Mother's Day | "Mothers, Midwives and Sisters of the Village" 6PM | Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III 05/10/26

55:30 I'd like to draw your attention to the book of Exodus, the first chapter, beginning with verse 8. Exodus chapter 1, verse 8. We read from the New Revised Standard Version on this day. It reads as follows.

55:57 Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. He said to the people, look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them. for they will increase and in the event of war join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land. Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Ramesses for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians subjugated the Israelites to hard servitude and made their lives bitter with hard servitude and mortar and bricks and in every kind of field labor.

57:12 They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them. The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shipra, the other Pua, when you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him. But if it is a daughter, she shall live. But the midwives feared God. Another translation, but the midwives revered God. They did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them. But they let the boys live.

58:07 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, Why have you not done this and allowed the boys to live? The midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them. So God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. So God dealt with the midwives And the people multiplied and became very strong. Another translation.

59:05 And the people became more powerful. And because the midwives feared, revered, at reverence for God, he gave them families. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of God's holy word. You may be seated in the presence of the Most High God.

59:32 I'd like to place just a tag here as we explore this idea that we may walk through this idea together. I'd like for us to look at this idea of to the mothers, midwives, and the sisters of the village. To the mothers, midwives, and the sisters of the village. If you would be so kind as to just turn and look at your neighbor. Just turn and look. Oliver, you've got to find a neighbor. There you go. There you go. You got it. Look at your neighbor. Even if it's the side of their head, it's okay. Smile at your neighbor and say, Neighbor, oh neighbor, we give thanks for the midwives. Amen.

1:00:24 Now find another neighbor. Maybe the same one. Just look at your neighbor and say, Neighbor, oh neighbor, I want you to know I am here because of the blessing of a midwife. To the mothers, midwives, and sisters of the village. To the mothers, the mothers whose love shapes our soul and pumps blood into our heart. I'm speaking of the mothers made black by God's grace and brilliant by God's power. Mothers who rise early and stay up late, the ones who hold it down while holding everything up.

1:01:26 I'm talking about mothers, the fierce women of faith, the courageous curators of hope, the ones who remind us of blessed assurance and tell us and dare us to lift every voice and sing. I'm talking about Big Mama, Nani, Nana, G-Maws, G-Loves, Aunties, Ma-Hero's, Aunt Roma's, Thelma's, Terry's, Ida's, Esther's Addie's, Charlotte's, Birds, Anna, Miss Peas, the consecrated creatures carved by divine hands we call mothers. We celebrate the sacrifice, the love, the witness of mothers. Now, I'm mindful on this day, not all gathered in this space have a mythic nor nostalgic memory of a mother. For some, it was a hard relationship, one forged in conflict and bathed in trauma. And there are those who have memories of a mother whose light chased away every shadow in your life. And then there are those who have memories of a mother who was just complicated. Mother's Day is a day of reverence and honor for some, and for others it's a day of complication. And there are those who miss mama and others who never knew mama. There are those who desired to be mama but embraced being auntie. I must be completely honest and admit that this day presents an eternal struggle from the pastoral frame.

1:03:04 The challenge for me is how do we honor all the iterations of experiences that people have had within this village? How do we honor those who lament on this day, along with those who are sitting in the midst of a shout of joy this day? Whether you have been blessed to be a mother or have a complicated relationship with mom, miss your mama, or still feel the distant sting of desiring to be a mother, but life has offered another assignment. I believe there are some women who can speak to us today, especially in this moment where our nation finds itself. That there are some mothers, there are some midwives that I believe can speak to us on this day. The midwives, the midwives of the village.

1:04:04 If I may, if I may just give a synopsis again of the scripture, that a new king arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph. Let me give you another translation. A new king arose who was ignorant. of the past. He said to the people, look, look, look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. There's a people here who have risen up. We have subjugated them, but yet I'm worried about them. Let me say it this way. This current administration, this ancient administration, is worried about the growing power of the Hebrew people.

1:05:08 This man, supposedly the most powerful man in the ancient world, was intimidated and insecure about the people who were enslaved. This is how it starts. Those in power are usually nothing but small males masquerading as men. It's an old story. They're intimidated and threatened that somebody else is going to take away their power. You see, when you are secure in who you are, you don't redraw maps to dilute somebody else's power.

1:05:59 This is an old playbook. It's an old playbook. But when you are seeking to maintain control, you become worried about those in your nation who are developing and expanding their power. There's a falsity, a false logic to what is called white supremacy. It's built on a lie and insecurity. If you're so supreme, you don't have to redraw nothing. If you're so supreme, you don't have to dilute black and brown power. If you're so supreme, you don't need a Project 2025. If you are so supreme, you don't need a Federalist Society to indoctrinate judges like a Chief John Roberts to gut the Voting Rights Act. If you're so supreme.

