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A response to the Christian covenant

First Sunday of Lent (B), Genesis 9:8-15. Lectionary 023, March 5

With the season of Lent, the Church prepares for its annual reliving of the events of our salvation: the death and resurrection of Jesus. But God’s plans for salvation, God’s project of making something really worthwhile out of us sinful human creatures, did not begin with the life of Jesus. It was a project that had begun in the Garden of Eden, right after the sin of Adam and Eve had cast humanity into separation from the life of God. God immediately set out to heal the separation. His plan was to restore these human creatures of His to the relationship that had prevailed before our first parents sinned. God’s preliminary activity in carrying out the plan is what is recorded in the inspired books that we call the Old Testament. During the Sundays of Lent, we are given a series of readings from the Old Testament that offer us some of the highlights of the story of salvation. (At the Easter Vigil, we hear the story once again in a longer series of more extended Old Testament readings.)

In year B, the survey of salvation history begins with a reading from Genesis, the book that gives us the narratives of the oldest and most basic events of the relationship between God and us.

Just prior to our reading, God had cleansed the earth of its sinfulness through the flood. Everything had been destroyed except what was in the ark with Noah. Earth had now been restored to human supervision and human beings had been told once again to increase and multiply (cf. Genesis 9:1-7).

As our reading begins, God offers a kind of guarantee of His continued benevolence. He establishes a covenant with Noah and his descendants (i.e., with all of humanity) and with every other living creature that He would never again destroy the earth by flood.

Then He establishes a sign — for humanity but also for himself. The rainbow would serve to remind God of the commitment that He had made. When clouds gather and threatened to flood creation, God would see the rainbow and remember the covenant He had made.

A covenant is an agreement or contract, and covenants were among the most basic instruments that God used in dealing with His people to prepare them for salvation. Covenants involved a relationship based upon a commitment. In purely human covenants, both parties make a commitment and both parties benefit. God’s covenants are somewhat different in that they arise exclusively from God’s initiative and benefit only the human party. God and man do not enter covenants as equals.

In addition to the covenant with Noah, God also made covenants with Abraham, with Moses and the Israelites, and with David. Sometimes there were signs to represent the covenant (the rainbow in the covenant with Noah, circumcision in the covenant with Abraham). Sometimes the covenant involved specific obligations (the observance of the law). Sometimes the covenant was simply proclaimed (the messianic covenant with David in II Samuel 7). But in every case, the covenant was a gracious commitment on God’s part that established or strengthened a relationship with human beings. In every case, some response was expected, if only the acknowledgment of the kindness and generosity of God.

Jesus constitutes the final covenant between God and human creatures. Jesus is the final chapter in the history of salvation. Through our sharing in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection God links us to himself fully and finally. The initiative of the Father makes us into a new kind of creature. We cannot deserve to be remade into the image of the risen Christ. We can only respond to God’s overtures and God’s generosity. The sign of the covenant of Jesus is the Eucharist. Jesus’ gift of His body and blood that is re-presented in the Eucharist expresses and strengthens our relationship with Him. It constitutes, as the liturgy puts it, "a new and everlasting covenant," a relationship that will never wear out, that will never change.

As we begin Lent, we look forward to the Easter vigil in which the church’s new members will enter the Christian covenant by their passage through the water of baptism. The Christian theological tradition has seen Noah’s passage through the flood as symbolic of baptism.

But we also set to work in renewing our attention to God’s commitment to us. We who are already Christians do not need to re-enter the covenant. But we do need to renew our response to it.

For Reflection and Discussion.

What does God expect of us by way of response to the Christian covenant?

How well do I respond?



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	*Overtures* Reflection on the first readings of the Sunday liturgy By Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk A response to the Christian covenant First Sunday of Lent (B), Genesis 9:8-15. Lectionary 023, March 5 With the season of Lent, the Church prepares for its annual reliving of the events of our salvation: the death and resurrection of Jesus. But God’s plans for salvation, God’s project of making something really worthwhile out of us sinful human creatures, did not begin with the life of Jesus. It was a project that had begun in the Garden of Eden, right after the sin of Adam and Eve had cast humanity into separation from the life of God. God immediately set out to heal the separation. His plan was to restore these human creatures of His to the relationship that had prevailed before our first parents sinned. God’s preliminary activity in carrying out the plan is what is recorded in the inspired books that we call the Old Testament. During the Sundays of Lent, we are given a series of readings from the Old Testament that offer us some of the highlights of the story of salvation. (At the Easter Vigil, we hear the story once again in a longer series of more extended Old Testament readings.) In year B, the survey of salvation history begins with a reading from Genesis, the book that gives us the narratives of the oldest and most basic events of the relationship between God and us. Just prior to our reading, God had cleansed the earth of its sinfulness through the flood. Everything had been destroyed except what was in the ark with Noah. Earth had now been restored to human supervision and human beings had been told once again to increase and multiply (cf. Genesis 9:1-7). As our reading begins, God offers a kind of guarantee of His continued benevolence. He establishes a covenant with Noah and his descendants (i.e., with all of humanity) and with every other living creature that He would never again destroy the earth by flood. Then He establishes a sign — for humanity but also for himself. The rainbow would serve to remind God of the commitment that He had made. When clouds gather and threatened to flood creation, God would see the rainbow and remember the covenant He had made. A covenant is an agreement or contract, and covenants were among the most basic instruments that God used in dealing with His people to prepare them for salvation. Covenants involved a relationship based upon a commitment. In purely human covenants, both parties make a commitment and both parties benefit. God’s covenants are somewhat different in that they arise exclusively from God’s initiative and benefit only the human party. God and man do not enter covenants as equals. In addition to the covenant with Noah, God also made covenants with Abraham, with Moses and the Israelites, and with David. Sometimes there were signs to represent the covenant (the rainbow in the covenant with Noah, circumcision in the covenant with Abraham). Sometimes the covenant involved specific obligations (the observance of the law). Sometimes the covenant was simply proclaimed (the messianic covenant with David in II Samuel 7). But in every case, the covenant was a gracious commitment on God’s part that established or strengthened a relationship with human beings. In every case, some response was expected, if only the acknowledgment of the kindness and generosity of God. Jesus constitutes the final covenant between God and human creatures. Jesus is the final chapter in the history of salvation. Through our sharing in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection God links us to himself fully and finally. The initiative of the Father makes us into a new kind of creature. We cannot deserve to be remade into the image of the risen Christ. We can only respond to God’s overtures and God’s generosity. The sign of the covenant of Jesus is the Eucharist. Jesus’ gift of His body and blood that is re-presented in the Eucharist expresses and strengthens our relationship with Him. It constitutes, as the liturgy puts it, "a new and everlasting covenant," a relationship that will never wear out, that will never change. As we begin Lent, we look forward to the Easter vigil in which the church’s new members will enter the Christian covenant by their passage through the water of baptism. The Christian theological tradition has seen Noah’s passage through the flood as symbolic of baptism. But we also set to work in renewing our attention to God’s commitment to us. We who are already Christians do not need to re-enter the covenant. But we do need to renew our response to it. For Reflection and Discussion.** What does God expect of us by way of response to the Christian covenant? How well do I respond?

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