Prayer and the Sovereignty of God

Father, we live in a time, Father,

and you know how deeply Canadian most of us are,

and we're afraid to talk about certain things,

and we're even afraid to see certain things written in your word.

And so, Father, we ask that you help us not to be afraid,

to be secure, Father, in your word,

and secure in your love for us,

and that as your gospel becomes more real to us

and helps us to be more secure in who you are

and your great love for us,

and that this is your word, your world,

and we are your children living in your world under your care,

that you would help us, Father,

to allow your word to form us deeply and deeply,

knowing that as your word forms us deeply,

it'll form us to generosity and hospitality,

to righteousness and to justice and mercy,

and to prayerfulness.

So, Father, do this wonderful work in our lives,

and we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So, you might have noticed when Matt was reading,

but I have a full disclosure in case you didn't.

The first half of this, we're reading the first half of a story.

So, there's a story in two parts,

and it's the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

I'm also aware that it's Pride Month.

And so, if you're a guest here,

or if you're a guest online,

just let you know,

those of you,

if I move my head like this, it creates feedback,

just let you know that

this isn't like me throwing down the gauntlet,

or trying to give the finger to anybody,

or anything like that,

or a challenge.

I sort of,

I don't think about what months they are,

and stuff like that.

And those of you know,

we don't really do anything for Mother's Day,

or Father's Day,

or other days.

We just preach through books of the Bible,

or large sections of the Bible,

and it never really struck me

that we would be talking about this chapter,

during this story,

during Pride Month.

So, it's not a challenge.

It's,

but I'm not embarrassed about the story.

And maybe it's, in fact,

one of the best times

for us who are Christians

to look at a story like this

during Pride Week.

Because actually,

as you see this week and next week,

it forms us towards compassion,

as well as to justice and to righteousness.

Now, just the other thing about it,

it's the actual,

this is sort of the lead up to Sodom and Gomorrah,

and next week we actually have

the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Spoiler alert,

but there you go,

it gets destroyed.

But interestingly enough,

in this lead up

to the story

of Sodom and Gomorrah

being destroyed,

the Bible actually

touches very,

in very simple ways,

in a very simple story,

with the mystery of human freedom

and worth and dignity,

and the possibility of having true meaning

in your life.

Not a meaning that you sort of grab for yourself,

but a meaning which is bigger than you

that you can enter into and walk into it.

So let's look,

open up your Bibles,

and we'll read this text together,

this scary text.

Part of this text has a bit of a,

anyway,

let's get into the text.

And it goes like this,

Genesis 18,

Genesis 18:1

verse 1,

and we're going through the Abraham stories,

and we're going to end in,

we're going to take a week off the last week of June,

but then we'll finish it the first week of July

with the story of Isaac being sacrificed,

potentially sacrificed,

or sacrificed because of God's command.

Here's how this story goes.

And the Lord appeared to him,

that's Abraham,

by the oaks of Mamre,

as he sat at the door of his tent

in the heat of the day.

He lifted up his eyes and looked,

and behold,

three men were standing in front of him.

When he saw them,

he ran from the door to meet them

and bowed himself to the earth.

And I just sort of pause,

look again at verse 2,

he's at his tent,

and then verse 2,

he lifted up his eyes and looked,

and behold,

three men were standing in front of him.

Now, just a couple of things about this.

I don't want to take too long about it.

The first thing is,

is you're going to see

Abraham reacts in a very odd way to these men.

And I know there's at least two people here

in the service today who know Hebrew very well,

and so if they tell me otherwise,

I'll acknowledge it next week.

But I think part of what explains the oddness

that's going to happen afterwards

is that they just appeared.

He's sitting there, you know,

and all of a sudden there's three men.

Like, one moment there's none,

and all of a sudden there are.

And I think that's what helps to explain

the odd things that he's going to do

in response to it.

Like, in a sense, the over-the-topness

of how he responds to it.

The other thing is about these men,

and here's the thing,

is if you read the text,

as we read the text,

and as you go into it next week as well,

they're always called men,

but they're also called angels.

And one of the men is also called the Lord.

