Sodom and Gomorrah

Father, sometimes your word says things to us which are hard for us to get our mind around,

not so much because we can't understand them, but because we recoil to some extent from these

teachings and do not like them. They threaten us. Maybe they even seem wrong. And so, Father,

we come to one of those Bible passages today. We know, Father, that even when you confront us,

you confront us to connect. And you know, Father, what we're like. You know the different ways that

we evade your truth and your word. So we ask that you would have mercy upon us who are gathered here

and those who are watching online and participating online, that the Holy Spirit would fall with might

and power and deep conviction upon us so that we might receive your word, Father, that we might

once again fall in love with you, with your beauty, your grace, your mercy, your kindness,

and that we would once again rediscover the wonder of the gospel, that it would form us and shape us.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated.

Amen. This morning, we're going to discuss, we're going to look at the text that describes the

destruction by God of Sodom and Gomorrah. I was talking to somebody this week, about several

people this week about it. And one of them said that he wasn't, couldn't quite remember what

happened in that text. And I just told him that it's a text that you get the word sodomy from.

And it's also the text that foreshadows hell. And he went, oh, but that is the text that we're

going to look at this morning. I'm also very conscious that it's Pride Month. And I just want

to say to anybody who's here or anybody who might be watching online, that we didn't, I didn't pick,

Daniel Avitan and I didn't pick this text just to sort of say there to those who are celebrating Pride

Month. Those of you who know me, I actually have a hard enough time remembering that Christmas is

coming or that Mother's Day is coming up or anything like that. We just try to pick texts that are going

to be, nurture the congregation. And part of what we want to do here is we want to preach the whole

books of the Bible. And we want to, I also want to make sure that we both look at Old Testament texts

and New Testament texts throughout the course of the year. And we just decided it would be good to go

through the story of Abraham, sort of not really thinking that Sodom and Gomorrah would be the story

that we would look at during Pride Month. And I know some people would say that it's not a good time

to look at Pride Month during, looking at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah during Pride Month.

And I guess all I would say is that people who would say that to us would also say that it's never a

good time to look at the text. So we're going to look at the text. So if you have your Bibles,

the text will be on the screen, but if you have your Bibles, it's always good. You can check

as well. And normally I don't give you an outline of where I'm going, but I'm going to give you a

very brief outline of what's going to happen this morning as we look at the text. First,

we're going to look at the story so that the story is clear. Second, we're going to look at the issue of

the sins that are involved. Then we're going to look at the problem of God's judgment. And then we're

going to look at the gospel and the hope that it brings. So that's where we're going. So let's go.

Get your Bibles. And if you turn in them to Genesis chapter 19, verse 1, and we're going to go through

Genesis 19:1

this. I'm going to pretend that there are scenes in a play or a movie or a story. So scene 1,

verses 1 to 3 is scene 1, and its title is Foreboding. Here's how it goes.

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.

When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said,

My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then

you may rise up early and go your way. They said, No, we'll spend the night in the town square.

But Lot pressed them very strongly. So they turned aside to him and entered his house. And

Lot made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Now, just a couple of things very briefly about that. First of all, as I talked about it just a

tiny bit last week, because this story of Sodom and Gomorrah is in a sense a two-part story,

and we looked at the first part last week. Probably the best way to understand angels,

and sometimes they're called men, is they're angels. In a sense, they have avatars, so to speak.

The angels have avatars. They appear and are, to all intents and purposes, men, but they're like an

avatar. Those of you who know games and stuff like that, that's maybe a way to help it, and movies,

but they're angels. The second is not as immediately obvious in English, but in the original language,

there's clear foreboding. Lot is terrified. He's worried when he sees the men come in. He knows

what's going to happen. And so in the original language, he can't, he's really urging them to

not spend the night in the square. And even when he says you can eat and then leave early in the

morning, he's hoping that the two men can come in, nobody notices, and they can leave so early in the

morning that nobody notices. So there's a sense of deep foreboding in the first scene. Scene two,

verses four to five, the city sins. Look at verse four. But before they lay down, right, so they've all

eaten. Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people

to the last man, surrounded the house, and they called to Lot. Where are the men who came to you

tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them. In other words, that we may have sex with them.

You'll notice here in the text that it'd make a great emphasis to make it clear that it's all men.

And as I interpreted, know it, it's to have, to sexually know them. It's not clear in the text

whether it's going to be rape, or whether it's going to be just that you can party, because isn't

this how everybody would like to live their lives? And some of you probably now start to see some types

of ways that this text is, should maybe be sort of interpreted in different ways. We're going to

talk about that when I get to sins at the end of the, at the end of the story. Scene three, the sinful

alternative. In fact, we could even say the shocking sinful alternative, verses six to eight.

Lot went out to the men at the entrance. He shut the door after him and said, I beg you, my brothers,

do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man.

Let me bring them out to you and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men,

for they have come under the shelter of my roof.

Now you have to pause. This is a, I mean, there's a smidgen of courage, but what Lot is suggesting is

a terrible evil. But some might say, you know, George, here's a second here. Aren't you sort of,

like, the text doesn't say that Lot's like an evil guy. Like, aren't you sort of trying to impose

your moral framework on it? Like, doesn't the Bible text valorize or make Lot into a type of a hero?

There is a certain amount of courage to what he did, which the Bible, in a sense, would give credit to,

but very, very little. But it's going to be very clear by the end of the story that he falls under God's

judgment as well. It's a different type of judgment than the judgment that happens to Sodom and Gomorrah,

but it's very clearly a judgment from God. The other thing is, is if the Bible ended at Genesis 19,

so that all you knew was Genesis chapter 1 to Genesis 19, then in fact, you'd have to conclude

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

that the Bible is giving us this narrative as something to show that Lot did a good thing.

But the Bible doesn't end at Genesis 19. And in fact, at a literary level, as I've shared before,

the Lord of the Rings is made up of six books. And if you just read book one and then didn't read

the rest of it and interpreted the Lord of the Rings just from having read the first book,

you wouldn't understand the book. You have to read all six books. And if you read all five books

that make up this story, you'll see that what Lot has described, or what he is offering to do,

is very, very, very clearly denounced as evil in the other books.

The other thing is, as at the end you're going to see that Lot is spared, this particular judgment,

this should be something that worries us. Because it is, in fact, a text that foreshadows

the fuller biblical doctrine of hell, of the fact that every human being will appear before the judgment

is the fuller biblical doctrine of the human being will appear before the human being will appear.

But on the way to that final judgment, there can be, in a sense, more proximate judgments.

And if Lot is spared, that shows the bar is very low.

Like really, really, really, really, really, really, really low.

And this doesn't show anything about God's indifference to evil.

It does communicate to us something of his great mercy and patience.

You're going to hear me say this several times throughout the sermon,

because it's, in fact, a very important way to understand the text.

There's a wonderful part in the introduction to morning prayer,

which is just a summary of three different Bibles.

It's said three times in the book of Ezekiel, and it's summarized in morning prayer.

And it goes like this,

God takes no delight in the death of a sinner,

but rather that they will turn from their wickedness and live.

That's what gives God delight,

is that when we turn from our wickedness and live.

And that's going to be how you have to understand

what's going on in this particular text.

But scene four is verse nine,

and the title for scene four is Canadians are present,

which might be a bit of a surprise to you,

but look at what happens in verse nine.

So Lot has offered his daughters,

and in verse nine,

the men around the house say,

verse nine,

stand back.

No, sorry,

but they said,

stand back.

In other words,

Lot, get out of the way.

And they said,

now they yell out,

this fellow came to sojourn with us,

and he has become the judge.

Now we will deal worse with you than with them.

Then they pressed hard against the man,

Lot,

and drew near to break the door down.

That's the very Canadian response,

isn't it?

How dare you judge me?

Like,

how dare you use your morals to judge me?

How dare you?

How dare you?

Like,

I'm the average Canadian.

Like,

what are you guys doing?

You're the ones who are hateful.

You're the ones who don't believe in diversity.

You're the ones who don't believe in inclusion.

You're the ones who don't believe.

How dare you?

And that's exactly what they say in the text.

Canadians are present.

Average Canadians.

Scene five.

Deliverance and explanation.

Verses,

to begin at verse 10.

But the men,

the men slash angels,

reached out their hands

and brought Lot into the house with them

and shut the door.

And they struck with blindness

the men who were at the entrance of the house,

both small and great,

so that they wore themselves out,

groping for the door.

Then the men said to Lot,

have you anyone else here,

sons-in-law,

daughters,

or anyone you have in the city,

bring them out of the place.

For we are about to destroy this place

because the outcry against its people

has become great before the Lord,

and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.

Now, the word blinding is a lone word

from another language,

not from Hebrew.

And what the lone word means is blindness.

So some of you who watch certain types of movies

and read certain types of books

and maybe who've had certain experiences

are familiar with flashbang grenades,

where there's a very, very bright light

and a loud noise

which temporarily stops people

from being able to function,

and it confuses them.

And it's a similar type of idea here in this word.

The idea is that there's been

an exceptionally bright light

that blinds them with the light.

It's very interesting.

They're in darkness

and they're blinded by the light.

And because they're blinded by the light,

they're not able to find the door

and pursue the evil

that they want to pursue.

