WILL YOU SWEEP AWAY THE RIGHTEOUS WITH THE WICKED?

      Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? (Gen. 18:21) When Abraham was visiting with the three visitors who encountered him beneath the oaks of Mamre (Gen. 18:23), they discussed Sarah's impending pregnancy (Gen. 18:10ff) and they also talked about Sodom and Gomorrah's impending doom. They were looking down toward Sodom... and the Lord decided to share his plans to destroy the city with Abraham. He told Abraham that he was going down to Sodom himself, to see if it was as evil as he had heard. Then, the three men began their journey, but Abraham approached the Lord... and asked, "Will you sweep away the righteous with wicked?" If there are 50 righteous people in the city, will you destroy it? How about 45? 30? 20? 10? Would you save the city if there is only 10 righteous people... and the Lord said that he would save the city if he found 10 righteous people! Abraham, if seems, won his argument with the Lord, who said that, he would NOT destroy the righteous with the wicked. I confess that this question was not on my original list of the Bible's great questions, but in light of the recent uproar about (radical) Islam, I am persuaded to include it.
      In Biblical times, Abraham's question was very bold for two reasons. In the first place, it was (and still is) bold to question and/or challenge God! Most people are still afraid to speak their mind to God, but in Abraham's time, it was also bold to worry about individuals. Individual freedoms were unheard of, and certainly secondary to the mores and behaviors of the entire community. Of course, Abraham was most likely lobbying for his nephew's life (Lot), but in our time, his question is quite profound, Would you label an entire people on the basis of what you've seen- or just heard about- from a few? There are no-good, manipulative, greedy, and murderous people within every racial, ethnic, religious, and political group... but does that justify labeling, attacking, or destroying all of the group members? Would you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? My wife is Swedish- will you hold her responsible for the savagery of the Vikings? My people are German- would you hold me responsible for the holocaust? It's important that we discern who the righteous and the evil are... and judge them accordingly. I, for one, am increasingly concerned that we are unwilling to name and call-out evil when we see it. We make excuses for it's perpetrators and we turn a blind eye to those people who mean to kill us.  In my view, this is a dangerous position to take. However, it is NOT acceptable to sweep away the righteous with the wicked! Labels dehumanize people & sweeping condemnations are always wrong! There were evil people in Sodom, but there were also righteous people, who deserved a better fate.
      I am reminded of a story I read about a wealthy rancher who had tens of thousands of acres. His ranch went for miles in all directions... and he named it, "The winding river, double-bend, triple R and dynamic Z" ranch." One of his friends was impressed. "Wow," he said, "how many cattle do you have?" "Not that many," the rancher replied, "Only a few survive the branding." Not that many survive the branding- may God keep my eyes on this great truth.

IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR GOD?

      In my last blog, I presented the first "great" question in the Bible. It is not the greatest question- that will come later- but it is a great one. After anger got the best of Cain, he murdered his brother, Abel, and when God challenged him, Cain asked a question that we all ask to this day: AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER? The answer, it seems to me, is YES. I am my brother's/sister's keeper because my brother/sister bear God's image and because we're all in this thing together. Now to the 2nd of the Bible's GREAT questions: IS ANYTHING TO HARD FOR GOD? It's an important question. It's a question that has always challenged people of faith. It's a question that begs for a hurried answer from people who have not been tested. It's a question that gives deep peace and unquenchable hope to believers around the world and, if it makes you feel any better, it's a question that is as old as the book of Genesis.
      In the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, the Spirit of the Lord carried the prophet to a field of dry bones. There were a lot of them (waist-deep) and they were very dry. They were not sort of dry, or in need of a little TLC- they were dead and rigid. God asked Ezekiel, "Son of man, can these dry bones live?" Well... can they? What do you think? And the prophet answered, "You know Lord." Yes, God knew, and through His word alone, the bones came together. Then, flesh came upon them, and they rose to their feet, like a victorious army! In the 32nd chapter of Jeremiah, we join the prophet as he is sitting in prison. He is waiting for Babylon to destroy the city, and things couldn't have been bleaker! And yet, the word of God came to Jeremiah, telling him to buy a piece of land. So, he bought a piece of land, and considered it a wise investment... because the day would come when Judah would thrive again. It seemed impossible, but God said, "I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything to hard for me?" Well, is there? Would you have purchased a lot in a country that was just about to be decimated? In the 1st chapter of Luke's gospel, an angel of God told a teenage virgin that she would bear a son without having sexual intercourse... because God would be the boy's father. Has anyone ever heard of a virgin birth? Is it even possible? Mary was confused, and she asked the angel, "how can this be?" It will come to pass, the angel assured her, because nothing is impossible for God!
      I could cite other passages, but I will conclude with the well-known passage from the 18th chapter of Genesis. Abraham was sitting under the oaks of Mamre and his wife, Sarah, was preparing a meal inside their tent... when three strangers approached Abraham. Immediately, Abraham invited them to stay for a meal, which would have been common in those days, and as they waited on the food, the 4 men talked about many things. The entire "pericope" is fascinating, but our focus in on God's promise-His statement of fact. Just before they left, the spokesman for the three told Abraham that, come spring, Sarah would give birth to a boy... and Sarah, who had been listening inside the tent, began to laugh. She snickered and laughed out loud because the visitor's words were more than ridiculous. She was old- really old- and beyond the "way of women," and Abraham was even older! They had tried to have a child of their own for decades, and now that it was too late, the visitor said that she would become pregnant and give birth to a bouncing baby boy. The messenger (angel) heard Sarah and asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah doubt and laugh at what I said? IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD?"
      If everything is possible for the Lord, we ought to be a very confident and bold people. We ought to face life head on, and (without coming to believe that God is OUR servant) we ought to pray as if there is no tomorrow. If nothing is too hard for God, I can pray for life in the face of a death. I can enter a dying person's room and pray for God's healing because God can do anything. If God can do anything, I can buy a piece of land just before the entire area is destroyed, and I can put my entire trust in God. If God can do anything, I can throw caution to the wind and turn all that I have over to Him, and if God can do anything, I can believe, claim, and live for a promised life after death. If God can do anything, enemies can become friends and losers can become winners. If God can do anything, I can approach his throne boldly! Indeed, believing that God can do anything... IS the key to transforming hope and real contentment. I prayed for both of my brothers to live, and they died... but I believe that God can do anything... because I believe His word and...because He has given me 2nd, 3rd, and Nth chances. If God can do anything, He can erase my sins and wipe my slate clean!
      But IF some things are to hard for God, I better pray and preach cautiously because I don't want to embarrass myself or put God on the spot. If God can't do what He wants to do- if He is confined by the laws of physics and our own free will- then I had better look out for myself. If Christ is not risen, we are all fools, and if God doesn't know our name, we are truly lost. Stories from the Bible are fascinating... but my greater concern is for me and you and what we do with this question today: IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR GOD? WHAT DO YOU SAY?
   
