Covenant Series: Abram
Genesis 17:1-10, 14-17
Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan
The first book of the Bible, Genesis, was written over a long period. Different stories from the tradition of the Israelites were shared orally – a story of days of creation, a different creation story about a Garden, last week’s story of the Great Flood, a story of a great tower. Eventually groups of these got written down by various editors, each editor making specific theological points. Over time people tried to compile, even interweave, these various writings together into a book about the beginnings of the Israelite people, Genesis.
Today’s section was written late in the Babylonian exile. Maybe a bit confusing. The story of Abram, the beginning of the Israelite people, was supposed to have occurred about 1500 years before Jesus was born; but the story we read was written down almost 1000 years later – after the Israelites settled the Promise Land and eventually were conquered by Babylonians. So, in writing the story, remembering Abraham, part of what the editors were trying to communicate was the faithfulness of LORD God Yahweh, even after political collapse, even when the people were in exile. They tell the story of their ancestor Abram, who was singled out of all people, chosen by God to start God’s most precious human family with a covenant which would never be broken. For a people in despair, the promise of an everlasting covenant which can never be broken, gives tremendous confidence for the future. As we hear the story, let’s listen for some additional important notes: the family is not only identifiable by their bloodline, their men are physically marked to identify them; and God’s faithfulness is shown in providing miraculous progeny to an elderly couple. From the 17th chapter of the book of Genesis, listen for the word of God.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you and will make you exceedingly numerous.” Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.” God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
Did you notice? God initiates relationship with humans. The One who creates people decides to keep connected with them. We heard last week through Noah that God promises (covenants) never to destroy living things by flood again. God treasures all created life. Then today we hear of God’s choosing a specific people, the generations of family born from Abraham and Sarah. Here in the promise of the birth of a child to an elderly couple, something crucial is happening. Sarah’s miraculous pregnancy is the “Big Bang” for Israel. Everything comes from their child. God establishes an everlasting relationship with the family God creates through Sarah and Abraham. The promise is not merely to create their family, but most importantly, LORD Yahweh, El Shaddai, God Almighty, promises to be God of the family, forever. A permanent covenant.
When El Shaddai claims Abraham and Sarah, the promise is “I will be your God.” Which means, the ones God chooses must turn from all other gods. No little statues in the corner of the house to bless the day, no burying talismen in the fields to ensure bountiful crops, no throwing spilled salt over one’s shoulder to appease the salt god. Just Yahweh. “I (no one else) will be your God.” El Shaddai is their everything. The God who calls Sarah and Abraham is the only God who acts in their lives, who guides their history, who instructs their behavior, who provides the land, the only one they must accept as God. Wherever they go; whatever happens to them; there is LORD Yahweh. “I am your God.” They are never abandoned. The covenant God initiated is permanent. God chooses humans.
And here’s more amazing good news: God chooses us, too. Even St. Andrew Church, gentiles that most of us are, can respond to the God who first called Abram. Although the story is clear that LORD Yahweh is God of the family of Abraham, the boundaries have been crossed. A bit earlier in the story, God promises Abram, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3b) All families, even gentiles, of the whole Earth, blessed.
Then to make it perfectly clear, the New Testament clarifies how we became part of the family. The Gospel of Matthew reminds us, “Abraham was the father of Isaac.” And then comes the rest of the genealogy list, which ends with Joseph and Mary giving birth to Jesus. What this means for us is that through Jesus Christ, followers have been adopted into the family of God. Through him the dividing walls between Jew and gentile – chosen family and unclean outsiders – have been broken down. We get to be in the family, too, if we choose. That’s a big “if.” All of the males in Abraham’s household submitted to circumcision which showed their acceptance of the covenant invitation. We know that throughout history, people have made some physical, external sign indicating they commit to some community, like today a gang may require some scarring mark. But accepting God’s total authority over our lives is more than submitting to some external marking. A person can be baptized, and still not be serious about their faith. Submission to God includes our whole being. In other words, we might say, if we are going to give our allegiance to God, our bodies, our actions, even our thoughts and attitudes – need to bear the mark. Of course, devoting our whole being to following the ways of LORD Yahweh isn’t something that can be accomplished in a moment. We make an initial commitment, but just as God’s call to us is constant, so does our response need to be. Every day we can recommit to being the person God is calling us to be. Every day we can open ourselves to God’s guidance, because God has chosen us.
So, during Lent, get reacquainted with God. Spend time during the few weeks open before you getting to know better the One who chose you. Lots of Christians don’t have a particularly strong connection to God. They say they believe in Jesus, but don’t have any special feeling of being personally connected, so Lent can be a time to investigate what you actually believe. You might wonder how to start. You could ask yourself, “What would I like to know about God?”
One of the questions theologians argued over centuries ago was, “Could God create a rock heavier than God can lift?” Your response might be, “Who cares?” but the question underneath is “What are God’s limits?” Or even broader, “Who is God?” You learned last week with Noah that God sets self-limitations, vowing never to destroy humanity and all life by flood again. No matter how terrible people are; no matter if the entire Earth rejects God, God will never destroy life again. The sense of unconditional promise of life is an important trait to know about God.
From the story of Abram, you learned God chose Abram and Sarai to be the divinely chosen family. You also learned God chose you to be part of God’s chosen family. The story of Abram and throughout the book of Genesis you are shown that God is personal, not just some inanimate, gravity-like force that cannot be altered. God is aware of you individually. God loves you individually. These are important clues for getting to know God better. Christian theologians have argued over who God is for 2000 years, so of course you will also have unanswered questions. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work on getting to know God better. Lent is a terrific opportunity for growing in our relationship with the One who first chose us. Feel free to ask me for accessible reading suggestions, or click in to the Tuesday evening book study. These weeks of Lent are wide open for us to investigate our understanding of who God is and what difference that makes in our life. Lent is a perfect time to get reacquainted with God.
The Lenten sermon series on covenants invites us to think about how the Bible reports LORD Yahweh’s actions with our original ancestors in the faith. These ancient stories are not dusty, dead fairytales. Instead they can remind us of God’s eternal promises to be the God of Israel, and all nations. And now each of us, through the love of Jesus Christ, has been called into God’s family. So we get to spend Lent reconnecting with our ancestors and growing in our relationship with God and the entire family.