Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.
! It's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
A special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.
We're glad that you're here.
And we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good, they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it.
Which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.
This morning we're continuing our series in the book of Genesis, and specifically Genesis chapters 12 through 25, which tell the story of Abraham.
And we're doing that for two reasons.
First, to prepare us to return to our series in the book of Romans, we're going to pick up probably in September in Romans chapter 4, and chapter 4 tells the story of Abraham.
The second reason is it allows us to ask this question, what does it look like to follow God in faith?
This morning we're going to come to one of the hardest passages in Genesis, if not the entire Bible, hard for its content, and I'll just be blunt and name it.
This is a story, a story of Lot that's about incest.
And so we have to ask this question, how do Christians find themselves in such gross sin?
And I say Christians because in the New Testament, 2 Peter chapter 2 tells us, Lot was righteous.
In fact, that's the words they use.
Peter says, righteous Lot.
And so there's a warning story for us here.
Our question is this, why, how did Lot's daughters fall so low?
Why did they do this?
And how can we avoid the same?
So with that, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 19.
You can turn in your Bible.
You can turn in your worship guide.
You can turn on your phone.
No matter where you go, remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us that his word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold.
And it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
So that's why we read now Genesis chapter 19, starting at verse 30.
Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar.
So he lived in a cave with his two daughters.
And the firstborn said to the younger, our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come into us after the manner of all the earth.
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him that we may preserve offspring from our father.
So they made their father drink wine that night.
And the firstborn went in and lay with her father.
He did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
Verse 34.
The next day the firstborn said to the younger, behold, I lay last night with my father.
Let us make him drink wine tonight also.
Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.
So they made their father drink wine that night also.
And the younger arose and lay with him.
And he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
Thus, both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.
The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab.
He is the father of the Moabites to this day.
The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammai.
He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our father in heaven, we do praise you and thank you again for your word that you've given us.
To direct us and warn us and guide us and comfort us.
Most of all, to show us Jesus.
That we would follow him in faith and obedience.
We ask that you would help us this morning as we look at this difficult passage.
For people who are pressed in on by the world, the flesh, and the devil.
That in the midst of that, you would remind us of what's true.
You'd remind us of yourself.
Remind us and show us the way to go.
Most of all, we ask that you would make Jesus more and more beautiful to us.
That we would see his glory and beauty and majesty and holiness.
His mercy, his grace, and his love.
That we'd love him and follow him more and more.
And we ask all of these things in his mighty name.
Amen.
In his book, The Revenge of the Tipping Point,
Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of a man named Philip S. Formes,
who was convicted in 2019 of Medicare fraud.
Over 20 years, Philip had defrauded the Medicare and the Medicaid system
of a total of 1.3 billion.
That's billion with a B dollars.
Now, by some accounts, Philip was a great guy.
And so there were folks who came to his sentencing hearing
to talk about what a great guy Philip was.
And one of the men who came to testify was the rabbi
that had been with Philip's family for many, many years.
And the rabbi says, look, the problems with Philip didn't start
until he moved from Chicago to Miami.
Really, this is a problem of location.
In Chicago, Philip was a great, great man.
In Miami, he became a crook.
And so you all need to take that into account as you sentence him.
The problem is environment.
Now, there is some truth to that.
Miami happens to be the headquarters
by a large bit of Medicare and Medicaid fraud.
And the book goes into a variety of factors to explain
that if you're in Miami,
the odds of you participating in that are much higher.
Gladwell goes on to say this.
This is on page seven of your worship guide.
Communities have their own stories,
and those stories are contagious.
Now, you might say, that's silly.
Philip did what he did.
His environment had almost nothing to do with that.
The reality is this.
We are affected by the world around us
more than we think.
We're affected by the world around us
more than we think.
In fact, a study came out a number of years ago
that said this.
If your friend gets divorced,
you are 75% more likely to get divorced.
If a friend of a friend gets divorced,
you are 33% more likely to get divorced.
The study's subtitle is this.
Breaking up is hard to do
unless everyone else is doing it.
There's a phenomenon there called social contagion,
which is simply saying behaviors
and norms spread among communities.
There's a sense in which sin is contagious.
There's a sense in which righteousness is contagious.
Now, that brings us back to our question,
why did Lot's daughters do this?
Why did Lot's daughters decide
it was a good idea to have incest with their father?
And there are many reasons.
One of them is this.
Lot's daughters had been discipled by Sodom.
Communities have their own stories
and those stories are contagious.
And what is the story that Sodom is telling?
