“All New”

Sermon delivered May 2^nd, 2010 at Belleville Presbyterian Church. Scriptural basis: Revelation 21:1-6, John 13:31-35

 All new. We’re a society obsessed with new. If you had time to look through the newspaper this morning before coming to church, you saw about ten pounds worth of advertisements letting you know that there’s a sale at Kohl’s or extra special savings on Craftsman tools. Several pages of the Detroit papers are dedicated to ads from car dealers enticing you to stop by and look at the latest offerings. Very smart, if perhaps rather devious people get paid a whole lot of money to come up with ways to separate you from your money for something new. And much of the time, it works. Even if the new whatever that’s being touted is of no interest to us at all, of if we’re perfectly satisfied with the current model car or kitchen gadget or computer we have, we stop and look at the ad or don’t mute the commercial on TV. For me, sometimes it’s a case of morbid curiosity because there’s no way in creation I’m going to buy a Slap-Chop from Vince the Sham-Wow guy, or upgrade to the newest version of the Popiel Pocket Fisherman from Ronco, but to be honest with you sometimes it’s because the new product really is of interest to me. Our cable TV service offers us about forty variations on the home shopping channel, which frankly drives this inveterate channel surfer nuts, so the idea of direct marketing of new products obviously works really well. It seems we can’t get enough of the newest fashion trends, even if some of them make the polyester bell bottoms and big hair of the 70’s look reasonable by comparison. The newest music sensation, most recent blockbuster film, sadly even the newest celebrity scandal grabs our attention. At least some portion of the current economic woes in our country can be traced to our obsession with having the newest stuff on the block.

 Now let me add a disclaimer here: new is not by definition bad. New is often very necessary and appropriate. Without new, we’d still be driving around in Pintos and wearing the aforementioned polyester bell bottoms. Clothing wears out and can’t be mended, appliances die, style changes, environmental concerns trump keeping the Pinto on the road. New often means better quality and innovative features, although I have a soft spot in my heart for a well-maintained classic car or a rebuilt starter at a good price. I don’t want to condemn new but I do want us to take a look at how pervasive “new” has become in our culture.

 Both of today’s Scripture readings focus on new. As a matter of fact, new is a fairly common Biblical concept. The word “new” and variations thereof shows up nearly one hundred and fifty times in the Bible, almost always in relation to something good that God is going to do. Look at the use of “new” in our reading from Revelation today. The writer, who incidentally is almost certainly not John the Baptist nor John the Evangelist who was one of Jesus’ disciples, given that Revelation was written around 95 A.D., some sixty two years after the crucifixion, describes seeing a new heaven and a new earth in a vision. There are powerful images here, of all that is and that has gone before being swept away and replaced with a fresh, clean new Jerusalem, and an image of the sea being dried up. This idea, of the sea being no more, is very significant in that the sea is used as a symbol of chaos in the Bible and also as a barrier. Think of Jesus calming the Sea of Galilee during the storm or about the Red Sea during the Exodus. With the sea gone, the chaos of the world is eased and there are no barriers between God and his children; with Jerusalem being new all the evil that preceded Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion is gone. The Gospel for today introduces a new commandment, that we love one another as Jesus has loved us. This was one of the readings for Maundy Thursday, and the basis of my message that night. In the vein of “everything old is new again,” Jesus is quoting from Leviticus here but with a critical distinction. The Levitical commandment to love your neighbor is a directive much like those found in the Ten Commandments, in other words something you must do because it’s either good for you or good for society as a whole. Here, several Biblical commentators argue that Jesus is exhorting the disciples to enter into a covenant of love with one another, and that from this covenant will emerge a new community, a new way of living. Some suggest that there’s an implied narrowness in Jesus’ new commandment, that it applied only to his inner circle which has become the church in our day, but I don’t see it that way. That interpretation doesn’t square with the Jesus I know – he came to save all of us, even if not everyone has chosen to accept the gift he offers.

 There’s another powerful image in today’s reading from Revelation, that of the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The speaker is God, sitting on his throne in the highest heaven, and he declares that “it is done!” the “it” being the final victory over evil. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so to a late first-century reader the message would have been abundantly clear – what God started in Genesis he is finishing now in Revelation. All is being made new, fresh and clean. All evil is gone, only the joy of heaven remains.

 I mentioned a few minutes ago that “new” is a common concept in the Bible. Beyond our readings for today, in Lamentations it is written that “they are new every morning,” and based on the context of this passage the “new” is making reference to God’s mercies. But I think we can apply this passage to a few other things as well. Like maybe to each one of us.

 Every day is an opportunity to start over. You can be a new person every morning, at least in some way. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll wake up with a beautiful new body, unless of course you bought one of those new miracle body shapers on QVC, but I digress. You most likely will have pretty much the body you went to bed with, but with the morning comes a new opportunity to take better care of yourself. With the morning comes a new opportunity to walk through the day with Jesus Christ. With the morning comes a new opportunity to reconcile with an estranged friend, to take care of unfinished business, to start a new project, to make a new friend. With the morning comes a fresh chance to obey Jesus’ new commandment to love one another as he loves us.

 When we come to the table to share in the Lord’s Supper, we’re taking part in renewing our collective and individual commitment to Jesus Christ. We should come away from this holy meal refreshed, satisfied and with a new sense of belonging to a vast community of believers around the world, and with a renewed sense of connection to those who have gone before us. God is making all things new, including us if we’ll take him up on the offer and work with him. It might not be easy, and it might not be quick, but if we stick with it we’ll end up as a new creation fit to live a rich and full life in the new heaven and new earth that is being prepared for us.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.