I had a great time at the Seder, the other night, I hope everyone else did.  I also love how, if we are listening, God can show us something new every time we do “the same old thing.”

Seder has essentially been the same thing every year for THOUSANDS of years.  For us, I really don’t know how long it had been done before I became pastor, all I know is that I have done it 7 or 8 times – always the same.  I worry about that – doing the same thing over and over again is a recipe for losing all the meaning.  That is if you are not listening to God.

As I was preparing for the evening, the thought occurred to me that I wanted to be sure that our Communion Table was left in the Sanctuary.  That way, every once in a while, if people’s eyes were drawn to that table they would read the words:  “Do this in remembrance of Me” that is written on the front of it.  We use that phrase almost every time we celebrate Communion.  On the one hand, it is appropriate for us to be reminded that we celebrate Communion (usually on the first Sunday of the month {like today}) keeping in mind that Jesus died for our sins.  On the other hand, the context that we get that saying from is the Seder.  It was during the Seder, when a motzoh is broken and part is put back and part is hidden, that Jesus told us that this was a symbol of His death (burial and resurrection), and that as often as we do this, we are to do this in remembrance of Him.

It is the whole reason that we take the time to have a Seder celebration – because as followers of Jesus, we know that He is the completion of it.  Even though God really did set the Israelites free from slavery to Egypt, and the Seder is an appropriate acknowledgement of that fact, we know that those same former slaves were not really free.  Not until Jesus allowed Himself to be sacrificed could anyone know real freedom.

In establishing the Seder observance, God commanded that this be an everlasting ordnance – we are never supposed to stop.  For the most part God’s Church has not stopped, we at various times bring out the Communion Elements of bread and grape juice and remember what Jesus did – and I believe that is in keeping with the Spirit of what God intended, but I also believe we should spend the time and relive in detail what God has done both for Israel and what He continues to do for us.  That is why we will continue to celebrate the Seder year after year.