Date: 18 Oct 2002
Time: 13:41:42
Aparently it is the opinion of some in the church that to use these texts in celebration of the reformation in the church is "anti-ecumenical."
I believe that the whole church has benefited from the various events of the reformation (which is not a one-time happening but ongoing). I hope that using these texts will not offend people. Rather, I hope to celebrate the gift of the new covenant given to the whole church, and not owned exclusively by any particular denomination.
Michelle
Date: 21 Oct 2002
Time: 07:09:57
Michelle: I have heard the same thing about Reformation being anti-ec. Wonder where the church would be today if Luther and others had not stood up and spoken out?
The new covenant is one of joy in the forgiveness and acceptance that it offers, and responsibility in the response that it seeks. The Old Covenant was mostly negative. You could do nothing and by a good law-abiding person. Being God's people requires a response of faith active in love. (Luther said something aboat that, too, in his Catechism meanings, Which always included a postive action for us to do)
JRW in OH
Date: 22 Oct 2002
Time: 11:55:00
Where would this world be?
-still under Catholism? --under that corruption of the church, i.e. the Borgia's. --still illerate peasants looking at ornate gold and jeweled bible and fang church icons.Lady pastor in OHIO
Date: 25 Oct 2002
Time: 06:57:43
CHRIST LUTHERAN BIBLE STUDY Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 46; Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-38
"...[A]nd the truth will set you free." John 31:32
First Reading: Jeremiah is a prophet to the Hebrews during the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar. Six hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Lord through Jeremiah declares to the Hebrews that in time He will make a new covenant not like the covenant made with their forefathers when the Lord brought them out of Egypt. The prophesy has come to pass in the New Testament which was brought to the world by Jesus at the cost of his death on the cross and sealed by his resurrection.
Psalm 46: God is our refuge, our fortress, an ever-present help in time of trouble. Martin Luther wrote the hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" (Hymn 228, Lutheran Book of Worship). Read the lyrics. It's a song of victory. The latter section of the last verse reads, "If they take our house, Goods, fame, child, or spouse, Wrench our life away, They cannot win the day. The Kingdom's ours forever!"
Second Reading: Paul writes to the church at Rome on the subject of the New Covenant. The Law (the basis for the Old Testament) brings a consciousness of sin, but through faith in Jesus Christ we are redeemed from sin by His sacrifice. Our redemption is an act of God's grace, evidence of his love for us. We don't earn our righteousness, so we have no reason to brag. We are not "better people" than others, but if we accept God's gift in faith, the kingdom is ours forever. It's all about faith. That's the good news.
Gospel of John: Jesus is teaching under the New Covenant. Christ is the way to freedom from slavery to sin and the consequence of slavery to sin which is death. The Jews don't understand this. Slavery to them is the captivity in Egypt, Nineveh or Babylon-- a physical captivity. Jesus is speaking of spiritual matters. But those who hold to his teachings will know the truth, and the truth will set them free.
Praise God! 10/27/2002
Date: 25 Oct 2002
Time: 14:43:23
It seems that one of the "keys" to preaching on this text is the idea of "openess". God will bless us with the gift of his holy spirit (that will help and guide us in the ways of holiness), provided we are "open" to that gift.
Earlier Contributions (year 2000)
Date: 18 Feb 2000
Time: 00:26:19
Title: The Covenant of New Hearts
Synopsis: Sometimes broken things can’t be fixed. They have to be replaced. The old covenant had been broken and "fixed" so many times that it no longer much resembled the original covenant of God’s grace to a sinful people. The Law itself had become an idol that was scrupulously studied and obeyed – more so that the God who had given it to the people. So God promised a new covenant – one not written on stone but written on human hearts. This would enable God’s people to know him intimately, not just know about him.
Ed in WA
Date: 25 Mar 2000
Time: 15:10:37
I'm thinking of using this passage with Ps 51 on a theme about "hearts" (a new heart, covenant written on the heart, a broken and contrite heart)in a hospital chapel service. Someone e-mailed me a copy of the speech that Rachel Scott's dad presented to the House Judiciary Committee which speaks to our national need for changed hearts; I may use some of it. I'm interested in what others think about this kind of theme also.
I don't preach every week, but I often read your postings anyway, and am so inspired by the passion that you all have for the scriptures. Thanks so much for your thoughts and wrestlings with the passages.
