From
Covenant
To
Kingdom:
Reconciliation in Christ
Genesis 12:1-2
Galatians 3:27-29
Mark 14:22-25
A Sermon
For
Oakhurst Baptist Church
Decatur, Georgia
On the 35th Annual Covenant Sunday
January 22, 2006
by Dr. Gilbert I. Bond, Ph.D.
Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Agnes Scott College
and
"Theologian in Residence and Anabaptist Mystic"*
Oakhurst Baptist Church 2005-2006
*As so designated by the Reverend Lanny Peters, January 22, 2006
I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ; and I would like to thank Reverend Peters, the members of the Covenant Committee for your prayerful, cooperative support and leadership in planning this service, including the choir and musicians, and for the invitation to the pulpit of Oakhurst Baptist Church on this hallowed occasion of your annual Covenant Sunday.
I also extend my gratitude to the body of believers at Oakhurst whose members have welcomed me in this Church, who have invited me to your tables of fellowship, here, in your homes and elsewhere. I do not take any of these invitations for granted, but recognize them as fruits of the promise of Jesus Christ, and signs of the Kingdom of God in our midst, for "...no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, of houses and brothers and sisters...." (Mark 10:29-30) Jesus further instructs that "whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and say to them, "The Kingdom of God has come near to you." (Luke 10:8-9)
As some of you know, I am a member of an Anabaptist community of Christians, and as an Anabaptist, I resonate with Oakhurst's commitment to covenant, and covenant as essential to this community's self understanding, and relationship with God. For Anabaptists, covenant and community are inseparable.
When I was a graduate student at Emory, I lived for a while in Grant Park, renting a room in a house occupied by my landlady. Right across the driveway, in a house facing the outside entrance to my room lived Mrs. Amerson-a good Southern Baptist widow-who attended the Southern Baptist Church across the street from where I lived. When she returned from church, she would prepare her Sunday supper. After supper, she would sit down at the piano next to her window and I could hear these beautiful, classic hymns: "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," "Sweet Hour of Prayer," "I Love To Tell the Story," "Softly and Tenderly," "Shall We Gather at the River," and many others.
Not too long after I moved in, my landlady felt it best that she introduce me to her neighbor, Mrs. Amerson, since my landlady didn't want the widow Amerson alarmed or disturbed at seeing a strange Black man coming and going by the side entrance of her house. So my landlady walked with me over to Mrs. Amerson's house. Mrs. Amerson came to the door, greeted my landlady, and I was introduced. Mrs. Amerson, being a properly raised and well mannered Southern woman, after learning my name, asked about my family; and after learning about my family, asked me about my church home: thereby completing the holy trinity of the Southern social ritual of introduction.
I said, "I'm an Anabaptist." "What you got against Baptist, young man?" I said, "Nothing in particular, Ma'me. Why, some of my best friends are Baptists. Southern, too. That's Ana-baptist, not anti-baptist." "Well, what's that?" Mrs. Amerson asked. So I explained: "radical left wing of the Reformation, intensive community, non-creedal, emphasis upon practice, not doctrine, cooperative economics, non-liturgical, communal mysticism, historic peace church, kissing cousins to the Mennonites, non-violence, love feast."
All of this Mrs. Amerson took in patiently and politely. At the end of my learned theological discourse on the history and identity of the Anabaptists, Mrs. Amerson said: "Well, young man, you're really Southern Baptist-you just don't know it yet."
What I do know is that I have felt very much at home for the duration of my sojourn with Oakhurst Baptist Church-so maybe the widow Amerson was right-in part-and I didn't know it, until I came to Oakhurst.
Would you join me in prayer: "Loving God, you gave your word, wrapped in the flesh of all human kind; give us your Spirit to see your face and hear your voice, in the ones we do not know. In Jesus' name, Amen."
"From Covenant to Kingdom: Reconciliation in Christ" Covenant is at the heart of being Christian, but like Mrs. Amerson said, most of us don't know it yet. Our Bible should be divided into the Old Covenant and the New Covenant since the Hebrew word for "covenant," berith, is most frequently translated diatheke -the Greek term for covenant. With St. Jerome's translation of the Bible into Latin, we get "testament" which is not exactly the same as covenant.
Covenant-in Judaism, is a committed relationship initiated by God, and shaped by promises to God's people. In the Old Covenant, God makes a commitment to two Gentiles from Iraq, Abraham and Sarah, and when they say "yes" to God's commitment, they become the first two Jews. Since the normative pattern for human social organization throughout history has been tribalism, God, in effect, creates a special tribe God can call God's own: whose founding ancestors are Abraham and Sarah.
