“Promises, promises”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Hebrews 6:13-20 (Forward, p. 25) CEV p. 1262

Right now in the province where I reside we are in the midst of an election campaign, and so there are promises galore being made, promises of virtually every shape and description. For instance, one party has promised a double whammy, a dual promise that almost seems impossible of anyone being able to fulfill. On the one hand, they are promising a balanced budget, mandated by a Constitution; and on the other hand, they are saying that there will be no taxes on food, energy or property. So, how can that be?

Anyway, we as an electorate, are quite accustomed to promises made but not kept. Sometimes this is rather legitimate—for instance, they are now privy to information that they did not have previously, or circumstances have changed or preventing it from happening just now. As with parents, it is easy to say, ‘something came up.’ But, nevertheless, none of these necessarily make the broken or unfulfilled promises any more acceptable or palatable.

Here God is in an entirely different class. There can never be a change of circumstance that He was unaware of or could not (or did not) work into His plans. And furthermore, God is privy to all and any information, so none of this should ever take Him by surprise.

Our reading for today reminds us that God has made various promises and vows to us, His people, and these promises and vows are solid, indelible, unchangeable. He has sworn by His own self and He cannot lie. And so, we can depend upon them. We can place our hope on them, as with a solid, firm and steady anchor which can never be moved. Jesus has gone ‘beyond the veil’, beyond the wall of separation posed by our sin, and made a once and for all sacrifice, substitution and oblation on our behalf. This has been done, and as with God’s promises themselves, this can be depended upon. We are forgiven and redeemed and restored in our relationship with Almighty God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Forward notes: “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a

forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (verses 19-20)

“When our children were younger, we took a picture of them next to the anchor of a battleship. The picture is comical. The sight of their tiny frames next to that massive object reinforces how enormous those anchors really are. Each weighs tens of thousands of pounds, and the chains that hold them in place weigh nearly as much. Of course, it is necessary to have that much weight—modern-day aircraft carriers are large enough to be called “floating cities,” and it is the job of those anchors to keep those huge ships tethered to the seafloor below.

“I don’t think the writer of Hebrews could have imagined an anchor that large, but sometimes that’s the kind of steadfast anchor our souls need. We’d prefer the journey of our life to have smooth seas and easy sailing, but that’s not always the case. When the rough seas of life threaten to overwhelm us, we can hold fast to the hope that Jesus is there, keeping us grounded as we weather the storm.”

Moving Forward: “What anchors you?”