And the narrator uses the word Yahweh,

in a sense the covenant name for God,

and they also use the word Adonai.

Adonai, Abraham himself,

clearly refers to this one of the people as God.

So, you know, what's really going here?

The Bible doesn't really explain it.

It's not the incarnation.

I don't think it's the pre-incarnate Christ

or anything like that.

Using a bit of a video game analogy,

I think it's an avatar.

That may be a better way to explain it.

That two angels, in a sense,

appear or take on flesh,

just for the purpose of this story,

and are in the story.

And God himself, the angel of the Lord,

who's mentioned throughout the Old Testament

in different places,

an angel who, in a sense, represents God,

this also is like an avatar.

So that to speak to this angel

as if speaking to the Lord,

and to hear this angel speak

as if the Lord speaks.

I think that's what's going on in the text.

But the Bible never makes it clear,

other than the fact that the Bible is clear,

that up until the coming of Jesus,

no man has ever seen God and lived.

So I think it's like an avatar.

Those of you who are familiar with video games,

I think that's what's going on.

So these three humans

and or angels,

all of a sudden they're there.

And that's why Abraham,

in verse two,

he runs from the tent door to meet them,

and he bowed himself to the earth.

And in verse three,

he speaks and says,

O Lord,

if I have found favor in your sight,

do not pass by your servant.

Let a little water be brought

and wash your feet

and rest yourselves under the tree.

In other words, in the shade.

While I bring a morsel of bread,

just a morsel of bread,

that you may refresh yourselves.

And after that,

you may pass on,

since you have come to your servant.

So Abraham is showing hospitality

and also deference.

So they said,

do as you have said.

In other words,

they said,

okay,

we'll go and sit under the tree

and you go and get the little morsel ready.

Now just sort of pause here for a second

before I read the next little bit.

But,

you know,

I think we went,

all told,

11 days without hydro.

And,

you know,

such first world problems.

It was so frustrating.

I mean,

we had a generator connected,

you know,

but I,

you have to,

first you have to make your coffee.

Then you have to unplug

the coffee maker.

And then you have to plug in the toaster.

And then you have to make the toast

rather than putting the two on

at the same time.

And I'm just being a big baby.

But that's like tiresome

and stuff like that.

And,

you know,

and you,

you know yourselves as well.

You know,

some of you have virtually nothing

in your fridge

because between eating out

and calling Uber,

all you have in your fridge

is maybe some mustard

or some ketchup

or something like that.

Because we like everything quick.

We like everything instant.

We like everything eating out.

So this next bit

would drive us crazy.

He says,

let's just have a bit of

morsel of bread,

right?

And then look what happens

in verse six.

And Abraham went quickly

into the tent to Sarah

and said,

quick,

three seahs of fine flour.

Knead it

and make cakes

or bread.

That's 22 liters

of flour.

Take 22 liters

of flour,

get a fire going

and make bread

out of 22 liters.

That's a huge amount

of flour.

And then,

verse seven,

Abraham ran to the herd

and took a calf.

Well,

just,

I mean,

I'm a city guy.

I grew up in Montreal

and then I went to Eganville.

You know,

and then I lived in Ottawa

and I mainly lived in Ottawa.

But let me tell you,

like a calf isn't just

like a little thing

like this.

He's not talking about

like a baby goat,

like a calf.

It might weigh 500 pounds.

500 pounds.

So,

look,

look what's going on here.

It's like,

it's crazy.

For us Canadians,

right?

Have to stop for a moment.

A morsel of bread

and a bit of water,

right?

Verse seven,

and Abraham ran to the herd

and took a calf,

tender and good.

Hard text for vegetarians.

And gave it to a young man

who prepared it quickly.

In other words,

he killed it,

skinned it,

took out the guts,

starts roasting it.

This isn't just something

like getting on the phone

and hoping that

if your Uber order

is going to be longer

than 25 minutes,

you're not going to take it.

Like,

this is lots of work.

500 pounds of beef,

22 liters of flour

made into bread

and all this other stuff as well.

Then he took curds

and milk,

verse eight,

and the calf

that he had prepared

and set it before them.

And he stood

by them

under the tree

while they ate.