In making the covenant with Abraham and Sarah, God promises to keep the Covenant with each and everyone of their descendants, for as long as God is God. To be a Jew, is to be a covenanted daughter or son of Abraham and Sarah. God promises to Abraham and Sarah and each of their descendents: that you will be my people, and I will be your God (Gen 17:7). Your children will be as numerous as the stars in heaven and the sand on the shore (Gen 22:17) And Abraham and Sarah-your going to have to have some means of feeding and supporting all those children-so I will give you land as a means of production (Gen 17:8). You will also need protection, so the people who welcome you and treat you with justice and hospitality, they will prosper, in return; and those who are hostile and persecute you, their empires will eventually crumble, their collective identity will fade and be forgotten, but you, my people, will endure.
And finally-through you, Abraham and Sarah, and your descendants, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed (Gen 22:18). The word "nations"-does not refer to the U. S., or Germany, or Italy, or Chad, China, or Ghana. The word "nation" is a loose translation of the Greek, ethnoi-whence we derive our word for "ethnics"; and the Greek is a translation of the Hebrew-goi, which is their name for Gentiles. Through the covenant I make with you, Abraham and Sarah, all Gentiles will eventually be blessed. Christians believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's fourth promise of the Covenant: the seed of Abraham and Sarah who would bless all nations, all ethnoi, all goi, all Gentiles: all of us here at Oakhurst, and those not at Oakhurst.
So Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, rejoices at the birth of his son, for John will be the prophet of the Most High God, Jesus, who through the tender mercy of the God of Israel will send Jesus, the dayspring of God who will "give light to those who sit in darkness"-meaning us, us Gentiles (Luke 1:79).
And during Jesus' ministry, when John the Baptist is arrested, Jesus withdraws into Galilee and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulum and Naptali-so "that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
"The land of Zebulum and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned. From that time onward, Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" (Mt. 4:12-17)
Covenant is essential to understanding Kingdom, and Kingdom is essential to understanding the New Covenant. So, what's new about the New Covenant?
"And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said: 'Take; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, 'This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.'" (Mark 14:22-25)
"This is my blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for the many-" For the many. Again, a loose translation-meaning for the nations, the ethnoi, the goi, the Gentiles. What's new about the New Covenant, is that the God of Israel is extending the blessings and promises God made with Abraham and Sarah and all of the Jews-that Covenant-is being extended to the non-Jews, the Gentiles, the outsiders.
Blood is a boundary marker, that separates one group from another, and certainly the tribes of the Jews from the various tribes of Gentiles. So when the blood of Jesus is poured out for the Gentiles, the blood of God is moving across the boundaries that separate Jew from Gentile, male from female, slave from free. So, if you are in Christ, then you are all one in Christ Jesus, and are the seed of Abraham and Sarah and heirs according to the promises of the covenant God made with them and their descendants.
Jesus's life transgresses the blood boundaries that separate people, and Jesus's categorical transgressions get Him into serious trouble. Which is probably why the church has been trying for 1,800 years to turn the New Covenant into the Old Covenant, but only this time Christians turn the Jews into the outsiders and turn the Church into a 13th tribe of Israel. Which keeps subdividing, and subdividing along blood lines, class lines, race lines, face lines, lines of sexual orientation, gender lines, denominational lines, and doctrinal lines. I'm sure you can draw your own lines.
The reason Jesus connects the cup of the new covenant in His blood with the Kingdom, is that the Kingdom of God does not have internal lines of division with territorial identities and hostile borders that have to be defended by exclusion, violence and bloodshed. Hence, He came preaching peace, since the blood of Christ would move across all the boundaries human beings (Eph 2:13,17) can invent for excluding, devaluing, and alienating other human beings-always in the name of God. This definition of the New Covenant which washes away the lines of human separation and alienation is disturbing enough.
But there is another dimension to the new Covenant that is even more disturbing. God waited for Sarah and Abraham to say "yes" and come into an agreement with the Old Covenant, God was making with them. But in the New Covenant, God doesn't wait for us to say "yes"-or to say "no." While we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8); while we were enemies of God (Rom 5:10), Jesus got up one morning, went down town to Jerusalem, and laid down His life out of love, for all of us: Jew, Gentile, male and female, slave and free, and any other category.
