Exodus 1:11-21
A new king came to power in Egypt who didn't know Joseph. He spoke to
his people in alarm, "There are way too many of these Israelites for us
to handle. We've got to do something: Let's devise a plan to contain
them, lest if there's a war they should join our enemies, or just walk
off and leave us."
So they organized them into work-gangs and put them to hard labor under
gang-foremen. They built the storage cities Pithom and Rameses for
Pharaoh. But the harder the Egyptians worked them the more children the
Israelites had—children everywhere!
The Egyptians got so they couldn't
stand the Israelites and treated them worse than ever, crushing them
with slave labor. They made them miserable with hard labor—making
bricks and mortar and back-breaking work in the fields. They piled on
the work, crushing them under the cruel workload.
The king of Egypt had a talk with the two Hebrew midwives; one was
named Shiphrah and the other Puah. He said, "When you deliver the
Hebrew women, look at the sex of the baby. If it's a boy, kill him; if
it's a girl, let her live."
But the midwives had far too much respect for God and didn't do what
the king of Egypt ordered; they let the boy babies live.
The king of
Egypt called in the midwives. "Why didn't you obey my orders? You've
let those babies live!" The midwives answered Pharaoh, "The Hebrew women aren't like the
Egyptian women; they're vigorous. Before the midwife can get there,
they've already had the baby."
God was pleased with the midwives. The people continued to increase in number—a very strong people. And because the midwives honored God, God gave them families of their own.
So Pharaoh issued a general order to all his people: "Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile. But let the girls live."
The midwives Shiprah and Puah are the unsung gentile heroes of the Exodus story. They faced an unjust law and said "no." Through their honorable actions, Moses survived and eventually saved his people from their lives of slavery.
Today we might call Shiprah and Puah "Anonymous Christians," Karl Rahner's term for non-believers who participate in God's plan. The many atheists who live a moral and conscientious lives, the Buddhists and Hindus who work for justice, even the members of our own faith who seem so beyond the pale of normal that you wonder if they are practicing a different religion; all of these people can and do participate in God's good works. They may not celebrate Christmas. They may not understand or even like Christians like you. But their actions belie a deeper love of humanity that mirrors God's own love for us.
So tonight, sing praise for Shiprah and Puah- and for all those other people out there- the known and unknown members of God's plan- whose daily cooperation and good works bring us closer to God's kingdom on earth.
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