Fear does funny things – and not in a “haha” kind of way. In this story (Exodus 1:8-2:10), Pharaoh is afraid. It’s been a few generations since Joseph brought his family down to Egypt, and in that time they’ve been breeding like rabbits: so much so that this family of twelve brothers has become a population larger than all of Egypt. And this new Pharaoh doesn’t remember Joseph, he doesn’t know any of those stories, all he can see is a large population of people who are different. So he becomes afraid, and out of that fear, he makes some irrational decisions. He makes the Hebrews his slaves, but then he starts trying to kill them off. Even though the Hebrews are a strong resource to be used for the good of Egypt, Pharaoh wants to destroy them.
Now we shouldn’t be surprised by Pharaoh’s fear. Here in Australia, we’ve seen what fear does in how we react to people who aren’t like us. In the 90s, we were being taken over by Asians; ten years later we were being taken over by Muslims; then we were being torn apart by African gangs; or at least, that’s what various politicians and media outlets have told us. But they didn’t have to work too hard. It’s very easy for us to become afraid of what we don’t understand, of that which is different. For Pharaoh, he’s got a strange people whom he doesn’t understand who are becoming the majority in his country. And so he responds to that fear in similar ways to what we’ve done here in Australia have in the past. Whether it be the White Australia policy or turning back the boats, we’ve responded out of fear.
It’s good then as we explore this story to reflect on our other reading for today (Romans 12:1-8). It says: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This world encourages fear: fear of the unknown, fear of what is different, fear of the future, fear of change, fear of missing out. But in Paul’s letter, he encourages them not to conform to the world’s fears, but instead to allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
We need not fear because God is with us. But more than that, Paul talks about this not conforming to the world’s standards and then immediately connects that with a reminder that we are part of one body. We don’t just have God with us but we are surrounded by this community into which we are called. In the midst of community, in the midst of the people of God around us, we will not be overwhelmed by the world’s fear. We know that loneliness and isolation can be a leading cause for poor mental health, and for irrational feelings of fear and paranoia. But we are not alone. We have God but we also have this community of faith. We are not alone but we are all part of the one body.
Loneliness is not just being by yourself; it’s about feeling disconnected and lost even when you’re surrounded by other people. In a study done here in Australia in August 2021, it was discovered that 14% of people aged between 18 and 24 feel lonely at least 5 days a week. That’s 1 out of every 7 young person feeling lonely most of the time. We are often told that independence and self-sufficiency are great virtues to be sought-after, and yet we are made to be in relationship, to be connected to each other. With loneliness so prevalent in our society, with so many feeling lost and alone, it’s little wonder that we are growing into a society that is filled with fear and disfunction.
Looking back at the Old Testament story though, we see in the character of Moses himself, someone who is also lost and alone. Moses loses contact with his family, his culture, his ancestry, all the things that should help him discover who he is in the world. Even his name, Moses, speaks to his isolation. When Hebrew people wrote these Hebrew scriptures, they said that Moses was given that name because in Hebrew, moshe means to draw out, just as Moses was drawn out of the water. Although it may be that Pharaoh’s daughter gave Moses a Hebrew name, but she has also named him in the manner of Egyptian names. Just as the name Ramses (Ra-mses) mean the son of Ra; the Egyptian sun god, or Thutmose (Thut-mose) means the son of Thoth, the Egyptian god of the moon; so Moses ( -moses) means the son of, well, nobody. Pharaoh’s daughter gives him a name that points to his not really belonging anywhere. He has been cut off from his culture, and his ancestry. He is neither Hebrew nor Egyptian but lost in between the two, without anything to connect him to either. And when we get a little further into Moses’ story, we see him as someone also acting out of fear.
When we look at this story, it is vital to remind ourselves of who we are and where we belong: to know that we are part of a great community in Christ, part of one body together, interdependent and reliant on each other. It’s in that connection that we find our identity. We need not be lost or alone or fearful because we have God and we have each other, and they have us.
I know that most of us have grown up with self-sufficiency and independence as these great virtues to which we should aspire. I know that most of us feel a sense of dread at the idea of putting someone else out, of being a burden to others. But we are one body: interconnected and interdependent. We need each other, and we need to lean on each other. It’s not a burden to care for part of your own body.
It’s in that connectedness, we find a new culture, a new heritage, a new family, a new identity. And because we can be sure in that identity as part of Christ’s community, we have no need to fear. Christ calls us to be a community. In many ways, that runs counter to the world’s ideas about self-sufficiency and independence, but the way of this world often runs counter to God’s hope for us, and God’s hope for this world.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Amen.