A Sermon by John Brierly McCall, D. Min.
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Some of us like things in life to be orderly and predictable – “just so.” I tend to be that way. When Andrea and I go to the friendly local gym at 5:15 (a.m.) we’re a little bit on autopilot. Each weekday we park in the same spot next to the same cars, we go through the same routines, and work out on the same machines, usually in the same order. We leave at the same time and arrive home just as the coffee is finished brewing. It’s familiar and comfortable.
So imagine our feelings when we arrived at the gym on Thursday morning and found someone had parked a strange vehicle in our parking space. And when we went inside there was someone on my arc-trainer. And there were strange people back by the free-weights!
Isn’t it interesting how little it takes to cause us to inspect and scrutinize? Much of what we do throughout the day is sorting and separating. Sesame Street used to have a segment that said “one of these things is not like the others; which one is different? Do you know? If you’ll tell me which thing is not like the others, I’ll tell you if it is so.”
And so it goes. Ask a child or youth who’s preparing for the start of school, how they sort their world. What clothing do insiders wear? Which shoes are cool and which are for losers? Where’s your locker and do you have the right cell phone?
Insiders and outsiders… those like us and those who are different… and different equals dangerous. So we pull apart and draw up our sides and defend our positions.
How about the bruising debate over the debt ceiling? Did we intend to send a pack of pit bulls to represent the citizens in Congress? I read recently that today’s Senate and House are as contentious and divided as any time since 1860, just before the Civil War broke out: “Don’t sit at the table with the enemy. Refuse to negotiate. Never compromise! Blame it on the Democrats! Blame it on the Republicans. Hang it on those who see the world differently.”
Sadly, we seem to have slipped back into a world that only see differences and not the common good. Rather than focusing on our mutual and shared hopes, dreams, and rights, we’re reverting to the rhetoric from generations past: when times are tough, blame it on the immigrants, or the Gypsies, or the Jews, or the welfare cheats. It’s as old as our most ancient stories; as old as humankind.
I believe our faith calls us to seek common ground and common good – to hold to our principles and faith, but to gather all people at the same table.
Thursday evening Andrea, Ben, and I were part of the host committee for an event sponsored by the Religious Coalition Against Discrimination that has worked tirelessly to move Maine toward true marriage equality – so that gay and lesbian couples can enjoy the same civil rights as heterosexual couples.
We well remember the people’s veto in November 2009 after the Maine State Legislature had enlarged the law to apply to all such couples. Mainers repealed that law by a 53% majority in large part because conservative Christians and the Roman Catholic Diocese said that people of faith who are opposed to marriage equality would be punished for their convictions. So it’s very important for the public to know that many people of faith, including ordained leaders, believe marriage equality is right, not wrong.
A Gallup poll from last May shows that Americans favor full marriage equality by 53% to 45% – a reversal from just a year earlier.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/147662/first-time-majority-americans-favor-legal-gay-marriage.aspx
This issue won’t go away, and will almost certainly be on the ballot in November 2012, but the wording has been changed and will be stated this way:
“Do you favor a law allowing marriage licenses for same-sex couples that protects religious freedom by ensuring no religion or clergy be required to perform such a marriage in violation of their religious beliefs?”
In the final analysis issues such as these must not be settled by the majority’s religious beliefs but about the balance of justice in our civil society – about equal protection and human rights.
It’s always true that we carry our values into the public forum and the voting booth, but we’re in a time of great sorting out as a nation, deciding whether a particular religious view – specifically conservative Christianity will claim to define public policy.
Slow and steady wins the race. Persistence in the face of resistance finally leads to justice.
So we read today’s lesson from Exodus as a continuation of the story of Joseph and the Children of Israel. As we heard last week Joseph’s brothers saw him as “other,” as “enemy,” and sold him to slave traders headed to Egypt. When Pharaoh had a dream that Joseph could interpret he was elevated to a trusted advisor to Pharaoh. Late in Genesis we read that Joseph’s father, his brothers, and their families came to Egypt because of a drought in Canaan.
Over time a new Pharaoh came to power who did not know Joseph as a person but saw him only as an Israelite – “other,” a threat and danger. And, this ruler realized the Hebrew nation had grown in numbers and strength and he feared they would turn on the Egyptians in a time of war. So he ordered the taskmasters to treat the Israelites more cruelly.
Then the king went a step further – ordering the Hebrew midwives to kill every male Hebrew newborn, but spare the girls. The midwives quietly disobeyed and in one case a Hebrew woman named Jachobed, hid her son for three months. When she could no longer shield him she wove a basket and placed the child in it and sent it down the river.
A servant of Pharaoh’s daughter caught the basket and then went and found a Hebrew woman to be the child’s wet nurse. And that woman was Jachobed. When the child was old enough, she returned him to the Pharaoh’s daughter who named him “Moses,” which in Hebrew means “the one who draws out,” foreshadowing how he would draw out the children of Israel from slavery.
It’s reasonable to ask where God is in this drama. That’s a familiar question.
- Where is God when innocent people are suffering?
- Where is God when the diagnosis is grim?
- Where is God when good, honest, hard-working people seem to gain nothing from all their efforts?
The only answer today is the same as it’s always been: even when you don’t feel it, God is right there, as close as your breath. This answer may not seem like enough. In this “on-demand” world you can custom-design anything you want and have it arrive at your door later today. We may also then expect God to show up here, now, according to our wants and desires.
Rarely does the Holy One act that way. Rarely does God give rapid-response when we cry out. Much more often, God calls us to wait in trust and hope. AND God equips others to offer comfort and support knowing that no act of kindness or mercy is wasted. Through partner, spouse, family, friends, neighborhood, church, we’re surrounded by others who bear witness to the loving presence of God.
In this particular story God works through Shiphrah and Puah, the mid-wives and through Pharaoh’s daughter; through Moses’ mother Jachobed, and Moses’ sister Miriam. Women are often unnamed in scripture. Here we see and name the heroes.
It’s certainly true that many innocent people suffered; many righteous believers were persecuted and killed.It’s also true that in this imperfect world it’s not possible to end all suffering or heal all pain. It’s not possible to balance a federal budget without increasing income and reducing expenses. And it’s not possible to do that without hurting real live people. Scripture tells us always to care for the widow, the orphan, the beggar, the alien.
But we must work together and must listen to those who see the world differently. And we must not give up and we must not turn away because the work is hard.
As Martin Luther King once said – “On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity comes along and asks the question, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.”
Write that in the halls of Congress, but also in our homes and schools, shops and offices. It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing.
Right now, today, and tomorrow, you can make the choice to keep your focus on the common good; to maintain hope, and to be that faithful witness to God’s love in the life of each one you meet.