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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