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The Fifth Sunday after Trinity – 4 July 2010
While in seminary, I took a job at a local Starbucks and it may amuse you to know that I was hired not because I was good at making coffee and latte’s but because of my abilities to chit chat with customers. My three years as a Starbucks barista taught me many things, one of those being the power of a trademark. A good trademark will convey the company’s mission and identity and the Starbucks trademark, a black and white siren, is a great example. If you like the mission of Starbucks, which is something like to consistently provide good coffee and a comfortable atmosphere in all their stores, you will feel an intense loyalty and love for the trademark, but if you revile the mission of Starbucks, the trademark will provoke intense revulsion and hatred. A good trademark, then, will function as a symbol for everything a company stands for and believes.
I have a trademark. My trademark is not a well designed image or crest, it is a trademarked action. My trademark is to turn my back on God.[1] It is my hope and prayer that all of you have a different trademark, but I think everyone who has been born of a woman (the exception being Jesus of course) has made this same trademark their own. This trademark summarizes much of our identity and that is why it is a symbol of our guilt, our rebellion, our trespasses, and everything else that is messed up and wrong in our lives. Since, this trademark is stamped into the very core and essence of our humanity, since it is like a tattoo on our soul, it cannot be easily removed and it cannot be redesigned and remarketed by culturally savvy graphic designers. However, if Christians are to progress their spiritual maturity, if we are to continue to move forward toward God, and if we are to be continually sanctified and made into images of our Creator, this trademark must be removed.
Two weeks ago we read in Acts 3 about Peter and John healing a lame man who sat begging outside the temple gate called Beautiful. This man’s inability to walk is symbolic of our inability to walk toward God, or to put it positively, our ability to turn our backs on God. This morning we hear Peter’s message to the crowds that came rushing to see this former lame man who was now leaping and running and praising God. Peter said, “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. ..By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.” This lame man was not healed by anything he had done, not was he healed by Peter and John’s godliness and power, he was healed by Jesus Christ. This man did not deserved to by healed, he had not merited a healing, thus his healing was the result of grace that is found only in Jesus. Therefore, it is not through our own power, our own abilities, our own godliness or righteousness, that we turn to face God, but only through the grace found in Jesus. The only thing powerful enough to remove my trademark is grace.
When we speak about the means of grace, we usually focus upon the Scriptures and the Sacraments. This focus is meet and right for Scripture and the Sacraments are a means of grace, but Scripture and the Sacrament are not independent distributors of grace, they are a means of grace because of their relationship with God’s covenants. God’s covenants are the foundation means of grace. The Scripture is a covenant document, it is a ratifying witness to the covenants made by God and the Sacraments are visual symbols of the covenants.
A covenant is a formal relationship between God and man. The covenants in the Old Testament resemble international treaties of the Ancient Near East called Suzerain-Vassal treaties. These treaties were made between a conquering king, the suzerain, and the subservient king, the vassal (subservient because he had just been conquered). In other words, Suzerain-Vassal treaties are not treaties between equals, but between a king and his soon-to-be faithful servant.
This type of ancient covenant acts as the framework for the five major covenants of God. The first covenant was the covenant God with Noah, when God as the conquering king redeemed humanity and stabilized creation. The second covenant which built upon the first was God’s covenant with Abraham, when God redeem Abraham from idolatry and, out of all humanity, chose him to bring God’s covenant blessings to all people. The third covenant, which built upon the first two was God’s covenant with Moses when God redeemed Israel from slavery and gave the law to guide Israel as they brought God’s blessing and redemption to the world. The fourth major covenant was God’s covenant with David when God redeemed David from the pastures and gave him an eternal throne so that David and his descendents could establish God’s kingdom on earth. The fifth and final major covenant is the new covenant, when God promised to redeem completely his people giving them soften hearts of worship engraved with God’s laws and bestowing upon them unprecedented blessings including stewardship over all creation. In the new covenant, our trademark heart of stone, a heart that turns its back on God, is removed and done away with and in its stead we are given a new trademark, a heart aflame with God’s love, a heart that runs toward God and sees him face to face.
There are four basis and important themes all the covenants made between God and man. First, God is the benevolent suzerain king who initiates and sustains his covenant with his vassal people in their redemption. Second, God requires loyal gratitude as stipulated by the covenant. Third, God will judge those who violate his covenant. Fourth, God will bless those who are faithful to his covenant. The words you need to remember are ‘benevolent redemption’, ‘gratitude’, ‘judgment’ and ‘blessings.’ You need to remember these words because Jesus uses these four themes to proclaim that he has initiated the new covenant and Jesus’ apostles make these four themes to proclaim that the new covenant is entered only through Jesus.
The first covenantal theme was benevolent redemption and Jesus is the benevolent king who has redeemed his people.[2] Through the sacrificial death of Jesus, we not only enter, but are also sustained in the God’s new covenant. In other words, the benevolent redemption of Jesus gets us in and keeps us in the covenant that why Peter can boldly say, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” The second covenantal theme was gratitude and Jesus has not left us on our own, he sent the Holy Spirit to fan the flames of gratitude in our heart and to transform us from rebellious peasants to faithful dukes and duchesses. The third covenantal theme was judgment and Jesus has taken upon himself the judgment we deserve for our covenant violations. Not only has Jesus become our benevolent redemption, not only has Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit, he has taken upon himself our judgment, on the cross he became a curse so that we might inherit God’s blessing. Which lead us to the fourth and final covenantal theme, in Jesus Christ we inherit all of God’s blessings as Paul said, “When he ascended on high he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” (Eph.4:8) Those four basic covenantal themes are all fulfilled in Jesus. He initiates and sustains God’s benevolent redemption. He sends the Holy Spirit to fill us with gratitude. He has taken upon himself our judgment and he freely bestows God’s covenantal blessings, liberally giving gifts to the children of men.
While my trademark is turning my back on God, God’s trademark is faithfulness. God is faithful to the covenant that he has freely made. He will not forget his promises. That means that he will never forget his promise to never leave nor forsake all those who through faith in Jesus enter the new covenant. He will never forget his promise to change our trademarked harden hearts of stone into new hearts that are aflame with his love. In Jesus all of God’s promises are fulfilled and through faith in Jesus we can be assured our trademark will be removed by his covenantal grace enabling us to go forth to love and serve our crucified, risen, benevolent Lord and King.
[1] Yes, I have been listening to Relient K when I run and yes, this sermon was inspired by their song.
[2] In Genesis 15, God entered into a covenant with Abraham by passing through between two halves of animals. By entering into this covenant with Abraham, God was basically saying, “If this covenant is broken I will be split in two just like these animals.” This covenant was broken by humanities trademark of turning their back on God, spurning his love, rebellion against his rule and ignoring His guidance and God fulfilled his vow when Jesus was, in a sense, sacrificed and split apart on the cross.
