Promises Remembered
March 16, 2025 Second Sunday in Lent
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Romans 4:13-25 Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
“Promises Remembered”
Melissa K. Smith
I have fond memories from elementary school of running around on the playground making silly promises. But even young Melissa knew that a promise made was only as good as the word of the promise maker – it required me to trust the person making the promise. Early on in my promise-making years I learned that sometimes someone’s words were not good enough and a promise could either be forgotten or it would be broken. So, I made sure my promises were made extra secure and incorporated the “pinky promise”. However, as promises continued to be made, despite the security of the “pinky promise”, promises were still forgotten or broken.
If someone reaches adulthood before a promise is forgotten or broken, they are rarer than a unicorn walking down Sunset Boulevard. Promises can quickly turn from enchanting possibilities to disenchanting heartbreak. Promises are complicated.
In Scripture, God’s promises come to us as covenants: covenantal promises. A covenant is an agreement. In the Ancient Near East, it was common for two parties or individuals to make a covenant: there were terms of agreement and a consequence if the covenant was broken. In Scripture, we often conflate the word “covenant” with the word “promise” because through his agreements with his people, God is the covenant maker and the one who will take the consequence. In other words, we experience the benefits and fruits but we don’t bear the burden of consequences. God does.
In the Noahic covenant, God promises that he will never again flood the earth. He makes a covenant with Noah that feels like and is a promise.
In the Abrahamic covenant, a portion of which we read this morning, God promises that Abraham and his family will become a great nation that will become a blessing to all nations through Abraham’s lineage.
In the Mosaic covenant God gives Moses the law, further shaping them into the people God has called them to be as they venture into the Promised Land. God promises that the Israelites will be his people, and he will be their God.
In the Davidic covenant God promises to establish an eternal kingdom through King David, fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is a descendant of the line of David.
And in the New Testament we see a new covenant, a new relationship made between God and humanity that is based on faith and grace – God will be our God and forgive us of our sins. This covenantal promise is rooted in the cross: because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, we experience the forgiveness of sin and death no longer has the last word. We are saved by grace through faith.
God is the promise maker and the promise keeper. But we, as experienced individuals who know a thing or two about promises…have valid reasons to question the certainty of a promise made without a pinky or a signed contract. Because of promises forgotten or promises that have been broken, we are accustomed to viewing promises as temporary and optional. They have perhaps lost their significance.
In our passage this morning, we see God making a covenantal promise to Abram – and Abram is in the midst of trying to ascertain if God is a promise keeper or if God is pulling his leg. Abram’s interaction with God in this passage is not his first – back in Genesis 12 God said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Within this promise is the promise of children – for his name to be great and for a nation to come about, he needs heirs. But Abram and Sarai were deeply struggling with infertility. At this time, Abram was 75 years old.
Time went on, Abram and Sarai navigated a famine, family estate dynamics, and even rescued Abram’s nephew, Lot. Lots of time and lived life occurred. Abram and Sarai still were childless.
Then, turning to our passage, God again declares that Abram should not be afraid, for God is his shield and Abram’s reward will be great. …But Abram responds with questions. What could his reward possibly be? Is God truly going to keep his promise? Because it’s been a while since that initial promise was made and there is nothing to show for it.
It isn’t difficult to empathize with Abraham. We are accustomed to promises being forgotten or broken. Abram is hurting from doing all this hoping without any realized promises. Was God just playing on his deepest desire so he could get him to do his will? What game is God playing? Doubt understandably crept in.
Abram is experiencing a crisis of faith. He was reminded of the original promise, but he responds in protest. But again, God reassures him: he is the promise keeper. God says, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them…so shall your descendants be.” And Abram believed.
God did not give him a new promise; he did not give him a persuading argument that would put lawyers to shame. Rather, God reminded Abram of the original promise by having him look up at the expanse of stars: see this great multitude of stars? So shall your offspring be. Abram is being asked to rely on the word of God, to have faith that God is the promise maker and the promise keeper.
On this side of the cross we have the whole of the Bible to show us who God is. Starlight representing God’s word was all it took for Abram to have faith – faith that was so great we consider him to be the father of faith for us all. In Romans 4, Paul is reflecting on Abraham’s faith as recorded in Scripture from Genesis 15. Paul directly quotes Genesis 15 saying, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Abram was considered righteous for the faith he put in God – faith that was dependent on God’s word alone.
Perhaps God’s promise was delayed or felt delayed for Abram. Abram and Sarai did not become pregnant for twenty-five years after this original promise: not until Abram was 100 years old. Delayed promises can feel like a forgotten promise: and perhaps it can make us feel better if we consider it forgotten so we can stop experiencing the pain of unrealized hope. But God’s promises are never forgotten.
