Try a Little Kindness

 

Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? --Romans 2:4

One of the first prayers we learn as children is this: "God is great; God is good.  Let us thank Him for our food.  By His hands we are fed; thank you, God, for daily bread."  This simple rhyme stays with you, even if you turn away from God as an adult.  On an episode of Big Bang Theory, Sheldon's mom reminds him of this prayer that he learned long before he became a theoretical physicist and an avowed atheist.  Even though Sheldon professed disbelief in Providence, he remembered saying grace over meals like his mother had taught him.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me," is a phrase found in Psalm 23, verse six to be exact.  This Psalm is recited quite often in funeral services, even if the deceased was not a Christian, or even a very good person.  In the Psalm, David describes the struggle of life--walking through the shadow of death, having no fear in a scary world.  It even describes living among and having discourse with one's enemies, eating and drinking before them.

Christopher Reese wrote this:

No Psalm is more beloved by believers than the 23rd, and none has exercised greater influence in popular culture. Christians frequently look to Psalm 23 for encouragement in the face of trials, and for comfort when encountering death. The Psalm is also frequently quoted or alluded to in modern movies and music. In the movie Titanic, for example, a priest reads it aloud as the ship sinks. Musical groups and artists including U2 (“Love Rescue Me”), Pink Floyd (“Sheep”), and Kanye West (“Jesus Walks”) have all referenced Psalm 23 in their music. These are some of the reasons Psalm 23 is so popular.  (reference cited:  https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2022/04/god-is-our-shepherd-meditate-on-the-23rd-psalm/)

The point I am trying to make is that at the beginning of life and at the end, we try to find goodness.  We crave love, joy and peace, which we discussed last week in our comparison between the nature of God and the fruit of the Spirit that we are encouraged to incorporate into our daily lives.  Today I want to continue in that same vein, focusing on the fruit of the Spirit known as patience, kindness, and goodness.  These are the next three characteristics or virtues found in Galatians 5:22.

Patience or Longsuffering

The Greek word used in Galatians 5:22 translated "patience" or "longsuffering" means endurance, perseverance, constancy, and steadfastness.  It can also mean slowness in avenging wrongs.  This is a description of God's nature, and how He acts in the world.  Exodus 34:6-7 says: 

The Lord passed before him [Moses] and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the 3rd and 4th generation'.

God shows patience to everyone for a time.  He gives everyone an opportunity to repent, to seek forgiveness for our sins, to seek His face and turn from our wicked ways.  When the early Church complained about the hardships they were enduring, some were asking why Jesus didn't come back sooner.  They longed for His return, just as we do today.  2 Peter 3:9 says,  "The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."  God is being patient with us, and we should be patient with Him.

Even if we face persecution, God is still good.  The exhortation to be patient in the New Testament most often is given to those who face persecution.  In this world you will have trouble, God said, but hold fast to my word.  Isaiah 30:18 says, "Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you.  For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are those who wait for Him." Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:4-6, 

But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; (emphasis added).

You may be familiar with the phrase, "the patience of Job."  It is a reference to James 5:10-11:

 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast.  You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Ephesians 4:1-2 says, "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love."  We forget when Paul wrote some of the most encouraging words in all of Scripture, that he was writing from prison.  Was he bitter? No.  Would I be?  Probably.  That's why we are encouraged to approach life's struggles and hardships with patience.  Colossians 1:10-11 says, "So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him; bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;"

Kindness, or Gentleness (also translated Goodness)

Remember the children's prayer we opened with?  "God is great (all-powerful, ever-present throughout time and space), God is good (gracious and kind, gentle in His dealings with us.)  Nowhere is this more evident than in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  Ephesians 2:7 says, "So that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."  Paul writes in Titus 3:4-5 

But when the goodness and loving kindness of our God and Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit.

We are His ambassadors.  Therefore we are called to mirror His goodness and kindness to the world. Colossians 3:12-13 says, "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."

There is a time when God's patience runs out.  We cannot deny God's goodness when people disregard His pleadings and die in their sins.  Romans 11:22 says, "Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness.  Otherwise you too will be cut off."

We see this warning in Romans 3:12: "All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."  This is a direct quote from the Psalms.

Psalm 14: 1, 3 "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'  They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.  They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one."

Goodness

There is a different Greek word used in Galatians 5:22, the word translated "goodness."  As we have seen, the word translated "kindness" can also mean "goodness" or just "good".  This other word translated "goodness" in our text may be a synonym.  It is used three other times in the New Testament.

Romans 15:14 says, "I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another."  Ephesians 5:8-10 says, "For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of lights is found all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord." 2 Thessalonians 1:11 says, "To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good [goodness] and every work of faith by His power." 

Way back in 1977, when I was in high school, singer Glen Campbell released a song written by Curt Sapaugh and Bobby Austin.  This song made it to number 1 on the Country & Western charts, and was in the Top Twenty for all popular music.  It gives a practical interpretation of our Scripture today.  

Try A Little Kindness

… If you see your brother standing by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he sowed
And if you see your sister falling by the way
Just stop and say, "You're going the wrong way"

… You've got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets

… Don't walk around the down and out
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way

… You got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets

… You got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness

Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets 

Between birth and death, between life's hardships and joys, while we are living out the struggles of Psalm 23, let's remember to have patience, kindness, and goodness.  These are characteristics of God Himself, and the manifestation of His Spirit through our lives. 

By their fruits you will know them

 

Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  --Matthew 7:20 NKJV

I have found that it is good for my prayer life to list the attributes of God and thank Him for who He is before I bring my petitions to Him.  This practice gets my mind focused on Him instead of making my prayer sound like a grocery list.  It is much better to acknowledge who God is before we bring our petitions to Him, as it gets the focus off of ourselves and gives us reason to praise Him.  

Psalm 22:3 days, "But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel."  Other translations say, "He inhabits the praise of His people."  To me that means the more I praise Him, the easier it is to submit to His lordship, to put my own needs second after He is worshiped and adored.  He must increase; I must decrease (John 3:30). 

This week as I began my prayers with acknowledging who God is, it dawned on me what it means to be filled with the Spirit.  God is love (1 John 4:8).  He is our peace (John 14:27).  He is patient with us (usually translated "long-suffering", from the Hebrew word chesed; see Lamentations 3:22-23).  The more I prayed the attributes of God, the more I was led to Galatians 5:22-23.  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Having grown up under the law, I always thought that the metaphor of fruit meant our works.  "Actions speak louder than words" is the trite way of saying what we do speaks more loudly than what we say.  However, if we are fruitful Christians, it is not our works that will be remembered.  What sets us apart from the world is how much like God we become.  This is our mission, our purpose, and hopefully our legacy.

God is love; the fruit of the Spirit is love

We all know John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  The love of God is vast, unmeasurable, and deep.  Tim Keller said, "To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial.  To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.  But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God."

By the same token, if we belong to God in Christ, then the Spirit of God will produce in us the same selfless love.  John 13:35 says, "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.  1 John 4:16 says,"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.  God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

Paul writes in Ephesians 3:14-19:  

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (emphasis added).

Paul told the church at Colossae to "put off the old self with its practices."  A bit later in Colossians 3:14 he says, "And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."  Jesus said:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)

If we love God, we will love other people.  Loving others is one way we can manifest the fruit of the Spirit.

The joy of the Lord is my strength; joy is the fruit of the Spirit 

Nehemiah 8:10b says, "And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." 1 Chronicles 16:27 says, "Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are in His dwelling place. (KJV)"  Wherever God lives--in heaven, in the Tabernacle (Church), in our hearts--there is abiding joy.  

There seems to be a connection in the Old Testament between strength and joy.  God is all powerful.  Isaiah 40:31 says, "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."  This is something to rejoice in. Psalm 16:11 says, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!"  The word rejoice means to feel or show great joy or delight.  Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."  If we are filled with joy, we cannot help but rejoice.  When the joy of the Lord bubbles out in our words and our actions, the world cannot help but take notice.

Of course we are to feed and clothe those in need, for that is a commandment of Scripture.  The point, however, is not just meeting physical needs.  Romans 14:17 says, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

The peace of God is unmatched; the fruit of the Spirit is peace

C.S. Lewis wrote, "God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.  There is no such thing."  Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication s with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (emphasis added)."

John 14:27 says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not  your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."  Bible scholar and commentator J. I. Packer writes, "The peace of God is first and foremost peace with God; it is the state of affairs in which God, instead of being against us, is for us. No account of God's peace which does not start here can do other than mislead."  If we are filled with the Spirit, we will have this peace that passes the understanding of the world, and the world will be drawn to Him because of the perfect peace within us.

Isaiah 26:3 says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."  Colossians 3:15 "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful."