We also see here

the explanation of God's judgment.

And there's something that's important

that you need to know.

Those of you who aren't familiar

or don't remember what happened

in the story just before this,

the story that happened just before this

is very significant for two things.

I mean, more than two things,

but two things for the point of view

of what we're doing here

is that in the story before this,

the Lord and Abraham have a conversation.

The Lord decides to reveal to Abraham

that he's heard that there's great evil in Sodom.

And so that the Lord is coming down to Sodom

to see for himself, so to speak,

whether in fact the great evil is there.

And it's very important

because it's communicating

that the Lord isn't like anger driven.

He's not thin-skinned.

He doesn't have temper tantrums,

that he's driven by justice and truth.

And so he goes down to see

whether in fact it's true

because he's not going to do,

if he was to judge

and they weren't really guilty,

then he would be guilty of injustice.

But God is driven by justice and by truth.

And at the same time,

the dialogue between Abraham and God,

because in the story,

Abraham intercedes for the city.

God says to Abraham,

I'm going down to see how bad,

whether or not Sodom and Gomorrah

are as bad as they say.

And Abraham instantly knows

that if God goes down,

Sodom and Gomorrah is doomed.

And so Abraham intercedes for Sodom and Gomorrah.

And, but now we see

that they've come and seen for themselves.

In a sense, it's the straw

that broke the camel's back.

And they announce that there's going to be God's judgment

and that therefore they have to leave.

Scene six, more Canadians are met in the story.

Look at verse 14.

So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law

who were to marry his daughters,

up, get out of this place,

for the Lord is about to destroy the city.

But he seemed to his sons-in-law

to be jesting.

Now, why is this more Canadians?

I don't watch a whole lot of Netflix comedy specials,

but from what I know,

if I was doing a special,

I got up to the front and said,

how many of you were worried

about the last judgment?

And everybody would laugh.

Right?

I'm sort of thinking a lot

about how God's going to judge everybody

and we're all going to go to hell.

Everybody would laugh.

That's the Canadian response.

And part of the story is,

it's a very profound part of the story,

if you think about it,

because it,

and this is going to be this

and the next little bits

are very important things

for us to think about.

All in the story,

the story forms us for this.

I mean, gosh,

the world just seems so stable,

doesn't it?

And how could something suddenly happen?

I mean,

you know,

you think about it,

that night,

as these two men slash angels

entered the town,

the townsmen and others

were thinking about

how they were going to put

their kids to bed.

They were maybe counting

the rest of the day's take.

They were making their supper.

They were thinking of the party.

Maybe they're thinking of the trip

they're going to do tomorrow.

They're thinking of the business deal.

Life is going on as normal.

The powerful are powerful.

The weak are weak.

The city is right there.

It seems very, very stable.

Life is going to go on.

And the idea that something

could happen that would end

all human life

just in a moment,

it seems completely

and utterly preposterous,

as it does to us.

A couple of Saturdays ago,

70% of Ottawa people

didn't think that by the end of the day

they would be without power.

And for those of us

who lost power

for an extended period of time,

it's unsettling

at a very psychic level

for the world not to be stable.

Scene 7,

Difficulties in Believing.

Look at verse 15.

As morning dawned,

the angels urged Lot,

saying,

Up, take your wife

and your two daughters

who are here,

lest you be swept away

in the punishment of the city.

But Lot lingered.

So the men seized him

and his wife

and his two daughters

by the hand,

the Lord being merciful to him,

and they brought him out

and set him outside the city.

And as they brought them out,

one said,

Escape for your life.

Do not look back

or stop anywhere in the valley.

Escape to the hills,

lest you be swept away.

Lot had difficulties believing it.

He sort of believed it at night.

I mean, good grief.

He's...

He...

You think about it.

It's dark in the house.

There's men screaming and howling.

They're probably cursing

and they can't find

and they're banging

and they're making lots of noise.

And he's...

And it's dark.

And these two men

did this weird thing

with this blinding light

that blinded people.

And it's...

And the cursing

and the unsettledness

goes on for a long time

and it's night

and you feel very, very fragile

and it's easy to believe

in something like the judgment.

But then daylight comes.

And you look at your favorite tree

and you look at your garden

and you look at your walls.

And if any of you

have ever been to the Holy Land,

even those parts of the Holy Land

that are most dry and desolate,

there's a beauty to them

and you look out

and it just looks like

everything's very stable

and it's hard to believe.

It would be as if

by the end of this sermon

you feel a bit convicted

about the reality of hell,

but it's hard to maintain

that reality.

You go outside,

you get a coffee,

you drive your car,

the roads are stable.

It's hard to continue

believing such doctrines.

It's very psychologically true.

