Date: October 27th & 30th
Preacher: Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri
First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalmody: Psalm 46
Second Reading: Romans 3:19-28
Gospel: John 8:31-36
One joy that I find in my pastoral calling is found in teaching. I love to teach about God, theology, the Bible, and how all of those relate to our own lives here and now. Over the past few weeks, there has been a theme that has been brought up in many different contexts and age groups, and it also shows up in our reading from Jeremiah today. That topic is covenants, and how God uses them to relate to us as humans. Normally when I preach, I focus on what our Gospel passage is saying that week, but this week I want to focus instead on the words of Jeremiah because this passage is specifically talking about one of the many covenants that the Lord makes with humanity.
In our reading today, the Lord is promising that another, new covenant is coming, different from others that have been made. This does not mean that the covenants that were promised previously are void, just that there is another one to add. If we were to look at the covenants made by God throughout the Bible, we would find many in the Hebrew scriptures especially, with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. These covenants made between God and a single human that is representing a larger community, are promises from the Lord that usually mean that we get the better end of the deal. Sometimes there are expectations of us as well, but even when we fail to hold up our end of the deal, God is merciful and just, and keeps those covenants anyway.
As it says in this reading, the Lord says that this new covenant will be different than the one of the ancestors who were led out of Egypt, a covenant which they did not uphold, though God did. Still, even after previous broken covenants with humanity, God still shows up and makes them anyway. As Christians, and specifically Lutherans, we also recognize covenants that God has made with us through the gift of the sacraments. We have two main sacraments as Lutherans—baptism and communion. And in our worship this Sunday, milestones that build off of both of these covenants will be happening.
First, in our baptism God makes us promises that we have been claimed as a child of God, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and marked with the cross of Christ forever. Parents, guardians, or sponsors make promises when a baby or child is baptized, so that the young one who is growing into their faith has a community of support to try and keep these promises. But this Sunday we will celebrate a Confirmation, which is an Affirmation of Baptism. Through this moment, those who affirm their faith are claiming for themself that the promises made on their behalf, are now their own responsibility. Not only as an individual, but as a full member of the larger church. These covenants are never made alone.
But not only are we celebrating a Confirmation—a commitment to the covenant of baptism, but we are also celebrating some youth taking first communion. When I say the words of institution each time we share the Lord’s Supper, we remember Jesus promising that this cup is a new covenant in his blood, shed for all people. Yet again, the Lord makes covenants with us, filled with promises and grace. And so, in this time too, where these ten students will take the bread and cup for the first time, we rejoice with them and celebrate their recognition of the promises God has made through another covenant. These are both milestones of the Christian faith and we mark them with a liturgical rite because we acknowledge the importance of recognizing the gifts God has given us through these two covenants, and the wider promises that we receive, and agree to, through them.
In remembering these covenants, we then are better prepared to live into the promises that we make in response to the abundant grace poured out in water and wine. We promise to worship in community, study the scriptures, work for peace and justice, care for the creation God has made, defy the devil and all forces of evil, and partake regularly in the sacraments that remind us of God’s covenants. When we live into these promises fully, that is when we are becoming what the church can be at its best, a space of grace for all people.
It is not a coincidence that these momentous passages of faith are held this week when we commemorate the reformation. In his time, Martin Luther found things that seemed wrong in the church, and so he brought those up so that the church that he claimed could live into God’s promises of grace and love better than they were. Luther was not perfect, nor were any of the other reformers who have changed the church for the better. Just like us, there were moments where they broke the covenants that the Lord has made. It is because of their efforts to always move the church into its best version that we can be empowered today to do the same. We will never be perfect at upholding the promises we make in response to God’s covenants with us, but we can always try to continually reform the church into ways that better show God’s grace and love to all people.
Perhaps you do not think about the covenants that God has made with you each time you take communion. And maybe you do not remember the promises of baptism every time that you touch water. But imagine what it might feel like to acknowledge God in all of these moments, and to constantly be attentive to the ways God is calling you to help reform the church today. We may not be perfect, we may break those covenants with God often, but God is always there on the other side, filled with grace and continually making those promises known to us again and again. Watch for the signs in your own life of the grace and love of the Lord is being gifted and promised through covenants. When God’s call is right in front of you and ready to be followed. Because that no matter if you are newly baptized or affirming your baptism, if you have taken communion for decades or today is your first time, the covenants of God have been and always will be present, nonetheless. Thanks be to God.