Through Flood Through Fire

April 18, 1993

John 20:29 "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed"

Introduction

We who live along the seacoast know what a sobering thing it is to hear that a hurricane is coming. We do what we can, if we need to we go to a safer place, and then we simply have to ride it out. [Hurricane Bob in 1991]

The hideous and tragic events (of just this past week) sound like a hurricane warning to me. If we doubted it before, murder in our public schools shout out that challenging days are upon us. [Of course this is something our brothers and sisters in the inner city have been living with for a long time, now.]

Our scripture lessons today— all three of them— point to the fact that God's people can and will survive BY FAITH when the storm comes. One lesson is a reminder of the story of Noah. One lesson is a message from Peter, who is the prophet that predicted that the elements will melt with fervent heat, [Isn't that comforting?] And the text that holds it all together is a "post- Easter text" that closes with Jesus saying "Peace be with you!"

There is another thread that runs through all three scriptures as well: it is OBEDIENCE IN THE ABSENCE OF SIGHT, i.e., LIVING BY FAITH. [Look first at the lesson of Noah]

I. THE LESSON OF NOAH

  1. Jesus said (in Matthew 25 & Luke 17) that the world would come to resemble Noah's time before He came again. We cannot, of course, fully understand what that world was like, but in Genesis 6 we read: "Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and full of violence..." In fact it was so corrupt, and so full of violence that God destroyed it.
  2. In that time of corruption, not everyone was corrupt and violent. In Genesis 6 we also read, "Noah was a righteous man— and he walked with God."

    When judgment fell on the earth there was an escape. In the ark which Noah built to God's order he was spared along with his family. Noah's life was spared because he obeyed God in preparing for judgment day. The key to the story of Noah is faith and obedience. We miss the point if we get sidetracked on lesser points in the story. [Bill Cosby's version is nearer to the incredulity everyone may have felt than we like to admit!]

    Noah certainly couldn't comprehend all that was involved in his task of building and preaching, preaching and building. But Noah could and did OBEY GOD to the saving of his soul. And even IN the ark there was need for continuing trust!

    [Leave Noah for a moment now. The epistle lesson from Peter is the same message, only coming closer to where we live now:]

II. THE MESSAGE OF PETER

  1. In I Peter 1 there is an awareness of coming storm. He says "your faith- though tested with fire- will result in praise and glory and honor!" (1:7) Jesus told Peter at the lake side that when he (Peter) was old he would be carried where he did not want to go. Peter died a martyr's death. But Peter has a message of confidence.
  2. That confidence— that "ark of safety" to which Peter clings- - he calls being "born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1:3)
  3. That living hope is the love of a Jesus we have never seen! "(1:8) though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory."
  4. It is the people with this living hope that are TODAY'S "ARK BUILDERS!" Many people, not just believers, are concerned about the violence of our times. They want something to be done. It is a knee-jerk reaction to expect the government to do something about it. But strange as it may seem it is the "ark builders" and the people with the so-called "narrow view" that are making a difference in the face of a rising storm!

[The media have given some attention to some of the inner city leaders. What they have not addressed is the power behind the effective leaders, like Bruce Wahl, like John Borders, like Dr. Michael Haynes. That effective power is a focus on GOD!]

By the same witness, it is the families who have GOD at the center of their agenda that will stand the storm!

I hope you don't misunderstand me, or think I think I am "super-spiritual." I don't have the answers. But also I don't know how to address those who think it is wonderful when, say, a Nazarene makes it big in the Big Leagues. I still have the gnawing, nagging feeling that we have forgotten the Third Commandment, and don't really know how to keep a Christian Sabbath holy. If GOD is truly at the center, that is what really counts!

I can't put my finger on just what is right or wrong with the glamour and the excitement of Christian entertainment. I'm sure there is a place for great souls like Steve Green and Ken Medema and so forth. If I did not totally believe in Cross Walk I could not in good conscience be a part of the service this evening. It is necessary and good to worship God with the best we know, and to communicate the Gospel in a language people understand.

BUT WE HAVE TO SEE BEYOND THE GLAMOUR, BEYOND THE SO-CALLED 'POWER POSITIONS', BEYOND BEING ON T.V. AND ALL THAT. If we are trying to make Jesus accommodate to our goals and agenda, the storm will come and destroy us with all the others who have built on the sand.

IT IS THE ARK-BUILDERS, THE ONES WITH FAITH IN THE WORD OF GOD THAT WILL SAVE THEIR FAMILIES!

III. THE CONFESSION OF THOMAS

What do Peter's alarming words, and the story of Noah have to do with this closing passage from John 20 where Jesus appears to the assembled disciples?

Well, if the disciples had been able to see THE STORMS THAT LAY AHEAD FOR THEM they might have thought they needed detailed instruction in what they were to do. (Those Instructions would come, later, as they needed the details.) But NOW Jesus came and simply assured them that He is very much alive!

Here is the very climax of the Gospel! - the entire purpose for which it was written. JESUS IS ALIVE TO MAKE US ADEQUATE IN THE STORMS OF LIFE! And this climax can be summed up in the words of a man who had trouble coming to faith, the man we call "doubting Thomas."

Thomas finally came to say, "My LORD, and my GOD!" And John writes, "THAT IS WHY THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN— SO THAT YOU MIGHT BELIEVE, TOO, AND BELIEVING YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE IN JESUS' NAME!"

That living faith— "living HOPE, as Peter called it— is THE ONE THING THAT WILL HOLD US STEADY WHEN THE WORLD IS ON FIRE. And along with the inner assurance that Jesus is alive is the literal, constant Presence of the Risen Savior through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Receiving the Holy Spirit, and being filled and re-filled with His Presence is a completing part of the preparation every one of us needs so that we may live with joy in these threatening days. Being filled with the Spirit of the Risen Savior is both a crisis of trust (Romans 12:1,2) and an ongoing renewal (Luke 11:13.) And it works!

Conclusion

We are to be ark builders! Just what form the ark will take depends on obedience to God. The one thread that runs through all three of these scripture passages is OBEDIENCE EVEN WHEN WE CANNOT SEE! Noah had to believe even AFTER he was on board the ark! (Think of floating on endless waters day after day!)

If obedience to God is your sincere desire and prayer, God will help us find a way.

I think of such things as taking our children out of the public schools if they become untenable to our faith. I think, CERTAINLY, of EQUIPPING OUR CHILDREN TO SEE that some of what they will be taught is good and necessary; and at the same time that SOME OF WHAT THEY WILL BE TAUGHT IS CONTRARY TO WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS.

God's "ark of safety" needs to be offered to everyone who will listen. We are concerned about our children because they ARE ours. But God has children we do not know, and He will be using us to reach some of them, too. The plans for the ark of safety are not of our design.

Whatever plan God has for the ark (here in our corner of His kingdom)— it is His plan! Our first task is to KNOW HIM, and to STAY CLOSE TO HIM! And I am sure then, that God will enable us to have something of the spirit of the old spiritual that sings about the "Ark":

"Get on board, little children!
Get on board, little children!
Get on board, little children!
There's room for many-a more!"

Prayer:

O God, Our Refuge and Our Strength, our Very Present Help in Trouble, Help us to be ARK BUILDERS! Give us a spirit that trusts and obeys and that reaches out to our families and beyond— That prepares for the coming storm but does not fear. In Jesus' name, AMEN

EH 81 My Faith Has Found a Resting Place