The New Covenant, Sermon, Sunday, October 13, 2013

A New Covenant

 

A poor man named Lazarus, is destitute, longing for crumbs from the rich man's table, and covered with sores. The poor man dies. And then the rich man dies. A reversal takes place, the first is now last, the last first. Hasn’t Jesus been teaching this throughout his ministry, time and time again? Isn’t this exactly how God’s kingdom works? The first are last? The least are greatest? The servant of all rules all?

     The rich man goes to Hades while Lazarus is “carried” by angels to “Abraham’s side.” There is no getting from one side to the other, but, interestingly, in Jesus’ story, there is communication between the two sides. The rich man asks Abraham to have Lazarus get him some water, because he is “in anguish because of the flames.” People in hell can communicate with people in heaven? The rich man is in the fire, and he can talk? He’s surviving?

     But notice, the rich man wants Lazarus to serve him. In life, the rich man saw himself as better than Lazarus, and now, in hell, the rich man still sees himself as above Lazarus, as entitled to ask Lazarus to serve him. It’s no wonder Abraham says there’s a chasm that can’t be crossed. The chasm is the rich man’s heart. It hasn’t changed. Even in death, he’s still clinging to the old hierarchy. He still thinks he’s better.

He still misses the Gospel message. God is doing a new work through Jesus, calling all people to human solidarity. Everybody is a brother, a sister. Equals, children of THE GOD who shows no favoritism.

     The most powerful image in this story is of the chasm, a giant ditch, that separates the rich and the poor.  As Jesus tells the story, Lazarus and the rich man are interdependent, although they live in different worlds. Jesus is telling us that we have a choice: to connect with the poor in this world or to be forever separate from them in eternity.   

     The message of this story is totally clear!  We will be judged on the basis of how we treat the poor. We, the rich, have received our reward on earth; the poor will be blessed in heaven.

     The rich man pleads, "Send someone to warn my brothers, so that they don't end up like me!" Jesus’ story about Lazarus and the unnamed rich man is very like a well-known folk tale in the ancient world.  But, Jesus has changed the story.  Usually when someone asked to send a message back to the people who were still alive on earth, the message was sent. But in Jesus’ version, the Pharisees are told, “They’ve got Moses and the prophets.  Let them listen to them.”  And, even more strongly, “If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets neither would they be convinced, even if someone rose from the dead.”  WOW!  We won’t. . .Is that still true today? 

     Jesus’ warning is consistent with the law and the prophets. Our Old Testament reading for today was Jeremiah’s promise of a new covenant. The new covenant would not be on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. This new covenant would be found in the minds and lives of every person, NOT on a monument most people could only occasionally visit.
     Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled, partially at least, during the exile. Unable to sacrifice or depend on Temple rituals, the exiles developed new patterns of worship, based on daily reading of Scripture and offering prayers. The development of Judaism during the exile was making the promise of Jeremiah’s prophecy of a “new covenant… written on hearts… [where] everyone would know the Lord” a reality for many more people. And it was a promise to everyone in the covenant, “from the least of them to the greatest.”

     Jesus fulfilled it even more radically. The Pharisees were criticizing Jesus for welcoming outcasts and sinners. They were behaving to the people Jesus was welcoming exactly like the rich man was behaving to Lazarus. Jesus was putting into practice in the present world the reversal that would happen in the future world.  He was fulfilling the LORD’S requirement to, “do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your LORD.” (Micah 6:8)  Jesus was practicing what he had taught his disciples to pray “Thy kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Anyone who understands the law and the prophets must therefore see that Jesus was bringing the law and the prophets to completion.  If his listeners, or we, do not understand, then not even someone rising from the dead will bring them to their senses.
     God cares immensely for the poor and the downtrodden. Any person claiming to love God should be living a life that shows that care.  How would the world see Christians--and especially the Christ they follow--if we put our energies, our time and our money, where are prayers and Bible claim they lie? What a vision!  Are we listening?  If we were truly listening, what would we do?