ST MATTHEW SUNDAY JULY 26 2015 | 9TH

S AFTER PENTECOST
PROPER 12 YEAR B
Genesis 9:817; Psalm 136:19; Ephesians 3:1421; Mark 6:4556
Grace mercy and peace to you from God the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Amen.
THEME VERSE:
I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and the earth. (Gen 9:13, ESV)
THEME/TITLE:

Oh Look! THE Rainbow!

Let me see if I can get some interaction going here. Tell me. What is the first thing
that comes to mind when you see a rainbow? Dont think about it. What is the first
thing that enters your mind?
<wait for responses>
The first thing that enters my somewhat aged mind is Oh look! A rainbow.
How many of you know that God set the rainbow in the sky? And, what Gods purpose
is for the rainbow?
<wait for responses>
Gods revelation, His Word tells us:
And 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: I have set
my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the
earth. (Genesis 9:1213, ESV)
So why did God set the rainbow in the sky as the SIGN OF THE COVENANT between
Himself and every living creature with Noah for all future generations? Those
generations of course include us and the generations of people and creatures after us.
<wait for responses>
Again, Gods revelation to man gives us the answer.
Behold, I establish MY covenant with you and your offspring after you, and
with every living creature that is with you, , as many as came out of the ark; it
is for every beast of the earth. [and here is the important part] I establish my
covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the
flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. (Genesis 9:9
11, ESV)

How often have we heard that and never gave it more than a passing thought? Yet,
nothing in the history of mankind changed the world itself more than Noahs flood.
Not only did it cover the whole earth. It was a catastrophic and cataclysmic event
that affected every man, woman, and child; every creature that walked or crawled on
the earth; every bird that flew in the air; every sea creature that inhabited the sea;
they were all affected by this world-changing event. And only those that found refuge
on the ARK NOAH BUILT were saved.
The earth itself, perhaps even the entire cosmos underwent a change so traumatic
that it left only an ARK full of animals, two of each kind, male and female, and EIGHT
PEOPLE male and female, alive on the EARTH. There was massive climate change that
changed how the earth was watered and nourished, how it looked and how it was
inhabited. There was massive land mass changes and upheavals never before seen or
heard of. Never had there been an event like it in the history of mankind, and
never will it occur again!
Yet, there remains a day reserved by God on which He alone knows and has decided,
when He will act to again change everything in heaven and on earth. It is called
The Great Day of the LORD.
The Day of Judgment.
The Day of Redemption.
The Day the New Heaven and the New Earth are fully revealed.
The Day of Salvation.
The Day the Son of Man, the Son of God, Jesus Christ returns in Glory.
It will be a catastrophic and cataclysmic DAY never ever seen before. It is the GREAT
DAY OF THE LORD! It is the day the children of God will be found to be like Him,
HOLY, BLAMELESS, and ONE with Him, that were hidden in GOD with CHRIST.
Even so, people mock God and His people who believe in THE RAINBOW that GOD set
in the heavens. If a person were to do a Google search of the word RAINBOW on
the internet you would find a myriad of references numbering nearly 400 million hits.
Science has tried to understand rainbows since Aristotle. Several Persian Physicists,
Philosophers, and astronomers have all made their historical mark in understanding
the exact nature of rainbows. And whatever one might think of their scholarly work
and influence none of them acknowledge the one who set the bow in the heavens in
the first place. I would not expect scientists, philosophers, astrologers, or physicists
to think about the bible in their respective sciences. But I do expect them to be
honest with the evidence they find. When that happens its amazing how much
science agrees with the biblical accounts. And that would lead a myriad of people to
further grasp the covenant relationship God made with NOAH and ALL the Earth.
So what is covenant? A covenant, is a contract, treaty, alliance, an agreement that is
made between two parties. There are several different types of covenants. But there

