EL ROI – THE GOD WHO SEES ME.

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,

            Teenagers, there is now a camera your parents can buy that keeps track of how you are driving the car. I saw a video clip where the camera caught one teenager driving with his knees while he ate a candy bar.   Another clip that I found interesting was of his face just before he hit another car. As I was reflecting about this, I could see some parents wanting just that camera to keep track of their teens.   Then I was thinking to be fair wouldn’t it be something if there was a camera that could recall the past, so the teens could see what their parents were like at their age. How many parents would not find that embarrassing! 

            In the book of Hebrews it says, (Heb 4:13 NIV) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  How true that is, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. The sins of youth and parents, young and old are all seen by the Lord. This brings us to the name given by Hagar to the Lord. Her story sets our thought as we reflect this weekend on that special name of God: EL ROI – THE GOD WHO SEES ME.

I.              The God whose eyes see my sin.

I would like to take you back to the time of Abraham and Sarah. God had promised them a child, in fact one in whom all the nations of the world would be blessed. This was the gospel promise of Jesus to be born from Abraham’s family line. The problem was that Sarah was not having a baby. In their home, as with the custom of the day, there was a concubine, a servant to the wife. Sarah thought, maybe Hagar her Egyptian concubine was to have the baby. Rather than waiting for God’s promises to come true, Abraham and Sarah did their own family planning. Hagar then was found to be expecting a baby and Sarah wasn’t. The situation in the household was really tense. Abraham finally told Sarah to do what she thought best. Sarah treated Hagar so horribly that Hagar had to flee from the home. We read: The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered. 9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." … As Hagar responded,she gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." 

            When we meet the phrase in the Old Testament: The Angel of the Lord:  is often the Lord himself rather than a created angel. We can tell that by the text and setting. For example at the burning bush, Moses meets the Angel of the Lord, and we read: “The Lord said.” In our text the Angel is given the name of God.

In this chapter of Genesis, we also hear prophecy about the child Hagar is carrying. This child would be Ishmael, of the Ishmaelites, the desert people. The Islam faith teaches it was not Isaac, but Ishmael whom Abraham was later to sacrifice.   Listen to the prophecy the Angel of the Lord said to Hagar about Ishmael: 11 The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

            The God who said that is known as the God who sees. He saw the sin and the troubles in the home of Abraham. This is then the God who sees what is going on in our homes.   There are no secrets from the God who sees us. Can you identify with Psalm writer: (Psa 90:8 NIV) You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. (Psa 69:5 NIV) You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you. In our Old Testament reading, it said, God looks on the heart. Even the deep dark thoughts of an individual are known to God.   There are no secrets, God sees me. He is the El Roi, the God who sees me.   When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror, you might be disappointed in what you see.   What does your God see? What if Jesus appeared as he did to the disciple John and you tried to look him in the eyes: 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. One of our members who worked with teens was said to give them the “evil eye.” The blazing eyes of Jesus penetrate to our heart and mind. We are reminded this is the God who really sees me for what I am.

            What is our solution to the fact that nothing is hidden from the Lord? I love the solution of Adam and Eve hiding behind fig leaves and bushes…as though God couldn’t see their nakedness. Are we much like the infant who is playing hide and seek, and thinks that by covering their own eyes, nobody can see them? 

II.            The God whose look calls me to repentance

Our text unfolds what our God does about a sinful situation….he gets involved and wants to solve the problem in the home of Abraham and Sarah. Jesus also sees what the real needs in the world. Jesus had eyes that could the very real problems of people. (Mat 9:36 NIV) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

      Remember the night Jesus told Peter he would deny him three times. Peter said, “he never would.” But the rooster crowed once, the rooster crowed twice. In that short time Peter had denied and disowned his Savior. The Bible says: (Luke 22:61 NIV) The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." Then what happened is that Peter went out and wept bitterly. Jesus looked, he saw deep into the heart of Peter. 

            Our Savior wants to bring us to tears of sorrow and repentance. He wants to bring us back to him.   We have a hymn verse that has captured the loving look of the Savior: In the hour of trial Jesus plead for me, lest by base denial, I depart from thee, when thou seest me waver with a look recall.   Our God reaches out in the midst of sin and does something about it. He gave us his Son. Here is where the sins of the youth, the sins of old age, the secret sins, the hidden sins, will find full and free forgiveness.   El Roi, the God who sees us, sees also the heart of faith that clings to the Savior for Salvation. Our Savior can see what nobody else can see when he looks at us, our faith or lack of faith. When he sees no faith, he will work to confront all of our sins and the hypocrisy of our lives.   When he sees faith we find another loving aspect of our God. 

III.           The God who sees my need.

Hagar was so overwhelmed that the Lord had found her and was mindful of her situation.   We now gain greater insight to our God who has no favorites. He wants everyone to be saved. He cared about Hagar and was involved in her life.

At certain times in our lives we need to know that our God also sees the very situation we are in. Certain times we maybe frustrated and even express our thoughts like God’s people of old: (Isa 40:27 NIV) "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do we think surely God doesn’t know what is happening to me. Remember the days of slavery in Egypt, God said: (Exo 3:9 NIV) And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. The Psalmist found special comfort,  (Psa 38:9 NIV) All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.

            Young maybe struggling where is the future leading me? What about all the questions in my life? Some are struggling with work issues, getting a job, should I change jobs, what should I do? What about ones struggle in homes with children and parents and the sins, lack of faith, rebellion, does our God not know, does he not care? What about health issues that some are wrestling with, treatments, facing medical procedures, is there not a special comfort in “El Roi”, our God sees me? Jesus said, (Mat 6:25-26 NIV)  "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? {26} Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Yes, his eye is on sparrow and I know he watches me. Amen.