Covenant: Promise
Believe in God’s Promise
Romans 4:13-25
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. February 28th, 2021
I feel like we live in deeply pessimistic times. Part of it could just be me growing older, but I feel like we are far more cynical than we used to be, speaking generally. There is a sense of malaise in our country that has so many different causes. Everyone is against the way things are, but no one things they’re winning to change it. It’s easy for us to imagine a meteor striking Manhattan than it is to imagine a world full of faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, and what that might look like. It is easier for us to throw our hands up in front of forces that are much larger, and stronger than we are, and to assume the worst in others.
The pessimism that starts in society or in politics easily trickles down into a general pessimism about life. There used to be a bumper sticker you’d see that simply said “love wins.” And at times I’m tempted to reply “really? Are you so sure? What ever gave you that idea?”
But it is in the midst of this world, and no other, that God makes his promises. It is in the midst of our lives, with all its numbing difficulty, that God promises life.
In the beginning is the promise. That is where the covenant gets its start. Before the Law with all its rules and regulations comes the promise. God’s promise of blessing, God’s promise of land, God’s promise of a nation. The promise that was made to Abram long ago, is made to us today.
Abram, we are told, was ninety-nine years old when the Lord appeared to him and reiterated the promise he had made back when he called Abram out of the Land of Ur. “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.” When the Lord said this Abram fell on his face. Then the Lord continued, “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.”
The promise was that if Abram, now Abraham, remained faithful that he would live out the meaning of his new name “Abraham.” He would be made the father of a multitude of nations. Yet Abraham was already ninety-nine years old, without a single child. It would be easy for him to laugh God off. We might say that Abram would be right to be distrustful, cynical of God’s motives, questioning God’s power here. But Paul tells us, “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”
Abraham was no fool. He knew he was old. He knew old men did not have children, and old women did not give birth. And yet, perhaps he was a fool. Abraham had faith in the promise of God, faith in the God who could bring something out of nothing and life out of death. And so he held firm to his faith and it was “reckoned to him as righteousness.”
This, Paul tells us, was not written to us simply on the basis of historical interest. Abraham’s story isn’t written down just to be a good yarn, or to end up as a question on Jeopardy. But as his faith in the promise of God was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was the father of a great nation, so too our faith in Jesus Christ as the lamb of the new covenant will be reckoned to us as righteousness as well. The true daughters and sons of Abraham are the children who keep the faith of Abraham. The children who listen to the promise of God, and believe.
So at the beginning of the covenant lies the promise. God promises before the covenant is set in stone. And what is it that God promises? But God promises life “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But God promises peace, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” And God promises salvation, “If you declare with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” God promises us a full life lived not just in the hereafter but in the here and now. God promises us peace, and joy, and love. God promises to take our worry, to fill our hearts with his love. God promises deliverance from temptation and the forgiveness of all our sin. God promises these things in Jesus Christ.
Do we, as the old hymn goes, stand on the promises of Christ our Lord? I know this is a tremendous temptation for me. When I’m in a crisis, or I’m ill, my first thought is too often “woe is me.” I recently offered up a worry of mine in prayer, and I quickly realized I may not be all that happy about it if God were to answer my prayer. Sometimes we come to cling to our own anxiety and worry and pessimism, don’t we? Why, without it, what would we have to complain about? But I only prayed more earnestly to have the worry taken away, and that I would also be happy about it.
It may seem silly to focus on daily worries as a way to exercise our faith in the promise of eternal life. Like, should I really turn to God for every tummy ache? Isn’t that overkill? Won’t God get sick of it? But if we don’t trust in God on the little things, where is our trust in God on the big things? If we don’t expect peace and joy now, what is the state of our hope in the hereafter? The promise of God ought to explode all our worldly cynicism and all our worldly malaise. No problem you face is too big for the living and active God. The God who made the 99 year old Abraham the Father of many nations, and gave the barren Sarah a son, can give you peace in the midst of strife and give comfort to your grief. He can make clear your path, and redirect your mind and heart to his love and promise.
Does it all feel too good to be true? Peace, love, joy. Eternal life. Salvation from the power of sin. Adoption as children of God? I will confess sometimes I might feel that way. How could God be so generous? Why me? And yet, that is just what God promises us this morning. That is just what God promises you this morning. Jesus Christ died and is risen. He will not die. He offers this life to you. Have you accepted it? Will you accept it? Will you join that New Covenant, the covenant of promise?