A New Age of Divine Thought - Jeremiah 31:31-40
By Natalie Davey
Today's sermon was a study of Jeremiah 31:31-40 entitled "A New Age of Divine Love." The phrase "a new covenant" was used as a base upon which to build a message of hope for the dislocated people of Israel - and, as Pastor Alan suggested, for us today. After 70 years the people would come back to their land, a place that would be made new, symbolized in the Divine covenant.
In my studies I have been looking at the impact of "placed-based" memory, that is the meaning we make of the spaces we inhabit or pass time in. A physical space becomes a symbolic place when "meaning-making" is attached to it, as was the case with the land from which the people of Israel were dislocated. Jeremiah's dynamic prophetic voice had to cut through their pain of having been removed from a place that was replete with meaning. Yet with hope, Jeremiah prophesied that God was not finished with them. A new city would be rebuilt…but first there would have to be a reorientation to their God.
Channeling the prophetic voice of Jeremiah today, in the midst of what Bridge calls times of "transition" where I feel spiritually or emotionally dislocated from my place with God, can I instead see a glimmer of hope made possible through my own interior experience of reorientation? Can I reframe and see that God is not finished with me?
In John 1:14 we read that God tabernacles with us. The tabernacle was the most sacred of places where God would show up but only a few could enter to meet with Him. If God tabernacles with me then the ”meaning-making" I take away from such a phrase is that I am a sacred place for the spirit to reside. This amazing truth is what defines the new covenant: Solidarity with Him, access for all, equality, forgiveness and grace since the “Torah [is] written on our hearts.”
Unlike those in the Old Testament who were waiting to return to the promised land, the new covenant reorients our vision to see the “new city that will never be uprooted.” The book of Revelation describes a new city to come, a sacred place of “meaning-making” that we cannot even imagine. Until that time comes we can rest in the knowledge that the place where God indwells is in us now…Heaven is now. “Meaning-making” is made manifest in the place of our own hearts.
Listen to this sermon here!
2 Comments
Thanks for sharing your reflections with us, Natalie. As I thought about what you had written, I was struck by two things. First, how controversial Jesus’ message must have been to the people of His day – how controversial it still is today. The kind of message that made the poor, the sick and the oppressed sit up and take notice, and left the religious authorities feeling as though they had no alternative but to kill Him. Second, I was struck by your use of the term, “meaning-making.” I found myself questioning whether the Christian life is a process of finding (or making) meaning or about learning to embrace the meaning God reveals in Scripture. Pastor Alan’s comment helped me to see that maybe it’s not simply a matter of either/or: “We need to keep remembering our fundamental connection with God so that our sense of home and meaning remains secure and fresh.” In other words, our sense of meaning can be both “secure and fresh” – firmly established and, yet, constantly evolving – within the context of “our fundamental connection with God.”
Great piece Natalie. It is exhilarating to know that Abba tabernacles with us filling us with his loving presence. It is so easy to lose sight of this reality amidst the challenges of day to day living. We need to keep remembering our fundamental connection with God so that our sense of home and meaning remains secure and fresh.