Lord Of The Covenant
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series IV, Cycle B
Lord Of The Covenant
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." (vv. 8-11)
Legend has it that after the Fall, Adam was walking past the Garden with his sons Cain and Abel. One of the boys asked, "What's that?"
Adam replied, "Boys, that's where you mother ate us out of house and home."
It was, of course, both Adam and Eve's fault. There was plenty of blame to go around. The act of eating the forbidden fruit was more importantly an act of disobeying God. It was the first sin. Theologians call it original sin.
From that point on humanity changed. We were inclined to do wrong.
And wrong we did. As Genesis tells us, there was so much sin and wrongness in the world that God decided to wipe it out with a flood and start over.
According to Genesis, only Noah and his family had been obedient to God. They were left to revive humanity after the flood. But what happened? Just a few verses later, good Noah becomes bad Noah -- getting drunk and cussing out his family. Noah's son was accused of showing disrespect for his parents and disregard for his traditions.
The great scrubbing that God had attempted in the flood did not clean the stain of original sin off the soul of humanity.
Perhaps you've read William Golding's book, Lord of the Flies, a classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are stranded on a deserted island after a plane wreck. At first, the boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, "the boy with fair hair," and Piggy, Ralph's chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires.
Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island's wild pig population. Soon Ralph's rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the red-headed leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages. The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted.
Lord of the Flies, in its own way, says, "Hold on a second! Humans do need to be regulated, and they do need to protect themselves from each other."
Golding described the theme of the book by saying, "The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature."
It is original sin revisited. No matter how hard they try to do the right, even for their own rules, they fail.
We cannot escape sin.
And yet, God has chosen to establish a covenant with this broken people. The rainbow reminds us that God will not wash away this sin with a flood again. God knows our imperfection and chooses to love us in spite of it -- even more so because of it. Since, as Lord of the Flies reminds us, we need protection from ourselves, what a blessing God's covenant is.
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." (vv. 8-11)
Legend has it that after the Fall, Adam was walking past the Garden with his sons Cain and Abel. One of the boys asked, "What's that?"
Adam replied, "Boys, that's where you mother ate us out of house and home."
It was, of course, both Adam and Eve's fault. There was plenty of blame to go around. The act of eating the forbidden fruit was more importantly an act of disobeying God. It was the first sin. Theologians call it original sin.
From that point on humanity changed. We were inclined to do wrong.
And wrong we did. As Genesis tells us, there was so much sin and wrongness in the world that God decided to wipe it out with a flood and start over.
According to Genesis, only Noah and his family had been obedient to God. They were left to revive humanity after the flood. But what happened? Just a few verses later, good Noah becomes bad Noah -- getting drunk and cussing out his family. Noah's son was accused of showing disrespect for his parents and disregard for his traditions.
The great scrubbing that God had attempted in the flood did not clean the stain of original sin off the soul of humanity.
Perhaps you've read William Golding's book, Lord of the Flies, a classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are stranded on a deserted island after a plane wreck. At first, the boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, "the boy with fair hair," and Piggy, Ralph's chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires.
Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island's wild pig population. Soon Ralph's rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the red-headed leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages. The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted.
Lord of the Flies, in its own way, says, "Hold on a second! Humans do need to be regulated, and they do need to protect themselves from each other."
Golding described the theme of the book by saying, "The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature."
It is original sin revisited. No matter how hard they try to do the right, even for their own rules, they fail.
We cannot escape sin.
And yet, God has chosen to establish a covenant with this broken people. The rainbow reminds us that God will not wash away this sin with a flood again. God knows our imperfection and chooses to love us in spite of it -- even more so because of it. Since, as Lord of the Flies reminds us, we need protection from ourselves, what a blessing God's covenant is.
