Rev. Cari Pattison
Woodstock Reformed Church
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Lent #5- St. Patrick’s Day, Jeremiah 31:31-34
“What’s written on your hearts?”
31The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
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Introduction
It’s the 5th Sunday in Lent, and it’s also the holiday of St. Patrick’s Day! Originally not a Christian saint day, but the pagan celebration of the spring equinox- when nature’s light and dark balance out and creation prepares for spring.
But you know how I love holiday jokes and riddles, so here goes a few:
Why should you give money to a leprechaun?
Because they're always a little short.
What does the leprechaun order at a coffee shop?
Green tea.
What kind of spells do leprechauns use?
Lucky Charms!
***
Growing up, Lucky Charms was a cereal very much hyped up on Saturday morning cartoon commercials, and a cereal we were of course never allowed to get as kids…
So we always got it with my grandparents, when we went to stay with them.
And now of course as the Auntie of the family, I get to carry on this important family tradition by sending little boxes of the cereal to my nieces and nephew each March.
We talked about one of the charms already with the kids- the green clover (trinity)
And in the sermon we’re going to look at one of the other cereal charms- the heart
Lucky Charms box in Dublin OH parade last weekend…
I was struck by how many churches had floats- we don’t really do that here in the Halloween or Christmas Eve parades in Woodstock.
The big red box of cereal had the tell-tale leprechaun, but instead of just pointing to his pot of gold, his caption bubble read: “You don’t need luck if you have Jesus!”
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This got me thinking about the ways that we glibly wish each other “good luck!” whether it’s a play or a music performance or a sports game.
We say “good luck!” before a job interview or an exam.
I think most likely what we mean, whether we believe in luck or not- is something like, “best wishes! I hope it goes well!”
But in our scripture text today from Jeremiah, the prophet speaks of something better than luck, more lasting than good wishes.
He talks of a new covenant- a binding promise, written on our hearts, that speaks of hope, forgiveness, and new possibility.
What does Jeremiah speak into, in the context of his day, back in the early 6th century, BCE?
What does that “word written on the heart” look like?
And what might it mean for us here, all these years later?
Could that new covenant give us more than a good luck charm, as we carry it into our world of 2024?
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Trouble in the Text- History of Jeremiah
Remember Jeremiah in the Pocantico Hills stained glass window? He was the prophet of sorrow. The first time I saw that one I nearly wept. It was just so beautiful and simple.
Background on Jeremiah- early 6th century BCE-
He is presented as the “prophet like Moses,” whom people were to hear and obey.
His call comes in 627 BCE- an auspicious time in the history of Judah. Death of powerful Assyrian king, after which the Assyrian empire began to crumble and cities began to fall: Asshur, Ninevah, etc, and Babylonia conquered much of the ANE.
In 627 Judah revolted, under King Josiah who eventually died by the Egyptians in 609. He never did succeed really in reestablishing the empire of David and Solomon.
Judah became a part of the Babylonian empire. The captivity lasted until 539 (King Cyrus of Persia).
Jeremiah’s prophetic career coincided with these critical events in Judah’s history.
His preaching:
“The days are surely coming,” says the Lord…
Repentance by returning to ancestral faith
Acquiescence to the Babylonians as a means of avoiding national destruction – which brought him some real enemies in Judah
But his own people hated him for all this- and they were tired of his pot-smashing and wailing and judging.
At least 9 chapters of lament- reflect his experience of persecution
He warned the people: “Hey Judah! Obedience to the commandments and covenant of Moses – not temple worship in Babylon – are your only hope for survival.”
He’s also got a bunch of oracles of judgment against the Jerusalem leaders and kings
“Royal religion is false and sure to fail.”
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Trouble in the World
Not only divisions in regions like Israel / Palestine, Russia / Ukraine, but divides in our own nation and even within our Christian denominations.
Each side exaggerating the other and vilifying their respective candidates and leaders.
Church congregations pulling out of historic denominations they’ve been in covenant with, because they’re deemed too conservative, or too liberal, or missing the mark in some way of what it means to be Christian.
Not unlike Jeremiah’s day, we have displaced immigrants who may want to work but can’t, or don’t have the resources and education to do well.
And perhaps in a spiritual sense, we can all of us relate to some extent to Jeremiah’s exiles- at times feeling adrift, wondering about our purpose. Wondering where we belong and fit in and can make a difference. Looking around at the state of the world and creation- and asking ourselves what we can possibly do to turn the tides of violence, poverty, political division, climate change, species extinction, and an increasingly secular society that seems to have no need for God.
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Hope in the Text!
After the exile of 587 BCE, Jeremiah chose to stay in Jerusalem to help those who remained, rebuild their lives.
And now in these later chapters, he emphasizes oracles of hope rather than of judgment.
The remnants of both Israel and Judah would enter a new covenant (ch. 31) and faithfully follow God’s law, for it would be written upon their hearts.
Later he’s forced into Egyptian exile and is never heard from again.
But more than anyone in his time, Jeremiah provided the means by which a despairing people could hope for a new future.
