Rain

Index - Posting 27 June 2007 Vol. 4.4

I have set my rainbow in the clouds…

Genesis 9:13 (NIV)

Rain, daily rain. For what seems like forever, it has been raining with constant severe weather warnings across the country. One of yesterday’s newspapers referred to the torrential rain as the great flood as swathes of Britain appeared to be under water. What with tornados, washed out events, stranded motorists and more sadly the loss of life, June has been full of dread from all points of view. From a time of drought to a time of flood, it is hard to see the positive. I can appreciate the realism of the person who allegedly said - every silver lining has a cloud.

As I am preparing a sermon on black pride for Sunday, my thoughts stray to the story of Noah and his rainbow. It is a universal symbol for many faiths as well as for numerous secular groups. I have always felt regret that there seems to be a lack of attentiveness to the biblical meaning of the rainbow. As a symbol of God’s promise to Noah, it has been embraced by the Church but somehow its unambiguous message seems to get lost.

And God said, This is the token of the covenant (solemn pledge) which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I set My bow (rainbow) in the cloud, and it shall be a token or sign of a covenant or solemn pledge between Me and the earth. And it shall be that when I bring clouds over the earth and the bow (rainbow) is seen in the clouds, I will earnestly remember My covenant or solemn pledge which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy...Gen. 9:12-15. Amplified.

Our ancestors saw the rainbow as a symbol of a Divine covenant with everything that has breathe; that is everything that lives and not just with humanity. We are custodians of our planet as demonstrated by God’s original blessing on an awakening humanity.

And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, using all its vast resources in the service of God and man; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth. And God said, See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the land and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the ground-to everything in which there is the breath of life-I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. Gen. 1:28-30 Amplified.

I do not need to catalogue the history of our abuse and our continuing misuse of all that breathes. Equally many meteorologists see our unprecedented weather patterns as the realities of global warming; again a consequence of our planetary misuse. Earth’s rich resources are benefiting the few at the expense of the many. The continuing degradation of our environment is as much a justice issue, as a political and religious one.

Is it too little for you that you feed on the best pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? And to have drunk of the waters clarified by subsiding, but you must foul the rest of the water with your feet? My flock, must they feed on what your feet have trodden and drink what your feet have fouled? Ezekiel 34:18-19 Amplified

Thankfully I need not end on a cloud full of rain. The skies will clear and the rainbow will re-emerge as a symbol of promise; hope for the future. Our ancestors probably knew that we needed to have that expectation that better mus’ come. Perhaps our shout needs to be louder to make our planet part of our Christian agenda for justice. Human rights will lose their meaning on a planet unfit for human habitation.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for God who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)

May the Holy Spirit of God ensure your clouds give way to rainbows.

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