A New Order(ing)

Recreating the world for ourselves and others.

The Exodus epic reveals the common spiritual path articulated by Richard Rohr, from order (Egypt) to disorder (Waters of Liberation) to re-order (Covenant at Sinai and Entry & Land of Promise). There is a trust in the potential of the Law to help cultivate a new order and keep the people free. Moving through the 10 Commandments and the rest of the Law is to gain an appreciation for the Law’s great care for the vulnerable. While many in the Church have come to dismiss the Law as restrictive, we can sense and understand the sacred intention to lift and keep the people free and flourishing.

“You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

— Exodus 22.20

“You shall not subvert the rights of your needy in their disputes.”

— Exodus 23.6

To commit to an ethic of care between one another is to not only respond to God’s great care of us with care for God’s other beloved children, but to offer our part to sustaining a house, community, and world that are more closely aligned with the hope and heart of God. As we commit to a rule and ethic of care and justice, we co-create the order around us. This is powerful to remember, particularly when we find ourselves abiding within a time when the rule of law and ethic of care is suffering from abuse and neglect. In such a time of dis-ordering, the commitments we make to one another can not only help sustain us, but can become part of the re-ordering the world sorely needs.

When Moses is told by God, “When My angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I annihilate them…” there is a special note from the sages:

Rashi wrote that the annihilation is of the gods and not the people.

And perhaps most importantly, Ibn Ezra brings forward the idea that the “angel” is the Torah/Law.

Then, it is of the imagination and possibility to envision/remember that the people were not brought low by a physical angel or army, but transformed by a people committed to a Law and Way that has the power to shape, cultivate, and re-order.

Here is an alternative interpretation to contend with the matter of religious violence, and it also provides an encouraging word of what it can look like to be faithful in a landscape where idols reign.

We abide within a society that often talks about “Law and Order,” yet this moment is better described as lawless and disordering. Our commitments to one another can help us make our way and re-create the order around us. May it be so.

Peace and Re-order,

Rev. Chris McCreight

Manuscript and Video of the sermon, “The Floor on the Mountain”