Always Look for the Rainbow
People love to talk about the weather. When it’s cold folks talk about how they wish it was warmer. When it is warm, people put on air conditioning and talk about how they wish it was cool. The grocery stores keep the inside of the store cooler in the summer than it is outside in the winter. I’ve never understood that. When it rains, folks complain that the weather is miserable and they can’t do things outside. When it is sunny all the time, folks moan about how their gardens are drying up and their grass is brown.
May 1, 2011
Genesis 9:12-17, Ezekiel 1:26-28a, Revelation 4:1-3,
Always Look for the Rainbow
Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
[print_link]
[powerpress]
Here’s another thing – have you noticed how local television news has changed over the years? Now the weather is almost the biggest part of the news. It often leads and is much longer than the sports segment which has shrunk considerably. What it is funny to me about the weather is for most of human history there was no radar, no weather satellites, no long range predictions. You could be out in your boat minding your own business with no clue a hurricane was coming. We have greater warning and protection from extreme weather than our ancestors yet people seem to flip out at the slightest update. Being New Englanders we should handle this sort of thing better than those who live in more placid environments. Yet even here, a meteorologist can say there is a chance of 3-6 inches of snow and there will be a run on bread, milk, and toilet paper as if you might not be able to get out for two weeks.
All joking aside, potentially damaging storms need to be regarded with proper respect. Freelance writer George Rosen described the experience his family had being caught in a tremendous thunderstorm in Maryland one August day. He wrote, “That’s where we first saw it, a line of dark cloud oozing over the horizon. It was steel gray at first, then – as it got bigger- black and purple that would turn briefly pink after the lightning bursts. The lightning was miles away, but there was every imaginable kind: flickering sheets of lightning, forks that split down and sideways, balls of lightning that rolled across the hilltops for two or three seconds at a time. And all of this was dancing in an immense semicircle of viscous fluid that smeared across the sky, growing. There was more water in the air than there ever is in New England. The pounding on car metal would stop for a split second under an overpass and then, before you could exhale, start again. Each driver’s attention was focused, through the flopping wiper blades that were squeegees against Niagara, on the shiny plain of his or her engine hood and the two feet of bright, wet atmosphere between headlights and chaos.”
Have you ever been in a storm like that? Think about one of the worst storms you’ve ever been in. I can remember one almost 20 years ago when Jill and I were driving to Cooperstown, New York. It was such a violent thunder storm I was actually scared to go on and scared to stop. This past Thursday evening after dinner Jill and I went for a walk and when we were more than a mile and a half from our house the heavens opened up and it started raining. That storm was just a little rain with some lightning and thunder later in the evening. It was nothing like the violent storms that have left more than 300 people dead across seven states this week. The devastation on television reminds me of what Mississippi looked like after Hurricane Katrina hit. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, estimated there were 173 tornadoes Wednesday, setting a new record for one storm system. Meteorologist Greg Carbin of the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center told the Associated Press, “These were the most intense super-cell thunderstorms that I think anybody who was out there forecasting has ever seen.” The twisters leveled cities such as Tuscaloosa, Ala., forced some nuclear plants to go offline, left thousands homeless and more than 1 million people without power. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox asked people Thursday to stay off the streets and conserve water, and for gawkers to stay away. He said, “This is going to be a very, very long process of cleaning up and rebuilding. During this time we ask for patience and we ask for prayers.”
During a news conference Thursday at the White House President Obama said, “We can’t control when or where a terrible storm may strike, but we can control how we respond to it.”
By now some of you may be thinking, “Is he getting to a sermon here or is this just a weather report?” I’m getting there. What’s important to understand is that storms are a part of life; God made it that way. We experience not only natural, physical storms like thunder, lightning, rain, blizzards, hurricanes, and tornados, but also psychological, emotional, relational, financial, and spiritual storms as well. Make no mistake, everyone experiences storms in life. None of us are spared or immune. What the mayor of Tuscaloosa and the President said about storms is also true for us when we’re experiencing a storm. There can be a very, very long process of “cleaning up and rebuilding.” During that time patience and prayers are two of our best tools. “We can’t control when or where a terrible storm may strike, but we can control how we respond to it.”
Perhaps the first thing we need to do is mentally prepare ourselves that we should not be surprised by storms, we should simply expect them as part of life. Some storms can leave something beautiful behind. It can be cool to walk a beach after a big storm or to see what the landscape looks like after a big snowfall. One of the nice things that can accompany a thunder storm is a rainbow. If you asked most people who know a little about the Bible, “Where in the Bible is a rainbow mentioned?” Many folks would be able to identify the story of Noah in Genesis 9 which we heard earlier when after the storm and flood was over the rainbow was seen in the clouds. However, most people don’t know that there are two other places a rainbow is mentioned in the Bible.
