Signs of the Covenant

(Published also as a Lenten Devotional in our church's Lenten Devotional Ministry)

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,…When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature in 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.”  (Genesis 9:8, 16-17)

Imagine Noah standing on dry ground with his sons, having experienced the flood, hearing the Word of God spoken, and being told that God has made an everlasting covenant with him and all who will follow him.  Noah is shown what will be a sign – a reminder – of the promise God has made to his creation.  For all the days of his life, and his sons after him, the sign of that covenant must have allayed their fears and brought them comfort.  I imagine without the promise, they would have cringed at every raindrop.

Through the scriptures, we hear over and over again God’s words of steadfast loyalty, and we see signs of his covenant.  We find it in God’s conversations with Abraham, in God’s delivery of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, in his leadership of Moses, and in their arrival in the promised land.  Signs of the covenant are found as judges are raised and kings are anointed.  Believers sing about it in the psalms, and Jonah fights it as he descends to the belly of a fish.  Jesus is born, lives, dies and lives again, becoming the ultimate sign of the covenant.

My challenge to you during this period of lent is to open your hearts to the signs of the covenant around you every day.  Do you see God in the rising of the sun?  In the sight of hungry men and women eating a meal?  In the nods of understanding as you teach Sunday school? Then open your eyes and watch for God.  Do you hear God in the giggles of children?  In the hymns of praise sung on Sundays?  In the sound of righteous indignation voiced against injustice?  Then tune your listening ears for God.  Do you know God because of the strength God provides to you during times of distress?  Are you certain of God’s presence when you taste communion or touch the baptismal water?  Then remember to recognize God.

And then, when you are steeped in the certain hope of the presence of God, become a sign of the covenant.  Work to convince others of what you know – that we are all beloved children of God, precious in God’s sight.

Shine, like the light you have been created to be, a sign of the covenant.