You guys looked last week.
The story of Sodom is a story of sexual sin.
And so those things had become normalized, right?
Week by week, year by year, decade by decade,
Lot's daughters had become desensitized.
They lived in a world of sexual sin.
Sexual sin seemed less and less scandalous.
Of course, I don't say any of this
to excuse anyone's behavior, right?
Philip S. Formas is responsible
for his $1.3 billion of fraud.
Lot's daughters are responsible
for what they did with their father.
The point is this.
The world and its values
are always pressing in on us.
The world and its values
are always pressing in on us.
What was disgraceful 50 years ago
is normal in 2025,
often and sadly,
even of Christians.
We have immodest celebrities,
and so guess what?
We have immodest Christians.
We have a materialistic culture,
and so guess what?
We have materialistic Christians.
We have politicians
who are crass and cynical,
and so guess what?
We have Christians
who are crass and cynical.
We have a world
that takes marriage vows lightly,
and so guess what?
We have Christians
that take marriage vows lightly.
The environment around us
is always discipling us.
The environment around us
is always discipling us.
We are pulled along
by the path of least resistance,
changed little by little
by osmosis.
Is there anything I need to do
to try to fix this?
No?
Okay.
We're going to continue.
What do we do?
All right,
if we say they're discipled by Sodom,
that's the challenge,
that's the problem,
that's one of the answers
to why Lot's daughters did this,
many people are going to be tempted,
right, to say,
well, if Sodom is the problem,
then getting away from Sodom
must be the solution, right?
If the challenge
is that the world around us
is pressing in on us,
then what should we do?
Well, we have to create
a holy huddle, right?
We can circle our wagons
and make sure
the culture doesn't get to us.
It's what I call
the dandelion theory of Christianity.
Why do I have dandelions in my yard?
It's my neighbor's fault.
If he didn't have dandelions,
they wouldn't blow it.
My yard's perfect,
except for those things outside, right?
And we know that's not true.
As I've told you many times,
Alexander Solzhenitsyn said,
the line between good and evil
cuts through every human heart.
And so the holy huddle is tempting,
not the solution.
And we know it's not the solution
because of what we've already read.
John told us from John chapter 17,
Jesus says,
I want my disciples to be in the world,
but not of the world.
So at first glance,
what's intuitive is,
okay, discipled by Sodom,
let's run away from Sodom.
Discipled by the culture,
let's circle the wagons.
The problem is that Jesus says this,
verse 14,
you guys can go to page three
of your worship guide.
I have given them your word
and the world has hated them
because they are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world.
But verse 15,
I do not ask them,
ask that you take them out of the world,
but that you keep them from the evil one.
They are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world.
Okay, so part of the problem is
Lot's daughters have been discipled by Sodom.
The solution, however,
is not to hide from the world
because Jesus tells us
to be in it,
but not of it.
So what are we supposed to do?
We're supposed to be in it,
but not of it.
We don't want to be discipled by the world.
What's the answer?
Thankfully, Jesus does not leave us
to wonder that either.
Verse 17,
he gives us the answer.
Sanctify them in the truth.
Your word is truth.
How do we avoid being discipled
by the world?
We avoid it
by being formed and shaped
by God's word.
How do we avoid being discipled
by the world?
We avoid it by being shaped
and formed by God's word
constantly over and over again.
The problem is not just
that Lot is in Sodom.
The problem is that Lot
is a lone ranger.
Remember, he's separated from Abraham.
He's been years away
from anyone who could remind him
of what the truth,
the reality really is.
If communities tell stories
stories,
and those stories are contagious,
the answer is not to run
from the world.
The answer is to be
in the community
that's telling
the true story.
That's what we're doing
this morning.
We are here
to be in the community
that story is true
and contagious
as we're pressed in on
by the story
of the world.
Kids,
I hope
if you want to go to college,
and you don't have to,
that you go to the best college
you can get into,
the best college
you can afford.
But,
is there
a church there?
Is there a good church?
Is there a church
that's going to shape you
and form you,
right,
as the world
is pressing in on you?
If there isn't,
don't go.
Don't go.
Right?
Nothing else
matters.
Now,
I know many of you
are in the military.
You don't have a choice
about where you move,
right?
You are told,
and if you don't go,
you have the joy
of being arrested
and being put in prison.
Some of you,
though,
do have a choice.
When you're thinking
about moving
to a new place,
your first question
is this.
Are there
Christians
there?
Is there
a community
that is telling
the truth?
Is there
a place
where I can be
shaped
and formed?
I don't care
how good
the job offer
is
if you don't
have that.
Nothing
else
matters.
Hebrews chapter 3,
verse 13,
says,
exhort one another
every day
as long as
it's called
today
that none
of you
may be
hardened
by the
deceitfulness
of sin.
She's telling us
this.
Day by day,
we're tempted.
Should I just
switch to this mic?
Oh,
I'm already on this mic.
Oh,
okay.
It explains so much.
Exhort one another
as long as
it's called
today,
right?
Because the sin
is deceitful,
we need other
people around us
telling us over
and over again
what's true.
The new members
class,
we talk about
the importance
of actually being
here on Sunday
morning,
that we want
our members
to be here
unless something
providential is
keeping them
away.
And I say
that not
because we're
legalists,
not because I'm
a pastor and
that's what I'm
supposed to tell
you.
I say that
because the
world,
the flesh,
and the devil
press in on
you every
week.
And you need
to be reminded
and shaped
and formed
every week
by a different
story.
And remember,
it's not just
the world
and the devil,
it's also
the flesh.
Some people
will say,
oh,
well,
you know,
I've been a
Christian a long
time,
I'm not going
to lose the
plot,
you know,
and really
what they mean
by that is
I'm not going
to commit
adultery
or murder
anyone.
You know,
I'm not at
risk of that
if I don't
go to church.
What about
your greed?
What about
your cynicism?
What about
Jesus being
more precious
than anything
else?
What about
a tender
heart?
Exhort one
another every
day,
as long as
it is called
today,
that none
of you may
be hardened
by the
deceitfulness
of sin.
Why did
Lot's daughters
do this?
They did it
because they
were discipled
by Sodom.
That wasn't
the only reason
though.
It's not just
that they're
discipled by
Sodom,
they were
also discipled
by Lot.
There's an
old cliche
in parenting
that says
that values
are more
caught
than taught.
God.
It's a way
of saying
your kids
care a lot
more about
what you
do than
what you
say.
Lot's
daughters
very well
may have
been taught
about the
one true
God.
But what
was it
that Lot's
daughters
caught?
What Lot's
daughters
caught is
that none
of that
matters
when the
going gets
tough.
What they
caught is
that when
you're in
a bind,
you can
throw
everything
God has
said out
the window.
And you
know that
if you were
here with
us last
week,
chapter 19
at the
beginning,
what happens?
Lot has
these visitors
who come
to him,
they're
threatening
violence
to Lot
and his
guests,
and he
says,
Behold,
I have
two daughters
who have
not known
any man.
Let me
bring them
out to
you and
do to
them as
you please.
What did
Lot's
daughters
catch?
When
problems
arise,
it's
totally
fine to
use your
family members
sexually.
That's what
they caught.
Doesn't matter
what Lot
had taught
them,
that's what
he showed
them.
When you
are up
against the
wall,
God's
law can
go out
the window.
And so
there's this
rich
irony,
this tragic
irony here.
The beginning
of chapter
19,
Lot offers
his daughters
up.
The end
of chapter
19,
Lot's
daughters
offer
him
up.
Lot's
pragmatism,
his fear,
his selfishness
come
back.
They
boomerang
onto his
own head.
What he
thought was
the smart
move,
comes back
to catch
him.
Years ago,
I was a
deacon at
another church
in another
part of the
country,
another time,
and we
had this
joint meeting
between the
elders and
the deacons
because there
was an ugly
divorce that
was happening
in the
church.
And it
was sort
of this
he said,
she said
situation.
The wife
said the
husband was
terrible,
and the
husband said
the wife
was terrible.
And the
senior
pastor sat
down with
all of
us,
and he
said,
look,
we really
don't know
the truth
here.
We don't
know who's
telling us
what's
right.
And then he
said something
I'll never
forget.
He said,
the only
people who
know the
truth are
the kids.
brothers and
sisters,
our children
always know.
You can
fool many
people.
You cannot
fool your
kids.
The reason
is this.
They see you
behind closed
doors.
They see you
at your best.
They see you
at your
worst.
They know
what you
really care
about.
They know
what makes
you angry.
They know
what makes
you happy.
They know
what you're
willing to
sacrifice for.
They know
what you're
willing to
spend your
money on
and what
you're not
willing to
spend your
money on.
They know
when you
love comfort
and money
and respect
and convenience
and honor
and power
more than
God.
the children
always
know.
One of the
most painful
parts of
parenting
is seeing
your own
sins
reflected back
to you
and your
kids.
