The Prison of Want
"Agnus Dei" by Francisco de Zurbarán
(EXODUS 12:1-13; CF. LUKE 22:14-20)
This coming Sunday, God’s Word wings its way once more into our hearts as well as filling our hands with the sacrament of unleavened bread and wine (holy communion) … as we hear again the story of God’s salvation in the central, defining event of the OT; namely, the Exodus with its entrée point of “The Passover.” Specifically, we hear God’s concluding instruction to his people Israel as they begin their exodus journey, out of the bondage of Egypt: “In this manner you shall eat [the Passover meal of roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs and wine]: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste” (Exodus 12:11).
Briefly recall from last week, how in the concluding chapters of Genesis, Abraham’s descendants move from the land of Canaan – due to a devastating drought – into the land of Egypt. Some four hundred years later, these descendants (the people of Israel) become a great nation (Exodus 1:7), numbering several thousand – thanks to “Uncle Joseph” who became Egypt’s Secretary of Agriculture. But Israel’s great prosperity led to idol worship and immorality (Judges 24:14). Soon the Egyptian Pharaoh, Sethos I pressed them into slavery and hard labor – building what we know today as the great pyramids, in order to maintain control over them.
And so, for yet another couple of generations, the people of Israel suffered great persecution, until around 1280 B.C., now in bondage to a new Pharaoh, Ramses II. The Israelite people lifted their repentant pleas to God for deliverance … and God heard their cry (Exodus 2:4). And by God’s freeing power, through his servant Moses (which is our story for this week) God passed over their sin in his great mercy, setting them quickly on an Exodus journey of unleavened bread, through the Red Sea and wide ‘n wooly wilderness, into the Promised Land. So some questions:
The Prison of Slavery to Pharaoh. How-in-the-world does this relate to our lives today?
Might such a slavery be one of living in a daily “Prison of Want”?
The Passover meal with its unleavened bread and wine, roasted lamb and herbs. So where’s the Lamb in our Christian observance of this Passover meal in Holy Communion? (Read Luke 22:14-22)
Overall, how does the Exodus journey to freedom’s home connect with us today – some 3300 years later? What are we freed from? And what are we freed for?
dr. j.r. chrisopherson
Thoughts for Sunday
Last week, we read about God’s promise to Abraham, that Abraham would one day be blessed with descendants as numerous as the stars. This weekend’s Scripture reading, Genesis 15:15-21, narrows in on one of Abraham’s most notable descendants: Joseph. Some of you Bible students or Theater enthusiasts will be familiar with Joseph’s story, but if not, here’s a brief overview.
Joseph was the youngest of twelve sons and highly favored by his father Jacob, also known as Israel. When Joseph was a young man, his jealous older brothers sold him into slavery, telling their father that Joseph had died. Joseph started off as a slave in Egypt, but soon Egypt’s most influential leaders recognized Joseph’s hard work and prophetic powers. Joseph rose in stature and entered into a position of power as he enabled Egypt to survive a devastating famine. Joseph’s brothers eventually came to seek help from Joseph in Egypt, not recognizing him as their brother. Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and they tearfully reconciled themselves to one another. The brothers quickly traveled back home to fetch their ailing father, Israel, allowing Joseph and his father to be reunited shortly before his death. Genesis 50:15-21picks up just as their father Israel has died. Click here to read the passage.
My sermon this weekend will explore the theme of forgiveness as we also learn about the Facing Addiction program that is launching at First Lutheran Church and other churches across Sioux Falls, together with the recovery coaching organization Face It TOGETHER. To get a preview of what this program is all about, click here.
I’m aware that discussion of the Facing Addiction program this Sunday will stir up some feelings of worry and anxiety in our congregations, and I will try to be sensitive to this. The disease of addiction can cause so much pain and heartache, and create a need for reconciliation among families and friends. Those who have not successfully sought treatment are often aware of the pain their addiction causes loved ones. Those who have been in recovery for some time, or those still on the journey, perhaps cringe at the thought of past behaviors and events, even if amends have been made. Furthermore, even those who do not experience drug or alcohol addiction personally can still experience plenty of guilt when the subject is raised. These friends and family members ask themselves: “Could I have done something differently to help him?” or “Why didn’t I see the signs earlier?” or “I didn’t know how to be a supportive friend to ____, so I just gave up.”
Beloved children of God, fear not! God’s mercy is far greater than our sin. Christ is ours, forgiving our sins and comforting us with the promise of eternal life through the preaching of the word and the gifts poured out on us in the sacraments. Though humans meant to do evil to him on the cross, God worked through his life and death for good – our good – in order to bring about eternal salvation. He knows our faults and failures and bids us to give them up to him, that we may take hold of the new life he has given us so graciously through the Holy Spirit. All thanks and praise to the One who is faithful in all times, in every circumstance.
See you in church!
Pastor Katherine
Thoughts for Sunday
“And the Lord God brought Abraham outside [his tent] and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to Abraham, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And Abraham believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:5-6; cf. Romans 4:3,9; Galatians 3:6)
The Starry Night (1889) Vincent vanGogh
In our Old Testament reading for this coming weekend, our forebears in the faith – Abraham and Sarah – offer a wonderful witness as to how Christian hope can only be based on God’s promise. For our days can also become skirted by clouds that block our vision from the stars … clouds of doubt, dis-ease, despair … “How long, O Lord, must we wait?” (see also Psalm 13:1-6; 35:17-18; Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4) … But then again, it is precisely into such barren times – when the gestation period of God’s justice and mercy seem so long in coming – that God fills us up – speaking his creative and renewing word of reassurance. No, they’re not words written in the stars but written into the raw stuff of our lives – mangered and mingled under the Bethlehem star of One who says to us, as with Abraham and Sarah, again this day: “Don’t be afraid. Press on toward the promised vision. I’m with you always, even to the end of the age. Be merciful. Feed my lambs. Teach your children in the ways of godliness. Risk. Whoever loses one’s life for my sake and my gospel will save it. Take up your cross and follow me. Trust in my promise, for you have my Word on it. Cross my heart.”
Let us pray: Lord, we give you thanks for your Holy Word that breaks in upon our self-centered darkness and doubt … a Word that calls us to trust in you ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE … Yes, the very same Word that came to Abraham and Sarah of old, to us right NOW … in-spiring us to lean upon your almighty promise: to “count the stars” rather than the cost; to “count our blessings” rather than our losses; to “count on your forgiveness and grace” and know that you make all-things-new (Revelation 21:5). Old-fashioned? NO. But eternally NEW, NOW. In the name of Jesus Christ – your Word made flesh – we pray. AMEN.
“Look at the stars! Look, look up at the skies. O look at all the fire-folk of faith sitting in the air [cheering us on].”
(Gerard Manley Hopkins; The Starlit Night)
dr. j.r. christopherson