Commitment

All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.” Exodus 19:8

Twice the Israelites uttered the words above; once shortly before the law was given to them and once afterward.  They had just set up camp in the Desert of Sinai in front of the soon to be famous Mount Sinai, when the Lord called to Moses from that mountain, asking him to deliver a message to the people: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.  Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:4-6)

In response to the condition attached to being God’s treasured possession--that of obeying God’s voice and keeping his covenant, the Israelites made their initial commitment above.

So, God set a date to meet with Israel to give them all of the terms of his covenant with them. They had three days to prepare for this meeting.  During that time, Moses had to consecrate the people and they were instructed to wash their clothes and abstain from sexual relations. Limits had to be set up at the foot of the mountain so no one could touch it, because if anyone touched the mountain they would be put to death. 

The morning of the third day arrived with thunder and lightning and a thick cloud of smoke over the mountain, because “the Lord descended on it in fire”.  The smoke billowed out and the trumpet blasted louder and louder.  The people trembled in terror.  And God pronounced the words of the Law.

And, when he had finished, once more the people solemnly chorused, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.”  Do you think they meant it?  I do! How could they not have meant it? The Great God of the Universe was right there in front of them, on the mountain shrouded in fire and billows of smoke, personally telling them what they must do.  No one had experienced anything like this in the history of the world.  This was the same God who had sent all the plagues to Egypt, who first parted the Red Sea, then closed it over the attacking army; they had seen his power, they knew what he was capable of doing to those who did not do his will.  He told them what to do, and they intended to do it!

So, how was it possible then, that, while Moses was still up on the mountain with God, finalizing all of the plans for Israel’s new relationship as his kingdom of priests and his holy nation; while God was still writing with his own finger on the tablets of stone, those very same people who had spoken the words of commitment were, with Aaron’s help, building and worshipping a golden cow, in gratitude for its having brought them up out of the land of Egypt?  As I write, I am shaking my head in incredulity; and, yet, that is exactly what happened.

Flash forward now, to Jesus and his disciples.  If I asked you to name the first disciple that comes to your mind, you would probably say Peter.  His name heads the list of the three disciples who were closest to Jesus—Peter, James and John.  Peter was always the one waving his hand in the air when Jesus asked a question; like the time Jesus asked the twelve disciples who they thought he was.  Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” (Matthew 16:16)  Jesus liked his answer and blessed him, because the Father had revealed the answer to him.

Peter was also on the mountain with Jesus when He was transfigured and could be seen in His heavenly glory.  Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets which had pointed to and testified of Jesus, appeared on the mountain and talked with Jesus, and Peter was overcome; but not to the point of speechlessness!  He offered to put up three shelters, one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah; but God himself interrupted Peter mid-sentence by saying from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” In that one event, Peter witnessed Jesus in his deity, and heard God’s voice!

Peter was also the disciple who walked on the water, as I discussed at length in my previous blog, WhyDid You Doubt? My point is, Peter had been with Jesus, even when others had not. He had witnessed amazing miracles and seen things which almost no one else had seen, he had done things no one else had done. If anyone had enough evidence to know that Jesus was the Messiah, it was Peter. 

At the Last Supper, when Jesus told the disciples that he was going somewhere they could not follow, Peter was upset by this and asked Jesus, “Lord, why can I not follow you now?” Then he declared, “I will lay down my life for you!”

Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for me?  Truly, truly I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.” (John 13:37-38)

Mark 14:31 quotes Peter emphatically stating, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.”

Was Peter serious about that commitment? I absolutely believe he was. He actually tried to follow through with it when he went into battle in the Garden of Gethsemane, cutting off the ear of the servant of the high priest. But, once Jesus stopped Peter and healed the servant, once he stated that he  had to drink the cup his Father had given him; once Peter’s adrenaline rush was gone; once Jesus was arrested, bound and taken away to the High Priest, it just seemed smart to say he didn’t know who Jesus was.

If fear of God’s punishment was enough to enable us to follow through with our commitments, the Israelites would have followed through.

If love for Jesus was enough to enable us to follow through with our commitments, Peter would have followed through.

If having enough evidence that God is God, or that Jesus is the Messiah, was enough to enable us to follow through with our commitments, the Israelites and Peter would have followed through. 

If a strong desire to make good on a commitment was enough to enable us to follow through with our commitments, the Israelites and Peter would have followed through.

How often I have shaken my head at the stories of the Israelites’ unfaithfulness, in light of God’s faithfulness to them.  How often I have shaken my head at how quickly Peter was guilty of the very thing he swore he would never do.  How often I have shaken my head at others I thought of as strong Christians, who made what seemed to be incredibly foolish and sinful decisions.  How often I have bowed my head in shame, as I have done the same.

Every one of us has stood before God, some of us on numerous occasions, saying, ‘This time we really mean it.  This time we are truly sorry.  This time things will be different, we will be better.’  And then we aren’t; at least not much better.

Can we talk?  Just like Jesus knew Peter’s heart, yet knew what he was going to do anyway, he also knows you and me.  He knows we want to do what’s right, but we just can’t pull it off.  But here’s the good news--that is the very reason Jesus came! Romans 5:6 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”  And in verse 8 Paul says, “…God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

In Romans 7, Paul beautifully describes our struggle to follow through on our commitments to do and be better. Verse 15 says, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” And verses 18 and 19 say, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” 

Can you identify with that?  I’m sure the Israelites would have.  It’s easy for us to think they were never serious about doing God’s will, but over and over, as a nation, they wept and repented and threw out their idols; they cleaned house and started over countless times, but they were never able to fulfill their part of the bargain with God.

What about Peter? After his resurrection, Jesus found Peter and had a long talk with him.  He forgave him for his epic failure and gave him a glimpse into his future of service, actually indicating to Peter how he would die.  Was Jesus’ forgiveness enough to enable Peter to be the man he should have been?  In John 21:20-23, just moments after Peter had ‘the talk’ with Jesus, we find Peter nosily asking Jesus about John’s future.  Jesus answered him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.”

What about Peter after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit arrived in force?  We know from the account in Acts 1 that Peter, filled with the Spirit, rose up and spoke in a mighty way to the crowds, and many were saved.  We know that he performed miracles of healing and went to prison for preaching boldly.  We know that God opened Peter’s heart, through a dream, to the idea that, not only Jews, but Gentiles could receive salvation.  But we also know that, despite that direct revelation from God, Peter let the opinion of other people influence his actions.

In Galatians 2:11-12, Paul says, “But when Cephas [Paul] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.”

Let me just say it, as long as we are on this earth, there will never come a time when we will stop struggling with our commitments to God; there will never come a time when we are finally good enough. Believing otherwise will either lead us to blind arrogance or utter despair. 

Does God work in our hearts to help us become better people? Yes! And he does that by reminding us day by day, minute by minute that our salvation is not dependent on it.  We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in the finished work of Christ alone.  We are not saved in the slightest degree by how well we are doing or how much better we are becoming. And, in the upside down and backward world of Death/Resurrection, that understanding does not send us off on a sinning spree; instead it sets us free to humbly and gratefully serve our Lord and Savior with no fear of eternal consequences for our failure to keep our commitments.  Those consequences have already been taken care of.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Hallelujah and Amen!