The exodus.

Last night our church community celebrated Passover and shared in communion.

          It has been about 9 or 10 years since my husband and I were last with the Jewish side of his family for Passover. So, it had been a while since I had read from the Haggadah. To put it simply, it is a beautiful service and made even more beautiful by partaking in communion after the fact.

          The reminder of deliverance and the foreshadowing to Christ is moving. Of course at the same time it is heartbreaking to know so many don't see it pointing to Christ. You read about freedom and all God has done for His people and you just want to shout, "But there's more! We are not still waiting! He has broken our chains forever!"

          Several passages from our copy of the Haggadah stood out to me and were particularly inspiring, but I want to share one in particular. Before I get to that though, there is a song that is on my mind as I consider Good Friday, a day where fear and mourning swept over those who watched Christ die. A day that marks the end of our wondering and crying out for deliverance.

Oh, my God- Jars of Clay
Oh, my God, look around this place
Your fingers reach around the bone
You set the break and set the tone
Flights of grace and future falls
In present pain, all fools say, "Oh, my God"

Oh, my God, why are we so afraid?
We make it worse when we don't bleed
There is no cure for our disease
Turn a phrase and rise again
Or fake your death and only tell
Your closest friends, oh, my God

Oh, my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief
And graft my soul upon your grief
Weddings, boats and alibis
All drift away and a mother cries

Liars and fools, sons and failures
Thieves will always say
Lost and found, ailing wanderers
Healers always say

Whores and angels, men with problems
Leavers always say
Broken hearted, separated
Orphans always say

War creators, racial haters
Preachers always say
Distant fathers, fallen warriors
Givers always say

Pilgrim saints, lonely widows
Users always say
Fearful mothers, watchful doubters
Saviors always say

Sometimes I can not forgive
These days mercy cuts so deep
If the world was how it should be
Maybe I could get some sleep

While I lay, I'd dream we're better
Scales were gone and faces lighter
When we wake, we hate our brother
We still move to hurt each other

Sometimes I can close my eyes
And all the fear that keeps me silent
Falls below my heavy breathing
What makes me so badly bent?

We all have a chance to murder
We all have the need for wonder
We still want to be reminded
That the pain is worth the plunder

Sometimes when I lose my grip
I wonder what to make of Heaven
All the times I thought to reach up
All the times I had to give up

Babies underneath their beds
Hospitals that cannot treat them
All the wounds that money causes
All the comforts of cathedrals

All the cries of thirsty children
This is our inheritance
All the rage of watching mothers
This is our greatest offense

Oh, my God
Oh, my God
Oh, my God

          This song is heart breaking to listen too. Look around us at the inheritance of our sin, the world we have broken for our will. Everyone cries out for deliverance in their darkest moments, and the awe inspiring thing about it is that it has been offered to us, the cost already paid. Freedom. How badly I wish people still caught in this anguish could understand that God has provided a way. This reminds me too that as we continue to cry out in our sin God hears us. He knows. He is here. I'm working through a study of Psalm 107 where you read over and over that "He delivered them." He will lead us to a place, delivering us from our trials.

          Which brings me to back to the Haggadah where we read allowed the portion of "Our Personal Deliverance." It is broken down into sections read by those assembled and the leader, but I am going to write it all together here.

          "In every generation, each Jew must look upon himself as though he, personally, was among those who went forth from Egypt. Not our fathers alone did the Holy One, Blessed be He, redeem from suffering, but also us and our families.  The struggle for freedom is a continuous struggle, for never does man reach total liberty and opportunity. In every age, some new freedom is won and established, adding to the advancement of human happiness and security. Yet, each age uncovers a formerly unrecognized servitude, requiring new liberation to set man's soul free. In every age, the concept of freedom grows broader, widening the horizons for finer and nobler living. Each generation is duty-bound to contribute to this growth, else mankind's ideals become stagnant and stationary.
          The events in Egypt were but the beginning of a force in history which will forever continue. In this spirit, we see ourselves as participants in the Exodus, for we must dedicate our energies to the cause there begun. In our day, we shall defend the heritage of liberty, taught by the Torah and preserved by democracies.
          As inheritors of the priceless heritage of liberty, we join now in praising and glorifying God's Holy Name. For the miracles which He wrought in the past, and also in our day, we offer Him our thankfulness. He did deliver us from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to happiness, from mourning to rejoicing, from darkness to light. In gratitude for these manifold blessings, we shall sing songs of praise to Him."

          How beautiful is that? There is so much to unpack here, and I won't attempt to cover it all. Now that Christ has come and defeated death giving us everlasting freedom we know that the struggle for freedom is over for those who believe. This charge to contribute to bringing about freedom to more and more people is still true, but it has changed drastically since Christ rose from the dead. As I read this I couldn't help but think of the state of our nation and the freedoms so many people are fighting for. We are still liberating people from the bondage of sin in this world, as we should be, but Christ has charged us with even more, the great commission. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20) Or in Mark 16 where it is recorded "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." Freedom. Go bring freedom to everyone. That has not changed, but the kind of freedom we achieve through Christ is everlasting. He has brought us out of slavery forever. We are all, Jews and gentiles united in Christ, participants in the Exodus, but not just from slavery in Egypt but slavery to sin. What a powerful gift we have been given and can share with others. Freedom from our own flesh that fails us. Freedom from the weight we have put on, the burdens we carry around. Freedom from fear, hate, loneliness, hopelessness, disease, famine . . . death has been defeated. It is finished. We are made righteous sons and daughters of God. We cannot fail, because God is in us.

          I could say so much more about this, but I won't. It's a powerful, moving thing to sit with and ponder. And it's real. This hope is real. This freedom is real. We have a real God.

Today is a day we remember deliverance, 
the exodus from our captivity to sin.