Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18                   Psalm 27                              Philippians 3:17-4:1                         Luke 13:31-35 

Last night I celebrated the Eucharist at Camp Mitchell where 75 youth and the chaperones had gathered for Senior High Winkerston. The theme for their retreat was Jesus was a rebel, with a revolutionary message. A message of love delivered to a people who wanted to regain their power. I tell you this, because this sermon is the one I preached to them, with only slight medication – I took out the references to cell phones and school…and to the sermon I had preached at M.P.

In the church we speak often of God’s covenant with the people of Israel – “the chosen people of God.”   Being the chosen people, God promised them land – the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey.  In this reading from Genesis, we hear the story of God making a covenant with Abram – who was later to be named Abraham.  God promises Abram more descendants than there are stars in heaven – and to them the land before Abram.

There are actually more covenants in the Bible than this one.  This one is what is known as the Abrahamic Covenant.   Later in the Old Testament, God makes a covenant with Moses – the Mosaic Covenant.  There is a very significant difference between these two:  in the covenant with Abraham and all his descendants – God expects nothing in return.  God promises Abraham children, and God promises his descendants the land.   Later, in the covenant with Moses, God asks for obedience in return.  But the Abrahamic covenant is the very definition of grace – God’s forgiveness is freely given to us.  God loves us even when we sin and turn our backs to God.  God’s love is greater than we imagine.  That very fact remains constant – even in the Mosaic covenant.  The expectation of obedience to the statues and ordinances was added for our own good.  When we are obedient, we live in a deeply personal relationship with God.  When we disobey these “laws” we hurt others, ourselves, and God. 

But back to the Abrahamic Covenant.  Abram voices his concerns about having followed God and yet he did not have children or property.  He went to sleep that night and it says, “a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.”  And it was “on that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.”  It was a covenant that represented for Abram the hope of a future.  Have you ever noticed it is often in the midst of a deep and terrifying darkness in our lives that we feel God’s presence – perhaps in the words spoken to us from a friend, a stranger, or perhaps a sense of calm that overcomes us.  Even in the midst of horrific tragedies such as 9-11, we can see God’s presence in the form of strangers sharing the burden of carrying a women in a wheelchair down countless flights of steps. 

In today’s Gospel reading, some Pharisees come to warn Jesus.  In other stories involving the Pharisees, they opposed Jesus – but here they come to warn him proving once again that generalizations are not to be trusted.  Clearly not all Pharisees agreed with those in authority in the church who called for Jesus to be executed.  The Jewish faith is like our own - it is filled people who differ in theology and political views.  And that is how it was when Jesus was preaching and healing. 

Luke then goes on to report that Jesus would not stop what he was doing on account of any earthly king.  Jesus, in fact, showed his disregard for those in political authority by calling the king a fox.  And he rebelled against those in the highest levels of Jewish authority by saying that Jerusalem, the city that housed the temple and was the center of Jewish authority, Jerusalem was a city that kills prophets – prophets, the messengers of God.  Jesus’ response was one of a man who was not in fear for his life.  He clearly did not fear others and he clearly did not fear death.  Later, we read he did not welcome death either.  The night before he was taken to suffer and die for us, he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” 

No rebel wants to die for the cause, but a rebel is prepared to die, if necessary.  Jesus was prepared, and Jesus did – not because it was God’s will for him to die, but because it was God’s will that we might be saved from our own misguided views of wealth, glory and salvation.  It took his death upon a cross and his resurrection for us to understand that there is more to life than our material possessions (our homes, our furnishings, and our cars), our political views, and even ourselves and our friends. 

Jesus said, don’t worry about those in authority – I’m casting out demons and performing cures.  Jesus taught a discipline of love that was present in Jewish law, but often missed in the people’s attempts to strictly adhere to it. 

His death upon the cross was an act of love – and one with a point.  Remember, when asked which of the commandments is the greatest, he replied, “You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.  The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no greater commandment than these.”    Remember also, the definition that Jesus used for neighbor – it included everyone in need – and who among us is without the need of love?