Bible Text: Gene\u00adsis 16 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Mat\u00adthi\u00adas Alt\u00adwegg | Series: Like you and me | Hagar had to stand in as a slave for Sarah, the wife of Abra\u00adham, becau\u00adse she could not have child\u00adren. When she was pregnant, the two women had a cat\u00adfight, so Hagar fled into the desert. The\u00adre she met an angel who told her to hum\u00adble hers\u00adelf and go back. Hagar cal\u00adled the Lord who had spo\u00adken to her El Roi \u2013 God who sees me. Becau\u00adse she recei\u00adved kudos from God, she was able to go back to the emo\u00adtio\u00adnal wreckage.<\/p>\n
\tWhat do you think of the beha\u00adviour of Abram and Sarai? What do you think about Hagar? Bible Text: Gene\u00adsis 16 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Mat\u00adthi\u00adas Alt\u00adwegg | Series: Like you and me | Hagar had to stand in as a slave for Sarah, the wife of Abra\u00adham, becau\u00adse she could not have child\u00adren. When she was pregnant, the two women had a cat\u00adfight, so Hagar fled into the desert. The\u00adre she met an angel who\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[23],"wpfc_sermon_series":[63],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-matthias-altwegg","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-wie-du-und-ich","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-2865","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"hentry","10":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nHave you ever sworn that you would never come back to this place? May\u00adbe to a work\u00adplace whe\u00adre you were bul\u00adlied, or a hor\u00adri\u00adble fami\u00adly whe\u00adre you did shore duty, or a per\u00adson who hurt you deep\u00adly? The\u00adre are even peo\u00adp\u00adle who have left their fami\u00adly with the deter\u00admi\u00adna\u00adti\u00adon never to have cont\u00adact with the\u00adse peo\u00adp\u00adle again. The phra\u00adse \u00abthe table\u00adcloth is cut\u00bb expres\u00adses the defi\u00adni\u00adte decision.
\nBitch alert
\nIn Gene\u00adsis 16 we meet Hagar, a woman who finds hers\u00adelf in a hope\u00adl\u00adess situa\u00adti\u00adon. Sarai, the wife of the patri\u00adarch Abram, does not beco\u00adme pregnant, alt\u00adhough God has pro\u00admi\u00adsed her a child. She waits and waits \u2013 and even\u00adtual\u00adly loses pati\u00adence. She has \u2013 as we so often do \u2013 a bet\u00adter idea of how God can get to his goal. \u00abThen Sarai said to Abram, \u00abThe Lord has not given me child\u00adren. You sleep with my slave girl. Per\u00adhaps I can have child\u00adren through her.\u00bb Abram agreed\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 16:2 NL<\/span>). In well-hee\u00adled cir\u00adcles at that time, it was cus\u00adto\u00adma\u00adry for a wife to send one of her slave girls to her husband\u2019s bed if he was child\u00adless. She then bears a child that belongs to her mistress. Hagar, Sara\u2019s maid, makes hers\u00adelf available. She actual\u00adly beco\u00admes pregnant and thus a sur\u00adro\u00adga\u00adte mother for Sarah and Abraham.
\nIf you are fasci\u00adna\u00adted by jui\u00adcy scan\u00addals, you only need to turn to the Bible: \u00abBitch alert in the house of Abra\u00adham\u00bb could be the head\u00adline. The\u00adre is a lot of \u00abhuma\u00adni\u00adty\u00bb in the patriarch\u2019s tents. Pre\u00adsu\u00adma\u00adb\u00adly, the slave girl Hagar was brought back from Egypt as boo\u00adty after Abra\u00adham had made an ing\u00adlo\u00adrious detour the\u00adre. She is an out\u00adsi\u00adder. \u00abWhen Hagar rea\u00adli\u00adsed she was pregnant, she des\u00adpi\u00adsed her mistress Sarai\u00bb (v4b NL<\/span>). With her pregnan\u00adcy, this woman sud\u00adden\u00adly has a trump card against her mistress, who, it seems, does not like to tole\u00adra\u00adte threa\u00adtening com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adti\u00adon. Both women are com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly over\u00adwhel\u00admed with their situa\u00adti\u00adon. Sparks fly! One can well ima\u00adgi\u00adne the teasing: Hagar proud\u00adly car\u00adri\u00ades her gro\u00adwing bel\u00adly in front of her and gives Sarai dis\u00adpa\u00adra\u00adging looks, along the lines of: \u00abI can do some\u00adthing you can\u2019t!\u00bb
\n\u00abThen Sarai reproa\u00adched Abram: \u00abThis is all your fault! Now that my slave girl is pregnant, I am des\u00adpi\u00adsed by her. Yet I gave her to you as a wife. Let the Lord be judge bet\u00adween you and me!\u00bb Abram repli\u00aded: \u00abShe is your slave. Do with her as you see fit.\u00bb But when Sarai dealt harsh\u00adly with her, Hagar ran away\u00bb (vv.5+6 NL<\/span>). Hagar blows the fuse and takes flight. And now the situa\u00adti\u00adon beco\u00admes cri\u00adti\u00adcal: she has taken the child with her, the heir who does not belong to her but to Abram and Sarai.
\nDesert experience
\nA woman who mar\u00adches a day\u2019s jour\u00adney into this desert has no inten\u00adti\u00adon of coming back. If Hagar were to return, the death penal\u00adty pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly awai\u00adted her. Not only did she refu\u00adse to work, but she also took the child with her into the abyss. She is finis\u00adhed. But the\u00adre is one thing Hagar did not reck\u00adon with: that God has his fin\u00adgers in this bit\u00adter con\u00adflict. The ten\u00adder\u00adness with which God meets Hagar is deep\u00adly moving. The despe\u00adra\u00adte slave almost can\u00adnot belie\u00adve that none other than the God of Abra\u00adham pur\u00adsues her and cat\u00adches up with her, of all things, at the lowest point of her life. \u00abThe angel of the Lord found Hagar in the desert bes\u00adi\u00adde the spring on the road to Shur\u00bb (v.7 NL<\/span>).
\nDesert times have it all. In desert times, God accom\u00adplishes things that he can\u00adnot accom\u00adplish in the midst of the noi\u00adse and dis\u00adtrac\u00adtions of our nor\u00admal dai\u00adly lives. God loves to meet peo\u00adp\u00adle who are in the bar\u00adren\u00adness of a desert. That is why it is so important that we regu\u00adlar\u00adly retre\u00adat into the desert. By doing so, we give God the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to work on our character.
\nThe angel asks Hagar a simp\u00adle ques\u00adti\u00adon on God\u2019s behalf: \u00abHagar, slave of Sarai, whe\u00adre have you come from and whe\u00adre are you going?\u00bb (v.8a NL<\/span>). Isn\u2019t it inte\u00adres\u00adt\u00ading what kind of ques\u00adti\u00adons God some\u00adti\u00admes asks? \u00abWhe\u00adre are you, Adam?\u00bb, \u00abWhe\u00adre is your brot\u00adher, Cain?\u00bb, \u00abWhat do you want me to do for you?\u00bb, \u00abWhat are you doing here, Eli\u00adjah?\u00bb \u2026 God asks ques\u00adti\u00adons \u2013 not becau\u00adse he needs infor\u00adma\u00adti\u00adon, but becau\u00adse we need infor\u00adma\u00adti\u00adon about our\u00adsel\u00adves. The first ques\u00adti\u00adon is ans\u00adwe\u00adred by Hagar hers\u00adelf: \u00abI am fle\u00ade\u00ading from my mistress Sarai\u00bb (v.8b). What is inte\u00adres\u00adt\u00ading is what is not in this ans\u00adwer. If I were as hurt as she is, I would pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly burst with anger at this point: \u00abThat stu\u00adpid cow! If you knew how she trea\u00adted me! The ungra\u00adteful crea\u00adtu\u00adre!\u00bb Not a trace of any of that. Only the admis\u00adsi\u00adon of being on the run. No accu\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adons, no insi\u00adnua\u00adtions, no urge to get rid of her side of the sto\u00adry, no vic\u00adtim\u00adhood. Are\u00adn\u2019t we always bla\u00adming the others or the circumstances?
\nGod does not pity them eit\u00adher. He ans\u00adwers his second ques\u00adti\u00adon, \u00abWhe\u00adre are you going?\u00bb hims\u00adelf: \u00abReturn to your mistress and sub\u00admit to her\u00bb (v.9 NL<\/span>). Poor Hagar! Back to this emo\u00adtio\u00adnal sham\u00adbles, back to impen\u00adding punish\u00adment? Is not Sarai rather the one who should hum\u00adble hers\u00adelf and apo\u00adlo\u00adgi\u00adse? The\u00adre is no con\u00adside\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon for Hagar\u2019s fee\u00adlings. She should just do what is due. What God puts Hagar through is not for cowards. How did she cope with that?
\nReturn
\nThe ans\u00adwer is in the name she gives to God: \u00abEl Roi \u2013 the God who sees me\u00bb. She has loo\u00adked into God\u2019s eyes. Going back is an impo\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adon if we have not met God first. Tho\u00adse who have recei\u00adved pres\u00adti\u00adge and strength from Him can face humbling and unre\u00adasonable chal\u00adlenges! El Roi: He has seen me \u2013 and I have seen him! With this, the who\u00adle situa\u00adti\u00adon has changed.
\nGod also invi\u00adtes us to this encoun\u00adter. A few thousand years after Hagar, this El Roi got a face: Jesus Christ. El Roi, made man for us. Irre\u00adsis\u00adti\u00adble in his love. Uncon\u00addi\u00adtio\u00adnal in his grace. In this sto\u00adry, too, the coming of Jesus Christ casts its shadow ahead. God saw that Hagar\u2019s real pro\u00adblem was not the hosti\u00adle beha\u00adviour of Sarai, but the sepa\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon bet\u00adween her and her Crea\u00adtor. The fee\u00adling of being uncared for, orpha\u00adned, hel\u00adp\u00adless\u00adly at the mer\u00adcy of an arbi\u00adtra\u00adry fate. In the desert she makes the gre\u00adat dis\u00adco\u00advery that we too may make: The\u00adre is someone who pays atten\u00adti\u00adon to me, who\u00adse lon\u00adging for me is even deeper than my lon\u00adging for him.
\nEl Roi has seen me, has given me pres\u00adti\u00adge. I can hum\u00adble mys\u00adelf and look life in the face. Back to the place whe\u00adre I have been hurt or abu\u00adsed, whe\u00adre I have been guil\u00adty of others, whe\u00adre I feel over\u00adwhel\u00admed. Tho\u00adse who have drunk living water at God\u2019s well and loo\u00adked at the cross no lon\u00adger have to look to them\u00adsel\u00adves. It\u2019s a tough busi\u00adness, always having to watch out that I get my money\u2019s worth, that I look good. When I have dis\u00adco\u00adver\u00aded God as El Roi, I can do wit\u00adhout. That is the life-chan\u00adging power of the Gos\u00adpel. If you have stan\u00adding, you no lon\u00adger have to look after yours\u00adelf! With God\u2019s repu\u00adta\u00adti\u00adon, you can hum\u00adble yours\u00adelf and ask for for\u00adgi\u00adve\u00adness, even if you think the other per\u00adson is at least as much to bla\u00adme as you are. You can go back to the job to which you once said, \u00abNever again!\u00bb You can con\u00adnect with peo\u00adp\u00adle you cut or des\u00adpi\u00adsed for years. May\u00adbe you can even get back in touch with your for\u00admer spouse.
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\nAt this mee\u00adting with El Roi, Hagar recei\u00adves a pro\u00admi\u00adse: \u00abI will give you more des\u00adcen\u00addants than you can count. You will have a son. Name him Ishma\u00adel\u00bb (v.10f NL<\/span>). Ishma\u00adel later mar\u00adried an Egyp\u00adti\u00adan woman. Becau\u00adse he is also Abraham\u2019s son, a nati\u00adon is also des\u00adcen\u00added from him. The angel pro\u00adphe\u00adsied to Hagar: \u00abYour son will be unta\u00admed like a wild don\u00adkey! He will stand against all and all will be against him. Yes, he will live at odds with all his brot\u00adhers\u00bb (v.12 NL<\/span>). Per\u00adhaps the hot\u00adtest topic in Euro\u00adpe at the moment is Islam. I do not want to tri\u00advia\u00adli\u00adse Islam, nor do I want to mini\u00admi\u00adse real dan\u00adgers. But if it is true that Islam goes back to Ishma\u00adel and Abra\u00adham, the lowest root of Islam is fear of rejec\u00adtion. Abra\u00adham beha\u00adved pas\u00adsi\u00adve\u00adly and bad\u00adly towards his first son and sent him into the desert (Gene\u00adsis 21:10ff). The\u00adre is so much men\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty in Isla\u00admic count\u00adries that they think the West wants to finish them off. It is para\u00addo\u00adxi\u00adcal that we in the West are afraid of them and they are afraid of us. The only thing that rea\u00adches, heals and chan\u00adges peo\u00adp\u00adle is love and accep\u00adtance. Islam does not know a father-God. The basic con\u00adfes\u00adsi\u00adon of Islam is that Allah is the only one and that he does not beget and was not begot\u00adten. The con\u00adfes\u00adsi\u00adon of Jesus is: The\u00adre is a Father. He gives us pres\u00adti\u00adge, uncon\u00addi\u00adtio\u00adnal love, and bound\u00adless grace. That \u2013 and only that \u2013 heals and chan\u00adges a per\u00adson so that he can be expec\u00adted to go back and hum\u00adble hims\u00adelf. The more peo\u00adp\u00adle do this, the more this \u00abepi\u00adde\u00admic\u00bb spreads. From one act, more will fol\u00adlow, and then ano\u00adther. It can beco\u00adme a posi\u00adti\u00adve chain reac\u00adtion and thus chan\u00adge not only you, but the world.
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\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small groups
\nRea\u00adding the Bible text: Gene\u00adsis 16+21<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat is your com\u00adment on the thoughts about Islam?
\n\tHave you ever left peo\u00adp\u00adle, situa\u00adtions or places with the firm decis\u00adi\u00adon never to return?
\n\tWhat pre\u00advents you from returning?
\n\tPer\u00adhaps you first need a desert expe\u00adri\u00adence with the God who gives pres\u00adti\u00adge. How will you pro\u00advo\u00adke such an experience?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"