are only four very important covenants detailed in Holy Scriptures between God and
man. They are always initiated by God for the benefit of mankind. They are:
1.
The Noahic Covenant (Gen 8:209:17)
2.
The Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 12:13)
3.
The Davidic Covenant (2 Sam 7:516)
4.
The New Covenant through Jesus
The first covenant with Noah came after The Lord saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of mans heart
was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the
earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, I will blot out man
whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping
things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.
Heres another question for you. Does the Creator of all things, the one who after all
visible and invisible things were made, called it good, is this God justified in being
sorry for what He had made; for His anger and Wrath?
<wait for response>
If we think Him to be justified in that case, how can any of us now say that He is
unjust if He bears anger toward those who disavow or disown Him through their evil
behavior? <Just an aside here> Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life;
whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains
on him. (John 3:36, ESV) You see, the covenant of blood, Christ Jesus blood, is
Gods Last Will and Testament to Mankind. It is a treasure, not to find Him, but to be
found BY HIM and called out of our darkness into His marvelous light. That in itself is
an earth-shattering event that changes life forever. If you gave your life for another
and they squandered it anyway, would you be pleased?
The emotions God has for His fallen and sinful creatures seems obvious. It does seem
odd that God is described here emoting feelings of frustration and anger, but how do
we react and respond when our feelings get hurt. And just think about who built those
feelings and emotions into us? Was it science? An accident of nature, or was it God
who created us in His own image? God is not fickle, unpredictable, erratic,
changeable, and inconsistent as some might read things into this passage, because He
was sorry for what He had made? Absolutely not! If it had not been for Gods love
for His creation, it all might very well have ended right there. No Noah! No Ark! No
Covenant! No Rainbow! No us!
But the Scripture indicates that one man, Noah found favor in the eyes of the
Lord. (Genesis 6:58, ESV) Someday I want to ask God, What was it that you
favored in Noah, that you deemed him righteous above all others? Until that glorious
day comes, I am content to trust the simple words set before me and believe that
Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord, and leave the logistics to God, Himself.

You know what happened next:

The Lord told Noah:
There's gonna be a floody, floody
The Lord told Noah:
There's gonna be a floody, floody
Get those children out of the muddy, muddy
Children of the Lord
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Children of the Lord
The Lord told Noah
To build him an arky, arky
The Lord told Noah
To build him an arky, arky
Build it out of gopher barky, barky
Children of the Lord
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Children of the Lord
The animals they came in,
They came in by twosie, twosies
The animals they came in,
They came in by twosie, twosies
Elephants and kangaroosie, roosies
Children of the Lord
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Children of the Lord

It rained and it poured

For forty daysie, daysies
It rained and it poured
For forty daysie, daysies
Almost drove those animals crazy, crazies,
Children of the Lord
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Children of the Lord
The sun came out and
It dried up the landy landy
The sun came out and
It dried up the landy landy
Everything was fine and dandy, dandy
Children of the Lord
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Children of the Lord
And after all of that, God established His covenant with Noah. And 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: I have set my bow in the
cloud, Oh Look! THE Rainbow! 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 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. 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. 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. (Genesis 9:1217,
ESV)
Oh Look! THE Rainbow! It is the rainbow that is set because everything changed in
our world when the Deluge flooded the whole world. It was a catastrophic event that

washed away evil from the face of the earth, except for eight people, Noah, his wife,
his three sons, and their wives, and two of each kind of animal, male and female,
that God led into the ark to repopulate the earth.
God has even set His covenant promise into the hearts of His people so that even
today, we get excited when the bow appears in the sky. How many times have you
seen a rainbow and heard someone say, Oh Look! THE Rainbow! Perhaps not too
many. Its now referred to as a rainbow. But nary a rainbow, nor any other facsimile
of a rainbow, can emote or recall the blessings God has brought upon a broken,
uncultured, sinful world, or the hearts of broken and sinful mankind than THE
RAINBOW HE HAS SET.
The reason is quite simple. It has that effect on us because of what it is: GODS
COVENANT PROMISE given to Noah and his family and the beasts and crawly things
and flying things on the ARK with him for all generations.
The point is this:
God is real.
His Word is truth.
His promises inviolate.
Think on these things and rejoice that He makes a covenant promise with us
personally through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The promise of sins forgiven; the
promise of eternal life in Him; the promise of His indwelling us, all through the water
and the Word of Holy Baptism. What utter sadness it brings to our loving God when
people do not and will not receive His whole message that allows all people to
respond, Oh Look! THE Rainbow!
We who believe, dear friends in Christ, are the glorious ones who have been touched
by His love, cleansed by His blood, and kept safe through faith in His most holy name
and by His covenant of Grace from generation to generation. For we have come to
know this: Baptism, which corresponds to this [the ark and the saving of the
eight], now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal
to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter
3:21, ESV) In Him we are carried safely through the catastrophes and cataclysmic
events of life, greatly rejoicing in His name and making our defense by the Word of
God. Oh Look! THE Rainbow! Amen.
The peace of God who has made covenant with us will keep our hearts and minds safe
in Christ Jesus now and unto life everlasting. Amen.