Dear members and friends of Grace Baptist,

What a delight it was to have our children lead us in worship last Sunday as we celebrated the conclusion of Vacation Bible School.  I enjoyed going “Down on the Farm” with the kids and learning how to “grow in our friendship with Jesus.”  As I type those words, I think of how the Patriarch Abraham was called “God’s friend.” (II Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8 James 2:23).

As I mentioned last Sunday during our prayer time, friends converse, speak, and listen.  As we continue our sermon series with Abraham this Sunday, we encounter Abraham having a conversation with God in Genesis 18:16-33.  In this passage, Abraham overhears the LORD asking whether “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do to Sodom?”  Abraham then hears the LORD say, “the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 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.” (Verses 20-21) After the two angels leave, Abraham stands before the LORD.  Abraham asks the LORD two pressing questions, “Will you indeed destroy the innocent with the guilty?”  (verse 23) The second question is found in verse 25, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do justice?”  What follows these questions is an ancient near Eastern scene of bartering between Abraham and the LORD as Abraham continually speaks up and asks God if will make a different decision if the number of righteous people found in Sodom is less than 50, 45, 50, 30, 20, or 10 people.  Each time God responds, “for the sake of that number, I will not destroy it.”

This passage has often been neglected in the preaching of Genesis 18 and 19.  This is unfortunate as there’s much at stake here.  There’s a word of grace here, especially for those trapped in a theology of retribution and punishment.  Instead of God being ready to judge and punish, this passage reveals that God is more ready to celebrate and recognize the few who live justly.  This Sunday, we’ll listen for this word of Grace and the implications it offers to us who seek to live justly today.

See you on Sunday,

Pastor David