WEBVTT 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.640 Today's reading is Genesis thirteen. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:33.280 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and lot with him into the Negab. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:52.880 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold, and he joined on from the Negab as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:57.039 And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:09.519 And Lot and Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together. 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:23.439 For the possessions were so great that they couldn't dwell together, and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:29.760 At that time the Canaanites and the Peritites were dwelling in the land. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:40.879 Then Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:44.640 Is not the whole land before you? 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:46.879 Separate yourself from me. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:55.519 If you take the land, the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:09.840 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 Zor. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:13.840 This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:20.560 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and Lot churned east. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:23.520 Thus they separate from each other. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:32.400 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:38.479 Now the men of Sodom work were weaked, great sinners against the Lord. 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:51.199 The Lord said to Abraham, After Lot has separated from him, lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward, and eastward and westward. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:58.159 For all the land that you see, I will give it to you and to your offspring forever. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:09.120 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if you if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:15.680 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you. 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:27.919 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the ox of Mambre, which are at Hebram, and there he built an altar the Lord. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:30.639 And so reads God's word. 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:47.759 So we will come to verse 8. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.479 If you uh if you need a Bible, you can run down and grab one. 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:58.319 There's no uh uh nobody will say anything, don't worry, or you can pull it up on your on your phone. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:03.919 And we are uh now kind of coming into to week three of our series proper called Being Human. 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:12.319 And we've called it being human because Genesis is actually um describing in lots of ways things that are always true about humanity. 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:21.920 It's one of the things that people wrongly assume about the Bible uh is that it's irrelevant and antiquated that we've moved on uh as a society. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:31.120 The 21st century existence is uh is profoundly different from uh the second millennia BC. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:33.040 But that simply isn't the case. 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:40.399 And Genesis is at pains to show us that the things that were true then are still true of us now. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:45.279 So you think of last week, last week uh Abraham was faced with a dire economic situation. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:47.279 There was a famine in the land. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:57.279 He was also faced with uh with personal threat and people that he was scared of, fearful of, and he operates out of pragmatics. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:02.639 He goes into fixer mode and thinks, okay, what's going to be the best thing for me in terms of my economic situation? 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:13.519 He also acts out of fear, tries to manipulate and control the situation because he's scared of what other people will think, what other people will say, what other people will do. 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:17.600 And I suspect that perhaps we have done the same. 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:22.480 He's operated out of fear of man rather than of courage or trust. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:39.839 You might not have ever been in famine conditions, but you've probably all felt the stress and the precariousness of a situation that you've tried to fix and control and manipulate yourself and found that that has not gone particularly well. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:44.319 And now here this week in Genesis 13, we have a different tension. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:48.399 That is the tension of relationship strain and stress. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:53.040 There's a uh there's a family breakdown in this chapter. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:06:00.560 This not only happens in families, but it also happens here in the community of God's people in the church. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:09.839 When Abraham says to Lot, you know, we're kin, it's not just that we're we're blood, but that we have a shared community, a shared kind of tribal culture. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:16.399 And perhaps you have been in a church where relationships have have broken down and where people have left. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.360 Nobody ever leaves city because city's amazing. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:27.199 Uh, and everybody loves uh me and all of the leaders here, and uh, and so relationship breakdown never happens. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:30.480 So this is a very unfamiliar passage uh to me. 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:42.079 Uh the Bible forces us to face situations that we all go through that are shared down the generations by us all. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:56.879 The difference that the Bible instructs us in is not that a difference in circumstance, it's not that the stuff that goes on in the world or the stuff that goes on in our hearts is different. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:06.160 What the Bible instructs us in is that our response to those circumstances can be different. 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:20.319 You see, on one level, it's completely normal when faced with economic uncertainty and uh precarious situations, to think in terms of what's most advantageous and what's most practical. 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:23.040 Of course, that's the natural, normal thing to do. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:30.319 Or when we feel threatened by people, to fear what they will say or what they will do to us. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:33.279 Surely that's natural and that's normal. 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:44.480 What is not natural is to approach a situation of conflict with grace, with generosity. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.399 But that's exactly what Abraham does here. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:50.959 Hi. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:08:00.079 How does Abram go from messing everything up this week to or last week to absolutely bossing it this week? 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:05.360 The answer lies in what we fix our eyes on. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.319 You maybe have noticed that that's a repeated rephrase. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:17.680 Lot lifted up his eyes, he fixed his eyes on something, and then God comes to Ab and says, Lift up your eyes, that is, fix your eyes on something else. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:25.600 The difference in response comes from what we choose to lift up our eyes to, what we choose to fix our eyes on. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:34.960 If you fix your eyes on the circumstances around you, you'll be given to fear and pragmatics, to control and entitlement. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:41.279 But here Abram fixes his eyes on God and his promises. 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:44.480 And that does something remarkable. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:51.279 That frees him to act differently, to act supernaturally. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:58.879 This whole chapter begins and ends with worship. 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:11.919 You see that there in verse 4, he comes back from this trial uh in Egypt, where he did not particularly cover himself in glory. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:16.240 And we read in verse 4 that he's come back to Bethel in Ai. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:27.200 And in verse 4 it says, to the place where he had made an altar at first, and there again Abram called on the name of the Lord. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:31.600 Abram comes back to worship. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:44.000 After all of the messing up, after all of the wandering away, the way that Abram restarts and begins to deepen his faith and trust is that he comes back to worship. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:47.600 That's where our journey starts. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:50.639 And it is where it restarts. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:10:01.440 It's one of the reasons why here at City Church we take the Lord's Supper every week, because uh as we said in our confession this morning, even this week we have sinned against you. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:05.120 We have not loved you, God, as we ought to have. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:11.120 We have sinned in thought and word and deed, as another confession says, and what we have done and what we have left undone. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:24.399 And when we come to the Lord's table, as we will do in a few minutes' time, it's in a sense coming back to worship and resolving again to follow God, to trust his promises, to depend on him. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:27.840 That's where Abram starts. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:32.960 We come back to worship looking outside of ourselves. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:43.759 We come after we have failed, we come in repentance, and we accept the ready forgiveness and grace that God offers. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:54.799 When we say the confession that we said at the top of the service, there's no there's no sense in it that God may or may not forgive ye. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:07.679 If you are coming with penitence, humbly, acknowledging your need of him, his forgiveness and grace is readily and abundantly given. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:14.240 And so Abram comes back and he calls on the name of the Lord and he resolves to trust again. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:24.639 He begins to listen to his voice again, trust his promise, and as a result, Abram deepens his faith. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:29.200 And he becomes in part a blessing to the people around him. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:32.960 So let's open this passage up a little bit more. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:38.399 How does fixing our eyes on God and his promises change Abram's actions? 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:41.759 And how does it change our actions? 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:50.240 First, it frees us to choose peace. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.159 It frees us to choose peace. 00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:01.840 Now, the situation in this passage is that Abram and Lot are coming back from Egypt and uh they are very wealthy. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:06.240 They have acquired a lot of stuff down in Egypt. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:09.519 We read that gold and silver and herds and flocks. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:11.200 And that's the issue. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:21.600 Uh when nomads get wealthy, they don't uh log on to their AIB or their Bank of Ireland account and see all the zeros rocking up or racking up. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.120 That's not how you get wealthy in the ancient Near East. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:29.519 The way you get wealthy is more mouths to feed. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:36.000 There's more cattle, more sheep, more onkies, oxen, donkeys. 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.720 That's when the it's a hybrid there. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:44.639 Um more stuff, more people to take care of. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:47.919 And this creates a tension. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:58.080 And so we re read now there's a tension between the uh the herdsman, this is verse 7, of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:00.320 There's a there's a problem. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:06.879 There's something very interesting here that I that I picked up on this last week. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:21.200 When the Bible tells us that Abram was very rich, there in verse 2, that is exactly the same word as we get in chapter 12 of the famine being severe. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:25.600 Severe and very rich are the same word. 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:29.279 The word kadov, which means even the sign of it, it means heavy. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:30.559 Kadov, right? 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:33.679 Uh it's a word that means heavy, weighty. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:42.639 So he's way down with wealth as opposed to being uh the famine weighing you down and uh and being severe. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:52.480 But isn't that interesting that both wealth and lack lead to trial and difficulty? 00:13:53.440 --> 00:14:00.000 Beware the wrong-headed notion that the more you have, the easier your life will be. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:07.919 He was heavy with wealth, and that led to tension in his family. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:16.799 So this tension arrives, arises in verse seven, and Abram resolves to have peace. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:17.759 Verse eight. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:25.600 Then Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:27.360 Is not the whole land before you? 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:28.960 Separate yourself from me. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.919 If you take the left hand, I will go to the right. 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:35.440 If you go to the right hand, then I will take the left. 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:43.039 Abram, as the one who is more senior in age, he's Lot's uncle. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:48.000 He has increased prestige by his age, and he's kind of the leader of the tribe. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:50.480 He has more nobility than Lot. 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.720 He could have simply dismissed Lot and sent him on his way. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:56.799 This isn't working for me. 00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:58.960 You need to head off over there. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:01.039 But he doesn't. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.639 He comes to Lot and he pursues peace. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:09.600 And how does he propose that this peace will happen? 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:14.559 Well, the suggestion is that Abram and Lot should separate. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:16.799 Now that's interesting, isn't it? 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:30.720 It's a surprising proposal because we don't normally think when two people are in conflict that the best thing that they can do is go their separate ways. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:40.559 We think that actually it's only really a resolved issue if everybody is still together and happy. 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:42.960 And yet there's wisdom here. 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:55.519 Abram says, look, let's go our separate ways in order to preserve further strife or prevent further strife and relationship breakdown. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:05.120 When relationships break down in the church, we assume that things are only okay if everyone is back together and getting on just like before. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:09.120 But maybe that's not always the case. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:28.399 Now we're all journeying towards a day when all of us who are trusting in Jesus, we will all be in that new heavens, the new earth, that new creation existence, where all relationships will be uh will be straightened out and we'll all exist together in perfect peace and harmony, harmony. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:36.320 And yet the Bible is real in understanding that this side of that reality, it's not always possible. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:50.320 That there's wisdom in saying there's a tension here, and I don't I don't hate you, I don't, I don't want ill for you, I want well for your sake. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:57.039 So there's wisdom in the two of us going our separate ways here in order to preserve that. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:01.360 Why does Abram do this? 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:04.160 Why does he make this proposal? 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:07.680 Is it just again because he's thinking in terms of economics? 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:16.000 He's like, well, you know, we need to, you know, the there's enough land for for all of us, and uh my sheep need to be watered and fed. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:18.160 Is that what he's thinking? 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:21.519 Well, no, not quite. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:27.599 Now, of course, it's already been answered in the sense that he wants to keep peace with his nephew Lot, but there's something else going on. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:28.880 Did you notice it? 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:31.039 It's a little throwaway detail. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:32.079 Top tip. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:35.759 There are never throwaway details in the Bible. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.279 If you read over something and you're like, what's that matter? 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:40.640 Like, why is that there? 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:42.960 That's probably the most important bit. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.079 Did you notice it at the end of verse 7? 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:47.279 Verse 7b? 