The
conversation between Abraham and God concerning the future of Sodom is a continuation
of the story of this remarkable new beginning. Abraham initiates a bold plea to
God: "Will you destroy the city even if there are fifty righteous people
there?" Note that Abraham does not ask, "Will you save the fifty righteous
apart from all the others," but "Will everyone be saved; will the majority
be forgiven because of the small minority of righteous?" To make his point
Abraham pulls no punches and challenges, "Will not the Judge of all the earth
do right?" Abraham pushes God, in effect asking, " Is not God a God
primarily of mercy than of punishment? Doesn't God wish to save rather than condemn?"
God
readily replies with no equivocation or recrimination, "If fifty righteous
are found there, I will forgive everyone in the city." Abraham continues
to press and God allows. that even for the sake of ten righteous, the whole city
would be spared. The possibility that because of the presence and witness of people
of blessing many others will be spared is explicitly introduced into Biblical
history.
Sodom
was eventually destroyed. People would still bring on their own destruction, but
in the end this new possibility is still remembered. After Sodom's sentence of
condemnation, we have that passage that says, "So it was that when God destroyed
the cities of the valley, God kept Abraham in mind and rescued Lot out of the
midst of the chaos. (Gen. 19:29) In other words, Abraham and Sarah remained carriers
of blessing. I don't think it was God who ever needed to be reminded of the promise
to Abraham and Sarah as much as later generations who needed to be reminded of
the future to which they were called.
It was probably in the evening when Jesus gathered the
disciples. They sat on a cool hillside meadow with the lake in the distance, and
reviewed the lessons on who is one's neighbor, how many times one forgives one's
brother, or how to pray. Indeed the Gospel that Jesus taught them affirmed that
God does not count trespasses. God does not set limits on being a neighbor. God
is not a weigher and accountant of humanity's sins, but a reconciler and healer.
I'm sure that they were all reminded of the ancient promise that through the descendants
of Abraham and Sarah, all nations of the earth would be blessed. They, too, were
to be disciples of blessing.
There
are plenty of fire and brimstone orators out in the world with easy answers and
assurances. They point their fingers at groups other than themselves and threaten
that because of the actions of a few, everyone of "them" will be sure
to perish in the wrath of God. Despite their claims, that is not what the Gospel
supports. Jesus taught his disciples that people of faith would be like a small
amount of leaven in the whole loaf of bread. Because of the witness of a few,
a much larger world beyond themselves would be blessed.
Yes,
until the end of time, Jesus taught disciples to pray straightforwardly and unpretentiously;
to give thanks daily for one's needs; and to forgive one another's trespasses
or sins, for in the process of forgiving and letting go of others' sins, we discover
forgiveness, too. If we can't let go of other people's sins, it's even more difficult
to let go of our own.
Disciples
today continue to be the spiritual descendants of Abraham and Sarah, the leaven
of blessing in a troubled and conflicted world. That is why I can imagine Jesus
saying on a balmy summer night, "Remember the promises of long ago. Remember
whose descendants you are."
