2nd entry - To be a Great Nation

The book of Genesis in the Bible (written by Moses in 1450-1410BC), in addition to being a beautiful story of creation, a glorious introduction to God's magnificant and perfect love that is essentially the main message of the Bible, and an almost mythological record of God's earliest known work and the fruits of His creation, has many interesting stories that bear amazing relevance to us living in modern times. One example is the passage that was shared by a Christian brother in his sermon during a service at Free Community Church (Singapore) on 8 Jan 2006.

The passage referred to here is Genesis 21: 8-20.:
"8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." 11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring." 14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, "I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob. 17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation." 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.

Before I go to the message of the sermon, I would like to describe a bit more about Abraham and Hagar's son, Ishmael (means "God hears"). In an earlier passage (Genesis 16:11-12), Ishmael was described as being someone who would grow up to 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". This was revealed to Hagar by an angel of God i.e. acting on behalf of God. Hagar was also told that her descendents (through Ishmael) will be too numerous to count (Genesis 16: 10).

Back in Chapter 21, the parents of Ishmael were in distress, but God assured them both again that this boy will become a great nation (verses 13 and 18). Abraham was in God's favour due to his faith and obedience in Him, and God's promise to him was fulfilled as Ishmael eventually became a ruler of a large nomadic tribe that lived in the deserts of Sinai and Paran (south of Israel, now straddling parts of southern Israel and northern Egypt). It is also noted, however, that later in the Bible the Ishmaelites were pictured as being hostile toward God and Israel (Psalms 83:6), thus completely fulfilling the prophecy that was revealed to Hagar (Genesis 16:12). Why did God make a nation out of someone that will end up giving trouble to Him and His chosen people? Was it His "mistake"? If it was, then it must be that God knew it was going to be a "mistake" and yet still proceeded. Why? Was it an act of love? Was it to prove His faithfulness?

While we ponder of these questions, let me return to the message of the sermon. One of the big points of the sermon was that the GLBT community is likened to be Ishmael. Ishmael was to Sarah a threat to her son Isaac and his existence therefore a mockery to her. In the same way, the GLBT community may be seen as a threat to the heterosexual majority, and its existence perceived as a mockery to them. Sarah strongly opposed the inadvertent desire of Ishmael to exert his rights as Abraham’s son over his father’s inheritance. Similarly, the desire of members of the GLBT community to have civil rights equal to those enjoyed by members of the heterosexual majority is disdained as a perversion of nature or God’s will, a rebellion against the “rightful order of things”. Is Sarah right? Has she forgotten that her own ability to bear a child for Abraham was also a blessing from God? What right did she have then to compel Abraham to deny the innocent mother and son of their rights? What did Ishmael do to deserve his harsh treatment? Nothing - it was Sarah’s insecurity and petty selfishness, pure and simple. By showing compassion for the mother and child at their moment of desperation, and reaffirming that the child would lead “a great nation” and actually fulfilling this promise, God not only proved that he is faithful and will always honour his promise, but also that he has compassion for the downtrodden, the marginalised, those who suffered injustice at the hands of others.

Another big point in the sermon is related to sinking roots in a church and regular attendance. A common pattern observed is that pre-believers join a congregation, learn about God’s love and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, feel the exhilaration of freedom to live new lives having died to their old sinful selves, realise that the church no longer serves their needs (e.g. their source of support dries up), and move on. While some pre-believers eventually settle down at one place, most become perpetual church visitors; like spiritual nomads, they are unable to sink roots and experience spiritual growth because their involvement or active participation will never deepen or increase.

The speaker wanted to make the point that the spiritual nomads described above are likened to be Hagar: having been set free by her mistress and experienced the exhilaration of freedom, only finding herself stranded in a desert and as her source of support (food and water) runs out, contemplating how her end would come (hence her sobbing). The only difference between spiritual nomads and Hagar is that Hagar did not have a choice to stay or go, whereas spiritual nomads have the option of going to another church. To me, the availability of options may not be a good thing: the spiritual nomads may find the same thing happening to them over and over again in different churches, and end up “wandering in the desert” and being completely lost – they may even “backslide” and turn away from God. In fact, I would argue that Hagar is relatively more fortunate, as God opened her eyes and allowed her to see the well; her son was not only able to survive, but God was with him (verse 20) and he grew well. Spiritual nomads, on the other hand, may become so distracted by the constant need to adapt to new dynamics in different churches that they become discouraged and stop going to church altogether, thereby possibly denying themselves the chance to grow.

Why is spiritual growth so important? Christians must grow in order to bear fruit for God. Jesus said in scripture e.g. the gospel of John 15:5-6 that “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If any man does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” There are benefits to spiritual growth too. Jesus says further in John 15:7-8 that “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Spiritual nomads will have much difficulty in experiencing growth, and therefore their ability to bear fruits for God is diminished. Fruits of the Spirit would include bringing people to God, building up fellow brethren and supporting the church in various ways – what are the chances of these things happening for self-centred spiritual nomads who constantly seek fulfilment of their own needs? Really, only God knows.

Finally, I believe that the speaker of the sermon tried to draw parallels between Ishmael the child and the level of acceptance, knowledge and understanding of the issues of sexuality unique to the GBLT community. Members of this community typically reach adulthood and maturity in society ahead of their maturity in the level of acceptance, knowledge and understanding of their own sexuality and what this entails. In other words, many GBLT individuals, regardless of their age, are at a stage of infancy regarding how to respond to their same-sex desires, to interact and form meaningful relationships with others having similar orientation, and to deal with the inevitable problems that arise from this. I don’t recall that this point was developed further, but perhaps its validity deserves greater exploration in a separate Blog entry?

Perhaps the last and most important point was that the speaker hopes the GLBT community (the Christian GLBT community) will grow into a great nation like Ishmael. If you ask me, God has amazing plans for the GLBT community, especially its Christian members, when this community gets its act together - plans that would blow our small minds. I can even assure some of us that the narrow-minded and bigotted people in heterosexual Christian community are not prepared for what is to come.

Sigh, another long piece for my dear friends to chew on. Sorry, but I don’t have any indigestion pills to dispense along with this. Hee …