In Genesis, then, the rainbow is not simply a beautiful expression of God’s creation, or the proof of the divisibility of light, or a symbol of the diversity of humankind. It is God’s signature, affixed to the promise, the promise of peace to all humankind. In Genesis – the rainbow means the cessation of God’s hostility, witnessed to by God himself.
SERMON
The Rev. Maurice C. Frontz III
February 21, 2021
The First Sunday in Lent
‘Promise’
is one of the most beautiful words in the English language. It opens the
future. It makes possible relationships between people.
A
promise is often accompanied by a sign. One of the most common is, or was, the
handshake. We talked of a ‘handshake deal.’ I wonder if there’s an ‘elbow-bump’
deal now? Maybe we’ll get back to handshake deals someday.
Or,
if it’s a more formal thing, we use paper and pen. We affix a ‘signature’ to a
document. (There’s that word, ‘sign!’) By writing our name on a check, we say,
‘You can take this to the bank!’ That is, you can take this slip of paper on
the bank and get the money which I promise is there for you.
In
ancient times, a king who wished to put the authority of the kingship behind
his promise would take his ‘signet ring’ (there’s that word again, ‘sign!’) and
dip it in wax and affix the seal of the kingdom to an order, or a proclamation.
Finally,
when a woman and a man stand before the altar and promise to be faithful to
each other unto death, they give a sign of that promise – a ring of precious
metal. Now they don’t need to hear that verbal promise every day – there is the
sign of the vow right on the finger.
The
combination of word and sign makes a promise. Human promises, of course, even
when accompanied by a sign, can be broken. Sometimes it’s not the promiser’s
fault. A parent who has promised to take her kids to Disney World this coming
summer may not have anticipated the tornado that would rip the roof off of the
house and force the postponement of such a trip.
Then
again, a person may break his or her promise by negligence or even willfulness.
These are more serious, calling into question not only that promise, but all
promises that the person makes, or even more sadly, the concept of promises in general
People who have had enough false promises made to them often can no longer
trust even promises which are made in good faith.
Finally,
even the kept promises of human beings end at their death. Death can be
described as many things, but perhaps it can be described as the end of
promising, when a person can no longer fulfill her or his word.
God,
however, being Truth himself, cannot make a false promise. And being Life
himself, his promises are unbounded. But even God, when he makes a promise,
uses this form of word and sign which accompanies the word. We have this
illustrated here in the reading from Genesis, the story of Noah.
God
says: Never again will I send a flood to destroy all humankind. And he attaches
a sign, the rainbow. The rainbow accompanies the rain, to reassure humankind of
God’s vow, that they need not fear utter destruction by the water.
But
in perhaps fanciful language, God says that when the rainbow comes, it is not
just humanity who will remember, but God himself will remember the
promise he has made to humanity. If I may, it is as if the rainbow is God’s
handwriting on the back of his hand. ‘I have declared peace to humanity.’
Isn’t
this how a promise works? When I see the wedding ring, I am to remember not
simply the faithfulness my spouse has promised, but the faithfulness I have
promised. When I sign my name to a document, I am telling the other person that
I will remember what I have promised and that my deed will reflect my given
word.
In
Genesis, then, the rainbow is not simply a beautiful expression of God’s
creation, or the proof of the divisibility of light, or a symbol of the
diversity of humankind. It is God’s signature, affixed to the promise, the
promise of peace to all humankind. In Genesis – the rainbow means the cessation
of God’s hostility, witnessed to by God himself.
The
same match of word and sign happens at Jesus’ baptism. Like in the story of
Noah, there is water and a dove and a voice. At Jesus’ baptism, the Father proclaims
him his Son and promises to be his Father.
Then
Jesus is driven out into the wilderness and immediately his life takes on the
character of not being the beloved Son of the Father, with whom he is
well-pleased. As Mark tells it, he is ‘tempted by the devil.’ In Mark we do not
have the content of the temptation, but we can well imagine the devil pointing
around at the nothingness around Jesus and casting doubt on the promise of the
Father.
But
Jesus hangs on to that promise, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am
well pleased.’ And by clinging to the promise of his Baptism, he comes through
the wilderness ready to proclaim the good news of God to all people.
From
ancient times and still today Lent is a time when catechumens, those who
were hearers of the Word but not baptized, were prepared for baptism. They were
called to turn away from all the false promises of the world, that the
satisfaction of desire, the achievement of power and fame and riches, and
everything in which we put our security can gain us what we really need. It is
only God’s promise in baptism which can give us life – You are my beloved,
in whom I am well pleased. In baptism we are adopted into the promise God
the Father gives to the Son. We can trust in this promise, signed with God’s
own hand.
In
these days of Lent, we, who have been signed with the cross, plunged under the
water and returned again, are called to cling ever more closely to the promise
of baptism, which renews and strengthens us to live the life to which we are
called. May you rejoice in God’s word of adoption and trust in his signature in
baptism, that when Easter comes we may rejoice in the resurrection which
confirms all the Father’s promises to Christ and to us. Amen
