Marvel at the Lord's Mercy (Genesis 6:1 - 8:22)

July 3, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

The story has been told about a mother who once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. When she asked, the emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death. To which she responded, "But I don't ask for justice, I plead for mercy." "But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied. "Sir," the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for." "Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman's son.[1]  In so many ways stories like this cause us to recognize and marvel at the mercy the Lord has bestowed upon us.  Though we’ve done nothing to deserve it, the Lord has acted in his mercy in our lives, time and time again.  In his mercy he sent his Son to free us from our sins.  In his mercy he works things out for the good of those who love him.  In his mercy he has called us to faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  In his mercy he continues to guard and protect us each and every day of our lives.  In his mercy he has recorded in his word all that he has done for us so that we might grow in our faith and knowledge, as we marvel at the mercy the Lord our God continues to pour out on us and all his faithful people.

Take for example the account of the flood.  The year was roughly 1536.  1536 years since the beginning of creation.  Mankind had increased in number, filling the earth and subduing it.  In those years since the beginning of creation, the sons of God—the believers—had begun to intermarry with the daughters of men—the unbelievers—and before long the light of faith in the hearts of the believers had begun to dwindle, flicker, and finally go out.  As the faith of those believers who had intermarried with unbelievers began to faith, so also the world began to grow darker, more evil, more violent, and much more and more wicked.  So when 1536 years passed after the Lord had created the heavens and the earth, Moses tells us: “Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” 5 The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:3, 5–8, NIV84)

Now, just think about what the Lord is telling us.  Nearly the enter world, not just a nation, nearly the entire world had stopped believing in the Lord God.  They had refused to listen to him, saw no reason to worship him, and were completely disregarding his existence.  Yet, even though the majority of the world had turned against the Lord, mercifully the Lord granted the entire world 120 years as their time of grace.  120 years for them to turn from their evil ways!  120 years for them to turn back to the Lord.  120 years to listen to Noah, a preacher of Righteousness (2 peter 2:5).  120 years to listen to Noah’s father Lamech and Noah’s grandfather Methuselah—two men who were born before Adam died; two men who may well have known Adam personally as Lemech was born 56 years before Adam died and Methuselah was born 243 years before Adam died.  120 years to let the message of the coming destruction sink in as they saw Noah and his family building the biggest barge anyone had probably ever seen; according to the Lord’s command.  120 years of the Lord’s marvelous mercy delivered to probably millions, if not billions of people in the world who had turned their backs on the Lord their God. Yet only 8 people benefitted from the Lord’s marvelous mercy.  Only 8 people believed the Lord, listened to the Lord, followed the Lord and were saved by the Lord in the ark he commanded them to build.  Only 8 because the Lord had called both Lamech and Methuselah, and probably any other believers, home to heaven before the flood destroyed the earth.

But before we go any further, let me ask you an obvious question, “Is our world any different today than it was in Noah’s day?”  Oh sure we have faster cars, bigger boats, better technology, more incredible industries and yes, smellier air, but if you really think about it our world isn’t that much different.  We have all seen the sons of God intermarry with the daughters of men.  We have watched as the light of faith in the hearts of believers has begun to dwindle, flicker, and even go out; sometimes because of an unbelieving spouse or spouse of another faith, other times because even believers can be sucked into the non-religious, secular, scientific world in which we live today. Though the word of God has had a great deal of free reign over the centuries since our Savior walked the earth, it seems that the gospel is being hindered or ignored all the more in our day and age.  Yet, in his great mercy, the Lord has called each and every one of us to faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior.  The Lord has given us this time of grace for us to grow in our faith and our trust.  He has given us this time of grace to share our faith, like Noah did, with those who do not yet know their Savior. In his mercy, the Lord has given us this time as we draw near the Day of Judgment as Noah did.  And in his mercy, the Lord has given us this account of the flood to help us to prepare ourselves for his coming, just as Jesus tells us, “37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; (Matthew 24:37–38, NIV84)

Well, this is the same mercy that the Lord poured out on Noah and his family as Moses tells us in Genesis 6:  “9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. (Genesis 6:9–15, NIV84)

