The Old Testament reading for Sunday July 28, 2024, was the recalling of God’s promise after the flood to not destroy the earth with a flood ever again. Many times, I remember growing up being told that the rainbow in the sky was a promise for us to remember. However, in reading the Genesis 9:8-17 passage, I was struck how many times God says the rainbow is a reminder to him! He will remember.
It is quite interesting to think about the covenant that God has established in his “bow” in the sky. God’s rainbow is a covenant between himself and the whole earth that never again will he destroy all life with water. If you look at Genesis 9:8-17 you see the account of God’s covenant in the rainbow. The interesting thing is that we often see the rainbow and tell our children, “See the rainbow? God put that there as a reminder for us to remember God.” While this certainly is true (the covenant is for us) if you look at the language in Genesis you see God having a rather one-sided discussion. The rainbow is put there by him for him. So, when he sends the clouds over the earth it is a reminder, he says “I will remember my covenant.” That is a little different. God put the rainbow as a remembrance for himself.
When God does establish his covenant with Noah and all creatures on earth, he is remembering that he has promised a savior. God knows that man’s heart is impure. God knows that even though he has wiped out all wickedness, there is still sin in the world. He knows that Noah and his offspring have sin running through their veins (just keep reading Genesis a little further and you will see, sin is never far). God also knows that he will send a new flood in baptism that will bring to us the merits won on the cross by his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. God knows he doesn’t have to destroy all life on the earth with a flood because he will send a permanent fix for the forgiveness of sins, Christ.
We wonder how often God had to look at a rainbow and remember his covenant not to destroy people when they acted contrary to his law? We see our own sins every day and we know we deserve to be swept away in a flood. We know we have sinned just like the wicked folks who were pounding on the door of the ark begging to be let in when the waters began to rise. In fact, sometimes because of our actions, people aren’t able to tell us apart from unbelievers. We know that on our own we can’t keep even simple promises. If we had to keep the covenant made by God for ourselves, we would utterly fail. This was the sin of those outside the ark, unbelief. They desired to be their own god, deciding on their own what was godly and what was not. They refused to believe what was preached, what was promised.
The branch that the dove brought back to Noah signaled that the water was receding. It signaled that life was about to return to the earth. Now all these years after the flood on Easter morning through the resurrection of Christ, HE has brought life back to earth. He has restored what was destroyed by our fallen nature, and sin in our life. When Christ was risen from the grave, he has won for all of us victory over death and sin.
And now for us, God has provided a new ark for all people, the church. This is where his sacraments are given out and his word is preached, this is where we come to hear his word. His word is where we flee to when sin rains down on us relentlessly. We give thanks to God that he has remembered his people and delivered us. “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the House of his servant David… he promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship Him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.” Luke 1:68-29, LSB pg. 238.
The time for us to be cold and dead is over. Christ has been raised from the dead, Alleluia! The time for us to live lives in the forgiveness of Christ’s cross with each other is now. The time for us to invite as many people as we can to join us in the ark is now. We pray that when people all around us hear his word and see our lives as proof that we are forgiven, they will come knocking on our church doors begging to be let into the Lord’s Ark, his house!
And being among the people of God they will also here his new covenant written in the blood of Jesus. That in the Lord’s Supper again, when Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” This isn’t a mental exercise but a recalling the promise that Jesus made, “For the forgiveness of your sins.” When we come to the Lord’s Supper, we are asking God to remember his promise to forgive and nourish us with his forgiveness in the body and blood of Jesus under the bread and wine.
St. Peter also teaches us about baptism from the flood account.
“… God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.” 1 Peter 3:18-22
In 1 Peter 3 God gives us a good conscience through baptism. That God remembers his promise to wash us clean of our sins and give us a new birth by water and The Spirit. In all things we remember God’s faithfulness.
In Christ,
Pastor Ottmers