“Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and rider he has hurled into the sea.” — Exodus 15:21
This point in Exodus is the climactic moment in the liberation of the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. After inflicting the Egyptians with 10 plagues, God parted the Red Sea so that the Israelites could cross safely. When Pharaoh’s army followed in hot pursuit, the walls of water closed over them, drowning both horse and soldier. The Israelites rejoiced with song — they were free at last!
I thought of this biblical scene when watching the celebration of crowds gathered on April 20 in George Floyd Square, so named for the 46-year-old Black man who died there under the knee of a white police officer. On April 20, Derek Chauvin was pronounced guilty for all three counts of murder and manslaughter. Cheers filled the air. Some danced and sang. Others hugged and wept tears of relief and joy.
Eliza Wesley is known as the gatekeeper of George Floyd Square. She is respected as a spiritual leader. As the crowd gathered on April 20, she led them in prayer: “I don’t have any doubt in you, God.”
After the verdict was read, Wesley pronounced, “This is the day that the Lord has made!”
Chauvin had been held accountable in a court of law for taking the life of another human being. Yet, in George Floyd Square, the cause for celebration was more than merely the punishment of one man. People rejoiced in the sense that justice had been served. That this verdict represented a step toward freedom for all Black people.
Black Christians have long identified with the Israelites in the struggle for freedom against their own oppressors. A famous spiritual remembers that “Pharaoh’s army got drownded” as a cause for comfort: “O Mary, don’t you weep, don’t you moan.” As persecution mutated into other insidious forms of discrimination after slavery had ended, Black Christians continued to draw strength from the Exodus story of liberation, believing the day would come when they, too, could shout for joy, “Thank God Almighty, we’re free at last!”
Since April 20, I have reflected upon the modern parallels to the Exodus narrative as a pastor, a father and a white man. My wife and I listened to the verdict with our young children within earshot. We both let out a cheer. The kids continued to play.
Later that evening, as I snuggled our 5-year-old in his bed, I heard him whisper, “Daddy, wouldn’t it hurt your feelings to go to jail?” Though the larger story of that day was about freedom, my son made room in my thoughts for compassion. The guilty verdict is just. Chauvin is clearly a troubled – even haunted – man. Yet, that is not all he is.
In traditional Jewish commentaries, latter rabbinic authors imagined the scene in heaven while the Israelites danced and sang on the shore. Those texts claim that, upon seeing the Egyptians drown, the angels were about to celebrate as well. But God silenced them: “How dare you sing for joy when my children are dying!”
The Lord parted the Red Sea so that the Israelites could walk between the walls of water to the other side and the Promised Land beyond. This is a time for Americans to walk the narrow way between justice and compassion. We must unequivocally reject police brutality and the idolatry of white supremacy that undergirds it. We must remember that every person is a child of God. The prophet Ezekiel gives us this reminder: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.’ ” Repentance is the first step on the road to reconciliation. Reconciliation can be harder to imagine than the parting of deep waters, yet as the gatekeeper, Eliza Wesley, said in George Floyd Square, “All things are possible for God Almighty!”
The justice served on April 20 is cause for celebration: This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24). I also remember that, after the parting of the Red Sea, the Israelites journeyed for 40 years in the wilderness. The poet Kwame Alexander said that the guilty verdict “is a great first step, but it’s a small step.” Our nation has a long way to go before reaching our promised ideals of liberty and justice for all. Our children are watching our every step.
