Genesis 17: I GOT you!

In another, more scholarly life, I got to sit in amphitheaters and lecture halls and reflect on the nature of God. One of those philosophers -- Aquinas? Kierkegaard? -- made the point that the question of why God does what He does, is moot, because any life, just or unjust, is more than we deserve.

I feel like that is correct, but unfair -- unnecessary. God could be justified in saying, I do what I WANT! But that's not God here, in Genesis.

It gets to be such a cliche, to Old Testament - New Testament Good Cop Bad Cop routine. But here, squarely in the Old Testament, is God, not only establishing a covenant, but making clear that that covenant is the whole point, is who He is with respect to us. His point is not the shame-filled one I've been treated to since childhood -- ie, who are you to think God would give you anything, anyway? It is, I am committed to You, and I'm not going to write off that commitment because I am God and you are in no position to ask questions. You don't have to skulk off, passive aggressive: Well I guess wanting my own kid was asking too much, I'll let You off the hook. You don't have to accept less than what you wanted because you should have known better than to trust Me, because it's not like I owed you in the first place. You just have to get out of the way, pay attention, and let Me do for you what you've been saying you wanted all along.

That's the thing in these first verses of Genesis 17 -- the thing through which Job, Christ, the Gospels, my own life, need to be read: before we learned to hate ourselves and call it humility, before Job suffered and got told off and we ran with it, here is God saying, clearly, I am your God. I am your God. I am yours. Before we get to the small, symbolic, marginal commitments I ask from you, let Me tell you about the hugeness I'm offering up: I am giving Myself to you, to be your God. Everything you wanted -- meaning, context, transcendence, belonging -- I am giving you that. If what you wanted was everything - I am giving you the Source of everything.

I can do that, because I'm God. I can tell you, and I am telling you, I'm yours. You can have whatever you like. And you don't have to do any kind of accounting, don't have to calculate: am I worthy, what must I do... because the everything that I ultimately will inspire you to give Me, is nothing compared to what you are asking of Me. Just align yourself with Me. Just walk before Me, and I will cover your steps, and you will be blameless. Stop trying so hard. I've got you.

That is a covenant God. One Who, regardless of the craziness you've pulled, and in the moment were you are arrogant enough to believe that even the most abbreviated, circumscribed life could every be you, making it on your own, looks at you and says: I got you. We are in covenant. We were in covenant all along. And all those things that looked like you, being let down, being alone, were just you, missing the boat. But it's okay. Because now I am here. I am yours. There literally is nothing else you could want.