Holiday Hangover - 2021

There is an old story, in fact it may be one of the oldest stories that has ever been told. It is the story of how God rescues his people from slavery in the land of Egypt. It all starts at the end of Genesis where we see a man named Joseph who became the second most powerful man in all of Egypt. Through a series of events he invites his father, his 11 brothers and many sister to leave the land they were living in to come and live in Egypt where they would be under his protection and his rule. For almost 300 years Joseph's family lived peacefully and living in the land of Egypt and we are told that they grew in number. So much so that the current Pharaoh who knew nothing of Joseph, saw them as a threat, so he enslaved them. He made them do his bidding, his building and his will. For 400 years the Israelite people were enslaved, crying out to their God the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. And the story tells us that God heard their cries and could not bare it any more….

So God chose a man named Moses to be his representative and lead his people out of slavery and into their own land. Moses went before the Pharoah and declared that God demands that his people go free. But Pharaoh hardened his heart, and would not allow the Israelites to go. So God sent a plague, using Moses he turned the main source of water in Egypt the Nile into blood, but even this act of God did not put fear in Pharoah’s heart for he would not, could not, let the Israelites go. What followed were eight different plagues that God unleashed upon Egypt all in an attempt to get Pharoah to release the Israelites. Frogs took over the land, Locusts eating the crops, wild live stock stricken with illness, thunderstorms accompanied by hail, and painful boils covering the skin of the Egyptians, and yet through all of this, Pharaoh would not relent.

So God said he would bring one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt this one once completed would free the Israelites from the hand of Egypt. God said that at a certain time a angel would go through the land of Egypt and as the angel passed by every first born son of  livestock, slaves, Egyptians and majesties would die. But God spoke to Moses and told him to tell the Isrelaites that on the 10th day of the next month that every family should find a one year old spotless lamb, and after examining it for 4 days sacrifice it, smear it’s blood over their doorposts. When the day comes and the angel of the Lord arrives, every family that has the blood of the lamb on its door posts the angel will Passover them leaving their first born untouched and unharmed. He also instructed th Israelites that they were to mark this day as the day God Freed them from their captivity and every year during this same month and week there were to start a celebration called “Passover” as a reminder to them, their grandchildren and their great great grandchildren and beyond, this was the day the Lord had mercy and passed over the Israelites giving them their freedom.

The day came when the angel of the Lord arrived, the people of Israel did as the Lord instructed and as promised, the angel passed-over the Israelites but not the Egyptians. Pharoah the next day after 400 years enslaved in Egypt, the Israelites were released and set free…

The passover feast and celebration became a regular part of the Israeli year. Year after year, generation after generation would celebrate and declare the moment in time where God rescued the Israelite people out of bondage, out of slavery and into freedom. .

Years would pass, and as Israel had kings who worshipped God and those who did evil in the eyes of the Lord, from civil wars to hostile takeovers of opposing nations, the rise and fall of the Babylonian nation and the byzantine empire, no matter the circumstance, the hardship or the trials, Passover remained as the pinnacle celebration for the Jewish people. Because no matter how bad the situations they faced, they if God rescued them out of the hands of the Egyptians he would do it again.

1500 years after the first Passover Jesus was born into a Jewish family and as was the custom he would celebrate Passover with his family. Because time moves on but passover does not change.

If you know the story of Jesus you know that for 3 years he did ministry all around the Israel. From opening blind eyes, opening deaf ears, healing the lame and the sick. His teachings were known all around the nation and he professed on many different occasions that he was the messiah the Israelites were looking for, and he was God him. We would say things like, “I am the way the truth and the life” “I am the bread of life” “I am the resurrection.” But the religious leaders of the day plotted to kill him, and Jesus knew this for he said, “My life is not taken from me, but freely given.”

Interesting enough, as if it was orchestrated by God himself the last night that Jesus would live on this earth before his crucifixion, it was the day of Passover. And Jesus surrounded himself with his disciples, roasted the lamb, had the unleavened bread and herbs with wine. As Jesus got up to speak, his disciples undoubtedly believed that he would speak of the Passover story, praise God, sing songs…but Jesus didn’t do that. He was about to change what many believed to be unchangeable.

He picked up his bread and said, “This is my body broken for you eat this in remembrance of me…” and then he got his cup and said, “This is my blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins, drink this in remembrance of me.” I’m sure the disciples were silent and stunned, wondering how this Jesus has the ability to change the meaning of Passover. To the Jews the passover would never change, until Jesus, God in the flesh and Savior of the world came, and changed everything…

Break?

So what about you? What have you been hanging onto for years that you never thought would change? There could be a variety of different reasons or excuses as to why you continually hold onto things you know could change or should change but for whatever reason rather than dealing with it you have just decided, “well, its been this long it might as well stay, it will never change.”

It’s an addiction that has been apart of your life, drugs, alcohol, pron, gambling I mean you name it, its there. It’s been there for as long as you can remember and even though you follow Jesus, and you said you’d stop or this is the last time, its still there. Maybe it’s not an addiction but a behavioral issue, anger, greed, lust, others have pointed it out haven’t they? But you say, “thats how I am, thats how my dad or mom was, thats how my family is and its just not going to change.”

All of us have something that we know needs to change, but ultimately its easier or more convenient to live with it that to change it. Do you really want to enter into a new year of your life holding onto the same thing you said last year you were going to change? Do you really want another year of silent struggle, hurting relationships, hurting yourself, or guilt ? Or do you want a life of freedom?

Because I don’t know if you know this or not, but Jesus is in the business of change. He changed the Passover to Communion, the cross from a death penalty to a sign of hope, the grave to a resurrection and for those of us in Christ he’s changed you from being dead in your sins to being alive in Christ.

I am not saying it is going to be easy, don’t hear me wrong, but the struggle to change into who Jesus is calling you to be is far greater and far more reward than the struggle of staying the course.

So let me ask you again. What about you? What have you been hanging onto for years that you never thought would change? What are you finally willing to allow Jesus to change? Because Jesus changes everything, including you…