Rev. George
Miller
Oct 4, 2020
Exodus
13:3-6
Though this year has been a hodge-podge
of emotions and traumatic events, there’s been at least one blessing we’ve
received-
Millie Grime ensuring that
we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote.
Millie’s passion has been
inspirational, planting a new tone.
Thanks to Millie, we set a goal- to look for the places in scripture in
which women are present even if they are not mentioned.
So, we are pleased to share that
when researching today’s reading, we came across an author who offered up a
whole new take on a familiar story.
Professor Gerald Janzen sees
this story tied to the promise made to Sarah.
If you recall, Sarah and
Abraham were an elderly childless couple called by God to get up and go, with
the promise of having a child and having land.
Often, we trace the promise
through Abraham, but, it wasn’t Abraham’s bareness that was an issue- it was
Sarah’s.
Abraham did have a child
with another woman, his son Ishmael. But
Ishmael did not become heir to the promise.
Instead, the focus is on
Sarah- Sarah is the one who was barren; it was Sarah who was at the end of the
family story.
But miracle upon miracles Sarah
becomes pregnant, she bares a son named Isaac.
It is through Sarah’s child that
the covenant and promise to God’s people unfolds.
In other words- WE are the
children of Sarah’s supposed bareness. We
are the children of a way out of no way.
Let that soak in…
By refocusing our faith’s
narrative on Sarah, we realize that we are Children Of The Impossible.
WE are the Children of the
Not Meant To Be. We are the Children of
The Dead End.
We are the Living Hope of
the Hopeless.
As Children of Sarah we are
unstoppable.
No wonder Jacob could endure
all those years in the land of his deceitful uncle.
No wonder Joseph survived being
cast into a well, sold into slavery, and being locked away.
No wonder the Israelites thrived
and multiplied even when enslaved under the harshest of conditions.
It is from Sarah’s bareness
that the call to have faithful dominion and care for God’s beautiful nahalah
continues.
So, it’s no wonder that even
when Jacob was mistreated by his uncle, his own flock of lambs prospered.
It’s no wonder that Joseph
was able to save the nation from a famine.
It’s no wonder the river preserved
the life of Moses and the Red Sea parted to deliver the Israelites.
When you are the children of
Sarah, when you are the walking, breathing heir to the miracle, how can heaven
and nature not rejoice in you?
Today’s reading reminds us
how the role of women and God’s nahalah all come together.
How God is ready to do
something new. God is ready to deliver.
God is ready to keep the
promise made through Sarah’s womb.
What God asks of us is that
we remember what God is about to do.
God asks that we share, we
speak; that we do not keep silent.
God says “I am about to fulfill
the promise made through Sarah’s womb.”
“You are to leave your
troubled past behind, and to enter my beautiful nahalah where there is enough
for all.”
“But,” says God, “I want you
to remember. Remember that I brought you
out, and not just out, but to a new land, a new way, a life of virility.”
In order for God to do so,
God asks that we leave the yeast behind.
In order to move into our
new beginning, leave the leaven behind.
Leave that which holds you
back. Leave what’s holding you down.
Leave what’s slowing you up. Leave behind what’s hurting your spirit.
Leave that which is
Unjust
Unkind
Ungodly.
Step into your future.
Step into your promise that
you inherited from Sarah’s barren womb.
Step into God’s luxurious
nahalah
Where there is abundance
There is sweetness, There is
light
There is nourishment of ALL
kinds.
Tell your children
Tell your children’s
children
So that they can know
So that they can remember
So that they too can break
free
When the weight of the world,
When the ways of Egypt
Surround them, Hold them
Down
and say “You Don’t matter.”
Friends-
We are the Children of Sarah’s
Womb
We are the Children of the Promise.
We are the Children of the Past,
the Present, and the Future.
We are the Children Of The
Way Out of No Way.
So keep on Movin’
Don’t stop; Don’t quit
In God we got this.
Amen and amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment