Don't Look Now!

first sunday in advent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Genesis 19:15-17, 23-29

¹⁵ With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." ¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" ²³ By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴ Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah— from the LORD out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. ²⁶ But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. ²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. ²⁸ He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. ²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. (NIV)

Did you see who just walked in?  Don’t look now, but she’s wearing the exact same dress as you.  Don’t look now, but I’m pretty sure that one of the ladies at that table over there has been checking you out ever since we arrived.  “Don’t look now” might also be good advice to the runner leading the race as he’s nearing the finish line and tempted to look behind him to see how close the next runner is. 

Now I don’t know that any of those situations would necessarily be considered life threatening if a person snuck a quick peek.  About the only thing being risked in each case would be an awkward social situation or regret.  But there are also be some cases in which ignoring the advice, “don’t look now” could have more serious consequences. “Don’t look now” is advice to be taken seriously while driving and being tempted to grab the phone to check the text that just came in or quickly send one back.  In that case death or serious injury could result.

But there’s a situation which runs more risk than all others when it comes to heeding the advice, “Don’t look now.”  When God demands that our attention and our focus be directed toward him to the extent that we let nothing else distract us, our eternal welfare may potentially depend on how seriously we take him.  Lot came dangerously close to not taking God’s command seriously enough.  God called for his undivided attention and through his angelic messengers told Lot to take his family and run away from Sodom, lest they be destroyed by God’s impending wrath.  “The angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished” (v.15).  Lot’s initial reaction?  “He hesitated” (v.16).  Why did Lot hesitate?  One might suspect that his hesitation was a reflection of his sinful attachment to the life he had made for himself in Sodom and that he wasn’t quite ready to give it up.  Or, we may put the best construction on Lot’s hesitation, as Luther did, and assume that it was the result of his compassionate heart that couldn’t bear to see his fellow citizens be on the receiving end of God’s divine punishment.  We could conclude that his hesitation was an outward expression of an inward desire to see God grant mercy to Sodom.  In other words, perhaps Lot’s hesitation was representative of his good intentions.

But even if that was the case, it didn’t matter, because God does not place good intentions over obedience.  He does not overlook disobedience, not even on the basis of good intentions.   Recall at another point in Old Testament history when the ark of the covenant was being moved and Uzzah reached out to steady it so it wouldn’t fall. He had good intentions, but he was struck dead instantly because God had given a clear command not to touch the ark, and that clear command was not followed (2 Samuel 6).  When God speaks, he expects his creatures to listen and obey.  When God said “don’t look now,” when he told Lot to take his family and run, he wasn’t presenting Lot with an option; he was giving him a command.  Nevertheless, in spite of his hesitation, the Lord God mercifully spared Lot and his family as the angels grabbed them by the hand and led them out of the city.

Then, just outside the city, we again see how concerned God is with obedience.  God’s message through the angel had been clear: “Flee for your lives!  Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!” (v.17).  But the urge for Lot’s wife was too great.  Maybe it was the thought of close friends perishing that tugged at her heart, or the loss of her dear home, or nagging curiosity at how the destruction was being carried out… whatever it was, it was too much for Lot’s wife.  “She looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (v.26).  God had told her “don’t look now,” but she couldn’t help herself, and she suffered the consequences.

Speaking of consequences, remember that this whole ordeal was really about consequences.  God had had enough of Sodom and Gomorrah’s wickedness and was going to punish them by destroying them.  The reminder of that wickedness came earlier in the chapter when the angel guests arrived.  Lot offered to put them up as his guests, and his home was surrounded by men of the city demanding that Lot let the guests come out and have sex with them.  If such actions were representative of the kind of routine behavior that went on in the city, then it’s no surprise that God determined he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.  So are we to conclude that the primary purpose of this account being recorded in Scripture is to emphasize how much God detests the sin of homosexuality?  Is he, by raining fire down from heaven, providing a vivid visual aid to get the point across that he detests that sin more than others?  While there is absolutely no doubt in the Scriptures that God considers homosexuality to be a sin – in spite of even religious groups stating otherwise –  still it is going too far to draw the conclusion that this account is first and foremost about God’s loathing of homosexuality more than other sins.

