Preview & Input: God’s M.O.

Preview & Input: God’s M.O.

Every once in a while I have to stop and think, “Why does God do things the way God does things?”

I’d like to say this thought always comes out of praise and admiration, but more often it comes via frustration.  Why doesn’t God just do things the obvious or efficient way, the way I do things?  A lot of times the frustration is not about what God’s doing, but confusion about how God goes about doing it.  Why does it take so long?  Why try something new or think in a different way when I’m comfortable with how things are and where I am?

This Sunday we’ll be looking at one major, consistent, befuddling way God does things, God’s M.O.: covenants.  God is a covenantal God who initiates towards us and asks us to link hands.

We’ll check out the story of Abram (soon to be Abraham) in Genesis 12, where God comes into the picture and starts making covenants with Abram that change the course of history (and eventually even his name).  These covenants always seem to disrupt things.

I’m not too sure we get the idea of covenant.  I mean, contracts are way more common, effective, and binding.  Folks pay a lot of law school tuition to learn how to draw up and enforce contracts.  They’re common and our society runs on the confidence they instill.  When someone enters into a contract, we trust they’ll do what they say or else. 

But God shows his own way.  Instead of having Abram sign on any dotted line, instead Abram starts a journey.  A story.  This story looks like our life with God and each other.  Trust.  History.  Confidence.

 

Think about that picture: starting a new life. 

And if we’ve been on this journey for a while: remembering our start, recalling when God broke in.

 

I look forward to sharing this and trying to figure out how, as a community, we can continue to align how we look and do things with how God looks and does things.