Why Was Abraham Chosen?

[00:00:05] Speaker A: We've been learning, of course, about Abraham because that's where we are in the Torah portion. We've been in the Torah in these particular portions. And I always like to take some time. Every year I do other things. I do series, I do all kinds of other stuff. But there is a moment in a messianic synagogue where we need to spend time in the Torah. And there is no better character to study in the Torah than. Than Avraham. So we have been doing that. We've seen how through him, we've seen how God believes in us. He gives us opportunities to shine, to grow, to become who he's calling us to be. We've seen Abraham's growing relationship with God. It's not really a silent obedience kind of relationship, but conversation and questions. And we're watching his partnership deepen with God. But today, as we come into this parsha vayera, we encounter another one of the most, I don't know, troubling, remarkable, interesting moments in scripture. There are actually two major things that are happening in this Torah portion. At the beginning is the destruction of Sodom. At the end is the near destruction of Yitzhak, his own son, in the akedah, in the binding. Not the sacrifice of Isaac, the binding of Isaac because he was not sacrificed. But I'm told, talking about a moment in this parsha where Abraham does something that should make us uncomfortable. Certainly the Isaac thing makes us all feel uncomfortable as parents. It makes us ask ourselves a lot of questions, even about us and about God. But I'm talking about the first part of the Torah portion where Abraham argues with God. An argument may be too strong a word for some people. He negotiates, he challenges, he discusses. [00:02:01] Speaker B: He asks God himself to make sure. [00:02:04] Speaker A: That he is right, to make sure that he is just. He has this conversation. But we need to notice something that we'll look at today. And it supports the theme of our last messages in Abraham and us. [00:02:19] Speaker B: And that is that God wanted him to do that. [00:02:25] Speaker A: God wanted him to do that. And I'm going to show you why and what it has to do with you. And in the process, probably, hopefully, we can turn another idea on its head. And that idea is that we're just. [00:02:38] Speaker B: Simply roaming around here in this earth. [00:02:41] Speaker A: Suit, waiting to put it in the ground and ascend to heaven. That that's our calling on this planet. That's not our calling on this planet. Our planet calling is that God wants us actively involved in the workings of the. Of improving it, of repairing it, of leaving it better than we found it and we'll get to that. But for now, I want to read you this setup to the incredible scene in Genesis 18. When the Lord. [00:03:07] Speaker B: Then the Lord said, shall I hide. [00:03:10] Speaker A: From Abraham what I'm about to do? [00:03:13] Speaker B: Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations will. [00:03:17] Speaker A: Be blessed through him. [00:03:18] Speaker B: For I've chosen him so that he. [00:03:20] Speaker A: Will direct his children and his household after him. To keep the way of the Lord. [00:03:23] Speaker B: By doing what is right and just so that the Lord will bring about. [00:03:27] Speaker A: For Abraham what he has spoken about him. Now you have to catch that. You have to listen to it. [00:03:33] Speaker B: Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm going to do? Who's he talking to? Has God lost his? Is he uncertain of his plan? Is he thinking out loud? [00:03:47] Speaker A: It can't be that. Then what is it? We ask? [00:03:50] Speaker B: It is God issuing a test? [00:03:53] Speaker A: Another one for Abraham? [00:03:56] Speaker B: It's rhetorical. It's God saying, I wouldn't think of hiding this from Abraham. Why? Because I want to see what he does. I'm going to put it out there for him. Why would God do that? I want to see how he responds. Why? He's already chosen Abraham. [00:04:17] Speaker A: It says it. But we actually need to look back a little bit for that answer. Because when we go back and we step into the shadow of Noach, remember Noah? I want to suggest some context, because. [00:04:32] Speaker B: We already met Noah and we know he is. What kind of man? A righteous man. He is a righteous man. When God told Noah about the flood, about the destruction coming, what did Noah do? He was obedient. [00:04:49] Speaker A: He was righteous, blameless. [00:04:51] Speaker B: He walked with God. He built an ark. He obeyed. Noah was also chosen for a very particular task. And we talked about this year Noah as a comfort to God and how incredibly beautiful that is. But. And you've probably heard this if you've been studying Noah this year or ever before, what did Noah not do? He did all those things as a righteous man, Blameless, walking before God. What did he not do? What did he never do? He never asked God about everyone else. He never interceded. He never asked. He never said. But God, really? What about them? What about all the rest of them? Are you sure there's no righteous God? Are you sure you're doing the right thing here? Destroying everyone except my family? Is there no way to save them? Did Noah say that? [00:05:51] Speaker A: Did he ask those questions? And the rabbis have long noted that. [00:05:56] Speaker B: Silence. He was righteous. But he was righteous for himself and for his family. Not self righteous. That's something different. But Righteous for himself and for them. And when judgment came, Noah built his ark and he got in. [00:06:15] Speaker A: And that was the end of the story for everyone else. And now here's Abraham. He too is chosen by God. [00:06:22] Speaker B: But why? Have you ever asked yourself why Abraham was chosen? We read it. Tradition tells us a number of reasons. Because he rejected idolatry. [00:06:34] Speaker A: Because he destroyed his father's idols in the shop. [00:06:37] Speaker B: Because he was the first monotheist. Because he had the faith to go when God called. [00:06:42] Speaker A: We looked at last week in Lechlecha. [00:06:45] Speaker B: But God has chosen. But we never really gotten a clear answer as to why, have we? It says that Noah was righteous. Abraham just shows up. [00:07:01] Speaker A: We've seen his faith develop. [00:07:03] Speaker B: We've seen him grow. But why him? [00:07:05] Speaker A: Why did God choose Abraham? And if you look again at what God says, he tells us in the passage, actually, I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and household after him, to keep the way. [00:07:24] Speaker B: Of the Lord by doing what is right. [00:07:27] Speaker A: And just Darren's five minute Torah yesterday was just like this. And we had absolutely no communication about it. It's very interesting how these paths cross. This is obviously what God wants us to hear. [00:07:44] Speaker B: Abraham was supposed to be the patriarch, the father of many. [00:07:47] Speaker A: And he has been chosen so that. [00:07:49] Speaker B: He will direct his children in Tzedakah u mishpat, in righteousness and injustice. Tzedakah u mishpat. And he's telling Abraham what he is going to do in Sodom to the people there. Because God is issuing the test, the test to determine, determine if Abraham will actually rise to his calling. He is about to test whether Abraham understands what it means to do what is right and just. He is essentially saying, God, that is, I've chosen this man to be the father of a people who will pursue justice and righteousness. He is supposed to be the example. He's supposed to direct them in it. So let's see if he gets it. Let's see if Abraham is different than Noah. Will he just accept my judgment or will he stand up and advocate? Will he be a silent noach or will he be a partner in justice? [00:08:58] Speaker A: And then comes Abraham's response. And this is the sort of uncomfortable part, but he approached him and said. [00:09:06] Speaker B: Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? [00:09:09] Speaker A: Now I want you to listen to this as I read it. [00:09:11] Speaker B: Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? [00:09:14] Speaker A: What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? [00:09:16] Speaker B: Will you really sweep away and not. [00:09:18] Speaker A: Spare the place for the sake of 50 righteous people? [00:09:21] Speaker B: Far be it from you to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you. Will not the judge of the earth do what's right? Abraham issuing his own test back to God. [00:09:42] Speaker A: But you listen to the vocabulary of justice. There's something beautiful, that language. [00:09:47] Speaker B: God says to Abraham, teach your children what's right and just what is tzedek. [00:09:53] Speaker A: And what is mishpat? [00:09:54] Speaker B: I've chosen them so that he'll do that in Hebrew, righteousness and justice. And what does Abraham immediately do in his answer? He uses that very vocabulary over and over again with God. He speaks it back to him seven times. In the argument with God, Abraham uses the word, the root tzedek, righteousness. When he asked that question, surely, well, you won't sweep away the righteous, will you? Will not the judge, Shofeth of all the earth, do justice? Mishpat? It's all that, all those words, the thing that he's supposed to pass. He's saying it back to God. He's saying, I get it. [00:10:38] Speaker A: And he passes the test with his very vocabulary because he understands. [00:10:42] Speaker B: And he shows God, I get it. God, I understand. He shows God why he's chosen. I'm supposed to direct my children and ultimately the world in righteousness and justice. Then, yes, sir, God, you chose well. I understand the test and more importantly, who I am supposed to be. So even in conversation with you, I will ask you, are you pursuing justice and righteousness? That is incredibly bold and beautiful. [00:11:18] Speaker A: And he passes the test again. Great. Cool, Cool. [00:11:23] Speaker B: We could end it there, and it. [00:11:25] Speaker A: Would be a very uplifting and encouraging message. Let's keep talking for a few minutes because there's something really important. The lessons of Abraham's choosing are much deeper than that, and they matter for us. Now, here are three truths that I want you to hear today. Crucial applications. And I hope that they will challenge all of us. Abraham's fundamental question is, what if there are righteous people? Are you sure there are none? And in our polarized culture, we have become masters of collective judgment. We write off entire groups of people, these people, that party, that community, that generation. We assume that everyone in that group thinks the same, acts the same, is the same. Abraham challenges us to look for the righteous remnant, to acknowledge that even in corrupt systems, even within communities we oppose, there may be individuals who are good, There may be those who are trying, who are actually righteous. [00:12:43] Speaker B: I was in Chicago this summer. [00:12:45] Speaker A: I took an Uber. My Uber driver's name was very, very Arabic. And I was riding in the Front seat with him. And I said, where are you from? He said, I'm from a little strip of land in the Middle east called Gaza. And I immediately got. I sensed where this could go. My response was, I think it was a little bit challenging, probably. I said, oh, yeah, I'm a rabbi. He was much smaller than me. [00:13:32] Speaker B: And. [00:13:33] Speaker A: I expected where that was going to go. It didn't. We had a very, very emotional, heartfelt exchange. His family was still in Gaza. He explained to me that he had come to this country to get an engineering degree and he had just graduated and was driving Uber because no one would hire him because his name was something like Al Fahaz Shahari or something. And they're like, it was nuclear engineering. [00:14:08] Speaker B: And he's like, they're not looking for people with my last name to build nuclear bombs. [00:14:19] Speaker A: But he was kind, actually. And it was actually very humbling for me. There are negative representatives in every demographic on Earth, and sometimes the majority of that demographic are negative and people you don't want to be around and you don't like. But Abraham shows up and shows us that we can't always make that assumption. And it's hard. It is hard not to go with your gut all the time. Second, there is a very. This is the challenge, one of many. [00:14:53] Speaker B: Because Abraham could have easily said. [00:14:59] Speaker A: Sodom and Gomorrah, yeah, go for it, God. [00:15:04] Speaker B: They're completely wicked. Blow them off the face of the earth. I don't care, Go. They weren't his people. This was not his tribe. Lot was there, but not his concern. And yet Abraham spends his credibility advocating with God for people who are not his people. He stands in the gap. He pleads 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10. What if God, and I'll be clear, Abraham is not. What he's not doing is. He's not defending wickedness. He's not saying, oh, come on, God. They're probably not really that bad. You know, let's excuse their behavior. The destruction of Sodom happens. We know the wicked were judged. But what Abraham is fighting for is this precision, injustice to say to God, are you sure? Have you done your due diligence? Have you looked? Have you made sure? [00:16:07] Speaker A: And we're so. [00:16:10] Speaker B: Prone. [00:16:12] Speaker A: That is a question that I'm afraid we just sometimes fail in our cultural moment. We are so quick to justify collateral damage. And we say, well, most of them are bad. [00:16:26] Speaker B: Most of them are bad. It's enough the institution is corrupt. I'm sure everyone in it is as well. They voted wrong. They think wrong. [00:16:33] Speaker A: They are wrong, all of them. [00:16:36] Speaker B: But Abraham's question isn't God, do you have to judge the wicked? [00:16:42] Speaker A: The question is, have you looked for the righteous? It's a very different question. And so I'll ask you these uncomfortable questions. [00:16:53] Speaker B: When was the last time that you spent some of your own social capital. [00:16:56] Speaker A: Or your spiritual energy or your credibility defending someone outside of your tribe? That is not the world we live in today. And I understand it. [00:17:10] Speaker B: Not defending wickedness, but just like defending an individual who might be righteous even within a corrupt system. [00:17:18] Speaker A: It does not happen very often. I know that. [00:17:20] Speaker B: But there's a beautiful framework for all. [00:17:22] Speaker A: Of this and God wanting this conversation. [00:17:26] Speaker B: Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? God didn't have to tell Abraham anything. He could have. He could handle it. But he wanted Abraham to engage. He wanted to see if he would question, if he would advocate. He was looking for a partner, not just a servant. Now, this may sound a little off putting, but we often approach God so passively and we say, you will be done. And it's sort of just a resignation rather than engagement. Because what I want to say is you forget that you are a partner in the execution of that will on earth. That sounds weird, I know, but it's true. The entire Bible is about people executing the will of God on earth because they stood up and acted. It's not weird. It's the way. [00:18:26] Speaker A: Mandalorian this is the way. [00:18:32] Speaker B: We forget or are challenged or afraid with the idea that God can't handle it when. [00:18:37] Speaker A: We wrestle with him, he can. [00:18:41] Speaker B: There are people throughout the Bible who. [00:18:44] Speaker A: Wrestled with their callings and difficulties and all kinds of stuff. [00:18:50] Speaker B: And they'll bring questions and concerns and bring their arguments. Moshe Mosheh also bargained with God. He said, you can't do that. People will think badly of you. Abraham David cried out and challenged God so many times in the beautiful, beautiful, heartfelt weeping psalms. Why God? [00:19:10] Speaker A: Why he's asking? And the uncomfortable question. [00:19:19] Speaker B: There's a reason. [00:19:20] Speaker A: That the message might feel too tolerant. [00:19:24] Speaker B: And that reason is because we're very. [00:19:26] Speaker A: Good at applying things outward while we avoid the mirror. And when you hear this teaching, when. [00:19:35] Speaker B: You hear look for the righteous among. [00:19:37] Speaker A: Those whom you oppose, who immediately comes to mind? [00:19:40] Speaker B: Because someone probably does. Some group immediately comes to mind. And for most of us, it's political. [00:19:48] Speaker A: It'S cultural, it's religious, it's somebody that we've written off. There's these people are demons spawned. There's no righteous people there. And that we judge that collectively and here's what we do. You hear something? I'm not saying you. But generally, people nod their heads and they think, yeah, the other people, they. [00:20:06] Speaker B: Really need to hear this. They really do. Those people who judge my group need to stop and look for the righteous among us. [00:20:16] Speaker A: But I don't want you to miss this. That hidden within the account of God and Abraham and the Torahs teaching this other lesson about holding up the mirror to examine ourselves and both conservatives and. [00:20:29] Speaker B: Liberals, or whatever terms you want to. [00:20:31] Speaker A: Use, everyone needs to hear that we are all implicated, all of us. It is incredibly, dangerously easy to look outside ourselves and judge and to see the sins of those people with crystal clarity while we remain blind to our very own. [00:20:57] Speaker B: To demand God, I demand justice when. [00:21:02] Speaker A: It comes to our challenges, but to apply very broad brushstrokes of judgment across the other. And you know this. You know this teaching because you've heard it before. It comes from a stonemason in a town of Nazareth who is very educated in Torah, who asked, why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the wooden plank in your own? You know him, right? You know his wisdom? Of course you do. And we all suffer from plank eye syndrome, every single one of us, the conservatives. And I am one. I am unabashedly a conservative. I am on the right side of most spectrums. But I know that there is a bristling at this sermon among conservatives who might be thinking, saying, thinking, grumbling, cursing, typical liberal moral relativism. I can't believe he's standing up there saying that. And I'll ask you, when was the last time you looked for righteous among those you politically oppose? Or do you just assume that you, every single one of them, is godless and destroying the moral fabric of our entire society? It's probably not true. [00:22:49] Speaker B: And on the progressive side, the liberals who hearing this and saying, yes, finally somebody's calling out the hatred and the judgment and the bigotry. It's about time. Let me ask you, when was the last time you looked for the righteous among religious conservatives, among those who hold traditional values? Or you just think that they're hateful, backward and destroying society? [00:23:17] Speaker A: This cuts both ways. And it's not about politics. [00:23:20] Speaker B: It's about the human challenge. [00:23:23] Speaker A: It's about Planki syndrome. And here's what makes this sermon uncomfortable. Maybe one of many reasons, but you have to. Before you condemn, you have to at least be willing to seek the righteous. This is a corporate moral responsibility. [00:23:40] Speaker B: We are Part of communities, of movements. [00:23:43] Speaker A: Of tribes, of nations. [00:23:46] Speaker B: And those communities have blind spots and they have sins and they have wickedness. And the conservative community in America has blind spots and the liberal community has blind spots. Sadly, both of them are increasing in the area of antisemitism. That's the one thing everybody can agree on today. The religious community has blind spots. The secular community has blind spots. Every single one. And here's what we do. We can see their blind spots with perfect clarity and completely dismiss our own. [00:24:22] Speaker A: Our community has blind spots. Oh no, there's nuance there. That's complicated. Tell them to be quiet. Who's ever out there talking that loud? The prophets of Israel understood this. They did. [00:24:45] Speaker B: You notice, you think, who were the prophets challenging mostly? Did they stand inside? Did Jeremiah stand inside the temple and say, all those people over there, those terrible, horrible people, blah blah, blah, blah blah. Where was the finger pointed by the prophets? Almost always at Israel, at my own people. You don't see your own. [00:25:13] Speaker A: That's what they would say, much more eloquently than that. But it was a self critique and. [00:25:21] Speaker B: We'Re not very good at that. It's not comfortable. [00:25:29] Speaker A: Now some of you might be thinking, so what, we're all hypocrites, we're all flawed. Does that mean that we cannot call out injustice? [00:25:37] Speaker B: That we should just accept we just throw up our hands? Absolutely not. [00:25:40] Speaker A: Here's what it does mean. Our pursuit of justice is characterized by humility. Not by certainty, by self examination, not. [00:25:48] Speaker B: Just examining the others, by the recognition that we are all capable of the same things we hate in most other people. And usually I'll just say this as a little psychological thing. [00:25:59] Speaker A: Ervin can back me up or correct me later. [00:26:02] Speaker B: The things you hate so much about other people are so often the thing. [00:26:07] Speaker A: That you hate about yourself and you're just willing to. Not willing to admit it. [00:26:13] Speaker B: I am not saying you, you, you, you, you. [00:26:15] Speaker A: I am definitely holding up a mirror up here. I definitely want you to know that. And this isn't even an attack. I don't want anyone to feel attacked. This is an elevation, this is an opportunity. So this is where we land, that we look for righteous among those we oppose. We resist collective judgment when we can. And the hardest part, we advocate at times for those outside of our tribe. Where did we learn that? Parsha Vayera. And we examine our own communities and our own lives with the same rigor that we apply to