Noah preached for what appears to be at least 100 years, warning the people of his time that the end was near and that they should repent, and that there was safety to be had. A way through the great storm to come. Scripture says God was patient. 100 plus years of patience. They didn’t believe. The storm came. No one lined up to get on the ark. All were lost, save the eight, despite the long and persistent public service announcements.
The first H1N1 flu shots in all the country hit our area several weeks ago. Manassas Mall was on the front line for dealing with this potent virus. Given all the warnings and public service announcements telling us that the end was potentially near, especially for children who for some reason can be particularly hard hit, you better believe the line for the shots was long.
They showed a picture of it, the line. It looked way worse than standing in the security line at the airport, which is saying something. It stretched from one end of the mall to the other - if cameras were telling the truth - and people interviewed talked about standing in line for hours before the mall opened, just so they could stand in line for several more when it did. That didn’t matter of course, they had heeded the warnings, their kids would get their shots. Their kids would be safe from the H1N1 flue plaguing our country.
What’s the difference? In both instances death is coming, preparations are necessary. Why did people listen to CDC but ignore Noah? Why did some stand in line for safety and others didn’t at all?
Certainly it has to do, some, with belief. Folks believed H1N1 could kill, so they’re gonna do something about it. Folks didn’t believe the flood would kill, so they didn’t do something about it. But I wonder if it was something more, if it wasn’t the repenting side of it that went along with Noah’s plea for safety. And I wonder if that was a requirement before we could get the flu shot, would we stand in line?
If the public service announcement was, ok, today at the Manassas Mall we’re giving the shot, but only to folks who give up drinking, or only to folks who quit living together, or you name any sin we like to pick on because it makes us feel better about our own. What if it was our own sin named? Would we give that up so we could get the shot that could save us, or would we just take our chances? I plead the fifth.
I started out writing this with the idea that isn’t it something that people will stand in line for hours to get a shot so they won’t die here, at least for a while, but won’t sit in a pew so they can hear about the great Vaccine, THE Cure, so they won’t die, forever. Forever. And I had the idea that isn’t it interesting that we’ll beat the doors down to live a little longer here but won’t open the doors to learn how we can live eternally. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see how many more people would show up at the church building than usual, if they were giving out the flu shot there? I started the column with that idea, and thinking about what does that say about our view of eternity?
Maybe forever just really doesn’t compute with us, especially in the gotta-satisfy-ourselves-now society we live in, where tomorrow never comes. But maybe the problem isn’t really that eternity doesn’t compute, even though it can be foggy to us sometimes, especially the younger we are, but instead the real problem is we don’t want to let go of our sin. Perhaps the problem the people had in Noah’s day wasn’t getting their minds around something they didn’t fully understand, rain and floods, which they had never experienced - like eternity that we’ve never experienced - but instead was letting go of something they fully understood, the sin in their lives.
I doubt 100 plus years of preaching was dedicated to another series of lessons on yes, this is how rain is formed, and how pressure systems collide and how after so many days of rain you’re toast, wet toast, and how just a little more explaining will get it through your heads. Or another series of sermons on how great a place the ark is and or how the ark could float. Nope. I imagine it was, repent, repent, repent, turn around, turn away from sin, follow God.
I never once felt sorry for the rich young ruler, until now. I always thought it was a story about how hard it is for those that have treasures and wealth – something I didn’t understand as a kid anyway - to give those up. But it strikes me that the rich young ruler had the choice to stand in line for the flu shot, or give up what he treasured, and he chose the latter. I see now his story has as much to do with helping us understand how hard it is for each of us, for me, to give up the sin that we all too often treasure, period, given the choice.
The problem is, sin is a virus. It’s an epidemic – no it’s a pandemic, alert level red six.
It’s very contagious. It results in death. It kills. Forever. The public service announcement is there is A Cure.
But the doctor’s office is the other way. You have to turn around and walk differently than where you’re headed to now, if you’re going to get the shot.
Careless souls, won’t we heed the warnings? For our lives will soon be gone. O yes. Our lives will soon be gone.
Have you had your shot? Do you need a booster?
21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. Mark 10:21-22 (NASB)
- Phil Jarrell
