The Way of the New Covenant - Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

 Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 21^st, A+D 2021

Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches

Custer and Hill City, S.D.

The Way of the New Covenant     Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Mark 10:35-45

    Are you tired of all the politics?  Hard to imagine that you aren’t, unless you are blessed to be able to ignore it.  At Our Redeemer Men’s Breakfast on Wednesdays, talking politics is prohibido, verboten, not allowed.  But it tries to sneak its way into the conversation, because politics these days are so maddening.  If you pay attention, or just pay taxes, you may feel like pulling your hair out.  Polarization dominates.  Both sides seem to take their positions farther and farther to the extreme.  Every day one can observe a shocking lack of integrity, blatant dishonesty, and the constant mischaracterization of opponents.  Attacks on institutions and values that we have long held dear are now routine.  Civil discourse is unknown.  Perhaps you fear for our prosperity.  Or for public safety.    

    If you are tired of all the politics, I have good news for you today:  In the Church of Christ, there are no politics.  That’s what Jesus says: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”

   What we rightly hate about politics is the naked struggle for power, the
perversion of truth for the pursuit of prestige and wealth.  Leaders promoting themselves, instead of serving others, and the good of the whole.  But when petty political rivalry breaks out among the Twelve, Jesus declares it will not be so amongst His Apostles.  By extension, it will not so in His Church, which the Apostles would build.  So, Good News, there are no politics in the Church!  

    Some of you are looking at me funny...  Perhaps this has not been your experience?  Whether you have dabbled in church affairs at a high level, or only within your local congregation, perhaps you remember times when brothers or sisters or pastors in Christ seemed to be pursuing their own glory, to the detriment of others, seeking power, and to be served, rather than seeking to be the servant of all.  Maybe you’ve seen examples of behavior similar to that of James and John in our Gospel reading today.  Certainly the sons of Zebedee seem to be playing politics.  Instead of seeking the good their brothers and of God’s people, they are only interested in their own personal glory.  It’s true, they were trying to play politics with Christ’s Church.  But Jesus shuts them down, because in the true Church of Jesus Christ, there are no politics.  That isn’t what it’s all about.

    Politics belong to the Way of the Law.  Or at least playing dirty politics is the way we respond to the Way of the Law.  The Old Covenant, proposed by God through Moses at Mt. Sinai, and enthusiastically accepted by the people of Israel, was a straightforward two-way covenant of the Law, a system of rules voluntarily and mutually established between God and Israel.  God said:  Israel, you do these things, and then in return I, the Lord God Almighty, will do this and this and this.  And Israel responded:  Yes, we promise to live by this Law.  Now, in theory this arrangement didn’t need to descend into dirty politics, full of lies and hypocrisy, full of rivalry and dishonesty and self-promotion.  But nasty politics always arise when we commit to a law based system, because we can’t make the law work.  Certainly not to the letter.  Not even to our own satisfaction. 

    The deal the LORD struck with Israel after rescuing them from slavery in Egypt was more than reasonable.  I’ll be your God, you be my people.  Honor your parents.  Do not murder, do not steal, keep sex between you and your spouse, no sleeping around.  Watch your tongue, don’t be a gossip.  And set aside a day each week to rest, to hear my word, share in my gifts, and give thanks.  Not unreasonable. 

   But Israel, God’s chosen people, couldn’t keep their end of the deal.  Not even for a few days.  Moses went back up on the mountain to get some more details about the Covenant, and in no time, the Israelites abandoned God’s instructions and forgot their promises, demanding that Aaron build for them a Golden Calf to worship, instead of the LORD.  The Law of God always reveals the evil that lurks in the heart of every man, woman and child.  God was more than patient, and gave Israel another chance, again, and again, and again.  But Israel always resisted God’s way, and tried to invent their own plan to make it through life.  They pretended to obey the Covenant, but were really reducing it to politics. 

   In order to gain and keep power, Israel’s appointed leaders again and again twisted God’s good covenant, ignoring some parts, adding their own new requirements, setting up a system to favor and glorify themselves.  And the people mostly went along, because God’s true way seemed too hard.  The Old Covenant became so distorted that almost everyone became desperate to play politics, in order to survive.  And of course to get ahead of other people, to appear to be holier than others.  Worst of all, many if not most Israelites came to believe that the perverted covenant they were living under was actually the will of God.  The faith of most Jews was reduced to believing that God’s favor must be earned, by us doing good works.  Good works which were always being redefined and adjusted by the powerful, to maintain control.  If you read the Old Testament with a focus on the behavior of God’s people and their leaders, it reads like the saddest tragedy ever. 

