We do not have to wait until our reading of the New Testament and the narrative about Jesus to know that God cares for the unwanted. Actually, we find such a concern being conveyed in the early pages of the book of Genesis. As we remember the story of Cain killing Abel, we also remember the manner in which Cain was sent forth as a fugitive and wanderer on the earth. The Lord put a mark on him, not so that he would be identified as a murderer, but as a sign of divine protection. Even in the punishment, there was mercy. One who surely felt unwanted was still wanted and under the mercy of God.
When we come to the story of Hagar's son, Ishmael, we see someone who surely must have felt unwanted. He lived his whole childhood under the stigma of not being the wanted son. When his half-brother, Isaac, was born this boy born to a slave woman was sent out with his mother into the wilderness. There was no longer any room for him in the tent of his father, Abraham. Out there in the desert God came to Hagar and told her, "...I will make a great nation of him." (Genesis 21:18) The unwanted child was not forgotten by God. There was a plan for him even as there was a plan for Isaac.
There are people all around us who live under the stigma of being the unwanted. The unwanted are the homeless people of the streets, those old and unproductive, the chronic sufferer who reminds us of the fragile nature of life, and a host of others who fight to be seen and accepted and loved. Unfortunately, some of us live quietly in places where we are made to feel unwanted. But, the truth is that we are never unwanted by God. His mercy always overshadows us.
When we come to the story of Hagar's son, Ishmael, we see someone who surely must have felt unwanted. He lived his whole childhood under the stigma of not being the wanted son. When his half-brother, Isaac, was born this boy born to a slave woman was sent out with his mother into the wilderness. There was no longer any room for him in the tent of his father, Abraham. Out there in the desert God came to Hagar and told her, "...I will make a great nation of him." (Genesis 21:18) The unwanted child was not forgotten by God. There was a plan for him even as there was a plan for Isaac.
There are people all around us who live under the stigma of being the unwanted. The unwanted are the homeless people of the streets, those old and unproductive, the chronic sufferer who reminds us of the fragile nature of life, and a host of others who fight to be seen and accepted and loved. Unfortunately, some of us live quietly in places where we are made to feel unwanted. But, the truth is that we are never unwanted by God. His mercy always overshadows us.
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