February 25The Second Sunday in Lent (St Paul's)

February 25:The Second Sunday in Lent (St. Paul’s)

lectionary

covenants:

If we have been hearing and responding to the image of Jesus’ ministry, who he is, and what that means for us through the Epiphany season. Our emphasis changes in Lent. Today the theme of Lent is put plainly before us. It is Covenant.

“walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham”

The theme of “covenant” is reworked and repeated with variations throughout the coming weeks of Lent. Next week it is expressed in the Ten Commandments. Jesus cleanses the Temple. The following week, the covenant people grumble in the wilderness. God, who is the other party to the covenant, finally moves to the final response to his wayward, grumbling, always squabbling people. He lifts up the Son of Man on high.

Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Finally, “covenant” is the very word used by Jeremiah in his vision of a new covenant to be made between God and his people, a covenant to be etched on their hearts, not on tablets of stone.

One of the difficulties I have felt over the years as I have taught students the bible – where, by the way, covenant plays and incredibly large part – is that there are different kinds of covenants.

My students readily recognize the analogy of the covenant of marriage with the covenant between God and the people. Their experience with marriage in my experience has been profoundly spotty.

Covenants in our society can be tinged with hypocrisy. Some covenants come with fingers crossed. One is committed until such time as there is a change of mind or heart. Some covenants come with Golden Parachutes. Some come with a “Go directly to jail” card attached, like the student loans that are given to students who will never be able to repay them.

God’s covenant with his people is not that kind of covenant.

Traditionally in biblical studies, the teacher makes the distinction between conditional and unconditional covenants, and those covenants made between two equal parties and those made between unequal parties.

Paul uses the model of the covenant to argue for a change in the conditions of God’s covenant with his people. It is no longer to be adherence to the Torah as the rabbis had developed it but was now to be understood as a covenant of trust / faith in God.

Paradox of Jesus’ new covenant

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ”

With this new covenant that we claim as Christians has come a new set of expectations. It requires, in Jesus’ words, new eyes and ears to perceive the new conditions. It requires the development of a new mind and heart to embrace and interiorize the new covenant. It requires a new way of thinking.

It is expressed as a paradox. Life is now found through death. Victory is found through serving the downtrodden and downcast. The hungry are the ones who are satisfied in this new kingdom to go with the new covenant.

This past week I had occasion to be listening to some of my music while I was sewing hems. Long ago my brother had sent me a recording of Peter Paul & Mary’s biggest hits. In light of recent events I heard some familiar words with new ears, a song written by a recent Nobel prize winner, Bob Dylan.

Blowin in the wind

How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man? Yes, and how many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly Before they’re forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind The answer is blowing in the wind

From this verse I hear echoes the Bible. My father was a wandering Aramean; “My burden is light and I will give you rest”; “My peace I leave with you”

Yes, how many years must a mountain exist Before it is washed to the sea? Yes, and how many years can some people exist Before they’re allowed to be free? Yes, and how many times must a man turn his head And pretend that he just doesn’t see? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind The answer is blowing in the wind

This verse makes me think of how we don’t see the things we don’t want to see. Having always done it that way, we can do it a new way; We are so accustomed to not seeing the elephant in the room

Yes, How many times must a man look up Before he can really see the sky? Yes, and how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry? Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind The answer is blowing in the wind

The final verse sounded to me like words from Jesus himself, addressed to the current events of our day. See with new eyes; how can we look at those teenagers in Parkland FL and not be moved?; “Too many people have died.”

Parkland school massacre

Some years ago a high school friend called me out of the blue. I had not thought of him for decades and in fact it took some doing for me to remember who he was. It was an embarrassing exchange at first. The occasion was my 40th high school reunion. He was living in my old hometown and he wanted to connect with me. It didn’t go very far – our paths had gone so radically in different directions that there was not enough of a connection to make something of it.

He did send me an email that has stayed with me ever since. It was something that he got off of social media or some such thing as it would have existed in 2007. It said, "There are only two people who have agreed to die for you: Jesus Christ and the American service man/woman.

It does not reflect my own salvation theology and the saving work of the cross, but I appreciated what it had to say about Jesus and the members of our armed forces. I’ve never forgotten it.

One of the things I have observed in many churches seems to recognize the truth of that saying. Often churches very intentionally include prayers for their members who serve in the military.

I have mused privately with my wife from time to time over the past few years that I would like to hear intentional prayer for a host of other folks who give themselves in service to others. Doctors and nurses, EMT’s, – for that matter, the farm workers who sweat to provide the food we eat, and so on.

But then this last Valentine’s Day the events in Parkland, FL have precipitated various conversations around the country that have caused me to revisit some of those musings.

We have witnessed another school shooting where teachers sacrificed their lives trying to protect their students. We saw in Las Vegas ordinary strangers risking and giving their lives as they served others – often strangers. These are clearly people who are living the gospel covenant as Jesus has given it to us.

I live with a teacher who has given much of her life to her students. She has devoted so much time, energy, and love to her students it cannot possibly be measured. And she is not alone.

I honestly think the time is now upon us that we need to expand our vision of who reflects the saving work of Christ. It includes those men and women who served in the armed forces and first responders as we have watched them again and again put their own lives on the line. But it includes many more who give themselves and in the process reflect the saving work of Christ.

Perhaps in our Prayers of the People we could rotate through the weeks praying for different groups who are reflecting Christ’s work: Teachers, Healthcare workers, agricultural workers, and many more.

We need to pray for the immediate victims and for the 1,000’s of friends, neighbors and extended family members who have been affected by the events in Parkland. We need to pray for the millions of people who have been impacted by the violence and by the impotence of our nation in responding adequately.

It’s not my place to raise political issues directly and if I have offended because you hear my words as political, I apologize. I intend these words to be an invitation to hear and see the events of our own day in the light of the gospel we are here today to proclaim. If I fall short of that aim – which I surely often do – then I beg your forgiveness. In any case and in all places in as many possible ways as I can figure out, I proclaim Christ – and him crucified and risen for us and for all – his chosen covenanted people.