One is in the prophet Ezekiel and the other is in the Book of Revelation. Listen to them: Ezekiel 1:26-28a, “And above the dome over their heads there was something like a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was something that seemed like a human form. 27 Upward from what appeared like the loins I saw something like gleaming amber, something that looked like fire enclosed all around; and downward from what looked like the loins I saw something that looked like fire, and there was a splendor all around. 28 Like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day, such was the appearance of the splendor all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.”
Revelation 4:1-3, “After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! 3 And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald.”
Today’s scriptures from Genesis, Ezekiel, and Revelation introduce us to three people in the Bible who saw rainbows. Noah is the best known story of the rainbow. Noah saw the rainbow after the storm. Think of all that Noah endured: building an ark, holding onto faith in midst of doubt, concern like God’s for all the living creatures not just for himself and his family. Forty days and nights with all those animals to feed and clean up after with no Dramamine and no idea when the storm was going to end and the waters would subside. Wondering during the long nights with the rain pelting down if God was really with them and if God would deliver them. Some of us can relate to Noah and his family. You may be in the midst of a storm of some kind and you’re wondering if the Lord cares about you. You’re not sure how long this storm will last or how long you will have to endure and persevere.
The story of Noah is reminder to trust God and hold on to the hope that one day the storm will cease and the waters will subside and you’ll see a rainbow and know that God has been faithful to work our His purposes for you. Sometimes we don’t see the rainbow until after the storm has passed.
Ezekiel was a priest and prophet during the time that God’s people were in exile in Babylon in the sixth century before Christ. The capture and destruction of Jerusalem was a decisive factor in Ezekiel’s ministry. As a prophet to the exiles who had been taken from the land of Judah to Babylon, Ezekiel assured his hearers of the abiding presence of God among them. To a helpless and hopeless people Ezekiel brought hope of restoration to their homeland and temple by their just and holy God. Ezekiel saw a rainbow in the midst of the storm of war and exile. He has a vision of the Lord: “Like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day, such was the appearance of the splendor all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” The idea that the glory of the Lord was with them even in exile gave hope to the people encouraging them to persevere and keep the faith.
Noah saw the rainbow after the storm, Ezekiel in the midst of the storm of exile, and in Revelation, the final book in the Bible, John has a vision of heaven and in it he sees a rainbow that is a complete circle, not just a bow. The rainbow John saw was before the coming storm of persecution under the Roman Emperor Domitian. The purpose of the Book of Revelation is to give hope to the church and Christians in crisis. The rainbow John saw was around the throne of God. The Almighty was showing John what was going to take place in order to assure the people that God was not dead or unaware of what they were going through.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean our life will be easy without struggles, pains, adversity, challenges or storms. They come to all of us. One of the great hymns of the church is Great is Thy Faithfulness. It was written by Thomas Chisholm who was born in a log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky, on July 29, 1866. After accepting Christ as his personal savior he became the editor of a publication called the Pentecostal Herald. Later he was ordained to the Methodist ministry but he resigned after a brief pastorate because of poor health and he became a life insurance agent. In a letter he wrote in 1941, he said, “My income has not been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years which has followed me on until now. Although I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of His providing care, for which I am filled with astonishing gratefulness.” Thomas Chisholm spent much of his life in storms of poor health and poverty, yet he wrote one of the best known hymns about the faithfulness of God to care for us, provide for us, and watch over us through all the experiences of life.
Storms are a part of life, but there is something we can remember that makes a difference – Always look for the rainbow. I hope our sense of joy at seeing a rainbow in the sky is never diminished by the passing of time. The poet William Wordsworth celebrated his delight at seeing a rainbow and his desire to never lose the sense of wonder and excitement he felt. He wrote:
“My heart leaps when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So it was when my life began;
So is it now that I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die”
We will experience storms until we are called home to heaven and all storms cease. Until then expect the storms and don’t be afraid of them because God will be faithful even when there are questions we cannot answer. Sometimes the Lord will show you the rainbow after the storm like Noah, sometimes during the storm like Ezekiel, and sometimes before the storm like John. Always look for the rainbow that reminds us of the faithfulness and presence of God.
Genesis 9:12-17
God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that 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. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”