Her Name Was Not Hagar

Her Name Was Not Hagar

(I owe much of these thoughts to the excellent book by Karen Gonzalez, "The God Who Sees".)

https://www.amazon.com/God-Who-Sees-Immigrants-Journey/dp/151380412X

Hagar appears to us early in the 16th chapter of Genesis. She is a slave in Abraham's household, Sarah's "handmaiden". We know that Abraham means "father of many nations" and "Sarah" means "princess" or "noblewoman." Names are important. They identify us within families and culture.

So, how about Hagar? Would it surprise you that Hagar is most likely not a proper name at all? Probably coming to live with Abraham and Sarah during their time in Egypt, she becomes Sarah's servant. Her "name" means, roughly

"Foreign Thing". Variously it may also mean "dragged off" or "pressed into service."

We have no idea her given name; all we have is the label probably put upon her by Abraham and Sarah, identifying her position as "other".

Think how many labels we use to dehumanize others. "Immigrant", "Undocumented Worker", "Snowflake", "Reactionary", "Communist", (you can add to the list at your leisure.)

Hagar, or "The Foreign One" is given to Abraham by Sarah because Sarah has not borne any children. Even Hagar's body and offspring are not her own...let alone not having her own "name". After this Sarah and Hagar have a falling out, Sarah treats her harshly, and pregnant, Hagar runs away to the desert. The "Foreign One" becomes a refugee.

But here is the amazing part of the story. "Firsts" in the Scriptures can be important clues to valuable stories about God.

Guess what: Hagar is the first human in the Bible to give God a name! Yup. This "Foreign One" (btw, not even described as a foreign "woman", further dehumanizing her.)

A messenger from God appears and encourages her to return to Sarah, telling her that she also will bear many children. The messenger tells her to name the child in her womb Ishmael, that is, "God hears".

Stop. Right. There!

She certainly felt devalued and UNheard by both Sarah and Abraham. But her child Ishmael will forever remind her that God has truly "heard" her. What an impact that must have made. Certainly, given her "label", she must have felt isolated, unwelcome, and separated within the Abrahamic household.

But God would have NONE of that! She was "seen" by the God who is not limited by cultural and religious biases. And so, she gives God the first name recorded in the Book of Genesis:

"El Roi (the God who sees)" (Genesis 13). She continues, "Have I really seen the God who sees me?"

The story should inform us about how "seen" we all are. It should also move us to stop using dehumanizing labels. Learn a person's name. Learn their background. Hear their stories.

I'm sure you wore certain labels at one time or another. Meditate on how that felt. And consider the God who

Sees you personally. And begin to "see" others...not with labels, but with names that point to their worth and humanity.

Among the Beggars

 

Among the Beggars

(“How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So the Law allows a person to do what is good on the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:12)

We have songs to learn, spotlights to replace,
audio to check, dress shirts to be pressed.
We have prayer and candle time, cymbals and strings
and amazing things that we find so deep in the Word
that you never would have heard it if we had not used the
sweat of our brow
and our holy pickaxes
to reveal it to you.

And now you want health care when all we need do
is scare the virus away? Now you want mandatory masks
and ask us to keep our distance when you know we are
commanded to bundle up and spew our songs up and down
the aisles? If you had as much faith as we do
you would hold hands in a circle of prayer,
grab your neighbors to make sure they are there
and expose them to the health we share in the glow
of our communal, exclusive, pay as you go, enter
at your own risk,
faith.

II.

Today I find myself among the beggars asking
for alms of science. Today I find myself outside
the windows missing the rah-rah reformed protestations
that once filled my purpose like a balloon with wet sand.

But I know more, having learned more, now I do better.
The doors are closed for a while, the instruments mute on
high holy days
only because we value the lives
of those who are just flesh and bone
and filled with sunrise colors in the image of God.

I am no longer surprised (but I mourn instantly, constantly)
by the grand proclamations: Higher. Deeper. Farther.
Wetter. Steeper. Better. Jesus broke the
rule-of-the-7^th-day because it was a day to be healed.
I will break the rule-of-the-1^st-day for the very same reason.

I will do good on the day of His resurrection.

Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Forgiveness and Reconciliation

“If one of my followers sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower.” Matthew 18:15

I broke a glass a few weeks ago. That’s not the worst offense of my life, but this one was actually quite special. For our 25^th Wedding Anniversary Patti and I drove from North Dakota to Binghamton, NY to visit our son Michael and his wife Julie. While there Patti and I booked a room at the Painted Lady Bed & Breakfast in nearby Elmira.

Just south of the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, Elmira is also the hometown of Olivia Langdon, who was to become Twain’s bride. The couple made it their summer home and he wrote a number of his well-known books there. His in laws built him a writing room--12 feet across, with eight sides and a large window in each face. It was there in that study, perched on a hill above Elmira, that Twain began writing his great works.

The study now sits on the campus of Elmira College. The town provided such deep ties that the author is buried in Elmira at Woodlawn Cemetery, along with his wife, all his children, and his only grandchild. Patti and I had the privilege of visiting both the both his studio and spending a few moments alone at his graveside. Having read all of Twain’s books, this was almost as exciting as our Anniversary for me.

We brought home a couple of keepsakes from our visit: a pair of wineglasses inscribed with “Elmira, NY.” You have guessed by now, it was one of those wineglasses that I broke. Reaching into the cupboard for another dish, I inadvertently pulled one of the goblets out at the same time and it came crashing to the floor. I was speechless for a moment. Any other glass but that one! There was no way to fix it, of course. But at least we bought a pair. The second one shall be protected quite well, believe me.

It occurs to me that we sometimes break things more important than even commemorative dishware. Relationships are more valuable and sometimes more fragile than crystal wineglasses. As much as I wanted to apply some super glue to mend the shards scattered at my feet, I knew it would never look the same. Relationships, though, when tended with care, can actually become stronger at the broken places.

The great power of forgiveness and reconciliation are gifts we have been given in Christ. Those gifts can only be exercised in honest and true relationship. If we simply gloss over offenses, never talking or dealing with them, they stay inside the human heart, festering into something altogether more noxious than the original hurt. When we lovingly talk with each other, sharing our own concerns and personal responses, we open up the possibilities for the forgiveness, healing and strength that only Christ can give.

That is why Jesus left us with a clear path to reconciling relationships. The initial step is always to be taken personally, lovingly and carefully. Going to our brother or sister privately is a matter of deep respect. The person may not even be aware of the sin or offense. Or, we may have actually “taken offense” when none was meant. There is so much that can be accomplished when people put aside the desire to “win” and replace it with a desire to “win my friend”.

You see, talking it out doesn’t always mean I will walk away feeling perfect about the situation. There may still be particulars I’m hung up on. “Well, he didn’t say ‘sorry’ with real sincerity.’” Or, “Yeah, but we’ve talked about this before.” But, avoiding someone with whom have conflict leaves everything like an untended garden. Weeds grow, the ground cracks from lack of moisture, and nothing that resembles life can grow there.

Everything that is valuable in life has to do with relationships. We who are the church need to treasure those relationships with other followers of Jesus even more dearly. So, before you talk about it to someone else, or post it on Facebook, talk to the one who has offended you. And do it with all the humility and compassion of Christ.

It is interesting to note that Jesus’ guidelines about putting relationships right follow His statements that the “greatest” in God’s kingdom are those who humble themselves like “little children”. (Matthew 18:1-4) Then He reminds us that Father God is like a Shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to go find the one that has gone astray; not to discipline it, but to bring it back into relationship. (Matthew 18:12-14) There is no greater joy than having a broken relationship restored through honest conversation, compassion and forgiveness.