Remembering Redemption

Well, good morning, church.

Would you turn with me to Exodus chapter 13 this morning?

Exodus 13 · chapter mention

That's page 55 in the Pew Bible.

We're going to pick up our series in Exodus with Exodus chapter 13.

Exodus 13 · chapter mention

Let's begin by reading verses 3 through 10 of chapter 13.

I'll read these for us.

Verses 3 through 10, chapter 13.

Then Moses said to the people,

Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

For by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place.

No leavened bread shall be eaten.

Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out.

And 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 fathers to give you,

a land flowing with milk and honey,

you shall keep this service in this month.

Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread,

and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord.

Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days.

No leavened bread shall be seen with you,

and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.

You shall tell your son on that day,

it is because of what the Lord did for me

when I came out of Egypt.

And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand

and as a memorial between your eyes

that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth.

For with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

You shall therefore keep this statute

at its appointed time from year to year.

Well, I wonder if you would consider yourself

a forgetful person.

Of course, sometimes forgetfulness can be funny.

Like the man who had a leaking pipe under his sink

and put a bucket under there to start collecting the water.

And then when the bucket started to get full,

decided to empty out the bucket into the same sink.

Like, don't.

Sometimes forgetfulness can be a bit embarrassing,

like when someone asks you the date of your anniversary

and suddenly your mind goes completely blank.

That's never happened to me.

Not once.

Promise.

But other times forgetfulness can be a bit more serious,

can't it?

You forget that this is actually a one-way street

and here I am driving the wrong way.

Or you forget to turn off the stove

after cooking breakfast.

Or you forget about the big phone call with a client.

Sometimes forgetfulness can be pretty serious,

pretty costly.

And there are times when even forgetfulness can be devastating.

For example, when an aging parent or an aging spouse

begins to slide into dementia,

forgetting the faces of even their closest loved ones.

Forgetfulness.

Forgetfulness.

Now, we might not realize it at first,

but forgetfulness is actually one of the greatest dangers

that we face spiritually.

You know, for most of us,

it won't be a massive theological heresy or false teaching

that undermines our relationship with God and with one another.

For most of us,

it won't be some sort of big overt temptation to immorality

that shipwrecks our faith.

No, actually, the much more pervasive

and greater and widespread danger is forgetfulness.

We forget who we really are

and we forget what God has done

and we forget the story that we're really a part of.

In our passage that we had read earlier in the service

that Suzanne read for us from 2 Peter,

did you catch why Peter said

our growth in grace tends to break down

as he lists all those qualities

with which the life of Christ begins to work itself out within us?

What is it that makes us ineffectual and unfruitful

in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus?

In verse 9 of that passage,

Peter said,

it's because you've forgotten.

It's because you've forgotten

and you need to remember.

And that's what this section of Exodus

that we just read is all about.

It's about the vital importance of remembering.

Remember this day,

Moses says to the Israelites.

Remember.

And as we think about this passage this morning,

Exodus 12 and 13,

I want us to think about three things.

What to remember,

how to remember,

and lastly,

why to remember.

Why it's so important that we remember.

So why don't we think first about

what we need to remember.

Now,

at this point,

in the story of Exodus,

the Israelites had just witnessed

God perform perhaps the most significant

redemptive event in the entire Old Testament.

The tenth plague has just fallen

on the Egyptian firstborn sons.

The blood of the Passover lamb

has kept the Israelites safe.

Pharaoh's obstinance against the Lord

has finally been broken.

He releases the people from slavery

and they have now left Egypt

once and for all.

At last,

after 400 years of slavery,

the people are free.

God has saved them.

He's redeemed them.

He's liberated them.

They're no longer slaves of Pharaoh.

They belong to the Lord now

and they are free.

That's where we're at

in the story of Exodus.

And now,

Moses says to the Israelites,

as they're going out,

remember this day.

But here's the surprising thing

about what happens in Exodus 12 and 13.

This command to remember

doesn't just come after their redemption.

