Sermon of April 6, 2003 Dr. Jim Standiford, Senior Pastor

Transcription

1 2111 Camino del Rio South, San Diego, California Fax (619) Sermon of April 6, 2003 Dr. Jim Standiford, Senior Pastor LENTEN LECTIONS ON LOVE: 5. NEW COVENANT Jeremiah 31:31-34 John 12:20-33 Eternal God, in these forty days of Lent, prepare us to receive new life from your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. John Claypool is one of the foremost preachers in our land today. He is a delightful person who is deep in his faith and who seeks always to be faithful. John tells a wonderful story out of his family background. The family has had a farm in southern Kentucky for over six generations. On that farm is an orchard. In the orchard was a pear tree that had been there as long as anyone could remember. When John was a small boy, a tremendous thunderstorm moved through the area. The next morning when John s grandfather went out to look at the damage done in the orchard, he saw that his prized pear tree had been uprooted. He was distraught. He had climbed the tree as a child, and had eaten its fruit all his life. It was a part of him. He was standing there looking at the tree when a neighbor stopped by, and said, Doc, I see your pear tree has been uprooted. He replied, Yes it is, and I am grieved by it. The neighbor asked, Well, what do you plan to do? There was a long silence, and finally Grandfather Claypool said, I m going to pick the fruit, and then burn the rest of it. John says those are words of wisdom for all of us as we look at the past. We need to pick the fruit from the past. We need to learn from our past experiences. We need to allow it to benefit us. But when we have picked that which was positive and what we can learn, then we need to burn the rest, and move on. * Grandfather Claypool s statement becomes a metaphor for us for understanding the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. Our text this morning comes from chapter 31 of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is a prophet of the Exile. He was in Israel before the Exile took place, and went into exile with the people. Jeremiah is one of the great Old Testament prophets who both speaks and lives his prophecy. When Jeremiah writes in our passage, he is doing exactly what Grandfather Claypool recommended. The fruit of the past that Jeremiah picks is Israel s concept of covenant: the relationship with God that positively impacts and is impacted by our relationships with each other. What he burns from the past is the 1/5

2 concept of the old covenant, the understanding that the law was to be imposed from outside, an external covenant, a limiting force upon life, a covenant that was understood to be only for certain people, the nation of Israel. Jeremiah takes into the future what he calls the new covenant, a covenant that is written upon the human heart. It is the desire that God gives us by the Holy Spirit, the desire to be in healthy community with each other, and in healthy relationship with God. Ezekiel, who was a contemporary of Jeremiah, says God will give us a new heart and a new spirit. Both prophets are saying the same thing. There will be a transformation of our lives. No longer will God impose from the outside. Rather, God will speak to our hearts, and transform our hearts. This new covenant will be a part of who we are. It will be our desire to be involved in the covenant. It will be our desire to be in healthy relationships with those around us. It will be our desire to live in peace and in worship of God. That s the new covenant. Jeremiah calls us to understand the new covenant as what God wants for the people at that point. Jeremiah not only preaches it, but he begins to live it, too. As the occupying troops are moving through the land and telling people to pack up and prepare to go to Babylon, Jeremiah goes out and buys property. He buys land in Anathoth, the city of his birth. On the same day he loads his trunks onto the moving camels, he also stakes out a new piece of land. It is way for Jeremiah to say to himself, to those around him, and to God, I trust you, God. I trust not only that you will be with us into the Exile, but also that you will eventually bring us back home. That s how deep my trust is. You see, the new covenant was written on Jeremiah s heart and soul. He believed it so deeply, he would risk his wealth to make a statement about the future. In the New Testament epistle to the Hebrews, the writer uses a different image, but one congruent with Jeremiah s, Jesus as high priest. In the first century, as in much of Israel s history, a high priest was elected to serve in the temple on a yearly basis. This would be an image familiar to the people. In chapter 5 of Hebrews, the writer says that Jesus lifted up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. The phrase reverent submission says at least two things to us. First, reverent submission is talking about the posture of prayer. If you have seen Muslim men on television, in the Middle East, or here in the United States, you are familiar with their posture of prayer. They fall to their knees, then they bow their heads and touch their forehead to the ground. It is a bowing before God. It is the posture of prayer for many Near-Eastern people. It was the posture of prayer most likely used by Jesus and by all Jews, and certainly by the high priest. When Jesus prays, he knows the posture for prayer, he goes through the actions of prayer. But it says much more. Reverent submission also means that Jesus heart was a heart in service to people around him, and in honor to God. Jesus served his fellow man, and he worshipped God. Reverent submission is not only going through the actions, it s having the proper heart. The writer of Hebrews is saying the new covenant is written on Christ s heart. We can see it in the way he lives his life, in his role for us, in his actions and in his words. When the writer of Hebrews says to us that Jesus prays with loud cries and with tears, he is saying Jesus whole being is in communion with God. Jesus truly is the high priest, one who goes to God on behalf of the people, and goes to the people with God. Just as Jeremiah, Jesus truly is a member of the new covenant. It is written on his heart and in his soul. This morning s passage from the Gospel of John is also full of imagery. Some of these images are thunderous in their power for us. The passage begins by telling us that Jesus is in Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of Passover. The great liberation festival, Passover reminds the people that it is God who brought them out of slavery in Egypt, and placed them in the Promised Land as a free people. Passover was marked by a whole week of worship and celebration. Sometimes the worship was deeply serious and grave. Then the people would erupt in joyous celebration of their freedom. It s comparable to our Christmas, I suppose. We can be very serious at Christmas, but the overarching feeling of Christmas is one of great joy. That s true of Passover, as well. It is a celebration of deep joy for what has been given, freedom. Jesus and the others were in Jerusalem for the Passover. But then John writes a line that must have seemed shocking: There were Greeks who were coming to worship, and they wanted to see Jesus. It would smack readers with its inappropriateness. The Greeks were non-jews, they didn t know God. They worshipped other gods. They were 2/5

