The Sin of Sodom/Ezekiel 16:49-50

This passage was pointed out to me the other day and I was struck by the statements in verses 49 & 50: "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned, they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen." These verses somehow managed to slip through the cracks when I've heard Christians speak of Sodom and Gomorrah. The discussion was always about various forms of sexual immorality and how they need to be avoided and shunned. But these verses in Ezekiel put a whole new spin on it.

The offenses of Sodom that are mentioned first are that they were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned. In this sense I see a direct comparison with Sodom and the United States. The U.S. is arrogant in that it feels it is premitted to be a big brother to the world (in a bad way)and wage a "war on terror." Overfed and unconcerned are additional faults as the U.S. gains resources from being an international police force and then fails to understand why the people of the patrolled nations burn American flags and hold the peretrator in contempt. If a foreign country came into my neighborhood and raped & pillaged I'd be slightly perturbed as well.

According to Ezekiel 16:49, Sodom also failed to help the poor and needy. This can also be viewed in a national sense, but I think it applies better to the church. Unfortunately in this matter the two can be linked rather closely. Christians in the U.S. are notorious for focusing on "moral" issues like abortion and homosexual (lack of) rights to marriage, while virtually ignoring social issues and the poor.

This past Wednesday the president (who does identify himself as a Christian) vetoed a bill to expand federally funded children's health care. The American Medial Association called the bill "vital to protect low-income children whose parents work hard but aren't able to afford health insurance."

The president said the bill "would move health care in this country in the wrong direction, and that "the policies of the government ought to be, help people find private insurance, not federal coverage." His only three other vetoes were tow against stem cell research ("moral" issue) and one that gave timelines for troop withdrawals in Irag ("war on terror"). This man glided into office on the wings of Christians concerned about "moral" issues and not about the poor and needy (Quotes from last Thursday's edtion of the Chicago Tribune).

I swear I'm going somewhere with this, it gets better. Bear with me.

This is not to say that topics of "moral" issues should be ignored or glorified or whatever. I think it is more important that everyone has what they need to survive (food, shelter, love) and that the other issues will fall into place. Notice how Ezekiel 16:50 mentions how Sodom "did detestable things before me," but after it is stated that those that needed help had none. First things first.

The Bible says that one who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker (Proverbs 14:31) and that defending the poor & needy is what it means to know God (Jeremiah 22:16). By these standards there's a near nation of Christians and a world leader who don't seem to understand the implications of their public affiliations.

Don't worry, I'm well aware of being saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) & everything, but I'd like to point to one of my favorite books, James. He says that one is justified action & NOT faith alone (2:24). He notes earlier that even the demons can have accurate theology (2:19). I sincerely believe that if we have a basic understanding of who Jesus is, how He lived on Earth, and the sacrifice He made for all of us, it will have a painfully direct effect on how we live and what we do.

I told you the good part was coming, here it is...

Ezekiel 16 is all about the redemption story. Verses 4-34 are all about how God brings us from nothing, gives us everything, and how we turn ourselves around and whore it out, taking His blessings and mercy for granted. THEN in verse 60 He says "Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you." He is faithful when it is impossible for us to live up to His undeserved blessings. At the very least He's worthy of everything we are. God is good. Additionally I'd venture to call Him badass.

Peace

On fear and stuff...

I’m really struggling with the whole “faith alone” thing. In my experience I’ve seen far too many people use this doctrine to their advantage, as an excuse t sit on their hands. Ephesians 2:8 is constantly quoted as people use this “freedom” to advance themselves rather than God’s kingdom.

I’m not trying to glorify myself, really. If we’re saved by what we do, I’m as damned as anyone else. I’m merely inquiring as to where it was that Jesus went from being our savior who deserves our life-long efforts & said we need to take up our cross & deny ourselves DAILY (Luke 9:23), to the guy who justifies our greed, racism, and fear. It’s fear that prevents people from doing what they’re called to do. I love it everytime I hear Dan Yemin yell “our comforts are tying us down, holding us back” (listen to Paint It Black).

Jesus called us to love each other & said that people will know we follow him by how we love people (John 13:34-35). The Bible later discusses how love & fear are unable to coexist, and that those who claim to love God but hate their brothers (perhaps by denying & contributing to the existence of racism) is a liar (I John 4:18-19). Denying yourself means not letting fear control you, but rather answering God’s call on your life. Fear will exist, we’re just not permitted to let it affect us in a negative way. Fight fear by loving Jesus and tackling fear with the confidence of Brian Urlacher, or maybe Brian Dawkins (Chicago/Philly).

Racism is real. It’s a result of fear, which Jesus instructs us to conquer. Fight back. It’s scary as all hell, but when we fix our eyes on Jesus, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace (Hebrews 12).

Peace.