Meditation for 24 June 2009

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

1 Samuel 7:2-14

3 Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, ‘If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Astartes from among you. Direct your heart to the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’ ⁴So Israel put away the Baals and the Astartes, and they served the Lord only.

5 Then Samuel said, ‘Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.’ ⁶So they gathered at Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted that day, and said, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.’ And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.

7 When the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸The people of Israel said to Samuel, ‘Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, and pray that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.’ ⁹So Samuel took a sucking lamb and offered it as a whole burnt-offering to the Lord; Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰As Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel; but the Lord thundered with a mighty voice that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion; and they were routed before Israel. ¹¹And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as beyond Beth-car.

12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’ ¹³So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel; the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴The towns that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

Covenants and Signs

Although the word "covenant" is not mentioned in this passage, this is a covenant-type story.  Throughout the Old Testament, God is either creating a covenant with the people of Israel, or they are renewing a previous covenant that God had made with them.  The covenant renewal ceremonies usually happened after a major new transition had happened in Israel's journey with God (e.g., after the re-entry and conquest of the land of Canaan in Joshua 24), or after the people of Israel had lost their way and followed other gods, and then repented and returned to the Lord (the passage above from 1 Samuel is an example).

Think of some of the covenants you are familiar with from the Old Testament.  There is the covenant that God makes with Noah, his descendants and all the animals of the earth, that "never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." (Genesis 9:11)  There was the covenant that God made with Abraham involving the land that would become Israel.  "To your descendants I will give this land..." (Genesis 15:18)  This covenant also involved the promise of a people who would be numerous and through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3; 17:1-8) 

What does our Prayer Book say about covenants?  Among other things, we are told what a covenant is. "A covenant is a relationship initiated by God, to which a body of people responds in faith." ("An Outline of the Faith", The Book of Common Prayer, p. 846)  It just so happens that these covenants initiated by God usually come with a sign.  The sign of God's covenant with Noah was the rainbow.  The sign of God's covenant with Abraham and his descendants was circumcision.  As in any important relationship, both sides made promises.  There is mutuality.  God promised that He would be faithful to the people of Israel, and that through Israel, he would bring all nations of the earth to him.  The people of Israel promised to be faithful to God, to forsake all other gods, and to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with their God (Micah 6:8).  With the coming of Jesus, a new relationship with God is possible, and that is why we talk of a "New Covenant", and why that part of the Bible is called the New Testament.  In the New Covenant, Jesus promises to bring us into the kingdom of God and to give us life in all its fullness (John 10:10).  We in turn, promise to believe in him and to keep his commandments, especially to love others as Christ loves us (John 13:34), but also all the teachings that are included in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

So... what are some of the other covenants that are an important part of our faith?  At the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion, he said "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." (Luke 20:22)  This sacrament, the new covenant in Christ's blood, has signs associated with it - the bread (Christ's body) that is broken for us, the wine (Christ's blood) that is poured out for us.

Whenever we baptize someone into the Body of Christ, we renew our Baptismal Covenant.  We reaffirm our faith in God when we recite the Apostles' Creed together, and we reaffirm our promises to follow in Christ's steps - promising to continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship and the breaking of bread and the prayers, promising to repent and return to the Lord when we sin, promising to proclaim the Good New of God in Christ through our words and deeds, promising to seek and serve Christ in all persons as we love others, and to strive for justice and peace among all people as we respect the dignity of every person.  Whenever we attend in a baptism, we participate in that baptism, and it is more than just one person being baptized.  It is also a covenant renewal ceremony.  And of course there is a sign -  water.  We are buried with Christ (when we go under the water), and are raised to new life in Him (when we come out from under the water).  And each time you walk into church and dip your hand into the baptismal font, and cross yourself, you are - in effect - renewing your covenant with God, renewing the promise to be faithful to God through Christ, being empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit.

Finally, should we get married, we are entering into another covenant, one that we understand to be initiated by God.  God has brought the two people together, and God promises to be present to the couple, to love and guide them, as they make promises to be faithful to each other.  Faithfulness to one's partner is understood to flow out of being faithful to God.  And the covenant of marriage has a sign, too - the rings.  Their circular shape is a symbol of a love that is eternal, between the couple - yes, but also a sign of God's never-ending, never-failing love for us, and for that particular couple.

A covenant, initiated by God, is much deeper significance than the covenants in your homeowners' association.  Pay attention to the covenants in your life, for they give you life.  And pay attention, too, to when they need to be renewed.  It seems to me that in this journey of faith, we are always renewing our covenants with God, with our partners, with our community of faith.