A familiar text. I enjoyed exploring the idea of God "remembering our sins no more." The first section on the old covenant and the new covenant may have not have been as clear as I would have liked. it was in response to the tendency people have to see the Old Testament as only mattering if it relates to Jesus Christ. For the Israelites, the words of Jeremiah were words of hope and promise that reminded them that God still cared about them and had a future for them.
I find the Les Miserables illustration particularly powerful. I am grateful for having read Tom Are, Jr. sermon that included the story.
I was not able to sort out the last story and its relationship to the Ernest Hemingway short story
“Lenten Love: Forgiving Love” Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Hebrews 10: 11-25; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; March 17, 2024
Jeremiah 31: 31-34 31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband,[g] says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: 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. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Introduction: We continue our Lenten love series, although
we are almost done with Lent. Next week, Palm Sunday, and then on to Holy Week.
this week, we read the familiar words from the prophet Jeremiah that speak to love this is a forgiving love.
so let’s reflect a few minutes this morning on this passage.
Move 1: Begin by looking at the idea of the old covenant and the new covenant
a. when we talk about the old covenant and the new covenant, we often try to create a clear demarcation between the two.
1. We label the old covenant as the promise God made to God’s people in the Old Testament
and the new covenant is found in the New Testament and revolves around Jesus.
2. there is some truth in that. In fact, this passage in Jeremiah is the only time in the Old Testament that the term new covenant is used.
3. And we remember, of course, that Jesus uses new covenant language to define what he brings to the table, particularly as he describes how he sets the Lord’s Table for us with his body broken for us and blood shed for us.
4. Sometimes this means we interpret Jeremiah’s prophecy only to be about pointing to Christ.
5. we even push that interpretation to something like this - old covenant was for the Israelites, and the new covenant is for followers of Christ; old covenant only has meaning in Old Testament and new covenant only has meaning in New Testament.
6. Implied in that thinking, of course, is the idea that the Old Testament and the relationship between God and Israel is somehow less important than the New Testament and has little value except as it points to Christ.
b. No denying, of course, that the old covenant between God and Israel has been broken - Jeremiah tells us that.
1. But the new covenant is still for Israelites.
2. When Jeremiah speaks about the new covenant he is reminding the Israelites that God is not done with them.
3. As Jeremiah shares this powerful prophecy it speaks to the character of Yahweh who continues to be in relationship with them and calls them into the future Yahweh has for them.
3. God has created out of love;
God has made covenant with Israel out of love;
God will not give up on Israel
God will continue to love Israel
4. How will God live out that love?
By forgiving Israel.
By forgiving us.
c. As we read this text in light of God coming in Christ, it does not separate God’s commitment to be in covenant relationship with Israel, but builds on God's commitment to God’s people.
1. The hope Jeremiah gives to the Israelites,
the hope that God will not forsake them
the hope that God will continue to be in covenant relationship with them
the hope that is seen most fully in the coming Christ.
2. as we hear the prophecy of Jeremiah, we embrace the God of covenant who have loved, forgiven, and given hope to people since God called us into being.
the God of covenant who has loved, forgiven, and given hope to the Israelites;
The God of covenant who has loved, forgiven, and given hope to the world in the coming of Christ.
the God of covenant who continues to love, forgive, and give us hope today and into the future.
Move 2: Jeremiah also offers a powerful image of the God who remembers our sins no more.
a. How many times have you said, or heard someone say, “I forgive so and for what he or she did, but I’ll never forget.”
1. To be honest, that seems like a true reflection of what happens and a more than fair offer.
2. We can forgive someone for what they have done to us, but we are still going to remember what happened.
maybe as a reminder to not trust the person
or to protect ourselves
2. Forgiveness, yes, but we still remember.
b. But that is not the type of forgiveness God offers to us the prophet Jeremiah.
1. We hear God say, “I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sins no more.”
2. We might call it Steadfast amnesia!
or Everlasting amnesia!
3. Noelle, age 5, talking about her 2 yr. old sister tells me that “Rachel’s memory is broken. She can’t remember.”
4. We follow a God whose memory is broken, who not only forgives be remembers no more.
b. that does not mean we do not need to name our sins.
1. We still are accountable for our sins.
2. We still need to acknowledge them so we can repent and move on from them.
3. But, God chooses to forgive and then forget.
4. We may remember and hold ourselves back or try to hold others back, but God will not!
God’s love at work in both forgiving and in not remembering.
Move 3: A final thought on provoking the possibilities offered to us by God’s forgiveness.
a. the letter to the Hebrews picks up on the words we read from Jeremiah.
1. Notice, for instance, how the Holy Spirit is mentioned as the one who testifies to how God will remember out sins not more.
2. But the letter also asks us how we might act wiht confidence because of God’s forgiveness.
b. how do we respond to this new covenant, this forgiveness in where God remember our sins no more?
1. the Letter offers several thoughts,
2. personally, I love the admonition to provoke the possibilities.
3. Provoke the possibilities of who we can be and what we can do when we are forgiven by God.
when we are no longer burdened by our sins.
when we no longer have God remembering what our sinfulness.
4. How do we provide the possibilities and imagine the new life to which we are called by God’s forgiveness.
b. Perhaps you have seen the musical Les Miserables? There is that moment when Jean Valjean steals the candlesticks, and the priest looks at him and forgives him.
But there is something in that moment even more significant, I think. The priest looks at the man and believes that he can be better than his past indicates; that he can become new. He sings:
But remember this, my brother.
See in this some higher plan.
You must use this precious silver
To become an honest man.
In that moment, the priest had to look really deep to see that possibility in Jean Valjean. But to see the possibility of an honest man in a thief is an aspect of forgiveness. (Rev. Thom Are, Jr. Forgive Us as We Forgive, sermon preached at Village Presbyterian Church, July 14, 2013. Prairie Village, Kansas)
provoke the possibilities as we imagine who we can be as forgiven people;
provoke the possibilities of who others can be when we extend forgiveness to others.
Conclusion: The Spanish have a story about a father and a son who became estranged. The son left home and the father set out to find him. He searched for months with no luck. Finally, in a city where he thought his son might be, the father took an ad in a newspaper that simply said: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father.” On Saturday, 800 young men named Paco showed up looking for forgiveness and love from their estranged fathers.
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
11And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” 13and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” 14For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” 17he also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
19Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
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