Great stories usually have memorable opening lines, and this one begins with the conjunction ‘and’ followed by a list of names from a single family. Yet that is exactly how the story of the Exodus starts (Exodus 1), where Pharaoh tries to stop God’s blessing while two courageous midwives and a mother with a basket of reeds take the side of life. This sermon opens a summer journey through the book of Exodus and shows that God’s plan cannot be stopped, for God, no pit is too deep. Listen, especially if you feel that your world, or you yourself, has fallen into a pit.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- The book of Exodus begins with "and" followed by a list of names from one family. What does this opening tell us about how this story connects to Genesis and to the promises given to Abraham?
- Pharaoh tries to stop Israel's growth through forced labor, the midwives, and the Nile, yet the text keeps repeating that the people multiplied all the more. What do these attempts and this refrain teach us about God's promises?
- Pharaoh's name never appears in the text, but we know the names of the two midwives who feared God more than the king. What does it look like in practice to "fear God" in the sense the sermon describes?
- God does not send an army or a general but a baby in a basket, a word that in the original is the same as Noah's ark. What does this story tell you about how God works through small beginnings and in the darkest places?
- The sermon presents Moses' rescue as a preview of a greater exodus and ultimately of the work of Jesus. What "hole" do you feel stuck in today, and how does the story of David Berkowitz change the way you think about the freedom Jesus gives?
- Where this week can you, like the midwives, take a stand for what is good despite fear of people or circumstances?
