The God Who Sees Me, the God Who Calls Me By Name

Characters of the Bible Series:  Sarah & Hagar

Readings:  Genesis 16:1-16 & Genesis 21:1-12

Abraham

The disclaimer this morning: we cannot cover the patriarch Abraham’s story within the span of one sermon. If we tried, we would still be here at 6:00 tonight. Abram’s story begins in Genesis eleven and continues for a number of chapters. My suggestion is that you do some reading on your own—and I have put a bibliography here near the font if you want to follow up. One notable book is Bruce Feiler’s Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths—a book some of you will remember, we have discussed at a Sunday morning book study.

This morning, we will reflect on a tiny bit of that story, focusing on the God who sees me. The God who calls me by name.

The key women in Abraham’s life are Sarah and Hagar. Abraham has been married to Sarah a long time. During an ill-fated sojourn in Egypt, it seems that Abraham acquired at least one slave woman—Hagar. Life goes along just fine for a while—except. . .no children. God has promised Abraham a son—in fact, God tells Abraham that he will have more descendants than stars in the night sky. But thus far, no children. Now Abraham is eighty-six, and Sarah is seventy-seven.

Sarah is not happy with God’s timetable. So Sarah takes matters into her own hands. She has an Egyptian slave woman—a person Sarah refers to as “my servant.” Hagar is an African woman. A slave. Always destined to be an outsider in Abraham’s home. Sarah tells Abraham, “The Lord has kept me from giving birth. So go to my servant. Maybe she will provide me with children.” (Note—Sarah never calls Hagar by her name, thus de-humanizing her. Also, because Sarah owns Hagar, any child Hagar bears will legally belong to Abraham and Sarah.)

Once Hagar is pregnant, trouble rears its head. Hagar realizes that now that she is to bear Abraham’s child, she has gained status. The relationship between the two women gets ugly. Now, instead of blaming God for her lack of fertility, Sarah blames Abraham.

Abraham & Sarah

“This harassment is your fault. I allowed you to embrace my servant, but when she realized she was pregnant, I lost her respect.” Then Sarah flings back to Abraham, “Let the Lord decide.” Poor Abraham. He cannot win this one. Yet instead of going back to God, Abraham throws it back to Sarah.

“She’s your servant. Do whatever you want with her.” Sarah does. Sarah treats Hagar harshly—abusively. The Hebrew words used here are the same words that will be used later in Exodus for the way in which Pharoah abuses the Hebrews. So Hagar runs away. She would rather live in that harsh desert environment than to live in that tent and endure abuse from Sarah.

Yet God intervenes. God sends an angelic messenger to Hagar in the desert. The angel sees her. Calls her by name: “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

Hagar says she’s running away. The angel stops her. Tells her to go back to her owners. But the angelic messenger does an amazing thing. After seeing Hagar and calling her out by name—in itself a significant thing—God’s angel gives Hagar the same promise that God once gave to Abraham.

The angel says, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” Then the angel tells Hagar she will have a son. She is to name him Ishmael—which means “God hears.”  Ishmael will grow up to live in the desert, apart from other tribes, literally “to the east of his brothers” or “against his brothers.” But the significant underlying message is that Ishmael will live freely. The promise to the slave woman is that her son will not have to live as an oppressed slave to anyone—least of all to Abraham and Sarah.

Hagar

Now, Hagar does something that no other woman in the Hebrew scriptures does. She names God. “You are El-Roi,” she says to God.  That is translated, “You are the God who sees” or “You are the God whom I’ve seen.” (Note: The Hebrew is unclear here.) Hagar is amazed. She has not only seen God, but talked to God—and lived to tell it. (Ancient people believe that when a human being encounters divinity, they do not live to tell it.)

Strengthened by this divine encounter and by a God who has heard and seen her, Hagar returns to Sarah. In due time, she gives birth to Ishmael. Fast forward thirteen years. Now Abraham is ninety-nine years old and Sarah is ninety. Ishmael is about thirteen. Still, Sarah is barren. Yet God still promises Abraham a son—through Sarah. And next year, miraculously, Isaac is born.

Some backstory here: When God told Abraham he will have a son, Sarah laughed in disbelief. But finally, the promise of a child is fulfilled, and Isaac’s name means “he laughs.” The sounds of childish laughter fill their tents. Yet trouble rears its ugly head again.

Once Isaac is weaned—perhaps around three years of age—Abraham and Sarah throw a big party.  After all, in ancient times, children often died before they were weaned. So the fact that Isaac has survived in a primitive time is, in itself, miraculous. At the huge banquet, there is food, celebration, laughter. But Sarah sees Ishmael playing and laughing with Isaac. She stops short. She remembers.

Legally, Ishmael is the firstborn heir of Abraham. It is he who will inherit most of the father’s property and inheritance. So once again, Sarah goes to Abraham. “Send this servant away with her son! [Note: again, Sarah de-humanizes both Hagar and Ishmael by not naming them.] This servant’s son won’t share the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

Abraham is very upset. After all, Ishmael is his son, and for thirteen years, his only son. But to appease Sarah, he gets up the next morning, gives Hagar some bread and water, and makes her leave with Ishmael. One must read between the lines in this story. You know Abraham is upset, but his actions are silent. You can feel his anguish, but there is no dialogue. Now the Hebrew in this section is unclear. For example, the translation we read today is this: “He put the boy in her shoulder sling and sent her away.” But you put babies in shoulder slings. By the time Isaac is weaned, Ishmael must be about sixteen years old. Yet we can’t be distracted by difficult translations. The point is that Abraham is distressed. He is torn between what he wants to do and what he must do. Yet the good news here is that God promises Abraham that Ishmael and Hagar will not only survive out there in the desert, but Ishmael will also have thousands of descendants. So the divine promise, officially fulfilled through Isaac, will also be multiplied through his older brother.

Hagar and her son wander in the desert. When the water in the flask runs out, Hagar leaves Ishmael under a small desert bush. She cannot bear to hear her son’s weak cries as he dies of hunger and thirst. Yet once again, El-Roi hears and sees Hagar. “Hagar! What’s wrong? Don’t be afraid! God has heard the boy’s cries over there. Get up, pick up the boy, and take him by the hand because I will make of him a great nation.”

Water well

The God who sees, the God who hears, once again provides. God reveals a well of water in the barren, dry wilderness. Hagar fills the water flask, gives her son a drink, and he lives. Now look at the final words. They are very telling, if you read closely. God may have “elected” Isaac, yet God “treasures the non-elected: Ishmael.”[1] God remains, abides, stays, with Ishmael. Ishmael grows up. He lives in the desert—a free man, not a slave. He becomes an expert archer, which means he can feed himself. He lives in the Paran Desert—which is significant, because that is a coastal area that borders the Red Sea, across the sea from Egypt. More significantly, this is where Mecca is today (remember that today’s Muslims consider Ishmael to be their fore-father, not Isaac.) His mother returns to Egypt—her home country—to find a wife for him—thus doing the duty of a father.

Hagar has seen God and named God. God has seen Hagar and named Hagar. God may have talked about Sarah, but God never talks directly to Sarah. God never talks about Hagar. God talks to Hagar. This fierce, strong slave woman is the stuff of legend and an instrument of God’s promise fulfilled—even if it is God’s promise fulfilled through imperfect human beings.

What does this biblical story have to do with us? The truth is that nothing has changed about human beings and their character. Abraham, Sarah and Hagar behaved like people do today. Mainstream folks still define the rights and privileges of others. We human beings still dehumanize others—we call them “those people,” for example. It’s easier to brutalize, imprison, marginalize people if you give them a number, clump them into a race of people, or assume that “those people” are a monolithic group. So in the 21st century—as in ancient times—we are very familiar with mis-use of power and privilege. We shame. We blame. We de-personalize others, forgetting that in our baptismal covenant, we have promised to “respect the dignity of every human being.” Not some human beings. Every human being.

Yet the truth is that no matter what the era, God sees and hears each human being. And just as in the story of Sarah and Hagar, God continues to “work through complex situations and imperfect human beings on behalf of the divine purpose.”[2] God has a divine purpose. Too often, you and I think either that we know what God’s purpose is—without consulting God—or we think that we do not have “the right stuff” to help God fulfill God’s divine purpose. Who? Me? I can’t do that. I’m just. . . .(fill in the blank here.)” I’m too shy. I have too many issues. I’m too busy. I’m not good enough. . .Whatever excuses human beings come up with.

Meanwhile, God waits. God says, “Hello? Hello? I gave you the gift of listening. I gave you a gift for teaching. I gave you a gift of singing (or playing an instrument.) I gave you a head for numbers. I gave you a gift of hospitality. I see you, says God. Do you see me? Do you hear my voice?

Night sky

Not one of us is perfect. We are flawed, broken, imperfect human beings. Regardless of that, the God who made heaven and earth created each one of us, knows each of us, and has given us amazing gifts and skills. Maybe our mission—should we decide to accept it— is to open our ears to hear God or open our eyes to see God in our lives. To ask “What does God want me to see? To hear? How can I discover what God’s purpose is for my life? What small bit does God want me to do in order to share God’s amazing love with others who so need that love?”El-Roi, the God who sees you, waits patiently for you today. The God who hears you waits patiently for you today. Will you open your ears? Your eyes? Your heart? God sees. God hears. God waits. For each one of us. For all of us. Amen.

© The Rev. Dr. Sheila N. McJilton

[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. I, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), 489

[2] Ibid., 489.

A Bibliography about Abraham and family

https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/abraham_1.shtmlThe book of Genesis, beginning with Chapter 11. [Helpful to have a study Bible, like the Oxford Annotated Study Bible or Harper’s Annotated Study Bible. If you need to borrow one, we probably have a couple available at St. P’s.]

Further reading

Genesis, Robert Alter (Ed), pub: W W Norton (1998)

Voices from Genesis: Guiding us through the stages of life, Norman J Cohen, pub: Jewish Lights Publishing (1999)

Abraham: A journey to the heart of three faiths, Bruce Feiler, pub: William Morrow and Company (2002)

The Pentateuch - A story of beginnings, Paula Gooder, pub: Continuum International Publishing (2000)

The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible, Bruce Metzger; George L Collard; Michael Coogan (Eds), pub: Oxford University Press (2001)

Additional Resources:

The Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney’s book A Womanist Midrash.https://smile.amazon.com/Womanist-Midrash-Reintroduction-Women-Throne/dp/066423903X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=womanist+midrash&qid=1561244217&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Also, check out an interview with Dr. Gafney and Pete Enns.

Here is the link:https://peteenns.com/womanist-midrash-with-wil-gafney/N

OTE: All photographs and pictures accessed through Google images.