Proper 7
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
God has a way of humbling our pride. We consider ourselves in the Christian Church to be participants in the covenant people, chosen by God through Jesus Christ, to be the wild branches grafted into the root of Israel (cf. Romans 11:17-24), and thus heirs of all of the promises that God gave to Israel (cf. Galatians 4:4-7). As we heard last week, we are a special people, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. And that's pretty great. But lest we think we are better than anyone else, we encounter this story about Hagar and her son, Ishmael, in our Old Testament text for the morning.
As the story goes, Isaac has been born to Sarah and Abraham in their old age (Genesis 21:1-8), to begin the fulfillment of God's promise to them that they will be the forebears of many descendants. When Isaac is weaned from his mother, at about the age of three, there is great celebration.
But there is another child present in Abraham's camp who is also a descendant of Abraham -- Ishmael, the son of Abraham's slave woman Hagar. Abraham fathered Ishmael, in accordance with the law, when it was thought that Sarah was barren (cf. Genesis 16:3-4). So Ishmael is the firstborn of Abraham. But he is not the child of the promise. Isaac is.
The two boys -- Ishmael and Isaac -- play together, as children will, and when Sarah sees them, fear fills her heart. She is afraid that Ishmael, whose name is not given in this account, will become Abraham's heir instead of Isaac. She therefore orders Abraham to get rid of the slave woman and child. Actually, by custom, that is Sarah's right, but Abraham has fatherly love for Ishmael, as well as for Isaac, and he does not want to accede to Sarah's jealous wish. (Contrast this attitude with Abraham's indifference in the parallel story in Genesis 16:1-14.) God, however, speaks to Abraham and tells him to banish Hagar and her son, because God has other plans for them. Ishmael too will become the forbear of a nation, while Isaac will be Abraham's heir and the bearer of the promise.
In other words, as he does so often, God is here working out the fulfillment of his promise in circumstances that seem to us quite wrong. God uses even the jealousy and hatred and fear in the human heart to accomplish his purpose (cf. Genesis 45:4-8). He will not be deterred!
But God does not desert Hagar and Ishmael either. The Lord is, above all else, a Lord of love. Hagar is sent away from the camp in the early morning with only the most meager supply of food and water. And once those are gone and her child is crying with thirst, she places Ishmael under a bush and goes a distance away, because she cannot stand to see him die. But "Ishmael" means "God hears." And God hears the voice of the child. An angel, who represents God, opens Hagar's eyes to see a well of water, and Hagar is promised that her son will not die, but will become the father of a great nation. And from that time on, says our text, God is with Ishmael (v. 20). Indeed, Ishmael becomes the forbear of those nomads, who had herds of cattle, who wandered the fringes of settlements in the southern part of Palestine.
We are members of God's covenant people, yes. But that does not mean that God loves and favors us any more than he loves other people, of whatever race or status. God cares for all folk, and so we are to care for them, too. In fact, the status to which we are called is to be a servant people to the rest of humanity.
Lutheran Option: Jeremiah 20:7-13
This passage is one of those prayers that are known as Jeremiah's "confessions." We see the prophet in desperate straits, crying out and, in fact, accusing God of deceiving (literally, "seducing") him. God commanded Jeremiah to proclaim judgment on his sinful people in the form of attack and destruction by the armies of Babylonia. But the judgment has not come. Between the years of 604-601 B.C., Babylonia does not appear, and as a result, Jeremiah has become a laughingstock of his compatriots. "Where is the Word of the Lord?" they hoot. "Let it come!" (Jeremiah 17:15). They accuse Jeremiah of being a false prophet, which can lead to the death penalty (20:10). They curse him and openly oppose him (15:10), mimic his words (20:10; cf. v. 3) and even once subject him to beating, arrest, and a night in the stocks, where every passerby can hit him and spit on him (20:1-2). The prophet therefore accuses God of betraying him. We see from this prophet that prayer need not take the form of pious phrases, but can be uttered in open frankness and realism.
Jeremiah tries to escape his dreadful situation by shutting up God's word inside of him and not speaking, but the word is too powerful for him. It becomes, says the prophet, like a burning fire, shut up in his bones, and he cannot help but proclaim it (v. 9). The Word of God is more powerful than all human will and desire. And we see here the suffering that bearers of that word must sometimes undergo as God's servants.
This prayer has the form of what we call a "lament" in the Old Testament, a form found frequently in the Psalms (cf. Psalm 3, 5, 6, etc.). And as do most of the laments, this one switches from accusation and complaint to trust and assurance of God's help. God is with him, says the prophet, like a "dread warrior" (v. 11). That is not a term that we often use of God. But God is a warrior against sin throughout the Bible, and our prophet knows deep down in his soul that God is warring against Judah's sin. In prophetic vision, he has seen that warfare (cf. e.g. 4:5-8, 19-21, 29-31). And so Jeremiah knows he has been proclaiming a true word of judgment, and he realizes that, in the end, his persecutors will be shown wrong and shamed.
We should notice very carefully, however, that Jeremiah does not take vengeance into his own hands against his opponents and persecutors. Rather, he turns his case over to the Lord. "O Lord ... let me see thy vengeance upon them, for to thee have I committed my cause." Everything is left in God's hands, and Jeremiah can get on with the fearsome task to which his Lord has called him. God, in his time, will work out his own purpose. Jeremiah's calling is simply to be the servant of that purpose.
Jeremiah's words did prove true, of course. That is the reason we have his words preserved for us in the Old Testament -- because his words were fulfilled by God, thus vindicating Jeremiah's prophetic calling. To be sure, Jeremiah suffered for that calling. When God called him in his youth to be a prophet, he was told that he would be set against the whole land (1:18), and that was true most of his life. But anyone who resolves in faith to be a servant for the Lord necessarily takes on a role that contradicts most of the ways of a sinful society. It often is not easy to be a Christian. Nevertheless, our final assurance is that God is with us and that his powerful Word and saving purpose will prevail against all the enemies opposed to them.
