Covenant and Communion*

The Windsor Report of the Lambeth Commission is proposing that the churches of the Anglican Communion enter into a “covenant” with one another, requiring that each church place the interests of the communion ahead of their own. As members of the Body of Christ, we already share in communion with Christ and with one another.

COVENANT AND COMMUNION
Entering into covenant with our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion is part of what it means to be in communion with them. Covenant is part of our Biblical history and story. So, what is the meaning of covenant? What is the biblical history and nature of covenant?
The word covenant is used close to 300 times in Scripture. The cutting “carat,” of a covenant, “beriyith,” has its roots in a time even before the foundation of the world. An eternal covenant for the redemption of the world existed even before the foundation of the world. “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight....In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” Eph. 1:4, 7-10. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” 1 Pet. 1:18-20. “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” Rev. 1:8. “And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.” Heb. 4:3b. See also Matt. 13:34-35.
The cutting of a covenant has traditionally been a very serious undertaking. One who broke covenant with a covenant partner was subject to being cut off from the community or communion of the faithful. We recall the initial covenant Abraham made with God. It required the taking of animals, and cutting them in half. God passed between them in the form of a flaming torch and smoking firepot. Gen. 15:17. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. “Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people, he has broken my covenant.” Gen. 17:14. Carat or cut-off is the same Hebrew word used in the cutting or making of a covenant. Breach of the covenant led not only to one being “cut-off” from community, but it is written in Jeremiah that, “The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two, and then walked between its pieces. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, I will hand over to their enemies who seek their lives.” Jer. 34:18-20.
In the covenant between Jacob and Laban, Laban called upon the Lord to “keep watch” as a witness between them even when they were apart to see that Jacob would not mistreat Laban’s daughters. Jonathan called upon the Lord to deal either with himself or with David, through David’s enemies, if either should break covenant with the other. 1 Sam. 20:13-17. Moses called upon heaven and earth as witnesses to the keeping of the covenant between the Israelites and God as they entered the Promised Land. “See I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land your are entering to possess....This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.” Deut. 30:15, 19.
Covenant making included a number of exchanges. Robes and belts were sometimes exchanged signifying the taking on of the identity, character or strength of the covenant partner. Weapons were exchanged signifying the taking on of the enemies of the covenant partner. 1 Sam. 18:3-4. Our safety and well-being is bound up in the safety and well-being of our covenant partner. Josh. 9-10:15.
Covenant making often involves a covenant meal. The seventy elders took part in a covenant meal with Moses. Ex. 24:7-11. Isaac and Abimelech shared a covenant meal. Gen. 26:28-30. Of course, The Last Supper is a covenant meal between Jesus and His disciples, a covenant meal in which Jesus has instructed us to partake in remembrance of Him as a sign of the New Covenant we have in Him. Matt. 26:26-28. As we do so, we renew our covenant, and remain in Him as He is in us. If we do not do so, we have no life in us. John 6:47-58.
In a blood covenant, which is what we have with Jesus Christ, there is shedding of blood and the drinking or partaking of the blood of the covenant partner, such that his DNA becomes part of our DNA. He dwells within us and we dwell in Him. The shedding of blood to cover human sin began with the killing of animals to clothe Adam and Eve in the Garden. A foreshadowing of the enmity between man and Satan began with the judgment upon the snake in Gen. 3:15: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Thereafter, when it appears to God that all the earth is full of corruption, a covenant is made with the one who is righteous, that is Noah, “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and yours sons’ wives with you.” Gen. 6:18. God entered into covenants with Abraham and with Moses. The response of the people to Moses’ reading of the Book of the Covenant was that “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Ex. 24:3. “Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.’” Ex. 24:8.
In other words, the Israelites agreed to keep the law, but they could not do so. Therefore, the Lord promised a new covenant with the House of Israel, “It will not be like the covenant which I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt….This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Jer. 31:31-33. The covenant God made with God’s people is an eternal covenant. Ps. 105:8-10.
The prophet Malachi refers to a special covenant which the Lord made with the tribe of Levi for the priesthood. “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace…For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge and from his mouth men should seek instruction—because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi, says the Lord Almighty. So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.” Mal. 2:5-12.
Being in covenant with Jesus Christ is a matter of discipleship. And, moreover, discipleship is a matter of salvation. Just as living into our covenant role as a disciple is to assure our salvation, so also to neglect our covenant role as a disciple is to condemn ourselves to eternal destruction. Like the historic covenants of scripture, a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ is a relationship unto death. We commit to live our lives as one with our covenant partner. It is like the marriage relationship in that we are no longer two but one. Jesus reminds us that being His disciple, His follower, requires that one offer one’s complete self and hold back nothing in the covenant relationship. Jesus’ blood has been shed for the forgiveness of our sins, and we are to put Him before our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, spouses, children, all of our possessions and even our own lives. Lk. 14:26, 33. If we refuse to give up all for Jesus Christ, not only are we not worthy of discipleship, but we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Mt. 10:37-39; Mk. 8:34-38; 10:23; Lk.14:33. This is where discipleship becomes a matter of salvation.
What does covenant have to do with communion? Covenant and communion are closely connected. Covenant with Jesus Christ is part and parcel with our role as His disciples. We no longer live for ourselves, but for Christ who is in us. Covenant with Christ includes covenant with His body, the Church. Our communion with Christ extends to other parts of the body of Christ in communion with Him. “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?” Mal. 2:13.
Our ability to keep our covenant comes from the strength we are given by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. When we are weak, then Christ, our covenant partner, is strong. A major difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is that we have the Spirit of Christ within us to enable us through the power of the Spirit to keep our covenant.
It would appear that what we are being asked to do as churches of the Anglican Communion is to formalize and reaffirm a relationship of communion and covenant that already exists in spiritual terms if we take seriously our covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, and the fact that we, as Christians are one body in Christ. To say that such a relationship already exists is not to say that such a covenant is unnecessary, because it is clear that we have different understandings of the meaning of our communion and our existing covenant.

*There is nothing original about the collection of these verses except perhaps the order in which they are presented, and their application to the Anglican Communion. Much of the content is credited to Kay Arthur and her Precept upon Precept, study of “Covenant,” (2002).