Park United Methodist Church

Luke 13:31-35

Genesis 15:1-18

 

Reflection: Covenants Abram to Jesus

 

Abram has always fascinated and disgusted me.  If we go a chapter after this, he and his wife Sarah get a bit impatient with God’s promises and decide to make it happen on their own, by forcing their slave Hagar to have their child.   Sarah is excited about this and treats the little boy as her own until she becomes pregnant and then wants to kick them both out which of course Abram agrees to.  The Islamic folks claim Ishmael and Hagar as the parents of their faith.  I have so often thought of the centuries of fighting that could have been avoided if Abram and Sarah had not tried to speed up God’s promises forcing things on their own.

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In the chapter before this, there is a war between nine kings.  Four tribes are captured including Abram’s nephew Lot whom Abram sets out to free.  He sends out 318 of his trained men to bring back the captured people, belongings, and his nephew.  When he succeeds he refuses to keep any of it for himself because of an Oath he swore to God.  

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So, we have this man who is so faithful, he knows God is going to show up but is so impatient he tries to figure out how to make it happen faster.  Part of me wants to kick his butt and the other wants to look in the mirror.  This is why we have the mirror in the front for lent this year.  To remind us to take the time to take a hard look at ourselves and see the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beloved.  

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The thing is God saw Abram’s faith and decided to make a covenant with him and his descendants.  God calls him “righteous,” which means in that time meant something in line with “doing justice to a relationship which one stands….here it refers to what Abram becomes by virtue of God’s declaration in view of his faith.” Abram had been waiting for a long time for the multitude of descendants as God first promised.  At this point in Genesis, he has the property, the men, the animals, but still no children.  So when the Lord responds to Abram with the promise of a reward for his faithfulness his response is what good is it without descendants to pass it on to?  He is getting snarky with the Lord.  Then the Lord brings him outside to show him the land and the stars and reminds him of the covenant.  He asks him to bring him the offerings and then gives him a vision in a deep sleep.

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In that, he tells him that his descendants will not own the land for four hundred years.  They will live as immigrants until the nation is punished for their wrongdoing and the land will be handed over.  His people just need to be faithful.  Then God walks through the center of the offerings cut in half (the flame and the smoke as when Moses crossed the Red Sea Exodus 13:17-14:29).  

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This type of sacrifice is mentioned in one other place according to Terrence Fretheim in Jeremiah 34:18-20, when participants in a covenant walk between divided animals and invoke death upon themselves if they are unfaithful to the agreement.  The thing that is so intriguing is God is the one walking between the animals here.  

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This had me thinking.  As I listened to the Working Preacher podcast they made the connection to Jesus going to the cross as the fulfillment of us failing to do our bit - keeping up our faith, and fulfilling our covenant with God.  So, back I turned to scripture and the commentaries.  It wasn’t just Rolf Jacobson.  There is a long line of folks and once you see it you can’t unsee it.  

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This is the kind of geeky stuff I love.  We see the Old Testament scriptures through the eyes of Jesus because we are Christ's followers.  We see God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants.  God promises descendants, land, and protection for righteousness on the part of the people.  The people failed.  Jesus tells us this in these mournful lines in Luke this morning.  “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you were not willing!”   Jerusalem turned, and so God died in the form of Jesus - the thing is as we learn on Easter, Jesus overcomes death, even when we don’t keep up our end of the deal.

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It gets me thinking though, when have our shortcomings caused death in relationships?  When have we made promises, and covenants and broken them that caused a death - to a relationship?  To our relationship with God?  To a relationship with another person?  When has someone else's broken covenant caused us pain?  Can we allow Jesus to take us under his wings and protect us?  Can we give it to Christ?  Can we do better and ask God for help in our covenants?