Fourth Tuesday of Advent

Scripture Reading for Today:

Genesis 21:1-21, 1 Samuel 2:1-10, Galatians 4:21-5:1

Genesis 21:1-21

Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” 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 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 slave woman. 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 slave 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 about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, 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. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. 2 “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. 3 “Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. 4 “The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. 5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry are hungry no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away. 6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. 7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. 8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. “For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; on them he has set the world. 9 He will guard the feet of his faithful servants, but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness. “It is not by strength that one prevails; 10 those who oppose the Lord will be broken. The Most High will thunder from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

Galatians 4:21-5:1

21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. 24 These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written: “Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” 28 Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” 31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

God With Us

by Annie Choi

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“Let’s rule out cancer,” echoed in my head as I sat in the waiting room. I had just left my OB-GYN’s office with instructions to get a blood test and an ultrasound. What had started out as a month of spotting (not unusual for me) led to a second month of heavy to excessive bleeding. I’d never been so scared in my life as my mind raced with what-if scenarios about surgery and chemotherapy. All the propriety my Asian immigrant parents had instilled in me was trumped by my fear of the unknown, which compelled me to text my closest friends, sharing the secret I’d been hiding from everyone.

That blood test and ultrasound did not reveal any irregularities. It wasn’t cancer, my hormone levels were normal, and I did not experience the pain or have the growths commonly associated with endometriosis. Without a clear root cause, I was prescribed a powerful antibiotic to hopefully stop the bleeding. A month later, I was still bleeding, and my doctor was no closer to a diagnosis. So she prescribed a second round of the antibiotic and more tests. Then a third. And then the bleeding stopped.

I wish I could tell you that was my happy ending. That like Hannah in today’s lectionary passage, I rejoiced and praised the Lord for answering my prayers by healing me. No, for months after, when my period would start, I felt like I was right back in that waiting room filled with fear and anxiety. Even now, years later, I find myself holding my breath and wondering if the nightmare that had no name will start all over again.

For many of us in church leadership, we’ve experienced seemingly endless seasons of foreboding. From aging buildings in constant need of repairs to broken relationships and leaders stuck in cycles of burnout, financial deficits, and grieving the ones we’ve lost, we barely find resolution or respite from the worry or heartache before we’re anticipating the next shoe to drop. As a global community, we’ve gone from health crises to climate catastrophes to financial instability to war; this “extended period of instability and insecurity” has been named permacrisis.

I imagine Hagar and Hannah felt similarly trapped and helpless due to their circumstances. Marginalized because of her race, class, and gender, Hagar was a servant where she was forced to have Abraham’s child, Ishmael, only to be harassed and, eventually, cast out in the wilderness by Sarah (Gen 16:1–6; 21:8–14). Abandoned and out of water, she cries out as she waits for her son to die. We read in 1 Samuel 1:1-8 how, year after year, Hannah is taunted over her barrenness in a time where a woman’s value is solely based on her ability to bear children. She’s driven to tears and makes a bargain with God to dedicate her child to His service: “...if only you will look on the misery of your servant and remember me...” (1 Sam 1:11, NRSVUE).

During the season of Advent, we follow the traditions in anticipating the hope, peace, love, and joy that come from the birth and second coming of the Messiah. We are reminded of how we live differently in the present with the knowledge of the promise to be fulfilled. As I reflected on the lectionary passages, I had a hard time stomaching the praise on Hannah’s lips. It did not sit right with me to focus on the “after,” how God heard Hagar and Hannah’s cries and demonstrated His faithfulness to them.  What was brought to the forefront was the “before,” the desperate circumstances that these women were experiencing as the walls closed in on them.  I could not gloss over or turn a blind eye to their suffering. I see my friends, my family, my church community... I see myself in these women. Like Hannah, we may be wondering where God is in all of this; does He even remember us?  In that waiting room, I wasn’t desperate for a cure; I craved connection. Perhaps instead of the Saviour, some of us are being reminded of Emmanuel, God with us.

I’ve been reading “Burnout: The Secret To Unlocking The Stress Cycle,” by Emily and Amelia Nagoski, and it struck me how the body keeps track of and holds onto unresolved stress to the detriment of our physical well-being. We’ve witnessed or experienced this during the pandemic— as mental health declined, so did our health.  We won’t fare much better in the perpetual limbo of permacrisis. Among a number of strategies the Nagoskis discuss to process stress (including physical exercise, creative self-expression, and gratitude), “affection,” a social strategy, really resonated with me. Research has shown that “a six-second kiss, a twenty-second hug…[and] laughter” can lower one’s blood pressure, improve one’s mood, and tell our bodies that we are safe. In times of stress or languishing, what our bodies need is to not be alone. Isn’t it amazing how interconnected God has designed us to be? Not only can our emotions impact our bodies, but spending time with loved ones also promotes good mental and physical health. This Advent in the midst of uncertainty, let us hold space for one another’s joys and worries, maybe even physically hold one another. May we recognize, experience, or be Emmanuel’s presence.  God is with us.

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