Remember, Restore, Renew - Exodus 12:1-14 - Pentecost 18 - 9-10-23

 

Sermon podcast from our Celebration Sunday, 9-10-23  worship service - Peace Memorial Church, UCC in Palos Park, IL. Exodus 12:1-14

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"Remember, Restore, Renew" sermon podcast 

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Remember, Restore, Renew - Exodus 12:1-14 - Proper 18 - 9-6-20

 

Sermon podcast from our 9-6-20 online worship service - St. Paul's UCC in Downers Grove, IL. Exodus 12:1-14

Video sermon preview

"Remember, Restore, Renew" podcast

The whole online worship service

Remember, Restore, Renew

Sermon podcast from yesterday at St. Paul's UCC in Downers Grove, IL.  Exodus 12:1-14. When will we really learn that violence and hate only serve to create more violence and hate?

"Remember, Restore, Renew" podcast

Remember, Restore, Renew

Last week's Bible reflection (Bytes) provided the beginning for this past Sunday sermon at St. Paul's UCC in Downers Grove, IL
"Remember, Restore, Renew" podcast

Bytes

As the politicians and their campaign teams search deep into the backgrounds, comments, associates and unrehearsed gaffes of their opponents, I can’t help but wonder, could God stand up to the scrutiny of a political campaign?" What if instead of seeking the big picture, we decided to define God by the worst sound bytes we could find?

Would we use I AM WHO I AM - or maybe the equivalent I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE and I WILL BE WHAT THE FUTURE REQUIRES? Or would we use something from this week's "Make me sick to my stomach" reading from Exodus 12:1-14?

I know that Passover, a commemoration of huge importance in Judaism and Christianity, is about the deliverance of the Hebrew people out of bondage in Egypt. But right there near the end, the description of God saying, “I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt.” Sounds like a sound byte any person who wants to paint God as something horrible would jump at the chance to use. Can you imagine a Youtube clip of God spouting threats of murder of every firstborn in Egypt? What candidate would want to be associated with that? Can you imagine the reports that would say a particular candidate wasn’t ‘thoroughly vetted’ and now the nastiness was going to come out?

Sure, it’s possible to explain this week's reading this way:

The people who experienced the events and the ones who put together the Bible thought of the evil of slavery in Egypt in very personal terms. And the only way they could understand combating that evil was to experience God bringing judgment on the evil society.

But I have great trouble separating a cultural understanding of the violence from the writers’ standpoint with my belief that  killing, murder, war. . . slaughter in the name of religion can never be excused. . . Never. Never. Never.

Never.

Passover

I took this week's Bible study blog entry for i.ucc (Defined by 30-second snippets?) and expanded it into a sermon. Come to church tomorrow at Union Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Somonauk to hear me share my confusion and frustration . . .
"Passover" text
"Passover" podcast

BONUS: During our communion service, I made some small, but funny (in a "watch the pastor make some silly mistakes" way) flubs with the bread and the cup
Communion bloopers excerpt podcast

Defined by 30-second snippets?

Here's this week's Bible study blog entry for i.ucc:

As the politicians and their campaign teams search deep into the backgrounds, comments, associates and unrehearsed gaffes of their opponents, I can’t help but wonder, "Could God stand up to the scrutiny of a political campaign?" What if instead of seeking the big picture, we decided to define God by the worst 30-second snippets we could find?

In last week’s Bible reading we learned that God defies simple definition. I AM WHO I AM, I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE and I WILL BE WHAT THE FUTURE REQUIRES give us a glimpse, but not anywhere near the big picture of God. But while last week gives something mysterious, thought-provoking and comforting, this week’s reading from Exodus 12:1-14, describing the preparation for the first Passover , has to potential to leave me sick to my stomach.

I know that Passover, a commemoration of huge importance in Judaism and Christianity, is about the deliverance of the Hebrew people out of bondage in Egypt. But right there near the end, the description of God saying, “I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt.” Sounds like a sound byte any person who wants to paint God as something horrible would jump at the chance to use. Can you imagine a Youtube clip of God spouting threats of murder of every firstborn in Egypt? What candidate would want to be associated with that?

How do you experience the Passover story? In what way do you experience the story as part of the big picture instead of a short ‘sound byte?’ What would you say to a person who would only focus on that short sound byte instead of the big picture?