DRAFT SERMON/SERMON OUTLINE

Sarah had been the recipient of a remarkable gift from God. God had promised Abraham and Sarah that they would become the founders of a great nation. Even in her disbelief, the birth of Isaac in their old age was the fulfilment of God’s promise.

But by the time we reach today’s passage, joy has been overshadowed by fear. At the celebration of Isaac’s weaning, Sarah sees Ishmael (Isaac’s brother) not as a child but as a rival. Her anxiety hardens into defensiveness, and she acts to protect what she believes is hers. It is as though she has forgotten that the gifts she holds were never hers to possess, but God’s to give.

From her position of privilege, Sarah sends Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness, knowing the danger they will face. Fear leads her to defend her status at the expense of another family’s survival.

This dynamic is painfully familiar. Across the world we see rising nationalism, hardened borders, and growing hostility toward displaced persons and people on the margins. Many nations turn inward, convinced that protecting “our own” requires excluding others. Fear shapes public life more than compassion. Those who are unfamiliar are too often treated as a threat rather than a neighbour.

And in a world shaped by digital echo chambers and AIdriven information systems, these fears are amplified. Algorithms reward outrage, reinforce suspicion, and deepen division. AI and social media can illuminate truth, but it can also entrench bias and harden our sense of “us” and “them.”

In such a world, Sarah’s fear feels close to home. We too can become protective, defensive, convinced that others threaten what we have. We forget that what we hold is gift, not entitlement.

This matters profoundly when we consider the climate and ecological crisis. Even as storms intensify and ecosystems collapse, climate and ecological justice has slipped down the global agenda. In several nations who hold significant global influence, environmental commitments have been weakened or delayed. Conflict, nationalism, and shortterm economic interests have pushed ecological responsibility to the margins. 

But the crisis has not gone away. It is simply borne most heavily by those with the least power. Some communities face drought, flooding, and displacement now. Some have been experiencing the impacts of the crisis for many years already. Others stand at the edges, watching the crisis grow. And some, with the strongest protections, still imagine the crisis as distant.

Sarah and Hagar’s story help us see why the climate crisis is not only about carbon levels or rising temperatures; it is about people — about dignity, power, and whose lives are treated as expendable. Hagar is pushed into danger by the decisions of others. Hagar is vulnerable not because of her choices, but because of her position in a system shaped by fear and privilege. Many communities today face climatedriven drought, flooding, and displacement for the same reason: not because they caused the crisis, but because they are the ones who bear its weight. Hagar’s experience reveals the human patterns — exclusion, inequality, and disposability — that also shape the climate crisis.

To help us hold these realities together, some theologians speak of what is called the Olive Agenda. It is a simple but profound idea: that caring for the earth (“green” concerns) and caring for people (“brown” concerns) must never be separated. It reminds us that land, labour, food, health, poverty, and power all belong to one interconnected story. In a time when nationalism narrows our vision and encourages us to think only of “our own,” the Olive Agenda offers a wider, more faithful way of seeing: the wellbeing of people and the wellbeing of the planet woven together. It challenges us to resist any worldview — ancient or modern — that treats some lives as more valuable than others or imagines that the flourishing of one group can be secured at the expense of another.

So we ask ourselves:

• Where do we act like Sarah — protecting what we have at the expense of others?
• How do our fears shape our attitudes toward strangers, migrants, and the displaced?
• What gifts from God have we forgotten we hold?
• How can we ensure that our climate action includes those most affected by injustice?
• How do we resist the narratives of fear and scarcity that dominate our world?

Our further readings offer guidance.

Psalm 86 teaches us to pray honestly in troubled times — to bring our fears, failures, and hopes before God, trusting that God hears the cry of the vulnerable, just as God heard Hagar in the wilderness.

Romans 6 calls us into newness of life — a life that turns away from the habits of domination, extraction, and indifference. To follow Christ is to unlearn the patterns of empire and to rise into a way of being shaped by justice, humility, and love. Part of that new life is the courage to examine how our privilege may harm others. Acknowledging our complicity is not about guilt; it is the first step in repentance and transformation.

Matthew 10 reminds us that discipleship is costly. To stand with the Hagars of our world — the displaced, the excluded, the silenced — may bring misunderstanding or opposition, even within families and communities. But Jesus tells us not to fear. Integrity is costly, but it is the path of life.

So what does this mean for us in 2026?

It means examining privilege with honesty. It means resisting feardriven narratives. It means standing with those most affected by ecological and social injustice. It means challenging systems that harm people and the planet. It means committing ourselves to courageous, justiceshaped discipleship. And it means making choices — real, practical choices — that reflect the kingdom of God.

The God who met Hagar in the wilderness meets us here — and sends us out as signs of hope in a weary world.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Environmental racism: https://www.greenanglicans.org/environmental-racism-when-blacklives-dont-matter/

On intersectionality and climate change: https://sustainability.yale.edu/explainers/yale-experts-explain-intersectionality-and-climate-change

The Olive Agenda: https://sojo.net/articles/olive-agenda-our-path-economic-opportunity-and-environmental-sustainability or https://thegreentimes.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DeGruchy_An_Olive_Agenda.pdf

Video by Revd Israel Olofinjana on the Olive Agenda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBy8ngAqm5k