2-15-2020

Good Morning All, 

    Genesis 21:17; “God heard the boy crying, and the Messenger of God called to Hagar from heaven. “What’s the matter, Hagar?” he asked her. “Don’t be afraid! God has heard the boy crying from the bushes.”

    “After all, I am not the chosen one.”  That is what she told me.  “She” was a lady dealing with her aging parents and their health and well-being be discussed.  She was the youngest.  She had a sister two years older and her brother (the chosen one) was the oldest.  Her parents owned a small hardware store in a small town.  It was going to her brother; she and her sisters were going to be lucky to receive some of mom’s china.  Everything was going to the brother (the chosen one).  She described her brother as a ne’er do well.  He could do no wrong in his parents’ eyes (her description).  They always bailed him out, always gave him money, always had excuses for his failures (her description).  He was the chosen one and she wasn’t.

    Our verse is part of a story about Hagar and Ishmael.  Ishmael was Abraham’s oldest son and Hagar was his mother.  When Sarah gave birth to Isaac, she got jealous of Hagar and told Abraham to drive her away.  So, Hagar and Ishmael were banished to the desert.  Abraham gave her a loaf of bread and a jug of water.  Ishmael wasn’t the chosen one, so he was sent away.  As they got into the desert, out of food and out of water, Hagar laid Ishmael under a bush and then she walked a short distance away so she wouldn’t have to watch him die. 

    There are times in our lives when we may feel like we aren’t “the chosen one”.  Maybe the one you loved decided to marry someone else.  Maybe the job you thought was yours has suddenly went to someone else.  Maybe the land you farmed for years now is someone else’s.  Maybe you used to feel important and now you feel worthless and left on the sidelines watching.  There are times when we feel like we are not “the chosen one”.

    But God heard the cry of Hagar and her son and rescued them because he loved them.  God hears your cry as well.  We may feel like we are not “the chosen one” and the world will tell us we are nothing and have nothing left and nothing to offer.  The world will tell us to lie under the bush and die.  Yet God always calls out to you and offers you hope and salvation.  It may come on a form different than you wanted or wished for, but he will graciously support you.  His love for you protects you and gives you the grace to live the life of contentment that he offers to us.  We live by his mercy and He gives to us the nourishment and the sustenance that we need.

Father of mercy, your love sustains us, and we are your chosen one. You chose us to be your child.  You have redeemed us by the blood of Jesus.  We ask that you be with those who especially feel the weight of feeling left out, who feel they are not the chosen one.  Guard them with your love and give them the certainty that you have chosen them.  This we ask because of the precious blood of Jesus, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret