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March 9, 2003: First Sunday in Lent; Stairway & Room Dedication Sunday
Sermon by Pastor J. T. Kim

ONE RAINBOW IS ENOUGH
(Genesis 9:8-17, NRSV)

[8] Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, [9] �As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, [10] 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. [11] 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.� [12] 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.�

(1 Peter 3:18-22, NRSV)

[18] For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, [19] in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, [20] who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. [21] And baptism, which this prefigured, 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, [22] who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Last Wednesday, we had �Ash Wednesday� service, and began walking the journey of Lent 2003. According to the Church tradition, during the service, we had the time of Imposition of Ashes. And we all got the �Cross-Impressions� on our foreheads.

Ash is one of the important biblical symbols in the Christian life. By putting ashes on our foreheads, we repent our sins and confess that �we are just dust without God.� And the �Cross-Impression� symbolizes that Jesus Christ is the only one we have in our lives.

Biblical symbols are very important. One of the significant symbols we can find from this morning�s Genesis text is: A Rainbow.

The rainbow is a sign of God�s covenant. What kind of covenant? The covenant that God will never again punish the humanity by the flood.

One interesting insight from the text is that this rainbow is a reminder for God rather than for the humanity.

[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.�

From God�s side, the rainbow is his reminder of the covenant. And from our side, the rainbow is then ultimately a sign of God�s love and a reminder of our gratitude.

So whenever I see a rainbow, I remind myself of how loving God is in my life and of how much I should be grateful to God.

Years ago, my wife and I visited Hawaii for a week. As you all know, Hawaii is called the Aloha State. And I saw all the cars with their license plates that have a picture of rainbow!

At first I was wondering why �rainbow�? But soon I realized that Hawaii had many rainbows everyday. That was very special, and I was impressed.

My wife and I really enjoyed many beautiful rainbows throughout the whole week!

Once in Hawaii, a woman saw 15 rainbows in one week. She said to her daughter, as they left, �Don�t you wish we could have just one more?�

The daughter responded with 17-year-old vigor and idealism: �Hello! Aren�t you a bit greedy, Mom? Don�t you think 15 are enough?�

The woman was ashamed. Indeed, what was she talking about? Did she want permanent rainbows? If so, she could have bought some greeting cards or some decorations with rainbows. There are plenty of rainbow pictures everywhere.

Why did she think that good had to be permanent? Why couldn�t she enjoy the beauty of the impermanent?

Perhaps it was some sort of greed and ingratitude of the humanity throughout the history � way before the flood.

Remember God soured on the human creatures he had created?

In Genesis 6:7 (NIV) God says, �I am grieved that I have made them.�

This text depicts God as being so exasperated with the human condition that he regrets getting involved.

The question is:

How bad do you have to be to move a God of love and compassion to the point where he not only is sorry he made you, but wants to eradicate your entire species from the face of the earth and from the collective memory of the universe?

IT MUST HAVE BEEN BAD.

But, according to Genesis 6:8 (NIV) �Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.�

So Noah took to the ark to flee both the wrath of God and the wickedness of mortals. And 40 days and nights later, God hung a rainbow in the sky as a covenant with us never to so judge the world again.

Lucky for us�.. a rainbow in the sky.

However, even with the rainbow hanging in the heavens, we still want more.

We say: �God still doesn�t do enough for us.� It is wrong to be greedy for the wrong things.

But we should also remember that it is no better to be greedy for good things - even blessings. Fifteen rainbows are more than enough.

Yet in our worship and in our lives, we sometimes � or many times - get the feeling that we think God is not doing enough for us.

We question by saying: �What have you done for me lately, God?� And demand by saying: �Give me more, more, more, and more!�

If you keep asking for more and more in your life, how miserable and unsatisfying your life would be!

When Noah walked up the ramp and into the ark, he was indeed leaving the world as he had come to know it. The world would never be the same. It had radically changed.

Many of us have lost the world as we know it. Many have lost that world more than once.

Some of you have lost a husband and moved into the world of widowhood.
Some of you have lost a wife and moved into the world of widowerhood.
Some of you have retired and moved into a whole new world of retirement.
Some of you have lost substantial investment and moved from the world of security into the world of insecurity.
Some of you have lost a child.

You may have lost someone in Oklahoma City or the Pentagon or at the World Trade Center � or during military services � or in car accidents.

We wake up the day after these large events, and the world is different.

Now nearly 300,000 U.S. troops have been deployed for a war against Iraq. We do not know what might happen if a war breaks out. The world is being different all the time. And we will never again be the same.

Yet, in our lives, we have been taking everything for granted. We may have been asking TOO MANY RAINBOWS!

My brothers and sisters in Christ!

God gave us one rainbow. God gave us enormous gifts. Thus, gratitude is the proper response as we begin our Lenten journey.

The truly amazing part of the story of Noah and the Flood is that God allowed the world to be destroyed. But Noah fills up the boat with a future with the hope that is founded on faith and on gratitude!

We, too, may lose our world. But we must fill our boat with a future, with gratitude, and keep our eyes on the rainbow. The same God who came back with a rainbow after the storm came forth with Jesus.

1 Peter 3:21-22 says: [21] And baptism, which this prefigured, 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, [22] who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

The Flood prefigures on baptism!

Jesus was a human version of the rainbow whose purpose was to call us to the joy of grateful discipleship.

The psalmist had it right: �So teach us to number our days that we learn wisdom.�

The firemen who survived the day of terror at the World Trade Center say the major insight they took away was to �treasure every day and every breath.�

I heard one day a man with a cancer reflects and saying: �My cancer is a gift. It has shown me how precious now is. I didn�t know before.�

My brothers and sisters in Christ!

Remember! We are always more than our losses.

In Romans 8:35 Apostle Paul proclaims: �in all things� we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.�

It�s because of God�s one rainbow � Jesus Christ - that is always enough for our salvation and for our eternal life.

Today is very special.

We have celebrated our stewardship project of Iron Horse Express. And also we�re going to dedicate a new stairway in loving memory of our brother Joe Clapham and the �Clara Scarbrough Room.�

Even though they are with the Lord, their faith and service still remain in our hearts and in our memories. I believe the stairway and the room would be signs of God�s love like the rainbow.

Yes, the rainbow guarantees the future as it guarantees our redemption.

Just ONE rainbow will do. We do not need more.

When we learn to love what we have, and be grateful, then we have boarded the Ark.

May God bless you all. (Amen)


*Sermon resources adapted from Homiletics (March-April, 2003)



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