“A Meal Remembered”
Romans 13:8-14
Exodus 12:1-14
September 4, 2011
Rev. Nath Briley
Pastor, Pickens Presbyterian Church
This morning we will continue our series in the book of Exodus. The past two Sundays
we have talked about the birth and calling of Moses. Moses was hesitant to accept the
call from God to go back to Egypt and face his past and the devastation of his people. He
realized he could not turn down this call on Holy ground. God of Israel, Yahweh,
promised to be with him to be God’s instrument to set the Hebrew people free. The
Israelites had been in bondage for 430 years. It was natural for Moses to think he would
not be able to talk Pharaoh into anything. But God’s promise was real and God provided
Moses’ brother, Aaron, to be his mouth piece. Moses and Aaron talked to the elders of
the people of Israel about what God’s promise of freeing them from bondage. After
Moses showed them some signs from God, they believed and worshipped Yahweh. Then
the difficult mission began when Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. Moses and Aaron
requested that all of the slaves go out into the wilderness for three days to worship their
God. Pharaoh did not take the request for the Hebrews to leave their work very well.
Pharaoh not only declined the request, he made it harder on the slaves. He wanted more
production but took away resources. He ordered the taskmasters to beat the slaves when
they did not make their quotas. The Hebrew people started to turn on Moses and Aaron
realizing Pharaoh was placing his anger on them. Then a grueling, stubborn, hard nose,
back and forth dual took place between Pharaoh and Moses, well, between Pharaoh and
God. God placed nine plagues on the Egyptians and Pharaoh’s heart grew harder and
harder. He would not budge. The oppression of the slaves was more difficult than they
could imagine. Both sides had had enough and then God had told Moses about the tenth
plague which would be devastating to the Egyptians. Moses told the Israelites. This
plague, this winning of the wills, was God’s redeeming grace for the Israelites.
Unfortunately it was doom, gloom and death for the Egyptians. Let us now hear God’s
word for us today as we read about this time to remember and worship God, the author of
this climatic event of the freeing of the Hebrew slaves. Let us hear God’s word from
Exodus 12:1-14:
Oppression, bondage, slavery, violence, abuse, trapped, stuck, lost, and sin. Some words
we can possibly relate. Others we may not. We read in Scripture, in the Old Testament,
in the Psalms, and the New Testament that the God of the Israelites is defined as the one
who freed them and delivered them from the oppression of the Egyptians. That is how
the Israelites remembered and thought of God, Yahweh. That was a defining moment in
their lives. More than that, it was a defining moment in their relationship with Yahweh.
That time is the time when God heard their wailing and their cry. God heard them. God
delivered, God freed, and God redeemed. Good news right? God called Moses to tell
Pharaoh, “to let my people go.” Eventually, after 10 plagues, he did. This Scripture, we
just read, is not just about the Passover. It is actually how the Hebrew slaves and the
people who came after remembered this event. This freedom should never be taken
lightly. The Hebrew people should have this climatic moment in the back of their minds
and try to understand how powerful this experience was. God was requiring that they
make it a part of their worship once a year laying out specific instructions. Every time I
read this passage about this tenth plague, knowing the battle between Pharaoh and
Yahweh is almost over, I am bothered and sad. I tend to forget God instructed the
Israelites to make this event a part of their worship, their continual thanksgiving to God.
My sadness takes over reading this Scripture. I am sad that the terrible oppression in
those days actually did take place. Sad that oppression today still exists. I am sad for the
hatred the Egyptian leaders and others had for the Hebrew slaves and vice versa. I am
terribly sad that that kind of hatred has continued in our history and continues today.
This hatred is between nation against nation, race against race and brother against
brother. I am sad that this tenth plague which freed the Israelites, killed people, even
youth and innocent babies. The first born of humans and animals were struck dead. That
part weighs on me. We remember and celebrate freedom in the midst of death. We
celebrate freedom in the midst of death. That is nothing unusual. We often with battles
and wars appreciate and give thanks for the freedom we have earned even and usually
when it comes to the death of others. This country has celebrated, other countries have
celebrated when a political power, we deem as evil, has been over taken by force.
