A meaningful entree......

As I promised my lovely friend Cathy, (no photos sorry Cathy) this post is all about the Passover meal that we shared with our "freaky-deaky" home church friends. After quite a lot of research and lengthy chats with my Mum, I managed to sort through the overwhelming amount of information on the Passover, and come up with a bit of a mini-version. I wanted to use as much of the traditional format as possible, and racked my brain how to do it in a large group setting.


Our group is made up of many small children ranging in age from 11mths through to 13 years, and I wanted it to be a meaningful thing for them too - not too long as for them to get bored and not so simple that all the meaning was gone.


We had spoken earlier as to the night being a time to share a thought about Easter and then sharing a meal afterwards. I thought then that the Passover symbols would be ideal as a "meaningful entree" - following on from others' thoughts and then leading into the meal time together.

During the week, I typed up a couple of pages that we could follow together as a group which included the main readings and symbols - (I would definitely like to do a more in depth Passover meal as there is just so much meaning in all of it!!) Then on Friday morning I began the preparations - cooking a lovely roast lamb, making the haroset (a combination of grated apple, cinnamon, ground nuts, honey and wine which represents the mortar used to hold the bricks together that the Israelites made in Egypt) etc, and a couple of traditional Jewish cheesecakes to share afterwards.

Through all of this I reflected on the Israelites and their slavery, God's promise to make them a nation of freedom and the emotional rollercoaster their time in Egypt must have been. And how this relates to my own life and the indescribable sacrifice that God made for me - his only son - and the freedom I feel because of this. Phew - exhausting stuff!!!

It was a truly special time for all of us. The afternoon began with people sharing their thoughts about Easter and many shared favourite songs - Nev and I sang "In Christ Alone" - we watched a section of the "Jesus for children" movie and I found myself weeping through it. I had Harri on my knee and Ellie next to me clinging to my hand, both of their little faces showing their understanding of how horrible the death of Jesus was and how it impacted me. (Both of them have given a lot more thought to Easter this year and have many questions. Harri - who often thinks about things quite deeply for a while - commented on Sunday morning, "It's amazing that Jesus could make himself undead").

It came time to share my thoughts on Easter and all I could manage to say (in between wiping tears and blowing my nose) as that Easter for me is about abundant love, love that is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow, a love that I do not deserve and yet am forever grateful for.

We sat in a circle around the lounge room on various chairs, sofas and bean bags, and Nev and I passed out plastic cups filled with grape juice and then placed in the middle of the room a table with two large platters with the Passover symbols on them, three candles, and a large stainless steel bowl filled with warm water and a jug for the hand washing ritual. We then worked through the following.......

#Lighting the festival candle
Mother Prayer: “Blessed are you, Oh Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by your commandments and commanded us to kindle the festival lights”.
#The First Cup – I will bring you out
Father Prayer: “Blessed are you oh Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine. Let us give thanks for this Passover feast which commemorates the departure from Egypt and freedom of the children of Israel from slavery. Blessed are you oh Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us and enabled us to reach this season.”
#All drink from cup
#Reading 1: Luke 22:14-16
#Washing of hands: water is poured over only the father’s hands at this time.
#Ritual dipping of parsley
Father: “As we take this parsley and dip it into the salted water, let us remember the tears of the Hebrews in bondage, and let us remember the suffering of Jesus on our behalf. We dare not take for granted what God has done for us. Let us remember the hyssop that was dipped in the lamb’s blood for wiping on the doorposts and lintels, and let us remember Jesus’ blood shed for us. Let tears of repentance never be far from us.”
# All take a piece of parsley and dip into salt water.
Father Prayer: “Blessed are you oh Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the earth.”
# Eat parsley.
#Reading 2: Exodus 6:6,7
#Breaking of bread
Three pieces of flat bread are placed on table. The middle piece is taken and broken into two. One half is put between the two other pieces as a sign that God keeps his covenant to deliver the Israelites from slavery. The second half is placed between the folds of a linen napkin as a sign of Jesus broken body, wrapped and placed in a tomb.
Father: This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all those who are hungry enter and eat thereof and all who are in want come and celebrate the Passover.
#Reading 3: Exodus 12:1-14
#The second cup – I will set you free
Father Prayer: Blessed are you oh Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.
#All drink from cup.
#Reading 4: John 13:1, 4-5
Father Prayer: Blessed are you oh Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us to wash our hands.
#Traditional hand washing – the father pours water over wrists and palms of others.
#A blessing for the bread
Father Prayer: Blessed are you oh Lord our God, King of the universe who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us to eat unleavened bread. Blessed are you oh Lord our God, King of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth.
#All take a piece of bread and eat.
#Bitter herbs
Father Prayer: Blessed are you oh Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with your commandment and commanded us to eat bitter herbs.
#All dip parsley into Haroset and eat.
Father: This is to remind us of the bitterness of slavery, sweetened with the hope of deliverance.
#All take two small pieces of bread, some herbs and lamb and eat together.
#The blessing of the eggs
Father: Let us eat together the eggs to celebrate this feast of life.
#All take a piece of egg and eat.
Father: When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord our God.
#The third cup – I will redeem you
Father: Traditionally this cup is the Cup of Redemption. Let us move forward with Jesus.
#Reading 5: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Father Prayer: Blessed are you oh Lord our God, King of the universe, who gives us Jesus as the bread of life and the true vine.
#All drink from the cup.
#The fourth cup – I will take you as my people
Father: This is known as the cup of completion. May our greater hope be that Jesus will return and reveal himself to his people.
Father Prayer: Blessed are you oh Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.
#All drink from the cup.
#Reading 6: Hebrews 13:20-21
Father: Accomplished is the Passover Service.