Second Sunday in Lent (2025)

The Good News of a Savior Who Gives Us a New Beginning

GOAL: That my hearers realize that in Christ Jesus, God Has Saved them from Sin and Given them New and Everlasting Life.

Think about the profound impact of a single decision we might make to restart. By faith Noah obeyed God and build an ark, which wasn’t just a vessel but a beacon of hope for the future. It prompts us to ask: Is there something in our life where if we start anew it would mean freedom and renewal?

Have you ever been at a crossroads in your life, where an ending felt like a loss, but you could sense a new beginning waiting just beyond the horizon?

Sometimes for us when things have gone wrong—where the only solution seems to be somehow starting over—it can be easy to wonder whether a fresh start is really possible.

We’ve all felt the need for a fresh start at one time or another. Let’s look back at the ultimate fresh start given to Noah by God.

I. In the days of Noah, mankind had hit rock bottom, but because God looked upon Noah with favor, God gave mankind a new beginning.

In this installment of our Sunday Lenten series from Genesis, such a time had come during the days of Noah—not just for him but also for mankind. Things had hit rock bottom.

Believers—“the sons of God”—had not made the faith a priority in life, in their marriages and families but had simply married whichever “daughters of men” appealed to them. Beauty on the surface was prized more than the inner beauty of a godly woman’s heart. And as faith was put to the side in families and homes, it went to the wayside for nearly all humanity. We know that a living faith shows itself in works—and the lack of faith at that time showed itself in callousness, hedonism, and violence.

Just how bad had things gotten? We learn in Genesis that it came to the point God regretted that he had created man. If ever a new beginning was needed, it was then. But if you were to look around at the world at that time, it would have been natural to wonder whether a new beginning was even possible—or if things had already gone too far. In our reading from Genesis, the situation is looking very dire when we hear God say that he will blot out man from the land.

Then, however, we hear one three-letter word that changes everything:

“BUT.”

God said he would blot out man from the land. “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). Like the rest of mankind, Noah was a sinner. But Noah had faith in the Lord—and the Lord counted his faith as righteousness. By grace alone through faith alone, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Because of God’s grace, everything changed—for Noah and for mankind. A fresh start for man might have seemed impossible. But with our gracious God, all things are possible. God told Noah that because of man’s violence, man would be destroyed by a flood. But God promised Noah that he and his family—his wife, his three sons, and his sons’ wives—would be delivered through the flood in an ark that Noah was to build.

God gave Noah instructions for building the ark and told him to fill it with two of each kind of animal and with every kind of food. In faith, Noah followed God’s Word.

As Noah waited, he also spoke God’s Word to the people around him. St. Peter records that Noah was “a preachers of righteousness” (2 Pet 2:5). But they didn’t listen.

After 120 years of preaching, building, and waiting, the time came. At God’s command, Noah went into the ark with his family and the animals. The Lord shut him in—and soon the storm began. It rained forty days and forty nights. Water covered the earth, and every creature on land was blotted out in God’s judgment. Only Noah and those with him in the ark remained.

After 150 days, the ark came to rest in the mountains of Ararat. And after another 220 days, the ground had dried to the point where Noah, his family, and the animals were able to leave the ark and embark upon a new beginning.

As we think about our world today, the godlessness that fills society, we see firsthand how sin corrupts all creation. We all are in need of redemption. So, just as Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, we, too, are given a new beginning through Christ.

II. Through water and the Word, God gives us the new beginning we need—a new life in Christ.

On a worldwide basis, things never again sank as low as they had in the days before the flood. Yet the underlying problem of sin remained. It was seen in Noah himself and in his family. Before long, it would be seen in man’s refusal to spread across the earth as the Lord had said to do—as the people chose instead to band together and try to demonstrate their own greatness by building a tower to the heavens at Babel.

God had granted deliverance from the violence of the pre-flood era and had given mankind a fresh start. But people still found themselves confronted by sin from those around them and from within their own heart and lives. Another deliverance was needed.

And in the fullness of time, that needed deliverance was provided—as the same God who had saved Noah and his family from a sin-dominated world now took action to save mankind from sin itself. And the way he would accomplish this new deliverance would bear a striking resemblance to the earlier deliverance.

Just as the problem of evil had needed to be confronted at the time of the flood, so the evil of our sin could not simply be overlooked but needed to be confronted and dealt with once and for all. And just as God had earlier provided the way of rescue through the ark, so he would also provide the way of rescue for us.

To deliver us from sin and give us a fresh start in God’s grace, our Lord Jesus Christ gave himself into death, for on the cross he experienced in our place the flood of God’s righteous judgment for our sins. He bore your sins and mine—the sins of all people of all time—and he let the just judgment for those sins pour over him. For each of our thoughtless words, the waves crashed down on him. For all our unholy thoughts, the torrents of judgment beat against him. For all our loveless deeds, the waters rose higher and higher—until that flood of judgment took his life.

And as he took our place in that flood, he also provided an ark of salvation for us. By the power of the Gospel, through his means of grace, he brings us into the “ark” of the Holy Christian Church, where we are sheltered in the righteousness of Christ Jesus. In this ark, we are saved from judgment and given a new beginning—with our sins taken away, and with new peace, new light, and hope that does not disappoint.

