Every family has stories that are best left untold—the family lore that paints a less then favorable picture of someone or brings back a memory that most would prefer to leave only as a memory. This past Friday evening we decided to have Chinese carryout for dinner and sent one of the boys out to get it—As happens more often then not at our house these days, one of the boys had a girlfriend joining us for dinner—Chris made tea—set out the chop sticks and plates—the food arrived—we sat down to eat—tea was being poured all around when number two son observed to his girlfriend that the tea was very hot—but these were really great oriental tea cups—and he turned to his mother saying, “You and Dad have had these along time haven’t you? When did you get them?” Now as he was speaking I began to anticipate where this conversation might be headed and as he asked the final question I found myself saying, “Oh, you don’t want to go there.” But it was too late—the question was asked. I started to try and change the subject but Chris was too quick for me—“We didn’t get them,” she said with a firm smile. “These cups were given to your father by a former girlfriend before my time—Her name was Deb.” And son number two said, “Oh.”—and his girlfriend took a bite of rice. At this point I reminded everyone that the next day was our 27th Wedding Anniversary.
Last week the Old Testament lesson had us all laughing with Sarah at the birth of Isaac to the geriatric couple—We could not help but wonder at the miracle of faith and the power of God’s grace to transform the seemingly impossible and hopeless into the great and wonderful. Abraham and Sarah is a great story of faith—Abraham is the great patriarch or father of the faith who stands at the beginning of the Old Testament story—And in a very real sense is the foundation of the Christian faith—But Jews and Christians are not the only ones who claim Abraham’s faith—In recent years many have come to recognize that Abraham is also claimed by the Moslem community—A part of the story that has often been overlooked, repressed or even just plain denied. This morning we encounter a story that some have warned—“you don’t want to go there’—It is safer to stay with the happy stories—But there are moments when the family history can’t be ignored—like the need to identify genetic markers to help anticipate or treat some congenital disorders—there are times when we ignore such details at our own peril.
Her name was Hagar—the Egyptian slave of Sarah—Sarah the wife of the ancient patriarch and father of nations—Abraham. In our Old Testament lesson for today we have the story of one day when Sarah saw her son, Isaac, playing with Ishmael. Now Ishmael was the young teenage son of Hagar and Abraham. Sarah remembered that God had promised that Abraham would have a son who would be the father of a great nation. Sarah was concerned that her son have no competition for the number one spot in Abraham’s family. So she went to her husband, Abraham and demanded that he get rid of Ishmael and his mother. She demanded that the two be sent on their way into the wilderness. At first, Abraham really didn't want to do that—Abraham appeared to have a special place in his heart for his son Ishmael—his first born son. But in the end, God assures him that he is to do what his wife demands and Abraham sends the young boy and his mother on their way—into the wilderness and what should have been certain death. Now it might be helpful to back the story up a few frames to see how things got to this point.
One of the first things our confirmands are expected to learn is that God made a covenant with Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation which would have a land and be a blessing to all people. This is the ancient patriarchal convenant that reaches back in time some 3,500 plus years. It is this promise that Sarah and Abraham had in mind as Sarah aged well past the child bearing years. It is this promise that Sarah so desperately wanted fulfilled that she invoked the ancient tribal tradition of the dessert and brought her slave woman to Abraham declaring that there must be a son born from Abraham. Sarah and Abraham did not appear to believe that God was going to solve this problem, so they took matters into their own hands. The slave woman, Hagar, became pregnant and bore the child Ishmael. Thirteen years pass and God visits Abraham and Sarah again—this was our lesson last Sunday—God visited them renewing the promise and this time Sarah herself becomes pregnant and gives birth to Isaac. Sarah looks upon her son—Issac—and also Abraham’s son by the slave Hagar—Ishmael—She remembers the promise that God had made. The promise that God would take Abraham's son and make his descendants into a great nation. Sarah didn't want to take any chances that Ishmael might try to lay claim to that promise.
That's where we pick up with today's reading, as Sarah demands that Abraham get rid of the slave woman Hagar and her son Ishmael. In one sense this story reads like the plot of some television soap opera—then again it is also the plot of most any political intrigue scenario. Why was Sarah so concerned about getting rid of Ishmael and his mother? From our historical vantage point we know that this story contains the seeds of global and maybe even cosmic elements. The descendants of Isaac we all recognize as the Jews and by extension the Christian faith while the descendants of Ishmael became the Arabs and the people of Islam. For Sarah, as for many today, it came down to a belief that God takes sides. That God couldn't love both Isaac and Ishmael. And so she tried to get rid of Ishmael, so that her son could be on the winning side. Winning with God—winning because of God.
