Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] September 24, 2023 “Just Enough” Exodus 16: 2-16 – Common English Bible The whole Israelite community complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert. 3 The Israelites said to them, “Oh, how we wish that the Lord had just put us to death while we were still in the land of Egypt. There we could sit by the pots cooking meat and eat our fill of bread. Instead, you’ve brought us out into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I’m going to make bread rain down from the sky for you. The people will go out each day and gather just enough for that day. In this way, I’ll test them to see whether or not they follow my Instruction. 5 On the sixth day, when they measure out what they have collected, it will be twice as much as they collected on other days.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you will see the Lord’s glorious presence, because your complaints against the Lord have been heard. Who are we? Why blame us?” 8 Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning because the Lord heard the complaints you made against him. Who are we? Your complaints aren’t against us but against the Lord.” 9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole Israelite community, ‘Come near to the Lord, because he’s heard your complaints.’” 10 As Aaron spoke to the whole Israelite community, they turned to look toward the desert, and just then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 12 “I’ve heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have your fill of bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’” 13 In the evening a flock of quail flew down and covered the camp. And in the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the desert surface were thin flakes, as thin as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What[a] is it?” They didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Collect as much of it as each of you can eat, one omer [two quarts] per person. You may collect for the number of people in your household.’” Last week we quickly raced through the ten disasters caused by Pharaoh’s refusal to simply let the enslaved Israelites leave for a three-day festival in the desert to worship God. Often called the 10 Plagues, the first one was really just an effort to impress Pharaoh by turning a shepherd’s rod into a snake. But failing to impress Pharaoh, the stakes were quickly raised when
This Pharaoh had come to power claiming not to know Joseph. Egyptians forgot why this group of immigrants, the descendants of Joseph, were living in their land. The Joseph who had skillfully saved the entire nation of Egypt from starvation. And so Pharaoh was able to scapegoat the Israelites and eventually enslaved them. After years of suffering, God heard their cries and got personally involved by sending Moses and Aaron to get them released. But by approaching Pharaoh, they actually made things worse. Pharaoh forced the people to work harder by making the same number of bricks but without providing them with any straw to make them. The people rightfully complained. And Moses complained that God is doing nothing to help. Then seven plagues in, an odd narrative shift. Pharaoh had gone back and forth between relenting, saying “just go already,” and changing his mind. But after the 7th disaster, God made Pharaoh stubborn and now it’s not just a story about an obnoxiously rich and powerful man refusing to grant the people a break, but something much more complicated, of which I have yet to find a satisfying explanation that doesn’t make God look like a jerk, prolonging their suffering and causing more. The 8th disaster was the greatest hail storm that anyone had ever seen. And then a plague of locusts. Of course, to me, devastating hail storms and plagues of locusts just sound like North Dakota in summertime, along with constantly swatting away mosquitoes the size of birds. And after that, three days of darkness covered Egypt. Which just sounds like winter in North Dakota. But then, nothing funny about it, the worst of all. Death came to the oldest child and animal in every family – terrible agony in every household in Egypt. Except for Israelite houses marked with blood from a lamb. For those families, God would pass over. Finally, it was all too much. Pharaoh relented and the people could go. Well, they took off so fast, the yeast hadn’t yet raised the bread dough. They walked for several days and came to the edge of the Reed Sea. They made camp along the sea shore where a woman was selling sea shells. They deserved a nice waterside retreat. Except it also meant they were trapped. Soon enough, Pharaoh changed his mind and sent all the military might at his disposal to force his slaves back to Egypt. The people were furious at Moses and complained bitterly that they could have just died in Egypt without all this trouble. “You should have left us alone.” But as you heard last week, Moses raised his hand and God blew a strong wind which dried up the sea for the Israelites to walk through and once they were safely across, the wind turned and created havoc for the chariots and Egyptian soldiers. All perished in the sea. God saved the people. Once they were all on the other side, Miriam picked up a tambourine and led them in singing and dancing all day and all night. “Horse and rider into the sea, God has saved us from the enemy.” That’s where we stopped last week. So, here we are, the next morning after a good night’s sleep, they traveled forward. God knows where they were going. I mean, only God knew where they were going. But after three days in the wilderness, they had not yet found water. Their supplies had run out and so men, women, and children alike sat down on the ground and wailed: “Why didn’t God just let us die in the comfort of Egypt?” If brick-making seven days a week in the hot Egyptian sun was “comfort,” they really were miserable. But with no other choice, they kept moving until they finally came across a spring in Marah. Water! Word was passed to Miriam to dig out her tambourines! People stood around and with great anticipation watched the first person taste what they expected would be the most wonderful, fresh, cool water people had been dreaming of for days. But before Miriam could start dancing, the person spit the water out. It was bitter, which shouldn’t have surprised them because the word Marah means bitter. No surprise that the water in a place called Bitter is bitter. But not to fear. God pointed Moses to a tree. Moses threw its branches into the water and it became sweet. They waited around until everyone had filled up their water jugs and then kept traveling until they came to Elim. Elim is a beautiful desert paradise described as having 70 palm trees and 12 springs of water. Travelocity could advertise it as a literal Palm Springs in the desert, minus all the mid-century-modern architecture. They enjoyed six weeks of rest and relaxation and when they resumed their travels, I can only imagine that more than a few people complained about having to leave. And yup, as soon as they started moving, “Why didn’t God let us die in comfort in Egypt? You led us out here to starve to death. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt free of charge, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Back in Egypt we had pots of meat cooking.” They were hungry. And once again, the whole company of Israel complained bitterly against Moses and Aaron. Temple Beth Shalom set up a voice mail system for dealing with this kind of thing. “If you would like our service schedule, press one. For membership information, press two. To complain to the rabbi, press three. To complain about the rabbi, press four, five, or six.” Moses in turn complained to God who promised to “rain down bread from the skies.” Moses and Aaron informed the people, “God has heard your complaints. And by the way,” they added, “just so you know, when you complain, it doesn’t bother us. Your complaints are against God. And do you really want to complain against a God who can send frogs, lice, bugs, hail and more on command?” I think we call that being passive aggressive, obviously a tactic for human interaction as old as time itself. Moses assured them that God had heard their complaints and promised to send bread every morning, adding, “Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” In the morning, that “bread” was a layer of dew all around the camp, described as thin flakes, as thin as frost on the ground. This is…um, “food?” I’m a picky eater, so I understand when the people nervously asked, “What is this??” Moses said, “It’s the bread God has given you to eat.” Someone said, give it to Mikey. See if he likes it. The bible says it was like white coriander seed. I had to look that up and discovered that’s it’s like cilantro (doesn’t help). Reportedly, coriander seeds taste “earthy” and the leaves are “pungent” and citrus-like, though I read on Wikipedia that some people think it tastes like dish soap. The bible, however, says it tasted like honey wafers. Nice! And the people called it manna. Manna from heaven. Here’s how it worked: it came every morning, people were to gather up about two quarts before the sun burned it away. They could take as much as they needed for that day. Of course, that wasn’t enough for some people, but the “too much” they took “turned rotten and became infested with worms.” On the other hand, those who didn’t take enough found they had just enough. On Fridays they were to gather enough for two days. It wouldn’t spoil. And that way, they could rest on the Sabbath. They ate those delicious honey wafers every day for 40 years. But not just manna. Every day at supper time, a flock of birds perfect for roasting flew down and covered the camp. And so, they were provided Honey Nut Cheerios every morning and quail every night. Not bad, although I’d probably tire of it before too long. And sure enough, it wasn’t too long before the people complained about something else: “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst.” Moses turned around and angrily complained: “What should I do with these people.” Moses hadn’t learned the skill of customer service.
Of all the things people do in the Bible, this is one of the most universal. To complain. It’s like we can’t help ourselves. Maybe we can look at all that time in the wilderness as needing 40 years of gratitude training. Did you notice that in all these stories, never once does someone say thank you?
But, to their defense, the Israelites had been enslaved for years – scholars debate somewhere between 86 and 430 years. Regardless of length, they were shaped by a system that took advantage of them and debased their humanity. Walter Brueggemann described their needing 40 years of wilderness for freedom training. Learning not to belong to anyone else but only God. So, I don’t mean to equate our experiences, but we too are shaped by dehumanizing systems, like commercialism and capitalism. We need to ask:
That diminishes all of us. We hear a barrage of such messages six days a week, and so, to disrupt them, we gather here – to try to break through this dehumanization – for ourselves and others trapped by such systems. Once a week we gather to worship the One who is greater than all that, to say thank you, to express gratitude. But, that’s not enough. This is something we actually do need more of – a regular practice of gratitude in between Sundays. I’ll start with myself. David, when it takes you an extra 60 seconds to get past Saint Vincent School on your way to work, instead of complaining, express gratitude for all the teachers who serve our community, thankfully preparing a new generation of educated citizens. I could go on and on but you get the idea. It may be old fashioned, but we can stop to express gratitude before a meal, or before going to bed, while brushing your teeth, while riding the elevator or walking the dog. You may feel these are too small but it doesn’t matter what or how long, just think of anything that disrupts thoughts of scarcity. A prompt when we feel ourselves starting to complain, I’m grateful. It’s vitally important: Because when you are grateful, you are not fearful. [1] And when you are not fearful, you are not violent. And when you are not violent, you realize you have enough. And when you stop feeling like you “never have enough,” you are willing to share. And when you share, you know you have enough, Which in turn makes us grateful, Which means we have no need to be fearful, Which in turn makes us grateful. Because we have enough. Every day. Do you? [1] Adapted from Brother David Steindl-Rast
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Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] September 17, 2023 “Go Forward and Live” Exodus 14:19-31 – Common English Bible God’s messenger, who had been in front of Israel’s camp, moved and went behind them. The column of cloud moved from the front and took its place behind them. 20 It stood between Egypt’s camp and Israel’s camp. The cloud remained there, and when darkness fell it lit up the night. They didn’t come near each other all night. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord pushed the sea back by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. The waters were split into two. 22 The Israelites walked into the sea on dry ground. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians chased them and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and cavalry. 24 As morning approached, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian camp from the column of lightning and cloud and threw the Egyptian camp into a panic. 25 The Lord jammed their chariot wheels so that they wouldn’t turn easily. The Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites, because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!” 26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water comes back and covers the Egyptians, their chariots, and their cavalry.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. At daybreak, the sea returned to its normal depth. The Egyptians were driving toward it, and the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the cavalry, Pharaoh’s entire army that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them remained. 29 The Israelites, however, walked on dry ground through the sea. The waters formed a wall for them on their right hand and on their left. 30 The Lord rescued Israel from the Egyptians that day. Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the amazing power of the Lord against the Egyptians. The people were in awe of the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Last week, Moses was living a quiet life as a husband, father, and shepherd. He spent his days safeguarding sheep and watching big puffy clouds float across the blue sky, perhaps daydreaming about the life of wealth and privilege he had lived as a youth, not wishing for it back but remembering how his death as an infant had been decreed. He was the child of one of those dangerous outsiders, but was miraculously rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh and raised in the house of one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. But one day he saw an Egyptian beating a slave and a righteous anger rose up inside him. He identified with the suffering of the Hebrew people and in response, killed that Egyptian, which led to a cascade of escapes and events that found him years later living a quiet life as a husband, father, and shepherd. And one day while minding his own business, he saw a bush burning but not being burned up. You heard the rest of the story last week. With great reluctance, Moses accepted responsibility to go back to Egypt and demand that the new Pharaoh let his people go, as long as his brother Aaron could help him. So, on their first day of work, by the way Moses had just turned 80 and Aaron was 83; on the first day of their new job they ate breakfast, polished the leather on their sandals, and without an appointment, showed up at the palace of the Pharaoh. Like two tiny field mice, they pulled together the gumption and the moxie to proclaim, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Let my people go so that they can hold a festival for me in the desert.” They were smart. They didn’t ask for the whole big, “let my people go – forever.” Just, “give my people a three-day weekend.” But from high on the throne, the deep voice of Pharaoh let out a long sinister laugh and ordered the slave masters to make things worse. Much worse. Order them to make the same number of bricks but give them no straw to make them. On their “downtime,” they had to scour the land gathering straw and when they inevitably began to fall behind, the slave masters drove them harder. Lazy bums, Pharaoh called them. Work harder! Harder! The people were furious. They raged against him. Not him, as in Pharaoh, but Moses. “Why did you come here? To make our lives even worse? You’ve given him a reason to kill us because we can’t possibly keep up.” In turn, Moses was angry with God. “Why did you send me here? I’ve only made things worse. And you! You have done absolutely nothing to rescue your people.” God replied, “Watch me! Now go back to Pharaoh and demand that he let my people go. Use the party tricks I taught you. That will impress him.” So, they went in front of Pharaoh. Aaron threw his shepherd’s rod on the ground and it turned into a snake. Amazing! But Pharaoh called over his wise men and wizards and they did the same thing. Wah wah. Then Aaron’s snake gobbled up the other one, but still, Pharaoh wasn’t impressed. First day on the job and they failed. The next day, God told Moses and Aaron to find Pharaoh and tell him that if he doesn’t let the people go for a 3 day festival in the desert, you will turn the water of the Nile River into blood. And the fish will die and the Nile will stink. Aaron held his shepherd’s rod over the water and it turned to blood. Amazing! But then the Egyptian religious leaders did the same thing. Wah wah. And a second time, they failed to impress Pharaoh. Next, God said, OK, tell Pharaoh that if he doesn’t let my people go for my 3 day weekend, frogs will cover the nation – in the palace, on your beds and even in your ovens and bread pans. “There will be frogs everywhere crawling up on you and on everyone else in Egypt.” Pharaoh didn’t seem to care so Aaron raised his rod and voila, thousands of frogs emerged from the Nile and went everywhere and got into everything. Pharaoh relented. “If you pray to the Lord to get rid of these frogs, I’ll let the people go for their festival.” Victory! Third time’s a charm. Moses got rid of the frogs, but not by hopping away. They died right where they were – in the houses and yards and fields. They were scooped up in big piles and began to stink but at least they were dead. But now that the crisis was averted, Pharaoh changed his mind. Next, as God instructed, Aaron hit the ground with his rod and all of a sudden, Egyptians began feverishly scratching themselves while their animals rubbed up against trees trying to relieve an itch. They were covered in lice. But, this time, Pharaoh’s religious experts couldn’t replicate the lice and told Pharaoh, this God has amazing power. And yet, Pharaoh still wasn’t impressed. The next morning, Moses and Aaron repeated, “let the people go for three days so they can worship God. And this time, if you refuse, swarms of insects will descend on you.” Clearly Pharaoh didn’t like bugs because when he refused and all of a sudden bugs started swarming everywhere, Pharaoh waved his arms wildly and cried out, “Just GO already! But you have to have your festival here, not out in the desert.” Moses responded that it was the desert or nothing. Still swatting bugs, Pharaoh said, “OK, just get rid of them and you can go.” The insects swarmed away, but as soon as they were gone, Pharaoh changed his mind. Moses and Aaron were angry and very frustrated. All these signs and wonders and yet no sign of progress. So, they repeated to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. If you refuse, tomorrow morning I will send a deadly disease on all Egyptian livestock, but it won’t affect the Israelites.” Pharaoh laughed, except he wasn’t laughing the next day when animals owned by Egyptians were dead and all the Israelite animals were alive. And yet, Pharaoh still wouldn’t budge. How long would this go on? How much more suffering was Pharaoh willing to force upon his people just to keep his slaves from a weekend at Burning Man? Well, let’s see. God instructed Moses to throw some ash from a furnace in the air in front of Pharaoh. The ashes turned to soot that covered everything and caused blisters or boils to break out on everyone. The religious experts were so sore from the boils that they couldn’t even stand up to try to replicate the same thing – I actually thought they had given up a while back, but they were still trying. But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn and he still wouldn’t listen. But wait. Six plagues in, they were wearing Pharaoh down, getting him closer to finally relenting. But God made Pharaoh stubborn? This is one of the great mysteries of these stories. But first, let’s see what else happens. Moses and Aaron once again relayed the message – give my people 3 days off. If not, the greatest hail storm anyone has ever seen will devastate the land. Some of Pharaoh’s officials heard this and quietly stepped back and raced home to protect their families. Of course, Pharaoh refused. Moses raised his hand and lighting began flashing and hail started beating down on everyone and everything so hard that trees were shattering. Back at the homes of the Israelites, just a nice gentle rain. Pharaoh looked out at his nation being devastated and declared, “I’m wrong. You and your God are right. Go. You don’t need to stay any longer.” Pharaoh and Moses breathed long, deep sighs of relief. And then Pharaoh said, “Psych! No soup for you.” Next, Moses warned, locusts will descend and devour every last piece of vegetation left after the hail. Pharaoh’s officials began to break ranks. “How long are you going to trap us in a corner like this? Egypt is being destroyed!” Pharaoh listened and realized Moses and Aaron had beaten him. “OK, go. You won.” Finally! But before rolling out the barrels, he asked, by the way, “Who is going to this festival?” “Everyone, young and old, and all our animals.” Pharaoh suspected a ruse and added a condition to their release. “Your people can go, but you have to leave the animals behind.” Moses countered that they needed to take all the animals to be available for sacrifice because they won’t know which ones they need until they get there. Pharaoh accused them of having an evil scheme. And so now, he said, they can’t take any women or children too. They argued back and forth until Pharaoh got tired of it and called “security” and had them removed. In the morning, as Pharaoh was eating his avocado toast, a locust jumped onto it and he swatted it away. A little later, just as he went to take a sip of coffee, one landed in his cup. He spit it out and coffee spilled onto his robes. As he wiped the liquid away, he saw shadows and looked back up to witness the sky turning black. Locusts started landing on everything and began eating, the sound absolutely deafening, until nothing green was left anywhere, except where the Israelites lived. Pharaoh urgently called for Moses and Aaron. He cried out, “I’ve sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Please forgive my sin. Pray to your God to take this deadly disaster away from me.” Moses left and prayed and God turned the wind and no more locusts. Finally, victory! But not really, of course. The Lord made Pharaoh stubborn. God, what are you doing? Just then, darkness like nighttime approached and covered Egypt for three days, except where the Israelites lived. Pharaoh told Moses, “Get out of here. I never want to see your face again because the next time you see mine, you will die.” Moses replied, “You got it. I never want to see your face again either.” Now the 10th disaster, God said, tell Pharaoh that at midnight the first born human and animal in every Egyptian household, including Pharaoh’s, will die. There will be a terrible agony heard throughout the land, like never heard before. But as for the Israelites, not even a dog will growl. Israelites were told to prepare a lamb for supper and use its blood to put on the door posts and over the door. In every Israelite home so marked, God would pass over. And at the stroke of midnight, from the oldest child of Pharaoh to the oldest child of the prisoners in jail, all were dead. A terrible agony rang out across Egypt. Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron that night and granted their request, and with sorrow added, please bring a blessing on me. No time for a party, the people were urged to hurry and leave as fast as they could, before Pharaoh changed his mind again. They left so fast, the yeast had not yet caused their bread dough to rise. On their way out, they asked all the Egyptians to give them their gold and silver. They were so traumatized by all the death and disasters, they handed everything over. As they hurried away, God didn’t lead them out of Egypt by the shortest route. That would take them through the land of the Philistines and God was afraid they would run back to Egypt if the Philistines tried to attack them. Not sure why God couldn't have stopped that from happening, but instead, God led them a roundabout way through the Reed Sea desert. The Lord went in front of them during the day in a column of cloud to guide them and at night in a column of lightning to give them light. They went as far as the edge of the sea and set up camp. And then Pharaoh changed his mind. Of course he did! “What have we done letting Israel go free of their slavery to us?” He summoned six hundred elite chariots and all of Egypt’s other chariots and with the whole cavalry and army, chased them to their camp on the sea. The Israelites could see the dust rising and hear the Egyptians yelling and feel the rumble of chariots and horses beneath their feet. They were furious and screamed at Moses. “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt that you took us away to die in the desert? What have you done to us? You should have left us alone.” But Moses replied, “Don’t be afraid. Stand your ground and watch the Lord rescue you today.” Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the Lord pushed the sea back. The waters were split in two and the Israelites walked through to the other side. As the Egyptians pursued, their chariot wheels gummed up in the mud and in the morning the waters returned and covered every last Egyptian. The Lord rescued Israel that day. Miriam picked up a tambourine and began singing and invited others to dance: “Sing to the Lord, for an overflowing victory! Horse and rider God has thrown into the sea!” Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron, the one who had asked Pharaoh’s daughter if she would like Miriam to “find” a woman to nurse baby Moses. She led the singing and dancing all day and all night long. “Pharaoh’s chariots and army God has hurled into the sea. Your strong arm, Lord, shatters the enemy.” What a story. I do want to say about the whole “God made Pharaoh stubborn” that I don’t quite get any of the explanations. And that’s OK. But all the killing. It’s one blood bath after another. And the horses in the sea! Why? That wasn’t necessary and I don’t get it. It’s not OK, but to not understand is OK. Because to offer an easy answer doesn’t require us to wrestle with such questions as taking sides in war – such as Confederates falling to the ground while Black Union soldiers prevail. And what about mass suffering intentionally prolonged by leaders like Pharaoh – for ego, or their “enjoyment” of cruelty… Here is what I know: These stories were told by people trying to understand their history, not facts about their history, but their relationship with God. And if each of us were to tell the history of our relationship with God, people might find some of our conclusions confusing too. If I were to say, God did this or that for me, you might look at me a side-eyed and say, “really?” Throughout our lives, God changes and who God is today might even contradict what we had previously believed with such certainty. God changes with us. But what doesn’t change is that throughout history, God absolutely loves God’s people. And who can fully explain love? Be assured, this story isn’t over. Stay tuned for there’s more to come for the Israelites. And hear this once again. You are God’s beloved too. And there’s more to come for you too. Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] September 10, 2023 “God Gets Personal” Exodus 3:1-15 – Common English Bible Moses was taking care of the flock for his father-in-law Jethro,[a] Midian’s priest. He led his flock out to the edge of the desert, and he came to God’s mountain called Horeb. 2 The Lord’s messenger appeared to him in a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was in flames, but it didn’t burn up. 3 Then Moses said to himself, Let me check out this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn’t burning up. 4 When the Lord saw that he was coming to look, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” Moses said, “I’m here.” 5 Then the Lord said, “Don’t come any closer! Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.” 6 He continued, “I am the God of your father, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the Lord said, “I’ve clearly seen my people oppressed in Egypt. I’ve heard their cry of injustice because of their slave masters. I know about their pain. 8 I’ve come down to rescue them from the Egyptians in order to take them out of that land and bring them to a good and broad land, a land that’s full of milk and honey, a place where the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites all live. 9 Now the Israelites’ cries of injustice have reached me. I’ve seen just how much the Egyptians have oppressed them. 10 So get going. I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh and to bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 God said, “I’ll be with you. And this will show you that I’m the one who sent you. After you bring the people out of Egypt, you will come back here and worship God on this mountain.” 13 But Moses said to God, “If I now come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they are going to ask me, ‘What’s this God’s name?’ What am I supposed to say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am.[b] So say to the Israelites, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” 15 God continued, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever; this is how all generations will remember me. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then Jacob’s sons… These were the stories leading up to Pharaoh putting Joseph in charge of saving Egypt from a seven-year famine. But a new Pharaoh came to power who somehow, perhaps conveniently, “did not know” Joseph or how he was responsible for making Egypt a very wealthy country – the global superpower of its time. Pharaoh tried to convince his nation that a group of peaceful immigrants living among them, the descendants of Joseph and his brothers, were “dangerous.” With ever escalating cruelty, he tried to crush them with increasingly brutal workloads and ultimately turned them into slaves. But nothing could break them. He kept plotting and ordered midwives to kill boys as soon as they were born. They cleverly disobeyed Pharaoh. Since that didn’t work, he simply commanded all Egyptians to throw any newborn Hebrew boys into the Nile River. Into the middle of all this, a woman gave birth to a healthy, beautiful baby boy. When she could no longer hide him, she came up with an ingenious plan. She put him in a basket and let it float down the Nile right by where the Pharaoh’s daughter was known to bathe – somehow hoping that the daughter of the man who decreed the death of such babies would look inside and feel compassion. And she did. Then they planned for baby’s sister to “happen” to walk by and offer to “find” a woman who could nurse the baby. The Pharaoh’s daughter agreed and even offered to pay that woman – the baby’s actual mother! It’s such a delicious scheme. Pharaoh’s daughter named the boy Moses and when he was no longer nursing, adopted him as her own son. Moses, the son of slaves, grew up with all the opulent wealth and privilege one could imagine, in the house of the man who decreed his death for being one of those dangerous people. As a child, Moses couldn’t have possibly wanted for anything. That all changed one day. One day he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. How aware might he have been about his heritage? Had he been taught that he was the son of slaves? Did he know that he was somehow different than the woman he knew as mother? In an instant, something rose up within him – whether he was conscious of why or not. He identified with the man being beaten and felt moved to act. He looked around to make sure no one was looking and then he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand until he could come back the next day. But that next day, he couldn’t do anything about the body because two Hebrew men were over there fighting. When Moses asked why they were fighting, they replied, what business is it of yours? Are you going to kill us too? Busted. If you’ve ever done something you shouldn’t and thought you had gotten away with it, having breathed a sigh of relief, well, upon being caught, you know how your face immediately turns red, and your heart beats a million miles a minute, and you almost black out as your mind races through all the options available, what can I do, but it’s too late to do anything. Your choices: confess or run. Well, there's lying too. Lots and lots of lying. But Moses ran. And he ran even harder when he heard that Pharaoh had found out and was now looking for him. Not to listen to his side of the story, but to kill him. Moses ran and ran and ran until he reached the land of Midian. Midianites were sort of like seventh cousins. Interesting story: Moses was a descendent of Abraham through his wife Sarah – a story we now know well. Did you know that after Sarah died, Abraham married Keturah? They had seven more sons, one of whom was named Midian. So, there’s kind of a family connection but it’s so distant, and hundreds of years before, that they don’t really feel like family. But “family enough” to take you in – or at least let you stay around, maybe put up a tent in the back yard. One day Moses was sitting by a well and seven women, daughters of the priest of Midian, came to draw water for their father’s herd of animals. It wasn’t like they were there to get a drink of cool well water to quench your thirst on a hot day. Imagine having to pull enough water out of the ground to quench the thirst of an entire herd of animals, one bucket after another. Just then, a bunch of shepherds came along and harassed the women and tried to chase them away from the well. Moses stepped in and chased the shepherds away instead and then finished the job for the women. The story claims he did it faster than 7 women, which I find hard to believe, but it’s a set up for what comes next. The women arrived home earlier than usual and their father asked why. They explained about the rude shepherds and that an Egyptian man chased them away. And that he finished drawing the water for the animals. The grandfather heard this and exclaimed, why in the world didn’t you invite him home to eat with us? So, Moses was quickly summoned and he never left. He worked for the family as a shepherd and, in stark contrast to all the wealth and opulence of his youth, slowly settled into a very quiet, normal life. As the years went by, he married one of the daughters, Zipporah, and had children, one of whom they named Gershom, which means “I’ve been an immigrant living in a foreign land.” A long time passed and the Pharaoh who wanted to kill Moses died. Egypt had a new king but the people continued to suffer just as much, groaning, crying