It was every parent’s worst nightmare. My son, my own flesh and blood, standing in front of me, and announcing that he was taking lessons in ... skydiving!
Skydiving! That’s where people walk out of airplanes and float downward to earth, supported by a thin sheet of cloth and a few little strings! Skydiving!
You can imagine all the stuff that came out of my mouth. Are you crazy? Why? Are you my son? Where in the world did you get such an idea? Certainly not from me, certainly not from a father who, when flying in a jumbo jet, shuts his eyes, grips the seat, and breathes a fervent prayer!
But there he was, in my face, telling me he had already paid for the lessons, and skydiving was what he wanted, skydiving was what it would be. Now I’ll say this much for him; he did work hard to assure me that there were plenty of backup systems. First, he said, he was taking lessons. He would be well trained before he ever stepped out of an open door. And then, even if the training should fail, even if he should become confused, and fail to pull the ripcord on time, there was an automatic ripcord system. And if that system should fail to work, there was still another backup system. Backups, and backups to the backups. Safety nets. Not to worry, Dad. Somebody has provided a safety net for your son. Somebody has thought of the danger and has provided.
Well, I never fully reconciled myself to this skydiving thing. It still seems crazy to me. But he did it, and lived to tell the tale. And so did I, because somebody was alert to the danger; somebody provided backup systems for my child.
Today you and I can praise God that we live in a world where, although there a lot of dangers for our children, God has provided backup systems. God has provided safety systems for children at risk. We just have to take lessons in how to use them. We just have to trust that God knew what He was doing in providing these backups.
The child Moses was born into a world of tremendous danger. This child was born into a setting which did not value him. All the things were there that the statisticians tell us will doom a child like Moses. Let me list them for you. He was of the wrong race; he was a Hebrew in a world dominated by Egyptians. He was of the wrong sex; we keep saying that this is a man’s world, but, on this Mother’s Day, I guess we all know who the strong ones are, don’t we, and I guess we all see who is at risk out there.
He was of the wrong race, he was of the wrong sex, and he was born at the wrong time, that is, born when the government was dead set against him; and he was born into the wrong kind of family. Nowhere in this text is Moses’ father mentioned, except as a man of the house of Levi who married a Levite woman and gave her a son. But throughout the whole story, Moses’ father isn’t even named. He is an absentee father, maybe? Or just out of it, just too weak to matter? We don’t know. But he doesn’t figure in this story at all.
So now, come on, tell me, what are Moses’ chance of survival? What odds will you lay that Moses will make it, even to his first birthday, much less to a full and productive adulthood? Wrong race, wrong sex, wrong time, wrong family. What are Moses’ chances? Somewhere between slim and none. Somewhere between nothing and nada. Somewhere halfway between zip and zilch!
But God! But God! Our God has always known that children were born into a world of danger, and our God has provided backups, safety nets. Our God has always known that children were at risk, and so our God has given us ripcords, backup systems. We just have to take lessons in what they are and in how to use them, so that, as the Children’s Defense Fund puts it, we may "leave no child behind."
God gave Moses as his backup systems three women and a basket. Three women and a basket.
I
The first woman was Moses’ own mother. Moses’ mother faced a grim and terrible choice. Her choice was either to become a victim of the system and let it destroy her child; or else to give up what every mother wants. Either she could let them take her child, or she could relinquish the joy of seeing her child grow up and bless her. That’s a tough choice, isn’t it? Moses mother could either throw up her hands in despair, and let Pharaoh’s baby-killers destroy the fruit of her womb, which would mean pain and anger for now, but she might get over it. Or she could choose to set aside her need to feel good, she could choose to give up all the strokes and joys of now, and save her child.
So Moses’ mother hid the baby as long as she could, and when that became impossible, she made a basket for him and put the child in the basket, setting it among the reeds on the river bank, hoping for the best.
Men and women, fathers and mothers, here is one of God’s great safety nets for our children. We must be willing to set aside our own pleasures, our own conveniences, for the sake of our children. Here is the first of God’s safety nets for our children, this is the first and most basic of God’s provision that no child be left behind: that parents subordinate their own fun, set aside their own expectations, downplay their own professional progress, for the sake of their children. Priority to children. No financial incentives, no professional advancements, nothing is to be placed ahead of our responsibility to our children. Moses’ mother saw the meaning of her choice; she saw that she could go ahead and let the system take over her child, leaving her free and clear to do whatever she wished, but that would mean the destruction of the boy. Or she could choose the tough road, and do whatever she had to do, sacrifice whatever she had to sacrifice, in order to be involved with her child.
