Remember Their Names

 

A Sermon for the People of First Baptist Church of Austin

August 27, 2023

I try not to watch the news too much these days, certainly not when my 6 year old daughter is present.  ?It is right to try to postpone her knowledge of the grim realities of the world? She still sees glimpses of the images of climate tragedies flashing on the screen before we think to change the channel - fires, floods, hurricanes, tornados, all things she is genuinely interested in learning about but quiet doesn’t understand the human contribution in these abnormal weather occurrences. What about the unjust and unnecessary violence in the streets, our schools, our public spaces, our places of worship broadcast on the evening news each night?

How long can I shield her from knowing about the pain and suffering humans endure at the hands of other humans? 

It’s all taken a toll on my soul….so much so that I’ve started to think there’s not much point to try to do anything to change it. I can’t do much to reverse the damage we’ve done to our planet, can I? Will unplugging unused electrical devises REALLY make that much difference when asked to conserve power in the midst of a 105 degree heat? 

I’m just one person. 

I’ll admit- I’ve become a little apathetic and worn out, which is frankly exhaserbated by the extreme heat day in and day out. 

Ok, so I’ll turn off the news. It will help me avoid stories of tragedies and injustice. Maybe I’ll pick up some light Bible reading instead… 

(pick up bible and turn to exodus) 

“throw every baby boy born to the hebrews in the nile river, but you can let the girls live.” 

(Close bible)

Ok, so nothing in the Bible is “light” reading.  Ironic that I want to shield my daughter from the tragedies of the world and yet we just handed her a bible for her first grade bible presentation. yikes.

Reading the Bible makes me wonder and reflect on it similarities to modern times. Is human history just on a constant loop, repeating itself over and over and over again every few generations as if we never learned the lessons from the past? 

It’s like they say, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”

Here’s a story on repeat even in modern times: New leaders come into power, wanting to appear strong and powerful. They think- “how can I unify my people so that they see me as a strong and competent leader?”  Their strategy: distract from their shortfalls with hate. Single out the weakest people group, call them the enemy and make their people afraid of them. Then call them weak, call them by dehumanizing names, convince people that they are dangerous, out for your job. Here in this nation only to steal, pillage, and rape. Bad people. 

Yes, fear of “the other” can be a powerful unifying source, but at what cost? Short term gains with long term consequences as we will see….

In this ‘tale as old as time’ in our scripture reading today- a familiar story about the tumultuous beginnings of the future liberator Moses, tragically torn from his family who loves him so much that his mother placed him in a river so he could escape the violence from the oppressive powers that be, all in the hopes of a better life- and not just a better life, but a chance at LIFE, where he can grow from a baby, to a child, to a man, and one day, liberate a nation of enslaved people.

Our eventual hero, Moses, is only afforded this chance at life because of the brave leadership of two women- Shiphrah and Puah. 

Shiphrah and Puah, the ones who saved a generation of babies.  

Often overlooked or simplified into the plural noun “midwives,” these women worked within the corrupt policies of an insecure ruler to ensure the survival of the Hebrew people. 

We don’t know much about Shiphrah and Puah as people, but the fact that we know their names at all was clearly important to the generations of Israelite storytellers as they passed down their stories. Ironically, the most “powerful” person, by human standards, has no name other than, “Pharaoh.” I find this quite humorous. The story of these cunning women was told around campfires, at bedtime, through religious leaders, in songs and poems, it brought comfort to generations of enslaved Hebrews as they remembered their ancestors ability to defy the wicked slave masters. It’s a story of triumph! Shiphrah and Puah have a place in history because their actions were worthy of retelling. Without them, the hebrew collective story wouldn’t have continued far.

We know their names and yet, even within today’s text,  we see no mention of Moses’s mother name or his sister’s name or even Pharaoh’s daughter’s name. These women were only defined by their relationship with a man. Unfortunately, we come to expect this in the Bible.  Women are often the NPC’s of the Bible, an extra on the set to fill out the scene, so minor of a character to the storyteller that they aren’t even worth naming, even if they have a few lines of dialogue. So imagine our surprise to know the names of these two- 

Shiphrah and Puah. 

Shiphrah and Puah. 

Shiphrah, meaning “to be beautiful,” and Puah, meaning “girl,” these midwives of unclear ethnicities played a crucial role in the physical and messy duty of childbirth.  As midwives, these young women would prepare equipment and the space needed for the safe delivery of a child.  Childbirth is quite messy as many of you may remember, and it can be quite dangerous! Hebrew women couldn’t count on modern medical interventions to spare their lives or their child’s. 

Midwives also played spiritual and healing roles too. Deeply connected to the spiritual, midwifery was seen as a religious vocation in the ancient world. The sacred act of rituals like placing ointment on the new born child or rubbing the child with salt, was seen as deeply religious and magical as it would bring about protection for the mother and child.  These midwives were ancient keepers of wisdom, co-creators and spiritual healers, religious practitioners with control over the forces of life and death. They possessed great power.  

Shiphrah and Puah possess great power, not only in their profession as life-givers but in their close access to the king. The average women in antiquity isn’t going to have conversations with a king! Very few had this level of access. It’s likely that these women were handpicked by the king to be in his royal harem and lived nearby in royal residences in the king’s palace, a place of status, and yet confinement. They were there without choice.  

It’s also likely that these women were overseers of other midwives, since they were in the habit of reporting all the details of the births to Pharaoh. Surely there weren’t just two midwives for the entire Hebrew nation! But scripture only tells us of these important two women. They aren’t just lowly women with a dirty job. Remember- they had access to the highest person in the land and at the same time, access to the lowest- the enslaved Hebrew women. 

Shiphrah and Puah’s Pharaoh was an insecure one- one who was threatened by the fruitful growth of the Hebrew nation and their increasing strength.   We know God to be true to God’s word and when God blesses the Israelites, God promises that they will be fruitful and multiply in great numbers. Their growing numbers in captivity threatened this unwise leader. He feared they would rise up and partner with his enemies and challenge his power. So to prevent that, he responded by oppressing them with forced labor, both on the men and on the women.  He thought that if he could work the people to death, they would stop procreating and thus stop growing. But these are God’s people! As verse 12 states, “the more Pharaoh afflicted them, the more they multiplied.” His plan had backfired. 

His second plan to control the Israelite population growth was even more cruel- kill the male babies. Through Shiphrah and Puah as messengers, he commanded all the midwives in the land to kill every male baby they deliver, before the mother can even see him or hold him. 

Can we just pause for a second and put on our sanctified imagination caps to wonder what it must have been like for Shiphrah and Puah to hear the Pharaoh’s edict, one that is completely counter to their role as life-bringers? Did Shiphrah and Puah tremble with fear as they listened to Pharaoh make this unreasonable request? Did tears begin to fall down their faces in deep sadness at the thought of losing a precious life? Were they shocked at the inhumanity of the request or were they not surprised at all that this Pharaoh had such little regard for human life? Did they immediately know they were going to defy the Pharaoh? Did they leave the meeting defeated or scheming?

I wonder how long they sat in shock at what they were asked to do? How long did it take for them to muster up the strength to gather all the midwives in the land to assemble for this contentious meeting? A few days? A few months?

I imagine as the hundreds of birthing-women gathered to hear the instructions, they were appalled at the command to participate in the mass genocide of the Hebrew people. I hear the screams of horror, the silence of fear, the weeps of sadness.  Did they collectively decide to defy Pharaoh? Was it a coordinated effort? Did any of them obey the edict?

These everyday women did what they could, with what they had, within an oppressive regime, to do what was right.  They didn’t have power conferred upon them by a government or a voice to challenge the powers that be. They didn’t have a network of social media followers to bring awareness to the injustice of the situation. They certainly didn’t have a vote in the matter. These brave women simply worked within the community they lived to quietly save a generation of little boys from the edict of a threatened ruler.  They knew their role as life-bringers was to continue to do just that. No man, however powerful, would tell them otherwise.  So they created an underground network of women to defy the most powerful person in the land. One by one, these women engaged in a radical act of defiance as they allowed boys to live. 

As Kat Armas, author of Abuletia Faith, writes, “ironically, Pharaoh thinks men pose a threat to his power, but he overlooks the real threat: God is using the women to set the scene for liberation.”

Shiphrah and Puah were the original liberators, birthing babies to mothers committed to keeping their children alive, whatever the cost.  Mothers who would continue to give birth in the face of oppression and danger, knowing that what waited for their sons was hard labor or death.  But they persisted in an act of defiance in order to continue their lineage, doing whatever they could to keep their children safe. That might have meant hiding them, possibly raising them as girls, all to give them a chance to live. Their collective action not only saves Moses’ life later on but created social change for the most vulnerable in the society, ensuring the survival of their culture.

I bet if you’d ask one of these women who saved a generation of children if they saw themselves as liberators that they would say they were just doing the right thing for one child, one child at a time, at one moment in time….that their actions, while risky, was their only source of power against an evil dictator. Did they feel they were making a difference in the moment?  

But I’m just one person. 

One person. With great potential to change the course of another’s life with bravery and conviction. 

We never know the impact we will have and what blessings will come our way.  Shiphrah and Puah certainly had no idea what would come of their actions.  They had a deep faith in God and the conviction to use their position in the king’s harem to resist oppression and his abuse of power. 

They weren’t in it for fame or for reward but scripture tells us that God blessed and rewarded them both by giving them a household of their own.  Midwives often grew old in the harem, having no offspring of their own. So this blessing offered them the chance at a different life. And because of their faith in God, they were granted the ability to have children of their own, away from their confinement within the Pharaoh’s palace. Their reward was life!

God is calling all of us to participate in this movement of liberation, one small act at a time, not for reward, but to be a participant in God’s commitment to love and life. Each one of us gets small chances every day to be the good in the world.  We may feel like we are just one person, unequipped to deal with the complexities and tragedies of the world, but we have the power to act out of kindness and advocacy to express God’s love and intentions for our lives. We don’t have to wait for the professionals or the experts in social justice to act before we can participate in change. All it takes is one singular choice to listen to the ways God is calling you to impact this world, and then doing it.  Be brave like Shiphrah and Puah to do the hard thing God is calling you to do, even if it means ruffling some feathers.  As the great civil right leader John Lewis said, “never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” 

Yes, There are terrible things on the news each night. And I’m probably going to keep turning the tv news off for a little while long. But let’s not let fear scare us into being God’s light and love to the world. It just takes one spark to start a wildfire.  So let us be that spark that ignites a generation of change, just like Shiphrah and Puah did.  May god grant us all the bravery of Shiphrah and Puah to stand up to power in the face of the injustices around us, all for God’s glory. Amen.