This sermon was given during one of
the Women’s Ministries/Shepherdess meetings at the 2005 GC Session in
TRANSFORMED BY GRACE FOR
HIS GLORY
By Gabriela Profeta-Phillips
Theme: God’s Transforming Power
Call to Worship: #705,
Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, I Will Exalt You, My God the King
Opening
Song: #15, Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal,
My Maker and My King
Closing
Song: #341, Seventh-day Adventist
Hymnal, To God Be the Glory
Scripture: various passages in Genesis
This sermon was
originally given on
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Transformed by Grace for His Glory
By
Gabriela Profeta-Phillips
It was September 2003 and I was in
The train made its wary way through the
dry desert, slowly traversing the brown arid wasteland. Above, the sun burned
hotly filling the vast empty space with its searing rays. Everything was ablaze
under it, and the heat enveloped everyone in a sickly drowsiness, increasing
the feeling of heavy weariness…
Life itself seemed sluggish, like the mirage
that gleamed on the far horizons.
All the way out the wheels kept up their
song which reverberated in each passenger’s head: Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar,
He is the Almighty, Glory be to him! God is the Greatest.
Next to me, sat a young mother of three,
her eyes were the very picture of pain and endurance. Her face was dark brown,
and the black kohl on her eyes had been smeared by tears and sweat. On her arms
laid a restless bundle of several layers that contained a baby, My heart sank
when I saw two huge black eyes which seemed attached to his tiny face by
invisible wires. They appeared motionless, as if fixed on scene of horror.
I could not bear the scene, with a quick
glance I reviewed the expression of the other passengers, I needed to see
something that could distract me from those baby eyes that kept hunting
me. But I only saw the thread of
suffering that knights together the untold pain of many hearts…
God, how can you endure the sight of this
intolerable and bleak existence? Where are you that I cannot hear you?- I cried
out. But God was in that train all
along, and I did not know it, no wonder I heard later on someone in the crowd
say bismillah al rahman, al rahim… (in the name of God the merciful and
compassionate).
In the same land, among the same people
(the children of the East) but in another time, someone else called to God and
He actually came down to the Egyptian desert and displayed His glory.
Her name was Hagar (Hajar in Arabic) and
she is the beloved “Mother” of the Arab people.
This morning, we will attempt to retrieve part her life story from a
chapters of Genesis and consider God’s way of counteracting the human drama of
suffering and pain.
Outside the tent is dark, the desert
breeze begins to sift through the bare hills; inside the silence is stifling
until finally Sarah gets her courage to deliver her plan. “So Sarai said to Abram, ‘See now, the Lord has restrained
me from bearing children. Please, go into my maid; perhaps I shall be built up
from her’” (Gn
(Note that is not until (Genesis
Before this night, Hagar was in Abram’s
household just a presence, but where others saw simply a slave, Sarah saw a
reliable woman upon which her family could be built. A royal family for a brand new nation to
fulfill God’s designs.
An so it happened, and Hagar became
Abram’s surrogate wife (Gn 16: 3-4) “then Sarai, Abram’s wife took Hagar her
maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife…”. “So he
went into Hagar, and she conceived. And
we she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became little before her eyes
(literal translation from the Hebrew by Maalouf).
Here we have now two women competing for
the same slot… Hagar is no longer a simple maid, she has gained a new respect
as the mother of the long awaited child of Abraham, and it is not surprising
that her barren old mistress does not seems so powerful and important after
all. Sarah’s image has diminished in the
eyes of Hagar.
Sarah feels betrayed; she no longer
enjoys Abram undivided attention. The narrative of this story is rather limited
and we are asked to fill the blanks…without loosing sight of the real issues:
progeny, shame, polygamy and God’s provision and faithfulness.
The relation is clearly deteriorating,
and Abram keeps himself detached and does not respond to the accusation of
being responsible for the crisis. Gn 16 “My wrong be upon you”. In what seems
an act of desperation, Sarah calls the Lord to arbitrate “The Lord judge between
you and me” she said in verse 5.
Abram, perhaps in an attempt to reaffirm
his wife, puts Hagar (his wife’s maid) under her hand to do as she pleases
(verse 6). And when Sarah dealt with her harshly, Hagar fled from her presence.
Sarah afflicts Hagar, the term used here conveys the idea of bringing someone
under control by means of harsh treatment that might involve physical and
psychological abuse.