Jonathan Edwards said, "God's love is an ocean without shore or bottom."  According to the children's song, "I've got peace like a river...Love like and ocean...Joy like a fountain."  We can't have any of this without God's Spirit indwelling us.  These are attributes of God, and of us when we abide in Him and are bearing fruit.  When I begin my prayers listing God's attributes, I am encouraged to exhibit the same qualities in my own life.  That's one way to help get my wishes and desires in line with God's will for my life.  After I let my requests be made known to God, I end my prayers praising Him for his grace, goodness, faithfulness, and mercy.  Next week we will continue our study of the fruit of the Spirit and the overlap with God's qualities and attributes.

Trip down memory lane

 

In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.  --Ephesians 1:11

I was feeling nostalgic today, so I decided to dig around the roots of my family tree.  In 1891, during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany, my great-grandfather Wilhelm Heinrich Gustav Kroll immigrated with his family to the United States.  He was only 12 years old when they reached the port of Galveston.  Wanting to fit in, and probably to avoid anyone teasing him about having the same name as Kaiser Wilhelm, he "Americanized" his name and said he wanted to be called Willie Henry.

Texas was a premier destination for many German immigrants, as it had lots of land and relatively few people (as opposed to the port of New York, which had tons of people and very little land for sale.)  The Kroll family bought some land in central Texas and became ranchers.

On Christmas Day in 1904, Willie Henry married Charlotte Pauline Wilke, who was known by the nickname "Lottie".  Lottie was born in Texas after her parents had emigrated from Germany.  Lottie and Willie had nine children and lived together until his death in 1967.  Lottie would live alone until she died in 1981.  

One of Willie and Lottie's children was Leona, who was born in 1916.  Leona, my grandmother, was an impressive woman.  Her name means "lioness", and she certainly lived up to her name.  She outlived three husbands, learned principles of accounting, and made several prudent investments that our family is still reaping the benefits of, even though she died in 2009.

As I was doing my daily Bible reading this week, it struck me how we tend to gloss over the stories of the people involved.  My reading is in Genesis, where I see that Abram and Sarai left the land where they met and married and emigrated, along with Abram's family, to the outskirts of Canaan.  In time, Abram and Sarai took on new names, and became known as Abraham and Sarah, as God had commanded them.

Like my great-grandparents Willie and Lottie, Abraham and Sarah did not go by the names given to them at birth.  Like the Wilke and Kroll families left Germany to take up residence in Texas, Abraham and Sarah followed their families from Ur of the Chaldees to settle in Canaan.   I know about my family history from listening to my grandmother's stories over the years and from talking with my mother (filling in some of the dates from the obituaries posted online).  For example, I know that "Lottie" is short for Charlotte, and "Willie" is short for Wilhelm, and that's why my great-grandparents were known by those names.  I know from history that there was a mass migration in the late 1800s away from Germany.  Reading about Kaiser Wilhelm II, he was kind of a jerk.  So politics and economics probably had a lot to do with my ancestors' decision to move to a different country.

Did you ever stop to wonder why Abram's family moved?  In hindsight, we know it was the will of God.  We even say God told them to move.  If we knew more about the religion, economics, and politics of the region at the time, we might understand it a bit more.  For example, the Chaldeans were known for their practice of astrology and the magic arts.  When Nebuchadnezzar had a dream in Daniel chapter 2, he called "the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans" to tell him the dream and its interpretation.  Abram was called out of Ur of the Chaldees so that he would not be influenced by their culture.  

What about their names?  Why did Abram change his name to Abraham?  When God made a covenant with him, God used Abram's name to underscore His promise to make him the father of many nations.  In Hebrew, Abram means "exalted father", which is a term of respect one might use for a mighty man, whether he had children or not.  God called him Abraham, which in Hebrew means "father of a multitude."  Similarly, Sarai means "princess", which sounds like a term of endearment.  On the other hand, Sarah means "noblewoman; exalted lady".  God told Abraham to call her that after Hagar had given birth to Ishmael.  Sarai was feeling down and depressed.  It was she, after all, who had convinced Abraham to go in to Hagar "so that perhaps God will give me children by her." (Genesis 16:2).  After Hagar gave birth, however, Sarai thought that she made a huge mistake.  God soothed her heart as if by saying, "Listen, Princess (Sarai), you are still number one (Sarah, exalted lady) in Abraham's heart and in My plan."

