THE LAW OF LOVE

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah...
“This is the covenant I will make
with the people of Israel after that time,
” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.

Jeremiah 31:31, 33 (read 31:31-34 ) - NIV

We can think of God only in human terms within our own cultural context. In the Old Testament, God was understood within the context of the patriarchic system of that culture. The father of the family was the ultimate authority. He had the last word and traced the course of the family. God is portrayed as the great Father of the tribal family. He had chosen Abraham and his descendants as the chosen family. He followed them through the generations, guiding them, protecting them and punishing them. But these "foster children" always gave Him a hard time by constantly getting out of line. According to the prophet Jeremiah the Eternal God saw that He needed to change that relationship, because it was not working.

The first the covenant between God and the descendants of Abraham was unilateral. God made the decisions and dictated laws. He loved the people, but the fear of punishment was the reason for their obedience. God was blamed by the people when things were not going according to their taste. This model failed. In this text God is proposing a new relationship - one born from the mind and heart of the people.

A religion based on authority which owns the truth and is imposed, using blackmail, threats and fear is not liberating! It can be successful in terms of numerical and financial growth, but it is still a form of oppression. In the case of the Israeli people, the evil servile life in Egypt was exchanged for another servitude of imposed divine commandments. It was still a form of imposed servitude. Any type of servitude causes rebellion and disobedience.

Jeremiah presents a liberating vision of the Kingdom of God where love is the supreme value. Love and loyalty cannot be imposed. Within love people learn for themselves and do not need to be taught. They seek wisdom and knowledge spontaneously. Their motivation is internal. Any religion that needs to "indoctrinate" its followers is not liberating.

Christian, Jewish or Islamic fundamentalisms are systems that use manipulation to secure their followers and encourage them to go against everybody else. Teaching the "truth" is absolute. Instead of promoting love it fosters distrust, hatred, separation and hostility. An example in Brazil is the removal of the Methodist Church from ecumenical bodies that include the representation of the Roman Catholic Church. The Bush administration in the United States was another classic example of Christian fundamentalism by arrogantly using political, economic and military power to impose its values on the rest of the world and sowing discord at home. The Obama administration continues to be oppressive by imposing conformity at home and abroad. Oppressiveness is the opposite of liberation. This oppressiveness is failing to construct a peaceful society and will ultimately destroy itself.

The new covenant based on love and forgiveness is liberating and ecumenical! It does not require conformity. Each person has the freedom to relate to God without interference from others. There is no need to force some agenda on others, neutralize them or destroy them.

Living the new covenant is not easy. It requires relinquishing many already installed social, racial and sexual prejudices in our culture. Like the prophets of the past we too can be discriminated against and judged by those who have appointed themselves as the "spiritual elite".

JEREMIAH 31:31-34 – NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

    “when I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel

    and with the people of Judah.

It will not be like the covenant

    I made with their ancestors

when I took them by the hand

    to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,

    though I was a husband to[a] them,”

declares the Lord.

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

    after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

    and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

    and they will be my people.

No longer will they teach their neighbor,

    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know me,

    from the least of them to the greatest,”

declares the Lord.

“For I will forgive their wickedness

    and will remember their sins no more.”