Eric is the best athlete on the block—at least among those under 8 years of age—And when the sides are picked the challenge is always to see who gets Eric—because the side with Eric always seems to win. What the children do with Eric on the playground is much like what we do with God. History is filled with the story of those who claimed God’s special favor. The winning nation in war after war always claimed favored status before God and this was true for Israel also—at least as long as the nation was winning its wars. The glory days of King David and Solomon some 3,000 years ago are still remembered—but the story of nations take a curious turn as we journey thorough time—the voice of the prophets shifts from being a voice that claims special favor or privilege for any nation or people to a promise of a God who comes to save and redeem all people. This is not an easy lesson to learn or accept—most people in fact can’t seem to fully embrace it at all. Centuries later there are still cries of “God save the Queen or King”—or when there is no longer any royalty then the claim is made simply for God to bless our nation. We find it hard to believe God doesn’t take sides—and most important—that God would not be on our side. Of course that claim comes equally from all sides—We all know by now the name of the Middle East group “Hezbollah”—the name means “Party of God”—Whose side is God on?
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was asked if he thought that God was on the side of the North. Lincoln answered by saying: "The real question isn't whether God is on our side. The real question is whether we are on the side of God." One of the most important verses in the Old Testament is the Shema Israel which says: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one." In other words, there is only one God in all the earth. And that God doesn't take the side of some people over against other people. The God who we think is on our side is also on the side of those other people. That is the troubling truth of this story. That even though Sarah did her best to get Ishmael and Hagar out of the way, God still blessed Ishmael, and made him the father of a great nation, in the same way that he blessed Isaac. The core teaching of the Moslem faith echoes this same great truth revealed to Abraham—God is one—Allah akbar. Ishmael and Isaac—Arab and Jew—One common father—One common God. God does not take sides. That is so easy to say and so hard to embrace. We might indeed recognize its truth but we also can’t help but think that God leans a little on our side—Look at the blessings we have—economic—social—political— Surely God leans a little on our side. And then we open the morning newspaper—or read the Gospel lesson for today. Jesus—the Prince of peace—offers words this morning like—“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother…” Jesus doesn’t take sides—Jesus stands clearly as one with God—and sometimes we don’t like that—sometimes we can’t understand that—sometimes we find ourselves confused and bewildered asking questions like “why?” and “how can that be?”
When God first came to Abraham and Sarah—God told them that he wanted them to be the parents of a great nation, and through that nation that all the people of the world would be blessed. The idea was that the people of the world would be able to look and see what God was doing for the Hebrew people and how God loved them, and from that, come to see how God loves all the people of the world. It wasn't that God was choosing the Hebrews and rejecting all the others. A blessing on one people does not mean a curse on others. A blessing to the world—but the world did not always see it that way. The world likes to have favorites—likes to have winners and losers—the world creates its own gods to prove selection and power—they are gods of isms—racial—sexual—national—religious. But God enters our world in ever transforming moments—the witness of a people blessed by God’s Word—God’s covenant and faithful promise was intended to help the people of the world to better understand what God was like. And with the coming of Jesus we Christians are invited to share in that same mission. It isn't that God is choosing us and rejecting the rest of the world. But the hope is that as the world looks at us, that they will be able to better understand what God is all about. So our job as Christians is not to defeat those people who are different from us. Instead our calling is to show God's love to the world through what we say and through what we do. And by doing that, to draw more and more people into the body of Christ we call the church to share in what God has given to us.
So often in this world, we figure that in order
for there to be winners —someone has to be a loser. But here in the very
beginning moments of the covenant God makes with humanity we find that God doesn't
work that way. A child is born to a couple when there should be no child—A
child is delivered from death in a wilderness of danger. Grace knows no failure—no
death—no loss—Grace challenges the order of the world. The secrets
we would prefer not to talk about—the burdens of the past we would keep
secret—in God become the foundations for the future and years of blessing
to come—The center of our worship this morning is thought by some to be
only a memorial service—a gathering to remember Christ’s death. But
to people of faith—Who live in the new covenant of grace—We know that
God—the one God—became one with humanity even onto death—but
God’s power did not stop there. We gather this morning not only to remember
but to celebrate the blessing of grace that opens our future—God’s
gift of life out of death—that we might witness to God’s great love
for all people—No winners—No losers—Just one God.
Amen.