New

Text: John 13:34, Acts 11:1-8, Revelation 21:5

Focus: Newness

Function: To contemplate the changes in the New Covenant

Intro: Don't worry about the three different passages and three long points and a long sermon. They are three of the four lectionary passages, I left out the OT passage.

One year at Easter, we decided to celebrate by singing three different Easter Hymns right after a short little Bible study on why they were important.

So, there were three different, 5 minute sermonettes in place of one 25 minute sermon and for those who are watching the clock, that was a 10 minute bonus!

But one dear old saint was not to be put off and he told me -kind of in frustration- that I didn't have to preach for the next three two weeks because I gave three sermons that week.

Now I mean it when I say he was a dear saint, it is just that change threatens people, and I find that I too, am a little scared of change.

But God continues to make all things new and that means that God is bringing change.

It wasn't my idea to put these three passages of scripture together.

As we saw in our call to worship, the reading of Revelation 21:1-4 (#860 Hymnal, A Worship Book), New Heaven, New Earth, the Spirit of God is moving today to create this new Kingdom and it is a big job, a project for the millenniums.

There are many theologians, evangelicals, liberals, conservatives and progressives together who agree that we are at the beginning of a second reformation in the Church.

The first Reformation was a sort of a “back to the bible” movement that began the movement of taking the Church away from its Empire and bringing back to what the Bible says. It was and is a Reformation of Orthodoxy, meaning “correct doctrine.”

But there is an huge problem with “correct doctrine” alone.

The Pharisees of Jesus' time were pretty sure that they were guardians of their own brand of correct doctrine, and they were to that extent, but in so doing, they missed who Jesus actually was.

We can get so caught up in the letter of the law that we miss the Spirit of the Christ that inspired the Law.

The letter kills, but the Spirit brings life. 2 Corinthians 3:6.

That First Reformation was Correct -Ortho, Doctrine -Doxy, Orthodoxy.

But the second Reformation is beginning to happen and that is Correct Practice or -big word you can forget immediately- Orthopraxy.

It comes from the question “what good is having the theology and doctrine correct if it doesn't actually change the way we do our lives and love others?” or “What good is knowledge if we do not love?”

What good is correct doctrine if all it is is statements, propositions of truth that get slugged back and forth between the different sides.

If the doctrines reinforce our lack of unity and love, are they correct?

It plays out in the real world.

There are people who believe that correct doctrine outweighs correct love and therefore deny basic goods and services to others under the guidelines of “taking a stand.”

Now nowhere does the bible actually tells us to “take a stand against sin.”

If we are going to take a stand, let us do take a stand “For love.”

What good is the correct doctrine if it justifies us not practicing love and at the basic place of all is this, “treat people like you want to be treated.”

To me, it is as simple as this, if I want a cake for my wedding, then I must, by love, ensure that others can have cakes for their weddings as well.

The correct practice out-weighs the correct doctrine.

Our first text from today, “And Now, a new command... ...Love one another.”

One of my favorite verses because it makes it all so simple.

And this is indeed about God changing the doctrine.

New Command, new filter, new way of understanding right from wrong, does it violate the command of loving others?

Yes or no to that is pretty simple.

At the end of the book of Revelation, when God is indeed wiping away the tears of those who have been oppressed, displaced, murdered, martyred and harmed by the empire, John has this vision of God proclaiming once again the process that God is involved in: God is making all things new, still.

So look at the Acts passage. We have studied it a little bit lately.

Actually we studied Acts 10 during our Bible Study around becoming a welcoming Church.

This passage, chapter 11, Peter is defending his actions to the rest of the Apostles.

Even though a great miracle has happened, Cornelius and his household are baptized, a move of the Holy Spirit has happened to prove that God was behind it even though it broke the old rules of orthodoxy, there were well meaning Christians who disagreed and one of the first conflicts in the Church emerged.

God did this. Peter tells them that God loves these people in spite of who they are, or who the circumcised believers think they are.

I understand the pain of change. Still fresh in the Jewish memory was the punishment they endured for mixing their faith with other religions. But they needed to understand that this is indeed a new covenant. This is a new Testament. This is a new way for God to live in relationship with humanity.

They had to stop and think about it. There was tension over this issue for the next generation. The entire book of Galatians is written about this tension and how difficult it was for them to understand but now, it has nothing at all to do with our faith.

We moved on and Jews and Gentile Christians would never think of the difference between them in a worship service.

God made everything new and God made everything different and God is still doing that in our culture.

In history, because of the influence of the Church, slavery has become illegal across the world. That doesn't mean it does not happen right here in Grand Rapids, but it is illegal.

God is using the Church as an instrument of Change and now the faithful are working again to bring justice to other groups, like black people, Muslims, Gay, Lesbians, undocumented neighbors because every single person, even our enemies, is also our neighbor.

And it is Orthodox because we are under a new command, Love one another.

And in Matthew 25, Jesus said, if you did this unto the least of these, you did it unto Me.

Jesus said, when you loved others, you loved me.

Jesus said, a New command, Love others.

Jesus said, When you love others, you love me.

In the OT it says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.”

Love Jesus by loving others.

That is the new Commandment that God has made for us.

Love God, Love Others, Love Jesus by loving others.