Janice in Ks
Date: 27 Mar 2000
Time: 05:51:34
Additional thought, added to that towing a heavy machine around when we need a heart transplant. Isn't that like the sins and failures in our lives when we drag them all around with us? God says "I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more." When we have a heart transplant, we can quit lugging all that stuff around. Joy
Date: 29 Mar 2000
Time: 03:50:42
Janice, I had tried to send a story about a patient waiting for a new heart "heart transplant, but noticed that it did not all come out on the comments. I had a member who needed a heart transplant and lived several months at a big hospital waiting a heart. During that time he was hooked to a mechanical heart that was a big machine that had to be towed everywhere he went by someone who accompanied him down the hall. When he at last got a new heart, he was freed from the machine and could leave the hospital, go home, live a complete life. Maybe you can use this in some way? Sorry it only came out in the little additional piece on the big machine. Joy
Date: 29 Mar 2000
Time: 12:15:21
Joy, Thanks. I found the other message attached to one of the other scriptures - the gospel I think. It certainly seems appropriate for my hospital setting. Thanks! Janice
Date: 30 Mar 2000
Time: 16:56:29
Does anyone ever wonder if the seeming chaos and breakdown of the church is the work of the Spirit rather than the result of our sin? Could it simply be the growing pains of "No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me... Is a "new heart" not the internalizing, the incarnation of the Spirit of Christ in every life? jhr.
Date: 03 Apr 2000
Time: 18:18:04
I am focusing on ....I took them by the hand to.... write my word upon their hearts. It seems there is some growning needed here. A child is led but an adult knows through their spirit understanding. LPinPA
Date: 05 Apr 2000
Time: 18:58:00
I have always looked at this passage as the major bridge between the OT and the NT - clarifying the initial covenant between God and human kind and renewing that covenant from the inside out rather than from the outside in.
John Wesley's heart warming experience is a prime example of one who lived out the covenant from the outside in ultil Aldersgate. And then he felt his HEART strangely warmed and the personal knowledge of God's promised love for him (I will be YOUR God) was the key to a search that had propelled him from England to America and back again to England.
Bob in Indiana
Date: 05 Apr 2000
Time: 19:17:05
I am intrigued by the illustration that is used in Vs. 32 "I was their husband" (NIV). I am toying with the idea of speaking about bridging the gap between old covenant and new (convieniently this is communion Sunday for us) and speaking about what a big bridge it is. Our most intimate selves are revealed in a marriage relationship and our deepest pains often come when that relationship is broken. The cheif of police is a member of a local congregation and has told me that (depending on whose stats you read) 85% of officers hurt in the line of duty are hurt on domestic call (usually dealing with spousal arguments). We invest so much, and it hurts so bad when that trust is broken. So in my mind it shows even more so the depth of forgivness on God's part. And, the fact that Good Friday is comming drives it home even more. Not only was it a huge betrayal to forgive but a huge sacrifice on God's part to forgive it.
And, this has nothing to do with the text, but this is the first time I have ever posted to this group and am a bit nervous about it to tell you the truth, but I read the groups posts every week and am truely grateful to you all for your wisdom and insigh.Just in case your congregations don't tell you enough how much you are appreciated, let me tell you THANKS!
Mark in N. Idaho
Date: 06 Apr 2000
Time: 01:32:47
Mark, Thanks for your post! Glad you beat the case of nerves and joined in...your message blends with mine. My thought is that we think we know God because we read a little scripture and hear a sermon on Sunday. God wants us to KNOW Him in our hearts, as we know a beloved. We don't "know" a person by reading or hearing about him or her, but by talking with that person. We would not marry a person we learned about through someone else without getting to know them persoanlly. We learn to know and to love people by spending focused time with them, in communion and communication. We can get to know and love God the same way! We have been introduced by others, perhaps, but now it is time to KNOW God/Jesus/Holy Spirit---personally.
RevJanet, Central NY
Date: 06 Apr 2000
Time: 03:29:51
This passage and Ezekiel 36:26 (I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.) both point to the new covenant that God desires with us. The old covenant was written on stone and produced stony (is that a word?) hearts. God's new plan - give us a new heart, one that really knows God and obeys with joy.
Welcome Mark. It was good to see you last weekend!
Ed in WA
Date: 06 Apr 2000
Time: 11:05:35
Mark, A God incident: As I logged on this morning, and read the text again - which I had already read in hard copy earlier this morning- the words "though I was their husband" jumped off the screen to me as if I had not seen them before and I immediately began thinking about the relationship of God and us as a marriage covenant. Then I read your contribution - right on! Now I have to pray it into a sermon! Thanks so much.
