Epiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
February 16, 2015

Scripture Reading: Genesis 9:8-17

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘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.’  — Genesis 9:8-11

In creation God extended us the gift of autonomy, self-direction. The subsequent history of God is the story of God cleaning up our messes when we failed to use that gift well and giving us second chances. Noah’s Covenant is just such a second chance. Since Noah’s covenant God has given us guidelines to live by, leaders and teachers, and prophets to warn us. And we still seek an easy way to have our autonomy while keeping our chaos too. It will never work.

It is the lie of evil that we can be fully ourselves by settling to be something less than God created us to be. Evil is a parasite that feeds on our talents and skills draining us of energy and vision. Short-sighted, we settle for second best or less. We war with each other and suffer from envy and greed, both sins that eat us from the inside out. The whole world suffers for it because it takes the energy and vision of all of God’s children working together to be the Kingdom of God.

The season of Lent introduces a new chapter in God’s attempt to save us from ourselves. God sent his son in the man Jesus to do whatever it took to redeem God’s people. As we enter this time leading up to Good Friday and Easter, let us consider not just becoming who God created us to be but turning the whole world into the Kingdom Jesus foresaw.

Prayer: Lord, we are surrounded by terrorism, racism, human trafficking, war, disease, climate change and so many other problems. It all feels too big to even try to address. This time, Lord, empower us to be the flood, a flood of love that washes away evil and turns your vision into reality. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.