I didn't have a sermon last week because we had the children do a skit. We
recorded it for video and I am still working on providing it.
Nehemiah 9:32-38
Listen Link: http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw
Now you need to know what was in this agreement (mentioned in the reading). Nehemiah 10:30-39 “We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons. “When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts. “We assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God: for the bread set out on the table; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals; for the holy offerings; for sin offerings to make atonement for Israel; and for all the duties of the house of our God.
“We—the priests, the Levites and the people—have cast lots to determine when each of our families is to bring to the house of our God at set times each year a contribution of wood to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law. “We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree. “As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there.
“Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept. “We will not neglect the house of our God.”
These are some pretty specific conditions and terms. These are behaviors that were required in God’s original covenant with Moses at Mt. Sinai, so why repeat them again here, and why make them a public declaration for everybody to sign? I mean couldn’t each Israelite say, “My behavior is between me and God. We all know already how we are supposed to behave. We don’t need this ceremony.”
The reason the Israelites drew up this covenant is because they understood human nature, and the need for mutual encouragement. This amounts to an early biblical record of God’s people creating a relational covenant for the sake or renewing their community commitment to God and to each other. This was an expression of their desire to pursue God and God’s priorities.
Now, think about signatures for a moment. When you sign your name to something, what is that all about? I guess the most frequent use of your signature is when you write out a check. You put the date, the amount and payable to, but it is not valid if you don’t sign it. And when you do sign it, that’s not just an IOU you’ve written out. It is a promissory note. You have just guaranteed that when your check is presented at the bank, the money will be there for the payee. Of course we know that a lot of checks bounce. But we also know that you’re not supposed to let that happen. It’s not good business. It’s not good for your reputation.
Other places you sign your name, contracts. Once your signature is there, you are certifying that you have read and understand the terms and conditions and promise to be held accountable to them. Your signature has the power to change your life. You even signed your membership application to join a church, and any other institution or club that wants you to be a member. Membership is not to be taken lightly.
How about your marriage license? You signed that too, and with that one you made solemn vows to love honor and cherish the other person you were marrying. Your signature commits you to love and be faithful to another person. Now a lot of people say, “Phht, It’s just a piece of paper. You know I love you honey, we don’t need to write it down, right?” And we all know that in spite of our best intentions, sometimes things don’t work out. We bounce checks, we break contracts, and we break hearts. All of those are forms of unfaithfulness. We didn’t keep our promise. And all of us have both been disappointed by others, and have been the disappointing ones too in one way or another.
But it is still worth doing the public act of declaring your commitment and your intention to be faithful. There is something more secure for everybody involved about making a written commitment. You are taking things more seriously when you are willing to sign on the dotted line along with a public declaration of your intentions. That way, everyone knows what you were saying you would do, and they can help you live up to it, even when it is hard. That help means you have a better chance of success!
God approves of that kind of solemnity. This is because, no behavior is really just between you and God. All your behavior is between you and God and whoever you were relating to when you did things well or when you did things badly. And in signing such a Covenant, the Israelites were humbly admitting that they need each other’s help to keep these promises.
God makes covenants. Some examples of the covenants that God has made are:
The Covenant with Adam and Eve in the Garden about how much freedom they have and how God will provide for them if only they will not eat the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve violated that covenant.
There is the covenant with Noah when God gave the sign of the rainbow and promised that he would never again flood the earth. That was the first unconditional covenant, in which God took on all the responsibility to make sure that he would never again flood the earth.
There’s the covenant with Abraham in which God promised to give Abraham all the land of Israel and plenty of descendants to populate it because Abraham believed God and trusted him enough to leave everything he knew behind and go to Canaan.
The Covenant between God and the people at Mt. Sinai is the most detailed in that it is not just the Ten Commandments but also all the rules and regulations for living and worship in the Book of Leviticus.
Then in the New Testament, Jesus said, “This cup is the new Covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” And Hebrews 8:13 explains, “By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” We will be celebrating that commemorative event in just a little while.
People make covenants. Another covenant that is common in our society is the marriage covenant. This is of course when two people, one man and one woman, formalize their deep friendship by making a covenant, also known as marriage vows at a wedding ceremony. This not only changes their legal status, it also tells the Christian world, and others who care about this aspect of it, that God approves of their new living arrangement. The real reason this is a public declaration of the covenantal vows is so that the friends and family of the new couple can help them through the tough times in any marriage by saying things like, “But you promised!”
Spiritually, the wedding vows create what the Bible calls a "covenant." A covenant is a spiritual agreement, governing the relationship. Because of the vows, couples are united, both in the eyes of the society in which they live and before God which spiritually joins them together. Just as a legal agreement cannot be broken without consequences, so a covenant cannot be broken without consequences.[i]
In light of all this, and in view of the challenges we face this year, I introduce to you again, our own Relational Covenant, composed by the Vitality Team, who also asked for your input and feedback, it reads:
In remembrance of all Christ has done for us, and relying on His Grace and Power: We will love one another according to his will. We will exhibit the gracious peacemaking character of Christ in every interaction. We will seek and extend grace and forgiveness in our relationships with each other. We will listen with an open mind and pray for understanding. We will pray for wisdom, that we might speak the truth in love.
I think it’s obvious that every single bit of that is based on the Bible. God is serious about the vows we take and the covenants we make. Spiritual things happen when we make covenants. Spiritual things happen when we break them too. So yes it is a serious matter for us to consider signing this relational covenant that is intended to govern our patterns of behavior and change our culture into something different from what comes naturally. Sure in a sense we could say that we all already know we are supposed to behave his way, so what is the point in saying it on paper and signing it like a contract?
The point is strengthening the bonds. Reinforcing the covenant that binds us together in the Spirit of Christ. We are simply promising to do something together, namely, to evangelize the world for Christ by loving one another so well that the world knows we are Christians, by our love. And so as this congregation pursues Christ, and pursues Christ’s priorities in this world to become a healthier more missional group of people bound together in that common mission, there will soon be an opportunity for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to that cause by affirming and signing a written copy of the relational covenant that you all helped create. This has not been drawn up to impose anything, but only to give you an opportunity to express your faith and commitment.
But for now, we turn back to remember the most wonderful covenant of all, the New Covenant drawn up in the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, by which he declared to the world his unfailing love for all who believe in him. This declaration comes with the Holy Spirit’s power; power to forgive, power to save, and power to change us into persons who bear the fruit of the spirit and with the Law of God in our hearts discover that we are better able to live up to the side of the covenant that God desires to see growing in in us.
Nehemiah 9:32-38
Listen Link: http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw
Now you need to know what was in this agreement (mentioned in the reading). Nehemiah 10:30-39 “We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons. “When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts. “We assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God: for the bread set out on the table; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals; for the holy offerings; for sin offerings to make atonement for Israel; and for all the duties of the house of our God.
“We—the priests, the Levites and the people—have cast lots to determine when each of our families is to bring to the house of our God at set times each year a contribution of wood to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law. “We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree. “As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there.
“Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees and of our new wine and olive oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work. A priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes, and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury. The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and olive oil to the storerooms, where the articles for the sanctuary and for the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the musicians are also kept. “We will not neglect the house of our God.”
These are some pretty specific conditions and terms. These are behaviors that were required in God’s original covenant with Moses at Mt. Sinai, so why repeat them again here, and why make them a public declaration for everybody to sign? I mean couldn’t each Israelite say, “My behavior is between me and God. We all know already how we are supposed to behave. We don’t need this ceremony.”
The reason the Israelites drew up this covenant is because they understood human nature, and the need for mutual encouragement. This amounts to an early biblical record of God’s people creating a relational covenant for the sake or renewing their community commitment to God and to each other. This was an expression of their desire to pursue God and God’s priorities.
Now, think about signatures for a moment. When you sign your name to something, what is that all about? I guess the most frequent use of your signature is when you write out a check. You put the date, the amount and payable to, but it is not valid if you don’t sign it. And when you do sign it, that’s not just an IOU you’ve written out. It is a promissory note. You have just guaranteed that when your check is presented at the bank, the money will be there for the payee. Of course we know that a lot of checks bounce. But we also know that you’re not supposed to let that happen. It’s not good business. It’s not good for your reputation.
Other places you sign your name, contracts. Once your signature is there, you are certifying that you have read and understand the terms and conditions and promise to be held accountable to them. Your signature has the power to change your life. You even signed your membership application to join a church, and any other institution or club that wants you to be a member. Membership is not to be taken lightly.
