Promises, Promises
By Nancy Ciaffone
I see the readings for today as promises made and promises not kept.
Psalm 105 is part of the familiar story of Abram becoming Abraham. God promises to give Abraham all of Canaan. All he asks is that Abraham and his family (and I assume the other families in the group) thank Him and glorify Him through the ages. Gee, that sounds like a good deal. But I suspect the trip from Assyria to Canaan got to be quite a challenge. And it must have been especially tough for Sarah, pregnant at her advanced age. Heck, it was difficult for me in my early 20s. But God said He'd protect them, and I guess he did.
Numbers 14 finds God getting angry that the people He's saving and taking back to Canaan are complaining and rebelling. He's ready to give up on them. They are not keeping their part of the bargain. This is not thanking and glorifying. And God has pulled off a lot of stuff for this group: got them out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, provided water from the rock, manna and quail for meals. Doesn't seem like a bad deal as a way to get away from being enslaved. I suspect folks taking the Underground Railroad would have appreciated it. But they are griping and blaming God, so God is done with them. But Moses says God has to pardon everyone or folks will say He's too weak. Wow, Moses is actually tempting and testing God! God compromises. He will let Caleb get the Israelites to Canaan, but none of the folks who began the trek, including Moses, will see the Promised Land.
I rather get a kick out of Paul in Corinthians 10. Clearly, some folks have been behaving, but some have gone off the rails a tad—or more. Basically, he seems to be saying that, if you went the wrong way, you're heading for "deep yogurt". And it's your own fault, so "suck it up".
We have a covenant with God. And, especially in Lent, we have to remember that that covenant is equally with Jesus. We have to really believe in and act on the lines, "What you do for the least of these...." Or just, "And the second is like unto it; love your neighbor as yourself." It's a promise we make, and one we had best keep.
