The Life of Faith 04

Faith and Priorities

Genesis 14:1-24 Introduction: Somebody gave me a desk calendar for Christmas called, 365 Dumbest things ever said. One of the entrees was a letter mailed to Bushnell Florida Assembly of God Church from the American Family Publishers announcing God was a finalist for the $11,000,000 top prize. It read: "God, we've been searching for you. What an incredible fortune there would be for God! Could you imagine the looks you'd get from the 1 neighbors? But don't just sit there, God. The mistake is almost like a Freudian slip. Our culture has become so materialistic that Im sure there are some who think even God could benefit from $11,000,000. And there are surely plenty of preachers who bend over backward to wrap Jesus in the silk threads of Madison Ave. We are so inundated with the constant barrage of stuff that we cannot be unaffected. Dobson writes, Perhaps the most devastating and most demonic part of advertising is that it attempts to persuade us that material possessions will bring joy and fulfillment. Advertisers promise that their products will satisfy our deepest needs and inner longings for love, acceptance, security and sexual fulfillment. The right deodorant, they promise, will bring acceptance and friendship. The newest toothpaste or shampoo will make one irresistible. A house or bank account will guarantee security and love. Examples are everywhere. A bank in Washington, D.C. recently advertised for new savings accounts with the question: Whos gonna love you when youre old and gray? Our savings bank sponsors a particularly enticing ad: Put a little love away. Everybody needs a penny for a rainy day. Put a little love away. Those words are unbiblical, heretical, demonic. They teach the big lie of our secular, materialistic society. But the words and music are so seductive that they dance through my head hundreds of times.

If no one paid any attention to these lies, they would be harmless. But that is impossible. Advertising has a powerful effect on all of us. It shapes the values of our children. Many people in our society truly believe that more possessions will bring acceptance and happiness. In its Life-Style section, Newsweek recently described the craze for $150 belt buckles, $695 rattlesnake belts and exceedingly expensive jewelry. A concluding comment by New York jewelry designer Barry Kieselstein shows how people search for meaning and friendship in things: A nice piece of jewelry you can relate to is 2 like having a friend whos always there. As believers we must not succumb to the message of Madison Ave. Jesus said, Luke 12:15 And He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." Now, dont misunderstand, this does not mean that being a Christian precludes you from having wealth. As we will see in this text tonight, Abraham had a great deal of wealth. The key is that the wealth did not have Abraham. His faith shaped what he valued. Faith effected priorities. As it must in us too. True faith. Genuine faith, will change your priorities. See this in the story of Abraham and Lot. Remember the context of Chapter 12. There was a dispute between Abrahams men and Lots men. The herd were too large and the land couldnt handle them. So Abraham graciously gave Lot the first choice. Even then you see something in Lot that is disturbing. Lot wanted the Valley that contained the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The end of verse 12 is very telling it says that lot moved his tents as far as Sodom. Notice that in verse 13 the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD. Lot moved toward the values of the world. At the same time Abraham seems to have been moving away from those values. Chapter 13 is the first great crisis for Lot. But the key is in how Abraham responded. Exegesis.

365 Dumbest things ever said. March 14, 1999. Workman Publishing

Dobson I think

Verses 1-3. Used to be those who dismissed this as a historical impossibility. Today archeological evidence of a thriving civilization. During the time of Christ Josephus wrote that it was possible to see the remains of ancient cities south of the Dead Sea. In 1924 Albright discovered an Early Bronze Age site, Bab edh-Dhra. In 1960 they found a large city and a cemetery. Since 1973 they have located several other cities in the region. Environmental surveys reveal that the land was more fertile in the third millennium BC Enough water to support a sizable economy. Bab edhDhra and a neighboring city, Numeira both met violent ends in about 2350 BC. So there is a four king confederation led by Chedorlaomer attacking a five king alliance. Surprisingly the four king army won the battle. Verse 8, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah felt they could take him. Interesting in this is how disenfranchised Abram was. Not a part of the power structure. By now his tribe was quite large. Lean and mean. Verses 11- 12. They also took Lot, Abrams nephew. Verse 13 first time anyone is called Hebrew. Descendents of Eber. Many references in the Egyptian writings of Hapiru. Especially from Pepi. Verse 14 this gives some idea of the clan tribe of Abram. Fairly substantial. Could muster 318 soldiers. I picture the habits of Ghingis Khan. Verse 15 used stealth. Came by night. Verse 16 brought back everything. Verse 17 Kings valley is one of the valleys surrounding Jerusalem. Verse 18, Melchezidek is a type of Christ. When the writer of Hebrews wanted to point to the priesthood of Christ he pointed not to Aaron, but to Melchezidek. Priest of God, predates Aaron and the Levites. Explain. Jesus high priest. Only could be Levite. Notice, bread and wine. The ten percent proves Melchezideks superiority. Verse 23 Abram refused anything.

