Dearest brothers and sisters, it is a true joy to be here with youtoday; it’s a joy to meet you, to celebrate together and to share Word of God with all of you.
In the past few weeks I spent time looking for a suitable textto preach in these two churches for the first time; before I could make up my mind, in the night between the 18th and 19th of April a tragedy struck in the Mediterranean sea.
Over 900 people died trying to cross the sea between Africaand Europe.
I felt outraged during those days; I felt pain, without being able tofind a way to help; I felt that I should have done something in the faceof the inevitability and enormity of that tragedy.
The following night while I was reading news on social networks Icame across this sentence: you have to understand, that no one putstheir children in a boatunless the water is safer than the land. A sentence that moved me because ittold the stories of all who are in danger in their own lands and areforced to face the open sea: the sea and the unknown are their only hope.
The reference to the broken lives of brothers and sisters who lefttheir countries because of wars, sickness, revolutions and oppressivegovernments was clear to me. That sentence spoke to me: I didn'tmiss the reference to Moses, the one saved from the water.
That sentence made me think about Moses' story, a child whose life wasin peril because of an oppressive and violentgovernment; that story reminded me of a young man, father of two children whomI met in Ivrea when I was the local pastor over there: he told me about his journey.
He left Somalia which was struck by a terrible humanitarian crisis; hewas the younger and stronger of his relatives so they gathered moneyto allow him to leave.
Past the first obstacles and having paid for the first part of hisjourney, those who helped him travel through Ethiopia left him justbefore crossing the desert; there he had to pay again.
Fifty people packed on a small truck, left with very littlefuel and without knowing where to go; at the risk of being ambushed by soldiers or rebels…. but the worst was yet to come.
Once on the Libyancoast he was forced to wait for three years to gather the money requiredfor the passage; and finally he was put on an inflatable boatwith many other people - a plastic boat as he called it.
He told me of the dreadful crossing, huge waves, like walls of watertowered upon them, threatening to drown them at every instant; yetthey made it.
They were given a mobile phone, and told that if they wouldreach a country that respected human rights they would beableto call for help. Like Moses he was saved from the waters and could tella story that many others can't tell anymore.
This happened over ten years ago and all of us hoped that thesituation might change, even improve after the fall of Gaddafi's regime, unluckily it seems that things have gotten even worse.
There are too many pharaohs in this world, practicing violence andinjustice, just as in the book of Exodus.
Moses story talks about faith: the faith of those who were spared from death, those who were freed from slavery, paying dearly for their freedom. It talks about a journeymade of dangers and hardships, including those of the desert and the sea.
The Bible tells us of creativity in face of oppression, small deceptions thatthe Exodus' women used to prevent their children from being murdered:first the midwives fooled the Egyptians, so that they wouldn't killthe newborns, then Moses' mother and sister hid him in a basket and putit on the riverbank, close to where the pharaoh's daughter used to bathe.
In every story of oppression, a saved child, a life saved from death is a great hope for the people, a hope of progeny and continuity: it is thepromise of a future life.
The creativity of those who are in peril anddecide to leave their own certainties, tells us the story of those wholand on our shores every day: when living in a city of the Sicilian coast,one can often hear the sound of helicopters flying early in the morning,and ask himself what might have happened, if some refugees arrivedsafely or not.
The more helicopters one hears the more one hopes for the best,because it's likely that some boats loaded with people are being carriedto safety.
Too often however we're not prepared to welcome these brothers and sisters who'vebeen saved from the waters, all of us have felt the horrible remarkspeople often make: "let's close our borders!", or "bomb the boats!","why are they coming here?", "they're all criminals", "they steal ourjobs". I'm sure you could tell me of many more and even worse ones.
In the middle of an economic crisis people reacts with their worst possible instincts and strangers are accused for beingdifferent. This is a false problem, because if there weren't anystrangers someone else would be found to take the blame, another enemyto claim responsible for all the problems. Building up anenemy out of someone else strengthens identities,and unfortunately it does so much more than an ideal of community.
Moses story, starting from the paradox of his name "the one saved fromthe water" tells us a different truth: it tells us the Good News.
Salvation always comes from the outside, we do not own it, and we cannot getit by ourselves. We need someone to save us, to help us in our journeytowards freedom. Like Peter did we also need to cry out: Lord Jesus save me!
Moses is metaphorically the bridge between two civilizations, the Egyptian one and theHebrew one, but they are not yet a nation.
The birth ofa new people is a long process that often lasts generations.
How is the evil pharaoh defeated? How can we become Christ's disciples in today’s world? How do we "walk on water"?
The first step is to understand that we're only disciples, who try in humble prayer to serve the Word of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
We have been saved from death; we have been deliveredfrom evil thanks to the Word of salvation which a stranger brought tous: that stranger is God!
Let’s put our trust in God every day, being confident that adeep and true communion is possible,aspiring to becomea newpeople who crossed the desert and left the land of Egypt,weare confident that the Lord's kingdom has come among us.Thanks to ourdiversities,a gift from God, we put all of our strength and creativity in the fight against evil. We as Churches and believers are willing to take the risk to be multicultural and open communities in which everyone can live a special calling.
Some small steps were made, such as Mediterranean Hope project, the involvement of many churches both inour context as well as part of ecumenical efforts, and overall as proven by our being here together.
We have the privilege of being witnesses of a historical change: Europeand Italy might become the scene of a new, multicultural community basedon solidarity, respect and embracing diversity. Shall we cowardlyreject this possibility?
There are no easy answers brother and sisters; this is a risky call forit has to face prejudice, fear, poverty, crisis, lack of experience,ignorance, the inability to give and ask for help and this overwhelmingemergency. We lack everything, from language to experience, but we havethe promise that the Lord constantly works within us. Let us put ourtrust in Christ's hands and ask him for Salvation, let us put our trustin Christ and ask him for knowledge, let us put our trust in Christ andask Him for His love that acts and transforms everything.
Amen
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