Gen 16:9, Then the angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority." 
	We now come to one of those passages in scripture that can make us very much uncomfortable. And we should get uncomfortable when we read those scriptures of truth which serve to challenge and to cause us to realize that our way is not always God’s way. He has a greater reality in store for us as we stop and listen to Him and believe Him and ask the Holy Spirit to bring us more and more in line with His truth.  
	In this passage before us, we read of Hagar being mistreated by Sarai. It was Sarai who gave Hagar to Abram in order to try to bring forth children. Sarai was barren and old and doubted that she could bear Abram children despite the promise of God. Therefore she took matters into her own hands, as we so often do in our lack of faith, and had Abram lay with Hagar, which resulted in a son, Ishmael. 
Now, as is also often the case when we are faced with our disobedience and our faithlessness, Sarai began to get angry and frustrated and felt insecure and humiliated in the eyes of the pregnant Hagar. Hagar may have been snide with her, but she was still under Sarai’s control. Sarai began to mistreat Hagar and acted toward her with anger and jealousy and rage. She was no longer kind to her, but vicious and mean. All of these actions of Sarai should cause us to examine ourselves and our motives and our manner of treating others. This is a perfect example of how we often deal with others when we are at fault and wrong. However, these are not the points of consideration for this morning. Rather, there is another, more deeply personal aspect that we need to take to heart.
We come to the part that can be extremely difficult for us, as we consider ourselves in our human piety and self-righteousness. Let us consider Hagar in the midst of all this animosity and jealousy of her mistress. Hagar had done nothing wrong. It was not improper, in those days, for a man to have any number of mistresses or concubines. The earth was large and there were few people to inhabit it. The life expectancy was very bleak. The only way to populate and to grow a family was to have many, many children hoping that some of them would survive. As that was the case for families, imagine what it meant for nations to develop. Many children through many wives and concubines was accepted and encouraged in order to create larger numbers of people for the sake of safety and security against all the other tribes and nations. 
So, in terms of the practices and customs of the day, Hagar did nothing more than what she was told to do by her mistress, Sarai. It was not her fault that she became pregnant while Sarai remained barren. Whatever unpleasantness Hagar might have presented to Sarai, she was still the bondwoman and the handmaid of Sarai and completely in subjection to her dealings. 
As a result of the treatment that Hagar was receiving from Sarai, she fled away. She ran into the wilderness in order to escape. She thought that she could just pack up and leave when things became seemingly unbearable. But that is not the way of the Lord, as we read. The angel of the Lord found Hagar and talked with her, as recorded in this morning’s scripture, Then the angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority." 
Hagar was not free to leave the service of her mistress or the path that the Lord had prepared for her and for Ishmael. This is the point that we may find discomforting and undesirable in our lives. Hagar felt that she had every right to leave and to run away since she was being treated with such harshness and seeming unfairness. She felt that it was not right for her to have to undergo the hardness and the temper and the ridicule and the viciousness of Sarai’s internal battle with her own faithlessness. Enough was enough and she felt it was up to her to escape the onslaught of the situation.   
As is so often the case, we try to get away from the seemingly unfair circumstances that we often find ourselves in when we are dealing with those in authority over us. Many, many times, I have been forcefully told that we are not made to be doormats to be stomped on by the feet of others. We are continually taught that we need to stick up for our rights and our sense of understanding in terms of the manner in which we are treated. When we face the hard times of personal onslaught, most of us try to flee and to leave the situation behind us. That was the case with Hagar. She took it upon herself to run away from the place that God had ordained for her. When the angel of the Lord found her, she was instructed to return to Sarai’s authority.
This is a hard pill for many of us to swallow. We try to rationalize our decisions and our behavior in removing ourselves from those situations. When we are faced with bosses that are mean and rigid, we feel that we are justified to quit. When we are face to face with spouses and other family members who may ridicule and demean us, we feel it is our right to leave and to have nothing more to do with them and run away. 
However, scripture is very clear in the manner in which Christians are to deal with those in authority over us. In terms of political leaders and those in positions affecting us, we have the following in Eccl 10:4, If the ruler's temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because composure allays great offenses. We are told not to get angry, but to maintain our composure. Think on this the next time we are faced with those decisions that are handed down that cause anger to well up in us. Remember this passage when we are dealing with those who are nominally in charge of elements of our lives. So often, apart from looking at it all in the composure of Christ, their decisions create animosity to well up and foul language to rise to our tongues. Rather than quitting and giving in to rage and resentment, ask the Lord to make us more and more a testimony of His peace and His witness of composure in the midst of what would otherwise be a storm of infuriation. 