Three principles on Priorities:

I. Faith Affects our Priorities Concerning Stuff and People 14:13-16

Abraham could have easily written Lot off as a lost cause. Lot deserved it. A note in verse 12 indicates that Lot knew in advance that the cities were wicked. He wanted that land but couldnt resist the city. Abraham could have said, Those five kings are too much. I cant do it . . . Lot, Im sorry boy, but you made your bed, now you will have to lie in it. Abram never did that. His faith kept the priority of a relationship in place. Lot mattered more than loss. See here the priority of people. Relationships matter more than our comfort or our stuff. And sometimes we have to care enough about other people to get out of our comfortable shells and get involved. This was risky. This was expensive. This was time-consuming. This was exhausting.

But Lot mattered enough that Abraham did what he had to. See in this how faith shapes priorities. Really find out what you value when you have to choose between things. Ill. . .A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under an eight-point buck. "Where's Harry?" he was asked. "Harry had a stroke of some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail." "You left Harry laying there, and carried the deer back?" "Well," said the hunter, "I figured no one was going to steal Harry." Sometimes you might be challenged to stand in the gap for someone else. At the office when someones character is being assassinated. At school, where an innocent person is being brutalized. Might have to love them enough to tell them about Christ. Yes, it is a risk. You have to move against the popular opinion. At that point what you believe about God will be visible in the priorities you place on relationships.

II. Faith Affects Our Priorities Concerning Stuff and Us. 14:17-20
Not only was it financially costly and risky to put together a rescue campaign, look what Abraham did when he came back from the victory. By the way, it is after a victory when the real test of faith occurs. You really find out about your priorities after a victory. Thats when the test comes. I say that because we tend to think that the greatest tests of faith are before or during the battles. When life is tough faith is tested. Only partially true. Real test is in success. Proverbs PR 27:21 The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, And a man is tested by the praise accorded him. A wise man once said, adversity is hard on a man but for every hundred men that can withstand adversity there is only one against and prosperity. Abraham gave a tenth to Melchezidek. Genesis 14:18-20. Hebrews 7:1 says that Melchezidek was a type of Christ. The writer of Hebrews uses this to show that Jesus was not a priest according to the order of Aaron. He was a priest according to the order of Melchezidek. The principle here is the tithe. Abraham was giving a tenth of the spoils or earnings to a man who was a type of the Lord. This demonstrates his priorities with His possessions. What are your priorities when it comes to things? Ill. . . Marjory Holmes condensed the essence of this: Help me not to put too much stock in possessions, Lord. I want things, sure. But life seems to be a continual round of wanting things -- from the first toys we fight over as children to our thrilled unwrapping of wedding presents to those we buy in our old age. Our concern is not primarily love and friends and pride in what we can do, but things. Sometimes I'm ashamed of how much I want mere possessions -- things for my husband and the house and the children. Yes, and things for myself, too. And this hunger is enhanced every time I turn on the television or walk through a shopping mall.

My senses are tormented by the dazzling world of things. Lord, cool these fires of wanting. Help me to realize how futile is this passion for possessions. Because -- and this is what strips my values to the bone -- one of my best friends died today in the very midst of her possessions. She was in the beautiful home she and her husband worked so hard to achieve, the home that was finally furnished the way she wanted it with the best of everything. She was surrounded by the Oriental rugs she was so proud of, the formal French sofas, the painting, the china and glass, the handsome silver service...She had been snatched away while silently, almost cruelly, THEY remain. Lord, I grieve for my friend. My heard hurts that she had so little time to enjoy the things that she had earned and that meant so much to her. But let me learn something from this loss; that possessions are meant to enhance life, not to become the main focus of living. Help me remember that we come into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing. Don't let me put too much stock in mere possessions. Faith changes your priorities with Stuff. Most importantly, faith changes your priorities with God and stuff.

III. Faith Affects Our Priorities Concerning Stuff and God. 14:21-24
Abraham did not have to give everything back, but he did. Not for Sodom. For God. He could have come up with many of reasons not too. They didnt deserve it. I put my neck in the noose. Abraham did none of that. A deal was a deal. He promised God and he would make good the vow. Ron Blue, a financial consultant says that he believes our checkbooks will precede us to heaven because our checkbooks are the clearest indicators of our priorities. What is valuable to you? That will be seen through what you do with your money. Conclusion: A teacher taught in one of the old one-room schoolhouses in upstate NY. One child they called special. What we might call slow. Christmas came and they wanted to do a pageant. The boy wanted a part. Not just a standing part, but a speaking part. Everyone worried that he couldnt remember. So they gave him the part of the innkeeper. Mary and Joseph knocked at the door of the inn, he was to open it and

say, NO Room! Mary would say something and when she finished he was to repeat, NO Room! Just to make sure he remembered they put a person close to poke him and remind him of his line. Night of the pageant all went well. Mary and Joseph got to the inn. Mary knocked. When our little friend opened the door he said his line, NO ROOM! Mary responded, But sire, its cold. Have you no place at all where we can stay? Its freezing and Im sick. Im going to have a baby, and unless you help us my baby will be born in the cold, cold night. The boy just stood there and said nothing. The prompter nudged him and whispered, NO room! Say no room. The boy turned to the prompter and blurted out, I know what Im supposed to say! But she can have my room! To some loving comes easily and almost without thinking. How has your faith altered your priorities? Has it? How are you doing with materialism?