June 28, 2026 – Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 9.8-17
Galatians 3.23-29
Over the Rainbow
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
“When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth… This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Murky McDismal had a sinister plan. Murky McDismal concocted a plot to steal the color from all across Rainbowland, to erase the greens and the blues and the yellows and all the hues that make the world beautiful. He knew that if he could swipe the magic belt of Rainbow Brite, he would conquer color and plunge the world into a monochromatic swamp. “If I destroy color,” he schemed, “I’ll destroy happiness and hope!” But our heroine Rainbow Brite, along with her sidekicks Starlight, Twinkle and the Color Kids discovered and thwarted Murky McDismal’s maleficent plan, assuring that the world would continue to be filled with bright, happy and life-affirming color.
If the news of the past month is any indication, the spirit of Murky McDismal still lives in the hearts of local and state officials in places like Florida and Texas, Utah and Idaho. Down came the rainbow flags that adorned city halls and state capitols. Gone are the polychromatic crosswalks that put a lift in both the step and the heart of pedestrians. And in the ultimate act of unthinking irony, the federal government tried to remove the landmark rainbow flag from New York City’s Stonewall Inn, essentially the birthplace of Pride. According to those Murky-minded local and state officials, rainbow crosswalks and street art constitute a safety hazard that confound drivers who are apparently easily confused. And the flying of “unsanctioned flags” on schools and government buildings and national monuments create a slippery slope where anyone could fly anything on a pole, like a banner that reads “Don’t Tread on Me” or “Burma Shave.” Friends, imagine the chaos that would ensue.
Welcome to Pride month, when something as magnificent, not to mention biblical, as the bow in the clouds we heard about this morning becomes for thirty days a subject of grave debate and a dire threat to the republic.
I had a conversation with someone not too long ago – and it was not the first time I have had this conversation – about the rainbow flag displayed outside so many houses of worship. The gist of the conversation is that a rainbow flag outside a church or temple keeps people away. As pastorally as I could, I replied, “Tell me more.” The replies are a variation on the same basic theme: a rainbow flag is for members of the LGBTQ community, and I am not any of those things, therefore I am not welcome. Besides, I find it offensive that your church is catering to “them,” and leaves the out majority of people who are not like “them.” Now I try to respect the opinions of others, and I always make a point to hear them out. I really don’t want to turn anyone away, regardless of whether we agree or not. So as gently as I can, I offer my own take, that the rainbow, which encompasses every color of the spectrum, includes every human being regardless. Period. Regardless of skin color, of political affiliation, of nationality, of gender, of gender orientation, of language, of physical ability, of wealth or poverty or means, of marital status, of age, of opinion. Everybody means everybody, and everybody is included in God’s rainbow. To which I hear the repeated reply, “Well, I feel excluded.” And the unpastoral part I do not say out loud is, “If you feel excluded by something that by definition includes everything and everyone – ‘By the bow that is in the clouds I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh’ – then maybe the one who is excluding you is you.”
Especially in the church of Jesus Christ. Especially in the church of Jesus Christ. It is not my intent this morning to debate with other churches or fellowships that exclude certain members of the human family – I have done this before and will likely have occasion to do it again. It is simply to lift up the all-encompassing promise God made to every member of creation. The apostle Paul fleshes this promise out in his letter to the church in Galatia. We heard Michele read this morning, “There is no longer Jew or Greek there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” And I believe Paul gives us license to expand on the idea as we did at the beginning of the service today: There is no longer friend or enemy – There is no longer white or black – There is no longer gay or straight – for we are all one in Christ Jesus. To affirm this is to be affirmed in the rainbow covenant of God.
Yet the lengths to which some folks would go to deny, or at the very least, to deflect from, these biblical truths are truly impressive. In the same month that you and I and so many folks across the nation celebrate the inclusion that is Pride, some of those same local and state officials who are afraid of rainbow flags and colored sidewalks have tried to hijack the celebration by rebranding it. On June 2 Tennessee Representative Randy Ogles said “Homosexuality has no place in America,” and wished us all “Happy Nuclear Family Month” – this after Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed a bill to that effect in April. This is the same Andy Ogles who said in March, “Muslims don’t belong in American society.” Governor Mike Braun of Indiana also declared June Nuclear Family Month and posted a photo of a banner reading “Take Back the Rainbow.” You can have it – it belongs to everybody. The State of Alabama anointed June “Strong Families Month,” and both Utah and Arkansas have declared it “Fidelity Month.” And there is a sense in which I can get on board with some of this. Families with two moms or two dads are strong families, and faithful ones – the divorce rate for hetero couples is ten percent higher than that of gay couples, and couples who live together before marriage – another no-no in the eyes of some, is one of the best predictors of a lasting marriage. Funny though how the mere thought of a rainbow threatens folks.
But Murky McDismal was foiled, and like the good folks of Rainbowland, some folks have found creative ways of restoring the rainbow. After Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the removal of rainbow crosswalks, the good people of San Antonio painted rainbows on the sidewalks – which do not fall under state jurisdiction. When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis removed their rainbow crosswalk, the city of St Petersburg installed multicolored bike racks all over town. After Utah and Idaho banned the Pride flag from government property because it was not official and therefore unsanctioned, the capital city of each state came up with an ingenious solution: The city of Boise made the Pride flag one of its official city flags, and Salt Lake City adopted three new municipal flags: the city’s traditional lily design imposed over a Pride flag, a Trans flag, and a Juneteenth flag. Local churches got into the spirit and painted their church steps the colors of the rainbow, and their pillars, and their banners. A former church of mine once scrounged up six old doors, painted one red, one orange, one yellow, one green, one blue and one purple, and planted them on the front lawn so that everyone who drove by the church knew our doors are open to all. I thought this was an original idea until yesterday, when I drove by a church in Hebron with six doors in front painted the same colors. Rainbow Brite strikes again.
Let’s face it: a rainbow makes the heart soar. After last Monday’s rain storm along the lower Connecticut valley, social media lit up with photographs of rainbows and double rainbows. People of our region took pride in their rainbow shots. One cannot help but wonder if somebody upstairs was trying to make a point. It was 19th century poet William Wordsworth who gave words to what so many folks feel when spotting a rainbow:
My heart leaps up when I behold /a rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began; / So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old, / or let me die!
And I could wish my days to be / bound each to each by natural piety.