	The Writer to the Hebrews brings this reality forward into the New Testament in Heb 13:17. Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. Whenever we are faced with those individuals who have some measure of control over our lives, we often find ourselves resentful and uncooperative. However, the Lord reassures us that He is the One in control, even over their decisions. We are to deal with them in the manner in which the joy of knowing Jesus Christ as our true Lord is evidenced. Rather than seeking our own justification in actions and behavior, we count on the Lord to hold them accountable in the way in which they deal with the very Beloved family of the Eternal God. We count on Him to set things right in the timing of His choosing. Until that point we operate our lives in the knowledge of His sovereignty as our hope and our guide.
Additionally, the Apostle Paul instructs as follows in Eph 6:5-8, Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. This is a tremendous truth that will serve us well on every job and in dealing with every boss, customer, fellow employee, teacher, or family member. … With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men… In all that we do in the place that God has put us, let us do so as unto the Lord.
Consider how that simple reality would cause us to treat others in a much more tremendous and vital manner. Rather than getting angry and frustrated and demanding our way and our satisfaction, we will be putting them at the forefront of our prayers and our hearts. We will be working with the attitude that whatsoever we are doing is for the glory of God and not man. We will not try to elevate ourselves above others. Rather, we will be laying down our lives for the sake of those in such need of the living reality of Jesus Christ. Rather than coming home in the evening, complaining about supervisors and managers and customers and teachers and associates, we will be thanking the Lord that we can lift them up in prayer for His intervention in their lives. 
	Paul continues with the subsequent truth in 1 Tim 6:1+2, Let all who are under the yoke as slaves regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine may not be spoken against. And let those who have believers as their masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but let them serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles. 
Our attitude and behavior under the earthly authority of others is a direct reflection of the depth of our relationship with Jesus Christ. If we know Him in the intimate reality of living forth His life in us, we will never want to do anything that would detract or cast aspersions upon His name or His testimony. Our dealings with all others will ultimately reflect only His love for this world, and the sacrifice that He suffered for the sake of bringing the salvation of God to all those who would receive it. 
	This is so vital that the Holy Spirit, as well, moved the Apostle Peter to address it in 1 Peter 2:18-25. Let us read it together, 1 Peter 2:18-25. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. 
As Christ suffered persecution and shame and crucifixion for the sake of others, how can we place ourselves on some greater plane that removes us from that same course in our lives? It is absolutely unthinkable that we would so elevate ourselves into some realm of trying to escape from the very life that we are called to live before man as the evidence and proof of Jesus Christ in all His resurrection glory!
	This submission to the authority of those over us is not just in terms of government and jobs and family. It is also in terms of the fellowship of the believers under the hand of those whom God puts in authority over us in His Church. Again the Apostle Peter encourages us to honorable obedience in 1 Peter 5:5-7, You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you. 
	Likewise the Apostle Paul deals similarly as he exhorts Titus in the manner in which to instruct the members of the Church. Please turn to Titus 2:2-10. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored. Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. 
	The manner in which we deal with those who are our overseers, whether in the home, in the workplace, in our communities, or within the Church is an accurate descriptor of the way in which we see our place under the Hand of God. If we are continually striving to elevate ourselves and our rights and our sense of fairness and justice with regard to our treatment, we surely are under the spell of our own self-righteousness. If, however, we look at those in our lives with the view that sees beyond us, unto the glory of God being manifested, we will no longer consider what it takes to make things right in our minds. We will concentrate upon what it takes for God to be fully honored in the way in which we conduct ourselves. We will be finding that our concerns and our behavior echo more and more the great Love of God which captured our heart and brought joy and peace and gentleness and longsuffering to bear in us. We will find that we are no longer fussing and fuming and being riled up at our mistreatment, but rather becoming satisfied that God does have all things well in hand. He is Our Provider and Our Protector and Our Lord and Our Savior. In that assurance, we are absolutely living to please Him in all our dealings under His sovereignty and grace and mercy. So be it!
Then the angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority." Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 134. Behold, bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord, Who serve by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, And bless the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth. Amen.