Covenant: Vows

In Jeremiah 31:31-34, God has a relationship-defining conversation with the prophet Jeremiah, who is a spokesperson of the Israelites in exile in Babylon. In High School, me and my friends would call this a "DTR," an occasion in which a couple would have a conversation where they would "define the relationship." It was time, in this DTR, to label the relationship: are we dating? boyfriend/girlfriend? going steady? Where are we as a couple?

So God has a DTR with Jeremiah and the Israelites. God says "I don't want to be just friends, I want to deepen things, I want to take things to the next level. The covenant I am making with you will be a covenant whose codes are not written in stone, but on your hearts." God wants a more personal relationship with the Israelites. "I will write this covenant on your hearts; and I will be your God, and you shall be my people."

The word "religion" comes from the Latin verb religare, which means "to connect, to bind together." So my faith, your faith, the Church's faith, our relationship with God, are not about getting ourselves or others to fall in line with a set of doctrine. Religion and faith is not about getting anyone to fall in line with a proper way of doing things. What this faith, this religion, this community, this covenant with God is all about is to get us, not to fall in line, but to fall in love. This is not entirely romantic, but there is an element of that as God reveals and sticks to God's promises. God loves us, and we can fall into that love by living as if this promise by God is indeed on our hearts. It is part of us.

*Prayer:

O God of our Hearts
You yearn to be so close to us
that we can know you in every breath,
in every hope, in every relationship.

Meet us here today and
teach us to recognize
the covenant of justice, peace and love
you have written on our hearts.

So may our desires become your desires,
our work become your work,
and our community
the place where you are sought and found.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

~*taken from “O God of Our Hearts: Prayers for the Fifth Sunday in Lent,” written by Rev. Kathryn Matthews Huey and the Rev. Susan A. Blain.

In Christ,

Jack