On this Father’s Day, and as we continue our series called "A Series of Unfortunate Behaviors", I want us to take a look, as it relates especially to fathers – who are the God ordained heads of their households – to look at the subject of Spiritual Complacency." And I want this to be a message that will be uplifting to us, but as well, to challenge us in carrying out the role that God has called us to. Let’s pray:
Lord God our Father, on this Father’s Day, as we come together to thank you for those special men who are the fathers of the homes represented here this morning, bless us now as we open your Word to us. Help us to learn and receive direction concerning our spiritual leadership in our families. You’ve given us your Word so that we might learn and grow in it. May we learn from the mistakes of Lot and be encouraged by the example of Abraham to make changes in our personal lives so that our families might not be destroyed, but built up and strengthened through the Good Word and the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.
I’d like us to begin by looking at Genesis 13 in order to get the context for chapter 19 – which is our text today. Here, Abram and Lot are about to go their separate ways. They begin having a disagreement and so they divide up their flocks and Abram speaks in verse 9 and says: "I’ll tell you what we’ll do. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want that area over there, then I’ll stay here. If you want to stay in this area, then I’ll move on to another place." Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the LORD ....Lot chose that land for himself — the Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. So while Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom, among the cities of the plain. The people of this area were unusually wicked and sinned greatly against the LORD."
I want to draw your attention just for a moment to verse 11 where it says, "Lot chose for himself." He chose for himself! Go to chapter 19 for a minute, and we break in on the story where the angels of God are telling Lot to get his family out of Sodom before it’s to be destroyed. This is the morning that they were to leave Sodom, beginning with verse 15: "At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. "Hurry," they said to Lot. "Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out of here right now, or you will be caught in the destruction of the city." When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the LORD was merciful." Focus especially on the phrase at the beginning of verse 16: Lot still hesitated. In chapter 13, Lot "chose for himself." In chapter 19 Lot "hesitated" to leave the city.
I came across a poem that expresses what I want to share with you today, entitled: "What is a Successful Father?" And it reads this way: "You can use most any measure when you’re speaking of success. You can measure it in lovely homes, expensive cars, or fancy dress. But the measure of your real success is one that you cannot spend. It’s the way your son describes you when he’s talking to his friends." When I came across that poem, I thought about how true that really is. I also heard a story about a second grader who was asked in his class to write about his personal hero. His father was flattered to find out that he had chosen him. "Why did you pick me?" he asked his son later: "Because I couldn’t spell Arnold Schwarzenegger," he said. The success of fatherhood is what our children think of us and how they relate what they think of us to their friends.
In a book by Gordon MacDonald entitled, "The Effective Fatherhood," he relates a story of taking his son on a canoe trip down the rapids. And he talks about how his reputation as a father depended on how good he was in keeping his boy out of the water. He said that as he looked at those white rapids, and continually looking down the river, thinking ahead of time of all of the problems that were represented downstream – he said, "I continually had to look downstream and anticipate what was coming for my son." And as the story goes, they didn’t quite make it. Somewhere down the way the rapids got the best of them and down they went.
At the campfire that evening as he was thinking about that experience, he began to think of that in terms of the father and his relationship to his family. Because certainly as a father who has the charge of leadership of our family, we’re going down the rapids of life. And the decisions we make at this moment are going to affect what’s going to happen downstream! And it’s the responsibility of every father to keep his family dry! And yet, there’s not a father here this morning who hasn’t dowsed his family good! There’s not a single one of us who hasn’t known shipwreck as we try to guide our family downstream in that very tiny, fragile canoe – only to have circumstances begin to go over our heads and seemingly, at times, makes it seem as if we’re going to drown and not make it successfully downstream.
You see, fatherhood is a tremendous responsibility. It’s one thing to have to guide our own footsteps and to try to keep ourselves on the straight and narrow path, it’s quite another to realize that we have children who are going to try to step in the very same footprints that we place along the pathway of life. And because of the heavy responsibility that’s placed on us as fathers – as a spiritual leader – I want us to look at the life of Lot now and trace his footprints, and to see five fatal mistakes he made in terms of spiritual complacency.
The first mistake he made was in regard to his emphasis or his priorities. The problem is this: He placed financial prosperity above spiritual prosperity for his family. He placed giving them things, materialism, above a spiritual heritage for his family. Let’s go back to Genesis 13. Lot is the nephew of Abraham. He’s followed his uncle Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeans into Canaan and to Egypt and back to Canaan again, and in the meanwhile, Abraham increased in his wealth, becoming one of the wealthiest men in the world at that time. Now Lot watched Abraham and learned how to make money, and just as Abraham’s flocks increased, so did Lot’s, and they realized that they simply couldn’t handle all they had by being together, so they decided to part ways.
