Jeremiah 36:1-8, 21-23, 27-28; 31:31-34
(sermon note:
In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him. And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, ‘I am prevented from entering the house of the Lord; so you go yourself, and on a fast day in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns. It may be that their plea will come before the Lord, and that all of them will turn from their evil ways, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.’ And Baruch son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house. Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary; and Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in his winter apartment (it was the ninth month), and there was a fire burning in the brazier before him. As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a penknife and throw them into the fire in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.
Now, after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which King Jehoiakim of Judah has burned.
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. 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, says the Lord. 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. 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.
This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about a mom who visited her son for dinner one day who had a girl as a roommate. During the meal, the mother couldn’t help but notice how pretty her son’s roommate was. She had long been suspicious of the relationship between the two of them and this had only made her more curious. Over the course of the evening while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between them. Reading his mom’s thought, her son volunteered, “I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, we are just roommates.” About a week later, his roommate came to him saying, “Ever since your mother came to dinner, I’ve been unable to find the silver plate. You don’t suppose your mother took it, do you?” He said, “Well I doubt it, but l’ll email her just to be sure!” He sat down and wrote, “Dear mom, after you visited us, the silver plate has gone missing. I’m not saying that you did take the silver plate from our house, and I’m not saying that you didn’t take the silver plate, but the fact remains that it has been missing ever since you were here for dinner. Love, your son.” Several days later, he received an email from his mother which read, “Dear Son, I’m not saying that you do sleep with your roommate, and I’m not saying that you don’t sleep with her, but the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her OWN bed, she would have found the silver plate by now, under her pillow. Love, Mom.”
Relationships can be complicated sometimes as evidenced by that one. Ole boy wanted to reveal his living situation with his mom without overstepping her sensibilities. Hence the secrecy around the actual relationship with his roommate. But he failed to consider a truth about moms that is universal: they tend to know everything about their children! At least everything that matters. It’s only right and fitting that that mom cleverly reminded her son of this truth!
Today, we’re celebrating the end of another liturgical year with what’s known as “Christ the King Sunday,” or the more gender-neutral, “Reign of Christ Sunday.” And yet our reading reveals no apparent connection to the mighty reign and sovereignty of Christ in this world. I had to meditate long and hard this week on finding just such a connection and I think it has to do with the importance of relationships, even complicated relationships. Please bear with me as I try to unpack my reflections…
Like many prophets of old, Jeremiah was tasked with the unfortunate responsibility of confronting the powerful leaders around him about their poor, God-displeasing leadership. God chose Jeremiah to confront King Jehoiakim and had him write words of condemnation on a scroll to give to the king. Alas, King Jehoiakim didn’t want to hear God’s words and had the scroll burned, page by page. Naturally, Jeremiah went back to God to relay what the king had done, and God patiently responded by having the scroll recreated and again given to the king. The narrative doesn’t tell us if the king heeded God’s words the second time around, but Jeremiah’s experience was all-too familiar. Some wayward leaders have chosen to heed God’s words of warning and condemnation throughout history, some have not. But God is patient and gives second chances…and third chances, and fourth chances, and many more chances necessary to get them to change their ways. Just recall Moses and the Pharoah! Our God is a God of second chances. Why? Because our God deeply loves us and always wants to be in relationships with us. And our God wants us to choose to be in relationship with him. That and honor and obey his commands. They’re for our benefit anyways! And what are the two greatest commands? To love God and to love each other. You’ll notice both commands have the word, ‘love,’ in them. Love is a relationship verb. Love only exists in relationships. We are called to love God and each other and in so doing we are called to be in relationship.
Now then, God used many prophets and leaders to reveal his patient love to the world. God established several covenants with leaders of old, from Noah to Abraham to Moses to David. We know that covenants are like promises but with a little more binding, long-standing effect. Like love, covenants can only exist in relationships. Without relationship, there is no promise or covenant. God used (and continues to use) prophets to establish covenants and build relationships. But sometimes even they can’t get the job done and so God cut them out and went directly to establishing his covenants on our hearts through Christ. Perhaps prompted by King Jehoiakim burning the scroll, God decided to build relationships with all of us through Christ. We say that Christ is the so-called, “new covenant.” The new relationship between God and each of us. The other 4 key covenants of scripture, the ones made with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, were unique to them and only them. The fifth covenant, the new covenant, is for all people in all places and all times. God wants to be in relationship with all of us not just a select few. Yes, the covenants God made with those select few ultimately affect us all but only indirectly. God wants to be in direct relationship with each of us and that’s why He sent Jesus to us.
Because Jesus can and does love all of us, his reign IS supreme! A king’s reign is only as great as the number of people he is in relationship with, lovingly overseeing their lives. You see, it all comes back to relationships! We’re celebrating Christ’s loving relationship with us and the whole world today! There’s a reason why God wrote his new covenant on our hearts. It’s because that’s where our love comes from! Love is the source of all fruitful relationships. Love is the source of Christ’s relationship with us. When Paul writes, “and now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love,” (1 Cor. 13:13) there’s a reason why love is the greatest. It’s because where love is there is relationship. We can have faith and hope without relationships but not love. Yes, we need relationships to have love; relationships with ourselves, relationships with each other, and relationships with God. Friends, it’s all about relationships…
And so, as we finish out another liturgical year and prepare for the rebirth of Christ in our world, let us give thanks for our relationships, even the complicated ones. Let us give thanks for Christ’s loving relationship with us. It’s what makes him reign supreme in this world. Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