This command to remember

becomes before their redemption as well.

If you glance back at Exodus chapter 12,

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

God doesn't just tell Moses

what's going to happen

on the night of the last plague.

And God doesn't just tell Moses

how the Israelites

are going to be kept safe

from the plague

through the sacrifice of a lamb.

That's sort of the verse,

that's the first sort of 13 verses

of chapter 12.

God even tells Moses

how they're going to remember this event

throughout their generations.

Before the event of the Passover in Egypt

even happens,

before the redemption even occurs,

God tells Moses,

here's how you're going to remember this forever.

And you see that in verses 14 through 20

of chapter 12

as he describes the feast of unleavened bread.

And you see it again

in verses 24 through 27 of chapter 12

as he talks about the Passover,

celebrating the Passover year

after year after year.

God doesn't just say,

here's what I'm going to do to rescue you,

but also,

here's how I want you to remember it.

Now that seems a little strange at first,

doesn't it?

God tells them to remember something

and how to remember it

before he even does it.

You know,

it's sort of like

we're going on family vacation

and we spend the whole time

on the drive thinking,

here's how you're going to remember

this family vacation.

I want you to take pictures.

I want you to put together a slideshow.

I want you to play it at every reunion.

This is how we're going to remember

this great,

awesome vacation

that we're about to take.

That seems really strange.

All my kids would be like,

dad,

knock it off.

We're just trying to watch our iPads.

But God does that.

He says,

this is how you're going to remember

this thing that I'm going to do.

But you know,

as strange as that feels to us,

the same thing would happen

1,500 years after the Exodus.

During a small Passover celebration

in the upper room in Jerusalem,

that same thing would happen again.

The Lord Jesus would say to his disciples,

here's how I'm going to rescue

the whole world.

And here's how I want you to remember it.

What was Jesus doing

on that night with his disciples

when he took the Passover elements

in his hands

and told them to eat and drink?

You see, for hundreds of years,

Israel had remembered again and again

how God liberated them from slavery.

Passover was the liberation,

celebration of Israel,

that they were God's freed people.

Again and again,

they remembered how God

had liberated them from slavery

and had saved them

through the blood of a lamb.

And now,

Jesus was telling his disciples

that it had all been about him.

that he was the true lamb

who would die,

that his blood would set us free

and set us free

from the greatest slavery of all,

our slavery to sin

and death

and judgment.

And what that means is this.

You see,

before the cross

and the resurrection of Jesus,

Israel looked back

to the Passover from Egypt

and remember how God

had set them free.

But now,

for us,

living on this side

of the cross

and resurrection of Jesus,

we look back

to the even greater Passover

and remember

how God set us free

from sin and death.

So what then

do we need to remember?

What do we need to remember?

If we understand

Exodus 12 and 13

in the sweep of the whole Bible,

if we see it

in light of the whole story,

then we remember

the Passover best

by remembering

the cross.

How do we keep

the Passover feast today?

We look back

to the cross.

But here's also

what we see.

We remember the cross

best

when we remember it

through the lens

of the Passover.

Now,

what do I mean by that?

Well,

it's actually very easy

to view the cross

with the wrong lens.

All historians agree

that around 30 AD,

a young Jewish teacher

from Galilee named Jesus

was crucified by the Romans

outside of Jerusalem.

Pretty uncontested event.

But what lens do you use

to see that event?

Was he just a martyr

dying for a good cause?

Was he a political

revolutionary

meeting his demise?

But how did Jesus himself

see his impending death?

What lens did he use?

It was the Passover lens.

That his death

is what would allow

the just judgment of God

to pass over his people

and keep them safe.

and as a result,

set them free

from slavery.

In Egypt,

the lamb died

so that the firstborn

didn't have to.

And at the cross,

Jesus died the death

we deserve

so that we don't have to.

And he rose again

as Lord and King

to grant freedom

to everyone

who trusts in him.

This is what we remember

when we remember

the cross

and in doing so,

remember the great Passover.

