Standing in the Gap

Standing In the Gap By Peter Law Delivered on August 10, 2025 at Crossings Community Church in Kirkland Lake, ON, Canada Introduction When I used to be a graphic designer, I used a lot of Adobe Software. One of the tools in Photoshop had a particular behaviour I hated, and I had a suggestion for how they could make it better. It bothered me so much for so long, I filled in a feature request form on their website. More as an act of frustration than with any expectation that anything would happen. Fortune 500 companies aren't usually very responsive to the feedback of unimportant people like me. But in the next version of Photoshop, one of the selling features was an improvement to the tool I had been complaining about. Now it did exactly what \ I had been asking for. Who knew? Sometimes it's true, you have not, because you ask not. We might imagine God as even less responsive than Adobe, after all, He's keeping the universe on track. So we might be reluctant to ask God for things, thinking we're not nearly important enough to go right to the top to make requests of the king of the universe. But it turns out that God not only will listen to our requests he really wants us to come to him with our requests. This dynamic shows through in a story in the life of Father Abraham. The scene begins with 3 strangers wandering by Abraham's camp in the heat of the day. In that culture it would be expected that Abraham would extend basic hospitality: some bread and water and some shade in which to rest. Instead, Abraham presents a feast to the three strangers, going above and beyond what is expected. His guests turn out to be God and two angels. During the meeting God reaffirms that Isaac will come soon. The story we'll look at today happens at the end of this scene. God tells Abraham what he's going to do to the wicked city of Sodom (where Abraham's nephew Lot lives) and Abraham scandalously bargains with God to try to save the city. In Abraham's intercession on behalf of Sodom, we can see something that is true for us as well: God invites us to actively participate in interceding for our world, demonstrating that our prayers matter in his divine purpose. I. God's Invitation to Intercede (vv.16-22) Let's read the first part of our main text. 16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him." 20 Then the Lord said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know." 22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. (Genesis 18:16-22, NIV). The dialog between God and the angels seem a bit strange. Abraham is right there, but God speaks about Abraham in the third person. God says that the reasons Abraham is let in on what God is going to do is because of Abraham's calling: to be a great nation whose people live differently. God makes clear that Abraham's job is to make sure his children follow his example of faithfulness. Their lives should be different. The kind of difference is marked out by the comparison between how Abraham treated traveling strangers with how the people of Sodom treat them. Abraham exceeded the cultural norm of showing hospitality to the traveling stranger. The people of Sodom fall woefully short, when the same strangers show up in their town. While Lot does the right thing and offers them lodging for the night, the rest of the men in the city gather around the house and demand Lot hand over the men so the crowd can make sport of them. Hospitality demands the protection of the weak. Abraham and Lot understood this obligation, but the people of of Sodom attempted to grievously abuse those they presumed to be weaker. This serves as a warning to Abraham. If he isn't careful to teach his son Isaac the same sense of obligation to do what is right, then Sodom's fate could be theirs. But God wants more from Abraham than just to make sure his descendents behave themselves. He's called Abraham because of Grace and he wants to use Abraham to graciously bless all people. So he wants Abraham to be oriented outward towards others. By explaining what seems likely to happen to Sodom, he's really inviting Abraham to care about the people of Sodom People whose fate seems more than just an abstraction because his Nephew Lot happens to live there too). This mirrors our own situation. We are called to live as a community that is different, but that doesn't mean we're called to indifference towards our neighbours who aren't a part of the Christian community. God opens our eyes to what's going on so that our hearts can be moved with his compassion. God's heart is never destruction. It is the salvation of all. God allows us to be moved by the brokenness around us so that we can be drawn into intercessory prayer on behalf of the world. II. Courageous Compassionate Plea After God leaves the door open for Abraham to intercede for the righteous in Sodom, Abraham does exactly what God hoped he would. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing-to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 26 The Lord said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake" (Genesis 18:23-26, NIV) Abraham knows that the consequences for sin don't always affect the guilty alone. We see this all the time in the world. Some examples: A drunk driver whose car collides with someone else doing everything right, giving them a life-altering injury; A tin-pot dictator who embezzles the wealth from his country and retires to a life of luxury; A parent who abuses their children breaking the bonds of trust, giving their child a life-long emotional injury. Abraham is afraid that in God's judgment, the righteous suffer consequences alongside the wicked. He appeals to God's sense of honour, imploring him to have mercy on the whole town. He could say, "Lord, please deliver the righteous, but instead he pleads with God to spare everyone on account of a mere fifty righteous people. This takes more chutzpah then we might imagine: While we have a much better handle on God's character, Abraham didn't. Perhaps he worried that his request would enrage God. But it doesn't. God agrees to Abraham's proposal, to save the town if fifty righteous people are there. God's willingness to spare the whole community on behalf of a small minority of people who are righteous speak about God's compassion. God's desire is to save. Even though we are angered by sin (like God is), we should feel sadness, not hostility towards the sinful. God is willing to save the entire town if there are a handful of righteous people present. That handful of righteous people should be us. We may feel the temptation to complain about how other people fall short of God's standards. And while we can't control others' choices, we can control our own. By choosing to live rightly, our presence can spare those around us from calamity. This is what Jesus is speaking about when he talks about how believers are salt and light: 13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16, NIV) Salt preserves and improves the taste. Light shows the way. The church is tasked with both: our presence should improve and preserve our community by showing people a different way of living that focuses on the needs of others rather than on ourselves. III. Persistent Please for Mercy After scandalously begging God to save the town on behalf of 50 people. Abraham tests his luck, and starts bartering with God. 27 Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it." 29 Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it." 30 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." 