How to Build Your Advent Ark
In 1 Peter 3:20, the same waters that destroyed those who disregarded God's Word delivered Noah and his family. The same coming of Christ that will destroy those who disregard God's Word will someday deliver you from its final cosmic chaos, when you learn "How to Build Your Advent Ark." November 27, 2011.
Renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking denies the personal involvement of God in the creation of the universe. Following the announcement earlier this month that our world population has reached 7 billion, he also suggested that in order to avoid disaster in the next 100 years, humans need to colonize outer space. “We are entering an increasingly dangerous period of our history,” Hawking said. “Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially…But our genetic code still carries the selfish and aggressive instincts that were of survival advantage in the past…Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain lurking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space.”[i]
Crazy talk from a mad scientist? Despite some anti-biblical assertions about God, Hawking seems most disturbed not by the quantity of humankind, but the quality—actually the lack of it—that will lead to our disaster. Such concern echoes sentiments we hear from the Creator in Noah’s day, when Godobserved “how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time,” and then he lamented to Noah, “I am grieved that I have made them…I will wipe [them] from the face of the earth” (Genesis 6:5,7). We don’t really know the world population at the time of the flood, but that wasn’t the problem.
Great wickedness. Continuing evil. Unchecked immorality despising the patient warning of God became the death sentence for those “who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.” They wouldn’t listen to the crazy talk of Noah, the mad ark builder, and the flood caught them by sad surprise. Did you know that Jesus once predicted it will happen again, before his second coming on Judgment Day? “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26,27).
We are guilty of the same disobedience when we dismiss God’s warning. We eat Thanksgiving feasts, other gluttonous frenzies, and hazardous foods with selfishness for our unhealthy appetite more than holy and healthy stewardship of our body. We drink in the intoxicating pleasures of shopping, drowning ourselves in debt that bankrupts us from contentment and other spiritual blessings God cannot place in hands and hearts already full. We treat sex and marriage as casual practices we can play around with by our own rules, instead of gifts designed by God to be practiced his way. We make choices as if God has no say, like he’s some crazy scientist!
It had to be hard for Noah to hear the pounding and pleading outside the ark as the floodwaters began to bury houses and his neighbors, who had to start swimming, finally realized the truth of his warnings, finally recognized the error of their ways, and wanted to accept God’s invitation. But not in faith. So it was too late. Will it take Judgment Day for you to realize the truth of God’s warnings and accept God’s invitation to repent and live? If so, it won’t be in faith but only with regret. Then it’ll be too late. You’ll be on the outside, pounding and pleading, drowning and damned.
Stephen Hawking is right in this, that the only hope for our wicked world, the only rescue for our selfishness and stubbornness and sin, is outer space. Beyond and better than his imagination, actually past the boundaries of outer space…there we find our hope, our rescue, our salvation. Where Jesus Christ “has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand” (1 Peter 3:22). You can live in faith-filled obedience now, escape the deadly doom of this wicked world, and get to heaven where Jesus waits, but how will we get there? Build your Advent ark. Just like Noah built his. He believed God’s promises and obeyed God’s commands. Even when it seemed crazy.
God warned Noah that he’d destroy the world in 120 years, and told Noah to begin building now, not in year 119. God promised Noah that he’d spare Noah’s wife, his sons and their wives, along with all the animals, and this valuable cargo inspired Noah to care not only for his own spiritual well being, but for the lives of those whom God entrusted to him. God reassured Noah that because he treated God’s word as higher priority than the warped wisdom of the world, he was a righteous man of faith. So Noah completed the ark and “in it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water.”
The same waters that destroyed those who disregarded God’s Word delivered Noah and his precious payload, buoying them above the cataclysmic crashing of currents in the depths below. The same coming of Christ that will destroy those who disregard God’s Word will someday deliver you from its final cosmic chaos, when you build your Advent ark. God warns that he’ll destroy this world, so build your Advent ark now, not tomorrow. God promises that he’ll spare not only you, but those among your family and friends who repent and believe because of the message you share. Isn’t that sometimes an inspiration for faith-filled obedience, to keep you going because of your impact on others? God reassures you that when you follow his word—especially when it conflicts with this world’s pressures—you are his righteous child, buoyed by the waters of baptism which spare you from this wicked world’s fate.
Before you build a spaceship to escape global disaster, consider this reality check from eHow.com: NASA and other space travel organizations are exclusive and constantly turn down applicants who desire space travel. The competition to join the ranks is reserved for the most qualified. According to the Bible, escaping the pending doom of the billions in this world whom God will destroy in a flood of fire on the last day is for anyone. Anyone whose Advent ark is built by the wood of Christ’s cross and buoyed by the water of baptism. Keep believing; God always keeps his promises. Keep obeying; God always knows best. Keep building; God’s patience with this wicked world will end sooner than you think. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on November 27, 2011
[i]“Manned Space Exploration Necessary for Human Survival, Says Hawking.” The Wired Word. November 27, 2011. ©2011 Communication Resources. Based in part on an article in the Winnipeg Free Press from November 18, 2011.
Related Sermons
Join the Chariots and Horsemen of Israel
If you're in a battle, you better know whom you're fighting for and have a lot of courage. As we read in 2 Kings 2:1-14, that's what Elijah knew and had and what Elisha wanted and needed. That's what we want and need, too, because we're in a war against the devil. So, "Join the Chariots and Horsemen of Israel!" February 19, 2012. Read on
God Heals Our Status Sickness
Status sickness—2 Kings 5:1-14 shows us that Naaman had it, and God healed it. "God Heals Our Status Sickness," too. February 12, 2012. Read on
Answer God's Call to Follow
The words of 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 implore us to "Answer God's Call to Follow." Answer it clearly as one who is powerfully saved and strengthened, and by personally sharing and standing. January 15, 2012. Read on