Do you ever remember seeing a rainbow just at the moment you needed to see one? Or, said in other words, have you ever received a sign of hope during a stretch when things were really going down the toilet? So these days with this prolonged and difficult pandemic, with so many expressions of meanness around us, with weariness of heart within some of us, perhaps we all need some rainbow love just now.
Some years back, Anne Lamott remarked in a social media post that she had just had a great idea for a new book that she would title “DOOM”. There were so many things going wrong…friends with serious illnesses, political turmoil, injustice, environmental degradation, and a very old and failing beloved dog. Then she went outside and “accidentally looked up”, and saw a rainbow “giving her the eye.” She writes that her pastor reminds the congregation from time to time that one can trap bees on the floor of a mason jar without a lid because they don’t look up…just walk around muttering and walking into glass.
Sometimes, there are signs of hope present which can lift even the most discouraged spirits, but you have to shift your gaze to see them. In the early chapter of Genesis, there is the story of Noah, in which an ark is built to contain animals and people who would repopulate the earth after the destructive flood. And then, God promises to establish a covenant with the earth and all living creatures. Never again would such a disaster destroy the earth. And the sign of this promise would be the rainbow. “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.” (Genesis 9:16). Almost as though with the rainbow, God had posted a giant sticky note on the world as a reminder to bless the world. In other words, look up, and maybe when you need it, you will see the rainbow, or some other gesture of promise and hope, “giving you the eye”.
We’ll talk about this in worship on Sunday, the first Sunday of the Lenten season, as the sermon is titled, “Reweaving the Rainbow”. The biblical text is Genesis 9: 8-17, and will be read by Mary Beth Hannah-Hansen. There will be a moment for children, prayers and music by our sanctuary singers, directed by Gerry Sousa and accompanied by Nara Lee.
If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with you. Visit www.smumc.church and click on the Live Stream banner at 10:30 AM.