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,
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
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
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
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
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
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
have described
themselves as
Christians
and father
ask that your
holy spirit
would move
and work
in their lives
to help them
to bow
the knee
to you
and to ask
Jesus to be
their savior
and their lord
and father
for us
father
you know
we can get
very upset
about the badness
of the world
we can
wish that we
could just have
rose colored glasses
to no longer
see the world
and the badness
but father
we thank you
for stories
like this
we ask lord
that as we
deal with the
badness of the world
and the goodness
of the world
as we
that father
that it's not
be that we
want rose colored
glasses
but that we want
the gospel
to be more real
to our hearts
so that we
can see the world
as it really is
but as we see
the world
as it really is
it creates
within us
as we reflect
upon the gospel
this desire
to be hospitable
to see mercy
to see justice
to see goodness
to pray
even for the worst
to pray
even for that
which is impossible
and father
mindful of
of how long
Sarah and Abraham
had to work
to wait
that you would
grant us
a great patience
and persistence
in prayer
that we would
not just pray
for an hour
or for a day
or a week
but that you
would put it
within our hearts
to be people
who would pray
in some cases
for years
and for decades
father form us
and shape us
by the gospel
the gospel
that we have received
and we ask this
in the name of Jesus
your son
and our savior
amen
and the آf
the gospel
but that we offer
and the winding
on the šil
and your side
and our savior
to find them
so that we have
opportunity
to discrete
the captain
and he stated
no behind
but no behind
that we are
we have
the clang
that's
again
and our speaker
with the
family
and the people
who already
ойд
and then
you
have