Genesis 21:8-21
Tighten
you seat belts. For the rest of the summer we are going to take a rollicking
ride through the book of Genesis. I am so excited. Some of my favorite stories in
all literature come from this book. The writer begins with creation, then moves
to and from the Garden, the murder of Abel, and the Great Flood. The prologue
is neatly tied up with the hysterically funny story about building a tower to
heaven. All of the major themes of
biblical theology, i.e. creation, transgression, forgiveness, redemption and
re-creation, are introduced in those twelve chapters.
There is even an encore to remind us of God’s sense of humor.
Those
stories are wonderful and worth examining over and over again, but this summer
we are going to skip the prologue of Genesis and concentrate on the family of
Abraham. Jewish scholar Elie Wiesel
writes, “Once upon a time there lived a man for all seasons, blessed with all
talents and virtues and deserving of every grace. His name was Abraham. He was
the first enemy of idolatry, the first to rise up against the “establishment”,
the first to reject civilization to form a minority of one, and the first to
suffer for his beliefs. Alone against
the world, Abraham affirmed that God is present wherever God’s name is evoked.
And yet, Abraham was far from perfect.”
As
you might remember Abraham grew up in city of Ur, nowhere near the land of
Israel. He had a profitable vocation and was nearing retirement age. In a
dream, Abraham received instructions to leave Ur, travel 600 miles across the
desert, and start a new life. The motivation for this madness was the promise
of a son. For years Abraham and Sarah had dreamed of a family. They believed a
child would secure their legacy. But now retirement was near. Abraham had
already moved up to the gold tees. The hopes of a son were all but forgotten.
Then in a dream, a reckless dream, a ridiculous dream, their lifelong bequest
was once again placed upon the table. With nothing more than the promise in a vision, Abraham and Sarah headed west.
Sometimes a dream is all anyone needs.
If
you remember the story, the child did not come immediately. In fact it looked
like the child was not going to come at all. To wretch up the intensity of the
story we are informed that the couple was approaching their eightieth birthday.
I know numbers are a bit skewed in the telling of any Old Testament story, but
the writer has our attention. Abraham and Sarah are too old to think of
anything other than rocking on the front porch. Even if Abraham could have
renewed his Viagra prescription, why would the ancient Sarah have entertained
the idea of pregnancy?
So
Abraham decided to step in and help God out. As so often happens when things
are not going according to our plan, we step we decide we have a better way of
doing things. Can we really blame Abraham? He was getting restless. He had done
everything asked of him and still had no son. He begin to suspect the problem was
not with him, but with Sarah. Of course wives know what husbands are thinking long
before we husbands know what we are thinking. Realizing Abraham would
eventually blame her, Sarah initiated a very interesting conversation.
“Abraham, my beloved whom I love more than life itself, I know you want a son.
If I could give you a son I would, but that seems impossible. So take my good
and loyal servant Hagar. Implant your seed within her that we might have a son.”
Then Sarah added the kicker, “Perhaps this is what God planned all along.”
Let’s step outside the
story for just a moment. A couple of incredibly dangerous things are happening
here. First, there is the obvious. You don’t celebrate your 60th
wedding anniversary by impregnating another woman no matter who gives you
permission. Abraham was supposed to say, “Sarah, love of my life, how could you
suggest such a thing? Either we get pregnant together or we don’t get pregnant
at all.” That is what Sarah expected hear. That is what God expected hear. But
sometimes men can be found guilty of not thinking with their heads or their
hearts. Abraham’s response was, “What a wonderful and caring woman you are. I
accept your gift.”
And
that answer leads a second observation. So often today when folks are trying to
figure out the complexities of sexual ethics, someone will inevitably say,
“What we need to do is to return to the family values of the Bible.”
