New Year’s Eve Covenant Service
December 31, 2013
Preached at Holy Will UMC and at Noveleta UMC,
both in Cavite
An Orthodox icon of the Circumsion of the Lord
Introduction
It is the practice of Methodists around the
world to celebrate January 1 or December 31 with a Covenant Renewal Service.
The first Covenant Renewal Service was conducted by John Wesley at the French
church in Spitafields, London on August 11, 1755.
Here are some excerpts of from the Journal of John Wesley regarding the
Covenant Renewal Service. On January 1, 1773, Father Wesley wrote:
1773. Friday, January 1.--We (as usual) solemnly renewed our covenant with God.
“As usual”. This means that the early Methodists
have been regularly celebrating the Covenant Renewal Service for around twenty
years now. Three years later, Father Wesley wrote:
1776. January 1.—About eighteen hundred of us met together in London in order to renew our covenant with God; and it was, as usual, a very solemn opportunity.
“As usual” again. Just three years later, 1,800 people attended a Covenant Renewal Service in London! Then in an entry the following year, Father Wesley described the blessings they experienced in during a covenant renewal service:
1777. Wednesday, January 1.--We met, as usual, to renew our covenant with God. It was a solemn season wherein many found His power present to heal and were enabled to urge their way with strength renewed.
Finally, we have the following two entries,
a few years before Father Wesley died in 1791:
1783. Wednesday, January 1.--May I begin to live today! Sunday, 5. We met to renew our covenant with God. We never meet on this occasion without a blessing; but I do not know that we had ever so large a congregation before.
1785. Saturday, January 1.--Whether this be the last or no, may it be the best year of my lifel Sunday, 2. A larger number of people were present this evening at the renewal of our covenant with God than was ever seen before on the occasion.
The Early Church did not observe January 1 as “New Year’s Day”. January 1 is the Eighth Day of Christmas. According to our Gospel reading today, Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day of his birth (Luke 2:21), hence it was observed as “the Feast of the Circumcision”. It is still observed as such in among the Eastern Orthodox churches.
Nowadays, the Roman Catholic Church
observes this day as “the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God”. Meanwhile, the
Church of England (from which Methodism came from) observes this day as “the
Feast of the Holy Name” because when he was circumcised, he was given the Holy
Name of JESUS--‘the LORD saves’, “for he shall save his people from their sins”
(Matthew 1:21).
So on this day, we have the concepts of covenant and of the holy name of Jesus. What implications does this have to us as we renew our covenant with God today?
I. The concept of “covenant”
According to the Bible, Jesus was
circumcised on the eighth day. According to the Torah, which is Jewish Law
every male child shall be circumcised when he is eight days old. The covenant
of circumcision was given by God to Abraham as a “token” “in the flesh” of God’s
covenant with him (Genesis 17:10-14). In Hebrew, circumcision is called בְּרִית
מִילָה, brit milah—‘covenant of
circumsion’; or simply brit.
Jesus was circumcised in order for him to
live and fulfill the Torah: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). John Wesley
wrote,
To circumcise the child—That he might visibly be made under the law by a sacred rite, which obliged him to keep the whole law; as also that he might be owned to be the seed of Abraham, and might put an honour on the solemn dedication of children to God. (Notes upon the New Testament)
If circumcision is the “token” “in the flesh” of the Old Covenant, Christian baptism is the token in the flesh of the New Covenant.
…baptism, now saveth us, (not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ… (I Peter 3:21)
Some have the mistaken notion that one has to “believe first” before being baptized. But if we look at circumcision, a Jew does not need to “believe first” in order to get circumcised. He is circumcised first and then he gets nurtured in the faith until he professes it for himself. In the same way, Christian children are baptized first and then they get nurtured in the faith until they are able to confess it for themselves—which we call “Confirmation”.
Thus, “covenant” is a sign of God’s grace.
