September 13, 24A (Exodus 14:19-31; Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21)
It's time for us to hear the song of Moses and Miriam in a new way.
Technically these readings are assigned for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time. But in many white mainline churches, the Sunday after Labor Day is dubbed “Homecoming” or “Rally Day”—the day when we switch from the summer schedule to the school year, launch Sunday school classes and youth programs, welcome the choir back, and more. To read the exodus story can feel like taking a victory lap, marking one more occasion when God prevailed, as we know God always will.
But why is this year different from all other years? The COVID-19 pandemic is precluding many of us from reopening in our usual and customary ways. The upcoming election is stirring our divided nation. The Black Lives Matter movement is pressing us to come to terms with structural racism. All of this pushes us to look at these readings through different lenses than we might have before.
The exodus has rightly been celebrated as a rally: the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt was the seminal confirmation of God’s providence and power. But it is not a presumptuous celebration. It is an expression of utter awe at the power of God to overcome evil and oppression, a reminder through time that “nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
