“What A Bargain!”
Text: Genesis 18:17-33
7/24/2022
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Most women love to shop. I realize there are exceptions but this is generally true. And it’s almost an irresistible challenge for them to find the ever elusive “bargain.” The advertisements for the stores show that they understand this instinct in women. Just look at their ads and you’ll see what I mean. It’s all an effort to make the ladies believe that they’re going to get a fantastic bargain price. And when the victorious wife returns home with her "bargain" she triumphantly declares to her husband "Honey, look how much I saved." Trust me, when you scan the receipt you’ll soon discover that these so-called "savings" suddenly appear as "spendings."
Now, lest you women think that I'm picking on you, let me quickly add that men are just as guilty. However, instead of clothes or shoes we prefer to shop for deals on tools, power equipment, tractors, and, vehicles. Getting a "bargain" for us is like a contest we have to win. Take car shopping. A man will go to a car lot and find pleasure in haggling with the salesman. We put on our best poker face and try not to act too interested in the car we’re looking at. But when we decide on the one we want, then the dickering begins over added accessories, financing, trade-in price, and the final cost of the car. If a guy can walk off a car lot after getting a couple hundred dollars knocked off the price you'd think he just won the World Series as he brags to his friends about the "bargain" he got.
So you see, it seems to be inherent in all of us to be constantly on the lookout for a "bargain." In our Old Testament reading for today there’s some bargaining going on as Abraham pleads with God. And this conversation can teach us a lot about the bargain we get when the Lord invites us to communicate with Him in prayer. So, let’s look at this account and see what we can learn from this divine encounter.
First, we need to review the context. As you may recall from last week's reading, the Lord appeared to Abraham, along with two angels, in human form. And the Lord told Abraham that he would be a father within a year. With that important news delivered, the two angels are sent down to Sodom to investigate the wickedness there. Let’s pause here for a minute to clear up any misconceptions about the reason behind this visit. The fact that God came down to see the evil in Sodom firsthand doesn’t mean He couldn't see the situation from heaven. He’s all knowing. Nothing that happens here on earth escapes His eyes. Okay, then why did He come down then? Well, He didn’t do it for His benefit but for man's. Normally, the righteous judgment of God remains invisible to human eyes. But this time, the Lord graciously allowed Abraham to peek into His holy court room. That in itself is a bargain, isn't it? What human being has any business being involved in God's administration of divine justice? None whatsoever! Yet God included Abraham.
And what credentials did he have that caused God to do this? He wasn't a king, or a famous lawyer, or a high priest. He was simply a wandering nomad with lots of livestock. Not hardly the kind of character that you’d expect to appear at the Supreme Court of heaven. But in our opening verses God reveals why He included Abraham. He says, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
Ah, there you have it. Abraham was chosen by grace, not because of any stellar qualifications. He was to be the father of all who trust in God by faith. So, he needed to see firsthand how the Almighty God of heaven judges so that he might teach his descendants (including you and I) to live in “righteousness and justice,” in a manner that’s in line with God's will.
Well, Abraham wasn't just allowed to be an observer in God's holy court room, he was also allowed to participate in the proceedings. In verses 22-32 we read a discourse between Abraham and God that almost sounds like a plea bargain in one of our courtrooms, except in this case, it appears like God is making all the concessions. I got to wondering, though, whether an auctioneer would’ve made this whole discussion go quicker? "Do I hear 50? I have 50. Do I hear 45? I have a bid for 45. Do I hear 40?" and so on. Sorry. Just my weird sense of humor.
Seriously, though, don't misconstrue Abraham's intent when he addresses God in this process. To some people it sounds as though he's chastising God for His plans to destroy Sodom, almost as if Abraham had to coax God into being fair. That's far from the truth. Abraham was actually stating what he already knew about God. He trusted Him. But even though he trusted God, he still had some questions. He wondered how God would workout this dilemma. How would He destroy the wicked without harming the righteous who might exist in that city?
So, God allowed Abraham to sort-of plea bargain for any righteous people that might live in these vile cities. If there's any doubt as to whether Abraham understood his humble place in this whole ordeal, we need not go any further than verse 27. He plainly recognizes that he is mere dust and ashes compared to the Lord. He had no right to even be talking with God, let alone pleading with Him. Yet God showed extreme mercy by allowing him to do so. As the bargaining dwindled down to the final request, Abraham knew that in human terms he would be pressing his luck. An earthly judge certainly would’ve gotten angry by this point. But God didn't. As a matter of fact, His lack of an angry response shows that He truly wanted to have this discourse with Abraham.
Well, Abraham stopped at 10. That in itself shows us that he was asking for this favor in an unselfish manner. Had Abraham only been interested in his nephew Lot, then he would have continued on down to 4 since that’s how many there were in Lot's family. Abraham hoped there were more than 4. But after living in that area for quite some time he knew all about the wickedness of this city. By the end of the conversation, Abraham finally came to the conclusion of what God had known all along. Besides his 4 relatives, no others remained who were righteous. In the end, God answered Abraham's concern about the righteous being destroyed along with the wicked. The Lord sent the two angels down to rescue Lot's family from the impending destruction of that evil city.
Well, as interesting as this whole discourse has been, what does it have to do with us? Quite a lot, actually. Because, you see, it wasn't just Abraham who was able to benefit from such a fantastic bargain from God. We too can learn a lot from this lesson about how God chooses to deal with each of us and the “bargain” He has in store for us sinners.
When you think about it, Abraham's pleadings with God were really a model for prayer. God wants His children to come and ask Him for the things that they need, even though the requests have to be repeated day by day. As Jesus tells us in the Gospel reading, our heavenly Father won’t respond with impatience or anger. Truth be told, we are the ones who grow impatient when it comes to prayer. He invites us to come to Him like a child to their father, asking for the things we need. Sadly, we humans have put all kinds of restrictions and requirements on prayer. It's one thing to come humbly before our holy God as Abraham did, realizing that we too are just "dust and ashes." It's quite another thing to believe that we need some expert to say our prayers to God in order that they might be heard.
I had an experience like this with a woman I visited in a nursing home. At the end of each conversation, I would leave her with the promise that I would be praying for her. She found great comfort in that. But the sad part is that she had absolutely no confidence in her own prayers. When I reminded her that she should keep praying too, she always responded with, "Oh, I don't think God listens to me. But I know He'll listen to you!" I tried to convinced her that God heard her prayers just as much as He heard mine. Unfortunately, I don't think she ever accepted that. Look, folks. I don’t have a special hotline to heaven. My prayers don’t have any extra sway with God. Our prayers are received equally by Him.
We also need to be cautious about our understanding of how we should word our prayers. I'm afraid that all too many children are raised believing that God will only hear their prayers if they use formal language. That's just not true. God hears the simplest of prayers. What He really is looking for is prayer from the heart, not how fancy or big the words are. He’s looking for prayers from His chosen people who truly do trust in Him to hear and answer those prayers. Abraham’s pleas were pretty straightforward and to the point. And look at how simply worded the Lord's Prayer is as Jesus taught it to His disciples. It’s the perfect model for how we are to pray for all our needs. But it's not the only prayer that God hears. No, God hears every sincere prayer from a believer’s heart.
Another lesson we can learn from Abraham is that although God knows what’s on our minds as well as our every need, He still wants us to bring our requests to Him. But why do we need to ask God for something that He's already aware of? The answer is simple. The Lord wants to be in regular communication with us. He doesn’t want us to take our relationship with Him for granted. Think of it this way. How many of you wives would be content if your husband only told you once a week that he loved you? Or, God forbid, only once a year? (I have to be careful here because I asked that same question in a Bible class longer ago and one of ladies there said that was true in her marriage… and her husband was sitting right beside her and didn’t disagree!) Let me assure you, that would be a horrible strain on your relationship. And yet some people think that it's alright to treat God that way. He certainly deserves better than that.
But friends, prayer would be totally meaningless if it weren't for the greatest bargain of all. That bargain is what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. St. Paul says it so beautifully in the Epistle lesson. He writes that while we were still dead in sin, God made us alive through Christ. Jesus took all our sins upon Himself, and the damnation that we deserved, and they were nailed to the cross along with Him. When He died that horrible death, he paid the price for our sins. He was our substitute. Through our baptisms, we are now clothed in the righteousness that Jesus won for us. By it we are able to communicate freely with the Lord. As His forgiven children, we can now come to God our Father and ask Him for every need of both body and soul. And since Jesus has risen triumphant from the grave, we can rejoice in knowing that we too will be raised to be with Him. What a glorious exchange! We had nothing to offer God but our dirty sinfulness, and in return, He gives us eternal life and salvation through His Son. Now that's the best bargain of all! Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!