Sunday, August 7 – “Covenant: Part 3”

View this recorded version of Sunday Worship from August 7, 2022.

Bible Verses and Readings

2 Corinthians 3:1-6a (Ministers of the New Covenant), Luke 22:7-20 (Preparation of the Passover), and a Navajo Prayer

Reflection: Covenant – Part 3: “The New Testament Covenant”

Excerpts from the sermon by Rev. Dr. Susan Alloway:

“Jesus had two primary purposes in his ministry. The first was not to found a church or religion; it was to reform his religion. In that time the rulers of the Jewish people were taxing the common people ninety percent, and they were neglecting their primary duties given to them by covenant to take care of the widows and the children. It was a very corrupt system, and Jesus wanted to fix it.

…The second thing was that Jesus was very concerned, that the people were being taught the wrong thing about God.

…he wanted people to understand his messages, which were I came that you might have joy and have it abundantly. I came, so that you would see God in me and understand that your God is a God of love and mercy and compassion, and not a God of wrath and judgment and punishment.

And finally I came that you might have a new commandment which is to love one another; love one another as you love yourself.

This idea of loving ourselves is something we kind of overlook because we think ‘Oh, that’s selfish’, but–like the Buddhist’s teach–it’s only when we first can love ourselves that we are able to then love others.

…What He taught us is what we believe in; and if we follow what He taught us, then we stand a chance to realize, to effect, to make happen. The avowed purpose of this congregation, this family of faith, which says our purpose is to follow Jesus on the radical way of love–and we do this because that’s who we are.

…When we think about following Jesus, one [important thing] is reconciliation, reconciliation with our God [and for] reconciliation with each other. The second is compassion; and the third is wisdom.

Reconcile; be compasionate; be wise.

…today I ask you to imagine that you’re sitting someplace, and Jesus comes over and sits down next to you and says, I want to make a covenant with you … So here I am. What would Jesus say to you?

[Take a sheet of paper and draw four columns with the following labels:]

1. Spoken, 2. Unspoken, 3. Broken, 4. Unbroken

…I ask you to reflect on the covenants in your life, and you can make notes which ones are spoken, which ones are unspoken covenants, which ones are broken, and which ones are unbroken covenants.

…and there’s a final question in addition to considering the covenants in your lives. Do any of them need to be rewritten?”