BARGAINING WITH GOD - NOT!

Genesis 18: 16-19:38; Matthew 6:25-7:14; Psalm 8:1-9; Proverbs 2:6-15

“What are mortals that you should think of us; mere humans that you should care for us?”

“For the Lord grants wisdom!  …He grants a treasure of good sense to the godly….  Then you will understand what is right, just and fair, and you will know how to find the right course of action every time.  For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.…  Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose speech is corrupt.”

“Abraham approached Him and said, ‘Will you destroy both innocent and guilty alike?  Suppose you find fifty innocent people there within the city – will you still destroy it and not spare it for their sakes?  ...Suppose there are only forty?   …Suppose only ten are found there?’  And the Lord said, ‘Then, for the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.’”

“’Do for others what you would like them to do for you.  This is a summary of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.’”

At first blush, Genesis raised a pretty serious question for me today.  Can we really bargain with God about righteousness?  Can’t be; God doesn’t work that way.  Happily, after prayer and taking some time to read closer and actually think about the Scripture, I got the real message.  As God began to form a nation of His people, one of the first “human traits” He honored – and so, taught and reinforced - was compassion.  Significantly, God began the conversation with Abraham by talking only about personally “checking out the facts.”  (God knew them already, of course, but he was in teaching mode here.)  It was Abraham who remained fixated on rumors and assumed wholesale destruction was God’s desire.  So, he then went to bat for the folks of Sodom and Gomorrah.  God honored his requests (remember, Lot’s family was not in the city when it was destroyed) while staying absolutely true to His word.  Those left in the cities each (note: “all the men”) just made a final, terminal choice. 

This isn’t about Abraham getting God to change His mind.  God did exactly what He said He was going to do.  It is about God teaching Abraham – and us - to see as He sees.  In the process, God connected with humanity in a new way – linking human compassion and divine mercy.

I should have seen it sooner.  After all, the Flood was not so much about God destroying the world as it was about Him preserving the righteous.  We still start from the position of “cherished by God,” even today!  We only lose that position when we affirmatively, personally reject it through disobedience, and leave Him no other choice.

The message remains: every one of us is loved by God as if we are the only part of His Creation!  “What is man,” the Psalmist asks, “that you are mindful of him?”  “Cherished and treasured,” says God.  “I would give them my wisdom, my mind, if they would just ask and accept it.  Then, they would care for each other as I care for them.”   

Lord, it’s hard to feel saved, or loved, when I’m still in the midst of the floods and fires of life.  Especially when we are surrounded by evil, train us – train me! - to search out and honor righteousness.  Bless us with your compassion, so we can share it with others, even in the middle of our own Sodoms and Gomorrahs. 

Abraham’s negotiations did not change God, but they did allow Abraham to discover a bigger God than he had known before.  May we all be so blessed!