So,

Moses tells Israel

to remember

this day

and that call

to remember

goes straight

through the Old Testament

into the new

culminating

in Jesus' death

and resurrection.

salvation.

So,

today,

throughout all of our lives,

this is what

we need

to remember.

But second,

how are we meant

to remember this?

How do we go about

doing it?

And God gives Israel

very specific instructions

about how they're

to remember the Passover.

They're not just going

to do it

in any old way.

You know,

go out into a field

and write a poem

if you feel like it.

No,

that's not what God says.

They're very specific

instructions.

For Old Testament Israel,

they were supposed

to remember

God's rescue from Egypt

with three interrelated things.

First was the annual

Passover celebration.

Second was the Feast

of Unleavened Bread.

And third,

the ongoing consecration

of the firstborn.

Now,

the Passover

and the Feast

of Unleavened Bread

always went together.

On the 14th day

of the first month

of the year,

all the Israelite homes

would have a Passover meal

and they would retell

the story

of how God

redeemed them

from slavery.

Generation after generation

after generation.

And then,

for seven days

following that,

they wouldn't eat anything

with leaven in it.

In fact,

they would get rid

of all the leaven

in their homes

and eat only

unleavened bread.

And in the passage

we read

to start our sermon,

God says,

I want you to get rid

of all the leaven

in your whole land.

Get rid of all of it.

And then,

at the end of that week,

they'd have a feast

to the Lord.

That's how they were

supposed to remember

the Passover.

That's how they were

supposed to remember

the redemption.

celebration.

And in addition

to that annual

week-long celebration,

the Israelites

were also meant

to consecrate

to the Lord

on an ongoing basis

any firstborn male.

Now,

that's the rest

of chapter 13,

verses 11 through 16.

We didn't read that

to start,

but you can just sort of

scan your eyes

down through there.

The firstborn male animals,

God says,

I want you to sacrifice

those to me.

And the firstborn male

children would be redeemed.

That is,

the parents would offer

a set amount of money

to the priest

as a gift and offering

on behalf of their

firstborn sons.

And one sort of minor

exception to those

general rules

was that animals

that weren't typically

used for sacrifice,

like donkeys,

well,

those could be redeemed

as well.

And the point

of all those practices

was so that the people

could remember again

and again

what God had done,

how he had spared

their firstborn in Egypt

and rescued them

from slavery

would have been

a very powerful reminder

if every time

you had a firstborn male

in your land,

you were doing

something related to God,

whether it was bringing

an offering

to the priests

or whether it was

bringing a sacrifice

to the Lord.

But I want to make

three observations

about these Old Testament

practices that apply

to how we are meant

to remember

our redemption today.

You know,

obviously living this side

of the cross

and resurrection,

we don't do

those things anymore,

but there are still

some patterns there

that are helpful for us.

And the three observations

are this,

that these acts

of remembrance

are perpetual

and they're tangible

and they're verbal.

Where do we see that?

Well, first,

this remembrance

is meant to be perpetual.

And you actually see

that throughout, right?

Every single year

without fail,

Israel was supposed

to celebrate the Passover

and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

again and again

and again and again.

They repeated it over

and over

and over again.

Now,

we, of course,

live in a very

entertainment-saturated age,

don't we?

We don't like things

being the same.

We value variety

and change.

But when it comes

to remembering

our redemption,

it's supposed

to be perpetual.

We're supposed

to do it over

and over

and over again.

And you see this

in the New Testament

when it comes

to the Lord's Supper.

The church

didn't just do it annually

like the Old Testament

Passover.

They did it regularly.

In many cases,

they probably did it

weekly

every single time

they met.

Now,

as Protestants,

we can be very wary

of repetition,

can't we?

We are afraid

that something

will become rote

and empty.

Just an empty ritual,

right?

We're very cautious

of that.

And that certainly

is a very real danger.

But at the same time,

repetition

can also be

a great friend.

Think about it

this way.

