We become broken when tears come. If someone else is around, we've determined that this resonating feeling is more important than "saving face" in front of whoever it is we're near. WHen we cry, something inside of us says, 'This is the truth," and we rejoice in love or the truth or grace or mercy or sadness and loss. Something opens up and floods our beings with a cleansing flow of saltwater tears. It's an interesting phenomenom that most all of us experience from time to time. I remember feeling like letting a tear flow when I saw or heard about someone helping another. The gift of that love expression touched me. I didn't end up crying, but I was touched in a similar way, slightly deeper than saying, "Awww!"
I think tears are cool. Part of the attraction might be that it's a fairly rare thing.
Genesis 19 starts off with the declaration that "the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening..." Maybe this helps define who the "three visitors" were. Perhaps two were angels and one was the Lord...? Lot was at the city gate when they arrived and he went and bowed down to them, calling them "lords." They were going to spend the night in the square, but Lot insisted that they stay with him.
Then Lot performs another goofball mistake that seems to define many of our biblical heroes. It says that "all the men from every part of the city of Sodom -- both young and old -- surrounded the house. They called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.' Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, 'No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.'"
Homosexuality apparently so defined the men of Sodom that this is why the practice of gay sex is still called "sodomy." The Word of the Lord doesn't really water down this story. It's pretty blunt and to the point. Lot is apparently full of fear. He closes the door behind him and goes out to talk to his friends. It's probably a good thing that he calls them "friends," for a righteous person should love those around him and be liked and respected by his neighbors. But when he offers these men his own daughters as some sort of bribe to keep the crowd from his angelic visitors, he displays true cowardice. I guess he doesn't really know the strength and power of these two angels. Maybe they came incarnated in some weak looking bodies and he just didn't have the insight or faith to realize that they surely could've handled themselves in the town square that night. But Lot treats his daughters like so much meat and trash that he should really be ashamed of this event (too bad it's chronicled in Scripture for all time, huh?).
"'Get out of our way,' they replied. And they said, 'This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them.' They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door." Wow, I bet Lot's heart was racing with fear. He was about to be lynched and disgraced by an angry and lustful mob. The men inside reached out and pulled him back into the house and shut the door. This must've been some kind of drama. "Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door."
Now Lot's faith probably grew.
"The two men said to Lot, 'Do you have anyone else here -- sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great the He has sent us to destroy it.' So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters..."
I wonder how these future son-in-laws felt about Lot's near giving away of their brides to an angry mob? Maybe they didn't know what he had offered them...
"He said, 'Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!' BUt his sons-in-law thought he was joking. WIth the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, 'Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.' When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the ands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, 'Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!'"
Lot pleaded with them to not go to the mountains, but to a small town, which is called Zoar. The angels didn't do anything until Lot safely reached the city. Then burning sulfer rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot and his family settled in the mountains later, living in a cave; because Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar. His two daughters decided amongst themselves, 'There is no man here to get us pregnant and carry on the family line. Let's get dad drunk and lay with him so as to carry on our line through our father.' They got him to drink wine and he must've been pretty drunk, because it says that "he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up." After two nights both daughters got pregnant by their father this way.
This is another pretty lame sin that Lot's family committed. It's interesting that the old cry of, "Why judge homosexuality worse than other sins" or "Why didn't God destroy Lot's family after this, like He did with the two cities?" Maybe we can conclude that one or two mistakes are not equal to entire generations of mistakes and sinful living. Perhaps the consequences of sin are always negative; but the abundance of a breeding ground of sin, so to speak, is worse. A small amount of mistakes can be repented of and mercy-fied and changed, can it not? How does a cess pool of debauchery ever change? Perhaps a mob given over to sin is too far gone? I don't know. We don't see this kind of judgment = destruction too much more in the Bible and in history since then.
We do see or hear about people crying out against the sins of homosexual communities, perhaps with signs that say "God will destroy this place," but I have a feeling that these words are not prophetic nor from God's mind. If it were, it seems, it would have happened. I'd be embarrassed if I uttered a phrase, stating "Thus sayeth the Lord" and then it not happening. If I'm going to speak for God, I better darn well be sure that God is indeed telling me to.
It's hard to make complete and accurate conclusions from these stories, but perhaps two of them that are relevant would be:
1. A remnant of righteous people (especially if it's a decent family/crowd, like ten or more) will have a tremendous impact on how God views a city or region.
2. Individuals sinning and failing seem to be dealt with more mercifully than entire crowds given over to sin. Perhaps transformation does happen in the heart of man one at a time. When a group-wide transformation happens with many individuals at nearly the same time, this is a miracle (and a "renewal" or "awakening" or "revival").
Wouldn't it be cool if a group of Christians got together in a city of sin (like Austin or Houston or SF or NY or Orlando or Miami or...the list goes on) and prayed together over the city, weeping over its condition. Letting the sorrow of the condition of lost souls overwhelm them to tears, pleading with God to bless them with the conviction of sin by His Holy Spirit, and then perhaps being the same people serving this community, maybe in a soup kitchen, maybe serving children with mentor programs. Something about the silent Christian serving in love, paying with tears in private has somehow also empowered them with something incredibly powerful. When a tender heart reaches out in love, I call that genuine. I think that's what God wants in His people. Then, if God calls that person or persons to speak out, there comes an authority and a respect that's earned.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at October 18, 2006 09:20 AM