Rainbow Joy

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

March 1st 2008

Communion Meditation

First Sunday in Lent

Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller

“Rainbow Joy”

Gen 9:8-17, Mark 1:9-15

Since this is the first Sunday in Lent, a sermon title like; “Rainbow Joy” beyond sounding a little corny, seems out of place. After all, Lent is a time of repentance. It is a time to come face to face with the broken places of our lives and of humanity. And, in the midst of this time is the simple message that despite the brokenness in our lives, we are never beyond the love of God. It is for that reason that the idea of finding joy in a rainbow is not out of place at all as we begin our Lenten journey. (We can have a discussion about my choice of sermon titles on another day.)

The amazing truth that we learn but often forget is that God takes the simple things in our lives and gives them new meaning. When all the people and animals leave the ark, God makes a promise, a covenant with all living things. As a sign of this covenant is the well known symbol of the rainbow. However, if we are not careful we miss the important truth that God does not create the rainbow. The rainbow has already been around. God takes what we now know as light being refracted and turns it into a powerful symbol of peace.

In the ancient world the rainbow was not understood scientifically. The rainbow was actually a favorite weapon of the ancient pantheon of gods. So God reinterprets this ancient symbol of war, death and destruction and turns it into a sign of peace reconciliation and unity. No longer does anyone see a rainbow and think thoughts of war. Imagine an army going off to war under the banner of a rainbow. Indeed, God has removed that possibility. God takes the simple, already existing images of our lives and forever changes the meaning. If God can do that it should give us hope that indeed new life can always come out of the places of destruction.

When Jesus is baptized it is another time where the simple becomes the conveyer of so much more. In this action of washing and new life God tears open the heavens and let loose the Spirit. Because many of our baptisms are done with infants, and it is a celebration of joy, we can miss the world altering symbolism of baptism. The marking with water, whether of children or adults, is more than just a rite of passage but a symbol that we are marked for a purpose, claimed by the promise and love unconditionally.

Today was we gather at the table we do so around very simple things, bread and cup. These could not be simpler and the meal that we share here is not able to satiate our physical hunger. But in the gathering we proclaim something more powerful. Like the rainbow which is many but one, we become a new reality. As the bread is torn apart, we are reminded that the order of the world has been torn apart so that new life might find space to grow. The symbols are each powerful and have the ability to help us find joy in the most unlikely places. However, each of the symbols actually requires something of us.

In order for these symbols, the rainbow, water, bread and cup, to truly have the power to transform us individually and communally, we must be open to seeing the world with new eyes. These symbols require that we seek to see God at work in the refraction of light through water. We are called, through these symbols to look for God at work when the world gets shattered. We are called to look for God at work wherever food is shared and when diverse peoples not only come together but become friends.

Lent is about the reordering of our lives. It is about seeing the world in a new way. And for people set in our ways this is not always easy. We are too busy to ponder a rainbow. We are too distracted to appreciate the new reality made in baptism and we are too practiced in our rituals to expect anything at this table. Lent calls us to hope, to grasp for the possibility that the world is made new and to believe that joy can be found. So as you join me at the table, as we continue this Lenten journey, it is my prayer that the simple might become surprising and that the mundane might just become the place of new life. Amen.