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April 6, 2003
Sermon: "Countdown to Easter - March 12, 1933, 10 p. m.,9,8,7"
Scripture: Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Luke 23:29
Reverend Larry Gerber

FDR ran for president promising "a new deal for the American people," and he communicated his vision through a series of heart-to-heart Fireside Chats.

About 2000 years earlier, God delivered a deal of his own through the words of Jeremiah.

It may have been your father, or grandfather who went to the bank that day, about 70 years ago. He saw scores of people clustered about the entrance of the bank and others peering in through the windows. Getting closer, he saw the sign hanging in the window: Closed. Like millions of other Americans at the beginning of the Great Depression, he panicked. He thought the bank was holding his cash in a vault, and that all he needed to do was to walk in and reclaim it whenever he wanted. And now, he wanted. His family needed it. But the banks were closed.

Then the president of the United States, did something no president had ever done before. It was 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, March 12, 1933. Franklin Delano Roosevelt cozied up to a microphone, and with a fire lit in the fireplace behind him and his dog, Fala, at his feet, he had a little chat with Americans. It was his first of 30 "Fireside Chats." A little over 70 years ago. It came only eight days after his inauguration, but it was a brilliant and bold move — using a relatively new technology. Until that point, presidents had rarely, if ever, addressed the American people in such a direct and intimate way. Roosevelt took to the airwaves to let the people know how the country was doing in the midst of the Great Depression, and millions gathered around their radios to listen in. The subject of that first chat was banking. FDR explained to the country in simple terms why so many banks had failed and why he had decided to close them down on March 6, creating an extended "bank holiday." He then described the measures that Congress was taking to make sure that a banking crisis would never happen again.

The president ended his talk by asking Americans to show confidence in their government by depositing money in their local banks when they reopened the next day. Miraculously, they did just that. Many who listened to the talk trusted Roosevelt, and put their money in the banks. A crisis was averted. FDR had campaigned for president promising a "new deal for the American people," and he was determined to deliver on his pledge. The sincerity and compassion he communicated over the radio convinced many that he would give them a New Deal, one that would contrast with the Old Deal which had given them the Great Depression. Americans got New Deal programs such as Social Security and unemployment insurance, price supports for farmers and a minimum wage for workers, insurance for bank deposits and regulation of the stock market. Things that many of us take for granted today, assuming that it has always been there, and always will. Automatically!

No one could have guessed how well FDR's Fireside Chats would be received, or predicted that he would deliver 30 of them over the 12 years of his presidency. At the same time, no one could have envisioned that these radio addresses would help to create a new kind of conversation between FDR and the American people, and that this new level of intimacy would help to shape the modern presidency. But that's exactly what they did. Every chief executive since Roosevelt has followed this path, trying to make a direct connection with the citizens of the United States.

Of course, Roosevelt's New Deal was not the first. Backtrack a couple thousand years, and you'll find Jeremiah, the so-called Weeping Prophet, going through a Great Depression of his own. He and his countrymen were now under the thumb of foreign and godless powers. Religious faith had vanished like a vapor in the wind. Into this spiritual darkness, God promises a New Deal. Speaking with the kind of clarity and compassion made famous by FDR, the Lord promised to "make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors .... But 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" (Jeremiah 31:31-33; emphasis added).

What boldness. What intimacy. What sincerity. What creativity in covenant- making. What a deal! Note the contrast between what we'll call the Great Depression and the New Covenant. • The first was based on law; the second on grace. • The first was based on works; the second on faith. • The first was set in tablets of stone; the second in the chambers of the heart. • In the first, God writes the law and we obey it or else; in the second, God writes the law, and then helps us to obey it. Most of us at some point are looking for a new deal.

We'd love a second chance — at love, relationships, career, faith. We'd love to start the day over, sometimes. God's good news message to us is that this is the day! This is the moment to cash in on a great new opportunity. We're not expected to live in perfection; we're expected to live in faith. We're not expected live for ourselves; we're expected to live for God. Here are some of the provisions of the new covenant: The new deal of amnesty. Call it forgiveness, if you will. God promises to remove our sins as "far as the east is from the west," and to remember them no more.

The new deal of trust and intimacy. God promises to be faithful to us, to embrace us as his children. "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God," writes an astonished apostle in 1 John 3:1. The new deal of power for living. God now offers us the strength to conquer sin; the power to move forward, beyond the past, to a new life. The new deal of responsibility. It's not like the New Deal was a Free Ride. FDR himself, at the conclusion of his first chat, warned Americans: "We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work. It is your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail." [Emphasis added.]

David Steele, writing in Theology Today, interprets Jeremiah in part this way:

The people assume the covenant Is about being privileged. Jeremiah claims the covenant Is about being responsible. The way Jeremiah sees it, Those folks are acting Just like some spoiled rich kid Who's doing 90 in his Mercedes And figures the world better get out of the way. He'll do just what he wants; and Daddy's prominence, Daddy's checkbook, Daddy's lawyers, Will handle any difficulties .... It is this attitude That drives Jeremiah to distraction. It is a travesty, a mockery Of the sacred covenant. It misses the point by 180 degrees. Jeremiah knows the covenant Is for responsibility … not privilege.

This New Deal is reaffirmed by Jesus on the very night of his betrayal. He took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." The cup signified a new covenant with his followers, a New Deal that brought forgiveness of sins, as well as a deep, personal and intimate relationship.

What kind of deal do you want to broker with God? Whatever it is, it is no doubt already covered under the provision of the New Covenant, and symbolized in the cross toward which we have been traveling on our Lenten journey. We can gather as one people, at the table. Loved, forgiven and intimately connected. There's no better deal than that. Remember March 12, 1933, 10 p.m., 9,8,7........next week we will look at Palm Sunday, the Day of Triumph, 6,5,4 - creating God in our own image..........

Prepare yourself now for the partaking of the Holy Communion, in remembrance of Him.

Let us pray the prayer of Humble Access found in your bulletin ```````````````````````````````````````

Let me know what you think. The church Email is: SLUMC@att.net, Phone: 480.895.8766