Worship Helps for Advent 1

Artwork: The Deluge

Artist: Antonio Carracci

Date: 1615-1618

Worship Theme: Keep watch for the unexpected coming of Christ! Its unexpectedness, however, does not change its certainty or our prayer. Rather, the coming of Christ defines our present time because we know that he comes with unexpected judgment on the unbelieving world and unexpected grace for his people. We are filled with hope, with love, and with light. With anticipation in our hearts, we long for the fulfillment, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Old Testament: 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. ¹⁶ Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. ¹⁷ I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark-- you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁹ You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them." ²² Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month-- on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. ¹² And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. ¹⁴ They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. ¹⁵ Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. ¹⁶ The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in. ¹⁷ For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. ¹⁹ They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. ²⁰ The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. ²¹ Every living thing that moved on the earth perished-- birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. ²² Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. ²³ Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

1. How would you compare the world of Noah’s time to our world today, and how are we like Noah as we wait for Christ’s return?

Epistle: Romans 13:11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

2. In what way is our salvation “nearer now than when we first believed”? (See verse 11.)

3. How do you “clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ”? (See verse 14.)

Gospel: Matthew 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 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; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴² "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

4. What point did Jesus make by saying that not even the Son knows the day of his coming?

5. In what way is the great Flood similar to Jesus’ return on Judgment Day?

6. Why do you think Jesus didn’t reveal to us the exact time of his second coming?

Answers:

1. In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus told the story of the Flood to explain the unexpected coming of God in judgment and grace. Noah was a man who worked and walked in the light. But he lived in a world darkened by sin. The lost around him were deaf to his preaching and blind to the signs. The coming of God’s judgment was as unexpected as it was terrifying for them. But in the middle of all that judgment, God came in unexpected grace to rescue Noah and his family. As Noah worked and walked in the light, he heeded God’s warnings and trusted God’s promises. He watched; he waited; he prepared. And God made good on his promise: the same Flood that judged the world also safely carried Noah and his family until they came to rest on a world washed clean. We live in a world that is still darkened by sin. As believers, we follow Noah’s example as we watch, wait and prepare for Christ’s coming. We do not fear his return since we know he’s coming to take us to heaven.

2. Each day of our life brings us that much closer to the goal of our faith, eternity with our God.

3. You clothe yourself with Christ through faith in him. While an unbeliever has no natural ability to believe in Jesus or come to him, a believer in Christ, a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17), chooses to read Scripture, attend worship, study the Bible with others, and apply the Bible to his or her life. To “clothe yourself with Christ” practically means to immerse yourself in God’s Word.

4. The second coming of Christ will be totally unexpected. No one will predict it; everyone must be ready for it to come at any time.

5. Just as Noah warned the people of his day, our God has warned his world about Jesus’ second coming. Yet, it will take many by surprise; then, as in the days of Noah, it will be too late.

6. Certainly Jesus knows what we are like. He knows that we procrastinate, that we are often spiritually lazy, that we can succumb to false security. If we knew the date of his return, no doubt many would succumb to these. In his love he doesn’t tell us when he will return.

A reading from the Book of Concord for the First Sunday in Advent

It is God’s will that believers should walk in good works.  Truly good works are not those that everyone does from a good intention, or are done according to human traditions, but those that God Himself has commanded in His Word.  Also, truly good works are done not by our own natural powers, but in this way: when a person is reconciled with God and renewed by the Holy Spirit.  Paul says, a person is “created in Christ Jesus for good works.”

The good works of believers are pleasing and acceptable to God (although in this flesh they are impure and incomplete).  They are acceptable for the sake of the Lord Christ, through faith, because the person is acceptable to God.  There are works that apply to maintaining of external discipline and required of the unbelieving and unconverted.  These works are commendable before the world and rewarded by God in this world with temporal blessings.  Nevertheless, they are regarded by God as impure because of the corrupt nature and because the person is not reconciled with God.  “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.”  It is also written, “for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). A person must be accepted by God, for the sake of Christ, if that person’s works are to please Him.  This is why St. Paul calls them true fruit of the Spirit. – Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article IV, Good Works (paragraph 7-9)