Annette Chaisson-Lauzon
December 11, 2005, Brunswick Street United Church
Sermon: Old Testament Reading from Genesis 7:17-18; 9:11-16
Genesis: 7: 17-18
"For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you"
Genesis 9:11-16
"I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds I will look on it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth"
When we hear these words of the Old Testament, what images come to mind? We have seen very recently massive flooding in the Southern United States caused by hurricanes, seen people stranded and dying as the waters overcame them. We have seen the awesome power of nature at work, and the attempts by humanity to alleviate the suffering caused by the floods. We know from our scriptural promise that God has sworn a covenant with us, that we are a covenant people. God has said he will never cover the whole earth again and destroy all living things.
But what of our actions in the world which God has given us to dwell in? We too are parties to the covenant; we have a promise to keep with God. We have had the earth given into our hands, and we are to be fruitful and to multiply and to have stewardship over this earth. Are we good covenant-keepers? There are many scientists who tell us that global warming is happening because of all the pollutants and energy usage by the people of the earth. We have scientists who tell us that perhaps these massive hurricanes are a response to global warming, that we are creating our own floods to cover this green earth.
God keeps the covenant in many ways. God has not sent the flood waters to cover the whole earth. God has also given us a further covenant promise. In the engagement of Jesus Christ incarnated, the Word made flesh, God has made a second covenant with us. He has redeemed us from our sins by the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection. God has promised us new life, a life in which we are bound to be witnesses to Jesus Christ, to be a justified and sanctified people of the new covenant.
A covenant is a contract that flows both ways. What are we commanded to do to keep our part of the contract, our covenant with God? In St. Luke Chapter 10:27- "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and all thy strength; and thy neighbour as thyself".
We cannot plead ignorance before God as to how to keep our side of the covenant promise. We need to love each other, to love even our enemies, to love God with all our hearts, and to cherish and care for this beautiful creation of God's: the earth and every living creature upon it. The breath of life is given into all of the creatures of the earth, ourselves included, by God's love for us.
It is much easier to think about covenant-keeping as being some high and noble task that we set our hearts upon and strive for. The truth is; it is not deeds of great glory that are needed but the small tiny steps we can take every single day which are the hallmarks of keeping the covenant. Do we recycle, or do we just throw out garbage which will pollute the earth? Do we conserve energy, or are we wasteful simply because we can afford to be wasteful? When we see massive destruction on television, people open their hearts and wallets to give generously to those in great need. What about the great need all around us that we see every day? When we walk down the street and are solicited by people begging, do we avert our eyes and rush away? Do we step over them and pretend they don't exist? Do we forget to be our brother's keeper? It is not a matter of giving change to every person who begs for it, some of us cannot afford to give money. What we can give is the gift of love, the gift of the spirit. When we meet a homeless person, do we stop and talk to him or her? Do we tell them where to find shelter and food and warm clothing? Do we try to listen to their stories with all our hearts and all our attention; because these are our brothers and sisters? For in Matthew 25:35-36 it says: "for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me" and in Matthew 25:40 "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of these least of my brethren, you did it to me"
So we can see the threads tied together here from the Old Testament to the New Testament. We are a covenant people- we are commanded to act in loving-kindness towards each other and towards this earth in which we dwell. We can act every day in small ways to make this earth a better place for everyone in it. We can lobby our governments to provide low-income housing. We can demand that native reserves be given the same access to clean water that we take for granted in our own homes. We can demand that corporations produce less pollution.
We know that we can rest secure in God's covenant promise of the rainbow, the sign in the clouds. We know that we can be saved and redeemed by Christ. We know what we have to do to keep our side of the covenant promise.
All citations from The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, edited Herbert May and Bruce Metzger (New York, Oxford University Press)
© Annette Chaisson-Lauzon 2005 Used with permission from the author.