If you're playing

a role

in a theater performance,

in a play,

you probably

practice your lines

again and again

and again.

And you repeat

them to yourself

over and over

and over,

in the shower,

in your bedroom,

to your little siblings

until they get sick

of it, right?

You just rehearse it

and you repeat it.

And your theater company

will probably run

through rehearsal

after rehearsal

leading up

to your opening night.

Why?

Why do you do

so much repeating

and repetition

in rehearsal?

Well, it's not just,

actually.

It's not just

so you don't mess up

your lines

during the performance

and get embarrassed.

That's one reason why.

But it's not just that.

It's more than that.

It's because

all that repetition

internalizes

the material

so that when

the curtain

lifts

and you take

the stage,

you can actually

perform your role

with freedom

so that you can

actually be

who you're meant

to be

in the story.

The same is very true

of musicians.

Some of the best

improvisational players

have honed their playing

through endless hours

of repetition

until the scales

and the progressions

have become

just second nature.

And all of that

is true for us

in the spiritual life,

in our life with God.

Our weekly worship together,

our regular taking

of the Lord's Supper,

hearing the word of God

read and preached,

giving,

singing,

praying,

all of these practices

that we do week in

and week out

again and again

and again.

Even the overall

order of our service

is the same every week.

Have you noticed that?

Every single week

we do the exact same thing.

Don't tell anybody.

It's the secret.

We begin with

adoration of God, right?

You can see this

in your bulletin.

We try to give you

a little hint.

Here's what we're doing now.

We're adoring God, right?

We begin with

adoration of God,

acknowledging and praising

Him as our Creator

and His majesty.

And then we confess

our sins.

We look to God

as our Redeemer

in His mercy.

And then we move

to a time of thanksgiving

and prayer and offering,

which are all right responses

to God's majesty

and His mercy.

We want to thank Him

and we want to pray to Him

and cast our burdens on Him

and we want to give

to the work of the gospel.

Have you noticed?

I hope you've noticed

that sort of threefold movement

every week.

Worshiping God the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy Spirit,

the Father who made us,

and the Son who redeems us,

and the Spirit who empowers us.

And then we go to God's word together,

eager to hear His voice.

Why do we do that

every single week?

Because we need to get it

ingrained deep down

in our hearts

so that when the curtain lifts,

so that when we

take the stage

out in the world

as God's people,

we can actually be

the image bearers

He means for us to be

with freedom.

So that we can actually

play the part in the story

we're meant to play

as His people

in the world.

So that our hearts

can be calibrated

to God and His kingdom.

So our remembrance

has to be perpetual.

It's got to have some rhythm

and some repetition to it.

But it's also meant

to be tangible.

The Passover

and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

involved all of your senses.

You ate the Passover meal,

those herbs

and that bread

and that leg of lamb.

You ate it.

And you could feel

and smell

and taste the unleavened bread

for the whole week following.

You know,

from time to time

I'll attend seminars

on youth ministry

and one thing

that comes up a lot

in those seminars

is how to teach well.

How do we teach

so that teenagers

will really grasp the faith?

And the answer

that is often given is

engage the senses, right?

Don't just engage the hearing,

engage their sight,

show them a picture

or engage their sense of touch.

Bring an object

to sort of pass around.

Apparently educational research

so is that if you engage

more than one

of the five senses at a time,

we absorb the material

at a much deeper

and lasting level.

And isn't it wonderful

that God knew

all about that

thousands of years ago

having made us

after all.

In the Passover

and in the fulfillment

of the Passover

and the Lord's Supper,

God has us engaging

with nearly all of our senses,

doesn't he?

you can touch it

and you can smell it

and you can see it

and you can taste it.

And in some churches,

they even hold it up

and they break it

so you can even hear it.

And all of that

is so that we can grasp it

at the deepest

and most meaningful level.

That tangible nature of it

connects us to the story

in a powerful way.

I mean, think about it.