1:06:55 The truth is, Pharaoh is an insecure, narcissist, toddler with limited intellectual capacity who is invested in a particular mythology. The amount of energy and money you have to spend to disenfranchise somebody else. The Egyptians subjugated the Israelites to hard servitude and made their lives bitter with hard servitude and mortar and bricks and every kind of field labor. You are telling on yourself, if you're so superior, why you got to change the rules. America, I'm sorry, Egypt subjugated them and made their lives bitter. and then entered a policy, lifted up a policy to destroy black lives.

1:07:59 Pharaoh says, I want you to take out the children because what I want to happen is I want you to destroy their future by taking out their children. Hear this. Not all policies create physical death. Some policies are designed just to kill your imagination. There's an algorithm of death that seems to function in the world today where many of our young people are attached to devices like phones. And these devices speak to them in ways that crush the imagination. Do you not know that 50% of Americans this past year, 50% of Americans never read a book? That we are moving, and I have not read a book, we are moving to a point in our society where we are dependent upon what we Google and not what we read. We are moving in a place where our imagination is being destroyed.

1:09:05 Some policies simply attempt to kill your imagination. And Pharaoh is here in this text simply saying that I want to destroy their future so I can stay in power longer. I want to make sure that no one rises up and puts me out. And so we witness here in this text that Pharaoh puts out this policy to destroy the future of the Hebrew people. And then Pharaoh tries to recruit some Hebrew folks to take out the Hebrews. He says to Shipra and Pua, I want you to do my dirty work. Now, this is interesting how the system works. But many times they will try and recruit somebody, give them a high position. they'll even wear a black robe in that high position and they will be tasked with simply dismantling everything that put them in that high position in the first place.

1:10:16 The system will recruit people to destroy others' imagination. But that is why I love Shepra and Pua so much. Because there's something simple in this text. It is all I really want to share with you. It simply says this, and the midwives feared God. Oh, you missed the shout in that moment. Pharaoh said that I have all power, but the midwives said, no, you don't. Because I fear the one who made the moon and the sun and the stars. I feel the one because He says, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. I fear God. But wait a minute. That is the inappropriate translation. That's an English translation of the Hebrew feared God. It really should say revered and had reverence.

1:11:10 And as we spoke about the other week, had awe about God. That I can't even put into words how amazing God is. Because when I think about the goodness of God and all God has done in my life, I'm going to stand with God, not with you. That these two women feared and had reverence for God. And they had a theology, a theology, this theology flowing from the midwives. They believed that every child was worthy and of value. The midwives believed that every child coming forth could bring something to this world. And I say to you this day that the midwives in this text, but also mirror the midwives that we have encountered in our lives. The midwives in our lives who taught us reverence is not found solely in just one of motherhood, but in a womanist vision of community.

1:12:15 Those who fear God are awed by God and are loyal to divine virtues and to a moral compass. These women feared God. And the truth is that many of us, we were raised, yes, by mothers and fathers and aunties, but also we had midwives in our lives. women who feared God, who revered God, who were awed by God, and they poured into our lives. Because what I love about these midwives is that they say that we cannot harm our own future. We will not destroy these children. These are our children. I didn't birth them, but I birthed them. I was there when they were born.

1:13:09 And I'm not doing anything to my child because I know what my child can become. My child may not be there yet, but I know what my child can become. You see, these midwives had a particular vision where they were willing to invest in the future. You see, the mission of the midwives is simply this. Is that I want to see you thrive. That's what excites a midwife. A midwife gets excited because the child is alive, but the midwife is also excited because they get a chance to see the child grow. My purpose is to see you grow and develop. The principle that we find here in this text is that we need to have a midwife theology within the church, that we are excited about every child and that child's work because we believe that they can thrive. That when Oliver and Macy come up here and when they give the welcome, there should be broad smiles across this village because we see the potential and possibility of these young people. Every time young people come and dance before the congregation, We should be excited that they are willing to stand before a group of people after they have worked so hard with their mothers and their grandmothers.

1:14:42 When they sing before the people, we should be the first people to encourage them. Midwives encourage you. Midwives lift you up. And let me say it this way. The truth is, we are an amalgamation of people pouring into us. The reason we are where we are is not because of a singular person, not because of one or two parents. It is because of a village poured into us. There were people who prayed for us that we didn't even know they were praying for us. There were people when we messed up, put their arms around us and said, baby, it's all right. I believe in you. There are people who called us out of the blue and just said, I just want to let you know I love you and I'm proud of you. And the church, the black church is a special space where we are called to encourage young people.

1:15:41 Where the world is trying to kill their imagination. When we come up in here, we should elevate every child we encounter. Whether they are singing or whether they are dancing. If they stumble, we should shout louder and say, go ahead, baby, because I know there is somebody in here. You had a midwife in your life who encouraged you when no one else would encourage you. Do I have one or two people in here who know exactly what I'm talking about? If it hadn't been for a village of people who poured into you, you don't know where you would be right now. We need to thank God for every midwife who had the principle of invest in the future.

1:16:33 We are called to invest in the future. One of the things that we're going to do here at Trinity, many times the young people know that when I talk with them, I always ask them how they're doing in school. Sometimes they avoid me because I say that I want your grades. I need to see your great because I want to encourage you. If you go from a C to a B, I want to shout with you. If you go from a B to an A, I want to holler with you. I want to encourage. And we as a village, we are called to this level of encouragement. So what we are going to do, we are going to put up an honor roll, an actual bulletin board that will have the grades, the report cards of our young people with a nice little picture next to it. So when you see that young person, you can celebrate with them and let them know that I'm proud of you and what you are doing.

1:17:33 That is midwife theology. And the midwives were willing to invest in the future. But what I love about the midwives, and I'm about done, is I like the way the midwives roll in the face of power. The person who thought he was the most powerful person on the planet comes to the midwives, tries to recruit the midwives in his scheme to destroy their future. But the midwives do something unique. Now, it is Dr. Will DeGaffney, an incredible scholar of the Old Testament, has this wonderful book called The Womanist Midrash, where she examines different women in the Old Testament. And in this particular book, she says that I know we talk about Shipra and Pua. We only mention two midwives in all of Israel.

1:18:32 And she says, it's not physically possible for two sisters to birth all the women. And she said, in my imagination, I like to look at it this way, that Shipra and Pua were head of the Hebrew women's midwives guild. That they were head of the guild and they went to all of the chapters in the guild. And they said, we got to have a conference. We've got to have a conference this week. And I got to tell you what Pharaoh told us. Pharaoh said that we were to kill our future, our children. But we can't do that because we revere God. That God has called us to something greater. That we are to invest in the future. And so what they say to all the women according to Dr. Will DeGaffney. They said that we're not going to follow that policy.

1:19:27 But what we're going to do is because you must understand supremacy is ignorant, we're going to lean into the foolishness of their ignorance. So when they ask you why the boy is still living, this is what we want you to say. We want you to lean into the stereotypes that they already have about us in the first place. So when you say, why didn't you take out the boy, just say, well, you know how Hebrew women are. We're so vigorous. By the time we got there, the baby was already born. So that you will not have to harm your own future. But this is how they were able to do it. The midwives understood the power of solidarity. that liberation is not a solo effort.

1:20:24 Abolition is not a solo effort. We cannot do this by ourselves. That if you want to scare those in power, don't just sit there and post on your phone. If you want to scare people in power, build a coalition with other people in the community. And when we build solidarity, We will connect with people that you may not agree with, that may be in a different neighborhood or a different denomination, but are experiencing the pain coming from those who are in power. The midwives understood solidarity. And we are in a moment in this country where there are those who want us to be at odds with each other. But I'm here to let you know what they are afraid of is they are afraid of solidarity.

1:21:22 They're afraid of churches getting together. They're afraid of blocks getting together. They're afraid of people getting together. They're afraid of black and brown getting together, brown and Asian getting together, black and white getting together. because when we realize that the real people who are trying to harm us is a small group of people who want to stay in power, but the midwives teach us something very simple. We need solidarity, and when we have solidarity, we can turn this world upside down, or in the words of Sojourner Truth, right side back up. So I stop by here to let you know we can't do it just by ourselves. Trinity. We've got to connect with other people. If we are to see the transformation in our community, we have to build solidarity with other people. It is impossible to do this by ourselves.

1:22:26 That is why we must be in connection with each other. And the midwives feared God. The midwives revered God. And as a result, they said, I will not follow what Pharaoh is doing. And what I love in this text is that they were willing to invest in the future. They were also willing to build solidarity with other people. But here is the thing it says, and because the midwives feared God, God gave them families. Oh, you missed your shout. The midwives revered God, and God gave them families. It does not say the midwives got pregnant.

1:23:21 It does not say anything of that nature. But the midwives received families. And I would suggest that the midwives had larger families than anyone else in Israel. because when you've delivered enough babies, when you have seen enough life come into the world, then then people in the community give you a particular title. And that title is mother. You may not have had them in your womb, but you have been the one that has poured into them. And there the midwife's family expands because the midwives were reverence and understood the recognition and power that flows from God. This is not a text about be obedient and you get to birth children, but it is a text about if you invest in community, your family will expand.

