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“Divided Loyalties”
Exodus 2:1-25
A sermon preached by the Rev. Douglas M. Donley
The people who were responsible for the success of Moses’ life were audacious women: Shiphrah, Puah, Jochabed, Miriam, Merris and Zipporrah. Moses was indebted to all of these women. We are, too for they are central to the central story of the Hebrew Bible, the liberation of a people from the yoke of slavery.
Moses was
born a good 1300 years before Jesus. He
was born under the reign of the Pharaoh of Egypt, Rameses. Rameses, we know
from the first chapter of Exodus, had forgotten what Joseph had done on behalf
of all of
But Pharaoh was still afraid of a slave uprising. So, he imposed the first slaughter of the innocents, he declared that all of the female Hebrew babies should live, but all of the male Hebrew children must be thrown into the river and killed.
The book of Exodus opens with five women openly defying that order—the first act of civil disobedience—and the result is the birth and nurturance of Moses, the one who would years later finally lead the Hebrew people out of slavery and to the brink of the promised land.
If it had not been for Moses’ mother and her accomplices, Moses would not have stayed alive. If it had not been for his mothers, Moses would not have learned to become the person that he did. If it were not for his mother being willing to let go of him, not once, but twice, Moses would not have turned into the one to set free the oppressed Hebrew people.
This is a story about family and it is also a story about the liberation from slavery. God was active in Moses’ convincing Pharaoh to let the people go, but it was the women in his life that really got him ready for his future.
The subversive women in the first two chapters of Exodus are Shiphrah, Puah, Jochebed, Miriam, Merris and Zipporah. Have you ever heard of these women before? They are central role models for us today. They are some of the bravest people in the entire Bible and they all refused to settle for business as usual, when that business mean violence, murder, slavery and selfishness.
It is appropriate for us to recognize and celebrate these people. They were the Code Pink of their day. The Million mom marchers, the Rosa Parkses, and Dorothy Days, Nadean Bishops and Lynn Weltons of their time.
Last week we learned about how the Egyptian midwives Shiphrah and Puah defied Pharaoh’s orders and let Moses and countless other Hebrew children live.
In today’s scripture, we find at least three women who conspire to keep Moses alive. Interestingly, none of them are named. We know from other scripture sources that Moses’ mother was named Jochebed, his sister was named Miriam, and from extrabiblical sources that the daughter of Pharaoh was named Merris. The Bible tends to view women’s names as insignificant in comparison to the lists of men’s names. I am here to tell you today, that behind every man is at least one woman and probably more who often go unnamed.
If as a woman, you have ever felt left out of the Biblical narrative, then I invite you to dive into this morning’s scripture with me. For here we find a model of caring, courage, strength and faith so necessary to all of our lives. We men can learn a lot from these women, too.
Amram and Jochebed who were of the tribe of Levi had a son. When the Hebrew people reached the promised land, the tribe of Levi would eventually become a tribe of priests, receiving no land but living off the tithes of the other 11 tribes. Moses was from the tribe of Levi.
Jochebed saw that he was a fine baby. Possibly with the aid of Shiphrah and Puah, she hid the child from 3 months.
But you know as well as I do that you cannot hide a newborn for very long. Their crying betrays them. And, I am sure, the neighbors wanted to know what they were going to name their new daughter.
You see, Jochebed could not revel that she had borne a son for that would defy Pharaoh’s laws and she would have to pay the price, probably with her life.
So, she devised a plan. Her daughter Miriam must have been ten years old or so by then. Being a mischievous 10-year-old, it was common for her to spy on what was happening in and around the town. Miriam knew that Pharaoh’s daughter Merris bathed at the river every day. Perhaps she had seen something in Merris that made her believe that she would be kind to her little brother. Perhaps she saw Merris’ rebellious side, which was just looking for a way to defy her father’s dumb rules.
A plan was devised to save the baby’s life.
But the only way to save him was to give him away. Because Jochebed had the courage and the wisdom and the strength to give Moses to Merris, she and all of the Hebrew people received freedom from slavery.
Jochebed and Miriam put the tiny baby in a basket on the river’s edge and floated it downstream just at the time when Merris was bathing. Miriam waited in the bushes. Jochebed was not far away either.
When Merris heard the baby crying, she saw him in the reeds and she sent her attendants to go and get the child. The scripture says that she took pity on him. She knew that this was one of the Hebrew children. She knew that he was supposed to be killed, but somehow that was much easier to do when you did not have to look at the beautiful baby right in front of you. Reality often betrays theory.
At the precise moment. The ever-precocious Miriam, who was possible the family peddler, jumped out of the bushes and said, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” Miriam was not only taking care of her little brother, she was also making sure that Merris made the decision to keep the child, and to have him eventually raised in Pharaoh’s home. This baby would be the Hebrew insider.
When Merris said, “yes, then the plan was a success.
Miriam brought her none other than Jochebed, her mother. Merris said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages. Unlike many women today, Jochebed was paid to be the mother of her own child!
Now Moses,
as he was later named by Merris, stayed with
Jochebed, Miriam and the Hebrew people until he grew up. In those days that could have been anywhere
from
Moses learned the slave songs from his people and felt the desire of freedom though his mother Jochebed.
Jochebed taught Moses his faith long before God spoke to him thorough the burning bush.
Possibly
more than anyone else in Moses’ life, Jochebed was central to making him the
one who would lead the people out of slavery in
Because Jochebed had the strength to stand up to Pharaoh, she gave her son Moses the power to stand up to Pharaoh, too.
And because Jochebed was able to give Moses up not once but twice, Moses was able to give up his desire to be a shepherd in Midian in order to set his people free.
But Moses had divided loyalties. He knew he was a Hebrew, but he had all of the privileges of an Egyptian prince, living in the house of his own people’s enemy, Rameses. He was never really at home in the palace. He rebelled as many of us do in our younger years. He even tried to get on the right side of things by killing an Egyptian who was mistreating a Hebrew. This made him an enemy in his palace home and a person to be feared among the Hebrews. He did what many of us do when we’re confused and forlorn. He left both homes he knew and started a new life in a new town.
In Midian, he found acceptance. He found affirmation. He found a new family. He found a new home. He found a people that did not care about his past.
Many of us feel like outsiders from time to time. We feel like we are not wanted or welcome even in our own home. When someone goes off to college and comes back home, the assumption is that everything will be the same as it always was. But people change. We encounter people or knowledge that have profound impacts on our lives. The challenge is figure out how to maintain or modify our identity as we have new experiences.
I grew up in a town and a time when we didn’t talk about politics very much. When I discovered politics in college, it was like scales were dropping from my eyes. I cynically looked at my church upbringing as an exercise in becoming comfortable with their prejudices. We seldom questioned the status quo. So when I discovered politics, I left the church. But in my wanderings, there was something missing in my life. I found myself drawn back to justice causes, to acts of mercy and compassion. If I was honest, I realized I had learned something about all of these things in my church.
When Moses was in the mountains of Midian far from home, there was something burning in his bones and he realized he had to help set his people free. It is the core of what he had learned from Jochabed and Merris, his two moms. They instilled upon him that core of truth in his life. They instilled in him a sense of love and nurturance that in his old age he felt compelled to revisit.
These days, we think about how we recover from our dysfunctional childhoods. We work hard at it. It’s important to do. To do otherwise is to be of divided loyalty: to be co-dependant. And yet, there is some kernel of truth in our upbringing for all of us which is life-giving and hopeful. Moses clung to that no matter where his journey took him.
Moses often felt like an outsider—a stranger in a strange land. We’ve felt like that. We are in region that calls itself Baptist but does not seem to remember Judson or King or George Leisle or Roger Williams or Lottie Moon or Edwin Dahlberg. We feel like we have our loyalties divided for us. And yet in the core of our beings we know our duty. Our duty, like Moeses’ duty is to set people free. We can only do that if we remember who we are.
Sisters and brothers, each step on the journey reveals a new aspect of our lives. It shows us again who we are and we ought to be. Moses’ journey took twists and turns, but he remembered what he learned at Jochebed’s side.
Never forget who you are and always be proud of who you are. With God on your side, nothing is impossible. Our mission is to set people free. And when we do that our loyalty to God may set us apart from other loyalties. But as long as we cling to God, we join God in the life-giving work of setting people free. When we do so, there is a part of us that is set free, too.