Passover 10/4/15

Sermon given at Grace UMC 10/4/15

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^NRS Exodus 12:1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:  ² This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.  ³ Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household.  ⁴ If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it.  ⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.  ⁶ You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.  ⁷ They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.  ⁸ They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  ⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs.  ¹⁰ You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.  ¹¹ This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the LORD.  ¹² For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.  ¹³ The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.  ¹⁴ This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.  

This passage is one of the most important and significant events in the history of the world. A people in slavery pray for deliverance, a deliverer comes from God and they are delivered. That is the basis of the story that threads its way throughout the history of humanity. We see it played out on the picture screen, good versus evil with God holding the pendulum as it moves from one side to the other. And yet do we really appreciate and understand the significance for us? I attended my last year of seminary an African American seminary and it was there that I was stretched in unbelievable ways. For you see, we as Americans, all races and cultures have dreamed or lived the exodus story. Enslaved by ideals, state religions or just plain slavery, only the American Indian’s among us have failed to realize an exodus story. Why did the people pray for deliverance? Because ingrained in each of us is the desire to be free, to live our lives unburdened by the oppressive world around us and yet we also become the oppressors in the world when we gain our freedom and then subject others to subordinate roles. This story is important and significant if we are to understand the fullness of God’s love for us and the extent that God will go in order that we might enjoy the freedom we so often desire and cherish. So my questions today are what did the people pray for and did God deliver as he promised?

Here is where we need to make a connection that God wants us to make. Jesus is the continuation of a long story, a story that began with Adam, continued through Noah and Abraham, Joseph, Moses and David to this moment in time. What occurred in Egypt is the foretaste of life that we receive through the cross at Golgotha. When we take communion which we will do next week, we forget that connection all too often. That what God did for the Hebrew people in Egypt God does for the whole world at Golgotha. What God began in Egypt is fulfilled by Jesus on the cross. So why is it significant that they had to eat the whole lamb? Accepting Jesus is not a part time or partial thing. We accept Jesus completely or not at all. There is no fence sitting allowed. God loves us so much that God sent us Jesus as the sacrificial lamb, His blood flowing down the cross to set us free from death. God’s love given to us in a service that allows us both to remember and then participate in the eating of and blood of the lamb.

Passover was not an end, but a beginning.  It meant that the Israelites were beginning a journey to the Promised Land.  It was in many ways the beginning of the nation of Israel.  It was for most of them the beginning of their relationship with God.  So it is with us.  The Lord’s Supper is not the end, but the beginning.  We acknowledge our sojourn in this world.  By it we are made one people, the people of God around the world.  By the sacrifice it represents we have fellowship with God. Passover was to be eaten in haste, dressed for a journey.  The Hebrew was to be ready to go out and follow the Lord wherever God might lead them, even though they were under a roof celebrating a feast.  They were to have their garments belted for a journey, their sandals on their feet.  Passover was to prepare them spiritually for the trip that would take them from their homes, into the wilderness and then into the land of promise.  So it is with us.  The Lord’s Supper should be taken as if preparation for spiritual combat -- for such it is.  We are not here to relax in angelic arms, but to tighten our belts, put on our combat boots and prepare for battle. God will be faithful and we who believe will take on immortality and spend eternity with God. But it requires sacrifice and choice. It requires obedience and struggle. Take, eat, this is my body! Take drink all of this for this is the new covenant between God and God’s people. We are on a journey that God is leading.

This is the story of God’s deliverance. Moses had asked pharaoh, pharaoh had said no, many times. God had brought trouble against pharaoh in the form of seven plagues but pharaoh was unmoved. That’s how it is with the oppressors of the world. No amount of trying and political wrangling will move them. Through oppression they are powerful and wealthy. Without the help of the oppressed they are just as you and I are, simply people. Why do we allow the rich and powerful to lead us along in chains and slavery? Because we, like the Hebrew people are more fearful of the future than the present. But pharaoh was unmoved so God had to resort to a difficult decision. One that would not only allow the children of Israel of be set free, but provide them wealth and food to sustain them for a time. So God decides that for the faithful, he will allow them freedom and life, for the faithless, death. And he tells them to kill the unblemished calf, the perfect lamb that is among their flocks. To take the blood of this lamb and place it on the door jambs of their homes as a sign of their faithfulness to God And that night, the angel of death comes and takes the life of the firstborn child of all of the unfaithful, passing over the doors marked with the sacrificed blood of the lamb.

Was death a necessity? It appears that only death could bring about the freedom of the chosen people of God. But is it also prophetic? Certainly I am going to suggest that that is the case. How do we understand this scripture? Is this story a history lesson or as a teaching moment for our own lives? We must focus our lives on the future and on our own freedom.

When William Gladstone was Prime Minister of Great Britain, he was approached one day by the son of a close friend. The young man sought counsel regarding his career plan. First he explained to Gladstone, I plan to complete my studies at Oxford. Splendid replied the prime minister, and then what next. Well, Sir, I plan to study law and become a prominent attorney. Excellent replied the prime minister, then what next. I plan to seek election to the parliament. Wonderful, replied Gladstone, then what next? I plan on doing well in the parliament and being elected to influential cabinet positions. A noble desire, and then what next. Well, sir, in time I would strive to attain the position of prime minister. Well said, but then what next. When I retire I plan on teaching until I die. Gladstone said to him, worthy paths you have decided but what next? The young man confused said why I just die, there is no next. Young man said Gladstone, you are a fool. Go home and think your life through from its end. Gladstone understands what we need so strongly to understand. Death comes to all of us in time.

We celebrate communion today with the whole world as we celebrate World Communion Sunday. Churches all across the globe are sharing in the meal of God on this day. We celebrate the means of Grace that this time together allows us to enjoy, a sacred time, a time of God working within us through this meal that God provides and time to be in relationship with Jesus who is present with us. We believe that the bread and juice are not the physical body of Christ but that Jesus is here with us as we share these elements. We believe that everyone is invited to be a part of this service. We believe that Passover is the foundation of this communion service as we celebrate the past, the present of the Upper Room and the future promise of Isaiah that we will feast on the mountain. Are we ready to travel, do we have our traveling clothes on and are we ready to go where the Lord sends us?