Covenant
“If a wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed…If he keeps my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall not die.” (EZ 18:21) “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands… the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.” (Deut 28:1) “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possessions… (Ex 19:15) and a holy nation.” (EX: 19:15)
“If” in the statements above is the basis of an agreement, a covenant with stipulated conditions to be agreed upon by all parties. “If” as used here is a qualifier, a prestated condition. The Old Testament covenants contain the contractual necessity of obedience to rules of conduct in return for a sense of belonging – a sense of place.
Rudyard Kipling dedicated the poem “If” to his son as a guide of integrity and decorum necessary to become a mature, contributing man. In that poem, “if” qualifies thirteen challenges. We all use the terms: “if only,” and “if not.” My mother often said her final word allowed for “no ifs, ands, or buts.” There must be something about “if” worth thinking about.
A search of the web informs that “If” appears 1637 times in the Bible, of which 993 are in the Old Testament, 602 in the New. These figures do not include the apocrypha. I have not read scripture with a view to search for the numbers of “ifs” stipulating an action; and acknowledge that oftentimes “if” references a possibility. I have more critically read the Rule of St. Benedict (Fry 1982) where I find “if” used and printed one hundred times, seventy-one of which are covenantal in intent defining motivation or expected behavior. Also, within the Rule the words “must” and “should” are used in reference to those with monastic authority. The Rule is structured to clarify the intent of the seeker and what is accepted behavior within a community. The Prologue of the Rule alone asks a candidate seven times to affirm their desire for eternal life and willingness to give up individual will in service to the community as necessities before acceptance into monastic life. The “ifs” of most consequence guide organization, cohesion, humility, censure for infractions, and forgiveness to acknowledge human needs and weaknesses, then mold them to a communal life of prayer, work, study, and leisure. All this within the lifelong pledge and vow of stability, conversion of spirit, and obedience to monastic principles.
To succinctly paraphrase the transaction: responding to the proposal from God: “I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Heb 8: 6-13), the monk responds with his covenantal “I will give you thanks with an upright heart; when I have learned your just ordinances, I will keep your statutes.” (Ps 119:7-8)
The Rule has guided Western monasticism for 1500 years as a covenant among community members with the common goal being the imitation of Christ. Though written for monastic life, it is a template for all persons desiring to go deeper in relationship with God.
Richard Fitzgerald
