Thought for the Day - God on the Margins

Hagar and Ishmael in the desert, Emanuel Krescenc Liška, 1883

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 2nd July 2025 based on the texts of Genesis 21.5, 8-20 and Matthew 8.28-34

Hagar and her son Ishmael are cast into the wilderness. Thrown out into the desert by Abraham because Ishmael is seen as a threat to Isaac’s inheritance. Isaac is the miraculous child born to the aged Sarah as a result of God’s covenant with Abraham to build up a chosen people – Israel. Hagar was Sarah’s Egyptian slave, whom she had given to Abraham in order to bear a son and heir.

This was not the first time Hagar had been exiled. While pregnant with Ishmael she had been mistreated by Sarah and fled to the desert. There an angel had appeared and promised her, like Abraham, that her descendants would be too numerous to count.

Now this vulnerable, displaced single mother; a victim of abuse, exploitation and oppression, finds herself trying to protect her infant son in the heat of the desert. The water Abraham had given her runs out. She places Ishmael under a bush and walks away, unable to watch him die.

Amidst this desperate scene, God intervenes. Hagar hears the voice of an angel telling her not to fear – and that God will make a great nation of Ishmael and fulfil his promise. Hagar and Ishamel are directed to a well of water that sustains them.

In our gospel reading, Jesus encounters two demon possessed men who live amongst the tombs of a cemetery – presumably not by their own choice. We are told that they are so violent that nobody dares to approach them. Except Jesus - who confronts the demons and drives them out into a herd of swine. The two men are healed. Restored to life. It is a miracle. But the townspeople beg Jesus to leave. Jesus is rejected. We aren’t told what happened to the healed men.

Both passages today highlight humanity’s appalling treatment of marginalised people. Hagar and Ishmael exiled to the desert. The two demon possessed men exiled to the cemetery. In complete contrast God responds with a radical welcome, providing life restoring and life fulfilling support, bringing dignity and hope.

The scriptures today encourage us to consider who are the outsiders in our own communities – those we marginalise. Those we ignore, dismiss, those who don’t fit ‘our’ mould of what it means to be a person.

They also remind us of an uncomfortable truth – that God is with those on the margins and on the edge, in the wilderness and in the pit of despair - and he invites us to do the same.

Image: Hagar and Ishmael in the desert, Emanuel Krescenc Liška, 1883