Amen. People of God, please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 13. Our sermon text this morning is Genesis 13, verses 5 through 18, as we continue on our journey with Father Abraham. Genesis 13, beginning in verse 5, reading through verse 18. If you're using your Pew Bible, that's found on pages 9 and 10. People of God, give ear now to the reading of the inerrant and infallible, life-giving Word of God. 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, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. 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. is not the whole land before you. Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go left." Lot lifted up his eyes and saw the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt in the direction of Zoar. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom." Now, the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord. The Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are northward and southward and eastward and westward for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.' So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the Lord of our God shall stand forever and ever." Will you pray with me? Father, now I ask that the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts would be acceptable to you. For you, O Lord, are our rock and our Redeemer. Bless us, we pray in Christ's holy name. Amen. It was 1909. The missionary Henry C. Morrison and his wife. were making their voyage across the Atlantic home to the United States from Africa, where they had served faithfully and selflessly for forty years. And when their ship steamed into New York Harbor, Henry couldn't believe his eyes, for there a sea of people had gathered on the docks beneath a banner that read, Welcome Home. And as they These two old missionaries made their way down the gangplank. The crowd erupted in cheering, and a band began to play, and Henry turned to his wife with tears in his eyes. They hadn't been forgotten. Their work for the Lord had not gone unnoticed. But when they made their way to the bottom, no one greeted them. No one so much as even looked at them. Instead, their eyes remained fixed on the ship, and when Henry turned around, he saw why. President Theodore Roosevelt, who'd been away on safari, had returned on the same ship, and they hadn't known. And he was there standing at the railing, waving to this mass of adoring people. Henry looked back at his wife with a heavy heart and said, I don't understand. We gave our lives in ministry and service, and not a single soul has come to welcome us home. How can this be?" His wife took his hand in hers and said, "'Because, my dear, we're not home yet.'" Well, my friends, that is a lesson worth learning, isn't it? It's a lesson worth living. We're not home yet. We are sojourners, you see, not settlers. It turns out that the Christian life is not one of resting and reposing in the promised land, but rather the Christian life is one of walking by faith of toddling after the Lord Jesus Christ through the wilderness of this world with our hearts and our hopes set on our heavenly home. But what does it look like to live the sojourning life? And we'll find answers in our text this morning as we pick up where we left off in Genesis chapter 13. And my mission this morning is to show you from the text that a Christian is a sojourner in this world. That means you. if you're a Christian, are a sojourner in this world. Let's consider at the outset the situation we find ourselves in. We're only 24 verses into the life of Abraham, and already we've been on quite a wild ride Though Abram faithfully answered the Lord's call to leave his ancestral home in Ur of the Chaldeans and travel to the land of Canaan, he, we saw last week, fled in fear when famine hit. And where did he go? You remember, he ran to Egypt. And it was there he gave us the first glimpse of the whole in his holiness. And we learned something about Abram that we'll see again and again, and that is that when Abram gets backed into a corner, when his theology and his trials collide, he goes his own way, even if it means forsaking the Lord and hurting those closest to him, like Sarai, his wife, whom Abram surrendered to Pharaoh to save himself. Though Abram had forgotten God's divine promise of protection, the Lord had not. And when the Lord looked and saw that Abram's wife Sarai was in the grips of Egyptian bondage, He sent great plagues to break Pharaoh's hold of her. He released her and sent her and Abram away along with their company. And Abram went back, didn't he? It's as if, you remember, it's as if he was repenting geographically. He who had gone down to Egypt in fear returned up to the promised land by faith back to the altar that he had made at the first to worship his covenant God and to start again. But it seems in no time, as we turn the page and do our text this morning, that Abram goes from the frying pan into the fryer, from the trial of famine last week into the trial of fortune this week. You see, Abram and his nephew Lot returned from Egypt, rich men, and they had to learn the hard way that more money means more problems. For they were so weighted down with wealth that the land couldn't support them. I love the Hebrew here. It's that the land couldn't carry the two of them together. They were too heavy. Since Jordan and I were married in 2010, we've moved around quite a bit, from our first apartment in Jacksonville, to