Passover

In theology we talk about typology at times, that is events that took place in the Hebrew scriptures that can prefigure an event or happening in the New Testament.

For the Jewish people, the event of the Passover is a central and defining element of their identity. And it can be thought of as prefiguring the role of Baptism for Christians. This is not to usurp or deny the importance of Passover today for the Jewish people or to blur the distinctions. In fact, I have been honored to spend Passover with dear friends and to join in their Seder supper in a Jewish home. It is a powerful meal that celebrates freedom, perseverance, and God's faithfulness.

A friend of mine posted this poem a while back and I saved it because I wanted to share it in regard to the link between Passover and Baptism. I think it gives us something to ponder as we make our way through the wilderness of Lent to the Last supper (celebrated in a Passover context) where Jesus washes our feet and bids us to "do this in remembrance of me."

Pack nothing.

Bring only 

your determination to serve 

and your willingness to be free.

Don't wait for the bread to rise.

Take nourishment for the journey,

but eat standing, be ready

to move at a moment's notice.

Do not hesitate to leave

your old ways behind --

fear, silence, submission.

Only surrender to the need

of the time — to love

justice and walk humbly

with your God.

Do not take time

to explain to the neighbors.

Tell only a few trusted

friends and family members.

Then begin quickly,

before you have time

to sink back into

the old slavery.

Set out in the dark.

I will send fire

to warm and encourage you.

I will be with you in the fire

and I will be with you in the cloud.

You will learn to eat new food

and find refuge in new places.

I will give you dreams in the desert

to guide you safely to that place

you have not yet seen.

The stories you tell

one another around the fires

in the dark will make you

strong and wise.

Outsiders will attack you,

and some follow you,

and at times you will get weary

and turn on each other

from fear and fatigue and

blind forgetfulness.

You have been preparing

for this for hundreds of years.

I am sending you into the wilderness

to make a new way and to learn my ways

more deeply.

Some of you will be so changed

by weathers and wanderings

that even your closest friends

will have to learn your features

as though for the first time.

Some of you will not change at all.

Some will be abandoned

by your dearest loves

and misunderstood by those

who have known you since birth

and feel abandoned by you.

Some will find new friendships

in unlikely faces, and old friends

as faithful and true

as the pillar of God's flame.

Sing songs as you go,

and hold close together.

You may at times grow confused

and lose your way.

Continue to call each other

by the names I've given you,

to help remember who you are.

You will get where you are going

by remembering who you are.

Touch each other and keep telling the stories. 

Make maps as you go

remembering the way back

from before you were born.

So you will be only the first

of many waves of deliverance on these desert seas.

It is the first of many beginnings --

your Paschaltide.

Remain true to this mystery.

Pass on the whole story.

Do not go back.

I am with you now

and I am waiting for you.

--"Passover Remembered..." by Alla Bozarth-Campbell