Service sheet, with readings and links to hymns
An image stuck in my head after I read the readings for today. The image was of the woman Hagar being in the desert, having left her son, Ishmael, to die of thirst because she had run out of water. They had been banished and were in search of a new home, but they were out in the middle of the desert and the wilderness, and she expected certain death for them both. The image that stuck in my head was of Hagar, grief-stricken and anxious, afraid that both she and Ishmael would die. And she weeps. Seemingly in her tears she is praying to God.
Apparently she is not the only one praying. And angel from heaven calls to Hagar. And as most angels do, this one says, “Do not be afraid, Hagar.” Angels, messengers from God, always say this: “Do not be afraid.” And then the angel tells Hagar that God has heard the voice of the boy. Ishmael must have been praying also. Basically, the angel tells her not to fear, because God will make a great nation of Ishmael: many peoples will be descended from him. (And so it comes to pass: Ishmael is considered to be the forefather of the Arabs, just as Abraham’s son with his wife, Sarah, is the forefather of the Jews.)
And then another interesting thing happens. God opens the eyes of Hagar, the Bible tells us, and she sees a well of water. She and Ishmael now have enough to drink. They will live.
So the question comes to mind: Was the well always there, and Hagar just did not see it? Or did God suddenly make a well appear in the wilderness where there had not been one before, so that Hagar and Ishmael will have enough water?
I have had experiences like this — nothing so dramatic as being saved from dying from thirst in a desert. But suddenly feeling like my eyes have been opened, and I see a solution to a problem that I had not seen before. It is like seeing something that has been there all along, but I did not see it before. Did God suddenly make something appear that was not actually there before, or did God open my eyes so that I could finally see it? And, did God open my mind and my heart so that I could recognize that a solution was right there before me?
Does it really matter? What really matters is God’s care for his people. What matters with Hagar is that God watched out for Hagar and Ishmael and the water was there, so that they could drink, and live. What really matters is that God heard their prayers and their pleas for help.
That image of Hagar, anxious in the desert, that stuck in my head reminded me of much of life in the modern world. Mind you, these are completely different scenarios: an Egyptian slave-woman cast into the Middle Eastern desert with her twelve-or-so-year-old son, thirsty and afraid of death, and we who live in the modern world, with all the modern conveniences. But anxiety is anxiety, no matter where or when we live. Anxiety has a strong element of fear to it: fear of the unknown, fear of what we think is about to happen, fear that life will never be better, worry about the future.
Jesus, talking to his disciples, also tells them not to be afraid. It’s important to know what is happening here. Jesus has just commissioned his twelve disciples — those closest to him — to go out into the surrounding countryside to heal the sick and cast out demons and to tell people about the kingdom of God. He is giving them instructions, telling them what it will be like. It will not be easy. He has already told them they must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. He says here that because they follow him, their own family members might turn away from them. But he reminds them that God cares for them. God cares for the sparrows, but, he says, “you are of more value than many sparrows,” and, “even the hairs of your head are all counted.” God knows you and cares for you.
Hagar is venturing into the unknown: banished with her son into the desert, anxious whether they will even survive, uncertain what the future will hold. Jesus’ disciples are venturing into a countryside they might know, but with a completely different task from what they had known before, uncertain how they will be received, not knowing whether they are equal to the task ahead of them. It is a good recipe for anxiety in either case.
But in both cases, the message is, “Do not be afraid.” Do not worry. God is with us.
It is the same message to us. Truth be told, we are always venturing into the unknown, especially these days. As followers of Christ, sent out into the world to do his work, we will always run into situations we had not anticipated, we will always need God’s help with what we encounter. So, Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.” God is with us. Trust that God can open our eyes and our minds and hearts to see solutions where the road before us seems blocked, giving us water in the desert.