The Covenant
Sermon
Object:
The Gentleman's Agreement is
something which seems to have passed into history in the UK. Time was when two
gentlemen could agree on some project, shake hands on it and thereafter know
that both parties would regard the agreement as binding. But this is no longer
the case. In the past, promises have been broken and people taken for a ride to
such an extent that now agreements are seldom regarded as binding unless they
are in writing, witnessed by at least two independent witnesses and drawn up in
triplicate.
In this country as in the USA, some couples now enter into pre-nuptial contracts before they will consider getting married, so that their interests are protected in case the marriage fails. And with the present climate of litigation, many people are so careful to protect their own backs that they refuse ever to take any risks.
All of this seems to militate against Christianity in many ways. Christianity is a way of life based on mutual trust, although we're warned by Jesus not to be stupid. "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves," he says to his disciples (Matthew 10:16).
Christianity is also based on risk-taking, for it is only when we take risks that we can follow where God is leading and it's only by taking risks that we learn to rely utterly upon God rather than upon our own resources or upon our own insurance policies.
God's first contract with human beings was with Noah after the flood, when God promised never again to destroy the earth and placed his bow in the sky as a sign of that contract. The rainbow was a sort of reversed image to denote peace rather than the usual image of a bow which was connected with violence and war. Human beings had no part to play in this contract. They were merely recipients of God's promise.
In today's reading we learn of God's second contract or covenant with human beings. This time God makes a contract with Abram and Sarai, the parents of the Jewish race. But this time the contract is on both sides.
God promises to make Abram and Sarai the ancestors not only of many nations, but also of royal kings. The sign for this on God's side was a change of name for both Abram and Sarai. Abram was to become Abraham and Sarai was to become Sarah. This change of name was significant as the gift of a new name signified a new relationship, a new status, a new stage in life. It was believed that such a change altered both personality and fate. The additional -ha- changing Abram to Abraham is thought to come from ab-hamon goyim, "father of a host of nations."
On the human side, Abraham and Sarah have to promise to always walk before the Lord and be blameless, but unlike covenants between human beings, this covenant will never be broken by God even if the human beings renege. God says, "I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you." This promise is unconditional and does not depend on Abraham and Sarah or their offspring keeping their side of the bargain.
Although it doesn't form part of today's reading, this covenant goes on to encompass land as well as descendants. God tells Abraham, "And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God." (Genesis 17:8)
This gave the Ancient Israelites exactly what they needed to survive and to thrive. They needed to own land so that they could feed themselves and they needed people to farm the land, so that they could be fed and could defend the land from enemy onslaughts.
On the human side, the sign for this covenant was to be the circumcision of all male babies at birth and this would be a mark of identity, proving that this particular person was a member of the covenant community and therefore a life-long recipient of God's promises. Other races in the region also practised circumcision, but none of them had neo-natal circumcision. The Egyptian and Canaanite practice was to circumcise at puberty.
But this account of the covenant, although referring to around 1900 BCE, was actually written down much later, around 500 BCE when the Israelites were in exile in Babylon. The Babylonians did not circumcise, so this rite was a crucial way of knowing who remained faithful during the Babylonian exile and who denied their Jewish heritage and became absorbed into the Babylonian culture.
God never broke the covenant with Abraham and Sarah. Despite all the straying from God's path, all the worshipping of other Gods, all the denial of God as the leader of the people during the many years of their history, God continued to keep his side of the contract. The Jewish people multiplied and eventually settled in the Promised Land, the land of Canaan.
God never breaks his promises to human beings, for they are unconditional promises. God will always pour his love into every human being and work for the best for every human being. God proved his love through Jesus.
We've now lost Gentleman's Agreements and our lives are marred by suspicion of other human beings, but in this age of litigation and written contracts, how do we respond to God's eternal promises and to his love today?
In this country as in the USA, some couples now enter into pre-nuptial contracts before they will consider getting married, so that their interests are protected in case the marriage fails. And with the present climate of litigation, many people are so careful to protect their own backs that they refuse ever to take any risks.
All of this seems to militate against Christianity in many ways. Christianity is a way of life based on mutual trust, although we're warned by Jesus not to be stupid. "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves," he says to his disciples (Matthew 10:16).
Christianity is also based on risk-taking, for it is only when we take risks that we can follow where God is leading and it's only by taking risks that we learn to rely utterly upon God rather than upon our own resources or upon our own insurance policies.
God's first contract with human beings was with Noah after the flood, when God promised never again to destroy the earth and placed his bow in the sky as a sign of that contract. The rainbow was a sort of reversed image to denote peace rather than the usual image of a bow which was connected with violence and war. Human beings had no part to play in this contract. They were merely recipients of God's promise.
In today's reading we learn of God's second contract or covenant with human beings. This time God makes a contract with Abram and Sarai, the parents of the Jewish race. But this time the contract is on both sides.
God promises to make Abram and Sarai the ancestors not only of many nations, but also of royal kings. The sign for this on God's side was a change of name for both Abram and Sarai. Abram was to become Abraham and Sarai was to become Sarah. This change of name was significant as the gift of a new name signified a new relationship, a new status, a new stage in life. It was believed that such a change altered both personality and fate. The additional -ha- changing Abram to Abraham is thought to come from ab-hamon goyim, "father of a host of nations."
On the human side, Abraham and Sarah have to promise to always walk before the Lord and be blameless, but unlike covenants between human beings, this covenant will never be broken by God even if the human beings renege. God says, "I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you." This promise is unconditional and does not depend on Abraham and Sarah or their offspring keeping their side of the bargain.
Although it doesn't form part of today's reading, this covenant goes on to encompass land as well as descendants. God tells Abraham, "And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God." (Genesis 17:8)
This gave the Ancient Israelites exactly what they needed to survive and to thrive. They needed to own land so that they could feed themselves and they needed people to farm the land, so that they could be fed and could defend the land from enemy onslaughts.
On the human side, the sign for this covenant was to be the circumcision of all male babies at birth and this would be a mark of identity, proving that this particular person was a member of the covenant community and therefore a life-long recipient of God's promises. Other races in the region also practised circumcision, but none of them had neo-natal circumcision. The Egyptian and Canaanite practice was to circumcise at puberty.
But this account of the covenant, although referring to around 1900 BCE, was actually written down much later, around 500 BCE when the Israelites were in exile in Babylon. The Babylonians did not circumcise, so this rite was a crucial way of knowing who remained faithful during the Babylonian exile and who denied their Jewish heritage and became absorbed into the Babylonian culture.
God never broke the covenant with Abraham and Sarah. Despite all the straying from God's path, all the worshipping of other Gods, all the denial of God as the leader of the people during the many years of their history, God continued to keep his side of the contract. The Jewish people multiplied and eventually settled in the Promised Land, the land of Canaan.
God never breaks his promises to human beings, for they are unconditional promises. God will always pour his love into every human being and work for the best for every human being. God proved his love through Jesus.
We've now lost Gentleman's Agreements and our lives are marred by suspicion of other human beings, but in this age of litigation and written contracts, how do we respond to God's eternal promises and to his love today?
