Last Sabbath I spoke about freedom
God is a god of freedom, he created us to be free
God’s freedom is different from political freedom, or even social freedom.
A country may say they are free but to many, it may seem like they are not free to do as they want.
Social freedom - to interact and speak
Religious freedom - free to worship as you want
In Egypt - Israel didn’t have political freedom, social freedom was restricted, and religious freedom was very limited. Egypt came first and then your beliefs.
In order to be truly free, God had to take them out of Egypt because Israel needed to be far from the place and people who enslaved them.
God had to show them that true freedom comes from the ability to worship God freely, to live a society that sharing your faith is encouraged, to be in an environment conducive to spiritual growth.
Free to obey without thinking that your obedience is legalism.
The Israelites were learning to live free.
God gives them laws (laws of liberty)
In order to preserve this liberty, he sets up special days...
Days so that we don’t forget. Days to remember what God had done in the past.
Holidays, feasts, anniversaries are times to remember a special day - that originated with God.
God started the idea of anniversaries - these were to remember our freedom
Forget? / ¿Olvida?
Forget?
We know how important it is to forget certain things from the past. But truly we don’t forget everything. Even those painful memories are there for a reason, but we don’t celebrate bad memories. We celebrate good things that come out of bad situations.
To truly “forget” would almost be a negative thing
To forget would mean to repeat the same mistake again.
If we forget the pain we suffered, we would suffer once again
The painful memory, of a failed relationship, of a fall, in a way, is a gift that propels us to overcome, grow, and to know how to help others.
God tells his people that they should remember their Egyptian experience. Not just to wish they were there again, but to appreciate where they are now.
We should never forget where God has taken us from. All these experiences have helped us to become the people we are today. Without those experiences, we wouldn’t be so strong, so ready, so compassionate.
We look back and lament. We remember bad decisions, bad moments, but many of those experiences God can use to bless you and for you to bless others.
Specifically, God told them to remember the moment they left Egypt.
We tend to forget things - how do we remember things?
Things we do over and over again
Things we commit to memory
Things you didn’t try to remember but you did
Adrenaline stores memories of trauma
Every time I cross the intersection where I was hit brings back that memory.
After many times crossing it again, I remember less the event when crossing, but I’ll never forget it happened.
do you think the Israelites lived a traumatic experience in Egypt?
The moments leading up to their release and freedom
Plagues, death, leaving in a haste, leaving your home behind for good, walking into the unknown in the desert...
?
Exodus 12:14 NKJV
14 ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.
?
Exodus 12:14 RVC
14 »Este día deberán recordarlo y celebrarlo generación tras generación, como fiesta solemne en honor del Señor. Es un estatuto perpetuo que deben celebrar.
The Torah affirms the importance of remembering
Six Commandments of Remembering // Seis mandamientos de Recordar
The Sabbath - Exodus 20:8
The Exodus - Deut 16:3
Receiving the law at Sinai - Deut 4:9-10
Amalek - Deut 25:17-19
The golden calf and other incidents that provoked God’s anger - Deut 9:7
Mary punished by God for speaking bad about Moses - Deut 24:9; Numbers 12:1-9
Why is it important to remember? // ¿Por qué es importante recordar?
Gives meaning to history / le da significado a la historia
we need to know how we got here.
We learn from history / aprendemos de la historia
freedom is the greatest human desire and its worth struggling/fighting for. The Exodus story has inspired many movements of social change than any other story in literature.
Leads to Wisdom / lleva a la sabiduría
we learn from our mistakes and avoid to repeat them. Let’s not forget our fundamental right of freedom. Many have good intentions to change things in society, but it takes wisdom to not forget and go back to what enslaved them. Many in this country would like to go a system that enslaved millions
To remember allows the moral progress of civilization / El recordar hace posible el progreso moral de una civilización
permite el progreso moral de la civilización
we need to know how much progress we’ve make.
To remember links us with those who came before us and reminds us that we are part of a common ideal. // El recordar nos vincula con aquellos que vinieron antes de nosotros y nos recuerda que somos parte de un ideal en común
We remember those who laid the foundation for us to be here today.
To remember assures that those who suffered and died will not be forgotten // El recordar asegura que aquellos que sufrieron y murieron no serán olvidados
El recordar asegura que aquellos que sufrieron y murieron no serán olvidados //El recordar asegura que aquellos que sufrieron y murieron no serán olvidados
To remember assures that evil will not be forgotten // El recordar nos asegura que el mal no se olvidará
many apparently have forgotten the evils of the past enough to want to bring it back
we can call evil evil, because we have memory of it.
we can’t forget sin, we can’t forget suffering.
To remember assures us that good and good people will not be forgotten - makes gratitude last.
Communion helps us to remember all these things
Don’t forget where God saved you from
Don’t forget someone gave His life for you.
Don’t forget your past life
Don’t forget those who shared the gospel with you.
Do this in remembrance of me. Every time we eat this bread and drink this juice we are remembering events that occurred 2000 years ago and we are keeping the memory of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection alive.
I invite you to come and remember
