You are the Rainbow

We considered this morning our duty to remember, to love and tell the truth, and to hate all forms of dishonesty and deceit. As we have said many times, this table is our great remembering; it is our memorial. Throughout Scripture memorials not only remind people of God’s redemption and promises, they also remind God of his own promises. God says that when he sees the rainbow in the sky he will remember never to flood the world again. Likewise, when he sees the blood of the Passover smeared over the Hebrews’ doorways, his angel of death passes over them. God remembers his promises and his covenant and bestows life on the Israelites. Centrally, this means that God keep his word; it means that his word cannot be broken. It means that he is the Truth. Paul says that as often as we celebrate this feast, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. This table is a proclamation of the truth of God: the truth that all men are sinners in need of grace, the truth that God has provided that grace in the death of Christ, and that life and freedom and joy are only found in the cross of Christ. This is our glory, our joy, our crown. Let God be true and every man a liar; his promises are ‘yes’ and ‘amen.’ And as we celebrate this memorial, as we feast here at this table in faith and gladness before the Lord, we are the new rainbow. We perform the great reminder before God and all the world that in Jesus Christ we are forgiven. In Jesus, we are set free. In Jesus, all the world is being reconciled and put back together. This is nothing but the kindness and mercy of God. Therefore, come and eat and drink. You are the rainbow of this world. You are the mercy of God to your neighbors. You are the memorial of God’s promise to save the nations of the world. You proclaim the death of Christ until he comes, until all of his enemies have been put under his feet. This is the Truth, and it will always set you free.