Tamales

by Jose Barajas

"Growing up in a Mexican home, Christmas time was always a happy memory for me. My dad liked to have people over but especially during Christmas time, as it was more of a reason to celebrate his birthday which fell on December Twenty Fourth (Although sometimes he'd say it was the Twenty Fifth.) (Now on another note, Jesus was not born on December Twenty Fifth and if you didn't know that, sorry for the spoiler alert) The thing that most non "Latino" families, (Hispanic, is deemed a derogatory term to many of whom that term was created for by the Census bureau) associate with this time of the year is TAMALES! Now if you know my family, its truly the most wonderful time of the year because of this rite of passage. My mom has a restaurant size mixer, as tamales are rolled out by the dozens when my sisters and brothers come to the house to make the often made, but never replicated, or better than those that come from my family's house. 

The joke I always like to tell, is the reason we made tamales was so that we would have something to open on Christmas. For us it's not just about making the tamale, but the preparation and love that goes into each one. The music and conversations that take place, and the laughter that fills the room regardless of the drama outside the walls. The masa is mixed, never pre-bought, the meat and chili all from scratch. The last secret, is that the person who starts putting the tamales into the pot to steam them, must be the same person who started the process. We don't use too much masa, unless you're making ones with pineapple, otherwise too much masa is a no-no in our house. We also use lard for flavor, except for my sister Laura, something about being healthier for you, it's okay we still love her.

Throughout the Bible we see order in how things were to be done when it came to the worship of God and in the preparation of the Passover meal, and even preparing our hearts to receive the "Lord's Supper." (We use crackers and grape juice at our church) In Exodus Twelve before they are taken out of the land of Egypt and before the first born was killed throughout the land, (always a picture of sin in the bible) it says,

"For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped." (ESV)

The Israelites became angry with Moses, but ultimately against God as they felt that God didn't care for them and so they did what most people do, we stop Worshipping God, correctly. We feel alone, lost, or because something has happened in our life, that "Why would God allow, fill in your blank" philosophy and want to go back to Egypt and forget that He has covered us with His blood. 

Paul talking about observing the Lord's supper or the remembrance of what Jesus did says in First Corinthians Fourteen,

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself."

Paul reminds us how we need to do this in remembrance of the price Jesus paid with Him being the Ultimate Sacrificial Lamb, and says to examine ourselves before we come together to partake, for if we come without asking for forgiveness of our sins, we bring judgement on ourselves. When Jesus had His last supper with the disciples, one of the original Twelve was not there when he passed out the bread and wine, because of his betrayal to God. Now we all sin, but it's how what we do when we sin, do we count it off as, "God will forgive me", "God understands", and continue in it, Are we looking at what we are doing and how we are doing it and understanding that God will not be mocked? The process hasn't changed in making tamales in our family and neither has it with God's word. We can change the type of meat we like, or how how hot we like the tamales, but our faith and walk isn't physical food. In our walk, we should not conform to the ways of the world, or worse, to satisfy our own flesh, by changing words, allowing the "leaven" or looking the other way, or watering down the word. 

Our family was not perfect as I've stated in the past, but our gatherings as I remember them, were fun and filled with food. The making of tamales has to be made a certain way otherwise the taste and the tamale itself won't come out right. Everything has order and more so when it comes to God and His worship. That's why I can't believe in random selection or A Big Bang theory where everything blows up and everything came together. We have never thrown the husk, unmixed masa, raw meat, chili's and other ingredients into the pot, cooking them all together and we open up the pot and Tamales are there waiting for us to eat. We do things for worldly things, with more care and precision than with our walk, and we need to stop and realize, our salvation is far more important than anything else.

Christmas to me isn't about gifts and the decorating of trees and houses, or a man in a suit, and there isn't anything wrong with those family traditions, but to me it should be first and foremost about Jesus, about family and making memories with food, and laughter. One day we will be in heaven with God and His family, if we repent to be a part of the "tamale" making parties in heaven." Jose Barajas