As the story goes, Isaac has been born to Sarah and Abraham in their old age (Genesis 21:1-8), to begin the fulfillment of God's promise to them that they will be the forebears of many descendants. When Isaac is weaned from his mother, at about the age of three, there is great celebration.
But there is another child present in Abraham's camp who is also a descendant of Abraham -- Ishmael, the son of Abraham's slave woman Hagar. Abraham fathered Ishmael, in accordance with the law, when it was thought that Sarah was barren (cf. Genesis 16:3-4). So Ishmael is the firstborn of Abraham. But he is not the child of the promise. Isaac is.
The two boys -- Ishmael and Isaac -- play together, as children will, and when Sarah sees them, fear fills her heart. She is afraid that Ishmael, whose name is not given in this account, will become Abraham's heir instead of Isaac. She therefore orders Abraham to get rid of the slave woman and child. Actually, by custom, that is Sarah's right, but Abraham has fatherly love for Ishmael, as well as for Isaac, and he does not want to accede to Sarah's jealous wish. (Contrast this attitude with Abraham's indifference in the parallel story in Genesis 16:1-14.) God, however, speaks to Abraham and tells him to banish Hagar and her son, because God has other plans for them. Ishmael too will become the forbear of a nation, while Isaac will be Abraham's heir and the bearer of the promise.
In other words, as he does so often, God is here working out the fulfillment of his promise in circumstances that seem to us quite wrong. God uses even the jealousy and hatred and fear in the human heart to accomplish his purpose (cf. Genesis 45:4-8). He will not be deterred!
But God does not desert Hagar and Ishmael either. The Lord is, above all else, a Lord of love. Hagar is sent away from the camp in the early morning with only the most meager supply of food and water. And once those are gone and her child is crying with thirst, she places Ishmael under a bush and goes a distance away, because she cannot stand to see him die. But "Ishmael" means "God hears." And God hears the voice of the child. An angel, who represents God, opens Hagar's eyes to see a well of water, and Hagar is promised that her son will not die, but will become the father of a great nation. And from that time on, says our text, God is with Ishmael (v. 20). Indeed, Ishmael becomes the forbear of those nomads, who had herds of cattle, who wandered the fringes of settlements in the southern part of Palestine.
We are members of God's covenant people, yes. But that does not mean that God loves and favors us any more than he loves other people, of whatever race or status. God cares for all folk, and so we are to care for them, too. In fact, the status to which we are called is to be a servant people to the rest of humanity.
Lutheran Option: Jeremiah 20:7-13
This passage is one of those prayers that are known as Jeremiah's "confessions." We see the prophet in desperate straits, crying out and, in fact, accusing God of deceiving (literally, "seducing") him. God commanded Jeremiah to proclaim judgment on his sinful people in the form of attack and destruction by the armies of Babylonia. But the judgment has not come. Between the years of 604-601 B.C., Babylonia does not appear, and as a result, Jeremiah has become a laughingstock of his compatriots. "Where is the Word of the Lord?" they hoot. "Let it come!" (Jeremiah 17:15). They accuse Jeremiah of being a false prophet, which can lead to the death penalty (20:10). They curse him and openly oppose him (15:10), mimic his words (20:10; cf. v. 3) and even once subject him to beating, arrest, and a night in the stocks, where every passerby can hit him and spit on him (20:1-2). The prophet therefore accuses God of betraying him. We see from this prophet that prayer need not take the form of pious phrases, but can be uttered in open frankness and realism.
Jeremiah tries to escape his dreadful situation by shutting up God's word inside of him and not speaking, but the word is too powerful for him. It becomes, says the prophet, like a burning fire, shut up in his bones, and he cannot help but proclaim it (v. 9). The Word of God is more powerful than all human will and desire. And we see here the suffering that bearers of that word must sometimes undergo as God's servants.
This prayer has the form of what we call a "lament" in the Old Testament, a form found frequently in the Psalms (cf. Psalm 3, 5, 6, etc.). And as do most of the laments, this one switches from accusation and complaint to trust and assurance of God's help. God is with him, says the prophet, like a "dread warrior" (v. 11). That is not a term that we often use of God. But God is a warrior against sin throughout the Bible, and our prophet knows deep down in his soul that God is warring against Judah's sin. In prophetic vision, he has seen that warfare (cf. e.g. 4:5-8, 19-21, 29-31). And so Jeremiah knows he has been proclaiming a true word of judgment, and he realizes that, in the end, his persecutors will be shown wrong and shamed.
We should notice very carefully, however, that Jeremiah does not take vengeance into his own hands against his opponents and persecutors. Rather, he turns his case over to the Lord. "O Lord ... let me see thy vengeance upon them, for to thee have I committed my cause." Everything is left in God's hands, and Jeremiah can get on with the fearsome task to which his Lord has called him. God, in his time, will work out his own purpose. Jeremiah's calling is simply to be the servant of that purpose.
Jeremiah's words did prove true, of course. That is the reason we have his words preserved for us in the Old Testament -- because his words were fulfilled by God, thus vindicating Jeremiah's prophetic calling. To be sure, Jeremiah suffered for that calling. When God called him in his youth to be a prophet, he was told that he would be set against the whole land (1:18), and that was true most of his life. But anyone who resolves in faith to be a servant for the Lord necessarily takes on a role that contradicts most of the ways of a sinful society. It often is not easy to be a Christian. Nevertheless, our final assurance is that God is with us and that his powerful Word and saving purpose will prevail against all the enemies opposed to them.
