Walking with Jesus through trials to the triumph
Love Found on the Walk
Jeremiah 31:31-34

† I.H.S. †

May you find the gifts from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, the gifts of incredible love and peace, as you realize you spend every day in His presence.

Coming Attractions?

Time for some honesty.

How many of you find the Bible confusing at times?

Good, it looks like I am in good company.  It might sound off to hear a pastor confess that the Bible can seem confusing at times, but it can, and today is one of those times.

God promises through the writing of Jeremiah that there is a day coming when a New Covenant and a new deal will be put in place.  And my heart rejoices in that promise!  But then I look at the description of how people acted towards God, and the promise of how they will look in the new testament, and I struggle.

Because I see people looking more like their Old Testament ancestors than like the prophecy of the New Covenant.

So I am confused,  Didn’t the Old Testament fade away at the cross, and wasn’t the New Testament confirmed with the Resurrection of Jesus?

And if it was, what doesn’t it say if we don’t act like the prophecy?  What does it say about the prophecy of God?  What does it say about us?

Do we still need to be taught?

In the second paragraph of today’s Old Testament reading, there are some descriptions of the people in the new covenant.

We are supposed to have had God’s instructions, the entire description of the Covenant, placed deep within them, and they will be written on your heart.

We are supposed to not need someone to teach us, and we shouldn’t have to teach our families or our neighbors.  And yet, that seems to be the bulk of what I do, either preparing to teach and preach or actually doing the teaching and preaching.

Too often we are like the people in the Old Covenant, the ones that God had to take by the hand and lead them out of Egypt, yet like little kids, they tried to escape from God and go to whatever false god promised us what we want..…

So what has happened?  Why aren’t we living the way God promised we would?  Why do we still have people who get caught up in their sin, who betray God, who hate their enemies rather than loving and praying for them?  Why don’t we live in obedience to God?

Was scripture wrong, or is it not about us?

have to admit, this is and was a confusing passage, one that I struggled to write the sermon on, one I struggled to find the words that explained it well.

Do we know God?

But I am going to explain it this way, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant are different because in one the people were dragged into it, they were drug out of Egypt, and they didn’t know God, barely beyond knowing that God was the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.

Not only did they not know about God, but they also didn’t know Him.  So he had to grab them by the hand and lead them, and be constantly aware that they would wander off, that they would be unfaithful, because they didn’t know Him,  even at their best, they only knew about Him.

Luther put it this way,

Although they believe in, and worship, only one true God, yet know not what His mind towards them is, and cannot expect any love or blessing from Him; therefore they abide in eternal wrath and damnation. For they have not the Lord Christ, and, besides, are not illumined and favored by any gifts of the Holy Ghost.
The Large Catechism of Martin Luther.

This is where it all boils down, in Christ we not only know about God, we know Him.  We have something to expect from Him, love and the blessings of peace and forgiveness. In Christ God’s love isn’t just written on stone tablets, it is placed in our heart, ready to resonate with the message of the gospel.

That love, that mercy, that peace was unknown in the Old Testament, it was hidden.  They knew God wants to be their God, but they didn’t get what that meant.  They didn’t make the link between the covenant, and the requirement on God to do whatever it would take to fulfill the covenant, what is called cHesed.

We translate it love, or loving-kindness, and sometimes mercy, but it is a term form covenant.  That is what is written on our hearts!  This covenant of cHesed, this covenant of love and mercy.  This word means you are bound to the other person to the extent that if they cannot fulfill their obligation, you will do it for them.

Not begrudgingly, but out of love, because you care. That is how God bound you to Himself. As He united you with Jesus death and resurrection!  God cares for you so much, all that you have done, all that you cannot fix, He took care of at the cross.

And that is what we see up here, at the cross, the love and mercy of God doing for us, what we cannot do for ourselves.

That’s the God we know in the New Covenant, a God who is so dedicated to us, so willing to care for us, that He will take care of our sin, as He always has promised us. A God who helps us realize that He is our God and we are His people, and what that means, that He bears all of our burdens.

Which is something you cannot really teach, it is something like in our benediction for the yea.r

¹⁹  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLT)

For that is the covenant of Jesus, the relationship and religion formed when we were united to the lamb of God, who was slain that we would be rescued, who was slain to grant us peace, to help us to know Him, and to know His love.  AMEN!.