In this ark you are saved

Easter 6, 2017

1 Peter 3:13:-22

"In this ark you are saved"

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            Water can be life saving and it can be destructive. Flood waters can reshape mountains and valleys, change the course of rivers, lay farmland bare (you've seen that at times around here), carry off cars, trucks, and houses, and leave nothing but devastation behind. Water can kill. Yet water is needed for life. Plants need water along with sunlight to grow. The human body needs water to live. A person can go weeks without eating...but would only survive days...at most one week without water. But even more important than food or water is God. Without God we wouldn't survive even a nanosecond for without God's willing for there to be life...there would be no life at all.

          Ever since the fall of Adam & Eve mankind has known no bounds to its wickedness. At the time of Noah the world was so bad that "the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart." (Genesis 6:6) So God decided to blot out all mankind, and land animals, and birds.

          How bad could things have been back then? Here are the words associated with the world at that time: wicked, idolatrous, cruel, violent, corrupt. Scripture says that "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5) Could not those words and description be used of the world this very day? Our generation is plagued by wicked men who worship idols of their own making... There is violence daily in every major city in our nation...and in not so major cities in our nation. Many chosen to lead are corrupt. We see cruelty not only for animals but for other human beings. Evil thoughts plague us...even us Christians...as we seek revenge...or look inward for comfort, relief, or salvation instead of to God. Truly our generation and our world grieve God as well and is just as "worthy" of His wrath as mankind in the days of Noah.

          "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." (Genesis 6:8) God did flood the entire world. Only one family was spared... Noah's family. Yet during the 120 years that it took Noah and his sons to build the ark...God had Noah proclaim His Word to the people. During those 120 years Noah called the people to repentance. During those 120 years God used Noah to call the world to faith in the true God that they too may be saved. The people mocked Noah. Mankind rejected God, His Word, and His messenger. God saved Noah, his family, and a pair of every kind of animal through flood waters in an ark. The rest of mankind perished.

          God had promised never to destroy the entire world by flood again. But God's wrath toward sin and unbelief was kindled. But God finds favor in us through Christ. In that wrathful flood at the time of Noah only 8 were saved while the world was destroyed... now God's wrath fell upon 1 that the world would be redeemed. "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water." (1 Peter 3:18-20)

          Once again God would use floodwaters to save His people...but these floodwaters would not be brought  as wrath but as life! "Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him." (1 Peter 3:21-22)

          The floodwaters of Baptism now save you. Baptism, which corresponds to the ark and flood that saved Noah, now saves you! It saves you because it joins you to Christ. It saves you because of God's Word and promise. It saves you as it gives the gift the Holy Spirit, faith, and life.

          God's Holy Word, the floodwaters of Holy Baptism, Jesus! His very body and blood are all found in the ark of God's Church. They are found here in this place. In this ark. In this Church. You are saved! And just as God relented in the time of Noah He relents His wrath of the destruction of the world this day. And just as God sent forth Noah to preach to the people God continues to send Pastors to preach and believers to share His Word to the world around...that all may believe, repent, and be saved. And just as Noah's family was saved... Our families may be saved as well in this ark as our children are baptized and raised in faith of Christ crucified and raised.

          What comfort it is to know that God loves us and all of mankind so much that He would send His Son to die for us that we would be saved. Baptism now saves us. For in Baptism we are joined to Christ and His death and resurrection. In Baptism we are promised life and salvation. In Baptism we are given the Holy Spirit and faith. In Baptism we become children of God and heirs of His kingdom. All this is ours in Christ. Christ who promises to be found here in the ark of His Church.

          And here in this ark... God continues to bless us and preserve us through His Word and Jesus very body and blood. In this ark we continue to be sheltered from the evil one. Here we gather to receive strength and forgiveness. And here we join together; God's people, and proclaim to Satan, the Accuser, "Sin, disturb my soul no longer: I am baptized into Christ! I have comfort even stronger: Jesus’ cleansing sacrifice. Should a guilty conscience seize me, since my baptism did release me In a dear forgiving flood, sprinkling me with Jesus’ blood?" "Satan, hear this proclamation: I am baptized into Christ! Drop your ugly accusation; I am not so soon enticed. Now that to the font I’ve traveled, all your might has come unraveled, And, against your tyranny, God, my Lord, unites with me!" (Stanzas 2 & 3 of God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It)

          Baptism now saves you! In this ark; in this Church you are saved! When life gets you down, when you struggle or when Satan tempts you to give up...remember this joyous message: Baptism now saves you. This fact that brings us comfort and peace...is for us to share...with a world that desperately needs it. This ark has plenty of room. God's love is for all. His promise is for all. Salvation is for all. And we, like Noah, get to share that life saving Word. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.