How about your marriage license? You signed that too, and with that one you made solemn vows to love honor and cherish the other person you were marrying. Your signature commits you to love and be faithful to another person. Now a lot of people say, “Phht, It’s just a piece of paper. You know I love you honey, we don’t need to write it down, right?” And we all know that in spite of our best intentions, sometimes things don’t work out. We bounce checks, we break contracts, and we break hearts. All of those are forms of unfaithfulness. We didn’t keep our promise. And all of us have both been disappointed by others, and have been the disappointing ones too in one way or another.
But it is still worth doing the public act of declaring your commitment and your intention to be faithful. There is something more secure for everybody involved about making a written commitment. You are taking things more seriously when you are willing to sign on the dotted line along with a public declaration of your intentions. That way, everyone knows what you were saying you would do, and they can help you live up to it, even when it is hard. That help means you have a better chance of success!
God approves of that kind of solemnity. This is because, no behavior is really just between you and God. All your behavior is between you and God and whoever you were relating to when you did things well or when you did things badly. And in signing such a Covenant, the Israelites were humbly admitting that they need each other’s help to keep these promises.
God makes covenants. Some examples of the covenants that God has made are:
The Covenant with Adam and Eve in the Garden about how much freedom they have and how God will provide for them if only they will not eat the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve violated that covenant.
There is the covenant with Noah when God gave the sign of the rainbow and promised that he would never again flood the earth. That was the first unconditional covenant, in which God took on all the responsibility to make sure that he would never again flood the earth.
There’s the covenant with Abraham in which God promised to give Abraham all the land of Israel and plenty of descendants to populate it because Abraham believed God and trusted him enough to leave everything he knew behind and go to Canaan.
The Covenant between God and the people at Mt. Sinai is the most detailed in that it is not just the Ten Commandments but also all the rules and regulations for living and worship in the Book of Leviticus.
Then in the New Testament, Jesus said, “This cup is the new Covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” And Hebrews 8:13 explains, “By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” We will be celebrating that commemorative event in just a little while.
People make covenants. Another covenant that is common in our society is the marriage covenant. This is of course when two people, one man and one woman, formalize their deep friendship by making a covenant, also known as marriage vows at a wedding ceremony. This not only changes their legal status, it also tells the Christian world, and others who care about this aspect of it, that God approves of their new living arrangement. The real reason this is a public declaration of the covenantal vows is so that the friends and family of the new couple can help them through the tough times in any marriage by saying things like, “But you promised!”
Spiritually, the wedding vows create what the Bible calls a "covenant." A covenant is a spiritual agreement, governing the relationship. Because of the vows, couples are united, both in the eyes of the society in which they live and before God which spiritually joins them together. Just as a legal agreement cannot be broken without consequences, so a covenant cannot be broken without consequences.[i]
In light of all this, and in view of the challenges we face this year, I introduce to you again, our own Relational Covenant, composed by the Vitality Team, who also asked for your input and feedback, it reads:
In remembrance of all Christ has done for us, and relying on His Grace and Power: We will love one another according to his will. We will exhibit the gracious peacemaking character of Christ in every interaction. We will seek and extend grace and forgiveness in our relationships with each other. We will listen with an open mind and pray for understanding. We will pray for wisdom, that we might speak the truth in love.
I think it’s obvious that every single bit of that is based on the Bible. God is serious about the vows we take and the covenants we make. Spiritual things happen when we make covenants. Spiritual things happen when we break them too. So yes it is a serious matter for us to consider signing this relational covenant that is intended to govern our patterns of behavior and change our culture into something different from what comes naturally. Sure in a sense we could say that we all already know we are supposed to behave his way, so what is the point in saying it on paper and signing it like a contract?
The point is strengthening the bonds. Reinforcing the covenant that binds us together in the Spirit of Christ. We are simply promising to do something together, namely, to evangelize the world for Christ by loving one another so well that the world knows we are Christians, by our love. And so as this congregation pursues Christ, and pursues Christ’s priorities in this world to become a healthier more missional group of people bound together in that common mission, there will soon be an opportunity for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to that cause by affirming and signing a written copy of the relational covenant that you all helped create. This has not been drawn up to impose anything, but only to give you an opportunity to express your faith and commitment.
But for now, we turn back to remember the most wonderful covenant of all, the New Covenant drawn up in the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, by which he declared to the world his unfailing love for all who believe in him. This declaration comes with the Holy Spirit’s power; power to forgive, power to save, and power to change us into persons who bear the fruit of the spirit and with the Law of God in our hearts discover that we are better able to live up to the side of the covenant that God desires to see growing in in us.
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