Covenant Theology a sermon on Genesis 15.
Ok, stretch your memory here. You’re going to have to go Way back to your highschool biology class. Can you remember why the name Linnaeus is important? Linnaeus is the man who first worked out the method by which we try to categorize and understand all living things. You remember, Kingdom, Phylum, class, Order, Family, Genus, Species? A nice easy way to keep things in their place.

I suppose it’s in human nature to try to categorize things. We are constantly trying to classify, group, and label things so that we might better understand them.

It’s the same in the arts and humanities as it is in the sciences as we assign artists and thinkers to different “Schools. Schools of thought or method” You know, the modernists, the romantics, the realists, the abstracts, cubists, dadists, and so on. And in the world of philopsophy and psychology as well: are you a Fruedian or a Jungian? An existentialist or an epicurean.

We even go through this dance on the most mundane things there are. Next week the first pre season baseball games begin and the conversation as always comes round full circle: Do you subscribe to the designated pitcher rule or not. You have to have it all sorted out if you’re going to have a conversation about baseball.

And, of course, if you’ve read anything about church history you know that it is the same in church circles. We have our own “schools of theological thought” that we use to categorize each other and get a grip on who is who and what is what. From fundamentalism to liberalsism. From Biblical theology to systematic theology. Are you a creationists or do you believe in evolution? Get a group of pastors together at an ecumenical conference and at the first coffee break the conversations in the little circles will find all the gathered asking some form of those questions as we struggle to find a place to fit in.

And yes, I too, subscribe to a particular school of thought and theology. And, it comes from this morning’s Old Testament lesson in which God makes a promise to Abram. What I’m talking about is Covenant Theology. God makes a covenant promise with humankind and all of Hebraic and Christian faith may be understood in the light of theis covenant. Many of you have already heard me talk about this but every time I get the chance I like to come back to it because I, and many other Presbyterian’s, find this way of understanding Christian faith and theology to be particularly helpful. This, for me at least, is foundational.

In this story from Genesis we see God using a very earthly structure to make this covenant. Scholars have read and understood that what God does is set forth a form of treaty with Abram that would have been easily recognizable to Abram and anyone else that Abram invites into the agreement because it was a common way of writing contracts in that day and age. In the ancient near east it was called an “suzzerain-vassel” treaty. That is, a treaty between a great king, and servant. And in the treaty everything was spelled out. The history of the two parties was established, Who would have to do what, at what cost, and at what consequence should the treaty be broken. There were stipulations and punishments and it was all sealed in a very gory ceremony in which an animal sacrifice was made to emphasize the importance of the thing. Man can you imagine how much more prone to simply meeting obligations we would be in our day and age if we had to sacrifice a calf every time we made a promise! The hebrew term for all of this was literally, “to Cut” a contract.

It was legally binding and societally profound. And God knew this when he laid out his plans for Abram with this language.

In modern parlance God might sit us down at the arbitration table with a court appointed arbitrator to work out the terms and then there would be vote of the assembly and maybe even a voter referendum on the matter and it would all be legally binding at the deepest levels.

But there is more to it than even that. Yes, what God proposes to Abram is legally binding treaty complete with animal sacrifice, but the significant thing about it is not the earthly element, it’s the heavenly one. What makes a covenant a covenant, in theological terms, is the presence of God. Otherwise it’s just a promise, just a contract, just a treaty. When God puts God’s mark on the line, however, it becomes something more, it becomes bound not only on earth, but in eternity.

And this eternal covenant? This is our covenant with God. It is our inheritance, it is our purpose, and it is our assurance.

Covenant theology. The idea that God, in earthly terms, makes eternal promises to God’s people. Looking back along the line of history we see it going back to Noah and even Adam and Eve. Looking forward we see it in God’s word’s to the prophets and the patriarchs or Israel. God says, “you are my people, and this is how it shall be between us.” And with that, we are given significance. We are given our calling.

But hey, anyone might say, “Yeah, that’s great but isn’t that pretty much what all religions claim for themselves? Some unique relationship with God? Some crazy old man, Moses, Mohamed, Abraham, Buddah, Lao Tzu, whoever, has some sort of revelation about how we have an in with the almighty. Christianity is not unique.”

Fair enough. Such language is common in religious thinking and across many faiths. But there is something tremendously unique here in the 15th chapter of Genesis. And I do mean unique in its truest sense. Something happens here with Abraham that does not happen in any other record of faith.

You remember how I said that the ancient treaties were sealed through an animal sacrifice? That was significant. A sacrifice would be made and the servant would walk through the sacrifice toward the great king as if to say, “this is what will happen to me if I do not keep my word.” It’s very powerful imagery. Again, can you imagine if the executives of Enron had been forced to go through that kind of ceremony during their contract negotiations?

In Genesis 15, though, we see a reversal. Abraham prepares the sacrifice as directed. And then he goes to sleep. In the night the vision comes to him of this great smoking fire pot, as scripture describes it. And this represents the spirit of God. And this pot of fire moves towards Abraham through the sacrifice. Do you see why this is unique? This is the thing that has me clinging to the Christian understanding of God. This is new and this has not been repeated in any other faith tradition.

The spirit of God, represented by the fire, moves toward a still standing Abraham as if God is saying, “If I do not keep my word to you, this is what will happen to me.” God moves to us, not the other way around. And the pattern is set. God makes a promise and then God goes on the quest to fulfill it rather than the servant of God.

John Piper, the author of the interestingly titled, “Desiring God: Meditations of A Christian Hedonist” puts it this way
“this is the best news in all the world - that God is not served by human hands has though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." If you are weak and helpless and sinful and know that any good you do, you need God's help to do, then this comes as the best news in the world.  That God is the kind of God who cannot be served, but loves to serve. His message to the world - the Christian gospel - is not a "help-wanted" sign, but a "help available" sign. He is not served as though he needed anything, but he gives to all people life and breath and everything.  To those who feel morally self-sufficient this is bad news. It threatens to take away our basis for boasting. But to those who feel morally desperate and hopeless before a holy and infinitely righteous God, this is good news. Maybe a God who doesn't need me would be willing to be for me what I need.”

Add to all of that the picture of Jesus Christ yet to come. Sacrificed on a cross and yet not conquered by that cross. Genesis 15 foreshadows Christ walking back through the sacrifice of his own body to once and for all put the matter to rest that God is doing everything needed for the God things God has presented us with.

Look, I could go on for hours on this. Because for me this is the heart of the Christian Gospel. So let me just sum it up as best I can: God has made a promise to us. God does not need us to do anything in order for that promise to be fulfilled. In Jesus Christ, we see this clearly. And as a consequence we are freed to simply worship and work because we like it, not because we are afraid of a God who is looking over our shoulders.

Quoting John Piper again. "The good news this morning is not that God offers to keep us from death or suffering. He doesn't. The good news is that God works for those who wait for him (Isaiah 64:4), even in suffering and death. He forgives all our sins, he removes all our guilt, he takes away all our condemnation through the death of Jesus.  And in the place of sin and guilt and condemnation God works for us - he makes himself our Servant not only at the cross but every day of our lives...Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. The yoke of faith and obedience are easy and light because even when he puts 
it on us he carries it."

God makes a promise to you, to us. And God will keep that promise. This is the great foundation of Christian faith and theology. This, is the good news.