Honoring the Past

Tuesday, March 5 Joshua 5: 9-12
WPC Youth Staff
Honoring the Past

Traditions that matter live on. Celebrating the Passover meal is one of those traditions. The Israelites that celebrate the Passover meal in today’s passage aren’t the same ones who followed Moses out of Egypt. Some were probably sons and daughters, others maybe the grandkids of that generation that sacrificed their lives to walk the treacherous terrain that led to the Promised Land. Prior to their death the Israelites taught their descendants about the ritual of Passover—what it meant, how it was to be celebrated, what words were to be spoken, and what supplies were necessary. All of those aspects coupled with the fact that God calls God's people to remember how God leads us into a new life as remembered by the Passover meal-- coalesce in the enactment of the ritual.
There are rituals that the church practices today that have were first celebrated centuries ago. Communion, Baptism, public worship, reciting the Lord’s Prayer and Confirmation, to name a few. The last one is of particular significance for the Youth Staff. Each year we celebrate our eighth graders by confirming them as new members of Christ’s church. This ritual of one being confirmed into Christ’s church has roots in the early church. Long ago those who wished to become members had to undergo a rigorous training that culminated in being baptized on Easter morning before being welcomed into full membership of the church.
Some aspects of Confirmation have changed, but much remains the same. Such is life in the church. Each year when we begin planning for Confirmation Sunday the Youth Staff relives the memories of year’s past. These memories guide us as we plan for the coming year’s class. In that way we honor the past by enacting it in the present. During the season of Lent the focus moves toward our need to rely on God. One way we acknowledge our reliance on God is by enacting the rituals of our church on a regular basis. When we gather around the Communion table, or at the baptismal font, or in the chancel for Confirmation we honor the past and how those communal gatherings remind us of our collective need to rely on God.

Prayer: God of ages past, remind us of the ways you have been in our lives through the rituals of the church and our lives.

Daily Challenge: Talk about your memories of gathering around the communion table or share your memories of your baptism