The Lord spoke to Moses, “Set apart every firstborn male for me. Every firstborn male offspring among the Israelites is mine, whether human or animal.”
Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day—the day when you left Egypt, the land of slavery. The Lord used his mighty hand to bring you out of there. Don’t eat anything made with yeast. Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving Egypt. The Lord swore to your ancestors that he would give you the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. When he brings you into that land flowing with milk and honey, you must observe this ceremony in this month.
“For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. The seventh day will be a pilgrimage festival in the Lord’s honor. Only unleavened bread should be eaten during these seven days. No sourdough or yeast should be seen anywhere in your territory. On that day tell your children, ‘We do this because of what the Lord did for us when we left Egypt.’ This festival will be like a mark on your hand or a reminder on your forehead that the teachings of the Lord are always to be a part of your conversation. Because the Lord used his mighty hand to bring you out of Egypt, you must follow these rules every year at this time. (God’s Word Translation)
Rituals are an important part of being human. They help us to observe significant events, specials seasons, and daily routines. Ritual activities are meaningful re-telling of stories for us and others. In other words, rituals activate memory, enabling us to remember what is of value.
Religious traditions are typically filled with rituals, in order to remind the faithful of what is significant about their faith. Unfortunately, there are some Christian traditions which have a negative view of ritual, believing it to be “vain repetition.”
The problem, however, is not with rituals themselves; the issue is with the one performing the ritual. If it is done with a disconnect between head and heart, then the ritual does not accomplish it’s intended goal of helping the community to remember and giving meaning in the present time.
“Ritual is not simply an attitude or intention, just as love is not simply a feeling. At its most basic, ritual is something that you do. A man can’t plow a field just by thinking about it; he must go out to the field and get to work. If he is fully present to the work and acts with mindfulness and loving attention – if he brings his whole self along – then even as he turns over the rich soil beneath the plow, he turns it over in his mind and heart, as well. The act of tilling the soil becomes an act of tilling the soul.”
Alison Leigh Lilly
No matter whether folks are religious, or not, all people engage in rituals. For example, here are some rituals many people do in order to remember, celebrate, and renew an old story:
- Birthdays (remembering and re-telling the birth story)
- Graduations (remembering and re-telling the story of school)
- Marriages & Anniversaries (remembering and re-telling the courtship story)
- National Holidays (remembering and re-telling the patriotic story)
- Dinner and/or Bedtime (remembering and re-telling stories from the day)
- Morning (remembering and re-telling my story of purpose and meaning)
- Earth (remembering and re-telling the seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter)
- Annual sojourns to special places such as vacations, sports stadiums, or reunions (remembering and re-telling the story of friendship and family).
The reasons people do such rituals are to
- Re-enforce values
- Have a sense of belonging
- Mark time in a meaningful way
- Form personal and healthy habits
- Remind of us of who we are and what our purpose in this world is
Avoiding rituals can cause a lack of identity and purpose. Failing to observe rituals can also create loneliness, confusion, and emptiness.
“Rituals are those repeated actions done again and again in the interest of things like focus, grounding, tradition, cultural symbolism, predictable life rhythms, and feeling a part of something bigger than ourselves.”
Craig Kelley
The Lord gave divine instructions to the newly freed Israelites. And those commands involved instituting some ritual behavior, to be done year after year. God told them to observe a Passover ritual each year so that the story of Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery would remain alive for the generations to come; and so that the event itself would have meaning for people in the present time.
Because Yahweh spared the firstborn of Israel’s children and livestock – and not the firstborn of Egypt – those same firstborn are to be given to God, in some sort of vicarious ransom. All the symbols of Passover are meant to be reminders of what the Lord had done for Israel.
The exodus event is to be actualized, made real for the generations today. By means of ritual, the relationship between God and the people is remembered and renewed for each new generation. Engaging in the ritual repeatedly helps press the story and it’s reality into both the mind and the heart.
And this is precisely what worship is supposed to do for the Christian. Ideally, a worship service is a re-enactment of Christ’s redemption for believers. Even more, it’s a dialogue between God and the people in which the Lord speaks and the worshipers respond.
One ritual which unites all Christians together is the Lord’s Table (communion, or the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist). Each Christian tradition has their particular views and theology surrounding it – yet it’s common to all. Observing the Table is a ritual which has been going on for two-thousand years; and which has it’s roots in the Passover and the original meal at the time of the exodus.
The Table is a time of remembrance, communion, and hope. We retell the story of Christ’s redemption and remember the Lord’s once for all sacrifice on the cross for the whole world. It is a unifying ritual, where believers commune together. And the Table expresses hope – that just as we eat and drink now, we will do so all together at the end of the age at the great supper of the Lamb.
Yes, rituals have meaning and it’s symbols are significant. They help us to express our shared humanity together.
May the love of Christ be active in your heart, be heard in your words, be seen in your actions and inform your choices today and every day. Amen.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 