Rector's Sermon
25 July 2010

First Reading	Psalm	Epistle	Gospel
Genesis 18:20–32	Psalm 138	Colossians 2:6–15	Luke 11:1–13

        The destruction of the city of Sodom reflects an ancient memory of a city-state being destroyed by a sudden natural catastrophe, probably by an earthquake and ensuing volcanic explosions. Then, as now, the lower Dead Sea valley with its rough craters and twisted pillars of mineral salts looked as if some terrible event had taken place. It looked like a place violently accursed, a place where nothing would ever flourish again.  It was a given that Sodom was going to be destroyed, but nonetheless the Bible consistently emphasizes that God is a God of blessing. We are told God deliberated, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that I have promised Abraham that his descendants shall become a great and mighty nation and all nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him?” God decided he would not. In effect, God wanted Abraham to know, despite human interpretation to the contrary, that God’s desire to offer blessing and salvation upon the peoples of the world was genuine. God approached Abraham and told him of his intentions. Then in a remarkable display of courage, Abraham questioned God.  Abraham asked, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city, will you destroy the city? Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? How about if there are forty, or thirty, or ten?" The bargaining probably strikes us as quaintly amusing. Nonetheless, Abraham was probing to discover the underlying intentions of God for the world. Certainly in the ancient world, to stand before God and ask, “Shall not the God of all the earth do right?” was an arresting thing to do, and most ancients would have expected their God to strike such a person down for impertinence. In contrast, God listened to Abraham’s protest, and responded. Abraham wanted to know if God's actions were moved by anger towards the wickedness of the many or by love for what humanity could be. What was more important to God, the innocence of a minority or the culpability of many; the punishment of a guilty world, or its redemption? What Abraham and the world learned was that God's will to preserve, protect, and save predominates over any desire to condemn.

         When we understand that God enters the world for its redemption, then the mission of Abraham and Israel becomes clear, and the whole book of Genesis falls into place. Genesis begins its history of human life outside the garden with the murder of a brother, the alienation of Adam and Eve's family and the further drawing away from God. Genesis ends with the reuniting of Jacob's brothers, the reunion of his family and the promise that God will stay with them. Jacob assures his family that what they intended for evil, God turned into good. Genesis becomes the story of God trying to bring the human family together again.

         Today at times, we almost seem to be overwhelmed by wickedness. It is tempting to believe that we are surrounded by a majority that deserves condemnation. If the church only sees the world as worthy of God's condemnation and only defines itself as a minority under such a siege, it will circle the wagons, become very defensive, be reactive rather than proactive, and become increasingly bitter and disillusioned. However, in remembering that God plays an active part in the redemption of the human community then people of faith can define themselves as a minority of redemption, as the leaven to uplift and transform. A minority for redemption has a mission, it can rise above setbacks, it can acknowledge the power of resurrection, it can witness God's power of life over the world's power of death. A minority of redemption has a positive identity, it looks outward, it is a community that waits and defines itself by hope and God's promises.

         In today’s Gospel, His disciples ask Jesus, “What may we expect when we pray?”  It seems to me, Jesus’ answer doesn’t involve that we will necessarily get that new motorcycle under the Christmas tree, rather, that God will listen. It means that when we carry the signs of God’s grace into a hostile world regardless of a hostile environment or outlook, we can expect God to continue to care. What does it mean when it seems our world is falling apart, when our future is in jeopardy, and when there seems to be no hope left? It seems to me we can trust God to bring meaning and resurrection out of our dead imagination and crushed spirit. God wishes us well, for the God of the earth wishes to do right, wishes us to protest injustice, and wishes us to be an active part of the process of redemption, for God’s promise of blessing will prevail.

       And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.