Every year people require rescuing after falling through thin ice. Some don’t make it. They drown before help can arrive. That’s why provinces spend tens of thousands of dollars warning people to stay off thin ice. People could avoid a lot of trouble for themselves and others if they just took these warnings seriously.
If it’s important to take seriously warning signs posted by local authorities about thin ice, it’s that much more important to take God seriously when he warns about coming judgment. That’s something a man named Lot failed to do. While Lot himself managed to escape serious harm, other members of his family weren’t so fortunate. Do you want to avoid a “Lot” of trouble? Then pay attention to what our text says: take God seriously.
Lot was the nephew of Abraham. He had traveled with Uncle Abraham to Canaan but the two went their separate ways when it became clear that they needed more grazing land for all their animals. Lot chose to live in the city of Sodom because the land around it was well watered and good for grazing. From a business point of view Lot made a wise decision. Spiritually speaking, however, Lot could not have made a worse choice. Sodom, like Vegas, New Orleans, and Bangkok today, was known as a city in which you could readily indulge your sinful cravings.
Did Lot think he could “handle” the temptations that came with living in Sodom? Did he even suppose that he could have a positive influence on his wayward neighbors? Whatever he thought, God’s warning in 1 Corinthians proved unfortunately true: “Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33). That became evident with the arrival of two strangers to Sodom. The strangers were angels sent by God to rescue Lot before they destroyed Sodom and its surroundings. When Lot laid eyes on the two he insisted that they spend the night at his house and not in the town square as they were “planning” on doing. Before they could settle down for the night, however, men of all ages came to Lot’s house and demanded that he produce the two visitors so that they all could have sex with them. Instead of denouncing the mob’s insane lust Lot tried deflecting it. He offered to give them instead his two virgin daughters! Living in Sodom had obviously dulled Lot’s moral sensitivity.
Lot got himself and his family into this trouble because he had failed to take seriously what God says about faith. It’s the most important thing we have. Holding on to our faith in Jesus as savior is more important than earning a six-figure pay check. Yet how often don’t we fail to take seriously what God has to say about keeping our faith strong through the study of his Word and regular worship attendance and instead make life choices that will help us earn more money even though it will put our faith in jeopardy because we can’t be regular in worship? Avoid a “Lot” of trouble, Friends, and take God seriously when he says, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) Make life choices that will strengthen, not weaken your faith.
When the mob started closing in on Lot the angels grabbed him and pulled him back inside the house. They then blinded the crowd so that they were disoriented and couldn’t even find Lot’s door. I see here another way in which we can avoid a lot of trouble. Like Lot, we too live in an evil world. We can no longer let our children ride their bikes to the park by themselves. We don’t readily open our doors to strangers. We don’t even like to shake hands anymore because of the “H1-No-Fun” virus. But before you let fear and paranoia take over remember what the psalmist said: “[God] will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:10). You may not be able to see these angels as Lot did but they’re there. No harm will come your way that God won’t somehow use to your eternal advantage (Romans 8:28). Take this promise of God’s seriously and you’ll avoid a lot of problems that come as a result of stress.
After the angels pulled Lot to safety, they told him to warn his family to get out of the city because God was going to destroy it. But when Lot raised the alarm with his sons-in-law, they thought he was joking. Is that what you thought when you heard the Gospel lesson this morning? When Jesus warned about the stars falling from the sky, when he said that the sun would stop shining, and that this world would burn up did you think: “He’s exaggerating. He’s just saying those things to scare us into behaving.” No. Jesus isn’t trying to scare you; he’s preparing you. Take his warning seriously or you’ll find yourself in a lot of trouble.
Unfortunately even Lot had a hard time taking the angels’ warning seriously. Instead of grabbing his family and running for the hills as he had been urged to do, Lot hesitated. Did he think he could wait it out in the cellar? Did he think the impending judgment wasn’t going to be so bad? I wonder if that isn’t what many think about Judgment Day? They figure that if Jesus really is coming back to judge the world, they’ll just tell him that they’ve been good. But that isn’t taking God seriously. He doesn’t want us to be good; he wants us to be perfect. He wants fathers who never lose their patience. He wants students who never cheat. He wants mothers who never boil inwardly because no one acknowledges how hard they work. He wants pre-schoolers who never throw tantrums. He wants big brothers and sisters who are always glad to help mom and dad around the house. He wants contractors and office workers who never cut corners. If we fail to be perfect, then we are deserving of God’s judgment. And look how thorough God’s judgment is. He burned Sodom to ashes. As powerful as the two A-bombs were that were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, some people still survived. But God’s judgment of Sodom and the surrounding cities was so complete that no one survived. Even the vegetation burned. Fire is coming again, Friends. Avoid all trouble by taking these words of Jesus seriously: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:17, 18).
Of course I assume I’m speaking to people who have put their faith in Jesus. That’s great. But don’t become complacent. Remain faithful to the very end. That’s something Lot’s wife failed to do. The angels had instructed Lot and his family not to look back at Sodom as they fled. Lot’s wife did and she was turned into a pillar of salt! Let me make it clear that this wasn’t a casual glance in the rearview mirror that did her in. The Hebrew word translated as “look” is the same one used in Psalm 34:5: “Those who look to [the Lord] are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” People who merely give God a glancing look will not be radiant come Judgment Day. No, it’s only those who look to God for salvation the way a drowning man looks to a life buoy to keep him afloat who will be saved. When Lot’s wife “looked” back on Sodom it was with longing. She yearned for life to go on as it had. Apparently she had no qualms about living in such a sinfully filthy place. But as she looked back, the judgment meant for Sodom’s inhabitants overtook her. Either God miraculously turned her skin and bones into a salt deposit or the salty sulfur falling from the sky buried her where she stood, the way the ash from Mt. Vesuvius buried people in Pompey. Either way we shouldn’t think that this detail is an exaggeration, for Jesus himself said: “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17:28-32).
Take seriously Jesus’ warning, dear Christian and remember Lot’s wife when you think you can hold to heaven’s treasures and this world’s trash at the same time. It doesn’t work. Sooner or later you won’t be content to hold on to this world’s trash with one hand. You’ll want more – more house, more car, more toys and you’ll let go of heaven without even realizing it to reach for this world’s junk with both hands. That kind move will only bring trouble.
While God’s hatred for sin is obvious in this true story about Lot so is his love and mercy. How else do you explain why God would make the effort to save Lot? Why not just say: “To hell with him. He made his bed there in Sodom and now he’ll have to lie in it.” Even when Lot was hesitant to leave, the angels took hold of his hand and practically dragged him to safety. In the same way God’s love for you is serious. Jesus took hold of you and dragged you safely out of the path of God’s wrath that was bearing down on you like a Mac truck. God’s wrath over your sins missed you but it ran over and killed Jesus. But this same Jesus did not stay dead. He has risen. He lives. He will come again, this time to judge. Will you be ready? By God’s grace you will be. For in baptism God dragged you away from Satan’s iron grip. And every time you study the Bible God grabs and pulls you closer to him away from Satan’s incessant swipes to snag you back.
You may not be in the habit of walking on thin ice. That’s good. But in a way we’re standing on thin ice right now. Judgment Day could arrive at any moment. Will you be among those who are rescued, or will you be left to flounder? Take God seriously now when he warns about sin and when he promises forgiveness in Jesus. Then you will avoid a “Lot” of trouble. Amen.