Now, for a moment, let’s talk about the dimensions of the ark, because even though we know it was big, it is very seldom that we are able to conceive of scope of its size. Now, if the wall to my right, your left, was one side of the ark, the width of the ark would stretch from that wall over the top of the stairwell, by my office, in the fellowship hall.  That top step over by my office is roughly 75 feet away from this wall to my right.  If the back of the ark were lined up with the back wall of the narthex, the outside wall of our church with the windows; if that were the back of the ark then the ark would stretch from that wall to, at the very least, the other side of 112, if not all the way to the back yards of the houses on the other side of 112.  Finally, if we were sitting inside the ark right now, we would, of course, be on the lowest deck.  By the time we climbed to the top deck and looked out the window we would find that we would be about even with the bell tower, only about five feet lower than the roof of the tower where the base of the spire which holds up the cross, is anchored. 

Why do I tell you this?  Because it was in this enormous barge that the Lord displayed his mercy as he provided for the continuation of the line of the Savior.  It was in this big boat that the Lord mercifully spared 8 people and all the kinds of the animals from the destruction of the unbelieving, wicked, and evil world.  The ark is an amazing picture of God’s marvelous mercy in the face of his just judgment for as we know, after all the animals had entered the ark, Noah and his family went in and the Lord closed the door behind them.  There in that ark they were saved as the floodwaters of the earth burst forth from the earth and the floodgates of the heavens were opened and the rains fell for forty days and nights.  There in the ark Moses and his family were safe during the 375 days that passed from the time they entered the ark until the time that the Lord said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it.” 18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. 22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (Genesis 8:16–22, NIV84)

In so many ways the Lord displayed his mercy in the lives of Noah and his family, and this is what the Lord continues to do for each and every one of us today.  In his mercy he has placed the rainbow in the sky to remind us of how he provided not only for Noah, but for the entire human race.  In his mercy he chose us to be his children.  He called us to faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.  He assured us that Jesus has indeed freed us from our sins by his death and resurrection, and he now calls us to proclaim the message of salvation with those who do not yet know him.  This is the mercy that the Lord has bestowed upon us. Though we did not deserve it he has made us his own.  Though we had committed the same offence not merely two times but, in reality, millions of times, the Lord bestowed upon us his mercy when he forgave us and spared us from the eternal death we deserved.  Now, just as Noah did, we live in that mercy.  We live in that time of grace that he has given us.  We grow in the faith that the Lord has bestowed in our hearts.  We grow in our knowledge of our Savior who loved us, and we are always ready to share our faith with those who do not yet know.  This is the marvelous mercy of the Lord our God.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

<a href=http://www.grace-lesueur.org>Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church</a> -Le Sueur, MN

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[1] Originally from: Luis Palau, Experiencing God's Forgiveness, Multnomah Press, 1984.  Copied from: http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/m/mercy.htm Accessed July 1, 2011

Marvel at the Lord's Faithful Forgiveness! (Genesis 3:1-15)

June 26, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

Forgiveness; Forgiveness is something for which everyone looks, but not everyone finds. Forgiveness is something for which everyone asks, but not everyone receives. Forgiveness is something that everyone hopes to receive, but forgiveness is something that is not always given. Forgiveness is hard. Forgiveness is hard, especially in a relationship that is tormented with past troubles. Forgiveness is hard in situations where trust has been lost, confidences have been betrayed, or one party feels that the other party does not deserve it, has not earned it, or will simply misuse it if they receive it. Forgiveness is hard and forgiveness often hurts. Forgiveness always costs because forgiveness is releasing another person from sin or guilt rather that demanding payment for wrongs done. Forgiveness is reaching out in love rather than seeking to extract revenge. Forgiveness is costly, because it is always given at the cost of something—the cost of tears, wounded pride, a broken heart, even diminished trust. Forgiveness has always been a costly gift for the one who is giving it, but it has never cost any of us as much as it cost the Lord our God!

