Covenant

 Exodus 20: 2-17

 Philippians 3: 13-14

 Luke 10: 25-28

Covenant

At 3:00 am on New Year's Eve of 1738/9 while in prayer with a group of Christians in Fetter Lane in London, the power of God swept through the room, with many falling to the ground, others crying for joy, and all lifting praise to God. On that New Year's Day, 1739, the John and Charles Wesley,  and other friends had a Love Feast at Fetter Lane.

It quickly became a feature of Methodist society meetings in Great Britain and throughout the English-speaking world. As Methodists immigrated to North America they made Love Feasts an important part of early American Methodism.

While love feasts became less frequent in the years that followed, they continued to be held in some places; and in recent years the Love Feast has been revived. In many churches it has become a way to celebrate the beginning of a new year.

The Love Feast (sometimes called the Agapé, one of the Greek words for love), is a Christian fellowship meal which recalls the meals of the New Testament Church. It offers us fellowship and community in the name of Jesus. It gives each person present the opportunity to share of themselves in testimony, prayer, song or with a reading from the Bible. The Watch Night Service became a fixture of rural churches, both Baptist and Methodist, across the South. Many churches, particularly African-American Methodist and Baptist churches, still celebrate Watch Night services, though the practice has waned in other churches.

Love Feasts have been held at Annual Conferences and Charge Conferences, where persons may report on what God has been doing in their lives and on the hope and trust they place in God for the future.

One of the most important aspects of the Love Feast for the Wesley’s was the renewing of the Covenant. We are a covenant, or connectional denomination. That means we are connected with every other United Methodist Church in the world, and if you are member of one you are a member of all. As a church we abide by the Book of Discipline, any changes to which are made by General Conference every four years. This year, 2012 is a General Conference year, in which delegates from all over the world will meet for 10 days to make decisions regarding the denomination.

Covenants are important commitments. When Moses received the 10 commandments from God, it was part of the covenant God made with his people. The 10 commandments spell out what God expected of his people.  Jesus simplified those 10 commandments by pointing out that by being obedient to two, you would be obedient to all. God wants us to love him with all our hearts, minds, strength, and souls. And he wants us to love others as he loves us. Unless we do both those, we will not be breaking the covenant God has made with us. God grants us through grace salvation.  If we make a profession of faith, we make a covenant with God.  If we accept God’s salvation, we then in turn are to be obedient to those two commandments that Jesus spelled out. Failure to be obedient breaks the covenant.

When you are baptized as a child your parents and the congregation make a covenant with God, that you will be raised to learn about Jesus Christ and his teachings. When you confirm your baptism, you and the congregation renew that covenant. When you confirm your baptism, you are pledging to grow in your learning about and understanding of God’s message through Christ, and you are pledging to commit your life to serving God.

When you join the United Methodist Church you make a covenant. You vow to serve God through the church with your presence, service, gifts, and witness. You are asked this series of questions:

• Do you reject the spiritual forces of wickedness, the evil powers of this world, and the bondage to sin?
• Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?
• Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?
• According to the grace given to you, will you remain faithful members of Christ's holy Church and serve as Christ's representatives in the world?
• As members of Christ's universal Church, will you be loyal to the United Methodist Church, and do all in your power to strengthen its ministries?
• As members of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness?

If you answer yes to those questions, you have made a covenant with God and the church, his church. The United Methodist Church does not require anyone to sign a creed, as many churches do. We do not require a tithe as many churches do. But the covenant of membership is still to be taken seriously.

Unfortunately, in recent years, our society has come to consider vows as nothing to take seriously. Wedding vows are often taken lightly. Too often after baptism neither the parents nor the child are seen again. And for too many congregations the vows they make when someone, child or adult, is baptized, are taken lightly too, and the opportunities for children or adults to grow in faith and understanding, or the opportunities to serve are limited.. sometimes even non-existent. And too often, when those opportunities are provided, few take advantage of them, because they do not take their covenant with God seriously.

As we cross the threshold of a new year, it is an opportune time to re-evaluate our lives in light of the future. It is a good time to renew the covenant we have made with God. And it is very fitting to do so as we take Communion, coming forward to remember the gift God gave us, when Jesus willingly died on the cross for us. How will we use the coming year? What are our priorities? Are the things we do and give our lives to of most importance in the light of eternity? How strong is our covenant relationship with God?

Amen