Thank You!
The lessons of the Easter Vigil fill us with awe as we rehearse God’s mighty acts for his people. Hearing them we join our Jewish brothers and sisters in the recitation of a traditional song of the Seder or Passover meal, “Dayyenu! – That would have been enough!” The song is a “Thank You” for the long list of God’s mighty works, eleven in all. After each great act/gift of God a refrain is offered: “Dayyenu!- That would have been enough.” Even one act of mercy had shown God to be worthy of praise. This prayer reprising the song is then given by the host of the Seder.
“How plentiful are the reasons for our gratitude to God for the many favors bestowed upon us! God brought us out of Egypt, divided the Red Sea for us, permitted us to cross on dry land, sustained us for forty years in the desert, fed us with manna, ordained the Sabbath, brought us to Mount Sinai, gave us the Torah, led us into the land of Israel, built for us the Temple, sent us prophets of truth, and made us a holy people to perfect the world under the kingdom of the Almighty, in truth and in righteousness.”
It would have been enough to call forth gratitude from God’s people – a worthy response for a God of mercy. Still something was missing. The sacrifices at the Temple altar would go on and on to make atonement for sin. Because human beings are human our sinful nature could not be erased without sacrifice. Good intentions are not enough.
We believe God’s Son, Jesus Christ, opens the way to the Father through his self-sacrifice, his death on the cross for the healing of our sinfulness, our brokenness, so that we might live a new life of grace and peace with God.
Moses leadership in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt, dividing the Red Sea, mentoring in the wilderness with the manna, Sabbath observance, the Law, was enough to make God’s people grateful, Dayyenu!
But Jesus is even more. He was a human being like we are leaving behind the old life of slavery, not just to physical oppression, but to every addiction, every form of idolatry that controls, restricts our freedom, and marginalizes our lives. Jesus leads us to safety through the waters that would drown us, the water of baptism in which we die to the past and emerge fresh and new for the abundant life of God. Jesus was obedient to the law of God and taught us that love is the fulfillment of the law – love of God and love of neighbor. Jesus is the true bread of heaven given for the life of the world. He is the true water that quenches our thirst for truth; the true light to show us the way; and the way to our heavenly Father.
As for the Temple and its sacrifices showing our obedience to God, and the prophets God sent to remind us of his covenant with us, for these we are grateful. Dayyenu!
But Jesus is more. His sacrifice on the cross accomplished once and for all God’s purpose in healing our brokenness and restoring the covenant relationship. And more than the prophets who spoke for God, Jesus is God’s true Word in the flesh.
So we are invited to renew the promises we made when we were baptized. Our baptism not only reminds us of God’s covenant with us, but of our desire to conform our lives in such a way that the world will recognize that we have been with Jesus. That the world will be able to see the evidence of God’s kingdom of righteousness and peace not only in our values and high principles but in our behavior, our words and actions.
It would have been enough to recall God’s mighty acts, but God has more in store. Baptized into Christ’s death and raised in his resurrection, we are to become Christ’s agents in the world. As St. Teresa of Avila said,
Christ has no body on earth but yours.
No hands but yours,
No feet but yours.
Yours are the feet with which he goes about doing good,
And yours the hands with which he is to bless us now.
Thank you, our gracious God. Thank you. Amen.
