February 28, 2021
“A New Covenant”
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. AMEN
I clearly remember a television series that used to be a favorite of mine years ago. In the show there was a handsome young man of means who was a member of a prominent family, and this family used less than ethical methods in conducting their family business.
So, in the show, this young man meets and falls in love with a young woman from the “other side of the tracks” to use a somewhat antiquated expression.
The two fall in love and become engaged, yet this young woman is naïve and inexperienced enough that she really has no idea about the depth of the shady business dealings in which her betrothed is involved.
But then there is a turning point in the story. It happens in the cathedral where the two young people are about to be married. The groom is in the empty sanctuary of the cathedral prior to the wedding, spending a contemplative moment alone, when he looks up and sees these words engraved on the wall of the cathedral. The words are from the Gospel lesson you just heard read,
and the words are these:
For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
Upon seeing these words, the groom does some serious soul searching about the direction his life is taking. And though he doesn’t immediately turn things around, he begins to recognize that there are serious changes he needs to make.
We currently find ourselves in the season of Lent, a time in which we, too, are called to take a contemplative and soul-searching look at our own lives.
Perhaps this year more than ever, as we have lived through and dealt with the effects of the pandemic, political division, and the ongoing fight for racial justice, we can relate to the time that Jesus spent alone in the wilderness as we navigate our own wilderness journeys.
But here is some good news that I see in our scripture passages for today. All three of our passages today speak of covenant. A covenant is a sacred promise – an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment, with God and with others.
So, for us in this day and time, the question becomes, where do we find our strength, where do our loyalties lie, and with whom and what do we covenant?
The covenant that God makes with Abraham in our Hebrew scripture for today is hugely significant, not just for us as Christians but also for our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters as Abraham is considered the father of all three faiths.
God says to Abraham, “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.”
It is believed by scholars that these words of Genesis in which God promises Abraham an everlasting covenant were most likely written during the Babylonian exile when the ancient Israelites were feeling separated from God. The reminder of God’s covenant with Abraham was meant as encouragement that God’s promises to Abraham were for all generations. God’s commitment to and presence with the people was for all time and for all nations and was irrevocable. God was, is, and will always be.
In our Epistle lesson from Romans, Paul refers back to this covenant made to Abraham, and its importance in the foundation of faith. And then Paul further speaks of the death and resurrection of Christ as a continuation of God’s promise to bring new life to God’s people.
And that brings us to the Gospel lesson for today. After Jesus is rebuked by Peter for predicting his own arrest, suffering and death, Jesus implores his followers to set their minds not on earthly things but on the divine.
For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
Jesus never said it would be easy. He said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”
God’s covenant continues. When we celebrate communion at Dublin Community Church, as we will next Sunday, my usual words as I offer the cup are the words, “The cup of the new covenant.”
Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection are reminders that God’s promises, going all the way back to Abraham are indeed eternal. In Jesus’ resurrection we are shown the power of new life. Each and every day we are offered a continuation of that covenant promised to Abraham by God all those centuries ago.
During this time of Lent may we all find the strength to face the wilderness, the courage to search our own souls, and the openness to accept the power of that cup of the new covenant of Christ, offered to us now and for all times.
AMEN