Exodus 1:15-22

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and allowed the boys to live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

Midwives have played an important role throughout history.  The term “midwife” comes from old English which is literally translated as “with women”.  It’s an important role, even in modern times.  I’ve known a few midwives over the years.  They always seem to be incredibly grounded, wise, and pretty spiritual.  That makes sense as they are persons who are with folks in the liminal, or in between, spaces of life.  They welcome new life, they are with women in the pain of childbirth, sharing space and a holy moment.  They are similar to hospice care workers, they are companions for folks when the miracle of life and death comes to us and reminds us of the wonder of life.

I was recently at a conference on spirituality and mindfulness.  In a small group there was a woman in her seventies with strands of glitter interwoven in her hair.  She was from Amherst and she was a midwife.  She was with a friend who she had helped deliver her daughter forty years later.  Their bond in friendship in that moment stuck with them.  She was amazing and full of light and a sparkle…more than the hair, she had some quiet moxie.  

In our stewardship scripture this morning, we see that Pharaoh did not see the moxie of the Hebrew midwives, nor did he see the divinity in humanity, including his own.  He was on top of the proverbial ladder and was more interested in his empire, maintaining the status quo, and had a fear of losing control.  He viewed people as commodities, not as human beings made in the image of God.

This pharaoh had forgotten how the Hebrews with Joseph had saved Egypt a few generations before.  They had multiplied and he was using them to build the wealth of the empire.  That’s how empires are built throughout history, through cheap labor, even free labor or slavery.  We have seen it throughout our own country’s history, as well as the histories of so many others.  The problem with empires and building empires, is that eventually, in some way, the bill comes due…and those of us that have benefited from empire, do all that we can to not recognize that bill.

Now, hear me out on this one, we all live in empire, it’s more than just a king, or an emperor, or a national identity.  We live in an empire world, one that is built on transactional relationships that are not really sustainable and can lead to violence in order to protect some kind of social order.  

The church, or other religious structures, have often been used to prop up that structure.  I recognize that I am a “priest of the empire”.  And all of us life in an empire system that props up the system.  Having said that, I would add that I am a subversive priest of the empire, and the church is a subversive community within the empire throughout history.  We are called to live transformational lives, or Kingdom or God lives, in the midst of empire.  Our very presence is both a light in the darkness of the world, a beacon, as well as a fire that can be seen as a threat to those in power that must be put out.  

Exhibit A:  Jesus.  

And, like Jesus, when confronted with the throes or struggles of life as well as recognizing the thin veil that life and death bring, that there is something more than what the empire, or the systems of the world offers, that we find a deeper love within us that moves us towards loving actions.

Throughout history, and as seen in this story, there are folks like these midwives who know this love.  It compels them to some trickery, or to be tricksters.  Persons without power, in the face of brute power, find a way to have agency and to work towards the common good.  In this case, when the order to kill all males when they are born, the midwives make a up a story that Jewish women are vigorous and give birth before they can get there.  I simply love their moxie…what a story!

Friends, you have that same moxie of the midwives within you.  As in all of life, it may take being in a liminal space, an in-between space, some kind of disruptive change for that moxie to be enacted, to spring forth.  But, just as the love of humanity that these midwives had that compelled them to protect the male children, your love, the same love that the midwives had, will compel you forward as you steward your made in the image of God life, and the lives of others in this congregation and community that you have been called to be in covenant with.  Amen?

Philippians 4:1-9

4 

1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

Exhortations

2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

1 John 4:7

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 

Matthew 22:1-10

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

22 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

This passage from Philippians is a letter to the church in Philippi.  It’s a great letter, I’d encourage you to read it, it seems like Paul had a special place in his heart for the Philippians.  And, it was a letter.  One of the few letters that we can say with a bit of certainty that was actually written by Paul

This letter from Paul is full of interesting and encouraging words.  First of all, he mentions these women, women in leadership was not just accepted back in the day, and still is not in some unaware and insecure parts of religion, it seems to be more of the rule in the early days of the church.  Considering this was a patriarchal society, the Jesus movement was revolutionary in that it was fueled, maintained, and grown through female leadership.  This was certainly in the way of Jesus.  Jesus broke down in very relational and beautiful ways the power structures of his day by lifting up those on the margins…which is also the biblical trajectory from the beginnings of the Old Testament, the Hebrew scriptures, to Paul’s and others letters and even today in theological thinking.  

Then, he moves into this poetry around “rejoice”.  The Philippian church was being persecuted, they had unjust rulers and a religious power system that was keeping them down.  But, Paul is telling them to be encouraged by their gentleness, to not worry, but to pray and to supply what they need to move towards peace.  

Peace in this context would be from the Jewish understanding of “shalom”.  Shalom means:  peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility.

In light of what is happening in Ukraine and in Israel and Palestine, shalom is something that we should all be praying for…as I’ve said on numerous occasions, too numerous, over the past six years in response to wars and the senseless violence in our country, “violence begets violence”…and is never the answer in the long run.  

I also found this online in describing “shalom”:  In the book Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, author Cornelius Plantinga described the Old Testament concept of shalom:

The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.

Paul is inviting us to live in God’s peace out of God’s love for us.  

The Gospel lesson in the lectionary is from Matthew 22:1-10, it is the story of God inviting us to a banquet, to the Kingdom of God.   In the story, the wedding banquet master invites folks, but they don’t want to come…they are comfortable…they don’t want to be bothered, even though the master is inviting them to a great feast.  So, he invites those on the margins.  This is keeping with the previous stories in Matthew around the status quo being shaken.  The Gospel writer is conveying to us a message from Jesus that we forget sometimes:  that God is loving us and trying to communicate that to us by inviting us to this feast of love, to participate in love that brings peace that passes understanding.  Yet, we so often respond to the invitation with complacency, contempt, and even violence.  It’s as if we do not want love or are afraid of it rocking the status quo we’ve created over a lifetime.  

To know what it means to have love that does win though…it is a flow that cannot be stopped…

This has been a season of change for me in my life.  What I’ve been amazed by is the peace that I have in my heart for decisions I’ve had to make.  That doesn’t mean that layers above my heart, my physical body, has not had some anxiety.  It has…but, there’s a deeper force at work, Love.  

This verse from 1 John 4:7 sums up what it means to live in peace, to participate in God’s banquet:  

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Let us continue to find ways to grow in that love and to spread that love to those around us, including ourselves no matter where the journey takes us.  Let Love do its work, to emerge within and around us.