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Sermons by John Redford Scott

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 In our study of Jeremiah in recent weeks, we have seen his deep interest in the welfare of his nation and his belief that she was chosen by God for a good purpose. Pained at the carelessness and indifference of many people, he was also hopeful that God would cleanse them and make them over again for his service.  Today we shall spend some time with his teaching about the new covenant.  "Behold the days come, saithe the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."

 The idea of the covenant was very important in Hebrew religion.  It expressed the Hebrews' belief in God's choice of them for a certain destiny.  There was a bond between them and their Maker whereby He had set His love upon them.  They in turn should trust and obey Him.  Before they had settled in the Promised Land at all, God had chosen them for this destiny.  From the earliest days of their history, the call of Abraham, the patriarchs, their slavery in Egypt, journeys in the desert and settlement in their own country, they believed that God was leading them.  Their leaders many times referred to the covenant.  "To such as keep his covenant and to those that remember his commandments to do them." Psalm. 103:18.

 The covenant was with the whole nation.  Sometimes this idea of the unity and solidarity of the nation was interpreted so as to obscure the individuals own responsibility.  A proverb that expressed this attitude was often repeated: "The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge." Jeremiah saw that many people were repeating this saying so as to excuse themselves of their own responsibilities.   They were blaming their misfortunes and their misdeeds on the mistakes of their parents.  The day would come, Jeremiah said, when they would understand much better their own personal responsibility, and know that teeth are often set on edge because individuals themselves eat sour grapes.  Many consider that in Jeremiahs teaching we come to its most important part and to that which points so clearly in the direction of Christ's ministry: "This is the new covenant in my blood."

 In his teaching about the covenant Jeremiah laid particular emphasis upon its personal and inward nature.  The day would come, he taught, when men and women would obey God from their very hearts, not because it was written in a book, but because it was written in their own natures.  It would be based upon inward conviction.  Every man would know it from the least unto the greatest.  The new covenant was with the nation as a whole, like the old covenant, but rested upon a personal and individual relationship with God.  "After those days, saithe the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts: and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saithe the Lord." Jer. 31: 33-34.

 This thing that many were doing in Jeremiahs day is still a temptation today.  It is a common human tendency, dangerous and harmful to the growth of character.  We can too easily shift to other people, relatives, friends and companions the responsibility for our failures and our trials.  Certainly we are all bound together in families, friendly groups, communities and nations.  They all leave impressions on us and help to mould us. Sometimes these groups fail to give to individuals the interest and encouragement they need.  We do need to remember that men and women are partly as they have been fashioned by their environment.  Some unnecessarily harsh, careless, or cynical word may deprive them of the support that would steady and strengthen them for their daily tasks.  A little more understanding of their problems, patience with them and feeling for the position might lighten up their whole lives with new hope.  One generation does sometimes suffer for the wrongs of another, and individuals for the wrongs of friends and companions, but that does not excuse anyone from personal responsibility.  Each has his or her own life to live and to put to good use.  It is fatal to the growth of character when anyone loses that precious sense of responsibility for whatever of life God has given or has left him.

 We recall the gallant words of aged Ulysses,
 
 "Tho  much is taken, much abides: and tho we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven: that which we are, we are: One equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

 The Hebrew people had many advantages through their citizenship in their country.  They had the law of Moses and the great teachings of the prophets.  For their full benefit to be known, however, these things had to be accepted personally.  Whenever we are members of some group we face the danger of thinking that the group will carry us along, or at least, will itself carry on without much effort on our part.  We think it is enough to have our names on some roll.  It is often a good thing to have our names on some roll.  It may be the proper place for them but we need more than that.  We have outward forms of membership.  We give promises or sign statements.  These are necessary forms.  It is also important to understand and feel the meaning of what we are doing.  This inner feeling and conviction, Jeremiah thought, was lacking in many people.  They had received some teachings from their fathers, but in their own hearts and minds, they had never come to grips with them.  Religion as an outer form was not enough.  It needed to be based on real feeling and thought.  Think of this conception in relation to citizenship.  Where is the strength of Canada as a nation?  Is it not in individual interest in Canada's problems and individual loyalty to the best in Canadian life?  We can live in the midst of some very good things without ever really appreciating them or doing our part toward them.  We may live in the midst of the most beautiful scenery, but not see or enjoy it.  We may daily pass by a building of fine architectural design without appreciating it.

 In the Protestant church we stress the individuals own belief and
trust in Christ.  "It is not enough," we say, "to trust a church organization
to save you.  You must have personal faith in Christ." We in the Protestant church can make the very error we criticize elsewhere.  We can fail to emphasize enough the individuals own relation to God.  Jesus in his ministry placed a strong emphasis on the inner life.

 Good behaviour, Jesus taught, should be based upon kind, generous and noble thinking.  The thought, motive and feeling behind the deed were what counted.  It was not enough to go through the forms of correct social behaviour.  A person needed to feel right and think right about his fellow man, to be cleansed of unforgiving and selfish thoughts.

 In the work of our church, we are certainly interested in Christian behaviour, but we know that the springs of conduct are in the inner life.  What warms the heart,' what fires the imagination, what stirs the thought, what feeds the inner life will influence conduct.

 When a parent has found it difficult to get a child to be neat in appearance and punctual for appointments, the coming into that child's life of a young man or young woman friend has often worked the change.

 Where is the strength of Christianity?  Is it in strong church organizations?  These are indeed essential, but the real strength of Christianity is in personal Christian faith, trust in Christ and obedience to him.

 Jeremiahs teaching about the new covenant, its inwardness and personal nature, is based upon the forgiveness of God.  "For I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more." Jer. 31:34.

 The renewed inner life, the strong personal bond between God and man, will rest on God's forgiveness.  God alone can forgive man his sin, because God alone is man's maker and the restorer of his soul.  Some man or woman who understands another's need and knows God's will may assure him of God's forgiveness, but it is God who forgives the sin.

 This basis of Jeremiahs teaching about the new covenant pointed clearly toward Christ's ministry.  Christ taught and lived to show men the nature and power of divine forgiveness and, from the very cross, forgave the men who had nailed Him there.

 Thus, we think not so much about ourselves as about Christ, His life, His teaching, His cross and ever-living power.  We think of Him, God's love coming to us in Him and calling us into a fellowship of many nations and many races, a fellowship where we serve and help - the new covenant in Christ's blood.