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Destructive, yet life-giving – water.

February 18, 2024

Genesis 9:8-17  |  1 Peter 3:18-22  |  Mark 1:9-15  |  Psalm 25:1-9

Water. Beautiful to look at, refreshing to drink. But what happens when there is too much? After the January storms raised the rivers and streams, parts of Rhode Island once again saw first hand how destructive floods can be. Even St. Luke’s was not spared when a few of the rain storms that were accompanied by high south-westerly winds poured into our steeple and caused significant damage.

I always enjoy the Jonah stories in the Bible, where God playfully torments poor Jonah to come around to seeing things clearly. It is one of the few places where an attempt is made to humanize God. In today’s reading from Genesis, we see another attempt.  In it, we find a God tortured by His decision to wipe out the world with a great flood. One can almost hear him say, “My, Me.  What have I done?” In the reading, God promises Noah to never again cause a flood to destroy the world. He placed a rainbow in the sky to remind him, and us, of his promise.

Water. Beautiful to look at, refreshing to drink. In today’s gospel reading from Mark, we encounter John baptizing Jesus with water. Is the use of water here symbolizing new life an intentional use by God to reiterate His promise once again to us? 

Destructive, yet life-giving – water. Next time you count your blessings, don’t forget to include the wonderfully clean and fairly abundant water we have in Rhode Island.  It’s beautiful to look at and refreshing to drink.

Michael Sullivan