Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Well Good morning.

I’m excited this morning as we continue through our sermon series entitled Faith Full.

In my prayer time this week, I woke 30 minutes each morning, and spent time just along with the Lord.

And in my time of prayer this week God spoke to me.

You see on Thursday morning.

God shifted the direction of this mornings message… and although, we’re going to continue in Genesis and talk about Abraham and his Wife Sarah.

The emphasis of this mornings message is actually going to be more on Hagar, and on Ishmael… and not from a standpoint of their holiness, because, they’re not that… but my prayer this morning is that we would hear of their story and see the compassion of Christ… and how He is Faithful to us.

If you have your bibles with you this morning, turn with me back to genesis 16.

And as your turning there I want to just give us a gentle reminder of the time of year that it is… The truth is, as you know, it’s starting to get a little colder out as of late.

In fact, I was under the impression based on the last month… that the weather in Ohio must stay at least in the 70s year round… but I suppose I’ve been sadly mistaken, and i’ve had just a little bit of wishful thinking as of late.

But the reality is, today is Halloween.

It’s the end of October and here’s what I know… Thanksgiving is just over 3 weeks away and now, only 7 Sundays separate us from Christmas morning.

And with the upcoming holidays, there is a sense of excitement.

Who here likes Christmas?

What about thanksgiving?

You see, there is excitement as we look forward to the season ahead… as we gather together and we celebrate the birth of our savior and Lord… and as we relish moments together, where we eat far more than we should, and play board games, and enjoy the warmness of the holiday season…

But here’s the key, in the midst of the upcoming holidays.

Friends, Depending on where you sit this morning, there are those who feel an element of sadness.

Those for instance, who will eat thanksgiving alone.

Those perhaps, who have lost a loved one and the holidays won’t be the same this year.

And those who remember Christmas or thanksgiving at one point in the past, and this year… it just won’t be the same…

You see, the holiday doesn’t change, but the experience does.

For some people there can be seasonal depression that sets in right around this time of year… and whether it’s the circumstances of life of maybe even just a lack of vitamin D… this time of year can be difficult.

For others of us, we’re going through a season in life right now and need to be reminded of the compassion of Christ.

Wherever you are the Lord meets you here this morning and shows you his faithful.

You see as I working through this morings message… the initial plan was to talk about sacrificial faith…and we’ll probably go there next week.

But as I was preparing for this mornings message… The Lord softened my heart to his compassion and the story of Hagar.

A person, who just like you and me, went through life with difficulties, who was given a bad hand and yet God came to her rescue.

In her moments of need, God was faithful to her.

If you’re not already there, turn with me to Genesis 16 and as your turning there are 2 ideas we’ll focus on this morning as we read the story together 1.

The Compassion of Christ leads to correction, and 2. The Compassion of Christ the comfort.

So beginning with Point one.

Turn with me to Geneis 16.

And as your turning there.

I want to remind us of the scene which we encounter this morning.

Just over 2,000 years BC.

The Lord called Abraham to Go from the land he was living (which we remember was Haraan) and to go the Land God would Show him.

In the course of time God sets up a covenant with Abraham and promises him the land of canaan (or isreal), descendants as numerous as the starsin the sky and to bless all people on earth through him.

Now if you remember from last week, we said that when Abraham first arrived in Canaan, and God promised to give his descendants the land… there were 2 major problems.

We saw that there were 1. canaanities, occupying the land at the time and the 2. Abraham didn’t have any kids…

We remember that Abraham and his wife Sarah, along with Lot go to Egypt where lies about Sarah being his sister and not mentioning the fact that she’s also his wife… because ultimately Abraham wanted to help God in fulfilling his promises.

This morning, we see that some time has passed in between Abrahams calling and the stories we will be focusing on this morning.

In fact, When we’re first introduced to Abraham, he’s 70 years old, And this morning, in the story, 26 years have passed… And still Sarai continues to be without child.

And after a season of having no children, Sarai looks at the circumstance and reasons that she should take matters into her own hands… for the promise to be fulfilled.

Let’s read together Genesis 16:1-4

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.

But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children.

Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.

4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering.

I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me.

May the Lord judge between you and me.” 6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said.

“Do with her whatever you think best.”

Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

So we see a messy scene unfold, almost like you might see on a modern day talk show like Dr. Phil...

And Abrams wife isn’t able to conceive, so she decides to call in the Egyptian slave.

Which so we know was common at the time… But Sarai knew that the Lord would be blessing their family through their offspring… and yet still, they don’t have a child, so she tells her husband to go sleep with this other women and wouldn’t you know, she ends up pregnant…

The NKJV Explains a different version of the text, Sarai says in Genesis 16:4 “My wrong be upon you!

I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes.

The Lord judge between you and me.GENESIS 16:5 NKJV

2 Hebrews words I want us to see for a moment.

First of all the word despised in the Hebrew means to “make small, to be insignificant, unimportant.”

And the word ʿayin is the Hebrew word has 2 meanings.

It means eye, but interestingly enough, it also means fountain.

7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring( עַיִן) in the desert; it was the spring ( עַיִן) that is beside the road to Shur.

By the way, these springs or fountains.

Would stand out among a big sandy desert, as bright sparkling "eyes" of the desert, which are remarkable for their abundance and their beauty,

You see, we don’t see this correlation when we read the text… but what started in Hagars eye ʿayin, flowed to her heart… and brough her back to the spring.

Proverbs 4:23- Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.

You see in a season of not acting very faithfully towards her owner… Hagar allowed her circumstance to get the best of her… She allowed her heart to mislead her… and she wound up alone, and by herself in the middle of the desert… by this spring or the eye of the foundation...

And God met her there.

7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.

And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

You see, Hagar ran, and yet God met her where she was that day.

And more so, God promised to Hagar that he would increase her descendants through the child that she would have… But don’t miss this… she had to listen to what God was calling her to do.

11 The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son.

You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi (which means the living One who sees me) ; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.15

So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Friends if we stop for a second and see that Hagar was all alone.

And though you would suppose her thirst is satisfied, her heart isn’t.

You see the Angel of the Lord is a form in which God himself meets with her by the spring.

and when he does he tells her to name her son Ishmael which by the way means God hears…

and from there we’re told: She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Friends, the key is this… Hagar despised her mistress.

We know that much, and she wasn’t perfect, we also know that… But here’s the key, in this moment of despair… and misery, and sadness God saw her… and had compassion.

You know a story is told about a little boy who had been invited to a friend’s birthday party.

He was so excited and started counting the days until the party.

But the morning of the party he was devastated when he found that a blizzard had struck their little town.

The snow was falling in wet, heavy flakes, and the wind was howling.

“I don’t think you should go to the party,” his father said.

The little boy was so disappointed.