Keeping Covenant
1 Corinthians 8: 1-13 NRSV
Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.
Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "no idol in the world really exists," and that "there is no God but one." Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. “Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.
Mark 1: 21-28 NRSV
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee
Message:
So, I was wondering, for those of you who are married, when do your covenants expire? I choose marriage as a covenant example as must all of us understand marriage as a covenant. So, let’s say you go to a wedding where the couple has covenant vows that are different than the covenant vows that you took in marriage. If a covenant was a legal contract, the change of one word could make the whole thing no longer valid. A covenant is about how we relate to each other. The words are not the covenant, the words are symbols of the intent of the covenant. A covenant expires when the covenant is broken. a new covenant can be built but the old covenant, when broke, no longer exists.
In 1995 our congregation wrote a new mission statement, as we read it you’ll hear that it is a statement of covenant. It does not invalidate the covenant of membership or baptism. It was meant to help put into words our intent as a congregation. The mission statement/covenant reads:
This church community, as followers of Jesus Christ, promises with God’s help to:
• Worship God in spirit, word and deed, and invite others to share our journey;
• Provide a spiritual home that is open and diverse, that welcomes all as they are into the unity of God’s love;
• Be a family that trusts, supports and cares for each other in times of joy, sorrow and crisis;
• Provide a safe, nurturing environment for children and youth, and encourage their participation in the ministry of our church;
• Be faithful stewards of people’s gifts—time, talent, and treasure—and of the church staff and facility;
• Work in our community and wider world for justice and peace, creating healing and hope;
• Provide opportunities for fellowship, learning, growth and service for all stages of life.
May The Spirit guide us as we strive to fulfill these promises.
(Accepted by vote of the Congregation
Six weeks ago we began our series on covenant
Week 1. We started with the basics of what a covenant is, the expectation of covenant, and what we do when we are out of covenant. ( we looked at Matthew 18:15-17 as a starting place
‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector.”)
Week 2. We looked at the covenant of being unified in mission while diverse in background.
Week 3. We look more closely at the specific covenant we share in baptism and how we affirm that covenant when we join as members.
Week 4. W e looked at the covenant to be disciples, learners of this way of Jesus. The lectionary passages we heard reminded us to be learners who listen for the Still Speaking God, who have freedom and responsibility in our covenant relationship, and who need to overcome the prejudices that get us stuck.
Week 5. We were reminded of the non violent non doormat covenant we share in Jesus. Being Christian is a way that claims both our own full humanity and the full humanity of others.
This week, our last week in this series, we consider what it means to keep covenant with Jesus.
We heard first from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. When reading Paul it is very wise to keep in mind that Paul did not know he was writing for the Bible. He was writing to specific churches with specific problems. His answers are his personal reflections on how to handle the situation. The problem with the Corinthians is that they were all in their heads and not in their hearts. In their heads, they were right to say they had freedom in Christ. The problem was this freedom to eat meat cooked/sacrificed to idols was taken by those not mature in the Christian way to be an affirmation of the religious teachings of that idol. Paul tells the Corinthians to use their hearts. If eating meat sacrificed to idols is seen as condoning idol worship than stop eating meat.
In the Gospel Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. A man with an unclean spirit cries out to him with two questions and a statement. He says:
What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are, the Holy One of God.
Consider this man in the temple. We are told that he has an unclean spirit. We know that the Holy Spirit is a brilliantly clean Spirit. We often hear the words unclean spirit to mean that the man was possessed by a demon not of himself.
At Bible Study the wondering began, what if this is not a demon from outside this man. What if it is understood that this man has his own spirit which has been made unclean. When you live in this life for a while, the opportunities to do things that injure your soul become greater and greater. You might imagine this hurting man and the wounds to his soul. Maybe the dirt upon his soul came with the act of violence toward him as a child. Perhaps, it was his act of violence toward a child. Perhaps, he had been a fighter against the Romans and had fled from battle. Perhaps, he had kill someone. Perhaps he had gossiped, lied, cheated, or done any number of things that can lead to a dirty soul. This kind of unclean soul is still desperate for the healing of Jesus.
To keep our covenant with Jesus, we must face our own unclean spirits. Consider the question and statement made by the man. Consider how we make the same statements in our lives.
1. What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
What does our faith have to do with our life outside of the hour in worship? What does Jesus have to do with the way you live your life? to do with the way your work? the way you spend your money?
What does Jesus of Nazareth have to do with this church?...With the ministries of this church? The AA meetings? The recitals?... The Rotating Shelter? The solar panels? The Preschool? What has Jesus of Nazareth have to do with us? - Everything.
2. The second question by the man with the unclean spirit: Have you come to destroy us? Jesus never turned any person away. He absolutely turn away unclean spirits. He named them and cast them out. The person was welcomed by Jesus. The destructive behavior was not.
And our own unclean spirits can ask the same thing, Have you come to destroy us?
Sometimes we hold onto beliefs about ourselves and about our world and life that are so important to us, we will let no fact get in the way of our belief. There are those who really believe that the Holocaust never happened. No matter how much fact you give them, they still refuse to believe. There are those who still believe that Iraq was responsible for 9-11 no matter how much fact you give to show that Iraq was not responsible for 9-11. There are those who believe because they are afraid that if they believe otherwise they will be crushed by the truth. Have you come to destroy us, Jesus? Have you come to show us what we do not want to know about ourselves? Have you come to shine light? Have you come to destroy us as we are?
3. The man says: I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Do you know the Holy when you meet that one? Have you felt yourself in the presence of truth? When you took your pledges of baptism or your pledges of membership, you entered into a covenant that embraces the Holy One of God. What is more, you offer yourself to be embraced by the Holy One of God. Are you really ready for that much love? Because, it will cost you! It will cost you. You will have to give up your
apathy
violence
illusion of immortality
We must give up our apathy. To embrace this Holy One of God and to be embraced, you are no longer able to let evil behaviors continue as if they were condoned. To live and let live is to condone that which is unclean for our spirits. To cleans your spirit you must bath in empathy for the person and the strength to name that which is destructive.
We must give up violence. Violence begets violence. To cleanse, our spirits we will have to give up attack for attack. In this way of Jesus, every life is embraced, not every behavior. If there is a person in the faith community who acts with physical, verbal, or spiritual violence, they need to change. It is a time for the way of Matthew 18 to be practiced. We may need to separate ourselves until we can return to covenant. Each of us must keep covenant. Tolerating destructive behavior condones that behaviors and thus, is also out of covenant.
And when we keep covenant with Jesus we have to give up our illusion of immortality. We have to give up the idea that our humanity is different that another's. We have to look fully at the other persons around us.
A book called, “Don't Forgive Too Soon: Extending the Two Hands That Heal,”
by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn , and Matthew Linn speaks about the Christian response to behavior that is harmful. To extend the two hands that heal, one hand is up in a gesture that says stop. and the other is out as if to touch a person on the shoulder. Stop, you can not treat us that way ... Come, when you are ready to meet my full humanity, I will embrace yours.
This way of Jesus as know to Paul is a way of the heart. It is the heart that leads us away from that which has made our spirits unclean and into a life of renewal in this Jesus of Nazareth. What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth.? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy one of God. And it is a lifetime practice to keep covenant with that Holy One of God. This covenant never expires and it also matures, even changes, and grows for indeed, what does Jesus of Nazareth have to do with us? - Everything.
