Marcus Mecum - Life Lessons From Low Places
Genesis 19, Genesis 19. The scene that we’re gonna look at here or the story is of a man named Lot. And this is the famous biblical account that I’m sure you have heard of, of Sodom and Gomorrah. In verses 4 it says, «Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded Lot’s house. They called to Lot and said to him, 'where are the men who came with you tonight'? Speaking of two angels. 'Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally'. So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, and said, 'please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly'»!
I want you to notice here that Lot is endeavoring to be neutral in his faith. He’s trying to find the middle ground with people that really want nothing to do with his God, want nothing to do with who he is. He’s trying to be neutral so much so, watch what he does in verse 8. «See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man: please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish». That’s a big gasping point, is it not? Whenever you hear that you would think, «What parent would possibly do that»? What parent would possibly do that? Huh. «Only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof».
I’ve heard a lot of explanations about that. None of them make sense to me. Why would anyone give up their family? Why would anyone cause their own daughters to be vulnerable to such a thing? But yet they did that. «And they said, 'stand back'! Then they said, 'this is one who came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge: now we will deal worse with you than with them'. So, they pressed hard against the man, Lot, came near to break down the door. But the men reached out their hands, pulled,» the angels reached out their hands, «Pulled back Lot into the house with them, and shut the door».
We’ll stop there and I’ll be touching on the rest of that story as we go through it. Sodom and Gomorrah is located right by the Dead Sea, and geographically, this would be the lowest point on planet earth. That’s the location of the story we’re reading. And so, I wanna talk to you about «Life lessons from low places». I believe there is a very powerful message for those of you who are people of faith living in this broken world today. Lot is the nephew of Abraham who is called «The father of our faith,» so Lot would have grown up in at atmosphere of faith. He would have been raised watching Abraham build altars, make sacrifice, give offerings, and worship God. He would have been raised hearing about the promises of God, things like how the angel visited Abraham and called him to walk out of his tent, and look up in the sky, and said, «I want you to start to count the stars that are in the sky,» to be descriptive of how God was gonna bring forth from Abraham a people that would be God’s own people to bless the earth. Lot would have been raised around all of these types of moments.
As he got older, he chose to go his own way. He ended up living in a Godless city and raised a family of his own. He never really, fully walked away from his faith. You see him here trying to desire and accommodate the things of God even though he’s surrounded by a Godless culture. He’s hospitable to the godly activity. He even invites heaven or these two angels into his home. Yet, we watched Lot be neutral with his faith. It’s almost like he’s saying, «I don’t have to be extreme like uncle Abe». Uncle Abe was just over the top, just too much, just went too far, one of those Bible-thumpers. You know the kind I’m talking about. And so, I want us to look at what happens when you don’t learn life lessons in the low places.
Number one, there is no such thing as a neutral faith. The Bible says that men from every quarter of the city, young and old, surrounded Lot’s house and they’re knocking at the door of his home. Men of wicked carnality have surrounded his house, and they were after these two guest angels in his home. They were after what heaven had sent to his family. They were after the godly, heavenly activity in his home. Anything that was godly, anything that was holy, they were there to come and rip it out of their home. They would threaten. They would bully. They would offer ultimatum saying to Lot, «We’ll do worse with you than them. You better submit to our agenda or else».
Lot’s integrity is at stake. His family is at stake. His life and future are on the line. But yet, lot believes that he can have a neutral faith. Lot’s staying on the fence this time. He’s got his personal beliefs, but he doesn’t wanna offend anybody so he’s looking for compromise. He’s looking for common ground. He even goes to the extreme to say, «Okay, okay, I get it. You can have my daughters». No spine, no backbone, in any way or another. And even though we gasp at a story like this and think, «How could a man do this with his own family? How could a story like this be in the Bible»? Yet, if we look at our generation, much of the same thing is happening. We have our faith in this room, but outside of this room, the world is knocking on the door, taking our children, targeting our babies.
And we say, «I just wanna have a neutral faith». He’s negotiating with the demonic as if reason is in their vocabulary. It’s important to remember that demons don’t travel alone. You never see a demon by themselves. They’re always in legions. They say things like, «Let us alone. Don’t harm us». So, jude 1:7, Sodom and Gomorrah served as an example to us, is what the scripture says. That our lives are surrounded in the same way that Lot’s home was surrounded. If you take a stand for truth in our day, go ahead and try it, you’ll be bullied. You’ll be threatened. And the real message of the world is, «If you’ll have a neutral faith, we’ll leave you alone».
But notice, the world is never neutral. Hell is never neutral. Sin is never neutral. They are beating down the door of Lot’s home. They refuse to stop. They refuse to let up, and they’ll stop at nothing to destroy the lives within that home, because there is no such thing as a neutral faith. You have to understand the most compassionate message you can ever hear is one that says, «There is right and there is wrong. There is good and there is evil. There is light and there is darkness». That’s not unloving. That lacks no compassion. That is the most loving, gracious, wonderful, beautiful message you could ever be told that, «Jesus is the light, that Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life, and no one can come to the father but through him». You say, «But that’s not neutral. That’s offensive». But you have to know that it’s only Jesus that can snatch you out of the jaws of that old lion, the devil. There is no such thing as a neutral faith.
The second thing we learned from the low place is that eternity is no game. Genesis 19:14, Lot goes to his own son-in-laws. He’s telling his family, «There is a redemption plan. There is a way of escape. We can be free from all of this». But they thought he was joking. They laughed at the message of salvation. They mocked the message of salvation. And many people think that eternity is a joke or a game. But 1,000 years from now, every person in this room, every person that’s listening to me will still be alive. You’ll be alive in heaven or hell. We underestimate the brevity of life. Luke 17 says, «As it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah shall it be when Jesus returns». What were the days like? «Come on, man. Lighten up. Take it easy. Why are you being so intense? Why are you being so extreme»?
As if eternity is a game. But the Bible describes life as a vapor, that now is the time, that today is the day, that the message of salvation is not a joking matter. And the imagery that’s given in Lot’s story is these two angels come and they grab Lot by the hand. They grab his family by the hand, and they say, «We’ve gotta go now. We gotta get out of here. We’ve got the way out. We know exactly where to go. But you’ve got to grab our hands so we can get out of that». And the imagery is exactly what we need to have in our day. We need to be the type of people in our generation and with our families that will say, «Grab me by the hand. All that’s attacking you, all that’s coming against you. I’m not gonna leave you behind. I’m not going to give up on you. God will help us get out of this but you gotta take mercy by the hand».
I think about our Heavenly Father and that’s the picture that we’re given. How he lifts us out of judgement, how he leads us out of destructive lifestyles and destructive mindset, that mercy is faithful to grab you by the hand. Mercy is faithful to get down in the mess with you and come to where you are and say, «You can get out of this. You can be free from this, but you gotta take me by the hand». Eternity is not a game. The problem is there are those who will refuse his hand. There are those who will refuse mercy. Jesus said in Luke 17:32, «Remember Lot’s wife». Jesus gave this as a command, not an option, not a casual reminder, «Hey just think about this every now and then». He commanded. And the word remember means bring you attention to and force into your mentality.
What’s he talking about? He’s talking about how the angels were bringing them out. Mercy was bringing them out. And the Bible says that Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. She looked back at the low place that God had brought her out of. She looked back at the previous life. And what’s interesting is salt is the main component of the Dead Sea. So, what miss Lot thought would be a temporary glance became her permanent state. There are unalterable decisions you can make. There is a point of no return. This is not popular but listen to me. Some places are so low you permanently become what you thought you would just visit. You say, «I don’t like that».
Well, I buried young people. I’ve looked at families who, they just had one night, one moment, with the wrong crowd, one season in this lifestyle or that lifestyle, and an unalterable decision. See, the devil wants you to believe that it’s just an experiment. It’s just a season. You’re just visiting. But let’s remember that mercy’s hand can only bring you so far. The church can only bring you so far. That praying mom can only bring you so far. That spouse that keeps bringing you to church, they can only take you so far. And at some point, you have to make up your own mind to not look back. I’m amazed at how many people God brings them out of a toxic relationship just to go back to another one. God brings them out of the addiction just to go back to it. God brings them out of the bitterness just to go back to it. But at some point, you make the decision, «I’m coming out. I’m burning the bridges. The cross before me, the world behind me. When it comes to my eternity, I will not play a game».
Number three, you’ve got to get a new focus. Genesis 19:20 through 22, they’re on their way out of Sodom and Lot looks at those angels and he says to them, «Let us go to a nearby town called Zoar». What they’re saying is, «There must be more to all of this than just us getting out ourselves. Surely, there’s something else for us to go do. Surely, there’s somewhere else to go. Surely, there’s something else for us to do». And he realized that mercy’s hand’s not only there to lead us out, but it’s also there to lead us into something else.
Some of you are in church, you love Jesus. Your name’s written in the lamb’s book of life, but you find yourself empty, and you’re saying, «Why»? It’s because you have to remember the greatest command is «To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself». And then he adds to it that the second part as is as the first. So, you don’t separate love your neighbor as yourself from loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second part is like the first. It’s the same command. They work together. And mercy brings you out. God’s love brings you out. But once his love brings you out, your hand’s gotta go back and say, «I’m bringing my neighbor with me. I’m bringing my family with me. I’m bringing anybody I can with me. Because I have a new focus».