What is so profoundly disturbing about the New Covenant is the radical unconditional nature of God's loving commitment to us. Before we could say "yes" or "no", God embodied God's love for us, and the not us, the me and the not me, the righteous and the unrighteous. So when we do say "yes" to Jesus, our conscious realization is just catching up to what God has already accomplished in Christ: "Behold! The Kingdom is at hand, [or in the midst of you.]" (Lk 17:21) And because the Kingdom includes people you didn't grow up with, who don't look like you, or act like you, or hold the same political, theological, or social position as you, you are going to need reconciliation. Not the idea or concept, but the practice of Reconciliation.
Reconciliation is one of those terms like "community" "spirituality" nd "motherhood" that most people generally understand, and agree with. But if we understand what it is, and everybody agrees with it, why do we find so little of it? If it were natural, it would be growing in back yards and sand lots like weeds and Kudzu. Christian Reconciliation is deeper than forgiveness; and far more radical than just getting back together. Jews and Gentiles were never together, so how could they get back together? Christian Reconciliation is the creation of identities of inclusive otherness-rather than exclusive otherness. Christian Reconciliation is seeing one's self in the "not me"; the me in the other; and committing oneself to the not me, and, with the Grace of God, actually undergoing transformation and becoming-to some inadequate, yet nevertheless significant, degree, part of the other. Christian Reconciliation is coming to see, acknowledge and respond to the presence of God in the other.
Reconciliation is the Way, the Truth, and the Life one travels from the New Covenant to the Kingdom of God. Reconciliation does not consist of agreement, but loving acceptance. Being a witness to what God has done in Christ is not a matter of words, but practice-both in the"rehearsal" sense of the word, and the praxis sense of the word. It is not how you hold your mouth, but where you put your body and to what social body you give your heart.
During the Civil Rights movement, a whole spectrum of Americans worked together to transform the relationships between all Americans. Many of the people who came forth to put their bodies on the line, along side Black and white Americans were Jewish women, who worked alongside Black Christian women in a non-violent demonstration of love of enemies.
When the Freedom Riders took to Greyhound and Trailways to integrate interstate buses, two Jewish female Freedom riders were arrested with their Black Christian travelmate and placed in the Maximum Security unit at Parchman Workfarm in Mississippi. If you are unfamiliar with Parchman and its legacy, I recommend the book, Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and thr Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice, David M. Oshinsky. The title says it all.
Carol Silver and Elizabeth Hirschfield found themselves at Parchman with, Ruby Doris Smith, a Black Christian woman. Ruby Smith refused to take a shower unless she was issued shower slippers-a modest request. The concrete floor of the Parchman shower was so rough that it cut into the soles of her feet. The guards refused, and Ruby Smith refused. So three female guards handcuffed Ruby Smith, and forced her naked into the shower and scrubbed her body with a floor brush. They repeatedly knocked her to the shower floor, while holding on to her handcuffs.
When Ruby was dragged back to her cell, Carol Silver and Elizabeth Hirschfield were burning with anger at the mistreatment of their co-worker. As they raged, Ruby Smith lay on the floor of the cell, and in a soft voice, weak from her beatings, she spoke of Christian brotherhood [and sisterhood]; and how we must not hate because hatred is a victory of the forces of evil we are fighting. Ruby Smith talked of psychological non-violence, which is just as important as physical non-violence. Ruby Smith spoke of returning love for hate, compassion for oppression.
It was hard for Silver and Hirshfield to accept what Ruby Smith was saying. The Jewish culture from which Carol and Elizabeth came valued rebellion against oppressors, and upheld honor in fighting back. Both Carol and Elizabeth thought long and hard about what they saw and heard that night on Parchman, Mississippi.
When the women were eventually released, the two Jewish women rejoined the Movement. Once again, Jews and Christians marched together, this time in Jackson, Mississippi. Jackson was also the home of Rabbi Perry Nussbaum, who, along with members of his synagogue, had quietly supported the Civil Rights Movement, mostly undercover. When the demonstrators were arrested and placed in jail in Jackson, Rabbi Nussbaum visited the jail on a pastoral visit. He carried with him tooth brushes, soap, and other personal necessities for the jailed women.
When he arrived at the women's cell, where Black and White and Jewish women were incarcerated together, Rabbi Nussbaum held up the tooth brushes, soap and other articles and said, "Alright, who in here are my people?" One of the Jewish woman stepped forward and said, "Either all of us are your people, or NONE of us are your people."