our apartment in Greenville, to our home in Greenville, back to Jordan's mom's house in Jacksonville, yay, to our first house in Jacksonville, then to our second house in Jacksonville, not at the same time, one then the other, and then here to Hattiesburg. where we currently live, and in all of that moving, we've learned. I say we, I mean I. Jordan knew before we started, I had to learn a lot about boxes. I went to Home Depot to buy moving boxes, and here's how the man's brain works. Bigger boxes means fewer boxes. Bigger boxes means fewer boxes, period. There is nothing more. Fewer boxes means an easier move. So I bought the largest boxes that I could. And I came home and packed up all of the rooms, which each room fit into about one box. And then I made an embarrassing discovery when it was time to get those boxes down the stairs and into the moving truck. And it was that I couldn't lift those boxes. Yes, it's true, even I couldn't lift those boxes. I did get one off the ground until the entire bottom tore out. And you see, that's what's happening here. The land couldn't lift Abram and Lot. They were too heavy, and the bottom was fixing to tear out. Their livestock had grown so numerous and so plenty that the herdsmen kept bumping into each other in search of the best grazing lands and watering holes until tensions between the herdsmen became piano wire tight. And all of this before an audience. Did you catch that in verse 7? All of this infighting, all of this tension and conflict before an audience. Verse 7, at that time Canaanites and Perizzites were dwelling in the land. Now why does Moses, the inspired author, go out of his way to tell us something that's patently obvious? Because the conflict, Moses wants us to see that the conflict between Abram and Lot was not happening in a vacuum, but rather it was happening on a stage. And in the audience sat the watching world to see what would happen when two God-fearing men come into conflict. So Abram did something rather incredible, something rather unnatural. Abram deferred. Abram deferred to his nephew Lot. He surrendered his right and his seniority and he allowed Lot to choose the portion of the land that he wanted first. Look at verse 8. Abram said to Lot, let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen." We're family. It's not the whole land before you. Separate yourself from me. If you go left, I'll go right. If you go right, I'll go left. Is it any different for you and I today? The Lord has set the banquet table of the gospel before our enemies. That means that as you live out your Christianity, and as you bump up against other God-fearing Christians, you're not living out your Christianity in a vacuum, my friends, but you are living it on a stage, and the world is watching, and the world is waiting. And for what are they waiting? They're waiting for you to give them a reason. They're waiting for you to give them a reason to justify their own unbelief. They're waiting for you to give them a reason to shame the name of Jesus Christ, to silence the truth of His gospel, and to destroy His church. You see, that's why the world cheers when covenant marriages dissolve in divorce, when pastors fall in scandal, when churches divide and die. So here's the question, when conflict comes, not if, when conflict comes, how can Christians uphold the honor of the Lord before a watching world? We have a lesson to learn here from Abram, don't we? How can Christians uphold the honor of the Lord before a watching world? By being willing to defer to one another for the sake of peace with our kinsmen. You remember, that's what Paul had on his heart as he wrote to the Corinthians when Paul heard that one member of the church in Corinth was suing another member of the church in Corinth before a pagan judge. Before the watching world, Paul wrote this, "'Can it be that there's none among you who's wise enough to settle a dispute between brothers? But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? Why not rather suffer wrong?' asks Paul." Wouldn't it be better to be defrauded instead for the sake of the gospel? Ask yourself, as I've asked myself this week, do I value my own rights more highly than the honor of King Jesus, who for my sake, a sinner deserving only of hell, for my sake surrendered His rights at the foot of the cross and died in my place that I might be forgiven and freed? May we then be willing to be defrauded, to surrender our rights as Abram did for the sake of the Lord who surrendered His rights for us and for peace in His church. And in the verses that follow, we see something. We see a stark contrast between the way Lot navigates this and the way Abram navigates this conflict, this situation. Lot walks like a settler. Lot walks like a settler. Verse 10, 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 Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. This is our first substantial impression of Lot in the Bible, isn't it? And what a terrible first impression Lot makes on us, though it's important to keep in mind that Peter says in his second letter that Lot was a righteous man and justified in the sight of God. It's clear that at this point in the Scriptures, Lot is a terribly immature believer, and he makes it into the Genesis top ten hall of shame more than once, we'll see. is like that friend who, after you offer to pay for dinner, changes his order to steak and lobster. Children, Lot is like that friend who always takes the last