Dolly Parton once said, “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” I thought about that this week as I studied our passage for this morning from Genesis chapter 9. The context of that story, of course, is the Great Flood that destroyed the entire world except for Noah, his family, and two of each animal that Noah has loaded onto the ark he built. And if we go a bit farther back in the story, we know that God sent the flood because the people of the earth had fallen deeply into sin. In Genesis chapter 6, we read, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” Humankind had become so wicked, so sinful, that it grieved God to the point of making God wish he’d never even created humans. So, God decided the best thing to do was to start over. So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” God planned to tear it all down.

But then something happened to change the plan slightly…and that slight change eventually led to a larger change. The small change was that Noah found favor with God. And because of that, God decided not to start completely over but to allow a small remnant to survive. So, God instructed Noah to build an ark and load himself, his family, and two of every animal onto the giant boat. Then when God sent the flood, it destroyed everything except Noah’s ark and everything on it. And when the flood had subsided and dry land reappeared, God began again with the remnant he’d saved.

 But it seems from our passage in Genesis 9 that God is perhaps once again regretting something he did because God decides to make a covenant with Noah and with all of the people and creatures remaining on earth. God says, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. 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.” God promised in this covenant not to resort to total destruction again in dealing with our sin. And while this decision did not lower our capacity to sin, it changed the trajectory of God’s redemption of humanity. God promised not to hurt us in that way again. And you’ll notice that the covenant does not specifically require anything of us. God’s covenants with humanity are quite often like that. God promises something to us without requiring something in return.

And God seals his promise to us with a sign…the sign of the rainbow. I think this is significant for a couple of reasons. First, the rainbow is significant because it symbolizes that beauty can come after rain. The Christian Institute in the UK explained it like this: “The rainbow is precious. It’s a symbol of what theologians call God’s common grace – the grace he shows to all people saved and unsaved alike. With the rainbow God promised to restrain his wrath. He promised never again to visit destruction on the earth in the same way. Judgement was delayed, for Noah, his descendants, and for the rest of creation.” Each time we see a rainbow, we are reminded of God’s grace to us. As Katy Perry says in her song Firework, “If you only knew what the future holds after a hurricane comes a rainbow.” As we talked about on Ash Wednesday, God can bring beauty out of difficult times. And a rainbow is the symbol of that truth.

But perhaps the rainbow means even more than that. It is God’s promise not to destroy us again. Elizabeth Webb explains the idea this way: “The sign of this covenant, God’s bow in the clouds, is precisely the bow of battle. Ancient depictions of a deity armed with bow and arrow are not unusual. To hang up one’s bow is to retire from battle. That bow in the clouds is the sign of God’s promise that whatever else God does to seek our restoration, destruction is off the table.” This is a sign of God’s incredible mercy. Though we continue in our sin, God has chosen mercy instead of destruction. Isn’t that the essence of the gospel? Isn’t that a perfect representation of God’s love for us?

The question in chapter 1 of “Love Is the Way” by Bishop Michael Curry is “What is Love?” And in answering that question, Bishop Curry talks about agape love. Agape is one of many Greek words for love, but it is the word used most often about God’s love. Curry says agape “is love for the other–sacrificial love that seeks the good and well-being of others, of society, of the world.” That definitely describes God’s love for us…the love shown to Noah and his family…the love represented by the rainbow and the covenant God made. Rob Bell describes agape love in this way, “Agape doesn’t love somebody because they’re worthy. Agape makes them worthy by the strength and power of its love. Agape doesn’t love somebody because they’re beautiful. Agape loves in such a way that it makes them beautiful.” This is the love God showed to Noah and his family. And this is the love God shows to us.

And it is this kind of love that Bishop Curry believes should guide us in our daily lives and in our interactions with one another. He writes this: “Love is a commitment to seek the good and to work for the good and welfare of others. It doesn’t stop at our front door or our neighborhood, our religion or race, or our state’s or [our] country’s border. This is one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth, as the hymn goes. It often calls us to step outside of what we thought our boundaries were, or what others expect of us. It calls for us to sacrifice, not because doing so feels good, but because it’s the right thing to do.” Bishop Curry calls love God’s GPS for living. It guides our decisions and our interactions. And he says that to switch on God’s GPS we must ask ourselves, “Is this just about me, or is it about we?”

You see, the opposite of love is not hate, but rather it is selfishness. Isn’t that the essence of sin itself? When the serpent tempted Eve in the garden to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, wasn’t it selfishness that caused her to take a bite? Wasn’t it selfishness that caused Cain to kill his brother Abel? And wasn’t it selfishness that led to King David calling for Bathsheba when he saw her bathing from the rooftop? Selfishness leads to sin. But love leads to God. Bishop Curry ends the chapter like this: “The way of love will show us the right thing to do, every single time. It is moral and spiritual grounding–a place of rest–amid the chaos that is often part of life. It’s how we stay decent in indecent times. Loving is not always easy, but like with muscles, we get stronger both with repetition and as the burden gets heavier. And it works.” The rainbow that God placed in the sky as a promise to Noah and his family was a symbol of love. It represented God’s decision to offer grace instead of punishment, to grant mercy instead of exacting justice. It represented God’s deep and abiding love for the creation God had made. And it stands, not only as a reminder to us of that love, but as a challenge to us to live lives worthy of that love. To live lives full of the same love for others. The American poet, historian, and novelist Aberjhani wrote, in his book Journey Through The Power Of The Rainbow, “Shine your soul with the same egoless humility as the rainbow and no matter where you go in this world or the next, love will find you, attend you, and bless you.” May we all shine like a rainbow as we follow God’s GPS of love and set our focus on we and not me. And as we do that, may we feel God’s love shining down on us. Amen!