The covenantal promise that perhaps felt the most forgotten on a national level was God’s covenant with David – I will make your kingdom an everlasting kingdom. That was hard to believe after Israel was split into two kingdoms after the reign of Solomon. It was hard to believe when the northern kingdom was destroyed by Assyria. It was hard to believe when Babylon conquered the southern kingdom. It was hard to believe when Persia conquered Babylon. Were the Israelites able to go home? Yes – and they saw the destruction of the temple and the ruin that scattered their streets. Where was their promised king? Where was God’s promise in and through all of that? It was hard to believe this promise was not forgotten when Rome conquered Persia and became an oppressive force throughout their land. It was so hard to believe that God had not forgotten his promise that when Jesus Christ came many would not believe that Jesus was who said he was.
We are on this side of the cross – and on this side of the written Bible. We see the promises that took a long time to be fulfilled – promises that felt delayed but were never forgotten or broken. God does not break his promises and he does not forget them: do you have faith in the promise maker? Do you have faith in the promise keeper?
Paul says, “Now the words, it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.”
Abraham is the Father of Faith because he set a precedent: believing in God based on God’s Word.
This Lenten season we are journeying toward the cross – the sign of God’s realized covenantal promise of grace and redemption. When you look at the empty cross, see it full of the promises God has made and maintained.
The cross tells the story of promises remembered, but as we stand in the shadow of the cross we also realize that we are again in the midst of a promise delayed – Christ will come again and create a new heaven and a new earth. This promise can feel forgotten when it seems like wars will never end, when political turmoil becomes more complex and terrifying, and when illnesses feel entirely consuming. The promise might feel forgotten when you look around and struggle to experience hope, when you are fearful to hope, and when you feel like there is no basis for hope. Look back to the Word of God. You are not alone. Those who wandered the desert probably thought the promise of the Promised Land was forgotten. Those who went back to their destroyed home after they were conquered over and over again probably thought the Kingdom God promised was forgotten and now impossible. The promise of grace in the midst of Roman occupation probably felt forgotten and ridiculous. If you feel like the promise of restoration is forgotten, you are not alone. But look up at the cross, look up at the cross that holds within it all the stories of faith of God’s remembered promises.
Pinky promises were put in place when we were children for our benefit – so we could have something tangible to put to a promise that asked us to have faith on words alone. God’s Word was enough for Abraham – and it should be enough for us. Look to the cross. Hold and read the tangible Bible – the Word of God. Trust in the promises of God – for God is the promise maker, and even if promises feel delayed to us – they are not forgotten. God is the promise keeper.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Romans 4:13-25 Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
“Promises Remembered”
Melissa K. Smith
I have fond memories from elementary school of running around on the playground making silly promises. But even young Melissa knew that a promise made was only as good as the word of the promise maker – it required me to trust the person making the promise. Early on in my promise-making years I learned that sometimes someone’s words were not good enough and a promise could either be forgotten or it would be broken. So, I made sure my promises were made extra secure and incorporated the “pinky promise”. However, as promises continued to be made, despite the security of the “pinky promise”, promises were still forgotten or broken.
If someone reaches adulthood before a promise is forgotten or broken, they are rarer than a unicorn walking down Sunset Boulevard. Promises can quickly turn from enchanting possibilities to disenchanting heartbreak. Promises are complicated.
In Scripture, God’s promises come to us as covenants: covenantal promises. A covenant is an agreement. In the Ancient Near East, it was common for two parties or individuals to make a covenant: there were terms of agreement and a consequence if the covenant was broken. In Scripture, we often conflate the word “covenant” with the word “promise” because through his agreements with his people, God is the covenant maker and the one who will take the consequence. In other words, we experience the benefits and fruits but we don’t bear the burden of consequences. God does.
In the Noahic covenant, God promises that he will never again flood the earth. He makes a covenant with Noah that feels like and is a promise.
In the Abrahamic covenant, a portion of which we read this morning, God promises that Abraham and his family will become a great nation that will become a blessing to all nations through Abraham’s lineage.
In the Mosaic covenant God gives Moses the law, further shaping them into the people God has called them to be as they venture into the Promised Land. God promises that the Israelites will be his people, and he will be their God.
In the Davidic covenant God promises to establish an eternal kingdom through King David, fulfilled in Jesus Christ who is a descendant of the line of David.
And in the New Testament we see a new covenant, a new relationship made between God and humanity that is based on faith and grace – God will be our God and forgive us of our sins. This covenantal promise is rooted in the cross: because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, we experience the forgiveness of sin and death no longer has the last word. We are saved by grace through faith.
God is the promise maker and the promise keeper. But we, as experienced individuals who know a thing or two about promises…have valid reasons to question the certainty of a promise made without a pinky or a signed contract. Because of promises forgotten or promises that have been broken, we are accustomed to viewing promises as temporary and optional. They have perhaps lost their significance.
