Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8

(sermon note: 09-29 sermon note)

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of
months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 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. 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. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male;
you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this
month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 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. They
shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and
bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and
inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning
you shall burn. 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. For 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 judgements: I am the Lord. 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.
The Lord said to Moses: Consecrate to me all the firstborn; whatever is the first to open the womb
among the Israelites, of human beings and animals, is mine.
Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of
slavery, because the Lord brought you out from there by strength of hand; no leavened bread shall be
eaten. Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. When the Lord brings you into the land of the
Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your ancestors
to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this observance in this month. For seven
days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to the Lord.
Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen in your possession,
and no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory. You shall tell your child on that day, “It is
because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.”
This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about a couple in their nineties who were both
having problems remembering things. During a checkup, the doctor told them that they're physically
okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember. Later that night, while
watching TV, the old man got up from his chair. “Want anything while I'm in the kitchen?” he asked.
“Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?” responded his wife. “Sure.” “Don't you think you should write it
down so you can remember it?” she asked. “No, I can remember it.” “Well, I'd like some strawberries on
top, too. Maybe you should write it down, so as not to forget it?” He said, “I can remember that. You
want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.” “I'd also like whipped cream. I'm certain you'll forget
that…won’t you write it down?” she asked. Irritated, he shouted, 'I don't need to write it down, I can

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remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream – I got it, for goodness sake!” Then he
toddled into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, the old man returned from the kitchen and handed his
wife a plate of bacon and eggs. She stared at the plate for a moment. “Where's my toast?!”
Memory is a funny thing sometimes. It’s funny the things we remember and the things we don’t
remember. Some things only stay in the short-term memory while others get pushed back into the long-
term memory. And like computers, our brains are only capable of storing so many memories. We simply
can’t store every minor detail of every waking moment. Our brains get rid of a lot of the details so that
they can make room for new, incoming details. So it’s a good thing that we can’t remember
evvvverything! Although it’s probably important to remember what your spouse told you just minutes
before!
But it’s true, our minds are amazing receptacles for an endless supply of information, and they
somehow manage to process it all, filter out unimportant information, and categorize and store the
important information. Some memories are kept while others are discarded and the ones that are kept
are typically kept for a good reason. They might have taught us something important about ourselves or
the world around us. They might have kept us alive in certain situations. They might have simply been
extraordinary instances that added joy or sorrow to our lives. Our minds have an amazing ability of
continually processing and filtering memories from day to day. Sometimes we share collective
memories. The recent COVID pandemic created a global collective memory. A few weeks ago, we again
revived a national collective memory surrounding the events of 9/11. Both events were such
extraordinary events that our minds understandably added them to our long-term memories. They
created such terror and uncertainty that our minds hold onto the memories to avoid such situations in
the future. No one wants to relive either of those events and the hope is that by remembering them, we
won’t have to relive them.

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Our reading for this morning is also about a shared collective memory. We might wonder how
we jump in our narrative from Joseph and his brothers to Moses and the final plague before the
Israelites were finally set free from their Egyptian slavery. Well, Moses and the Israelites were the
descendants of Joseph’s family. Recall that Joseph was also sold into Egyptian slavery and rose through
the Egyptian hierarchy to a position of great authority. Despite Joseph’s influence, Egyptian slavery
continued for several generations until no one really remembered Joseph was once a slave himself. God
remembered though and He helped Moses remember too. He helped Moses realize that Joseph’s
people, God’s people, needed to be set free from slavery once and for all. God’s plagues were terrible
events in the lives of the Egyptians and Israelites alike. But the final plague was particularly harsh on the
Egyptians because the Israelites were given the key to avoiding it. And God not only gave them the key,
but He gave them a meal to remember how He saved them from the plague and the whole slavery
experience.
Memories remind us of extraordinary events as well as events that could have destroyed us.
More importantly, they reveal to us God’s sovereignty in our lives. Memories help us see that God works
in our lives to teach us and grow us. The prophet Isaiah spoke on God’s behalf, “Remember the former
things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me.” (46:9) Now you
couple that wisdom with Paul’s words to the Romans, “We know that all things work together for good
for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (8:28) All the events of our lives are
working towards the goodness of God. The Israelites were enslaved for generation after generation so
that God’s goodness and glory could be revealed. Friends, ALL things work together for good! God is
good and God is in control even in times when we feel we’ve been abandoned. The enslaved Israelites
no doubt felt abandoned in their misery year after year. But then God sent ten mighty plagues to change
their destiny.

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David sang in his Psalms, “I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders
of old.” (77:11) There is great assurance found in remembering the mighty deeds of our God. We are not
alone, and we have a God that can do some pretty amazing things. These are important things to
remember in our pilgrimage through this world…arguably just as important as ice cream with
strawberries AND whipped cream! Let us seek to remember the mighty deeds of our God and give
thanks for them. Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.