Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
Since September 9th we have begun at the
beginning, hearing the good news (and the bad) of our genesis as God’s people:
God’s beautiful creation, and recreation in the flood, God’s promises to us
that we are People with a Purpose, God’s intention to use US to bless the
world. Then last week we moved into our
family story of exodus – the sacred story of how God goes about saving us from
the most vile, the most unholy, the most wretched of evil found on earth… using
even everything God has: creativity, creation itself, US, including our good
faith effort and our mistakes, and even the very Evil Itself! All this God uses to bring about Our
redemption, our salvation, just like God did when God liberated us from the
evil of slavery and tyranny in Egypt.
Now, this week, we take a step back to view the big picture
and notice what God is up to. How God
has consistently moved to partner with us as humanity for the blessing of the
world. This partnership is called God’s
Covenant with us. Now, covenants were,
and are, things that humans do – we partner with each other in marriage,
between congregations, like Bethlehem and New Hope or Bethlehem and St. Anne’s
– and in the historical period of the Exodus, there were covenants between
nations. Agreements. Deals.
Where one nation agreed to do something for the other nation and would
get something in return. We still do
this today, we just don’t usually call them covenants.
The word Covenant brings with it a holy connotation. A sense of solemnity and purpose. Even calling.
When we enter into a covenant it is intended to be a trust, like between
pastor and people. I don’t get to serve
you unless we have some agreements, but calling it a “deal” is too crass for
most of us. This agreement of serving
alongside one another is a holy endeavor, one where we expect God to guide us and
weave us together, a bit like the most common and possibly the most holy of
human covenants, Marriage.
So as we reflect upon Covenant and what it means for us, and
what God is up to bothering with making covenants with humans, we are going to
watch a 5 minute video from The Bible Project.
…watch with me…
The Sacred Story tells us that this broken partnership is why
we are stuck in a world of corruption and injustice and pain. We have dropped our end of the Bargain. But God… God didn’t need us to begin with. Just
like the covenant with Noah, God has every intention of fulfilling her/his end
of the Covenant whether we fulfill our end or not. You saw it in the video: God fulfills the
covenant, regardless of what we do.
Now, don’t hear me wrong.
If we do partner with God…if we stop refusing to enter into God’s ways
and God’s life. WOW. That’s where the life IS that we want to
live! Suddenly the gift of eternal life
is something we live Right Now, not just wait for some future day… it is true…
that the corruption and pain of the world is something we can Endure
together. The broken world is one where
we still see hope, because we see what God is up to! We see where New Life is happening, we Are
the Resurrection People! In God’s
covenant, we are given each other, we are made into the Body of Christ, we are a
community that stands for justice and peace, for healing and wholeness. And we are never, ever alone.
So when you reflect on the Ten Commandments, when you hear
someone arguing about whether they should be posted in public or whether they
are the foundation of our US justice system or our expectation of ethics. I invite you to reflect on what the Ten
Commandments are really about. These
commandments are the framework for our side of the agreement with God. God will save us. Unconditionally. And if we want to participate… here is how we
do it.
These commandments are the cornerstone of God’s offering to
us. These ten laws are a vehicle. They help us to see the Life God gives. The Life of Freedom from slavery and
oppression and injustice. These Ten
Commandments re-present the entire covenant work that God is doing, has done
and promises to continue forever and ever.
God is using these commandments as a sign of the Covenant, the covenant
that gives us the gift of Life.
And not just us… God gives the gift of Life to his covenant
family… for the whole world. Today we
hear that in our piece of the Sacred Story for today…
You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on
eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice
and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the
peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly
kingdom and a holy nation.
Noah heard it, Abraham heard it, Now the whole Family hears
it… God’s will is for the world to be saved from itself. God’s way is for the world to be blessed by
humans God has chosen. And it turns out,
we are those humans. We are blessed to
be a blessing, chosen to be a priestly nation (that is, a mediator between God
and creation), we are People with a Purpose.
[So now, you may be wondering… how do we do that? And it
comes down to you. To each one of
us! We participate as the Body of Christ
together. Our purpose is to bless others
with the tools God has given us!
Individually and as a congregation.
Over the next two weeks, Ellie Kraner and Melany Gronski will
be helping us all to participate in a gifts assessment. The council is inviting us to prayerfully
consider what tools God has given us for work in God’s kingdom – for our work
to bless the world. Please mark your
calendars to stay after worship either on the 14th or the 21st. We are trusting the Spirit to move you and
hoping you will respond with 100% participation. If you can prioritize being here one of these
two days, you will take an assessment of your spiritual gifts, and then talk
about how to use these gifts for God’s purposes to bless the world. ]
Let us pray…
Purposeful God, You
have shaped this congregation with gifts that are designed to serve your
purposes in the world. You have made US
into People with a Purpose! And I find
this astounding! God, continue to work
on us and in us. Bring us together the
next three Sundays as we pray together, listening for your voice in the gifts
you have given us and in how you would have us use them. Move us to act on your will and to live in
your ways. We are so grateful for this
community and for the new life you have given us! Let us not waste or reject it, but show our
love for you and your love for our neighbors.
Thank you, Lord.
Amen.
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