A Question of Justice
The strangers journey on to Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities of much alleged depravity on the plain of Jordan. Abraham, ever attentive to the voice of God, knows that if they find what they expect to find those cities will be taken out. Nor is he unaware that somewhere down there he has a nephew with a family business. In essentials it provides a backdrop to our world and it is not difficult to move from the one to the other.
Think of any group of people going about their daily business. What they do may be right or wrong in their eyes and may incur suspicion, horror or fear in others who otherwise are unaffected by them. One day, along come a few of ‘the others’ who share their concern with you, tell you they are on their way to check whether what they hear is true and if it is they plan to stop to it, whatever it takes.
What do you do? They may be right, but do you interfere? Probably nothing you can do. It’s one against three and they seem pretty determined. No point even asking questions, and apparently Abraham doesn’t. You could hardly be blamed if you came to the same conclusion. But then you realise that these strangers are on the warpath where you have family. Suddenly you are standing exactly where Abraham stood, and Abraham does the only thing he can do.
He talks to God. How many innocent people have to be sacrificed in order to root out a few who displease? Fifty? Forty? Thirty? Ten? Surely the judge of all the earth will do what is right. In this way Abraham takes one step further in understanding his relationship with God. First, Haran (obedience), then Hagar (compassion), Isaac (reliability), and now Lot (justice). Incidents like this, not so much the Bible stories as the contemporary events they focus, constantly challenge us to go through the same exercise. What we have believed until now may be fine, but life is a constant challenge, not only in matters of justice, and (like Abraham) we grow in faith only to the extent that we grow in our understanding of God.