   

AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?

      For people of faith, the Bible is a book of answers. In fact, it is THE book of answers because it provides direction and correction for our lives, hope for the future, and definitive information on God's nature and will for us. John Calvin called Scripture the "spectacles" of faith, noting that, while we can see God at work in nature and in the course of our lives, we see God most clearly in the Bible. I agree with this entirely. In a world where truth is relative, I need THE truth, and in a world which insists that one belief is a good as another, I need a Big God. I cling to my faith and my faith is shaped by God's word. However, for some time now, I've also been challenged by the Bible's Great Questions, and I've come to believe that struggling with these question deepens our faith and our relationship with God. There are scores of great questions in the Bible, but I will do well to cite those that speak to me: the first of which is AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER.
      You know the story. After Adam and Eve violated God's commandment, they were evicted from the garden of Eden and forced to eke out a living as farmers and keepers of sheep. Childbirth was now painful too, but Eve bore two sons- Abel, who became a sheep herder, and Cain, who became a farmer. Both of them also offered a measure of their blessings to God, but God liked Abel's offering better. It pleased Him more, and Cain became envious and resentful. His anger was sure to get the best of him, and it did. He lured his brother. Abel, into a field... and murdered  him there. Much later in time, Joseph's brothers would consider murdering him out of envy and resentment as well, but Cain went through with the deed... and killed his brother. I don't know how he expected to explain Abel's absence to his parents, but God intervened first... by asking Cain, "Where is Abel, thy brother?" Where is he? What happened to him? And Cain replied, "I know not, am I my brother's keeper?" Who made me responsible for Abel? How would I know where he is?
      Am I my brother's keeper? Well... am I? Who is my brother? And what does it mean to be a keeper? Well, the Hebrew word for "keeper" often means "overseer," as in keeping sheep. In the Old Testament, Israel's kings are called shepherds because they were expected to protect, care for, and guide the people. It was their responsibility to keep the people safe and to lead them to higher ground. Keepers were expected to watch over things- like the keeper of the royal wardrobes, or the keeper of the wine. There are many different examples of what it means to be a "keeper" in the Bible, but they all carry the notion of being responsible for the people/things assigned to them... and accountable to the one who gave them the responsibility. Thus, it is clear that we do have a responsibility to watch over and provide care to our "brothers."  But who are our brother's? Clearly, God is speaking about Cain's biological brother in this passage. What have you done to your brother- to your mother's other son? But the Bible also uses the term "brother" for more distant relatives (Gen. 13:8), fellow countrymen (Matt. 5:47), disciples (Matt. 25:40), people who share the same faith (Amos 1:9), colleagues (Ezra 3:2), people to whom we are attached (2 Sam. 1:26), and to all other people (Gen. 9:5).  Everyone, it seems, is our brother! My brother is my brother. People whom I love like a brother are my brothers. My uncles and cousins are my brothers. Fellow Americans... and fellow Presbyterians... are my brothers. Every man, woman, and child who has given his or her heart to Christ... is my brother. Indeed, since God has created all of us in His image, everyone in the world is my brother. I am connected to each of them and accountable to God for being their keeper!
      This doesn't mean that they are necessarily "right," or "good," but it does mean that I have an obligation to watch over them and to carry them, if I must. Abuse, discrimination, exploitation, bullying, and killings would be sharply reduced if we acted as one another's keeper! Billy Graham once noted that "the highest form of worship is unselfish Christian service," and I would say "amen" to that. James (1:17) noted that, "Religion which is pure and undefiled is to visit the orphan and the widow in their affliction," and I must say "amen" to that. Finally, in what I call the Bible's great open-book test, Jesus invited his followers into his Father's kingdom... because they fed him when he was hungry, clothed him when he was naked, and gave him something to drink when he was thirsty. (Matt. 25) They saw him as brother when he appeared as the least among them... and they acted as if they were his keeper! Let those who have ears... hear.