Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 379

But God said to Abraham: "Do not be distressed about the boy
or about your slave woman.
Heed the demands of Sarah, no matter what she is asking of you;
for it is through Isaac that descendants shall bear your name.
As for the son of the slave woman,
I will make a great nation of him also,
since he too is your offspring."

Abraham proved himself worthy as the friend of God, and for that reason was blessed with knowledge of God's intentions. He had dickered with God for the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah; and though he managed only to salvage his nephew Lot and Lot's family, his courage won respect in God's eyes. After witnessing the destruction of these wretched towns and realizing the terrible power of this God who'd promised so much to him, Abraham remained steadfast in his face-to-face encounters. He did not cower before the Almighty, but he wasn't brazen either. 

And so, when his wife Sarah demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be expelled from their camp, the Lord assured the old man that he could work with the woman's jealousy. Whether that was God's plan from the beginning, or he had improvised, we'll never know. 

In any case, Abraham could listen to his wife as every husband must, and remain faithful to the Lord. Other men in other circumstances might play the fool for God's sake, but this was neither the time nor place, and he was not the man. 

Every Christian is familiar with stories of men -- usually men, but not always -- who suppose they know the mind of God and can dictate to their wives -- and everyone else. I remember one fellow who often told me what God was saying to him about a certain matter. Because I had to work with the fellow to handle his aging and confused father, I didn't argue with him. Both men were equally deaf to others. However, after his father died and I had no further need for this dubious alliance, he discovered I had never believed God spoke to him. He was pretty upset but I owed him nothing and never saw him again. 

Sarah would not go away, nor should Abraham wish that she might. Like his covenant with God, their marriage was sacred and indissoluble. 

We can draw simple lessons from the story. No one has an exclusive claim on the truth. No one knows the mind of God. Everyone must deal with others. That is, we must listen to, respect, admire, and often obey others. "Test every spirit!" Saint John urged us; and we should especially distrust our impulses and preferences in important, life-changing matters. Because every decision affects others, we do well to consult as we make them. 

We might be surprised to learn that others also know what is right and good and beautiful in God's eyes.