“Cold Nest Mothers”
Genesis 21:8-21
Last week we looked at the birth of Isaac (he laughed). The future looks bright for Abraham and Sarah. But there is trouble brewing between Sarah and Hagar, the mother of Abraham’s “first” child. Now there are potentially two heirs.
We can’t help but feel the pain in the story. As Sarah’s nest goes from empty to full, from barrenness to abundance, from cold to hot, Hagar’s nest has gone from hot to cold; it’s been torn apart and her fate given over to the cold of an early desert morning.
Walking the desert with her son on her shoulder, Hagar is the one we see when we watch news reports of refugee mothers fleeing war-torn countries while clutching their frightened children. We see her when we pass by single mothers trying to eke out a living in the inner city, or when we hear the story of a young and pregnant runaway lost and alone. We feel for her because we know the stories of women who have had to raise their children in a world that, regardless of its prosperity, still does not know how to care for the widow, the orphan, the outcast, the people on the margins.
On Sunday we’ll discuss the issues facing the outcast, the dispossessed, the slave. See you then. — Dave
