“Writing a New Covenant”
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Why are there only two testaments? Old and New
Testament
Leonard
Sweet, a prolific writer on the modern church
asks
that question in a book called “AquaChurch”.
He
says two is an incomplete number.
We
talk about the past, present and future;
We
worship the Triune God,
Father,
Son and Holy Spirit;
Shouldn’t
there be a Third Testament?
And
Leonard Sweet posits a radical idea.
The
First Testament was written in the Law and the prophets
The
Second Testament came alive in the love of Jesus Christ
And
the Next Testament is God’s word in Christ
Being
lived out today in us.
Could
it be…is it possible… that God’s word
is speaking
in, through and around us today?
In our communion liturgy we dare to
say:
“As this
bread is Christ’s body for us, send us
out
to be the Body of Christ in the world.”
Could it be that God is continuing to
write God’s story in us today.
Jeremiah believed that it was possible.
Chapter
31 is my favorite passage in Jeremiah:
“This is the new covenant that I will make
with the
house of
I will put my law within them, and I will
write it
upon their hearts;
and I will be their God,
and they
will be my people.”
Often we hear Jeremiah’s words as a
prophecy
Of
Jesus Christ who lifted the cup at the Lord’s Supper
And
said: “This cup is the new covenant
Sealed in
my blood for the forgiveness of sins.”
But what about our response to this Good
News.
The word for Covenant Berith is the same word as
Testament. It means agreement or promise.
But
the word testament also has the nuance
Of
witness or testimony.
The
last will and testament of a person
Is
the last statement that person will make
About
who or what is important in their life
And
how they will invest the resources
Entrusted
to them by God.
What if we were to think of ourselves
and this time
As
the next testament?..The next era of witnessing to
God.
What
if we were to dare to think that God was continuing
To
witness to us in and through Jesus Christ
and that we had the opportunity to be part
of
that ongoing witness.
What if we dared to believe that God
really was writing on our hearts?
In
fact the word that Jeremiah uses is “etching” our hearts.
I
want to share with you today some of the ways that God
Has
etched his word in my life lately.
God
called us to go down to
But
God seems to be calling us again and again
To
share in his ministry of compassion to people
In
Pearlington and D’Iberville.
I
was blessed to go on the first trip and encountered
An
incredible faith and perseverance in the people.
As
I listened to their story I couldn’t help but think
About
the Corinthians 13 passage on love.
Usually
we read it at weddings but think about it
In
light of what people have endured in the Gulf
“Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all
things, endures all things.”
God’s love must have been on the
in the midst of all that they endured
they had faith and hope.
God
has etched his covenant on us some of us from an early age.
For
others, God started writing later in life.
For
all of us God’s is still writing
as we share
stories of faith.
The Shema in Deuteronomy says:
“Hear O
Now you can
see that in our Sunday School class a couple of
Children have actual frontlets on their head.
That was and is how Orthodox Jews kept
the Shema
Before them at all times.
We might think it strange to have a box
attached to our
forehead
which speaks about the love of God
but we have
something that is etched within us too:
“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible
tells me so.
Little ones to him belong.
They are weak but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves
me; Yes, Jesus loves me;
Yes, Jesus
loves me. The Bible tells me so.”
I have been
singing that song for the past week at different
Places
and I am convinced that the song is etched into
Our
lives.
I pray that we are still writing that song and
other songs
Of faith on our young people today.
Of
course Jesus Christ did not instruct his disciples to only reach out
To
our family but to “Go therefore and make
disciples of
All nations,
baptizing in the name of the father and of the
Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I
have commanded
you. And remember, I am with you always,
to the end of the
age.” (Matt 28:18-20)
We often read that passage as a go out
and do passage
And
certainly when we reach out in our Block party,
Or
Building our wheel chair ramp ,
They
are dong activities of ministry.
Yet,
I want you to notice in each case that in each case
Of
ministry and outreach there is community.
There
is the community of adults making sure
children are safe.
There
is the community of men and youth
working
together but also the community of
a lady in our neighborhood who
is surrounded by new friends.
Jesus
said “Lo I am with you always” and
that is
The
most powerful part of the Great Commission.
That’s
what makes the commission great.
I
experienced that community is Christ when
I
had the opportunity to go hiking at Sonlight.
I
went there expecting to be blown away
By
the beauty of nature and instead
I
was struck by community.
When
we were hiking in the mountains we needed each
other
and we needed God.
We
needed the people we were hiking with and
We
needed the people who went up to
The
camp and packed the tents and
The
food for us.
While
I was hiking in the mountain close to the clouds
I
was profoundly aware of the cloud of witnesses
That
surrounded us on that journey.
I cannot
talk about God at work in the world today without
Talking about and praying for and
witnessing to
God at work
in the life of Sara.
Many
of your who have been praying for Sara
for the past
several months at every prayer meeting
and every worship service and every
Wednesday
evening gathering don’t even
know
what Sara looks
like.
That’s
ok. We are connected by God’s Spirit
Even when we are far away.
Sara’s mom and dad have been
faithful in
Communicating with
us through e-mail.
Before
Sara’s surgery in
Could do pastoral care via e-mail.
But for the past three months
we have been
Sharing feeling,
Praying, updating,
Supporting
and even sending
Pictures
via e-mail.
And the
limited connection we feel via the internet
Helps us realize the power of our
connection
With each other and with God
through the
Holy Spirit.
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our
weakness;
for we do not
know how to pray as we ought, but
that very Spirit intercedes with sighs to deep for
words”
Romans 8:26
And
our ultimate response or witness is to say thank you God.
We
say it with our words, we say it with our lives,
And
we say it in worship with our songs.
We’re
reading the Book of Revelation this fall
In
our Wednesday Bible study
and we are
realizing that it is a book of songs.
Through all the trials and
tribulations
The faithful break out in
song:
“And
they sing the song of Moses, the Servant of God and the song of the Lamb: Great
and amazing are your deeds, Lord God Almighty!”Rev.
15:3
And we are still singing a song of
praise today.
I
invite you to sing “Eat this Bread”
as you offer
your thanks
And
pledge your time, talent and treasure to God.
Your
pledge might be a quiet pledge
offered in
the silence of your heart as we sing together.
Your pledge might be a visible pledge
as your come
Forward and place your pledge
form in the baskets
In the front of the
church.
Either
way, I invite your to take this time to think about
All
that God has done for you, and in you and through you
And
to imagine that God is not done with you or me.
God
is still writing upon our hearts,
and witnessing in our lives to his love.
Let him write upon your heart today.
AMEN