4 Israel, listen to these laws and teachings! If you obey them, you will live, and you will go in and take the land that the Lord is giving you. He is the God your ancestors worshiped, 2 and now he is your God. I am telling you everything he has commanded, so don’t add anything or take anything away.
3 You saw how he killed everyone who worshiped the god Baal Peor. 4 But all of you that were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today.
5-8 No other nation has laws that are as fair as the ones the Lord my God told me to give you. If you faithfully obey them when you enter the land, you will show other nations how wise you are. In fact, everyone that hears about your laws will say, “That great nation certainly is wise!” And what makes us greater than other nations? We have a God who is close to us and answers our prayers.
9 You must be very careful not to forget the things you have seen God do for you. Keep reminding yourselves, and tell your children and grandchildren as well.
Faithful God,
how can I forget
the things I have seen you do?
The miracles,
the wonders,
but especially
your presence in the everyday –
reassuring,
comforting,
challenging,
bringing hope.
And as I remember you,
know you with me everyday,
how can I not
but long
to do what you ask of me,
to live your ways,
for my life to reflect
your way of living.
For I want to live
my life in fullness,
fullness of all you have for me.
You are faithful
and fair in all things,
you are ever near
and always ready to listen,
you answer my prayers
in ways I recognise
and in ways
I don’t yet see.
Help me not to forget you.
Faithful God,
may I be faithful to you,
in your strength
and your enduring love
It can be amazing the influence one person can have on someone else’s life. Someone can be saved from themselves, or led entirely astray by one persons actions in their life.
12 Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die. 13 Sin was in the world before the Law came. But no record of sin was kept, because there was no Law. 14 Yet death still had power over all who lived from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. This happened, though not everyone disobeyed a direct command from God, as Adam did.
In some ways Adam is like Christ who came later. 15 But the gift that God was kind enough to give was very different from Adam’s sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God’s gift of kindness to many people.
16 There is a lot of difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gift. That one sin led to punishment. But God’s gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him, even though we have sinned many times. 17 Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.
18 Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life. 19 Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God.
If we look at all the things we have got wrong, collectively and individually, then it would be fair to say that humanity is going to the dogs – or perhaps more appropriately going to hell in a handcart. Basically and fundamentally, we are stuffed, in trouble. As we read the action of one man and one woman, we see human beings stepping away from God’s intention and making the world something it was never meant to be – including going against God’s instructions.
God tried again to show his people what he wanted of them, the best ways to live – and that didn’t go any better. Still people thought that it didn’t matter or that they knew better. Some people got it, but generally, it was all going very wrong.
The actions of one man (and one woman), brought to the world the possibility of sin, disobeying God, and from that moment on every person who followed seized on it.
The total opposite of this was Jesus. He was the one person who has ever managed to live out God’s instructions, because he understands them from the inside, he was part of their making. He came to reverse what Adam did. As Adam alone opened up the possibilities of evil, Jesus alone came to do away with the consequences.
We continue to get many things wrong, but Jesus continues to deal with that. Jesus brings life and forgiveness to all who realise where they are and what they have done, and turn to him. As Adam’s obedience made humanity unacceptable, so Jesus’ obedience makes us acceptable again.
This is quite complex to get our heads around (well mine anyway), but the bottom line is, Jesus brings the possibility of everything being OK. He is making everything alright with God for us. Like someone who comes along and pays a bill we can’t afford, or points us to the right road when we are lost. Basically Jesus saves us – from ourselves, from our actions, when we get caught up in other people’s behaviour; he stands before God with us and vouches for us. He gets rid of the things that stand in our way, if only we will let him.
Lord,
I have got so much wrong.
But I thank you
that Jesus got everything right.
Thank you
that can make a difference in my life,
that because of him
you accept me.
I come asking for forgiveness
and seeking your life,
for I know
that is the only way to live
Various tv programmes have shown us that haggling is the way to go. Get a bargain, see what a discount you can get. On some of the tasks set by Lord Sugar on The Apprentice, it is obligatory to get a reduction in some form or another, or the purchase is not valid.
