{"id":1690,"date":"2025-03-16T21:39:42","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T01:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/?p=1690"},"modified":"2025-03-16T21:39:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T01:39:45","slug":"the-covenant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/16\/the-covenant\/","title":{"rendered":"The Covenant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Covenant<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Sermon for the Locust Grove United Church of Christ of York, PA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Rev. James Eaton, Interim Pastor \u00a92025<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Second Sunday in Lent\/C \u2022 March 16, 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter these things\u2026\u201d That\u2019s how our reading from Genesis began this morning. It flew by, so I want to lift it up to make sure we don\u2019t miss it. \u201cAfter these things\u2026\u201d In a sense, all these readings occur \u201cafter these things\u201d. Paul\u2019s letter to the Philippians comes after he\u2019s been their pastor and friend; now he\u2019s under arrest in another city, sitting in jail. The gospel reading comes after Jesus has been teaching and healing and most of it occurs after some Pharisees warn him the Herod wants to have him killed; it\u2019s startling when you get a death threat. The story we read in Genesis occurs after a war. Abram\u2019s nephew, Lot, had been captured; Abram successfully led his version of Seal Team 6 to rescue him. It\u2019s also long after Abram has felt God\u2019s call, left his home, spent some time in Egypt and now is prospering as a leader of a tribe of herders. It\u2019s also after Abram has felt God failed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter these things\u2026\u201d describes our gathering as well. We\u2019ve all lived years and years before we got here, and we\u2019ve all had a week of doing whatever we did. Yet here we are gathered again. What did you hope when you came today? What I hope every Sunday when we gather is that we will encounter God here; that God\u2019s Spirit will move in your hearts and mine, so that after these things, we are ready for another week, another month, another time. So today, come with me as we listen to the story of the covenant God made with Abram, the foundation of all God\u2019s promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter these things\u2026\u201d let\u2019s go back and remember some of these things. Genesis starts out in what scholars call mythic time. Myth doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t true; it means that our regular world rules don\u2019t apply. So we have stories of creation, we have stories of how everything began, people live incredibly long lives, there\u2019s a flood that wipes out everything except Noah and his family and God promises never to wipe out the world again. After all these things, God begins to work in history and the person God begins with is Abram. Abram is called, just like we are called, and Abram\u2019s call is to go forth. When he does, God says, he will have unlimited generation and land and God\u2019s presence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Abram does go forth, along with his wife, Sarai, and his family. They start out in Ur, a real city, once located on the Euphrates river, in what is now southern Iraq. They end up in Egypt and later leave. Now they\u2019re in the Kidron valley, near where Jerusalem sits today. He\u2019s fought a battle and won; the king of the area has come offering peace. It\u2019s been years since that original call and Abram has done well, but there is no child, no baby representing God\u2019s fulfillment of the original promise. \u201cAfter these things\u201d is where we pick up the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I can\u2019t escape the feeling that at the beginning of this section, God is gloating: \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid, Abram, I\u2019m your shield\u2026\u201d, God says. Maybe Abram is still recovering from the shock of battle, the surprise and relief of victory. But he\u2019s sharp enough to ask difficult questions. So he asks God, \u201cWhat about the promise of a child?\u201d He points out that God promised this and Sarai isn\u2019t getting younger; if there\u2019s no child, someone in his household is going to inherit everything. God\u2019s answer is: \u201cCome outside!\u2014Look at creation, look at the stars!\u2014that\u2019s how many descendants you\u2019ll have!\u201d Psalm 19 says, \u201cThe heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.\u201d [Psalm 19:1f] Abram\u2019s been given a glimpse of the glory of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abram believes God. \u201cThe Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness\u201d, the text says. It\u2019s such a short, simple sentence. Righteousness means right relationship, having the right heart in the moment, having the right relationship. Abram doesn\u2019t do anything: it\u2019s all free gift, all God\u2019s initiative. There\u2019s no transaction here, no pay for service. Abram doesn\u2019t give God anything; he simply believes God. All of our reformed theology is built on this moment, this example. We believe that our relationship with God depends not on what we do, but on whom we believe. Abram believes God\u2014God calls him righteous. What\u2019s true for Abram is true for us, as well.  