Serving God is Covenant Agreement.

(Homily for February 16, 2017).


While reading the Bible, I have come to discover that the most difficult and hard-to-swallow aspects are neatly intertwined with the seemingly sweet verses. The story of Noah is one typical example. It is a sweet story that talks of a man who obeyed God, built an ark, saved his family and the animals from the flood and began humanity again. God even blessed him with the same words of blessing that He used for Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” In the midst of this very beautiful story comes a hard reality; the fact that we serve a God who could destroy the whole world and everything he had made as a retribution for the wickedness that was upon the face of earth.

Thanks be to God that this would not happen again. God himself swore that never again would he destroy all life on earth by a flood. And a sign of this is the Rainbow. This is a sweet story and it fills us with lots of consolation and hope. However, a closer reading of this story reveals a rather tough message. The Rainbow not only indicates the disappearance of floods, it is also a symbol of a covenant; that is, an agreement between God and we his people. “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Genesis 9:12-13.

What is the meaning of a Covenant? In those days, when a king succeeds in raiding a lesser kingdom, he may either destroy it completely or decide to enter into an agreement with them such that the lesser kingdom becomes its subject. This agreement or pledge of loyalty is called covenant and it usually contains both blessings and curses. The blessings are the things the lesser king will enjoy by remaining faithful while the curses are things that will happen should he decide to rebel or seek for independence. This was exactly what God did with Noah and to the rest of humanity.

In Jesus Christ, we see a New Testament; that is to say, a new covenant between God and humanity. And the sign of this New Covenant is the Cross on which Jesus shed his blood for humanity. Jesus was born for this purpose and he was ready and willing to die a painful and shameful death on the cross. Nothing would come his way in achieving this purpose, not even the persuasion of Peter. To show how serious Jesus was about suffering and dying, he called Peter “Satan” for trying to discourage him.

Today, we are beneficiaries of that covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus. Because of what Jesus did for us, because of his suffering, shame, pain and death, we stand to gain lots of blessings from God, we pray with boldness because this covenant is our insurance policy, it is our guarantee, our open cheque to everything good we ever desire. However, it is still a covenant – there are blessings, there are also curses. This is why we cannot afford to joke with God, this is why hell still exists and we shall face the curses if we decide to go against the terms and conditions of the covenant agreement. Whenever we sin, we are like a small king trying to rebel against the big king.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, free me from my rebellious spirit. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Thursday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Genesis 9:1-13 and Mark 8:27-33).


Fr. Abu.

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