Pentecost 13 – 2026
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Marian Free
In the name of God whose welcome embraces all. Amen.
I’m a bit over Facebook, but every now and then someone posts a real gem that manages to get through the algorithm. This week there were several gems, one of which was a cartoon by Wilcox from THE AGE. Over a number of frames, a woman responds to a question from a journalist on the issue of migration. His opening question is: “Do you think Australia is taking in too many migrants?” The woman responds. “I don’t know. I mean, are we talking about the immigrants who look after my mother in the aged care home?” “Or the ones who come in and pick fruit for low wages so that we can have affordable fresh produce?” “Or the ones working in construction to build our housing and infrastructure?” “Or those who are training to be the medical specialists we are short of?” “I really don’t know,” she concludes, “maybe you could ask the government they should know.”
As the cartoon suggests, migration is a particularly contentious issue at the moment. In this country those who are and who are not welcome has always been a matter for political point-scoring and public debate. Elsewhere the issue of migration has reached a crisis point. Those deemed to be illegal residents of the United States are being hunted down, arrested and sent to awful prisons in impoverished third-world countries with no hope of release. And in many other nations of the world today migrants and refugees are being scapegoated for all the ills in the countries in which they find themselves.
I am not claiming to have answers, but I often wonder why the issue has to be so divisive and polarizing. There must be a compassionate way of determining a balance between the economic needs of our country and the need to ensure that our citizens are not unduly penalized by pressure on housing, jobs and other resources. Once we have welcomed migrants or refugees we have to ensure that they are not demonized, scapegoated or used to further political agendas.
When I read Exodus in preparation for this morning, I couldn’t help but see some parallels with the current political situation. Some background is important. The Israelites are in Egypt because a generation before they were welcomed as migrants orr refugees from a drought-ravaged country.
You have to read from Genesis 40 to the end to get the full story, but it goes something like this. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers – a cruel and selfish act, but one which after a time proved of benefit to his family. Joseph experienced some hard times, including being thrown in prison. However, while a prisoner, he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and as a result was appointed to the most powerful position in Egypt – second only to Pharaoh. Joseph was given authority to buy and store grain during seven years of plentiful harvests so that there would be sufficient food to feed not only the Egyptians, but the whole world, during seven years of famine. As predicted, the famine, when it did come, impacted a vast area, including the land in which Joseph’s father and brothers lived.
Jacob, Joseph’s father, knew that there was food in Egypt, so he sent his sons to buy grain. After some comings and goings (you’ll have to read them for yourselves), Joseph made himself known to his brothers, insisted that they move to Egypt and offered them the land of Goshen in which to live.
Meanwhile, the drought continued and the Egyptians, who had spent all their money on Pharaoh’s grain, were forced to offer themselves to Pharaoh as slaves in order to feed themselves and their families. Joseph not only bought their land, but he also imposed a 20% levy on everything that they grew. This means that the Egyptians are completely impoverished and totally dependent on Pharaoh. Jacob’s family meanwhile have been living on the best land, have retained their position as free men (and women), and have not been burdened by heavy taxes. They have flourished such that they have grown in number and “become so strong that the land was filled with them”.
Of course, this account is told from the perspective of the Israelites, so we do not know whether there is some exaggeration and we certainly do not know how the ordinary Egyptian felt about the situation. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that, as they were struggling with debt and facing starvation, they would have been more than a little resentful of the Israelites who, though not Egyptians, who were perceived to have received special treatment and had benefited from and been enriched at their expense.
Joseph and his generation die – including the Pharaoh who had given Joseph’s family such a warm welcome. It is no surprise that a new Pharaoh, one who owes no loyalty to Joseph or his family, seizes an opportunity to unite a disgruntled, over-taxed people against a common enemy, to unite them in a joint cause, and to give them leave to denigrate, abuse and enslave those whose relative wealth and number has been the cause of so much bitterness.
The story of the Israelites in Egypt occurred something like 4,000 years ago, but in many essentials, the world has not changed. Millions upon millions[1] of people continue to flee their homelands as a consequence of drought, war or political persecution and they hope for a welcome in countries where there is wealth and plenty, only to find doors shut in their faces or to experience suspicion, prejudice and even fear. The account of the Israelites in Egypt under a new Pharaoh reminds us that in every age people have sought to guard their borders and their resources, have regarded outsiders with suspicion and have felt threatened when those who are supposed to be vulnerable and dependent succeed where they have not.
Our task, as people who follow Christ, is to welcome the stranger, to break down barriers and to share what we have with those who have less. History, it seems, will always repeat itself. We are charged with disrupting the cycle, and contributing to a society in which all are valued, all are able to offer their gifts, and in which all can live in peace and security.
[1] 117.8 million at the end of 2025.
Swallowsrest 