Exodus 12:24-27 (The Message)
”Keep this word. It’s the law for you and your children, forever. When you enter the land which God will give you as he promised, keep doing this. And when your children say to you, ‘Why are we doing this?’ tell them: ‘It’s the Passover-sacrifice to God who passed over the homes of the Israelites in Egypt when he hit Egypt with death but rescued us.’” The people bowed and worshiped.
I love these verses, especially where it says, “When your children say to you…” I have two children, and it is their voices that I hear saying, “Mom, why are we doing this?”
All too often, we don’t have a good answer.
A woman was in the process of fixing her special holiday ham. She cleaned it and then took a huge knife, lopped off both ends of the ham and placed it in a pan. Her daughter, who was learning how to cook asked, “Now Mom, why did you do that?” “Because that’s how your grandmother did it,” was her answer. “Let’s ask her.” So they did. Her answer was the same. Her mother had always done it that way. Being a lucky family, great grandma was still with them so they asked her. Her answer?
“The pan I had was too small, so I had to cut off the ends of the ham to make it fit in the pan.”
“Because we have always done it that way” is not a good answer.
The church has failed in teaching generations why we do what we do; and many of the rich symbols and actions of the church have become empty ritual. But we have also failed in not asking the questions. These verses from Exodus 12 come at the end of the description of how the Passover will be remembered every year thereafter; and even today in the Passover Liturgy there are 4 questions that the children ask, year after year; and the explanation is the same year after year – because we are celebrating how God saves us.
The ritual and intentionality within the church has come out of hundreds of years of people desiring to deepen their spiritual journey. There are many things that we say and do that are designed to strengthen our faith, but only if we understand them. My hope is that you will ask, and we will explain – and our experiences in worship will be deepened.
This is a great forum for you to ask some questions.
So… what is it that you want to know? Why are we doing _____________?
Blessings!
Julie
