“Everlasting Covenant Part III”

Exodus 20: 1-17

Psalm 19

Rev. Dr. Marisa Laviola

March 15, 2009

 

In this our third encounter with Everlasting Covenant, we meet God in an even more intimate way than in the first two covenant encounters.  In the first covenant with Noah, God promises to never again answer human violence and immorality with violence and destruction on God’s part.  God promises to hang in there with us no matter how violent and immoral we become.  God covenants with all of creation, human as well as animals and sea creatures.  This covenant is unconditional and everlasting.  In the second covenant we looked at last week, God makes an outlandish and unlikely promise to two people, Abraham and Sarah: to become the parents of a whole nation, and to bless that nation from generation to generation.  And we wonder what outlandish and unlikely covenant God is making with us for our lives and ministry that will continue throughout the generations to our children and our children’s children for their lives and ministry.  And such covenant is unconditional and everlasting.

Today we look at the third and final covenant written in the Scripture, that God makes with God’s people.  This covenant has a different twist to it.  It is the covenant between God and the people of the budding nation of Israel after God liberated them from slavery in Egypt.  God has freed them to be independent and not under the bondage of other human beings.  Now God desires to show them, in their newfound freedom, how to live as freed human beings who are created in God’s image, called by God for blessing, and invited by God to grow into a nation of God’s people.  God now maps a life for them that will help them to live in harmony with God and with one another, if they so choose to follow this life way.  God now presents guidelines that the psalmist claims are a perfect gift that can revive the soul, that can bring joy and illumination for life’s journey, endurance for the road ahead, and truth in the inward parts.  God now presents principles that can help them not to perpetrate violence against each other, abuse each other, or harm each other.  Unlike the other covenants, this covenant is conditional.  God has promised not to perpetrate violence and destruction on humanity.  However, humanity must covenant to do the same.  And if people do not adhere to this covenant, they can and will perpetrate violence and destruction on one another.  This covenant is one of relationship, much like the other covenants are ones of relationship:  the relationship of God with God’s people.  But this covenant speaks of human relationship toward God.  This covenant speaks of human relationship with other humans.

Of course I am speaking of the very well known and I believe sometimes seen as the hackneyed and clichéd covenant of the 10 commandments.  We don’t usually regard the 10 commandments as a covenant that we make with God, or a covenant we make with each other.  Traditionally, we tend to see the 10 commandments as a list of oughts and shoulds, some of which are more important than others.  Some see these commandments as a list of options from which to choose as we wish.  Some see these commandments as frightening because they appear harsh or harshly presented (at least from the perspective of our childhoods when they were first taught by well-meaning preachers and Sunday School teachers).  Some have dismissed these commandments.  Some have avoided them.  Most of us can’t remember all of them. 

If we can’t remember all of them, Jesus makes it easy for us.  He speaks of the law as representing just two commandments.  Jesus was asked in the Gospel of Matthew:  ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ Jesus said clearly, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’  According to Jesus, these two commandments represent the entire law, the law presented in Exodus as the 10 commandments; the law that the prophets speak to the people of Israel: to love God completely and to love others as we want to be loved. 

According to the psalmist from today’s psalm 19, this law is so life giving that it is spoken of in juxtaposition to the celebration of the entire creation.  Just as the psalmist cries out that the heavens are telling of the glory of God and the firmament is proclaiming God’s handiwork, the psalmist also cries out that God’s perfect law revives the soul, and provides wisdom to all who seek it.  Just as the psalmist rejoices that the sun races across the sky with joy like an athlete drunk with an endorphin rush, the psalmist also rejoices that God’s law is so true and righteous that it is more valuable than fine gold; sweeter than the sweetest honey.

Psalm 19 is a hymn of praise to the law of God, continuing the theme begun in the reading from Exodus. The law of God gives guidance for a life of blessing, that rejoices the heart, strengthens the spirit, and enlightens the eyes. And the psalmist links this life-giving quality to the creative power of God revealed in the heavens. There is order in this linking:  in the grandeur and immenseness of creation; in the law that God gives to us on earth. The orderly procession of day and night, the movement of the sun across the sky from east to west; the orderly placement of the dome of the heavens above the firmament, all show forth God’s creative power--and that same creative power is revealed in the realm of human life through the blessings conferred in living the orderly way of God’s law.  Far from being a set of empty rules or arbitrary legalisms, the Law is deeply linked to the very way of the world in God.    And--just as the creation must live and breathe and speak as it was created to live and breathe and speak, so must we.  This is our third covenant with God.

