I wonder, are you aware the Bible is
the best handbook available on radical disobedience? A lot of people think the
Bible is an instruction book, that is, a book that tells you how to behave
properly in society. It is, of course a series of books about worshiping God,
living in community with others, finding our calling from God, and a host of
other things. But at its core, the Bible is more often than not, a handbook of
improper behavior; a treatise on radical disobedience to the world and a series
of writings about how God’s world is often in opposition to the ways and means
of the world humans seem to think we created.
Just look at today’s beginning of the
story from Exodus. If there ever were stereotypes waiting to be broken, this
story has more than its share.
First
of all, it involves women. And really, at least two of them were likely just
girls. So not only were they girls, they were also young. They were youngsters
in a society that valued the wisdom of age. We don’t really know the ages of
Pharaoh’s daughter and Moses’ sister, but it’s quite likely they were young.
Young women whose opinions weren’t valued, whose presence was largely ignored,
and whose role was to keep silent and be obedient.
The trouble with this is when people
know this about themselves they get sneaky. They figure out clever ways to get
what they want, do what they want, and have the results they desire. They
engage in small acts of radical disobedience. And, in this story about mostly
young people, where are the parents? Probably like most parents, thinking
they’ve taught their children how to behave so they can depend on them to do
so.
What these young girls acted with is
what most of us have, whether we’re willing to admit it or not. It’s that
God-planted seed of radical disobedience. The still small voice that says, “Do
this. Forget the normal way; find a radical disobedience to bring about what
God wants. Never mind what you were taught; these are different times requiring
different action.”
That is what led Pharaoh’s daughter and
Moses’ sister. They heard God’s voice prompting them to radical disobedience.
They ignored the rule that says nice girls don’t disobey their fathers. They ignored
the rule that says nice girls take their baths regardless of an abandoned baby.
They ignored the rule that says don’t linger among the reeds after your mother sets
your brother adrift. Instead, these two girls listened to God’s voice of radical
disobedience.
The action these two young girls took
in watching and rescuing were small acts of radical disobedience. Small acts like
saving one child from a certain death. Small acts like raising a foundling as a
prince. Small acts like giving a baby back to its mother to nurse.
In the process of these acts of radical
disobedience four things happened. Pharaoh was defied. A baby was rescued. A
baby was given back to his mother. A baby was raised as a prince. And in these
small acts of radical disobedience the world shifted and people were freed.
What will our Exodus look like? What
acts of radical disobedience will we engage in during and after our Exodus? Who
will get defied? Who will get rescued? Who will get given to someone to love?
Who will be raised as a prince or princess of peace? How will the world shift
from these small acts of radical disobedience?
What will we learn during our own
Exodus? In what ways will we listen to God’s call to radical disobedience?
The
Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2017
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