March 12, Second Sunday in Lent, Girl Scout Sunday

Lesson: Matthew 24.36-44

Sermon Title: Remembering Noah

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INTRODUCTION:
  1. C. S. Lewis' on "good infection" and becoming like Christ (1)

"For you are no longer thinking simply about right and wrong; you are trying to catch the good infection from a Person. It is more like painting a portrait than obeying a set of rules…

"The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to 'inject' His kind of life and thought…into you…"

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MAIN BODY:

  1. C. S. Lewis quote on purpose of church to make little Christs (2)

"He works on us in all sorts of ways. But above all, he works on us through each other. Men are mirrors, or 'carriers' of Christ to other men. Usually it is those who know him that bring him to others. That is why the Church, the whole body of Christians showing him to one another, is so important. It is so easy to think that the Church has a lot of different objects-education, building, missions, holding services...the Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other reason."

    1. Christ is seeking entrance into the human heart and mind so that we can be Christs to one another.
    2. From one degree to another, this is achievable and necessary.
      1. The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 2:1-5, (NRSVA)

1If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus...

      1. If you are developing the mind of Christ then you also have the attributes and attitudes of Christ.
        1. You have his eyes for seeing the true nature of life and the world.
        2. You have his mouth for speaking the truth with love.
        3. You are beginning to think his thoughts and developing his understanding of the way life ought to be lived with the Father.
        4. You are doing his actions, which is a way of working-out.
        5. You have his outlook, the way of visioning the world.
      2. Jesus does not invite us to look through "rose colored glasses."
      3. He sees a clear and uncompromising reality.
      4. This reality may appear depressing.
      5. Jesus reality is not depressing, it is exhilarating, joyful and optimistic.
      6. Jesus might have originated the quote attributed to Gregory Peck, and used often by Dr. Robert Schuller:

"Tough times don't last, tough people do, remember?"

      1. Jesus was a tender, but tough person.
  1. This chapter in Matthew is about tough times and the need for strength and watchfulness.
    1. Jesus uses the rubric of "Remembering Noah."
      1. He speaks and says: 37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.
      2. How was it in the days of Noah?
    2. What does it say in Genesis 6.1-8
      1. Genesis 6:1-8 (NRSVA)

1When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose. 3Then the LORD said, "My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years." 4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.

      1. What does God see?

5The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7So the LORD said, "I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created--people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." 8But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD.

    1. God reveals himself to Noah and tells Noah to build a great ship.
      1. Noah would have 120 years to complete his task.
      2. This is how long God can hold aback the impending destruction.
    2. Noah builds his ship.
      1. The building of it is actually an object lesson of future disaster.
      2. Noah also preached and told the people who would listen what god had revealed.
    3. So, for 120 years the people had the opportunity to observe, to listen, to understand, to accept, and to prepare for the coming deluge.
    4. Why were only 8 people saved in the ship?
    5. Jesus said: 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away,
      1. They did not use the opportunity to observe.
      2. They did to listen.
      3. They did not understand.
      4. They did not accept.
      5. They did not prepare
      6. They were swept away in the deluge.

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  1. Jesus said that for most people the circumstances would be the same for his return.

37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.

    1. This theme is picked up by Jesus disciples, especially Peter and Paul.
      1. Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:1-7 (NRSVA)

1This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by reminding you 2that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles. 3First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts 4and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!" 5They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, 6through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. 7But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.

        1. Walking after their own desires.
        2. Their own lust: (LUST: Strongs Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, (3) Number G1939. dðéèõìßá (epithumia) (ep-ee-thoo-mee'-ah) From G1937; a longing (especially for what is forbidden):--concupiscence, desire, lust (after).)
        3. They are deliberately ignorant.
      1. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:1-9 (NRSVA)

1You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. 2For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, 4treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them! 6For among them are those who make their way into households and captivate silly women, overwhelmed by their sins and swayed by all kinds of desires, 7who are always being instructed and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people, of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, also oppose the truth. 9But they will not make much progress, because, as in the case of those two men, their folly will become plain to everyone.

        1. Jannes and Jambres were the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses and Aaron at Pharaoh's court.
        2. This description needs little elaboration.
    1. Jesus provides us with a vivid picture and keen insight into the reasons for this precipitous decline in morals and behavior.
      1. In Matthew 24:9-14 (NRSVA) we read:

9"Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. 13But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.

      1. Love of many will grow cold.
        1. Love is not understood.
        2. Love is not consistently applied.
        3. Cold love is not love.
        4. Cold love is the antithesis of love.
      2. I received an email that provides an illustration of the coldest love I have seen in a long time.

Subject: Fw: Food for thought-you decide

Just read and think and draw your own conclusions.

Can Muslims be Good Americans?

Can a devout Muslim be an American patriot and a loyal citizen?

Consider this:

Theologically, no. Because his allegiance is to Allah, the moon god of Arabia.

Scripturally, no. Because his allegiance is to the five pillars of Islam and the Quran (Koran).

Geographically, no. Because his allegiance is to Mecca, to which he turns in prayer five times a day.

Socially, no. Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews.

Politically, no. Because he must submit to the mullah (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America, the great Satan.

Domestically, no, because he is instructed to marry four women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him (Quran 4:34).

Religiously, no. Because no other religion is accepted by his Allah except Islam (Quran, 2:256)

Intellectually, no, because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.

Philosophically, no, because Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran do not allow freedom of religion and expression.

Democracy and Islam cannot co-exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic.

Spiritually, no, because when we declare "one nation under God," the Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as our heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in the Quran's 99 excellent names.

Therefore after much study and deliberation....perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country.

They obviously cannot be both good Muslims and good Americans.

Call it what you wish...it's still the truth. If you find yourself intellectually in agreement with the above, perhaps you will share this with your friends. The more who understand this, the better it will be for our country.

Pass it on. The war is bigger than we know.

      1. All of the above statements are a distortion of the truth.
      2. These are "good Christians" speaking.
      3. This is not love, there is no way this is love.
    1. This is how it was in the days of Noah.
    2. This is how it will be in the days just before the coming of the Son of Man.
  1. As it was in the days of Noah.

42Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

    1. They were asleep; we are to be wide awake.
    2. Because of their mental "slumber" they were not prepared; we are to always be ready.
    3. Jesus will come in an unexpected hour.

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CONCLUSION

  1. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane Mark records in Mark 14:37-38, (NRSVA), that he said to Peter, James and John:

37He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? 38Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

  1. C. S. Lewis' wrote on "good infection" and becoming like Christ (4)

For you are no longer thinking simply about right and wrong; you are trying to catch the good infection from a Person. It is more like painting a portrait than obeying a set of rules…

The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to " inject" His kind of life and thought…into you…

Some of you may feel that this is very unlike your own experience. You may say "I' ve never had the sense of being helped by an invisible Christ, but I often have been helped by other human beings."

That is rather like the woman in the first war who said that if there were a bread shortage it would not bother her house because they always ate toast. If there is no bread there will be no toast.

If there were no help from Christ, there would be no help from other human beings. He works on us in all sorts of ways: not only through what we think our "religious life." He works through Nature, through our own bodies, through books, sometimes through experiences which seem (at the time) anti- Christian.

Men are mirrors, or "carriers" of Christ to other men. Sometimes unconscious carriers. This "good infection" can be carried by those who have not got it themselves. People who were not Christians themselves helped me to Christianity. But usually it is those who know Him that bring Him to others. That is why the Church, the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important. You might say that when two Christians are following Christ together there is not twice as much Christianity as when they are apart, but sixteen times as much.

But do not forget this. At first it is natural for a baby to take its mother' s milk without knowing its mother. It is equally natural for us to see the man who helps us without seeing Christ behind him. But we must not remain babies. We must go on to recognize the real Giver.

  1. Watch and Pray

Amen!

1. C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Macmillan Publishing Co. 1952. pp. 147-149

2. C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Macmillan Publishing Co. 1952.

3. Strongs Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, First: Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1998, Parsons Technology, Inc. Parsons Technology, Inc. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1998, Parsons Technology, Inc., all rights reserved. Used with permission.

4. C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Macmillan Publishing Co. 1952. pp. 147-149

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