May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, 0 Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

When I preached in February, the topic was angels, angels, angels. Today, it's promises, promises, promises. That's what we hear in all three readings today--promises that make the difference between life and death. As you look back on your own lives, I'm sure that promises you have made or received have not been quite as important as the ones that happened soon after the resurrection of Jesus. But all promises--kept or unkept--bear an impact on our lives.

When I was growing up, and an adult made a promise to a child, the child would respond by saying, "Cross your heart and hope to die?" If the adult then crossed his or her heart and said, "Cross my heart and hope to die!", then the child would be satisfied that the promise would be kept. Just how or when this practice first came about, I'm really not sure, but I think that perhaps it was based on the cross of Christ. A promise made on the strength of such a sacred object would never be broken. It was a sure thing. And so, the adult would make the sign of the cross over Jesus, who lived in his or her heart.

Promises should not be made lightly. The only one I can ever remember breaking changed my life for ever. It was made to one of my Grade 1 pupils, Keith, and I hurt him very badly because I lacked the courage to keep my promise to him. After some intense suffering, I vowed never to break my promise again. With the help of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I finally found the courage that I lacked then. But I also no longer make promises that I know I cannot keep. I recognize my own limitations and call upon the Lord only when necessary.

Now, what has this to do with the promises that we find in the New Testament readings? I believe that it helps us to see the difference between the promises of God and the promises of humans--the infallible and the fallible--the long view and the short view--the holy and perhaps the not so holy.

We heard the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus just a short time ago. There are three verses that I want to read to you again: 'And Jesus said to them, "0 foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."

The disciples knew about the prophets but they had never properly sorted out the promises that God had made through them. In all probability, they had heard the key stories in the Old Testament that told about the actions of God in certain situations, such as the crossing of the Red Sea. But how much the ordinary people knew about the more obscure passages that held hidden meaning for the future is hard to say. It seems that the two disciples on the road ro Emmaus were woefully ignorant. Jesus does not leave them in their ignorance. He opens their eyes and minds and hearts so that they may understand that the things that happened to him were all part of God's master plan of salvation which was foretold in the Scriptures. God had kept his promises.

When we move on to Peter's speech in the Book of Acts, we find that part of it is a response to a question that some of his concerned listeners ask of him and the other disciples. "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter's words gave great hope to the people then and still inspire a sure hope in our hearts today. His advice to them was this: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him."

There is boldness and strength in Peter's declaration. There is no more hesitation. He believes what he is saying. Contrary to the contemporary usage of 'Shall' and 'will', 'shall' is the stronger word. It means that Peter has no doubt that the Holy Spirit is available to all those who repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus. Peter is not making a wishy-washy statement. He is making a promise on behalf of the Lord.

The wonderful thing about it for us is the complete inclusive- ness of the statement. The promise is for all believers, down through the centuries, all who willingly and gratefully and joyfully respond to the loving call of God.

Finally, in Peter's first letter, there is the promise of eternal life. Hear again verses 21 and 23: "Through Jesus you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." "You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God."

This is a fantastic promise! A joyful promise!. This is not wishful thinking. Peter saw the risen Lord with his own eyes. He saw other people raised raised from the dead. He saw many transformed through the healing power of God. Peter is speaking from his own experience and it has become very important to him that he share the wisdom of Jesus with others. When he wrote these words, Peter had come to under- stand his Lord's command to go and spread the Good News to all people.

May we, too, come to that same understanding so that we also have a desire as great as Peter's to share the promises of God with others.

There's a hymn by Kelso Carter called "Standing of the Promises" As far as I know, it has never been included in an Anglican hymn book. But the first verse sums up, in simple words, what the importance of God's promises should mean in our own lives. It goes like this:

'Standing on the promises of Christ my King,

Through eternal ages let His praises ring;

Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,

Standing on the promises of God.'

Let us pray: Eternal God, you have invited us to share eternity with you. Grant us the faith to believe the promises that you have made to us through the prophets and, especially, through our Saviour, Jesus. We pray in His name. Amen.