Sunday, October 3

The reading

Exodus 12:1-13, 13:1-8    

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 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. 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. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.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. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 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. 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. 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         

The Lord said to Moses: Consecrate to me all the firstborn; whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelites, of human beings and animals, is mine.

Moses said to the people, “Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the Lord brought you out from there by strength of hand; no leavened bread shall be eaten.Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this observance in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen in your possession, and no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory.You shall tell your child on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the teaching of the Lord may be on your lips; for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. You shall keep this ordinance at its proper time from year to year.

Reflection

1- A lot of things happen between the story of Joseph (last Sunday) and the Passover.  One of the most challenging and relevant for us today is the enslavement of the Israelites.  After Joseph establishes his family in Egypt, they grow in number, power, influence and wealth.  After several generations, the people of Egypt start to protest that the Israelites are becoming too numerous, too strong, too influential, too powerful, too much a burden and too rich. They are not assimilating into Egyptian culture and not practicing the Egyptian religions. In response, the Egyptian authorities enslave the people of Israel.  (if these arguments sound familiar, that's because we hear them every day about refugees and immigrants).  The other issue is that during the time of slavery all but a few people give up on God and God's promises (it makes today's decline in faith seem like no big deal). God never gives up on people though.  

2- I am struck by the importance and value of ritual in the reading. Each step of the celebration is done with obedience and packed with meaning.  In the same way our worship is packed with obedience and meaning, we do not go to church because its fun or interesting, we go to encounter God through word and ritual.  (reading this is okay but really people need to be part of a church, community and practice).

3- So much of the Passover is about urgency.  The bread is unleavened (since its much faster to prepare), people eat standing with sandals and staff (ready to run at any minute) and you need to eat fast (not exactly healthy for you but time is running out).  As a church we are called to ask what is urgent for us.