Pentecost 10 (Proper 12), July 28, 2024 Out of Destruction… Hope Text: Genesis 9:8–17
Other Lessons: Ephesians 3:14–21; Mark 6:45–56
Sermon Theme: God initiates the covenant and gives us signs that always remind of the eternal hope he provides.
Sermon Goal: That you understand God alone provides hope—through the covenant he made with Noah and creation and, ultimately, through Jesus and his cross. Based on a sermon outline in Concordia Pulpit Resources by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey E. Skopak,
Sermon: The overwhelming display of God’s power was fully at hand as Noah and his family (along with the animals) were sealed up in the ark—the overwhelming display of God’s power and his wrath. The consequences of wickedness and sinful indulgence had brought the world to this moment. Death and destruction were suddenly abounding—and all Noah and the inhabitants of the ark could do was ride it out.
“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights” (Gen 7:11–12). Inside the ark was safety and security. Outside the ark was death and destruction. Inside the ark was life and provision. Outside the ark was darkness—and eventually silence. And then the waiting began—waiting for the flood waters to subside, waiting for dry land to appear. Oh, Lord, how long? Noah and the inhabitants of the ark spent roughly 370 days inside! Our text is the story of how God Initiates the Covenant and Gives Us Signs That Always Remind of the Eternal Hope He Provides.
God makes the covenant. So what exactly is a covenant? Simply put, it’s an agreement between two parties—in this case, between God and his creation. We are most familiar with covenants that go something like this: “You do this . . . I will do that.” For example, “If you remain faithful, I will bless you.”
However, this covenant God is about to make with Noah and the creation is very different (vv 11–15). Out of the death and destruction of the flood, God was about to bring hope and peace. This was going to be a unilateral covenant. That is, God would be the one to establish the covenant, and he will obligate himself to the terms of this covenant. God would require nothing from the people, and his promise to them was unconditional.
Today, people struggle with fear and anxiety over the chaos and turmoil that abounds in the world—hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, flooding rivers—and they cry out, “Where is God?” In a personal way, we struggle as we find ourselves far off from God due to our disobedience of his perfect Law. We fear his wrath and righteousness. We seek mercy but live in the fear that mercy may not be found.
However, God chooses a sign that reflects the light and glory of his creation: the rainbow. This elaborate, beautiful, breathtaking sign is the vehicle God chooses to remind us of the covenant—a covenant born out of destruction and reminding us of hope.
The rainbow bespeaks: “Never again” shall the earth be flooded and all life wiped away. But this is not the only sign God provides in order to bring comfort and peace to our troubled hearts and minds. It is true that we no longer need to fear the devastating floodwaters that can consume all life, but we know that we have fallen short of God’s Law and all that it demands.
Sin is a terminal disease that separates us from God. We become prisoners of an ark of our own building, which keeps us from the light and glory of his promise in the rainbow.
Trapped in our sinful darkness, there is only one cure for our sin, only one way out of the darkness of our sin and into the light of God: the precious blood of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ.
The symbol that God would choose to bring peace, light, and hope to the world was the cross of Calvary. There upon the cross, Jesus would pour out his lifeblood for the sins of the whole world. As Noah, his family, and the animals were hidden in the ark to preserve humanity, so you and I are now “hidden with Christ” (Col 3:3).
As the cross of Christ stands as the sign of your salvation, so you have received this amazing gift through the washing floodwaters of Baptism (1 Pet 3:20–22). Out of the destruction that your sin has brought to your life, God provides an everlasting hope that he alone could provide—your adoption as his sons and daughters through Jesus Christ.
The cross of Christ reminds us that our sins have been paid in full. As we daily rise and walk in his light, may we make the sign of the cross as a means to remember that we were baptized into this faith “in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Amen