Kingdom Covenant

Scripture

14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.  Matthew 25:14-15

Observation

I’m struck with the reality that my God and King has entrusted something very valuable to me. The Greek wording here is “to give over into (one's) power or use to deliver to one something to keep, use, take care of, manage.  The key to understand here is there’s never any point in this parable where the money entrusted to the servants belongs to them.  It’s always His. This Kingdom Covenant we have entered in to with God is all about stewarding well that which is most valuable to Him.  I must be willing to risk everything I have to keep safe that which belongs to God.  This Kingdom Covenant is not about me.  My model is my Savior who climbed the hill to Calvary to keep this covenant.  Look at how Jesus modeled the Kingdom Covenant with those entrusted to His care: 9 “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. 10All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. 11Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. 12During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold. “John 17:9-12

Application

Last night we watched  Guy Ritchie’s “The Covenant” at our House Men’s Fire Night.  Though this wasn’t my first time watching it has left a lasting impression on me. The movie follows “Sgt. John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal), who on his last tour of duty in Afghanistan is teamed with local interpreter, Ahmed (Dar Salim), to survey the region. When their unit is ambushed on patrol, Kinley and Ahmed are the only survivors and with enemy combatants in pursuit, Ahmed risks his own life to carry an injured Kinley across miles of grueling terrain to safety.” There’s a moment when Ahmed has no more strength left and as the sun is beating down on him he can’t push the cart carrying Kinley over a rut in the road on a steep incline. Ahmed sits down in sheer exhaustion, catches his breath as he looks out on the arid landscape, and then musters all his strength to get back up to keep his covenant with Kinley to protect him at all costs.  With all the strength he has left he pushes the cart out of the hole. Every couple, every parent, every friend, every person in covenant has been in that place with another where they had no strength left to give.  It's the painful place where the one you are in covenant with is nothing more than dead weight, a burden to be born, with no promise of any recompense or return. Yet, we choose to keep going.  We lay our lives down no matter what it takes.  Why?  This is the Kingdom Covenant. I’m not here to serve my interests but the interests of my King. Well, when my parents were asked by my boys how their marriage has lasted for 52 years Pop’s answer was clear, “The covenant of marriage is bigger than both of us.”  Mom said, “You have to love your Savior more than your spouse because when your love runs out His never will.” When Kinley finds himself safely back in the US he discovers Ahmed is on the run for his life with his family and the US aren’t doing anything to help him. Kinley stands before his Sergeant and says these words that describe the strength and endurance of true covenant:  “Oh, I see. You brought me here for an intervention. Or to slap my wrist. That's not why I'm here. Do you think if I could be shot of this debt, I wouldn't be? Do you think if I could just go through the usual channels, I wouldn't? That is not how this debt works. It demands a result, not an appeasement. There is a hook in me. One that you cannot see. But it is there.”  He chooses to leave the comfort of home to return to Afghanistan to lay his life down in the same way Ahmed did for him. Covenant is bigger than both of us. In a world of broken agreements we must return to the power of the covenant. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Prayer

Lord, Jesus I ask this morning, “Who am I?”  That You would come for me, die for me, rise for me and call me to rule and reign with You is too much for my mind to comprehend.  Though I don’t understand it I’m so thankful for it.  I also know You provided a model for me of Kingdom covenant in a world of broken promises.  The covenant with my wife, my sons, my family, my friends, my church flows from my covenant with You and requires nothing less than laying down my life on a daily basis. They don’t belong to me, they belong to You. When Im at that rut in the road and feel I have nothing left to give let me remember how You have given it all to me.