Commentary
by Walter Albritton
God’s People
live and Serve within a Covenant Community
Deuteronomy 29
Key Verse: Enter
into the covenant of the Lord your God, …in order that
he may establish you today as his people. – Deuteronomy 29:12-13
Scottie and
Jessica stood before me, with some 20 family members looking on, and entered
into the sacred covenant of marriage. They promised to be faithful to each
other, “forsaking all others” so that the bond between them would not be
broken. All who were present could see that they loved each other deeply.
Some present
may not have understood that this marriage was not simply a covenant between a
man and a woman. The marriage covenant includes also
God and the faith community represented by the family and friends of the
couple. Witnesses are present to remind the couple of the vows they made and to
encourage their faithfulness to each other.
Since the
institution of marriage is God’s idea, the bride and groom enter into a holy
covenant with God as well as each other. That is why I urged Scottie and
Jessica to keep God’s holy will by being faithful to each other. I assured them
that if they did, God would bless their home with peace.
In the years to
come, the young couple’s love will be tested. They
will be tempted to break their covenant. However, they can find the strength to
build a good, lasting marriage by relying on the grace of God and the help of
their faith family. We all need the grace of God to help us remain faithful to
our covenants.
Life is about
covenants. Buy and car on time and you covenant to make the monthly payments.
Purchase a home and the mortgage you sign is a legal covenant. Join the
Today’s
scripture introduces us to a new kind of covenant, one not with individuals but
with a nation of people. This covenant was all-inclusive. It included not only key
leaders but also everyone else, even “those who cut your wood and those who
draw your water.” Even foreigners “in the camp” were expected
to buy into the covenant.
God called the
Israelites to covenant, to agree, to be his people, to become a “holy nation”
set apart to serve him. He promised to care for them. He did. He kept his
promises. Their clothes and their shoes did not wear out during forty years in
the wilderness. Their health was good, despite having
had no bread or wine for years. They were able to defeat their enemies in one
battle after another.
Moses
understood how forgetful the people were of all that God had done for them. He
knew they, like us, so easily forget God’s works of grace. Therefore, he
insisted that they remember God’s goodness, and renew the vows that were made
first at
We Methodists,
like most Protestants, delight in our freedom. We do not wish for anyone to
tell us what we must do. That is why some will say about giving, “What I do
with my money is my business; it is between me and God.” Some never pledge to
the church for that very reason. They simply give what they want to give,
whenever they choose.
Fortunately,
our membership vows are not narrow about giving. We vow simply to “uphold” our
church with our giving, as well as our prayers, presence, and service. Each of
us is free to determine what faithful giving means to us.
However, in the
matter of giving, we have a great heritage as a faith community. Our ancestors,
the Israelites, practiced tithing, giving ten per cent to the Lord. They did
that before God sent His Son to die
for our sins. If the Jews could give a tithe before Christ, surely we as
Christians can give no less, being on this side of the cross.
Tithing, in my
judgment, should be the minimum standard
for Christians. For many years, my wife and I have given a tithe to the church,
with no strings attached, and given additional money for other causes, mainly
missions. Certainly, what we have given is nothing to brag about.
I share it simply to illustrate how the Spirit has led us to fulfill our sacred
vows as one couple within the continuing faith community known as God’s People.
I can testify that God has blessed us beyond our deserving.
Tithing reminds
me that I belong to God. I aim to be a faithful member of his covenant people.
When I married Dean more than 52 years ago, I agreed to belong to her, and she
to me. We live in a sacred covenant relationship with each other and with God.
We have both been blessed by our faithfulness to our
marriage covenant.
As Christians,
we have a great heritage. We trace our heritage back to the covenant of
Abraham. God has blessed us. He has embraced us as his own people. He has kept
his promises to us. He has invited us to live in covenant with him. As
Methodists, we know the lasting value of yielding our lives to God and
declaring, “I am no longer my own, but thine”!
May we choose
to live daily as people in a holy covenant with God, so that bystanders will
say, “Their God has done great things for them”!
+ + + + (Contact Walter at
walbritton@elmore.rr.com)