What I love about him- so relatable! Resists the initial call, feeling too young and ill-equipped. Then has all these woes, and repeatedly wants to quit, and even die, at various points. He complains to God and God answers. And he’s really sad and lonely for most of his ministry!
But he brings this word that is echoed throughout the Bible, including by Jesus and Paul and the writer of Hebrews.
Forgiveness, etc., are not new with the NT- they were there in the OT before Jesus too
What is this new covenant, and how is it different from Noah’s, Abraham’s, and Moses’?
Now the law will be within us, written on our hearts
Talk about the significant of “heart” in the OT as center of life and being
Think of the quote from BBT – “I give my heart to” instead of “I believe”
The substance of the covenant- “I will be their God, and they shall be my people”
“They will all know me, from the least to the greatest- they won’t have to get to know me…”
“I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more” – is this the prefiguring of Christ on the cross? The forgiveness brought forth in the atonement?
Jeremiah promises a new covenant, not a new law
Faith in Jesus is in continuity with God’s covenant to Israel
The new covenant will create an egalitarian society, for everyone will know God equally.
This phrase only occurs in the OT once – “new covenant” – and it’s where we get the term “New Testament,” which we call the entire Christian section of the Bible! This is the most significant portion of Jeremiah, in terms of later NT application
The new covenant does not abolish the old
Frederick Buechner’s quote on Covenant from Wishful Thinking…
Samuel K. Roberts: “In Jeremiah’s prophecy the new will for humanity will be a result of something that God does- God will write the capacity for keeping the covenant on the inward hearts of the people. Hope for such transformed wills will lie within God’s grace, not in any hope for human perfection.”
The old Mosaic covenant had been broken, but the new covenant will continue because of an inward transformation of the human heart that will allow the people to know God intimately and to be obedient to the commandments. And God will forgive and forget the people’s sins.
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Hope in the World
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, and our own Reformed heritage…
Relationship between Celtic (4th-5th century AD in Ireland) and Dutch Christianity-
In contrast to some of what developed in the western church and with certain Augustinian strands of teaching in Catholicism, the earlier Celtic church celebrated grace and nature as good gifts from God and recognized the sacredness of all creation.
It had a love of mysticism and poetry and included women in its leadership. Celtic society was rural, hierarchical, family-based and tribal in nature.
Emphasizes the faith of the earliest disciples, charity, simplicity, and hospitality. It gives honor to family kinship and spiritual friendships, the practice of prayer, and a profound respect for all of God's creation.
It views objects and celebrations in ordinary life, as sacramental- that is, that sacredness and holiness can be found in our simple everyday rituals- not only in church.
Reformed vs. Celtic- actually quite connected in our roots! Augustine vs. Pelagius- nature of humanity- essentially good or essentially bad. Viewing life through the lens of Genesis 1 or Genesis 3? Do we begin with the premise that we are made in the image of God, and all of creation pronounced “It is good”? Or do we view the world – and one another – through the lens of Genesis 3 and the serpent, the fall, the “original sin” and “total depravity”?
Our answer to this question will inform the way we see ourselves, our bodies, and things like marriage equality, ordination, etc. It’s a central question, actually, within Christian denominations…
This all fundamentally ties into the debates in the Reformed tradition in America today! As well as Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Anglicans, etc. Which view you hold, impacts how you see marriage, ordination, purity of the faith, etc.
Reclaiming some of our Celtic roots, as Christian people of the Reformed tradition, can help us more fully live out this new covenant written on our hearts, out in the world.
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Make it practical!
How do we access this new covenant written on our hearts?
How do we live out of this way of relationship with God, in the world?
Forgiveness-
Starbucks examples, the power of confession (even writing it down or confessing to another and asking for forgiveness (James)
Kate McGloughlin last week- put your hand over your heart- “all is forgiven, there there.”
And ask God for help forgiving the ones you can’t. Sister Miriam’s prayer(s).
Heart Transformation-
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Orient your heart each morning:
“You will be my people, and I will be your God.”
“I love you, Cari”
“I love you, Lord”
We can’t control our first thought, but we can control our second.
Is it one of judgment? Annoyance? Criticism?
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Orient your heart each week:
Come to worship! The coffee hour is as important as the confession! The passing of the peace is as important as the preaching of the word.
We come not because we can’t be Christian without it, but because we collectively get to re-set our hearts!
Sunday worship is like a spiritual pacemaker! (Marie)
We don’t come because we always feel we “need church,” or even because of “what we’ll get out of it.”
We come because someone else may need us!
And better than any good luck charm, someone else here may inspire you with their story of transformation or an answer to prayer.
Pay attention! What’s written on someone’s heart that might be just the word you need?
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Give examples of those who are being made new- Lea at GC, Alton the cab driver, Neil after almost tasting death, Josh and his own newfound peace after the dark night of the soul
Stories from yesterday’s women’s event- various pastors and the costs of the pews, but also the Christian Endeavor, the way this church was the social hub of life in Woodstock, and in some sense still is. “How can we keep from singing?”