5th Sunday of Lent (March 17). Forgiven and forgotten

Prepare to Listen.  For I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
 
Prayerfully Read Jeremiah 31:31-34
31The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD.  33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says 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.  34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the LORD’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
What caught your attention in these verses today?
 
There are some things we never forget, and others we wish we could forget.  We never forget exciting moments, but have a hard time forgetting bad things that happened to us or the stupid things we’ve done.  Some things we desperately want to be forgotten.  We don’t want our sins remembered because we want to begin again with a new slate.
 
The new covenant, promised first to Israel and now to those in Christ, offers forgetfulness of sin and newness.  Of the promises in this covenant, the final one is probably the most crucial, forming the basis for them all: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”  God, the LORD will forgive and forget, making possible opportunities to begin again.  Because we’re forgiven, God will write his law on our hearts (not on stones that can be broken and forgotten) and say of the forgiven, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”  God will live in solidarity with us, in a new and intimate relationship.  All peoples, “from the least of them to the greatest,” will have direct access to God and they will know, that is, experience God in a personal relationship.  All this because God is willing to forgive and forget.
 
When Jesus walked past John the Baptizer, John pointed to him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  Forgiveness is a God-thing, the primary business of God.  No human can forgive our sins and give us access to God.  Only God in Christ Jesus does this and is willing to do this for us so that we can begin again with new possibilities.
 
How does this new covenant help you better understand our God?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord you and you alone can forgive and create new possibilities to live fully.  Help me live in ways that reflect your compassionate forgiveness to myself and to others.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Accept God’s willingness to forgive and forget.