First Sunday in Advent

November 28, 2004

Mt Hope Lutheran Church, Pastor George Hesse

Matthew 24. 37-44

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come…. because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.

            Most of you here know of the comedian, Bill Cosby. Some of you remember him from his long-running situational comedy show –one the whole family could watch- The Cosby Show. A few of you remember him advertising Jell-O, and a few more remember him from his show with Robert Culp, I Spy, and a few more of you will remember him when he first came on the scene in the 60’s as a stand up comic. He did a comedy sketch about Noah and his talks with God over building the ark.

            Picture for a moment Noah, going to work and the Lord speaks to Him.

God:    Noah

Noah:  What? …(looking around)

God:    Noah?

Noah:  What? …Who’s there?

God:    It’s the Lord, Noah.

Noah:  Rrrright… What do You want? I’ve been good.

God:    I’m going to destroy the world. I want you to build an ark.

Noah:  Rrright…What’s an ark?

God:    Never mind that. Build it 50 cubits by 300 cubits by 30 cubits.

Noah:  Rrright…what’s a cubit? …. Am I on Candid Camera?

            And the sketch goes on from there.

            Like all great comedy sketches it is a classic. It is also a sketch that speaks to us today because just like in Noah’s time people today are oblivious to their relationship to God and oblivious to the fact that our time is running out. They are living life as if they will always have a tomorrow and as for God - well He is whatever I make Him out to be.

Jesus says in our Gospel lesson. 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 being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away.  And Noah built that ark. It rose- higher and higher- as testimony against how the people were living. Peter records that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. (2^nd Peter 2.5) 

            At first I’m sure people must have rolled their eyes when his name came up and laughed at him behind his back. Much like we do when we hear of someone who has the largest ball of twine in Iowa or a collection of grilled cheese sandwiches cut in the shapes of all the states. The people must have dismissed Noah and refused to listen to his preaching. Genesis records that there was wickedness beyond description and every inclination of the thoughts of men…every inclination of their hearts was to evil…  It was so bad that it grieved the Lord and His heart was filled with pain. (Gen 6.5-6) If they had listened there might have been more than eight people on the ark.

            Just as that Ark rose as a testimony to one family’s belief in God so too this church rises as a statement to the community. I’m reminded of that when I pass through the wooden doors coming into the sanctuary. Ever notice how they are pointed like the bow of a ship. The beams are like the ribs of a ship and the tongue and grooved ceiling like the sides of a ship. The cross is both our mast and rudder and the rocks are our ballast.

            What do people think of this ark called Mt Hope? Does it serve to draw people in that they might listen to God’s Word or do they just dismiss it; roll their eyes when it is mentioned? What of the people who gather here from time to time–you and me- do we, like Noah, share God’s message with others? Are we preachers of righteousness- preachers of the flood, the Bethlehem stable, the cross and the empty tomb? Or are we at times “ho-hum” to the message that Jesus came and “Oh yeah, He is coming again”? Of this “ho-hum” attitude, St Paul wrote in our Epistle lesson to the Romans and to us as well. The hour is coming for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (Rom 13.11-12) Translation: every day the sun comes up it brings us closer to the last day or at least our last day.  Do not our hearts “burn with fire” for the message of the Gospel, or do we live saying He’ll be back, but not living like we believe it?

            If we are honest about it, few of our hearts “burn with fire” for the things of God as they should, and apart from the working of the Holy Spirit none of our hearts would burn at all.

            But hear me! Our readiness is found only in the One the prophet Daniel told us would be called the Son of Man. (Daniel 7.13) The one Isaiah revealed would be called “God with us”- Immanuel (Isaiah 7.14).

            This One, whose coming we anticipate during this Advent season, is Jesus- He who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty King, and Prince of Peace. It is of Him that Isaiah wrote He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths. He is the prophet who will teach us the things of God. His Words would be the Words of God and His truth the Truth of God.

            Of this Son of Man- God in flesh appearing- Isaiah wrote the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it.  Being the eternal Athoni, Jesus is the One who met with His people in the Holy of Holies at the temple. Now He has become our High Priest making the sacrifice for sin. By His suffering and death the sins of all were atoned for. His cross is that standard which draws all nations to itself- Jew and Gentile.

            After lying dead in the tomb three days, He rose again to life. He is our triumphant King, whose kingdom will not end, of whom it was written: He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many people. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. (Isaiah 2.4)

            Though He is gone away into Heaven, He is coming again with all power and glory to judge the living and the dead. In advent- in anticipation- of His coming we are be continually ready. Knowing that left to our own devices we cannot ever be ready, the Son has poured the Holy Spirit into our hearts. By that Spirit poured out upon us in baptism and by the hearing of God’s Word we can be found ready. It is by the study of God’s Word, by prayer, and by fellowship that the Sprit keeps us ready- keeps us acknowledging that yes He is coming and coming very soon.

             And Jesus said, 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 must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.

            Bill Cosby made us laugh with his sketch about Noah, but he spoke truths that need to be listened to: We live in the end time just as they did in the days of Noah. Each day draws us, and those around us, closer to that day. Yet, many people are oblivious to that fact; others are ignoring it, and still others are denying it. They need to hear from some modern day Noahs.

            We are living among people who are living lives of self-made atonement; others are seeking to amass enough good works with which to impress God- to somehow earn his favor. Still others sincerely hope life is some ongoing cycle of rebirths in which we atone for our bad karma. They are in need of a present day Noah to proclaim that salvation is found only in the One who came from heaven, who, after His death and resurrection returned to heaven, and who will come again from heaven. They need to hear of this Jesus. Amen.