1 MOSES AND THE PASSOVER Any festival or religious rite that dates back 4000 years or so, any symbol - so resilient and enduring, and showing no sign of disappearing, deserves the close attention of enquiring minds. Symbols come and go, but the Passover meal of the Jews remains. Indeed, so rooted is Passover imagery in the thought of the Bible that we can t really enjoy the full richness of the Biblical revelation until we have given some time and thought to peeling away the layers of meaning from the Passover event and its subsequent place in Jewish life. It s suggested that its origins go, in part at least, beyond even Moses and the Exodus experience of the Jewish people; back to the times of lucky charms, and superstitious talismen hung by the door to ward off evil spirits. Or even as far back as the ancient Arab practice of daubing blood on their tent for the same reason to chase away the bogeymen these superstitions being re-interpreted in the Passover meal - in the light of the virulent epidemic that hit Egypt - killing the first born - but leaving the Jewish people untouched Wherever the origins lie, certain aspects of the event- and the rite - repay attention The first thing to note as we seek to understand the dynamic at work is this: that family is the unit of faith. The Jewish parents and children share in a sense of identity - a common deliverance as they gather around the Passover table And rehearse the story The children asking the pertinent questions That define identity. There is no embarrassment in the Hebrew home: no awkwardness about being a people of faith about being a family in which faith is rooted and grounded indeed, is the root and is the ground. The faith, the religiosity of the parents, set the tone. This is who we are. This is what makes us who we are. This is what we do. And the example of the parents in carrying out the ritual of the Passover - is crucial to its continuance as a feature of Jewish religious life and practice. The Jewish father is not ashamed to let his children see him pray The Passover is a family event. There is no doubt that the influence and we speak only of influence of the home, is crucial to the awakening and sustaining of faith. If religion is clearly a matter of stunning indifference to Mum and Dad an optional extra that comes on the list of priorities somewhere between dusting the house, going to Ikea- or washing the car, faith in that household can look forward to a pretty lean time When parents as can happen in a normal parish church situation -send their children to Sunday School
2 but are conspicuous by their own absence at worship the task of the church or Sunday School is made cruelly hard : or when for Mum and Dad worship is what you do when there is nothing better to do the children, naturally, will tend to imitate and aspire to the habits and lifestyle of their parents and the drift is not long in coming. Here s a telling truth Only very rarely are children more interested than their parents in the things of the faith. (This is why baptismal vows are so serious and important, and why the church must ask hard questions of parents who hope to bring a second child for baptism having clearly made no attempt to keep the vows they made in respect of their first child!) For us within the life of the church, it is important that we put down markers present earnests of our desire to nurture the children of the church: Opportunities for family worship making sure there are enough committed people to staff our youth work programmes - from creche to Youth Group how much effort we make to move beyond the anonymous labels of the children towards knowing their name, their character, their uniqueness. We have drifted a long way from the days of family Bibles, family prayers, even grace said at mealtimes and it s small wonder that children can come to think of faith as a compartment in our life, rather than our life When the little touches that root faith in the everyday reality of our life are missing the things that make faith both extra-special - and yet normal, a natural thing that real people take seriously then, in the observant eyes of our children faith become less the rock on which we built our life, and more the occasional back ground music to this event or that in our calendar of life -events We might want to ask whether we should not look out for ways to recover those homely, domestic, down to earth expressions of Christian devotion and interest so that our children will ask the questions about why we do what we do, believe what we believe - that will provide not just information, but transformation! Of course, we know, to our deep and enduring sadness That there are no guarantees in any of this. The children of the most devout and dedicated Christian parents Can choose a different road And this is their freedom and their individuality Over which we have no control. All we can do is be faithful to God And keep praying that those roots will have gone deeper Than we can know or imagine And in time they will bear fruit. But it is also clear from those earliest accounts that the Passover Feast is community act too
3 as the whole family of Israel worship and give thanks for their deliverance. They share a sense of their oneness in their identity as the people of God, Saved by his mighty act And bonded for all time by their common debt to him. A remarkable, heart-warming feeling of sharing in a common destiny and salvation. The Early Church was like that. Of one accord, one in hope and the sense of joyful brotherhood and sisterhood through their faith in Christ. No strangers no isolation But open-armed, wide-hearted fellowship That s always a challenge in today s world and today s church We are all so busy. People come and go. We need to work hard - both to be available ourselves for fellowship - and to be willing to reach out to others in that spirit of shared vision. - The Spirit of Christ makes us one body And we need to find opportunities Make opportunities and take opportunties To express that and to experience it. that leaning on each other bearing one another s burdens listening, caring and loving. Even in my short time here, it has struck me how caring and giving this congregation can be and how supportive and aware. We are always on the lookout for ways to do that more And to do that better And we all invited to be open and sensitive to the needs in others Invited to go the second mile -and beyondin friendship and love. And, for a congregation like ours somewhat isolated from the Mother Ship back in Scotland it requires particular attention -to be sure that we understand ourselves as part of the wider community of faith and of the Church of Scotland as a whole. It requires of us particular focus to stay in shared communion with the vision and the challenges faced by the Church in Scotland and to recall that we are part of the larger family with shared responsibilities and opportunities. Perhaps more often than it should, that connection becomes strained if we feel handled with not quite that degree of sensitivity and understanding our unique kind of Church expression requires. But we are wise to embrace every opportunity to understand -appreciate - and experience the Big Picture the true Community of faith of which we are very much part and privileged so to be. It is not enough to appreciate the benefits of confederation when Grants or such come our way We need to make sure we keep our awareness sharpened and our understanding informed about where the Church of Scotland is hurting, needing, or serving with courage and distinction in social care, in mission, and in powerful witness to the gospel. We are in this together as a community of faith
4 and when we loosen those connections - we are the poorer for that. That s something of the social backcloth against which the Passover festival is set But, In its detailed symbolism too, it is rich in meaning and significance. For they are all there - signs of the nature and reality of God s intervention and deliverance. The idea of escape and haste are expressed in the girt loins, the unleavened bread, the hastily prepared meal. There is deliverance sudden change of status here the double rescue from the plague and from the hard taskmasters of Egypt is pointed up The sheer life and death nature of what is going in is recalled by the blood on the lintels. And year in year out, These events will be recalled Vividly re-presented as the symbolism shouts out Generation upon generation God has saved Israel! That night we became a people. That night of the Exodus from Egypt In time, as happens meanings evolve and The festival would become linked to and confused with Pastoral harvest festivals in Canaan Once the Israelites had settled there And become farmers and no longer nomads; But the essential ingredients of the story endured How could we ever forget how the hand of the Lord was upon us: making a laughing stock of the mighty Egyptians And showing Pharaoh once and for all Where real power lay where real history was made. And, so, through the centuries right up to this day Jewish families have looked down the tunnel of time And been at one with Jews on that first dark Passover night Coming to the narrative as we do From a Christian standpoint We can t read about the Jewish Passover Without being drawn to that upper room Where Our Lord adds the final touch to its meaning. And inaugurates our special meal For the Communion service is our feast of remembrance. There we recollect God s deliverance of us -and all the world From the bondage of guilt, sin and judgment In one terrible, costly, act of love, Through the death of Christ: A truth portrayed with vivid power And solemn joy In the broken bread and the poured out wine. With inescapable clarity The story is told We bow in gladness and thanksgiving. Once our future was no future. Now God has liberated us And all human kind. How could we forget? In the Communion Sacrament We enjoy a glimpse of our link with the past On solidarity with those disciples at the Last Supper The Church in the Acts of the Apostles.
5 Beginning to shake the world to its foundations Meeting every Sunday at the Lord s Table The covenanters on the hillsides of Scotland The missionaries in the jungles and deserts of Africa and India Christians of all times In all places 2000 years of faith devotion courage and service And our little link being added to the chain. And it comes alive in our present day fellowship Within the community of the church across the world Made present here in our rainbow congregation: We meet at the international table People from China, Japan, America, Australia People of every shape and shade But kneeling together in our hearts In the Christian community world wide To receive bread and wine One in gratitude, one in need, one in hope One in love. Let all the world, in every corner sing My God and King! + Nor will it stop with us! The Church of Jesus Christ will never end! Not in time and not in eternity. New people will come to follow him New people to serve him. New people called to minister his world And to sing his praises The pressures on the Church are real and the challenges are profound. But the miracles are still happening. Some day I m going to be an old man. And there will be churches! There will be Christians! There will be communion services! And children will ask What does it mean? And we can tell them the old, old, story.. And one day, when it s all wrapped up, This crazy miracle we call history The agony and the ecstasy of the human story We will sit with him And with all his people And share in the riotous assembly of his great banquet! And together we will rejoice in deliverance Knowing, as we have never known before, the meaning of Communion. When the Jews were carried off into exile in 587 BC an additional phrase was added to the liturgy of their Passover celebration. Far from home, exiled and trapped eyes wet with longing they would end their Passover Feast with the aching poignant hope. Next year in Jerusalem. Next year in Jerusalem We say One day with Him! One day with him and all his people! All our brothers and sisters We will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. Hallelujah! AMEN.