Turning toward Gentleness
Photo by Alison Courtney on Unsplash @Ali_courtney
From the beginning of our Biblical story with Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, we have struggled with an impulse to move toward hatred and violence. And throughout the story, God establishes covenants to turn us back toward being a community of love, a community that pauses to think, to pray, to understand.
Some background info - In Genesis 6 we read that this escalating behavior of deception and murder and violence is so terrible that God decided to wipe out humanity.
Genesis 6: 5-7
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. 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.’
All was wiped out. Except for Noah and his wife Namaah and family, and lots of animals. As directed by God, Noah builds an ark to shelter them through this time of destruction, to protect them from the dangers of this escalating violence, and from the violent reaction of God in response.
Afterwards, God makes a covenant using a rainbow as the symbol. It happens after God destroys most of humanity in the flood. In the covenant, God is turning away from that act of destruction. God turns toward humanity, inviting humanity to turn toward living together better- less violently. This is the first covenant between God and humanity that is explicitly called “a covenant” in the Bible.
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.’ 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 clouds, 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.’
The rainbow shows us that God got out of the spiral of human hatred and violence, and promises to be in this gorgeous relationship with us in life giving ways. This is a profound covenant. It’s as though God was participating in the escalation of the violence, then had a change of heart that led to this rainbow covenant. This rainbow signifies God turning toward us, inviting us to turn toward God.
A rainbow in the sky reminds us that God has changed the twisting spiral of human violence into a captivating promise of a more gentle way forward.
Photo by Greg & Lois Nunez on Unsplash @greg_nunez
This rainbow covenant invites us to explore (at least) three things:
Let’s get clear about so-called “acts of God.”
Since God promises not to use a flood to destroy humanity again, let’s not perpetuate the lie that God punishes people by sending weather, earthquakes or viruses. When we buy into such lies, we disregard the very first covenant that God has made with humanity. We are missing the point of the rainbow- to turn toward the God who has promised to turn toward us, rather than be drawn into the escalating human violence and hatred.
Our home insurance policies describe certain events as “acts of God” - natural hazards outside of human control for which no person can be held liable. This legal language may cause us to think that God acted to send a tornado or earthquake to destroy our home. It is funny to allow a legal understanding of insurance liability to create our theology- to shape how we believe God is at work in the world, especially when over and over again we experience in scripture and in our own lives that God acts to save, not to destroy. God acts to love, to turn us toward love. God covenants with us over and over again to turn us toward choosing to love.
“Acts of God” include showing mercy, forgiving our mistakes, teaching us how to love, healing, sacrificing, sharing generously. Natural hazards are just that - natural hazards. Not “acts of God.”
Let’s build an ark...or several.
As Noah built an ark, a protective space to survive the rising floodwaters around him, so we are charged by God to build a community of safety for making it through turbulent times, for protection from the violence and dangers around us. A safe space to reflect, pause, pray. To live our lives. To move toward God. To experience moments of clarity that break through the hatred and violence, where we see that we have been drawn into something false, into lies. A space for turning toward a better way to live together. A space called Lent. A space called Church. A space called the Kingdom of God. A space called summer camp. A space called prayer. A space called home.
Let’s participate in a covenant relationship with God, and humanity.
Always the Christian is returning toward God, toward the covenant love of God, toward the work of building a world that extends that covenant not only inward to the souls of individuals, it also extends that covenant outward into all of humanity. Let’s be renewed inward, and let’s participate in the renewal of the community in outward ways. There are many good covenants from which we can draw inspiration: the rainbow after the flood, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17), the Great Litany (page 147 in The Book of Common Prayer) , The Baptismal Covenant (page 304 in The Book of Common Prayer), “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself,” (from Jesus in Matthew 22: 37-39). All of these are good. And there are others, too.
Photo on Unsplash by @elsbethcat
Covenants of gentleness
In January I traveled to Arizona to move my folks to Maryland. A challenging transition to be sure: so many long days of packing, stressful decisions about what to keep and what to leave behind, and, the ever-popular power struggles between family members that sneak up on us. Knowing this was a big moment, I prayed for patience. Yet another word arrived: gentle.
Be gentle with them. Be gentle with yourself.
“Gentle” became my covenant. And I needed gentleness most when I felt fear and anger as people refused mask-up around us. I needed gentleness most when I became overtired, or anxious, or frustrated. I didn’t always act with gentleness, as my family can confirm. Even so, it was my focus. I noticed a growing sense of God’s gentle presence around us. We made it home safely, thanks be to God. (Without too many squabbles!)
And six weeks later I’m still turning toward that word- gentle.
Friends, the rainbow teaches us that God decided to be gentle. The rainbow moment is God committing to a new way of being with humanity, a more gentle and loving way in the face of escalating human violence.
God’s gentleness shows us how to turn away from escalating the violence, to turn toward the challenges and struggles of our lives in a spirit of love. God came to earth in Jesus to show us how to live a more gentle and loving life, how to respond to violence in ways that upend violence and expose it as the hateful lie it is - to expose that violence never works. It ends badly. It escalates until everyone is harmed or dead.
Here’s what ends beautifully: a covenant of gentleness. This is where so much of the beauty of being human can be found.
Photo on Unsplash by Kelly Sikkema @kellysikkema