Scene 8.

Mercy to the blind.

Verse 16.

Sorry, verse 18, I should say.

Verse 18.

And Lot said to them,

O no, my lords,

behold, your servant

has found favor in your sight

and you have shown me

great kindness

in saving my life,

but I cannot escape to the hills

lest the disaster overtake me

and I die.

Behold, this city

is near enough to flee to

and it's a little one.

Let me escape there.

Is it not a little one

and my life will be saved?

One of the angels said to him,

Behold, I grant you

this favor also

that I will not overthrow

the city to which you have spoken.

Escape there quickly

for I can do nothing

until you arrive there.

Therefore, the name of the city

was called Zoar.

It's a very, very subtle thing,

but in verse 16,

if you look,

you'll see

that what's happening to Lot

is purely because of God's mercy.

But in verse 19,

Lot thinks it's because

he's found favor.

As if something about him,

I mean, how could God judge me?

You know, like,

you know, like,

you know, I'm married,

you know, I have a degree,

I'm Canadian,

you know, I'm a good guy.

How could God judge me?

I found favor.

I could see how you can judge,

you know, those bad people,

you know,

I don't know,

the guys who vote for Trump

or, you know,

some of those, like,

you know, billionaire tech giants

or something like that.

I could see how you could judge them,

but look at me.

And so there's a fundamental blindness

about Lot,

and it's even seen

in the difference between Abraham.

I mean, Lot doesn't realize

that his standing,

the mercy comes

because of Abraham's

intercession for him.

And Abraham intercedes

for the whole city

that God would spare it.

But what Lot does

is whine

because he doesn't want

to be inconvenienced.

And so he's blind,

but God still shows mercy.

He doesn't show mercy

because Lot's going to get a pass.

Lot's going to be judged.

See, God takes no delight

in the death of a sinner,

but rather that he might turn

from his wickedness and live.

A season of not being judged

is because God desires us

to repent.

The reason texts like this

are in the Bible

is because God desires us

to turn to him for mercy

and hear that he has provided

a savior.

Now a very sobering part,

scene nine,

the judgment of the Lord.

Verse 23.

The sun had risen on the earth

when Lot came to Zoar.

Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah

sulfur or brimstone

and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

And the Lord overthrew those cities

and all the valley

and all the inhabitants of the cities

and what grew on the ground.

But Lot's wife behind him looked back

and she became a pillar of salt.

The language is communicating

that it's not just that,

it's not as if God is cruel

and Lot's wife just happened

to glance over her shoulder

and then bam.

No, no, no.

She's not walking towards freedom.

She's not in the city for protection.

She's standing outside of the protection

looking back.

Probably thinking my husband, Lot,

is a fool to believe these people.

Like, look how beautiful everything is.

Like, nothing's going to happen.

Like, I don't want to live

in this crappy little city.

Like, I have this wonderful house.

I have servants.

We have wealth.

We have possessions.

We had to leave it all behind.

And so she's not in the city.

And the destruction

and the judgment of God

comes upon her.

Scene 10.

Mercy and answered prayer.

Look at verses 27 to 29.

And Abraham went early in the morning

to the place where he had stood

before the Lord.

That's in the chapter just before.

And Abraham looked down

towards Sodom and Gomorrah

and toward all the land of the valley.

And he looked and behold,

the smoke of the land

went up like the smoke of a furnace.

So it was that when God destroyed

the cities of the valley,

God remembered Abraham

and sent Lot

out of the midst of the overthrow

when he overthrew the cities

in which Lot had lived.

Almost always in the Old Testament,

when you see the word remembered,

it means receive mercy.

And it was God showing mercy to Abraham

and Abraham's intercession for Lot

that Lot was spared

the destruction of the brimstone

and the fire.

So you see Lot's answered prayer.

You see God's mercy.

Scene 11.

Destabilizing fear.

Verse 30.

Now Lot went up out of Zoar

and lived in the hills

with his two daughters.

For he was afraid to live in Zoar,

so he lived in a cave

with his two daughters.

So what's going on here?

One moment.

Didn't Lot just say,

I'm afraid to go to the hills,

let me live in the city,

and now he's afraid to live in the city,

so he goes to live in the hills?

It's not an inconsistency in the text.

It's the destabilizing,

the lack of,

you see,

you see,

one of the, you know,

a couple of years ago

we went through the book of Proverbs,

and I suggested to the staff

that we called our sermon series

How to Be Square.

They didn't like it.

That's fine.

They were wiser than me.

But the fact of the matter is

that the Bible

will teach you how to be square.

It won't teach you how to be hip.

It won't teach you how to be cool.

It won't teach you how to be popular.

It's going to teach you how to be square.