Usually, many lives have been taken on both sides. Victory dances in the streets. I
understand, hesitantly, but still am saddened when I read God being in the midst of this
oppression and death.
God is not a king who ordered the death of the Egyptian first born for retaliation. God is
not a king who lost power to a stronger king. God is the sovereign Lord of the people of
God. God is the One who taught and teaches about love, kindness and grace. As we
heard from Romans earlier, God, in Jesus Christ, taught humans to love one another.
Love your neighbor as yourself. God is about love, forgiveness, redemption, and
freedom. So, how do we look at and really understand the love in the story of the
Exodus? Today’s passage is about how the Israelites should worship God remembering
the reality of life they endured. They were to worship God because in the midst of pain,
agony, hardship and even terror, their God, Yahweh, did not forget them or leave them.
Yahweh requested that they worship God and devote their lives to God with strong faith,
because God showed devotion and love to them. Even if it meant that the first born of
Egypt, a part of God’s creation, had to die? That is how much God loved God’s people
and how much God wanted justice for them.
Each time God’s people participate in the Passover meal, they remember. They
remember the bitter oppression their people endured. They remember the calling of a
fugitive who was on the run. They remember the faith God had in that individual, even
when the individual did not have faith in himself. They remember that God heard the cry
of their ancestors and responded. They remember God took action. They remember
God spared them, passed them over with a sacrificial lamb. They remember God
instructing their ancestors to always celebrate with a meal to remind them. This Scripture
is calling God’s people to do more than just remember. Memory is a good thing to have,
but sometimes that information we retain brings up difficult times in the past, and
sometimes hatred boils within our bodies. No, God is calling the Israelite, us, to keep in
mind God’s love and devotion for God’s people. Not to think of retaliation but to
worship a God who loved them so much God sacrificed others for them. The blood of
the lamb they were instructed to place on their doorpost, was to remind them of the
sacrifice that took place for their freedom. They were not called to bear in mind their
pain of the past and want revenge. They were called and we are called to worship the
God who loves and provides freedom, justice, kindness and compassion.
This instruction to recall the Exodus and to worship the God who liberated the Hebrew
slaves was taken seriously. The Passover meal is one that is celebrated every year by
devout Jews and some Christians. Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his family as
a child. He celebrated with his new family of disciples. He even celebrated the meal the
night he was arrested. That night Jesus and his disciples remembered that God freed their
people with the death of so many. But that night and that time was different. We recall
that particular night for a different reason. That night Jesus was the sacrificial lamb. God
did not kill a large number of people for freedom. God allowed the death of one person
for freedom from sin. Christ paid the ultimate price for humankind. No more plagues
from God. No more death sentences. Grace and love has been offered through the
saving death of Jesus Christ. And it does not stop there. The death of Jesus Christ is
remembered with his resurrection. God has victory over death. God freed us from the
bondage of sin and death. We remember and celebrate freedom in the midst of death.
That death and resurrection was and is the defining moment in the lives of Christians as
the Passover was for the Israelites. As God called the Hebrews to worship God for God’s
liberating power, God calls us to worship for the liberating love we know in Christ Jesus.
That is why we celebrate ‘a meal remembered.’ We take part in communion to
remember the defining moment of Christ dying for our sins and resurrecting for life
eternal. That is embedded in our lives as a community of faith. And that is why we
worship. Also important in our worship, is our individual faith in God through Jesus
Christ. We all have our defining moments from the past. Many times when we
participate in a meal remembered, in communion, we think of that defining moment. Can
you recall your time in your life when you felt lifted up, liberated, touched by God?
Maybe you are still waiting.
We should always know that the God of love, grace and redemption will be there with
and for us as God has been in the past. Sometimes in life we go through such hard times
we do not realize God is right there in our midst. It is not until later when we can look
back and reflect on that experience and notice how powerful Savior is. We realize God
has been with us the whole time. I think that is why we are instructed to remember and
worship God who gave us that defining moment of redemption and resurrection. May we
all embrace the love and grace of God we know in Jesus Christ through Holy Spirit.
Amen.