Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who grafted us into His royal family. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Jeremiah 31:31–34

³¹"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³²not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. ³³But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

Have I got a deal for you! This zero percent interest credit card is just what you need. Imagine what you can buy, the fun you can have, the people you can impress, and it costs you nothing, zero percent. That is free money right there my friend. All this can be yours with a simple signature right here. What is all the fine print you ask? Well, that’s just the standard things, you know, the unimportant things, the legal mumbo jumbo just to make everything legal. The important part is this number right here, zero percent! What a deal! I tell you what, just this once and just for you I will make your money available right now. You could be out there spending this free money right now if you sign on this line right here, but don’t tell anyone about that, I could get in real trouble if my boss found out I did that for you. But you are worth the risk, I like you! Isn’t that one sweet deal I have for you? Now, how about you sign right here so you can start spending your free money.

Does that deal sound too good to be true? Did that deal make the hair on the back of your neck stand up? Of course it did. You can tell when a fast talking slick salesman is trying to sell you something you don’t want or need. There is truth in the saying that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. What’s with the salesman skimming over the fine print? Doesn’t everyone know the devil is in the details? That was the reaction the Israelites had to Jeremiah’s prophesy, too good to be true because talk is cheap. How could God promise to forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more? How is that possible?

God made a covenant with Israel, His people at Sinai when He cut that covenant in stone. The Israelites didn’t have to do anything; the covenant was fulfilled by the actions of God. He only supplied them with what it would look like as His people. They were asked to do nothing; they were only shown the path to walk. How could they mess that up? How could they fail? Somehow they managed. Their sinful nature took over and they failed miserably as we see in verse 32; "³²not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord."They wandered the wilderness for generations until there was only a remnant left. God should have turned His back on them and cast the Israelites aside but instead He promises a new covenant.

God made it very simple and clear, He took away the fine print, the legal mumbo jumbo. He made sure there was no devil in the details. This was not the ranting of a slick salesman, no, this was God doing all the talking and there is no doubt that His

word is true. This covenant was filled with grace and love in abundance beyond even that which God had given before. Instead of their deserved rejection the Israelites received Gods love and saving act.

This time God didn’t etch His covenant in stone instead he etched this covenant on their hearts. He wasn’t satisfied with filling their ears with His words or with writing them in stone; He wants there to be no mistake about His commitment to them so He writes the words on their hearts. This is a personal and intimate covenant. He wants each person to know Him and His grace. He is creating a relationship between Him and the Israelites. As it says in last part of verse 33; "And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." He wants each person to know him personally. He doesn’t want just the leaders or the important people He wants every one of them to have a personal relationship with Him; verse 34 says, "from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord." He wants everyone to enjoy the benefits of that relationship. Those benefits are; "For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

It’s too good to be true! Jeremiah’s message is beyond mere intellectual comprehension, it boggles the mind. Why would God give them another chance? Can you hear them? Why us? Why now? Oh sure, they can understand the words Jeremiah is saying, but the message is astounding. This covenant is peace and grace beyond all human understanding.

Luther knew why God’s promise boggles the mind. He said "God’s love does not find its object but creates its object – human love finds its object." In other words, we love people or things because we find in them something lovable, something attractive. You marry your spouse not because you detest the person, but because that person is somehow attractive. But what does God see in His people in Jeremiah’s day or in ours? They and we are by nature sinful and unclean. It’s a good thing God isn’t like us and looks to find someone to love. God does not find but instead makes that which He wants to Love. My friend, that is grace! Israel and we cannot imagine it. We are so used to loving what we find attractive that it is unimaginable that God would pledge His faithfulness to unattractive, sinful, unclean people all the way to the ultimate fulfillment of Jeremiah’s words. That ultimate fulfillment is Christ!

The covenant is not fulfilled in Jeremiah’s time but in God’s time. It wasn’t fulfilled until Christ came to earth as true man and true God. He fulfilled the old covenant by keeping the law perfectly. He fulfilled the new covenant by paying the penalty for our sins, not with credit, but with His life. In His fulfillment we are credited not with a credit card we have to pay back, no, we have a really good deal; we are credited with forgiveness of sins and eternal life. We see, feel, and hear His promise in baptism where He wrote His law on our heart as well. God wants there to be no mistake about His relationship with you as well. He claims you as His people and is your God. Through our baptism our sins were forgiven and we came to faith through the Holy Spirit. We touch, feel, taste, and smell His promise in the Lord’s Supper where our sins are forgiven. We hear His promise when the Word is spoken where our eternal life is declared. God is creating a relationship with you just as He did with the Israelites. He is making you His object of love. He isn’t and didn’t find you; He made you through baptism, the Word, and the Lord’s Supper. Does God have a deal for you? You bet! This is not some slick salesman with a deal too good to be true. It is God speaking and you can trust this deal and it is something you need and want! God’s deal is the exception to the rule that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is; His deal is too good for us but it is true.

Amen.