The old covenant is a universal perspective that views the world and our relationship with God through the law. Christians remain tempted by this law-based perspective. Paul is speaking to all of us when he says, “Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there.” Paul isn't talking about Jews. He's talking about Christians who are still tempted by the law.
This fact was driven home during the week of February 4, when The Rev. Matthew C. Harrison, president of the Missouri Synod, pressured a pastor to apologize for saying a prayer during an interfaith ceremony. Rev. Harrison stated:
There is sometimes a real tension between wanting to bear witness to Christ and at the same time avoiding situations which may give the impression that our differences with respect to who God is, who Jesus is, how he deals with us and how we get to Heaven, really don’t matter in the end.
The veil is present. Rev. Harrison has drawn the boundaries of his interpretation of the law around what he sees as appropriate religious behavior – and nothing can violate Rev. Harrison’s law – even bearing witness to Christ. Lord, have mercy Christ, have mercy.
A minister standing as an impediment to those bearing witness to Christ seems unthinkable until one grapples with what it means to live as one called to the new covenant. Engaging the world through the new covenant in Christ is a scary thing. It can be very uncomfortable to love others – especially when they do not share our Christian faith. Love may be all of the wonderful things Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, but love is also scary and unsettling. Love can feel unsafe.
It is much safer to be old covenant people and shrink back into our comfortable sanctuaries. It’s reassuring to mark the boundaries with our interpretation of biblical rules so we know we’re on the correct side. It’s comforting to convince ourselves that God wants us to do this. The old covenant has an allure. The veil is tempting.
A Pauline paraphrase of Rev. Harrison’s words might be: “There is sometimes a real tension between wanting to engage God and the world through the new covenant of Christ and needing the safety of our veiled, legalistic, old covenant perspective.”
There is always a tension between love and law.
But we don't deal with that tension. American Christianity has become a feel-good religion. We speak a lot about how much God loves us (and some about how much God loves the world). We speak about how God has shown that love by instituting a new covenant sealed in Jesus’ blood. But we’ve stopped wrestling with what God is calling us to do in that new covenant. We've stopped wrestling with how scary it is to love.
As a result, we've stopped loving anyone who isn't easy to love. We stay in our little cliques with people who agree with us. Christ calls us out into the world to love our neighbors - whatever they might believe.
