What Do You Do When Obedience Looks Stupid?
From Creation To Covenant • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
When you watch the news…or scroll through social media…and you think, “How bad can it get???”
Genesis 6:5 is it.
6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
“Regretted” —> “Full of grief”
We already saw how God feels about sin in Genesis 3 — this is another reminder that our sin breaks the heart of God.
7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9 This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Blamelessness matters to God.
And blamelessness is mocked by our culture.
We lift Noah up as a hero…someone who had faith...who acted in confidence…who God used in a mighty way…
I believe Noah’s neighbors probably looked at him like a complete WEIRDO.
When a person — YOU or I — listens to God and obeys Him…God tends to do mighty things through us…and the culture around us tends to NEVER UNDERSTAND what’s going on.
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.
Politically … Economically … Racially … Everything was corrupt.
And the solution was ONLY found in a man listening to the Word of God and being obedient.
In our current world, it feels like A LOT is corrupt:
Politically … Economically … Racially …
And the same thing is true today as it was in Genesis 6…
The solution will ONLY be found in men and women listening to the Word of God and being obedient.
Obedience = Telling people about Jesus
BUT ALSO…AND POSSIBLY EVEN MORE DIFFICULT…
Obedience = Loving people who have hurt your
Obedience = Forgiving people who have offended you
Obedience = Rejecting the train wreck of politics and submitting to the commands of the King of Heaven
Obedience = Seeing what God calls “sin” and aligning your perspective with His
Obedience = Refusing to chase the corrupt things of this world so you can pursue the good things of God’s Kingdom
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 three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. 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.
At the end of Chapter 6, after God has told Noah a whole list of life-changing instructions, it’s interesting what Noah does — and what he doesn’t do…
Noah DOES NOT make excuses
Noah DOES NOT argue
Noah DOES NOT negotiate
Noah DOES NOT EVEN speak at all
NOAH JUST OBEYS
This is not a super popular statement in our culture, but…
Obedience is not a discussion. It’s a decision.
Some of us need to stop negotiating and make that decision.
Illustration: Wedding Vows
To have and to hold from this day forward
For better, for worse
For richer, for poorer
In sickness and in health
To love and to cherish
Till death do us part
I had Flu A for a couple weeks — and let me tell you, I have a pretty high pain tolerance but I have ZERO TOLERANCE for being sick. When I was sick — and fairly needy — Grace didn’t have to consider if she would care for me — she already decided to
Obedience is decided in advance…much like a wedding vow. It’s a Pre-Determined Decision, that actually frees you up to OBEY when God SPEAKS
1 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”
5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.
No doubt… Noah’s neighbors came by asking what he was doing building a giant 3-story box in his front yard.
Brought lawn chairs
Brought picnic lunches
Became a spectacle
Story: Car on frozen lake in Indiana
Town would roll a car out on the ice and sell raffle tickets to see when the car would fall through the ice
People would buy tickets — the day and minute they thought it would happen
The town set up bleachers on the edge of the lake
People would sit there and watch to see when the car would slip into the ice
On the day it finally fell through the ice, the bleachers would be packed with people cheering
^^ THAT’S HOW I PICTURE NOAH’S FRONT YARD
People rowed up to watch and cheer and jeer at whatever the WEIRDO was doing out there
And Noah did it for a long time… Remember, people lived a lot longer back then but it says in Genesis 7:6 that the rain started when Noah was 600 years old.
It’s hard to say for sure but if you look back at Genesis 5:32, it references Noah being 500 years old when he became a father.
You could make a fair guess that Noah was building the ark for something like 100 years.
How did Noah handle that 100 years? How did he deal with the people? How did he respond to the mockery?
5 [God] did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
Noah preached.
Mockery from a corrupt world is an opening to proclaim the King of Covenant.
Covenant is a promise:
God will never leave
God will protect
God will provide
God will rescue
God will restore what was corrupted by Satan
Don’t miss the fact that Noah spent 100 years OBEYING and BUILDING and PREACHING to a corrupt and mocking culture.
Following Jesus is a lifelong journey.
Obedience is proved over decades…not moments.
Discipleship is a marathon…not a sprint.
INVITATION: Surrender to the long process of surrendering to Jesus
CHALLENGE: Let your obedience be proven in your decision to take action
ADULT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Where do you feel the pressure to blend in instead of live blamelessly?
In what environments (work, family, online, friendships) is obedience to Jesus most misunderstood or mocked
What specific behaviors or convictions feel “weird” or costly to live out right now?
What would it look like to pursue blamelessness there—not perfectly, but faithfully?
What tends to turn God’s commands into conversations instead of decisions for you?
Which commands of Jesus are easiest for you to delay, negotiate, or soften?
What fears or costs usually sit underneath that hesitation?
What would change if you treated obedience as pre-decided, like a vow, instead of situational?
How do you typically respond when your faith is mocked, questioned, or dismissed?
Do you tend to withdraw, become defensive, stay silent, or speak up? Why?
What would it look like to see mockery as an opportunity rather than a threat?
How could you more naturally point people to “the King of Covenant” in those moments?
Where is God calling you to obey in ways that will take time, not just courage?
What “long obedience” do you sense God inviting you into right now (relationships, habits, forgiveness, integrity, witness, etc.)?
What makes sustained faithfulness harder for you than short bursts of faith?
What practices or people could help you stay steady when results are slow?
If someone watched your life for the next 10 years, what would it preach?
What message would your priorities and decisions communicate about who your King is?
Where is there a gap between what you believe and what your life currently shows?
What is one concrete step you could take this week to move toward long-term obedience?
TEEN DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What would people think if you obeyed God at school the way Noah did?
What are some things students might make fun of you for if you took your faith seriously?
Why do you think standing out feels so risky at your age?
What helps you stay confident when you feel different?
When God says to do something hard, what’s your first reaction?
Do you usually want to obey, delay, or avoid it? Why?
What’s one command of Jesus that feels especially hard for teens to follow?
What could help you choose obedience faster next time?
How do you usually respond when someone jokes about your faith?
Do you laugh it off, get quiet, get defensive, or speak up?
What makes talking about Jesus feel awkward or scary?
What’s one simple way you could point someone to Jesus without being weird or rude?
What are some “corrupt” or unhealthy things teens are pressured to chase today?
Which ones feel hardest to avoid? (popularity, sex, substances, gossip, cheating, social media, etc.)
Why do those things look good at first?
What are better things God offers instead?
Why do you think following Jesus is hard to stick with for a long time?
What usually causes teens to drift from God?
What helps you stay connected to Him?
Who is one person that could help you stay strong in your faith?
PRAYER PROMPTS:
Prayer Requests
Ask God to impress upon humanity the lessons to be learned from the flood.
Ask God to impress upon you the lessons to be learned from the flood.
Prayer Tips
Consider the flood as a demonstration of God’s righteous judgment. Then ponder God’s coming righteous judgment in light of the flood (Matthew 24:36-42; 2 Peter 3:5-7).
Give thanks to God for his covenant that never again shall there be a flood to destroy all flesh that is upon the earth (Genesis 9:8-17).
Do you struggle with believing the account of the flood? Or perhaps, do you struggle with the idea of God’s goodness in light of his judgments? If either, ask God to help you.
Prayer
O righteous Father, your judgments are true and just. And you have promised that there is a day of final judgment coming, a destruction not by water but by fire. Thank you that just as you provided the ark for Noah and his family to find refuge from the flood, you have provided salvation in Jesus as our refuge! Father, we praise you for your righteous judgments, and we praise you for your merciful deliverance!
