Abraham Part 5 - Melchizidek

This is the view from Masada - the fortress of Herod the Great, and it offers magnificent views across to the Dead Sea. And it's the scene of today’s chapter in the story of Abram, though 1500-2000 years earlier.

And today’s reading needs a wee bit of background to help set the scene. As we join the story this morning, a confederacy of four Eastern Kings has been subjugating the cities around the Dead Sea. Their homelands were in modern Iraq and Iran and possibly Turkey, so these Dead Sea towns were probably at the outer reaches of their influence.

But they wielded enough power there to frighten the locals into submission for 12 years until their Kings summoned their courage and decided it was time to throw off the yoke of the oppressor and offer some resistance.

But their rebellion was short lived and soon crushed. The Eastern Kings marshalled enough troops to ride in and pillage the towns where the resistance had started, and carry away their wealth and their people.

And among the captives was someone we last saw heading off towards the cities of the plain with a spring in his step – Abram’s nephew Lot.

Up until this point in time, Abram hadn’t got involved. But when Lot was taken, things became personal.

Although Abram was still a stranger in the land and had no formal rank or status, he’d become a big player. He was a man of substance, with flocks, wealth and a sizeable entourage travelling with him, and his intervention made all the difference.

With several hundred men at his disposal, as well as cunning and local knowledge, Abram managed to pursue the enemy forces as they retreated, overcoming them in a night-time attack and chasing them all the way to the outskirts of Damascus.

Not only that, he managed to recover the people and the goods that had been taken away, including his nephew.

So on his return, Abram’s become something of a local hero. And we’re told that two kings went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh. The King of Sodom, whose name we’re never told, and the King of Salem, whose name was Melchizedek.

And the contrast between those two Kings couldn’t really be greater. One’s out to get while the other one’s out to give.

Already in Genesis, we’ve had a marker put down about Sodom.  In Genesis 13:13, as Lot heads off down into the fertile valley and the cities of the plain, we read:“Now the people of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord”.

The extent of their decay becomes clear in a few chapters time, but lest we think it’s all down to sexual immorality, it’s worth pausing to hear these words from the prophet Ezekiel.

Personifying Sodom as a woman, God says this of her, through Ezekiel: “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..”

So according to the Scriptures, Sodom’s demise was as much down to her arrogance and her neglect of the poor as anything else.

And that, perhaps, gives us a clue to the character of the man who was Sodom’s King.

Look at how he comes out to meet Abram. He arrives empty handed to meet the man who’s saved the day, and the first word we hear from his lips is ‘Give’. Give me the people, but keep the loot for yourself.

Now at first that has the appearance of generosity. But according to ancient custom the spoils were Abram’s already, by right of conquest. And given that he’d just defeated the forces who’d sacked Sodom, the King of Sodom should have been at Abram’s mercy and deep in his debt. He was in no position to be negotiating with him; but even in defeat, his arrogance was undiminished.

A lesser man than Abram might have jumped at the chance of increasing his wealth, because the goods taken from Sodom would have been among the best the ancient world had to offer.

But Abram had little time for them; he had no need for the luxuries of the plain as he made a life for himself in the hill country. And he was wise enough to see the hook that was hidden beneath the bait of this offer. If he took these goods, he’d be bound to the local Kings, and they’d always be able to claim that they’d made him who he was. And Abram valued his independence and his faith too much for that.

“No.” he said. “I solemnly swear before the LORD, the most high God , maker of heaven and earth, that I will not keep anything of yours, not even a thread or sandal strap.”

So the King of Sodom leaves with everything he’d lost returned to him, and yet somehow strangely diminished. Having had to rely on this foreigner who refused even to take so much as a sandal strap from him in payment.

It’s a marked contrast with how Melchizedek deals with Abram.

The first thing it’s important to realise is that Melchizedek owed Abram nothing. Salem, which scholars think was an ancient name for Jerusalem, doesn’t seem to have been touched by this dispute. The King of Salem wasn’t one of the local Kings who led the resistance, and Salem wasn’t one of the towns affected by it.

Personally, Melchizedek owed Abram nothing, and it seems that the only reason he came out to greet him was to show gratitude for the part that he’d played in setting things right, locally.

The King of Sodom brought nothing but a command. “Give” he said. Melchizedek brings out bread and wine – a celebratory fellowship meal for the victors in which we can’t help hearing overtones of the Lord’s Supper.

And that’s compounded by the disclosure that Melchizedek, as well as being a King, is also described as a priest of the Most High God.

And that in itself is puzzling and fascinating.

We know that the Old Testament, and the New, are peppered with references to priests and their duties. There are swathes of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, which go into minute detail about their role and function. A whole tribe of the people of Israel, the Levites, were given the task of overseeing the priestly function of the community.

But all that is ahead of us. There were no Israelite priests at this point in the story.

As far as we’re aware, Melchizedek was a Caananite. We couldn’t even call him a Jew, because that term originated with Abram. It was his family and entourage who became the Jews.

So in all likelihood, Melchizedek was a priest in a whole other religious system. And yet here he is, described as a priest of the Most High God – the very term that Abram himself used of God.

So what’s going on? Well, the scholars suggest that Melchizedek has understood that the Most High God of the Canaanite pantheon, and Abram’s God are one and the same, and in Abram’s victory he perceives and celebrates that High God’s activity.

And that is why he brings his blessing:

“May the Most High God, who made heaven and earth, bless Abram. May the Most High God, who gave you victory over your enemies, be praised!”.

And Abram, we read, responded by giving him one tenth of everything – presumably meaning the loot that he’d recovered after the raid.

Why such generosity?

Well, we’re left to speculate at this point. but a couple of reasons come to mind quite readily.

Firstly, simple gratitude.

Abram and his men would have been tired and hungry after their escapades. They’d ridden through the night, fought hard, and then lugged all the goods and the captives back to where they came from.

When you’re tired and famished, there is no greater gift than simple hospitality. Somewhere to sit down in comfort. Something tasty to fill your belly.

And when it’s a stranger who unexpectedly blesses you in that way, it’s even more of a gift.

Perhaps Abram was becoming used to the cold shoulder in that part of the world. The promised land wasn’t yet his, and though his prospering was a blessing, it would also have attracted envious stares and suspicion from the establishment. Men like the King of Sodom.

So to have been greeted in this way by a local King, out of generosity and not obligation, would have meant a great deal to Abram.

It might seem early to be talking about Christmas, but it’s only another four weeks ‘til Advent begins. And for this year’s Right Christmas campaign, we’re going to change the focus a little.

Rather than trying to raise money, we’re going to try and raise generosity. We’re going to be encouraging you to give gifts of time and effort to someone, and we’re asking you to think hard about how you might be able to bless someone whom you don’t know very well.

It’s all well and good blessing kith and kin; we already do a lot of that at Christmastime. But to paraphrase Jesus – ‘even the pagans do that’.

How might we go the extra mile and bless someone we don’t know very well, and to whom we have no real obligation? It’s those kinds of gifts that can make the greatest impact.

I offer that just to get you thinking – more ideas will be surfacing as the weeks go on.

Getting back to the story, I Abram was generous because he was touched by Melchizedek’s generosity.

But I think he also found in him a kindred spirit.

Remember the story so far. God’s call comes to Abram in a distant land. He journeys hundreds of miles to Canaan, then to Egypt, and then back again, gathering people and possessions as he goes, but all the while feeling strangely alone. His faith sets him apart.

But then, out of the blue, Melchizedek arrives on the scene not just to feed him, but to bless him in the name of the Most High God.

It must have been like hearing someone speak a few sentences in your own language after months of living in a foreign country. Here was someone who knew; who understood. Someone else who acknowledged Abram’s God. And in offering his blessing in the way that he did, Melchizedek affirmed that Abram was still on the right track. Still in the centre of God’s will. And how he must have valued that assurance.

He valued it enough, the writer tells us, to give away a tenth of everything.

If you have a good memory, you may remember that way back when we began Abram’s story, one of the things God said to him was “I will bless those who bless you”.

Here we see that promise coming to fruition. Melchizedek blesses Abram, and is blessed in return.

And the more I go on, the more it seems to me that that is how the economy of God works.

If we are mean with our time, talents and money, we’ll find little reward in living. If we’re generous with them, and we use them to bless others, we’ll enjoy them far more and our lives will be richer for it.

Two men came out to meet Abram. One wanting to get, and one wanting to give.

One is forgotten about. His way led to destruction. The other is celebrated and remembered for his generosity.

100 people gather for worship. Are we here to get or to give as we take the Lord’s Supper? Is our being here some kind of grudging acknowledgement of a debt that’s been paid for us? A nod in the general direction of God before we head home to forget about him and go our own sweet way again?

Or do we come to this table with generosity and gratitude; not only to receive a blessing, but asking how we might serve and become a blessing?

In this season of stewardship, when all our members are being asked to consider raising their giving in a testing time when prices don’t stand still for the church any more than they do for you and me, what’s our attitude as the bags come round?

Is what we give back to God’s work in the world our first priority, or our last? Does God get the first fruits of our labour, or the fag ends? What does that choice say about how much we value him?

Two men came out to meet Abram in our story this morning. One wanting to get, and one wanting to give. Which one are you today?