God does not make a covenant with us because we “deserve” it, but because he
loved us first: “But God recommendeth his love toward us, in that, whie we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
II. The Holy Name of JESUS
When Christ was circumcised, he was
formally given the name JESUS ('YHWH saves'), the name given to him through the message of an
angel. In Jewish Law, a boy child was given a “Hebrew name” when he was
circumcised, much like a Christian child a “Christian name” during baptism
(hence, baptisms are also called “christenings”). (Jewish boys are usually
given the name of one of their relatives; Christians used to name their
children after the saint whose day they were born on.)
In the Old Testament, the name of God is
used to bless God’s people. Our First Lesson is about the Birkat Kohanim, the Priestly Benediction. It is the blessing which
the LORD, blessed be he, commanded Aaron and his children to use when blessing
the children of Israel.
יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ.
יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וִיחֻנֶּךָּ.
יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ
שָׁלוֹם.
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee;
The LORD make His face to shine upon thee,
and be gracious unto thee; The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
What is the Name of God? The Name of God is written as the Tetragrammaton, the four letters YHWH (יהוה). The pronunciation has long been a topic of debate. (One Orthodox Jewish website says that most certainly not pronounced as “Yahweh”.) What is the Name of God, then? I teach Hebrew in a small seminary somewhere; and I only discuss that on the day before final examination! Let’s not talk about that now. Our second reading says,
And ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Sin into your heats, crying Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6)
What is the Name of God? One of the names of God that Jesus taught us is “Father”. When his disciples asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1), he taught them what we would call the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven…”
Conclusion:
The Covenant Prayer of John Wesley
Before we pray the Covenant Prayer, let us
spend time studying it.
The Covenant Prayer says: I am no
longer my own, but thine. Just as St. Paul wrote in the Epistle
to the Galatians, “I am crucified with Christ, and I live no longer, but Christ
liveth in me” (2:20).
And since “Christ liveth in me”, Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom
thou wilt. God can put us wherever he wants, and put us with the people he
wants. The Church is not an exclusive “country club” of the rich which is “for
members only”. God will place is wherever and with whomever he wants.
Put me to doing. Our prayer is: Lord, use
me. Put me to suffering. Oh, we love praying, “Lord, bless me
indeed!” but we loathe to pray, “Put me to suffering”. But since we’ve prayed, “I am not longer my own, but thine,” if
it is the Lord’s will that we suffer, so be it!
Let
me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee. Not only we are to pray
for God to use us, we are also to pray that we are will to be “laid aside” for
him. Exalted for thee or brought low for
thee. Oh, we love to be exalted!
But now let us pray: Let me be “brought
low for thee”.
We love to pray, Let me be full, “pressed down, and shaken together, and running
over” (Luke 6:38). But we are afraid of praying, let me be empty. We love to pray, Let me have all things, but we are afraid of praying, let me have nothing. If it is God’s
will that we may “have all things”, so be it. But if God says, “I will take
away everything from you”, so be it. For, I
freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
THE COVENANT PRAYER OF JOHN WESLEY
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
A FILIPINO/TAGALOG
TRANSLATION
Hindi na ako para sa aking sarili, kundi para sa iyo.
Ilagay mo ako kung saan mo nais, ihanay mo sa kung kanino mo nais.
Ilagay mo ako sa paggawa, ilagay mo ako sa pagdurusa.
Ako ay magamit para sa iyo, o maisantabi para sa iyo,
maitaas para sa iyo, o maibaba para sa iyo.
Punuin mo ako, o alisan mo ako ng laman.
Mapasaakin ang lahat ng bagay, o mawala sa akin ang lahat ng bagay.
Malaya at buong-puso kong isinusuko ang lahat ng bagay sa iyong kalooban.
At ngayon, O maluwalhati at pinagpalang Diyos,
Ama, Anak, at Espiritu Santo, ikaw ay akin, at ako ay sa iyo. Siya nawa.
At ang tipan na ginawa ko sa lupa, nawa ay pagtibayin sa langit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment