Advent 1

 November 28, 2004

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. - Matthew 24:37-44

Dear friends in Jesus Christ, who has promised to return and take us home,

One of the blockbuster films of the late 90’s was Armageddon. It was an action-packed, gripping drama about a crew of misfits who were sent to outer space to destroy a large meteor that was on a collision course with earth. If their mission failed, this meteor would bring about complete destruction of every living thing on earth, much the same way, according to the unfounded, unbiblical theory of evolution, a meteor hit the earth millions of years ago and destroyed the dinosaurs.

One of the characters likened the meteor blast to an event described in Revelation 16. There St. John describes a time of "flashes of lightning, crashes and thunders, and a great earthquake...as has not happened on earth since man was made...and every island fled away, and the mountains were no more. And great hail, with the hailstones weighing a hundred pounds each..." (vs. 18, 20-21). I guess we can understand where they can get the idea of a meteor blast.

But the world isn’t going to end with a meteor blast. The problem with the movie=s premise is that a meteor blast would destroy life but not time. Jesus has a different viewpoint of the destruction of all things, and Revelation 16 reflects it: The end of all things is the end of time and all earthly existence.

I seem to recall hearing how this movie, along with another similar screenplay entitled Deep Impact, raised the consciousness of people to the need for more active interest in the protection of our planet. It wasn’t surprising when some politicians called for more tax money to be invested in meteor research. "We need to protect the planet from this type of threat!" was the cry.

I’m not categorically calling the whole idea a bunch of bunk, because I’m not an astrophysicist. However, isn’t just like mankind to be so focused on the preservation of life in this time that they overlook the need to be prepared for eternity? There is a much larger question for us than, "Are we ready for a meteor blast?" As we start the new Church Year today, the truth that should concern you is: ARE YOU READY FOR JESUS’ COMING? The answer to this question has eternal consequences. Jesus wants, he expects, a definitive answer from you and from me.

It is said that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. I know that not everyone likes to study history, nor is everyone good at it. However, it is troubling to hear people say, "Why bother learning a bunch of dates and events which don’t mean anything to me?" Besides the mental discipline that such study affords, there is a wealth of practical wisdom to be gained from history. Christians also look at history with this perspective: God carries out his divine plans on the pages of history. To know historical dates and events is to know more about our Creator and Savior. "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." Study history to learn about what it will be like when Jesus returns!

Jesus tells us that people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. In other words, people were doing exactly what we do today. Food for the body is a gift from God that we use to stay alive. Marriage is a good gift from his hand through which God is pleased to provide stability in society and in the home. So what was the problem? Preservation of their lives was all that was important; there was no focus on their relationship with God. T.S. Elliot calls such people a "decent godless race."

God was distressed. Moses says "The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time" (Genesis 6:5). So he told Noah that he was going to destroy every living thing.

Through Noah everyone was well aware of the impending doom. In the New Testament epistle of James, the writer calls Noah a "preacher of righteousness" (2:5). The people of Noah’s day had plenty of opportunity to repent and escape the judgment of God. For 120 years Noah built an ark 450 feet long (1 - 1/2 football fields), 75 feet wide (1 -1/2 time the width of a football field), and 45 feet high. Imagine the conversations he must have had: "Noah, what ya’ doin’?" "Building an ark." "Why?" "Because God is going to destroy the world; he’s sick of the all the wickedness." "Ya, right." After 75 years, can you imagine the grief he got from people? "Hey, Noah, when’s this flood comin’?" "Hey, Noah, while you’ve been building this ark, we’ve been getting rich. Look at our homes, our retirement accounts. What do you have?"

Then one day he started ushering into the ark two of every kind of animals. Then he moved his family into the ark and God shut the door. The people continued to eat and to drink. They should have known what was about to come, "but they knew nothing" until it was too late. They were lost.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will return. I) Trust God’s Word. Just as surely as God kept his word and sent the flood, so he will keep his promise to return as the Judge of all. This truth, and not alien invasions, meteor blasts, and a nuclear holocaust, ought to occupy our heart’s attention. .

St. Peter knew the effects of waiting for the Lord=s return. He heard the jeers and sneers of people who didn’t believe it would ever happen. "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation’" (II Peter 3:3-4).

The same is true for us. Ted Turner of TBS fame once called Christians crazy for their beliefs. That includes our belief that the world will come to an end and everyone will have to face God. Even from within the Christian Church there are those who delay the inevitable with false teachings about the rapture and millennium B a period of "heaven on earth" before the final judgment. Just listen to TV preachers sometime to see/hear what I mean.

The Word of God talks about the "last days." Paul lived like the Lord would return in his days, almost

1950 years ago. Jesus taught his disciples to pay attention to signs of the end. Almost every epistle,

the whole book of Revelation talks about the end. We are living in the end times. The prophecies of

Christ are being fulfilled. ARE YOU READY FOR THE LORD’S COMING? Trust God’s Word

that what Jesus predicts will happen.

