1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,766 Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus 2 00:00:04,766 --> 00:00:05,766 Christ. 3 00:00:05,766 --> 00:00:06,766 Amen. 4 00:00:06,766 --> 00:00:13,600 Well, Genesis 17 is not exactly my dream text on which to preach. 5 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:18,800 I'm certain that our dean of chapel, John Veecker, assigned it to me with a sort of 6 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:25,566 perverse pleasure in the idea that my week after Christmas break would be filled with 7 00:00:25,566 --> 00:00:29,033 thoughts about circumcision. 8 00:00:29,033 --> 00:00:34,966 Forget Washington versus Michigan, the football game tonight for the national championship. 9 00:00:34,966 --> 00:00:38,400 Think circumcision. 10 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:39,400 Thanks a lot. 11 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:44,400 So how in the world am I going to make this text relevant to your life and ministry? 12 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:46,133 Good question. 13 00:00:46,133 --> 00:00:51,133 Well, I finally decided that the best way to do it is by talking about the politics 14 00:00:51,133 --> 00:00:52,133 of the text. 15 00:00:52,133 --> 00:00:57,133 I figure that everyone loves talking about politics, but it is politics in our church 16 00:00:57,133 --> 00:01:00,766 that is getting messed up all the time. 17 00:01:00,766 --> 00:01:04,533 So that's what you're going to get today, a sermon on politics. 18 00:01:04,533 --> 00:01:07,233 Here we go. 19 00:01:07,233 --> 00:01:16,566 Genesis 17 is the fifth of God's seven revelations to Abram and the second time where it explicitly 20 00:01:16,566 --> 00:01:19,966 states that God appeared to him. 21 00:01:19,966 --> 00:01:25,166 It is also the first time that Yahweh calls himself El Shaddai, which is usually translated 22 00:01:25,166 --> 00:01:26,866 as the Almighty God. 23 00:01:26,866 --> 00:01:35,833 The name itself highlights Yahweh's power and majesty, not his cozy friendliness. 24 00:01:35,833 --> 00:01:40,000 In this text, notice, God does all the talking. 25 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,900 Abram listens. 26 00:01:42,900 --> 00:01:47,633 One thing that Abram hears is that both he and his wife are getting new names. 27 00:01:47,633 --> 00:01:52,333 The names, God says, are connected to the promise that He is making them. 28 00:01:52,333 --> 00:01:58,266 That promise from the king to the servant involves a huge political gift. 29 00:01:58,266 --> 00:02:04,433 God tells them not that He is demanding more taxes or more oppressive sacrifice from them 30 00:02:04,433 --> 00:02:06,966 as kings often do. 31 00:02:06,966 --> 00:02:12,700 Instead, He tells them that He is appointing them as the forebearers of a multitude of 32 00:02:12,700 --> 00:02:15,633 nations and kings. 33 00:02:15,633 --> 00:02:20,266 He also says to Abram, I will give you the land of Canaan as an eternal possession and 34 00:02:20,266 --> 00:02:23,333 I will be your God. 35 00:02:23,333 --> 00:02:29,433 This wandering Aramean is told that he is heir to a huge inheritance of land and thus 36 00:02:29,433 --> 00:02:32,933 his descendants are going to be rich and powerful. 37 00:02:32,933 --> 00:02:37,933 Nations, kings, property, that's the stuff of wealth and power. 38 00:02:37,933 --> 00:02:40,133 That's the stuff of nation building. 39 00:02:40,133 --> 00:02:44,266 It's high stakes politics. 40 00:02:44,266 --> 00:02:48,433 On the other side of the coin, God's promises charge political rhetoric for the reigning 41 00:02:48,433 --> 00:02:49,766 kings in Canaan. 42 00:02:49,766 --> 00:02:54,966 They're fighting words for they suggest that God is going to dismantle their power structures 43 00:02:54,966 --> 00:02:57,233 and replace them with his own. 44 00:02:57,233 --> 00:03:00,033 Their kingdoms will fall. 45 00:03:00,033 --> 00:03:05,533 God's promise to Abraham and his descendants is as political as they come. 46 00:03:05,533 --> 00:03:10,966 To help Abraham and Sarah and especially their descendants remember such an impossible sounding 47 00:03:10,966 --> 00:03:15,366 promise, God gave Abram another sign. 48 00:03:15,366 --> 00:03:19,866 He told Abraham to circumcise his household and He said that throughout his generation 49 00:03:19,866 --> 00:03:24,633 circumcision was to be the sign of the covenant between Him and Abraham's seed. 50 00:03:24,633 --> 00:03:29,366 From generation to generation, circumcision served as a visible reminder that they were 51 00:03:29,366 --> 00:03:32,333 the heirs of God's promise. 