One of the highly anticipated parts of the Jewish celebration of Passover is the Seder dinner. This holiday meal is a family-oriented gathering that is much more than a meal. There are symbolic foods to eat, and a well-known liturgy to be followed. In many ways the Seder dinner is a multigenerational worship service that takes place in individual homes. The liturgy is printed in a little booklet called a Haggadah, which appropriately means “Telling” in Hebrew. Many families have copies for each person gathered around the table so everyone, including the children, can participate.

I confess to a little of what Barbara Brown Taylor calls “holy envy” when I think about the Seder dinner. In fact, thanks in part to a dear friend, I own quite a few versions of Haggadot. They all tell the same story of the night when the angel of death avoided (or passed over) the homes of faithful Jewish people who had marked their doors with the blood of a lamb. However, each Haggadah has its own style. Some add extra commentary, others include extra illustrations. Some are meant to be child friendly, while others lean toward adults. None of them are particularly short. The one that I downloaded this year is 111 pages long. This is a worship service that can go on for hours.

That’s where my holy envy comes in. The Jewish faith tradition expects families to live into these words from Deuteronomy 6:6-7,

“Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away….”

Let that sink in for a moment. Judaism equips families to live into this verse because a home worship experience is the normal way to celebrate Passover.

I find it kind of sad that we don’t have this expectation in the Christian tradition. I wonder what it would take to bring this tradition of family worship around a holiday dinner table. Would anyone be interested in a liturgy for Christmas dinner? Maybe not, if that meant replacing church services. How about Ash Wednesday? Probably still not a good fit. Hmmm, maybe we could start with Ascension Day?