the basic message #E273
7/25/04
Sodom and Gomorrah are engraved into history as being two of the most sinful cities known to mankind. Most Bible-thumpers like D. James Kennedy simply dismiss their sin as homosexuality, but the Scriptures tell us that the cities were guilty of a multitude of sins. The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are topics for "the basic message" specific to the wickedness of their populace, but today we'll look at another great chapter of this saga: the generosity of God.
Your average fire and brimstone preacher will focus on, well, he'll focus on the fire and brimstone that God rained down on the cities. While this indeed happened, there was legendary conversation between God and Abraham prior to the destruction of the cities. Let's listen:
Genesis 18:20-21
The LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin is 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."
We tend to believe that God knows everything, but it's interesting that God made a personal visit to Sodom and Gomorrah to check things out. What does this say about God? He's merciful and fair. He doesn't make hair-trigger decisions to destroy people unless the situation has no other solution. What was God talking about when he said, "...I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me"? I want to stress that this is only my opinion, but I'd guess that the people in the communities that surrounded Sodom and Gomorrah were praying to God that something be done. Could it be that there were some good people living in either of the wicked cities? Abraham and God had a conversation addressing this question:
Genesis 18:22-33
The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham approached him and said "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?"
Abraham was pretty bold to question God's decision, but once again, this story, although fairly short, tells much about God's love for us. Rather than belabor the story, God met Abraham's question with a loving response: God wouldn't destroy the cities if fifty righteous people were found. Most of us would simply say, "Thank you, God", but Abraham pushed his luck. It wasn't that Abraham was playing games with God, rather, Abraham was genuinely concerned that some innocent people would be killed in the destruction of the cities. So what was Abraham's next question to God? "What if, instead of 50 righteous, only 45 righteous people are found?" God said he wouldn't destroy the cities. Abraham pushes further: "How about 40?" God: "Fine." Abraham: "35?" God: "Okay." Abraham: "20?" God: "No destruction." Now about right now, most of us would think that God would be ready to destroy Abraham too, but God didn't become enraged at Abraham's questions, and that was for a good reason: Abraham had no personal gain to be achieved from his pleadings. Abraham just wanted to spare any people who might not deserve to be destroyed. Was Abraham happy with his negotiations with God? Not yet- let's pick up the Scripture and listen:
Genesis 18:32
The he (Abraham) said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."
"America is a Christian nation", I often hear. Quite frankly, I think the jury is still out on that statement, but that's a subject for another day. The Gospel has been compromised and bastardized to simply send a message out that God never intended to send. That message is, "just believe in Jesus and you'll be saved". I'll bet that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah believed in God, but that didn't keep them from being wicked. Believing in God directly, or in God through Jesus Christ is a wonderful and essential factor, but living the lives God intended for us has to follow closely. What if God became fed-up with America and our sinfulness? What if God grew tired of us living like the devil while we claim Jesus as our Savior? I've often wondered if 9/11 was God's way of saying, "I'm watching". Most of you will feel anger when you read that, but I really don't care. We are a naive people if we honestly believe that we can continue in blatant, premeditated sin and simply rub God's nose in it.
So what if God came to you today and said, "Paul, I'm going to destroy America due to their terrible sin." How many righteous people can you find? Yes, I fully understand the concept that we achieve our righteousness through Jesus Christ, but once again, Jesus never allowed us an exemption to sin in calculated ways, yet still be able to claim him as Savior. How many people can you find that live righteous lives? I don't mean perfect lives, I just mean righteous lives. Like what? Like being honest- how many totally honest people do you know? Like being compassionate toward strangers, not just friends and family. Like being merciful toward people who really don't deserve mercy- like prisoners on death row. Like adhering to the law, no matter how much we disagree with it. That includes a range of laws from speeding and running red lights all they way through to not cheating on taxes. How many people do you know that try their best to avoid sin? Quite frankly, I don't know very many. Would God spare America if he could find even a handful of righteous people? I think the answer is yes, but only if some special conditions are met. Like what?
I think the population of America is about 294 million, so let's say that out of 294 million, only 100,000 were "righteous" in the eyes of God. Would God spare the 293.9 million "sinners"? Once again, I offer an opinion, and only an opinion. I think God would spare the wicked of America if the Godly 100,000 would wake up and proclaim the true message God gave through Jesus Christ. American Christianity, for the most part, goes against the grain of what Jesus lived and taught. We are a nation that lets our selfishness overcome any Christian principles we believe in. I'm one of a tiny minority that believes the death penalty should be abolished. Although I frequently speak out on the subject, I often "knuckle-under" when around people that like capital punishment and have something to do with my livelihood. For me to keep quiet on extremely important issues like this relegates me into the camps of "the wicked". I pray that God will grant me the courage to speak up and speak out on issues that have an impact on the Christianity of America. You may be one of the millions of Americans that think America is always right. I'll bet that the majority of Germans thought Hitler was right when he was murdering the Jews. We look back on that time as a blemish on history, but yet it happened. Perhaps we'll one day look back on our skewed views of Christianity and wonder, "how did we go so wrong?" The real question is, if that day comes, where exactly will we be when we pose that question? North or south?