THE RISE AND FALL

THE COVENANT OF THE HEART

Jeremiah 31:31-34

We find forgiveness, strength and healing

in a relationship with God.

A sermon pr= eached by

Rev. Willia= m O. (Bud) Reeves

First Unite= d Methodist Church

Hot Springs, Arkansas

March 9, 20= 08

Roy Larson, of Glen Ellyn, Illinois= , had anticipated a rather difficult day. His motorized wheelchair was in the shop, and he was unfamiliar with= the controls of the loaner he had. But he went on downtown to get a haircut.

Things = really got hairy, however, when Roy attempted to cross the railroad track on Main Street. One of the chair’s wheels be= came lodged in the track. As he struggled to free the wheel, the electric motor on the loaned chair went ou= t. Then he was really stuck.

Suddenl= y the lights at the crossing began to flash, the warning bell began to ring, and = the crossbars began to lower across the street. There was a train coming!

The fir= st person Larson saw was Mark Bade, a man doing some errands, walking down the street. Mark heard Roy’s cries = for help and came running to try to free the wheel out of the tracks. At the same time, Don Burgeson had pulled up to the crossing, saw what was happening, and jumped out of his ca= r to try to help. By this time the train was blowing its whistle as it closed in= on them. Together, Mark and Don = were able to wrench the wheelchair free, with Roy Larson in it, and pull it off = the track. They looked up to see = the train less than twenty yards away. They couldn’t even speak as the train whizzed by, but after it= had gone, Roy thanked the two strangers for saving his life.[1]

Ever ha= ve a day like that? You feel like you’re stuck in a very vulnerable place, and a train is bearing down = on you? You know you need some h= elp, but you’re not sure where to turn?

If it&#= 8217;s any comfort—and I hope it is—Jeremiah found himself in a similar situation. We’re three centuries down the track from King David, whom we discussed last week. The nation of Israel is gone; the nation of Judah is teetering on the brink of destruction.&= nbsp; Some have already been taken to exile in Babyl= on, and the Babylonian army is amassing its forces to destroy Jerusalem and carry away the rest of God’s people. There has= never been a darker day in the history of the nation.

But in = the midst of the dark tidings, the prophet Jeremiah has a vision of hope, a word from the Lord, a bright new idea. God wants to put his covenant in the hearts of the people: “The time is coming when I will make a brand-new covenant with Israel and Judah. It won't be a repeat of the covenan= t I made with their ancestors when I took their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant even thoug= h I did my part as their Master. <= /span>This is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> I will put my law within them—= ;write it on their hearts!—and be their God. And they will be my people. They will no longer go around setti= ng up schools to teach each other about God. They'll know me firsthand, the dull= and the bright, the smart and the slow. I'll wipe the slate clean for each = of them. I'll forget they ever sinned!"[2]

The new covenant was not based on real estate or descendants, like with Abraham. It was not predicated on following= the rules, like with Moses. It wa= s not a covenant of political power, like with David. The new covenant was based on a spiritual relationship with God. One day there would be a relationship with God that was unlike anyth= ing that had gone before. One day= their sins would be forgiven, and everyone would not just know about God, they would know God personally.

The new covenant foreseen by Jeremiah reached its ultimate expression in Jesus Christ. On the night before h= e gave his life for us, he took a cup of wine and said, “This is my blood of= the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Through his deat= h on the cross and his resurrection, Jesus made a way for us to know God personally. We are children o= f that new covenant today.

Today we celebrate that internal relationship. It’s not about the rules of religion; it’s about the reality of the relationship. The poster child for the covenant = of the heart is our Methodist forefather John Wesley. He tried for years to follow the r= ules, to be a good Christian, to be a priest and a missionary, and he did it all. But John Wesley never ha= d a heartfelt, personal relationship with God.= He never felt at peace; he never felt the joy of God’s forgive= ness. Finally at the point of despair, he attended a prayer meeting in L= ondon: “In the evening I went very unwillingly= to a society in Aldersgate Stre= et, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while the leader was describing the change whi= ch God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance = was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the l= aw of sin and death.”[3]= The rest, as they say, is history.

What does it mean to experience the co= venant of the heart? First of all, it means finding forgiveness for our sins. God spoke this word= to Jeremiah: “I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”[4] Jesus made it happen on the cross.= We confess our sins, and God wipes= the slate clean. It’s like = the kiss of mercy on our forehead.

Joe Bay= ly, a Christian author and minister, had a rebellious son named Tim. Joe tried to reach Tim with argumen= ts and rules, but he still rebelled. Tim eventually left his home, left the faith, and lived a prodigal life in an o= ld house in Chicago. Tim's rebellion broke Joe's heart.

Late on= e night, Joe got a phone call. "T= his is the police," the voice on the other line said. "Your son was arre= sted for a DUI. We have him here i= n the town jail." Joe got out = of bed and drove a half hour to the jail where his son was being held. When he got there, they told him th= at his son wasn't there. Joe checked= the other police stations in the area. No Tim.

Finally= , around 4:00 a.m., Joe decided to drive to the old house where he knew Tim had been sleeping. The door wasn't loc= ked, so he stepped inside and looked for his son. In the faint light of the dark= ened room, he saw him asleep in a sleeping bag that was strewn across an old mat= tress. He walked over to the mattres= s and stood over Tim. Then, moved w= ith compassion, he bent down, lightly kissed Tim on the cheek, and left.

