SERMON preached on the Fifth Sunday of Lent (2 April, 2006) by Ted Berktold
Propers:
Jer. 31: 31-34; Ps. 51; Heb. 5: 1-10; John 12: 20-33
The
Bible tells us that, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve hid themselves from God
after they were disobedient. We
have had trouble seeing God ever since. For
countless generations we have hidden behind possessions, pride, shame, whatever,
and we really cannot see that God has always been there looking out for us.
Today's
first lesson, taken from the prophet Jeremiah, gives us (the human race)
something new. This is not just another promise of redemption if Israel will
shape up and obey the Law. This is
God saying that a whole new covenant is about to be made, one in which there is
no room for misunderstanding. This
one will not be written on stone tablets but on the hearts of people.
When this covenant takes effect, says Jeremiah, people will know God
personally, face to face, heart to heart. "I
will forgive their iniquity," says God, "and I will remember their sin
no more." (Jer. 31: 34)
Why
is this so different? From the time
of the first covenants - with Noah and Abraham and Moses - God has always
promised far more than we seem able or willing to accept.
No matter how many maps God gave us, in the Law and the prophets, we
still seemed to get lost in this garden, this Eden.
The leaves that we use to hide ourselves from God only hide God from us.
We're like children who cover our eyes with our hands and say, "You
can't see me." Not seeing God, we gradually come to believe that God isn't
there, or that God, like the Energizer Bunny, got us started in creation and
then kept on going somewhere else.
But
we haven't been able to save ourselves. Prophets
and preachers are as human as anybody else, so why believe them?
They can't save us. I can't
save us. We memorize the
commandments and try to break as few as possible, but still end up feeling more
guilt than joy. But here is
Jeremiah telling us that God is going to change all that once and for all, if we
will co-operate. God is going to
write a new covenant on our hearts and make sure that we each see and know and
love God in a personal way.
Not
only that, we are promised that our sins will be forgiven and forgotten: "I
will remember their sins no more," says God.
We can forgive, but only God can forget.
No more conditional forgiveness now:
"If you do such and so, then I will forgive you".
No more temporary forgiveness: "You
are forgiven, but only for today - I might change my mind tomorrow, so keep the
sacrifices coming". Those
covenants were a lot like doing the laundry.
You wash a load of clothes and get them clean, but next week it starts
all over again, and you even have to wash the clothes you wore to the laundromat
last week. Guilt, the gift that
keeps on giving.... No more of that, says God.
No more paying and repaying debts we keep owing.
The cycle has got to be broken somehow.
But
human beings have a problem when we try to find our own way out of the woods.
We can't get out because we don't know which way to go.
Only God can lead us out our wilderness.
We cannot see God face to face just by wishing it was so.
God became human in Jesus to open our eyes and write a new and personal
covenant on our hearts.
Being
human, Jesus can touch us personally. Being
God, Jesus can forgive us and save us. That's
the heart of the Gospel. The
Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus is priest and sacrifice, the perfect
offering for our sins. Quoting from
the Psalms, the author of Hebrews calls Jesus "a priest forever according
to the order of Melchizedek." Melchizedek
was a Canaanite king in a place called Salem - which means Peace - who appears
from nowhere in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis, offering Abraham bread and
wine and a blessing in the name of God Most High.
He prefigures Jesus, the high priest who offers us the bread and wine of
his body and blood as the complete and perfect offering for our sins.
Melchizedek
is king as well as priest and the name of his kingdom is Peace.
Peace between God and us was the original plan of creation.
To restore us to that peace with God, Christ became one of us, the new
Adam who would restore us to grace. Fully
human, he kept the privilege of being God in order to take away our sins.
He experienced the joys and sorrows we face.
He knew the frustrations and the hopes of us all.
He knew what he was talking about. He
was lovable and believable, but he was something more.
He was a guide who could see the way out of the wilderness of sin and
death, and bring us back to the glory for which God created us.
Do
you wish to see God face to face? Look
at the baby Jesus in the manger; helpless, adorable, like the babies in our
Nursery this morning. Look at
Christ the preacher, teacher, healer, who attracted hundreds of followers.
Look at the broken body lifted high upon the cross.
Look to the empty tomb and the risen Lord breaking bread with the
disciples. There you will see the
way to true peace, the peace that passes understanding, and you will find
yourself in face-to-face communion with God.
Let
us pray:
Jesus
Mary’s
Son
Holy
One
My
Messiah
And
my God
Transform
me
Change
me
Renew
me
Keep
me in your sight
Protect
me this day
And
through the night
Protect
me this day
And through the night. Amen