"Go, Worship the Lord"

 

            "When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' Then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.' "

 

            "What does this ceremony mean to you?"

            The answer is that the Passover meal commemorates the final plague, or Mighty Act of God, that led to the release of the Israelites form slavery in Egypt. The first nine plagues are described briefly, and the last ones in very condensed form. The plague of darkness in the land takes just three short verses. Also, the plagues of the death of livestock and boils on the skin are very briefly described. The text does not dwell on the details of the plagues. The emphasis is on Pharaoh and his responses to them, his shallow repentance and his hardened heart.

            Then we get to the last plague and find it is a very long section in the narrative. Passover is described in chapters 11, 12 and most of 13. Here we learn what happened, that an angel of death passed over the land and the firstborn of every Egyptian household, including Pharaoh's, died. We also learn the details of how on that night the Israelites were to sacrifice a lamb and eat a meal in haste, so they were ready to leave. Finally, we find instructions in these chapters, on how to hold a Passover meal for generations to come. Jim Bruckner makes the insightful observation that in these verses, "God gives the people liturgical instructions for the future before their deliverance or exit from Egypt." (That is the equivalent of writing out detailed instructions for a party celebrating the Cubs' World Series victory, including what food will be served, what everyone is to wear and what music will be played.) Before the Exodus happened, the Israelites are told how to observe its remembrance.

            What we have in these chapters is more than a historical record of an event. Indeed, the reader is invited to participate in the event. By remembering the Passover and observing it with a meal, the reader takes part in the story, in the event, and experiences the grace of God, and is set free from whatever oppression he might be facing. This text invites us into the salvation of God.

            So the Passover meal has been observed and these Exodus passages read for centuries. Jesus celebrated the Passover and he read from Exodus and remembered the deliverance of Israel from slavery. So he took the bread that symbolized the redemption of Israel and he broke it and said, "This is my body." He took the cup of wine, a symbol of the blood spread on the door posts that protected the people from death, and he said, "This is my blood, shed for you." Then he went to the cross. Without Passover, the cross is hard to understand; it can be confusing. And how could we keep the Lord's Supper as a meal of remembering if there was no Passover to give it a context, to give it full meaning?

            So, the child asks at the Passover meal, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" The child's father answers by telling the story. Pharaoh oppressed Israel and kept them in slavery for 400 years. But God heard their cries and their groaning. God acted mightily and with plagues to weaken Pharaoh and to destroy the gods of Egypt. Yet Pharaoh would not repent. Then God set his people free by taking the firstborn of every family in Egypt one night. But Israel was spared, protected. While the destroyer passed over the land and every Egyptian family was awakened by a death in the house, Israel was observing a meal of lamb and bread and bitter herbs, eating in haste, for they would soon leave. While the Lord judged Egypt, God's people walked into the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land.

            These were the people who spread the blood of the lambs on their door posts. Bruckner writes, "The people received a miracle when they accepted the Lord's offer of grace, protection and Lordship, by placing the blood on their doorposts. This was not a blood ritual to fend off an angry God. It was a sign of the Lord's prevenient provision of protection in the midst of the general judgment on the land. The people did not protect themselves with the blood. It was God who protected them." The Lord saved them. But the people could reject God's protection. "The absence of blood on a doorpost would be a rejection of grace." It would also be a way of excluding themselves from the community of faith, and from the promise.

            The lambs that were sacrificed were then roasted and eaten at this special meal. This was not a sin offering, which would be completely burned on an altar. This was a thank offering. The lamb was cooked and eaten by each family. The grace and provision of God was remembered with thanks at the meal.

            For us, the central remembrance is the shed blood of Christ on the cross. When we remember what Christ accomplished for us on the cross, it is with thanks. When we express thanks, we accept God's grace into our lives.

            This is a season of giving thanks. For most of our country, the celebration of Thanksgiving is a time to focus on a turkey dinner, a meal eaten at the conclusion of the harvest, a meal celebrating our national heritage that comes from the Pilgrims, and a meal to celebrate family. So the thanks that is expressed is often for material blessing, and also for family and friends.

For those in Christ, the thanksgiving goes deeper and has a different beginning point. We begin by giving thanks for our redeemer, for the gift of Jesus Christ and for our salvation. God has provided for us. When we express thanks, we show our acceptance of his grace.

            The gifts of God in our lives need to be remembered, to be recognized. Giving thanks says "yes" to the provision of God. Thanksgiving also places the provision and salvation of God firmly in our souls. Otherwise we forget, we are too busy, we are always in haste to get to the next project, the next event, the next holiday. Giving thanks stops our hurried and worried living. We receive our redemption. We acknowledge God's goodness. We hold and value the gifts of God. When we express our thanks we experience an inner healing, a lifting of our worry and anxiety. When we express thanks, we are opening our hearts to grace, and we are able to retain that grace. It helps us to remember. Thanksgiving strengthens us to do God's will. It connects us in community. It deepens us in faith.

            The child asks at Passover,"What does this ceremony mean to you?" What does this season of Thanksgiving mean to you? What is in your heart? How have you experienced the provision and blessing of the Lord, especially in a time when you can't reckon the blessing in financial terms? I encourage you to reflect on your life, to remember the gifts of the Lord, and to express your thanks in words.

            Amen.