Life Up Your Eyes and Look!

Seeing with the Eyes of Faith
(Genesis 13, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, October 12, 2014)

The Lord has brought Abram through famine and danger.  He has gone to Egypt and now returns to the land God has promised to give him.  To protect his life, he did something of questionable ethics while in Egypt.  He lied about his wife, saying she was his sister.  Through all this, God has been faithful to his promise to bless Abram.  Now he returns to the altar he had previously built (13:3-4) where he worships the Lord there again.  The chapter also ends with him building another altar to the Lord.  Take not of this.  Whatever you have been through, come and worship the Lord.  If you have been through plenty or want, if you have lived righteously or not, come call upon the name of the Lord and put your trust once again in his promises and faithfulness.

While we wondered about Abram’s faith in the latter part of chapter 12, his faith seems vibrant in chapter 13.  In this account, Lot contrasts strongly with his uncle Abram.  God has prospered both men, and there isn’t enough land for both of them and their flocks.  Their herdsmen are having strife.  Abram takes the initiative to approach Lot.  He is the superior, as Lot’s uncle, but he defers to Lot in order to keep peace.  “Lot, there is enough land around to support us both.  You go wherever you would like and I’ll go someplace else.”  Does Lot do the honorable thing and put the ball back in Abram’s court, deferring to his uncle?  No, he looks around and chooses for himself what seems to him to be the best land, the fertile land of the Jordan Valley.  Lot lifts up own his eyes and chooses what he sees to be good.  Yet the narrative shows us that his choice was foolish.  The people of Sodom and the surrounding cities were “wicked, great sinners against the LORD,” and God was going to destroy the place.  We know from chapter 19 that this will mean trouble for Lot (see also 2 Peter 2:7-8).  Sometimes we make decisions not based on seeking God and listening to his Word, but simply based on what looks good to us at the moment, and we end up regretting it later.

Abram was trusting in God’s promises, and he was able to generously defer to his nephew.  He knew God would take care of him either way.  Seeing with the eyes of faith enables us to humbly love and serve.  We can put the needs of others before our own because we know the Lord will take care of us.  After Lot left, the Lord spoke to Abram.  He told Abram to lift up his eyes.  Lot lifted his own eyes to see what seemed best to him.  In contrast, God himself tells Abram to lift his eyes.  God shows Abram what he is promising him.  He will possess all this land and his offspring will be as numerous as the dust of the earth.  This requires Abram to see with the eyes of faith.  Yes, he is physically looking at all the land of Canaan.  But he does not actually possess it yet.  Nor does he and Sarai have a single child.  Yet he trusts God, and he is looking to an eternal inheritance (Hebrews 11:10, 16).  So he builds another altar to the Lord and worships.  The point is not that if we trust the Lord, everything will come together immediately, life will be easy, and we will get everything we want when we want it.  Yet if we trust God, he will bless us in the best possible way, in his own perfect timing.  This requires seeing with the eyes of faith, looking beyond what we can see in our current circumstances.  This is the way to joyful, humble, selfless, wise living.  It is the way of Jesus, who was willing to die for sinners because he was looking to the joy set before him which his Father had promised (Hebrews 12:2).  Our salvation was secured because Jesus looked through the eyes of faith.  And in faith now we set our eyes on him.

Put the Word to Work: Trust in God and his promises, rather than simply looking at what you can see in your circumstances.  God has promised you infinite good.  You are free to sacrifice and serve the needs of others.

Memory Verse from the Psalms of Ascents: Psalm 123:3-4 – Have mercy on us, O LORD… for we have had more than enough of contempt…

Gospel Reading: Matthew 14:34-36 – Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret