The God Who Sees: Hagar in the Desert

[Applause] thanks Mike and you guys gonna latch back down and just relax at this point so I'm just so happy to be with you all this morning I love you you were my church family and we're gonna impact an exciting story so if you've been with us for the last seven or actually way more than weeks several months we've been unpacking the acts of the Holy Spirit through the apostles and today it's gonna mark a pause in that series for the next seven weeks we're gonna take a look as we approach Easter during the season of Lent the God who sees so we're gonna look at themes of seeing seeing each other letting ourselves be seen or not be seen how we see God how we see ourselves and I think that a perfect starting point for us today is gonna be with Hagar she represents a story that is all about the God who sees us these are hurts our hearts our hopes our brokenness our longings are suffering sees it all even in the dark and God says arm is wide open I love you I'm not I'm not going anywhere so if you'll turn me to chapter 16 Genesis chapter 16 how many of you are familiar with Hagar story a couple of you actually it's pretty good but it wasn't until I first went to seminary that this story was unpacked for me and a little deeper of a way and it was kind of powerful for me some way to just listen listen in to Hagar story to us Genesis chapter 16 now Sarai Abrams wife bore him no children she had an Egyptian slave girl whose name was Hagar and Sarai said to Abram you see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children going to my slave girl it may be that I shall obtain children by her and Abram listened to the voice of Sarai so after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan Sarai Abrams wife took Hagar the Egyptian her slave girl and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife he went into Hagar and she conceived and when she saw that she had conceived she looked with contempt on her mistress then sir I said Abram made the wrong done to me beyond you I gave my slave girl to your embrace and when she saw that she had conceived she looked on me with contempt may the Lord judge between you and me but Abram said to Sarai your slave girl is in your power do to her as you please then Sarai dealt harshly with her and she ran away from her the usual the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness the spring on the way - sure and he said Hagar slave girl of Sarai where have you come from and where are you going she said I am running away from my mistress Sarai the easel the Lord said to her return to your mistress and submit to her the angel of the Lord also said to her I will so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted from multitude and the angel of the Lord said to her now you have conceived and shall bear a son you shall call him Ishmael for the Lord has given heed to your affliction he shall be a wild ass of a man with his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him and he shall live at odds with all his kin so she named the Lord who spoke to her you are el Rahim for she said have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him there for the well was called Beryl Ajira he it lies between Kadesh and bread Hagar bore Abram a son and Abram named his son whom Hagar bore Ishmael Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael my friends this is the reading of God's Word thanks be to God kind of an interesting story huh like I said it wasn't until I really was in an Old Testament class in seminary unpacking the significance of the story that it really struck me deeply I think for some of us if you hear a Hagar story you're kind of like what come again it's not really a popular story that we hear in Sunday school right for obvious reasons but it just hit me because there's this part where the slave girl gives the name to God she says you are el rahi el rahi the God who sees me I want you to say el rahi one more time like you mean it oh right he that God who sees me now I don't know about you but I have some mixed emotions of being seen some good some not so good I have to think about my childhood and I have these feelings of really not being seen as a kid and it makes sense I was three or four kids I lost my dad when I was four years old my mom was kind of buried in her grief and so it makes sense that I may not have had eyes on me at all times but I remember this one instance at a wedding actually like a big 1980s wedding being put on a table and being like sing they were told they told me to sing sing something from Annie all eyes on me I'm not gonna do it it's tempting nope not gonna the Sun all just kidding so so as a kid that was great that was great but as as I reflect on this as an adult it kind of reiterated that you've got to do something you've got to entertain me or perform for me to see you now I don't know about you but you might have some mixed reactions to being seen to when you think about your childhood what comes up for you where you seem did you feel invisible what about now in your current context do you feel seen really seen by other people here your church family what about by God do you feel seen by God now I believe that God has a lot to say to us today about being seen particularly through Hagar story it's a story about being seen isn't it it's about the person least likely to be seen in her culture a person that would have been overlooked completely and yet that's the person the slave the foreigner the outcast the unworthy one who is seen by God so let's go back to the story Genesis 16 who was Hagar she was a woman obviously she was Egyptian so in Canaan she was she would've been a foreigner she was a slave and you really can't get much lower than that socially unless you want to throw in like leprosy or something ultimately she's powerless even over her her own body as we will later see with Sarai and how she gets treated in the previous chapter chapter 15 we read about this covenant this beginning of this covenant exchange between God and Abram and they're promised many descendants and so it makes sense Soraya's growing a little impatient decides to take matters into her own hands to move things along and that's where she brings in her slave girl now it's important to note that this type of arrangement would not have been abnormal for the ancient world this was the sound to us like what is going on here but this would have been very normal because for women this was a huge shame if you could not have children there was nothing worse so we're talking a little bit more about being seen in conceiving Sarah's plan worked but then the relational dynamics begin to kind of unravel Hagar begins to view Sarai differently so the text says sir I became slight in Hagar sized Hagar's perception