Life goes on—as it did in the days of Noah

Sermon for the week of Trinity 25

2 Peter 3:3-15 + Luke 17:20-33

If you were here on Saturday, you heard Jesus begin to teach His disciples about the end times, leading up to His return for judgment. That Gospel was from a Holy Week lesson. But Jesus had already begun to teach about the end times before that. Our second Lesson from Luke 17 reflects that, and while some of this explanation in Luke 17 is repeated during Holy Week, other parts are unique to this earlier lesson. Let’s spend a few moments focusing on those things.

In Matthew 24, it was the disciples who asked Jesus about the signs of His coming. Here, it’s the Pharisees who asked when the kingdom of God would come. And Jesus’ answer clarifies for us that the “coming of God’s kingdom” is not the same thing as “the second coming of Christ.” The kingdom of God does not come, He said, with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. “Within you” can also be translated “among you” or “in the midst of you.” According to Jesus, the kingdom of God has already come in one sense, and will continue to come until Christ comes again to finalize His reign as King. It was the message Jesus had been preaching all along: The kingdom of heaven is at hand! Repent and believe the Gospel!

The kingdom of heaven, or, kingdom of God, is the reign of Christ in the hearts of men. It exists already here on earth, in an invisible way. Jesus already reigns as King over the kingdom of God, over you, His beloved subjects. As we say in the Small Catechism, on the petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come”: God’s kingdom certainly comes by itself without our prayer; but we ask in this prayer that it may come to us also. How is this done? When the heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word, and lead godly lives, here in time and there in eternity.

It’s the “there in eternity” part that people usually have in mind when they think of God’s kingdom coming. And Jesus does have something to say about that, too, here in our Lesson. Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. Jesus, the Son of Man, would eventually ascend into heaven, after suffering and dying and being rejected by this generation. And then charlatans would eventually try to persuade people that He will return more than once, in secret. But just as we heard in Saturday’s Gospel, so Jesus says here, no, He will only return once, and that will be in full sight of all people.

In other places, Jesus gives His disciples certain signs to watch for, to let His disciples know that He’s coming soon. But here, He tells us something important about how the people of the world will be behaving when He comes. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Everyone on earth at the time of Noah, except for Noah and his family, was unbelieving. They were violent. They were disobedient. They were power-hungry. And they had brought God’s wrath down upon themselves by their behavior. But, there was no sign of God’s judgment, until it finally came. Life went on for them, as if there would be no flood to wipe them out. But, suddenly, there was, and it did.

Likewise, Jesus says, as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. You remember how wicked the people of Sodom were. They were violent. They were disobedient, and unbelieving. They were also guilty of the abomination of homosexuality. And they had brought God’s wrath down upon themselves by their impenitent behavior. But, there was no sign of God’s judgment, until it finally came. Life went on for them, as if there would be no fire and brimstone to destroy them all. But, suddenly, there was, and it did.

Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Think about that. Some people imagine that there will be a great battle leading up to Jesus’ return. Or they think of a nuclear holocaust, or a giant asteroid strike that will plunge the world into perpetual winter. They imagine that life on earth will get drastically worse, or come to a stand-still, with God’s judgment being poured out on the world ahead of Judgment Day. But, no, Jesus says, that’s not at all how it will be. Life will be going on as usual. The wicked will continue in their wickedness. And the unbelievers will have no clue that their destruction is about to strike. As it was in the days of Noah.

But believers in Jesus, who have heeded His warnings, will be ready for His coming. Only make sure that you don’t try to hold on to this world as you see that day drawing near. That’s Jesus’ final warning in today’s reading: “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. That’s similar to what we heard on Sunday, but “remember Lot’s wife” here is a graphic warning for us. Remember what happened to her, as the two angels were guiding Lot and his wife, and his two daughters, out of the city of Sodom, as fire and brimstone were about to rain down on Sodom and Gomorrah. The angels warned them, “Hurry! Flee! And don’t look back!” But Lot’s wife did look back, longing for the life she once had in that great city. And she was turned into a pillar of salt.

Remember Lot’s wife. And don’t repeat her tragic mistake. Don’t gaze upon your life here with longing, yearning to hold on to it, or even to parts of it. Be ready to go, at any time. Even as life goes on all around you, as it did in the days of Noah, be like Noah, and be ready to leave all this behind, at any moment. Those who are ready will escape the coming destruction, and will find that the new life that awaits them with God, after this world is destroyed, is worth far more than anything you left behind here. Life goes on here, until it doesn’t. And then you’ll begin to live with the Lord, to serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Amen.