Abrams Covenant and Ours
The Rev. Paddy Cavanaugh, Lent 2, Year C, 3/16/25
Readings; Genesis 15:1-12,17-18 (God’s Covenant with Abram), Philippians 3:17-4:1 (Citizens of Heaven), Luke 13:31-35 (Blessed is the One who Comes)
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, amen.
One day God asked the Archangel Michael to give a report on the state of things on earth. After conducting his research, St. Michael sheepishly shared that things were not going very well. 90% of the people on earth were behaving very badly and seemed to have little confidence that God could do anything about it. The other 10% were doing pretty well. They were trying their best to live a godly, righteous and sober life but were feeling discouraged and unsure of what God’s will for them was. So God, in His infinite wisdom, came up with a plan. He told St. Michael to send a group text message to the righteous 10% with instructions on what to do so that the other 90% would have a chance to amend their ways and follow him. And do you know what that text message said? I don’t know, I didn’t get it either.
In today’s Old Testament lesson, we find Abram, the great forefather of our faith, in a very similar situation of awaiting clear instructions from God. It’s a circumstance I think all of us are familiar with; one of wanting to do God’s will and wanting some assurance that God actually has a plan, but not being sure what that will or plan really is. And so we turn to God for some assurance, some clarity and guidance.
At this point, Abram is early on in his journey of following God. A few chapters earlier, God had called Abram away from his familiar, native land, and promised that if he followed Him, God would give Abram three things: land, offspring, and a blessing on his household to the end of the ages. Now it’s important to know that what these three things represented was far more than material assets, a better Ancient Near Eastern stock portfolio, if you will. In ancient times, much as now, where you belonged, who you belonged to, and which God you worshipped were essential things that made up the core of who you were as a person. So what God was essentially offering Abram was a new identity in Him. To use the words of St. Paul in today’s epistle, God is offering to make Abram a “citizen of heaven” (Phil. 3:20).
And more than that, God wanted Abram to share in this new mission of making God’s name known to the world, which we know Abram accepted because we are all here worshipping God’s Holy Name as citizens of heaven today.
However, at some point in Abram’s journey, doubts began to creep in about whether this God was trustworthy. After giving up everything he ever knew to follow this God on this new mission, Abram still hadn’t received any of the things God had promised him and we can imagine that he was wondering if he too had missed a text message. It was at this crucial moment of uncertainty that God came to Abram in the most peculiar way, in a vision. And in that vision, God first reassured Abram, saying “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great” (Gen. 15:1). God then reminds Abram of His promise by saying “look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them… so shall your descendants be” (15:5).
However, this verbal assurance is not enough for Abram, and he asks God how he is to know that these promises are true? And God tells Abram to go gather five animals and make a sacrifice to Him, which Abram does. Then, after this sacrifice, Abram falls into a deep sleep and God appears to him again, and this time a peculiar ritual takes place. A smoking fire pot and a flaming torch, symbols of the presence of God, pass between the animals and God tells Abram that he has entered into a sacred covenant with him. A covenant which shall be inherited by his descendants forever.
Friends, let me tell you, we are inheritors of this covenant to this day. And a covenant is made up of two parts: the first part is God’s promise and the second part human responsibility. And our responsibility in this covenant is faithfulness to God. We show this faithfulness through our prayers; through our repeated act of showing up for God in worship, in devotion, and in the actions which proclaim God’s holiness to others.
However, as we know by the naughty 90% in St. Michael’s report, humans are notoriously bad at upholding our end of the covenant. God knows this. God also knows that we are prone to doubt and need regular assurance that we have not been abandoned. And so God’s ultimate act of assurance to us was to send His only son to become the final covenant sacrifice for the redemption of the world. Rather than asking for repeated sacrifice to pay our dues as heavenly citizens, God became the sacrifice, thereby securing a place in heaven for all the faithful.
And if you still have doubts about that, about whether Christ has really made good on the covenant for us, then let your doubts be your Lenten offering to God, like Abram did. God so desires a relationship with you and is always delighted to hear from you in prayer, no matter what you lay before Him. And I truly believe that if you take time to bear your heart to God, especially in doubt, then God will reveal Himself to you in the way you need it. God may not text you directly, though I’d never rule it out, but God will find a way to reach out to you and make His assurance known. Maybe in visions and dreams, maybe in nature or in worship, and maybe through the places and people He has given you. One way or another, God is reaching out his arms of love to assure you that His promise is forever.
So send your messages to God this Lent, and don’t forget to check yours. Amen.