5^th Sunday Lent Grace Calvary Episcopal Jeremiah 31:31-34 Bill was in his early fifties. He had planned well in his life. He was looking forward to an early retirement – to fish, travel and enjoy the grandkids. Then he received the news that he had cancer. He was in the hospital and that’s where I met him. I was scheduled to visit all new patients that day. I walked into his room, introduced myself as one of the hospital chaplains. Before I could say anything else, he said, “I don’t need or want a chaplain or anyone from a church to visit me.” “It sounds like you know what you want,” I replied. With a glare, he responded “Yes, I tried church and God - look where it got me.” I said, “You will do things your own way and in your time.” “Yes, I suppose I will,” He said quietly. As I began to leave, I said, “God’s heart is open to you.” His eyes softened, he moved his hands to his heart. “And it looks like your heart is open to God” I whispered. He nodded yes; pointed one finger toward heaven then gave me the thumbs up sign. I left his room. The story from Jeremiah is also about hearts: about God’s heart being open to us and our opening our heart to God. “I will make a new covenant . . .I will put my law within them. I will write it on their hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people. They won’t have to teach one another or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord’ for they shall all know me, from the least to the greatest says the Lord God. I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. The background for this story from Jeremiah is significant and quite interesting. As a prophet Jeremiah’s message urged the people to be faithful to God. He defined faithfulness as doing acts of mercy and justice so this would be a nation where all could live without fear. But the people weren’t listening to him. At first it seems that they viewed Jeremiah as a street preachers – someone people try to ignore or just roll their eyes at. Then, Jeremiah began to get really personal and that usually means trouble. He began condemning the elite, the priests, even the monarchy itself. He rebuked those who persisted to believe no harm would come to them as long as the ark was safe in the temple. To get their attention, Jeremiah carried a beautiful piece of pottery to the temple steps. In the middle of the day as many people were passing by, deaf to his words, he raised the pot high above his head, held it there, looked around, then let it drop. The shards went flying in all directions as it smashed to smithereens. People stopped, stunned and glared at Jeremiah. He railed at the priests and the people. Shortly, they turned, walked away and went on with their routines. A dejected Jeremiah returned home and began to pray to God from his heart, blaming God for giving him a message to deliver that the people weren’t hearing. “God you have deceived me, You are like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.” I am doing what you want but only bad things seem to happen.” God’s heart was open to Jeremiah. . even when Jeremiah was discouraged and upset. Then Jeremiah began to say that a powerful country was coming that would destroy Jerusalem and force them leave their land and homes. . .and worse - the temple would be destroyed and along with it, their economic system. When Jeremiah said those words, that was the last straw, the people knew they needed to find a way to make him be quiet. Enraged they surrounded Jeremiah, grabbed him by the arms and dragged him off. They happened to walk by a well so they threw him in. Fortunately it was a dry well but as he landed, he began to sink into the mud and muck. . . all the way to his armpits. At this point, I’m sure he looked up and had a few choice words with God. Eventually, one of his friends came by, tossed down a rope. Jeremiah tied it around himself. His friend pulled him up. There stood Jeremiah, covered from the chest down in mud. He had had it, he told God he wished he hadn’t been born. He rants at God, saying, “what good is this. I do what you say and look what happens. Where are you?” Throughout the book of Jeremiah there are several of these heart to heart interactions. Well, the Babylonians did invade their land. They destroyed Jerusalem, leveled the temple drove the people from their land and homes. Thus began the exile – they were forced to march several hundred miles to a new land and a life in an alien, pagan culture. This was more than an historical event for them . . .this was a time of catastrophe, a time of crisis and transition. It was in this time of upheaval, of crisis and transition, in this time of loss that God told Jeremiah about a new covenant. The Hebrew people knew about covenants. It seems whenever they faced a crisis or transition, a covenant would be established: instituted for the new situation. A covenant was a special kind of relationship – one in which both parties pledged themselves to each other. The one from Mt.Sinai was cut in stone, the covenant with Noah was a rainbow, later Samuel led them to a covenant for the first Hebrew king. . . but this one was different. Like the other covenants, this one was initiated by God to mend a broken relationship and involved forgiveness of sins. Also this one similarly involved a promise, an oath. What make this a new covenant? What is unparalleled is that this covenant was to be written on the human heart. . .that’s what makes this a “new covenant” - this is the gift. It is not a covenant from the outside,(like the tablets or rainbow) but the inside. An open heart – this is where transformation could begin. It’s as if God’s own DNA would be transplanted to their human hearts. This connects them intimately to God and allows them to know God’s heart. Like our ancestors of Jeremiah’s day, we too have access to this new covenant. God’s heart is open to us. We can know God’s heart and be connected - heart to heart. May we in our times of transition, crisis and even in good times, live with hearts open to God. “I will make a new covenant . . .I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.” And so it is. The Rev Mary Wetzel