If we lived in Old Testament Israel,

eating unleavened bread

for a whole week

connected generations

of Israelites

back to that original

Exodus generation.

How?

Why were they eating

unleavened bread?

Because God's rescue

was so decisive

and so immediate

that they had to go right away

and there was no time

for the bread to leaven.

They had to go.

And every generation

would take up unleavened bread

and eat it

as a way of saying,

we're part of that people too.

We have an organic connection.

God freed me

from slavery in Egypt.

And in the same way,

when we eat the bread

and drink the cup

and the Lord's Supper,

it connects us to the story.

This is what Jesus ate

and drank with his disciples.

This bread that represents

his broken body

and this cup

that represents his shed blood.

in a tangible way,

it's putting us

into that same

unbroken story,

into that same

unbroken people.

But finally,

remembrance is meant

to not just be perpetual

and tangible,

it's got to be verbal.

Look at Exodus chapter 12

Exodus 12:26

verses 26 and 27.

It should just be

on the opposite page

from where we started.

Exodus 12,

26 and 27.

This is Moses

giving instructions

to the Israelites

before the Passover event.

He says,

You see a similar thing

in chapter 13,

verse 14.

Jump across

to the next chapter.

Verse 14 of chapter 13.

And when in time to come,

your son asks you,

what does this mean?

Meaning the consecration

of the firstborn.

You shall say to him,

by a strong hand,

the Lord brought us

out of Egypt

from the house

of slavery.

Yes,

the remembrance

needs to be tangible,

but it can't just

be tangible,

friends.

There need to be words.

It has to be explained.

Did you notice the pattern?

Your children will ask,

what does this mean?

And God says,

and then you will say.

In other words,

when we remember

our redemption,

we've got to tell

the story with words.

The tangible practices

are an integral part,

but they don't stand alone.

That's why

the reading

and the teaching

and the preaching

of God's word

has to be central

in all that we do.

Without the clear

teaching of the Bible,

without the consistent

preaching of the gospel story,

these tangible practices,

whatever they are,

they lose their meaning

and they become empty.

But,

when joined

with the teaching

of the word,

they become

very powerful ways

for us to remember

our redemption.

And, of course,

isn't it true

that the nature

of our redemption,

it has to be spoken,

right?

Why?

Because

our redemption

was accomplished

in a once-for-all

historical event.

You see,

when Israel

was celebrating

the Passover

year after year

after year

after year,

they weren't actually

redoing the Passover,

right?

The Passover

happened once.

God rescued them

once and for all

from slavery in Egypt.

And when something

happens once and for all,

how can you reconnect

with it?

You talk about it.

It's the same thing

that's true

of the cross.

God has rescued us

from sin and death

once and for all

through the perfectly

sufficient sacrifice

of Christ.

And now,

what do we do?

We speak about it

and we remember it.

So these are the ways

that we remember.

This is how

we're meant to remember.

But last,

why?

Why do we need

to remember

our redemption?

Why go through

all the trouble

of this perpetual,

tangible,

verbal remembrance?

What is at stake

in all of this?

Well,

these chapters of Exodus

point us in three

sort of related directions.

reasons.

The first reason why

is for your children.

Remember your redemption

for the sake of your children.

We already saw that

in chapter 12,

verse 26,

and 13, 14,

how the next generations

are very much in view

as these practices

are put into place.

But we see it again

in 13, 8.

Look at 13, 8.

During the Feast

of Unleavened Bread,

Moses says,

you shall tell your son

on that day,

it is because of

what the Lord did for me

when I came out of Egypt.

You see, friends,

being born

into a certain family

doesn't make you

a Christian.

Just because I'm

a follower of Jesus

doesn't mean that my kids

automatically are.

They need to be shown

and told about

God's great work

of redemption in Christ

so that they can trust it

for themselves

through faith.

Here in Exodus,

Moses envisions

children watching,

taking it all in,

participating,

and then asking

their parents

what it's all about.

And you know,

that dynamic

hasn't really changed

for us today.

