During Lent we will be looking at
the five covenants that God made with God’s people. Last week, if we had been
here, we would have heard the first covenant. That covenant was made between
God, creation, and Noah. Last week God was the one making the covenant. There
was no work needed on Noah’s part. After the waters began receding, God said
that there would never be another flood like that again. Last week God said, “I
will never do this again.” That was it, end of story.
This week, there is something a
little different. This week there is some action required on the part of
Abraham. But, let’s take a look at what this promise is from God. God starts
out with telling Abram that this is EL
Shaddai which in Hebrew is God Almighty. And he tells Abraham to walk
before me and be blameless. That is a pretty tall order to fill. Imagine if God
told you, directly, “walk before me” we might not know what to do OR think God
really means to walk in front. I will get to that part a little later.
God jumps and making a covenant with
Abraham. God is telling Abraham that this is not just me doing this but this
“is a covenant between you and me.” God tells Abram that God is changing his
name to Abraham and he (Abraham) will be the father of many nations; a
multitude, God says. Imagine hearing that when you are ninety-nine years
old…and his wife was about the same age! Imagine hearing in your nineties
“congratulations, you are going to be parents!”
This isn’t the first time that
Abraham hears this. In Chapter 15 God makes the promise that he will be the
father of many people “as many as the stars in the heavens, if you can count
them.” God has been walking along with Abraham for some time now telling him
that he will have child and be the father of many nations. SO, Abraham is not
so sure that God is going to keep God’s end of the bargain, but God is persistent
in his covenant with Abraham. He keeps repeating it. God even goes to the point
of “here is what I am going to give you and you only have to do this for me.”
God is giving Abraham the chance of a lifetime to do this one little thing and
Abraham will receive a great promise from God.
Now the one “little thing” is not
walk before me. What God asks is not included in our reading for today. I am
going to tell you what it is because it is important to what we know and
believe as Christians. What is left out is that God asks Abraham to be
circumcised. I want to be clear about something. Remember in the days of the
Old Testament, women were not regarded as individuals; they were property and
the books were written by men. So, it looks like men win out here but, work
with and we will get to the important stuff. God makes the statement that
circumcision will be the mark to let God know that Abraham has kept the
covenant, because all the men after Abraham are to be circumcised. The
important words that I want you to hear is God noticing the mark for God’s
promise.
This is where we all can relate to
God’s covenant. Man AND women can relate to being marked for God. We can relate
to this mark that is made on our foreheads at our baptism. Jesus, the only Son
of God called us to be marked; marked with a symbol that we all know. Marked
with a symbol of God’s sacrifice for our sake, marked and sealed with the sign
of God’s ultimate act of love and forgiveness.
Jesus underwent great suffering for
our protection. He went to the place that was set aside for criminals, for the
lowest of the low. He went on trial, endured a beating, and on that Friday at
noon, Jesus went to the hill where two pieces of wood formed the cross. It was
that place where the Son of God was nailed, for our sins, for our wrongs and
for our brokenness.
You see, when we look at God’s words
to Abraham we might think of the words “walk before me and be blameless” as
something unattainable. “How can I walk before God and be blameless?” We know
the words El Shaddai (God Almighty) as powerful and intimidating words. It is a
title that can be intimidating that we might just think “trying to be blameless
is too hard, so maybe I shouldn’t even try.” OR “Luther says I am a sinner and
saint all at the same time so God has to forgive me so there is no use in
trying.” We all have times in our lives where we might feel this way, because
we are human! We do make mistakes, we do and say things we shouldn’t, and
sometimes we say and act out of frustration.
But knowing that doesn’t mean we
don’t try to walk before God and try to be blameless. Yes, God is almighty and
powerful! God is so powerful that God created all this around us in a
meticulous, powerful, yet beautiful way. God is powerful enough that God
created us in God’s own image; AND God is so powerful that God sent Jesus
Christ into the world to save us all from sin and from ourselves.
Walking before God isn’t just about
walking. It is not a strut but it is an inventory of our very lives. Walking
before God means that we put our lives out in front of God, the good and the
bad; our best decisions and our not so good ones. This week in bible study we
talked about Adam and his choices. Adam took responsibility for his decision to
eat from the tree of knowledge and there were consequences. But, Adam and Eve
were never abandoned by God. God remained with them and they tried to live
better lives despite their decision.
Friends in Christ that is what we
are called to do in walking before God. We are called to place our lives,
decisions, and our heart in front of the God powerful enough to create &
powerful enough to forgive…to place our daily lives in front of God. I hope we
see that as an opportunity and not something to be afraid of. I hope we see it
as a chance to invite God into our lives…not just on Sundays but every day and
in every aspect; Because, I truly believe that when we do that, our lives
change. With God being more at the forefront of our lives we may practice a
little more humility, praying a little more, walking and talking with God, and
forgiving a little more, and maybe seeing more blessings than we realized; in
our lives, friendships, families. We may even find ourselves laughing about
God’s sense of humor in making two ninety year olds first time parents and
celebrating all that God has done and will do for us: AMEN.
No comments:
Post a Comment