of Sarai diminishes right we see this hierarchical reordering takes place like I'm worthy I've got value I'm preggers however sir I will not have it and then we read this accusatory dialogue which some of you kind of chuckled at right it doesn't make sense what are you getting so mad about it's not Abraham's fault it's your fault keep in mind that the word used here for how Sarai treats Hagar she's given this green light to treat her harshly the same Hebrew word is used to describe how the Egyptians treated the Israelites when they were in bondage this was oppression this was abuse this was severe and it was so bad in fact this pregnant foreign slave girl decides to hightail it to the wilderness because that's a better option than this and it's in this place in this wilderness in this desert that she has seen by God and both are given a new name so let's explore this first point hope is found and being seen hope is found in being seen I hope you're taking notes and if you're not a note taker start being a note taker today hope is found to being seen take a look at verse 7 the angel of the Lord found her found her not simply appeared to her showed up the word found what does it imply it implies a searching a looking for maybe something lost Hagar has found remember we're not talking about more we're talking about more than just being noticed or acknowledged here it's something it's something for God to say I see you playing hide-and-seek but it's another thing for God to say I've been looking for you and I see you God's pursuit of Hagar was a search in order to be known we hear this in the way that God addresses her verse 8 Hagar stop Hagar she's called by her name for the first time in our text did you catch that abram and sarai had yet to utter her actual name simply referring to her a slave girl creating this distance from her as a human being reiterating this relational void between them what she was to them an object for their use a means to an end however here she has an identity her personhood is restored the seeing wasn't solely in God finding her it was also in calling her name hagar do we know each other's names here do you know the person that greeted you it's powerful if we know each other's names right you see we're here alie Charlotte Andrew Payton Caitlin Willis Suzie I'm making names up now it's powerful when when people remember our names right but we kind of don't expect them to in our culture like when you meet somebody you're like hi I'm it kind of just trails off we don't we don't remember like immediately when you meet somebody hi I'm blank but it's shocking right when somebody remembers your name the first time like after they've met you once it's kinda like oh you remember my name names are powerful the god of the universe knows her this foreign slave girl and calls her by her name this is an important aspect to feeling seen isn't it and God goes even further listen to the questions God asks her where are you going and where are you coming from where are you going and where are you coming from this is incredible God takes a moment to ask her about her life where are you going what's your story what's your hope god surely knew the answer to these questions and yet he inquires anyway and we see this same thing modeled in the life of Jesus over and over again Jesus was always probing people with questions what do you want me to do for you what's your name do you want to be healed who are you looking for because friends isn't there something powerful about voicing your suffering your experience your celebrations that helps you feel seen God knows this there's this relational connection this exchange of speaking and having somebody hear you and listen and God gives space to her story today some of us might desire to feel seen but maybe on a surface level kind of way we don't want to be seen or looked at or we want to be seen or looked at in like the best light you know like the sunset golden glow lighting like that's good let me be seen in that lighting let me project a certain image of myself but don't even think about five am overhead fluorescent lighting like I gotta take my mouth guard out and have a cup of coffee who are my mouth guard people be seen be seen get the hand up there right like I knew Mike loved me when he saw I was like I wear a mouthguard it was too late we were married so no backing out now but I'm gonna do something okay I want us to practice something right now okay and it might be a little bit uncomfortable can you lock the doors JT lock those doors no one is leaving you know what participate with me and this will be over really fast okay this is gonna be one minute I want you to pair up right now pair up pair up with somebody turn towards each other do it 100% participation find somebody Jason come on find somebody let's go quickly now I want you to look at each other in the eye the faster you you find a partner the faster this will be over okay ready hold on look each other in the eye now this is not a staring contest you're allowed to blink okay but look at each other in the eye and eye here's the thing I don't want you looking at noses or hair or a cheeks like really look at each other in the eyes okay for 15 seconds you're holding this 15 to hold on I haven't counted down yet people are stopping is somebody making out okay no no no hold on okay so look at each other here we go I'm counting us down quietly silence 15 seconds don't look away hold it and start and seen oh my goodness how did that feel right I'm getting a clap back there was that weird is that weird al' uncomfortable somebody was about to kiss if you were single you're welcome you may have just met your new spouse or your future spouse did anybody whisper I see you in a creepy way I thought I saw that happen but some of us have such resistance to this don't we oh and we weren't even talking yet we weren't even sharing our stories yet we were just holding eye contact we really don't do this that often even with those were close to Mike was telling me he does this with marital counseling spouses often don't even look each other in the eye it's powerful and I have found this time and time again to be true that when somebody is telling me something about their life their struggles and experience that it's this space of holding eye contact that often precedes tears walls koalas get broken down because there's something powerful about seeing and being seen I'm Bob so good don't look away don't look away it takes courage every day of our lives we have the opportunity to be seen or to hide we're confronted with the temptation to run back to those counterfeit safe places of busyness and consumerism and screen time and I got to buy this and but if we find that if we don't retreat we put down our phones we log off