Jesus spoke it simply and profoundly: Love God with your whole heart, soul, and mind; and love others as you would love yourself. 

I suppose Jesus thought if we love God so, we will keep God as our God with no other idols to worship.  We will think twice when we begin to put things above God:  money, possessions, or power.  We will take time for Sabbath, time to worship God as creator, as our creator.  We will only call on the name of God in prayer and not in our curse words. 

Perhaps Jesus thought if we love others as we wish to be loved, we will be kind to others and not abuse others.  We will take the time to look deeply into the eyes of our loved ones after we have spoken harsh words, or after we have called them unkind names.  We will look deeply and we will take in the pain that is in those eyes.  We will help and not harm.  We will reach out to those who have less than we, financially, spiritually, emotionally, with our hearts and arms opened wide.  But we will do so within our means and within the boundaries of our abilities to do so. We will respect and not shame others, being careful to evaluate our prejudices and bigotry toward those who are different than ourselves.  We will practice monogamous, faithful relationships, being careful not to manipulate or mistreat those we commit to love.  We will be content with what we have in this world.  We will have faith that God will reach out to us through the hands of others, to supply all we need.  We will give thanks for our daily blessings.  We will give thanks for the blessings of friends, family, sustenance, and shelter.  We will practice humility, being willing to ask for help just as much as we are willing to give it. 

             In this our third encounter with Everlasting Covenant, we meet God in an even more intimate way than in the first two covenant encounters.  In this encounter, much of the onus of covenant keeping is with us.  With Noah, God promised us everlasting and unconditional presence and steadfast love despite how we act toward God, each other, and the creation.  With Abraham and Sarah, God promised us outlandish and unlikely opportunities for blessed lives and ministry throughout the generations. 

Now God invites us to respond.  God invites us to live in a way that honors, respects, and loves God, ourselves, and each other.  God asks us to covenant with God by acknowledging God as creator, by coming to God as redeemer, steadfast presence that can show us the way, every step of our journey. God asks us to covenant with ourselves as God’s beloved created ones, by respecting our own hearts and bodies; by balancing work and play, worship and service, quiet solitude and social gathering; by knowing when and on whom to lean when our burdens become too great.  God asks us to covenant with each other by engaging in relationships faithfully, in mutual give and take, with deep reverence; by approaching every beloved other as God’s own created one, worthy of deep respect and care; by making a commitment to peace and not violence, justice in the face of injustice, creatively empowering and building others up to be all they are created to be.

As the people of God, our minds and hearts rise to God’s invitation to covenant.  As the people of God, we cry out to God for help and strength to keep the law of life.  As the people of God, we acknowledge that we are God’s created ones and that we are not gods ourselves.  As the people of God, we know we have faults, both hidden and known to us, that keep us from answering God’s invitation.  As the people of God, we ask for forgiveness when we do not answer.  As the people of God, we know that God is faithful and just to forgive when we do not answer.  As the people of God, we know that God freely offers the assurance of grace and strength to accept the invitation.  As the people of God we know deep in our hearts that the law is not indiscriminate, arbitrary, or optional.  It is the law of life that helps us to live in loving fellowship with God and with each other.  As the people of God, we pray continually that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts are acceptable to God, our rock and our redeemer. 

 

“Contrasts”

Numbers 21:4-9

John 3:14-21

Rev. Dr. Marisa Laviola

First Congregational Church, Morrisville, VT

 

             Contrasts.  Life is full of them.  On Friday morning I awoke, as usual on a weekday morning, to NPR radio.  This particular morning the commentator was greeting the first day of spring, the vernal equinox, half day and half night.  He was quick to add that because it takes the sun 4 minutes to fully rise and 4 minutes to fully set, we actually had 12 hours and 8 minutes of daylight to anticipate that day before we enjoyed 11 hours and 52 minutes of dark. 

             My daughters are continually reminding me of contrasts:  I am typically being unfair to one, and of course completely fair to her sister.  I spend lots of time with one, and no time with the other, depending to whom you are speaking on any given day.  And of course at school there are the cool kids and the not so cool kids, the nice kids and the mean kids.

             Contrasts.  Did you ever notice how clean our houses look in the cloudy dim of winter, only to show dust and cobwebs even as sun pours through not-yet washed windows—at least that’s true in our house.  Have you ever noticed how much dirtier our cars look after all the snow and ice stops clinging to them?

             Contrasts.  The blissful rest of days off and the toil of days worked.  The expectation of enough food, running water, and shelter in first world countries such as ours; and the expectation of not enough food, dirty water at least a mile’s journey away, and tarps and shacks, if luck holds out, in third world countries.  Seems even in our first world, U.S. economy, the rich get richer with economic bailouts and bonuses, and the poor get poorer as benefactors hold on to their dwindling savings.

             The Hebrew people certainly had its share of contrasts.  Imprisoned and enslaved in Egypt, they were forced to build edifices for Pharaoh.  Freed in the night of Passover, they began their journey toward independence at the dawn of the next morning.  Freed to become their own people, only to spend 40 years trying to find their way, they roamed in a desert like any other desert:  with not enough food or water except for manna from heaven day in and day out.  And then there were the dangers of the wilderness: wild animals perhaps, but certainly desert snakes, and even poisonous ones at that, as our scripture this morning tells us. 

The Hebrews were a people of contrasts:  a people who cried out to God for liberation from slavery, rejoiced and thanked God for their freedom, and then complained for 40 years.  But we can hardly blame them, can we?  Manna, I would imagine, is nutritious, but can get boring.  The desert is hot and merciless.  And they weren’t sure where they were going, at least by earthly standards. Yes, God was with them, leading them by the Ark of the Covenant:  smoke rising from the Ark by day and fire glowing from the Ark by night.  But they weren’t quite sure about that Ark.

             And those snakes, let’s not forget those snakes.  They convinced themselves that the snakes came from the hand of God as a punishment for their complaints.  Another intense contrast: from tumultuous grumbling to self blame and repentance when they truly thought that God had sent the serpents to bite them because of all their complaining.  It didn’t even dawn on them that poisonous serpents just happen to be in the desert, and humans are vulnerable to their bites.  Kind of like us when we gather together in the winter, huddled in the midst of our viruses and bacteria, and then wonder why God doesn’t protect us from the flu or bronchitis.          

             It seems that in our relationship with God today, just as in the Hebrews relationship with God so many centuries ago, we are a people of contrast.  When the rains fall at the right time, when the sun shines just enough, when we have all we can ask for, then we are confident that God is with us and is blessing us.  When the rains result in flooding, the sun parches the crops or the weather doesn’t cooperate just right for the sugar mapling, when money dries up in the stock market, we might wonder if God has withdrawn God’s blessings from us.  And we might wonder if we are being punished, if we are being judged in the heavenly court of contrast.

             According to our scriptures this morning, God doesn’t seem to work that way.  God seems to engage not by way of legalistic judgment, but seems to engage by way of ongoing relationship.  The Gospel of John tells us that just as Moses raised up the serpent in the wilderness, God raises up Christ.  The Gospel tells us that just as the bronze serpent became a concrete representation of God’s abiding and healing presence in the desert filled with poisonous snakes, Christ becomes a concrete presence of God’s abiding and healing relationship with us in a world filled with the snakes of today:  economic uncertainty, ecological dangers, poverty surrounding us in our greater community, poverty and oppression around the world, and our feeling very small in making much difference. 

             As we contemplate the same questions of the Hebrews:  where is God in the midst of 21st century snakes?  Where is God in the midst of our complaining when the snakes bite?  How can we help others’ snake bites when we suffer from our own?  God answers with contrasts. 

             God answers with a man from Nazareth who preaches a life of abundance, a wide and unconditional welcome to everyone:  those who have plenty and those who have little; those who are part of the in crowd and those who are marginalized, outcast, and oppressed. 

God answers with a man from Nazareth who teaches that a widow’s giving from her meager savings, one coin, to the ministry of God, is greater than the giving of the richest king. 

God answers with the man from Nazareth who preaches, teaches, lives, healing in the midst of want, who challenges the religious and political mores of his time, who confronts the evil of the day to the point of being killed by that evil--lifted high on that cross--just like the serpent was lifted high. 

God answers with that same man, God incarnate, who overcomes evil and lives again, being lifted even higher, so that we can live not only in the next life but right now--so that we can live abundantly right now no matter what our earthly circumstances.  And we, like the widow, can give out of hearts of gratitude, to those who have less than ourselves.

            

Sound overwhelming?  It is.  It is in fact God acting in love and relationship in the midst of everything that works against love and relationship.  It is the ultimate contrast.  And it is overwhelming because the unconditional, intimate, relational love of God that is with us, that beckons us, that invites us to look toward Jesus for all that is true and good, is overwhelming.

             In my home church in Boston, the unique juxtaposition of rich and poor, homeless people outside the church, and well-educated and upper middle class people inside, we have been confronted with these contrasts.  But I was never more confronted with the contrasting, overwhelming love of God than when we developed a sister relationship with a church in Nicaragua.  The folks in Dulce Nombre de Jesus are a small community that subsists on farming alone.  They are quite poor by first world standards.  They do not have running water.  If there is drought or flood, they do not have enough food.  They are in constant uncertainty about their physical well being and health. 

I first met these people when we brought them to our church for a two week stay.  In their presence, I was overwhelmed and I was quite humbled to the point of being embarrassed.  Their faith in God is not based upon their good or ill fortune.  They do not doubt God’s loving protection when crops fail and the government takes away their substinence.  They do not blame God.  And they do not think that God is punishing them.  In their poverty, they keep their eyes on the man from Nazareth held high in ministry as a healing servant, held high in death as he confronted evil, and held higher in new life as he ultimately overcame evil.  They keep their eyes on Jesus who they see as their spiritual strength in the midst of their physical tribulation.  Their faith does not skip a beat.  When snakes bite, they just attribute it to the consequences of living in the desert.  And they do not compound the consequences by refusing to receive the balm of healing.  They stay focused on the light of Christ, and do not dwell in the darkness of despair. When I met them, their witness was overwhelming for its contrast--not only the seeming contrast of their physical life and spiritual faith, but in contrast to my faith.  And they did not chide us for our first worldly arrogance, although they could have.  What they did was to encourage us toward coming closer together as a community of faith in Christ in our congregation in Boston.  They encouraged us to include the children in our worship in a more integrated way, to pray together more regularly and intentionally, to find every opportunity to worship together, pray together, study together, sing together.  They witnessed that in their relationships they find God.  In their relationship with God, they find each other.  But they have to be intentional to engage in that contrast.

             Contrasts.  Life is filled with contrasts.  As people of faith, we accept some contrasts as parts of daily life:  day and night, winter and summer, work and play, toil and rest. 

As people of faith, we struggle with some contrasts and ask “where is God in these contrasts?”  feast and famine, wealth and poverty, health and illness, long life and early death. 

As people of faith, we struggle with some contrasts and ask, “how do we respond to these contrasts in the face of the very real needs of others when our finances are tight, in the face of natural disaster that ravages entire communities, in the face of human kindness that builds up and human evil that tears down?”

             As people of faith, we can look to Christ, raised up on the cross as the One who represents triumph over evil and eternal life. 

As people of faith, we can look to Christ, raised up as the One who humbled himself as a servant and preached good news to all those who experience overwhelming contrasts. 

As people of faith, we can look to Christ who calls us, his disciples to live as humble servants, to become the hands and feet of the living God, to give of ourselves out of hearts that receive the welcoming and unconditional love of our God, to give as the widow gave, believing that no matter what we have, there are others who have less; that no matter how we give, others receive blessing through our giving.

             And when the serpent bites, when rain brings flooding, when stock markets fall and jobs are in jeopardy, as people of faith, we can lift up one another.  We can worship together, pray together, study together, sing together, give of our time, talent and treasure, together. We can lift one another so that we can continue to lift our eyes to the light of Christ; so that we can stay focused on the light of hope; so that we do not dwell in the dark of despair.  As people of faith, may we receive and breathe in the overwhelming love of God, that in the face of all contrasts, is radically welcoming, everlasting, inviting us into intimate relationship:  with God and with one another.