P Is for Puah - Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost - Summer Series

P Is for Puah

Pentecost 7 – Summer Series, “The Good Book”

July 7, 2024

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Exodus 1.8-22

There’s an old proverb that goes back hundreds of years, with several variations, including one from Benjamin Franklin. And there’s even one a century earlier from the poet George Herbert. It’s called, “For Want of a Nail” and goes something like this.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost. / For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost. / For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost. / For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

As Wikipedia reminds us of the moral of the proverb, “seemingly unimportant acts or omissions can have grave and unforeseen consequences.” Today we might say, “For want of a baby the Hebrews were lost.” In our scripture reading we meet Puah and by extension her colleague Shiphrah, ancestors in the faith. They seem to be playing bit parts in the dramatic story of Moses and the exodus from Egypt. Yet, had they not played their part, the pivotal event in the life of Israel may not have happened. In addition to the covenant with Abraham that made them God’s chosen people, the exodus from Egypt is the singular defining event for the Jewish people.

Puah and Shiphrah are ordered by the king, also known as pharaoh, to commit mass infanticide by killing the male babies they deliver. He does this because he is fearful that the Hebrews would become even more plentiful and take over the country. (How many times has this story been repeated since humans evolved to walk upright?) It’s unclear in the Hebrew grammar whether Puah and Shiphrah are Hebrew midwives or Egyptian midwives to the Hebrew women, but what is clear is they “fear” God. In other words, they have a relationship with God, one of respect, a relationship they don’t have with Pharaoh.

What is also clear is that these women who deal in life will refuse to deal in death. It is also somewhat ironic that the mighty pharaoh, who is arguably the most important person in that part of the world, has his name lost to us. Yet we know the names of these two seemingly powerless and inconsequential women are not only known but also celebrated. Furthermore, as the story unfolds, it is the women who have agency in the story. In addition to Puah and Shiphrah, Moses’ sister convinces his mother to put him in a basket in the river to save him. And it is pharaoh’s daughter who will rescue baby Moses and raise him as her own. The women collaborate albeit unwittingly to deliver the deliverer.

So, what does it mean that Puah is an ancestor of ours? What has she passed down to us? On the one hand, we want to acknowledge the value of every single life and that is no small thing. Yet we wonder if she and Shiphrah are “spitting into the wind” of pharaoh in an exercise in futility. Will what they do matter? Even so, they acted in faithfulness to God’s call on their lives. They did so even though they had no idea of what was ahead for the Hebrews, that the Hebrews would become a mighty people despite pharaoh’s actions, and that a baby they saved would lead the Hebrews to the Promised Land.

It’s understandable that in looking around our country and our world we would feel despair and hopelessness. We see endless wars, mass shootings, homelessness, inflation, disasters, etc. Yet, as anthropologist Margaret Mead reminds us, “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” Puah and Shiphrah remind us that even small acts can produce consequential results.

In fact, the Bible is full of “inconsequential consequential” people, those in positions of power or influence who are able to do neither. But there are far more “consequential inconsequential” people such as Puah and Shiphrah. For example, there’s the seemingly inconsequential youngest of seven sons, a shepherd boy who unites the Hebrew people in a country or disparate 12 tribes. And this King Dave will have a descendant who will give birth to a Jewish rabbi, the son of a carpenter and young virgin woman. This rabbi will assemble a motley group of followers, women and men alike, a small group who will change the world. And through the life and death of this Jesus, God will destroy the powers of death in the second greatest act of deliverance in the Bible, the resurrection to eternal life.

Sometimes we might wonder what difference we can make, how a few pennies or dollar bills in a jar could change someone’s life or put a dent in the great need in our community. Yet these coins and bills can provide a meal in the Community Cafe, help eradicate polio, or provide school supplies for families in need. We don’t always see results, but our ancestors Puah and Shiphrah show us we don’t need to. We simply need to “fear God” and trust for the rest. Even so, we are not without resources because we believe that a handful of water assures us of God’s presence. And, as the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians, that he has handed down to us what was handed down to him, that a little bit of bread and wine contain the Creator of the Universe, everything we need to walk the way of our ancestors in faith, including Puah and Shiphrah. Thanks be to God. Amen.

My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.