Now,

just sort of,

you know,

pause here for a second.

Some of you

might be thinking,

like,

this is way overkill,

this is exaggeration.

And what waste?

Like,

three dudes

cannot,

even the biggest eaters

amongst you,

if we were to pick

the three guys

with the biggest appetites,

could not eat

500 pound calf,

22 liters of stuff,

and all the other stuff.

So what's going on here?

I had a little tiny bit

of a glimpse

of what was going with this

the first time.

I got invited,

unworthy as I am,

to,

in 2003,

to go to rural Kenya.

They invited

evangelical Anglican,

evangelical Anglicans

from all over the world

to come together

for this consultation.

And,

this wasn't like

a fancy type of thing

where people on,

you know,

government expense accounts

or Apple expense accounts

or something like that go.

This was in rural Kenya

where,

like,

real Kenyans

would actually go

and real Nigerians

and real people

from the Congo

and real people

from Chile

where it goes.

So it was in rural,

it was like about

50 kilometers north

and upstream

of,

uphill from Nairobi.

And on the Sunday

that I was there

we got invited to go,

me and a fellow

from India

and a fellow

from England.

The three of us

got invited

to walk several kilometers

down a road

that a car couldn't make it

to this place

where there was a church.

And we were the guests

of honor

and the English fellow

got to preach.

And it's so neat.

Some of you

have been to rural Africa

or maybe some of you

even have grown up there.

And it's not just

a church building

but there's like

a compound as well.

And so as we're coming up

for the meal

the women

are at several fires

in the church compound

making food.

And as the service

is going on

you can smell the food.

And at the end

of the service

the three of us

with the elders

of the congregation

and the lay reader

who was looking after it

we get invited

for the meal.

We're invited to stay

for the meal.

It was part of the deal

because they wanted

to honor us.

Now it was very,

very odd for me

as a Canadian

to have this meal

because basically

other than the lay reader

and the several men

who were the elders

and us three guests

nobody ate.

The women

and others

sat around us

the outside of the room

and others were outside.

And after we ate

they ate.

Now it was just

a way of them

and their culture

showing us honor.

I felt uncomfortable

like by my nature

I would have said

you know,

no, no, you have this seat.

That would have

insulted them.

They were honoring us.

So what we see here

is if you think about it

for a second

Abraham has realized

that the Lord

has showed up.

So he's not just

going to make

two pieces

of pita bread

and a couple

of dried fish

to give to the Lord.

Everybody should celebrate.

And we know

from other places

in this story

that Abraham

has many servants

many other dependents

and others.

They're all going to eat.

It's not just

for these three guys.

This is a celebration.

We're going to have

the fatted calf.

This is going to be

a great day

but as a way

to honor them

not even Abraham

in this particular case

eats with them.

Just the three people eat.

But you could be sure

that if you went back

in a time machine

after the three had eaten

everybody would eat.

It's a festival.

It's a celebration.

But it's also

showing honor

to these three.

And now we see

something that

they're going to

actually say.

Now before we read

the thing that

the angels say

and remember

this is part of the story

leading up to

the destruction

of Sodom and Gomorrah.

And one of the problems

that we Canadians

have with the Bible

is we think the Bible

is confused

and we're not.

But often

what happens

is that we are

inconsistent

and confused

and massively unaware.

Now if you think

about it for a second

and many people pray

what happens

so first of all

most of the time

we like to live our lives

and basically have God

do nothing to do with us.

We want to do our own thing

in our own way

in our own time.

But sometimes

when we're really

really really really

really in trouble

we pray

and when we pray

what do we want God to do?

We want God

to almost make

all of the people

you know

maybe the bank managers

or maybe our boss

or our parents

or our wife

or our husband

we want him almost

to make them like puppets

and he can just sort of

all of a sudden

move them around

in such a way

that the trouble

that we're in

goes away.

And other times

we pray

that we want God

to intervene

in a sense

that's like

that's almost miraculous.

We pray

because you know

somebody

is close to death's door

and we want them to live

or we know

that there's

a financial crisis

in one of

you know

for our friend

or one of our kids

and we want

we want that

to come to an end

and so in a sense

we pray for a miracle

and if you think

about it for a second

what we're

what we're showing

is that when we want it

when I want it

when you want it

I want God

to intervene

when I don't want

him to intervene

I want him

out of the way

but I want

him to intervene

and when he intervenes

in a way

that's like a miracle

it's like this

and if we're

in a Bible study group

or we're having

a mentoring thing

or maybe if

you know

because lots of people

who aren't Christians

and lots of people

who even consider

themselves secular

they also pray

I was talking

to a young man

this week

who has nothing

to do with

the Christian faith

but he told me

he prays

amongst other things

but you see

here's where

inconsistencies

if God

is a God

who can intervene

and we want him

to do that

why

why is it bad

if God intervenes

alright for a miracle

but not in judgment

like the reason

we have a problem

with that

it actually reveals

not only that

we're confused

but that in our

heart of hearts

I want to be God

now each of you

are saying

George

you're not God

and under your breath

you're saying

because I'm God

and that's why

there's often

conflict

you have two

people with

God projects

in denial

trying to live

together

if you have kids

you have four

five six

whatever the number

is

with God projects

all trying to live

together

so we're a bit

confused about this

but this is the

right type

of intervention

and that's

what we see here

in the next few

verses

look at verse

nine

these

that's the

guest

they said

to him

verse nine

where is

Sarah your

wife

and Abraham

said she's

in the tent

the Lord

said I will

surely return

to you about

this time

next year

and Sarah

your wife

shall have

a son

and Sarah

was listening

at the tent

door behind

him

now Abraham

and Sarah

were old

advanced

in years

the way

of women

had ceased

to be with

Sarah

now just

sort of

pause here

what the

language is

saying is

that Sarah

had been

post-menopausal

for a long

time

the original

language

the normal

menstrual cycle

that women

have

once they

get a certain

age

puberty

that has

come to an

end for

quite a long

time

one of the

things which

is going on

in this

story

is it's

very similar

to what

happens if

you read

the gospels

the eyewitness

ancient

biographies of

Jesus

is you see

as you read

the gospels

very carefully

that nobody

believed

first of all

that Jesus

would die

and then

second of all

that if he

did die

that he

would rise

from the

dead

like nobody

believed it

and the

stories

all four of

them set

this up

and this

is setting

up the

fact that

she's old

she doesn't

believe this

nobody

believes this

that God

in fact

is going

to do

this

profound

miracle

which is

going to

happen

in a

couple

of

chapters

so after

the general

promise that

there would

be a son

now it's

very specific

this son

is going to

come this

time next

year when

they come

back

Sarah

will have

a son

and it's

setting up

the miracle

verse 12

though Sarah

doesn't believe

this verse

12 so Sarah

laughed to

herself

saying

after I am

worn out

and my

Lord is

old

it's a

different word

than Lord

that's been

used all the

way through

by the way

it's

the old

guy

shall I

have

pleasure

the Lord

said to

Abraham

why did

Sarah

laugh

and say

shall I

indeed bear

a child

now that

I am

old

he reads

her thoughts

is anything

too hard

for the

Lord

that could

be a whole

sermon

just in

of itself

it's the

big challenge

to every

single one

of us

it's the

big challenge

of prayer

it's the

big challenge

of how

to live

our lives

with a

type of

confidence

and humility

is anything

too hard

for the

Lord

at the

appointed

time I

will return

to you

about this

time next

year

and Sarah

shall have

a son

but Sarah

she's caught

by her

lie

she's caught

by what

she her

lack of

faith

her laughing

at God

and she's

embarrassed

and so

she lies

but Sarah

denied it

saying I

did not

laugh

for she

was afraid

but the

Lord said

no you

did

you laughed

now

this is

going to be

important

at the

end of it

but we

see here

once again

we see

that the

Bible

does not

show that

Abraham and

Sarah are

perfect people

and that

God

is going to

show grace

is showing

grace to

imperfect

people

and imperfect

is not even

the right word

to use the

old fashioned

biblical word

Abraham and

Sarah are

sinners

and God

shows grace

to sinners

nothing

nothing

is too

hard for

the Lord

now we

come to

the part

that's

going to

start to

make us

a little

bit nervous

it's the

part about

what

what is

God going

to do

about

Sodom

and

Gomorrah

look at

verse 16

then the

men

set out

from there

and they

looked down

towards

Sodom

and Abraham

went out

with them

went with

them to

set them

on their

way

he's a

good host

he's going

to walk

a little

way

with them

on their

journey

and the

Lord said

shall I

hide from

Abraham

what I am

about to

do

seeing that

Abraham

shall surely

become a

great nation

a great and

mighty nation

and all the

nations of the

earth shall be

blessed in him

for I have

chosen him

and the word

there is

it's a

relational word

I know

him

I understand

him

it's not

just like

you know

eeny meeny

miny mo

there's this

idea of

the choosing

the

it's sort

of a little

bit similar

to in a

sense

the man

who's marrying

the woman

chooses

his wife

and the

woman chooses

her husband

and they

know each

other

it's not

just the

marriage ceremony

but as life

goes on

they have

a knowledge

of each

other

and that's

being

communicated

here

it's a

it's a

personal

interpersonal

relational

type of

word

verse 19

for I have

chosen him

that he

may command

his children

and his

household

after him

to keep

the way

of the

Lord

by doing

righteousness

and justice

the way

of the

Lord

is to

do

righteousness

and justice

so that

the Lord

may bring

to Abraham

what he

has promised

him

so

so God

the Lord

says to

himself

you see

what

this story

is communicating

to us

in a very

powerful way

and it's

one of the

reasons you

see we

gather in

church on

a Sunday

and part

of what

gathering

in a

church

on a

Sunday

is all

about

is the

word of

the Lord

is opened

and we

spend time

thinking about

it

because God

desires to

reveal his

heart to

us

he desires

to speak

to us

and his

words are

grace

he desires

to give

to us

and he

desires us

to help him

to understand

better who

he is

and who

we are

and what

the real

world is

like

and how

to live

in the

world

and so

we see

here that

we see

here this

in a sense

how God

normally

thinks

it's brought

out here

in this

particular

story

that that's

partly what

God wants

to do

and righteousness

and justice

are put

together

it's not

that you

either be

righteous

or you

be just

that you

have to

choose one

of the

two of

them

you can't

have one

without the

other

and they

come from

the same

same

root

and

and

and

and

it's

all about

righteousness

is is

living

well

and it's

living

well in

God's

world

and it's

living

well with

God

and with

all God's

creation

with other

people

and it's

it's

righteousness

is connected

to flourishing

in that

world

and justice

is all

about

restoring

the

flourishing

of human

beings

and human

relationships

in God's

world

in God's

presence

and sometimes

you have to

restore

because we

live in a

fallen

world

and God's

people get

oppressed

and when

God's people

get oppressed

then justice

is required

the oppressors

have to be

stopped

and there

has to be

some punishment

done to

them

and the

oppressed

need to be

delivered

and set

free

to the end

that they

can flourish

and that is

the way

of the

Lord

so God

knows

what's

going to

happen

and he

realizes

or he

communicates

he's going

to let

Abraham

know

what's

happening

verse

20

and the

Lord

said

this is

now to

he's speaking

to Abraham

because the

outcry against

Sodom and

Gomorrah

is great

and their

sin is

very grave

I will

go down

to see

I will

go down

to see

whether they

have done

all together

according to

the outcry

that has

come to

me

and if

not

I will

know

now

here's the

thing about

stories

stories

work in

connection

with abstract

ideas to

help us to

understand abstract

ideas better

stories in a

sense shape

us to

understand

things

sometimes when

we realize

you know how

sometimes you

come to an

insight and

on one level

it's like you

always knew it

but you never

sort of put it

into words

and that often

happens because

stories have

formed us to

understand certain

things

so one of the

things that we've

seen I haven't

talked about it

much lately but

when they talk

all the time

throughout these

stories when they

talk about God

giving the land

that's a simple

way of

communicating that

God is sovereign

that he's all

powerful that he's

transcendent that

he's a higher

higher than all

those gods and I

can use words like

transcendent and I

can use words like

sovereign and we

might or might not

know what they

mean but when we

hear the Bible say

that God is going

to give the land

to Abraham that's

communicating that

God is sovereign

it's forming us to

have a bit of a

sense about what

sovereignty might

mean or all

powerful might mean

and the same thing

here it's not that

because you might

say well how did

like this doesn't

make any sense

George like I

thought God knew

all things like

didn't you just say

earlier is anything

too hard for the

Lord like isn't that

what you just said

earlier is not what

the Bible just said

so how is it that

God can't know

what's going down

there well this

story is using this

very simple type of

language to communicate

profound truths about

God and profound

truths as well once

we we understand

that who God is and

how he's made the

world and if God

does this we need to

do it we need to do

it as well and what

what's being

communicated is that

God is not petty

he's not anger

driven he's driven

by justice he's driven

by goodness he's driven

by the truth he's driven

he's deeply patient

and those are what

drive him and none

of his judgments are

done slap dash or

without knowing what's

actually gone on it's

why in many other

places in the Bible

especially in the New

Testament and you read

the book of Revelation

the constant claim made

at the end of the days

as God's judgments are

fully revealed and in

a sense we replay what's

happened both at the

end of the ages and

throughout the ages the

constant refrain is that

God was just praise

him he did what was

just and he wouldn't be

just if he did things

slap dash he wouldn't

be just if he didn't do

it with what truly had

happened what was truly

wrong who were truly

affected he wouldn't be

just he wouldn't be just

or worthy of praise if

he was driven by anger

and pettiness and so

this is communicating in

a very simple but easily

to remember what like

you can tell this story

to young children and

and read it to them over

and over and over again

and as you read it over

and over and over to

them it's it's forming

within them this idea

God is not anger driven

God wants to know the

truth and and God acts

out of the truth and God

acts in a way that's

just he acts in a way

that's fair and that's

what's being communicated

here in this particular

thing

but there's something

else that still has to

be revealed about God

and that is his mercy

even before the story of

the destruction of Sodom

and Gomorrah the question

is is God merciful

well that's what's going to

be communicated very

powerfully and not only

powerfully it's going to

be communicated in such a

way that it gives us a

an insight about the

profound dignity and

worth of human beings

here's how it goes and

some of you will

recognize this is a very

famous story and at

least in some circles it

goes like this verse 22

so the men turned from

there and went towards

Sodom but Abraham still

stood before the Lord

then Abraham drew near and

said in other words

Abraham comes right up to

the Lord this is an image

of prayer by the way

right coming near to the

Lord to speak to him and

to hear him speak to you

verse 23 then Abraham drew

near and said will you

indeed sweep away the

righteous with the wicked

in other words you've said

you're just will you sweep

away the righteous with the

wicked suppose there are 50

righteous within the city

will you then sweep away the

place and not spare it for

the 50 righteous who are in

it now by the way just pause

here for a second the

assumed subtext of all of

this is two things which are

very important to grasp

Abraham knows Sodom and

Gomorrah and he knows that if

God goes and looks they will be

swept away see part of what's

being shown here about us as

Christians is that we are to

pray for all sorts and

conditions of men and women

now obviously you do not make

the mistake of praying for

Putin the way you pray for the

Ukrainian freedom fighter but

you are to pray for both but not

with moral equivalence but you

pray for both so Abraham knows

and believes two things that if

God actually comes down the city

is destroyed so this isn't moral

relativism this isn't moral

indifference but this is Abraham

interceding for very bad people

verse 23 again then Abraham drew

near and said will you indeed

sweep away the righteous with the

wicked suppose there are 50

righteous within the city will you

then sweep away the place and not

spare it for the 50 righteous who are

in it far be it from you to do such a

thing to put the righteous to death

with the wicked so that the

righteous fair is the wicked far be

that from you shall not the judge of

all the earth do what is just and the

Lord said if I find it Sodom 50

righteous in the city I will spare

the whole place for their sake

Abraham answered and said behold I

have undertaken to speak to the Lord I

who am but dust and ashes suppose

five of the 50 are righteous are

lacking will you destroy the whole

city for lack of five and the Lord

said I will not destroy it if I find

45 there again Abraham spoke to the

Lord and said suppose 40 are found

there and the Lord answered for the

sake of 40 I will not do it then

Abraham said oh let not the Lord be

angry and I will speak suppose 30 are

found there and the Lord answered I

will not do it if I find 30 there

Abraham said behold I have undertaken

to speak to the Lord suppose 20 are

found there and the Lord answered for

the sake of 20 I will not destroy it