Caroline in CT/USA
Date: 06 Apr 2000
Time: 15:31:26
Dear friends:
I am really struggling this week. Early on, I decided I would work with this text and Psalm 51, sermon titled Knowing God by Heart. Now as Sunday approaches, I feel as if the well is dry. I've had no time to spend in quiet with God--no time to work on our relationship (maybe this pondering is helpful in itself, for I find myself thinking along a new line). The Marriage metaphor may find itself in here more than I expected!
I find myself in awe as I imagine a time when we woudn't need to teach each other about God, because all would know God in their hearts.
When, Jeremiah, would that time be? Has the new covenant begun, even though we don't all know God so completely?
Question for all of you: Jeremiah uses the term New Covenant, as does Jesus, but do you make a direct prophetic connection between the two? How do each of you deal with our Christian re-reading of Hebrew texts?
Just as an aside, I've been dabbling with other sites and discussion services, and now I must say, I'm really happy with this one. I appreciate all of your input, and I have deep respect for your level of knowledge and faith.
Pam in San Bernardino
Date: 06 Apr 2000
Time: 18:58:24
The Jewish Law was to be imposed from the outside. It came to the Jewish people handed down from a theistic God who lived high above the heavens and carved that law in stone so that it could be obeyed by "His" people. But obedience to the "externally" imposed laws proved to be very difficult. The people repeatedly broke the covenant demands of the Decalogue, and yet claimed that God was on their side and would always be gracious to them.
Then came the exile. In despair and meaninglessness, the Jewish people were forced to leave everything they knew and everything they valued as they moved into Babylonian captivity. The festivals which required a Jerusalem setting for their observance could never be celebrated again. Being a Jew outside of Jerusalem seemed virtually impossible. In fact, the faith they once knew no longer existed. No longer could they believe that this God fought on their side alone. No longer could they believe that they were a specially chosen people. No longer could they believe that God heard and responded to their every prayer. No longer could they believe that God instructed them clearly on where to live and how to worship. They could no longer believe that they, as a people, had a destiny and a future.
And then Jeremiah has a powerful insight. That the people's view of God must either change or their God will die. That a new way of looking at God, a new understanding, a new relationship must evolve or the faith of the people of Israel would become a thing of the past. No longer can the rules and laws be imposed from the outside but that this God "will put a new law within us and write it upon our hearts." People will be transformed not from the outside in but from the inside out.
Many today find themselves in a kind of religious exile, much as those Jews in Babylon. They can no longer believe what they once believed. Their understanding of God must grow or their faith becomes hollow and sterile without life. Isn't the message of Christ "if I be lifted up, I will draw all people unto myself," a vision also of a new relationship. A movement away from a fixation upon Jerusalem to a new focus on the Christ......a Christ who begins his work from within each one of us. Just some hasty thoughts.
Rev. Bob
Date: 06 Apr 2000
Time: 23:24:52
I, too, was caught by the "though I was their husband." Two things I see connected to God as husband: covenant with us and holding hands leading them (us) out of Egypt/slavery. Much can be made of likening our relationship with God to a marriage. There is plenty of fodder in Scripture for the image of us being married to God - Isaiah 62:4, Hos. 2:16, Song of Solomon, Jesus as bridegroom. But to be true to the text, that reps. the Old Covenant. I guess none of our marriages are perfect though. We sometimes hurt the ones we love the most. But, ah!, those moments when my husband and I look at each other and laugh because we are remembering the same joke or sharing the same thought because something was said that reminded us of another time. That kind of intimacy only comes with spending a lot of time together and sharing experiences... Maybe that's part of the new covenant. That we spend so much time with the Lord that we are (somewhat) of the same mind. Imagine God and I sharing a laugh because we are remembering the same joke. Neat-o. Rev. Jennifer in MS
Date: 06 Apr 2000
Time: 23:41:05
I'm fascinated by the last verse. It's almost as though it's putting all of us out of work! No more teachers of the things of God? But no, it deals with the fact that under the New Covenant, all believers have equal access to God. One writer has said that the concept of the priesthood of the believer does not negate the priesthood; it negates the laity! There is no laity; all are priests.
