Who'll Stop the Rain?

Old Mystic, March 1, 2009
Genesis 9:8-17

Summary

The story of the ending of the flood is an ancient powerful reminder of God’s saving initiative and God’s establishment of a covenant with humanity, a forerunner of the covenant in Christ, of which we are lovingly invited to participate. It is God’s initiative; it is possible because of God’s grace and a challenge for us to enter into it.

Sermon
Many may be quite familiar with the music of Credence Clearwater Revival, a popular rock band of the late 60’s and early 70’s. What it may be perhaps surprising to some is the fact that they were so popular in countries like Argentina where indeed they were very popular then. Their songs would be on the radio, the lyrics not necessarily understood by most of the listeners, but their rhythm was catchy, and there was something appealing about the voice of their leader and main composer John Fogerty. So I can remember many of their songs and, among them, a particular one, under the title of “Who’ll Stop the Rain?” Let share some of Fogerty’s existential struggles:

"Long as I remember the rain been comin' down. Clouds of myst'ry pouring confusion on the ground. Good men through the ages, try'n' to find the sun, and I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain..." Music and lyrics by John Fogerty

I’m not sure how good my exegesis of this musician’s plight is but it seems to me that his feeling, expressed in the music and lyrics of this song, is that humanity cannot stop a course of self-destruction and its fate expressed through the metaphor of unstoppable rain. There is confusion, promises (Five year plans and new deals), people gathered together (a positive sign), yet the rain keeps falling down. Therefore the question, who’ll stop the rain?

When we look at the story of the ending of the flood, the answer to the question seems obvious. God can stop the rain. Though it must have been tough and even hard to believe for Noah and his family that that rain would ever stop when they were watching all life around them being destroyed by God’s wrath. But the rain stopped and the image of a rainbow, as a sign of a promise is powerful. And the promise, though simple, appropriate for onlookers of the time, is an anticipation of God’s initiative to save humankind; to save us; to save His creation. “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." It should perhaps be added to this promise that there is more to come; that this rudiment of a covenant, a pledge not to destroy all creation through a flood, is just a glimpse of God’s love for creation and for humanity. It is perhaps a good start for this season of Lent to go back to that covenant so we can reflect on the new covenant” in Jesus Christ, established through the cross, where God takes away our guilt and liberates us from all that oppresses us. If we feel it has been raining too long for our lives, we can affirm that sometime, may be soon, or later on; may be in this life or in our life to come, God will stop the rain. God has made a covenant with us.

1. IT IS AN EXPRESSION OF GOD’S LOVE


It is implicit throughout the story of the flood and the gathering of the species into the ark that God preserved Noah and his family because of His profound love for humanity. In fact the covenant of the rainbow is preceded by the covenant of the ark whereby God made a commitment to protect and save Noah of the raging waters. God is love; God has always been love and any divine saving activity comes out of that unending love. God love us and has made a pledge to save us so “the rain will stop.” And that love is extended to all creation, not just human beings. Ever since the beginning, God’s remark about His creation has been that “it is good.” God’s creation is good, so it is not a human fad or whim, or the impulse of environmentalists, the claim that the creation should be cared for; it is a divine decree. God has made us human beings stewards of the beautiful world He created because God loves His creation.

Looking at the story again, it cannot escape us also the fact that through the powerful destruction of a fallen world God is executing His inescapable justice. There is such a thing as sin, there is a harsh reality of evil, and the consequence of guilt appears. Justice needs to be made; the guilty must condemned. Now, this is very hard to grasp. Why a loving God would destroy all human life sparing only 8 people? It is impossible to fathom God’s designs. Perhaps our problem is that we want to see God like a coin with its two sides: love and justice. But God’s love cannot be separated from His justice or vice versa. God’s love is always just; and God’s justice is exercised through love. For that reason in his ultimate covenant offered to us God decided to surrender in love and took upon himself our guilt making justice through love. God loves us enough to make the rain stop. If our hearts are warmed by God’s presence, if they are touched by the Holy Spirit, if we open our minds, and our senses, and our emotions to the Living God, He’ll stop the rain.

2. IT IS A SAVING COVENANT


Any covenant offered by God is a covenant of grace which means that God, in His love and mercy, delivers a favor toward us, something that we do not deserve. It is an opportunity to live; an opportunity to have a purpose greater than us; an opportunity to be free, understanding freedom as the possibility to become creative by surrendering to God’s power. Noah and his family were saved from the destruction of the flood and were granted the opportunity to re-create the world; it was a fresh start. They were saved to live and God was anticipating to them through the rudimentary covenant of the rainbow that God saves us for life and life abundant.

Unfortunately, were so often caught up in the rain and it keeps on falling down. All the circumstances around us make us doubt about any type of salvation or may be they take us in a flight out of this world being happy just with the idea of life beyond this life—at type of contentment that often leads to inaction, to abandoning the creative freedom that we are saved for. I must confess myself that I have been in the middle of the rain wondering if it would ever stop. Yet, we need to look at the rainbow… and the cross! God has made a covenant with us—in fact He has established that covenant, not us—whereby we are offered life; beautiful, abundant, creative, precious life, here and now. And I say this with fear and trembling, He’ll stop the rain.

3. IT CALLS FOR PARTICIPATION


There is no doubt that God takes the initiative; God is sovereign. We can only interpret His designs; our tools of comprehension are limited. We can only have glimpses of God’s glory and receive his grace, love, and mercy. However, in no way are we passive recipients of that grace. In fact any offer from God and by God to us calls for participation. His covenant, his salvation, or liberation, or transformation, or any opportunity given to us is there for our taking. We take the steps to participate in God’s project. I will not deny the compelling power of God’s love and the work of the Holy Spirit in convincing us but the ultimate decision of participating is ours. Noah understood God’s revelation; he was told that he needed to surrender to the crazy idea of building an ark when he was so far from any body of water where such a vessel could navigate. He was mocked by his contemporaries as delusional old man because there were other options. Noah could have walked away from God’s crazy proposal yet he decided to participate.

Sometimes it is difficult to participate in God’s project because it is so against the grain and perhaps because we are so much in the middle of the rain… and it keeps on falling down. I remember when I was young, growing up in the humid weather of Buenos Aires, storms would come at least one a year and rain would fall constantly anywhere from 5 to 9 days. We called those storms “Southeasters.” Being in the middle of a Southeaster was depressing. And when we are depressed we don’t feel we have the energy to do anything. If there is any strength we receive from God and any conviction from the Holy Sprit, we do need them to commit ourselves to participate in God’s project, even in the middle of the rain.

I don’t think I can emphasize enough how much God loves us. The image of a rainbow, whether real or created, is a reminder. So is the cross, such a horrendous instrument of torture and death. Jesus went to the cross to enact our salvation and redemption because of that love. This season of Lent, therefore, is once again a time to reflect upon, welcome, and celebrate God’s covenant of love in Jesus Christ. It is always an invitation to participate in God’s Kingdom, to come into the presence of the Living God; to join God in what God is doing in the world, even if it keeps on raining.