“Holy Envy, the Midianite Priest, and Learning From Difference”

Exodus 18 includes an intriguing story about Jethro, the Midian priest and Moses’s father-in-law. We met Jethro earlier in the book of Exodus when Moses met Jethro and Tziporah, but we haven’t heard from him since the Exodus event.

And so it is fascinating that when Jethro shows back up in the story, the text says, Jethro HEARD what God has done for Moses and for Israel. He hears about the Exodus, about God’s liberation of God’s people and liberation is compelling, freedom is what we long for. So, Jethro, this priest from another religious tradition, this non-Hebrew, experiences a bit of “holy envy,” as some have called it down through the years. Holy envy – noting something beautiful in another religious tradition that is perhaps lacking in your tradition or underemphasized or ignored.

Jethro HEARD. He heard about this group of people and their God, about their struggle from bondage.  

And then Exodus tells us he comes to the WILDERNESS to see Moses. Now, it’s a choice to go intentionally into the wilderness. It’s not the most natural place to visit. But Jethro has heard about God’s liberating power, about Adonai’s ability to throw off the yoke of oppression. Jethro wants to hear the story of God’s freedom movement, God’s triumph over the enslaving forces of the world. So, Jethro goes on a journey to find Moses, goes into the wilderness and finds Moses the prophet near Sinai, at the mountain of God.

Compelled by the call of liberation, Jethro goes on a journey of faith to learn more. Seeing something beautiful in another tradition, he wanders closer to see what it is all about.

Moses tells his father-in-law about God’s saving actions, and Jethro responds by saying, “Baruch Adonai – Bless our God!” The priest from Midian praises Israel’s God for this work of liberation. His genuine “holy envy” leads him to say “Baruch Adonai” to be the first non-Jew to bless God’s holy name. 

I wonder if the story is trying to tell us something about the beauty of liberation and the ability to see that beauty of freedom in the lives of our religiously diverse neighbors. To be able to set out of the sometimes-narrowing confines of our own faith and to recognize the sacred in another. To glimpse the beauty of God’s liberation reflected in our differing religious communities. Jethro praises God for what God has done for Israel. Because it meant freedom for his son-in law. It meant freedom for a whole group of people. Jethro heard the call of liberation.

He was not the first or the last to hear about God’s liberating work. The call was heard by those two Hebrew midwives earlier in Exodus – Shiphrah and Puah who chose to keep the Hebrew babies alive, who chose liberation over the crushing violence of empire. They heard the call of liberation. Or consider Ruth the Moabite – the Moabite, another non-Israelite — who hears the call of freedom.

Holy envy, then, is perhaps the ability to see how other religious traditions are working toward liberation and to bless those efforts, that holy work of freedom.

As a Christian, I have stood in synagogues and felt holy envy as I listened to prayers and experienced joy. I’ve gone home after services and bought Jewish prayer books to experience some of the sacred that is a part of this ancient faith. And I have felt holy envy and holy longing for liberation in mosques and Hindu and Buddhist temples as well.

But Jethro isn’t the only character who comes away from the story changed. It’s not just about this outsider, this Midianite, blessing God. Moses is also changed by his interaction with the Midianite. Jethro offers Moses insightful advice about faithful leadership when they begin talking and sharing their lives. He sees that Moses can’t continue to be the only judge, the only person people come to for advice. It would be too much for anyone to handle, even a great prophet like Moses. So, he encouraged Moses to establish judges to help him. Jethro invents the concept of delegation to solve Moses’s challenge. Moses incorporates this advice into his work in the future. Moses learns from this Midianite priest about leadership.

Think about how odd this moment is – Moses is wandering in the wilderness, getting water from a rock, about to receive the Torah on Sinai. He is about to get God’s instructions on life and worship and faith. One could argue that he should really be more focused on learning about God’s teachings and advice for him than Jethro. Or focused on finding a way out of this wilderness! But, no, he’s learning from someone different than him, the Midianite priest.

Exodus 18 narrates a curious story. It focuses on the relationship between Jethro and Moses, between Midianite priest and Hebrew prophet, between son-in-law and father-in-law. What are we to make of this brief encounter?

It seems we have a model in these two characters of our work for justice and love today.

We are called to be like Jethro and see the work of liberation in all religious traditions. To be open to blessing this ancient call of freedom that is found in so many of our traditions.

We are called to be like Moses and open ourselves to the instruction of our religiously different neighbors. To be open to receiving wisdom that is found in so many of our traditions.

I’ll conclude with one final thought: this story, Exodus 18, occurs at a curious moment in the story of Israel and Moses as well. In the very next chapter, Exodus 19, after Moses and Yitro depart from each other after their encounter, Moses and the people arrive at Sinai.

It’s almost as if the story is trying to tell us something important about the Torah at Sinai. It’s as if it is reminding us of the power of exploring differences, of finding the sacred in other traditions, before we arrive at the place where we are given the Ten Commandments and the Torah.

Before the revelation on tablets, curiosity and holy envy about the one different from you, about the power of liberation.

Before the revelation was written down, the ability to learn from those who are different.

Before the revelation at the Mountain, neighbors learning from each other.

A Benediction (Or Miscellaneous Thoughts)

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