December 31, 2017-12
Genesis 12:1-3,
John 1:1-5, 14, John 10:7-10
Last
summer as my sister, Jill, was preparing to come to the states for two months,
she was telling her newly turned four-year-old twin grandsons, my great
nephews, about America .
They were fascinated by America
– especially Bobby. Without thinking, Jill made an offhand promise that they
could come to America
when they turned five. My nephew, their father, said, “Mom,” in that parental
tone of voice that implied “what in the world are you promising them?”
If
they have the long memory that their father did, they will remember this
promise. When he was a little boy, he wanted to marry a little girl he was
friends with. My sister offhandedly promised him that he could marry her on his
sixth birthday. Guess what? When he woke up on his sixth birthday, he announced
that he would be getting married that day. Oh the sadness that ensued when he
found out he would not be getting hitched after all.
The twins turn five
in May. When I talk with my sister, I like to ask her if she’s saving money for
their trip to America ;
because they’re going to expect it. Perhaps we should start a Go Fund Me
account to make it happen. But if we’re going to do that, then I think we
should make it one where we fund me going to Greece to pick them up, escort them
from Greece to America and back to Greece again. That’s neither here nor there.
My point is that you have to be careful when you make promises – to children and
to anyone. Because you want to keep the promises you make.
Certainly, we have
all been guilty of breaking promises. I know I have broken them – small ones
and not so small ones. But I would say that for most of us when we make a
promise, our intention is to keep them.
We also say that
about resolutions at this time of year. As the calendar rolls over from the old
year to the new, we make resolutions of all sorts. Resolutions are really just
promises we make to ourselves. Sometimes we keep them, sometimes we don’t. They
are really easy to make, these resolutions, but much harder to keep. Since we
are at the time of year when resolutions and promises are at the forefront of
our mind, it seemed an opportune moment to think not about the promises that we
make but about the promises that are made to us.
I said it in my
newsletter article, and I will say it again, 2017 was a challenging and
difficult year. I know that this is not the only December 31st when
this statement has been true. Every year holds its sadness, its hardship and
its strife. But there is something about the New Year that makes us hopeful.
Maybe this year will be different. Maybe this year I will finally keep my
resolutions. Maybe this year I will keep all the promises I made to myself and others,
fulfill all the goals I set for myself. And perhaps this year, the promises
kept will go farther than just individual resolutions. Maybe this year we will
finally learn how to get along with one another, how to care for one another. Perhaps
this year there will finally be peace on earth and goodwill to all.
I hope so. I
suspect you do too. But while there are no guarantees that you or I will keep
our resolutions, that we will keep every promise we make, what we can count on
is that God keeps God’s promises. We stand firmly on God’s promises. God’s
promises are many. God’s promises are steadfast. God keeps God’s promises. So
as 2017 ends and 2018 begins, let’s take a minute to think about three of the
promises that God makes and keeps and is keeping.
God is a God of
the covenant. Although modern dictionaries define covenant as a synonym for
contract, I think a covenant is a different, deeper bond than a contract. A
contract implies the possibility of breach. Certainly a covenant can be broken,
but there is a relationship inherent to a covenant, a sense of call of and
being chosen. God chose Abram. God called him. God promised that through him,
not only would Abram and his family be blessed, but every family in the world
would be blessed. God was always concerned about the world, but with Abram God
was working through specific people to see God’s purposes fulfilled.
God promised and
promises blessing. How are we blessed? What does it mean to be blessed? Is
being blessed just good things coming our way, or is it the awareness that God
surrounds us with love, and with people we embody that love? How are we
blessed? How are you blessed?
God promised and
promises to be with us. What better illustration of this promise than in the
Word becoming flesh and dwelling in our midst? The Incarnation of the divine
into the mortal is the most profound example of God living out, literally,
God’s promise to be with us. God became us, fully us, through his Son, so we
could learn what it means to human and to see God a little more clearly. God
promises to be with us. We know that does not mean that we are granted some
divine protection. We know that does not prohibit bad things from happening to
us. We are still hurt. The people we love are still hurt. We are still mortal. We
still die. But in this world of uncertainty, knowing, trusting, believing that
God is with us, gives us a well of courage from which we can draw. It inspires
us to keep going, to keep striving, to love our enemies, to challenge the
powers and principalities. How does God keep God’s promise to be with you? How
has God shown you God’s presence?
God promised and
God promises to give us abundant life. In the context of this second passage
from John’s gospel, we might interpret abundant life as being synonymous with
eternal life, but I think abundant life is not limited to that. Not that
eternal life is a limiting idea. In the verses before the ones we read in
chapter 10 of John’s gospel, Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd. The
sheep, his sheep, know his voice. He is the Good Shepherd and the Gate for the
sheep. Those who recognize him as such will have life and that life will be
abundant.
Is this eternal
life only, reserved for that other realm? Is it a perfect life, also on hold
for the life to come? Or is it a life that is lived right now, a life that is
rich and full with the grace and love of God? I think when we recognize the
voice of our Good Shepherd, when we see that he is our Gate to abundant life,
we begin to enjoy abundant life right now. Abundant life is not a life that is
perfect. I imagine that abundant life must have been what the Garden of Eden
was like before Adam and Eve and the Snake started talking. It was lush and
green and full of trees laden with fruit. There were probably bugs too. But
even those bugs served a purpose. It seems to me that abundant life is a life
that is overflowing with goodness. The goodness to which I refer does not
equate to material things or riches. It is goodness of people, of work, of
purpose, of a deeper joy. It is a life that is abundant in grace, in service to
others, in blessings, in the knowledge that God is with us. It is a life
abundant in trust that God keeps God’s promises.
How is your life
abundant?
How has God kept
God’s promises in your life this past year? Be assured that God has, and be
assured that God will. We stand in the steadfast promises of God. We walk into
this New Year trusting in God and giving thanks that God keeps God’s promises.
Let all of God’s
children say, “Alleluia!” Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment