“The Marks of the Believer”
Exodus 12:1-14; Romans 13:8-14
September 4, 2011 (23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Rev. John B. Erthein
A police officer noticed a speeding vehicle that cut off some other cars, blared its horn, and gave a very aggressive impression overall. The police officer turned on his patrol car’s sirens and flashers, pulled over the speeding vehicle, and noticed what was stuck to that car/s rear bumper. He promptly arrested and handcuffed the man who was driving and took him to the police station downtown. The man was placed in a holding cell. That was highly unusual for a traffic stop. After a couple of hours, the police officer released the man from his cell and was very apologetic. “I am sorry for what happened, I don’t normally arrest people for traffic violations. But when I saw the fish symbol on the back of your car along with the bumper sticker that said Jesus Loves You,’ I thought you had stolen the car.”
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? What are the marks of the believer? We can discover these marks by turning to the passage in Exodus. The LORD God of Israel is establishing the feast of the Passover for his people. The elements of the Passover defined God’s people over three thousand years ago, and I would submit they continue to define God’s people today. What are the relevant marks of identification?
First, God’s people are people apart. In verse two, God instructs the Hebrews that they will live according to a different calendar than the surrounding culture. Some of the cultures of the Middle East considered the autumn season to be the start of the year, while others preferred the spring season. But instead of living by a seasonal calendar, God commands his people to live by a theological calendar, meaning that they live by a calendar centered on God’s saving actions for his people.
God also gave his people very specific commands for how they would prepare their Passover meal, from the type of food they would consume (a spotless male lamb or goat), to how it would be prepared, and indeed how it would be disposed of in case any was left. What is amazing about this ritual is that a version of it is practiced by devout Jews to this very day. The feast of the Passover is one of Judaism’s most important occasions.
God also commanded the Hebrews to display a sign of their separateness, which was to show the blood shed from the spotless lambs or goats on their door posts. The Angel of Death would “pass over” them on its way to destroying the first born of the Egyptians. Now, surely God knew who his own were. And yet he commanded the Hebrews to display a mark of their status.
So the separateness of the Hebrews is well established. But in a very important sense, they were also together. The painstaking regulations of the Passover meal were designed to bring the people together. Verses 3 and 4 demonstrate this. Moses was told that the whole community of Israel was to share the meal as households. In other words, individuals were not to eat the meal by themselves. Each household would have one goat or lamb to consume, and if the households were very small (say three people or less), verse four provides for a sharing of the meal with others. Everyone had to eat the meat, and all of the meat was to be consumed, with nothing left by dawn.
Finally, God commanded the Hebrew to be prepared. There is a lot of language concerning the preparation of the meal. This is not something that should be thrown together at the last minute, like throwing a frozen dinner in the oven or microwave. No, the lamb or goat must be chosen days before the meal, and there must be the most careful preparation. But this preparation is so that the Passover Meal can be quickly consumed, and that the Hebrews are to eat with their sandals on their feet, their belts fastened and their belongings packed up. The roasting of the meat over a fire, the use of unleavened bread, and herbs from the field, were all ways of fast preparation. And why? Because the day of deliverance is approaching.
You might be asking yourself what this has to do with you in this day and age. These regulations concern a distant people from over three thousand years ago, after all. The culture was dramatically different than ours. The very language of the Hebrews is impenetrable to most people today (and believe me, I know … I had to take a year of Biblical Hebrew in seminary and was amazed by how alien it seemed.). But the principles set out in this Exodus passage apply to followers of Jesus Christ today.
We are indeed called to be a “separate” people. Now, what does that mean? Like the Hebrews, we can display some symbols of God’s covenant with us. Jesus instituted two visible marks or signs by which we are known as his people. The sacrament of Baptism serves to mark us as Christ’s own. Now, God knows who belongs to him regardless of the outward sign. And yet this public mark of faith is something that sets the families of faith apart from others. The sacrament of communion also sets believers apart, because it is a symbolic and spiritual partaking of Christ’s Body and Blood, a remembrance of his sacrifice for us.
But our separateness does not just have to do with sacraments. It concerns the lives we lead. As followers of Christ, we are called upon to fulfill the law of God. What is the law of God for us? It is not the old Mosaic covenant, but rather the command from Jesus to love the Lord our God with everything we have and everything we are, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. That is the argument Paul sets out in the passage from Romans. Love fulfills the law. And what is extraordinary about this provision is that it includes everyone. The Christian is called not just to love other Christians, but all people. And that truly would set us apart, if we actually practiced it. It’s extraordinarily difficult. Only Jesus himself perfectly fulfilled it. But it is still what we are called to do.
Just as the Hebrews were a people together, so we are called to be a people together. Again, we can witness that in the way we come together for the Lord’s Supper. That is meant to be a communal activity. So is Baptism. There are exceptions due to emergencies or incapacity, but in the Presbyterian tradition, we generally come together around the Lord’s Table. And I think it is good to come together in other ways, too. We enjoy wonderful fellowship meals and Bible studies and prayer meetings together, united by our common bond in Jesus Christ. And we can fellowship with other believers in Christ beyond the walls of this church. I would submit to you that while our faith is individual in a sense, it is even more communal. Having a relationship with other believers is a vital aspect of our faith. That is why I just cannot affirm that watching a preacher on TV at home (and there are some TV preachers I've been blessed to watch, like Billy Graham and D. James Kennedy) is any substitute for gathering and worshiping with the people of God in the house of God.
Finally, we too care called to be a prepared people. Paul exhorts his listeners to remember that the time of salvation is drawing near. And how better prepared can we be but to live as followers of Jesus Christ? With all due respect to someone like Harold Camping, we cannot, in fact, know exactly when the time of salvation shall come. But it is good to live as if that time were imminent. Living in this way means having a robust faith in Jesus Christ, a faith that changes your life and allows you to act with love towards others.
To Him who showed us the way of faith and love to salvation, Amen.
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