   But God wants no politics in His Church.  So He declared through His prophet Jeremiah, “Behold, the days are coming, ... when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares 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.  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”  A New Covenant, established and fulfilled entirely by God.  A covenant not based on the performance of God’s people, but rather based on the Lord’s forgiveness.  This was God’s ultimate plan, all along.   The Old Covenant was a necessary step in the process of getting to the New Covenant.  But God was always working towards the New. 

   And so when James and John pull Jesus aside privately and try to play politics, when they try to strike a deal with Him to assure their own glory, Jesus rejects their political ambition.  But in a big, New Covenant surprise, Jesus doesn’t rebuke them for their selfishness.  Instead, while gently explaining that their request is not possible, surprisingly, Jesus still promises them great blessings.  Yes, you will drink my Cup and share in my Baptism.

   The New Covenant is like that.  Our selfishness and fear reveal our attitude, our false faith, that we believe we must bargain with God and win His favor.  But Jesus doesn’t respond with anger and punishment, but rather with His Baptism and His Cup.  Now, let’s be clear, at first they were only for one Man.  At first, His Baptism and Cup were only for Jesus.  James and John promise they could handle them, but they are ignorant fools.  

Jesus’ Baptism and Jesus’ Cup, in their original form, fulfill all the Old Covenant requirements of sacrifice and payment for sin.  Jesus was speaking of His Baptism by fire on the Cross, where all the flames of Hell were extinguished in His own flesh.  Jesus’ Cup was the cup of God’s wrath, the Lord’s entirely justified anger against our sin.  Neither James nor John, nor any of us, could endure them.  Only Jesus.  Which He did, in humble service to the whole world.  Giving His life as a ransom for many, for all sinners, this is how Jesus our Suffering Servant instituted the New Covenant, the Way of Forgiveness. 

   Now, James and John and all of us can receive Jesus’ Baptism and Cup, because He has transformed them, from wrath and anger and suffering, to forgiveness and blessing and new life.  Praise the Lord, what Good News!  Good News which also teaches us something about life in the Church.     

   There is no need to play politics in the Church, because none of us have anything to earn.  We have already been given all the riches of God’s eternal kingdom.  We don’t need to fight to get ahead, because each of us has been lavishly favored in the same way.  We are all undeserving recipients of God’s remarkable grace and love.   There is more depth to the Gospel than we can fully comprehend.  But it’s also simple.  If you know your sin, and yet you know and trust that Jesus on His Cross has taken it all away, in order to forgive you and share His glory with you, then you know what is essentially important.  Then you know the Lord.  And you also know that serving others is the highest honor you could possibly receive, because it is the heart and soul of who Jesus is and what He has done. 

   There ought not be any politics in Christ’s Church.  But there will be problems to overcome, because Christians are still sinners, and we are always seeking to invite more sinners to come and join us in the way of the New Covenant.  Old, inborn habits die hard.  Like James and John, we will slide back into playing politics.  But the New Covenant Truth, to which the Holy Spirit is always calling us, is the Good News that we have been perfectly served, by God’s only begotten Son.  His forgiveness is our treasure.  We have been adopted by God the Father, through the Water with the Word.  We don’t need to “win,” because we are already more than victors, in Christ who loved us.   

   The Truth matters, most especially the Truth of the New Covenant.  So, sometimes we will need to struggle and even fight to reject lies and maintain the Truth.  But even when we must fight, we can still be kind and loving, even toward our enemies.  Because winning the argument and coming out ahead isn’t our goal.  We maintain the Truth in service to ourselves and others, that all may be saved.  But we don’t have to fear losing, because we have already won.  Our place at God’s heavenly banquet is secure.  So even when we encounter conflict, we can approach it in the Way of the New Covenant, the Way of Grace.  Upholding the truth, rejecting errors, but not trying to defeat anyone, certainly not defending our personal prestige.  Because Christ has won the victory for all, and He is our honor and glory.  So, even in conflict, I can seek to serve.  I can seek the good of my neighbor, even my enemy, like Jesus did for me. 

   Sounds like a fantasy.  But living in the Way of the New Covenant, the way of grace and love, is truly possible, because the New Covenant of Jesus’ blood bought forgiveness is your truth, your reality.  Glory has already been delivered to you in your Baptism.  You drink the finest wine possible, the Cup of the New Covenant established by Jesus, that washes you clean of all your sins.  So you have no need to get ahead; God has already seated you on high, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.