Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Contracts and Covenants


So, how are you doing with the Ten Commandments? Some of these are easy to follow: do not murder, do not steal...but how about using the Lord's name in vain? Uh oh...someone cut me off in traffic yesterday and, well, maybe these aren't so easy to follow after all...working on the Sabbath and and coveting our neighbor's car or high-tech gadget seems like a way of life these days. The truth of the matter, is that we have failed to keep these commandments. We are human, and we fail. If these commandments are part of the contract that we must keep in order for God to remain or God, well, God would have moved on centuries ago to seek out a new species to be God over!

Contracts, in a legal sense, are formal agreements based on mutual benefit. They are awesome for employee situations or business transactions. You put out what you put in and everyone wins.

Thank you God for not giving us a contract to sign and date and, inevitably, break. What God has with us is a covenant to be our God. To love us and forgive us. To lead us and walk with us through life. God gives us a promise. We have been reminded of that here at GMUMC and if you have been reading this blog, through the reminder of the rainbow after the great flood. In the covenant that God gave to Noah, God says "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you...that never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God promised all humanity and all the earth to protect and not destroy it. Like in a marriage, a covenant is a soul-binding promise from one party to the other. 

God still expects us to seek to live in joyful obedience to God. This isn't necessarily a "free ride." As evidence of living into the love and grace of God, the obedience to these commandments, summed up by Jesus to love God and love neighbor as yourself, should be lived out. If you know God loves you but are still driven to murder or steal, for example, that is a sign that you are not living into the fullness of God's love for you. When you are, I do not think that you could be driven to take a life or steal from someone. 

And when we fail, God is still our God. God still loves us, protects us from sin, and desires us to be in relationship with God. 

So if you feel like you're a good person and don't ever break any of the commandments, think again. Realizing that you fail can remind you just how much God loves you and forgives you. This can deepen your relationship with God. If you feel like you are nothing and have nothing to offer, think again. God created you and made you a child of God. God has given you the chance to live in joyful obedience with God. And when you follow a commandment, God is pleased with you, for this is a sign of your love of God and desire to live in covenant relationship with God. 

Prayer*

Change my heart, O God, make it ever true. 
Change my heart, O God, may I be like you. 
You are the Potter, I am the clay; 
mold me and make me, this is what I pray. 
Change my heart, O God, make it ever true. 
Change my heart, O God, may I be like You.

*Change My Heart, O God, The Faith We Sing, 2152 

In Christ, 

Jack

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