SermonStudio

"My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; so it is now ." So wrote Wordsworth. Now we know why. God gave the rainbow, our text informs us, as a sign of the unfailing presence and love of God who assures that the darkness shall never overcome us. Most of us have known the exhilaration of a sudden burst of sunlight through prevailing darkness, a splendid display of color across the sky, and the promise again fulfilled that beyond all darkness is light and beauty. Never will the forces of destruction overcome those who lay hold upon the promise of faith. So the rainbow breaks forth, sometimes in the sky above, sometimes through the darkness of a grieving, fearful heart.

Noah, that invincible mariner, represented the rest of us as recipients of God's marvelous promise. Even the small creatures of this world will be embraced by divine love. Jesus would later declare that even a sparrow cannot fall but God knows. Somewhere is a poem about Jesus, walking past the long-dead carcass of a dog. As others gave the pitiable sight a wide berth, Jesus drew close, observed the dead creature and remarked: "See what beautiful teeth he had." And if God loves the simple creatures that much, how much more he loves us, his children.

The first thing we may think of as we read this passage is the importance of simplicity and the unimpressive in God's view -- "Unless you become as children," Jesus said. Unfortunately, this is easily lost in the passage of the years. So Wordsworth wrote:

There was a time when meadow, grove and stream,
The earth, and every common sight, to me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.

But the years go by. We immerse ourselves in the competitive demands of chosen vocations, of schools, of down-sizing corporations, of demanding professions, of sweat-stained labor, until the time comes when we no longer see the beauty of the simple world:

It is not now, as it hath been of yore;
Turn whereso'er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.


Much has been written in recent times about the dangers of workaholism, the type A personality, and so on. Some of what's said overlooks the contributions of those whose hard and dedicated work has given the rest of us so much. There's reason to think more people today have lost sight of a reasonable work ethic than there are who work too much, too hard. The real issue is what we come to value in the process. On the one hand, it's obvious to those who have studied history that people in the time of Jesus worked much longer hours than do most of us today, and under primitive conditions which few of us could handle in good spirit. Jesus understood this and did not find fault with hard work. What he did oppose was something which apparently troubled people then as it does now: pre-occupation with wealth and status. So Jesus urged one wealthy young man to sell his worldly goods in an effort to get back to what's most important. He told of a man who had amassed great wealth and who, rather than share with his less fortunate neighbors, tore down his ordinary-sized barns, built larger ones, then settled down to bask in his wealth only to drop dead.

Or we all celebrate the day Jesus appears to have lost his temper just one time, when he sent the money changers scurrying from the temple, not because they were doing necessary fund raising, but because they were charging usurious interest in the process. Many other stories underline the fact that Jesus didn't fault the effort to succeed. He faulted preoccupation with wealth and all it entails to the point we lose our perspective of what's really and finally important: the ability to see our rainbows in the sky, our ever-present promise of God's presence and active participation in our lives. So, we see the epidemic of drug use, psychosomatic illness, depression, suicide, unhappy old age, broken marriages, unproductive life styles, cynicism about religion, alcoholism -- the list goes on. Surely, "there hath passed away a glory from the earth." Dark clouds hang over the minds and spirits of many people today. So many of us have the wrong idea of where happiness is to be found. As our mistake becomes apparent our enthusiasm easily turns to disappointment.

One old legend has it that God once called the Devil in and said: "You have too much power, too many weapons with which to abuse my children. Henceforth, you may keep only one weapon." And the Devil is said to have replied: "Then I will retain the power to discourage. There is no surer way to destroy than first to make one's victim lose heart."

Here, then, is our second insight from our text: God promised always to be near and available to each of us in times of discouragement. The word is "hope." I've heard many definitions of that word, but the one I like best is "the belief that something good is about to happen." Paul said, "If we hope for what we do not see we wait for it with patience." In other words, there are many times when we cannot see ahead far enough to see the answer to a dilemma, yet God has promised that we won't be overcome. "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." So wrote Paul.

In many circles, it isn't thought "cool" to profess belief in God. To many people, that's for sissies. Yes! But stay tuned. Ask someone who has overcome alcohol or drug addiction. Ask someone who has recovered from serious illness. Listen to people like singer Johnny Cash, or celebrated and once cynical author Dan Wakefield, or NBA star Reggie Miller of the Pacers, just to name a few at random, who have publicly told of the light breaking through their darkness because of God's actions. I once saw a cartoon showing two fish nose to nose. As the bubbles drifted towards the surface, one know-it-all fish said to the other: "Frankly, I don't believe this silly talk about water. Take it from me, it's a myth to comfort the weak." We're lucky that God has unlimited patience and a variety of ways to get through to us. But make no mistake, God is near, and never so actively near as when our lives seem shrouded in darkness.

So the third thing to say here: God is not only present, but actively involved. Some time ago, I clipped a little item out of a magazine, something a young mother had written about an experience she'd recently had. It seems she went shopping with her two children and decided to take a shortcut home from the grocery. This required that they cross an open field across which ran a railroad track. Her little girl ran ahead and jumped onto the near rail. But her little foot slipped between two rails designed to divert the train when needed. Mother tried to pull the child's foot loose but it was wedged unmovably tight. Fearful that she might injure her daughter, she tried instead to untie the child's shoe but in her nervousness, only succeeded in pulling the ties into a knot. Her frantic effort to pull the knot loose only drew it tighter. While she was thus engaged, she was appalled to hear a train whistle in the distance. Frantically she yanked at her child but only wedged the foot more tightly than ever. The train was approaching, getting close now, and the woman wrote that there was a curve which would prevent the trainman from seeing them until the last moment. Now she was desperate. And then she did something many of us would probably not think to do in such an emergency. She bowed her head and began to pray for God's help.

Suddenly, Mom remembered that she had, among her groceries, purchased a can of pressed meat. Frantically, she tore open the sack, pulled a long key loose from the side of the can and rolled back the metal top. With that she was able to cut the strings of her daughter's shoes and slip the foot out of the shoe, and away from the rails. The train roared past shortly thereafter.

The woman who wrote this story confirmed that it happened just that way. She acknowledged that some people would find other explanations. But there was no doubt in her mind that in that crisis moment, God had answered her prayer. We need to put this in perspective. We know it doesn't always work this way. Any one of us can think of drastic situations in which our prayers did not produce such quick and satisfying results. Loved ones still die, accidents happen, losses occur in spite of our prayers. But here we need to be reminded of something else Paul wrote: "In everything God works for good with those who love himÉ." Hope is, indeed, the belief that something good will happen. Sometimes it happens now, sometimes later.

I know a man whose young wife was killed in a tragic accident; their daughter was just old enough to be off to college. He had a happy marriage and was devastated by the loss. Over and over he shouted his anger at a God who, despite all these promises, would let such an outrage happen. For months, black clouds hovered over the life of this man. Every little reminder of a former, happy life drove the pain deeper. For a long time he was convinced there was no way these Biblical promises could be fulfilled in a situation such as this.

Several years passed. There were, of course, good and bad days. Healthy-minded people do recover even from such losses as this. He remained constant in prayer, despite the lingering doubts. And now? He is happily married to a wonderful woman in a home with fine, happy children. He considers his life richly blessed, nor can he find any explanation for the richness of all that has followed, except that God did, after all, keep the promise. After the darkness, a rainbow. This story I can verify. It's mine.

This is the covenant, then, the divinely given agreement into which you and I are called by God: an ever present Spirit, one which is most evident in the simple moments, those times when we set aside our worldly concerns and stare off at some distant landscape, perhaps, or listen quietly for an inner whisper of comforting sound, a time of worship, a time of reflection, a time for rainbows.