The Story of God: A Good News Bad News Kinda Day

In Genesis 18 we get a glimpse of the hope we have in our God in God’s encounter with Abraham on what I would call a good news bad news kinda day.

First the Good News (Genesis 18:1-15) This day starts out great. The Lord has come to visit Abraham. When Abraham sees them approaching he sees his three visitors. And when he does he immediately responds: he hurries to meet them and bows before them. Then he models for us one of the most extravagant displays of hospitality recorded in Scripture. He makes sure their feet are washed. He provides them with a place to rest under the tree. He offers them a meal. His desire it to bless his visitors in the best way possible so they will leave refreshed.

Once he has their permission, Abraham quickly sets about serving the Lord by providing an extravagant meal of bread, curds and milk and the choicest cut of veal from a calf. He spares no expense or effort in hosting the Lord. Then as they ate, he stood near them under a tree. While they are eating they questioned Abraham: “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he said. Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Take note here of two things: First there is only one person who could promise such a thing, and second only one person who would know Sarah’s new name. Only the Lord Himself could make this promise or know of Sarai’s new name. So Abraham knew who was speaking. But he wasn’t the only one listening. Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.  So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Sarah uses an interesting word to describe herself when she says, “I am worn out.” This is the word that was used to describe a garment that is ragged and dusty, faded and frayed. The kind of garment that was no longer worn, but was now only useful as a cleaning rag. That’s how Sarah saw herself. She saw herself well past her prime: used up, worn out, soon to be discarded. And she laughed to herself thinking, now, when there’s nothing left of me, this is when I get to enjoy this pleasure. But her laugh doesn’t escape the attention of the Lord. We pick up the text in verse 13:

Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Now, note one more thing in this exchange: God asked Abraham why Sarah laughed; He didn’t ask Sarah. But look what happens next: Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.” And this is where the narrator leaves it: With the Lord rebuking Sarah. End of conversation. No talking back; just the truth: “Yes, you did laugh.” But I can imagine, when the Lord said this, He did so with a smile on his face. For he knew she would have this pleasure. He had come to bring them good news. She had her doubts. But God was certain: “Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” That’s the good news. God appeared in the flesh to announce the promised child’s arrival. His was the good news of fulfilled blessing: God was fulfilling the discarded dreams of Sarah. And then He gives His personal guarantee: “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?” God brings a message of HOPE for both Abraham and Sarah.

There’s much we can learn from this encounter. First in Abraham’s response to God: What can we learn from Abraham’s extravagant hospitality? A number of things: First, when Abraham saw the Lord had come near, he hurried to meet him and then bowed before Him. In doing this we see Abraham’s humility. God had previously commanded Abraham to walk before him with integrity: To walk in the way of the Lord and become the man He was calling him to be. Now as the Lord appears to Abraham, we see a man who is eager to honor to his God.

But his eagerness doesn’t stop there. Next we see his desire to provide the Lord and his companions with rest and refreshment. In this request we see Abraham’s servant heart. He was not just eager to serve, but went the extra mile to give of his best to the Lord and his companions. He provided water for their feet. Shade for their rest. And then he prepared an extravagant feast. He was thorough. He was generous. But above all, he revealed his heart in the purpose of this feast: He wanted the Lord to be refreshed!

Think about his example for us: Abraham was a humble servant who gave the best of himself and his possessions to refresh the Lord.  At the heart of a servant is the desire to honor and refresh the Lord. Serving is not an obligation of a Christian. It’s an honor. May this be our attitude, not just in how we serve one another through Rock Springs, but how we serve one another in our everyday lives. May we be eager to give of our best to refresh one another as Abraham was eager to serve His Lord.

Abraham is a beautiful model of servanthood.   But God also reveals something of His nature in this encounter. What does this encounter reveal about God’s Power? The Lord himself said it: “Is anything to hard for God?” The question was rhetorical, but the answer is always the same. “Nothing is too hard for our God.” Too often we put limits on what God can do. But listen to how Jeremiah said it: “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17

And how Jesus said it: Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27   God did for Abraham and Sarah the impossible. He took an ordinary couple well past the age of childbearing and promised them a child. He brought them good news of new life. And when God told them that at this time next year they would have a son; His Word was certain. It was based on His Almighty Power and His absolute faithfulness.

This is our God. He is able to do what He says He will do. He is faithful to do what He says He will do. And what has He promised us? He has promised us eternal life through our faith in Jesus Christ. It’s on done deal. He proved His ability to give us eternal life by raising Jesus from the dead. And if He has raised Jesus to life; we too have this hope. No matter how difficult things can be in this world, we have a sure and certain hope in Jesus! This is indeed good news.