When we celebrate baptism,

the kids are here

watching, right?

And when they ask,

Dad, Mom,

what does that mean?

Why are those people

getting all wet?

That's weird.

then you can tell them

it's because of what

God did for us

through Jesus.

He went down

into death.

He rose again

to life for us

to wash our sins away.

And that can be true

of you too

if you take hold

of them by faith.

And the same is true

when we do the Lord's Supper,

isn't it?

Parents,

when you're fourth

and fifth

and sixth graders

or when you're teenagers

ask you,

what is this all about?

As we do the Lord's Supper

every other week,

you can then have

a conversation

about who Jesus is

and what he's done.

When with a mighty hand,

God dealt once and for all

for our sins.

You see,

every other week

when we do the Lord's Supper,

we have an opportunity

to have spiritually

significant conversations

with our kids

because they've seen something

and something's gone

right before their eyes

that speaks

of the gospel of Christ.

And even if they don't

initiate with you,

some of you are thinking,

my teenagers would never say,

Dad,

what does this mean?

Right?

No.

But even if they don't

initiate with you,

the practice of the Lord's Supper

gives you a chance

to engage with them.

Doesn't it?

Hey,

I noticed you're not

taking the Lord's Supper.

How come?

Or,

hey,

I noticed you took

the Lord's Supper this morning.

Let's talk about that.

And let me just say,

if you yourself

are a middle schooler

or a high schooler

or in grade school,

let me say to you

that the Lord's Supper

isn't just an empty ritual,

but it's a powerful reminder

of what Jesus has done.

The most important thing

that you can ask this morning,

if you're here

with your parents,

is not,

how can I make my parents happy?

How can I get through this

as quickly as possible

and get back to playing

video games this afternoon?

No.

The most important thing

you can ask yourself

this morning is,

where do I stand

with Jesus?

Do I believe

that He's the Son of God?

Do I believe

that He died for my sins

and rose again

as the Lord of the universe?

And have I surrendered

my life to Him?

Can you answer yes

to those questions?

If not,

what's holding you back?

Talk to someone older

that you trust.

The reality is,

you don't need to hide

your doubts and fears

about Christianity.

We've all been there.

And the spiritual life

is not something

that you can do alone.

Talk to someone about it.

But if you can answer yes

to those questions,

then who have you told?

If you are saying,

yes,

I believe He's the Son of God.

I believe He died for my sins.

Yes,

I've surrendered my life to Him.

Then tell someone.

Tell your parents.

And then tell someone

here at the church.

Talk to me

or talk to one

of the other pastors.

Make a public profession

of your faith in Jesus.

And if you haven't been baptized,

that's your next step.

Step into the waters

and make a public profession

of your union with Christ.

You see,

friends,

what Christ has done,

He's done for you.

Middle schoolers,

high schoolers,

this is for you.

And one of the main reasons

God gave us the command

to remember our redemption

again and again and again

is so that you

would come to know Him too.

But this isn't just

for our children's sake.

It's also for our own sake.

Look at the next verse

in chapter 13.

Verse 9.

Verse 9 says,

And,

you're not just going to tell

your kids about it,

and,

it shall be to you

as a sign on your hand

and as a memorial

between your eyes

that the law of the Lord

may be in your mouth.

For with a strong hand,

the Lord has brought you

out of Egypt.

I heard a statistic recently

that Americans watch

an average of five hours

of TV a day.

A day!

Holy smokes!

Think about all the advertising

and all the narratives

and pictures

of what it means

to be human

and how to find happiness

that we're absorbing

through our media consumption.

You know,

as I heard that statistic,

I thought,

where do people find

five hours a day

to watch TV?

But then I started thinking

about all the other ways

in which I consume media

during the day.

And I thought,

okay,

maybe not five hours,

but

maybe a couple,

maybe a few,

if I count up

all the podcasts

and all the

flipping through

whatever I'm looking at

on my phone,

you know,

Facebook,

news feeds,

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Right?

