Jeremiah 31:31-37  “A Covenant to Count On”  8/22/10 Hebrews 8:10-12

The word “covenant” (berit= to cut/see maybe from word bara= to bind; diatheke Grk)  is an old word.  In fact some would hear that word and just turn me off- switch gears to thinking about something else.  But the word “covenant” is an important word that occurs 302 times in the Bible- in both Old and New Testament.   We have heard it before.  Each month when we have communion here we say, “This cup is the new covenant of his blood.”  It was an important word for Jesus, for he saw in communion and his coming the fulfillment of this great passage in Jeremiah 31.  But many of us don’t really know what a covenant is, and many of us don’t know why it is at all important to us- even though it is found throughout our scriptures and on the mouth of our Lord.   So today I want to explore why we need to know this, what a covenant is, and how we can get a covenant.

After World War I millions were starving in Europe.  Herbert Hoover took charge of shipping American wheat to Europe.  The King and Queen of Belgium wanted to give him a special honor.  They rejected three different decorations, and created a special order for Herbert Hoover.  It was the “Order of the Great Friend.”   God is our Great Friend who provides for us and saves us.   His friendship is established not just by a word, or even a promise, but by a covenant- a bond.   When you think if of what “covenant” means- you must think of God’s friendship- His love, He has bound Himself to us solely out of His grace. 

I. FIRST IT IS SO VERY EVIDENT WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT A COVENANT IS- bonds of commitment, love and faithfulness have faded from our land and we need to get them back.

A. MARRIAGE- The promise that we will forsake all others, and live together for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health til death do us part- has been broken by so many that many of us preachers hesitate to point out that this is not the way it should be.   We should not make these promises lightly, but on the other hand to give ourselves fully to another without any covenant or commitment is setting ourselves up for damage later on.  I knew a lady who taught school in another district who had a live-in-partner.  They had a child together and lived together for about twenty years.  Then one day she came home and he was just gone, and he never came back.  He said in a note “ I didn’t make any promise to you, and you didn’t to me, so now I’m claiming my freedom”.  Now he didn’t feel guilty at all.  But let me tell you, she was absolutely devastated.   Our hearts are tender, and we are meant to guard our hearts by a commitment.  Today almost half of new marriages end up broken, and we make our covenant so lightly it means so little.  We need to make our promises- our covenant worth something- so we can count on each other.

B. WORK- There was a time when IBM boasted that it never laid off its workers.   The ideal for many in the previous generation was to work for the same company most of your life and get into their retirement program.  Today the average worker works in the same place 4.1 years- meaning they will have 7-10 jobs before they retire.  There is less employee loyalty and less employer loyalty. 

C. WORD- We used to say, “My word is my bond.”  Zorro said it- and that brought up his hero status.  So did Roger Moore in his James Bond movies.   “Keeping your word”- meant you were reliable and faithful- trustworthy.   But politicians making promises they can’t keep is almost a norm today.  The Bernie Madoffs of today who promise riches, but take away your wealth are scaring people.  If you have email- you have to be suspicious of someone who promises you a million dollars if you’ll just transfer a thousand to their bank account in another country.  If you’ve ever been burned for not reading the fine print, then you know what I mean.  My daughter found this out this past week.  The sign said “rent this truck for $19.95” But in the end it cost $225.  We are all too familiar with hidden fees.  How many times did Lucy hold the football for Charlie Brown promising to really do it right only to pull it away at the last minute so he falls on his back?  In contrast to this are the promises of God.   God’s promises Paul says are Yea and Amen.  Jesus warns us to not promise things we cannot do- for he wants his followers to keep their word.  If you look at the life of Jesus- one of the great things was that He kept His word.

D. OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD- Too many today think God is something we can drift in and out on.   But God promises to be our God- and He wants us to be His people.  God wants us to be His friend.  He will not betray us, but comes down for us and sacrifices for us.  God does not make promises He does not keep.  He does not promise us his care and then say, “Woops- I was only kidding.”  He does not promise us eternal life and then say, “I changed my mind.”  God promises His love and friendship.  He offers us His hand,and has placed us in a position to respond if only we will.   One sociologist said the fastest growing religion is deistic-comfort-moralism.  Deism means we do not think God cares or is involved. But our faith tells us we are in a covenant relationship with God- He loves us- He wants friendship.
During the Civil War Sam Davis was caught as a confederate spy.  He was told to give up the name of his accomplice who was giving him information.  Davis replied, “If I had 10,000 lives I would give them all before I would betray the trust of a friend.”  The covenant love of Christ bound Him to us- so that instead of leaving, He comes for us- sacrificing Himself for us.