then Abraham said oh let not the Lord

be angry and I will speak again but

this one suppose 10 are found there and

the Lord answered for the sake of 10 I

will not destroy it and the Lord went

his way when he had finished speaking to

Abraham and Abraham returned to his

place I did a bit of an inner internet

search and I'm not sure if this is

connected to it but in modern Judaism

and it's been mod this for for quite a

few centuries you need 10 men for

synagogue you have less than 10 you

don't have a synagogue and I don't

know if it's connected to this at all but

the idea that you need that the 10 that

one righteous community praying and

bearing witness in that community so

what's going on here does God does

Abraham change God's mind one of the

biggest crises I had in my young

Christian life and it affected me for

quite a few months and I wasn't able to

find any help when I talked to

Christians about it was that I was

challenged by I guess what I would now

know to be naturalist philosophers people

who believe that really all there is is

what science can discover if you can't

weigh it if you can't measure it if you

can't do scientific experiments on it it's

not real and in this world where there's

matter and there's energy things just

happen it's like a billiard ball the you

hit the ball and the ball hits other

balls and the balls all move around and

and they hit different things and and it's

just cause and effect and that effect

becomes a cause and I might think that I

have free will and I might think that I've

chosen to be a Christian but it's just all

cause and effect and and that I almost

lost my faith over it and it's in effect on

one level it's the dominant philosophy

underlying all of Canada although most

people haven't really thought through what

it actually means if it's true if there's

only cause and effect which becomes

another cause it's just really an endless

series of causes and all of the causes are

material and physical if that's the case

there is no freedom and in a sense there

is no you and if there is no freedom and

there is no you life doesn't have any

meaning and really ultimately have

absolutely no type of dignity and that in

fact is a problem and usually in

naturalistic philosophers and thinkers they

try to get around it in some way one of

the things that they'll try to do now is

create things like multiverses and stuff

like that but it doesn't get around that

fundamental problem that if a human being

is really just a biological organism and

biology can be reduced to chemistry and

chemistry can be reduced to physics and

it's just cause and effect then you really

have no particular identity and you have

no freedom and you have ultimately no

meaning to your life and no type of a of

worth and of course there's other ways of

thinking about this in the world but you

know the other two ways of thinking about

it in the world apart from the Christian

one have their own types of problems

that if you take seriously ideas of karma

and death and rebirth and and the fact

that there was originally some type of

cosmic accident or tragedy that left to

distinct entities but every distinct

entity is really ultimately just not the way

things should be there should just be the

one and at some point in time we will

return to the one and if if we don't

really have an identity and and and we do

have some type of a of dignity in the

sense that we do different things and it

might move but it all it's doing is

moving us towards that day when we lose

who we are and we become like one and and

in our for our Muslim friends I mean

obviously people live better than this

because you see on one level at at a very

deep level we know that we have that

there should be meaning to life and we

know that we have some freedom and we

know that we should have dignity even if

that doesn't fit with our religions and

our philosophies and and in Islam you

just have divine command Allah just wills

it it's written on who you are when you

are born what your destiny is going to be

and everything is just the will of Allah

but here we see and and here I mean it's

not obviously talking about the Trinity

but the the Christian you know what when

Jesus the Jesus brings to clarity what

the Old Testament teaches and Jesus

reveals how he is both God and the Father

is God and both are God but there's not

two gods but just one God and then as he

talks about the Holy Spirit in such a way

that it's very clear that the Holy Spirit

is God and the Holy Spirit isn't Jesus and

there's just ultimately there's ultimately

only one God but there's these three

persons you actually only in Christianity

do you have at a very very very deep

level this picture of difference and

freedom and action but without there being

any sin and it's this Trinity that creates

human beings and he creates us in his

image and so what you see working out in

here is that God gives the dignity of

causality and provides the context that