And all of that stuff,

almost everything

that we come across

as humans

is in some big

or small way

telling a story

about where real life

and meaning

is to be found.

I read a book recently

called

You Are What You Love

by a professor

out at Calvin College

named James Smith.

And in that book,

he spends some time

meditating

on the sort of

typical practice

of going to the shopping mall.

And as he sort of

starts to think about

what we do

when we go to the mall,

you start to see

that even something

as mundane

as going to the mall

has this pervasive power

to shape our desires

and to saturate us

in a narrative

about where real life

and real joy

is to be found.

Think about it.

You enter the mall

and it's sort of enclosed

and it's its own

set apart space

in the world, right?

You're going

to a different space now.

You're leaving

the real world

and you're stepping

into this sort of

trans-historical

timeless space

where there's never a clock

and there's always

sort of nice music playing.

You've been transported

to a different realm

and there's a picture

of beauty

and health

and attraction

and joy

lining the walls

at every step of the way.

There's a little place

where you can go

with the promise

that if you turn in here

and you just give us

a little money,

we will give you

an object

that will allow you

to experience

and participate

in that joy

and beauty

and you'll be able

to win friends

and influence people

and you will be loved.

And then,

when the experience

fades after a few weeks,

when the jeans

just don't feel

as cool anymore

or that sweet

leather purse

just doesn't quite

fit

what you're about

that week

or whatever,

you know,

those killer Jordans

you got,

get a scuff on them.

When the experience

fades after a few weeks,

when the purchase

starts to lose

its luster,

well,

you can always come back

and find something new.

Enter all ye who weary

and are heavy laden

and we will give you stuff.

Right?

See,

the reality is,

friends,

that we are inundated

by counter narratives

all the time,

not just in the shopping mall,

but everywhere.

Everything's telling a story

about what's real

and true

and good

and beautiful

and how our hearts

ought to be aligned

and all of these stories

that saturate our world,

they cause us

to forget.

They cause us

to forget

who we really are

and who God truly is

and the simply

astounding thing

that he's done for us.

Why did God tell Israel

to remember their redemption

year after year

after year after year?

Because he knew

that even in the promised land

they were going to be

surrounded by false gods

and false promises

of happiness

and if they forgot

that the Lord

had redeemed them,

they would run

to those other gods

for security

and protection

and life

and safety

and they would end up

in spiritual slavery

once again.

And friends,

our life is no different.

when I forget

that I've been liberated

by the work of Christ

and made a child of God,

an heir of God

and a co-heir with Christ

to share with his suffering

so that I might share

in his glory

of the new creation,

when I forget that

and when you forget that,

then suddenly

you find yourself

going to all sorts

of other things

for security

or for joy

or for peace.

like the approval

of other people

for example.

And when you go

to those other things

like approval,

you end up a slave.

You end up a slave

to what other people think

or don't think of you

and people's criticism

crushes you

or their praise

elates you

and you end up

blown and tossed

and then you end up

doing things

and saying things

that you know

you shouldn't

because the approval

of others

is really

what your heart

is resting in.

And yet at root,

what's happened?

We've forgotten

who we are.

We've forgotten

who God is.

We need to remember

that we've been

bought with a price

and that God alone

is worthy

of our heart's desire

and that we're

his beloved children

because of Jesus.

verse 9 here

says that remembering

our redemption

will function

like a compass,

reorienting our lives

and our identity

to true north

as a sign

on your hand

and as a memorial

between your eyes.

Not just individually

but corporately too.

And out of that

reorientation

again and again

to God

and God's redemption,

then genuine obedience

and service

to the Lord flow.

Look how the rest

of that verse runs.

That the law

of the Lord

may be in your mouth.

As we reorient

back to God

and his redemption,

then our lives

begin to flow

and we begin to live

the way we're meant

to live

as his image bearers.

Not just individually

but corporately.

Why do so many churches

lose their way?

Why do so many churches

become intoxicated

by the promise

of political power?

