“A Covenant Journey in Christ”

Gen. 17:1-8, 15-16; Mark 8:31-38

 

Faith: a Destination or a Journey?

 

If we read Hebrews chapter 11 on faith

we are tempted to think that faith  is what we have

          when we are fully formed Christians

                   and able to do incredible things for God.

    “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out

to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance,

 not knowing where he was to go.”

 

We think of the giants of the faith,

people like Abraham and Peter and we think

          if we just had the faith of those guys…

                   as if faith were fully formed in any one

                             besides Jesus Christ himself.

 

There is a disconnect with our lives and the lives

          Of the Patriarchs and Disciples

                   And we think we will never have that much faith.

 

And then we encounter the story

      of the Covenant of Abraham and Sarah and God

          Not as it is interpreted to us by the writer of Hebrews

                   But as it comes to us directly in Genesis.

          God made a covenant with Abraham,

                   God made a promise to Abraham that he would

                             Have a son and be the father of a multitude

                                      With Sarah as the mother of that son,

                                                And what did Abraham really do?

                                                          He laughed!!!

 

Abraham in this case didn’t obey God but laughed at God.

 

Abraham was so sure that God was wrong

          That Abraham was already onto plan B

                   And had a son Ishmael by his wife’s slave, Hagar

                             To ensure that he would have an heir

                                 If and when God’s promise didn’t work out.

          The truth is that Abraham didn’t believe God

                   And wasn’t willing to wait on God’s promise.

                             And yet God kept his Covenant with Abraham.

 

And when you think about it Peter was not any better.

          In Caesarea Philippi, Peter had just confessed to Jesus:

 “You are the Christ”

          This is the first confession of the disciples

                   It established Peter as spokesman

                             And leader of the disciples

And yet when Jesus tells him what will happen

          “The Son of Man must suffer many things and

 be rejected by the elders and the chief priest

 and the scribes, and be killed

and after three days rise again.”

 

          Peter at least didn’t laugh like Abraham

                   Instead it says that “Peter rebuked Jesus.”

                             In other words Peter scolded Jesus

                                      For saying such a thing!

 

These guys were giants of the faith

          And yet theirs was not a fully formed faith

                   But rather a faith that was developing and growing

                             As God walked with each of them in

                                      A Covenant journey.

 

 And that’s good news for us,

for Christ calls us on such a journey as well.

The Book of Hebrews says:

          “By faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise”

 

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus says:

“If any man would come after me,

                   let him pick up his cross and follow me.”

 

Faith is a journey.

          We are on a Covenant journey with Christ.

                   It is not an easy journey.

                             Jesus didn’t say that it would be easy

                                      What he said is that he would be with us.

                                               

          This past week I have visited people of the Covenant

                   Who were on such a journey with Christ.

                             Some of the people I have visited were

 in the hospital recovering from illness;

or on hospice comforted in the midst of illness;

                   or mourning the loss of a loved one;

          Some were planning to celebrate a wedding;

                   Others were planning for a baptism;

                             Still others were going on a mission trip,

                                      Others were telling about missions,

                                                But all are on a journey

                                                          All we learning and growing

And that journey is a covenant journey of faith with Christ.

 

The payoff is not that we won’t ever suffer or be wrong.

          The payoff is not even

 that things will turn out as we expect.

          Even the Book of Hebrews says:

                   “And all of these, though well attested by their faith,

                        did not receive what was promised ,

                             since God had foreseen something better for us.”

 

 

When we read about the next part of the story for Peter

          We find that after Jesus rebukes him, after six days

                   Jesus takes Peter and James and John

                             To a high mountain apart and it

                                      Transfigured before him.

 

When we read about Abraham and Sarah we find out that

          Four Chapters later in Chapter 21 after traveling

                   All over the middle east Iraq and Iran

                             All the places we don’t want to go even today

                                      That God makes good on his promise.

          Abraham has an heir,

                   Not a slave or a son through a slave but an heir

                             Through his ninety year old wife Sarah

                                      Who laughed at God

                                                And so they name the son “Isaac”

                   Which literally means “God laughs”

                             God has the last laugh in Isaac

and the last word in Jesus Christ.

 

And so we like Abraham and Peter are

          On a Covenant Journey with Christ.

                   It is a journey which starts with our Confession

                             Like Peter “You are the Christ”

          It is a journey that starts with a Ritual of community

                   For Abraham it was the rite of Circumcision

                             And for us it is the ritual of Baptism

                                      And it is the start not the end

                                                Of our Covenant Journey in Christ.

 

It is a journey where we are renamed like Abram

          Who became Abraham and Sarai who became Sarah.

                   We are baptized “In the name of the Father and

                             The Son and the Holy Ghost”

 

So from now on little Kayla who is baptized today is actually

 Kayla “Father, Son and Holy Ghost” Houghtaling

 

It is a journey in which we sometimes misspeak,

          Make mistakes and seek forgiveness

                   But God never gives up on us.

 

It is a journey which sometime involves suffering

          But we are never alone for in Christ

                   God is with us and suffers with us.

 

And it is a journey with the promise of reward much greater

          Than we could imagine or plan for at the start     

                   The rewards start today as we start to experience

                             To see and recognize the very kingdom of God

                                      That is in our midst and is to come.

 

Let this time of Lent be a time

In which we commit to a Covenant journey with Christ.

                                                                   Amen