Live Every Day as If It's the Last
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The Flood by Agostino Carracci |
[Jesus said,] “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:37–42).
Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
A few years ago, Tim
McGraw had a hit country song. It was about a man who received a disturbing
diagnosis from his doctor. Realizing that he might not have much time left on
this earth, the man decided to live his final days to their fullest. In
addition to sky diving, Rocky Mountain climbing, and riding a bull named Fu
Manchu, the man reconnected with his loved ones, read Scripture, and
re-evaluated his life. For him it was such a life-changing experience that he
said to his young friend: “Someday I hope you get a chance to live like you
were dying.”
The last three Sundays
of Pentecost, the constant theme of our Gospel lesson was you need to be
prepared at all times, because Jesus is coming in glory to judge, and He’s
coming at an unexpected time. And today, as Advent begins and we look forward
to the coming of Jesus at Christmas, the message of our Gospel lesson is… you
need to be prepared at all times, because Jesus is coming in glory to judge,
and He’s coming at an unexpected time. Live every day as if it’s your last.
Once again, here in
Matthew 24, our Lord tells us that He’s coming to judge, and you don’t know
when it’s going to be. However, in this text Jesus tells you how it’s
going to be: it’s going to be like the days of Noah.
Of the days of Noah,
Genesis records that the wickedness of man had grown so great, and his thoughts
were so continually evil, that the Lord was sorry for creating mankind. He
therefore resolved to destroy man.
Let that sink in for a
moment. Suppose your mother or father were so disappointed in you and your life
that they told you: “I wish I had never brought you into this world. In fact, I’m
so sorry that I feel it is my solemn duty to take you out of this world!” Then
multiply that shame and disappointment by the millions of people who might have
been alive at that time. That’s a disturbing thought, isn’t it?
And how was this
wickedness and great evil reflected in the lives of the people? They were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. It wasn’t necessarily
daily drunken revelry as cartoons depict. It may have been an advanced society
with all sorts of social programs to help the underprivileged, but the people
had nearly all turned against God. At any rate, eating and drinking and getting
married is not a description of people who are aware of great evil and
impending doom. As far as they were concerned at the time, life couldn’t be
better. Everything was okay. There was nothing out of the ordinary that would
say otherwise.
Except, of course, for
Noah. There was that one man, along with his three sons and their wives. He was
building a boat. A big boat. And, for all we know, there wasn’t a large body of
water anywhere close. He was a preacher of righteousness; and for the 80 years
or so that it took to build the ark, he was preaching the Word of God and
telling his neighbors to repent. He was warning that a flood was coming and the
whole world would be destroyed.
So, look at this from
the perspective of the unbeliever. Life was good, except for a nutcase building
a giant boat in a world that had never known a drop of rain, much less a flood.
Except for the seven others who believed the Word of God, everyone else was
convinced that Noah was a fool. But God, praises Noah as a righteous man and a
preacher of righteousness (Ezekiel 14:14; 2 Peter 2:5).
Keep another thing in
mind: Noah preached God’s Word to his neighbors for eighty years; and after
eighty years of ministry, he won not one convert from those around him. By the
standards of those in our present time who measure the success of a church by
statistics, he was a miserable failure; but God extols him as a faithful
preacher of righteousness. Sometimes, the mission field is just that rocky.
Noah faithfully
preached the Word and built that boat, while the world enjoyed itself and
sensed no impending doom. In fact, Jesus says that the people around Noah had
no idea anything bad was going to happen until the day that Noah entered the
ark, and the flood came and took them all away. And that, says the Lord, is how
the end of the world will be. The world will continue its merry way, with no
idea whatsoever that God’s judgment is coming. But suddenly, that judgment will
come and all who do not believe will be taken in judgment.
So, let’s take stock of
the world today. The threat of terrorism and mass destruction remains, but
otherwise life is good. Technology and sciences have made our lives easier and
of higher quality for a long time. In many ways, it seems that we may be on our
way to a utopian dream where all our problems are solved.
On the other hand, it’s
legal to kill the unborn, and it’s getting to be legal to kill the elderly and
disabled. The world demands that we tolerate all sorts of sexual immorality,
even help fund it. We’re told that we can’t talk about God in society or have
Him in public education, even as we’re told that we must talk positively about
any other god. Rather than admit that it can neither prove nor disprove the
existence of God, popular science declares that we accidentally emerged over
billions of years from primordial soup, cutting God out of the picture. Many
have rejected the Word of God for false doctrines. In fact, society will tolerate
just about anything except the truth of God’s Word and the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. In other words, while the world seems to be moving alone quite well,
it’s ripe for judgment. The Lord could return at any time. Live everyday as if
it’s your last.
