Passover: An Introvert's Nightmare

 

Monday, January 16, 2023

“Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month.  Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight.  They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal.  That same night they must roast the meat over a fire and eat it along with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast.  Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water.  The whole animal—including the head, legs, and internal organs—must be roasted over a fire.  Do not leave any of it until the next morning.  Burn whatever is not eaten before morning.  “These are your instructions for eating this meal:  Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand.  Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover.  On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt.  I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord!  But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying.  When I see the blood, I will pass over you.  This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.  Exodus 12:6-13

The last thing an introverted person wants is drawing attention to oneself.  To speak-out, be called-out, or go-public makes us break-out in the night sweats.  Passover was the epitome of that.  Slaughtering a lamb and painting its blood on the door posts and lintels was being public of a no-turning-back variety.  Everyone would see your faith…there was no going back.

Christians make a big deal of the fact that God is after our hearts much more than any public ceremony or disclosure.  Faith is an internal thing.  However, there’s no denying blood on the doorposts as being a very public thing.  Frankly, this is where the rubber meets the road.  Internal faith is somewhat useless if it never finds itself coming out of the closet.  Apostle James nailed it without holding back:

…faith without works is dead?  James 2:20b^(KJV)

In Eugene Peterson’s The Message, he takes James’ statement a little further with this picturesque description:

Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?  James 2:20b^(TMSG)

And this understanding leads to the Introvert’s Nightmare:

Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds?                  I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”  

James 2:18

There comes a time when the internal nature of faith must take a deep breath and come out in Kingdom-serving.  The private is of no use if it disdains of ever going public.

For You Today  

If you’re an introvert by nature (like me), this is hardly an easy concept to embrace.  And if you imagine for one moment it was easy to surrender to a life of standing publicly in Christian ministry…you have no idea of who I am.  (It even pains me, after more than 40 years in public ministry, to talk about it).  So, what’s a guy who doesn’t like being in the center of things doing in the center of public ministry?  Two answers…both vitally-true:

1.    He wants to be obedient to the One who called him.

2.    He doesn’t want his internal faith to die for lack of external deeds.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Seder - Meal of Haste  and  Ready to Travel

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Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©