out to be rescued from their suffering. And then the text says, “God heard their cry of grief, and God remembered” – a curious statement. God remembered. “God remembered the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked at the Israelites and understood.” God heard, God remembered, God understood. That something had to be done. Up to this point, God has been a creator, a supreme being capable of speaking and oceans would appear and kittens and watermelons and everything good – and a few annoyances too. God would speak and the sky would instantly be formed above. And then God began an experiment called “humans,” at times I’m sure regretfully, who defied and disappointed and disgusted God on a regular basis. Over the years, when God overheated, a few people had succeeded at changing God’s mind, calming God down when tempted to rage over his experiment gone awry. One time, however, God was so sick and tired of humankind that a 40-day flood was ordered to start over again. But with a rainbow, God promised never to do so ever again. Not actual events, mind you, but true stories in the sense of teaching meaning. The point – God was like a distant star who at times came closer to communicate directly, or through dreams, or through angels who served as messengers. Not exclusively, but God was mostly an otherworldly deity to be respected, to whom humans were to worship and show gratitude for life. In the background. But then came something new. A moment when God heard and was moved by their cries, remembered their covenant, and understood that something had to be done. And so, this previously otherworldly deity, somewhat aloof and prone to temper, God was moved to get personally involved. How? One day Moses was out doing what Moses did every day – taking care of his father-in-law’s sheep, a little further away than usual. All alone at the distant edge of the desert next to a mountain, he came upon a bush that was burning, but not burning up. How weird is that?! He went over to look more closely and from out of that weird bush on fire came something even stranger – a voice calling his name and introducing itself. And, “Moses was afraid.” No kidding! This disembodied voice explained that the people to whom Moses belonged were still being oppressed as slaves and said, “I know about their pain. I’ve come down to rescue them. So, get going. I’m sending you!” Wait, what? God’s great plan to get personally involved is to send someone else to do it. Understandably, Moses protested. What does your coming to rescue them have to do with me? You’re God. I have a job and a family to feed and a bunch of other very rational, very good reasons why he was not suited to the task – five reasons to be exact. God listened to each objection and had something to say – not to refute it but to repeat – I will help you. First objection: Who am I do to this? Don’t worry. I’ll be with you. Second objection: What am I supposed to say if they ask your name? So, God said, “Nice to meet you Moses. My name is I am.” Third objection: Moses said, but people won’t believe me. So, this is a fun one: God taught Moses three party tricks. God asked, what’s in your hand? Moses replied, a shepherd’s rod. “Throw it on the ground.” He did and it turned into a snake. Moses jumped back from it but God said, pick it up. And it turned back into a rod. God said, do that, and people will believe. Next trick. Put your hand inside your coat. Moses did and when he took his hand out, it had a skin disease like flaky snow. God said, put your hand back inside and pull it back. No skin disease. Third trick. Pour some water from the Nile River on the ground. He did and it turned to blood on dry ground. And that’s how God addressed Moses’ third objection. I don’t love the idea of God teaching cheap party tricks, but it makes a good story and shows that God is trying really hard. Fourth objection: but I’m a terrible speaker. The Bible says that Moses had a speech impediment. And God said, “Again, I really mean it. I’ll help you. I’ll teach you what to say.” Having run out of excuses, Moses fifth objection was simply: just send someone else. By this time, God had grown tired of his obstinance and like any exasperated parent to a demanding child, “Here. Take a juice box.” So God took a breath, metaphorically of course, and offered Moses a compromise. His brother Aaron could be the spokesperson for Moses as long as Moses was the spokesperson for God. Deal? Now off you go, and don’t forget to take your shepherds rod so you can show off your tricks. And with that, Moses went back to his father-in-law and told him he needed to return to Egypt to check on his family and see whether they are still living. And off the whole family went. But before they arrived, there is one absolutely bizarre and unexplainable event. A few verses tucked in, such that you almost wonder if a monk one day was having a little fun to see if anyone would notice. Starting at verse 24, chapter 4 in Exodus: “During their journey back to Egypt, as they camped overnight, the Lord met Moses and ‘tried to kill him.’ His wife jumped into action and cut off the foreskin of their son with a sharp-edged flint knife and touched it to Moses’ genitals. And so, the Lord left them alone.” Gross and way to personal. Scholars have a really hard time with that one so I prefer my explanation that a monk was trying to have a little fun by shocking us. And with that truly odd conclusion, next week there are in Egypt and begin the long process to convince Pharaoh – Let my people go. There is so much to this part of the story. I love the explanation of how God works in this world. “I’ve come down to rescue them so I’m sending you.” Lutherans have a great banner for this: God’s Work, Our Hands. I love the image of the burning bush, which is really just an example that God might use anything to get our attention. But here’s what spoke to me this week: Go through the hymn books of Mainline Protestant Christians and you’ll see a lot of hymns sung about God. God’s majesty and grace and power. The God who created oceans and skies as well as sparrows and watermelons. Beautiful. And sometimes a little detached. Mainline church music doesn’t quite as often sing songs to God, prayers of gratitude and intimacy. Same thing with Jesus and the Spirit. For some, getting too personal might make us uncomfortable. As worship planners, we try to pay attention to a balance of praise and presence. After all, as Job asks, “Is not God beyond even the most distant star?” But don’t we also know that God is as close to us as our breathing – to pray with, not about? Think about what we need when life becomes a struggle. It’s time to have a little talk with Jesus, not read about him in a creed. When your lows become a death valley, God doesn’t watch us struggle from on high but God walks alongside to strengthen us through the struggle. We are not alone. That is who our God is. I’m with you. And how does God walk alongside us to strengthen us through the struggle? Through the person sitting next to you. Just like we are for the person sitting next to us. Or walking past on the street. And at the next desk. This is our God who says, “I know about their pain and I’ve come down to rescue them.” So “get going. I’m sending you!” Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] September 3, 2023 “Disrupted by Compassion” Exodus 1:8 – 2:4 – Common English Bible Now a new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “The Israelite people are now larger in number and stronger than we are. 10 Come on, let’s be smart and deal with them. Otherwise, they will only grow in number. And if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and then escape from the land.” 11 As a result, the Egyptians put foremen of forced work gangs over the Israelites to harass them with hard work. They had to build storage cities named Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they grew and spread, so much so that the Egyptians started to look at the Israelites with disgust and dread. 13 So the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. 14 They made their lives miserable with hard labor, making mortar and bricks, doing field work, and by forcing them to do all kinds of other cruel work. 15 The king of Egypt spoke to two Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah: 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth and you see the baby being born, if it’s a boy, kill him. But if it’s a girl, you can let her live.” 17 Now the two midwives respected God so they didn’t obey the Egyptian king’s order. Instead, they let the baby boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the two midwives and said to them, “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the baby boys live?” 19 The two midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because Hebrew women aren’t like Egyptian women. They’re much stronger and give birth before any midwives can get to them.” 20 So God treated the midwives well, and the people kept on multiplying and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives respected God, God gave them households of their own. 22 Then Pharaoh gave an order to all his people: “Throw every baby boy born to the Hebrews into the Nile River, but you can let all the girls live.” 2 Now a man from Levi’s household married a Levite woman. 2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that the baby was healthy and beautiful, so she hid him for three months. 3 When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she took a reed basket and sealed it up with black tar. She put the child in the basket and set the basket among the reeds at the riverbank. 4 The baby’s older sister stood watch nearby to see what would happen to him. When we left off last week, Joseph had reconciled with the very brothers who threw him in a pit and sold him to traders on their way to Egypt when he was 17 years old – the bratty little brother who liked to tattle on them, who told them outrageous dreams about ruling over them, and who liked to rub in their faces that he was daddy’s favorite. After a subsequent wild ride of events, including 13 years in prison, Joseph interpreted two dreams for Pharaoh and ended up in charge of successfully preparing Egypt for seven years of famine, along with saving others from starvation too, including his unsuspecting brothers who came from Canaan to buy grain. Joseph told Pharaoh about his family and he invited them all to settle in Egypt. Jacob and his wives and his 12 sons and 21 daughters (yes, he had 33 children with 4 wives), plus their children, wives, grandchildren and great-children. They were invited to settle in the best land in the whole nation – Goshen. And the locals didn’t mind because Joseph was in the midst of saving their entire nation from starvation. But there’s an often-overlooked part of the story. In a famine that lasts seven years, you can imagine that people would eventually run out of money to buy more grain. It started happening. The people weren’t told to save up for 7 years of famine, Pharaoh was and he took full advantage. When the money ran out and all of the peoples’ silver had been traded for grain, Joseph traded for their livestock. And when the people had no more livestock, he traded for their property. And when all the land was in the possession of Pharaoh, the people “offered” to become slaves to save themselves from starvation. Joseph effectively turned the nation into sharecroppers. The people could still live on the land that once belonged to them, but they would have to pay back Pharaoh with the produce of his land. Without money, livestock, or land, they were completely without anything except his mercy. Perpetually in his debt. But then promptly, nothing more is said of that curious story or of the famine itself and suddenly it’s 17 years later and Joseph’s father Jacob is about to die. It is on a father’s deathbed that a blessing is conferred upon the oldest son to become the leader of the tribe. But you may remember that Jacob tricked his older twin out of that blessing. Jacob conspired with their mother to deceive their father out of giving his death-bed blessing to Esau. Jacob stole that blessing. And here it is, now time for Jacob to give his death bed blessing. He gathered all 12 sons around. Rueben was his oldest and the obvious family heir, but instead of blessing him, Jacob cursed him because – today’s soap opera detail – Rueben slept with one of his father’s wives. He was out. So, logically, the blessing would then fall to Simeon, or if not him, the next brother in line, Levi. But Jacob chastised them both: “Cursed be your anger, it is violent; cursed be your rage, it is relentless.” No blessing for them either. Judah was the next in line and it was this fourth son who finally received the favored status – the head of the tribe. It’s why Jews are called Jews, Judahites, and not Ruebenites. More about his story another time. Jacob continued blessing son after son, reserving the longest blessing for the first son of his favorite wife Rachel, still his favorite son, Joseph: “Blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep sea below, blessings from breasts and womb. The blessings of your father exceed the blessings of the eternal mountains…” and on and on he goes for 19 lines. In contrast, he said to his son Issachar that he is a “sturdy donkey,” a funny compliment, and simply as a matter of fact, told Zebulun that he will live at the seashore. Even his beloved Benjamin, the baby brother, only got three lines. Bottom line, this is how Judah became the head of the tribe of Israel. Ruben slept with one of his father’s wives, and Simeon and Levi were hotheads. Jacob died was brought back to Canaan to be buried. His body was accompanied by all the elder statesmen of Egypt and their chariots and horsemen – a huge collection of people who mourned for seven days. Joseph continued to live a long life, 110 years, long enough to meet the grandchildren of his children. Upon his death, he was honored and buried in Egypt. But how soon we forget. Today’s reading began, “Now a new king came to power in Egypt who did not know Joseph.” How is that possible? Thanks to him, the country not only survived seven years of famine, they were now a wealthy nation, thanks to the wealth amassed from the desperate nations around them. At the time, Egypt was the equivalent of a global superpower. What else is going on? Somehow, scripture is continually relevant and this is a great example. Pharaoh needed a scapegoat. He needed someone to blame for some indiscretion or some incompetence… something that would deflect attention. He needed an enemy and found the perfect target. Several years ago, Alan Alda starred in a Michael Moore movie called Canadian Bacon. It’s one of my favorite movies. He plays a hapless president plagued by poor poll numbers. His advisors convince him he needs to create a war to cover up a faltering economy, but they didn’t want any real consequences, so they declared war on Canada. They stoked suspicions and the fear of Canadians walking secretly among us. Americans were suddenly pouring maple syrup onto the streets, Anne Murray was banned from the radio, and TV stations couldn’t show hockey anymore. The president’s approval ratings soared and any memories of our long friendship with Canada were forgotten. Pharaoh tried to alarm the people by claiming, “There are way too many of these foreigners for us to handle. We’ve got to do something. We’ve got to devise a plan to contain them. Otherwise, if there’s a war, they might join our enemies,” and as one translation adds, “or just walk off and leave us.” That’s such a curious line. I mean, if there are too many, why not just let them leave? Could it be, maybe, that he needs their cheap labor? They were put into work-gangs and made to perform hard labor. However, the worse they were treated, the more children they had. There had been too many and now there are even more! So, they went a step further and enslaved them. They piled on work, trying to crush them under a cruel workload — making bricks and mortar and back-breaking work in the fields. But nothing was working. They couldn’t be broken. So, Pharaoh told the two Hebrew midwives to kill all the boys as they were being born. Shiphrah and Puah respected God too much to do as they were ordered so they made up a story that the Hebrew women were so strong, they gave birth before the midwives could show up. When that idea didn’t work, Pharaoh gave an order to all his people: Throw every newborn Hebrew baby boy into the Nile River. He tried torture. He tried to enslave. Nothing was working so Pharaoh turned the entire nation into a killing machine against the people who had saved their ancestors from starvation. Was it really that a new king didn’t know who Joseph was? How could they do that? The nation had lost its collective memory. Or perhaps they were forbidden to learn their history. As one liberation theologian said, “Ordinary people don’t set out to oppress and exploit. That can only happen if those in power can skew or even obliterate the corporate memory of the people. Those who are to be victimized must be perceived as a threat. People will accept the oppression and exploitation of a people because they have been frightened by the powers that be to scapegoat that people.” It’s a playbook dating all the way back to ancient Pharaohs and once again, ancient scripture remains relevant. Throughout history, immigrants have conveniently played the role of scapegoat. A nation that forgets is dangerous and will do it again and again. Pharaoh found a target. But one person disrupted his plans. We now transition from a summer of stories about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – stories about Sarah and Hagar and Rebekah and Rachel and Leah and Bilhah and Zilpah. And don’t forget Uncle Laban. Stories of Dinah and Joseph and his 11 brothers. Of tricksters and dreams and wrestling in the night. Stories about why were they in Egypt. How did they become enslaved and how will they get out? Hopefully you can see how this has all been leading to the great sweep of stories about Moses and burning bushes and plagues and so much more. Scripture is full of admonitions to remember, exhortations to remember. God repeatedly cautions, warns – do not forget who you are and where you came from. Once you were a stranger in a strange land. And every time they chose to forget, God admonished them. And so, the story begins with the birth of a beautiful Hebrew boy. But every Egyptian citizen had been ordered to kill just such a child, so his mother tried to hide him. One day, his mother put him in a basket to float down the Nile, just downstream of where the Pharaoh’s daughter was known to bathe. His sister stood nearby to watch what would happen. Why her, I don’t know, but Pharaoh’s daughter noticed the basket and sent one of her servants to bring it. The boy was crying and she felt compassion. Just then the baby’s sister “happened” to pass by and asked, “would you like me to go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” It was an absolutely brilliant set up. The girl went and “found” a woman, the boy’s actual mother. And then Pharaoh’s daughter offered to pay this “anonymous” woman to nurse it. I love it. After the child was weened, Pharaoh’s daughter, even though she knew it was a Hebrew boy, the target of her father… she adopted the child as her own son and named him Moses, meaning, I pulled him out of the water. That’s the story of Moses’ birth. The birth of great heroes often include miracles. In fact, Moses isn’t the only hero to have been pulled out of the Nile as a baby. But there’s more to this story than his birth. In this long sweep of history, the story demonstrates how the seeds of freedom for the slaves were sown years before through the sophisticated use of civil disobedience by women – the midwives who defied Pharaoh, by Moses’ clever mother and sister who carefully plotted a way for him to be rescued, and then by the daughter of the very Pharaoh who decreed his death. Whether she intended to or not, she made a fool out of her father. The evil schemes of one man were disrupted by acts of rebellious women – acts of rebellious compassion. It inspires in me again an appreciation for how small personal acts multiply into great acts of liberation. When we feel overwhelmed by hatred or violence, nothing is worse than feeling like there is nothing we can do, worse than even anger. But each act of compassion, rebellious compassion, inspires another. That is what makes this ancient text relevant today. We too can remember and reject what is fearful. We can engage in acts of rebellious compassion toward the people we are told don’t belong here, toward people who are different in any way. We can name what Pharaoh did – his blame-pointing, fear-mongering, power-grabbing – and disrupt and defeat it. With compassion. As Paul told the Romans: “If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people. Don’t try to get revenge for yourselves. Leave that to God. Instead, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if she is thirsty, give her a drink. By doing this, you will pile burning coals of fire upon their head. Don’t be defeated by evil, but defeat evil with good.” Like the women who saved Moses, engage in the kinds of acts of compassion that plant seeds of liberation which may blossom long after us. And for God’s sake – literally, for God’s sake – don’t forget our history. Don’t forbid the teaching of our history. As scripture teaches, it will lead to terrible things over and over. That’s why God repeatedly pleads with us to remember it all. |
AuthorI love being a Archives
March 2024
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