Tonight I listened to two sermons, one from a Franciscan brother by the name of Robert Hugh, the other by my own minister, John Menear.
The one by John Menear, spoke of Jesus’ first miracle. Turning the water into wine, with the clever title "Pitcher tells a thousand words"
While listening I remembered a book I found while cataloguing a library that outlined why the wine was actually juice because Jesus never would have condoned alcohol. The fact of the matter is that he created 600 liters of wine, and in doing so not only blessed a couple, but also, through John’s retelling, painted a picture of the new covenant...of purity through Jesus, and Jesus alone, using the ceremonial cleansing pots to hold the excellent wine. (much more to the sermon then just this though!).
I found a parallel between John’s words of graceful, all encompassing covenant and those of Bro. Robert Hugh’s in his sermon “To be Human is to Fully Accept the Glory of God”. He brought the interesting concept of belief in a “contract god” or a “covenant god” into his homily which he’d also referred to yesterday at St Thomas’s in Lancaster, PA (although I understand the talks were quite different). The thought was a new one and one that after discussing it this morning with Ian and hearing it again this evening in this sermon I wanted to give it some thought, especially as too I often act in my belief of a contract God – a term of service which I must live up to, and when I fail … well, I fail and feel that that contact is in some ways null and void.
An extract (although I encourage you to listen to the whole thing) states:
What goes with that [covenant God] is that we have a God who simply says to us, each uniquely and by name, “I love you”. Not, “I love you IF”, but “I love you. I love you unconditionally and I love you for you and not for your performance”. And the God of covenant goes on and says “I accept you where you are right now in your life, warts and all. I rejoice with you in your life with everything that is fine and noble and strong, but I don’t just stop there because I never engage with something that is less than ALL it means for you to be you. And therefore I also engage with you when you are by no means strong, but weak and fragile. When you are confused and lost and even radically broken. And it’s because I engage with you where you are and as you are and as all you are that I declare you unconditionally beloved and totally accepted.”
And says the God of Covenant “let your energy be grateful energy, not anxious energy. Because already in and through your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, already the victory has been won and your salvation is assured and the redemption is wrought and your forgiveness is given. Already you are citizens in a forgiven universe.”
It’s a theme I’ve heard so often in other words, but not in the phrasing of a covenant, which I’ve always viewed to be a scary thing, where if you break one of those you’re really in trouble. As Ian shared this morning, a contact is between two equal parties, a covenant is not. A contract you sign feeling you can meet it, but we can never do all we need to if the Laws of the Bible were a contract. All of us would fail every time. And THAT is why we worship and serve a Covenant God – who accepts us just as we are – even though we’d like to think we’re able to do the job ourselves. When we have enough wine, and when we're woefully inadequate.
The other similarity between the sermons is what was said about Jesus. First, Mary said to the servants at the wedding “Just do as he says”, secondly God said of Jesus when introducing him “this is my son, in whom I am pleased”, virtually saying as Bro. Hug recounts “do as he says”.
Oh that I may, not out of effort or duty, but gracious service to the “Master of a forgiven universe”.
