Among the Reeds of the River
Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
August 24, 2008
Exodus 1:8-2:10

Exodus 1:8-2:10 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land." Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, "When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live." But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?" 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." So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live."

Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, "This must be one of the Hebrews' children," she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Yes." So the girl went and called the child's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, "because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."

I. BEGINNING

So, imagine this situation.   One of the Israelite dwellings in Goshen.   There's a knock at the door.   The mother of the house answers the door and there standing there is an Egyptian policeman, wearing an typical Egyptian head-dress and some Ray-Ban sunglasses.   Just like something out of COPS.

"Mrs. Levi?"

"Yes."

"We're here about the baby you left in the reeds down at the river."

"Baby?   I don't know anything about a baby."

"Ma'am, it's not a good idea to lie to the police.   Witnesses say that you took your baby, put him in a basket and put him down by the reeds along the river.   That's a serious case of child endangerment, ma'am.   I am sure you know there are crocodiles in that river.   Also, all kinds of teenage kids go down there after to park their chariots after dark and some of them get rowdy and like to throw rocks at the locusts.   The child could have been seriously injured."

"I was trying to save him from Pharaoh."

"That's really not my concern, ma'am.   I'm afraid I'm going to have to call child protective services.   Now, if you'd left him in front of an orphanage and rung the doorbell, that's one thing.   But I've gotta say, leaving a kid in the river is a new one on me."

II. The Text

It does seem odd that she left him in the river like that.   I mean, the story is a familiar one.   We've seen it in The Ten Commandments .   We've seen it in The Prince of Egypt .   In The Prince of Egypt , the basket goes on an adventure not unlike the ore car in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It rides the waves as it is swept along.   Hungry crocodiles try to chomp at it.   It's pretty perilous.  

Well, like most things in Bible movies, the actual Biblical version is somewhat different.   The text merely says that Moses' mother placed the basket among the reeds of the river.

Now, it's still a pretty perilous place to leave a three month old child.   I wouldn't advise any of you who may take baby sitting jobs to think of this as an option.   Particularly in the Potomac.

III. Placed Among the Reeds

Now, when you reflect on the story of the baby Moses, it would be understandable for many of you, if you felt like a babe that has just been dropped in the reeds of the river.   You have been taken out of the safe and loving embrace of your parents and dropped off at the river's edge, alone.   It can be frightening.   It can be intimidating.

A. Finding Your Place

For there are certainly enough confusing things about college.   Figuring out where your classes are.   Finding the best food options on campus.   Learning the Metro.   Dealing with early morning classes and late evening classes.   Learning how to study for a college course.   Figuring out how to navigate the system of American University bureaucracy.   (When you do figure that out, come by my office and let me know how you did it).

I remember my own undergraduate experience.   I had had a slight advantage because I got a job on campus over the summer.   But that didn't really help with the fact that all the buildings looked alike.   And I'm not just saying that--most of them were identical in every way.   If you got turned around, you'd get completely lost.   In fact, one of the sure fire ways to spot a freshman at the University at Albany was to look for the student who would be sort of spinning in place, trying to get their bearings.

B. Exploring New Ideas

There are new ideas to embrace (or reject).   There are new concepts that you will have to consider that make you uncomfortable.   There are ways of looking at the world that you've never imagined--no less valid than the way you've been brought up to look at it.

You'll be challenged by your professors.   You won't always like what they have to say.   And that's alright.   You're allowed to disagree, but you'll be better off disagreeing with someone because you understand where they're coming from, rather than just rejecting their conclusions.   There are enough opinionated people out there who believe what they want to believe.   But becoming a really thoughtful person, who is able to see the other side of the argument, able to dialogue, that's a challenge.   Because it can be disorienting.

And this will be the stuff that will keep you up at night.   It's the conversations that you have till 4 in the morning, discussing ideas with someone who sees the world very differently.   That's the best part of college.

And really, I've said this before, if you come out of college with all the same ideas you came into it with, you haven't done it right.   But that doesn't make it any easier or less intimidating.

C. Finding Yourself

More challenging still is figuring yourself out.   For years you have been told by your parents, community, friends, teachers, pastors, who you are, how you fit in.   What groups you belong to.   Now, over these four years, is your chance to decide whether any of that is true.   Am I a liberal?   Am I a Republican?   Am I a vegetarian?   A future lawyer?   Am I a Christian?   What does it mean for me to be a Christian?

You'll experiment with fashion--both clothing and intellectual.   Some of you may decide to go by a different name than your friends back home know you by.   Some of you may go on a years-long journey of exploration of self.   Finding out what you believe and why.

And you have to make all these decisions and choices without a safety net.   No one is there to make the decisions for you.

