Bargaining with God

It is nothing new for human beings to beg God for mercy. Afterall, in every service of the Church the people on more than one occasion pray, “Lord have mercy.” But there is a difference between asking God for mercy and bargaining for a better situation. >blockquote>Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the LORD. Then Abraham drew near, and said, “Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” And the LORD said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him, and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. – Genesis 18.20-33 In today’s reading from Genesis, we witness Abraham seemingly bargain or negotiate with God. If there are fifty? If there are 40? “Suppose ten are found there. He answered, ‘For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” Of course we know Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed, so why did God bother to negotiate with Abraham? Maybe a better question would be, why did Abraham bargain with God? In his love for people, Abraham couldn’t stand to see them suffer, so he begged God for mercy. He didn’t asked for a better life for himself. He didn’t ask God for more money or prestige. He asked for God’s mercy on others, all the while God knew He would not find even ten righteous. This entire experience was an exercise for Abraham’s spiritual growth. He would eventually see Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed after having begged for God’s mercy. Would he lose his faith because he didn’t get what he wanted from God? Walk into any Orthodox Church in the old world, and more and more here in America, and you will notice little medal plates called ‘Tamata’ or ‘Pledges’ dangling from Holy Icons. Look closer and you will notice the plates are in the shapes of body limbs, wedding crowns, babies, etc. These plates represent the prayers of faithful people begging God for mercy for various struggles in life. Sometimes God gives what the people request, and other times He does not give them what the request. But, He always give them what is best. Today is the Feast of Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and Enlightener of North America. You can read a very brief description of him here. He established many Orthodox Churches of many ethnic backgrounds in America in the few years he was here. His love for others often urged others to have mercy on each other rather than look for themselves. He was known by many for his love and devotion to his flock. I can imagine he spent many nights on his knees begging for God’s mercy for others.