A generation after Lottie came Leona, who made her mark on the world with lasting benefits for her children's children and beyond.  A generation after Sarah came Rebecca, who manipulated her twin sons' destinies so that the prophecy would be fulfilled "the elder shall serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23; Romans 9:12).  It was Jacob's name, not Esau's, that was changed to Israel.  (Again with the name change!)  Romans 9:13 says, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."  God's will was worked out in Rebecca's manipulations.  I'm not saying that Israel would not have become a great nation blessed and favored by God if Rebecca had been less conniving, but we clearly see how "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28).

We get so caught up in the day-to-day activities of life that we often do not realize how God is working out His plan in us.  It is only by remembering and reminiscing that we can slow down and see God's hand in everything.  When we look back at our family history, we probably see things a lot differently than they looked when the events were happening in real time.  That's because God's ways are not our ways, but He does use us to accomplish His will.  In the grand scheme of things, God sees the big picture.  That, for me, is comforting.

Rescued from the brink of death

 

And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. --Jude 22, 23

My grandparents had a house up the hill from the Blanco River, about 50 miles north of San Antonio and 50 miles west of Austin.  You could see a dam in the river from their back yard.  The dam was not very wide (maybe 12 inches), and went across to the other side, maybe thirty feet long.   If I was careful, I could walk to the other side of the river without falling in (it always seemed to me like walking a tightrope, one foot in front of the other).  My father, who loved to fish, would often take his fishing rod down to the river whenever we visited.

There was a time when our extended family was all there together, including my cousins and their kids, who were all about my age. My cousins on my dad's side were much older than I was; I was only five years old at the time.  The adults of the group gave us kids a stern warning not to run along the slippery riverbank.  If I was caught running, I would get a spanking.  As the day went on, my father went upriver to fish, and the other adults were sitting in lawn chairs shooting the breeze.  I forgot the stern warning my father had given me, and I began to run and laugh with the other kids my age.

Sure enough, I slipped and fell in.  Water engulfed me, and I immediately began sinking toward the bottom.  I remember opening my eyes, seeing some large fish-shaped shadows and thinking that my dad should have brought his fishing gear here instead of leaving the group.  Above the surface of the water, things were getting a bit chaotic.  My mother was standing on the bank screaming my name.  My oldest cousin, thinking fast, ran to the dam and was able to balance beam to the middle of the river.  She could see that the current was bringing me toward her, and she reached into the water, grabbed me by the belt, and pulled me to safety.

There was a lot of rejoicing after that.  Since I was only five, I did not fully appreciate the danger of drowning or the peril presented by the slippery river bank.  Even after I fell in, I was not particularly scared.  Even so, when I was sent back to the house to dry off and to get out of the wet clothes, my dad arrived and gave me a spanking for disobeying him.

There are times in the Bible where God directly intervened in the lives of certain people, "snatching them from the fire".  In the case of Abraham's nephew Lot, we see where God's grace extended to him by literally grabbing Lot by the hand and dragging him out of his house to avoid the coming destruction.

Lot was a wealthy man, with many servants tending his flocks and herds.  When he and Abraham parted ways because the land could not sustain them both, Lot looked toward Sodom and found it appealing.  Genesis 13:10 says, "And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of [Sodom]."  He went from looking toward Sodom to pitching his tent toward Sodom (Genesis 13:12).  By chapter 14, Lot was "dwelling in Sodom" (14:12).

Sodom was not a great place.  In fact, it was a wicked city.  God told Abraham that there was a great outcry in heaven against Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin was very grave.  He went on to tell Abraham, "I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me.  And if not, I will know." (Genesis 18:21).  Sensing some wiggle room, Abraham starts to intercede for the city.  Knowing that Lot and his family lived there, he started bargaining with God.  He asks if God would show mercy to them if he found as few as 50 godly people there? How about 45?  Maybe just 40?  Abraham kept going, and God kept giving assurances.  He would show mercy if only 30 righteous folks were found, then 20, then just 10.

When the angels arrived in the city, they found Lot sitting at the city gate.  In ancient near-eastern culture, this signified that Lot was an elder, a man with some authority in the city.  He may have been the only dissenting vote when the elders of the city planned their erotic festivals.  He may have been the sole elder accusing the men of the city of sexual crimes, if they were ever brought to the council for their sinful activities.  We do know that Lot knew enough about his neighbors to warn the angels, who appeared to be men traveling from afar, that it was dangerous to consider spending the night in the streets.

Lot showed them hospitality, taking them to his home and preparing a feast for them.