How to be a square.

But that's where you have stability

from the Bible.

An ability to assess the world,

to be wise,

to see what's what,

to deal with reality,

to roll up your sleeves

and deal with the real world,

to not be confused

by the arrogance of the proud

and the claims of the unjust,

and not to be mistaken

by moral relativism

when we need moral clarity,

and not to be afraid

of every bump in the night.

That's why there's a constant message

in the Bible

that to come to the Lord

and to know His mercy

is to be delivered from fear.

That even the fear of the Lord,

the knowledge of who God is

and a clarity about knowing who He is,

the effect of that

is to minimize your fear

and anxiety

that you have in life.

And so Lot,

and this is going to fit in

with the other type of thing

which is about to happen,

which is very tragic,

and then we'll get to

some of the other things,

is that Lot is,

Lot is just,

he's not safe,

he's not happy in the city,

he's not happy in the hills,

he's just not happy.

He's afraid in the hills,

he's afraid in the city,

he's just afraid.

And then in conclusion,

the Lord's other judgment.

Verses 31 and following.

So Lot's in the cave

with his two daughters

and the firstborn daughter

said to the younger,

Our father is old

and there is not a man on earth

to come into us

after the manner of all the earth.

Come, let us make our father

drink wine

and we will lie with him

that we may preserve offspring

from our father.

So they made their father

drink wine that night

and the firstborn went in

and lay with her father.

He did not know

when she lay down

or when she arose.

The next day,

the firstborn said

to the younger,

Behold,

I lay last night

with my father.

Let us make him

drink wine tonight also.

Then you go in

and lie with him

that we may preserve

offspring from our father.

So they made their father

drink wine that night also.

And the younger arose

and lay with him

and he did not know

when she lay down

or when she arose.

Thus both the daughters

of Lot became pregnant

by their father.

The firstborn bore a son

and called his name Moab.

He is the father of the Moabites

to this day,

the day of the book,

this book was written.

The younger also bore a son

and called his name Ben-Ami

and he is the father

of the Ammonites

to this day.

The Moabites

and the Ammonites

became the ancient enemies

of Israel.

The Moabites

worship the god Moloch

where you sacrifice

your infant

to the god.

This is also

the lord's judgment.

One of the ways

that sometimes

the lord judges us

here on earth

or we start to begin

to experience

the lord's judgment

is that the common grace

that he bestows

that stops us

from our worst desires

that pulls us back

from that

that God,

the image

it's found

in the New Testament,

the image is if

there's a constant current

that we have

and it's like a boat

on a river

with a current

and the boat

is securely tied

to the dock

and the river

is like our sinful passions,

our passions

to be like God,

to do whatever we please,

to not have anybody judge us,

to just be narcissistic,

to be selfish

and there's this constant pressure,

this constant flow

but common grace

keeps the boat stable

and tied to the dock

and one thing

that sometimes happens

is it's as if God

unties the ropes

that ties the boat

which is you

to the dock

and allows the current

to take you

and batter you

and that's what's seen

here in this text

and it's a judgment

from God.

Now,

some of you

might have said,

George,

you know,

that's a very interesting story.

It's a terrible story.

In some ways,

George,

I think you should be ashamed

that you would even believe it

or uphold it.

You know,

George,

I think you read a story

like that

and it encourages violence

against the LGBTQ plus community

and gets homophobic

and frankly,

George,

I think you and others

are misinterpreting it.

It's very obvious

that the men

are either bisexual,

they're not homosexual,

it's not talking about lesbianism,

it's in fact,

George,

probably what it is,

it's heterosexual men

desiring to do something like this

and,

you know,

we know better today,

we know better about orientation

and stability

and health

and just everything

about this text,

George,

is just wrong.

A couple of things

in response

very briefly.

The same-sex sexual knowing

in the text

is definitely

not the only sin

in the text,

but it is one of them.

The rest of the Bible,

because it's,

this text is commented on

in Isaiah,

it's commented on in Jeremiah,

it's commented on in Ezekiel

and it's commented on

in the New Testament

and from these other places

we see that it's,

there's this,

this among the other sins

of Sodom and Gomorrah

are a lack of hospitality,

of rape,

of oppression,

of adultery,

of making lying

seen as a virtue,

of acting in a way

to enable crime,

of arrogance,

of being unrepentant,

and of oppression

of the poor.

But in that list,

the same-sex sexual knowing

is also present.

It is one of the sins

that led to the judgment

of the city.

And then some people

might say,

but George,

you see,

this is the whole problem.

You know,

George,

why is it that the Bible

thinks that things like that

are like the worst sin

and you're just giving

heterosexuals

and others a pass

because,

you know,

like,

but I'm just going to,

those are all,

in a sense,

good comebacks,

but they're mistaken.

In fact,

the matter is that

the Bible never says

that same-sex sexual knowing

is the worst sin.

In fact,

actually,

the Bible does tell you

what the worst sin is.

Right?

Those of us who know

our Bible,

what often causes

a problem of conscience

in the New Testament

is the unforgivable sin

is the sin

against the Holy Spirit.

not same-sex sexual knowing.

And what that sin

is a person

who's become so proud

that they never repent.

They're completely immune

to whatever God tries to do.

They're immune to the truth.

They're immune to conscience

in such a way

that they're just immune

and they can no longer repent.

They can no longer hear the truth.

And that's the worst sin.

In fact,

actually,

in ancient Christian teaching,

which would still be

the mainstream of Christian teaching,

sort of summarized

in the seven deadly sins.

In the seven deadly sins,

the sexual sins

are the least deadly.

And the most deadly is pride.

But it's still a deadly sin.

But it's definitely not

making any claim

that it's the worst sin.

And anybody who says it

is a Christian

that just doesn't know

anything about it.

And then some might say,

but George,

you know,

we know way more about it.

We know about identity

and we know about

stable identities

and we know that we have

to do types of things

that help us to define,

help us to be stable

in our identity.

And I guess I'll say this

just very briefly,

and if you want to know

more about it,

I highly recommend you read

the writings of Sam Albury

or Rosaria Butterfield

or my friend Christopher Yuan.

But the fact of the matter

is that the Bible

is not reductionistic.

It's a very hard thing

for the world to understand.

The world is always

trying to reduce us.

And the Bible

is not reductionistic.

Human beings aren't reduced

to their sexual desire.

The Bible never reduces

human beings.

They don't reduce

human beings to their race.

That's not even

a biblical concept.

They don't reduce

human beings

to economic forces.

The Bible never reduces

human beings

to how much money you have.

It never reduces

human beings

to your sexual desire.

or politics.

It doesn't reduce you.

The Bible upholds

the fact that human beings

are angular

and made in the image

of God.

And we sing

and we dance

and we have friends

and we make money

and we have businesses

and we listen.

And the Bible celebrates that.

The Bible never reduces us

to define us

in categories of...

Heterosexual

is not a biblical concept.

In fact,

it's against the Bible.

Heterosexual

is an attempt

to define you

by your sexual desire.

It's an attempt

to reduce you

to what you desire sexually.

The Bible doesn't

accept that for a moment.

The Bible's not reductionistic.

And does this text

teach you

that we should hate

the LGBTQ plus community?

It teaches

the exact opposite.

What's the heart

of the text

is that Abraham

intercedes

for the city.

What the text

is teaching you

is to intercede

for people.

For me to intercede

to people.

Not to hate them

but to have compassion

and love them

and to pray for them.

The people

that from whatever

your point of view

you think

are farthest from God

and if you have

a sense in your spirit

that some people

are really far from God

that's also a leading

of the Holy Spirit

for you to intercede

for them.

The text shows

the model in the text

is Abraham's intercession.

The opposite of hatred.

And does the text

pick on the LGBTQ?

Plus community?

No it doesn't.

My friend

Christopher Yuan

is very very brilliant

on this.

And I just have to talk

about it very very briefly.

But the Bible points

that there is

two paths

to holiness

for human beings.

And holiness

isn't the same thing

as barrenness.

It doesn't mean

being sterile.

It's

the holiness

is

holiness conveys

the idea of purity.

I see God

is this

all pleasure

comes from God.

Joy comes from God.

Beauty,

love,

truth,

justice,

mercy,

creativity.

They all come from God.

Holiness is to become

more and more gods.

Not to become

more like a god

but to belong

to the triune god.

To get closer

to the triune god.

So holiness

provides this idea

of purity,

of holiness,

of integrity,

of dignity,

of freedom,

of wholeness,

of being truly yourself

because you're truly

now one with God.

It's an image

of beauty

and of grace,

of life

and of love,

of truth

and of goodness,

of justice

and of mercy.

And the Bible says

there's two paths

to holiness.

And one path

is a path

that every single

human being

walks on.

and it's a path

of singleness.

That there's a way

of being single

which is a way

of beauty

and of freedom

and holiness

and loveliness

and creativity

and compassion.

And most people

don't choose

to be single

for their whole life

or even for a large

chunk of their life.

Some people do

but many just discover

that the path

of singleness

which is a way

towards holiness

is the way

that they will walk

till they die.

And others like me,

I was single

for a long season.

I've been married.

That's the other

path to holiness

of one biological male

married to one

biological female.

It's another path

to holiness.

And unless

that married couple

die in a car accident

at the same time,

there will be a season

where they will

once again,

one of them

at least,

will continue

on that path

to holiness.

But God provides

two paths

to holiness.

The Bible text here

makes it very clear

that God does not

call you

to heterosexuality

because there's

very clearly

heterosexual sin.

I'm not called

to heterosexuality.

I am called

to love

Louise.

Louise.

That's what I'm

called to.

To love

Louise

and be one

with her.

And it's a

beautiful path.

It's the path

to holiness.

What about

hell and judgment?

There's not

God

I mean,

God

shouldn't judge.

It's unworthy

of God.

It's

hateful

of God.

George,

I don't even

understand how

you could ever

even believe

in a text

like this.

George,

you should,

this text

is horrific.

The God

that's revealed

in here

is horrific.

It's a whole

other sermon,

but I want

to say a couple

of points.

The first

is that when

we feel

this about

God,

what is

revealed

is not

what's

true about

God,

but the

fact that

we're

confused.

Why am

I saying

is it

revealed

that you're

confused?

You make

moral judgments.

You make

moral judgments

about all

sorts of

things.

If you

can make

moral judgments,

why can't

God?

And if

you refuse

to make

moral judgments,

if you

refuse to

allow God

to make

judgments,

is that

because you

think that

you're God?

And what

about

punishment?

You want

justice and

you want

people to

be punished.

Like, you

know, you

think about

it, and

let's even

take a very

good couple,

let's say

there's two

people and

they're both

two people

very high

up in

Shopify or

some high

tech thing

and they're

both making

a quarter of

a million

dollars and

so they're

making very,

very good

money.

I'm guessing

more than

anybody here

in the room,

but maybe

there's somebody

here this

morning or

watching who's

making more

than half a

million dollars

a year.

And if you

had some

street person

come in and

steal your

watch and

your watch

was worth,

let's say,

$20,000,

would you want

to have them

prosecuted?

Would you,

you know,

I mean,

you're making

half a million

dollars a year

and they

steal a

$20,000

watch?

That's a

lot of

money for

me, but

not a lot

of money

for you.

But wouldn't

you and

most people

even agree

that you'd

be right to

try to have

that person

be arrested

and put in

jail?

So why is

it that you

believe that

people can be

punished, but

you don't

believe that

God can

punish people?

Like, how

do we have

an actual

honest conversation

when you

don't even

realize that

you think you

can do

something, but

God can't do

what you can

do?

And this

text is making

very clear that

in fact, God,

unlike you, is

never going to

be anger-driven

or thin-skinned

or jump to

conclusions, but

he's actually

going to have a

just judgment.

Or even

consider this,

that many

people will

say to me,

many, many

people say to

me, I can't

believe in a

God that just

allows evil to

go on and

it's not

stopped and

it's not

judged.

And then the

very next day

they might say,

especially after

they hear a

text like this,

is I can't

believe in a

God that

judges evil.

Well, one

moment, you

can't have

both.

If you don't

want to believe

in a God that

doesn't judge

evil, and

then you don't

want to believe

in a God that

does judge

evil, it

means you

just don't

want to

believe in

God.

You don't

want God.

You just

don't want

him.

Pick one,

and let's

have a

conversation.

And most

importantly,

what if it's

real?

I mean, a

lot of our

emotional reaction

to this is

as if we're

just inventing

things.

It would be

as if this

theater was

completely and

utterly packed

to the gills,

maybe even

beyond what the

fire marshal

would allow,

and then

somebody all

of a sudden

yells fire,

and there is

no fire, but

they yell fire,

and they yell

it and they get

all hysterical,

and we all get

hysterical, and

everybody's completely

and utterly, and

for many people,

we look at a text

like this and we

just think it's

just religious,

it's not real,

and so to

talk like this

is just like

yelling fire in

a crowded theater,

all it does is

cause death and

destruction, but

what if it's not

like this?

What if it's

more like you're

hiking in an

area where the

roads are very

narrow, and you

hike up and you

see that there's,

you feel a bit of

a trevor, but it

doesn't do anything

to you, and you

look down and you

see that the

bridge has

collapsed, and you

see that it's a

straight way and the

cars are going to

go down and they're

going to come to

that edge of the

bridge and they're

going to go over

the bridge to

their death, and

so you run, you

get down the hill

as fast as you

can and you go on

the road and you

stand on the road

waving your arms

trying to get cars

to stop, because

you don't want them

to go over the edge

of the bridge to

their death.

I want to share

with you, friends,

this text is not

about yelling fire

in a crowded room,

this text is claiming

that it's real.

There is a God

that does exist,

that you and I

will be judged.