Now this is not only a great privilege, but a gigantic responsibility. All have the responsibility for their personal walk and relationship with God. It is indeed a privilege, but a responsibility for those in the "pew."
And why do all Christians have equal access to God? Simple. Because they are forgiven. There is nothing between my soul and the Savior. The curtain is torn in two and we can all walk boldly to the throne of grace; the very holy of holies.
JG in WI
Date: 07 Apr 2000
Time: 03:04:13
Hey folks, my first time adding a contribution. Thank you for your wisdom.
“I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts…” Jesus Christ offered us a picture of what life looks like when God’s law is written on the heart.
The word “testament” literally means a covenant between God and people. The Old Testament of our bible then refers to the Old Covenant that God made with the people of Israel. The New Testament refers to the New Covenant made with all people. Jesus is the transition between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant; the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus is the transition between the cold stone tablets, and the warmth of the law written on our hearts. What was hard and cold, became soft and warm. The old covenant was complicated; the new covenant was simple. The old covenant required interpretation from without; the new covenant placed interpretation within. The old covenant began with “THOU SHALT NOT”; the new covenant begins with “THOU SHALL…” What? Whatever is written on your heart today. Thou shall love; Thou shall forgive; Thou shall put down; Thou shall take up; Thou shall move forward; Thou shall be still; Thou shall grieve; Thou shall praise; Thou shall give; Thou shall worship. What began as many laws, became one law…the law written on your heart by God Almighty.
The good news for us is that God’s call is always available to us. We know this, because God’s law is written within us. It is written upon my heart and your heart. God waited for me. God will wait for you. How do you know God is calling? Listen…to you heart. It is written there.
Lisa
Date: 07 Apr 2000
Time: 04:00:05
Just a thought,
Hebrew words covenanat and cutting are similar - there must be a cutting and in Christianity a dying before covenant can be made.
Also covenant speaks of what I will give where contracts talk of what I will receive. Our western mariage contracts are therefore often disappointing and easily broken.
Pastor Bill in NY
Date: 07 Apr 2000
Time: 12:36:44
Just another note. Notice that Jeremiah 17:1 says, "Judah's sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars." (NIV)
Interesting contrast with 31:33.
JG in WI
Date: 07 Apr 2000
Time: 16:05:09
Dear Friends,
I grabbed this off the Homiletics site. It'll preach! The Reverend Mary Birgelaitis tells the story of a three-year-old and a five-year-old who were playing on the floor while the adults finished their dinner. Lisa, the five-year-old, opened her new toy nurse's kit and finally convinced her brother to be her patient. She took the little stethoscope from the bag and placed it on her brother's chest. Listening intently - as good nurses do - she suddenly announced: "I hear somebody walking around in there." The adults smiled knowingly, but little Ryan, the three-year-old, matter-of-factly answered: "Why, that must be Jesus." So it is.
Date: 07 Apr 2000
Time: 16:07:08
Whoops! Forgot to include my "handle" with the "Jesus walking around" story.
AO in PO
Date: 08 Apr 2000
Time: 01:01:39
In preaching on this text, I'm exploring the idea of the "law" becoming embodied in us, i.e. we know the law through our own heartache in breaking it. I'm sharing some thoughts that it's in not accepting our forgiveness that heart attacks, along with migranes, fatigue, and a whole lot of other stress related things happen to our bodies. When we respond to our parents or children with hate, our heart breaks. When we lie or cheat, we get ulcers. When we deny God, and worship other gods, our whole body feels the pain.
God's forgiveness is complete, and it offers us healing. See Dr. Phil McGraw's forgiveness chapter in "Life Strategies" if you have it.
I'm struggling with how to write this from a first person story into a commentary on the verses. If you have suggestions, I'd welcome them.
Date: 08 Apr 2000
Time: 01:03:17
P.S. I forgot to add my handle to the comment on "embodiment"
Kerra in PA
Date: 08 Apr 2000
Time: 13:12:02
This reading really describes the degree of intimacy God desires with us. The old covenant was already the action of a loving God, but the new covenant is even more so. From "external" to "internal" from stone tablets to writing on our hearts or innermost being. Perhaps engraved better captures what is intended here. The verb "know" in verse 34 also indicates God's desire for a close and personal relationship with us.
As Jermiah looks forward to God's new covenant, the human problem of sin is effectiveley dealt with, and changed lives (for the better) become more than a wish, and are a real possibility. Thanks be to God through our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Graham in Australia