“Then, I will be your God. You will be my people.” This line from the declaration in Jeremiah today is so easily passed over – and yet this covenant declaration lies at the heart of the Hebrew scriptures. Our Lenten journey has been examining the idea of covenant – its achievements and its failures – across the last five weeks. We began in the first week hearing the promise of the rainbow – that God would not punish the world again by flood. In the second week, we saw the covenant with Abraham tested by the request to sacrifice his son, his only son, the son that he loved, Isaac. In the third week, we arrive with the people of God at the holy mountain of Sinai and the fulfillment of the promises as God calls this people and nation to be his special possession: a royal priesthood and a holy nation. But we also know that this covenant promise was not fulfilled because the people were not faithful to the laws and commandments. This is why the promise to Jeremiah in 31:31 is so precious – to receive a new covenant and a new chance to be the people that God has called to himself.
Recorded at St Col’s, Vigil and 9am (10mins)
Fifth Sunday, Lent, Year B