Reading Genesis 12-24 (2014)

Promises, promises, promises—
      Lord, you are a God long on promises
promises to the most unlikely people—
      already barren beyond hope,
      already in another land,
      already committed to other gods,
and yet none of this stops you from
      promises of progeny,
            her own child to hold,
            her own child to nurse;
      promises of land,
            for a growing family,
            long and wide enough for a nation;
      promises to be their God,
            the family to be your people,
            to love and protect as your own;
      promises to bless the world
            through this one family,
            to undo what had been done.

Today we thank you that you are a God of promises,
            imaginative,
            outlandish,
            hard to believe promises.
Thank you for promises—full of hope for the future;
            a divine yes, that trumps human failure,
            divine optimism, over human cynicism.

Thank you that you are a God long on promises,
      and a God faithful to your word—then and now.

            In the name of the promised one, amen.

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