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:49.279 Look at it if you got it on your phone. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:56.000 And there was strife between uh the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.160 At that time, the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.720 Oh I'm so glad that Moses told us that. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:10.079 Why is he telling us that the Canaanites and the Perizzites are in the land? 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.960 Well, do you remember what God's promise to Abram was? 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:17.839 I'll make you a great nation. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.039 Go to the land that I'm gonna show you, I'm gonna give it to you. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:25.759 And in you, all the nations of the world will be blessed. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:35.200 There's nations in the land, and they're looking at Abram and Lot. 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:51.759 There are nations in the land, and they are looking at the man who calls on the name of Yahweh, not their God, that calls on the name of Yahweh and thinking, is he just like the rest of us Baal worshippers? 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.640 The rest of us Molek people, or is he different? 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.880 The Canaanites and the Parasites are in the land, and Abram knows it. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:05.599 And Abram knows that he's supposed to be a blessing to these people. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:22.640 If a huge rye had blown up with everybody fighting over what is best, and herdsmen uh getting killed, and this ganglang warfare going on between Abram and Lot, what would that have said to the Canaanites and the Perizzites? 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:26.640 I said, they're just the same as the rest of us. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:32.880 What would that have said then about the God of the Bible? 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.359 What would that have said about Yahweh? 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:40.000 Well, he's just as bloodthirsty as the rest, so why would I change? 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:56.720 He would say exactly the same thing to them as it does now when people outside of the church see the church fighting with one another over trivial earthly things in full view of the watching world. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:03.519 Now don't mishear me, there are battles that need to be fought and lines that need to be held. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:18.960 But I think of uh of Paul's letter to the Corinthians, where the Corinthian Christians were uh they were suing one another, they were taking one another to court in order to show their superior status over their brothers and sisters. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:45.839 That when we're when we're doing that, when we're doing other people down, when we're refusing to celebrate what God is doing amongst other people who we call brother and sister, when we are when we express this barbed rivalry against people who uh who also call on the name of Jesus, and we do that in front of people who aren't believers, who don't call on the name of Jesus, what is it that we're saying to them? 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:55.359 We're saying, well, Christians are just as entitled and just as prideful and just as fixated, they have their eyes fixed on earthly things. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:00.880 It says that being a follower of Jesus doesn't change your outlook at all. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:07.200 That fixing your eyes on him is just the same as fixing your eyes on your own well-being. 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:09.440 But Abram won't have it. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:16.559 Abram chooses the way of peace by coming to his nephew and saying, let's do whatever it takes to sort this out. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:31.440 Let's do whatever it takes in order to preserve our witness towards the Canaanites and the Perizzites, even if it means us going our separate ways in order to keep that peace. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:35.039 What is fixing our eyes on God and his promises do? 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:39.200 It frees us to keep the peace. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:48.000 The second thing that it does is it frees us from our entitlement. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:52.640 Put it another way, it frees us to set aside our rights. 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:57.119 Abram does something remarkable here, as I've already alluded to. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:58.799 He gives Lot the first pick. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.759 Abram was more. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:02.880 Senior and the right was his. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:10.799 But he sets it aside voluntarily and gives first refusal to Lot. 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:14.160 How does he do this? 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:18.960 Well, he's begun to learn the lesson of Egypt. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:22.480 There he forgot the promises of God. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:25.599 He forgot God's sovereign care of him. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:28.880 And so he felt like he had to control the situation. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:32.640 But now he's leaning into the promises of God, do you see? 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:41.759 Here he's beginning to deepen his trust in God's sovereignty, in God's loving care of him. 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:49.359 And so he says to Lot, you pick, knowing that God will not forsake his promise. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:55.599 And so Abram's not so much abandoning himself to Lot's choice, but surrendering to the sovereignty of God. 00:22:55.759 --> 00:23:00.799 He's like, Whatever Lot picks, Lot's not going to derail the promises of God. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:07.759 I can trust him, which means that I can go to this guy, to my nephew, and I can say, you pick. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:11.839 He sets aside his rights. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:17.599 In Egypt, he tried to manipulate the situation, he tried to control, and none of it worked. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:22.160 So instead, he opts for dependence. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:33.519 And as we shall see, when Abraham gives it all up, God gives him everything. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:39.680 When Abraham gives it all up, God gives him everything. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:47.920 Only lifting our eyes and fixing them on God and his promises will make us do that. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:50.400 Remember what Jesus said? 00:23:56.079 --> 00:24:03.839 But if you give it up for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, you will save it. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:09.599 How can Jesus ask this of you? 00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:14.400 Because that's exactly what he did for you. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:16.640 He gave it all up. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:20.799 That he might be the blessing. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.839 And bring the blessing of forgiveness to the nations. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:28.240 Give it all up. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:31.039 And God will give you everything. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:45.599 Being a Christian sets you free to set aside your rights, your entitlements, your privileges, and goodness me, what a force that would have to the Canaanites and the Parasites. 00:24:46.160 --> 00:25:07.119 In our world where everybody is touting and claiming and gripping onto so tightly their rights, their privileges, what is due to them, what a thing it would be if the followers of Jesus, if those who called on the name of Yahweh, actually said, You know what? 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:12.079 I'm setting aside my rights so that I can fix my eyes on him. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:20.160 It means as well that say you have been wronged. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:25.759 And you know that you have been wronged. 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:35.839 And everything in you wants to scream self-justification and go, can't you see how wrong they were? 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:39.519 And how much of a victim I am? 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:42.160 And that may be genuinely true. 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:47.039 But fixing our eyes on God is not saying that none of that matters. 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:53.759 It's saying that one day, one day, I will be vindicated. 00:25:53.839 --> 00:26:05.920 Oh, one day all of this will come out in the wash, and I can set aside my rights now in order to keep the peace, knowing that God will not let what happened go unanswered. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:17.599 That in the end, his promise to be just and loving and kind will come true, and they will be seen for what they have done. 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:26.480 And so you can let go of the bitterness that begins to grip onto our souls. 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:29.039 It frees Abraham to choose peace. 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:37.039 It frees him from entitlement, from clinging to his rights, but it also frees him from fear. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:41.519 Verse 10 says that Lot lifted up his eyes. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:49.200 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord. 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:55.039 It looked like paradise, like the land of Egypt, where they just made lots of money. 00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:57.680 In the direction of Zor. 00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:00.319 This is before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:01.119 Come back to that. 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:05.039 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:09.759 And Lot journeyed east, thus they separated from each other. 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:14.640 Lot lifts up his eyes, and what does he see? 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:18.640 He sees a beautiful, fertile land. 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:25.039 And he remembers, I'm sure, the famine of chapter 12. 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:25.759 Because he was there. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:37.119 He probably remembers the pang of hunger, and he maybe even feels the responsibility of all the more mouse to feed and thinks, I'm not going back there. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:41.359 I need some security in my life now. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:51.920 I need to make a decision that prioritizes provision and security and comfort. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:28:04.720 And he's still operating out of a kind of fear that fixates us on temporal, temporary security. 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:09.119 But here's the problem. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:13.839 Lot isn't seeing the whole picture. 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:22.559 This is the problem with making decisions on your life to do with your life based solely on economics. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:24.720 And I see it time and time and time again. 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:37.599 That people make decisions about where they will move to and what they will do based primarily on the material advances and advantages that it will have for them. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.559 That is a consideration. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:44.480 Don't mishear me. 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:47.680 I'm not saying that you should all take a vow of poverty. 00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:55.759 I understand that we live in a very expensive city, and that requires people to have a certain level of income in order to be able to flip and well live in it, right? 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:57.200 So I get all of that. 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:05.759 But we can't operate with too narrow a lens in terms of the decisions that we make. 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:07.599 And Lot's doing that here. 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:17.200 He's only seeing the pragmatic and the material and the practical when he should be looking with a wider lens. 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:20.480 And that's why the writer is giving us some clues. 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:23.200 He's saying, Whoa, heads up here, guys. 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:27.200 You need to see how this is going to play out for Lot. 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:35.680 He's ignoring the spiritual realities, and the the author is flagging them for us. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:38.720 We don't haven't even got to Genesis 19. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:46.480 And I would say that there's a huge percentage of people in this room that when they hear Sodom and Gomorrah are like, oh, Sodom. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:52.400 Okay, you know, even if you don't know the whole story, you've got stuff ringing in the back of your head. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:56.079 It's like, oh yeah, no, not somewhere where you go for a holiday. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:29:58.240 You've at least got that, right? 00:29:58.400 --> 00:29:58.799 You think, eh? 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:00.000 Probably not. 00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:06.880 And even the fact that it says, before the Lord destroyed, you get the flaming rotar coming down in Genesis 19. 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:07.920 We'll get there before Christmas. 00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:09.200 Merry Christmas, everybody. 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:12.640 Um that's uh that's what we're going to to look at. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:18.960 And the author is giving us these senses of uh of that there's something going on. 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:30.880 You know, you'd get the you'd get the dramatic kind of dun dun dun dun dun core, like the men of Sodom were wicked and great sinners against the Lord, verse 13, and Lot's going there, it's setting it all up the tension. 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:32.720 It's like, oh no, don't go there, Lot. 00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:35.359 Don't make a decision just based on your economics. 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:38.720 Because actually that's going to have spiritual ramifications. 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:47.440 And even just in the the little, uh, there's another little throwaway phrase that again is not a throwaway phrase where it says that Lot journeyed east. 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:55.119 In Genesis, when you journey east, in fact, in the whole Bible, when you journey east, you're journeying away from the presence of God. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:31:05.359 Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden and they moved east into the land of Nod, became wanderers away from the presence of God, and Lot's journeying east. 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:09.599 And so you're supposed to be thinking, hold on, this isn't a great decision. 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:12.640 Lot's operating out of fear. 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:20.079 And as we shall see in due course, this will come back to bite Lot. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:25.599 He is still looking at his life through his natural eyes. 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:30.720 He's seeing a material problem and solving it with a material solution. 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:41.440 He's lost sight of the fact that he is a spiritual being that must make decisions based on his own spiritual well-being. 00:31:43.200 --> 00:31:51.279 Abram, by contrast, is seeing with the eyes of faith and trusting the promises of God, because he knows that there's more to life than economics and prosperity. 00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:59.599 When he sees with the eyes of faith, Abram is freed from fear and allows Lot to choose. 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:07.839 But Lot is still trapped, and in the end, Lot will lose much more than he ever gained by this decision. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:11.759 This stretches us a little bit, doesn't it? 00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:14.079 It stretches us. 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:24.400 And in order to grow in our faith, we must be stretched in order to think through well, how do we discern God's directing of my life? 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:25.839 What does that look like? 00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:30.559 How do I look beyond economics and appearances? 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:41.680 To ask, well, what is what is the direction that would prioritize the spiritual vitality of both me and my family if I have one? 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:45.440 How can I maximize my growth in godliness? 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:50.240 What about my family? 00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:54.000 What about my marriage and the decisions that I make? 00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:01.599 Frees us to choose peace, it frees us from entitlement and it frees us from fear. 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:02.640 Last one. 00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:06.720 It frees us to follow the God who blesses. 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:09.279 So Abram and Lot separate. 00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:18.880 And God comes again to Abram, and instead of Lot lifting his own eyes, God tells Abram to lift his eyes. 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:19.759 Verse 14. 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:33.680 Between lifting up your own eyes and being commanded, look, look and see the blessing and promises of God. 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:40.880 And so God comes and he reaffirms and deepens his call of Abram. 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:53.359 He says, Look to the land, look north and south, and east and west, and look at the dust of the earth, and count the dust, if indeed it can be counted, and you're going to have more offspring than the dust of the earth, Abram. 00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:56.480 And that's a deepening of what we saw in Genesis 12, right? 00:33:56.640 --> 00:34:02.319 He's beginning to press in the promises into Abram's life. 00:34:03.119 --> 00:34:10.559 And God responds to Abram's exercise of faith by reaffirming his commitment to Abram. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:16.000 And this is how we mature as followers of God ourselves. 