Friday, January 31, 2014

Friday January 31, 2014 – Genesis 17:15-27

Today’s reading from Genesis tells the story of the covenant made between God and Abraham.  It is really a second telling of this covenant-making, the first having been recorded just two chapters earlier.  In this account, Sarah is identified as the bearer of the promised son.  As well, a symbol, or mark, of the covenant is put in place – the circumcision of all male “sons” of this covenant.

A covenant, in religious terms, is a formal alliance or agreement made between God, and either a segment of humanity, or all humanity.  In this particular covenant, God promises an heir to Abraham and Sarah, who will be the father of a great nation. Land, security, and protection may be understood to be part of  this promise.  If the covenant is broken – by the people – punishment may follow.  God is the constant in these covenants – God does not break a covenant.  We see this most clearly in the story of the flood.  God’s promise to Noah and his offspring is that God will never again destroy every living being.

In spite of Abraham’s disbelief, his laughter at such a promise ever coming to fulfillment, God keeps the covenant, and Abraham’s son, Isaac, becomes the symbol of the people of Israel, God’s chosen.

We, too, are inheritors of God’s promise to love all that God has made.  How do we celebrate that covenant between God and God’s people?

-Rev'd Paul Kett