Encounter

Summary

Hagar was a woman, a girl really, UNSEEN. The Hebrew in today’s text repeatedly refers to her as a ‘slave girl’, insistent upon our awareness of her lowly status. She is a young person on the margins, a slave, a girl, an Egyptian and therefore an outsider and foreigner.

Every year the second week of the narrative lectionary is a story of Abraham, who is known as the father of our faith. Stories about Abraham tell us of God’s creation of a people who are to be a blessing to the nations. This is an important event and concept in the sweep of the big story of God in the Bible. And today, as we focus on Hagar, we are also reminded that even Abraham and Sarah were imperfect people who sometimes missed the mark and lacked trust in God.

Abram and Sarai, as they were called at the time, are still awaiting children and decide to take matters into their own hands, exploiting a young slave girl, Hagar, in order to ensure children for themselves. There is a lot of violence, exploitation, and power dynamics buried in this story.