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:27.840 And we fix our eyes on him, we exercise our faith, and then he confirms to us who he is, and he strengthens our trust. 00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:38.800 To exercise our faith is to take actions that will push our faith, that will cause us to depend on him. 00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:47.360 And so again, Abram sets off, living the life of tent and of altar, the life of a pilgrim. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:55.679 Living a life of wandering and worship, looking ahead to the time when the promises of God will be made true. 00:34:55.920 --> 00:35:03.360 Looking beyond the present circumstances to a day when God will make good on all that he has said. 00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:08.000 So God says, Lift up your eyes, Abram. 00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:12.639 All of this, all that you can see, will be yours. 00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:21.119 Abram, in coming to Lot the way he did, gave it all up. 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:24.639 And God gave him everything. 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:35.360 A few thousand years later, Abram's offspring stood on a high place. 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:45.920 And there Satan said to Jesus, Lift up your eyes and behold all the nations of the world. 00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:50.880 And they will be yours if only you bow down to me. 00:35:53.199 --> 00:35:55.840 Satan was lying to Jesus. 00:35:56.719 --> 00:36:03.039 In a sense, Satan was coming to Jesus and saying, Hey, look, let there be no strife between us. 00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:06.480 We can coexist here, you and me. 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:10.000 There can be peace between us. 00:36:10.480 --> 00:36:14.079 There's room in this time for the both of us. 00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:17.199 You don't have to give up your life. 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:20.559 You don't have to go the road of suffering. 00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:23.679 No cross, no shame. 00:36:24.639 --> 00:36:28.960 Don't give it all up, and I'll give you everything. 00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:50.719 But in that moment, the offspring of Abram chose to fix his eyes, not on the circumstances that he found himself in, but on his father, and says, You shall worship God alone, only him shall you serve. 00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:56.400 And in saying that, Jesus knew the cost that that would entail. 00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:05.360 Sometimes you and I are Genesis 13 people. 00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:10.639 We come to a situation as believers in Jesus and we boss it. 00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:23.920 We act in faith, we're forgiving, we're gracious, we're generous, we're understanding and encouraging, and we think, yes, there's actually something going on about the Holy Spirit's working my life, growing me as a Christian. 00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:27.119 Sometimes we are Genesis 13 people. 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:29.840 Do you know most of the time though? 00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:31.920 We're Genesis 12 people. 00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:35.519 Most of the time we're a bit fearful. 00:37:36.320 --> 00:37:41.199 We look at circumstances and we try to figure out ourselves the best way through. 00:37:41.840 --> 00:37:45.199 We forget about God and we have to come back and go, I'm really sorry. 00:37:45.360 --> 00:37:47.039 Same sin again, please forgive me. 00:37:47.119 --> 00:37:48.320 And he does. 00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:53.519 And then once we receive that forgiveness, we run off and we do our own thing again. 00:37:53.840 --> 00:37:55.840 And the cycle just goes on and on and on. 00:37:56.000 --> 00:38:01.360 We're sometimes Genesis 13 people, but very often we're Genesis 12 people, aren't we? 00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:14.880 Jesus on that high place chose to give up everything for Genesis 12 people. 00:38:17.039 --> 00:38:20.719 He gave up his rights and his privileges, he gave up his glory. 00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:22.800 He lost it all. 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:24.639 Why? 00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:28.639 So that he might give us everything. 00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:34.400 Forgiveness and life and love and hope and faith. 00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:39.039 So what are you lifting your eyes to? 00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:40.960 What are you pursuing? 00:38:41.280 --> 00:38:46.800 The things that look most advantageous for success and comfort and wealth? 00:38:49.039 --> 00:39:06.800 Or to Jesus, the son of the promised keeping, sovereign God, who by his death sets us free, sets us free to choose peace, sets us free from fear, sets us free from entitlement, and sets us free to follow and to worship him. 00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:10.960 And that's what Abraham does at the end of this passage in verse 18. 00:39:11.199 --> 00:39:15.440 He comes back to where he started, and I conclude where we started. 00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:18.320 He comes back to worship. 00:39:18.639 --> 00:39:21.440 He responds to God and to his promises. 00:39:23.119 --> 00:39:34.880 If you give me a click pri on the slide behind me, we think about at City Church how we are to respond in worship. 00:39:35.039 --> 00:39:36.960 And that's what we're going to do now. 00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:45.280 We respond in singing, in praying, in giving, and in taking the Lord's Supper. 00:39:45.840 --> 00:39:47.920 We respond in worship. 00:39:48.239 --> 00:39:50.159 We start and we end here. 00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:58.400 And so, what prayers are you going to lift up as you prepare to take the Lord's Supper? 00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:02.880 Will you sing with both heart and voice? 00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:09.360 How will you approach this table with a perfunctory going through the motions? 00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:17.039 Or will you look down and see your empty hands and realize that God fills them with his grace and favor? 00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:19.440 What will you give? 00:40:21.039 --> 00:40:22.559 To him who gave it all.