God's Covenant with Abraham

Sermon by Mark Johnson of Steiger Minneapolis

Now the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.  As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.  No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.  I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and kings will come forth from you.

God said further to Abraham, "Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.  This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.  And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.

Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.  I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her.  Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him.
Excerpts from Genesis 17

            Over the past few months, we’ve looked at Abraham’s journey of faith, during which he has received a number of promises from God.  He has received promises over the past 24 years at this point.  And here again, God not only reaffirms the promise, but expands it.  If you read the entire chapter, you will see that he stresses the multitudes of offspring that will come from Abraham, reveals for the first time that this offspring will include kings, and tells Abraham that the promise is everlasting.  God seems to be assuring Abraham that since he is eternal, the promises are definitely certain.

            So God elaborates on the promises to Abraham, but hedoesn’t stop there.  He also changes his name from Abram, which means “Exalted Father,” to Abraham, which means “Father of Many.”  Now, you can imagine that it might have been a bit awkward for Abraham at this point.  See, he only had one kid, but he gets to start telling people that they can call him “Father of Many.”  No one else heard God change his name, so to them, he’s just a guy with one kid telling people to call him the Father of Many.  It seems a little embarrassing.

            In any case, God gives Abraham this promise, which keeps growing every time we read about it, and then he tells him the part that he will need to play.  The first thing Abraham has to do is to get a new name.  God gives it to him, but he has to start using it.  While this might be a bit embarrassing, it is certainly doable.  The second thing isn’t so easy, though.  God tells him that he needs to be circumcised—him and everyone in the community.  Now, circumcision was not unique to the Israelite nation, but God makes it extremely important for them:  It becomes a sign of their relationship with God, a symbol of the fact that they are God’s people.  From this point on, every time a boy is eight days old, or every time a husband and wife are intimate with each other, they will be reminded that they are God’s people.  And this symbol is for everyone in the house—not just for sons.  A unique, covenant relationship with God is offered to everyone.

            So despite the fact that it must seem like a difficult thing to do, Abraham obeys.  I have to wonder how that conversation went: “Okay everyone, God has spoken to me, and…” 

            In any case, I know this may seem like a strange passage for me to choose to write about, but I think there are a few things we can learn from it.  First of all, there is nothing more important than a covenant relationship with God.  I know, I know, Duh, right?  We know this.  But I feel like this chapter makes that truth more emphatic.  Because I was thinking about what God chooses in order to communicate his covenant, and it struck me that he speaks about it in such intimate ways—Abraham’s name—his first name, even—and his genitals.  I feel like you can’t get more to the core of who a person is than that.  Those are incredibly intimate things.  And because it is so profoundly personal, it stresses how very important our relationship with God is.  I think it is even more vital than we realize.  If we are honest, is it not true that our behavior and thoughts often reveal that our relationship with God isn’t all that important?  This story, if nothing else, shows that it’s not a casual thing.  Changing a person’s name, calling them to be circumcised… those are big deals.  Our relationship with God is of primary importance; it is everything. 

            The second thing I want to point out is that our relationship with God requires radical faith and obedience.  This was not a casual thing that Abraham did.  It was radical.  See, the fulfillment of the promise was secondary to the relationship with God, and establishing the kind of relationship that he was meant to have required radical faith and obedience.  This is especially true since Abraham and Sarah didn’t see the multitudes God promised.  They saw a son and a grandson… but no multitudes.  But that was okay, because the promise was secondary to the relationship.  I think sometimes, we switch this around.  We throw tantrums and say, “But God, you promised!” and we forget the relationship.  Abraham waited 24 years for the promise.  That’s a long time.  But there were things for him to learn in the waiting, the most important of which was learning how to be in a relationship with God, to walk by faith, and to be obedient.

            So, with this story in mind, I want to ask a few questions.

            First, What is your name?  God knows our name… our real name.  Not our parents’ name for us, or the world’s name for us—whether those names were good or bad.  Often, we are either beaten down by the names given to us in life, or we become arrogant because of them.  We might be named Loser, Unwanted, or Rejected; or, on the other hand, we might be named Special, Gifted, or Valued.  But we need to know what God’s name for us is.  The book of Revelation says that we have a name that no one but God knows.  And Scripture talks about who we are in powerful ways—a child of God, a friend of God, justified, not condemned, a member of Christ’s Body.  So, what is your name?  Do you feel like the temple of God?  A citizen of heaven?  A branch of the vine?  God’s workmanship?  Or are the names from your life still going through your head?  We need to pray and ask God tell us our name.  He may want to speak something new to you.

            Second, What is your sign?  Now, I know this used to be a pick-up line, but that’s not what I mean.  For Jewish people, circumcision was a sign of their relationship with God.  So I have to ask, what is the sign of being a Christian?  Some might say baptism, but I’m not convinced; it’s important, but you can’t look at someone and tell if they have been baptized.  I mean, I’m not still wet, right?  So perhaps you might say that it is communion.  And that is definitely important; it keeps us centered on Christ and reminds us what our faith is about.  But I think that the sign of a Christian is love.  That’s what Jesus said would show people that we are his followers.  So when we don’t love, we break the covenant.  If there is no love in my life, that might be a sign that I’m not actually a Christian.  1 John tells us that love is what shows that we have passed from death to life, and says that if we have no love, we have no knowledge of God. 

            So I think love is the sign of the covenant.  Sometimes I hear people in the church talk about how they “don’t like Christians.”  You know how we often have an idea in our head of “that Christian” who we don’t want to be like?  We all seem to assume that we’re not “that Christian,” but that is another issue.  The fact is that if I have such a disparaging attitude in my heart, I need to repent, because I don’t love the people that God is crazy about.  Moreover, if you have ever read 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, you might realize that it rules out cynicism.  There is no room for cynicism in love.  And love is the sign of the covenant.  So if my heart is judgmental, snide, or cynical, I need to be changed.

            My final question is, What are you leaving behind?  The emphasis in the promises Abraham received was always on what would come after him.  He left behind descendents who would multiply God’s work in the world.  In fact, the language in this passage is similar to the beginning of Genesis, where God tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply.  This is part of God’s purpose—filling the world with his glory.  And in the book of Acts, the same language is used to describe the growth of the church.  I look at this connection, and I see that we need to leave behind spiritual descendents; we need to allow Jesus to change us to be more like him so that we can make disciples.  Will we leave behind followers of Christ and good works, or will we have no lasting impact?  We need to be intentional about coming together as a church to reach people for Christ.  And if we have truly been changed, then it will be natural for us to invite people to know the life of Christ.

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