others. Now if you hate this message, fine, that's okay. [00:27:10] Speaker B: If I were standing on my own words when I delivered it. [00:27:16] Speaker A: That would be fine. But you can't dislike this message if you are a disciple of Yeshua because it's his own words that would condemn us otherwise. This is where every disciple of Yeshua stop and listen. Because it's not just Abraham's calling, it's the kingdom calling. You remember yo those words that Yeshua gave. Blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are the pure in heart. He told us to turn the other cheek. He told us to give even our. [00:27:54] Speaker B: Cloak, to walk the extra mile, to. [00:27:56] Speaker A: Love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us. [00:27:59] Speaker B: My gosh. Is he serious? [00:28:03] Speaker A: He was very serious. And we suck at it. But it's interesting that we talk about this opportunity to share my love for this community. I don't think we're bad at it here. I think we can all get better. But I think we're getting better. I think we're better than average. I think we love people here in a unique way. And so this is not an attack or a tear down. It's a come to Jesus. How's that? Literally come and sit at his feet and read his words and understand what he told us. And in such a godforsaken world it seems that we're living in. I am so, so frustrated by what happened in New York and by what I see and what that means for my people and, and all of it. I'm so frustrated. But I say this to you so often, we cannot stay down. We have to look for good. We have to look for what portion of good we can add to the world. [00:29:22] Speaker B: And a lot of times it's gonna. [00:29:24] Speaker A: Be around the people that we love. But occasionally it might be around someone. [00:29:29] Speaker B: That you didn't know you could love. [00:29:36] Speaker A: That's the community I want. I don't necessarily think things are going to get better before they get worse. So we have work to do. I'll close. Someone might say, well, you're defending those wicked people. You're saying we should just overlook evil again. [00:29:59] Speaker B: No, absolutely not. Abraham didn't save Sodom. There were not 10 righteous people. God prevailed. Wickedness was destroyed. The entire place blotted out. But Abraham challenged God just to make sure he looked. That was the test. It's less about Sodom. [00:30:24] Speaker A: Sodom was a huge test. And Abraham passed. And it's hard. It's hard. I understand it. This is part of the reason that God chose him. And he passed with flying colors. And how would we do given the same opportunity? That's the question we asked. Now that's hypothetical. We can't go back. But those same opportunities are still around us almost every single day. So the test is still being issued. God is watching not to judge us if we fail in the mission to. [00:30:59] Speaker B: Where can I find? Where can I look at my people? [00:31:01] Speaker A: And again, that Noach thing. [00:31:03] Speaker B: Where can I look and find comfort. [00:31:06] Speaker A: In Jeremiah and Holly, in Brezee. [00:31:11] Speaker B: Because. [00:31:12] Speaker A: They will stand for justice and righteousness. That's what he's looking for. And it of course has to start in here. But can we be bold enough to seek it? Tzedakah mishpat. Righteousness, justice, where we can find it. Because that answer defines. It's not just who we are. It's what we are. It's who we belong to. It's who we're modeling our life as after. And that's really important. And it defines whether we understand what does chosen mean? Not just to receive blessing, but to pursue justice and righteousness. That was the calling of Israel. That's what they were supposed to do, to look for the righteous, even when it's costly, even when they're not our tribe. This is the calling of the children of Abraham. And may God empower us all to live up to the reputation of Avraham Avinu, our Father Abraham. [00:32:15] Speaker C: Shabbat Shalom I'm Darren with Shalom Macon. If you enjoyed this teaching, I want to ask you to take the next step. Start by making sure you're subscribed to our channel. Next, make sure you hit the like button on this video so that others know it's worth their time to watch. Last, head over to our website to learn more about Shalom Macon, explore other teachings and events, and if you're so inclined, contribute to the work that we're doing to further the kingdom. Thanks for watching and connecting with Shalom Macon.