May I speak for a moment to the baby-boomer and baby-buster generation? The folks born after World War II – those in your thirties and forties now – people say that you don’t commit to the long haul. People say that you don’t commit to anything except giving yourselves a good time, that you don’t want inconvenience and responsibility. Baby-boomers and baby-busters, are you so busy climbing the ladder of success that you’ve left your children behind? Are you so intent on having a good time, on getting your entertainment thrills, that it doesn’t bother you to leave a child alone all night? Are you so into yourself and what makes you feel good, right here, right now, that it’s too much trouble to help with the homework, too much work to find out who your child’s friends are, too much energy to get involved with the school? Baby-boomers, baby-busters, are you hearing me? And yes, I will also confess that some of us a little older, some of us who are your parents, taught you that shoddy value. We said, " I don’t want my child to suffer what I suffered." We said, "I want you to have what I never had. So go and get it; we’ll pay the bills." And we never really showed you what it costs to sacrifice for a child. So we’re guilty too.
But God has made parents the first line of defense for His children. God has made parents the first safety net for the children. And if parents do not choose, like Moses’ mother chose, to sacrifice their own immediate joys to be involved with their children, then what they are really choosing is for the system to take over. What they are really choosing is for Pharaoh to have his way and destroy them.
How I remember – and I know I have told you this story before – but how I remember that 25 or 30 years ago, I was working so hard. I was trying to bring order out of chaos to a large university campus ministry. I was out there every day, I would come home for a quick bite, and go back out every night, then bring home a stack of work. I thought, I said, I was doing this for the Lord, you know! Until one night my wife said, "Do you realize that you are missing your children’s early years? Do you know that you are throwing away something that can never be replaced, your involvement with their first years?" That woke me up with a bang! I hope it wakes somebody here up too.
Moses’ mother chose to sacrifice. She chose to give up all kinds of freedom. The one thing she did not sacrifice was personal involvement in the life of her child. She put his safety, his well-being, ahead of her own pleasure. And in the end, she got her joy. In the end, she got her joy, for she saw Moses grow and flourish. God has made parents the first line of defense for the children.
II
But there was a second woman in Moses’ young life. There was his sister. That other child, the one who escaped. The good kid, who was not in any particular danger. The nice kid, whose only real responsibility was to keep herself out of trouble. Sister Miriam.
Miriam stood on the river bank as her mother launched that precious bundle. Her baby brother, only three months old, was being put out in the elements, and she was to wait and see what God would do. Imagine with me, just for a moment, what Miriam might have felt.
"Little, squalling mess. I won’t have to take care of him any more. No more baby-sitting, no more interrupted sleep, no more talk of the ’first-born son’." Miriam could have been glad to see him go.
And more, Miriam could have been happy to get her parents’ attention back. How many anxious hours had they spent over the last three months, worrying with this baby boy, hours they used to spend with Miriam! She might have been glad to get back to being the apple of her parents’ eye.
I personally remember when my younger brother was born. I was six years old, and I had everything in that household under control. But now my parents were hovering over this tiny creature who was, as they say, all hunger at one end and all irresponsibility at the other! And I can still remember, watching them try to diaper him, I threw a tantrum, and informed my parents, "You don’t love me any more"! I understand Miriam! It ain’t easy to be kicked off the throne!
But when Pharaoh’s daughter happened on that baby, floating there in the water, Miriam stepped forward. Miriam took responsibility. Moses’ sister used her imagination, she exercised her creativity, and do you know what she did? She networked for her baby brother!
How’s that, Washingtonians! You think you invented networking. Well, no, here it is. Miriam networked and got her mother, who just happened to be the baby’s mother, hooked up with Pharaoh’s daughter, and voila! Problem solved, all because one young woman chose not to back off. All because one young woman, who couldn’t have done the job of caring for the baby herself, networked those who could.
A moment ago I spoke directly to the baby boomers and busters. Now I want to speak directly to young people, Christian young people, youth and young adults here in this church. I want you to think of yourselves as Miriams. I want you to think about how you could network some of your friends out of danger.
Do you know somebody in your school who is about to self-destruct? Somebody who’s using too much alcohol, somebody who’s on drugs, somebody who’s out on the edge? I’m sure you do. If you live in the real world, you know people like that.
But I’ll just bet you that somebody has told you to avoid these people, stay away from them. Somebody has told you – am I right? – that you should have nothing to do with the wild bunch, stay away from the druggies and the truants and all that crowd. Right? Somebody has told you to keep yourself clear of all that, right?
Wrong! Wrong! Yes, of course you are to stay clear of all the misguided behavior. Yes, of course you are to respect your own body and you are to do what is right. But you have another responsibility. You have a responsibility to become somebody’s safety net. You can become somebody’s backup. You can network them into getting help. You can connect them.
Network that guy who is using into Love Alive; if it’s made a difference for you, it’ll make a difference for him. Network that girl everybody calls a slut with a woman in this church who can teach her a few things about health and about self-respect. No, you may not be able to deal with everybody’s issues, but you do know somebody who can do it. First of all, you know the Lord; and then you know the Lord’s people. And there’s somebody here who can help. Network!
And I want to speak to more than the youth, too. I want to speak to singles, women and men. People who may not have children. I want to speak too to folks who feel they don’t get along well with children, or who believe they are too old to deal with children. All right. All right. The Lord understands those limitations. But at the same time, God has given us eyes to see and ears to hear, God has given us mouths with which to speak, and that means that God can make us Miriams. God can make us older sisters and brothers to the children of this world. Even if you can’t get involved with a child; even if you wouldn’t know which end to diaper or how to hug three feet of squirm, you can connect children and their families with those who can help. We have to stop saying, "It’s not my problem" when we see a child at risk; we have to make it our problem and connect with somebody who can help.
Folks, I’m saying we need to be activists for children. Advocates for children. Defenders of children. We need to be passionate about children. We live in a city in which many of the services that ought to be there for our children are just not in place. I’m not going to linger long on the politics of public education or the atrocities in juvenile justice. That’s not my purpose this morning. I’m not going to take up your time analyzing city and federal welfare programs or critiquing the Congress or the District government. That’s not my expertise. I don’t have all the facts at my command.
But I do know that if we love this city and if we love its children, then the very least we can do is to be watchful. The very least we can do is to see to it that systems get in place to serve the least of these. For we know that God, who knows that children are always in danger, is giving them a backup. If you can’t be Moses’ mother, then be Miriam. Be his sister, or his brother. Connect!
III
Well, now, are you still with me? Because this is where the story really gets interesting. This is where the real hot potato gets handled. Because at this point the Bible becomes politically incorrect. Oh my! This is very inconvenient!
The third woman in Moses’ life, after his safety net mother and his backup sister … the third woman in Moses’ life just shouldn’t have been there, that’s all. She is politically incorrect; who does she think she is, getting involved with this little Hebrew boy: she is the wrong ethnic group. She has no natural tie to this child. And she is the wrong socioeconomic group, she is wealthy and privileged and educated. Won’t she destroy this child’s "culture"? And isn’t she a part of the problem, her father is Pharaoh, her father is the reason this whole mess started in the first place. Don’t you just want to say to Pharaoh’s daughter, "Look, if you just want to be lady bountiful to some child, go look after one of your own Egyptian kids"? Don’t you just want to say, "Look, lady, this is not in your back yard. Take your liberal chic somewhere else and leave our Hebrew kids alone."? Do you feel some suspicion of Pharaoh’s daughter?
But I tell you, I tell you, our God has always known that our children were at risk, and so our God creates system after system, backup upon backup, so that no child would be left behind. And if our God chooses to soften the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter, what is that to us? If somebody with resources, intelligence, spirit, heart, position, privilege is willing to help and is willing to learn, then who are we to stand in the way of God’s provision for His children?
I’ve spoken to the boomers and the busters; I’ve spoken to young people and to others who don’t feel equipped to get involved with children. Now I want to speak to all of us who think we’re not welcome with the children of this community. To all of us who feel that we’re the wrong race, the wrong education, the wrong culture, the wrong values, who think we’re not wanted. I want to say to us … because this is where I fit in ... no, God can soften our hearts too. God is able and willing to use us for the needs of the children. The stakes are too high and the situation today is too grave for us to be excused from battle just because somebody doesn’t like our uniforms! We can learn. We are needed, whoever we are.
Let me not hear any more, in this church, about white folks being unqualified to teach African-American children. God softens the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter. And let me not hear any more, in this congregation, about black adults having no interest in white teenagers. God softens the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter. Let me not hear any more, among us, the suggestion that we are not going to reach street kids, kids whose family life is not like ours. Some of us may be Pharaoh’s daughters, but God has provided us too in these days of crisis for His children. Leave no child behind. Every person is needed in this battle.
Three women. Safety nets for children at risk. A mother who sacrificed her own immediate pleasures so that she could make personal involvement with her child her priority. A sister who didn’t have too much to offer on her own, but who could network that child into helpful. And a privileged but resourceful woman, with all the wrong credentials, but who let the Lord soften her heart, and who made a difference. Three women.
Oh, wait, I almost forgot the basket. Three women and a basket. Don’t want to miss the basket in this story. They put the baby in a basket, a temporary ark, a little boat, to pitch about on the waters for a while, until somebody would care for him.
We’d better not forget the basket. We’d better not forget to build and launch the basket. We are the church of Jesus Christ. And we’d better build some mighty strong baskets.
Let the church build the basket of Sunday School, where we teach children God’s word. Let the church build the basket of children’s choir, where kids can be taught to worship. Let the church build the basket of Vacation Bible School, where the ways of truth can be taught. Let the church build the basket of an after-school program, so that little ones can be safe and can feel a Christ-like spirit. Let the church build its baskets for the children.
Let the church build so excellent a basket, so fine a program, so far-reaching a ministry, so disciplined a life, that no child within the borders of this community will be left behind.
I come back to you this morning, more committed than ever before to excellence, to discipline, to evangelism, to ministry. To building this basket.
Three women and a basket. Today, will you come help build the basket?