Therefore, we heed Jesus
words and make the following applications:
First: Don’t judge the
state of the world by the world’s measures; measure the world by the Word of
God. If God doesn’t exist, if Jesus isn’t coming back to judge, then this is a
better time to live than any time in history; and the unbelieving world will do
its best to convince you of that. And since the world has your own sinful flesh
as its ally, it’s easy to believe that everything is good and getting better.
Cling to the truth of God. Acknowledge the reality of evil, confess your sin,
and rejoice in Christ’s forgiveness. In other words, live every day as if it’s
your last.
Second: Don’t measure
the Church by the world’s standards. It is a terrible, popular notion that a
congregation that is blessed by God will automatically grow in numbers; and if
it doesn’t, then there must be something wrong. Remember the days of Noah:
after eighty years of preaching, there were only eight names in the church
directory. In our business-oriented world, we’re accustomed to measuring
everything by profit and growth; and it sure is a lot easier to measure a
congregation by a couple of statistics than it is faithfully to study the Word
of God. But if you are to accuse a congregation of error only because it
doesn’t grow quickly, you must first believe that Noah was a rotten preacher.
Then you must explain why the Lord is wrong when He calls Noah faithful and
righteous.
Third: We take a moment
here to condemn the notion of Dispensational Millenialism, a false teaching of
the end times popularized by Tim LaHaye and his Left Behind series. Among its
false teachings is the Rapture, a silly notion that before the end of the world
all believers will suddenly disappear and be taken to heaven, while all
unbelievers will be “left behind.” Among the verses you supposedly can find the
Rapture is our text: “Then two men
will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be
grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.” “This proves that, one
day, all Christians will disappear, while everyone else remains,” they say. You
don’t want to be ‘left behind,” do you?”
But recall the days of Noah. When the Flood came, what happened? The
unbelievers were all taken away; only those on the ark were left behind.
Likewise, when the Lord returns in judgment. Two men will be in the field: one
will be taken away in judgment, and the other left behind in God’s care. Two
women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken away in judgment, and the
other left behind for eternal life. This text does not teach a Rapture of Christians
1000 years before the end of the world; it teaches the end will come suddenly
and that it’s unbelievers who will be taken away. When the Lord returns, you
want to be left behind.
Enough about the days of Noah as the days of judgment, and heed the
warning well. The Lord could come back anytime—suddenly, without warning. Live
everyday as if it is your last. But as you heed the warnings of God’s Law, do
not despair. It can be easy to be discouraged and distressed about the
condition of the world today—and for good reason. However, the days of Noah
were not just days of judgment; they were also days of grace. Out of all the
people in the world, only 8 were counted righteous. It would be easy to
overlook 8 people among the masses of humanity at the time, but the Lord didn’t
overlook them. Rather than wipe out the righteous with the unrighteous, He
delivered all who trusted in Him.
As we begin this Advent season and prepare for Christmas, we give
thanks that the Lord is faithful to His promises and delivers His people.
Centuries after Noah, Jesus became flesh and was born of Mary to win redemption
for the world. Instead of simply wiping you away with the rest of the sinful
world, your loving Savior would rather endure scourge and cross and hell to
save you.
The Lord remains that faithful now. Therefore, as you watch and remain
ready by His grace for His return, you do so with the confidence that you are
not forsaken. No matter how futile it looks to cling to the means of grace, and
no matter how the Church will look in the world, the Lord is with you and
promises to deliver you. He remembered Noah. He remembers you.
He remembers you because He put His name on you in Holy Baptism. Peter
refers to Noah as he calls the Flood an antitype to Baptism; as the Flood
destroyed the wicked and saved the righteous, so also Baptism drowns your old
sinful nature and saves you. At your Baptism, Jesus declared “I have put My
name on you, and I have brought you into the ark of My Church. No matter what
the world says or the devil whispers, you belong to Me, and I will not forsake
you.”
The Lord remembers you and still speaks His Word to you. The world will
continue to reject the Word of God and insist on its own hopeless, killing ways
and words instead. But you have this glad confidence: in the days of Noah, when
there were only 8 righteous remaining, the Word of God still brought them grace
and hope. Should the Church in this world be reduced to only 8 souls—or even
only two or three!—you have the Lord’s promises: “Where two or three are
gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”
The Lord remembers you and feeds you. He provided for the eight on the
ark, and He provides for you. The world goes on eating and drinking and giving
in marriage unconcerned about judgment and eternity. But you have better eating,
drinking, and marriage. Your Bridegroom comes to you that you may eat His body
and blood for the forgiveness of sins, so that you might be sure that you will
be at the marriage feast of the Lamb in heaven.
Thus sustained by the love of God in the work of the Holy Spirit
through the means of grace, and in fervent faith in your Savior Christ, you
live everyday as if it is the last, confident that whatever may happen, you
will be with the Lord in His kingdom forever. For Jesus’ sake, you are forgiven
for all your sins.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English
Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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