.JPG)
Rev. Katelyn B. Macrae
Richmond Congregational Church
August 24, 2014
Texts:
On Sesame Street they sang, "one of these things is not like the
other, one of these things just doesn’t belong." And, at first appearance it may
seem so as we approach these texts from Exodus in the Hebrew Bible and Paul’s
letter to the Romans in the New Testament. And yet, the Revised Common
Lectionary has paired them together ---- so let’s see if we might find the
connections between them today.
When I was
in seminary, this passage from Romans got right to the heart of the
transformation and challenge I was experiencing as a student. I really
resonated with this passage and went so far as to put it in my e-mail signature
line!
When Paul issued
this challenge to his first century community – "do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds" – he was trying to
inspire a small community of believers who were seeking to follow a new faith
tradition where they were surrounded by the dominant culture of the Roman
Empire.
One example of
this difference is Pax Romana vs. Pax Christi. Pax Romana, as practiced by the
Roman Empire was peace by subversion, conquering and military rule whereas Pax
Christi, was the peace that Jesus spoke of that could only be gained through
loving and respecting neighbors, and having transforming relationships that
went across the social and cultural divisions.
In our story
from Exodus that we read this morning, the King seems to be practicing a
similar type of rule to that of the Roman Empire. It says that the King did not
know Joseph, who saved the Egyptians from seven years of famine by building up
their grain stores. Finally The Hebrews have had an opportunity to follow the
provisions of the Abrahamic covenant we heard about earlier this summer with
Abraham and Moses. They’ve been fruitful and multiplied. But the King feels
threatened by the growing numbers of Hebrew people, so he orders the killing of
all of the Hebrew male children. Hebrew society was patrilineal, so by killing
all of the males, the king was trying to wipe out the Hebrew people’s identity
and connection.
In this
story, the midwives (Shiphrah and Puah) do not carry out the king’s wishes. The
scripture says that Shiphrah and Puah “knew God.” In a very subversive act, they
lie to the king and say that the Hebrew women are “more vigorous” and give
birth before the midwives have gotten there. One biblical commentator suggests
the king must be unfamiliar with childbirth and the fact that the process
usually takes many hours! The midwives use the king’s ignorance to their
advantage. As Paul’s writes to the Romans many centuries later, the midwives
would “not be conformed.”
Earlier this
month, I discovered a BBC show called “Call the Midwife.” The series is about
midwives working in the East End of London post WWII. The midwives of Nonantus House are a
community of young idealistic nurses and Anglican nuns, who together encounter
all sorts of precarious situations made for TV drama – a Spanish-speaking woman
with 19 children, whose husband only speaks English, excessive poverty,
immigrant families domestic violence, racism, disease and the other challenges of
urban poverty. These midwives find their niche in a community that sorely needs
them.
The midwives
accompany these women through the journey of childbirth, helping them to have
healthy babies in spite of the conditions the children are born into.
The midwives
also attend to residents other health concerns. In one episode, tuberculosis
spread rampantly through the close confines of the East End. The midwives learn that the hospital they
work in conjunction with is getting an x-ray van to do lung x-rays to screen
people for tuberculosis. But the van is slated to go to higher income
neighborhoods first. The obstetrics doctor and one of the midwives goes before the
hospital board and petition for the van to come to this low-income community
first as the risk of spreading infection is much higher there.
The midwives
are successful in getting the x-ray van to the neighborhood, and screen a
record number of residents. With early detection, people infected are able to
get treated quicker, and also slow the rate of infection for others.
As people of
faith, I wonder, how are we like midwives? Are there ways that we can challenge
the expectations and the norms of the dominant culture in places where there is
dis-ease? Not just with justice and access to medical care, but with any number
of concerns – such as hunger, housing, and poverty.
The bible is
filled with stories where God does something new in the most unlikely of places
and with the most unlikely of people. In today’s stories alone, think of how
God chooses “unlikely” people to be ministers and midwives –
Paul, the
author of Romans, was converted from Saul. Paul goes from working for the Roman
Empire, to encouraging his community “not to be conformed” to it!
In the
gospel text for this week from Matthew, (which we did not read today but was in
the Lectionary) the disciple Peter seems to get it right one moment, and then
screw up the next. Do you remember the story from a few weeks ago when Peter
walked on water for a few steps and then began to sink? Yet Jesus chooses Peter
to be “the rock” of the church and gives him the keys to the kingdom.
In the story
that we heard today during Children’s Time, Old Turtle speaks a quiet peace
among everyone who is arguing about trying to understand who God is, based on
their experience. Everyone gets louder
and louder.
They can’t
hear or understand each other, because they are each hung up on their own
ideas. Then Old Turtle, quiet unlikely old turtle, gets their attention. Old
Turtle helps each creature understand they each have an understanding of who
God is, and when they put all of these stories together, it points to a much
richer understanding of God.
Maybe it’s
like that with us as a community of faith, a community of unlikely followers,
each with our own stories and gifts. When we take time to share our stories,
and listen to each other, like putting together the pieces of the puzzle, soon,
a greater picture of who God is, and what God can do, emerges.
In Paul’s
letter to the Romans, he is writing to a small community, giving them an ethic
for how to live together and practice their faith, in a dominant culture that
does not necessarily welcome or appreciate their point of view. He urges them
“not to be conformed, but to be transformed” – through learning, through
discerning, through hearing the stories of God working in the world.
So it is
with us as a community of faith here in Richmond, Vermont. We are not living in
an oppressive Roman Empire, but we do live in one of the most secular states in
the US.
And we have
an important story to tell – the story of God’s transforming, abundant love and
grace offered to all. We are an amazing
expression of the Body of Christ – some teachers, some ministers, some deacons,
some preachers, some cooks, some artists, some money counters, each with a
different story, a different skill set, a different understanding and
experience of God.
As our
children and educators head back to school this week, let’s be midwives for
each other’s learning. Let’s tell the story of God who can and does work in
unlikely ways with unlikely people in unimaginable situations, as well as in
the day to day stuff of life. Let’s discern together. Let’s be transformed
together. May it be so.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment