Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit to open our ears to hear your preached Word. Comfort us by the promise that you have made us heirs of your kingdom. By the death and resurrection of Jesus, turn our mess into your plan. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
The story so far. God has promised Abraham a great family, more numerous than the stars. But he’s old. Very old. And his wife Sarah is worn out. Last week we heard how both Abraham and Sarah laughed at the news. “Pfffft! Yeah, right” they chuckle under their breath. This promise is unbelievable, too good to be true, so they take matters into their own hands. They devise a cunning plan. But everything unravels into a big mess. Let’s have a look at each of the messed up characters in this family saga.
Sarah. Sarah laughs at the promise from God. She doesn’t believe. I mean who would?! A 90 year old having a baby is ludicrous! So she takes things into her own hands. She persuades Abraham to sleep with her Egyptian servant girl. Hagar then gives birth to Ishmael. But, as we heard last week when we fast forwarded the story, a miracle happens and Sarah does end up becoming pregnant, and she gives birth to Isaac. So, as you can imagine, having a mistress (and child) floating around the household is — well — awkward. So Sarah points the finger. “It’s your fault that I’m suffering like this,” she says to Abraham. “I put my servant in your arms. Now that she knows she’s pregnant, she looks down on me.” Sarah ends up mistreating Hagar, perhaps even physical abuse (Genesis 16:5–6). Sarah is not a nice person. And in the reading today, you may have noticed that Sarah refuses to name Hagar or Ishmael. “Get rid of that slave woman,” she says. “Get rid of her son.” (Genesis 21:10). With human eyes, it looks like a big fat mess.
Abraham. When Sarah hatches her plan to have a family through Hagar, we don’t hear Abraham complaining, do we? So Abraham ends up with two sons: Ishmael and Isaac. By local law, both are entitled to part of the inheritance. But now Sarah demands that Abraham cut off Ishmael. Sarah can’t legally cut him off, only the head of the house can do that, so imagine what arm twisting went on. “Get rid of that woman. Get rid of that son.” What Sarah said upset Abraham very much, after all, Ishmael was his son. (Genesis 21:11). Abraham finally relents. In today’s terms we might say Abraham kicks Hagar and Ishmael out onto the street, and refuses to pay parenting and child support. With human eyes, it looks like a big fat mess.
Hagar. We might think that poor Hagar is simply stuck in the middle of this family feud. But she’s as messed up as everyone else! When she gets pregnant, and Sarah is still childless, we hear that Hagar ‘looked down on Sarah’ (Genesis 16:4). You can imagine the scene: “Oh, I’m pregnant, so that means the problem is with you, Sarah. You’re barren. You’re not the real wife, I am!” Abraham washes his hands of the whole situation, saying to Sarah when she complains: “Hagar’s your servant, do with her what you please” (Genesis 16:6). So after been abused by Sarah, Hagar runs away to the desert. She returns, only to be kicked out on the street and cut off from the inheritance. With human eyes, it looks like a big fat mess.
Ishmael. In the reading today, the family is throwing a big party for Isaac. He’s probably about three, just been weaned from Sarah’s breast milk, a sign that he’s healthy enough to be considered a legal heir. And at this big party, what’s the teenage Ishmael doing? Ishmael is making fun of little Isaac. There’s a Hebrew play on words that we miss in English. This word ‘making fun’ literally means Ishmael was ‘Isaac–ing’ Isaac (remember that the name Isaac means ‘to laugh’). Now we’re not sure exactly what ‘Isaac–ing’ means. (a) Best case: Ishmael is laughing at Isaac’s party, making a spectacle, and putting the family mess on display. (b) Worst case: Ishmael is physically, perhaps even sexually, abusing Isaac. (c) Middle ground: Ishmael is making of fun of Isaac, calling him names and provoking everyone. But the Lord had predicted this, saying that Ishmael would be a ‘wild donkey’ and not kind to his relatives (Genesis 16:12). With human eyes, it looks like a big fat mess.
Talk about a mess! It’s like an episode of Home and Away or some TV drama. This would need years of family counselling to untangle the mess of guilt, abuse, shame, anger, bitterness, heartache, hurt. But as we read this messed up story, something becomes clear: God is at work in this mess. God meets each of the characters in their mess. God does give Sarah a son (Genesis 21:1–2). God speaks to Abraham, telling him to listen to Sarah (Genesis 21:12). God sees and speaks to Hagar in desert (Genesis 16:13; 21:17–19). And God even blesses Ishmael (Genesis 17:19–20).
