Date: July 24, 2022

Bible Text: Genesis 18:20-33, Luke 11:1-13 |

We return to Luke's gospel this week with Jesus teaching his disciples about prayer at their request. So we have Luke's recording of the Lord's Prayer (a little shorter that Matthew's and what we say every week), followed by a parable of sorts, and an admonishment to be persistent in prayer. The Old Testament lesson is a continuation of the story when three travelers (A preformation of the Trinity? Yes, we think so!) visit Abraham and Sarah, bringing with them a prediction of Isaac's birth at long last. Here, though, the Three are headed to Sodom and Gomorrah to bring justice. Abraham, knowing he has family living there, entreats the Lord to be merciful if some righteous folks still live there.

In these days, when we aren't too sure if there are many righteous folks left (there are), and we might wonder if persistent prayer actually works (it does), we hope to find some reassurance in these passages.

 

A Note from the Preacher

I mentioned that the sin of Sodom isn't really what everyone thinks. The scripture interprets Sodom's destruction thusly, as the Lord speaks in Ezekiel 16:49:

"Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door." (NLT)

or

"This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease but did not aid the poor and needy." (NRSV)

This isn't central to the sermon, but it is important to know what will really get you in trouble with God.

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