God doesn\u2019t <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abram also questions God about the promise of land and that\u2019s where we learn about the covenant. Covenants are intentional promises. It\u2019s confusing in the text: all this stuff about animals cut in half is foreign to us. When we make contracts, we often go to a lawyer\u2019s office or a conference room, someone sits and hands us a bunch of papers to sign. But when kings in the ancient world were making treaties or promises, the question in the background was always, \u201cWho\u2019s going to enforce it?\u201d So we know that ceremonies similar to this one were held at times. The point is to call down on the person making the covenant a curse if it\u2019s not performed. What we see is that Abram prepares the covenant and guards it, but at the moment, he\u2019s asleep. God freely makes a covenant, sealing the promise given years before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the beginning of God\u2019s work with people that leads to us. It\u2019s a foundation for everything that comes later. Later, Abram\u2019s descendants will multiply. They will go into slavery in Egypt, but God will hear their cries and save them, send them on an exodus out of there and into the land promised here. Later, Abram\u2019s descendants will demand a king and the king will do what kings do: oppress them and involve them in wars. Later, prophets will come reminding them of this covenant and still later Jesus will come. And when he\u2019s told Herod wants to kill him, he will smile because he knows this covenant; he knows that he\u2019s acting after these things. And he will weep over Jerusalem instead, and its history of violence and refusal to listen to God. Why is he weeping? Because of the failure to fulfill the third part of God\u2019s promise to Abram, the part not mentioned here: to make Abram a means of spreading blessing through the whole world. What did God want? Jesus says, \u201cHow often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!\u201d [Luke 13:34b]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This covenant is what is renewed in Jesus Christ. Every time we share communion, we remember his words, how he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, \u201cThis cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.\u201d The covenant includes us and invites us. It is God\u2019s promos of presence and care throughout all times, throughout our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren. But a covenant is two-sided: God is one, we are the other. Every day asks whether we are living from this covenant or from the world\u2019s seductive promise that we can be enough in ourselves, that we can earn righteousness and safety. Every day asks which road we will choose, whether to believe God\u2019s care for all or to choose to divide people into categories and see some as less and ourselves as more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a famous Native American story that depicts this choice. This is the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An old Cherokee Indian chief was teaching his grandson about life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said, “A fight is going on inside me,” he told the young boy, “a fight between two wolves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dark one is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The Light Wolf is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you grandson\u2026and inside of every other person on the face of this earth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grandson ponders this for a moment and then asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The old Cherokee smiled and simply said, “The one you feed”.
[https:\/\/www.michelleweimer.com\/blog\/two-wolves<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every day asks: which wolf are you feeding? Every day asks: are you living in God\u2019s covenant? Every day, every one of us, answers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of the covenant began, \u201cAfter these things\u2026\u201d Isn\u2019t that where we all live?\u2014after many, many things. But we also live before things and these ask: what will you choose? Which wolf will you feed? What road will you walk? This season of Lent is meant to remind us of our call and our covenant so that wherever we have been, wherever we go, we may walk the way of Christ, following him, believing God, seeking God\u2019s reign in our lives and our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Covenant A Sermon for the Locust Grove United Church of Christ of York, PA by Rev. James Eaton, Interim Pastor \u00a92025 Second Sunday in Lent\/C \u2022 March 16, 2025 Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 \u201cAfter these things\u2026\u201d That\u2019s how our reading from Genesis began this morning. It flew by, so I want to lift it up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[389,148,237,98,172],"class_list":["post-1690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-abram","tag-covenant","tag-grace","tag-hope","tag-love"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1690"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1691,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1690\/revisions\/1691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstreflection.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}