Sermon (September 4) "In Your Wildest Dreams: Your Passover"

     Take a moment and give some thought to this question:  In your wildest dreams, what is God calling you to do?  Just let your mind go wild.  What are the dreams or what is the dream that God is placing on your heart?

     Last Sunday, we began this sermon series by focusing on this question:  What is your burning bush moment?  Just like God spoke to Moses out of a burning bush, what is the dream that God is calling you to pursue?

     To help us go after our wildest dreams, we are focusing on the life of Moses.  Moses’ burning bush moment was when God called him to do the unthinkable; to lead the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land.  That was quite a dream that God had in mind for Moses; to convince the powerful Egyptian empire to free hundreds of thousands of their slaves.  And then lead them to the Promised Land.

     If you remember, Moses came up with lots of excuses as to why he wasn’t the man for the job.  He had five excuses that he made to God from the scripture we looked at last week: 1) “I’m a nobody.  They won’t listen to me.”  2) “They’re going to want to know who sent me and I don’t even know your name.”  3) “They won’t believe that you appeared to me.”  4) “I’m not a good speaker.  I won’t be very convincing.”  5) “I’m not the most qualified person for the job.  Send somebody else.”  Excuses go with the territory.  We might even say that if you don’t voice any excuses, it might not be a true burning bush moment.  Excuses often accompany God’s calling to go after our wildest dreams.

     Moses definitely had a burning bush moment and he knew that God was calling him to go after this big dream.  

     Another key word in the story of Moses is the word, “Passover.”

     Passover is described in our Exodus scripture reading this morning.  The Passover was the tenth and final plague that God sent upon the Egyptians to force them to free the people of Israel from slavery.

     Do you remember what the first nine plagues were?  They weren’t pretty, that’s for sure!  Well here they are.  1) Turning water into blood 2) Sending frogs 3) Sending gnats or lice 4) Sending flies 5) A pestilence that killed livestock 6) Boils 7) Hail 8) Locusts, and 9) Darkness over the land. 

     These first nine plagues almost got Pharaoh to release the Israelites but then he changed his mind.  It was the tenth and final plague, the plague of the killing of the first born sons that finally did it.  This is one of those troubling scriptures that make us question how God could do this given that God is loving and good.

     What do we make of this scripture?  Do we ignore it and pretend it never happened because we believe that God is loving?  Or do we use this story and others like it to rationalize our actions?  There are many examples of people who have used scriptures like this to justify their violent actions in order to get what they want.

     But let’s remember to put this scripture in context.  We need to always keep in mind what God’s big dream has always been. I can’t think of a bigger dream.  God’s dream has always been to rescue the world from sin and death.

     And part of that dream involves a covenant or a promise that God had made with Abraham and his descendents long before Moses and the Exodus story.  The promise was that God would bless Abraham and his descendents so that they in turn would be a blessing to the world.  And not just to be a blessing to the world, but that they would fulfill God’s ultimate dream which was to defeat sin and death once and for all.

     What I have just shared with you is the big picture, the big hope, the wildest of all dreams that God has in mind for the world.  It doesn’t get any bigger than this.  This is the big vision or the big dream that we read about throughout the bible.

     But there’s a big problem here in the early pages of the Book of Exodus.  God’s people are in slavery in Egypt, and until they are freed, God’s rescue of the world dream is on hold.  Pharaoh defies Moses and stubbornly refuses to let God’s people go.

     A lot is at stake in this story which leads us to the tenth and final plague, the killing of the first born males which includes Pharaoh’s own son.  Of course, this is what forces the hand of Pharaoh and he finally frees the Israelites.

     There is grace and mercy in this story because Pharaoh is warned about it and he had every opportunity to change his mind, but he didn’t.  Pharaoh was very stubborn. Even though God had sent sign after sign to him, Pharaoh refused to acknowledge God as the true God.   The only way to escape this final plague was for the people to put the blood of a lamb on the door of their homes which the Israelites did and they were spared. 

     Hundreds and hundreds of years after that first Passover, Jesus was gathered with his disciples in an Upper Room for a Passover meal.  This event in the life of Moses was so important, that we are to remember the exodus story every year.  And this is what the disciples were doing when they gathered for this special meal.  They were remembering how the angel of death had “passed over” the Israelites many centuries ago allowing them to be freed from the Egyptians.

     As they ate this meal, they remembered this story of Moses and how God had rescued them from slavery and led them into the Promised Land.  Each part of the meal helped to tell the story of this incredible saving event.

     There was charoset which is derived from a Hebrew word for clay.  It’s a mixture of apples, cinnamon, nuts, and honey which resembled the clay that the Hebrew slaves mixed in with the straw when they were in Egypt.

     There is Karpas which includes some type of leafy greens to dip into salt water which reminded the people of the sprinkling of the lamb’s blood on the door posts to protect them from the tenth plague.

     There is Maror which are bitter herbs reminding them of their slavery in Egypt.

     There is Zeroah, the roasted shank bone of a lamb, to remind them of the blood of the lamb that was sprinkled on the doorway.

     There are also several other foods that symbolize the Exodus story at the Passover meal.  But I want to focus on just two more.

     There is the unleavened bread to remind us that the Hebrews needed to quickly leave Egypt and they didn’t have time to use leaven.

     And finally, there is the cup of wine which is a symbol of the coming Messiah, the one who would come to fulfill God’s biggest dream of rescuing the world from sin and death.

     As the disciples were gathered with Jesus for this Passover meal, Jesus did a very curious thing.  When he took the unleavened bread, he broke it and said, “This is my body broken for you.  Take and eat.”

     And when he took the cup of wine, he said, “This is my blood which is shed for you.  Take and drink and remember me.”

     Today, we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion, remembering not only the Passover and the story of Moses and the Israelites, but also the sacrifice that Jesus made when he went to the cross to suffer and die for the sake of the world.

     It was on the cross that God’s big dream to rescue us from sin and death was finally accomplished. 

     If we want to go after our wildest dreams, we first need a burning bush moment.  And secondly, we need to continually celebrate God’s big dream of rescuing the world from sin and death.  It’s when we keep in mind God’s big dream that we can go after our wildest dreams.

     The story is told of three stonemasons who were building a cathedral when a stranger wandered by.  The first stonemason was toting rocks to a pile, near a wall. 

     “What are you doing?” asked the stranger.  “Can’t you see that I’m carrying rocks?” came the reply.

      The stranger asked the second laborer, “What are you doing?”  

     “Well, of course, you can see that I’m building a wall,” he replied.

     A few steps away, the stranger came upon a third mason, “What are you doing?” he asked.  The worker smiled and with great pride he said, “I’m building a cathedral to the glory of God.”

     What is the difference of this third worker from the first two workers?  The third stonemason knew what the big picture was.  He knew that his dream of building a building was part of a much larger dream made possible by God.

     A pastor told me that her church needed to find someone to replace the communion steward at her church.  She said that for the past several years, this dear lady had carefully prepared the communion elements for the congregation on Sunday mornings. 

     This meant that she had to make a special trip to get the communion elements and then spend several hours preparing it at the church the day before worship.  But because she was getting up in years, she was physically no longer able to continue to serve in this way.  She agreed to continue to serve until the church found a replacement.

     So here’s what the church did.  They put an article in the bulletin explaining the opening and for anyone who might be interested in serving as the new communion steward to just contact the church office.

     After several weeks and months, not one single person volunteered for this job.  But then the wise pastor thought of an idea.  She asked the communion steward to write a short article about why she enjoyed serving as a communion steward for all of those years.

     Here is what the communion steward wrote.  “Thank you for the privilege to serve as the communion steward at our church these past several years.  I can’t even begin to tell you what it has meant to me to get the communion elements ready for our worship services.  Every time I cut up the pieces of bread, I think of how Jesus allowed his body to be broken on the cross for our sins.  And every time I pour the juice into the chalice, I think of how Jesus shed his blood for our salvation.  I am always amazed that Jesus was willing to do all of this for us.”

     At the end of this article, the pastor simply added a few words asking anyone interested in serving in this way to contact the church office.  The next day, the church received several phone calls of people wanting to serve as communion stewards. 

     What made the difference?  The communion steward reminded the congregation of the big picture and of God’s big dream – to rescue us from sin and death through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This is what Holy Communion is all about.  It’s our story of deliverance, of salvation, and of new beginnings.  It’s the story of Passover.

     The reason God gives us burning bushes is so that we can live out our dreams and participate in God’s big dream of bringing transformation to our community and world.  If your burning bush is to swing a hammer for Habitat for Humanity, swing that hammer knowing that God desires for every single person to have affordable housing.

     If your burning bush is to serve meals for the hungry, serve those meals knowing that God invites the thirsty and the hungry to feast at his heavenly banquet.

     If your burning bush is to write or draw or sculpt, offer your artistic skills knowing that God wants to fill this world with beauty and creativity.

     If your burning bush is to serve as an usher or a greeter, extend hospitality to others knowing that God welcomes all people into the kingdom.

     If your burning bush is to teach Sunday School or a bible study, offer your gift of teaching knowing that God offers us the gift of salvation through his Word.

     In other words, whatever your burning bush is, always keep in mind God’s big dream for the world.

     Mandi Custer is one of our children’s Sunday School teachers.  Let’s hear how Mandi is living out God’s big dream for the world through her teaching.

          As we come forward to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion this morning, offer to God your wildest dreams.  Come and celebrate God’s big dream for the world.  Come and receive the salvation of God.

In Your Wildest Dreams: Your Passover

Pastor Robert McDowell

Exodus 12:1-14

September 4, 2011

Sermon Series:

• August 28 – “Your Burning Bush”
• September 4 – “Your Passover”
• September 11 – “Your Red Sea”
• September 18 – “Your Wilderness”

What is Your Burning Bush/God Dream?

What is Passover?

  “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you.  You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.” – Exodus 12:14

Passover & God’s Big Dream

The Passover & The Lord’s Supper:

  “While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’  Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” – Matthew 26:26-28

Thoughts for the Week:

1. Last Sunday, we thought about Moses and the burning bush story.  Dreams come out of burning bush moments.  What is your burning bush/dream that God is calling you to pursue?
2. What did you think of the story of the three stonemasons?  How can remembering God’s big dream to rescue the world from sin and death help us to pursue our wildest dreams?
3. Next Sunday, we’ll focus on the Red Sea story from Exodus 14:19-31.