And in fact,

actually, just as if

you discovered that

there were hikers who

could have gone down

to the road and

stopped cars from

going over to their

doom, they didn't do

it, and you would

think they were

terrible, evil people,

so at the end of the

day, if there is in

fact a judgment of

God, and I as a

pastor never warned

people about it, I

would in fact be a

terrible, evil man.

Just in closing,

George, you're

talking like this as

if it's just going to

be something for

other people.

You're sort of like,

you know, Boris

Johnson in the UK

telling everybody not

to, you know, not to

see families and not

to gather.

Meanwhile, you know,

they're all having

big parties.

One rule for you,

for me, and a

different rule for

you, and you sort of

know I want to tell

you this, and I'm

going to include

Shane, I didn't warn

him about this.

Shane's the guy, the

good-looking guy who's

leading the service.

We're both ordained,

and I want to tell

you, and I know

Shane would say

amen.

There's nothing about

either Shane or me

that would mean that

God favors us.

We deserve God's

judgment.

We would not stand

in the judgment day.

Neither of us

would.

The only hope that

Shane and I have in

the judgment day

is that God came

down amidst our

human race, Emmanuel,

God with us.

And he came to be my

representative, and he

identified with me.

And he came to be my

substitute, and he came

to offer an exchange.

And the only hope that

Shane has, or I have,

on the judgment day is

Jesus.

I have no other hope

than that.

There is no other hope

than that.

There is no other hope

than that.

And those paths to

holiness, you might say,

George, I don't know,

those paths to holiness,

you sort of make them

sound good, but they're

too hard.

And let me tell you,

they are too hard.

And paths to holiness,

that's not the gospel.

The gospel is that you

have Jesus, who is your

representative, who is

identified with you

completely, who knows

you completely, who's

your substitute, your

exchange.

He dies in your place.

He offers you a

connection with God.

That's the gospel.

But I can also tell you

this, that it's God's

intention that there are

paths to holiness, and

there are paths to

holiness.

One path is a path of

singleness.

The other was a path for

a season of marriage.

And with Christ, you don't

walk it alone.

There's a presence on the

path.

And there's the hope and

promise at the end.

And it's all a gift from

our Savior.

I'm going to invite you to

stand.

As we draw to a close, if

you are here or if you are

watching and you have never

given your life to Christ,

there is no better time

than now to give your life

to Christ.

There's no better time than

to say to Jesus,

I have never really thought

before that I will one day

appear before you in the

story of Sodom and Gomorrah as

a foretaste of God's judgment

of all human beings.

God, I know that I can't

stand before you in judgment.

I know that I need your

mercy.

And I thank you, Father, that

you have provided mercy in the

person of your Son.

And I ask, Father, that Jesus

would be my Savior and my

Lord.

Lord, I give myself to him and

I ask that he would take me and

that he would never let me go.

And I thank you for your

promise that he will take me and

he will never let me go.

And for us who are Christians, it's

a time to recommit.

Not that we should spend all of

our time thinking about just the

last judgment or hell, but it is

an important real truth about

the real world.

And it's so wonderful that we

can remember this on a day when

we will receive the Lord's

Supper, where we are reminded

that Jesus' death upon the

cross was inaugurating a new

covenant.

To remember his blood shed and

his body pierced and dying.

And that we can receive him as

our Savior and Lord.

And the Lord's Supper is not

only a time to receive more

grace from him, but to recommit

to him.

And to remember that he will

never let us go or forsake us.

That he is our Savior.

And asking him to be our Lord.

Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Father, I ask that you would

gently but powerfully pour out

the Holy Spirit upon us.

We have looked at things which

are hard for us to look at, that

our mind and our heart rebels at.

But Father, we can see in this that

you are reminding us of what the

real world is like.

That you are in fact God.

That you are in fact Lord.

That there is a justice.

There is a day when we will be

judged.

And there is a judgment.

And that our only hope is Christ.

And that people need to know

Christ.

They need to have him as their

Savior and their Lord.

And Father, that you have not

called us to hate people, but you

have called us, Father, to have

compassion.

And intercede.

And we ask, Father, that you would

make us a congregation.

Father, a congregation which shows

forth your holiness, your beauty,

your justice, your love, your

compassion, your mercy, your

kindness, and your intercession for

others.

And that you would help us to put to

death all self-righteousness and

instead make us people who are

gripped by what Christ has done for

us in the gospel.

And that that will be the basis by

which we see the world.

And that as your gospel becomes

more dear to our heart, that we

are shaped for compassion.

We are shaped for mercy.

And so, Father, we ask that you

would do this wonderful ongoing

work in our lives.

And we ask this in the name of

Jesus, your Son and our Savior, and

all God's people said, Amen.