Reflection
on the readings for Year B, Lent 1 through
5
by John G. Gibbs, PhD
The creation/covenant connection
appears on all five Sundays of Lent.
The crisis that humanity inflicts
on itself and the world does not have the last word. God does.
The covenant that God makes with the earth (Gen. 9:8-17) repels
chaos, preserves the face of God in us the "imagers,"
and establishes the Creator's sustaining care at and as the
heart of the universe.
Human community and all creation
together strain expectantly toward their common fate, in a process
and an outcome never separated from "the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:31ff.). There will be new
birth. Labor pains this time are not in vain.
The God who "from heaven"
spoke 10 memorable promises requires that we make "only
an altar of earth," and use un-chiseled natural stones
(Ex. 20:22-24). Those 10 promises portray the release God brings
in perennial exodus, in deliverance from slavery to other gods.
The "steadfast love of God" urges from Mt. Sinai:
"Do not be afraid"; from shepherds' fields: "Do
not be afraid"; and from Jesus, despite his being encircled
by men lying in wait to catch him: "Do not be afraid."
(Ex. 20:6,20; Luke 2:10 and 12:32). "All these words"
(Gen. 20:1), misnamed as commandments, are promises that tell
how it will be in our relationships with God, neighbors, creatures.
We can choose hope, not fear.
Such promises are rooted in "a plan for the fullness of
time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things
on earth. …For we are what he has made us, created in Christ
Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our
way of life." (Ephesians 1:10; 2:4-10) Notice: "created
for good works," not for destructive "dominion"
against Creator, against creation, against "image"
of the Creator.
"One heart and one way" are gifts of "the new
covenant" God makes. It is the unbroken covenant not only
with God's People but also with day and night! Indeed, the God-given
reliability ("fixed order") of sun, moon, and stars,
also of day and night, assure us that God's covenant can be
counted on to endure. (Jeremiah 31:31-35; 32:38-41; 33:19-22)
God would rather die than not be God for us. Global warming,
sexual orientation, eco-justice, a shrinking church amending
her constitution - we approach all such matters with hope in
the God who makes "everlasting covenant."
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