God has a sense of humor. After Sarah laughed to herself when she heard God (she probably did not know it was God) say that she will have a son (18:12), when the son is eventually born, he’ll be named Isaac, which means ‘he laughs’ or ‘laughter.’ It’s worth noticing that when God visits Abraham and Sarah, three people arrive together.
The sin of Sodom lies especially in their extreme lack of hospitality, which they show by trying to abuse the men (angels?) staying with Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Here is what Ezekiel says about Sodom’s sin: “This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it” (Ezekiel 16:49-50).
Here are some more difficult passages from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is calling us to a different kind of life, a life where one turns the other cheek, and loves and prays for one’s enemies. Jesus also warns us about being “religious” just to impress others. Faith is a matter of the heart, and we do not need to flaunt our faith in God before others. That does not mean, of course, that we need to hide our faith. We can share it, but simply, honestly, and without putting ourselves above others.
In 6:7-15, Jesus teaches the people what we now call the Lord’s Prayer. It really is a model for prayer. We begin with praising God, and asking that God’s kingdom come on earth as it already is in heaven. We ask God for our bread for today, and we ask for forgiveness (the prayer assumes that we are also forgiving others!). Finally, we pray that God saves us from the time of trial and evil.
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