Preparing for Passover

I have never celebrated a traditional Passover dinner. And that makes sense, primarily, because I am not Jewish. I have read about it in detail, and I have particiated in tasting events, but neither is the same as gathering in a family's house as they pray, eat, and remember a tradition that is thousands of years old.

I must admit a good portion of the information I have read about Passover has been in preparing for Holy Week services. Christians who don't have at least a rudimentary understanding of Passover miss out on much of the symbolism of the Last Supper, Christ's crucifiction, and the modern celebration of both Communion and Easter.

But long before I knew the term "cultural appropiation," I was sensitive to the idea that a Christian observing their own pseudo-Passover meal might be offensive to a Jewish person. That left a person like me - who earnestly wants to understand and experience the tradition - in a predicament.

This year that longing to participate has been stronger than ever, and I have been considering how to balance these conflicting desires for months. I woke up this morning dispirited, thinking I had missed Passover.  Then I realized it was not yesterday; today is Passover.  I knew in that moment I would like to honor the day, even if I could not fully participate.  I looked up a few recipes, and I headed to the grocery store.  As I shopped, these words echoed in my head:

Eat the meat while your coat is tucked into your belt. Put your sandals on your feet. Take your walking stick in your hand. Eat the food quickly. It is the Lord’s Passover. That same night I will pass through Egypt. I will strike down all those born first among the people and animals. And I will judge all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.  The blood on your houses will be a sign for you. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. No deadly plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
(Exodus 12:11-13, NIRV)

There is an urgency to Passover, reminding me of my urgent need of salvation.  My best efforts are "woefully insufficient," as I recently read. God is my only source of freedom. So though I won't be painting my doorway with lamb's blood tonight, I will be baking some unleavened bread.  

I might even tuck my shirt into my belt. But if my husband asks, I'm just going to just say it's a French tuck.

Communion and the Coronavirus

Becoming an online student has come with a learning curve for both my children and me. Certain classes have been very straightforward with students checking assignments daily on Google Classrooms and then following the prompts. Other classes have left me wondering how the work will be finished. My older son is enrolled in a ceramics class. For obvious reasons, he won't be making projects at home. (My fire insurance carrier is thankful for that!) Instead, he was assigned to share the instructions for a "meaningful recipe," bake it, and then take a magazine-style photo of the food in the bowl he made last semester.

For every family, what has meaning is a little different. I once heard Ina Garten say that she makes a roast chicken every Friday for her husband.  Think about all the special moments that have been shared between them while eating chicken, especially considering she's been married more than 50 years! I recently heard Jeff Mauro tell a story about having a late night bowl of cereal with his son.  I remember thinking that when his son grows up he will likely think of his dad every time he eats cereal. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to hear what held a special place in my son't heart.

After some thought, he chose our Breakfast Cookies. Look at these beauties:

Photo Credit: Jacob Wills

I know that at some point I saw a recipe that inspired these cookies, but I've been making them so long that I don't know where.  Because they are so simple, I have been making them without a written recipe. Before you ask, I'm not one of those people that memorizes all her recipes. There is only one other recipe that I have memorized.

These Breakfast Cookies are made from just:

*2 overripe bananas, mashed

*1/3 cup peanut butter

*1/3 cup chocolate chips

*1.5 cups old fashioned oats

*Mix everything in a bowl until well combined, then scoop using a #50 scoop (about two tablespoons), and bake for 15-17 minutes at 350*,

There is another special meal we often share. I sometimes forget this tradition started at a dinner table because I usually call it by it's "church name." Communion, or Eucharist depending on one's tradition, started when Jesus and His disciples shared a traditional Jewish meal: Passover. This is what we are told in the Gospel of Luke:

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." (Luke 22:14-20, NIV)

I have taken communion more times than I can remember, but I do remember the ones that had significant meaning.

I first took communion when I was young, maybe four or five. I remember my mom explaining to me what it meant - both the symbolism in the bread and juice and that it should only be taken by those who have faith in Christ. I understood, at least as much as a child of that age can, and so I ate and drank. I consider that my first confession of faith.

I last took communion two days ago. It didn't look like the traditional bread and juice, but I believe it was even more special for that reason. I should tell you that we don't often have saltines or juice in the house, but I had picked up cranberry juice because my husband has been craving it recently and I picked up the crackers for no particular reason. No particular reason except, as I now believe, to have the elements for communion. When we sat down to watch the broadcast of our Sunday morning service, I had no idea it would include a time of communion. However, because God provides what we need, I had it all.

I remind you: We are socially distanced, but we don't have to be spiritually distanced. #cantstopthechurch

Good Friday Prayers

As I drove to my church's Good Friday service I uttered a prayer that included some words like, "Let me see what You want me to see."  To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what I prayed because it was just an earnest prayer to begin preparing my heart for whatever the night held.  As an employee of my church, I had helped with many parts of our Easter events, but Good Friday is an evening that our pastor holds dear to his heart.  For several years we've had the tradition of a short worship service and then a modernized stations of the cross experience.  While I knew about certain elements - cotton balls, grape juice, and club soda - because I had bought them, I knew little more about the evening.

I've always struggled with prayer.  I believe in prayer because the Bible tells me to, and I believe in prayer because I've heard from trustworthy friends about the miracles they have seen, but if we are being honest I've had a hard time finding moments that I could say were direct answers to prayer.  Of course there have been some, but it's hard to hold onto "some" over decades of faith.  I don't blame God or the power of prayer for the "some"; I recognize it largely a result of my lack of commitment to prayer.  And so like many times, I found myself throwing out a prayer as I drove to church because I realized I was entering a truly holy time of the year without much prayer.  God, forgive me.

The Anointing
In Matthew 26:6-13 Jesus is anointed while at the home of Simon the Leper.  Side note: I've recently enjoyed thinking about how people are identified in the Gospels.  Was Simon the Leper still living with leprosy, or had Jesus healed him of the disease?  It seems like a simple answer at first, of course Jesus had probably healed him, but if that is the case, why is he not referred to as the one healed of leprosy?  It'd be like a biblical artist formerly known as Prince.  Another fun one to think about is The Other Mary of Matthew 27:61.  Really?  The only way to distinguish her was as "the other"?  I digress.

Simon the Leper had Jesus over for dinner when a woman pours expensive perfume from an alabaster jar on Jesus' head.  In my church's tradition we talk a lot about this woman.  Twice a year we collect an "alabaster offering" that goes directly to the mission field to help acquire property and construct buildings.  I do love it, but until last night I'd never seen it happen.  As the last details of service were coming together I watched a friend pour small amounts of good smelling oil onto cotton balls.  Unfortunately, a few cotton balls in she ran out of the lavender scented oil she had and switched to the frankincense oil instead.  I don't know for sure that the woman in the Bible poured frankincense on Jesus' head, but I do know it is a perfume and the oil my friend used costs $90 for one tablespoon.  Yes, you read that right: $90 for one tablespoon.  Without even knowing it, my friend had poured out her alabaster jar.

The Crowd
One subtle element of the crucifixion story that you may have missed is the crowd.  In most church plays the crowd is there to yell "crucify Him" and there was even an armed crowd when Judas initially betrayed Jesus, but they do little more than that.  At Passover Jerusalem would have been filled with Jews who traveled into the city to celebrate the holiday.  How many were there: One thousand?  Ten thousand?  One hundred thousand?  A million?  The crowd that could have come out to watch the crucifixion events unfold are staggering.  And the more that were there for crucifixion, the more that would be saying to their friends on Sunday morning, "Hey, you remember that guy we watch be crucified?  Something happened."  Well we certainly didn't have a million people at our Good Friday service.  We didn't even have one thousand.  We had 41.  And I know that because earlier in the day my pastor and I had a conversation about how many papers to prepare for one of the stations.  Is 40 enough, I asked.  I'd love to have 40, he said.  Sure enough, God did His thing.  He sent 41 people out to our little church on Friday night as a way of reminding us that He can do so much more than we imagine.

The Scattering and the Gathering
When I think about Good Friday, I often think of that lone disciple mentioned in the gospel of John (the beloved disciple, traditionally John).  We know what became of Judas (eek) and also Peter (sigh), and I envision the other nine running home to pack bags and get out of town.  It's possible that they were part of the crowds that watched from a distance, but they certainly are not identified.

Who is identified are two new characters, the secret disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus.  In John 19 we read that Joseph had been a secret disciple out of fear of the Jewish leaders.  If you've ever been to Sunday School you remember that Nicodemus had visited Jesus at night (and if you're a little rusty on your Bible quizzing facts you can read that account in John 3).

There comes a moment in each of our lives that we have to stop living in the shadows.  We can no longer let fear rule us, and we must decide to do what is right.  For these two men, their decision to put their faith into action at that moment secured them an amazing part of the greatest come back story ever.  I can't help but wonder what might be waiting for me if I were to do the same.