One other little note here about God’s sure and certain promises: they are not based on our behavior! Look at Sarah. She laughed at God’s promise and then lied to God’s face. But God still gave her a son. God’s goodness to us is not dependent on our sinful behavior. God is greater than our doubts. God is greater than our sin. That’s the good news God reveals to us on this day. But the day doesn’t end there…

Now the Bad News (Genesis 18:16-33)  When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

So far, no bad news. We simply see Abraham accompanying the three visitors. But then the narrator allows us to see God’s motivation for including Abraham in His plans to address the evil of Sodom and Gomorrah. What’s God’s motivation? Verse 19 tells us that it is Abraham who will direct his offspring “to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just” So God is about to reveal insider information to see how Abraham will respond. This test will reveal if Abraham does indeed hold to the ways of the Lord by doing what is right and just.

Then the Lord said, “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.”

He has just heard the bad news. God is going down to judge Sodom and Gomorrah for their evil. Yet, it is here that Abraham approached God to question Him. What a great image of Abraham’s faith. What boldness! The two men turn away toward Sodom, but Abraham remains standing in God’s presence. The he has the audacity to approach the Lord and question Him: “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? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Abraham passes the test. By the very nature of his question, he knows God always does what is right and just. You can hear him calling God to act according to His own righteous nature: “Far be it from you to do such a thing!” “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” You can almost see the Lord smiling. Abraham is fully engaged. Not only does he hold to the ways of the Lord, but He’s now challenging God in to hold to His own ways.

So the exchange proceeds: The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Now note something here: Abraham asks if God would be willing to spare the place for the sake of a few righteous people. Abraham is asking God to extend mercy to those who deserve judgment. He is asking God to withhold judgment for the sake of a few. That’s what mercy means. And God complies to Abraham’s request: “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will SPARE the whole place for their sake.” God says He will show mercy.

Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”

“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”

He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

Then he 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.” When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

This is quite an exchange. At the conclusion of it God is convinced Abraham will lead his children in the way of the Lord by doing what is just and right. Abraham is not simply a man of faith, but a man full of mercy. Extraordinary! We can learn quite a bit from Abraham’s example here. But before we do, I want us to answer this question: What does this exchange reveal to us about God?

God hears the outcry of injustice and evil in our world. God heard it then and He hears it today. When He heard it then, it did not come from Sodom and Gomorrah, it came from an outcry against these cities. It was a great outcry of the grievous sin and evil that had reached him. And when this outcry reached Him, He was moved to act.

What this tells us is that God is Sovereign. God is not absent from the pain and suffering of our world. He did not just get this world going and leave it to its own devices. He cares about the injustice, evil and moral decay that is spiraling out of control in our land. He hears the anguished cries of wives who’ve lost their spouses, of children who’ve lost their fathers, of brothers and sisters like you and me who grieve over evil, who fear for their children and grandchildren. God hears when we cry out to Him over sin and evil. And because He hears, there is hope…. We will not hear this hope from the media. We rarely hear this hope from politicians. But there is hope. For when people cry out to Him, He hears. This is our hope! He is our Hope.

Not only that, but in the midst of God’s exchange with Abraham, we learn another truth: That no matter how bad things get, as long as there are righteous people in the land, God will not abandon us/God will not destroy us. It makes me crazy when I hear so called Christians say that things that are happening are simply God’s judgment on America. I refuse to believe or teach that. If anything, this passage should give us great hope. For as long as there was ten righteous people in Sodom, God was willing to extend mercy. And if my estimate is correct, there are still multitudes of righteous people in our land. So we have hope.   But we must cry out. Listen to this reminder from 2 Chronicles: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:1

God is Sovereign. He has already proven that He withholds what we deserve. He is slow to anger and rich in mercy. He desires that no one perish but everyone to come to repentance. He is our hope. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

That’s what Abraham did. For us he serves also as a model of intercession, a model for prayer. What does Abraham’s appeal teach us about prayer? First, you’ve got to love Abraham’s Boldness. He is not afraid to ask God to be God! To do the right thing! How I wish I had more of Abraham’s audacity!

Second, you’ve got to love Abraham’s Compassion! Abraham was so taken by what might happen to the innocent people of Sodom and Gomorrah, that he pleaded with God again and again, even risking making God angry. His prayer wasn’t for himself. It wasn’t even for Lot, it was for people he didn’t even know.

What a transformation. Abraham at this point in his journey of faith had become a humble man who was eager to serve. And yet his relationship with God had grown to such a place that he wasn’t afraid to get in God’s face and seek mercy for others. How did this happen? This is a different man from the one that once fled to Egypt, lied about his wife and doubted God’s plan for a son to come through his very own flesh. Abraham was now a man of faith: A humble servant! A compassionate intercessor! A man eager to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just.

How did this happen in Abraham? And more importantly, how can this transformation happen in us?

It comes from believing in the God of Hope, from believing in the One for whom nothing is too hard, from believing in the One who hears our cries. This is what changed Abraham. This is what can not only change us, but change our country.