Someone looked for you. Someone reached out to you. Someone took time for you. Someone loved you. Someone had compassion on you. Mercy, used them. Now, it’s your turn. God said to Lot, «If you’ll go to Zoar, I’ll save that city». But he said, «You need to run to it. You’ve gotta get there. Don’t be neutral. Neutral is not worked. You must run to it». And God then said, «I cannot reach that city without you in it». Isn’t that something? «I want you to go, Lot. Get there. And if you’ll get there, I’ll save that city». A study by Gallup says, «65 million Americans don’t go to church. 34 million said they would go if they were invited». How many of you ended up in church 'cause someone invited you? Lift your hands. That’s something. Just somebody invited you. I went to church 'cause someone invited me. Think about that. What if they would have not invited me? I was willing to go.
Just needed someone to say, «The hand of mercy brought me out, now I’m gonna reach back and bring them out». The times reporter of new Philadelphia, Ohio, reported in September 1985 a celebration that was happening in north New Orleans municipal pool. This party around the pool was held to celebrate the first summer in memory without the drowning of anyone at any of New Orleans' pools. In honor of the occasion, they brought 200 different people to the event. One hundred were certified lifeguards. After the party was over and they were breaking up the crowds, four lifeguards who were on duty begin to clear the pool and they found a fully dressed body in the deep end. They tried to revive 31-year-old Jerome Moody, but it was too late. He had drowned surrounded by lifeguards celebrating their successful season.
All around us people are drowning in their loneliness, in their heartbreak, in their struggle, in their addictions, and we could help them. They’re right there but God’s brought us out and we’ve gotta get that focus back. We’ve gotta realize God said to Lot, «If you’ll get there, if you’ll go, if you’ll run, if you’ll not be neutral, if you’ll have a sense of urgency about you, and you’ll go, that will save that city».
And for some of us, the word Zoar means little. So, it’s not just the big city, sometimes it’s just a little thing, a little place. It’s just that little job. It’s just that little class at school. It’s just that little team that you’re on at school. It’s not always a big thing. It’s just, some of us think, well, God’s gotta do something big for me to be used great by God. But God took Lot and said, «I’m gonna take you and send you to, maybe, a small place, but it’ll make a big difference». As Christians, we should show up in church and celebrate. We should show up and rejoice because of what God’s done in our life. But our mission is as the old hymn says, «To rescue those who are perishing,» and they’re often right next to us.
Number four, we have to touch heaven so we can change earth. Lot was not the Savior of Zoar. However, he was part of their salvation story. C.H. Spurgeon says in his conversion that he had gone to church since he was a little boy, went to Sunday school classes and heard sermons, sang songs, but the first time he heard the gospel, he understood it as though he had never heard it before. Like he living in a village in central Africa. Something was different this time when he heard it. Something happened this time when he heard it. What he had been blind to before, suddenly, the blinders were lifted. When it comes to the lost, acts 26 says, they’re under satan’s authority.
Mark 3 says they’re in a strong man’s house. Which simply means that they don’t just get out because they want to, that the gospel means nothing to them. And even if you try to share it with them, if you’ve not prayed for them first, it’s like asking a blind man to understand the beauty of the sunset. Only the Holy Spirit can lift the blinders. This is why you have to be cautious to not just preach to people that you’ve not prayed for. Should we share our faith? Absolutely. Should we invite people to church? Yes. But if you’re not willing to pray for them, you should not invite them. Charles Finney said in case of a friend away from God, their condition on which they are to be saved from hell maybe hinging on your prayer for that individual.
We put all kinds of pressure on ourselves to reach people, but the true pressure we should put on ourselves is, «Have I prayed for them? Have I mentioned their name in the ear of God»? And every person deserves to have their name mentioned in God’s ear. People are too valuable to not pray. And that should be our commitment to pray and never quit for our families, or friends, our city, or nation, and our world. 1 Timothy 2:1 says, this is not like third or fourth on the list. It says, «I encourage you first to pray for all men».
The word first in Greek is the word proton. It means foremost in time, place, and importance. There is nothing more important praying for men, praying for people that are away from God. It gets no greater. There is no more supreme call than prayer for people that are away from God. You say, «Well, I think God can do whatever he wants with whoever he wants whenever he wants». That’s true but you have to remember in Mark 2:5 that these four friends grabbed the paralytic, ripped the roof off of the house. And it didn’t say Jesus saw the paralytic’s faith. It says, «Jesus saw their faith,» and then he said to the man to take up his bed and to walk, that his sins were forgiven.
And the simple reality is God uses men to reach men. Jesus is hanging on the cross, and the very soldier that pierced his side was turned by the prayer of Christ. Which means, no matter how hard hearted they seem, prayer can turn anyone. You may say, «I can’t reach other people. Marcus, you’re lucky I just got to church today. My life is a wreck. My life is a mess. I have no business reaching out to anyone else». That’s a major lie. Your prayers are not heard or accepted because of how right you are, they are received because of how right Jesus is. Our job is to not be perfect. Our job is to not get it altogether. Our job is to say, «I’m a mess,» but point them to the one who can clean it all up.