II.  WHAT IS A COVENANT-

A. A CONTRACT- A Bond- meaning we are bound to each other.  But this is a bond that is graciously offered to us by God.  It is like He is offering to adopt us- He chooses to whom He makes this offer, and then we have to respond to the offer.

There is a difference. Contacts are broken when one of the parties fails to keep his promise. If, let us say, a patient fails to keep an appointment with a doctor, the doctor is not obligated to call the house and inquire, "Where were you? Why didn't you show up for your appointment?" He simply goes on to his next patient and has his appointment secretary take note of the patient who failed to keep the appointment. The patient may find it harder the next time to see the doctor. He broke an informal contract. According to the Bible, however, the Lord asks: "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" (Isaiah 49:15) The Bible indicates the covenant is more like the ties of a parent to her child than it is a doctor's appointment. If a child fails to show up for dinner, the parent's obligation, unlike the doctor's, isn't canceled. The parent finds out where the child is and makes sure he's cared for. One member's failure does not destroy the relationship.  

B. SEALED WITH A PRICE- Bond in blood- the “blood of the covenant”- If I break this may my blood be shed.  Many of us grew up watching the old westerns where the Indians would have “blood brothers” in which they would cut their hands and mingle their blood with each other- that’s a covenant.

C. HAS A PROMISE ATTACHED- “I will be their God- they will be my people”  (Jer. 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; 32:38).  It is the promise of  relationship, love and adoption.  It is like God has signed the papers with His blood, and wants us to sign the papers by our faith in what He has done. 

III. HOW WE MAKE A COVENANT-
God has graciously offered us a covenant.   He seeks for us to respond.  There is a sense in which God is Father of us all- but we wander away from Him.  It is like we are orphans and God comes along and offers us an eternal home, with an eternal place, and eternal blessings of His love. 

His motive for adoption is his eternal love (hesed= lovingkindness).  He calls us to Himself, He leads us to the table to partake with Him.  He allows us to be led to the baptism font for cleansing.  

            WE MUST RESPOND-  Respond by faith.  It does no good if God does all this for us and we don’t believe He has.  It does no good for Christ to come to earth if we do not think He has.  Without faith Christ is just a good teacher, and his death was just a shame.  With faith Christ is God who loves us- wanting our friendship, and his death was followed by the resurrection.  We must respond by faith.  Baptism is the mark of the covenant.   It is a concrete sign that we have signed the covenant with God.

            If the President of the United States makes a treaty with another country, such a treaty must be adopted by the congress before it is made real.  There have been instances when a treaty was not adopted.  For example the nuclear test ban treaty has been signed but not adopted by the United States.   Probably the most famous instance was when Warren Wilson signed to charter the League of Nations but the congress voted against it.   In a similar way- God offers us the opportunity to be His adopted children.   The relationship is there- the promises are there, the reward is there- but we have to respond.   We sign our covenant when we say “Yes” to God- to believe in Him and follow Him.    

            WE MUST KEEP THE COVENANT- We must not deny Him, run away from Him, or say we do not care what His concerns/rules are.  While baptism is the mark that we have received the covenant, communion is the mark that we continue to renew the covenant with God.  When we stop having communion, it is like we are refusing to renew the contract, the covenant we have with God.  Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant of my blood” drink you all of it.  Too many take lightly the idea that we have a bond with God that we need to renew each week on the Sabbath, and renew when we have communion with His people and Him. 

            Abraham is one who prominently made a covenant with God.   He is called three times the “friend of God” (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; Jas. 2:23).  We’re all invited today to enter into that covenant of friendship.  We have the opportunity to be children of Abraham- children of faith and of the covenant.  Jesus talks about many will come from east and west and sit in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham.  He is God’s friend, and we can be friends with God too. We are all invited to be God’s friend.