Trinity 9
Dear friends in Christ. Today’s Epistle gives us the Holy Spirit inspired words of the blessed Apostle, Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. That’s not the first time he wrote something similar. Elsewhere he wrote [Rm 15.4]: For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. In other words, I think we could say that God’s voice is heard in history. In our epistle and in the verses before, St. Paul traces the history of the Israelites from the Lord rescuing them from slavery in Egypt and leading them into the Promised Land. But the verses of our text include the most horrible accounts of the Israelites rebelling against the Lord who showed them one grace after another. And our verses include also some of the punishments the people suffered as a result of their sin and rebellion against the Lord.
But these OT accounts are not just dry, dusty, ancient history. Instead these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction and For whatever things were written before were written for our learning. That’s God’s voice speaking to us in history. We, dear Christian, are so blessed. We have the accounts of Holy Scripture before us. In these accounts that God, in His infinite wisdom, has seen fit to preserve to us, we have warnings and examples of the devil’s attempts to lead us into sin and to draw us away from faith in Jesus, faith which alone saves us. How easily we would fall away from the faith, or at the very least waver and grow faint and feeble in our daily struggles against temptation, sin, devil, world and our own sinful nature if we had no understanding and examples from Holy Scripture!
It’s very easy to think in the midst of trial and temptation that we alone are enduring such a thing, that no one else has gone through what we have gone through, that our situation is the worst, etc. But we are not unique; let us remember God’s voice in history and there see in the Bible that God’s people have suffered the same trials and temptations we do—even far worse. We see examples of the Lord’s gracious working to keep them in the faith and are assured He will do the same for us. We also have the benefit of seeing the Lord’s gracious work in the lives of the saints who have gone before us. He blessed and preserved them, and so we can be certain He will do the same with us.
And, like St. Paul points out in today’s text, we also see examples that God is not mocked and that He does indeed punish unrepented sin. In other words, God’s voice in history serves both to warn us against becoming secure and unrepentant in sin and it also comforts us in our time of temptation and trial. As we examine our text today, we will hear the blessed Apostle teaching us that, looking at the example of the Israelites we are not to be certain—to have a fleshly carnal security when it comes to our faith and salvation; but that we can be and should be certain in the Lord—His faithfulness to us. Therefore don't be certain, but be certain.
1. St. Paul begins our text: Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. What are these things? St. Paul had just finished pointing out the great rescue/ deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He points to the Israelites crossing through the midst of the parted Red Sea to safety. By this he reminds these Christians from Corinth of their baptism—just as the Israelites were saved through water, so too were they—and us—in the waters of holy baptism. St. Paul then reminds these Christians of Corinth of the spiritual food and the spiritual drink—the manna and the water from the rock, by which the Lord preserved the Israelites. By this St. Paul points these Christians—and us—to the spiritual food and drink that we enjoy and which preserves us on our earthly pilgrimage—Jesus’ body and blood in the Blessed Sacrament.
How blessed both the OT Israelites were and we Christians today are! There is that similarity between us and them, St. Paul says. Now these things took place as examples for us. And what are we to learn from this? That we might not desire evil as they did. These blessings of grace upon grace from God can be taken for granted. We, dear Christian, are in a blessed condition enjoying every grace and blessing from the Lord; but we dare not take this for granted, despise it and think little of it. Don’t ever think that there is anything greater or better than the gifts God gives you in His holy word and sacraments; don’t ever think of them as common, as something to keep in your back pocket if/ when you ever need them. Instead, treasure the holy word and sacraments as the true treasure they are.
To be sure, we did not see the miracle of the Red Sea parting and marching through it and seeing our enemies destroyed. But we have the waters of Holy Baptism through which we went which washed away our sin, saved us from our enemies of sin, death, devil and hell and brought us into God’s holy family.
To be sure we don’t have manna and water from the rock, but we have Jesus, the true Manna come down from heaven to us!, in the Blessed Sacrament giving us His very body and blood for the forgiveness of sin.
What treasure we have! Just as the unjust steward in Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel treasured his treasure—his status—and did everything to keep it, even to the point of “cooking the books” so others would “owe him” and be favorable to him, so too let us treasure our treasure of word and sacrament through which God offers and gives us the forgiveness of sin, peace with Him, eternal life, etc.
That fleshly/ carnal security that St. Paul warns us against, leads us to take God’s graces and gifts for granted, which is really to despise them. Nothing is more dangerous than when we despise the Means of Grace—God’s holy word and Sacraments. Through these He works not only to bring us to faith but also to keep us and strengthen us in the faith. If we don’t treasure these gifts, we are relying on ourselves and think we can keep ourselves in the faith by our own strength and efforts.
What blessings we have! But all around us we have the temptations of the devil, the call and allure of the world, and our own sinful self. Like we learn from the Israelites, we, who are so richly blessed, dare not rely on ourselves and our own strength and ability to remain faithful to our Lord. The Israelites certainly did not leave Egypt with the intent of falling into sin and out of the faith. It just sort of happened. It happened one sin at a time. Certainly, they thought, this or that sin is no big deal; and besides that, God is rich in grace forgiving sin anyway. When sin is regarded as no big deal, God’s grace is looked down upon and His word and sacrament despised. The warning from St. Paul in our text: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. The best antidote: an honest examination.
When we are secure in ourselves, not only do we begin to despise God’s means of grace but we become complacent and do not recognize our sin and temptations around us. How, then, can we fight against sin? Taking up some the thoughts and attitudes of their day, the Israelites engaged in idolatry: Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did. Not recognizing their sin of unbelief and of discontentment, St. Paul reports: the some Israelites put Christ to the test…and were destroyed by serpents, [some]… grumble[d]… and were destroyed by the Destroyer. What an urgent call from God to us in the voice of history to examine our own hearts and lives. It’s not enough to receive God’s gifts and begin to believe—certainly the Israelites did this when they were baptized, going through the Red Sea—but we must continue in faith and confession until the end. As we learn from the Israelites, it’s a long road and we dare not be proud of our standing nor rely on our own strength to remain faithful to the Lord and in the company of His Church. Of ourselves we dare never be certain, instead we must pay attention so that we do not stumble.
2. But just as much as we dare never be certain of ourselves, we can be certain in the Lord. In as much as we are sinful human flesh and blood, we are in danger of falling from faith. That’s why we have to take sin seriously and hold all the more firmly to our Lord’s word and Sacraments. But we dare never despair of falling from the faith because as St. Paul writes elsewhere [2 Th 3.3]: The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. And that’s why also here we must hold all the more firmly to our Lord’s word and sacraments because through these He is working to strengthen and keep us in the faith, precisely in the midst of our greatest temptations. Our text: No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. What glorious words and what a firm ground of the certainty of our salvation: God is faithful. He brought us to faith and He will see to it that He will bring us safely through this life firm in faith. Elsewhere St. Paul writes [Ph 1.6]: Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. So what does this mean in light of our text—didn’t God begin the good work with the Israelites in our text, so why did most of them not make it to the Promised Land? Remember, God forces no one. They turned away from Him. He showered them with blessing, gave them heavenly manna and water to drink but they came to despise these glorious blessings and heavenly food. Instead of each day seeing it as another example of His goodness, grace and mercy and growing closer to Him by receiving it with joy and thankfulness and a heart full of faith, they only despised them all the more and turned away from the Lord. That’s why for us, it is vital that we recognize, treasure and make faithful and diligent use of our Lord’s holy word and sacrament because through these He is working to complete what He started in us. There is nothing more dangerous for us than that we despise the Means of Grace—especially in time of temptation.
Our certainty is in the Lord—that He will keep us steadfast/ firm in the faith to the end. What a glorious comfort to us when we are in times of temptation: No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Whatever the temptation it is that we may be enduring, we have the certainty that God gives us the possibility of being able to bear it. We need not fall into sin; we need not follow the pattern of the Israelites in our text. In this time of great weakness, fighting temptation, we are strong because our strength/ reliance is not in ourselves but the Lord. In these times we pray for His patience, help, assistance so that we do not grow weary under the weight of the temptation; we rely on the Lord and His promises; we go to the Blessed Sacrament and are strengthened as we receive Jesus Himself. The temptation may not be removed but we are able to endure it. God’s grace and strength give us the opportunity to remain faithful. And afterwards, God always grants us grace by which He strengthens us.
Learn from history: Don’t be certain in yourself, but be certain in the Lord. INJ Amen.