The New Covenant: a heart transplant for Christians

Homily for 5^th Sunday of Lent Year B 2015

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33

Introduction

“I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” What is this new covenant and what happened to the old one?

A covenant is like an agreement between two parties.

·        As a kid my mother and I had this agreement that if I did my chores, when she returned I would get a special treat like cookies or soda.  For the most mom and I were satisfied with this arrangement.

·        Then you have more formal agreements, like a man and a woman coming together in marriage; they agree to love each other in sickness and in health, till death do them part.

·        And then there is the very formal agreement, like the contract signed between the Saints team and the players, or that between an employer and employee, or between a buyer and seller of a property.

Scripture and Theology

And so, when our God decided to share his life with human beings, he made covenants with them, agreements to stipulate rights and obligations of each side.  God promised that he would be their God and they promised to be his people.

1.    The first covenant God made was with Adam and Eve (Gen 1-2).  He gave them everything they needed, a garden, animals, each other and all he asked was one little thing: do not eat of the tree of knowledge.  As we know they broke that covenant.

2.    The second covenant was with Noah (Gen 6-9) in which God promised that he would not destroy the earth again with a flood; and he gave the rainbow as a sign of his promise.

3.    The third covenant was with Abraham (Gen 17), and God promised him many things: numerous descendants, a great nation, a land flowing with milk and honey.  All Abraham and his descendants had to do was to obey the Lord and the males to undergo circumcision.

4.    The fourth covenant was with Moses (Ex. 20-34) and this was the big one.  God promised to deliver on the promises he made to Abraham as long as the people for their part kept the Ten Commandments, which were etched on two stone tablets.  Almost immediately they went back on their word.

5.    There is one more covenant, that which God made with King David (2 Sam 7).  God promised to establish the house of David as an everlasting kingdom.  This promise is important because Jesus the Saviour would be a descendant of David, the Son of David.

And so having already made these covenants, with Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses and David, why does God make another covenant, a new covenant?

A new covenant is needed because the old ones have failed, not once, not twice, but five times.  These old covenants failed because of the way they were enforced.  They relied on external conditions like the tree of knowledge, the rainbow, circumcision, the stone tablets and the monarchy.

The new covenant is going to be different.  “I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts,” God says.  In other words, the stipulations of the new covenant will be interior, within the people’s hearts.  And he goes on: “No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD.”

Christian Life

The Big Bang Theory is a TV sitcom is about a group of nerdy friends.  One of them, Sheldon Cooper, is rather eccentric.  For example, his relationships with his friends, even his girlfriend, are based on written contracts.

·        There is the roommate agreement with Leonard that stipulates all kinds of things including how many minutes each roommate can use the shower.

·        There is the 31-page relationship agreement with his girlfriend Amy, which regulates things like under which conditions they can hold hands.

·        And as for his other friends, their status depends on how many strikes they have accumulated or how many Cooper coupons they have earned.

The first five covenants of the Old Testament worked like Sheldon’s agreements, with rights and obligations clearly stated up to the smallest details.  But the new covenant, which Jeremiah prophesies is different.  It relies on a person’s heart, because it was established by a person, Jesus Christ.

Jesus announced this new covenant at the Last Supper.  Holding the cup of wine, he told his disciples: “This is my blood of the new covenant.”  And on the next day, on the cross, he shed his blood and sealed the new covenant.  That is why when people come to see Jesus in today’s gospel, he does not start by giving them a set of rules and obligations.  Instead he tells them about God’s love for them and how his death and resurrection is going to restore that love.

And so, in this new relationship, Christians will obey God’s laws because their hearts tell them to and not merely out of obligation.  The Christian’s relationship to God is more like a friendship than a contract.  For friendship is natural and organic.  Rights and obligations are not written on paper, but are written in the heart.  Friends do things for each other, not out of obligation, but out of love. When a friend is sick or loses a child, we rally around them.  We do this, not because there is a rule about that, but because first and foremost we love them.

The new covenant which Jesus establishes is more like a friendship.  Yes, this covenant still has obligations, but they are written on the heart.  For a Christian then, what comes first is the relationship with God in faith, hope and love and then the obligations, the commandments come naturally.

During this Lenten season, for example, we undertake to do three things: to pray, to fast and to give alms.  We can do these things the Sheldon Cooper way, the way of the Old Covenants, out of sheer obligation, or we can do them the way friendship way, the way of the New Covenant, from the heart.

·        Do I come to Mass on Sunday or do I say my personal prayers merely out of obligation or because I want to speak with God, like I would to beloved friend or a beloved father or mother?

·        Do I fast and abstain only because that is the kind of thing Catholics are supposed to do, or do I do it from the heart, sacrificing myself to experience the suffering of Christ?

·        Do I give alms just out of pity and a sense of guilt, or do I really give from my heart, because I see God in those whom I help?

Conclusion

One of the seminarians whom I teach had a heart transplant last year.  And being the good sport that he is, since then we have had no shortage of heart jokes.  Sometimes when he is late with an assignment he will blame it on his contrite heart.  And because he received the heart from a black person, he now calls himself half-black and half-white.  But most of all, everyday this seminarian says how grateful he is that God has given him a new life with a new heart.

In the new covenant of Jesus Christ, it is like the Lord has given each of us a new heart.  Let us use our hearts “to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven.”