It is, however, perfectly in line with God’s actions in this case to conclude that God loathes sin in general.  What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah is less about God’s vendetta against homosexuality, and much more about his intolerance of sin.  God reveals to us that he is very serious about sin.  He will not let it go unpunished.  Do not equate God’s patience in allowing wickedness in Sodom and Gomorrah to continue as long as it did with his indifference.  Sin may go on for a time, but it will never go unpunished.  There is no sin that has been committed since the Fall that has not gone unpunished.  God punishes sin.  God is very serious about sin.

Yet, this event is not just about God’s wrath and retribution against sin; it is also about rescue.  Not all of Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed.  Lot and his family with him escaped, or rather, were rescued.  Yes, God is very serious about sin, but he is also very serious about mercy.  You’ll appreciate God’s mercy even more if you spend time reviewing the chapter that precedes this one.  Remember that the angel guests of Lot were first guests of Abraham.  They first visited Abraham and told him of the ensuing destruction that would come to the wicked cities.  Abraham’s response?  He begged and pleaded for God’s mercy on the city, asking first if God would spare it even if only 50 believers were found there, then 45, 40, 30, 20, and even if only ten believers were found there.  God, longing to be merciful, even agreed to save Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten believers.  But even when ten believers couldn’t be found, and Sodom and Gomorrah were ultimately destroyed, God clearly showed his mercy by going to special lengths to rescue Lot and his family from the devastation, though they did nothing to deserve it.  God is very serious about mercy.

This you already know.  You know his mercy.  As remarkable as it was that God sent angels on a special rescue mission just for Lot and his family, it doesn’t begin to match the enormity of his rescue mission for you.  That was the greatest show of mercy ever.  He didn’t merely send angels, but his own Son.  And Jesus didn’t come to simply take hold of your hand and lead you out of harm’s way; no, the stakes were much higher.  You sinned, and God is serious about sin.  He demands satisfaction for it, even if it meant giving up his own Son.  Because God is serious about showing mercy, he sacrificed his only Son so that he could show mercy to you and me.  In return, he demands… nothing.  It was all carried out without any understanding of an obligation on your part.  God is so serious about showing mercy, that he willingly gives it away for free!

And though he demands nothing in return, with grateful hearts we long to give him everything.  Let us start with our hearts.  This morning marks the beginning of Advent – a time to sharpen our focus on Jesus and what lies ahead, instead of giving in to the worldly urges to keep turning around and looking back.  Flee toward God with all your heart.  Fall in love with God over and over.  Let his mercy move you to refuse giving into anything that would come between you and God.  Your eternal life with him is at stake.  Are those stakes high enough for you?

Then let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Don’t look now at whatever the devil puts in your path to keep you from Christ.  Be determined to stay focused on the One who shows you mercy.  Show the resolve that a man in India once did while tiger hunting.  Having missed his golden opportunity to take a shot at his prey, he soon found the tables turned and in an instant was helplessly in the clutches of a tiger, the rest of his hunting party nowhere in the nearby vicinity.  He had enough hunting experience to know that he had essentially one chance for survival: he could only lie quietly as if dead, no matter what.  Now lying still and motionless when terrified is difficult enough, but even more so when the tiger began slowly going to work on his meal.  The tiger took the man’s hand in his mouth and proceeded to chew his dinner.  The tiger had eaten down to the man’s elbow before help arrived from the rest of his hunting party.  Now had the man so much as whimpered or flinched in pain while quite literally being eaten alive, the tiger would not have hesitated to kill him instantly.  Think of the excruciating pain the man experienced – what would possibly enable a man to endure such a thing?  He feared for his life.  He knew his living or dying depended on it.

Dear friends, that kind of resolve, and not the longing, lingering glance of Lot’s wife, is the kind of determination needed to guard and protect one’s life from the spiritual threats that outnumber us every which way we turn.  Let us fear for our spiritual lives even more than we would our physical!  Eternity rests in the scales.  And, as we strive to stay the course, know that you are backed by a loving and gracious God, a God who has been and continues to be very serious about showing us mercy.  Let us also then be very serious in how we receive it. Amen.

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)