Father Peter F. Hansen

Sermon for the 13 th Sunday after Trinity

September 5, 2004

Promises

“… if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.”

Promises, promises. If you had a dime for every promise you ever heard, you'd be a millionaire, don't you think so? There've been times when I didn't even want to hear a promise. Promises just made me mad. I couldn't believe them; I knew they were meant to quiet me down while things weren't happening for me as they should. Why is it that promises can make us unhappy?

      Years ago, there was a commercial that said, “Promise her anything, but give her Arpege.” The suggestion was that you could make any promise to your lady and break it, but it'll be okay if you get her a bottle of our perfume. We come to expect broken promises, and we even prepare for the rage that comes when we break our own. We plan on making up for our failures in advance.

      I left an employer to join someone in a new business venture. He told me that I was a very competent estimator and that, together with an experienced foreman, the 3 of us could start a new company. My new boss promised me and the other man stock in the new company. We began what would become a successful contracting firm. After a year, the foreman—now our general superintendent—asked for his stock. Nope. Sorry. That was a mistake. The boss shouldn't have made that offer , said the real stockowners. The superintendent left us to go back to our former company. I was offered a job there myself. But I hated working at the old place. So I stayed, and the boss took me aside and promised to have me stock in the company within 5 years.

      After the 5 years, a stock plan was started for all the employees. I wasn't treated any differently, but I got my stock— on paper . We were told that whenever we left employment there, the current value of the stock was ours for the asking. 8 years later, I quit to come to Chico and be your priest. I left contracting. But they refused to cash out my stock, and quickly began to devalue the company— on paper —so that the stock wouldn't have nearly so much value. I'd worked 13 years on promises that didn't come through.

      We all have broken promises to show. Our parents may have promised us things they couldn't give us. Lovers made promises of undying love, then the love died. The broken promises of marriage have left many of us bitter and jaded. And let's not get into politics and the promises our future elected officials have made to us, only to forget them a minute after they are inaugurated . That phenomenon has given us the phrase “ campaign promises ,” which only means “lies that sound good.”

      Is it any wonder that we may look at the promises of religion— promises of joy and provision, of well-being and peaceful assurance, of love and faith and hope— as just a lot of empty fairy tales and mumbo-jumbo. Certainly, many of our fellow men believe that the promises of Christianity are little more than pie in the sky. We'll get their pie down here, thank you, where we can eat it. I can love God, but I can't trust Him. Don't make me any promises you can't keep.

      It doesn't help when some church pundits do make silly promises, using scripture verses like crowbars to pry blessings of healings, riches, and material possessions out of the Almighty by ‘faith. '

      But you comes down to it, how many promises have you broken ? If other people's broken promises have ruined your trust in others, how does God see you ? Have you broken promises you made to Him? Every one of us made promises at our baptism. Want to know what they were? “ Dost thou renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and the sinful desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt not follow, nor be led by them?” I renounce them all; and, by God's help, will endeavour not to follow, nor be led by them…

     “Wilt thou obediently keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of thy life?” I will, by God's help.

      And what about the promises made on your wedding day: “ Wilt thou have this Man to thy wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou love him, comfort him, honour, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?” I will… I take thee to my wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth.

      Fr. Reed and I made strong and terrible promises when we were ordained priests. We promised to teach nothing, as necessary to eternal salvation, but what we were persuaded may be proven by Scripture; to minister the Doctrine and Sacraments, and the Discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded; to drive away from the Church all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's Word; to use exhortations to the sick and whole as need shall require; to pray, read the Bible, lay aside the study of the world and the flesh; to frame and fashion our own selves, and our families, as wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ; to maintain quietness, peace, and love, among all; and to reverently obey our Bishops following with a glad mind and will their godly admonitions, and submitting ourselves to their godly judgments. The promises of deacons and bishops are similarly austere and nearly impossible.

      Most of us have made promises to God in a crisis— that if only you would get me out of this mess, O Lord, I promise that I will always…

      When we fail to fulfill such promises, how does God see us? Jesus instructs us not to make a lot of vows, but to take the vows we do make seriously. Better to just say yes or no than to swear to anything . We bind ourselves to things we may not be able to bring off, like my boss did to me. Then the cheating begins. And eventually, we resent those against whom we broke the promises. We see them as enemies. We break promises and create long lasting feuds and curses.

      But God does not break His promises . And His promises are not all rosy. The Covenants don't bind Him only to do us good: they all have a fork in the path. We determine which way God will fulfill His promise to us: for our blessing, or for our punishment. He will fulfill His Covenant , either way. Heaven and hell are both in the Covenant. Both blessing and curse . God promised; we make one or the other happen by our choices.

      Does God stand behind His promises? Yes, His promises are 100% sure. Just be certain you know what they are, and what they are not. People have made up promises for God according to what they thought He should do for us.

      But God's promises are good. They are better than anything we can make up. St. Peter said, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 If we repent, turn back, return to God, His will is to save us. St. John wrote: “This is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” 1 John 2:25 St. Paul wrote to Titus of the “hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” Titus 1:2 And Jesus, when He ascended to heaven, said to them all: “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.” Luke 24:49 Peter, at Pentecost, preached to the multitude: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts 2:38-39

      God's promises to us were promises to bad children, to a fallen race. He didn't owe us anything, but He sought us out in love. He chose Abraham to make the ultimate promise, of a seed who would bring grace and a fulfillment of promise for all mankind. The law stood for a time in the place of a redeemer, and an indicator of how much man needed to change. The law had no power to redeem; in fact it brought further judgment. But the law pointed to a redeemer, one who might provide for us new life, if we believe and turn to Him as our Savior.

       So, God promised and we believe His promise . That's what the faith that saves us is talking about. God's promise is of something you can't see yet, and He looks for those who believe Him. Our faith is founded on things He already has done . Our faith is based in what we sense He is doing for us and in us right now. But our faith is also for a truly wonderful future, a state of being we have never known: perfection, heavenly grace, eternal life, joy unending . Can you believe in a promise like that? Then live the promise. Hold it, embrace it, rejoice in it, it's yours. Promise me anything, but in the end, give me Jesus.

             PFH+