Lectionary
Judges 2:1-4; James 1:21-25 Mark 7:9-13
Sermon Text
Genesis 13:5-18, New International Version (NIV)
5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”
10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”
18 So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.
Genesis 14:14-16, New International Version (NIV)
14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.
Sooner or later as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, we discover that the only real problems we have are those of our own making.
God was more than clear with Israel. The messenger of the Lord came up to them from Gilgal to “Bokim” the place of tears and said: “I brought you out of Egypt to this land that I promised to Abraham and swore that I would never break my agreement with you, but you have broken yours. “You were not supposed to absorb and integrate with, make any agreements with, or bind yourselves spiritually or morally with the people living around you in this land. “You were not supposed to assimilate.
The word assimilate also has a biological meaning—to be digested. It also means to resemble, to make a sound like something or someone else. God was clear. Do not mimic their behavior, embrace their belief system and copy their style of dress and speech. Don’t seek to worship what they worship, to value what they value. Be a “radical disciple.”
But instead of destroying their idols, Israel worshiped them. Instead, they embraced wholeheartedly what God had forbidden. If we do not give assent to the Word that God has given us, we will assimilate what is contrary to God.
God had a judgment for their behavior: “Since you have disobeyed me, I will not drive them out of the land. They will be thorns in your sides.” When we refuse to surrender, we assimilate. We take on trouble and invite disaster.
Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. And all that is in the world, the desires of human nature, the lure of what we see and our own pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever — (1 John 2:15-17).”
Assent is an important word for our relationship with God. The Latin roots of the word mean Assen=”TOWARD” and Tiri=”feel/think”. Assentiri refers to a passionate action, a move toward or affirming a strong feeling based on our having thought about something. Everything we agree to that God has placed within us is really an affirmation of our love for God, our deep feeling for God, our deep longing for pure, authentic and genuine life.
The thorns we have are of our own doing, and likewise the goal of our devotional life is to free ourselves from what we have conditioned ourselves to accept. It is the same struggle between the “Tree of Life” and the “Tree of EVERYTHING (good and evil).” The Article of Religion of the United Methodist Church, known as Number XX, “Of the One Oblation of Christ Finished upon the Cross” reads — “The offering of Christ, once made, is that perfect redemption, propitiation and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone.”
James writes to the church, “So don’t just sit there regretting your mistakes, your sins. Get rid of all the evil in your lives, and in humility accept the Word that God has planted in your hearts.” What is James talking about here in verse 21? God has planted a strong passion, a strong love for God and the things of God in us through Christ in us. This ancient Article of Religion says, “We can get satisfaction.”
Christ has been planted in us through faith, and that planting of Christ includes God’s life, God’s will and God’s plan. So it is not a question of arguing with someone, being convinced of a thing, seeking it through long seasons of prayer.
No. James calls on the church to exercise the humility of yielding to the Word that God has already planted in us. We already know what God wants. Arguing with someone, even other Christians, the pastor, a Disciple Bible student or leader, a family member or friend, or even with God, is a tactic of avoiding what we already know.
We know that God wants us to give assent, to humbly accept that which we know to be good and right and just and honorable and fruitful and purposeful and complete.
In Genesis 12:1, we read, “God told Abraham, ‘God from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land that I will show you.’” We read in verse 4, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.”
God did not call Lot. Lot decided that he would go along for the adventure. Jesus was very clear, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him (or calls him.” This was not Lot’s call. He surely had a call, but it was not the one God gave to Abram. We must always discern God’s call to us. Indeed, God has a call for each of us, but it is not God’s call to someone else. No co-dependency with God. Each of us must bear the cross. “There’s a cross for everyone and there’s a cross for me.”
Trouble came, of Lot’s own making. Chapter 13:4 tells us Abram went to where he had first built an altar, and he worshipped the Lord. Lot did not worship. Lot had not built an taltar. Lot was not in the loop. He was on the outside of God’s will looking in. But because he was with Abram, he also got blessed. But was it a blessing?
Abram was blessed with flocks and herds and tents and Lot was blessed with flocks and herds and tents but verse 6 tells us, “The land could not support them both while they stayed together.” Conflict broke out, so Abram, whom God had called, decided:
There’s plenty of land for both of us. You go right and I will go left, or you go left and I will go right. Abram had worshiped. He had sought God’s will. He had confirmed God’s call by calling on God’s name. We confirm our call through worship, through prayer, through meditation, through the study of God’s Word, by communion with God night and day.
Lot had nothing to confirm. So he depended on the Tree of Everything. He chose what looked good because he was without God’s direction:
10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
When you have no call you get assimilated into the world. When you have not given God your assent, and continue to desire what your eyes see, what your ego craves, what all your senses find satisfying, what even seems reasonable and clear—you are being assimilated, absorbed, controlled by the world’s passion rather than your passion, your assent for God.
After Lot had gone, following the passions that stirred in him from seeing the beautiful plain of the Jordan River Valley, we read:
14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”
18 So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.
James finishes the passage with a warning, even to those who are sure of our calling:
Don’t just listen to God’s Word, in you and in the Bible—you must do what it says.” To not listen is like someone who glances in the mirror, and as soon as she has walked away, she forgets what she looks like. We call that spiritual amnesia. But if you assent, if you passionately pursue that Word and make it a part of you, God will bless you.
Walking with God, there is no threat of assimilation; there is no fear of amnesia. When we walk with God, we are storing up future blessing that we might not even live to see. What Abram built in Hebron where God planted him in the land of Canaan, became the capitol city of Israel. David ruled from Hebron for his first seven years. And because he adhered to, trusted in and relied upon God, God declared him righteous and blessed him as a nation of righteousness. God can do the same for us. God can deliver us from Assimilation and Amnesia as we assent to his divine presence in us, and yield fully to its direction.
To the one God our loving father and friend. Amen.