This Is the Way, Walk in It

December 6, 2008

Saturday of the First Week of Advent

O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem, no more will you weep; He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you. The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst. No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, while from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears: “This is the way; walk in it,” when you would turn to the right or to the left. Isaiah 30:19-21

Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Matthew 10:6-8

Piety
Why is your way so straight, your path so difficult, Lord? No wonder there are so few laborers in your field. You always break the normal human conventions and do everything according to some other standard…the will of your Father not the community where you dwell. We have no way to understand your unrequited love and generosity on the cross. We see you there every day. Even when we turn to the left and to the right, you open your hands for the nails, you endure each blow of the hammer. Hanging there for us, you continue to seek out your lost sheep like the good thief. Even when you know we not only will not repay you in any way, but will deny your love, your kindness and your sacrifice. Help us to practice the humility and obedience of giving without cost just as we have received from you without cost. Amen.

Study

What does covenant really mean? I always considered it like a contract which binds two or more parties together in some kid of commercial relationship or transaction. Standard references like Roget will give you the word “contract” as a synonym covenant, it also provides other words: promise, pledge and agreement. However, covenant has a very different connotation in the Biblical context. A covenant, in its most general sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action.

More specifically, a covenant, in contrast to a contract, is a one-way agreement whereby the "covenanter" is the only party bound by the promise. A covenant may have conditions and prerequisites that qualify the undertaking, including the actions of second or third parties, but there is no inherent agreement by such other parties to fulfill those requirements.

Consequentially, the only party that can break a covenant is the covenanter. Some of us can visualize a covenant to be like the deed restrictions that bind a homeowner to do certain things (get paint colors approved by the homeowners’ association) or not do other things (install playground equipment in the front yard or prop up that old car on cinder blocks).

In scriptural history, we benefit from two such promises. The original covenant of God to his people was made through Abraham. God said that He would bless Abraham's descendants making them more numerous than the stars. It put no requirements on the people. We know that God wants our love, our praise and our attention in return yet he does not make that a pre-condition of the covenant.

The “new covenant” was introduced with Jesus. Jesus' pain and sacrifice on the cross atones for the sins of all mankind. God so loved the world that he sent his son to die for our sins. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17). We are asked to believe but there are no strings attached.

Isaiah gives us some sense of the one-sided giving nature of the covenant God has made/promised to his people.

The Lord will give you the bread you need
and the water for which you thirst.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
“This is the way; walk in it,”
when you would turn to the right or to the left. Isaiah 30:20-21


He will give rain for the seed that you sow in the ground, and the wheat that the soil produces will be rich and abundant. On that day your cattle will graze in spacious meadows; the oxen and the asses that till the ground will eat silage tossed to them with shovel and pitchfork. Isaiah 30:23-24

All God asks of us is belief and to be like Him. Even when he commissions the disciples, he sends them out with no "quid pro quo" – “something for something.” He instructs them simply: Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Matthew 10:8-10

Action

We are so used to reciprocity. “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.” We are very good at collecting chits. Who owes you a favor? Can you give without cost this season and beyond? Give a “quo” and do not expect a “pro quo” in return.

How many times do we make our gift list based upon from whom we expect to get a gift? How many times do we draw up the party invitation list based upon who has invited us to their party? How many times do we cull our Christmas card list based upon who sent us a card last year?

Jesus did not expect anyone to scratch his back. After all, it was too covered in welts from the flogging at the pillar which he endured…for us. He never said it would be easy. He only said that it would be worth it.