I wonder what St. Paul would say to the women in our first reading. Just verses after the ones we hear today from Romans, Paul infamously tells us: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed.” Tell that to our women from Exodus. It’s striking that Pharaoh says to let the girls live; it’s the women in this story who resist him. Their civil disobedience helps to bring about a new birth of freedom. So, who’s calling the right play here?

Let’s start with Exodus. We have Shiphrah and Puah, the midwives who break the law set by Pharaoh, who refuse to kill the Hebrew boys. They fear (or reverence) God more than they fear what their government could do to them, so they break an unjust law to preserve life. But they’re not the only ones who resist authority to keep Moses alive. Moses’ mother and sister are part of the resistance too, as is Pharaoh’s own daughter. All of them partner across “enemy” lines to make sure this child who will one day lead his people out of slavery survives.

What do we conclude from this? Maybe Paul is simply wrong. How dare we equate the voice of the emperor with the voice of God? We know what would have happened if Pharaoh was followed without resistance. Is Paul just sucking up to the empire? Perhaps he is saying what they want to hear, hoping that he and his followers might be left alone to practice their faith in peace. Except… he wasn’t afraid to challenge the powers that be. He skirted the edges of any law that would prevent him from preaching about Jesus. He’s not naïve about the government’s potential to abuse power and, in fact, was beaten and imprisoned repeatedly. The last we hear from him, he’s under house arrest. So then, whose call do we follow here? What might a faithful response to an unjust government look like?

By now, it should be clear that the Bible does not speak with a single voice. We can’t take one passage in isolation and base our actions on that alone. It’s the conversation within and beyond the text that is holy and inspired – the wrestling with what God would have us do across times and cultures, across all forms of government. The truth is – we cannot simply recast the biblical roles with our heroes and villains and assume we’re not being self-serving in the casting. We all like to assume that God is on our side and ours alone. Discerning the next right step is more complicated than that, as Paul points out in today’s reading from Romans.

He begins by telling us to “present (our) bodies as a living sacrifice.” Given the number of vigilantes and insurrectionists who think they’re doing just that, it’s worth unpacking this a bit. Note that it’s a “living” sacrifice. The call is not necessarily to get ourselves killed, although that may happen when we stand with the vulnerable as Jesus did. Perhaps it means that whatever risks we take for justice – they’re meant to be taken wisely and in the interests of preserving life.

Note also that we’re presenting our bodies, as well as renewing our minds. It’s not about lobbing verbal grenades from the safety of our computer screens. Some action is required. It might be protest. It might also be taking our lead from those most affected by the injustice and working more quietly behind the scenes to change things. Both choices can be faithful.

To assume otherwise goes against Paul’s next piece of advice – i.e. not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. I know, it’s funny hearing that from Paul – a first-class tooter of his own horn. But there are lots of ways to think too highly of ourselves. There’s boastful pride, but there’s also the trap of thinking that we’re the only ones smart enough or committed enough to respond appropriately. Paul counters with the image of a body. By being part of the body of Christ, by definition, we are not all meant to have the same role. We need others to help us see what we can’t – whether that’s opportunities for courage or our own blinding prejudices. We have partners in this work; we’d do well to value them.

Exodus tells us something else though, too. If fear is what’s driving us, then we’re probably headed in the wrong direction. Pharaoh’s fear leads him to actions that are not only evil, but against his own best interest. He ends up trying to kill the very people he’s afraid of losing. The ones who do right here are not controlled by fear. The midwives, Moses’ mother and sister, Pharaoh’s own daughter – they are all moved more by mercy than by fear and so end up being part of God’s salvation – even it if takes another 40 years to see much return on that investment.

That might be the most important thing to remember as we consider our own resistance to unjust authority. Whatever we see now – it is not all there is. God wants so much more for us all. The arc of the moral universe is still bent toward justice. Just because we can’t see past the next bend does not mean we’re on the wrong path. When we stand with the vulnerable and act with courage alongside them, when we let others point out our blind spots and respond with humility, and when we let mercy drive us instead of fear, we are exactly where we need to be to let God guide our next play. In the Name of the One who gives us eyes to see, ears to hear, and the minds and bodies to follow – Amen.