12.1.19 Matthew 24:36-41
36 No one knows when that day and hour will be, not the angels of heaven, not even the Son, but only the Father. 37 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when the Son of Man returns. 38 In fact, in the days before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the very day that Noah entered the ark. 39 And they did not realize what was coming until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man returns. 40 At that time two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 So be alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
When we were on our way home from vacation in Tennessee this year we were able to stop by at the Noah’s Ark exhibit, an actual size replica of the original. It was truly a thing of wonder. You can see it from quite a ways away, as it stands over 500 feet wide and over 50 feet high. It took Noah and his three sons 120 years to build it. Imagine that! Noah lived to be 950 years old, so that was about 1/9th of his life he spent on one project. Noah worked on it from age 500 to 620. That’s a lot of time to build. It’s also a lot of time to gain attention.
People would have stopped by and asked, “What’s going on here?” It would have seemed odd and a waste of time to build such a big boat in the middle of dry ground. Noah and his children would have explained. “God is going to destroy the earth with a flood because of the wickedness of humanity.” Imagine the look on people’s faces. Perhaps they treated Noah more like a joke and didn’t take him seriously. Maybe they said he was leading a cult. I wonder if they eventually developed tour guides to come and see Noah’s Ark. The more time would have elapsed, the bigger and more impressive the boat would have become. Perhaps they were even allowed into the boat to look around. Yet I doubt that it was set up like a tourist trap.
People lived to a much older age back then, and they were probably much more powerful than we are today. God’s Word says that they became exceedingly violent and wicked, and probably more hardened in their sins. I wouldn’t doubt it if Noah and his family was threatened at some point in time throughout the 120 years. It’s interesting to note that when Jesus went to hell on the morning of the resurrection, he made it a point to especially preach to those souls who laughed off Noah’s warning. They had every chance to repent. They had plenty of time, but they all ignored Noah’s warnings. So they are still burning in hell to this day.
Think about it. They all died in the flood - thousands to millions of unbelievers were all washed away, along with tons and tons of animals. This wasn’t a cute little scene of animals floating around in a boat. It was a violent scene of people scrambling to try and get to high ground - only to find none. They died. They all died, except the eight on the boat, and two of every kind of animal.
Jesus used this as an example of what will happen when He comes on Judgment Day. Only He won’t bring water to wash away the people from the earth. He will use fire. At that time two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. Some use this text to prove a rapture - where believers will be carried to heaven while unbelievers will be left behind on earth to fight it out for another thousand years - getting a second chance to come to faith with Kirk Cameron. Yet notice the comparison. What happened to those who were left behind at the flood? They were swept away by water and put to death. On Judgment Day, Jesus will bring believers to heaven. Those who are alive will be changed. Their bodies will be transformed to be like His resurrected body. Those who died prior to the resurrection will be raised and reunited with their souls: meeting Jesus in the air. (1 Corinthians 15) And what will happen to those who die without faith in Jesus? They will be sent away into the darkness and fires of hell. Just as those left behind at the time of the Flood didn’t get a second chance, neither will those who are left behind on Judgment Day. The first were swept away by water, the second will be swept away by fire.
So what does Jesus say? No one knows when that day and hour will be, not the angels of heaven, not even the Son, but only the Father. . . So be alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Harold Camping was a foolish false prophet who thought he was smarter than Jesus - he lived about 20 years ago - claiming that he knew the week of Jesus’ arrival. Even Jesus didn’t know! It sounds strange for Jesus - who is God in the flesh - to say that even HE doesn’t know when HE HIMSELF is coming. But Jesus spoke these words while He wasn’t using His full powers or His full knowledge. It was like He was fighting with one arm tied behind His back. He still used His powers from time to time, but not all the time, so that He could truly say He stood in our place and walked in our shoes. So it is here, He didn’t know when He was coming. Has that changed now that He has resurrected from the dead? I would assume so. Yet the angels don’t know when Jesus is going to end it all either. God has chosen to keep this date extremely secretive, not even letting the angels know.
Why? So that we will be prepared ALL the time, every second of every day. It’s kind of like hunting. It is amazing how quiet deer can be, and how they can all of the sudden appear out of nowhere. I went several years ago with one of my boys. We were both sitting in a two seated deer stand, and we had his gun over the casing laying sideways. After about three hours in the stand, my son had laid his head down and was actually snoring. He wouldn’t have made a very good hunter. My daughter’s boyfriend actually fell asleep in a deer stand and fell out. He had to be air flighted to a hospital and undergo surgery for a lacerated liver and a tear in his lung. You have to stay alert if you want to kill a deer and if you want to stay safe. The same thing rings true of Judgment Day. When it comes to waiting for Jesus, it is a good thing to have a pastor and fellow Christians to give you a nudge when you are starting to fall asleep. But that only works for so long too. Sooner or later, if you don’t keep yourself alert, you will not be ready for Jesus to come.
Advent is a time for us to make sure that we are ready and prepared. What is it that makes us unprepared? Jesus said, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the very day. It’s interesting that He doesn’t mention anything necessarily immoral. You’d think he would say they were sleeping around, getting drunk, and making fools of themselves. He’s just talking about doing the basic things of life. Eating, drinking, and marrying - all of the things that God designed us to do and enjoy. But that’s where perhaps the greatest temptation of life is - in the basic routines and enjoyments of life.
I like routine. I like eating and drinking. I like marriage. But the devil can be the god of routine. He can also be the god of enjoyment. The whole point is that life was going on normally before the Flood, and life will still go on normally at the end of time as well, in spite of the wars and natural disasters. It would be so routine in fact, that many would think that there was no God to answer to and perhaps that there was no God at all. And even if there was, who would want to serve a God that made a man build a boat for 120 years of his life or live with a crazy man and his three sons and their wives? They had better things to do. They had life to live.
That’s probably the biggest temptation in life. Most of those we lose in membership aren’t going off to a cult or saying “I don’t believe in God anymore.” They are just living life. Working. Saving up money for their children. Paying off their bills. Going out on a Friday and Saturday night after a hard day’s work or going to watch their kids play sports. They’re busy. Everyone is busy doing normal stuff. It’s the routine of life that makes you forget that there is more to life than routine. Tom Brady said a very insightful thing after winning three Super Bowls in 2005. He said, “Why do I have 3 Super Bowl rings, and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people out there would say, hey man, this is what it is. I’ve reached my goal, my dream, my life is . . . Me, I think, God, there has to be more than this.” The devil doesn’t want you thinking beyond the box of this life. Just get married. Just have kids. Get your car paid off. Get your house paid off. Retire. Before you know it, you’ve lost your passion for God and His mercy. You’ve treated Him as if He really didn’t matter that much. You’ve fallen asleep in your routine and let your faith become nothing more than a nostalgic memory. Jesus becomes a nice story instead of the God who came to save you from hell and rescue you from this world on Judgment Day. When that happens, you know you’ve fallen asleep.
In 2 Corinthians 6, Paul warned the Corinthians not to be yoked together with the unbelieving world. He quoted Isaiah and said to them, “Come out from them and be separate.” He basically said, “You have the Holy Spirit living in you. You are the temple of God. Don’t get entwined with the world.” Yet Jesus says that when He comes on Judgment Day, “one will be taken, the other left.” He pictures believers being side by side with unbelievers. One from the field, another from the mill.
This means that when Jesus comes, the believers will not be secluded on some hill or mountain hiding in a cave. They will be a part of the world. And this makes sense. We have to be a part of the world if we are going to try and let our lights shine in it. As dirty and as disgusting as it can get, we have no choice in the matter. When you’re helping a car get out of the ditch, you’re bound to get a little dirty in the process. You just have to be careful that you don’t get stuck in the same ditch with them. And it doesn’t take long before their thinking becomes your thinking and their actions become yours.
Every society and every generation has its own temptations - ways of life that lead you astray. Whether its a drug culture, a work culture, an entertainment culture, its the pathway of least resistance often that is the hardest to resist. Maybe there’s nothing wrong in and of itself with the culture. Sometimes that’s the most dangerous of all - because it is so non-threatening. It leads you to think that the culture is good, and everything is good, so Jesus isn’t that important. But when there are in your face temptations in the world, or threat of war, you might tend to be more alert.
When life is routine, you have to be deliberate in some senses. You have to say to yourself, “This is who I am. I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus. I am in this world, but not of this world.” The Holy Spirit says to you, “Don’t be a routine sinner. You are God’s special saint!” There is a saying that says, “Escape into a good book.” When you read a book it makes you picture a completely different world and story. The Bible takes us to the world through the eyes of God. It takes us to heaven and warns us of hell. So God’s Word takes us to the out of the ordinary: a God taking on flesh and dying on a cross. Heaven and hell. Angels and demons. Repentance, baptism and faith. When we come to church God reveals to us the extraordinary, a man who stills storms and walks on water. A God who creates with words. A Spirit who enables people to speak in tongues. A God who saves sinners. You come out from this world when you come here and receive a meal from another world. You come out when you hear of Jesus. The Holy Spirit grabs hold of you and says to you, “You, the seemingly normal sinner, are my special child. I’ve baptized you into MY family. You mean the world to me.” This is completely different talk from a different realm. You only receive that through Word and sacrament.
So stay alert by listening to it! How do I know if I’m really ready though? How do I know if I’m actually alert? How about the fact that you want to be alert. How about the fact that you still pray? How about that you are still coming to listen to the word of God and receive the sacrament? There are danger signs, when the Word seems boring to you. When the Lord’s Supper isn’t treasured much. When you don’t find yourself asking for forgiveness. These are danger signs that you are getting sleepy. But in the same sense that doesn’t mean you’re not ready. Salvation isn’t rocket science. When you have faith, even a weak faith in JESUS crucified FOR YOU, your sins are still paid for. When you cling to Jesus, you still have your free ticket to heaven. He isn’t coming to inspect whether you are worthy of heaven on Judgment Day. He is just coming to collect what He already paid for. Don’t forget the beauty of the Gospel. Jesus lived and died to pay for all of your sins. Through faith in Christ He has made you look holy in His sight. His death makes you acceptable to Him on Judgment Day. Being alert just means to keep on holding on to Jesus tightly. Don’t let go.
When the Israelites were in captivity in Egypt, God promised to set them free on Passover night. He told the Israelites, “Kill a year old male lamb and put the blood over your doorpost. I will send an angel of death to kill the firstborn son in every household that doesn’t have blood over the door.” That’s why it was called the Passover. On the inside, they were supposed to eat the meat of the lamb whose blood was shed and put on the post. God then said in Exodus 12, “This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.” In other words, they were supposed to be ready to go!
Are you ready to go? Remember what is coming! Jesus is coming with the angels to separate the righteous from the unrighteous. Are you ready? The Lamb has already been sacrificed on the cross. The blood has already been put on your doorpost when you were baptized in the blood of Jesus, the Lamb. You’ve been eating of Him in the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of sins. The staff of God’s Word is in your hands. You are ready. Stay ready. Keep hold of God’s Word. Keep praying. Keep clinging to Christ. You never know what day He will come, but as long as you keep clinging to Jesus, you are alert and ready to go. Amen.
