St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Maundy Thursday, March 24, 2005 Exodus 12:14,15, 24-27a

¹⁴ "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD -a lasting ordinance. ¹⁵ For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel…” ²⁴ "Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. ²⁶ And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' ²⁷ then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.'

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

The War of 1812 was a nasty business. Did you know that? The British attacked Washington, DC. They burned down the Capital. They burned down the White House! Did you know that? They arrested Dr. William Beanes! Did you know that? Dr. Beanes was a physician—a healer! He was such a wonderful physician he had even treated many wounded British soldiers. Dr. Beanes was a prisoner of war. He was held on a British ship off the US coast—not far from Baltimore. Dr. Beanes had two very special friends—Col. John Skinner and a lawyer named Francis Scott Key. Col. Skinner and Mr. Key went to plead with the British to spare the life of Dr. Beanes. They had a whole pouch full of letters from wounded British soldiers that Dr. Beanes had treated! Well, the British commander said—Beanes could go free—but neither he nor Skinner nor Key could go for now—because they knew far too much about how the British were going to attack Ft. McHenry—the star shaped fort that protected the city of Baltimore. Ft. McHenry had a flag—an American flag sewn by a lady named Mary Pickersgill and her 13 year old daughter named Caroline. The flag was supposed to be big enough for the British to see it from far away—so they made the flag 42 feet long and 30 feet high—8 red stripes 7 white ones—15 stars. The stripes and the stars—2 feet wide! Through the stormy rainy night—British ships sat just under 3 miles from the fort—raining down shells—rockets red glare—illuminating the target. When the storm gave way to the dawn’s early light—there was Mary Pickersgill’s 42 foot flag—still flying over the land of the free and the home of the brave. Did you know that? Did you remember that? Or do we go to ballgames and sing the first verse of a four verse song—and think how patriotic am I? There is always a danger—over time—that we forget all that it took to make us free. Not just what it took to make us politically free—but what makes us eternally free. Today—this Maundy Thursday God’s Word reminds us all that the LORD—the Great I AM—the Holy One of Israel did to make his people eternally free. Tonight in the light of the Passover:

We See Jesus Freeing Us

1. Jesus frees us from the power of sin

2. Jesus frees us to share the Gospel.

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating is from Exodus chapter 12. Exodus chapter 10 is the plague of darkness. The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. How thick was that darkness around all the Egyptians! Yet God’s people were spared. Chapter 11 is the promise of the last and most horrible plague of all—the death of the firstborn! Yet again—by grace alone—the LORD would spare his people. When the angel of death went through Egypt—he would pass over the homes of God’s people. God’s Word says, “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD—a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses…” Out with the yeast. This pointed people back to the Exodus. When it was time to eat the Passover—the time when God’s people would be free to leave Egypt—time would be short! God’s Word says, v.11 “This is how you are to eat it: with our cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.” This was not a meal to eat with lots of visiting. This was a meal to eat quickly. No time to wait for the bread to rise—to pound down the dough—let it rise again—then to bake. Pancake bread—pita bread—flour and oil—roll it out—bake it and eat it. You will need the nourishment. Tonight—tonight we leave Egypt!

Out with the yeast. This was a children’s devotion. This was picture language. Jesus would tell his followers-- “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Matthew 16:6 The Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians—“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Pharisees and Sadducees were not the same! Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. They believed in this world—this life and nothing beyond. Pharisees believed in eternal life—as a forever continuation of this life—as something they would earn and deserve as exceedingly well behaved children of Abraham. That wasn’t right either. Pharisees and Sadducees had this in common—a pride and arrogance that is horrible offense in the sight of God! Pride and arrogance—like yeast in a lump of dough—works its way through everything! Pride and arrogance finds the little pieces of sawdust in your neighbor’s eye while remaining totally oblivious to the barn board in our own eye. Pride and arrogance gossips about the weakness, failures and shortcomings of our neighbor—spreading the news about their painful mistakes. Pride and arrogance ignores the rules—parking in no parking zones—driving around road closed signs—driving over the speed limit—because you are in a hurry! That’s wrong. Malice and wickedness are like yeast, too. Malice is a bitter anger—that holds grudges and looks for ways to get even. Malice is a bitterness that’s like an infection that only spreads and gets worse! Malice says what is mean and hurtful—sometimes thoughtless and rude! Instead of wickedness—the soda crackers of what is wrong—the bread of sincerity and truth. Sincerity very literally is no waxy cover-up of reality and truth! Sincerity means what you see is what you get. It means we tell the truth all the time. This is important for very little people! Tell the truth! Did you take the last cookie? Did you borrow Daddy’s tools and leave them to get rusty in the back yard? Did you borrow Mommy’s necklace and get it tied in a knot? Tell the truth when you are little. Then tell the truth when the questions are: Did you drink alcohol? Did you try this drug or that? Where were you? Who were you with? What were you doing? Then when you are older still—you will tell the truth on your taxes. You will tell your boss the truth. I read the other day a list of reasons people called in sick—when the reasons were lies! God’s people can’t afford to play fast and loose with the truth. God’s Word is truth and God’s people will tell the truth! When we make mistakes we will admit them and ask for forgiveness. It’s difficult to yell at someone who says I am guilty—I am responsible—I am without excuse. Please forgive me! What can you say? Oh, yeah? Just think how many lawyers would be out of work—if people who did terrible hurtful crimes confessed! The fact is—little people learn in our world—deny, deny, deny, deny—and most of the time big people will become frustrated and give up. You can’t deny your sins to your Heavenly Father. And you can’t deny your sins—to your family, your spouse, your children. Passover meant the LORD’s mercy and rescue. Lord’s Supper tonight means forgiveness for Jesus’ sake!