The point
here is
this.
Your
children
need
your
godliness
more
than
anything
else.
your
children
need
your
godliness
more
than
anything
else.
They need
it more
than your
money.
They need
it more
than your
success.
They need
it more
than peak
experiences
and great
vacations.
They need
it more
than being
on every
sports team.
I'm not
saying those
things are
bad.
I'm not
saying they
don't
matter.
I'm
saying
they're
secondary.
Lot's
daughters
were not
just
discipled
by
Sodom.
They
were
discipled
by
Lot.
The
children
always
know.
Proverbs
chapter 15
verse 17
tells us
better is
a dinner
of herbs
where love
is than
a fattened
ox and
hatred
with it.
Do you
want your
children to
be blessed?
You need
to do two
things.
More than
anything else,
you need to
love God
and love
your spouse.
Other
things matter.
They don't
matter as
much.
If you want
your children
to be
blessed,
love God
and love
your spouse.
Children
always
know.
Remember
we're asking
this question
about why
Lot's
daughters
did this.
We saw
they've been
discipled by
Sodom.
They've also
been discipled
by Lot.
There's a
third reason
that they
do it
and that's
this.
They have
no future.
They do
it because
they're
desperate.
Look at
me at
verse 31.
The firstborn
said to the
younger,
our father
is old
and there
is not a
man on
earth to
come into
us after
the manner
of all
the earth.
In other
words,
if we
don't do
this,
there's no
future.
there's no
other option
for us to
have
children.
Same thing
in verse
34.
Let us
make him
drink wine
tonight also
that you
may go
in and
lie with
him that
we may
preserve
offspring
from our
father.
We can
throw Lot's
daughters under
the bus all
day and we
should,
right?
What they do
here is wicked
and we can
also understand,
right?
This is in the
ancient Near
East.
What's more
important than
having a
future?
What's more
important than
the next
generation?
And where
has Lot
left his
daughters?
He's left
them with no
other option.
Why?
Because Lot
loved the
world and
the things
of the
world.
Why are
they even
in a
cave?
Verse 30.
Because they
are in this
city,
Zoar,
and that
city is so
dangerous that
they fled.
We might
say,
wow,
how the
mighty have
fallen,
right?
Chapter 13,
Lot is given
this choice to
choose land and
he chooses the
land that is
most likely to
give him the
good life,
the land that's
right next to
Sodom.
In the next
chapter,
chapter 14,
we find he's
not just next to
Sodom,
he's moved
into Sodom
because Lot
wants the
good life more
than anything
else.
Remember 13,
he looks and
he sees how
great this
land is.
And so we're
meant to look
here and see
the contrast.
Lot chose
the very best
land.
And where
does he end
up?
Hiding in a
cave.
Brothers and
sisters,
brothers,
the point
is this,
when we
choose the
good life
over God,
it always
ends in a
cave.
It may not
be a literal
cave,
maybe you'll
die surrounded
by money,
but it will
be a spiritual
cave,
it will be an
emotional cave.
You will
find that
everything you
chased at the
end tastes
bitter.
There's a
quote in your
worship guide,
again on page
seven,
attributed to
Sophocles.
He says
this,
one must
wait until
the evening
to see
how splendid
the day
has been.
I'm sure
there were
times in
Lot's
afternoons
that were
really great.
I'm sure
that Lot
went to
some fantastic
restaurants
in Sodom.
I'm sure
that Lot
went to
some great
parties.
I'm sure
he went to
some fantastic
concerts.
There were
moments when
Sodom made
total sense,
right?
but in
the end,
in the
evening,
it no
longer
made
sense.
As I've
told you all
before,
sin is a
player.
Sin can
arouse,
it can
entice,
it cannot
satisfy,
it will
not
fulfill.
fail.
It's
easy in
the middle
of our
lives to
be fooled,
but as
we get
near the
end,
as we
get older
and older,
it becomes
clearer and
clearer.
I was up
in Denver
last Saturday
in a
quirky used
bookstore,
and I came
across this
poem,
part of which
I put on
the back
of your
worship
guide.
And yes,
Charles
Bukowski
is a weird
dude,
but this
poem is
about aging.
And how
when we
make choices,
we make
the wrong
choices,
it does
not end
well in
the final
chapter.
Age is
the total
of our
doing.
They have
aged badly
because they
have lived
out of
focus.
They have
refused
to see.
Why is
Lot here
in a
cave being
raped by
his daughters?