Now in Genesis 13:9 we can see the emphasis that Lot placed upon his family. Abraham says: "Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way, and I’ll go the other...Lot looked around and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water...So Lot chose... for himself." The beginning of problems: misplaced priorities! I think that when Lot was given the decision regarding the choice of the land, he was certain that his uncle Abraham was a fool. And so in a greedy way, he quickly made a decision – a decision that would seem to be profitable financially and best for him. Lot chose for himself the lush lowland of the Jordan and leaving the highland for Abraham.
"He chose for himself..." I see no concern for his family here whatsoever. You might say, "But Lot made that choice so that he could provide the best for his family." Perhaps. But every time I see this phrase I come to the fact that Lot made that decision based on what he could receive or what his family could receive and he decided to give them things instead of God. He made a choice. And he made that choice from wrong priorities. He decided to give them what they didn’t need, and withheld from them what they desperately needed for life.
It’s hard for us to look downstream and to see what’s up ahead. But in the case of Lot, he didn’t bother to look! Let’s apply that to where we are now. There are times, in this very transient world, when people have to move, for the sake of their job or otherwise. And when they do, and I know ahead of time, I always make sure I ask them this question. I’m sure they think, "Well, he’s just asking that because he’s a pastor – I wish he’d ask us something practical!" I ask: "Have you found a good church to join where you’ll make your new spiritual home?" You’d be amazed how many times people say, "Well, when we get there, we’ll look!" Now isn’t that interesting! We’ll take our entire family and uproot them and take them to a different place, just because we have job security, and not look for a place where they can have spiritual security and grow in their faith. I’ve seen families move to places where there were no strong Gospel centered, Word and Sacrament churches, and literally see their families go on the rocks just because there was job security there.
Fathers – it is just as much your responsibility to see to it that your family has a spiritual base and foundation as it is for you to get food on the table. It’s your job to see that your family is nourished in the grace and forgiveness that flows freely from the cross of Jesus Christ. Lot didn’t make that decision for his family. He did what he shouldn’t have done and he left undone what he should have done. And that’s what we do many times! We have confused priorities! We teach our children to play, but how many times do we teach our children to pray?
We survey our land and we choose for ourselves. And then we wonder why our children go down the tubes spiritually and we shake our heads and we can’t figure it out.
The second mistake Lot made was in the area of his environment. He expected his family to live in Sodom, but not to live like Sodom! Look at Genesis 13:12. "Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom." I think that’s where his problem began. "Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD." Lot was a business man and he probably had the motto for his family: You can look at Sodom, just don’t touch it! You can look at sin, just don’t engage in it! How foolish that was. In chapter 13 he’s dwelling just outside the city; by the time you get to chapter 19 he’s dwelling inside the city! It’ll happen to you every time! If you look at it, sooner or later, temptation will grab you and cause you to become a part of it. If you put your people in Sodom, they’re going to associate with the people of Sodom, and sooner or later they’re going to develop attitudes like the people of Sodom – and they’ll make decisions that stink like Sodom and you’re going to get into an awful mess. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:33, "Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
Put your family in a Christian environment, where they can hear, see, and feel the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ at work and they’ll grow up in Christ-like attitudes. That’s the ground on which the Holy Spirit works. That’s why it’s so important, fathers, that you provide a spiritual atmosphere and environment in your home – to raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They’re going to follow in your footsteps! They’ll follow what our priorities and our values are!
At a 1994 Promise Keeper’s conference in Denton, Texas, pastor James Ryle told his story: When he was two years old, his father was sent to prison. When he was seven, authorities placed him in an orphanage. At nineteen, he had a car wreck that killed a friend. He sold drugs to raise money for his legal fees, and the law caught up to him. He was arrested, charged with a felony, and sent to prison. While in prison, James became a Christian, and after he served his time, he eventually went into the ministry. Years later he sought out his father to reconcile with him. When they got together, the conversation turned to prison life. James’ father asked, "Which prison were you in?" James told him, and his father was taken aback. "I helped build that prison, he said. He had been a welder who went from place to place building penitentiaries. Pastor Ryle concluded, "I was in the prison my father built." A father’s example builds a place for his children to live. Will it be a house or a prison?
Fathers, I think this tells us that we better stop coming up with all the excuses that we’re so good at coming up with, and better start taking up the spiritual leadership over our families that God has called us to.
