These past two weeks, the first lessons have been about God’s covenants with Noah and, today, Abram.  God’s covenants look different in different times but are always about God lavishing blessings on people in response to their faithfulness–their saying yes to God.  

Last week, God singled out Noah as the one good person left in a world full of violence, chaos, and evil.  Sure enough, Noah listens to God and does what God asks; he builds an ark for his family and two of every animal in his backyard while his neighbors make fun of him.  Then, after the flood comes, he hangs out on the ark he built for 40 days and nights with all those animals and anxious family members, somehow keeping everyone healthy and alive.  

Then, because he did what God asked, when it’s all over, God puts a rainbow in the sky and promises never to wipe out everything and everybody again, no matter how bad things get.  Note that things start going bad again quickly once they are on dry land (though maybe not to pre-Flood levels) when Noah gets drunk and one of his sons does not respond appropriately.  You can read all about it in Genesis.

This Covenant, it seems to me, is about God realizing that people will keep acting badly—-but that no matter what, God will choose mercy and care for all living things rather than wrath and destruction.  This is significantly different from the whimsical and often cruel actions of the gods in many other religions that were around in ancient times.  

Moving forward several generation, God creates a covenant with Abraham. This time, God promises two specific things:  land and children (lots of children, as many as the stars in the sky and sands in the desert). And–this part’s important later–that through that land and those people–through Israel–God’s blessing will go out to all people.  In return, God asks Sarah and Abraham to have faith that all of that will happen and to demonstrate that faith by saying yes to going where God tells them to go.  As we heard today, they are mostly but definitely not always faithful to that covenant, but no matter what, God keeps the promises God has made.  Isaac and Ishmael both become the fathers of nations.  Abraham has lands and flocks, and his ancestors found Israel, where Jesus, many years later, is born. 

Next week we’ll hear about an entirely new covenant that God makes with Moses through the giving of the Law.

Each of these covenants is different but here’s what’s similar.  All of them are physical–God’s blessing comes in the form of long-life, physical safety, land ownership, and children.  In all of the covenants, too, people stray really quickly from the promises that they’ve made, When they do, bad things happen. Still, each time,  God remains faithful, calling the people back to their agreements, and the people return, repenting and renewing their trust in God.

Which takes us to the Covenant in the Gospel lesson today.

In Jesus, his followers are hoping for the usual solid, material fulfillment of the older covenants with God: this time that Jesus, the new David, will take the throne in Jerusalem away from the Romans and their toadies and right all the wrongs of their world.  That’s what Peter’s thinking when he (probably speaking for all the disciplesl) says, “You are the Messiah.”

But instead of political power and victory over their enemies, Jesus promises that to find new life, he will suffer and die on the cross, and they need to fall in and follow along. Can you blame Peter for taking him aside and trying to get him back to Plan A?

This time around, though, it seems like God figures there’s only one way to get at the human tendency to mess up the goodness of creation, to break every covenant we make. This time, God covenants to jump headlong into the suffering that happens every time God’s people wander away from God’s love.  

And so Jesus plunges into the worst that can happen when sin happens–and responds to that suffering with mercy and love and forgiveness right to the end. From his ride into the wrong side of Jerusalem to dying on the cross straight through to today, Jesus covenants to love and embrace us when things are messed up and people are suffering: God, loving us,  forgiving us, with us, transforming death into new life.

And all (!!)  we have to do back is say yes, Lord, we’ll do what you ask. When we see suffering? We’ll carry that cross. When we mess up? We’ll feel that weight.  When we’re the ones hurting?  We’ll let you in.