When I perform wedding ceremonies, I point out that the marriage relationship is a covenant relationship, not a consumer relationship. I have a consumer relationship with my grocery store. As long as they provide the food I want at the price I want, I am all in. But if another grocery store has a better price for the same product, I am out of there.
In Noah’s story we find the first use of the word covenant in scripture. First, God establishes a covenant with Noah and his family to build and board the ark. Here again we see God make a covenant not to destroy the world again. The rainbow serves as a lasting reminder that God will keep his covenant.
The Hebrew verb used to establish a covenant is the word “cut.” God cuts a covenant with people. In a covenant relationship, one person pays a price and promises to be faithful no matter what. No matter how bad Noah’s descendants behaved, God would still be faithful in keeping his promise. As I tell couples in the ceremony, “In a covenant we are saying, ‘I will be who I am supposed to be, no matter what you do.’”
In years past, churches had new members enter into a covenant with the church as they joined. It was not a consumer relationship, but a commitment to stay and strengthen the church, no matter what happened. This seems to have been lost in our current consumeristic culture. It is possible to shop for churches like we shop for cereal. This is a measurable loss both for the church and the members. I never remember my mom saying, “We go to church there.” She said, “We belong to that church.” Just so, we belong to each other and to Christ. Next Sunday at Tallowood, we will share in the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. We will eat the bread and drink from the cup and remember the awful price Jesus paid to purchase our souls. He is faithful to us no matter what. I remember that whenever I see a rainbow, or come to the Lord’s Supper table.
