Reflections on "Where Is Your Wife" Genesis 18: 1-15; Genesis 21: 9-21

I started Sunday morning with a sermon that had two major points: God extends the covenant and too often we try and do things ourselves instead of letting God work it out. As I wrestled with the sermon until chapel time (I literally printed it out at 8:31), the second point got lost. I also acquired a section on Ishmael's connections to Islam and realized how confusing it is to try and preach one sermon on a story that gets repeated in various ways several times in Genesis.

In reflecting on the sermon, I wish I had stumbled onto the Ishmael/Islam connection earlier; that could have used some more reflection. I like the play on "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob," being redefined as "God of Sarah and God of Hagar." I don't think I figured out how to transition very well between the multiple stories I referenced in the sermon. If I did it over, I might just focus on Hagar and build on the parallel encounters with God in the wilderness.

Here is the text:

"Where Is Your Wife" Genesis 18: 1-15; Genesis 21: 9-21

Introduction: “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob”

Name for God, almost like Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God, defined through the patriarchs of the Israelite people.

But, this morning we discover a story about the inclusiveness of God's covenant and God's grace through two women – women tied together by giving birth to sons of Abraham; women who live in tension with each other; women whose story shows forth the graciousness of God.

Move 1: Abraham thinks that God's covenant is about Abraham.
a. maybe that's an easy mistake.
1.I suppose when God tells you that your descendants are going to be as numerous as the stars, it can make you feel rather important.
2.And when you live in a patriarchal society that elevates you as the head of the family as the most important player in the game, it's easy to think it's only about you.
3.It may not be Abraham's fault, but he certainly understands that God's promise is primarily about Abraham.
b. This story has lots more to it than what we read this morning (you might want to go back to Chapter 15 and read this all the way through later today), so let's go back to Chapter 15.
1.God has already promised Abraham that Abraham and his descendants will be God's people, and God will be their God.
2.With that comes the promise that Abraham's descendants will be as numerous as the stars.
3.Abraham and his wife Sarah see a problem with this promise – Sarah is not able to bear children.
4.So, taking things into her own hands, Sarah tells Abraham that the Hagar, the Egyptian slave-girl, will bear a child for Abraham (there's another sermon in this story about taking things into our own hands and not letting God do what God promises, but that sermon must wait for another day to be preached!).
5.Hagar does have a child, Ishmael, so from Abraham's perspective, his lineage is safe.
6.In fact, as was the custom in that time, Ishmael would have the legal status of being Abraham's son, even though he was the child of the Egyptian slave-girl.
7.Abraham is satisfied that since his lineage is continued, everything is okay.
8.In fact, when God mentions again that Sarah will bear a child, Abraham says something to the effect, “Don't worry about it. Ishmael is good enough for me.”
9.Ishmael is good enough for Abraham because Abraham is only seeing it from his perspective.

b. But that is not good enough for God.
1. God insists that the promise made to Abraham includes his wife Sarah bearing a child.
2. So in the first story we read this morning, angels are sent to Abraham and Sarah.
3. Abraham meets them, but they quickly ask, “Where is your wife Sarah?”
4. Fascinating question – the angels have Abraham, the patriarch there, but they want Sarah.
5. Another clue that God's promise involves more than Abraham.
6. When the angels meet with Sarah, they insist that she will bear a son.
7. Even at her late age, she will bear a child.
8. She laughs at the thought (In fact, her son Isaac's name comes from the Hebrew word for laughter), but it is no laughing matter – Sarah will bear a son;
9. This serves as an important reminder. In fact, Abarbanel, a medieval biblical exegete, explains that God responds to Abraham, "Abraham, you thought that all the good that I testified to do for you was for your sake [only], and therefore once you had your son Ishmael, you thought the birth of Isaac was unnecessary.. Know that this is not so, but rather Sarah is deserving to bear you a [covenantal] son.and behold Ishmael is not her son, so from the perspective of Sarah, the birth of Isaac is absolutely necessary." http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Judaism/2000/11/A-Great-Partner-For-A-Great-Endeavor.aspx?p=2#ixzz1BATycXhZ
10. God's covenant with Abraham is not just about Abraham, but includes Sarah as well.

Move 2: Interestingly enough, even as God goes to great pains to include Sarah, Sarah works to exclude Hagar.
a. Tension between Sarah and Hagar.
1.Even though this is an accepted practice, we can imagine the relational issues it creates.
2.Hagar looks at Sarah with contempt when she conceives Abraham's child.
3.Sarah treats Hagar harshly.
4.Hagar flees.
5.In the wilderness, alone and desperate, God finds Hagar.
6.And God makes a promise to Hagar – her sons descendants will be blessed.
7.And God sends Hagar back to Sarah and Abraham.
8.When her child is born, she names him Ishmael, which means “God hears,” as a reminder that God heard her when she was desperate.
9.God's covenant and God's grace will not be limited to Abraham, or Abraham and Sarah, but will include Hagar and Ishmael.

b. The tension continues after Isaac is born.
1.Sarah wants to send Hagar away.
2.Sarah does not recognize that God has a plan for Hagar as well.
3.When Abraham is worried about this, God reassures Abraham by telling Abraham that God will make a great nation out of Ishmael's descendants.
4. God's covenant continues to expand

Move 3: Step back and look at the big picture.
a. God has chosen to include: Sarah and Hagar
1. Two women.
2. Sarah is a barren women.
3. Hagar is an Egyptian slave-girl
4.both were lower in the societal hierarchy than Abraham.
b. And yet God desired to include them..

Move 3: Why does this story matter to us? Because it challenges us to recognize our tendency to want to exclude.
a. We tend to want to limit God.
b. Difference between personal and private
1.personal – relationship with Christ.
2.God numbers the hairs on our head.
3.An Important truth about God.
c. But we too often make our personal faith a private faith – that is, our exclusive relationship with God.
1. Our concerns become God's concerns
2.The people we like become the people God likes.
3.We limit God's grace to what we want, instead of hearing God's call to expand our understanding of God's grace.
d.Certain irony that Ishmael and Isaac are paired together in this story.
1. Islam traces its heritage back to Abraham through Ishmael.
2.Christianity traces its heritage back to Abraham through Isaac.
3. Perhaps the greatest divide in our context today is between Christians and Muslims.
4. But, when we read the story in Genesis, God's covenant is broad enough for both of them.

Conclusion: Perhaps we need to think of “the god of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob” as the the God of Sarah and the God of Hagar. Maybe that would give us new insights into how God is at work in our world.