A Bow In The Clouds, A Babe In A Manger
Sermon
Love's Pure Light
Christmas Candlelight Sermons and Service
Object:
The place to start is with a family on a boat. They have been there a very long time, and the voyage has been far from easy. They are weary, and cranky, and terrified, not only because they haven't seen land for more weeks than they can remember, but because this entire watery business has been God's doing: the rain, the flood, the ark. Noah and his family are the only people left on the face of the earth, and for them, there is but one certainty: whatever future God has in store for them will look very different from anything they have ever known before.
God had left no doubt concerning the reason behind this universal inundation. "I have determined to make an end of all flesh," God said to Noah, "because the earth is filled with violence." This violence God could not abide and so the deluge, and a family on a boat, looking for land, yearning for God's new start.
They had already sent out a raven, and it had returned, having found no place to land or lodge. They next sent out a dove. It, too, returned, but with a sprig of olive in its beak. A sign of promise that their long wait was over, yes; but more than that. Think: a dove -- an olive branch -- anyone who ever pulled a grade of C or better in literature and culture recognizes in these two things a double symbol of peace. Could a dove bearing an olive sprig be God's subtle sign that human violence will no more be met by divine violence, that enmity between God and mortals is at an end? That the hallmark of God's new world is peace?
Before they leave the ark, God cuts a covenant with Noah, his family, and all creation. God makes an unconditional promise never again to cut off all flesh from the earth, and as a sign of this covenantal promise, God sets a rainbow in the clouds. Now you and I tend to see a rainbow as a serendipitous sort of thing -- a suitable decoration for the walls of a nursery. To the ancients, the rainbow was God's mighty bow of war, the celestial weapon from which God earthward launched the fearsome bolts of lightning that were his arrows.
That God now hangs the bow in the clouds is a sign of divine disarmament. Every rainbow after every terrifying storm is a sign of God's gracious forbearance, a visible reminder that God has unilaterally hung up his arms, inviting us to God's new world -- free of violence, and free from fear. God takes the lead in showing the way to this new world of peace: forbearance and forgiveness, mercy and love shall be the way.
A dove, an olive sprig, a rainbow -- all symbols of peace. But mortals failed to grasp the meaning, follow God's lead, or imitate God's example. They lived in fear of God and one another. Thus peace remained a dream, a vision, a far-off promise unfulfilled.
For one brief, shining moment, God's people glimpsed that promised world of justice, love and peace: when Jesse's son, King David reigned, shalom meant more than just "hello." They sensed that in this shepherd king, God's reign had drawn uniquely near, with peace the blessing that he brought. Then suddenly, like morning dew, the golden age of peace was gone.
God's messengers, the prophets, recalled the covenant, and renewed the hope. One such messenger, Isaiah by name, announced the coming of him who would be a shoot from the stump of Jesse -- that is, one of the house and lineage of David -- in whose reign the wolf would lie down with the lamb. "Of the increase of his government and of peace, there would be no end." This shoot, this tender bud, God's harbinger of universal harmony, joins the dove, the olive sprig, and the rainbow as a sign and symbol of God's unyielding will for peace.
Then, one average night in a decidedly less than average town, to an unlikely audience of shepherds working the graveyard shift, God's angels announce that this bud has blossomed. Who were the bearers of this good news of a great joy to all the people? Angels, yes -- but a specific class of angel -- the heavenly host. These were not the sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses of the Cherub Chorus. "Heavenly host" is a technical term for the squadron of warriors in God's celestial court. What was the message that these heavenly soldiers bore? "Peace on earth, good will to all!"
The sign they offer is not a show of might with sabers rattling, but a newborn child, the stuff of love and wonder, birthed in a barn and cradled in a feed trough in a land occupied by bitter enemies. The peace of God blossoms, you see, in the stinking rot of human war and conquest. The dove, the olive branch, the rainbow, the tender stem, and the heavenly host all bear witness to God's will for peace, a will now incarnate, deep in the flesh of the babe in the manger.
God has not only laid down heaven's armaments, but has come into this violent and too-angry world as a child: vulnerable, helpless -- to invite our trust but not demand it, to show the world a new and better way to live together, and to love us all into that peace-filled life as only a baby can. For in this babe, who is true God and yet true man, heaven and earth are uniquely and eternally united, wedded in a single peace. Ever after, there is but one certainty for those who see in this sign the peaceful hand of God: Whatever future God has in store for us will look very different from anything we have ever known before.
Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Darfur, Palestine, Israel, the Korean Peninsula: all need to hear that the bud of God's peace has blossomed, and the fragrance fills earth's air. So do we, and all who know conflict in their relationships with spouses and ex-spouses, parents or children, roommates or classmates, coworkers, relatives, friends ... and self ... and God.
Peace -- shalom -- good will -- if God can embody it, and God's warriors rejoice in it, can we not work for it? Can we not pray for it and live it, in our politics, our relationships, and in our walk with God? In our hearts and souls? Revenge, aggression, retaliation, and violence -- these belong to the way of the flood. Reconciliation, peace, justice, and love -- these belong to the way of the babe.
This season, as always, may the peace of God, which passes all human understanding, be yours -- the peace of God heralded by
* a dove;
* an olive sprig;
* a rainbow;
* a tender stem; and
* God's own newborn Son.
May the peace of God swaddle your heart and soul, this night and forevermore. Amen.
God had left no doubt concerning the reason behind this universal inundation. "I have determined to make an end of all flesh," God said to Noah, "because the earth is filled with violence." This violence God could not abide and so the deluge, and a family on a boat, looking for land, yearning for God's new start.
They had already sent out a raven, and it had returned, having found no place to land or lodge. They next sent out a dove. It, too, returned, but with a sprig of olive in its beak. A sign of promise that their long wait was over, yes; but more than that. Think: a dove -- an olive branch -- anyone who ever pulled a grade of C or better in literature and culture recognizes in these two things a double symbol of peace. Could a dove bearing an olive sprig be God's subtle sign that human violence will no more be met by divine violence, that enmity between God and mortals is at an end? That the hallmark of God's new world is peace?
Before they leave the ark, God cuts a covenant with Noah, his family, and all creation. God makes an unconditional promise never again to cut off all flesh from the earth, and as a sign of this covenantal promise, God sets a rainbow in the clouds. Now you and I tend to see a rainbow as a serendipitous sort of thing -- a suitable decoration for the walls of a nursery. To the ancients, the rainbow was God's mighty bow of war, the celestial weapon from which God earthward launched the fearsome bolts of lightning that were his arrows.
That God now hangs the bow in the clouds is a sign of divine disarmament. Every rainbow after every terrifying storm is a sign of God's gracious forbearance, a visible reminder that God has unilaterally hung up his arms, inviting us to God's new world -- free of violence, and free from fear. God takes the lead in showing the way to this new world of peace: forbearance and forgiveness, mercy and love shall be the way.
A dove, an olive sprig, a rainbow -- all symbols of peace. But mortals failed to grasp the meaning, follow God's lead, or imitate God's example. They lived in fear of God and one another. Thus peace remained a dream, a vision, a far-off promise unfulfilled.
For one brief, shining moment, God's people glimpsed that promised world of justice, love and peace: when Jesse's son, King David reigned, shalom meant more than just "hello." They sensed that in this shepherd king, God's reign had drawn uniquely near, with peace the blessing that he brought. Then suddenly, like morning dew, the golden age of peace was gone.
God's messengers, the prophets, recalled the covenant, and renewed the hope. One such messenger, Isaiah by name, announced the coming of him who would be a shoot from the stump of Jesse -- that is, one of the house and lineage of David -- in whose reign the wolf would lie down with the lamb. "Of the increase of his government and of peace, there would be no end." This shoot, this tender bud, God's harbinger of universal harmony, joins the dove, the olive sprig, and the rainbow as a sign and symbol of God's unyielding will for peace.
Then, one average night in a decidedly less than average town, to an unlikely audience of shepherds working the graveyard shift, God's angels announce that this bud has blossomed. Who were the bearers of this good news of a great joy to all the people? Angels, yes -- but a specific class of angel -- the heavenly host. These were not the sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses of the Cherub Chorus. "Heavenly host" is a technical term for the squadron of warriors in God's celestial court. What was the message that these heavenly soldiers bore? "Peace on earth, good will to all!"
The sign they offer is not a show of might with sabers rattling, but a newborn child, the stuff of love and wonder, birthed in a barn and cradled in a feed trough in a land occupied by bitter enemies. The peace of God blossoms, you see, in the stinking rot of human war and conquest. The dove, the olive branch, the rainbow, the tender stem, and the heavenly host all bear witness to God's will for peace, a will now incarnate, deep in the flesh of the babe in the manger.
God has not only laid down heaven's armaments, but has come into this violent and too-angry world as a child: vulnerable, helpless -- to invite our trust but not demand it, to show the world a new and better way to live together, and to love us all into that peace-filled life as only a baby can. For in this babe, who is true God and yet true man, heaven and earth are uniquely and eternally united, wedded in a single peace. Ever after, there is but one certainty for those who see in this sign the peaceful hand of God: Whatever future God has in store for us will look very different from anything we have ever known before.
Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Darfur, Palestine, Israel, the Korean Peninsula: all need to hear that the bud of God's peace has blossomed, and the fragrance fills earth's air. So do we, and all who know conflict in their relationships with spouses and ex-spouses, parents or children, roommates or classmates, coworkers, relatives, friends ... and self ... and God.
Peace -- shalom -- good will -- if God can embody it, and God's warriors rejoice in it, can we not work for it? Can we not pray for it and live it, in our politics, our relationships, and in our walk with God? In our hearts and souls? Revenge, aggression, retaliation, and violence -- these belong to the way of the flood. Reconciliation, peace, justice, and love -- these belong to the way of the babe.
This season, as always, may the peace of God, which passes all human understanding, be yours -- the peace of God heralded by
* a dove;
* an olive sprig;
* a rainbow;
* a tender stem; and
* God's own newborn Son.
May the peace of God swaddle your heart and soul, this night and forevermore. Amen.