52 00:03:32,333 --> 00:03:37,233 That's why God also told Abraham that any uncircumcised male was to be cut off from 53 00:03:37,233 --> 00:03:39,133 the people, no pun intended. 54 00:03:39,133 --> 00:03:40,566 No middle ground. 55 00:03:40,566 --> 00:03:42,800 You'll get that in a few seconds. 56 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,633 You're either part of his kingdom or you're not. 57 00:03:45,633 --> 00:03:49,733 That's the political reality. 58 00:03:49,733 --> 00:03:52,866 I also want to point out one more political aspect of this text. 59 00:03:52,866 --> 00:03:59,733 It comes in God's first command to Abram where God says to him, walk before me. 60 00:03:59,733 --> 00:04:05,400 Now most people interpret that as a metaphor for living a life of obedience or devotion 61 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:07,933 to God. 62 00:04:07,933 --> 00:04:13,533 But the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber has a much more interesting interpretation. 63 00:04:13,533 --> 00:04:19,000 He puts the phrase in the context of Israel's history and argues that when a king walks 64 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,766 before his people we see an army on the march. 65 00:04:22,766 --> 00:04:28,533 But when the image is reversed we see a ruler at peace sending a herald ahead to announce 66 00:04:28,533 --> 00:04:35,533 the king's coming and to prepare the way for the king's in person visit. 67 00:04:35,533 --> 00:04:42,000 In other words, Abraham's command to walk is his physical sojourning and the before 68 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,400 me indicates temporal order. 69 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:51,433 First Abraham journeys through Canaan later to be followed by the king at the head of 70 00:04:51,433 --> 00:04:53,233 his army. 71 00:04:53,233 --> 00:04:58,433 So Buber notices that as Abraham sojourned through the land of Canaan he built altars 72 00:04:58,433 --> 00:05:04,000 at Shechem and Bethel and then later at Beersheba and called out the name of the Lord. 73 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,066 This is not prayer he says. 74 00:05:06,066 --> 00:05:11,433 From the time of the establishment of the kingdom it means more exactly a proclamation. 75 00:05:11,433 --> 00:05:17,333 As the herald of the Lord Abraham went before the Lord, the king of the future land of Israel 76 00:05:17,333 --> 00:05:24,133 and proclaimed it as God's property and residence by calling out his name. 77 00:05:24,133 --> 00:05:30,066 Abraham is the first to make his way into history as a proclaimer of God's dominion 78 00:05:30,066 --> 00:05:33,600 Buber says. 79 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:39,266 So Abraham's sojourn through Canaan was a political mission and it was also bad news 80 00:05:39,266 --> 00:05:43,866 for the governments of Canaan as they found out when Yahweh appeared again to his captive 81 00:05:43,866 --> 00:05:50,666 people and after humiliating the king of Egypt and their gods He led his army into Canaan 82 00:05:50,666 --> 00:05:52,000 as He had promised. 83 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:58,566 He gave it to Israel as He had promised and there He dwelled with his people on his throne 84 00:05:58,566 --> 00:06:02,466 as He had promised. 85 00:06:02,466 --> 00:06:09,866 All should have gone well for them and that could have been the end of the story. 86 00:06:09,866 --> 00:06:12,600 But of course it was not. 87 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,633 The problem was not the king, the problem was Israel. 88 00:06:16,633 --> 00:06:21,666 Unlike most kings Yahweh was not satisfied with servile fearful obedience. 89 00:06:21,666 --> 00:06:26,166 He was not interested in empty ritual as a show of devotion. 90 00:06:26,166 --> 00:06:29,866 He wanted Israel's hearts. 91 00:06:29,866 --> 00:06:39,033 He wanted his people to love and trust in Him above all else. 92 00:06:39,033 --> 00:06:43,966 And this is simply something the people could not give Him. 93 00:06:43,966 --> 00:06:46,533 Their hearts were too fickle. 94 00:06:46,533 --> 00:06:53,766 Circumcise your hearts the prophet Moses said at Israel's beginning. 95 00:06:53,766 --> 00:07:01,600 And the prophet Jeremiah is still saying it to Israel near the end of that kingdom. 