Thirdly, Lot made the mistake of expectation. He expected to change his society without becoming a part of it. In Genesis 18 we see Abraham praying that God would spare the city of Sodom. He starts by asking if God will spare it if he could find 50 righteous men and finally bargains down to 10. Now it’s Lot who needs to find 10 righteous people – those who have faith in God and follow Him. Actually, he only needs to find 6 because there are already the four in his family. How many people had Lot influenced for God since he’d moved to Sodom? Genesis 19 begins with the angels coming to see if there were 10. They couldn’t find 10!
We influence our society by becoming a part of it. In the time that you’ve lived here have you been the salt of the earth to this community? Have you brought anyone to Jesus Christ in the time that you’ve lived in this place?
That brings us to the fourth mistake he made. He made a mistake concerning his example. Lot thought his family would accept his words in place of his lifestyle. Lot thought that if he just told his children to live for God, they’d accept his words and respond with "Anything you say Dad! You’re my father, I’ll respect you!" Baloney! That’s Hebrew for "nuts"! Look at what happens in verses 12 - 14: "The two men said to Lot, "Do you have any other family here? Sons, daughters — anybody in the city? Get them out of here, and now! We’re going to destroy this place. The outcries of victims here to GOD are deafening; we’ve been sent to blast this place into oblivion." Lot went out and warned the fiancés of his daughters, "Evacuate this place; GOD is about to destroy this city!" But his daughters’ would-be husbands treated it as a joke." They looked at him and said, "Hey Dad, that’s funny!" Isn’t it amazing! The most serious time in Lot’s life and his kids think it’s a joke! They’re not about to move. They’re not about to change. We’ve been watching your life, Pop, and we’re telling you that you’ve got a message in your life that we haven’t seen in your actions. You see, at this point, Lot has lost the respect of his family. Respect is gained when consistency in Christian life is displayed in the family.
The fifth mistake that he made was in the area of his entanglements. Lot got entangled with some things that he shouldn’t have gotten entangled with. You see, he didn’t realize how much the ways of the world had grabbed him and his family. Beginning with verse 15 we read, "At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. "Hurry," they said to Lot. "Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out of here right now, or you will be caught in the destruction of the city." When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the LORD was merciful." Those words: "Lot still hesitated." He hesitated in regards to God’s Word. He hesitated because he began thinking that things really hadn’t become as corrupt as they really were. He hesitated because he saw things from a sinful and worldly perspective instead of a spiritual perspective. He had things to do that day, so he hesitated. He took the well-watered plains of the Jordan and didn’t think of his family, and in the end he lost his friends, he lost his influence, he lost his home and possessions, and he lost his family.
Entwined in this whole story, however, is Abraham – showing us a vivid example of a spiritually active man -- a godly man and a godly father. Abraham by no means was perfect. You look at his story in the book of Genesis and you’ll see that he blew it time and again – just like we do – time and again! But he was a man of faith in God. The book of Hebrews lists him as a classic hero of faith. Paul writes in Romans, "Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous." As fathers, we’re not always going to make the right decisions, say the right words, or be perfect. But what God wants from us first and foremost, is that we have faith in Him; that we put our trust and confidence in Him and show it in our lives. That we put it into action. Abraham was a man of prayer. He put his faith in action as he prayed for the city of Sodom. And even in spite of Lot’s entanglements with the world, God answered Abraham’s prayer. Our children might not always follow in the godly footsteps that we trace out for them, but God hears and honors the prayers that we offer on their behalf for God’s holy angels to watch over them and protect them.
Abraham was a father who demonstrated god-pleasing priorities for his family. The last verse of chapter 13 says that when he came to his new home at Hebron, "...he built an altar to the LORD." Abraham did that wherever he went! How’s the altar in your home? How are those times for family devotion and prayer? Begin getting those priorities in order.
Now those three qualities of a godly father that we see in Abraham lead up to a fourth one, and that is, Abraham was a man who lived in God’s forgiveness. He knew that a right relationship with God was essential to his life and to the life of his family. He knew that he had a God who was compassionate and merciful, and that even though he frequently transgressed God’s will, that God forgave him. And that gave him joy and peace in his life.
This morning we want to be parents who will be models for our children to follow. And we draw on the resources that God provides for us in His Word and Sacrament. And we can only do that because we have Someone who came to walk in our shoes. Jesus Christ came to share our life, to take our death, and to pay the price for our false priorities, our entanglement with the world, the temptations that we give in to and our wayward words and actions – to make us clean and ready to live life as God meant it to be.
Fathers, this is your day today! Make it a day with a new beginning. A day to learn a lesson from Lot, and not follow in his footsteps – but to follow the example of father Abraham. God bless you and empower you with His Word of might and forgiveness. Amen.