In our passage this morning, we see God making a covenantal promise to Abram – and Abram is in the midst of trying to ascertain if God is a promise keeper or if God is pulling his leg. Abram’s interaction with God in this passage is not his first – back in Genesis 12 God said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Within this promise is the promise of children – for his name to be great and for a nation to come about, he needs heirs. But Abram and Sarai were deeply struggling with infertility. At this time, Abram was 75 years old.
Time went on, Abram and Sarai navigated a famine, family estate dynamics, and even rescued Abram’s nephew, Lot. Lots of time and lived life occurred. Abram and Sarai still were childless.
Then, turning to our passage, God again declares that Abram should not be afraid, for God is his shield and Abram’s reward will be great. …But Abram responds with questions. What could his reward possibly be? Is God truly going to keep his promise? Because it’s been a while since that initial promise was made and there is nothing to show for it.
It isn’t difficult to empathize with Abraham. We are accustomed to promises being forgotten or broken. Abram is hurting from doing all this hoping without any realized promises. Was God just playing on his deepest desire so he could get him to do his will? What game is God playing? Doubt understandably crept in.
Abram is experiencing a crisis of faith. He was reminded of the original promise, but he responds in protest. But again, God reassures him: he is the promise keeper. God says, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them…so shall your descendants be.” And Abram believed.
God did not give him a new promise; he did not give him a persuading argument that would put lawyers to shame. Rather, God reminded Abram of the original promise by having him look up at the expanse of stars: see this great multitude of stars? So shall your offspring be. Abram is being asked to rely on the word of God, to have faith that God is the promise maker and the promise keeper.
On this side of the cross we have the whole of the Bible to show us who God is. Starlight representing God’s word was all it took for Abram to have faith – faith that was so great we consider him to be the father of faith for us all. In Romans 4, Paul is reflecting on Abraham’s faith as recorded in Scripture from Genesis 15. Paul directly quotes Genesis 15 saying, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Abram was considered righteous for the faith he put in God – faith that was dependent on God’s word alone.
Perhaps God’s promise was delayed or felt delayed for Abram. Abram and Sarai did not become pregnant for twenty-five years after this original promise: not until Abram was 100 years old. Delayed promises can feel like a forgotten promise: and perhaps it can make us feel better if we consider it forgotten so we can stop experiencing the pain of unrealized hope. But God’s promises are never forgotten.
The covenantal promise that perhaps felt the most forgotten on a national level was God’s covenant with David – I will make your kingdom an everlasting kingdom. That was hard to believe after Israel was split into two kingdoms after the reign of Solomon. It was hard to believe when the northern kingdom was destroyed by Assyria. It was hard to believe when Babylon conquered the southern kingdom. It was hard to believe when Persia conquered Babylon. Were the Israelites able to go home? Yes – and they saw the destruction of the temple and the ruin that scattered their streets. Where was their promised king? Where was God’s promise in and through all of that? It was hard to believe this promise was not forgotten when Rome conquered Persia and became an oppressive force throughout their land. It was so hard to believe that God had not forgotten his promise that when Jesus Christ came many would not believe that Jesus was who said he was.
We are on this side of the cross – and on this side of the written Bible. We see the promises that took a long time to be fulfilled – promises that felt delayed but were never forgotten or broken. God does not break his promises and he does not forget them: do you have faith in the promise maker? Do you have faith in the promise keeper?
Paul says, “Now the words, it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.”
Abraham is the Father of Faith because he set a precedent: believing in God based on God’s Word.
This Lenten season we are journeying toward the cross – the sign of God’s realized covenantal promise of grace and redemption. When you look at the empty cross, see it full of the promises God has made and maintained.
The cross tells the story of promises remembered, but as we stand in the shadow of the cross we also realize that we are again in the midst of a promise delayed – Christ will come again and create a new heaven and a new earth. This promise can feel forgotten when it seems like wars will never end, when political turmoil becomes more complex and terrifying, and when illnesses feel entirely consuming. The promise might feel forgotten when you look around and struggle to experience hope, when you are fearful to hope, and when you feel like there is no basis for hope. Look back to the Word of God. You are not alone. Those who wandered the desert probably thought the promise of the Promised Land was forgotten. Those who went back to their destroyed home after they were conquered over and over again probably thought the Kingdom God promised was forgotten and now impossible. The promise of grace in the midst of Roman occupation probably felt forgotten and ridiculous. If you feel like the promise of restoration is forgotten, you are not alone. But look up at the cross, look up at the cross that holds within it all the stories of faith of God’s remembered promises.
Pinky promises were put in place when we were children for our benefit – so we could have something tangible to put to a promise that asked us to have faith on words alone. God’s Word was enough for Abraham – and it should be enough for us. Look to the cross. Hold and read the tangible Bible – the Word of God. Trust in the promises of God – for God is the promise maker, and even if promises feel delayed to us – they are not forgotten. God is the promise keeper.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
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