Renewing the Covenant: Embracing Personal Faith and Forgiveness
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"So as we journey along this path of constructing a resilient and strong Christian faith, we've come through a couple of building blocks, and we've spent the last two Sundays looking at this vital question of covenant, first with Noah, then with Abraham. And if I had a bit more time, I would have dedicated one Sunday to the renewal of the covenant that happens particularly through Joshua and Moses. But we're going to come back to Moses and covenant and commandments next, so we're going to touch on it." [00:02:55] (38 seconds)
"But just know that it doesn't all just sort of stop with Abraham. There is a constant call for renewal of the covenant, that God calls key figures into that important task. Of course, being Moses and Joshua. And Joshua as the primary. But the question I want to explore to you today and next Sunday is what is the Christian response to the Abrahamic covenant?" [00:03:32] (34 seconds)
"So it's a very important sort of seminal moment in this constant relationship that God has with the Israelite people. This sort of process, this cycle of kind of hope and affirmation, followed by a sense of disobedience and irrelevance. And then God re-injecting back into it a call once again to the Israelite people to come back into a covenant, even though there is this constant kind of rejection of the commandments." [00:04:34] (39 seconds)
"This promise from God that there will be a new covenant that will be written in our hearts. And that has been the interpretive framework for how people have read many of the Gospels. Now I'll tell you right from the outset, my point of view is probably different than... I'm going to make a suggestion probably any minister you've had before you. The standard Christian response, the response I get from pretty much most Christian pastors, is the Jeremiah..." [00:05:56] (40 seconds)
"Well first, I respond to that by saying, wait a second, the new covenant, does those passages really replace the first covenant, the primary covenant? And what's significant about it is the verses that come just before, and it's why I put them in in the reading. Did you catch this whole thing about sour grapes? It's a very confusing expression. But what is said here, it's said in this phrase, the parents have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge." [00:07:39] (40 seconds)
"That is a reference that is seen in the sort of original context, particularly in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers, as this notion of a multi-generational judgment by God. The sins of the father are visited upon the son. Right? So this notion that one generation, another, you know, future generations are held responsible for the actions of this current generation." [00:08:19] (33 seconds)
"And that is part of the original, what I think is sort of evolves and shaped by Jeremiah, is God is saying, okay, I'm going to try this one more time with the Israelite people, and what I'm going to do is I'm going to write the law on their hearts. And I'm going to do it in a way that will no longer be about this multi-generational judgment, but that this notion will rest with each and every person in their own lives." [00:08:51] (40 seconds)
"But all shall die for their own sins, the text says. The teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. In other words, you don't get a pass anymore as a person on how you understand your relationship with God. It can no longer be buried into some kind of generational experience. We are to be judged each and every one of us individually for how we live our lives." [00:09:32] (35 seconds)
"So how can we then conclude that this new covenant replaces the old? In other words, the Christian theology that has emerged through the centuries is essentially that Judaism disappears. That Christianity replaces Judaism. It has been the source of anti-Semitism since it was first articulated a couple centuries after Jesus." [00:11:21] (29 seconds)
"And then I turn around and I say to folks, okay, but if that's true, then why did Jesus say both in Mark and in Matthew that, do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. So those are words from Jesus that are generally recognized to be from him. Why, he asks, or says, do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. So that gets us to this question of language." [00:16:42] (41 seconds)
"Jesus isn't asking us to replace the covenant. He's in fact saying we need to renew it. You have heard it said, the gospels say often, to not murder. But I'm telling you to love your enemies, Jesus says. So I'm going to take that covenant and I'm going to make it even stronger. Even stronger. And more demanding. And as Jeremiah says, and it's going to be on each and every one of us." [00:19:10] (33 seconds)