The same verb is used to refer to the
Egyptian oppression of the Israelites later on and just like the Israelites
find refuge in the desert later on, Hagar also finds her way out of oppression
in the desert.
So, this abused refugee is now homeless,
pregnant and aimlessly running into the merciless desert. Is anyone watching?
Will her name be buried forever under the sand? Three thousand years later,
Hagar unresolved issues are still very relevant today, especially in some
countries of the
Now the Angel of the Lord searches for
Hagar, and finds her in the desert, by a spring of water. It is interesting that the Bible is
constantly sending people into the desert for redemption, because it’s there,
away from the ease of settled life, far removed from man made shelters that
they turn to God for sustenance.
God then asks her “Hagar, Sarah’s maid,
where are you coming from and where are you going? (verse 8). The Lord calls
her by name, and yet reminds her of her low position and of the fact that she
is still accountable to Sarah… Hagar can only respond to half of the
questions. She knows here is she coming
from: she is running from unbearable presence of her mistress, but where is she
going, she does not know… Perhaps at this stage, it does not really matter!
So the Angel of the Lord, who Hagar later
recognizes to be no other than God himself, sends her back under the oppressive
hand of Sarah and commands her to submit to her!
Back into servitude, just now that she
was starting to experience the sweetness of freedom! Did He know what she had
to endure? So, how can he expect her to willingly return?
His words pierced her soul, there were
not promises of soothing Sarah’s heart; or of protection coming from Abram. She
had to return in the same circumstances she had fled and accept defeat under
her heavy handed mistress once again. Have you ever try to flee from pain and
yet sent back to endure again the unbearable presence of your boss, prtner,
mother in law or husband?
And yet Hagar submits herself to God and
becomes the first and only person who names God: “You are the God who sees Me”.
The God of the Hebrews could be heard and like the gods of her land
Doesn’t this sound as the jubilant
expression of a joyful heart that is moved to worship? You are the God who sees
Me.
But, what has Hagar seen that give her
the strength to submissively go back? While it is true that God has not changed
her external circumstances, it is true that God’s has changed something inside of
her and her heart is at peace. Only fountains of blessings, can empower a
person to raise above his/ her circumstances and be free even under bondage. In
the Bible there several examples of people who drew strength, wisdom and power
after having been exposed to the glory of God: Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Mary and
Paul, just to mention a few…
Let’s turn to the Bible again to find out
how each prediction made by the angel was meant to comfort Hagar.…
The angel of the Lord also said to her:
"You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in front of his
brothers."
First, in this first annunciation, God
names Hagar’s baby. His name was going
to be a perpetual reminder through the ages that God hears, that his heart is
moved by the suffering of even a simple slave. She was wasn’t going back empty
handed; now everybody will know (including Sarah) that God had come down to
meet with Hagar. That He had attentive ears and therefore, everyone was
accountable before a God who hears and acts.
Second, God tells to this slave, that her
son will not be subject to anyone, free. We do not have time to go deeper,
because today to refer to someone as a wild donkey would be taken as an
offense. But in the Bible, the traits of a donkey are associated with: strong
will, living in the desert, and it is given to him by God. Freedom and nomadic
life, and the one who scorns civilization.
Third, Ishmael, will not only be free but
able to fight against those who want to subdue him. His hand will be against
everyone and everyone's hand against him. Hand represents power, God is here
reversing Hagar’s powerlessness. She has to submit herself under Sarah’s hand
but her son will not be under the hand of anyone.
Fourth,
Ishamel, before Hagar ever knew that her son would not inherit with
Isaac, the Lord was already pointing to her which was going to be her son’s
dwelling place. Hagar was fleeing from the presence of Sarah, and yet her son
would dwell in the presence of her brothers.
Today, just like in the past, God
hears. And when we allow God to shows us
his glory, who He is, his presence changes us, regardless our circumstances.
Jesus before departing promised us the presence of the Comforter to walk us
through the valleys of shadows and suffering without fear.
God is most certainly Merciful and
Compassionate. God hears, and acts… God
condescend with the low and comes down to find them wherever they might be
stranded. And this is Hagar message, not only for the desert dwellers, but for
the whole world. A message that moves people to worship.
If
only we could reflect God’s mercy and compassion in our daily affairs, how many
more would feel compel to give glory to God!
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