The air these days is full of
promises. One might even say we are a generation besieged with promises.
Television commercials, political campaigns and personal relationships all seem
to become processes in which promises are the basis to persuade us to a variety
of actions and opinions. If we believe the maker of the promises, we follow a
course of action that basically concludes that the promise is an indication of
a reality that will happen. It is a matter of faith.
The ancient nature of our
transaction with God is that he makes promises to human beings. He is not
running for office, of course, but in his love for us and our need of assurance
that our life on earth is more than just an accident of cosmic evolution, he
has made promises to us.
I was struck by a text not long
ago that was translated in a curious way in the Good News Bible. It was when the messenger of God announced to
Abraham that he would have offspring, “as many as the stars in the sky.” Then
the text goes on, “Abraham believed God…and God was pleased.” The more precise
translation is, no doubt, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for
righteousness.” (Genesis 15:5) This last is the more familiar form of the
verse. The translator, however, takes the verse and holds it up as a human and
non-judicial pre-historic portrait of how God seeks to be understood by us. You
and I are enlarged when we are trusted. Life becomes a positive and affirming
adventure. When trust is present, the creative spirit is made free to explore
and utilize all of the energies available to us. When we are believed, we are
spared the energies and efforts needed to guarantee our credibility.
God
promises to be the Living God in our midst. You can probably recite
from memory as many instances of “promises” from the Bible as can I. My point
is not to catalogue them, but to recognize that we need to distinguish between
the self-serving promises flung at us by the commercial and political world of
our time, and on the other hand, the ancient and absolute reliability of the promises
inherent in the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as the scriptures that offer us
an awareness of what God will provide from day to day.
Pastor Jansen
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