Why do churches

become rife

with conflict

and bitterness?

Why do churches

become proud

and look down

their noses

at other churches

who are less big

or less hip

or less doctrinally precise?

At the root

of it all,

brothers and sisters,

is because we fail

to remember

our redemption.

We forget

and other things

steal our hearts

and captivate us

and make us captives.

We fail

to keep God's

gracious work

in Christ

as the constant center

of our

congregational message

and our corporate life.

And if we think

that we're immune

to these kinds

of dangers

at Trinity,

we need to think again.

We, too,

are always in danger

of letting

some other narrative

shape our life

and our identity

as a church.

And so we must remember

again

and again

and again

the redeeming work

of Christ

like a sign

on our hands

and like a memorial

between our eyes.

It has to be

the thing

that colors

everything we do.

The inescapable

mark on all

of our words

and all of our pursuits

and all of our programs.

And that leads us

to the last reason

why.

Why do we need

to remember

our redemption?

It's not just

for our children's sake.

It's not just

for our own sake.

But friends,

it's for the world's sake.

At the end

of chapter 12

verses 43

through 49

the Lord

gives Moses

instructions

about who can

and who can't

eat the Passover

when they celebrate it

in the promised land.

And God,

it's very clear

that non-Israelites

are not allowed

to eat it.

Just as the New Testament

is clear

that the Lord's Supper

is only for believers

in Christ.

However,

in verse 48

we read this.

If a stranger

shall sojourn

with you

and would keep

the Passover

to the Lord

let all his males

be circumcised

then he may come

near and keep it.

He shall be

as a native

of the land.

Do you see

what this verse

is envisioning?

The people of Israel

celebrating the Passover

in the promised land

and outsiders

who have come

to dwell

in the promised land.

They see

the common life

of Israel

and they hear

the story

of the Exodus

and they see

the Passover celebration

and they want

to be a part of it.

And then

they actually

come in.

God says

they can get

circumcised

and they can become

a part

of the people

and God says

they shall be

as natives

of the land.

In other words,

the outsiders

will become insiders

and the strangers

and the foreigners

will become natives

and the homeless

will find a home.

God's mission

for Israel

wasn't just

to be a holy club

that excluded

everyone else.

Their mission

was to be a light

to the nations

and though they fell short

time and time again,

God still didn't give up

on his people

or his mission

for his people

because now that Jesus

has come

and poured out

the Holy Spirit,

that mission continues

through the church today.

We need to keep

remembering God's redemption.

We need to keep

holding it up

perpetually,

tangibly,

verbally,

verbally

because God

has many

people

in this city

who are his people.

And though they may

seem strangers now,

God's plan is to

call them

and bring them

to his self.

for the sake

of the world,

we need to remember

because God says

there's a place

at my table,

in my family,

in my home

for everyone

who believes.

Friends,

the reality is

we are

a forgetful

people.

Left to our

own devices,

we would forget

and we would

drift

and we would

allow the cares

and concerns

of life

and all those

competing narratives

to choke out

the growth

of the gospel

in our lives

and to choke out

the growth

of the gospel

in our church.

But here's

the good news.

God,

in his grace,

not only

tells us

to remember,

but he gives us

the very means

by which

we can remember.

So as we have

now heard

God's word,

we're going to

go to the table

this morning

and having heard

and considered

God's word,

we're going to

do just that.

We're going to

grab hold

of these means

of remembrance

and we're going to

pray that God

uses them

to orient

ourselves

back to God

and God's

great salvation,

not just

for our own sake

and for our

children's sake,

but what we do

here is for

the world's sake.

God's sake.

Let's pray.

Lord,

thank you

for all

the many

and varied

ways that you

have given us

to remember

our redemption.

Lord,

thank you

for the reminder

that we need

to keep it

in front

of our faces

at all times.

Lord,

thank you

for the table

where you

promise to meet

with us

in a special

way and feed

our faith

and realign us

to you

and to your

kingdom.

We thank you

for all this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.