Who Am I but Dust and Ashes? - Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost Year C

Who Am I but Dust and Ashes?

Pentecost 7C

July 24, 2022

Good Shepherd, Wells, MN

Genesis 18.16-32; Luke 11.1-13

Have you heard of the “humble brag?” Google says, “When you want to boast but pretend to be modest about it, or if you gripe about something most people would desire, you're humblebragging.” For example, “Ugh, my phone is so old! I'm embarrassed to take it with me during my dates with supermodels and actors.” Or “I can’t believe I got into Harvard!” In case you haven’t noticed, social media is full of humblebragging. It may be easy to miss, but Abraham does a humble brag in his conversation with God when he declares, “I who am but dust and ashes.”

Today’s first reading from Genesis follows on the heels of last week’s. Three heavenly visitors, one who is assumed to be the Lord, come to see Abraham and Sarah, informing them that they will be parents of a son. It appears that these visitors have additional business: checking on the outcry against the sinfulness of Sodom and Gomorrah. Two of the heavenly visitors go on their way to check out the rumor while the Lord remains standing before Abraham. What follows is a remarkable theological exchange where Abraham questions God’s character. 

[Side note: the “grave sin” supposedly committed by Sodom and Gomorrah is not homosexuality as is commonly supposed but rather a people who are organized against God and God’s purposes. Check it out for yourself.]

How is it that Abraham can stand toe-to-toe with the Lord and continually question him? I think it’s contained in that seemingly innocuous phrase, “I who am but dust and ashes.” On the one hand, it’s Abraham’s recognition that he is a mere mortal compared to the immortal and eternal God. As we intone on Ash Wednesday, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” And then at the gravesite of our loved ones, “We commit their body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust…”

But on the other hand, Abraham is subtly reminding God of their special relationship. At the beginning of Genesis, it was God who formed humanity out of the dust of the earth and breathed life into them, creating humanity in God’s own image and placing them in a unique relationship. It’s a relationship that enables Abraham to boldly remind God that God’s very nature interrupts that typical scheme of indictment and judgment that is prevalent in Old Testament times. Abraham declares that God’s being can mean that the condemnation of sin leads to a different ending.

As we learn throughout Genesis, Abraham is no saint, but he is a symbol of righteousness. As is noted elsewhere in the Bible, “Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Although there aren’t enough righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah to prevent destruction, through one of Abraham’s descendants, the righteousness of one man, will spare all humanity and creation. That Righteous One is Jesus Christ. Through that same Jesus Christ, we are emboldened to be like Abraham, to stand toe-to-toe with God and insist that God honor our relationship, that God be the God of true justice and mercy.

This story about Abraham and the Gospel reading from Luke reminds us that prayer is more relational than transactional. What do I mean by that? We tend to treat God as a cosmic vending machine, that with the exact “change” (words) we get what we want. Though there is room for asking God for the needs of us and others, those petitions are rooted in our special relationship with a God whom we trust to be God, to respond with mercy, love, and justice. Remember, sisters and brothers, you are dust and ashes, beloved of God who invites you to come and to bring your whole selves with you. Amen.

My written sermons often preach differently "live." To watch the video, click here.