In Christ Jesus, God Has Saved You from Sin and has Given You New and Everlasting Life.

In St. Peter’s first epistle he records that in the ark eight persons were brought safely through water, and then he writes…

1 Peter 3:21 NASB95

Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

When God gave mankind a new beginning by saving Noah and his family in an ark through the waters of the flood, he was pointing ahead to the greater new beginning he would give us as he saves us in Christ Jesus through the waters of Holy Baptism.

Through the washing away of your sins, God has given you a cleansed conscience. In the power of Christ’s resurrection, he has raised you up to new life. Through the power of his Word, he keeps you in this new life—so that your life in him is always new.

Romans 6:3–4 NASB95

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

We all experience moments in life were it seems that sin has gotten the better of us. Which is why when we gather together for worship as a congregation we confess our sin to God. We have sinned against God in our thoughts, our words, and actions, and we need to be cleansed.

1 John 1:9–10 NKJV

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

The great reformer, Martin Luther, praises the gift of confession for this very reason. He said that every time we confess our sin it is as if we are baptized all over again.

In the same way Noah entered the ark and left his old world behind, we enter into a new life through baptism, leaving behind the burden of sin. And that is God’s gift of repentance that He gives to you and me.

This new life will never end. On the day when Christ comes again in glory to judge the living and dead, he will bring with him those believers who have died in the faith. Those who have rejected him and the life he offers will be taken away in judgment, like the people at the time of flood. And, as in the days of Noah, those who have trusted in the Lord will remain to begin another new day together with the Lord—joining him and all believers in Christ to live together in God’s renewed creation. There all things will be new—and there will never again be a need for a new beginning. Until then, however, we may feel like we need a fresh start, a new beginning from time to time. The trials and temptations of this life are like spiritual floodwaters. Sometimes sin and worldly influences can gradually creep up in our lives like rising floodwaters and boy wouldn’t it be nice if we had a reset button we could hit. And we do… We confess our sin.

Think of a garden that gets neglected. Over time, weeds begin to sprout and overtake the flowers. You can’t just hope the weeds will go away; you need to actively pull them out, exposing the roots and clearing the space for your flowers to thrive again. Similarly, without confession, the weeds of sin can overshadow our spiritual growth. Thankfully, God offers us the chance to remove those weeds and start anew each time we confess our sins.

My baptized brothers and sisters in Christ, if you are weighed down or burdened by floodwaters of sin and worldly influences creeping up into your life, you are not alone. You may have noticed the wooden cross by the baptismal font. Opposite the cross, near the pew, you will find a small stand with slips of pink colored paper, push-pins and scotch-tape. If you are troubled with a particular sin you need to confess, or burdened in some way, come to the cross. During the collection of the offering, or when you come to Holy Communion, pause at the cross, grab a slip of paper, write down the thing that troubles you where you could use a fresh start, and nail it to the cross using push-pins provided for you. Then walk away, leaving it behind as a free child of God, because Jesus endured the wrath of God on your behalf for that item too.

This cross will stay up all during Lent for this very purpose.

From now on look to the cross of Christ. Look to his empty tomb; look to your baptism into Christ; look to the words of eternal life God has given you in Holy Scripture—and see in them God’s promise to you that your sins have been dealt with once and for all and that new and everlasting life is yours, never to be taken away.

As we continue exploring God’s word, next week we’ll discover in Genesis 22:1-18 how the Savior’s sacrifice points to His ultimate gift for us all.

All glory, honor, and praise be to Christ Jesus our Savior, who makes all things new. Amen.

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Prayer of the Church

Second Sunday in Lent

16 March 2025

Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

Remember the congregations of Your Church, O Lord, which You have purchased with the holy blood of Your Son. Strengthen and defend all pastors and church workers, giving them every good gift as they attend to Your people. Cause us rightly to fear Your anger and rejoice in Your redemption. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Remember us in a world convulsed by the wages of sin. As we watch nations falter, remind us that our eternal citizenship is in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ, who will subject all things to Himself. As we watch our own bodies fail, remind us that in the resurrection Christ will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Remember the households of Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church. Provide help and companionship to those who live alone, and foster love between husbands and wives, parents and children, that our homes would not be places to worship our bellies, glory in shame or set our minds on earthly things, but a refuge while here and a foretaste of our heavenly home. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Remember our nation and those You have placed in authority, O Lord. Give them wisdom and integrity, and grant that neither they nor the citizens of our land would hinder Your Church or despise Your call to repentance. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Remember the sick and afflicted, O Lord, especially those whom you have placed upon our hearts and are noted in our bulletin today……….Deliver them for the sake of Christ, who cast out demons and performed cures on His way to the cross. Strengthen their faith to hold fast to Him, who rose again to raise them also. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Remember this household of faith, O Lord, and gather us together at Your altar as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. Unite us in true confession of Your Word, sincere repentance for our sins, and joyful confidence in Your Son’s body and blood for our forgiveness. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Remember us, O Lord, for the sake of Your Son, who suffered the reproach of mankind as He bore our sins to the cross. Strengthen us gladly to bear reproach in Your name and declare Your salvation. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

All these things and whatever else You know that we need, grant us, Father, for the sake of Him who died and rose again and now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever. Amen.