96 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:03,866 Israel's rebellion was a matter of the heart. 97 00:07:03,866 --> 00:07:08,266 They loved other gods and because of it their kingdom went to ruin. 98 00:07:08,266 --> 00:07:09,533 Political disaster. 99 00:07:09,533 --> 00:07:13,100 First Assyria and then Babylon scattered God's people. 100 00:07:13,100 --> 00:07:17,066 Israel fell under the rule of foreign king after foreign king. 101 00:07:17,066 --> 00:07:24,066 And Yahweh's kingdom looked as if it had fallen completely. 102 00:07:24,066 --> 00:07:33,333 Except that Yahweh is the almighty God remember and it is his kingdom that is at stake. 103 00:07:33,333 --> 00:07:36,933 He did not forsake His people. 104 00:07:36,933 --> 00:07:40,066 Once again at the fullness of time He appeared to captive Israel. 105 00:07:40,066 --> 00:07:47,233 A people dwelling in sin and in the shadow of death saw a great light. 106 00:07:47,233 --> 00:07:49,700 And again He talked politics. 107 00:07:49,700 --> 00:07:53,833 The time is fulfilled and the reign of God is at hand. 108 00:07:53,833 --> 00:07:56,833 Repent and believe the gospel. 109 00:07:56,833 --> 00:08:00,233 Again these are fighting words for the rulers of that age. 110 00:08:00,233 --> 00:08:05,233 And for this kind of politically threatening talk the reigning powers finally killed the 111 00:08:05,233 --> 00:08:06,866 Messiah. 112 00:08:06,866 --> 00:08:12,166 In our political world rulers will fight like dogs to keep their power. 113 00:08:12,166 --> 00:08:18,033 Assassinating those who threaten their power is the politically expedient thing to do. 114 00:08:18,033 --> 00:08:24,933 So the inscription above the bloody crown of Jesus read, this is the king of the Jews. 115 00:08:24,933 --> 00:08:26,933 Taunting. 116 00:08:26,933 --> 00:08:28,933 Humiliating. 117 00:08:28,933 --> 00:08:31,700 Ironic. 118 00:08:31,700 --> 00:08:36,100 Look at your ruler now. 119 00:08:36,100 --> 00:08:41,066 Which is why God raised Jesus our Lord from the grave. 120 00:08:41,066 --> 00:08:44,933 The ultimate political power move. 121 00:08:44,933 --> 00:08:48,266 Raise the dead king. 122 00:08:48,266 --> 00:08:52,300 Look at your ruler now. 123 00:08:52,300 --> 00:08:58,166 Jesus resurrection is terrible news for all the governments and political parties of this 124 00:08:58,166 --> 00:08:59,700 world. 125 00:08:59,700 --> 00:09:03,066 For all the cosmic powers over this present darkness. 126 00:09:03,066 --> 00:09:06,400 For all the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 127 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:11,300 The resurrection is bad news to enemies of God's kingdom because the almighty God king 128 00:09:11,300 --> 00:09:14,300 lives and reigns at God's right hand. 129 00:09:14,300 --> 00:09:19,333 And in the fullness of time this king will return to deliver his kingdom to his Father. 130 00:09:19,333 --> 00:09:25,333 Let me take you to that moment when the son of man comes in all His glory and takes His 131 00:09:25,333 --> 00:09:29,100 seat on his throne. 132 00:09:29,100 --> 00:09:32,500 Before Him will be gathered all the nations. 133 00:09:32,500 --> 00:09:37,633 And He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the 134 00:09:37,633 --> 00:09:39,366 goats. 135 00:09:39,366 --> 00:09:45,033 And He will say to those on his left, apart from me you cursed into the eternal fire prepared 136 00:09:45,033 --> 00:09:47,933 for the devil and his angels. 137 00:09:47,933 --> 00:09:52,033 But to those on the right hand of the son of man He says, come you who are blessed by 138 00:09:52,033 --> 00:09:54,233 my Father. 139 00:09:54,233 --> 00:10:00,500 Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 140 00:10:00,500 --> 00:10:07,333 The wicked will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life. 141 00:10:07,333 --> 00:10:10,733 That day everything will depend on where you stand. 142 00:10:10,733 --> 00:10:18,566 It's a political dividing line at the highest level. 143 00:10:18,566 --> 00:10:22,866 Before that day you really should be asking yourself, which side am I on? 144 00:10:22,866 --> 00:10:26,266 Am I a sheep or a goat? 145 00:10:26,266 --> 00:10:32,933 Is my heart really any purer than any of those people of ancient Israel? 146 00:10:32,933 --> 00:10:37,266 Do I rebel any less than they do? 147 00:10:37,266 --> 00:10:43,933 Are my gods really that different than theirs? 148 00:10:43,933 --> 00:10:48,300 Now if you do some searching and are honest you have to admit that the answer is no. 149 00:10:48,300 --> 00:10:54,066 You're just as fickle and just as deserving of God's judgment. 