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.  And they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them."  Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly."  (Genesis 19:4-7)

Three quick points here.  First, Lot was the only righteous man found there. "All the people to the last man" demanded to debase the strangers in Lot's house.  Second, this meant that God's bargain with Abraham was null and void, because 10 good men could not be found in the whole city.  Third, despite Lot's virtuous nature, he attempted to compromise with them.  Notice that he called them brothers.  In verse 8 he proposes that, should any of them feel strongly that they simply could not refrain from sensual pleasure, at least find a female to have relations with (giving his two virgin daughters as an example).  It appears that Lot was trying to classify varying levels of sin: instead of engaging in same-sex lust, at least lust in a heterosexual fashion; instead of accosting a total stranger, at least have relations with someone local, someone you know.  As ridiculous as that may sound to us today, he may have been trying to talk them out of their sinful ways by encouraging them to engage in a more socially acceptable sin.  The problem with compromising situations is they invariably lead to more socially acceptable sins.  The problem with socially acceptable sins is that they lead to more egregious sins, and these men had already passed the point of no return.  This is why God wanted to destroy them.  They were irredeemable.  

Lot was no saint, as we see here and will see more later on, but God would count him as righteous.  2 Peter 2:7-8 says, "He (God) rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard)."  

The angels sent by God rescued Lot three different ways.  In verse 9, the men turn on Lot.  "This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge!  Now we will deal worse with you than with them."  The men of Sodom would have killed Lot, but the angels (probably using supernatural force) opened the door and physically pulled Lot inside the house.  That was the first rescue.  The men surrounding the house would have surely torn the house down, brick by brick, in their rage.  The angels struck all of the men blind (this time I'm sure it was supernatural force.)  This was the second rescue.  The men were still trying to tear the house down, but they couldn't see, so the Scripture says they wore themselves out groping at the door.

The third rescue came at dawn the next day.

As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city."  But he lingered.  So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they set him outside the city.  And as they brought them out, one said, "Escape for your life.  Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley.  Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away." --Genesis 19:15-17

It is interesting that God sent two angels disguised as men to rescue Lot and his family, where one would have certainly had the power and the authority to complete the task.  I believe the reason is that God knew Lot would linger, and that his wife would yearn for their former life.  He knew that Lot would need to be dragged out of town, kicking and screaming.  As Spurgeon pointed out, "Lot and his wife, and the two daughters—well, that was four—the angels had only four hands, so they did all that they could—there was a hand for each. You notice the text expressly says, they took hold of the hand of Lot, and the hand of his wife, and the hand of his two daughters. There were no more persons, and no more helping hands, so that there was just enough instrumentality, but there was not a hand to spare.”

Had efforts been made to save more people?  Yes.  Verse 14 says, "So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, 'Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.'  But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting."  God extended a message of mercy to these two men, the ones betrothed to marry Lot's daughters, and it was rejected.  Even after these men were among those who had demanded that Lot send out his house-guests so they could "know" them.  Even after the sons-in-law were struck blind, and wore themselves out groping for the door--even then, they laughed at the message of redemption offered by Lot.

Psalm 34:22 says, "The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned."  Romans 8:33-35 says, "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?  It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?"

But if that offer of redemption is rejected, then woe to those who rejected it.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); the the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passions and despise authority. --2 Peter 2:4-10a 

Jude 5-7 says, "Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.  And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day--just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."  God will have mercy on whom He has mercy, but if we reject Him and prefer to dwell in darkness, then we will get what we deserve.

I don't know why God chose to save Lot.  Maybe it was because Abraham prayed for him.  Maybe it was because Lot sought God, despite his circumstances and surroundings.  Lot lingered, because he knew that his home and all his possessions would be burned up.  God showed mercy, as the angels' final admonition was to "escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there" (verse 22).  1 Corinthians 3:15 says, "If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire."

When I disobeyed my father by running on the slippery banks of a river after he had told me not to, I deserved punishment.  When I slipped into the river and sank like a stone, I deserved death.  It was by God's mercy that he sent my cousin to pull me out by the seat of my pants, and I am fortunate that I only got a spanking out of it.  If by God's mercy you have escaped death, please don't be like Lot's sons-in-law and laugh in the face of God.  God doesn't expect perfection, but we cannot ignore His command to repent.  It is not His will that any should perish.  There will surely come a time when God's mercy runs out, and you will either get mercy or you will get what you deserve.