Weekly Readings and Pastor’s Message
Readings for Sunday, October 25
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Psalm 25:1-9
Philippians 2:1-13
Matthew 21:23-32
Pastor’s Message
The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.
- Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NRSVUE)
This passage from Jeremiah is a word of hope to a people who have lost hope. The Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel have been destroyed. There is no longer a kingly line through David, the temple in Jerusalem is destroyed, and their belief that Israel is invincible as God’s people has been shattered. So all that they have counted on in their society has crumbled—leadership, worship life, and their identity as a people. This is the background to this message of hope from God’s prophet of Jeremiah. Since God’s people have broken their covenants with God, God will introduce a New Covenant to take their place. This new covenant shows God’s people that throughout their unfaithfulness to God, they are not to rely on their history of unfaithfulness or their inability to keep God’s laws. God’s people can have hope because the Lord is faithful. For Jesus Christ’s followers, we are reminded of this New Covenant and of God’s faithfulness every time we share the communion meal. Jesus is the New Covenant that Jeremiah proclaimed to God’s people. Every time the cup of Jesus’ blood is raised at the altar during worship on Sunday, the words are said, “This is the New Covenant of my blood shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins”. This new covenant was introduced by Jesus when he sat with his disciples at the Passover meal just before he was crucified. (Luke 22:14-23). So friends, we have hope in God’s faithfulness and not in our own ability to follow God’s law. This is good news! God’s faithfulness is our hope! Dear Lord, we thank you for your faithfulness and for the new covenant in Jesus Christ. Because of the gift of your grace, we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Our faith is based on this truth and this promise. We pray these words through Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Sherri