Isaiah 54:9-10
“To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
When last we met here we set out to discuss The Preamble to The Design of the Christian Church and particularly the concept of being formed by Covenant as opposed to a legal Contract. But that was four weeks ago and it is fairly easy to lose the thread of what we are discussing over a four-week hiatus.
I attempted to use videos prepared by our national body as “fill ins” while I was away – and I hope you were able to make use of those videos because they were beautifully done by some of the best teachers within the Disciples today, and they were filled with excellent information.
In the course of trying to establish a cohesive narrative and re-establish a solid storyline to cover this disparate information and put it all into something that makes sense of it all, I’ve probably watched those videos myself two or three times each. I’ve learned something new with each viewing.
In the first of the videos shown when I was away, Rev. Sandhya Jha gave us some of the more modern history of our denomination, taking us through the time in the late 1960”s when we went from being a “Brotherhood” to being an actual denomination. She focused especially on what was happening in the world around us at that time, and how our response to those outside actions largely determined who we chose to become.
It was a time of great upheaval in race relations with riots and protests and marches led by great leaders speaking on God’s will for God’s people, regardless of race or color. There was also great turmoil around the war in Vietnam and our involvement in it – a time when, as Rev. Jha puts it, the world around us was splintering into opposing factions. [Does that sound strangely familiar right about now?]
It was at this time that we Disciples chose, not division, but unity, choosing to seek ways to join with brothers and sisters everywhere, seeking to become, in both word and action, one family of God. A time of seeking to bind ourselves in a covenant of love with all others who shared a common adherence to the basic beliefs listed in The Preamble.
As I mentioned, when we looked into The Preamble before I ended up on medical leave, the statements of faith included there state clearly “what” we share belief in. What they don’t do is lay out exactly “how” we live out that faith, leaving us free to determine that “how” for ourselves.
The second video chosen to continue the conversation about covenant in my absence was presented by Dr. Casey Sigmon. Her presentation was based on the differences between the two words, contract and covenant. She pointed out that contract means to shrink in, to shrivel up. A contract is closed-ended – set in stone. You either abide by the terms of the contract or you are out. There is almost never any room for change. If growth is desired or needed, a new contract must be entered into.
Covenant, on the other hand, means to come together, to convene, to gather, to meet. It is a verb, a living arrangement. As it is put by the prophet Jeremiah (chapter 31), “The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
This covenant is written on our living hearts! It is a living part of us, and as living beings change, so do our relationships within this covenant. In speaking of our relationship with the Bible, Process-Theologian Bruce Epperly puts it this way: “A living bible is always open-ended, subject to interpretation, and inspirational in new and creative ways.” **
Not only the Bible, but our thoughts, our hearts, our growing understanding of our faith – all of these – and more – we enter into of our own free will – not bound by legal penalties, but drawn by the love found therein – drawn by our desire to be “one with the whole people of God.”
We’ll continue this conversation next week.
** Bruce G. Epperly, Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God
I attempted to use videos prepared by our national body as “fill ins” while I was away – and I hope you were able to make use of those videos because they were beautifully done by some of the best teachers within the Disciples today, and they were filled with excellent information.
In the course of trying to establish a cohesive narrative and re-establish a solid storyline to cover this disparate information and put it all into something that makes sense of it all, I’ve probably watched those videos myself two or three times each. I’ve learned something new with each viewing.
In the first of the videos shown when I was away, Rev. Sandhya Jha gave us some of the more modern history of our denomination, taking us through the time in the late 1960”s when we went from being a “Brotherhood” to being an actual denomination. She focused especially on what was happening in the world around us at that time, and how our response to those outside actions largely determined who we chose to become.
It was a time of great upheaval in race relations with riots and protests and marches led by great leaders speaking on God’s will for God’s people, regardless of race or color. There was also great turmoil around the war in Vietnam and our involvement in it – a time when, as Rev. Jha puts it, the world around us was splintering into opposing factions. [Does that sound strangely familiar right about now?]
It was at this time that we Disciples chose, not division, but unity, choosing to seek ways to join with brothers and sisters everywhere, seeking to become, in both word and action, one family of God. A time of seeking to bind ourselves in a covenant of love with all others who shared a common adherence to the basic beliefs listed in The Preamble.
As I mentioned, when we looked into The Preamble before I ended up on medical leave, the statements of faith included there state clearly “what” we share belief in. What they don’t do is lay out exactly “how” we live out that faith, leaving us free to determine that “how” for ourselves.
The second video chosen to continue the conversation about covenant in my absence was presented by Dr. Casey Sigmon. Her presentation was based on the differences between the two words, contract and covenant. She pointed out that contract means to shrink in, to shrivel up. A contract is closed-ended – set in stone. You either abide by the terms of the contract or you are out. There is almost never any room for change. If growth is desired or needed, a new contract must be entered into.
Covenant, on the other hand, means to come together, to convene, to gather, to meet. It is a verb, a living arrangement. As it is put by the prophet Jeremiah (chapter 31), “The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
This covenant is written on our living hearts! It is a living part of us, and as living beings change, so do our relationships within this covenant. In speaking of our relationship with the Bible, Process-Theologian Bruce Epperly puts it this way: “A living bible is always open-ended, subject to interpretation, and inspirational in new and creative ways.” **
Not only the Bible, but our thoughts, our hearts, our growing understanding of our faith – all of these – and more – we enter into of our own free will – not bound by legal penalties, but drawn by the love found therein – drawn by our desire to be “one with the whole people of God.”
We’ll continue this conversation next week.
** Bruce G. Epperly, Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God
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