A Table in the Wilderness—Lent 3: For Hagar

By Natasha Vedder, Joan DeVries

Third Sunday of Lent

Biblical figure: Hagar
God’s wilderness provision: water (Genesis 21)
Scripture: Genesis 21

Call to Worship

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
—Psalm 146:5–9 ^NRSVUE

Children’s Scripture Summary

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 [Ishmael]. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 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. God heard the boy crying. . . . Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.
—from Genesis 21 ^NIV

Sermon

“A Table in the Wilderness for Hagar”
Sermon Notes
Many women throughout history have found solace, compassion, and even critique in and through the story of Hagar. Many oppressed people have found comfort in her story. It is a fierce and hard story. Why is the story of a mother and son without water in the wilderness still being told today in so many contexts around the world? The brokenness of our world is revealed in our headlines, but the story of Hagar and Ishmael reminds us of this: God is a God who sees the suffering of his children. God does not abandon his children. God does not forget his promises.