3 pagans. They bowed down to someone else, not to the God of Israel. The people of Israel would have nothing to do with the Greek gods and their form of worship. There was no way the Greeks could come and worship the God of Israel, and know what they were doing. It would not be true religion. They would not be welcome. Yet we are told that the Greeks came. They came not to watch what was going on in the temple, but also to worship. They were seeking Jesus. It s hard for us to understand the power of this statement. The Church has struggled through its generations with openness. The Church from time to time has excluded people because it didn t think they worshipped in the right way, and it didn t think they knew what they were doing. Some of those exclusions were based around gender. There was a time when women were not allowed to speak in church. Then there was a time when they were allowed to speak but couldn t be in leadership. Thank God we have grown since then. Sometimes the exclusions in the Church through the generations have been around theology. One part of the Church says to another, You re too liberal. You re not really Christian. That second part of the Church answers back, You re too conservative. You re not Christian. We ve gone back and forth at each other, denying each other s Christianity. Sometimes the Church has said to certain groups of people, You re not the right race. You re not of the right ethnic background. You don t belong here. Sometimes we ve said, You re not of the right sexual orientation. You can t worship. You can t really know God. The Church is well addressed by this passage. Not just in the first century, but in all centuries, including our own. We are told these people wanted to come, worship, and see Jesus. What do we do with that? John helps us. In his very careful use of language he gives us some beautiful hints. John tells us that Andrew was one of the very first disciples. Jesus reached out to Andrew with the words, Come, and see. Right after that another disciple, Philip, reached out to Nathaniel, saying, Come and see. As John now tells this part of the story, he says these Greeks are coming, and they want to see. John weaves all this together. He says just as those first Jewish disciples were invited, so these non- Jews are requesting the freedom to come and see Jesus. He is talking about the new covenant, the covenant that is based in the heart, motivated not by outside pressure but by the Holy Spirit working within the heart. The Holy Spirit is working with these people and moving them. They are coming, and they want to worship and to see Jesus. Jesus tells a parable. It s not for the newcomers, but for those who are already in the Church. He says that unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed, all alone. Yet if it falls to the ground and dies, then it bears much fruit. The death that Jesus is talking about is death to self, death to selfishness, death to thinking we are the only ones who are in. The new life he is talking about is new life to God, new life in obedience to God. The aloneness he is talking about is the old covenant, the understanding that God s law is imposed from the outside, and that only some can qualify, and those some have to be us. The fruit he is talking about is the new covenant, the understanding that God can invite anyone. Jesus even says in the passage, I will draw all people to myself. That s the new covenant. That s what John is helping the early Church to see, and God through John is helping us to see as well. As we continue the passage, Jesus is thinking out loud about a prayer. Should I pray to God, Father, let this hour pass from me; don t let me go through this.? The hour he is talking about is the hour of his sacrifice, his death. But he concluded, No, I don t want to pray that. I ve come for this hour. This hour, my sacrifice and death, will free me to be Lord of all. This hour will free the Church to open its doors. This hour will free those who have been excluded to be invited in. No, that s why I have come. Do you hear the voice of God thundering through these words? Open Hearts Open Minds Open Doors was not a slogan of the first-century Church. But it is the call of Jesus Christ in this passage, for us to be open to whomever the Spirit moves to be a part of the Church. Then we are told something interesting. People hear a voice from heaven. Some say it s thunder. Others say it s angels speaking. That s understandable. In ancient times, people often believed that God spoke through thunder and angels, so these would be logical conclusions. What might be intimated by this statement, the people thought it was thunder? Perhaps, those who aren t getting it, who don t understand what it is that Jesus is saying here, perhaps they are the ones who hear thunder. If we have a non-inclusive god, a small god, then sometimes our ears are blocked and we don t hear very clearly. So it might well 3/5

4 be the case here, that those who don t get it, just hear thunder. Or perhaps God is thundering at those who don t get it. Perhaps God is thundering at those who have a small god, and saying, Wake up! See me! I m bigger than what you ve imagined. Jesus certainly did that earlier in this gospel, when he thundered at those who were running the temple, those who were exchanging money and selling animals. He thundered at them to get out of the way, and let the people worship. Perhaps what was heard that day was God thundering at those who thunder at others, those who call others names, those who demean others, those who put others down. I don t know about you, but sometimes when I thunder there s nothing behind it, just a lot of hot air! Maybe God was saying, Stop your thundering. If there s any thundering that s going to go on, I ll do it. Listen to me. Don t demean each other. This whole passage with the wonderful parable about the seed falling and not being alone any longer, but being fruitful and growing, prefigures another parable that Jesus will tell a couple of chapters later. In that parable Jesus says, I am the vine and you are the branches. In this later passage Jesus says, Let s invite everyone in. Let s have everyone be a part of the community of faith. He says everyone in the community of faith needs to be connected with each other and with God. That s the new covenant, a receptive community that connects everyone with each other and with God. That s the call for you and me. Reuben Job is a retired Methodist bishop. Many years ago he was a local church pastor. His young son, Billy, was just entering Junior High. Billy went to the first day of class, and they had an assembly that day. Junior High assemblies are riotous events. In this one, they introduced the homeroom teachers. The president of the P.T.A. was doing the introductions. He introduced Miss Smith. Miss Smith was known throughout the school as being a very easy grader, and not much of a disciplinarian. Everyone loved Miss Smith, so when she was introduced the students all cheered, Right on, Miss Smith! They were led by the ninth-graders, who had known her longest. Then Mr. Brown, the football coach, was introduced. He was young and handsome and strong, and everybody loved Mr. Brown. The eight-graders picked up the cheer this time, Yeah Brown. Yeah Brown! The seventh-graders, for whom this was their very first day in the school, and their very first assembly, were a little timid about all this, but they were beginning to get the spirit. They began to join in as the next few teachers were introduced. Then Mr. Johnson was introduced. Mr. Johnson was older. He had a reputation for being strict, for being a strong disciplinarian. When he was introduced there wasn t a sound in the room. Then somewhere from the student stands someone yelled, Boo Johnson! All the students picked it up, and a massive booing sound erupted. The pain was obvious on old Mr. Johnson s face. Then for some reason (he doesn t know why even to this day) little Billy Job, on this first day of school, stood up, and said, Shut up! He s my father! and sat down. The place went quiet. Then the kids began to talk, Johnson has a kid? We didn t know Johnson had a kid. Who is this kid? But there was no more booing. When school was over that day Billy ran home. As he burst through his front door he was sobbing. His dad happened to be home, and just caught him as he came through the door. Billy said, Daddy, I ve done a terrible thing. I told a lie at school today. His father sat down and listened to the whole story. When Billy finished, his father took him in his arms again and said, Son, you didn t really lie. You were just mixed up about our family connections. You see, Mr. Johnson isn t your father. He s your brother. The new covenant draws us all to be receptive, to invite others in, and then to be connected to each other, and to God. Thanks be to God. * John Claypool, The Future and Forgetting, Preaching Today, April /5

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