ARE
YOU KIDDING ME? Abraham had sex with his wife’s servant. Jacob had twelve
children by four women and he didn’t even play in the NBA. David committed
adultery and had Bathsheba’s husband killed. Solomon had 700 wives and 300
concubines and was still considered to be the wisest person in the land. If that was what the really good guys in the
Bible were doing can you imagine what was going on with everyone else? Even so,
Abraham should have been bright enough to have seen the hornet’s nest he was
creating. Thankfully, our transgressions always give God the opportunity to
show us how we are supposed to live.
Let
us return to the story. As we all might have guessed, when Abraham agreed to Sarah’s
solution, Sarah had a fit. She wanted nothing to do with a son that was not
hers. Abraham couldn’t understand the problem. I can hear him now. “But honey,
it was your idea.”
Meanwhile,
Hagar gets wind of the plan and decided to run away. Believe it or not she runs
smack into an angel of the Lord who tells her to go back to camp, jump in bed
with Abraham and bear him a son. She
is to call him Ishmael, which means, “God hears her affliction”. Eventually she bore Abraham a son but Hagar
was less than thrilled to be caught in this tension between husband and wife.
Sarah was furious over the whole episode and Abraham, well Abraham was just
happy to play catch in the back yard with his son.
But
then things really got complicated. True to God’s promise, Sarah gets pregnant
and has a boy. Abraham was beside himself. Having two sons made him doubly
blessed. It also created a problem. Ishmael was the oldest. He would receive
the blessing and birthright. He would become the leader of the tribe. Abraham
was so overcome with joy none of this occurred to him. But it occurred to
Sarah, and she quickly acted on behalf of her son.
She
cornered Abraham and said to him, “Cast out Hagar, the Egyptian, and let her
take her son with her.”
I think it is worth
noting when there were no children, Hagar was the loyal companion. Now that a second
child has been born, the first child somehow threatens to cause great harm to
the economic structure of Abraham’s estate. Hagar, who is no longer needed, was
seen as an illegal alien who probably crossed the border illegally. Sarah pointed
out that Abraham could not possibly grant her the status of citizenship within
the chosen people.
The plan all along was
for Abraham and Sarah to have a child. But Abraham was impatient and an
outsider was brought in to the plot. The plot thickens with the birth of
Ishmael and it boils over with the arrival of Isaac. The plan all along was for Isaac to be the
blessed child but human wants and human desires and human needs and human egos
tripped up the best laid plans. And now someone had to go.
I have spent much time
in the two great states of Texas and North Carolina. Both states depend greatly
on agriculture and both states have a problem finding folks who are willing to work
the fields. In Texas this problem was solved by turning a blind eye to folks
from Mexico who would work for less than fair wages. In North Carolina, migrant
labors have been used to pick the fields of everything from blue berries to
tobacco. It seemed to be a good system, at least in the eyes of the owners of
the farms. But want happens when the Ishmael and Hagar’s want to be treated
fairly? What happens when they want to settle down and become neighbors?
Imagine them wanting to be citizens? We who are chosen, we who identify with Sarah
and Abraham are never sure they are ready for this new and troublesome
development.
What might the text
say to this situation? A thin reading of the text makes the solution quite
obvious. Abraham gave Hagar a flask of water and a loaf of bread and said, “You
need to go back where you came from.” He probably kissed her on the cheek and
told Ishmael to become a man that would make him proud. Then Abraham pointed
toward Egypt and told them to be on their way. Soon they ran out of water. Soon
all options were gone. Soon it appeared death would be their only companion.
But then Hagar cried
out, God heard her cries and the story becomes more complicated. Water was
provided. Ishmael was taught how to hunt and with God’s help they turned the
wilderness into their home. There is no doubt Isaac was the favored son/nation.
But when reading the story please remember Hagar, for perhaps she represents
every outcast and refugee of this world. In Hagar those who are rejected find
hope for Hagar represents every
exploited maid, every expelled wife, every rejected pregnant woman, and every
“illegal” worker.
No one wants to hear
their story…. except God, and hopefully…….. us. To God be the Glory, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment