In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

In today's Gospel Jesus speaks about the Last Days of this world. And He compares the Last Days to those of Noah and Lot. As it was in their times, so it will be in the time prior to the close of this age and Christ's return for judgment. The things that Noah and Lot experienced so long ago are prophetic of how conditions will be in the end before our Lord's Second Coming.

So let's do a quick review. First, here's how it was in the days of Noah. It is written in Genesis 6, "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. . . The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence."

One doesn't have to think too long to realize that such a description fits pretty well also with our world today. In the workplace and business and in government there is all sorts of corruption and fraud. People often seem to have no inhibitions about acting unethically if it serves their own purposes and they can get away with it. Also, there is the steady diet of corruption and immorality that spews forth from movies and TV and internet sites. People somehow seem to think that it's not so bad if it's happening on a screen rather than in real life. But experience shows that you can't always separate reality and virtual reality that easily. And there is the corruption we feel in our own hearts, which are all too often filled with lust or greed or vengeance or just plain self-righteousness. We know deep down that the thoughts and desires of our hearts are not always as they should be.

And clearly our world is also full of violence, like in Noah's day. Terrorism and war, assaults and abuse, gangs of teens with guns-we hardly even blink when we hear reports of violent crime on the news. Just more of the same. I don't think it's a coincidence that crime rates have gone up significantly since the early 1970's when human life was officially devalued by the legalization of abortion. Well over 3000 abortions occur every day in this country. No, in the end, our days are not all that different than the days of Noah.

And how was it in the days of Lot? Well, Lot lived in Sodom. And both Sodom and Gomorrah were places notorious for their sexual immorality and depravity. This is illustrated by an account from Genesis 19. Two angels had come to Sodom to warn Lot to flee from the city. For God would soon be destroying it because of its sin. These two angels came in the form of men, as they always do in the Bible. When word got out that these two visitors were at Lot's house, all the men of Sodom, both young and old, gathered around Lot's house. And they said, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may have sexual relations with them." Homosexuality in Sodom was rampant and pervasive.

So also in our own time, homosexuality is gaining greater and greater acceptance, even being promoted as normal and something that should be protected as a civil right. Gay shame has become gay pride, a sign of just of how far our culture has slid. Even Christians are tempted to accept this and bow down to the golden calf of whatever seems loving and nice and avoids confrontation. We are not far from Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Scriptures clearly teach that homosexuality is sinful and wrong, even in a so-called "monogamous" relationship. Of course, the argument that is made is, "I was born this way." That's certainly debatable. But even if it were true, somebody else could say, "I was born with a tendency to steal." "I was born with a tendency toward anger or drunkenness." "I was born with a tendency to want to commit adultery." The fact of the matter is we are all born with sinful inclinations. But these are to be repented of and turned away from, not embraced! I Corinthians 6 could not be more clear when it says, "Do not be deceived: Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor drunkards will inherit the kingdom of God." Those who persist in such a way of life are under God's judgment. Only those who turn away from such things and turn to the Lord will be saved.

There's one more point to be made about Sodom. Lot came out to the men who had surrounded his house and said, "Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly!" But they said, "This one keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them." Lot was accused of being judgmental. That is what our culture today considers to be the really terrible thing. It's not those who commit the sin but those who condemn the sin that are bad. They are the ones who are given the derogatory labels. But intolerance is not a bad thing if it's intolerance of what is wrong. To be sure we should not be hateful. We must do good and show love to all. We must ask God to grant repentance to those who are in bondage to sin and pray for their forgiveness. But we must never become accepting of that which is contrary to God's will.

As it was in the days of Noah and Lot, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. To put it plainly, then, these are the days of the Son of Man, times when Jesus could return at any moment! And remember, at the time of Noah and Lot, on the surface at least everything seemed to be just fine. That's one of Jesus' main points here. People were getting married, doing business, planting and building. The economy was doing OK. Then suddenly the flood came, and Noah didn't seem so crazy for building this giant ark. Then suddenly Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire, and Lot's warning suddenly didn't seem so judgmental. So also our Lord will come suddenly and unexpectedly to judge the world once and for all. Let us therefore be on guard and alert for Christ's return and not succumb to apathy and complacency. Let us repent of our tolerance of sin, both in the world and in our own lives. Let us turn the hope and trust of our hearts to the salvation our Lord will bring at His second coming and seek the kingdom of God.

For even in the midst of judgment, God always provides deliverance for His people who trust in Him. In Lot's case He did that in two ways. First of all, when Lot was threatened with being assaulted by the men of Sodom, the angels who were with him struck those men blind and pulled Lot back into the safety of the house. Then a short time later, having received the warning from the angels, Lot and his family escaped and fled from Sodom, while fire and brimstone rained on the city behind them.

So it is that God also guards and protects you from many evils through His angels, even if you're not aware of it. And He also delivers you through another kind of angel, messengers of the Word of God, preachers of the Gospel of Jesus. The Lord still sends men to announce His coming wrath and to proclaim the way to be saved from that wrath through the cross of Christ. When you believe the preaching of Jesus, you are rescued from judgment in an even greater way than Lot was. The fiery condemnation of hell will not touch you when you take refuge in Jesus.

And, of course, God saved Noah from the downpour of judgment in the ark. I Peter 3 teaches what the ark means for us. Peter says, "In the ark a few, that is, eight persons, were saved by water. In the same way also, baptism now saves us, not by washing dirt from the body, but by guaranteeing us a good conscience before God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Just as Noah was saved through the water of the flood, so also we are saved through the water of Baptism. Just as wickedness and evil were destroyed in the deluge, so also, sin, death, and the devil are defeated for us by water and the Word. And just as Noah and his family were given new life and a new beginning after the water had subsided, so also in the washing of generation we are given new and eternal life with God. Our ark is the Church of Christ into whom we have been baptized.

But someone might ask, "How can baptism do such great things?" Well, as we confess in the Catechism, it is not the water alone which does this but the Word of God in and with the water and faith which trusts this Word of God in the water. The Scriptures tell us that the power of baptism lies in the death and resurrection of Jesus which it applies to us. For it was at Calvary that the wrath of God was fully vented, that wickedness and evil were fully punished. Jesus experienced in its entirety the furious storm of judgment that was coming upon us so that we would be spared. On the cross God the Father treated Jesus as if He alone were the corrupt one, the murderer, the adulterer, the homosexual, the drunkard, the liar, the self-righteous. Jesus bore all of that in our place that such sinners as us might be saved through His blood. That's what Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 6. After giving his list of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God, he then says, "And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." Christ's empty grave proclaimed that our punishment was undone and that God the Father accepted us back. By being baptized into Christ, by faith in Him alone, we are alive and well in the ark of the church. We are delivered from judgment into the everlasting kingdom of God.

But we must remember that, for now, until the Last Day comes, that kingdom of God remains hidden and unseen in this world. It is perceived only by faith, recognized only by those who believe. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst." Fellow Christians, the kingdom of God is already here, in your midst, for Christ the King is in your midst, and He is God in the flesh. The same Jesus who offered Himself up for you on the cross to save you is now present in His risen body and blood to speak to you His words of forgiveness and to give into you His very life. The same Jesus who will come again openly at the close of the age comes to you now under cover in the Word and the Sacraments to sustain you by His Holy Spirit that you may endure in the faith until the end. For now the Church remains hidden under the cross, under weakness and trouble, like that which Noah and Lot experienced. But in the end the glory of the risen Christ which we now have by faith will be revealed in all its splendor for the whole world to see.

As we await that final day, let us hold fast to the sure hope of the resurrection. For, as St. Paul says, "The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit