Daily Deliberation and Prayer - 01/17/2011

Awake. Eat. Get Ready.

Be On Your Toes.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 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. 4 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. 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 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. 8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. 12For 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. 13 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. 14This 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. 

 21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down. 24 You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children. 25 When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. 26 And when your children ask you, "What do you mean by this observance?' 27 you shall say, "It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.'" And the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites went and did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 12:1-14, 21-28

  

Wait on the Lord! Certainly biblical, and very sound advise to boot. But, oh how hard it can be a lot of the time. Especially in this super-speed high-tech world in which we live, seeking  instant answers to our questions and immediate solutions to our difficulties.

Presently in the “search-and-call” process of my denomination – where the “searching” has not yet culminated in a “call” - in the midst of any and all efforts to secure a pastoral position - I have had to remind myself often to “Wait on the Lord!”, as the weeks and months move quickly past. That statement is more than just some ancient platitude; rather, it rises up more as a confession of faith, realizing and honoring the fact that our lives are in the hands of God. Remembering that we have an enormous part to play in the outcome of the circumstances in our daily lives, “Wait on the Lord” also acknowledges that our God has a huge role to play too, in shaping our thoughts, our actions, our souls, and the direction in which we journey. And so this waiting for what comes next in my life is a compelling mixture of a lot of self-applied elbow-grease, combined with a very healthy dose of faith.

Despite all that – and in light of all that - in this interlude between past and future, waiting, and waiting, and waiting can drain us; physically, mentally, and faithfully – just when we need that faith the most. Trying times, for an almost immeasurable numbers of our sisters/brothers, who themselves long for the dignity that full employment can bring, and who in the meantime continue that daily exercise of seeking and waiting on the Lord.

In light of today’s lectionary passage from the Hebrew scriptures of Exodus, anyone who knows me might understand why I became a little keyed up when I read these words:

“This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord.”

Hurriedly. Your sandals on your feet, with staff in hand, and don’t linger at the table. Wow. What a paragraph. In short; your bags better be packed, the mail put on hold, and instructions left with the neighbors, because God is about to do some remarkable things in your life. Because for all that waiting in faith, when the moment of God’s choosing arrives, the state of affairs can change pretty darn quickly.

Our lectionary text today sheds light just that. For years – or rather more like many passing generations – our Hebrew ancestors labored under the crushing rule of the Pharaoh. For numerous decades they lived as slaves, and called out for some form of relief, and then waited, and waited, and waited on the Lord. Each day they slogged through the mud pits - molding muck and straw - to produce Pharaoh’s monuments to himself. The brickyards were laying them low, and yet their faith, as uncertain as it may have become, was in the One on whom they waited, and waited and waited. God heard their cries –their wailing to be set free from the circumstances that enslaved them – and the Lord “came down” - God’s moment came, and they were told that they better be ready. For God was passing by and leading them to a new freedom; and today was the day. 

(I encourage you to check out the whole story for yourself, beginning in the first chapter of Exodus)

So, here I wait. Profiles circulated. Resumes and references mailed. Emails sent and answered, and interviews completed. With boxes packed (for the most part) and keys in hand; knowing from the narratives of our sacred texts, and from the rich experiences of my own years, that God will “come down”. And when God does; when God moves in your life, you better be prepared. For when this “new” thing happens, it will happen quickly. Waiting for God’s Spirit to speak and lead to the next venture in our life journeys is about being ready for that moment when the Lord our God says, “let’s go”.

Faithful God, I think I have done everything I can do. So now I wait. For you. For that “passover” in my life. Come, Lord Jesus, and “let’s go” – together.

Amen.

Rev. Michael Kirchhoff