Easter Saturday, April 18, 2020![Double-Rainbow-3[1]](https://thenoontimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/double-rainbow-31.jpg?w=300&h=225)
Genesis 9: The Example of Noah
Like so many stories in scripture, the tale of Noah is so familiar to us that we might easily pass over verses through which God speaks to us. Once again we are shown a figure around whom an entire saga unfolds who is at once faithful and flawed. There is always something to learn about ourselves as we read about others.
Into your power they are delivered . . . I give them all to you.
God is so generous with the gifts God creates for us – the planet and all that is on it – that we too easily take God’s bigheartedness for granted. God is generous so that we might learn to be generous as well.
I will demand an accounting . . .
Although God is lavish beyond imagining with the millions of species of animals and plants scattered about the earth, we must remember that there will be a reckoning. Each feather on each sparrow is precious – just as we are precious.
I am establishing my covenant with you . . .
God is constantly seeking union and reunion with us. God promises to protect and keep us. To guide and rescue us. For our part, we are asked to follow and abide. It ought to be easy to find serenity within the embrace of this gentle yet strong God . . . and yet we resist.
This is the sign I give you . . .
God is constantly working wonders in our lives in small and tremendous ways. God persists with the signs we request, knowing that we will be too scattered, too anxious, too angry, too bored, too self-obsessed to see them. God invites us to put away our yearning for these portents and to accept the gift of eternal life so willingly and eagerly given.
I set my bow in the heavens . . .
From childhood we are taught the greater meaning of the beautifully arching colors created by the prism of droplets in the air. Science explains the mechanics of the arc but our hearts linger with the deeper significance in the phenomenon.
When he drank some of the wine he became drunk . . .
God continues to give us examples of imperfect humans so that we might bring our own imperfections forward to lay in sacrifice on the altar of our lives. God does not ask for perfection in us – God knows us so well. God asks that we persevere. God asks that we trust. God asks that we love.
This familiar childhood story deserves more time than we usually give to it. Let us take that time today to look beyond our little horizon to see God as magnanimous protector, God as ardent lover, God as careful promise, God as loyal friend, and God as eternal truth. It is this perfect God who calls our imperfection home. It is this vigilant God who heals our aching flaws. It is this tender and devoted God who creates for us the wonders of the planet . . . and allows her creatures the marvelous freedom to choose to return to the covenant.
In this Eastertide when we experience the full force of God’s promise to each of us, let us think about returning our own imperfections to God, and let us examine the example of Noah.
Image from: http://allwallsinfo.com/double-rainbow/
A re-post from April 18, 2013.
The Noontimes 