ET Phone Home (BCP)

This weekend Cassie and I were among the volunteer leaders for the youth ministry ski trip at my field education site. We had a blast skiing, snowtubing, and hanging out with the kids. On Saturday night we watched that deep theological classic, ET: Extra Terrestrial through the haze of a fireplace that didn't draw up the chimney well. Between the burning in our eyes and the haze of smoke we were all reminded of that film which gave Stephen Spielberg his big break. On Sunday, we reflected on that deep theological classic, and really had our eyes opened to the latent Judeo-Christian themes running through it. Our final question delt with the final scene as ET's ship takes off and flies away. Do you remember what is seen in the ships trail? A rainbow. We talked at length about what rainbows mean in the Bible. We even argued about who the rainbow served as a reminder to. Does God really need a reminder of his covenant with Noah? I really don't have much to ponder on theologically here, but I just realized that the OT reading for Lent1 includes that passage from Genesis. Maybe for the first time in my life I'll preach on the Old Testament on March 5. For as eight were saved by water in the days of Noah, so too are we saved through death and rebirth in the waters of baptism.