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God of All People
From Genesis 21:8-21: The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac." The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. 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." So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, "Do not let me look on the death of the child." And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him." Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
The Bible is filled with real people, scars, warts, and all. No one in the Bible, save Jesus, is perfect. The Bible paints an honest picture of the human condition. Today's story is an example of that. The father of the faith, Abraham has had two sons. One through his slave woman, Hagar, at the urging of his wife, Sarah. The child is Ismael. Abraham had a second son, Isaac, from Sarah. The children are growing together and playing together, but it is Sarah who is uncomfortable with the arrangement she has made for herself, and orders Abraham to send away Ismael and his mother. Abraham is distressed at this order but complies after God tells him that things will be okay with Hagar and Ismael, even with the promise that a nation will be made from Ismael. And off they are sent. Re-read the story to see the conditions Hagar and Ismael suffer together.
From Ismael have come the Arab people. From Isaac have come the Jewish people. Same father, two sons whose nations have come to hate each other bitterly. The situation in the Middle East has these biblical roots of a shared father, who chose one over the other. Of course, not all Arabic people hate Jews, and not all Jews hate the Arabic people; but the majority have been raised in a culture of distrust and anger towards the other. Both claim the promised land as their own, and whatever land the Jewish people occupy today is claimed by the other side. The two have separate religions and both of their holy books name Abraham as father. And that may be the only agreement between the two nations. The aspect and nature of God is different and people argue whether Yahweh and Allah are the same God.
On this we should agree, that God is indeed the God of all people. We credit God with our creation and the creation of all things and that includes all people. Whatever differences, skin color, cultural differences, histories, etc. we may have, we should seek the common ground of a belief in a God that loves us all. We are the ones who should work towards peace in our hearts towards others and a shared world where we can live peaceably with each other. The peace of Christ should be the peace for which we strive. And the love of Christ should be what we share with each other. Common ground should be what we tread on for life is too short to fill it with violence and hate. Our places of worship should be the breeding ground for love and harmony. Every heart should have room for love for all people, especially those that no one else loves.
PRAYER: Loving God, for years we have sung the hymn, "Let there be peace on earth," and we forget that included in those words are those that say, "and let it begin in me." May it be so. May today be the day when I finally have that peace that allows me to love all people in the way You love us. May it be so. In Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
