A Family Feud: Gen. 21:8-21

June 22, 2008

A. I struggled with the name of this sermon, and the idea that no house is big enough for two women was my first thought, but then it occurred to me that they were living in tents, not houses, so the title became “A Family Feud.”

  2. One of the remarkable aspects of the Hebrew scriptures is the unvarnished presentation of family relationships.
  3. These documents tell the truth about how some families worked in an unblinking and even painful fashion. For me that is an evidence to the authentic and inspired nature of these writings.
  4. Many families have their “secrets.” The unpleasant, the inappropriate, and perhaps even embarrassing stories in the family. The family learns that “we just don’t talk about it.”
  5. But the Hebrew texts present the story of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar in a very candid and unflattering way. The scriptures present to us “a family feud” within the founding family of the Judeo-Christian faiths.

B. We have all heard the story of Abraham’s covenant with God, his leaving Ur and Haran, and living as a nomad in the area near Shechem.

  2. We have heard of the promise of a child to be born as his heir even though he was very old and his wife was barren.
  3. Abraham tries help the prophecy be fulfilled. He plans to adopt his slave, Eliezer of Damascus, but God told him, “No, that was not the way!”
  4. Then Sarah got an idea of how the promised child might be achieved, and she brought her handmaid to Abraham for him to have a child with her. Hagar, the Egyptian, became pregnant and bore Ishmael, but again, God told Abraham and Sarah, that is not the way, and by then they were both in the late 90’s.
  5. Isn’t it interesting how people with a particular vision or hope take it upon themselves to make that “dream” come true. Though I doubt that any one of us have ever done that sort of thing.

C. Sarah’s plan presents the family with some complications.

  2. Though it was not uncommon for a woman of privilege to give her maid to her husband and claim the child as her own.
  3. But Hagar becomes contemptuous of her mistress, and Sarah “dealt harshly with Hagar.”
  4. I am not sure exactly what behaviors are involved in “dealt harshly with”, but I imagine violence, verbal abuse, and the assignment of the most menial tasks, perhaps food deprivation.
  5. Of course, Sarah is filled with anger toward her hand maid, and Abraham is caught between the two women. His behavior is something less than heroic here—he tells Sarah, “Your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” This earlier account derives from the Sacred Judean History—the J document.

D. The story of Hagar’s leaving is told in Genesis 16 and again in Genesis 21. That is how the story was told in the Northern Kingdom of Israel—The E document.

  2. In the second telling of this story, Abraham is a bit more compassionate in that he does provide Hagar and Ishmael with food and water before the leave.
  3. Still, he watches passively as Hagar and Ishmael wander off toward the wilderness of Beer-sheba; very much at risk from bandits, weather, and the elements.
  4. The food is eaten, the water runs out, the heat is intense, the desert seems endless, and the runaway pair face possible death.
  5. Hagar leaves her son under a bush goes some distance away not wanting to watch him starve.
  6. But Ishmael cries out to God and God hears his cry, and God speaks to Hagar, the Egyptian. God makes a promise to her son, that he too, will be the source of a great nation.
  7. After this her eyes are opened and she sees a well, and fills the waterskin, and both survive to make their way to Paran.

This family feud illustrates the weaknesses and the strengths of all involved, and it shows us an inclusive God who cares for all!

I. The stories clearly show the weakness and the strengths of the three people involved in the Family Feud!

A. We see the weakness of Sarah in that she, like Abraham before her, attempts to take control and make God’s promise happen on her terms.

  2. Was she tired of waiting? Did she think the idea of bearing a child at her advanced age ridiculous?
  3. Certainly these kinds of thinking are understandable and probably most of us would share them.
  4. For at least a quarter of a century, she has been living with the hope of having a child; do you think she was unaware of what the other women in the household whispered?
  5. Was her decision to offer Hagar to Abraham an act of weakness or an act of strength? She was trying to do the right thing; but, some times when one tries to the do the right thing, it backfires upon them.
  6. How did Abraham’s involvement with Hagar affect Sarah’s relationship with him? Was jealousy, that green-eyed monster, a factor?

B. Hagar displays some weakness of character in that she treats her mistress with contempt.

  2. These was certainly not a smart move, and surely she must have had some inkling of how Sarah might react.
  3. There are those who say that women can be very competitive. In that society, the ability to produce children was a means to power for women; and to be unable to bear children was to be relatively powerless.
  4. But did she have to “rub it in?” Perhaps she bore some resent– meant for being in the position of a slave. Perhaps she resented someone else having the power over her body.
  5. Perhaps she felt that Sarah needed to be “brought down” a little; her pride lessened by calling attention to her failure as a woman.

C. Abraham clearly shows weakness in dealing with Sarah and with Hagar. He is caught between two women.

  2. He had considered trying to fulfill God’s promise to him through adoption, so he could hardly blame his wife for her attempt.
  3. The culture of that time seems to have approved the right of a woman to give her husband a slave with which to have children that would be considered her own.
  4. Did not Abraham know these women; might he not have guessed that his action could have some undesirable consequences?
  5. And when Sarah “treated Hagar harshly,” why did he not intervene? Was it the best he could do to offer her bread and water for the desert journey?
  6. One would have hoped for better behavior from the father of the faithful!

D. But all three of these characters display strength as well!

  2. Sarah displays a boldness in taking this action to achieve the promise! Even though it does not work out as she had hoped, she remains a strong character, whose inability to have children does near the end of her life change with the birth of Isaac.
  3. Hagar has some strength too, even though she is a slave, she will not be treated like chattel. She taunts her mistress and joys in the son she bore to Abraham.
  4. And Abraham, despite his weakness, continues to hope and to believe that God is indeed going to fulfill the promise and give them the son God had promised.
  5. While his behavior with Hagar, his behavior with Abimelech, and with the Pharoah in Egypt may be cowardly and reprehensible, on other occasions, he shows remarkable courage. Above all this, he remains faithful.

II. This Family Feud Is a Story of Salvation.

A. This is a story of salvation—despite the failures of the family, despite the meanness of the faithful—God saves Hagar and Ishmael.

  2. Such is our God that even when the community of the faithful fails in its role, God is there and God cares.
  3. There are many today who have been failed by the people of faith—they have a tendency to give up on God because of their experiences.
  4. But God remains faithful and God still saves reaching out to those at risk, those like Hagar and Ishmael whose lives may be in danger!
  5. God is a God of life! God is bigger than any group of believers.

B. Abraham and Sarah, the representatives of the faith, may have failed Hagar, the Egyptian, and Ishmael, but God still heard Ishmael’s cry.

  2. Has the church failed people today? Have we let down many whom we should be helping? Have we been more concerned with ourselves than with our mission?
  3. Sometimes Christian people, people who believe in God, fail to internalize the values of God and end by failing to do God’s will. In fact, they may actually become opponents of God being confused about what they should do!
  4. There was a time in Christian Churches in the South when clergy and laymen were active in the Ku Klux Klan! The unspoken history of our church, the less admirable episodes, should not be forgotten.
  5. But such is our God, that despite the failures of God’s people, God continues to work for the salvation of all persons!
  6. Notice that Ishmael receives a promise from much like that of his father, even though his mother was driven out!
  7. That was not God’s doing, that was Sarah and Abraham! God is there with them in the desert, offering water, salvation, and hope!

III. This Is a Story of Liberation from Oppression!

A. In this story an Israelite woman owns and mistreats an Egyptian woman who is a slave!

  2. Do you see any irony in that? I do!
  3. That an Israelite is oppressing an Egyptian slave is a direct reversal of the roles we shall read about in Exodus.
  4. And where is God in all this? Is God taking sides in the family feud? Does God approve of the action of Sarah or of Abraham, or of Hagar?
  5. There is really not any indication of such approval; but God does hear the cry of little Ishmael, and he saves the boy and his mother, and make a promise to the boy much like the promise to his father.

B. What does that tell you about God? God seems to be on the side of the enslaved, of the oppressed, of those in need of liberation!

  2. We need to be very sure that we are not part of the problem, not among the oppressors, especially if we claim to be God’s people!
  3. We need to remember that God fulfills God’s promises in God’s way at God’s time.
  4. While there is work for us to do; and we need to be responsive to and responsible toward human needs, it is God who saves!
  5. We probably should be very forgiving toward this dysfunctional family, because we may have our own family feuds.

Conclusion:

Jesus challenged his followers to a commitment that over-rode family ties and family values. Listen to this word from the gospel,
“I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” These are hard words, but they point toward a life beyond the family feud! Amen.

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