Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Genesis 18:16 - 33

Preached by Rev. Dr. Robert Matlack
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Abraham is one of those heroes of the Bible who seem larger than life. Great events always seemed to be happening when he was there. He was clearly guided by God, was blessed by God, was called by God, and he always seemed to experience God's presence in very personal and powerful ways. Things that most of us might think of as incredible or impossible seemed commonplace for Abraham.

Abraham is also an interesting model of faith, in that at times his faithfulness was an inspiration, and we wonder how his faith could have been so strong, while at other times we wonder how he could have been so stupid, and how he could have utterly failed to trust in God, even though that was the obvious thing to do. In either case, Abraham is one of those people who constantly challenges us to look at ourselves and our relationship with God.

In our text today, Abraham has just been promised once again that he will have many descendants, that they will have the land of Canaan to live in, and that God will be their God. This promise has been renewed several times, but always seems somewhat incredible and impossible to Abraham and Sarah because they are well past the normal childbearing age, in fact in chapter 17 we're told that Abraham is 99 years old.

As the messengers from God leave, Abraham goes with them to send them on their way. They stop at a place that looks down upon Sodom, a city noted for it's debauchery and evil ways. There God talks to Abraham and tells him of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, and how the messengers of God are going there, at which time God will decide the fate of those cities.

Inspite of all that is going on in his own life, despite the fact that Abraham is obviously very concerned about this promise to have many descendants even though he is very old and has no descendants, inspite of all that concerns him about his own situation, Abraham expresses great concern about the situation of Sodom and Gomorrah, and specifically about what God's punishment is to be for their sinful ways.

Abraham is so concerned that he stands up to God and starts bargaining on behalf of the people of these cities, asking if God is really going to destroy the innocent people along with the guilty? Abraham in fact convinces God to spare the city if there are fifty innocent people there, then if there are forty five, then if there are forty, then thirty, then twenty, and finally if there are as few as ten, Sodom will still be spared. In fact, when God's messengers got to Sodom, they found only Lot, his wife, and his two daughters who were innocent - a total of four people. These four were hurried out of the city before it's destruction, so that the innocent were spared while the city was destroyed.

What struck me about this passage though was Abraham's willingness to bargain with God, and his ability to get God to see his point. Abraham was very successful in swaying God to the view that if there were enough innocent people, then there was enough hope that the city could change, and if there was hope that Sodom could be rescued from the pattern of evil that prevailed there, then the city should be spared.

Part of my fascination with this passage is that we've all experienced that feeling of wanting to bargain with God. There are points in our life where we've been angry or upset about something that is about to happen, times when we've been scared at the possibilities that the future holds, times when we've wondered how we might work out a better deal. God if I promise to be good, to faithfully go to church, or to do something else that I know You really want me to do, will you agree to make happen what I want instead of all these possibilities that I'm scared to death of?

Usually we say it a little differently than that though. It comes out as a "if you do this for me God, then I'll promise to do this for you."

I don't know about you, but I know that I'm not usually very successful in making those kind of bargains with God, so part of what fascinates me about this passage is that Abraham was a successful bargainer. I'm drawn to his example because it worked.

When I look at what Abraham was able to accomplish, and then look at what I sometimes try to do, I find a number of significant differences, and a few similarities.

Normally when we try to bargain with God it's because we sense that a critical moment is fast approaching, judgment of one sort or another is about to handed down, and we suspect that we won't or at least might not like what that judgment is. Now that's all very similar to what Abraham experienced in our text. Judgment was about to be handed down upon Sodom and Gomorrah. It was clear that God was going to decide to destroy those evil cities, and Abraham didn't like that decision.

That's about where the similarities end though. Usually when we bargain with God what we're offering in one form or another is a commitment of our own faithfulness. If you do this for me God, then I will be faithful in this way. We might spell out something that we will agree to do in return, and at least for me that is invariably something that I ought to be doing anyway, but haven't been doing or at least haven't been doing very faithfully.

What I really end up saying is that God you can bribe me to be faithful. If you do what I want, then I'll be faithful, not because I'm really committed to being faithful, not because I've repented from my lack of faithfulness and have committed myself to really change, rather I'll be faithful because the price is right. I think I've finally realized that that approach doesn't work, and it doesn't work because we're not offering God what God really wants from us.

You see when we offer to be faithful for the right price, we're in a sense saying that we aren't doing this because we really believe in it, we're not doing it because of our faith, we're not doing it for any of the right reasons, the reasons why God wants us to be faithful. We'll do it if we're bribed. We'll do it if the price is right, and then our hearts won't really be in it, but we'll do it to live up to our side of the bargain.

That's no bargain as far as God is concerned, for what God really wants is a commitment of our very hearts and souls, a commitment to be faithful because we believe, not because we've been paid off. I'm convinced that God is far more concerned that we are committed to live faithfully than the specifics of what we do in our efforts to be faithful - not that God is unconcerned about those, just that they are less important.

I think that's what worked for Abraham. Abraham's nephew Lot lived in Sodom, so he had a personal concern about the future of that city. Abraham really cared about the future of his family, but he didn't try and threaten God or work out a bribe with God to get what he wanted. It was clear that Abraham was going to seek to live faithfully whatever God decided. That was never at issue. Rather Abraham chose to engage God in a decision about what really was right and what was wrong in this situation. Abraham's concern was for justice. He advocated for the innocent and argued that they did not share in the sin of the majority, and therefore should not be punished for the actions of the majority.

Bargaining with God! We've all tried it, but the example of Abraham models for us a different way to bargain with God. Usually we try it at someplace like the hospital, when someone we love is critically ill, and it goes something like this: "if you spare my loved one God, then I'll faithfully attend church, and if not, if my loved one dies, if you don't do what I want, well that's the last you'll ever see of me. I didn't really believe in you or think too much of you anyway!" Bargaining with God! We've all tried it, but the example of Abraham models for us a different way to bargain with God. Usually we try it at someplace like the hospital, when someone we love is critically ill, and it goes something like this: "if you spare my loved one God, then I'll faithfully attend church, and if not, if my loved one dies, if you don't do what I want, well that's the last you'll ever see of me. I didn't really believe in you or think too much of you anyway!"

Compare that with Abraham's discussion of justice in which it's clear that Abraham is committed to faithfulness whatever the result of this conversation with God. Abraham is just concerned that these people be treated justly, and so talks with God about what is really fair in this situation.

In the first kind of bargain no one wins, for we're not committed to living out our faith. Whatever happens our actions are based on the bribe we receive not on our commitment to faithfulness, while in Abraham's case, both Abraham and God win. Whatever the outcome of the situation Abraham will be faithful, and both Abraham and God will be committed to justice. That's the kind of bargain that we should all try and make with God.

Amen