Because
Lot lived
out of
focus,
and he
refused
to see.
And it
was good
for a
time,
it's not
good
forever.
Brothers
and sisters,
I'm really
saying one
thing to
you this
morning.
I am
begging you
to live
in focus.
I am
begging you
to see.
I am
pleading
with you
to put
first things
first.
Not just
because that's
what brings
honor and
glory to
God,
but it is
because it
is what is
good for
you.
Remember in
Romans,
we've talked
about this,
it's in
God's glory
that we
discover our
good.
Abraham was
willing to
make sacrifices.
He gave
up the
good life
at various
points to
honor and
please God.
Which has
the better
ending,
Abraham's
story or
lots?
Lots
every
time.
Christian,
live in
focus.
Do not
refuse
to see.
Live in
focus knowing
what matters
more than
anything
else.
live in
focus and
know that
it really
is at
the end
of the
day in
God's
glory that
we discover
our good.
You may
not believe
it now,
you may
not see
it now,
trust me.
Even more
than that,
trust God's
word.
Remember
that one
must wait
until the
evening to
see how
splendid the
day has
been.
these are
heavy things
that we've
talked about.
I told you
it was a
heavy passage
and it's
heavy less
because of
the content
and more
because of
the warning.
So what do
we do with
all of these
things?
The reason
that fleeing
from Sodom
is not the
solution
is because
Lot's
problems
started before
Sodom.
Lot's
problem is
not fundamentally
Sodom.
Lot's
problem is
the heart
that was
attracted
to Sodom.
Lot's
problem was,
remember
chapter 13,
that his
eyes saw
what was
good.
His
problem was
that he
was out
of focus.
He loved
the good
life and
chose that
over loving
God.
And so
when we
talk about
being sanctified
by God's
word,
being part
of a
counterculture,
participating
in a
community
that tells
the truth
and that
is contagious,
we are
not doing
it for
its own
sake,
that we
would merely
or simply
grow in
knowledge.
No,
the goal
is that
unlike Lot,
we would
love what
is good.
That our
eyes would
not be
captured
by the
land of
Sodom and
seeing what's
good and
beautiful about
that,
but our
eyes would
be captured
by God
and his
kingdom.
We're
already
saying it.
Hast thou
heard him,
seen him,
known him?
Is not
thine a
captured
heart?
What can
strip the
seeming beauty
from the
idols of the
earth?
Not a
sense of
right or
duty,
but the
sight of
peerless
worth.
God
is to
see Jesus
as more
beautiful
than
anything
else.
The
problem was
not that
Sodom was
fertile.
The problem
was that
that was
what Lot
thought was
the greatest
good.
And the
beauty of
Jesus is
this.
Jesus
gives what
the world
only offers.
The world
offers Sodom
but gives
you a
cave.
joy.
It's
Jesus
who
actually
gives the
forgiveness
and restoration
that leads
to real
joy.
It's
Jesus who
gives real
safety and
security.
The safety
and security
that can't be
taken away
when the
stock market
crashes.
It's
Jesus that
gives humility
and repentance.
The humility
and repentance
that actually
allows for
real
deep
connection.
The connection
that we
long for.
It's
Jesus who
gives us
real
meaning
and purpose
in our
work.
Now as I
mentioned at
the beginning
Lot's still
a Christian.
Lot focused
on wealth
and comfort
and ease
and somehow
in the midst
of that Lot
is still a
part of
God's
people.
So passages
like this
give me a
lot of
hope.
If Lot
is going
to be in
heaven,
man,
I think
there's some
hope for
me.
Right?
I think
there's some
hope for
us.
In fact,
you're going
to see Lot
in heaven if
you go
there.
Man,
but it
could have
ended
differently.
Right?
Lot's
story did
not have to
finish in
a cave.
May it
end
differently
for us.
May we
see Jesus
and his
kingdom as
more beautiful
than anything
else.
May we
live in
focus and
not refuse
to see.
And we
praise God
because in
the midst
of that,
his mercy
is more.
Let's
pray.
Our
Father in
heaven,
we do
praise you
and thank
you for
your word
as it
encourages us
and challenges
us.
We ask
that you
would be
at work
in our
hearts
and our
minds,
that you
would help
us to
live in
focus,
that we
would
see
Jesus
as more
beautiful
than anything
else,
that we
would choose
him over
anything this
world tries to
offer us.
We thank
you that he
is beautiful,
beautiful because
of his mercy
and his grace
and his love
to us,
and we ask
these things
in his mighty
name,
amen.