A lexicon of faith Promise
I
don’t know where it came from or what it means. The childhood oath that was popular in my day—“Cross my heart and hope to die”—is completely nonsensical. It
sounds tough enough to a third-grader. Perhaps that’s why we neighborhood kids turned to it frequently. We shot it back and forth as if our lives were actually on the line. They weren’t, of course, though we’d spit on the ground to offi- cially seal the deal. Then, predictably, we would let each other down with boring regularity. Were someone to chronicle the history of people mak-
ing promises and report their findings online, the volume of the project would clog and take down the Internet instantly. That’s because the history of promising is so full of failures, frustrations and broken promises. Oh, how hard it can be to keep the promises we make.
The idea of fidelity sounds great, even though it often eludes our grasp. Shaky integrity and hit-or-miss reliability leave too many promises more empty than full. In the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32), where
the father asks both of his sons to work in the vineyard, one replies in the positive but fails to go and work. The other responds negatively but actually goes. Both brothers lie in the process. Even when we do the right thing in life, it seems, we can end up breaking promises just to get there. Among the more beautiful aspects
bargaining, or we’d consistently end up with a raw deal. God cer- tainly has things I want, but God does not need anything I have to offer, at least not for personal meaning or existence. Since our deepest meaning
and purpose in life get expressed through relationships, and because relationships are held together by promises, let’s look at a few key features of a prom- ise. The Scriptures can be our guide. By definition a promise is always about the future. It obli-
gates one beyond the realities and whims of the present. You have to be aware that there is a future, and that the future matters, or you have no promise to make and none to receive. Biblically speaking, love is at the heart of each divine
Predictions have no special commitments attached to them; promises always do.
of faith cherished by believers is God’s capacity to make and keep promises. It all begins with the covenant God estab- lished with Noah and his descendants. Instead of design- ing a contract—“You fulfill your part of the arrangement and I’ll fulfill mine”—God chose covenant as the preferred way of relating to human beings. Where contract indicates a breakable pact, covenant communicates durability. Gov- erned by the demands of love rather than the pursuit of one’s own interest, covenant reminds us that God is anything but remote and unapproachable. Faithfully kept promises com- municate the Lord’s dependability. Here’s the deal: God is not into making deals. Even
though our prayer lives may convey a bartering instinct, God isn’t interested in negotiation. “Dear God, if you will bring me home safely, I promise I won’t travel in such dan- gerous weather again.” “O Lord, if I can land this better pay- ing job, you will see much more giving from me.”
promise. We might call it promissory love. God chose the Hebrew people because God loved them, not because they were more charming, better looking or more apt to stay faithful than other people around. Predictions have no special com-
mitments attached to them; promises always do. “I will be your God and you
will be my people.” It doesn’t get any clearer than this. Time and again God says, “I will ….” Fill in the blank with some of the commitments you’ve heard God make—land, posterity, blessing and even a descendant of David set to reign over all. Promises bring something new into being. They fos-
ter a whole new relationship. Think of vows at a wedding. Because of the promises established, we might say that mar- riage has a better chance of sustaining the love of a couple than a couples’ up-and-down love has of sustaining the marriage. Finally, where “if” figures so prominently into our various
doubts about whether God’s prom- ises will accomplish their purpose, Jesus Christ removes the question mark. “For in [Christ],” Paul says, “every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes’ ” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Author bio: Marty is a speaker, author and ELCA pastor who writes monthly for The Lutheran.
May 2015 3
By Peter W. Marty Fif th in a series
It brings something new into being; fosters a whole new relationship It’s a good thing God isn’t into
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