Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, bishop and martyr

Early the next morning Abraham went to the place

Kudzu climbs the light pole. 

where he had stood in the LORD’s presence.
As he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah
and the whole region of the Plain,
he saw dense smoke over the land rising like fumes from a furnace.

Thus it came to pass: when God destroyed the Cities of the Plain,
he was mindful of Abraham by sending Lot away from the upheaval
by which God overthrew the cities where Lot had been living.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah seems like an additional chapter in the “history of sin” which runs through Genesis 1-11. Lot and his family resemble Noah and his family, though they disappear into history after their deliverance. You are, of course, familiar with this story; “Sodom and Gomorrah” has become a symbol of abominable sin and its inevitable punishment. Cormac McCathy’s third volume of his “Border Trilogy” is called Cities of the Plain. The title suggests the divine retribution which must fall upon the world of the author’s bleak vision.

I often wonder about Abraham’s experience as he saw the mushroom cloud rising over the doomed cities. In obedience to God he had left his father’s house and homeland to wander with the Lord. He had been overwhelmed by a paralyzing trance in which God swore an everlasting covenant with him. Only yesterday he dickered with God to save Lot and his family; but could he have imagined the authority of this God who had adopted him?

His watching the catastrophe seems no accident; he must take a lesson from it. Of all the wicked cities of the earth, God chose to punish two within this old man’s sight. And yet he must not be terrified of God. He was not called to tremble and quake in God’s presence. He should not continually beg for mercy like a fawning Seth Pecksniff or cringe like Uriah Heep; nor was Abraham capable of such behavior. Rather, he must prepare to deal with a divinity that seems mad with power, a divinity that must be somehow humanized.

The next two chapters of Genesis will demonstrate God’s loyalty to Abraham, especially as Abraham foolishly and wickedly betrays his wife. He does not seem to understand how serious God is about his welfare or to what lengths God will go to make good his promise. But several years later, when the boy Isaac is twelve, Abraham is ready for the test. As he prepares to sacrifice his only son, the boy who is God’s promised word “made flesh,” he watches to see how God intends to make good his promise. Abraham will go through with the madness until God must intervene.

If The Sacrifice of Isaac is critical to our understanding of the Crucifixion, I see today’s image of Abraham as a paradigm for the life of the Christian. We must behold God’s works and continually reflect on them. They must shape our imagination and guide our thoughts. We might not be able to analyze, explain or define them, but we must be aware of them for they will guide us through future adventures. Even as we Taste and see the goodness of the Lord, we must appreciate how serious this covenant with God is. It involves the salvation of many.