Rainbows and Hearts

In the story of Noah, we hear and see the first time the word, "covenant" used in the Bible. In the prophecy of Jeremiah, he tells of the last covenant that will be given to us humans. The first covenant is given not just to Noah and humanity, but to every living thing and the world itself. The last one will be written on our hearts. In the story of the great flood, it is Noah who sacrifices and worships God that causes God to regret the action of flooding the world and so God makes the sign of the rainbow to remind Godself never to destroy the world again. Of course, the rainbow is a bow of an archer a weapon that is now turned upside down which can't be used to harm or destroy. Whether or not we believe in a flood that covered the whole world or just a portion, the story gives us assurance that God isn't in the world-ending business anymore. God literally hung up their weapon as a sign of peace to all life and a reminder not to do it again. On Friday night, we had a beautiful rainbow, some saw a double rainbow, after a brief and soaking rain. We see beauty, awe, and wonder. In this story, God sees a reminder that even when things go wrong, life is important and life is good, all life.

In this first covenant, God does not require anything of humans or any other life forms and even expands the diet of humans and possibly other animals. We are told all have eaten grass up to this point, but now, all moving things are given for us to eat. We are not told to not do evil or else. We are not given the 10 Commandments. We are told to be fertile and multiply, that is it. There was nothing to sign, for it wasn't a contract, it was God's verbal commitment to a relationship that has no end.

The covenant that God promises through Jeremiah is also very similar. God will write the laws upon our hearts so that all will know God. Again, this is God's initiative and God's doing. The ending of the Jeremiah is peculiar in that God tells us that if the sun and moon and seasons ever end, then God will forget this covenant. But this harkens to the first creation story and to the covenant of Noah that God won't destroy the world ever again so this covenant with the people of Israel, and we infer with all the world, will never be undone.

Between this first and last covenant, we have others given to us through the 10 Commandments and Moses and through Jesus and the cup of the new covenant. Covenants are made between humans like Jacob and his father-in-law at Mizpah, "the Lord watch between me and thee while we are apart." Covenants are based upon relationship, not just contracts that spell out the terms of finances and actions to be taken or acceptable, but a relationship of how to live together, how to be together, and maybe even, how to grow together.

Until this last covenant comes through and God's law and love is written on our hearts, let us strive to be in relationship with each other in ways that are healthy and good. Let us seek not to destroy, but to be fruitful, fertile so that all life may thrive and flourish. Let us seek the good for all, not just ourselves or our country, or those whom we think agree with us and have similar goals. Our church is a covenant church, in our sacraments, we baptize and promise to resist evil and share the good news, and we eat the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Christ, who came to share the love of God in real and just ways. We, as humans, have the power to destroy, but we also have the power to heal, to forgive, and be generous. We, as the church, the body of Christ, live into the covenant, the old covenant, the new covenant, that all are related and we are to love each other, as Christ loves us, as God loves us, and as the Spirit moves through us. Amen

A Tale of Two Females

In a book called, "The Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs, he tried to follow all 435 commands found in the Torah or Pentateuch. One of those commands was that you couldn't touch a woman while she was having her period so he wouldn't hug, kiss, or hold the hand of his wife during her cycle. She learned that he couldn't sit where she sat, so when she became frustrated with him she would sit on every piece of furniture in the house so he would have to stand or sit on the floor the whole day. We don't know what kind of hemorrhaging this woman in the crowd was suffering, but for her to be so afraid of Jesus and the crowd that she didn't ask for healing, but just touched his cloak and had faith that she would be made well, we have to assume that she has spent twelve long years not being able to hug, kiss, or hold hands with her family and friends. This physical and social isolation seems to be more damaging as she persisted with this illness for twelve ...

Do not be Afraid!

There is a plan for the future of this country that is posed to be a '2nd American Revolution.' It is called, "Project 2025." The authors of this 91 page plan are mostly former staffers of the last President and the Heritage Foundation. It is so bad that as the word is getting out about it the actions that are set to be taken, even the current Republican Presidential candidate is trying to put some distance from it, because he knows he can't sell it. The highlights are taking away abortions and contraceptives for all our nation, getting rid of marriage equality, allowing the President to fire any government employee and put in their place someone whose only qualification is loyalty to the President, and getting rid of the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency. Basically to turn our Democracy into an authoritarian regime ruled by the oligarchy. We, as a church, are not supposed to be dipping our toes into politics for the most part. We ...

Selling Out

Last Fall, I read a book called, "A History of Burning." It is a multi-generational story about a family that migrates from India to Uganda for hopes for a better future to help the British build a railroad, whose children through education secures a government job, but then Uganda throws off their colonial oppressors and gains independence and turns against the Indians who live there, and they have to migrate again and start all over in Toronto, Canada. It is a sad story of colonial power of the British Empire bringing in foreign cheap labor to build their infrastructure that leaves out the local population. And once Uganda gets independence, the corporations still control much of the economy and fosters division between the Ugandans and Indian to keep the country unstable. It is a triumphant story of human determination in the face of adversity, but only a few make it. One of the first paragraphs in a Wikipedia search about Africa told me that Africa is politically unstab...

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