A sermon based on 1 Corinthians 10:1-5, 11-13
Sunday, August 13, 2017 – Pentecost 10B
Well, school's about to start. We've only got one week left to get ready for it. Then it's time to let the learning begin! So how do you learn? What's your preferred method? Do you learn best by reading a book? Do you learn best by observing and watching someone else do something first? Do you learn best by doing something for yourself and getting some hands-on experience?
Well, sometimes it's best to learn by experience. But not always. Eleanor Roosevelt once famously said, "Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself." I'm not sure if she meant you can't live long enough to make them all yourself because you'd never have enough time. There are too many mistakes to be made. Or maybe she meant you can't live long enough to make them all yourself because, some mistakes are fatal! You'll be dead before you make too many!
Either way, Eleanor Roosevelt may have gotten the idea for that quote from the Apostle Paul. "Learn from the mistakes of others," he told the Corinthians. Learn from the mistakes of the Israelites. Learn from their bad example before it's too late! My dad used to tell me that the sole purpose for some people in life is to serve as a bad example to others. "Don't do what they do or you'll end up where they are." That's Paul's point in our text for consideration this morning taken from select verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 10 …
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert…
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
A few years ago, my son, Jude, would make us all smile at the dinner table. He would hear me yell at one of his brothers for some bad table manners and he learned from it. "I'm not going to do that!" he would exclaim. And when we asked, "Why not?" he would proudly declare, "Because I'm listening… and I'm learning."
I wish I could do that better: listen and learn. I wish I could learn from the mistakes of others so I didn't have to make them myself. But I don't. Not very well.
I've seen Super Size Me. I've seen Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I've read Eat, Move, Sleep. But I still find myself senselessly snacking and mindlessly shoving food in my mouth, even though I've see the health consequences in others.
I've seen how people get themselves into debt—massive amounts!—by failing to budget, by failing to stick to a budget, by purchasing whatever they want whenever they want it whether they can afford it or not. I've listened to Dave Ramsey's talk show. I've read his books. But I still get pretty impulsive when an item catches my eye and it only takes three clicks to buy on the Amazon app on my phone.
And… I've ready my Bible. I've counseled a lot of people. I've seen how selfishness and sin have ruined relationships and have ruined lives. And you'd think I'd learn from the mistakes of others. But I don't. I still find myself being selfish and sinful in what I say and think and do.
And I know I'm not alone. This is a universal problem: failing to learn from the mistakes of others and so being doomed to repeat those mistakes, failing to take heed to the warnings we see in others, failing to listen and learn.
We may look at the Israelites in the wilderness and think, "What ingrates! God led them through the Red Sea! He appeared to them visibly in a fiery cloud! They drank water from a rock and ate free food that miraculously fell from the sky and appeared like dew on the ground every day… and yet they refused to follow his simple directions! No wonder God scattered their bodies over the desert!"
We may look at the miracle of the feeing of more than 5,000 and think, "Really? They see a miracle performed by the God man, eat miraculous food, and all they care about is the next free meal ignoring the one who gave them this one? No wonder Jesus scolded them!"
We may look at the Corinthians and say, "Getting drunk at the Lord's Supper?! Thinking that hiring prostitutes is no big deal?! Having sex with your step mom?! What's wrong with you people?! Go get 'em Paul! Tell 'em what they deserve."
But… We're no better. Look at what we have. We have the New Testament! That's a gift that's far better than manna or fish or bread. We have the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation spelled out for us in black and white. (What Paul here calls "the fulfillment of the ages [which] has come.") That's a far better blessing than getting to see and taste a miracle!
And what do we do with it? We whine and complain that we don't have a life better. We, who were all baptized, not just into Moses, but into Christ, choose to wallow in the filth of our pet sins. We who eat the spiritual food of Jesus' very body and blood, then refuse to honor God with our bodies, but find comfort or just entertainment in overindulging in food or drink instead of finding comfort and joy in the Gospel.
Is God any more pleased with us—who refuse to learn from the mistakes of others in the past—but choose to continue to repeat those mistakes again and again? Of course not. Paul tells us, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us," But we don't listen and learn. We don't learn from the mistakes of others, but foolishly repeat the same sins of those who went before us. And we deserve to have our bodies scattered in the desert. We deserve to be cast into hell.
But you know that that's not what we get. Even though we fail to listen and learn, we fail to learn from history, we fail to let others bad examples serve as godly warnings for us, nevertheless, God continues to show his endless mercy and grace to us again and again.
In the middle of this stern warning that Paul gives to remember the judgment God finally brought about against his stubborn and rebellious people who refused to listen and learn, Paul offers one short phrase of total comfort and promise: "And God is faithful…"
God kept his promise to preserve his people to preserve the line of the Savior, in spite of their perpetual rebellion.
God kept his promise to send that Savior and then showed the world who he was by the miracles he performed.
God kept his promise to undo the work satan brought about in the Garden of Eden when he tempted Adam and Eve to rebel against God. He kept the promise to redeem us from sin, death, and hell. He kept the promise to forgive us by damning his own Son, Jesus, to hell on a cross to pay the penalty that our sin deserved.
God is faithful. He will keep his promise to forgive us when we confess our sins to him and plead for his mercy. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
God is faithful. He will keep his promise to work all things for our eternal good! "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32)
God is faithful. He will keep his promise to take us to be with him in glory one day soon! And, "Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)
And God is faithful. He will keep his promise to help us to live lives of thanks to him for all of these gracious promises. "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
Now please note: this verse does not say that God will not give you more trouble than you can bear. It does not promise that life won't be hard. It doesn't suggest you'll be able to handle every problem that comes your way. It says, "he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear."
God will give you the power to resist the temptation to live a selfish and sinful life. He will give you the strength to resist the devil, the world, and your own sinful nature. He will answer that prayer, "Lead us not into temptation," by giving you not only the ability to resist temptation, but a second option: He'll give you an escape route and a shelter from that storm of temptation! "He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.""
It may be true that the sole purpose for some people in life is to serve as a bad example to others. But let's not be those people! Instead, let's learn from them! Let's do like Jude did and listen and learn. Let's get back into the Word on a daily basis and read of the mistakes of others so we don't repeat them. And let's read about God's great grace and about his faithfulness to every promise each day and let that grace move us to resist temptation as we live for him. In Jesus' name, dear friends, listen and learn. Amen.
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