Genesis 18: 16-33
Charles J. Tomlin, April 18th, 2021
Flat Rock-Zion Baptist Partnership
Series: The Roots of God’s Justice 2/20
16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
17 The LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
18 seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?1
19 No, for I have chosen1 him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; so that the LORD may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
20 Then the LORD said, "How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin!
21 I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know."
22 So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD.1
23 Then Abraham came near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it?
25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"
26 And the LORD said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake."
27 Abraham answered, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.
28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."
29 Again he spoke to him, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it."
30 Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."
31 He said, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it."
32 Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it."
33 And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. (Gen. 18:16-19:1 NRS)
Two years ago, the Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece about Joshua Harris, the former youth leader and Christian writer, who wrote the very popular book during the 1990’s entitled, “Why I Kissed Dating Goodbye”. You may remember that Harris was the leader of the “True Love Waits Movement” which stressed purity in teenage premarital relationships.
Unfortunately, the title of the article, mimicking his book title, was “Joshua Harris Kisses Christianity Goodbye”. Due to several factors, especially the negative impact the rigid perspective had on many young girls and their marriages, has caused Harris to lose his faith in Jesus. He explained, “The brand of Christianity that I practiced was so specific, and was so tied to thinking certain ways, certain practices... “I’m having to figure out what does that mean”, since “my relationship to God was those things.” https://www.wsj.com/articles/joshua-harris-kisses-christianity-goodbye-11564701413
The article concluded with a ray of hope. As of August, 2019, in light of everything that had happened, Harris was still ‘questioning’ whether he can let go of ‘those things’ without letting go of God. He said: “Many people tell me that there is a different way to practice faith and I want to remain open to this, but I’m not there now.” The writer of the article, a Christian herself, Jillian Kay Melchior, says that she’s ‘hopeful’ that Harris will work through his faith struggle and unanswered questions. ‘Abandoning untrue beliefs is progress, and a faith that doesn’t allow the toughest inquiry isn’t worth believing.’ However, as of today, two years later, Joshua Harris is no longer a Christian. The once mega-pastor has fully lost all faith in God and now runs a business of story writing for businesses.
This story of ‘questioning’ faith in God ended in a different place than this ancient story about Abraham’s own questions and protests to God. It’s too bad that Joshua Harris made a demanded conclusions rather than allowing for questions. As the late Baptist Pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick used to say, it’s very important, especially when it comes to faith in God, to allow for doubts and then, to also be able to ‘doubt your doubts’.
In the story we are considering today, Abraham has doubts and questions about what God is planning for Sodom and Gomorrah. God has just informed Abraham how the ‘outcry’ (Gen. 18:20) concerning Sodom’s sin is very serious (CEB). While we aren’t told exactly what this sin is, the sexual sin that takes places later has been dominate in the popular mind, but the prophets later that the greater issues was their ‘pride’ (Isa. 13:19) based on their prosperity. This led to an attitude of ease that led a neglect to aid the poorand needy (Ez. 16:49).
After hearing about God’s plan to bring annihilation upon the city, Abraham feels the need to protest, raising important questions concerning righteousness and justice. But of course, this is God we are talking about. Confronting God isn’t something Abraham takes lightly either. During this entire dialogue, Abraham approaches God both reverently and respectfully, but no less deliberate. The central question Abraham raises is one that still echoes through the ages.
WILL NOT THE JUDGE...DO WHAT IS JUST? (25)
Does your faith have the freedom to raise questions, even to question God? What we must understand about the dialogue going on here is that everything took place within a relationship of trust. God and Abraham are partners in their covenant with each other. As the text unfolds God is concerned about not doing this deed behind Abraham’s back, saying: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do...?” Also, Abraham is concerned about God reputation in making this decision: “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous along with the wicked?”.
In a trusting relationship there should be no limits on the questions that can be raised, as long as, those questions are raised with respect for those who are in the relationship. And this relationship between Abraham is definitely, a long-term, trusting, and understanding relationship.
Still, the core question that Abraham asks is quite remarkable. “Will not the judge of the earth do what is right?” In his relationship with God Abraham has been a person of utter obedience. When God called, Abraham uprooted his family and followed God’s voice, not knowing where he was going. When God established a covenant signified by Circumcision, Abraham obeyed without hesitation. When God made the promise that he would have an heir, even in his old age, he didn’t doubt God and laugh, like his wife Sarah did. And even when God demanded from Abraham the unthinkable, to offer his only Son Issac as a ‘sacrifice’ to God, Abraham was prepared to go through with it, until the angel stopped him. There has been on Abraham’s part an unquestioned faith with no ‘objections’ to God’s will whatsoever, up until now.
At the heart of Abraham’s question is whether or not God, the judge of the whole earth will prove to be unjust by killing potentially innocent people, along with the guilty. Abraham, as person whom God has chosen to ‘keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice’ (19), after hearing what God is planning, ‘came near’ to raise an unavoidable question, because of the way God has called him to go and because he has an established ‘friendship’ and relationship with God. In other words, Abraham is so close to God that he not only feels he can raise questions, but Abraham feels he must and that it is his obligation to do so.
Elie Wiesel, the Jewish philosopher and Rabbi, who was a Holocaust survivor, speaking out of his own experience of great suffering, once said that ‘to be Jew means to serve God by speaking up for people, even while we need God ourselves.” It’s very much like that Martin Niemoeller quote, I often remind us of, that Niemoeller learned the hard way as a German Pastor during rise of Nazism:
‘First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
Then the came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
There are many things we can learn from Abraham, and from the Jews, and from other Christians, like pastor Martin Niemoeller. As Wiesel said, ‘Sometimes we need to interrogate God!, as long as we do it with respect and sincerity of a just and righteous heart, like Abraham did.
Just like Jews believe it is healthy to have a relationship with God where we can ‘ask questions’; even Christians should feel free to raise questions too. Isn’t this what Jesus was doing, just before he went to the cross, praying in Gethsemane, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me?” (Mt. 26:39). That’s was a very big question, which not only reveals Jesus’ own desire for life, but we also see Jesus desire for eternal life revealed being when out of great respect for God’s will, Jesus then returns to pray a second time, “Nevertheless, not my will, but Your will be done!” (Mt. 26:42).
I HAVE CHOSEN HIM TO KEEP THE WAY... (19)
Now, let’s think for a moment about ‘why’ Abraham is questioning God. This is who God has chosen him to be. Abraham is not simply questioning God on his own terms, but on God’s own terms because the image of God is still in him. Abraham is doing what Deuteronomy summarizes as the most essential agenda in life: ‘Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you (Deut. 16:20 NRS).
The word ‘justice’ here, and also in our text is the Hebrew word, tsadakah, which not only means to do what is ‘right’ or ‘fair’, but it also carries the idea of doing what’s right for the sake of being compassionate. Since God is full of compassion, Abraham isn’t afraid of asking questions. His question is because of his relationship with God and not because he is questioning this relationship.
If you got to see the play Hamilton, there was intentional and dramatic contrast made between the cold, calculated, demanding presence of King George of England, and the cooperation and shared desire for freedom taking place in the colonies. Now, I’m certainly not saying that the American Colonies where altogether perfect or without flaws, nor am I saying that everything in England was evil or cruel. I’m sure there was a mixture of good and evil in both then as there is now. But one thing you could clearly understand was that the American colonies believed it would be better to live in a land where questions could be raised, debated, and authority challenged, than to live in a land where it was only one unapproachable authority and royal power that was unquestioned and was practically unquestionable, except through war.
This is human need to question power and authority shouldn’t be overlooked in this great Old Testament story too. The picture of God shared with us here is very different than how most Jews and Christians today understand God. Abraham’s God is approachable, down to earth, relatable, and his ways could be questioned too, as Abraham does. Of course, for us as Christians, we have Jesus who makes God relatable to us, and Abraham’s God of old, seems much more human like Jesus, than the lofty, deistic, and distant God that many imagine.
Perhaps this is the most important thing we need to understand about Abraham’s own sense of justice that brings him to raise questions to God. It is our questions, not our answers, than enable us to grow, develop, and strengthen our own sense of righteousness and justice. Without the ability to ask questions, and the freedom to do so, we would never become the moral people God has called us to be.
Years ago, Naomi Rosenblatt, was a Jewish psychologist, living in Washington D.C., who was also a very devout believer. She often held a Bible Study and several very important Senators, and other politicians, both Jew and Christian, attended her weekly Bible Study. She wrote a book from one of those studies on Genesis, and commenting on this story about Abraham, she tells about a mother and her young daughter who were driving through town and came upon a homeless man with this dog beside him. The little girl blurted out, “Mommy, Will that doggie have not have any food tonight?” Hearing her little girl being more concerned for the dog than the man, gave her pause. “Did I not teach my little girl better than to feel more compassion for a dog than a homeless person?”