31 Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it." 32 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." 33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home (Genesis 18:27-33, NIV). Abraham stops bartering with God when he reaches 10. I guess he believes in a town like Sodom, surely there are ten righteous people who can spare the town. Had Abraham pushed his luck as far as he could, or did he just loose his nerve to push further? Why Stop at Ten? In the story that follows God, we see that 10 wasn't good enough. Only Lot and his family are righteous enough to avoid the judgment, but God does deliver them (although Lot's wife dies when she disobeys the angels' instruction and looks back). But reading up on this story some commentators questioned whether Abraham should have kept going until he reached one. Would God relent in his judgment against the wicked city on account of one righteous man? This is, after all, what we see in the life of Jesus: God has mercy on his sinful creation, allowing them to escape destruction on account of the righteousness of one person. Perhaps if Abraham had been bolder in his intercession Lot's righteousness alone would have been enough to spare the cities. We'll never know. Jesus Intercedes for Us Another way this story reminds us of Jesus is that Jesus, like Abraham, intercedes for us before the father. This is a theme we see expressed by a wide range of biblical authors: In John: 1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father-Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. (1 John 2:1, NIV). In Paul: 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. And The writer of Hebrews: 25 Therefore he [the Son] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:25). And in the Old Testament, Isaiah:, 12 Therefore I will give him [the servant of the Lord-Jesus] a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12, NIV) First, this reminds us that while our righteousness falls well short of God's perfect standard, God loves us and Jesus intercedes on our behalf. When we are weak, Jesus is praying for us, rooting for our success and imploring God to forgive us for the ways we fall short. Secondly, if Jesus becomes the blueprint for what a renewed life looks like, then his intercession on behalf of others sets an example we should follow. Interceding For Our Community What does it look like for us to be intercessors for our community? Concern For Righteous & Sinners Abraham and Jesus both intercede for righteous and sinners alike. Abraham's concern is that the righteous will be swept away in God's judgment alongside the sinners. He pleads for mercy for the whole population on behalf of the righteous minority (assuming there must be at least ten of them). Jesus, on the other hand has a wider view, he prays for believers (the entire chapter of John 17 is a prayer for the righteous), but he also prays for those who don't yet believe (those who, at the time of the prayer, are unrighteous), that they will believe (becoming righteous). So Jesus' prayers for others seem indiscriminate. This is because there are kinds of people in this world: those who have been made righteous by God's grace, and those God would like to make righteous by his grace. All are welcomed into God's grace. No one, no matter what they've done, is outside of God's grace. The alienation between God and people is our choice, not God's. We must, however, remember God's heart of unconditional love in order to be faithful intercessors. If we think we're good and others are irredeemably bad, we'll pray for our good and for God's wrath to fall on others. But if we see the world this way, we've forgotten that even if we are now righteous, we were sinners made righteous by the grace God freely gave us. To judge others, to hope for God's wrath to find them them is the invite God's judgment on ourselves. As Jesus tells us: 1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:1-2, NIV) As sinners saved by grace, we need to earnestly pray for other sinners to find God's grace. We must pray that God's grace finds lost people as it found us when we were lost. Concern to see God's Kingdom Come Another way we should intercede is praying that God's kingdom should come on earth. As Jesus instructs us to pray: Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God's kingdom is when everyone on earth would freely do as God wills. Can you imagine such a world? Everyone works hard to provide for their needs and to have some extra to help others. Those who aren't able to provide for themselves are generously looked after. Everyone is welcome and valued. People are affirmed rather than used as objects to be exploited. Everyone is welcomed and no one is excluded. Former enemies are reconciled. Everyone knows God intimately and finds satisfaction is walking with him and in harmonious relationships with others. That's a long way away from our experience, even in the church (maybe especially in the church). But when we imagine the world as it is meant to be, we find ourselves inspired to pray for change. Opening ourselves up to that reality, though, can be heartbreaking. After all, when we think about the world as it should be, it drives home for us how far the world that is falls short. But a vision of the kingdom gives shape to our intercession. Some examples: When we see children whose parents have been unable to support them materially or emotionally, then it moves us to pray for God to help those parents. When we see wars that indiscriminately consume human lives, it inspires us to pray that God could bring about lasting peace and reconciliation. When we see people marginalized and stigmatized by mental illness, it leads us to pray both for healing for that person, as well as understanding and inclusion for the broader community. To be an intercessor means allowing God to inspire our imagination, but it also often means living with a sense of groaning discontent. As Paul explains to the church in Rome: 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies... 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God (Romans 8:22-23, 26-27, NIV). Sometimes all our prayer can be is an inarticulate groan, A sense that the world could be so much better than the world we see in front of us. Conclusion Abraham's story drives home the importance of intercession. What a gift that God has invited us to intercede for our world. We might not feel like big important people, but we have the ear of God who is the most important and powerful being there is. God is not inflexible. There are things he would do if only we ask. There are things he might not do if we ask. Who knows, maybe God will have mercy on someone because of our prayers? So like Abraham, let's be shameless in imploring God for to be merciful to the world.