150 00:10:54,066 --> 00:10:59,766 But the astounding mystery in all this is that the almighty God has decided to have 151 00:10:59,766 --> 00:11:02,366 mercy on you anyway. 152 00:11:02,366 --> 00:11:07,833 In the most undeserved political favor of all the king has decided to count you as one 153 00:11:07,833 --> 00:11:09,733 of His righteous sheep. 154 00:11:09,733 --> 00:11:12,533 Now isn't that something? 155 00:11:12,533 --> 00:11:18,633 I can say this because He has told you his verdict ahead of time and He's given you a 156 00:11:18,633 --> 00:11:22,366 sign of His promise. 157 00:11:22,366 --> 00:11:27,566 To put this word somewhat within the framework of the text with Paul I announce that in Christ 158 00:11:27,566 --> 00:11:33,266 also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. 159 00:11:33,266 --> 00:11:38,566 That without hands refers to the divine work of spiritual circumcision, the circumcision 160 00:11:38,566 --> 00:11:40,233 of your heart. 161 00:11:40,233 --> 00:11:46,400 Having been buried with Christ by baptism in which you are also raised with Him through 162 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:52,433 the powerful working of God who raised Him from the dead. 163 00:11:52,433 --> 00:11:56,466 Your baptism has given you the standing of God's resurrected son before the heavenly 164 00:11:56,466 --> 00:11:57,466 king. 165 00:11:57,466 --> 00:12:00,633 It gives you your identity, your political affiliation. 166 00:12:00,633 --> 00:12:06,766 You are one of God's people, part of his chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation, a people 167 00:12:06,766 --> 00:12:08,533 for his own possession. 168 00:12:08,533 --> 00:12:12,666 Your baptism should always remind you that you do not stand on the outside looking in. 169 00:12:12,666 --> 00:12:16,066 You are no longer strangers or aliens Paul says. 170 00:12:16,066 --> 00:12:18,266 You are fellow citizens. 171 00:12:18,266 --> 00:12:20,333 There's that political language again. 172 00:12:20,333 --> 00:12:24,866 Fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. 173 00:12:24,866 --> 00:12:29,566 Jesus' resurrection is great news because you have been raised up with Christ. 174 00:12:29,566 --> 00:12:37,966 You belong to Christ and so you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. 175 00:12:37,966 --> 00:12:45,966 I like to think that until our Lord comes again, like Abraham, we walk before the Lord. 176 00:12:45,966 --> 00:12:53,233 Before our Lord in the sense that Martin Buber interpreted Yahweh's command to Abraham. 177 00:12:53,233 --> 00:12:56,133 That is we are sojourners in this world. 178 00:12:56,133 --> 00:13:01,033 We travel unashamed to proclaim the name of the Lord wherever we go. 179 00:13:01,033 --> 00:13:06,733 Unashamed of the gospel because after all that's the power of this kingdom, of this 180 00:13:06,733 --> 00:13:10,866 God, of this king for salvation. 181 00:13:10,866 --> 00:13:15,533 We sojourn throughout the world baptizing people into God's kingdom, making outsiders, 182 00:13:15,533 --> 00:13:19,166 insiders and strangers into friends, gathering the kingdom. 183 00:13:19,166 --> 00:13:20,866 That's our political work. 184 00:13:20,866 --> 00:13:24,833 This is the politics in which our church should be involved. 185 00:13:24,833 --> 00:13:29,233 In our lives and in our ministries we prepare the world for the coming of our king. 186 00:13:29,233 --> 00:13:31,866 We are involved in the politics of an eternal kingdom. 187 00:13:31,866 --> 00:13:36,166 This great kingdom, God's kingdom of grace. 188 00:13:36,166 --> 00:13:41,266 Like Abraham we put our trust in God's word and God's promise even before that promise 189 00:13:41,266 --> 00:13:43,666 has been fulfilled. 190 00:13:43,666 --> 00:13:49,700 Like Abraham when he was given this promise in an earlier encounter with Yahweh it is 191 00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:55,966 said that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. 192 00:13:55,966 --> 00:14:02,433 So Abraham lived by faith and so do we. 193 00:14:02,433 --> 00:14:06,533 And that makes us a peculiar people indeed. 194 00:14:06,533 --> 00:14:07,533 Amen. 195 00:14:07,533 --> 00:14:13,133 Now may the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ which passes all our understanding keep your 196 00:14:13,133 --> 00:14:15,466 hearts and minds together in Christ Jesus. 197 00:14:15,466 --> 00:14:45,233 Amen.