Not as Hard as God
“But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the people go.” – Exodus 9:7
Pharaoh is an idiot. He’s been warned, but he won’t quit. Moses tells him every animal Egypt owns is going to die if he doesn’t free the Hebrew people. Pharaoh refuses. The nation’s livestock go belly up and … Pharaoh shows Moses the door! How bad do things have to get? Boils, hail and locusts come next. He still won’t relent. Then the sky gets dark and children die.
Pharaoh loves power, but not as much as God loves freedom. Pharaoh’s heart is hard, but not as hard as God.
***
When Europeans first got to America they weren’t “white.” That category was invented after slavery. Whiteness is domination, not biology. It’s an exclusive club, not a natural fact. David Roediger says it plainly, “It is not that whiteness is oppressive and false, it is that whiteness is nothing but oppressive and false.”
Still, whiteness gives advantages to those of us born into the club. We love privilege, but not as much as God loves freedom. We’ve been warned. Malcom X echoed Moses decades ago. “Just as ancient nations paid for their sins against humanity, it is only a matter of time before White America will be utterly destroyed for her sins.”>
Fifty-four years later our proponents shout Nazi slogans while Pharaoh winks. What’s next? Boils? Scripture says it only gets worse from there. Let’s dismantle the club before God burns it down. Change is hard, but not as hard as God.
Prayer
Dear God, melt our hearts. Amen.
About the AuthorMatt Fitzgerald is the Senior Pastor of St. Pauls United Church of Christ in Chicago. He is the host of “Preachers on Preaching,” a weekly podcast sponsored by The Christian Century.