cookie or the last slice of cake. His catchphrase could be, don't mind if I do. He's selfish and inconsiderate. Notice, is there any effort made on Lot's part to deflect to Abram's kindness, to bow to Abram's seniority and defer to his uncle? No. He just snatches up the chance to get something that he wants. And what does he want? He's given the pick of the litter, so to speak. What land does he choose for himself? He chooses the Jordan Valley. And where is that? If you've got in your mind's eye something of a map of the promised land, you'll see the Sea of Galilee up at the top, and then a thin blue ribbon, the Jordan River from the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea. Now this Jordan Valley was outside the Promised Land. It is on the west side of the Jordan River, outside the Promised Land, on the eastern banks of the Dead Sea. And why would Lot want to live there? Because he lifted up his eyes, and he liked what he saw, like Samson scoping out Philistine women. He opened his eyes and liked what he saw. The Jordan Valley was the right choice. It was well watered, lush, verdant, green. It was just like Eden in Egypt. And you can imagine Lot still remembering what a growling, empty stomach feels like from the famine in chapter 12. And he looks to the Jordan Valley. There will be no famines there. There will be no empty bellies in the Jordan Valley. What could go wrong? What could go wrong? I never knew what a sticker weed was until we moved to Mississippi. In Florida, we have sand spurs, which politely stay at the beach. But in Mississippi, you all have sticker weeds that are everywhere, everywhere. And you can't, they're virtually invisible until you step on them. And then when you step on them, they drive their spines into that soft, tender flesh on the underside of your foot. And then you know where they are. This text is filled with sticker weeds, with ominous clues and hints. It's as if you can hear those minor keys being played in the background as we read our way through these verses. Look at verse 11, where did Lot go? He journeyed east. You remember we talked about this in Genesis chapter 11, as Adam was banished eastward, as Cain went east to the land of Nod. As the builders of Babel traveled east, so too Lot journeyed east. A geographical picture of drifting away from God. But verse 12 says that Lot settled among the cities. Just like eastward movement in the Old Testament, city dwelling, though not inherently sinful, city dwelling has theological connotations. Theological connotations. You remember that cursed Cain defied God, God who said, wander, Cain who said, no, I think I'll build a city instead. You remember that the builders of Babel did so with one hand on the trowel and the other hand in high-fisted disobedience to the Lord because they wanted to make a name for themselves and make themselves great. You see, in the Old Testament. Cities represent man's vain quest for immortality and glory apart from God. And Lot lifted up his eyes. He saw how lush and verdant the Jordan Valley was, but he also saw high-walled cities that promised safety and security. But you see, Lot's eyes lied to him, didn't they? Lot's eyes lied to him. Just like one of my very favorite sharks, perhaps of all the sharks, of the 500 species of sharks, the one with the coolest name, the tasseled wobbegong. That's right, the tasseled wobbegong. Its skin looks as if the Lord has spilled all of His tans, browns and blacks, and splotches all across this animal's amazing skin. Its chin is adorned with skin tags that look like coral fingers so that when the tasseled wobbegong is lurking in its coral layer, it's virtually invisible. And then it does something rather sinister. It just slowly fans its tail back and forth, mimicking the movement of other reef fish. So when another unsuspecting fish looks into this layer of death, they see the illusion of security. It must be safe. And when they get close enough, The tasseled wobbegong inhales them in the blink of an eye, and they're gone. I think the same thing happens to Lot. There is a way that seems right to a man, isn't there? But its way leads to death. Lot was blinded by the illusion of security, and he fails to see the depravity. and the danger lurking in Sodom and Gomorrah, and so he gets sucked in. It's interesting in chapter 13, by the end of the chapter we see that Lot is pitching his tent as far as Sodom and Gomorrah, but what happens in six chapters when we enter Sodom and Gomorrah? Lot has become the mayor of Sin City, and he has pledged his daughters in marriage to two Sodomites. He gets sucked in because his eyes lied to him, the eyes of a settler. But what about Abram's eyes? The eyes of not a settler but a sojourner. What about Abram's eyes? Look at verse 14. Then the Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated, lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are northward and southward, eastward and westward for all the land that you see I'll give to you and to your offspring forever. Lot lifted up his eyes and looked through the eyes of flesh, the eyes of a settler. But Abram lifted his eyes and looked through the eyes of faith, the eyes of a sojourner. Abram looked and saw the land, not the land that he would take possession of immediately, but he looked and saw the land that the Lord would give to him and to his offspring one day. But isn't it something? What does the Lord say? He says, look north. Look east, look south, look west. It's all going to be yours, not just the promised land, not just a tiny little sliver of the Mediterranean world, but it'll all be yours one day, and it will belong to your offspring. Now that's something we've heard before in Genesis 12 verse 7. Who is the offspring of Abram? The Hebrew word there is seed. as in the seed of the woman from Genesis 3.15. In one sense, Abram's offspring are all of those who descend from him by ordinary generation. Oh, but my friends, Paul, Paul lovingly comes and he pops the hood on this promise, and he tells us what's really going on here in this promise of offspring. Galatians 3.16, listen to how Paul explains this promise. Now, the promises were made to Abraham, yes, and to his offspring. It does not say, and to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, and to your offspring. And then Paul concludes, who is Christ? Do you hear what God is promising to Abraham here? He's preaching the gospel to Abram. Thousands of years before the Lord Jesus took on flesh, God is preaching the gospel to Abram, the good news that God's Son and Abram's Son was coming to vanquish evil, to destroy the forces of darkness, to cure the curse, to rule the entire world in perfect justice, power, and love. This is what God has promised one day, but not today. Lot looked and saw and chose and took. Abram looked and saw, and God said, trust me, one day. And then he does something. He invites Abraham to walk through the land, to survey it, to sample it. And as Abraham walked through the land, he would have seen something. He had to look past the Canaanites and the Perizzites living in the land. He had to look past his own age. He had to look past the barren womb of his own wife, and he had to keep walking by faith, which is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen. The writer to the Hebrews says, While Lot chose the city he could see, Abram looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. Lot, the settler. Abraham, the sojourner. Which are you as we close? Which are you, the settler or the sojourner? How do you navigate your course through this world? When you come to a fork and an important decision needs to be made, how do you make the choice? When the time comes, students, for you to pick your college that you'll apply to and go to, or to pick your major, or to commit yourself to a job or a career, how will you make those choices? When you consider who to date and how you're to conduct yourself in a dating relationship, how will you make those choices as a settler or as a sojourner? When you consider whether the Lord is calling you into marriage and who, what kind of a person He's calling you to marry and how He's calling you to conduct yourself within marriage. When the time comes to choose where to live, Whether or not to have children, how many children, how will we raise those children? Will we go to church? What kind of a church? How will we choose the church? How will we manage our finances? These are decisions that all of you make every day of every week. How do you make these choices? How do you navigate the course of this world? The settler lives horizontally. as if this world is all there is. The settler trusts his eyes like Lot and makes his choice, but the sojourner lives vertically. His head is in the clouds. His heart is in heaven. His hope is in the life to come. When a settler comes to the fork in the road, he follows his heart. But the sojourner remembers Jeremiah 17.9, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? So when a sojourner comes to the same fork in the road, he doesn't follow his heart, but rather he leans upon the Lord by calling out to him in prayer, by combing the Scriptures for truth and wisdom, and by seeking godly counsel. Which are you, friend? Which are you? A settler or a sojourner? How many times in a given week do you ask yourself or do you ask the Lord, what would you have me do? Oh my God. Which path would bring you the most glory and would bring me closest to the cross? And maybe there are some of you here this morning that have never even thought about the difference between the settler or the sojourner. Life lived horizontally and life lived vertically. But do you not feel it? The cold steel of spiritual bondage that has enslaved you to life under the sun. That's how the writer of Ecclesiastes put it. You're a prisoner to life under the sun. Search your soul, don't you hear it crying out to you? You were meant to live for so much more than this, the settler's life. This is not where you'll find your best life now. That's why Jesus is such a wonderful Savior, my friends, by His cross. He has crucified the world to you and you to the world. His blood has sealed your forgiveness, yes, but also your freedom. He has burst the caged door. You're free to fly over the sun. and to live as a sojourner in this world with your head in the clouds, your heart in the heavens, and your hope fixed on the life to come. He has freed you to fly over the sun, my friends, and he's also freed you to sing. This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. He has freed you to sojourn home to heaven. So we say, hallelujah. What a savior. Let me pray. Father, thank You for the freedom which You purchased at the cost of the blood of Your own Son. Help us, O Lord, to live life above the sun. Help us to live not horizontally, but to live vertically as sojourners, not settlers. For Your own glory as we wait for You, in Jesus' name, amen.