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| Last year's Passover table |
Been busy all week preparing for Passover. All chametz has to be removed from the house. Chametz is anything with leaven in it. This means moving the furniture to sweep out any hidden crumbs. Vacuuming under the couch cushions. Wiping down everything in the pantry. Washing all the bedding--including sheets, blankets, and pillows. You get the idea.
For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses....
Exodus 12:19
I've been working, working, working. I've been trying, trying, trying.
I mean, you wouldn't know by looking at me, but I can be quite the perfectionist. I just set up the living room with three long tables--because friends are joining us and everyone has to have their own chair--no benches, which is what we usually use. I prepped some stuff for dinner tomorrow. And I sat down to sew new napkins. (Non-essential, of course, but I wanted them done nonetheless.)
I swept tonight after dinner and despite having gone through the house multiple times with the broom and the vacuum, there was still all sorts of crumbs and bits of food and are those noodles? Seriously?! I just cannot get all the chametz out of this house, despite every effort. No matter how careful I am, little children insist on creating crumbs--that slide down their chins, to their shirts and pants and eventually the floor. I've been tempted to make them eat their meals outside or in the bathtub until Passover is over.
I love observing Passover. It's such a celebration of freedom! It makes me want to dance and sing to think about it! And yet, in preparation for a celebration of FREEDOM, I put myself in such bondage to perfectionism.
Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. I Corinthians 5:5-6
The whole act of trying to removing the chametz and failing miserably has been....wonderful. You know what? I cannot remove all the leaven (a.k.a. sin) from my life. Even if I work my fingers to the bones and become Mrs. Super Christian, there will still be that pesky leaven hiding. "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?" Romans 7:24
But, Christ--my Passover--has completed the work.
"I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." Galatians 2:21
Tomorrow before sunset we will remove all the leaven from the pantry and refrigerator, box it up and take it to the garage. And I will explain to the children that we have to remove all sin from our lives--even the little stuff, but that we cannot do it by ourselves. We have to have The Passover Lamb--all of our own efforts will always fall short. Then we will have some friends in for the Seder. There will be lots of laughter, lots of wine, lots of prayer, and even some dancing.
We will offer the Lord, not our perfection, but our gratefulness for the freedom we have in Him!
Be careful not to worship perfection.
Strive for excellence as a means of worship.
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| A place set for Elijah |
6 comments:
I have forever wondered, dear Daja, why Christians... saved by the blood of Jesus Christ... still observe old Jewish laws?! It just doesn't make sense to me.
At our former church, they had a mock Jewish wedding... and they went to a lot of work to put it on, as authentically as they could. I just didn't understand why they would go to all that work & trouble.
I understand the Jesus was a Jew & was raised in a Jewish home... but I also understand that He came to cast aside all those extreme laws that the Jews held on to so tightly... because He didn't want them to think that there was anything they could do to earn Heaven & His love.
So I truly don't understand why anyone would go through all the trouble (& superstition-like actions) to get rid of all the chametz in their household?! It would seem to me that doing that would almost be like an insult to Our Lord, since His death overcame all of that & proved it to be useless.
I ask this with all sincerity. Is it simply as a gesture to kind of try & see what it feels like to have lived in Jesus' time & childhood?
Love you~ Andrea
xoxoxoxoxoxo
And in the middle of all your busy preparations for so many guests, deep cleaning, and napkin-sewing, you find the time to share your lessons learned. You're a more excellent woman than I!
One year I will do this! This season has creeped up on me!! WOW! Thank you for the focus.
You are amazing DAJA!!
Rebekah
Andrea,
Because in doing it we see Jesus and His completed work demonstrated so clearly, it refocuses our eyes on Jesus.
We all know the plan of salvation laid out in the New Testament, but in observing this feast, we see God's plan of redemption deeply imbedded in customs more than a thousand years before Christ's birth. It reveals God's sovereignty and new mercies all along the way. In observing the Passover who actually end up acting out the entire plan of salvation through Christ.
We don't follow it religiously as any sort of means to earn our salvation, but as a means of remembering that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever and as a way of celebrating his protection and provision since the beginning of time.
Ah, Andrea, the Jewish wedding is packed full of symbolism of Christ and His Body (the Church). God has a purpose for everything. The reasons of why do not end with history or culture, but with typifying/symbolizing what an amazing God we serve! The more we learn of Jewish "tradition", the more we see how God's plan was there from the beginning. He never meant for us to wander, but presented Himself to us from the start! Even in their wedding ceremony.
I have never hosted Passover, but have attended several Seders. It is amazing how glorious they can be in presenting the gospel! Two years ago, we went to the local Jewish synagogue as guests for Passover. It was so enlightening, but so very sad. Here were all these people going through the rituals (and having a good time doing it with all the wine that was flowing!), but their hearts and spirits were blind to the truth they were reciting. On the other hand, my children celebrate with no religious intent at all, but with celebration of the law that was fulfilled through Christ, our Savior!
Thanks for sharing Daja. I didn't know what the chametz was or symbolized. I've been to a Seder many years ago but never celebrated with my kids. But I enjoy reading about your traditions/celebrations.
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