human beings can have true causality and

not just causality in the physical world

and the mental world and the emotional

world but also in the spiritual world that

that God gives human beings we have a mind

we have a soul and our soul is enfleshed

or another way to look at it would be that

our flesh our physical biology is ensouled two

different ways of saying the same thing and

that means we are part of a world of cause and

effect and flow but there's always part of us that

part made in the image of God and likeness of

God which is separate but connected not

completely determined that really does have

freedom that's made in the image of God and

part of the way that God created human beings

was that human beings would have the dignity

the worth of being able to cause things to be

to create to choose to build to plant to dance to sing to flourish and that goes not just for the physical world but for the emotional world the mental world and the spiritual world in prayer

and God in his sovereignty

his will

in a sense is intermingled without ever diminishing his will at any time whatsoever

is intermingled with our prayers

as he is sovereign over the entire earth

and that is what's being seen here very very powerfully and simply in this very simple dialogue

between Abraham and the Lord Abraham praying to the Lord and what we see here is that the Lord not only is not anger driven but that he's truth driven

he's justice driven he's goodness driven but he's also concerned with mercy

now Abraham has made a mistake

his mistake is to think that the distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous is the distinction between persons

and that's a mistake

it's not that I'm righteous and one of you is unrighteous

but the Bible as it goes on and as more is revealed and as more is revealed in

in Genesis and Exodus and all the way into the New Testament

the line between the righteous and the unrighteous does not go between people

does not go between people groups

it does not go between nations

it goes right down every single human being

there are parts of me that are very very good

and made in the image of God

and there are parts of me that are very very bad and wicked

and Abraham could only conceive

of God coming down to wipe away

but the very fact that this story shows mercy points to that greater time in the future

when God would come down and live amongst us

and his name was Emmanuel

he came and dwelt and lived amongst us

not so that we would be destroyed

but that in his life and in his death upon the cross

justice and mercy meet

they kiss

they embrace

and you see the perfect justice of God

and the perfect mercy of God

and the perfect goodness of God

and even amidst all of the blood and the pain

the beauty of God

God the Son of God

Emmanuel coming and dwelling amongst us in our mess

and seeing

eye to eye our great need

and his response

is to die

his response

is to have mercy

and so the justice of God is met

the things that I have done wrong

that would demand God's justice and payment

are paid by him

and his mercy is met

and that it's

I am clothed with his righteousness

as a gift

and you see then

that it's not

that we practice hospitality

and if we practice hospitality

and hospitality enough

that maybe God will like us

and it's not that maybe

if we practice justice enough

that God would like us

or that we practice mercy enough

that God would like us

or if we pray enough

that God would like us

but that when we understand

that Emmanuel came down

that justice and mercy

in a sense

meet on the cross

and that

I

who have a part of me

that is unrighteous

that I cannot fix for myself

that that is dealt with

by a pure

and utter gift

of God

that is given to me

as I reflect upon that

and as I receive that gift

that gift

forms me

to be more hospitable

it forms me

not to live in fear

of other people

but to be hospitable

it forms me

to show mercy

it forms me

to pray

even for very bad people

it forms me

to pray

even for the impossible

why?

God showed hospitality

to me

when he died upon the cross

God showed mercy to me

when he died for me

on the cross

God

did something

for a bad person

like me

when he died upon the cross

and God did something

impossible

for me

when he died upon the cross

and he brought a sinner

like myself

to himself

and so that

as this gift

of Emmanuel

becomes more clear

to us

this time

when the true

and greater

story

the true

and greater story

of Genesis 18

when Jesus walks

amongst us

is Emmanuel

as we realize

the gift

of who he is

it forms us

it forms us

he was hospitable

to us

I am to be hospitable

out of his hospitality

he has shown mercy

to me

out of his mercy

I am to show mercy

out of his care

for the bad

I am to care

for the bad

out of his doing

the impossible

I am to pray

for the impossible

that is the gospel

that's how it forms us

please stand

let us bow our heads

in prayer

father

if there are any

here who are

listening

who would not