At our Bible Course for Young People (aka “Confirmation”) here at Walla, we’ve just finished three weeks working our way through the book of Genesis. We decided that the second to last speech in Genesis (spoken by Joseph) summarizes the whole book: “You intended to harm me,” [Joseph says to his brothers], “but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20). We see mess, we see intentional harm, but God sees something he can use to accomplish his plan to save people.
In fact, this is the whole thrust of Scripture. Often times you hear people talk about the Bible, saying, “Oh, the Bible, isn’t that a book telling you how to be a good person?” The Bible is not about how to be a good person. Yes, the Bible teaches a way of life, but this is secondary. The most important point is how messed up humans are. We are a broken. We abuse each other. We hurt our family and friends. We stuff up. We are ‘wild donkeys.’ We are not “good people.” We are Sarah, Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael. And this is the problem. But the Bible also tells us that God meets us in our mess. And he uses the mess to accomplish his divine plan to save.
I mean, look at Jesus. The disciples rightly think Jesus is the Messiah come to rescue them. But they misunderstand the Messiah. Peter wants to put a sword in Jesus’ hand and have him overthrow the Romans by force. Judas thinks Jesus has failed, so hands him over to be crucified. Pilate wants nothing to do the matter and washes his hands. The result is that Jesus ends up beaten, bloodied, hanging on a cross, naked and ridiculed. He brings shame on the name of God. Is this God? Is this the great and marvelous God of the universe, hanging on a cross? Pffft. What a joke! With human eyes, it looks like a big fat mess. But God turns the mess on its head. Jesus is raised from the dead. He is glorified. God heaps praise and honour on Jesus because he willingly bore the suffering we deserve. Jesus followed the divine plan, designed from the very beginning.
Sometimes I look at myself and I see a mess. I mean: I wasted nine years and thousands of dollars on three university degrees I hardly use anymore. I don’t own a house or any land. There’s times of tension in our immediate and extended family, lots of different personalities that grate and clash. My body fails me at times, a few weeks ago I had two severe migraines that knocked me out for days. I look like a big fat mess.
Maybe you look at your life and think, “What a mess!” Sibling rivalries. Estranged parents. A big debt owed to the bank. Jobless. Perhaps you do or think things that you know shouldn’t be done or thought. Sick, old useless body. Our world is full of hatred, oppression, abuse, mean words, hurtful actions. Look. At. The. Mess! Perhaps you feel like Ishmael and Hagar sitting in the wilderness. Kicked out on the street. No prospects. Sweating under the heat of the desert sun. Dying of thirst. Sobbing into your hands.
But our story today offers hope: ‘God heard the boy crying. … God opened Hagar’s eyes. And she saw a well of water.’ (Genesis 21:19). God listens to our cries for help. He meets us in the mess. He sends the Holy Spirit to enlighten Hagar. He opens her eyes to see a well of life-saving water, just sitting there. God looks at Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and Ishmael and sees a way through the mess, a great family line which will give rise to Jesus himself. God looks at Jesus bloodied and dead on the cross, but raises him to life. God looks at my messed up life, but for some reason calls me to proclaim the good news of Jesus each week. And God looks at your messed up life, and meets you too. And he wants to use you to accomplish his plan to save lives.
How? Like Hagar, God wants to open your eyes. In amongst the mess of our lives, God offers a well for you to drink from. Water for the thirsty. Jesus says, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14). This spring of water welling up to eternal life is the Holy Spirit, the very presence of Jesus Christ inside you. Through the Holy Spirit, God enters your body, he meets you in the mess, he opens your eyes to see how he is working in and through all things.
But notice I’ve never said God promises to fix the mess. Rather, what I’ve said is that God comes to meet you in the mess. In the next age to come we have the promise that the mess will be restored: every tear wiped away, no more death, mourning, or pain (Revelation 21:4). But for the moment we are in-between the ages, the old age is coming to an end and the new age is coming near as the world is being restored. But right now what we have is the mess and a promise. This means that when we look with human eyes we see the mess. But when we look with God’s eyes, when we walk by faith not sight, we see the hand of God at work in all things.
This is my challenge to you this week: pray and ask God to open your eyes to see his hand at work in your mess. As you look at your life, don’t look with human eyes, don’t evaluate by human standards. But look with the eyes of faith, the very eyes of God. He looks at you and sees a follower of Jesus: beaten, bloodied, shameful, dead on a cross. Yet he also sees a child of the promise. You are an heir to forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. Like Jesus, you have the promise of rising triumphant from the grave. God will turn your mess into his grand design. By faith, may you see God meeting you in the mess, and accomplishing his plan to save lives. Amen.
