Sermon Video: Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision - Genesis 17

 

Genesis 17 picks up the narrative 13 years after the birth of Ishmael in Genesis 16.  At this point Abram and Sarai have been in the Promised Land waiting for the miracle of a son and heir for 23 years.  At this point God speaks to Abram, tells him that he will be called Abraham and his wife Sarah, and adds that the promised son, Isaac, is only a year away.  Abraham laughs at this prospect, as Sarah will do in the next chapter.

God also gives Abraham a sign of the covenant that already exists between God and Abraham: circumcision.  This initiation rite wasn't unfamiliar in the Ancient Near East, God chooses something culturally appropriate to set apart Abraham and his descendants as his particular people, the ones he has called into this relationship.

Circumcision functions for Israel in the same manner that Baptism functions for the Church, it proclaims that those involved belong to the larger group, to that they are a part of the people of God.

Sermon Video: "circumcision of the heart"? - Romans 2:25-29

Surface level participation in religion isn't good enough.  Paul demonstrates this by discussion the circumcision of Judaism, but it equally applies to the baptism of Christianity.  Religious ceremony can be negated by immoral behavior (or lack of moral behavior), it is important but limited.  In the end, hearts and minds need to be changed, obedience to God's commands needs to occur, anything less is insufficient.

Sermon Video: A Chosen People once more - Joshua 5:1-12

Having successfully crossed the Jordan River, and having memorialized God's display of power, the people of Israel are now commanded by God, through Joshua, to re-institute the rite of circumcision before proceeding on toward Jericho.  As the text unfolds, we then discover that circumcision was not the only thing neglected by the generation that wandered in the wilderness, the people had also not celebrated Passover since Mt. Sinai.  The people obey, observing both the rite of initiation into the covenant, and the feast of commemoration of God's power in keeping the covenant by leading his people from bondage in Egypt. 
Why did God command these things, here and now?  The timing in the book of Joshua is repeatedly emphasized, as God's command to Joshua came on the west side of the Jordan, already in the Promised Land, and vulnerable to their enemies.  Because the battles ahead belong to the Lord, not to Joshua's strategic thinking, the need to be spiritually prepared for the task ahead is emphasized by God when he chooses this moment to insist that the people keep their covenant obligations.
The passage in Joshua reminds us of the need we have as a Church to emphasize both baptism and communion, for they are our rites of initiation and remembrance, and of the need we have as a Church to begin with obedience to the commands that we have already been given.  If we hope to do great things for the Kingdom of God, step one is to obey what we've already been commanded in the Word of God.

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