we enter in believing that we were made for more will find that truly being seen and seeing the other is exactly what we were made for I love this quote tell me your story and I'll tell you mine you bring the bread and I'll bring the wine you said it you said it people Presbyterians Oh No you tell me your story I'll tell you mine you bring the bread and I'll bring the wine or if it's LA it's like vegan gluten-free pizza and celery juice which I don't know why celery juice is such a thing so somebody can tell me that afterwards but that sounds kind of good actually if it's my house it's tacos and margaritas so marry back up so make the plot at bat thank you thank MN but Hagar in the worst of circumstances found hope hope and being seen by God a God who found her who called her by name and asked questions about her life Hagar found hope and being seen and Hagar found hope in a name imagine skipping a page Hagar found hope in a name yes we know that Hagar called that God called Hagar her by her name but then something amazing happens here God gives Hagar a new name no he doesn't change Hagar into Hagar ahem like we see later in chapter 17 of Genesis at Abram and Sarai get their names changed Abraham and Sarah but instead God names her future names her hope by naming her son verse 11 you shall call him Ishmael do you know what Ishmael means it literally means God hears God hears the significance of this name for this ancient woman would have been huge the one who society has silenced the one lower than low the one with no power no voice hears this name Ishmael God hears now he proceeds to lay out a rather interesting description about Ishmael but this is a response into what he's heard he will be a wild ass of a man he'll be untamable for us today we might be like that sounds a little harsh like I don't know if I want to be described that way or have a son that's gonna be described that way but for this woman to hear these words this description about her son would have been huge her son would not share the same fate as his mother he would be no slave he would be oppressed by no one he would be strong outspoken unbridled that brought hope for her that brought a future for her now if you noticed back in verse 8 God asks her two questions did anybody pick up that she answered just one question she didn't answer answer the second question the second question was where are you going and she doesn't answer this because she has envisioned no future I don't have hope for the future I don't know where I'm going I don't even know if I will make it through the day hearing the name Ishmael brought hope tremendous hope for her future imagine Hagar in this moment stunned by this exchange God has given her a future it would make perfect sense if she were speechless or like uttered some thanks or you know busted out and some praise but instead Hagar does something that's very rare in the scriptures she gives God a name she gives God a name you are el rahi you are the god sees me you see me I imagine that for years Hagar probably didn't name God that she probably had so many names forgot that didn't conjure up hope but in this divine meeting she finally sees she's given new sight a new perspective a new vision for who God really is the God who sees me and I recognize that for some of you today you might have another name for God that doesn't reflect much hope the God who's disappointed in me the God who is angry at me the God who is silent the God who doesn't see me the God who delays who is distant on and on but maybe you've been given a false identity about who you are unlovable a failure a fraud overlooked never good enough and so in turn you've given God that false identity but let me remind you this morning Friends of who God is Prince of Peace everlasting father mighty God the God who sees you and the God who calls you by name like Hagar you are seen by God God hears your story and has hope for you and that help begins in a name for you beloved one who is deeply loved by God child daughter son yes hope is found in the seeing and hope is found in the naming of who God calls you to be one who is unconditionally unwaveringly eternally loved we need to constantly from each other about the truth of our identity and that's why we're always talking about and preaching about it because we're so quick to forget this core thing about who we are you are seen by God God knows you God hears you and he has a hope and a future for you my hope for us as a community this lent season and beyond is that we would see each other really see each other hear each other's stories be a safe place and we would look out for people who might not feel seen who might feel invisible that we would go after and find them and see them and remind them of who they are we can start by these two basic questions that God gives us where have you come from and where are you going or said another way what is your story what hope do you have friends people don't remember their best day online or their best day watching TV I mean it some of you do the marvelous miss Mazal it's a good one people don't remember those things they remember deep connection they remember a really good conversation where they felt seen and heard they remember you and let me tell you something if you feel seen by God right now and I know some of you do that is a gift and you know what your job is now to make sure that the person in front of you and behind you and beside you feel that they are seen by God that is your job and my job the good news is this that God sees you that God hears you that God knows you and has a hope and a future for you and for Hagar her hope was in a name Ishmael that name promised her future a future worth living for the friends our hope our hope is in another name isn't it our hope is in the name that isn't above above every other name Jesus Jesus God who saves and at that name every tongue will confess every knee will bow Jesus is Lord will you pray with me God you are health right here the God who sees you see you see it all and you still call us beloved you still call us to your embrace and to your hope god I pray that we would know deeply as we leave today that we are seen truly seen and deeply loved by you and God help us give us the courage to really see each other to not look away to enter in too deep an authentic community god I pray as our head to the pillow tonight that this would still resound in our hearts and in our minds that you see us that you love us and that you have a hope in a future for all of us we ask this in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit amen

Channel: Bel Air Church

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Id: Q6Gx7DWDOjY

Length: 29min 14sec (1754 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 01 2020