New?
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So I have a question I want to ask all of you today because I am a bit confused about something. What I want to know is, how old is something before it is no longer considered new?
My unofficial title here is ‘tech pastor’ and it is a fun title to hold because I love technology. The problem with technology (well there are many problems with technology but let’s not get into that) is that it becomes so quickly outdated. How many of you have ever said this to yourself, “I just bought this computer 2, 3, or 5 years ago and now it can’t do anything.”? You can spend on average anywhere from $400-1,200 on a computer and then you have to go and spend that again just a couple years later? That doesn’t make sense. If you are like me and have a tablet that lifespan could be shorter and you spent several hundred dollars on that as well. Heck, companies are updating their product line with new phones, tablets and computers every single year.
I know that the tech world may be a little different from other purchases that we make but it really begs the question, ‘what is new?’ and what is an average lifespan and what is old?
I don’t know if I should admit this to you or not but, I have some clothes that I have had since I was in high school. They still fit, I still love to wear them and so far, luckily, they haven’t fallen apart. Bekkah may disagree with the luckily part but it’s good for me. I would consider those clothes as old.
While I was in seminary my mother gave me my great-grandmother’s Bible. It looks and feels old. I looked at the printing date on the inside and it is from 1910 I believe and yet when I took it into the school’s library and showed it to the librarian that restores books and keeps our old books in good condition, she took a look at it, looked at the date and told me that a Bible only begins to be considered old after it has been around for a hundred years. At that point my great-grandmother’s Bible was only 90 years old. It has since passed its hundredth birthday and is now just barely beginning to hit its status of being an old Bible. I would consider this Bible old, but apparently it isn’t quite old enough yet. Perhaps it will make it there someday.
So we have a wide array of things that are old things that are new and everything in-between. And now that we have established some parameters on things that are old and new I want to find out from all of you today how old a commandment has to be before it is considered old?
In today’s text we see Jesus talk about giving us a new commandment, and that the commandment is to love one another. Wait....new? How can that be new? Let’s go back a few books in the Bible, well, all the way to the third book of the Bible and the Old Testament, the book of Leviticus. In the 19th chapter of the book of Leviticus we get this commandment : “18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
The book of Leviticus was written in parts and those parts are agreed upon by most scholars to range from 538 BC to 332 BC. If we take the average of those dates we get the year 435 BC, and if we say that Jesus lived around 30 AD then that would put the recorded date of this commandment around 465 years old. I don’t know about you but I would not consider this commandment new.
So why would Jesus tell us that he is giving us a new commandment when this one has been around for so long? Could it be a reminder to love one another? A sort of, “hey, remember this commandment, you should really pay attention to it” thing? That makes sense but then why would he call it new? Why a new commandment and not just a reminder of the old one?
To answer that we need to take a deeper look at what Jesus is saying and at what Jesus has done in his life so far and where Jesus is headed after this. Jesus, in his life healed the sick, the blind, the lame; he spent time with and cared for the poor and oppressed and through all that taught people the meaning of caring for one another in the most basic yet profound sense.
Jesus, in his life healed the sick, the blind, the lame; he spent time with and cared for the poor and oppressed and through all that taught people the meaning of caring for one another in the most basic yet profound sense.
The point in Jesus’ life that we find him in today’s story is during the last supper. He has just sent Judas out to do what he has to do and then turns to the disciples to share with them the text we have today. Since this is the last supper we know that Jesus focus and full attention is on his journey to the cross.
The cross, as we know, is God’s ultimate sacrifice by sending his son to die for our sins. It’s a sacrifice, but it is also a profound symbol of how much God loves this world. This is where we get to the newness of this commandment. We see in a new way just how much God loves us through this ultimate gift of love and grace. We are given a new way to be a part of the family of God, we are given a new way to see God’s great love for us. As a result we are shown a new way to love our neighbors...to love one another, and to love our community. The commandment is no longer simply a law given to us but an example as shown through the love and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
How do we live out this new commandment? Do we give up our lives as well? No, Jesus never calls us to give up our lives for someone else, but we can give away our lives. We can give away our time and our talents. We can give out our love by caring for those who are less fortunate than ourselves. We can help those whom Jesus helped. We can care for those who are needing a meal, or a place to sleep. We can live out Jesus’ actions by caring for the less fortunate in our community.
Jesus didn’t sacrifice himself as an end to his life and his ministry but to fulfill what he came to do. Jesus went to the cross to give us grace, to fulfill his promise to love us, and care for us. New? Yeah this idea to love one another is pretty new and radical. May this new commandment fill you with joy and hope and a profound sense to share that love with this community. May God bless you with all newness this day and always.
New? Yeah this idea to love one another is pretty new and radical. May this new commandment fill you with joy and hope and a profound sense to share that love with this community. May God bless you with all newness this day and always.
Amen.