Lent 2012 at Trinity will be a time to ponder God-Promises - those promises God vows throughout the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament), culminating in the ultimate promise of salvation and eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus the Christ. We will celebrate this final, climactic covenant on Easter, April 8th.
Meanwhile, in Genesis 9: 8-17, God initiates and establishes God's first covenant. After flooding the corrupt and wicked earth, saving 2 of every creature and Noah's extended family, God shoots his unstrung war bow across the sky to remind us of God's vow never to destroy the earth again. In God's act of re-creation (beginning again with a remnant) is the promise of new life.
The problem is: we continue to sin. And as we begin Lent - 40 days for contemplation to consider our wicked ways - Jesus begins his ministry with his baptism in Mark 1: 9-15. Immediately following his baptism, Jesus is driven into the wilderness, where temptation besets him. This is the same wilderness of our lives, where temptations flood us with the attractiveness of the idols and lies that we can be in control and be our own gods.
The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. In this permanent, eternal covenant, God's mercy trumps God's judgment. God's Promise of everlasting life, with the possibilities of new life that only God is mighty enough to grant, we find the comfort and challenges to partner with God in our kingdom wilderness. May the rainbow always remind us of the possibilities that we might bridge the gap between what is and what can be as God works through us.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley
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