But what about bargaining with God? Have you ever indulged in that? Many of us have. Abraham does so here – not for himself, but for the people of Sodom.
Gli abitanti di Sodoma provocano l’ira divina The inhabitants of Sodom provoke the wrath of God
20 The Lord said, “Abraham, I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are doing all kinds of evil things. 21 Now I am going down to see for myself if those people really are that bad. If they aren’t, I want to know about it.”
22 The men turned and started toward Sodom. But the Lord stayed with Abraham, 23 who asked, “Lord, when you destroy the evil people, are you also going to destroy those who are good? 24 Wouldn’t you spare the city if there are only fifty good people in it? 25 You surely wouldn’t let them be killed when you destroy the evil ones. You are the judge of all the earth, and you do what is right.”
26 The Lord replied, “If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will save the city to keep them from being killed.”
27 Abraham answered, “I am nothing more than the dust of the earth. Please forgive me, Lord, for daring to speak to you like this. 28 But suppose there are only forty-five good people in Sodom. Would you still wipe out the whole city?”
“If I find forty-five good people,” the Lord replied, “I won’t destroy the city.”
29 “Suppose there are just forty good people?” Abraham asked.
“Even for them,” the Lord replied, “I won’t destroy the city.”
30 Abraham said, “Please don’t be angry, Lord, if I ask you what you will do if there are only thirty good people in the city.”
“If I find thirty,” the Lord replied, “I still won’t destroy it.”
31 Then Abraham said, “I don’t have any right to ask you, Lord, but what would you do if you find only twenty?”
“Because of them, I won’t destroy the city,” was the Lord’s answer.
32 Finally, Abraham said, “Please don’t get angry, Lord, if I speak just once more. Suppose you find only ten good people there.”
“For the sake of ten good people,” the Lord told him, “I still won’t destroy the city.”
The very phrase name of the town, Sodom and its co-accused Gomorrah, has become synonymous with sin and bad living. But Abraham is concerned for the good who will be destroyed along with the bad. He wants to save them – and with them the whole city.
God himself can’t believe how badly they are behaving. He is off to find out the truth, and is perfectly willing to negotiate with Abraham over the number of good people required to save the whole city. He doesn’t want to see the people destroyed any more than Abraham does, but there comes a point when enough is enough.
Abraham is willing to plead for the people before God. Is that something we are willing to do? To intercede on behalf of others – however bad they seem? That God will see the good and not the bad? Do we look at how people behave and shake our heads in righteous indignation and superiority? Or do we pray, passionately and daringly? Or do we think there is no hope? Do we care enough to argue with God?
Because we learn from this passage that God is not longing to destroy. He isn’t waiting for people to slip up to get his opportunity to zap them, because it serves them right. No God is truly a God of compassion, who really would prefer not to do that. (Though he is also a God of justice and a some point there is a price to be paid for continual, wilful disobedience and evil) God wants evil to stop, because he doesn’t want lives to be broken.
The sad fact of it is, as we read on, God could not find even ten good people – and the city was destroyed
This isn’t about drawing lines between good and bad, in which we sit smugly on the “good” side. This is about pleading for our communities – of which we are a part.
Is there enough goodness in our town to save it? Are we doing what we can to make it so? Because God too longs for that to be the case. That our communities are filled with goodness – and that is the responsibility of us all.
Lord,
I want to pray,
to plead,
to cry to you
for the places where things are going so wrong.
Not from self-righteousness,
not from a place of feeling my life is so right,
not from any triumphalism
but from
love,
hope
and assurance of your grace.
I pray for the places my life is wrong.
For the things I do
that make the lives of others more difficult,
for when I know if you look at my life
there is not enough goodness in it.
Restore us Lord,
we pray.
Restore my life,
this community,
each nation
– your world
