Covenant = God’s Promise

Text: ESV Genesis 17:4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.”

Goal: That we trust more fervently in God’s promise to Abraham.

ESV 1 Timothy 1:2 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

I remember quite well the day that I found out the hard way that people don’t always keep their promises. I had a friend named Jake and we lived across the fence from each other. We spent our summers and weekends and evenings playing together. We built tree forts, rode bikes, fished in the river and did all kinds of things together. Whenever someone asked me who my best friend was, I thought of Jake.

One day Jake challenged me with a dare. There was a bridge over the river where we fished. Jake dared me to jump off the bridge into the river, which wouldn’t have been such a big deal, except for the fact that the river was exceptionally low that year. High bridge and low water – not a good combination, but a dare was a dare and had to be taken seriously. I can still remember climbing over the guard rail, making sure my feet were stayed on the support beam. I held the rail in one hand while I leaned over to take good look at the water below. Even my young boy mind quickly figured out that the dare wasn’t worth the risk, so I started to back out. Then Jake sweetened the deal. He started with a dollar, but that wasn’t near enough for me to risk my life. Five dollars and I thought about it for a few minutes. Finally he said ten. Ten dollars and the satisfaction of performing a dare. I was almost ready to jump, but I knew the rules all too well. I had to know for sure that Jake would pay. “Do you promise?” He said, “Yes.” “Show me your fingers” (just to make sure they weren’t crossed) “Promise again.” He promised and the deal was sealed.

I turned around, positioned myself, took a deep breath and jumped. The water was about a foot and a half deep – something that I’d failed to consider when I made the plunge. Thank the Lord that the mud was about a foot and a half deep as well. Otherwise I would have broken both legs and probably worse. So I shook off the pain, slowly pulled my legs out of the mud and crawled back up the bank. I had conquered the dare and now it was time to collect my money. I asked Jake about my ten dollars for the next few months and he never paid up. I was grounded for an entire month because of my obviously poor choice, but Jake still didn’t give me my money. For a month I dug thistles out of the horse pasture and Jake didn’t even offer to help. Our friendship started to falter and we spent less and less time together. Every time I saw Jake, I couldn’t help but remember the promise he’d made to give me ten bucks if I jumped off the bridge. I learned that sometimes, even good friends, don’t keep their promises.

A few years later, I learned that sometimes people you really trust, people who are more than just friends, people who are in your own family don’t always keep their promises either. I’ll never forget what it felt like as an eleven year old to realize that my dad wasn’t going to keep his promise to care for our family. One day he packed up most of his belongings and drove out of our lives. Months went by and I never saw him. An entire year passed before he stopped by for a visit. Sometimes, even members of our own family, don’t keep their promises.

It hurts when a friend lets you down. After the bridge dare and the failed promise, my friendship with Jake was never the same again. It really hurts when family members let you down. After my dad left our family, things were never the same again. Broken promises cause pain and suffering. Broken promises make life difficult. Broken promises destroy relationships. Broken promises are lies and when we lie we speak the devil’s language. Jesus declared in John 8:44, “When he [the devil] lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

We live in a world, in a culture, in a society that doesn’t believe in promises anymore. Deals aren’t sealed with a handshake and people aren’t as good as their word. We draw up lengthy legal papers and even then contracts are broken. We hire lawyers to write up the small print and to find loopholes in contracts that we’ve signed. We buy things and then try to figure out how not to pay for them. We demand goods and services from the government, but we aren’t willing to pay our own taxes. We get sucked into that world all the time. We even break our promises. We destroy our relationships. We keep our word, only when it benefits us. Brothers and sisters in Christ, even within Christian homes and congregations we are breaking promises.

When God makes a promise, He always keeps His word. God made this promise to Abraham: “Behold, my covenant [my promise] is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:4). God made a promise to Sarah, Abraham’s wife: “I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her” (Genesis 17:16). We might be tempted to say, “So what?” God made a promise to some guy and his wife thousands of years ago. What does that matter to me? It matters because God is still making good on His promise to Abraham and Sarah. He never fails to keep His promises.

Abraham and Sarah had a son named Isaac. Isaac and his wife had a son named Jacob. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel and he had twelve sons. Each of his twelve sons became a tribe in the nation of Israel. God fulfilling His covenant, His promise to Abraham and Sarah. Of the twelve tribes of Israel, the tribe of Judah carried the promise. “Judah [was the] the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”

Just think about all the years, about all the generations from Abraham and Sarah until Jesus Christ. God’s promise to make Abraham the father of a multitude of nations. God’s promise to make Sarah into nations and kings of peoples. God’s promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the one who live a perfect life . . . the one who died for on the cross without having any children of his own . . . the end of the line, promise failed . . . at least that’s how it appeared. But Jesus did not stay dead. God raised Him back to life. God made good on His promise. As for children, well that’s where we come in. Through our Baptism into Christ, we become children of the promise. Adopted sons and daughters of Jesus Christ, sons and daughters of Abraham and Sarah. No matter who might let us down in this life, God’s promises remain.

ESV Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.