There is a lot to learn.   A lot to figure out.   It can be overwhelming.

Now some of you might have arrived here under the impression that you know everything already. That you've already got it all figured out.   This too shall pass.

But the bigger point is, get used to this process.   We will often come into situations like this, as babes in a basket left among the reeds of the river.

IV. Providence

Now, upon reflection, my COPS scenario was undoubtedly too harsh on Mrs. Levi.   Because there are some things about the story that bear noting.

There are few details in Biblical prose, I don't know if you've noticed that.   Not a lot of character description, details on scenery.   Unless those points are relevant.

A. The Pharaoh's Daughter's Habits

We are told that Pharaoh's daughter came to the river to bathe, with her maidservants.   It is very likely that this was a favorite spot for Pharaoh's daughter and that Moses' mother likely knew that Pharaoh's daughter bathed there.   So, Moses' mother didn't just drop the kid in any old part of the river.   She left Moses where she knew he would be found.   And just to make sure, Moses' sister Miriam was watching from a distance to see what happened.

In the same way, your own parents sent you to school knowing there would be those who would care for you.   They have left you here beside the Potomac knowing that there would be those who would look out for you. Those who would take you in.

That itself is an act of faith.   The faith of Moses' mother.   The faith of your own parents.   Faith that you have what you need to survive.   Faith that you will be taken in by those who will care for you.   Faith that the God who created you, will continue to sustain you.

B. The Connection Back

One often overlooked element to the story is that it is Moses' own mother who serves as his wet-nurse. It's an interesting part of the story.   Miriam sees Pharaoh's daughter pick her baby brother up.   And she volunteers to find a wet-nurse among the Hebrew women.   Lo, and behold, it's Moses' mother.   It seems that Moses isn't as far from home as he might have thought.

This too is an important lesson. Even when our parents cast us out for our own good, they are still a part of our lives. Now I say this with some trepidation knowing how many "helicopter" parents are out there. That's not what I'm talking about. I am talking about the things that will stay with you that your parents have already given you. Your values. Your ideals. Love.   Okay, and the occasional care package.

I'm not talking about your folks calling up your professors every time you get a B instead of an A. That's not good for anybody.

So even when we are just a babe in the reeds of the river, we are not there without a connection to the place we have come from.

Nor without a connection to the place we will be...

V. THE CHILD NAMED

Another of the oft overlooked portions of the story is the portion where Pharaoh's daughter names Moses.   We are told that she names him Moses-- Mosheh-- because she says "I drew him out"-- mashiti hu --of the water.   It's a nice pun in Hebrew.   Mosheh and Mashiti-hu.   Except for one thing: why on earth is the Pharaoh's daughter--an Egyptian--making puns in Hebrew?  

Well the reality is, she probably isn't.   That wordplay is probably the Israelite author of the text attempting to make sense of Moses' name.  

Because Moses' name is not insignificant.   "Moses" is the Egyptian word for "son."   It's found in the names Ramases (son of Ra) and Thutmoses (son of Tut).   And what it means is that when Pharaoh's daughter takes the baby out of the river, she claims him as her own.   He is her son.

It is a reminder that we are each of us claimed by God.   God the Father is also a mother to us, taking us out of the reeds of the river and claiming us as her children.  

And that means that we are all brothers and sisters.   We are family.

And you have family here.   I address my weekly e-mails to you all as "sisters and brothers".   That's not just church-speak.   It's a theological truth.   We are a family here that looks out for one another.   Cares for one another.   Supports one another.   And, like any family, there is occasionally drama.

VI. END

For here at the river's edge, is this community of faith.   It is a place where you will be loved.   It is a place where you will be nurtured.   It is a place where, like the infant Moses, you will be able to grow in a safe and welcoming place.

When you've just been placed in the reeds it can be scary.   It's tough to figure out a new school, a new city, new friends, new ideas.   A new self.   Those are challenging things to explore.

But we don't do it alone.   We carry with us the people who have formed us.   Our parents, friends, teachers, pastors.   All those who gave us the tools to go on our way and start our lives.   We encounter other people along the way--communities, like this one, that help you to work through things.   That give you the space and the support to figure out what really matters to you.   Who you really are.

And we do it with a God who is there for us throughout the whole story.   Who does not forsake us.   Who guides us and shelters us and keeps us in safe-keeping.

There are many times throughout our lives when we begin a new stage of the journey.   When it feels that we have been deposited among the reeds of the river.   Unsure of where we are or what will happen to us.

But we remain connected to those from whom we have come.   We are connected to those among whom we will find ourselves.   And throughout it all, we remain in relationship with the God who claims us as his own.