Today’s Text: Genesis 17:1-22.
The overarching theme for this year, at our church, is Cultivate: Making Room for God’s Promise. Today’s story records the famous covenant between God and Abraham where the language of cultivation, fruitfulness, and promise all come together. There are three aspects of cultivating the promise that may be helpful for us.
First, this is God’s work. God initiated the promise back when God first called Abram and Sarai to move from their homeland and travel to an unknown destination. We have no idea why God chose Abram. We definitely know that it was not because Abram or Sarai were morally pure. What we do know is that God initiated it and God promised to remain faithful to the covenant (a legal term for promise) to the end.
The Good News for us is that we do not have to earn God’s favor, or measure up to God’s standards before God will hear us. God is for us, even when we are against ourselves and each other. God’s Mission in this world is to make all things new.
Second, even though it is God’s work, there is still something for us to do. God gave Abram the sign of circumcision to mark the covenant. All the males in Abram’s family, including the slaves, had to be circumcised to demonstrate to the world that they were part of God’s Mission for the world. Notice that they did not get circumcised to be let in, but were circumcised as a sign of agreement and partnership with what was already promised.
This partnership with God was so powerful that it changed Abram and Sarai’s identity. Their names were changed from Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. This change happened because the name of God was infused with their names; a further sign of the partnership.
The Good News for us is that we, too, are called to respond to God’s promise. The Christian has the sign of baptism as the act of response to God’s promise. We also have the ongoing spiritual practices that cultivate our hearts to be continually fertile soil for God’s promise to work in, with, and through us each day. We do not engage in these physical acts to earn God’s favor or make us more righteous in God’s eyes. Rather, we do them in response to and in partnership with what God is doing in the world.
Third, God’s promise is one of fruitfulness for all nations. God repeatedly emphasises that all nations would be blessed through Abraham’s offspring. However, God also blesses Ishmael, the fruit of Abram and Sarai’s impatience and impertinence, and promises to make him a great nation as well.
The Good News for us is to remember that, even though we, as Christians, follow Jesus, are marked with baptism and the Holy Spirit, and participate in communion, that doesn’t mean that God only loves us and hates the world. God created all things and desires that all things be fruitful and multiply. We, like Abraham, are called to respond to God’s faithfulness with faithfulness, and seek the blessing of all people, even the children of Ishmael.
May we set aside this year to make time for the practices of worship, prayer, Bible study, serving, giving, vital relationships, and sharing our faith in order to cultivate space in our lives and our communities for God’s promise of blessing and fruitfulness to grow for all people.
