But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” - Genesis 21:12–13

This week our reading from Genesis shows us the messiness of life, and even in the messiness, God will show up with creative love. As much as we would hope for our life to go perfectly all the time, it just doesn’t. Sure, there are times when life is smooth sailing for a while and you feel like you are on top of the world. You think that life should always be that way. But through time and experience you learn that life just isn’t that way, but you sure wish it was. As we learn in the Bible, God never promised us an easy-going perfect life. Yet sometimes we wish it would be just a little easier. 

In the reading from Genesis this week, Hagar is a slave woman, an Egyptian woman, and she is used to help Sarah and Abraham achieve their dream of having children. In those times, Abraham and Sarah were within their rights to use her in this way, but of course we question a culture where that is OK. The baby, Ishmael, grew as did Hagar’s status and Sarah’s resentment. Sarah ends up kicking Hagar and Ishmael out from their family’s house and sending them out into the wilderness. Abraham is bothered by this, but not enough to stop this from happening.  Abraham gives food and water to Hagar before he sends them out. Eventually, the food and water run out and Hagar is worried Ishmael is going to die. Messy, right?!

Then an extraordinary thing happens. God appears to Hagar. God hears the cry of her child and the God who hears human suffering responds with a promise of nation building and a well of water. 

God surprises Abraham and Sarah with the promise of a child, and God makes the same promise to a slave from Egypt. God said to Abraham, “For it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.”

God will show up in the messiness of life as creative love and power even, and especially, to the least among us. Amen.