We all know the story of Moses. It not only looms large in three major faith traditions but if you register for baby gifts you will find there is a thing called a Moses basket…which is not actually intended for use in the nearest river. The story of Moses is dependent on five Middle Eastern women and historically the church’s cycle of readings called the lectionary has skipped them. Shifrah and Puah are two of them. They are Midwives and we join them as they are being called into the Pharaoh’s office. Some of us can relate to being called into the Principal’s office or maybe even the Bishop’s office… or maybe some other office that invites a wave of anxiety or fear. As much as we may not want to dawn that door, I am certain the Pharaoh’s office is worse. With a glance or a gesture the Pharaoh certainly could have them disappeared, exiled, jailed or executed. Fear and terror at the thought of seeing Pharaoh is reasonable but the Bible says they weren’t afraid of Pharaoh.
The Bible says they fear the Lord. They fear God. I can understand them fearing Pharaoh but the thought of fearing God, well that is unsettling. A good number of us have spent years trying to let go of notions or images of a scary, punishing, damming God. But that’s not what the Hebrew Bible means when ancient voices say they feared God. It is a three fold meaning braided together and I’m not sure that is captured in our translation. The first strand, is awe. Standing in awe and wonder before the mystery of God’s presence. And translators may have said, “the Midwives thought God was totally Awesome"…but they didn’t want to risk sounding like 90’s valley girls or the script from “Clueless.” The second stand is listening, it is being in relationship and covenant with an awe inspiring presence. The third strand is discipline. It is practice. So fearing the Lord means not only listening in the awesome presence of God but doing something about it. Fearing the Lord means your life reflects your faith. It means to take a stand and a risk and when you make mistakes you try again. Shifrah and Puah fear God and that means they don’t fear Pharaoh.
The only one truly afraid in this story is Pharaoh. He is afraid of this growing ethic minority within his nations boarders, the Hebrews. As they grow so does his fear. While he may have everything he is terrified of losing it. I imagine him tossing and turning in bed, wondering what if they take over, what if they are loyal to some other country, what if we all have to speak Hebrew. He is so afraid of loosing everything, his power, his privilege and his stuff. Which seems further ironic because he quite literally has everything because of the work of a former Hebrew Slave named Joseph, you know the one with the technicolor dream coat. A previous Pharaoh listened to Joseph and prepared for a coming drought. Now a leader preparing to feed people when they are starving…that might be a story of about the kingdom of God but this story is about an earthly king. And that king takes his advantage. Joseph is the lead administrator and when the land is of little value and the farmers will do anything to feed their family, he buys it. Joseph secures absolute power for the Pharaoh who in turn thanks him with choice real-estate in the Nile Delta.
Maybe the new Pharaoh didn’t know Joseph. Or maybe he always through someone else should have had that job or that land…you know someone more Egyptian. Maybe he didn’t know Joseph but perhaps he went to school with one of his sons or his grandsons. That guy was probably picked first for kick ball, he was probably voted most likely to succeed or crowned prom king and he probably won the spelling bee which is a huge insult since Egyptian isn’t even his first language. Maybe the Pharaoh was always interested in Joseph's great granddaughter and she never texted him back. Maybe there were slurs, maybe everyone thought why do those people get to live on the best piece of land around the Nile. Maybe there were jokes, you know the kind you can’t say in church, about those Hebrews reproducing like rabbits. We have to imagine the details of why and how but we know he is afraid. He is terrified that this group of people will team up with an enemy and help over run Egypt or maybe they will be come so powerful he will lose all of his. And even through he is more afraid of loosing his own power then he is of the Hebrew people he sets Egypt on a course of genocide.
Of course, genocide is a modern word with a long and ugly tradition. We know it. We have seen it and learned about it. We know it starts with slurs and slander. It starts with stereotypes that diminish and belittle. Sometimes it looks like generations of hatred and violence. Sometimes it looks like people rounded up into camps and onto reservations. Sometimes it looks like patches, uniforms and numbers in permeant ink. Sometimes it looks like forced labor and starvation. Sometimes it looks like mass graves and smoke stacks. We know it. On occasion, we in this country have been perpetrators and on occasion we have been liberators.
Pharaoh’s course of action looks like many others. It begins with labor, forced labor. But that doesn’t break the spirit of the people. Then ruthless, cruel, impossible labor but that doesn’t break the Hebrew people down. So now he has decreed that all sons born to hebrew women will be killed. And he expects the midwives to do his dirty work. Now you may be able to convince the people you pay like solders to carry out acts of cruelty and violence, they may even come up with some added insults on their own. Your money might help you sway the public opinion to buy into the fear and stereotypes. You might get people to put ugly bumper stickers on their chariots and you might be able to get the media to shape the story in your favor. You may be able to get some religious leader to rial people up enough that they carry signs to say, “God HATES HEBREWS.” There may be some ‘academic’ that writes a landmark paper or makes a great play that proves Egyptians are just morally, physically and mentally superior. And you may even be able to silence your objectors. But convincing midwives, women who stand in the sacred threshold of life, to kill a baby. I don’t think so.
They are midwives. They stand at the threshold of life and of death. When there is a man who is nervous or belligerent or losing his lunch because of this delivery…they know how to handle him. If there is a matriarch making all the wrong comments at all the right moments…they know how to handle her. They know how to coach the most timid of women into loud screams of strength. They are there at the threshold of life and death; coaching, soothing, urging. They know how to focus a woman through the pain and panic of labor. They know how to stay calm when even they fear the worst. And I suspect that midwives have a sacred and holy calling and they know that a woman can die be she rich or poor. They know a baby can die by he Hebrew or Egyptian. They know a healthy mother with a healthy baby bring relief and joy whether they are surrounded by animals in a manger or marble in a palace.
They know something about life and the sacred that Pharaoh doesn’t or has forgotten, and so when they are called to his office they may bow before Pharaoh but they don’t bow to him. They take him by the hand and subvert his call to genocide. “Oh Pharaoh,” I imagine them saying, “you know you just wouldn’t understand what it’s like? How could you your a man. You see, just like you said Hebrew people are strong and robust…you know those mothers just deliver so fast we can’t even get out of the house fast enough to be there.” They will not be tools of one man’s quest for destruction. They will not deal death and honor his fear. They honor a higher calling. They fear the Lord not Pharaoh. They stand in awe of life and act to care for it.
We are called to do the same. To stand with the midwives who have brought us safe this far. We are called to use our hands for guiding life into the world. To wipe the sweat from anthers brow and to urge them forward in the quest of giving life. We are called to open our hearts and minds to ask questions and restore hope. We are called to be midwives birthing justice and subverting norms. May we have the courage. Amen.
Rev. McKnight one year ago...when she was about to call the midwife.
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