Just think about what it must have been like for God, sitting there in eternity and planning his creation. He knew that satan would rebel against him. He knew that Adam and Eve would listen to his enemy and turn against him rather than remaining faithful to him. He knew the depravity into which the world would fall so that he would destroy it once with a flood and then finally, completely, on the Last Day. He knew all of this and he knew the cost he would pay with the life of his Son. Yet he still went ahead with it. He created the world. He allowed satan to tempt Adam and Eve. He allowed them to fight their own battle and even choose to turn against him. He allowed them to become unfaithful to him so that they and all the world would have the opportunity to marvel at the Lord’s Faithful Forgiveness.

Take a look at what I’m talking about. Take a look at Genesis 3:1 and see the beginning of how the Lord demonstrated his faithful forgiveness. Now, as you know the Lord had recently finished his work of creating. At some point after the sixth day satan rebelled against the Lord, tried to take over, was defeated by the Archangel Michael, and was cast out of heaven forever. At sometime after that, perhaps even the very next day satan shows up in the garden, determined to utterly destroy what the Lord God had created. Take a look at verse 1: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1, NIV84)

With these words Moses clearly assures us that this is, indeed, a real snake. It is not merely some symbol of evil or some kind of benign thought. It was a very subtle and crafty animal, as Moses tells us, which is something that could not be said of any other of the animals that God had created. Thus, by revealing this to us, Moses is in effect calling on us to pause here for a moment, and consider what is going on. A snake, a serpent, that is more than a serpent, a crafty and cunning serpent is speaking to Even in the Garden! Verse 1: “He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1–5, NIV84)

Just think about what’s going on. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. They were perfect in every way. Their thoughts were in complete and holy harmony with God’s will. They were not capable of tempting themselves into sin. Their temptation had to come from an outside, evil source, which is exactly what happened. Their temptation came from the master tempter and deceiver who enticed Eve into doubting God’s Word. He moved Eve from not even thinking about the fruit on the tree as food to thinking about it to the point that it was the only thing that she could think about. Verse 6: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:6–13, NIV84)

But before we go any farther, I have to ask a question. How often haven’t we been in that very same boat? How often hasn’t satan or one of his evil angels whispered in our ears or in our thoughts and subtly suggested that we not follow the Lord’s will in one way or another? How often hasn’t the siren song of certain websites, or certain Television shows, allured us away from work that had to be done, time that could have been spent with family, or time that needed to be spent with our spouse? How often haven’t we felt desire grow in our hearts like Eve did; desire for something we had hardly considered suddenly become so strong that we could not possibly live without it? How often haven’t we served as the tempter, as Eve did for Adam and drawn our spouse into sin with us? Or how often haven’t we gone along with our spouse, even though we knew that we should stand firm and not give into the temptation? How often haven’t we wagged our own tongues in order to point the finger at someone else’s sin in the hopes of hiding our own? How often haven’t little things like decorations, traditions, or personalities caused monumental problems in our lives or in our church? How often haven’t agreed with what Jesus said when he said, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.” (Matthew 18:15, NIV84) But, as soon as we are offended by a brother or sister, we bring the matter up to the person who is just a little bit higher in the chain of command, so that now someone else will have to deal with it and we don’t have to go talk to the person? How often haven’t we allowed anger or frustration to fester and boil in our hearts until we are not able to even look at or be around the person or persons who either knowingly or unknowingly caused the hurt? How often haven’t we stood before the Lord like Adam and Eve did, blaming the Lord as the cause of our sins? How often haven’t we stood before the Lord expecting some form of punishment for our sins and finding ourselves once again marveling at the faithful forgiveness that he was so lovingly pouring out on us, even though we didn’t deserve it?

That’s where Adam and Eve found themselves. They were standing before their creator. They were standing before the God who had promised them that they would surely die when they ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, undoubtedly expecting that the worst was yet to come. But as Moses tells us in verse 9, it was the LORD God who called to them. It was Yaweh Elohim, who called them and before whom they were standing. Now, as I told you last week, Elohim is the word we translate as God. This is also the name that is most often equated with God’s power, with his righteousness, and with his holiness. The name Yaweh, on the other hand is translated as LORD. In your NIV Bibles this name is indicated by typing LORD either with all capital letters of the same size or with a large capital “L” and with smaller capitals for “ORD”. This is the name that is sometimes translated as Jehovah. This is the name that Moses received at the burning bush when the Lord declared “I Am”, and this is the name through which the Lord has revealed himself as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness.” (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 86:15 and Psalm 103:8)

Though Adam and Eve had been unfaithful to the Lord their God, it was the Lord, or Yaweh, or Jehovah who remained faithful to them, gave them his forgiveness and promised their salvation. Take a look at verse 14: “So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:14–15, NIV84)

With these words the Lord God makes it clear that he is speaking to more than just a snake. He makes it clear that he is speaking to satan, a morally responsible creature, which again is something we learn from other parts of Scripture. Though satan seemed to win a victory here, it is only short lived, because God forgives Adam and Eve, removes their enmity with God and places it between them and satan, and delivers the first promise of the Savior. For with this promise God established an enemy status between Eve and satan by forgiving Adam and Eve. He would establish that same enemy status between her descendants—those who believed in the Lord—and satan’s descendants which would be those who did not believe in the Lord. Finally he would single out one specific descendant, Jesus, who would come to crush the serpent’s head and destroy the devils work. Though this would cause great suffering, pain, and even death as satan struck Jesus’ heal, by his death and resurrection Jesus would completely work forgiveness, destroy the power of satan forever, and cause us to marvel continually at the faithful forgiveness of our Lord.

Though we have been unfaithful, like Adam and Eve, the Lord has remained faithful to us. Though we have not deserved it, it was the Lord who has forgiven us for all of our sins. It is the Lord who has applied that forgiveness to us through the faith that he created in our hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Lord who has established enmity between us and satan, and between us and unbelievers. It is the Lord our God who has completely destroyed satan’s power over us. Though there are still times when our enemy gets the better of us, tempting us to sin, it is our God who faithfully calls us to repent, grants us the blessing of his forgiveness, and empowers us to forgive each other.

This is the faithful forgiveness that the Lord has shown in our lives. But the question is, do we allow that same forgiveness to show in our lives? How long has it been since you’ve let the faithful forgiveness of your Savior melt your heart into forgiveness for those who have wronged you? How long has it been since you let go of your pride, your frustration, your anger, or whatever it is that you are holding on to, and forgiven your fellow members, your pastor, your friends, even yourself for whatever wrongs might have been done? Are you still holding that grudge from that thing that happened so long ago that you can’t quite remember what it is, but you are still mad at a specific person and don’t know why? If you are still holding on to any past wrongs, I urge each and every one of you to let go and live in the marvelous forgiveness of your Savior, by forgiving those who wronged you in any way. Though I know that forgiveness is never easy and it will always cost something, can you imagine how amazing this place would be if we daily lived in the faithful forgiveness of our Lord! Can you imagine the joy that would permeate this house of worship because we were able to live together as God’s forgiven people because we had forgiven each other for whatever wrongs we may have caused! Can you imagine the blessings that the Lord would reign down upon us because there was finally room in our hearts now that we had let go of the sins, the hurts, and the wrongs to which we had once clung!

Though forgiveness isn’t always an easy thing to give away, it is the Lord’s forgiveness that enables us to give it away freely. Though forgiveness is something that will always cost us, it will never cost us as much as it cost the Lord our God. So as we bring this sermon to a close, take a moment during the offering to utter a prayer to the Lord. Release to him all your hurts, your heart aches, your frustrations, your grudges and ask him to forgive you for holding on to them. Ask him to help you to forgive completely those who have hurt you or wronged you in any way. Then with clear conscience, come forward and marvel at the faithful forgiveness the Lord has for you in the body and blood of his Son. If forgiveness is not something that comes naturally or easily today, then continue to pray to the Lord during this next week, until you find yourself able to forgive. Though forgiveness is sometimes difficult, though it is sometimes hard, though it always costs, continue to ask and you will receive it. Then, when you find yourselves living in forgiveness, able to forgive each other, go out and live in the faithful forgiveness of the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, abounding in love and faithfulness, the Lord who not only forgave our first parents, but also forgives us.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN