Reread Genesis 15:1-18.
"When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces." (Genesis 15:17)
Slaughtered livestock and a vision of a smoking fire pot and flaming torch? This is one of those passages when I ask myself, "Just what is going on here!?!" It's one of those biblical moments when I feel the thousands of years between Abraham and myself. The world of Genesis sometimes feels so utterly remote, veiled really, by time and culture. So a little research...I discovered that this ritual of laying out the sacrifices and the walking between the halves was a Near Eastern oath ceremony. Abram (before he was renamed as Abraham) would have understood this command as a sign that God would keep his promise of fruitfulness in both land in children. God and Abram would be bound to one another in a covenantal relationship.
And yet, Abram does not pass between the animals. Only God does -- God as the smoking fire pot and the flaming torch. Does this mean that Abram receives the covenant without condition, that God carries the weight of its fulfillment? (see citation below)
What does this mean for us as 21st century Christians? I think it means a good deal in how we might understand God's grace as a freely offered and unconditional gift. I also think it means rituals are crucial to our life of faith. Rituals, our sacraments, are places where God reminds us of covenantal promises: fruitfulness, deliverance, and freedom.
Reflection
In what ways to you feel obligated to God? What would happen if you didn't meet those obligations?
How do church rituals sustain you?
Prayer
God who delivered us from oppression, continue to renew your covenant with us on this journey of Lent. Sharpen our ancestral memory that we might recall your bond to us. Amen
(The above citation is from the following: Deffinbaugh, Bob. "The focal point of Abraham's faith." Bible.org. 18 February 2010. Web. 2 February 2009.
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