And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ What does this mean to you? That is the question children are to ask their parents. What does this mean to you? Does the fact that Jesus died to wash away all our sins mean something to us? Does it affect our day to day life? NBC News has been studying religion and American life lately. They did a survey. They asked lots of people if they thought churches and religious groups and organizations should be raising awareness and getting involved in all sorts of things. By far most people thought churches should be working against poverty—working against hunger—working against homelessness—involved in civil rights—in the lack of healthcare coverage—fighting against AIDS—working on immigration—abortion, sex education—homosexuality—creation and evolution. As important and exceedingly practical as all these concerns are—what is missing? We need to be concerned about eternity! We need to be concerned about sin and guilt and grace and forgiveness. We need to be concerned about eternal destruction and eternal peace and rest in Heaven! What was scary, too, was the fact there were a zillion questions that asked—do your religious beliefs play a major role, a minor role or no role at all in making decisions about….family finances, about marriage or raising your children—on making decisions at work! What people say they believe—according to this survey—has practically nothing to do with how they treat their co-workers—little or nothing to do with what they watch on TV? I can only hope Internet surveys are horribly inaccurate! God’s will is that what we do in this building has meaning for our hearts and for our lives. God’s will is that what we say we believe is translated into action! Not that we try to make heaven here on earth. But that our lives have focus—that our lives are driven by the purpose of growing in faith and sharing our faith—giving glory to our Heavenly Father!

And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them… Tell your children! This is what our Trinity St. Luke’s School and Luther Preparatory School and Lakeside Lutheran High School does. It doesn’t just teach God’s Word for the first 15 minutes—when you have an opening devotion—or the first hour when you have Word of God class. It doesn’t just teach God’s Word when you pray, “Come, Lord Jesus” before lunch—or a devotion before you start afternoon classes or pray at the end of the day. God’s Word changes every single class—every hour—every subject! English is not just grammar and spelling—it’s about understanding the written Scriptures—and being able to communicate law and gospel! Math isn’t just numbers and calculations—it’s about using numbers honestly—so that we are not cheating—stealing by manipulating numbers. Reading stories—has applications about law and gospel—right is right and wrong is wrong—because of God’s Word. Science—the wonderful works of God—when you grow a bean in a jar or a potato roots in water or a seed sprouts in a Styrofoam cup. The whole lie of the theory of evolution is exposed. We can talk about the 6 days of creation—how the LORD said, “Let there be light!” Sports—physical education—working to make our bodies strong and healthy is all in the light of God’s Word! Discipline—when things go wrong—is taught in the light of God’s Word! Our Lutheran schools do not replace parents teaching their children—it’s to support and back up our parents. Our Lutheran school is to supplement the Christian instruction that takes place in the home. Home is where children need to see their father reading the Scriptures. Home is where children need to see their father love their mother like Christ loved the Church! Home is where the foundation is laid—upon which our day school teachers will work to build our children’s faith through the means of grace. Home is where we teach our children there is nothing more important than growing in faith!

And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them… Tell your children. Tell your relatives! Tell your neighbors and co-workers! Opportunities to share your faith are everywhere! All you have to do is smile. Try as the Scriptures say to be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks under all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. And again the Scriptures say, “Don’t be anxious about anything—but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus.” Show that attitude in your daily life and people will ask—what are you thinking? Why are you the way you are? Where does this attitude come from? Be a Tigger in this world full of Eyores and you can be sure people will notice. You will stand out as someone truly different. When people ask--you can tell them. You can tell them simple law and gospel. You can point them to the whole reason for Good Friday and Easter. You can point them to their crucified and risen Savior and their King! Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz