SCRIPTURE: Exodus 1:2-2:10
TEXT:10b …She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” THEME: God is in relationship with us. INTRODUCTION After Abraham and Sara are introduced in the book of Genesis, the rest of the story is getting their family (the people of God) out of Canaan and into Egypt. This is accomplished by their great grandson Joseph as he is sold by his brothers to traders headed to Egypt. God is involved, as Joseph advances to be Pharaoh’s second in command. His family migrates to Egypt to escape a famine back home. Generations have passed and this Hebrew family has grown to about 3 million people. SCRIPTURE Only three people are named in this passage. Even the King of Egypt doesn’t have a named, nor his daughter, or Moses’ mother or Moses’ sister. Our reference points are through the two midwives Shiphrah "to be fair" or "beautiful" and Puah "lass" or "little girl” and Moses. The new king comes into power, but arrogantly ignores the past, disregarding the history of the Israelites’ contributions to Egypt. Instead he frames them as a threat to their national security, he uses false numbers of their populous, creates a racial bias against them, and sees them as a threat to their economy. Fear incites the Law and Order King to act against this National Threat and turn these contributing members of Egypt’s society into slaves. Oppression continues with orders to Shiphrah and Puah to kill any male Israelite babies that they deliver. They can’t do it. They won’t do it. It goes against why they became midwives in the first place. It was to bring life into the world and not to contribute to the fears of a narcissistic, autocrat. So, although they had their orders, they chose to obeyed their good conscience instead. As midwives to these Hebrew women, they had gotten to know their families, their ways, their culture, the way they treat each other and their God. “17But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them…” When the King realized that the boys were allowed to live, they lied to their King, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” This played into to his prejudice that Israelites were less than human. So, he ordered every boy born to the Hebrews, to be thrown into the Nile. In the midst of their slavery, families continued to have children. A Levite couple had another child. This time a boy, and as best as they could, they tried to hide him, but when that became impossible, they did as Pharaoh’s law required. They waterproofed a basket with bitumen and pitch, and set their son amongst the reeds of the Nile. His sister watched on. God’s timing is everything. Pharaoh’s daughter arrives at the same spot with her attendants to bathe. She spots the baby in the basket and immediately knows what this is. As she takes pity on this crying baby, his sister jumps into action and asks her if she would like her to find nurse maid for the child. Pharaoh’s daughter knew what was going on, who this little girl was and who the nurse maid would be, and chooses against her father’s orders and gives protection to this boy. She pays the nurse maid for this service, providing a maternity leave income to this family. When he was weaned, his mother brought him to live in Pharaoh’s palace, as her son, whom she named Moses, because she drew him out of the water. Avenues of hope are created when people like Shiphrah and Puah, choose God’s ways over evil. This is true for Joseph who followed God’s way and prospered in Egypt for his family’s benefit, as well as for Jacob who’s passion for God leads him back home to Canaan, with progeny that become more than the stars in the sky, and Isaac who lives with a blessing that he passes on to his son, and like Abraham and Sara who’s journey, follows a promise, and is counted to them as faith. APPLICATION Theologian Walter Brueggemann says that, “Faith, is the capacity to read, discern, and live that life under threat, always in solidarity with God.” We are not to be passive spectators of God’s work, but participants in life, work, rescue and freedom. What does our ‘counter-life’ with God look like? Shiphrah and Puah are named above everybody else except for Moses, because their acts of civil disobedience give God space to work. Their ability to discern God’s righteousness cause them to live in solidarity with God and defy Pharaoh’s orders by preserving life. Never underestimate the ‘nobodies’ like us who have a deep reverence for God, where our faith-action, opens up spaces for God to operate in our world. Through the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, we can see how God is involved in a million different stories all at the same time, and still is initiating a plan of rescue and salvation. Just because things are not going the way God would want them to, it does not mean that God is not in control. God is about relationships and sometimes relationships can get messy. So even though things may seem dismal, it does not mean that God is absent or uninvolved in our personal lives or in the fabric of our community. Faith enables us to look back and see God’s activity all throughout our lives. Like how Joseph was able to see how God’s help, was a help for his family, but how the new king of Egypt could not. Shiphrah and Puah think for themselves. Siphrah and Puah listen to God’s voice over the noise of their king. Their names are preserved in this deliverance story of God, so we can see how our faithful action can be part of God’s bigger story. Their names are markers of what God is doing among us. Take encouragement from those who are visibly living their faith. Live risking to do things God’s way. This is faith and relationship with God all rolled into one adventure of faith. God has been helping all of us during the suffering of this pandemic, while we have been sheltered in, we have had stories of faith. Even as God has been helping, providing and protecting us, the County, the State and our church have been working on the Wailuku Mission Housing project. Our discussion after worship this morning will discuss a proposed partnership with EAH, (formally known as the Ecumenical Association for Housing). This partnership has the potential to bring this project into fruition. We have to be discerning and not afraid; we risk to trust in God despite our fears. As we listen to each other, all we can do is to make the best possible decision that we can at this time as the people of God at Wailuku Union Church. CONCLUSION Human beings have not changed that much over the centuries. People in power or disempowered are faced with the same challenges, fears and choices. When the reality of God is a part of our discernment, our lives are shaped towards a relationship with God that affects our relationship with others. We all play a part in God’s Story but not everyone is named; Pharaoh, Shiphrah, Puah, Parents, Pharaoh’s daughter, her attendants, sister, have choices of doing what they believe is right, compassionate, loving and pleasing to God or not. God plays a part in all of our stories; enduring hardship, living under oppression, being stewards of what God has given to us, living in relationship with God and reconciling our relationships with others. The suffering Pharaoh caused the Israelites was immense. As God dealt with their suffering, God was also executing a plan of deliverance using those who feared God to do what was right, over the wishes of the king. Living by faith, they created space for God to draw hope out of the water.
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