moisture droplets. We have to be at a certain angle to the sun to see a rainbow, so it’s not a physical object that you can walk up to. How many of you have heard something similar to this scientific definition of a rainbow? Although I am a woman of science—I did after all teach mathematics for 15 years—this is not the first thing I think of when I see a rainbow. What about you?
What is a rainbow? According to today’s text, it’s the symbol of God’s covenant with Noah and his sons and their descendants and all living things that never again will God destroy the earth. Although I am a child of the faith who grew up learning and internalizing the Bible stories, this is not the first thing I think of when I see a rainbow. What about you?
You see, my initial response to a rainbow is not intellectual—not a thinking response.
**What about you? What is your initial response to a rainbow? Do you want to share it with others, perhaps like Petula Clark singing something like “Look! Look! Look at the rainbow!” Does a rainbow draw you into a relationship of sorts with those around you—ooing and aahhing together?
**What is your initial response to a rainbow? Do you stop what you’re doing so you can drink in the beauty and majesty of the colors in the sky before you? Do you take a mental visual or emotional snapshot to capture the mystery and power of the moment?
**What is your initial response to a rainbow? Do you wonder if it’s a sign from God—an enigmatic answer to a concern you’ve been wrestling with? Do you wonder if it’s a sign from God—an invitation to slow down your busy pace and just be in God’s presence and enjoy God’s creation for a few minutes?
**What is your initial response to a rainbow? Is it intellectual, spiritual, emotional, or physical? Do you admire and wonder from a distance or are you pulled into some deeply-rooted mystery and beauty?
Why are there so many songs about rainbows? Maybe it’s because rainbows can speak to us on many different levels and reach us in the very core of our being.
My friend Connie is a master English teacher. Referring to literature, she says “That which is repeated is important.” Let’s look at today’s scripture in the bulletin insert and note what is repeated and therefore what is important. What is repeated?
Covenant—and every time we see covenant, there is something with it—what’s with covenant? God is speaking, and there is some variation on “my covenant with you and your descendants” or “covenant between me and every living thing” And how many verses are there in today’s passage? 10. In 8 of the 10 verses we see covenant between God and all of life? “That which is repeated is important.” The covenant between God and every living being is so important in this passage that God emphasizes it—repeating it 8 times.
Covenant—Webster’s dictionary says a covenant is usually a formal, solemn, and binding agreement. It may be written and it’s often understood to be a promise between 2 parties, sometimes as a quid pro quo—something in exchange for another. Wikipedia adds “sacred” to the definition—a solemn and sacred agreement.
What is the covenant here? That’s right. It’s God’s promise never again to destroy the earth. In this covenant, God emphasizes his enduring love for his creation.
Through Noah and his family, God saved creation from the destruction he had originally planned in the flood. The life that Noah cared for on the ark—this life represents redeemed creation. This life represents a renewal of God’s creation activity first seen at the beginning of the book of Genesis—at the beginning of the story of God’s activity in the world. Here God promises not to destroy this renewed, redeemed life.
We humans may inflict destruction on each other and on the rest of creation. Thinking and acting on our behalf first and foremost often does result in harm to ourselves, to each other and to the rest of creation. While God does not promise here to clean up our messes, God does promise not to react to our destructive rebellion by purging the world of all life.
Unlike the implication from the dictionary definition—that 2 parties will establish and share responsibility of the promise, here it’s one-sided. Acting unilaterally and unconditionally, “God initiates and establishes this covenant.[1]” “Humans can just rest in the arms of this promise[2]” like an infant sleeping peacefully in the arms of her loving parent.
And what is the symbol of this long-lasting promise? The rainbow is the sign of this covenant—this ancient and enduring covenant of God’s care for all of creation; this ancient and enduring covenant of God’s care for each one of us individuals. Perhaps this is why our primary and initial experience with each rainbow we see is not in our heads. Perhaps we experience rainbows in a deep-seated, ancient place within ourselves because it is a sign of the deeply-rooted, ancient covenant between our creator God and each one of us.
Isn’t it interesting that God says the rainbow is primarily a reminder to him of this covenant? The rainbow is set in the sky to remind the all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal, loving God—that God’s love and only God’s love can redeem creation. But the rainbow can also remind us of this good news. Our salvation does not depend on us. Our salvation does not depend anything we can or must or should do. Our salvation depends on God alone—the only one who can be depended upon.
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Kermit the Frog asks, “Why are there so many songs about rainbows?” Maybe it’s because we experience rainbows—not with just our minds, not even with just our hearts. Rainbows connect with us at every level of our being because they are a symbol of the covenant between God and every living thing—the covenant in which human beings can rest in the firm and certain assurance of God’s eternal, powerful, loving, and saving presence. Praise be to God!
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