Artist Carole Baker serves communion to student Matthew Locklair during evening worship. |
At a Glance
Theme:
God and Covenant: The Ongoing Relationship between God and God’s Creation
Faculty Speaker:
Dr. Anathea Portier-Young, Assistant Professor of Old Testament
Lectionary Texts:
Joshua 24:1-8, 13-24; Psalm 136; 1 Peter 2:1-10; Matthew 15:21-28
Evening Worship:
“We’re in this together:” with this as his leitmotif, Rev. Justin Coleman’s sermon carried forward today’s focus on covenant. Is there an essential difference between a covenant and a contract? Rev. Coleman argued that there is and that we as humans are far too comfortable with the stale, impersonal legality of contracts and far too self-involved for the risk and messiness of covenant commitment. Thankfully, however, our God is not a contract God but a covenant God who remains faithful even as we fail and fail and fail in our fidelity to our Creator.
Rev. Stephen Chapman led us in the Eucharist.
Reflections on the Lecture
After discussing the symbolism and significance of baptism for two days, this morning Dr. Portier-Young helped us to unpack the covenantal dimension of baptism. The rite of baptism is a covenant-making event between the newly baptized Christian and God, one another, and creation.
Covenants characteristically entail responsibility and are marked by symbols and tokens, as in a wedding ring. Covenants, unlike legal codes, defy space; they remain intact wherever one goes. One or both of the parties can break the covenant by failure to maintain the promises, and sometimes but not always, the covenant is annulled. In the Bible, God always maintains the covenant and continually offers us opportunities to return to our promises and to re-enter the covenant. This is called grace.
Some biblical examples of covenant include: Noah, Abraham, the Ten Commandments, Moses, David, the Priesthood, Jesus’ Last Supper, and baptism. In these covenants, God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—continually calls us into relationship. God chooses Noah, Israel and Church to serve as earthly agents of salvation of others, because God, too, has committed to ensuring creation’s welfare, even to the point of taking responsibility for our part in the covenant. God binds himself to our covenant responsibilities, even to the point of accepting the consequences of our failings. The covenants of the Old Testament are fulfilled in Christ, where God takes our burdens into God’s life. Christian baptism is the Church’s participation in Christ’s covenantal fulfillment.
Quotable Quotes from the Plenary Lecture
Theological Jargon of the Day: queshat and typology
“The Covenant Community is a response to a summons issued by God to live a life of faithfulness.”
“God’s promise is a key part of the covenant. God chooses to limit God’s self on behalf of creation.”
Overheard in the halls of the divinity school...
“Was the flood like the baptism of the whole earth?”
—Lauren Hilton
“I had always thought of God in the Old Testament as a stern and harsh God. But now I’m beginning to see that God has been there for us all along.”
— Lauren Hilton
“I know God would never break God’s covenant, but what would happen if He did?”
— Lara Musser
“How do we differentiate between God’s command not to eat meat with blood and Jesus’ invitation to drink from this cup that signifies His blood?”
— Matthew Locklair
What’s ahead...
Tomorrow we look forward to Rev. Dr. Richard Hays’ plenary lecture on Christ’s Incarnation.
Rev. Canon Dr. Sam Wells, Dean of Duke Chapel and Research Professor of Christian Ethics, will preach during tomorrow night’s worship service, and Rev. Dr. Jo Bailey Wells, Associate Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry and Bible, will lead us in the Eucharist.
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