A few chapters later (Genesis 15), God covenants with Abram (later called Abraham) to give him land and long life and more descendants than there are stars in the heavens. Covenants are promises in an ongoing relationship to keep showing up for each other over time in a specific way. In both of these instances, God covenants to show up for humans with more patience and restraint, or promising many descendants and land and a long life.
The covenant that Jeremiah is talking about in today’s reading is a little different. This time, God says, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” That’s the part that God covenants to do, and it implies a certain behavior from people in return. “No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, ‘Know God,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says God, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.”
There are over 600 laws or rules in the Hebrew Scriptures. We don’t follow all of them. But the goal of all these rules or laws is to help guide us to show up in faithful relationship with God. And here in Jeremiah, God says that the law is now written in our hearts. So in order to be close to God, we must be people who listen to our hearts and lead with our hearts. Words that come to mind to describe this way of living are compassion, love, moral integrity, awareness of our actions and their consequences, caring, justice, forgiveness, community—and there are more words we could add.
We must also keep the focus on God. In the reading from 2 Timothy, the writer urges people to be guided by their study of scripture. And these verses in particular caught my attention, because they describe where we find ourselves today: “For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.” It is tempting to conclude that anyone who has a theology or a worldview different from mine has wandered away from sound teaching to listen to whatever suits their desires. And perhaps that is so. But I also want to examine whether I have wandered away and created my own safe, little, comfortable faith journey instead of the more out-on-the-edge one that God might call me to if I were listening to that God voice in my heart. So it’s both: where might others have gone astray by not listening to God’s law, and where might I have done the same?
I hear a description of our current nation in these words from 2 Timothy. We have become so divided that we live with two disjunct worldviews. Social media algorithms sort us into echo chambers, so we hear mainly from others who share our opinions. Our government has hit such a stalemate that it has been shut down for several weeks, and neither side is moving. There aren’t even talks to find common ground. There is no listening or trying to understand. Only leaders standing at microphones talking to the press about how it’s all the other side’s fault—lots of finger pointing. Meanwhile, government employees are not getting paid, may get laid off, or may not get back pay even for time worked during the shutdown. Two vastly different worldviews have collided.
On an individual level and a congregational level, how do we show our nation’s leaders how it’s done? What is the law of God we listen for, to guide our days and our interactions, to nudge us to do the right thing?
You know what it is, because it’s written in our hearts: The law of God tells us to love. Love God, love our families, love the plants and animals and all of creation, sure; but also love our enemies. Because we exist in God, as part of God’s creation. God is all one, and we are part of God. We are all part of God’s oneness.
In this country we say that Church and State are separate. That doesn’t mean we shun discussion of politics when we’re talking about justice issues. Jesus did not separate Church (or Temple) and State, and neither did anyone else in his day. His justice work was explicitly political as well as personal. So when we write to our legislators, we can start each message by saying, “As a person of faith, I believe we need to address this issue….” And then talk about the issue not as red or blue but as justice, love of neighbor, compassion, doing what is right in God’s eyes.
Some of us went to No Kings rallies yesterday, because we feel that our nation’s Constitution and rule of law is being tossed aside. Others may think it’s not that bad, that our current administration is doing a good job closing the border and clamping down on inefficiencies. And there may be truth on both sides. We have to listen beyond the myths and the things that tickle our ears.
Here’s what I listen for: Where is love of our fellow human beings? Where is justice for those who are struggling the most? Where does racism and oppression of the Other crop up—even persecution of those who don’t agree or tow the line? Can people in this country get affordable housing, affordable healthcare, affordable groceries? Is public education receiving adequate funding, including for the students who have physical and intellectual challenges? Are we welcoming the stranger, as God commands us to do?
This is not about—or not just about—political party. It is about us as individuals, and Prospect as a congregation. So today we are blessing the socks that you all have donated to Operation Nightwatch, so that people who are living outside in the raw weather have dry socks to put on their feet. You can still contribute to the Sock It to Homelessness drive, but today is the day when we make this outreach work explicit.
Right after worship we are welcoming the neighborhood into our fellowship hall for a community potluck, and I encourage all of us to go down and meet strangers. At least one. Listen, ask questions, put yourselves out there a bit, which can be hard for some of us introverts. What are these strangers doing in our building? It’s not our building; it’s God’s building, and we are the ones using it right now to worship God and to do God’s work in the community and the world. A community potluck has landed in this space once a month through the cold and wet part of the year. Lucky us! Let us give them a warm welcome and make sure they know how to find whatever they need. Invite them to come back next Saturday to the rummage sale—or even to donate to the rummage sale this week. And even to come to worship, if they’re looking for a community of faith.
Because part of God’s law is to spread the word. Get out there and—I’m going to say it—evangelize. Because unless we do that, we’re just getting together like a little club. But this isn’t a club, it’s a church, and like many churches it’s shrinking. So as much as we may be averse to advertising or inviting people to come, if we don’t, we’re just going to wither away. And we’re doing good work. We’re doing God’s work. And people should know about it so they can join in. People’s spirits are hungry. The writer of 2 Timothy says, “Do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully” (4:5).
What a blessing to have this community! So let us give thanks for God’s law, guiding us, stretching us, nudging and cajoling us to live into the best selves that God calls us to be. Amen.