Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 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. 32 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. 33 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. 34 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.
In college there are always courses that you are required to take. U.S. History is one of those. Studying history usually involves memorizing events and regurgitating them on a test. The day before the test, lots of cramming of facts into brain goes on.
Back in the day when I went to community college, I took the required U.S. History course. The instructor was Mr. Bruce. Mr. Bruce made history come alive by connecting stories to the facts.
One story I remember was about a woman known as Stagecoach Mary. Mary was a pistol-packing muscular, six-foot-tall woman who drew attention wherever she went. After taking on a variety of jobs, Mary found her ideal job in 1895 when she became a U.S. mail coach driver for the Cascade Couty region of central Montana. She and her mule Moses never missed a day, and it was in this capacity that she earned her nickname of “Stagecoach” for her unfailing reliability. When she retired in Cascade, Montana, spending most of her time gardening, she was befriended by Gary Cooper, the actor who, as a child, grew up with her as a neighbor.
Mr. Bruce brought the facts to life, making them easier to remember. I went on to take an extra semester of U.S. history with Mr. Bruce. He encouraged my budding interest in the subject to grow into a love for it.
History doesn’t change. The interpreters of it and those who make it change.
The Jewish people have always been a people of history. Their roots are in their ancestors. In the Bible, there are many references to God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Jewish people are also a people of covenants. God’s covenant with Abraham was a promise of more descendants than he could count and a land for those descendants to have as their own.
God’s covenant with the people in the desert was given to them through Moses. Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from the mountain where God had given them to him. They were written on stone tablets that were kept in the Ark of the Covenant.
God’s covenant with King David was that there would be a king to sit on his throne forever. Each covenant represented a new way God interacted with the people.
In a world where Adaptive Intelligence (AI) is fast becoming the norm, these covenants seem to represent God changing with time as God learns more about the people. But is God changing? The Bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God doesn’t change, but God’s approach in relating to the people changes based on their choices and actions.
The covenant with Abraham, the promise of descendants and land, was an incentive to follow God and God’s ways. The incentive approach didn’t work. God realized the people needed clear-cut instructions on how to live as God intended. Moses brought those instructions to the people in the Ten Commandments, the Law. Following the instructions proved to be too difficult so the people rebelled. The covenant with David provided an additional incentive to following God. The people loved King David. He is described as a man after God’s own heart. One who led with strength and compassion. God’s covenant that there would always be a king who would sit on David’s throne was one that was embraced.
However, none of these covenants worked. The people consistently broke them. God brought leaders to help the people walk in God’s ways and to point out to them when they weren’t. The leaders broke the covenants just as much as the people did.
This passage in Jeremiah describes God’s new approach to relate to God’s people. This is the new covenant. A covenant written on the hearts of people. No longer do people need someone to teach them the Law, how-to walk-in God’s ways, and to point out to them when they weren’t doing so. Now everyone knows what God’s requirements and expectations are for themselves. They carry these with them all the time. They learn from their choices.
This is AI at work. The people are those exhibiting adaptive intelligence. They learn from their choices and experiences. People change with a perceived change in God. But God doesn’t change. The people adapt and grow as they learn.
The renowned physicist Stephen Hawking said that “Intelligence is the ability to adapt with change.” The new covenant provides a way to adapt with change, change in circumstances, behaviors, and choices.
God looked at the behaviors of people and saw they weren’t adapting. Hence, the new covenant. A vastly different covenant that those God had with the people before. This covenant is no longer an external one dependent on others to point out the wrong. This one is always with people. The Law is in the heart, so it is always there. People can’t turn away. Their conscious let’s them know when they have broken God’s covenant with them. People can break God’s law, but they can’t break their relationship with God. The internal law convict people of their wrongdoing, their sin, opening the door to God’s forgiveness and the people’s repentance.
A crucial point: the new covenant doesn’t make the old one, the Law, obsolete. People often think that the New Testament supersedes the Old Testament. That which is described as old can be left in the past. Only the new pertains to today. The Law still applies. God’s approach in relating to people has changed but the requirements haven’t. The new covenant, the law written on the heart, provides a new depth of understanding of God’s requirements, of the relationship with God, and of God.
Yet, even with the law written on their hearts, the people still failed. The People didn’t adapt. The difference was that because the law is always with them, they realized when they had failed. People still struggled with doing what is right, constantly wondered if they God forgave them.
God adapted again. God sent the Son, Jesus, to the people. The in-person one who could demonstrate who God was and is. Jesus showed the love, compassion, and justice of God. He demonstrated the relationship God desired with the people. The Bible says that God is compassionate, slow to anger, and abides in steadfast love.
This is the description of Jesus, exemplified in his ministry on earth. Jesus went a step further. He shows the people their responsibility. They are to be servants who follow Jesus. Not Jesus the person, but Jesus who is the Son of Man, the divine. Just as he is, they are to become the servants of all.
God’s ultimate adaptation in relating to God’s people is signified by the cross. Ultimate forgiveness is dependent on Jesus who took the sin of the world on his shoulders. God did what people are unable to do. Adapt. God helps us to live as people of the law. Not the rigorous follow the rules as written, but in understanding the relationship with God and with one another.
We are not failures to be given up on or to be punished, even by ourselves. We are people who are forgiven. People who are loved no matter what. The people of God.
Amen.
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