Title: ABRAM’S SHADOW—LOT

Focus: Let us hold on to the promise of God—in Christ Jesus—as the overriding, determinative compass in our journey of faith.

Function: To encourage the people to avoid pursuing the shadows of material prosperity and cultural niceties at the expense of God’s promise in Christ Jesus.

Text: Genesis 13:1-18

            Last year, one of our children thought it was time for Mom and Dad to have a GPS—you know, one of those wonderful devices that helps you to find your way to an address anywhere in the country or world. Well, I’m learning a lesson with that GPS. There are times that I think that I know a quicker or better way than the GPS to get to my destination. More often, however, to my chagrin, I have discovered that it’s better to follow the voice of our GPS.

            One of the least favorite instructions I get from that voice is “recalculate, recalculate….” Today, as we enter and explore God’s covenant relationship with Abram and consider the story of Abram separating himself from Lot, I hear the voice of God saying to us: “recalculate, recalculate.”

            The Word of the Lord in Genesis 13 calls us to hold on to the promise of God-in Christ Jesus-as the overriding, determinative compass in our journey of faith. Without the promise of God as our spiritual GPS, we may get easily lost .

There are many shadows and luring voices beckoning us to walk away from God’s promise in Christ Jesus. Therefore, the Scriptures warn us and encourage us to avoid pursuing the shadows of material prosperity and cultural niceties at the expense of God’s promise in Christ Jesus. Learn from Abram and consider his shadow—Lot!

_____________________________

            Perhaps you wonder why I refer to Lot as Abram’s shadow. I do so because of the way the Scripture tells the story in Genesis 13. Did you notice, for example, that recurring sentence in the text? Note Genesis 12:4. We read: “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.” Having roamed throughout the Promised Land for a while, Abram and his family went to Egypt because there was a famine in the land. There Abram and Sarai faced trouble with the King of Egypt. It is also clear that Lot is with Abram and Sarai in Egypt, because after the Pharaoh sent Abram and Sarai on their way we read in Genesis 13:1 “So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him.”

            Lot, of course, is a real person. He is the son of Haran, Abram’s youngest brother, who died in Ur of the Chaldeans. When God called Abram to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household to go to Canaan, Abram took his nephew Lot with him.

It appears that Abram took Lot under his “wings” and cared for him. Lot went with him. Like a shadow, Lot followed Abram—to the Promised Land, to Bethel and Ai, and the Negev; to Egypt and back again to the Negev and the land of Canaan.

Lot, then, knew what moved Abram. Lot knew the promise of God to Abram—the promise about inheriting the land, about children and grandchildren, and about Abram’s offspring being a blessing to all the nations. But it appears that Lot—as Abram’s shadow—cared about other things. Lot’s GPS is calibrated differently than Abram’s.

            As they go back to the Promised Land, Abram continues to claim God’s promise to him. He and his shadow settle near Bethel and Ai, where Abram had first built an altar to the Lord. “And,” says the text, “Abram called on the name of the Lord.” In other words, Abram’s compass or GPS is tuned into God’s promise.

            The rest of the story in Genesis 13 focuses on the separation of Abram and his shadow. It’s a story of contrast. For example, no (1): Lot does the opposite of Abram. Lot and Abram both prosper in the land; they have herds and flocks and servants in abundance. But the land cannot support them both in close vicinity. They need to create space between them—lest they start fighting each other.

            The Canaanites and Perizites were watching Abram and Lot. And they were not about to move over and give more space to Lot and Abram. So for the sake of peace, Abram makes a grand gesture: “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” That’s a noble gesture by Abram. He gives Lot the freedom to choose the region and place to settle and raise his family and herds of life stock. In other words, Abram lets go off the Promised Land. In essence, he gives the land to Lot to choose from.

            In contrast, Lot grasps or seizes Abram’s gift. He does not defer to Abram. He does not consider Abram’s GPS—that is, the promise of God to Abram. Lot does not acknowledge or care about God’s promise to Abram. Lot seizes the opportunity and grasps the best of the land.

            Lot looks to the plain of Jordan, which was well-watered, with lush vegetation. That plain promises material wealth and prosperity: Food for his life stock, opportunities to do business with the neighbors, and in that plain of Jordan there is also the promise and lure of culture and entertainment, for the well-populated cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Like San Francisco and Las Vegas combined)—have much to offer for Lot’s wife and daughters.

Lot seizes the moment. And whereas Abram lets go off the land promised to him, Lot chooses what seems to be the fattest portions of the land. Lot’s GPS tells him that paradise is waiting for him in the plains of the Jordan. In contrast, Abram’s GPS tells him to wait upon the Lord and his promise.

That contrast in the story is deliberate. You see, Lot makes Abram look good. Lot’s choice is based on greed, selfishness, a yearning for material possessions and prosperity. Comfort and ease, culture and pleasure are very high on Lot’s GPS. But living by the promise of God and seeking to live under the umbrella of God’s covenant promises is not on Lot’s radar screen of life. Abram lives by faith; Lot is governed by sight—the sight of “paradise” in that valley of Jordan.

            It’s a story of contrast. Consider, for example, no (2): the way the story is told. When Lot makes his choice and departs for his paradise, the text says: (vs. 12,13) “Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.” Clearly, the inspired storyteller makes you realize that Lot’s GPS or compass in life will present him with a lot of trouble down the road. Abram’s “shadow” is living under the shadow of dark and wicked Sodom. Lot pitches his tents right “on the edge where sin reigns.”

            Not so Abram. For as the storyteller continues to narrate Abram’s life, we learn that God meets with Abram. And God calibrates or reaffirms Abram’s GPS. God assures Abram that God’s Word or promise will stand and will guide Abram as he faces the future. “Lift up your eyes from where you are (Abram) and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

            And with this divine promise, the text tells us—in contrast to Lot—that Abram “…moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron.” You see? Whereas Lot ends up near Sodom, where the wicked men of the city bow at the altar of lust and sodomy and sexual immorality, Abram bows down at the altar of the Lord. For the text says that Abram built “an altar to the Lord.”

You see? Lot stakes his future with Sodom and the plain of the Jordan. Abram stakes his future into the altar of the Lord near an oasis, near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron.

----------------------------------

            So what do we take away from Abram’s story and dealings with his shadow—Lot? First of all, we need to recognize that behind all of this is the hand of God at work, securing and safeguarding his promises to Abram. The circumstances for the separation may seem to be purely economical: there’s not enough food on the land to sustain the flocks and families of Abram and Lot. Overcrowding or overgrazing seems to be the problem.

            But behind this seemingly innocent separation of two families—the one whose GPS is purely business-minded; the other purely promise minded—is God. God separates the two, for his promise is to Abram and his offspring.

            I think that we do well to look for God’s hand and design in our lives when confronted with seemingly tough choices or by purely circumstantial events. Check your GPS of faith; do not trust the GPS of the world with its lures and false promises. Calibrate, fine-tune your lives with the Word of God. And be willing to let God have his way with us.

            The second take-away from the story, then, is to HOLD ON and LET GO. For example, Abram let go off the entire land of Canaan when he gave Lot the choice to go and claim whatever area he wanted. Abram let go. But at the same time, he held on to the promise of God. The promise of the land, and of children, the promise of a nation under God, which is to be a blessing to all the nations of the world—that promise is in God’s hand to be worked out in God’s time. And Abram is willing to leave it in God’s hand and wait for the fulfillment of the promise.

            Think about this: Jesus Christ is of Abram’s seed. As the eternal Son of God, Jesus took on our flesh, born of a virgin, from the tribe of David, belonging to the offspring of Abram. Through faith and the work of the Holy Spirit, believers in Christ are sons and daughters of Abram. Through the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross and in the tomb, God is bringing good news to all the nations of the world.

            Today you and I must learn to hold on to the promise of God in Christ Jesus—the promise of new heavens and earth, the promise of restoration and eternal life; the promise of living under the watchful eyes of Christ, who has said, “I will never leave nor forsake you.”

            Hold on to the promise of salvation in Christ Jesus; let go off the shadow of Lot—the promises and lures of the world; Do not pursue wealth and earthly pleasures AT THE EXPENSE of God’s promise to us in Christ Jesus. Stay away from Sodom; die to sin; stay away from the pursuit of pleasure and selfishness. Hold on to God’s promise in Christ and live for him.

            If that means hardship and struggle and turmoil and tears, then so be it. As long as our tents or GPS of life are pitched at the altar of service and faithfulness unto God, we will flourish and eventually we will receive our inheritance.

            Let go of self and sin. Recalculate your GPS in life! Hold on to Christ and all his treasures: forgiveness of sins; the presence of the Holy Spirit; the power to endure and overcome and fight sin and temptation; the promise of victory—already wrought for us by Christ on the cross and in the tomb—these treasures we claim and hold onto in faith. Let go off the shadows; hold on to the promises of God in Christ alone!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.