Not Easy To Let Go
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"Not Easy to Let Go" by Keith Wagner
"The Paradox of Faith" by Keith Wagner
* * * * * * *
Not Easy to Let Go
by Keith Wagner
Genesis 21:8-21
Letting go is never easy. Perhaps you have experienced the letting go of some of your prized possessions. Perhaps you have lost a loved one. Some may have lost jobs. Others have had relationships which have ended. Some have experienced the loss of children as they left for college, started their careers, or got married.
Abraham had a hard time saying good-bye to his son, Ishmael. Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn son. His mother was Hagar, a slave girl. Abraham was instructed by God to send both Hagar and Ishmael away. Ishmael was only fourteen years old, an age when a young man really looks to his father as a mentor and friend. Consider how painful it must have been for Abraham to follow through. He must have been devastated. What a difficult choice he had to make. If Abraham failed to listen to Sarah, he would lose her respect and go against God's instructions. On the other hand, his obedience to God would result in the loss of his firstborn son.
Another view that is overshadowed by Abraham's grief is the fact that Hagar and Ishmael, who are living in slavery, would be free. Abraham had to make a difficult decision, one that resulted in a painful loss for him but Hagar and Ishmael would be free to live their lives no longer dependent on Abraham.
I remember leaving my entire family in Florida and returning to Ohio in 1979. The call to ministry has resulted in my moving six times. Each time I experienced the loss of friends, familiar places, and homes. My children still lament leaving friends and having to start over. We all experience losses such as the loss of family, jobs, health, or financial security. Letting go is never easy. I believe we can all appreciate the agony that Abraham must have experienced.
However, God did not leave Abraham without hope. God did not abandon Abraham. God told him not to be distressed. Ishmael would be the leader of a great nation. This was the same promise God had made to Abraham when God told him to leave his homeland and journey to Canaan. God's promise could be trusted and so Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away early the next morning. Imagine the fear Hagar must have felt as she was forced to leave. She was alone, a woman in the wilderness, with virtually no chance of survival.
When Hagar got lost and ran out of water and food, she became desperate. She placed Ishmael under a bush and walked away. All she could do was pray for help. She said, "Do not let me look on the death of the child." Then grievously she wept as she prepared herself for the loss of her only son. She had been sent away, but God did not leave her. God was listening.
Sometimes I feel guilty for the moves I have made in ministry. My children have had to change schools, homes, and leave friends behind. When I look back, however, I realize that each one has been blessed with a spouse. At least for my family, the tension and hardship of making changes and having to let go many times has resulted in meaningful new relationships.
This story is unusual because we don't normally find men in the Bible listening to their wives. But God said to Abraham, "Whatever your wife Sarah tells you to do, do." Had it not been for Sarah, Abraham would not have let go of Ishmael. He needed her help just as God needed Sarah to fulfill God's promise.
The older I get the more I am convinced that women do indeed have a sixth sense. Remember the perfect storm? Linda Greenlaw was the captain on the Hannah Boden, the sister ship to the Andrea Gail. She warned Captain Billy Tyne to avoid the storm that was approaching. But Tyne wanted to return to port with a full load of swordfish. Had he dumped his load he could have saved his ship plus the six men who were aboard. But he failed to listen to Linda Greenlaw.
I am sure that many men of faith are threatened by the fact that Sarah told Abraham to send his other son away. But it was the only way for Isaac to fulfill God's promise that he would be the heir to Abraham's leadership. We aren't always able to see the bigger picture. There is no doubt that Abraham grieved over the situation. Thankfully Abraham acted on Sarah's words and the faith community continued on. At the same time Ishmael was free. There can be no doubt that Abraham's response to Sarah changed history.
The Paradox of Faith
by Keith Wagner
Romans 6:1b-11
In this passage of Romans Paul has raised the bar. He calls his followers to "consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." That's a big order to fulfill, a seemingly impossible goal. Paul prefaces his call by saying we can't simply live in grace and continue to sin. But to live, die, and be resurrected with Christ is way over the top. This suggests to me that to be people of faith is to be people who live in paradox.
The preacher of Ecclesiastes lists 28 experiences that are all common to our human experience (see Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Each one of them is coupled with its antitheses. We are born and we die, we mourn and we dance. There are times of war and there are times of peace. To fully appreciate all of life we have to embrace both the good and the bad. Some may bring us joy while others are painful, but they are all part of life. The challenge for us is to accept that life does not remain constant. It is constantly changing. Nevertheless, God is with us in all times.
In the book, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, he tells about the small town of Roseta, Pennsylvania. In Roseta there was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, very little crime, and no one was on welfare. A man by the name of Stewart Wolf decided to investigate along with a research team from the University of Oklahoma. They discovered that no one under the age of fifty had ever died of a heart attack. For men over the age of 65, the rate of heart disease was less than half of the rate in the rest of the US. The research indicated that the people of Roseta did not eat differently than anyone else. The smoking and drinking habits were also about the same as the rest of the nation. They researched the ancestry of Roseta but could find nothing that contributed to the well-being of the people.
After weeks of study Wolf and his associates discovered that there were some unique characteristics that enabled the town of Roseta to be a wonderful place to live. They found that the townspeople of Roseta visited one another. When they passed people on the street they took time to chat. They often cooked for each other in their backyards. Many homes had three generations living under the same roof. Grandparents were highly respected in the town. Everyone went to mass, which gave the people of Roseta a unifying and calming effect. There was also an egalitarian ethos discouraging the wealthy from flaunting their success and those who were unsuccessful were helped with their failures. The Rosetans were healthy because they had a sense of community.
Like the people of Roseta, our lives will be enriched when we truly live in community. I believe Paul was encouraging the early faith community by telling them to remain united with Christ. He said, "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." In other words the challenge is to keep dying, but keep living.
On New Year's Day 1929, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the Rose Bowl. In the first half, Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for California, but he became confused and ran the wrong way. One of his teammates tackled him just a few yards before he crossed the wrong goal line. When California tried to punt Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety, which became the winning margin. During halftime, the California players sat quietly and listened to their coach. The coach was very quiet. Riegels put a blanket over his shoulders and stayed in a corner. He put his face in his hands and cried.
Coach Price looked at his team and said, "Men, the same team that played the first half will play the second half." The players filed onto the playing field except for Riegels. The coach looked at Riegels and said, "Riegels, didn't you hear me?" Riegels told the coach he couldn't face the crowd after his stupid mistake. Coach Price put his hand on his shoulders and said, "Roy, get up and go back out there, the game is only half over." To this day, men of Georgia Tech say you will never see a man play football in the second half like Roy Riegels did that day.
The game was only half over. Just as the coach wanted Riegels to keep playing, God wants us to keep living. Paradoxically Paul said, "But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him."
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, June 22, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Not Easy to Let Go" by Keith Wagner
"The Paradox of Faith" by Keith Wagner
* * * * * * *
Not Easy to Let Go
by Keith Wagner
Genesis 21:8-21
Letting go is never easy. Perhaps you have experienced the letting go of some of your prized possessions. Perhaps you have lost a loved one. Some may have lost jobs. Others have had relationships which have ended. Some have experienced the loss of children as they left for college, started their careers, or got married.
Abraham had a hard time saying good-bye to his son, Ishmael. Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn son. His mother was Hagar, a slave girl. Abraham was instructed by God to send both Hagar and Ishmael away. Ishmael was only fourteen years old, an age when a young man really looks to his father as a mentor and friend. Consider how painful it must have been for Abraham to follow through. He must have been devastated. What a difficult choice he had to make. If Abraham failed to listen to Sarah, he would lose her respect and go against God's instructions. On the other hand, his obedience to God would result in the loss of his firstborn son.
Another view that is overshadowed by Abraham's grief is the fact that Hagar and Ishmael, who are living in slavery, would be free. Abraham had to make a difficult decision, one that resulted in a painful loss for him but Hagar and Ishmael would be free to live their lives no longer dependent on Abraham.
I remember leaving my entire family in Florida and returning to Ohio in 1979. The call to ministry has resulted in my moving six times. Each time I experienced the loss of friends, familiar places, and homes. My children still lament leaving friends and having to start over. We all experience losses such as the loss of family, jobs, health, or financial security. Letting go is never easy. I believe we can all appreciate the agony that Abraham must have experienced.
However, God did not leave Abraham without hope. God did not abandon Abraham. God told him not to be distressed. Ishmael would be the leader of a great nation. This was the same promise God had made to Abraham when God told him to leave his homeland and journey to Canaan. God's promise could be trusted and so Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away early the next morning. Imagine the fear Hagar must have felt as she was forced to leave. She was alone, a woman in the wilderness, with virtually no chance of survival.
When Hagar got lost and ran out of water and food, she became desperate. She placed Ishmael under a bush and walked away. All she could do was pray for help. She said, "Do not let me look on the death of the child." Then grievously she wept as she prepared herself for the loss of her only son. She had been sent away, but God did not leave her. God was listening.
Sometimes I feel guilty for the moves I have made in ministry. My children have had to change schools, homes, and leave friends behind. When I look back, however, I realize that each one has been blessed with a spouse. At least for my family, the tension and hardship of making changes and having to let go many times has resulted in meaningful new relationships.
This story is unusual because we don't normally find men in the Bible listening to their wives. But God said to Abraham, "Whatever your wife Sarah tells you to do, do." Had it not been for Sarah, Abraham would not have let go of Ishmael. He needed her help just as God needed Sarah to fulfill God's promise.
The older I get the more I am convinced that women do indeed have a sixth sense. Remember the perfect storm? Linda Greenlaw was the captain on the Hannah Boden, the sister ship to the Andrea Gail. She warned Captain Billy Tyne to avoid the storm that was approaching. But Tyne wanted to return to port with a full load of swordfish. Had he dumped his load he could have saved his ship plus the six men who were aboard. But he failed to listen to Linda Greenlaw.
I am sure that many men of faith are threatened by the fact that Sarah told Abraham to send his other son away. But it was the only way for Isaac to fulfill God's promise that he would be the heir to Abraham's leadership. We aren't always able to see the bigger picture. There is no doubt that Abraham grieved over the situation. Thankfully Abraham acted on Sarah's words and the faith community continued on. At the same time Ishmael was free. There can be no doubt that Abraham's response to Sarah changed history.
The Paradox of Faith
by Keith Wagner
Romans 6:1b-11
In this passage of Romans Paul has raised the bar. He calls his followers to "consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." That's a big order to fulfill, a seemingly impossible goal. Paul prefaces his call by saying we can't simply live in grace and continue to sin. But to live, die, and be resurrected with Christ is way over the top. This suggests to me that to be people of faith is to be people who live in paradox.
The preacher of Ecclesiastes lists 28 experiences that are all common to our human experience (see Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Each one of them is coupled with its antitheses. We are born and we die, we mourn and we dance. There are times of war and there are times of peace. To fully appreciate all of life we have to embrace both the good and the bad. Some may bring us joy while others are painful, but they are all part of life. The challenge for us is to accept that life does not remain constant. It is constantly changing. Nevertheless, God is with us in all times.
In the book, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, he tells about the small town of Roseta, Pennsylvania. In Roseta there was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, very little crime, and no one was on welfare. A man by the name of Stewart Wolf decided to investigate along with a research team from the University of Oklahoma. They discovered that no one under the age of fifty had ever died of a heart attack. For men over the age of 65, the rate of heart disease was less than half of the rate in the rest of the US. The research indicated that the people of Roseta did not eat differently than anyone else. The smoking and drinking habits were also about the same as the rest of the nation. They researched the ancestry of Roseta but could find nothing that contributed to the well-being of the people.
After weeks of study Wolf and his associates discovered that there were some unique characteristics that enabled the town of Roseta to be a wonderful place to live. They found that the townspeople of Roseta visited one another. When they passed people on the street they took time to chat. They often cooked for each other in their backyards. Many homes had three generations living under the same roof. Grandparents were highly respected in the town. Everyone went to mass, which gave the people of Roseta a unifying and calming effect. There was also an egalitarian ethos discouraging the wealthy from flaunting their success and those who were unsuccessful were helped with their failures. The Rosetans were healthy because they had a sense of community.
Like the people of Roseta, our lives will be enriched when we truly live in community. I believe Paul was encouraging the early faith community by telling them to remain united with Christ. He said, "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." In other words the challenge is to keep dying, but keep living.
On New Year's Day 1929, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the Rose Bowl. In the first half, Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for California, but he became confused and ran the wrong way. One of his teammates tackled him just a few yards before he crossed the wrong goal line. When California tried to punt Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety, which became the winning margin. During halftime, the California players sat quietly and listened to their coach. The coach was very quiet. Riegels put a blanket over his shoulders and stayed in a corner. He put his face in his hands and cried.
Coach Price looked at his team and said, "Men, the same team that played the first half will play the second half." The players filed onto the playing field except for Riegels. The coach looked at Riegels and said, "Riegels, didn't you hear me?" Riegels told the coach he couldn't face the crowd after his stupid mistake. Coach Price put his hand on his shoulders and said, "Roy, get up and go back out there, the game is only half over." To this day, men of Georgia Tech say you will never see a man play football in the second half like Roy Riegels did that day.
The game was only half over. Just as the coach wanted Riegels to keep playing, God wants us to keep living. Paradoxically Paul said, "But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him."
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, June 22, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