Something had happened. Something deep within the recesses of identity, and identification. Had she become a confessing Christian as a result of the witness of other Christians in the face of American apartheid, who practiced love of enemies in the name of Jesus Christ? No. She was and remained a Jew. But whom she belonged to, and the definition of "her people", her sense of self and other, had become radically altered, inter-twined, and exchanged. "For the Kingdom of God had come near" (Lk 10:9) in that Mississippi jail cell.
The radical Grace of Jesus as manifest in the New Covenant enacts the unconditional love of God before people have a chance to say "yes" to the covenant. And by manifesting the love of the New Covenant, instead of proclaiming propositional statements about whose in and whose out, we give others a chance to say yes-and to say no. For even when we say "no" with our mouths, or no with rejection, or no with condemnation, or no with hatred, or no with violence, or no with silence, or no with death; God still says "yes."
Jesus is God's yes in the face of the world's no. And God's yes, says "I love you-and I won't let hatred, I wont let injustice, I won't let racism, I won't let sexism, I won't let homophobia, I won't let ethnocentrism, I won't let nationalism, I won't let sin, I won't let death stand between you and me loving you."
I was never one of those Christians who was scared into a relationship with Jesus. I didn't become a follower of Jesus because I am a sinner. I did not become a follower because I was afraid of burning in Hell. I became a Christian because I fell in love with Jesus. When you love someone, you really want to be with them. You want connection and communion with them. But to love Jesus, so I discovered, is to love His brothers and sisters, and even His enemies. And I discovered by trying to love the people Jesus loves-and a lot of them do not look like me, don't think like me, don't act like me-but in trying to love the people Jesus loves, I needed Jesus. So I can only testify to what I've seen, heard, and felt. I don't know who you go to in order to love your enemies; I don't know who you turn to, to accept the unacceptable-I don't know who you ask for forgiveness, in order to share with the unforgivable. I can't tell you to accept those people you find hard, difficult, impossible to accept.
But I do know that God's love is found in some strange places, and stranger's faces, and that reconciliation consists not of agreement, but loving acceptance.
The Church of the Brethren has an Annual Conference which for a small denomination like ours is more like a family reunion than a business meeting. At Annual Conference we discuss the important issues in the world and in the church, and one Annual Conference some years ago, the issue of abortion was before us. The speakers appointed to present the thinking of the Church came forth. One good Brethren sister stood before the Conference and passionately reminded us that our members had gone to jail rather than to join the military and commit violence upon our enemies. We had been persecuted violently for not being violent. We were against executing criminals who had killed, how could we support aborting the unborn?
Then the other Brethren sister came forth, and in a compelling speech asked how we as a church who had stood with others whose rights were being denied or taken away from them in Nicaragua, in Palestine, in Guatemala; who affirmed and defended the sanctity of each Believer's conscience, yet held each person in covenental community, affirming our communion with the dissenters. How could we then tell a woman that she had no rights to her body-and to stand outside of her circumstances and conscience and judge her inner workings? It was a case of right verses rights-and the Conference was torn apart over the issue. Brethren don't decide matters by voting, because we don't believe the Holy Spirit works in the majority. One can muster the votes and loose the Ghost. But over this issue, we were divided deeply, and painfully so, without any way forward.
Each year, the entire Conference holds a Love Feast, with foot washing. Can you imagine 10,000 Anabaptists washing one another's feet in the same place? Brothers on one side, Sisters on the other. In the midst of our torn and agonizing Conference, the foot washing proceeded. Slowly, from one side of the Conference hall, the Brethren sister who had spoken so powerfully against abortion, made her way down the isle; and from the other side of the Conference hall, the sister who defended the sovereignty of a woman's conscience, made her way down the isle.
In the middle of the Conference hall, they met. One sister sat, the other knelt to wash her opponent's feet. Then, the other sister sat down, and her opponent washed her feet. Then both sisters stood, facing, and looked each other in the eyes and said, "Sister, I love you." Then they embraced, which is our ritual in the Love Feast. We reached no agreement during that long, hot, summer's Annual Conference, and we were far from consensus. But everyone knew that evening there was hope for us as a community, as a church, as a people of God, for we were reminded, once again, that the love of Jesus, and Reconciliation in Christ, consists not of agreement, but enacting God's New Covenant with our brothers, sisters, opponents, and even enemies,
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Dr. Gilbert I. Bond