Daily Devotion for the Third Sunday in Lent 2018

Scripture Reading: Genesis 21 (NRSV)

When I re-read this passage, the line that stood out to me was in verse six where Sarah says, "everyone who hears will laugh with me."  At first glance, this shows the great joy that would have bubbled up from Sarah in this celebratory birth.

But then I realized that Hagar and Ishmael would not be laughing.

This is more the age I envision Ishmael when I 

read this story.  But it may be that when we

are truly thirsty, we are all children.

Hagar was used by Sarah to have a child.  Then when they were not needed anymore, they were discarded.  This was a post-natal abortion that included the mother.  While the story reads as if Ishmael was a young child, according to the dates we have from Genesis (we know Ishmael was circumcised at 13), he would have been in his mid-teens.  While still cruel, this doesn't read the same way as a helpless child.  In that culture and time, Ishmael may have even been considered an adult.

As we trace Islamic heritage through Ishmael, it seems that if God didn't want Muslims around, Ishmael would have been left to die in the wilderness.  Yet, we clearly see in verse eighteen that God "will make a great nation of him."  Maybe this should help us to see Islam as our cousins.  As our perspective changes, our attitudes and actions follow.  What is their response to respect?  We can change no one but ourselves.

As I think about how Jesus may have been influenced by this text, I think about the similarities to the woman at the well Jesus encounters in John 4.

Both Hagar and the unnamed woman were isolated from their communities (the woman came by herself at noon - not an optimal time to carry such a heavy burden).

While Hagar needed physical water to drink, she also received spiritual help from God's reassuring words.

While the unnamed woman came for physical water to drink, she received living water from Jesus and his reassuring words.

Hagar continues to care for her son, finding him a wife in Egypt - her homeland.

The unnamed woman begins to care for her community, sharing the good news of Jesus with them.

So as we look at this story as a whole, we are reminded to watch that our laughter does not leave others weeping.  And when it does, we seek to dry their tears and give them something to drink.

O God, who has bound us together in this bundle of life,

give us grace to understand how our lives depend on the industry,

the honesty and integrity of our fellows;

that we may be mindful of their needs,

grateful for their faithfulness,

and faithful in our responsibilities to them;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, Union Theological Seminary, 20th Century 

Photo by Stephanie Ve via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.