"Forgiveness is at the heart. Of this covenant that Jesus calls us to renew. Can you bring forgiveness into your hearts for things that have happened in your lives and are happening in your lives? It's an extraordinarily difficult thing to do, isn't it? To truly forgive those who have maligned you, who have hurt you. But there it is, folks. It's part of the foundation of what Jesus comes to forgive. To fulfill. To pletil. To make full." [00:21:12] (37 seconds)
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"But just know that it doesn't all just sort of stop with Abraham. There is a constant call for renewal of the covenant, that God calls key figures into that important task. Of course, being Moses and Joshua. And Joshua as the primary. But the question I want to explore to you today and next Sunday is what is the Christian response to the Abrahamic covenant?" [00:03:32] (34 seconds)
"So it's a very important sort of seminal moment in this constant relationship that God has with the Israelite people. This sort of process, this cycle of kind of hope and affirmation, followed by a sense of disobedience and irrelevance. And then God re-injecting back into it a call once again to the Israelite people to come back into a covenant, even though there is this constant kind of rejection of the commandments." [00:04:34] (39 seconds)
"This promise from God that there will be a new covenant that will be written in our hearts. And that has been the interpretive framework for how people have read many of the Gospels. Now I'll tell you right from the outset, my point of view is probably different than... I'm going to make a suggestion probably any minister you've had before you. The standard Christian response, the response I get from pretty much most Christian pastors, is the Jeremiah..." [00:05:56] (40 seconds)
"Well first, I respond to that by saying, wait a second, the new covenant, does those passages really replace the first covenant, the primary covenant? And what's significant about it is the verses that come just before, and it's why I put them in in the reading. Did you catch this whole thing about sour grapes? It's a very confusing expression. But what is said here, it's said in this phrase, the parents have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge." [00:07:39] (40 seconds)
"That is a reference that is seen in the sort of original context, particularly in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers, as this notion of a multi-generational judgment by God. The sins of the father are visited upon the son. Right? So this notion that one generation, another, you know, future generations are held responsible for the actions of this current generation." [00:08:19] (33 seconds)
"And that is part of the original, what I think is sort of evolves and shaped by Jeremiah, is God is saying, okay, I'm going to try this one more time with the Israelite people, and what I'm going to do is I'm going to write the law on their hearts. And I'm going to do it in a way that will no longer be about this multi-generational judgment, but that this notion will rest with each and every person in their own lives." [00:08:51] (40 seconds)
"But all shall die for their own sins, the text says. The teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. In other words, you don't get a pass anymore as a person on how you understand your relationship with God. It can no longer be buried into some kind of generational experience. We are to be judged each and every one of us individually for how we live our lives." [00:09:32] (35 seconds)
"So how can we then conclude that this new covenant replaces the old? In other words, the Christian theology that has emerged through the centuries is essentially that Judaism disappears. That Christianity replaces Judaism. It has been the source of anti-Semitism since it was first articulated a couple centuries after Jesus." [00:11:21] (29 seconds)
"And then I turn around and I say to folks, okay, but if that's true, then why did Jesus say both in Mark and in Matthew that, do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. So those are words from Jesus that are generally recognized to be from him. Why, he asks, or says, do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. So that gets us to this question of language." [00:16:42] (41 seconds)
"Jesus isn't asking us to replace the covenant. He's in fact saying we need to renew it. You have heard it said, the gospels say often, to not murder. But I'm telling you to love your enemies, Jesus says. So I'm going to take that covenant and I'm going to make it even stronger. Even stronger. And more demanding. And as Jeremiah says, and it's going to be on each and every one of us." [00:19:10] (33 seconds)
"Forgiveness is at the heart. Of this covenant that Jesus calls us to renew. Can you bring forgiveness into your hearts for things that have happened in your lives and are happening in your lives? It's an extraordinarily difficult thing to do, isn't it? To truly forgive those who have maligned you, who have hurt you. But there it is, folks. It's part of the foundation of what Jesus comes to forgive. To fulfill. To pletil. To make full." [00:21:12] (37 seconds)
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