God Remembers Us

Exodus 1:8,9; 2:23-25

 

        “A new Pharaoh arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph.”   Any of you ever suffer from memory loss?  Of course you have.  Yesterday Deb asked if I had taken the trash to the dump.  Actually she was politely reminding me of a task unfulfilled.  I was guilty, caught red handed.  There was only one imaginable defense.  “I forgot.”  Those two words are the magic elixir for any situation.  Kids certainly know this.  “Done your homework?”     “I forgot.” “Shouldn’t you have been home two hours ago?”   “I forgot.” “Weren’t you going to move out of the house when you turned 30?  …………………….  “I forgot”.

        It is unfair to blame children for what we taught them.  Years ago my kids would invite their friends over to the house.  I would stroll into their room unannounced to introduce myself.  After the friends left Martina would say, “Dad, what was that all about?  How am I ever going to have any friends if they know I have a parent?  You are off limits when I have guests.”

        I would look down at the floor, roll my eyes, and say,
“I forgot.”

        She would sarcastically respond,  “How could you forget?  You never forgot that you used to walk 10 miles to school, uphill, both ways.  You never forgot that Ted Williams once batted .406 for a season and ended with a life time average of .344.   If you can remember that, why can’t you remember my need for privacy?” 

        Martina was right.  Most of us suffer from selective memory.  We remember what we want to remember and then let the other things sort of get pushed to the side.

        Pharaoh had selective memory.  He didn’t want to remember Joseph.  To remember Joseph was to remember a time when the children of Jacob and Abraham were considered equals to the children of Egypt.  To remember Joseph would call into question the new labor laws Pharaoh was placing upon the Hebrews.  To remember Joseph would have given the slaves an identity, a name, a reason to exist and Pharaohs of any century refuse to acknowledge anyone else as equal.

        Joseph was forgotten, not just by Pharaoh, but also by Joseph’s great-grandchildren.  The Hebrews had settled in and made Egypt their home.  They liked Egypt.  The climate was good. The Fertile Basin lived up to its name. The Egyptians pretty much left them alone.  They forgot Joseph.  They stopped telling the stories of Abraham.  Holy memories would remind them Egypt was not their home.  So they forgot, and in the process of forgetting they forgot the covenant with Yahweh, “You are my people and I am your God.”

        Eventually, the Pharaoh who forgot Joseph became paranoid about this growing group of people who conveniently had also forgotten.  Pharaoh became convinced that one day the Hebrew people would remember, and those memories would give them hope, and that hope would cause them to rise up against those who enslaved them.  So Pharaoh increased the work load.  Pharaoh limited the supplies given to the slaves.  Finally, in a final act of desperation, Pharaoh began to eliminate the population.  All male babies were to be slaughtered at birth.  The very work force was to be eliminated to keep it from remembering.  Isn’t it strange how paranoid empires become when a government sees itself as more important than the communities it serves?

        The Hebrew people, with the notable exception of a few exceptional women, had no idea how to respond.  With no past and no God all they could do was cry out to what they believed to be an empty sky.  They were helpless, desperate, and alone.  They cried out because they were broken.  They cried out because they had lost hope.   They cried out, and because of their cries, an incredible story began with Moses and the burning bush and ended with Joshua and the Israelites crossing the Jordan River.  Pharaoh might forget. The Hebrews might forget. But God never forgets.  Remember this verse.  Underline it in your Bible.   Exodus 2:24, “God heard their groaning and God remembered the covenant.”

        The Hebrews moment of salvation began when Israel realized her helplessness and cried out.  Pharaoh told them to shut up.  No one was interested in their problems.  But Pharaoh was wrong.  God heard and God responded, bringing order to disorder by declaring God always stands in solidarity with the abused, the forgotten, the hurt, and the exploited.  Exodus 2 confirms God will not only hear our cries but God will respond. Now, unless you happen to be Pharaoh, that is great news. 

Of course Pharaohs of this world count on us not screaming.  The Pharaohs of this world expect us to keep everything bottled up inside where it affects nothing but our blood pressure. Screaming is impolite, even gauche. Sometimes I have one of those days where everything is going sideways.  When I get home I grab a pillow, put it over my face, and scream as loud as I can.  No one hears it, no one is bothered by it, and I feel better…….for a few minutes. Of course I don’t sleep that night and the next morning the problem is still there. I screamed…. silently…… to myself. Pharaoh loves silent screams. Pharaoh loves the cry no one hears; Pharaoh depends on the cry no one wants to acknowledge.

I miss and yet don’t miss walking the halls of a nursing home.  You can’t be there ten minutes without hearing someone scream.  After 40 years in ministry I am still not used to it.  I wish they would stop.

I miss yet don’t miss my visits to the hospital.  Everyone is trying their best to maintain order but it is impossible. People in pain are afraid and often they voice that fear.   

        I miss yet don’t miss being in your homes during a moment of crisis. The combination of confusion and self-imposed guilt becomes too much and tears appear.  As your minister I should respond with the appropriate word of hope.  But sometimes all I do is offer a tissue.

        These cries leave us helpless and often embarrassed.  We wish folks would suffer silently but they don’t.  Through the years I have come to understand why.  The story of the Exodus teaches us when we get ourselves between a rock and a hard place we would rather suffer than expose our pain. We forget God has always stood against Pharaoh in solidarity with the hurt and forgotten.  Sometimes we need to cry out. Other times God expects us to hear the cries of others.

        Both crying out and acknowledging the cries of others is an audacious act. Pharaoh depends on silence. But the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, the God of Joseph, and Moses, and Joshua, and David, and Elijah, and Jeremiah, and Isaiah……..the God of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ waits…….and listens…… and remembers……..and responds.  

        Who frees the slaves? Who heals the sick? Who lifts up the widow? Who rescues the orphan? Who claims both indigenous and immigrant?  Who declares every life sacred? Who remembers us even when we think we are forgotten?

        CERTAINLY NOT PHARAOH!                (stop)

        “God heard their groaning and remembered.”

        To some, those are foolish words. To others, it is a dangerous proclamation. But to we who still cling to burning bushes and resurrections, they are our marching orders.

        Listen! The cries of those around us are numerous.

        Remember! God’s moral imperative is etched on our hearts.

        Respond! We are the hands, and ears, and eyes and feet of God.                                                                                 Amen.