Feast before the Flight
Exodus 12:1-14; Luke 22:7-22
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. …. — Exodus 12:11
The events recorded in tonight’s scripture readings are separated by more than 1,000 years in history, yet they share many similarities. There is, of course, the ritual similarity, which follows from the fact that Jesus was well practiced in sharing the Passover Meal, and so naturally found in it a template for the new meal that he instituted before his death. But there is also the situational similarity of people who come face-to-face with dangerous forces beyond their control, who are convinced are at a pivotal crisis moment during which they will witness tragic destruction and painful death, who believe their only hope is in God, who they trust will deliver them from evil.Pastor Rick Morley knows how different the situations of these people are from those in which we most often find ourselves. If we grow calloused to the possibility that our lives and well being are threatened, then it’s difficult to appreciate these stories, or to understand the reason for Maundy Thursday worship. Morley comments on the logistical nightmare Moses faced, daunting even for Presbyterians, who like to do things decently and in order. Morley writes, “He had to tell the entire nation … that they each had to 1.) take a perfect year-old lamb, 2) on the 10thof the month, 3) and slaughter it on the 14thof the month at twilight, 4) roast it with bitter herbs, 5) don’t have any leftovers, 6) eat with sandals and staff, 7) hurriedly. Oh, and by the way, don’t forget to put some of the lamb’s blood on your doorpost, or the angel of death will snuff you out.”[1] He goes on, “I can’t imagine standing in front of a congregation … and giving those instructions, and expecting anyone to take me seriously. Someone in the church would think they had a better lamb recipe …. Someone else always hates to be in a hurry …. Someone would check the calendar on their iPhone and realize that they have a conference call on the 14that twilight (and say) 'How’s the 15th work for you?'”So, why celebrate a Passover meal or the Lord’s Supper with so much ritual and attention to small details? Because what is coming tomorrow is completely different than all we’ve known yesterday. This meal is the hinge around which history turns, the nexus between two radically different ways of living. Because the danger we face is so great that without the proper nutrition, without the encouragement of God and one another, we will not have the strength to survive.This winter, I finally got around to opening my grandfather’s leather satchel. I’ve scanned documents that date back to the 1800s of family members who some describe as “Vistula Germans.” They were ethnic German people who, in search of new farmland, moved further up the Vistula and Bug Rivers in what is now Poland.One of the great treasures I’ve received is the English translation of my Uncle Willi’s 12-page autobiography. In it, he describes what happened to interrupt the family’s long sojourn in the beautiful farming village of Lonschka (which means “meadow”), where 17-year-old Willi lived with his five siblings, including my father, who was six-years old.Uncle Willi says, “… suddenly, on September 24th, 1939, our peaceful, pastoral lives in our German village, were cruelly and abruptly brought to a halt. Hitler had invaded Poland in a Blitz Krieg on September 1, 1939. I remember the skies in the west growing red as rockets fell and bombs exploded. Before we knew what was happening we were told to prepare to flee. Leave everything behind we were told. If you do not get out of here you will be killed. Although Germans and Poles had lived peacefully together for generations, now overnight we were the enemies. Quickly, pigs and chickens were slaughtered and food was prepared for … (die) ‘Flucht’ (the flight, the exodus). For some reason my brother Gerhard and I were sent over to our friends, the Wolf household, with a big bowl of bread dough which was still baked in their oven that night. We needed to take food along. What turmoil. What fear.My father, Gottlieb hurriedly headed to the main town ... to gather information on how best to travel. Then the men were all alerted to meet in town for a town meeting. Mr. Rosenberg, who had relatives in Lonschka arrived with a car load of high ranking German officials. They laid it on our hearts that speed was paramount. We needed to depart and fast. That meant tomorrow, a Monday! As we would be resettled in West Prussia, we were urged to take along our cattle. Anybody who did not have a horse and wagon worked desperatly to locate one.So it was that early Monday morning, September 25, 1939, the whole village was emptied of all its German speaking residents. Homes, barns, farming equipment, furniture, Christmas decorations, dishes, so many extra things useful and sentimental, were left behind. Can you imagine losing everything? The wagons were loaded with only essentials, food, for humans and cattle, bedding and perhaps some extra warm clothing as winter was on our doorstep. Looking back with tears, we wondered whether we would ever see our homes or our farms again."[2]My Uncle Willi was a deeply religious man, made more so by what he endured in the coming years. He never did see his old home again, but I’m sure he saw the connections between the texts we read tonight and the text of his life. In 24 hours, the story of his life took a radical new direction. Pork, chicken, and bread would nourish the family on the long journey, as would the encouragement and support of their fellow pilgrims.While you and I may never so directly face the consequences of cataclysmic world events, we face our own set of potential dangers: weather-related tragedies, medical crises, environmental disasters, the horrific outcomes of gun violence that we seem unable to adequately address.So we need those important ritual events like wedding receptions, birthday parties, baby showers, and, yes, the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. One way or another, what is coming tomorrow is completely different than all we’ve known yesterday. The danger we face is so great that without the proper nutrition, without the encouragement of God and one another, we will not have the strength to survive. In this meal, with its reminder of the One around whom history turns, we are promised the presence and support of Him who gave us his body and blood, and died that we might live.NOTES[1]Rick Morley, “Dinner and a Do-over,” www.rickmorley.com, 22 Aug. 2011, accessed 9 April 2019.[2]Thanks to my cousin Walli Janzen for supplying the translated text.