1:24:24 And there is something special within the black church that we call people mother, not just because of one's age. It's not everybody gets to be called mother. But when you have a certain spirit and you have poured into other people, you get the title of mother because you are a midwife to so many people. And today, we ought to thank the midwives in the village. We ought to thank the ones who encouraged us We ought to thank the ones who lifted us when we were at our lowest. We ought to thank the ones who always checked in on us when no one else was checking in. We ought to thank the ones who had a big pocketbook and had peppermints and butterscotch down in the pocketbook. We ought to thank the ones who pressed pennies in our hands and said, keep on keeping on.

1:25:23 We ought to thank all of the midwives who loved us, all of the ones who allowed us to move into the spaces where we are right now. And so I want to thank some midwives right now. I want to thank, yes, I thank my mama, but I want to thank a woman by the name of Miss Reed. Miss Reed was the teacher that I had when they said I had a learning disability. But they said, you don't have no learning disability. I'm here to get you out of the basement. She was a midwife in my life. I want to thank God for a woman we called Aunt Roma who embraced all of us. About 10 young men I grew up with. She cooked for us and she disciplined us. I want to thank her. She didn't birth me, but she birthed me. I want to thank a woman by the name of Aunt Pat, Pat Hoover, that when I was a child, that she was working crafts with me and teaching me all kinds of things. And all the way to this day, when I talked to her this morning, she said, Otis, I'm proud of you and I pray for you and I thank God for you. I want to thank Amai Harrell who encouraged not only me and Monica, but also our children. And I'm here today for you to call the midwives in your life. Who were the people?

1:26:47 Was it Miss Fleming? Who were the people? Was it Grandma Bradley? Who were the people? Was it Mother Hulk? Who were the people? Call their names right now. They may be ancestors at this moment, but you need to thank God for the great cloud of witnesses who surrounds you right now, who empower you in every room you go into because they poured into you. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord keep you. But I'm here to say thank God for every midwife. Thank God for every person who poured into us. Thank God for the people who held us and kept us. Is there anybody in here today? Can you thank God for the midwife in your life? Then somebody ought to stand up and give God praise for the women who poured into you. We thank God.

1:27:45 For the midwives. For the midwives who poured into us. For the ones who invested in our future. The ones who taught us about solidarity. And the midwives were given families. Did not say they became pregnant. They were given families. And when the record is written, as Dr. Will DeGaffney talks about, that you have to lift up Shipra and Pua as the matriarchs of Israel. Because if there is no Shipra and Pua, there is no Moses. There is no Moses. Then there is no Joshua.

1:28:40 if there is no joshua then you'll never get to the judges if you never get to the judges then you'll never learn about saul if you never get to saul then you'll never hear about david if you never get to david then you'll never get to solomon if you never get to solomon you'll never get to isaiah if you never get to isaiah you'll never know for unto us a child is born, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. If you never get to Isaiah, you'll never hear about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. If you never hear about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you'll never know about Mary. If you don't know about Mary, you won't know anything about Joshua. If you don't know Mary and Joseph, you'll never hear about Jesus. If you never hear about Jesus, then you'll never know about his death at Calvary.

1:29:38 If you never know about his death at Calvary, then you'll never know anything about his resurrection. If you never know anything about his resurrection, you'll never hear about Pentecost. If you never hear about Pentecost, then you'll never know anything about Paul. If you never know anything about Paul, you'll never know that there were churches in Africa and also in Asia. If there were never churches in Africa and Asia, you'll never know about Origen. If you don't know Origen, you won't know Tertullian. if you don't know Tertullian, you'll never know St. Thomas Aquinas. If you don't know anything about St. Thomas Aquinas, you'll never know anything about Martin Luther. If you never learn anything about Martin Luther, you'll never know about the Protestant Reformation. If you don't know anything about the Protestant Reformation, then you'll never know anything about the Protestant Reformation making its way to the United States. It never comes to the United States, you'll never hear about the Pilgrims. If you never hear about the Pilgrims, then you'll never hear about George Lyle. If you never hear about George Lyle, you'll never hear about first African church in Savannah. If you never hear about first African church in Savannah, you'll never hear about second African. If you never hear about second African, you'll never hear about third African. If you never hear about third African, you'll never hear about the black missionary movement. If you never know about the black missionary movement, then you'll never know about the United Church of Christ. If you never know about the United Church of Christ, then in 1961, you'll never hear about, guess what, Trinity United Church of Christ. If you don't know anything about Trinity United Church of Christ, well, guess what? I wouldn't be preaching here right now, and I'm here to let you know, thank God for Shipra and Pua. Thank God for the midwives, for they laid a foundation for everyone in this place. Is there anybody in here? Can you give God praise for the midwives for what they have done.

1:31:31 They laid the foundation. And in laying the foundation, they set up an investment in the future. We are products of their investment. We are products to the mothers, to the midwives, to the sisters of this village. We say happy Mother's Day to every iteration of motherhood, for every way that you have invested in a child, for all of the ways that you have made an investment. We give God thanks. and the door of the church.