Passover

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC on October 2nd, 2016

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Scripture Reading

^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.

As I began to work on this sermon this week many thoughts and emotions went through my mind. The connection we all have to Passover and the mercy of God that lives within us. The lives we live that require God to intervene on our behalf because we alone are not worthy to overcome the obstacles of our humanness. The need to be ready to go wherever and whenever God says go which should play a central part of our daily lives. The obvious parallels or foretaste of this first Passover to the events of the Passion Week cannot be overlooked or discarded.

So let us look at the events of the first Passover and then propel ourselves forward to the events of the second Passover. The Hebrew calendar has been with us a long time. It is an accurate calendar based on lunar movements, with the first sliver of the moon following the dark or new moon dictating the beginning of the month. With modern science we have an ever increasingly accurate determination of this event. The first month of the Hebrew year is Nissan, determined by this text we have just read. Sometime in antiquity, I like the sound of that word, it reminds me that we are a collection of older, wiser remembrances; the rabbi’s determined the beginning of the calendar based on working backwards in time through the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Now some of that calculation unfortunately is simply an estimate. The exact dating of the Exodus still is at best a guess by the best of the wise. Nissan follows the Spring Equinox, that moment when we begin to slip towards warmer weather and the growing season. Adjustments are made based on the 29 ½ day lunar month and what we now know as the additional ¼ day each year due to the earth’s rotation. All that to say, Passover happens in the spring of the year.

On the 10^th day of Nissan, the sacrificial lambs, either sheep or goats were set apart from the rest of the flock. Whether these lambs received special provisions or none is a matter of discussion still today. The number of lambs was determined by the number of faithful people who anticipated participating in this event. In others words, we are never clear whether all the Hebrew people followed the instructions of God or not, but suffice it to say that a large number did. On the evening of the 14^th day the lamb was slain, the blood of that lamb placed at the entranceway of the doors of the homes in which Hebrew people lived. Why? Certainly God knew which house had Hebrew people in them, did God not? Maybe we miss the point here. Maybe this was part of the test of the people to see if they were willing to be obedient to God. Next the lambs were placed in the fire, whole lambs with all their parts. Now most would miss this little detail. But it has significance if you stay with me for a while. The lambs were to be eaten and what was not consumed burned. But they were to eat them in their traveling clothes. All of this would have taken place in the dark of the night by the way. The slaying of the lambs at twilight and then cooking them which would take some time would place this probably in the middle of the night. Imagine the sounds that they would have heard as the Angel of Death passed among them during this meal. And that night as they gathered together in their homes, eating this strange meal of God, they received the gift of life. And so begins the true Exodus story. No wonder Passover is still the high celebration of Hebrew, now Jewish, life.

I love to do a sermon about Passover at Easter, a time when we begin to recognize the significance of this Jewish celebration in our own. So let us reflect on a moment in time if we can. That moment is the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. I would bet that you never made the connection to the fact that Jesus arrives on the day that the Hebrew people are selecting the lambs for Passover sacrifice. Now remember a day to a Hebrew begins at sunup and ends at sundown or if you are on a 24 hours calendar, begins at sundown and ends the following sundown. So if we are watching carefully we see that Jesus arrives on the 10^th day of Nissan into the town of Jerusalem. HMMMMM! We celebrate it on Sunday but it likely occurred on Monday morning of that week. Four days later on the 14^th day of Nissan the Lambs are slain and the Passover meal begins. Now I have read that the Lambs are slain around 3 PM in the afternoon of the 14^th day of Nissan. It is funny then that that also appears to be the exact time of Jesus death on the cross. Coincidence?

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 today, 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. 

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. How are you preparing your life for the journey after this physical life?  

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. Are you dressed to travel?