Sunday, July 27th 2025
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Series C (Proper 12C)
Text: Genesis 18:17-33
Sermon Audio
As we gather… We pray in the collect (that is prayer) of the day “O Lord, let Your merciful ears be attentive to the prayers of Your servants, and by Your Word and Spirit teach us how to pray that our petitions may be pleasing before You.” We see prayer in action in our Old Testament lesson as Abraham intercedes on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham pleads that the Lord may save the cities even for the sake of ten righteous people. Nonetheless, Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed for lack of righteous in the city. We are sinful and deserve God’s wrath and punishment. However, the Lord Jesus Christ intercedes on our behalf. The sacrifice of his perfect body on the cross was enough to pay the penalty for our sins. Because of this, not only are we spared, we, like Abraham, have the right to speak with God in prayer. We can be bold in our requests, knowing that the Lord wants to hear us pray, and wants to grant our wishes, even if He doesn’t always say, “Yes.” May we be bold to take all our concerns to Him in prayer!
How far would you go to help your friend? What about your nephew? What about your daughter? What about your wife? What lengths would you go to? What deals would you make? What petitions would you bring before a governor or doctor or even God Himself?
As we look at the way we spend our money—money talks—and we spend billions of dollars in healthcare in the United States. This tells us that no treatment is too expensive, no cost is too prohibitive, if it means our loved one will be okay. Even if they are in a seemingly hopeless situation.
As we look at our Old Testament text, we see another similarly hopeless situation. Abraham is talking to God and he is frantic in his desire to save his nephew, Lot, as well as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. We’ll learn today about the nature of prayer and about our relationship with God. BECAUSE IN CHRIST THE LORD HAS MADE US HIS PROMISE-BEARERS, WE CAN PERSISTENTLY AND CONFIDENTLY ASK HIM TO KEEP HIS PROMISES.
First, I. The Lord has made us His promise-bearers in baptism. This dovetails off of our reading from last week. God visits Abraham and Sarah and gives Sarah the wonderful promise that they will have a son, and the name will be laughter, Isaac. Sarah certainly laughs in God’s face as this happens.
God leaves the camp, and Abraham cannot but help to follow Him and the other two angels as the two go down below to Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham wants to stay with God.
“The LORD said, “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.””
God does not want to hide from Abraham what is about to happen because He has chosen him and will make him into a great nation. God has placed His promise upon Abraham. He called Abraham from Ur of Chaldeans to this land of Canaan. He made this promise that Abraham will become a great nation, and Abraham’s son Isaac is not even yet born!
We read in the book of Isaiah, “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend;” Abraham is the friend of the Lord, so naturally, the Lord will confide in Him. The Lord tells Abraham something shocking, He is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness. The angels will go down into the city of Sodom to visit Lot, and the men of Sodom try to take the angels by force to abuse them. This kind of wickedness was what was happening in Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham wants to stop this punishment from happening and begs to God for mercy.
The Lord has placed His promise upon us through the waters of baptism. By faith we can call upon the Lord. By faith, Jesus calls us friends. We read in John’s Gospel, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” Being God’s promise bearers, we too have an insight into God’s will and what He wants. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Father’s revelation to us.
In a song by one of my favorite bands, they sing, “Here we are inside a novel waiting for an end, but we don’t know the authors of the book. Maybe someone’s writing chapters For us while we sleep From a million miles away.” For many people today, that describes their life. They don’t know God, and they don’t know His plan for their lives. When they pray, they don’t know to whom they pray and if their prayers are heard.
On the other hand, we know the author of the book. We look to Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith.” Jesus is the one who has placed His promise upon us.
Thus, II. The Lord invites us to ask Him to keep His promises. We see the persistence that Abraham has in asking God again and again to consider sparing the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham knows Lot is a righteous man, made righteous by faith in the true God. Will the Lord spare the city for 50 righteous men? What about 45? 40? 30? 20? 10? Certainly Lot must have won ten people to the faith. Surely the city must be spared!
We who know the rest of the story know that the Lord destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. There weren’t even ten righteous people in the city. Not even Lot’s wife survived as she turned back and was turned into a pillar of salt as sulfur and fire rained down from heaven. Only Lot and his two daughters survived.
Note Abraham’s boldness in asking even though he is but dust and ashes. He has no bargaining chips but comes before the Lord empty handed. So too, we come to the Lord empty handed. There’s nothing that we have to bring to the table but our wickedness and our sinfulness. Nevertheless, the Lord gladly hears our prayers.
The Lord is glad to hear us in prayer, especially as we pray for things He has promised. He wants to hear us pray for those things which are good for us and are according to His will. Jesus tells us, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!””
We know the Lord wishes that none perish, but that all come to repentance, so we can be bold in praying for a friend or loved one to come to faith in Him. We know the Lord wants to forgive our sins, and so we can be bold in praying for Him to overlook past offenses, and for the power to live a holy life. We know the Lord hates death, and so we can pray for ourselves and others, that the Lord would grant health and healing. We know the Lord loves brothers and sisters who dwell in unity, so we can pray for peace in our families, friendships, and households. The Lord wants us to call Him out on the promises He makes to us. Sometimes, it may feel like we’re Abraham standing on the cliffside, standing as the thin line between life and death, a lone voice crying for sanity in a world of insanity.
Yet in prayer, we are never alone. III. The Lord’s promises find their yes in Christ. The Apostle Paul reminds us, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus]. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” Jesus was the one righteous man who lived a perfect life when all others failed.
Abraham stood on the hill and watched Sodom and Gomorrah. Imagine being Jesus hanging on Calvary and seeing all the sins of the world in a moment’s time as He bore them for me, for you, and for every single sinner. Nonetheless, He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Jesus interceded for us, and His prayers were heard by God the Father.
When the Father raised Jesus from the dead, He was adding His Amen to Jesus’ petitions. In Christ we have forgiveness, life, and salvation. Christ has ascended to heaven, and now He acts as our great high priest praying for us when we’re too tired, too depressed, or completely uncertain of how even to begin praying.
How far would you go to help your friend? What about your nephew? What about your daughter? What about your wife? What lengths would you go to? What deals would you make? What petitions would you bring before a governor or doctor or even God Himself?
Jesus knows what plight you’re in. Jesus knows your suffering and those of your loved ones. Jesus knows your sorrows, and even better than Abraham pleading with God, Jesus’ pleas are heard before the Father, and He sends the Holy Spirit upon you to endure suffering, and to answer your prayers.
In Christ, God is your friend, and you can gladly and confidently ask Him anything. He has placed His promise on you, and you can ask Him anything as a dear child asks His dear Father. The Lord grant us boldness to pray without ceasing just as Abraham did, and even more so, as Christ continually does for us. Amen!