Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The Plot Thickens...




Now Sarai, Abram’s 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; go in 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, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on 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.  Genesis 16:1-6

When I read the passage above one of the first words to leap off the page is: ten years.  And all the readers of the blog said, "Really?  that is what is most interesting to you?  Oooookay."  I know that is a perhaps an interesting detail to focus on in this strange...not often discussed in our churches today passage, but stay with me.  Let's see the forest for the trees and remind ourselves of Abram's adventure.  Abram leaves his home, takes a leap of faith without nary a question or request for a destination from God.  Abram continues to trust in God but eventually finds his voice to ask God, "Um, could you let me know more about this 'child' you keep promising us?"  So God shows Abram the stars and reiterates the promise.  And then...10 years!  Is this really the way we expect God to act?  Especially in a world of text messaging and fast food diets and frenzied pace life...it taking God ten looooooong years to make good on the promise to Abram. 

And then, just to be clear, it is NOT even Sarai who gets pregnant.  I try really hard to be faithful to God.  I try hard to listen to the wisdom of waiting and the sacred practice of patience.  You can talk to me all about God's time as different from human time.  But still...10 years!  I am so with Sarai and Abram on this issue.  I know it was really Ben Franklin who said, "God helps those who help themselves" in 1757 Poor Richard's Almanac...but if God tells me something is going to happen, I can wait a day...a week...even a couple of month.  But at some point, my impatience takes over, I rationalize and justify that God must be waiting for me and I will take matters into my own hands.

Of course, when I do, I like Abram and Sarai, I can end up putting the "fun" in dysfunction!  And to be sure this is one love triangle juicier than any soap opera I would watch with my grandmother growing up.  You would almost mistake this for something from Prime Time television.  Sarai gives Abram permission to have 'relations' with her servant, Hagar.  And when Hagar conceives, Hagar looks down on Sarai.  And this awakens anger, maybe embarrassment or feelings of inadequacy, in Sarai.  So, she orders Abram to send Hagar away, but suddenly he does not want to be involved, which is oh so human!  It is complicated and reminds us that our choices have consequences.  And those consequences are most poignant in our relationships.

We can let all sorts of people or jobs or addictions become our "affairs" within our life today, breaking fidelity with those we love and care most about.  But there is actually something very important going on here.  Hagar plays more than just "the other woman" role in religion.  Our Islamic brothers and sisters trace their connection back to Abram/Abraham back through Hagar and Abram's child.  And to be clear here, there is plenty of blame to go around in this narrative.  No one is innocent and no one character should have all the fingers pointed at him/her.  Each shows what can help when we make an idol out of power or out of wanting a family or trying to force our agenda upon others.  One of the many complex and complicated reasons we turn to the idols in life is because of the promises they make us.  Instant gratification, no obligations, no rules.  Just sip or shop or have no-strings attached sex.  Andy Crouch says that all idols promise us power/fulfillment without any responsibility or accountability on our part.  And Abram and Sarai fall prey to the idol of self-reliance and sufficiency; soon realize the full weight of brokenness.

While there are many different ways to wrap up this passage, what lingers for me are two questions:
How am doing right now with waiting?
Are there competing voices in my life asking me to compromise or bow down, make an idol for the sake of my own appearance?

If I can be honest and open about my responses, I trust that there will be more than a trace of God's grace found in offering my thoughts to God and then listening for God's response!

Blessings ~

p.s.  One other note...notice that this particular passage never mentions God.  Not when Sarai hands over Hagar....not when Abram says "Okay"...not when Hagar conceives...not when Sarai gets mad...not when Abram wants to be all hands off...not one mention.  Maybe that should tell us something as well.

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