Tuesday, May 02, 2006
5.7.06 Sunday Sermon Notes
The Bad Girl of the Bible we're going to learn from this week is Lot's Wife. Let's call her Lottie.
Lottie is an interesting character, more by what she doesn't say, then what she does say. She communicates more to us by the one act of "looking back" then any other deed recorded of her (or non-deeds).
Lottie had a successful businessman for a husband, he had a prosperous ranch, he had a comfortable life in the city, and he was a civic leader. She had two beautiful daughters that were both engaged to important men. Lottie seemed to have it made. She had a husband who could provide for her, two daughters that she could take care of, and seemingly all the stuff and reputation a wife and mom could want. Except that the stuff and the reputation had a hold on her, she couldn't let go of them, and they wouldn't let go of her. When destruction came to the place of her stuff and reputation, she chose to let go of her family rather than let go of her stuff. She turned her back on a life with her family rather than on her life with her stuff.
Lottie doesn't say a lot in Scripture, and she is not recorded as doing much. She is a behind the scenes woman. She doesn't display overt power and influence, but she knows how to do it quietly, subversively, in the shadows, she knows how to use her influence without being noticed, she knows how to get what she wants, she knows how to push Lot's buttons.
Jesus asked the probing question: What good is it if you gain the whole world, but forfeit your soul?
Lottie lost her soul. She also lost her stuff. Lot lost his stuff. He lost his wife. He kept his daughters. He got another shot at life. His story is a whole other story. But it didn't include Lottie. She had her own plans, and her husband and daughters were a tool to get more stuff.
There is more that I can say about Lottie, but I'll save it for Sunday. You can read about her in Genesis 19.
Tim
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