What Wondrous Love Is This

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18     Luke 13:1-9

How do relationships begin?  Not casual friendships, but the lasting relationships, bound by business practices, or blessed by God.  They begin when someone takes the first step, and then in the business world, we sign a paper, a contract, or perhaps a mortgage, while in the Church we take vows, baptismal, marriage, or even holy orders.  We create a covenant, and we must abide by it. 

The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

God has taken the first step, reaching out to Abram – reassuring him that all is well between them.  They already have what we might call a verbal agreement, but Abram is not happy, and though he speaks to God, he does not hesitate to state his sorrow, his complaint. 

“You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 

It is clear what matters to Abram – that a legitimate son should be born to inherit all that belongs to him, to Abram.  God has been promising this to Abram, but nothing has happened.  There is no legitimate heir, only a child born on the wrong side of the blanket.  This is not what Abram wants, not what he has asked for, not what God has promised him.

God responds with assurances: “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.”  

And what of the land, promised by God, from the river of Egypt to the River Euphrates?    Once again, Abram has not yet seen this promise fulfilled.  And he asks God, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

What follows next is this beautiful and mystical description of the way God makes the covenant with Abram.

God said, Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.  Three years was considered to be the perfect age for a sacrificial animal.  Producing all the animals, Abram sacrifices them, and then – he falls into what is described as a “deep sleep”, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.

As Abram lies sleeping, it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces of the sacrificed animals.  This action, passing between the pieces of the sacrifice, was a traditional covenant-making ritual in the ancient Near East.  It was a blood covenant, and by passing between the divided animals, the parties involved in the covenant were essentially invoking a self-maledictory oath, implying that they would suffer the fate of the animals if they broke the covenant. 

In today’s reading, God Himself passes between the pieces, signifying that He unconditionally binds Himself to fulfill the promises made to Abram.  God has signed a covenant with Abram, known to us today as the Abrahamic Covenant.  It isn’t something God had to do, it was something God wanted to do, a way to respond to Abram’s distress, to set his worries to rest. 

Why does God do this?  Why is He the only party to the agreement who will suffer if the covenant is broken?  God does this because of “Chesed”.  The Abrahamic Covenant is made out of God’s kindness, out God’s of mercy, out of God’s love.  Chesed is an active and enduring love, and the covenant, based on Chesed, is meant to be eternal.

Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you."

Not a very pleasant greeting, and one that at first provokes a direct response from our Lord.  "Go and tell that fox for me, 'Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 

Jesus’ answer shows the Pharisees that He is completely in command of His life and death: He is the Son of God and His Father’s will is His only governor.

But then, He begins to reflect on Jerusalem and on His ministry.  'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!  In that one sentence, Jesus shows the infinite extent of His love, His Chesed for the Children of Israel.

St Augustine tells us:

“You see, brethren, how a hen becomes weak with her chickens. No other bird, when it is a mother, shows its maternity so clearly… The hen is so enfeebled over her brood that even if the chickens are not following her, if you do not see the young ones, you still know her at once to be a mother. With her wings drooping, her feathers ruffled, her note hoarse, in all her limbs she becomes so sunken and abject, that, as I have said, even though you cannot see her young, you can see she is a mother. That is the way Jesus feels…” He sorrows over Jerusalem, the people He has come to save who have rejected Him.

Both of today’s readings are meant to show us just how deeply God loves us, how intense is His Chesed, His unfailing, eternal love and mercy and compassion. 

It is Lent, and we are asked to surrender something to God, that is what is meant when we “give up” something, and furthermore, we are asked to give until it hurts.  Choose something you will miss, not something that destroys your life or health, but something that when gone, or better yet given to or for others, will cause you to feel the pinch.

And why should you do that?  Because in your baptism you have made a vow, a covenant with God.  It is not a cruel or hash covenant, but one based entirely on love.  God loves you and has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in you.  God’s Chesed is yours, and all that God, that Jesus asks in return, is your love, steady, unwavering (or strengthened by Him when you falter), lived out in your daily life.

We have the power to choose, to live as Jesus calls us to do, or to break His heart. When we fail Him, we are among those who nailed Him to the cross.

As the hymn asks -

What wondrous love is this, O my soul,

What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul

Why did He come to earth?  Why did He die such a terrible death for us?  The answer is Chesed.  It is the Love of God.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, help us to love You more and more each day. Grant us the grace to see Your love in our lives and to respond with love. May our hearts be filled with Your love, and may we share that love with others.  All this we ask for Your Love and mercy’s sake, Amen.