Of course, we know that is how children talk about things they can’t express or don’t want to think about, but the mother was thinking about something we all need to think about; how do we teach empathy for others? It’s so easy to become completely self-centered and to get our feelings and emotions misplaced. The way to help our children, and to help our world learn to reflect upon human need, is to allow for questions that we should be thinking and talking about. Asking questions is so important throughout the biblical story. God questioned Adam. Prophets questioned Kings. Jesus questioned the Sadducees and the Pharisees. There’s no way to grow as a human being in understanding our greatest human need, without the ability and the freedom to ask questions. This is one of the most important human traits of all; to ask questions and to allow ourselves to be questioned too.
Abraham is questioning God because he ‘cares’ and has compassion on others, even sinners. Abraham is doing exactly what God wanted him to do, when God ‘choose him to keep the way of righteousness and justice. “ By ‘sticking his neck out’ to express concern about the possibility of ‘innocent’ people being in Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham is doing exactly what Cain refused to be; ‘his brother’s keeper’.
Like the couple in Ohio last year, when the Pandemic hit and they were unable to have their large wedding reception. They had already order the food, so instead of throwing it away, the bride and groom left their small family reception, and took the food to a women’s shelter downtown and shared it and served it to those in need.
WILL YOU SWEEP AWAY THE RIGHTEOUS WITH THE WICKED? (23)
This couple in Ohio ended up doing what Abraham was doing. He was thinking about the other guy. This could be reason this story even appears in our Bible. Why else would a Book that promotes God, report a story about a human appearing to take God to task? Abraham isn’t just learning how the ‘judge of the world’ does ‘right’ and is ‘just’, but Abraham is learning to be the very kind of person God has chosen and called him to be; a person of faith who keeps the way of righteousness and justice.
Is this any different than we, and all people of Abrahamic faith are called to be? Aren’t we called to be people who keep the way of righteousness and justice? Humans who obey God’s law and pursue justice must even be willing to question our own understanding of God, and to call into question any kind of authority or power that would intend to bring harm, hurt, or to neglect human need.
The true hope of human questioning, human protest, or any negotiation with authority or power, is to speak up for what we perceived to be right, and to pursue justice for everyone. This is precisely what Abraham was doing when he raised his concern with God, asking God unashamedly his question made in behalf of justice and righteousness, ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?’
All through this text Abraham respectfully protests for righteousness at the same time he is negotiates for this entire wicked city to be spared, even if only a few righteous are found there. Isn’t this the same way of justice and righteousness we are still called and chosen to keep, as God’s people today? Even though there were no righteous left in Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham’s willingness and courage to come before God and to make his case for justice and to peacefully protest for and to respectfully promote righteousness, still serves as an example to us.
The kind of courage Abraham had is needed from us in the many difficult moral situations we face. We may not like to think about it, but life doesn’t always have easy answers. Abraham’s question about ‘sweeping away the righteous with the wicked’ is precisely what comes to mind when you think about the decision during World War II to fire bomb Dresden, Germany. The city had no military significance at all, but was only bombed out of retaliation and to weaken German morale, which it probably did, but at what great human cost. 25 to 35,000 civilians were killed, mostly women, children, and the elderly. I’ve spoken to some of the survivors who were able to barely escape, and all they could talk about were the horrible sight of fire tornados and the smells of burning human flesh.
The same kind of moral question can be applied to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Thousands of innocents were killed and at that time, Nagasaki held the highest concentration of Japanese Christians in all of Japan; the great hope of missionary outreach. But it was all taken away in a flash of light and horrible destruction. Was it worth it? Of course, we weren’t there, and it’s not our duty to judge, but it is our duty to raise the question ourselves in the moral dilemma’s still face, as whether police tactics should be challenged to protect those who aren’t violent offenders, or whether capital punishment should be carried out when there is risk of executing the innocent. It still takes the courage of Abraham to raise questions like this.
Interestingly, however, this text isn’t only an example for us to stand up for justice, but this biblical story also proves just how God himself is just in all God does and desires for us. This is why God allows Abraham to question him, even inviting him to do so by purposely informing him. The true God has nothing to hide. With God’s openness to questions, God paves the way for all kinds of human power or authority to have to prove that they too are pursuing justice and righteousness for everyone. If not, God’s righteous judgement will expose them for their own lack of compassion and their failure to do what is right.
What will you see and commit to do by taking seriously such a remarkable story as this? We are hearing a lot more about justice, and social justice, these days, aren’t we? Certainly the story for justice marches on and must continue to be written in an imperfect and incomplete world like ours. As Congressman John Lewis used to report about himself, having been arrested over 40 times,, Sometimes you have to be prepared to get into ‘good trouble.’ Isn’t this what Abraham was prepared to do, as he challenged God’s justice and became who God chose him to be, a keeper of the ‘way of righteousness and justice’? What about you? Will you also be a keeper of the sense of rightness and fairness God has placed within you? Amen.
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