A Day of Remembrance

Exodus 12: 1-14, OT page 58 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 of it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat of 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. This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival of the Lord throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. Sermon The one who chooses which story will be told has a lot of power, so I can understand why our daughters argue when it’s time to read stories before bed – whose book will get read first is serious business, just as which stories get told around the dinner table matter and which ones don’t – some stories are told over and over again while others are never mentioned. There’s no telling how many times my grandmother told me about her years in nursing school, studying late eating ice chips to stay awake on the bathroom floor because 9:00 was lights-out, but the lights in the bathroom stayed on all night long, so you could study in there. There’s also a grandfather I never knew, but I heard stories about him. He’d stop the car if he saw a snake in the road, carry it home and leave it in the bathtub until he could find a safe place to keep it or until somebody else stepped into the bathtub and found it first. How often I heard about his reptile collection, and how rarely I heard about his alcoholism, because we pick which stories to tell. That’s just the way it is. We pick and choose the stories that we tell because the stories that get told shape the way we see the past, and the way we see the past shapes the way we see ourselves. That’s why history matters. Just last Friday the Daily Herald published an article by Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk who were duking it out over history books. According to Mathis conservative scholars want to control the way our national history is told, whitewashing our past, hiding all the warts, choosing to make students feel good about their country rather than just telling the truth. Boychuk takes the opposite stance claiming that liberals have been politicizing American history since the 1960s. He quotes Peter Wood, president of the National Association of Schools, who said that “The idea of America as a nation founded on the pursuit of freedom and equality is presented mainly as a myth ever in need of more repudiation” by too many textbooks, and that history must be retold to inspire pride in her citizens. (Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, “The battle over history books continues,” The Daily Herald, Friday, September 5, 2014, 4A.) There’s controversy and disagreement here because the one who decides which story will be told has a lot of power, and here in Exodus chapter 12 the Lord tells Moses and Aaron which story will be told, how it will be told, and when. Every year, the feast of Passover “shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival of the Lord throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.” Every household in the assembled congregation of Israel shall take part, every household shall have a lamb of their own unless they are too small and need to share with their neighbors. “This month shall mark for you the beginning of months,” says the Lord, “it shall be the first month of the year for you,” so that you begin every year by remembering the story that defines who you are. Those who know which story to tell know who they are and who God is, but for those who are in search of the right story, listening always for the story that tells them who they are and who God is, they are like ships without a rudder, blown by the winds of other peoples words without direction or self-understanding. That’s really true in the case of preachers. We all stand at the front of the sanctuary as our congregations shake our hand – “that was a good word preacher,” or “thank you for the sermon” with every kind handshake, but it’s a guarantee that someone will walk down the aisle with a determined look in her eye ready to tell you that they have just heard the worst sermon of their entire life. I tell you that because it’s happened to me, more than once, and for the rest of the afternoon you just wallow around wondering which story got you right. But don’t feel sorry for me because I bet its worse for you. I knew a professor pretty well in college, and every year he’d give his students the chance to evaluate his teaching style, so every year he’d be told that his teaching style was too boring and that his wardrobe was too dated, year after year the most specific comment he’d receive is that he needed to buy some new ties - but I’ll tell you that he was one of the best teachers I ever had. So you see there are all kinds of stories, but which story will you listen to? If you’re on Facebook you’re really in trouble, not because there’s anything wrong with posting pictures and telling people where you’ve gone on vacation, but because there is something wrong with keeping track of how many people like what you’ve put up for the world to see – because no matter how many likes you get Facebook can’t tell you who you are. It’s not that what they say doesn’t matter – some of those people who told me that my sermon was terrible were exactly right – you have to listen and learn and be uplifted and shaped, but you have to remember some stories more than others – you have to understand yourself according to the story that the Lord has told about you. More than once I’ve prayed with the Alzheimer’s patient who doesn’t even know who she is, but who still knows who she is to Christ and so she still prays with me every word of the Lord’s Prayer. And more than once I’ve told you to remember your baptism – and if you were an infant when it happened there’s not really any way for you to remember it – but there is too. “Remember always who you are,” because you were saved from slavery in Egypt whether you remember it or not. You shall eat of that lamb with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, your staff in your hand - you shall eat of it hurriedly to remember that no matter where you are right now, the Lord rushed you out of Egypt and the Lord will move you from where you are to where you’re meant to be. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: so that you will remember that the Lord passed over you – that no plague destroyed you when the Lord struck the land of Egypt – and no matter what you face today there is no plague so great that it can separate you from the Lord’s presence. This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival of the Lord throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance – because no matter how you need to be brushed off or dried out or cleaned up or redeemed or forgiven you are the Lord’s forever. It’s too easy to forget this kind of thing while living in a culture where people are only as good as they look – where success is made known by what kind of car you drive or how big a stone on your ring – it is so important to remember who you are in a world where people use their words to tear you down and make you small – so remember that there are always many stories to choose from but let the story that the Lord tells about you matter most. The one who chooses which story will be told has a lot of power – but you have the power to decide which story you will define you. Listen then to the Word of the Lord. Amen.