Covenant

The middle one is the one I remember and wore with pride.

When I was younger, I was part of a church group called the Covenanters. It was a national organisation, I think. We certainly went to regional Covenanter competitions. It was a bit like a uniformed organisation without the uniform. I took part in a local swimming gala and with greater success, in a Bible Recitation competition. I learnt Psalm 46 off by heart, which has stood me in good stead over the years. I attained the highest Covenanter award – a badge with a gold crown on the top. And yet I still had no idea what covenant actually meant.

So here’s a dictionary definition for those of you that are unsure too –

COVENANT: Literally, a contract. In the Bible, an agreement between God and his people, in which God makes promises to his people and, usually, requires certain conduct from them. In the Old Testament, God made agreements with Noah, Abraham, and Moses.

So a covenant is an agreement. A two way agreement. A two way promise. A two way commitment.

In Deuteronomy 29, we see the renewal of the covenant made with the Israelites at Horeb. It’s a reminder of God’s promises to them and what He expects in return. It’s a reminder that everything that has happened so far has been to convince the people that God is God. He is who He says He is. He does what He says He does (although verse 4 is an interesting aside – ‘But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.’ – we will never understand God and his workings completely because He is God and we are not).

It’s an encouragement to follow the terms of this covenant that is not just for this day, but goes way back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

It warns against complacency and a naive reliance on God’s mercy and love. God’s forgiveness cannot be taken for granted.

It’s a reminder that that covenant is not just for that day, but for the people of God for all time –

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.  Deuteronomy 29:29

That means us. God wants to be in relationship with us. God wants a covenant relationship with each one of us.

It is good to be reminded.

At the start of each new year, the Methodists hold a covenant service which includes this covenant prayer –

‘I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing,
put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you,
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you,
or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.’

Wow! Wonderful words of dedication to God. How much of that prayer do you feel able to say?

Here’s another well-known prayer – the Prayer of St Francis – which could be used as a basis for your covenant with God.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is discord, harmony;

Where there is error, truth;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

And finally, I came across this practical pledge written by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, and shared by Shane Claiborne on Facebook this morning (having seen the trailer for ‘Selma’ at the cinema last night which looks like a must-see film), which had a covenant feel about it too –