Text: Genesis 21:1-21
Date: Sunday, June 23, 2002
Author: Rev. Jonathan K. Twitchell
You and I live in a society in which it is common for people to look for loopholes. Lawyers look for loopholes in the legal system for the benefit of their clients. Insurance companies specialize in pages of fine print, hoping to be able to deny payment based on a loophole. Taxpayers study loopholes in the IRS law, hoping to avoid giving Uncle Sam any more money than they have to. Manufacturers rely on customers not following exact instructions so that they don’t have to honor a warrantee. I’m told that even animal breeders get into the game by creating stringent requirements for their pet owners, possibly avoiding a claim down the road when the owner discovers an orthopedic problem with the animal.
Behind all of these loopholes is a desire to not accept responsibility. We have a tendency to try to make others responsible, while avoiding any sort of responsibility on our part. The lawyer looks for a way for the client to not be responsible for their actions. Frugal insurance companies prefer to make the client responsible for their claim. Taxpayers wish to avoid responsibility for their tax payments. Manufacturers seek to pass the blame to a consumer who didn’t follow instructions, and animal breeders resist being responsible for corrective orthopedic surgery.
In a world replete with loopholes and opportunities to “pass the buck,” we have a hard time understanding our Scripture text today. Specifically, we have a hard time understanding God’s response to the dilemma faced by Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. Hear our Old Testament lesson from Genesis 21:
1 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." 7 And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac."
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring."
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, "I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
If ever there was a loophole to be found, it is in this passage of scripture. As we have watched God’s great cosmic play unfold over the last few weeks, we have seen the actors continue to get the storyline wrong. As we read our text today, we realize that the Author of the play finally has a chance to get the actors back on track. The Author of the play has watched in dismay as the actors keep taking over the stage, hijacking the storyline, and even hiring their own actors to join them. God never invited Hagar and Ishmael to the stage—that was Abraham’s doing. And now, since Sarah has decided to kick Hagar and Ishmael off the stage, we expect the Author to breathe a sigh of relief, recognizing the obvious loophole provided Him by the unfaithful actors, content that the story can proceed as originally written. The Author doesn’t owe Hagar and Ishmael anything, as they were never contracted to act in the story.
Upon reading our text today, we half expect God to be thrilled, as He can finally manage to get His creation purposes back on track, allowing the story to continue without the interruptions of Hagar and Ishmael. If they die in the desert, they can no longer intrude upon the story line, distracting us from the main characters. We can finally get back to the important story at hand and see how God is going to bless all of creation through Isaac, the promised son of Abraham and Sarah. After all, Ishmael was never supposed to have been born. Ishmael was simply the result of Abraham’s attempts to do what he believed God couldn’t do. Had God simply allowed Ishmael and Hagar to die of thirst and starvation in the desert, nobody would have been the wiser, and it’s likely that nobody would have cared. After all, God never made any promises to Ishmael, and he has no real claim on God’s blessings. The birth of Ishmael was not part of the original plan.
And yet, in an unexpected move, God extends His blessings to the illegitimate child—a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness, despite Abraham and Sarah’s lack of faith. He includes in His blessing that which could easily have been excluded. Instead of taking the easy way out, and allowing Hagar and Ishmael to expire in the wilderness, God calls down to Hagar, directs her to get back on her feet and keep going. He shows her the nearest well, and gives her the encouragement she needs. Our scripture text today is not a story of loopholes which allowed God to get the story back on track, but a lesson in God’s faithfulness despite humanity’s stumbling and bumbling disobedience.
When I was a teen, I used to enjoy watching Star Trek. You know, that Gene Roddenberry science fiction series that has managed to stay on the television in one form or another for almost 40 years without a sense of conclusion? If you ever watched the Original Star Trek, you might remember the guys in the red uniforms, the security guards. After watching a few episodes, you learned never to get very attached to those guys in the red uniforms. They rarely had names, and it was inevitable that some form of danger would eliminate them before the end of the episode. You see, the guys in the red uniforms, the security guards, were “extras.” They were usually only on for one episode, and they usually died before the credits rolled.
In many ways, we expect Ishmael to be like one of those guys in the red uniforms. We look at him and recognize that he’s not a main character in the story. We don’t really bother get to know him, because we expect that he will be cast aside in favor of the main characters in the story. This little intrigue with Hagar and Ishmael only serves to distract us from the story and the main characters. We are anxious to be rid of Hagar and Ishmael so we can focus our attention on Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and their descendents.
But wait… A few weeks ago, when we watched God build the set and the stage and prepare us to watch His Story unfold, didn’t we agree that God was the main character? Abraham isn’t the main character, and neither is Isaac. We’re not discarding Ishmael so we can see and hear more about Abraham and Isaac; instead, the camera shifts our attention to watch the Main Character interact with the outcast. We’re not getting rid of Ishmael so we can learn more about Isaac; instead we are seeing what we can learn about God as He extends His blessings to Ishmael. Ishmael is not merely an “extra,” but is an important character, as he allows us a chance to see God’s unending faithfulness.
What do we learn about God from the story of Hagar and Ishmael? We see His steadfast love extended to the outcast. We learn that God is faithful to all those who call on His name. While God instructs Abraham to let Sarah have her way, He tells Abraham not to worry because He will watch after Ishmael. He assures Abraham that Ishmael will also become a great nation. In the midst of a difficult situation, God remains faithful to Abraham, Isaac, Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael.
Perhaps, like Sarah, you are tempted to think that there is not enough of God’s blessing to go around. We mistakenly believe that there is a limited amount of blessings to be had. We expect that in order for someone to be the winner in this story and receive God’s blessing, that someone has to be the loser and walk away without God’s blessing. In our lives, our own greed may prevent us from sharing God’s blessings with others around us. Like Sarah, we jealously guard our status within the kingdom, in hopes that God’s blessings don’t run out before He gets around to blessing us.
Our Scripture text today reminds us that God’s blessings never run out. He is able to bless Isaac and Ishmael both. Remaining faithful to His promise to Abraham did not mean that He could only bless one child, but that both could be heirs to the promise of land, offspring, and becoming a great nation. In reality, Sarah has nothing to fear, as God’s pool of blessings is deeper than she could possibly imagine. Likewise, you and I should always be willing to share God’s blessings with others, in order that He might have greater opportunity to display His faithfulness to others.
Perhaps, like Hagar, you have given up. You have done all that was humanly possible to carry on in this life, but it has never been enough. Hagar had thrown in the towel and gone off in a corner to sulk and wait for the end. When we think about Hagar, we realize what a bum deal she got. Reading back over Genesis 16, we see that Sarah had encouraged Abraham to have a child with Hagar, and then later mistreated her because of it. Hagar had already run away from Abraham and Sarah once because living conditions had become so bad, but the angel of the Lord had sent her back to submit herself to Abraham and Sarah. Many of us would have given up long before Hagar did, but she lives in Abraham’s household for over 13 years, despite mistreatment at the hand of her mistress. And now, after Isaac was finally born, Sarah can’t even bring herself to call Hagar and Ishmael by their names, but demands that Abraham “gets rid of that slave woman and her son.” And so, greatly distressed, Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael off with some food and water.
Hagar can’t take any more. She’s stranded in the desert, with no place to turn, her food and water have run out, and she has nothing to offer her 14-year old son. She sets Ishmael under a bush, and goes off by herself to be alone, preparing to die in complete isolation and abandonment. God, however, has something different in mind. He doesn’t allow Hagar and Ishmael to give up and die in the wilderness, but faithfully extends His guidance and blessings to them. In the same way, He offers His guidance to all who are about to give up, all we need to do is call on His name.
Perhaps, like Ishmael, you have experienced what it’s like to be an outcast. Ishmael believed himself to be heir to the promise for his entire 14 years of existence, and suddenly finds himself crying under a bush in a desert. No longer “Prince Ishmael,” “blessed son of blessed Abraham,” or “heir to the promise,” he is now “the son of that slave woman” with only a skin of water and a bit of food. By all rights, Ishmael had no hope of expecting anything. Sarah had probably reminded him of his status as an illegitimate child numerous times. And yet, despite what others may think or expect, Ishmael, having just been sent away by his father Abraham, experiences the love of the Heavenly Father, faithfully lifting him up, giving him water, and blessing him as the father of a great nation.
Regardless of our status as outcasts among men, God looks down and sees His children. We may feel that we have no role to play in His Kingdom, but He sees what He can accomplish through us if we yield ourselves to Him. God specializes in outcasts, and giving them divine purposes to accomplish. God’s faithfulness extends to each of us, even though we may feel like an outcast on this earth.
Wherever you may be today, know that God is faithful. God was faithful in keeping His promise to Abraham. He was faithful in making Isaac into a great nation. He was faithful in His response and understanding to Sarah, showing her that there was enough of His blessing to go around. He was faithful to Hagar, even though she had given up, and He was faithful to the outcast Ishmael, extending unexpected blessings and promises to him.
And, God is faithful to us! He has great things for us to accomplish here in Cape Elizabeth and beyond. Yes, I’m sure there will be times when, like Sarah, we fear that there are not enough of God’s blessings to go around. There may be times when the obstacles overwhelm us, and like Hagar, we feel like giving up. There will probably be times when we are reminded of our own status as outcasts, and feel inadequate to participate in Kingdom work. It is at those times that we need to remember Genesis 21, and how the Main Character didn’t look for loopholes, but faithfully extended guidance and blessings to all of the other characters in the story. In the same way, we can expect that He will faithfully fulfill His promises to us, extending His guidance, and building His Kingdom among us. Even as He is faithful to us, we must faithfully follow His lead. In the days and weeks ahead, let us follow Him faithfully, expecting Him to do great God-sized things in our midst.
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. Amen.