The other lesson of the flood is that there was a separation. There were those in the ark who were saved; there were those outside who were lost.

That will happen at the Lord’s second coming, too. Everyone will be about their business. We might say today, "Two will be at their work station; one will be taken to heaven and the other left for hell. Two will be doing the dishes; one will go to heaven and the other will be confined to hell."

There are many who will be left behind who have heard this message and said, "No thanks. I do not want a God who cannot overlook a white lie or a minor infraction of the law, but had to punish someone for my sins. I don’t want a God who cannot look at my honest attempts to do good - or anyone else, for that matter - and be happy with our best efforts."

God has clearly revealed to us that Jesus is the world’s only answer to the problem of sin. He has told on the pages of sacred Scripture that when Jesus died, he didn’t die for his sins, he died for our sins. He has told us, whether we believe it or not, whether we feel it or not, our sins are forgiven. Whether we believe it or not, he loves us because of what Christ has done for us. No matter how big or how many our sins, they are all forgiven. He has told us that when he returns in judgment, he will not breath fire on us because all he can see in us is our sinfulness; instead, he will claim us as his very own, wearing the holy white robes of his Son and covered with dark red blood that hides every guilty stain. There are no conditions on this message. There is nothing we can do or say which can improve the deliverance that Jesus has won for us.

What makes us ready for Jesus’ coming? The better question is who makes us ready. We know the answer to that question. It was the Holy Spirit who created in us the wonderful gift of faith. It is the Spirit who made his home in our heart, who cries out in the midst of our doubts and worries and fears about the coming judgment: "You belong to God! He calls you his child!"

In this way we are like Noah. Noah heard God’s threat and trusted his promise of deliverance. We know very well the threats of God on those who do not believe his promises. But something wonderful has happened to us. Just as water was used to save Noah and his family, St. Peter says that the waters of Baptism have saved us (I Peter 3:21) because the Holy Spirit uses Baptism as a means of working faith into our hearts.

ARE YOU READY FOR THE LORD’S COMING? II) Thank God for His Sure Salvation. When I consider my own death, or when I contemplate what it will be like for me when I, a daily and blatant sinner, stand before the Judge of all, and my heart is filled with fear and terror, I need to look away from myself and toward the precious promises of God. I need to remember how Jesus paid the price for sins and delivered me from the power of death and Satan. I need to remember that white robe he put on me. Jesus wants us to look forward to his second coming as much as we look forward to his first coming at Christmas. He wants us to vision him, a mighty and victorious King, surrounded by angels and clouds and smoke and noise, coming to take us out of this sinful place and into the home of bliss and perfection.

Such a vision in our mind will help train us to be watchful. There is no doubt about the urgency of Jesus’ message. In this short discourse he says, "Keep watch," "understand this" and "be ready."

Jesus knows all too well the weakness of our flesh. He knows all too well how easy it is to become wrapped up in the affairs of this world. Before the New Testament Church was 100 years old, Jesus had St. John write to several churches whose love for him was fading. To one Jesus said that they should either give themselves to him completely or turn away completely, because he couldn’t stand their lukewarm hearts. To another he said, "Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die" (Revelation 3:2). What led them away from God?

We know the answer. We need to beware in our own day of those things that make us lukewarm toward God and sleepy in our devotion to him.

Train yourselves to be watchful. Find nourishment in the Word and Sacrament so that you will not be ineffective on the day the Lord returns.

The Bible is filled with all sorts of antidotes for eyes that focus on earthly things, and hearts that love sin too much. Luke says, "Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all this about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36). We do not pray to become able to stand (Jesus has made us able), but we pray that we may be able to stand with Christ in the face of trial and temptation.

St. Paul said, "Let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light…clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature" (Romans 13:13-14).

Train yourselves to be watchful. Think of the Lord’s coming and then think how you can make a difference - a real, spiritual difference - to those around you. Think of the Lord’s coming again, and then think how you can be an effective servant until he comes.

For many Christian parents, an avenue of watchfulness is Christian education. It is not an escape from the public system. No, it is an opportunity to teach children the truths of God’s word on a regular basis, and offer a forum where they can apply those truths of love, kindness, mercy and forgiveness. What a blessing that we can walk together with a federation of like-minded Christians who share the same eternal goals, who see eye to eye in the way the word of God must be taught, and who share a common good and goal for their children. We are here today to Look Up and see our Lord approaching, and to encourage you - as you encourage us - to view our school as a place to train our young adults for that glorious day. When we look at our Christian education efforts in this light, then we see that it is worthy of our prayers, our recruitment efforts for our children and the children of our congregation…and worthy of our dollars.

ARE YOU READY FOR THE LORD’S COMING? Does his second coming occupy your attention as much as his first coming does? Remember the three "T’s": Trust his Word (he will come); Thank him for his sure salvation (he will take us to heaven); and Train yourself to be watchful for his return. That should keep us from being concerned about meteors. Amen.

Rev. Thomas E. Bauer

Shoreland Lutheran High School