Keeping Promises

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We all make and receive promises on a regular basis. Some are relatively innocuous, like “I promise to take out the trash after supper.” Some are more serious – “With this ring, I thee wed.” Some promises seem of little consequence – “Yes, I will get you that for Christmas.” Others are a matter of life and death – “First, do no harm.” However great or small, trivial or grave, promises are made to be kept, and so we expect people to keep their word.

Likewise, the people of God expect God to keep His Word. He has promised certain things, and has done them in the past. Therefore, He ought to keep His promises to us now. Upon this premise, the Psalmist cries out, “Lord, You were favorable to Your land, You restored the fortunes of Jacob... Restore us again, O God of our salvation!” (Psalm 85:1, 4) The Lord had governed His people for generations, preserving them in the midst of trials and leading them with His mighty hand. He had given a son to Abraham and had preserved Jacob against the tricks of his uncle and the wrath of his brother. Therefore, if the Lord did all that for the patriarchs, should He not do it for His people in need now?

In every generation since the Fall, the state of things has looked awful. The world is filled with sinful men doing shameful things. The Word of God falls by the wayside while each steps on the back of the other to claw his way to the top. The whole of creation groans under the effects of sin and death. And so, it is tempting to wonder about the state of the Lord's promises. He was gracious to our fathers and got them through; is He going to do it again in our day?

And so some of those among the faithful begin to count the Lord as slow, as slack in His Word. You wonder if He really hears the prayers of His people. You wonder what good can come of these dark and latter days. You wonder who will save us from this valley of the shadow of death. A thousand years go by, and yet here we sit, no better than a millennium ago.

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness” (2 Peter 3:9). The Lord is faithful and true – He will do what He says. The Lord cannot lie and He cannot but keep His promises. However, that does not mean that He must keep His promises according to your timetable or your plans. Indeed, His plans often look radically different than what the mind of men invents.

Consider the messenger promised by the prophet Isaiah: “A voice cries: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord'”. And who does the Lord send? Is it a clean-cut, high-gloss televangelist-type? No, the Lord sends John the Baptist. A powerful voice crying in the wilderness, Repent before the coming kingdom of God. A shaggy cave-dweller, clothed in camel hair and living on bugs and honey. This is the forerunner to the Messiah?! A man who would be unwelcome in the Temple courtyards. A man who sets ill at ease all who come to him. A man who shouts insults at the religious leaders and their corrupt establishment. This is the fulfillment of Isaiah's words?

Sometimes it seems like God has failed to keep His Word. The Lord desires not the death of His saints, and yet loved ones die. He promises to be with you always, and yet His salvation seems so far off. So you fall into doubt. You question whether His Word is true, whether the Lord will do what He says.

But what right do you have to question God's faithfulness? After all, you do not deserve the gifts He promises to give. You did not earn the mercy you await. You do not keep your promises, and yet you expect Him to keep His. How many times have you said that you would do something, and failed to do it? How often have you held others to a higher standard than yourself? How often have you fudged the line, or just plain broken your promises about something when you promised to remain faithful? You have not kept your heart purely devoted to the Lord God. You have not trusted in His fatherly goodness and mercy. You have not remained wholly committed to your spouse, forsaking all others. You have not used wisely the gifts that God has given you, and you constantly crave what He has not given. And yet you expect Him to keep his promises.

Today, you heard “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The Gospel begins with the preaching of the voice in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord. The voice of the messenger of God, proclaiming the Word of God into a world that does not want to hear, that does not want to repent. The prophet of the Most High preaching “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. This is the beginning of the Gospel for you.

The Gospel begins for you with Baptism for the forgiveness of your sins. In this water, the Lord washes away your sins and works repentance in you, that repentance of which your heart is incapable and the world cannot teach. In this water, the Lord drowns your old, evil nature and begins anew, re-creating you in His image once again. In this water, the beginning of your life in Christ is found.

The Lord here keeps His promise that He made through Isaiah. Here He comforts the people whom He creates through this water. Here He speaks tenderly to you, telling you that your iniquity is pardoned, that your warfare is ended, that you will receive a double portion of His grace. Here He sunders His creation from the ranks of the devil and gains for Himself a holy people, a faithful bride, a Church. Here He keeps His promise by bathing you in the new covenant in His blood shed on the cross for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. This everlasting covenant shall not end until all the Word of the Lord has been fulfilled and there is no longer any need for promises.

Indeed, the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promises. After all, He is patient toward you. He forces no one to believe, but speaks tenderly to His children, calling you to faith “in accents persuasive and tender” (LSB 510.2). He does not wish that any should perish, and so He is patient, allowing His Word to go forth into every land, among every people. He is patient, waiting for you to repent, to confess your sins and receive His gracious forgiveness.

He is faithful. He has accomplished the salvation of mankind, and He has accomplished your salvation. He has promised Himself to you, to be your God and Father, to forgive your sins, no matter the cost, no matter the kind. He has promised that He will do what He knows is best for you.

You still must wait on Him, however. He will act according to His perfect plan. But, “since you are waiting... be at peace.” Be at peace and secure in the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of your sins. Rest in the comfort of the Lord's pardon. Bathe in the water of regeneration by daily contrition and repentance. “Say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'” By your faithful example, lead people to where the Lord is to be found, where He speaks His peace and comforts His people. Here, in the flood of new birth. Here, at the Table of His Supper. Here, the Lord enacts His New Covenant for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. Here, the Lord keeps His promises, to comfort you, restore you, keep you as His own. Indeed, the Lord is not slow to keep His Word.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.