Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Richard Davenport July 24, 2022 - Proper 12 Genesis 18:20-33 Our relationship to God can be rather complicated at times. In that regard it isn't much different than our relationship to anyone else. As with anyone you interact with on a semi-regular basis, relationships change as time goes on. You get to know each other better or circumstances in your life change. Each relationship you have plays into who you are and that means each relationship you have affects every other relationship you have in one way or another. Each relationship you have also has its own dynamics. Your relationship to your spouse is different than your relationship to your kids or your friends from work, the guys you go golfing with, the ladies you play cards with every week, your accountant, your hairdresser, so on and so on. It doesn't matter how well you know the ladies you play canasta with, you aren't going to act the same around them as you do with your parents. There are things you can say or do with one group you can't with another, lines that can't be crossed in some places that aren't an issue for others. Navigating those boundaries can be tricky sometimes, assuming you care anything about the other person and whether they continue to think well of you or still be in their good graces. This is where we find God and Abraham in the Genesis reading for today. Abraham has had an interesting day. Some while back, God had promised that Abraham would have a son with his wife, Sarah. Abraham believed God, but it has been some 20 years since that promise had been made. Now that Abraham is 99 years old, God suddenly shows up and announces that this time next year his son will be born. Hard to believe, but it sounds like that day is finally drawing near. Abraham and Sarah haven't exactly been patient in waiting, but soon they won't have to wait any longer. As it turns out, though, God was sort of just passing through as he delivers this news to Abraham. God is wandering down the way to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to see precisely what's going on there. Abraham wouldn't necessarily be concerned about these cities, except that his cousin, Lot, lives there. Abraham has already had to rescue Lot once. He doesn't want Lot caught up in whatever God is going to do, which sounds as though it will be pretty drastic. It also sounds as though Abraham is concerned about the city itself. There may be more righteous people in there than just Lot and his family. A God who claims to care for his people may be making a mistake by wiping out the whole city. Abraham comes of sounding a bit cheeky, but he understands his place in all of this. He has no right to tell God to do anything. God can and will do whatever he chooses. Abraham can't make demands of God. He also has nothing to bargain with. Nevertheless, Abraham cares about his cousin and about the lives of any other righteous people that might be holed up there in town. Perhaps Abraham is being a bit melodramatic, but God is still willing to hear him out. This sort of conversation might seem rather familiar. If you spend time in prayer or conversation with God, you may have times where you're simply talking about life, shooting the breeze and sharing what's on your mind. You might spend a little time giving thanks for what God has done for you in some way. These are all perfectly normal ways to talk to God. We get into our heads that this sort of thing isn't really appropriate when it comes to God. But, God wants to hear what you have to say. He is not just a God far off, but also a God close at hand and he wants to be a part of your life as much as any other member of your family is. Still, when it comes to talking to God, usually what we're thinking of is asking him for something. Sometimes we have a hang up about this too. Sometimes we get the idea that we shouldn't ask God for things because that's selfish or because he has better things to do. But when Jesus gives his disciples an example of how to pray, this is exactly what he does. The Lord's Prayer is full of petitions, requests made to someone who is not obligated in any way to grant what is asked for. Every time we pray the Lord's Prayer, we are directing numerous requests to God. It's in these requests we make that things get a little stickier. When we make requests of God, we aren't just throwing things out there in the hopes maybe God is in good mood today and will give us what we're after. No, we ask God for things because we truly believe he'll give them to us. I mean, we wouldn't ask God for things we don't need, or things we want really badly. God loves us. He says so. So if they are things we really need, or really want, he'll give them to us. He has to. That's what we tell ourselves at any rate. God loves us. God wants us to be happy and cared for, so he'll give us what we need. We know what we need, so all he has to do is give it to us. He has to give us what we ask for, otherwise we won't be happy, otherwise we won't have what we need, otherwise pain and injustice will flourish in the world and everything is just going to fall apart. Looking at Abraham, you get the sense of what he's after. He's trying to save his family and the town. God agrees with his request. There's no confusion there. Yet, the result is probably not what he expected. Lot was indeed saved, along with the rest of his family. But the town was still destroyed. Whatever his expectations were, this probably wasn't it. We don't get the aftermath of the conversation here, whether Abraham had anything to say to God after all was said and done. Perhaps he realized God had done exactly as was asked, because there really weren't any other righteous people in the city than Lot and his family. Maybe Abraham decided simply to be grateful God had saved his family and wiped out the disastrously immoral town. I know from my own experience, that isn't always the case. You make some request to God. You know it's what you need and you have your heart set on it. When it doesn't come to pass, or something else happens instead, the disappointment can be crushing. "Why doesn't God care about me? Why wouldn't he do this for me? Doesn't he know how bad things are here? Doesn't he see how badly I need this? What am I going to do now? This was my only option." When the response is something else entirely, or, even worse, just silence, it's very hard to stay positive. It's hard to know what to make of it and harder still to think God still has your best interests in mind. God, in his wisdom as Creator, opted not to give us the power to see everything. Perhaps if we could, we'd be less inclined to complain when things don't seem to be going our way. Though, we're very good at complaining, so that's probably not the case. Looking at Abraham, you can see why he might be upset at what happened. Sure, his family is safe, but the whole town is gone. God, however, knows exactly what's happening in the town. The people in the town are as much a danger to others as they are to themselves. God determines this is the best way to keep his people safe, not just now, but into the future. He sends a powerful message as to what happens when you actively choose a lifestyle that is set against his will. Acknowledging that God has the bigger view necessary to make the right decisions about our lives and the world around us takes a level of humility we are rarely willing to accept. This is how God has operated from the very beginning. People like us are constantly trying to find what's best and we often think we've got the answer. We ask for it. We demand it. We assume it will happen. But God has other plans, better plans. We don't like to entertain the possibility that perhaps we don't see everything as clearly as we think, that perhaps there are other options out there that we never knew or never thought possible. When God doesn't follow our directive, we assume it's because he doesn't care or because he's feeling vindictive. We never stop to consider that God may very well be at work in ways we don't see. We don't consider that God has often worked behind the scenes to save and care for his people. This is the way God has always worked. Sometimes it's the direct action we expect and sometimes the hidden things we don't expect. Whether he does precisely what we ask for or not, he is always active in caring for his people. The expectations many people had when they asked God to send the promised savior were not at all what they got. But that was ok, because Jesus went above and beyond any expectation they had. He didn't just make life a little better, he made eternal life possible, and not just possible, but yours. No one asked Jesus to die. No one ever thought he would do something like that, but it was necessary for you and so he did. God brings his salvation to us in ways we didn't ask for and didn't expect, and they are ours all the same. His grace and forgiveness are at work giving us everything we need and more. Even when you don't know you need it, he is still bringing it to you. When we take a step back and see how God has taken care of all of our needs in this life and into eternity, we also see how much we need to repent of the harsh words we direct at him for his apparent lack of care and concern. God knows you don't always trust him or see what he's doing, but he is at work anyway. Whether you trust him or not, he is still at work caring for you because his love for you needs nothing in return. His love for you is such that he wants to do what is necessary to ensure you safely enter into eternity, even if that means not giving you everything you think you need right now and even if that means forgiving you all the times you criticize him or mistrust him. Does this mean we shouldn't bother praying because God's going to just do what he wants anyway? Not at all. God wants to hear your concerns, your requests, whatever happens to be on your heart and mind. Lift it all to him and trust that he will take them and do what is best to care for you, just as he has always done. As St. Paul says, "The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."