In the = months that followed, Tim started visiting his parents. He returned to church and recommitt= ed his life to Christ. He even announced he was going into the ministry. Today, Tim Bayly is a Presbyterian = pastor in Indiana.

Years l= ater, Joe finally asked Tim what made him want to come back home. Tim said, "Don't you know? Remember that night when you got a = call that I was in jail? Dad, that was = my friend. It was a prank. When you came to the house, I only pretended to be asleep. I was= wide awake. I knew you'd driven all night in the cold, and I wondered what you were going to do to me. And all you did was bend down and k= iss me on the cheek. Dad, the kiss brought me back."[5]

The cov= enant of the heart brings us back into a relationship with God through forgiveness, = then it gives us strength for the journey. We are able to withstand our trials, we are able to overcome our difficulties, we are able= to deal with our disappointments, because God’s Spirit is alive and resi= ding inside our bodies. Our head m= ay know the propositions of belief and the exposition of Scripture, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of life, we carry our faith in our heart. Over the long haul, that’s w= hat makes it possible for us to finish the race. And the Christian life is not a sp= rint; it’s a marathon.

I was p= roud that we had several of our members complete the Littl= e Rock marathon last week, even though they had to miss church to do it! That is quite an accomplishment. But as far as= I know, all of our runners were in pretty good health. I read about one lady name Zoe Kop= lowitz who finished the New York marathon last year. Zoe is 59= years old, and has suffered with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) for 30 years. The winners of the marathon ran it= in a little over two hours. It too= k Zoe 28 hours and 45 minutes, but she finished.= She also won a victory.

Zoe ent= ered her first New York City Marathon in 1988 and completed the route in just under = 20 hours. That was her best finish. Since then, she's competed in the city's marathon every year and has also run in marathons in = London and Boston.

In the = 2007 race, Zoe wore back and knee braces and walked the entire route using crutc= hes and followed by supporters. For h= er, crossing the finish line was "a total blessing," and following the race she said, "I'm just extremely grateful. I don't get any younger, [and] my MS doesn't get any better."

One rep= orter noted that when the best athletes ran past her, "Zoe Koplowitz kept walking." Hard core runn= ers went by; "she kept walking." When the next-to-last person in the = race crossed the finish line, "she kept walking."

An offi= cial of New York City's M= ultiple Sclerosis Society said this about Zoe: "She's not letting MS change her life. I think she is a real champion."[6]

It take= s a real champion to stay with the race to the very end, and when we are attached to= God by the strength of a covenant, the covenant of the heart, then we have the strength to run the race with perseverance and to claim the victory eventually. Whatever happens,= just keep on walking, and God will give you strength for the journey.

Finally= , the covenant of the heart will bring h= ealing for your brokenness. Jere= miah was dealing with a broken peop= le; politically, economically, socially, spiritually, they were a mess. They needed a word of healing.

Who doesn’t? Is there is an= ybody here today who is completely well? Every one of us has some raw edges, some diseases of the body, mind = or spirit, some broken parts of our lives.&nb= sp; That’s why we come to church most of the time, isn’t it? We want to see if there i= s some “balm in Gilead”—that&= #8217;s from Jeremiah, too. We want t= o find some sort of salve to cover our wounds.&nb= sp; We want to find some healing for our hurting parts and hurting heart= s.

Another= image from Jeremiah is a potter making pots from clay. Jeremiah was watching a local pott= er one day throw pots on a wheel. When the pot would fail, the potter would take t= he clay and work it into another pot. Suddenly the Lord spoke to Jeremiah and said, “I’m like = the potter. When you are broken a= nd misshapen and useless, I can re-form you and re-make you into something useful and beautiful again.” When = we are broken because of our own sin or because of circumstances totally beyond our control, God is there, in our heart, the covenant maker himself, to bring us healing.

Richar= d Ryan from Mississippi<= /st1:State> found that healing in prison. He wrote, “When I was first sent to prison, my life was like broken pott= ery. I was shattered, and I resemb= led nothing useful. I was worthless in the eyes of people and God—or so I thought.

“= ;When I accepted Jesus Christ, he slowly put the pieces back together. And while he= used the same clay, I was a totally different vessel. Where once dwelt aggressio= n, Christ placed passion for his work. Where once existed cunning, he plac= ed a desire to teach others of his grace. Where once existed the knack for ta= king shortcuts, he placed a work ethic. <= /span>Where once existed only self-love and selfishness, he placed agape love and understanding. Not until I fe= ll on my face did I learn to look to God. Not until I saw how broken I was did I learn what a potter Christ is.”[7]

Today = I want to invite you to find out what a Potter Christ is, what a Healer God can be= in your life. Whatever brokennes= s you bring to the table today, let him put your broken pot back together. Let him replace your weakness with strength for the journey. If = you have strayed from the way—and that would be all of us—let God’s forgiving grace cover your sins. It’s not about the externals today: the conflicts, the enemies, the difficult circumstances. It’s all about the heart. God wants to fill your heart with = every good thing—faith, hope, love, joy, peace, comfort, courage. Enter into this covenant, and God = will make you whole. Amen