Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019

Genesis 19:1, 4, 5,15-26, 29

Good Morning members, friends and visitors. I am glad that you have chosen to
spend some of your Sunday with us.
If you are generally quiet during the sermon, I invite you to talk back to me
today. I am moving into some rough territory and I want to make sure I don’t
lose you on the way.
Can I get an ALRIGHT if you have knowledge of what I am talking about?
Can I get an AMEN if you are able to agree?
Can I get an AGAIN if you need for me to repeat what I have just said?
ALRIGHT – YOU KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT
AMEN – YOU AGREE WITH WHAT I AM SAYING
AGAIN – YOU NEED TO HAVE ME REPEAT WHAT I JUST SAID.
I thought about this scripture and sermon all week. I read a few sermons
written on this passage of scripture. I thought about us, here, on the corner of
Orchard and Westwood and wondered what we could learn from Lot. I even
thought about the fact that in each of us there is a bit of Lot.
§ We want our own
§ We want to be in charge
§ We want to stand on our own and not in someone’s shadow
But I wanted something more then just an insight into Lot’s life. I wanted us to
see how the apparently insignificant decisions can have a life-long impact.
Does anyone have a phrase that kind of stays with you as you move through
life?
§ Think long… think wrong
§ No pain… no gain
§ You move… you lose
o and variations
3
I want to use one of those phrases this morning
YOU MOVE YOUR FEET … YOU LOSE YOUR SEAT
as a theme this morning. Please join me in prayer.
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; God of Sarah, Rebecca and Rachal; we
come this morning because we need a Word from you. A Word that will sustain,
strengthen and transform us into the people you desire us to be. We know that
there are things in this world that tempt us; and people that offer us a quick fix.
We acknowledge that sometimes we are taking one step forward and two steps
backward. Yet with all that we know we still need you and the best plans are
still your plans. Help us to move our feet in your will. Amen and Amen.
YOU MOVE YOUR FEET … YOU LOSE YOUR SEAT
It makes me think of
§ A party where there are just not enough seats
§ A picnic with limited space in shade
§ An open seating event with limited good seats
YOU MOVE YOUR FEET … YOU LOSE YOUR SEAT
o But what about when you move in the check-out lane to the shorter lane
and they have to call for help and you don’t get out any faster
o What about when you get on the shoulder on the expressway to avoid
the traffic and end up at a roadblock and have to fight to merge back
into the lane you just left
o What about when you get into self-check even though you know it is
taking a job from someone and the line you get in does not take $$ only
plastic and then the reverse
The point I hope you see is that in an effort to get more, move faster, make up
for poor planning we often move from where we are to what looks better, only
to have it not be any better.
4
Lot left the family home with his uncle Abraham and Lot lived as his uncle
lived, as a nomad in tents, waiting on direction from the Lord. But there came a
time when Lot decided to move. Nothing in my Bible stays God told him to
move. But my Bible does suggest the grass was greener:
10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well
watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before
the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east.
The two men parted company: (Gen 13)
So, Lot moved.
What was the appeal of Sodom?
"And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well
watered everywhere..."
The only consideration for Lot seems to have been an economic consideration.
He saw an opportunity to accumulate more wealth and step out of the shadow
of his uncle but like many who go this route they miscalculate the true cost of
their decisions. They fail to appreciate the full implications of their decisions,
often until the damage is done.
What accommodations did Lot make to Sodom
One of the most telling aspects of Lot's move to Sodom can be found in the
changes he made in his lifestyle. Abraham and Lot were nomadic, that is they
lived in tents and they moved their herds about from place to place finding
pasture and grazing for their flocks and when they separated notice that verse
12 states that Lot "...pitched his tent toward Sodom..." He continued this
nomadic lifestyle on the "...plain of Jordan..." for some time, but the day came
when Lot made the decision to "...dwell..." in the city of Sodom. This represents a
radical change for Lot and his family from being outside Sodom to being inside
Sodom.
How did Lot became acclimated to Sodom
5
This word is a verb that means "to adjust in response to a change in environment
or status." Lot got used to the dark! Remember that verse 13 says that the men of
Sodom "...were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly..."1
When we move – there is something that has an appeal to us
When we move – we may change how we live – make an accommodation or
adjustment
When we move – we not only change our location – we often change our attitude and
begin to act like the people in our new neighborhood – acclimate
Have you ever entered a dimly lit room? Did you have to wait a moment for
your eyes to adjust? After a while you begin to see better, but not as clearly as you
might see if the lights were turned up. That is kind of how sin is. You enter sinful
situations and it is not clear to you what is going on but the longer you stay there the
more your eyes adjust and sin stops looking like sin.
Most of us have had a Sodom like experience. We might call it:
§ Caught up in the moment
§ Going along to get along
§ Just this one time, won’t hurt
But when you cast your tent toward Sodom,
Sodom becomes what you see most easily,
Sodom clouds your vision,
Sodom looks better
change the word to SIN
But when you cast your tent toward SIN
SIN becomes what you see most easily,
SIN clouds your vision,
SIN looks better
WHEN YOU MOVE YOUR FEET TOWARD SIN
YOU LOSE YOUR SEAT IN HEAVEN
1 https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/settling-for-sodom-stephen-e-trail-sermon-on-drift-225102?ref=SermonSerps
6
WHY?
Þ SIN CHANGES YOUR VALUES
What God fearing man offers his virgin daughters to a mob
Þ SIN CHANGES YOUR VOICE
How can you reason with the crowd when your life is no better than the
crowd?
Þ SIN CHANGES YOUR VISION
How can you lead someone out of sin, when you are living in sin?
WHEN YOU MOVE YOUR FEET TOWARD SIN
YOU LOSE YOUR SEAT IN HEAVEN
YOU MOVE YOUR FEET … YOU LOSE YOUR SEAT