Ordnung Sunday

Ordnung Sunday

This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the LORD. This is a law for all time.

Exodus 12:13-14

What rules do you live by? Did you learn them in church? From your family? Did you learn them in school or on your job? When I got married, I was surprised that some things I considered rules were more like options. Bedtime rituals, church attendance, and how one interacts with neighbors varied between my husband and me. The Amish live by a set of rules, and many people are surprised to discover that those rules aren’t always set in stone either: “The Ordnung vary from community to community, district to district . . . and they specify prohibitions and restrictions on modern technology, job options for Amish men and guidelines for everyday living, such as dress codes and how to interact with non-Amish people. When an Amish person is baptized, they are promising to uphold these rules of their church and to never break from them.”

Author and blogger Saloma Furlong writes, “Every spring and fall, two weeks before Communion Services, there is Ordnungs Church, a service in which the bishop of the church reviews the ordnung, or set of church rules. This is a service that lasts until about 2:00 p.m. It always seemed to me this was in preparation for the mega-long Communion Service.”

Even before God sent the angel of death to kill the Egyptians’ firstborn sons, He was telling the children of Israel to remember. He commanded that a special day be set aside for parents to tell their children the good deeds of the Lord. Is there a time you can set aside to share with your children or grandchildren or other young people why you believe what you believe and do what you do? Although you don’t need to make it a law, you could use the opportunity to help the next generation remember the deeds of the Lord.

Dear heavenly Father, I know the rules You establish are for my good. I’m thankful for the way Your Word guides me and that I can turn to You to learn how to live.