As I mapped out the sermon series for the summer, Miriam seemed like a natural. When I began working on the sermon, I discovered I had preached on Miriam about 18 months ago. Probably no one noticed the repeat, but it did force me to rethink the texts so I would not preach the same sermon again.
The third point about the people waiting for Miriam was a new insight for me. It fit rather well with the sermon. I also really liked the illustration about the tsunami song. What a powerful song that was, and it also fit the scene of the Israelites with the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh's soldiers behind then.
“People You Need” July 12, 2020; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Exodus 2: 1-10; 15: 20-21; Numbers 12: 1-16
Numbers 12: 1-16 While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman); 2 and they said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. 3 Now the man Moses was very humble,[a] more so than anyone else on the face of the earth. 4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. 6 And he said, “Hear my words:
When there are prophets among you,
I the Lord make myself known to them in visions;
I speak to them in dreams.
7
Not so with my servant Moses;
he is entrusted with all my house.
8
With him I speak face to face— clearly, not in riddles;
and he beholds the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.
10 When the cloud went away from over the tent, Miriam had become leprous,[b] as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam and saw that she was leprous. 11 Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us[c] for a sin that we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like one stillborn, whose flesh is half consumed when it comes out of its mother’s womb.” 13 And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her.” 14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp for seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” 15 So Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days; and the people did not set out on the march until Miriam had been brought in again. 16 After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
Introduction: We continue our summer preaching series “People Like Us.” today’s sermon is an invitation to reflect on people in your lives. As the sermon unfolds, I hope you will have memories come to mind of people like us who have impacted your life.
Move 1: sometimes we need a person in the background looking after us.
a. Last week, we watched as Shiphrah and Puah did their thing, that is, acted as midwives, and in doing so defied Pharaoh and his desire to kill off the Hebrew male babies as they were born.
1. In describing their response when Pharaoh asked why the midwives were not killing off the baby boys, I said that Pharaoh had no answer to Shiphrah’s and Puah’s story.
2. that was not quite right. Pharaoh had no answer in the moment, but he did respond later with a decree that “every baby boy must be thrown into the Nile”
3. Every Hebrew baby boy tossed into the river to drown.
b. A Levite woman has a baby and hides the baby for three months.
1. Imagine how challenging and difficult that must have been.
2. Surely, the whole family had to be involved - mother father, and older sister.
3. Older sister who goes unnamed at this point in the story, but the older sister whom we will come to know as Miriam.
4. How many times in those first three months is she asked to hide in the back corner holding the baby and keeping him quiet because some Egyptian overseer is passing by or some nosy neighbor who can’t be trusted is wondering what is happening in the house?
5. I suspect that for the plan to hide baby Moses for those three months to work big sister Miriam plays an important role.
c. We know that when Moses’ mother puts him in a little papyrus basket and places him in the reeds on the bank of the river, we know then that Miriam has a very important role to play.
1. She is the one who watches over Moses.
2. She watches as her baby brother’s life hangs in the balance; she watches as the future of God’s people floats in the reeds.
3. As Miriam watches, Pharaoh’s daughter finds baby Moses.
4. Now Miriam must act to protect her brother.
5. She rushes over to Pharaoh’s daughter and offers to find a nurse maid for the baby.
6. Pharaoh’s daughter agrees; Miriam finds her mother to be the nurse maid; Moses’ future is preserved.
7. The hope for God’s people is still alive.
d. Moses needed someone to watch out for him and Miriam did.
1. We need people to watch out for us.
2. You may not need someone to literally save your life as Moses did, but we all need people to look out for us, to shepherd us.
3. Sometimes to keep us out of trouble; sometimes to guide us; sometimes to call us out; sometimes to just be there with us.
3. If you ask my oldest daughter Caitlin about the importance of the church community, to give one story to sum it up, my guess is she would tell you this story:
she was driving in Troy as a high schooler on a main road that had a weird intersection just before it crossed over I-75. One afternoon, she happened to be driving across this road and an accident took place just in front of her.
She had seen the accident, so she pulled over into the shoulder of the road and got out to see if anyone needed help, and then stayed to tell the police what was happening.
A few minutes later, she looks up and sees Mr. Riley, a member of the congregation, running down the shoulder of the road across the highway. She couldn’t figure out what he was doing until he arrived breathless and discovered she was ok.
it turned out he had passed the accident, saw the van he knew was our van, knew that Leslie and I were out of town, and immediately pulled over and raced back to see what needed to be done to take care of whichever kid of mine needed to be helped.
4. it reminds me of growing up here at St. Andrew. One of the members here was a police officer. I knew him from some youth stuff. one day he walked up to me and said, “you know Richard, I was out this week and saw a car slow down, but never stop at a stop sign. I was surprised to look over and see you were the one driving. Maybe you ought to work on stopping at stop signs.”
5. Moses needed someone to look after him. We need people to look after us.
6. Miriam looked after Moses. Who in your life has looked after you? who looks after you now?
Move 2: Sometimes you need a person in your life who can dance and sing.
a. Miriam could sing and dance.
1. We read about it this morning in the first Scripture lesson.
2. You remember the occasion - the celebration of crossing the Red Sea.
2. Not just crossing the Red Sea, but escaping Pharaoh and his Egyptians soldiers who were chasing them down in chariots.
3. This dramatic moment in the life of the Israelites plays out after years of slavery in Egypt; after Moses has confronted Pharaoh; after God had rained down plagues on the Egyptians; after Pharaoh has agreed to let the Israelites leave and then changed his mind, and then agrees and changes his mind, and then agrees and changes his mind a final time and chases after the Israelites.
4. When the Israelites arrive at the Red Sea they look out and see only two possibilities - death by drowning in front of them; captivity and death by soldiers behind them.
5. as you know, God had a third possibility - the parting of the Red Sea so the Israelites can run across to safety and then a wall of water crashing down on the soldiers behind them.
b. After that exhilarating moment, the Israelites feel the need to celebrate.
1. First, Moses leads the Israelites in song and tells the story of what happened.
2. Then Miriam, who for the first time is called by her name in the text, who for the first time is also called a prophet in the text, Miriam grabs a tambourine and leads the women in song and dance (https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/miriam-bible; Jewish Women’s Archives Encyclopedia entry on Miriam; written by Phyllis Trible)
3. while it is remarkable to hear Miriam called by name and called a prophet in the text, it is overshadowed by image of Miriam shaking the tambourine, leading the dance, singing the song.
3. Moses’ song will be left on banks of the Red Sea, but Miriam’s song and dance become a part of the ongoing Israelite story and celebration.
4. Generation after generation will sing what became known and Miriam’s song and dance and celebrate God’s saving grace.
5. Miriam, who watched out for Moses in the first chapter of the Exodus story celebrates with song and dance as the exodus and escape from Egypt is made complete.
c. This congregation knows the power of music better than most.
1. We are gifted with wonderful music on a weekly basis that pushes our imagination of who God is and the possibilities that are before us as God’s people.
2. Many of our members spend their lives playing and teaching music that touches the souls.
3. Music that celebrates, but also interprets life for us.
4. In this sanctuary a few years ago, I had the privilege of here a Haven Trio concert (our liturgist today, Im Luevano, plays the clarinet in the trio). One of their pieces was entitled “Twinge,” which put to song the story of the tsunami that hit Indonesia. One of the sons was "I Look to the West," which told the story of a man who looks to the west to see the tsunami coming then looks to east to see the raging waters of a river flooding coming at him, so he clings to a cemetery wall as he waits for the waters to reach him.
the music vividly told of his vulnerability. It also spoke to the human vulnerability the listeners knew. it acted as an interpretive piece of music that helped the listener learn about life, death, and hope.
c. sometimes we need someone like Miriam to lead us in song and celebrate with us. We also need song and dance to interpret life and remind us of God’s saving grace that meets us again and again.
Move 3: sometimes you simply need that person with you.
a. As we trace Miriam’s story to its end, we read the story from Numbers.
1. For me, it’s a bit of a confusing story.
2. If we go back one chapter, we discover the story of Eldad and Medad. You perhaps remember the story. Moses has gathered the seventy elders, but Eldad and Medad stay back in the tent. And they have the audacity to prophesy. the elders get upset and run to Moses to complain about these two guys who are not part fo the seventy but still prophesy.
In response, Moses says, ““Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”
3. To me, a powerful moment when the leadership mantle is extended beyond just Moses or the seventy elders.
4. But, in Chapter 12, Miriam gets in trouble for asking a similar question: “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?”
6. she asks the question about Moses and she points out one of Moses’ flaws, so it may not be an innocent question!
5. Her question draws the ire of God. God reprimands Miriam and Aaron for not recognizing the special role and relationship Moses had with God (note that God does not deny Miriam’s role as a prophet, but does point out the special role Moses has)
6. Miriam is punished by being given leprosy and sent out of the camp for seven days.
b. But notice what happens (to be honest, I’ve never noticed this before when reading this story - I am indebted to Rev. Hallie Hottle, whose sermon on Miriam alluded to this part of the story; 8/18/19 sermon at Prairie Village Presbyterian Church, KS)
1. We are explicitly told that the Israelites did not set out again, they did not continue their journey, in other words, until Miriam had rejoined them.
2. They put their journey on hold for a week because they wanted Miriam to go with them.
3. We are not told why, but I suspect it is because Miriam has been prophesying among the people all these years.
4. Miriam has sung, danced, and prophesied her way into their lives. They knew her flaws, but they also knew her faithfulness to God and to them.
5. They cannot imagine moving forward into the unknown future without Miriam.
6. Miriam had become that person the Israelites wanted and needed with them.
c. Sometimes we need that person in our life whom we need as we move forward into the unknown future.
Conclusion: A final thought - In the New Testament Miriam’s afterlife continues through her name and her deeds.
The Hebrew Miriam is the equivalent of the Greek name Mary. the Marys in the New Testament keep showing up:
Mary the mother of Jesus, who also is known for singing a powerful song; the song is about the baby to whom she will give birth, her baby who is the son of God.
Or mary Magdalene, who embodies someone saved from a demonic or diseased condition (Luke 8:2) and whose life is transformed by Christ;
and both of those Marys plus the “other Mary” who first discover the empty tomb and announce Christ’s resurrection to the world (https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/miriam-bible; Jewish Women’s Archives Encyclopedia entry on Miriam; written by Phyllis Trible)
Miriams keeps showing up in the biblical story. I hope people like Miriam show up in your life.
I hope you are the Miriam who keeps showing up for someone else.
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