Lent 3 Wed 1 Corinthians 1:1-13 “Walking in Danger”

The city of Corinth became well-known among all ancient cities for wealth, luxury, and indulgence. It was the trade center of its time and to top it all off, its religion was one of pure excess. The principal deity worshipped in the city was Venus.   Corinth was devoted, or dedicated to the goddess of love, the mystical lady of shameless passion.

As you can imagine, worship was so popular at the temple Corinth, that 1,000 prostitutes were on hand at the temple and the city was visited by huge crowds of foreigners, strangers that could do whatever they pleased in the name of religion and then return home.  It reminds me of the popular Las Vegas phrase, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Christians who lived in Corinth were surrounded by it, exposed to its sins daily and Saint Paul wrote his letter to warn them against living in such a manner.

Saint Paul sets before them the example of the Jewish nation of old. He tells the Corinthians as well as all of you that these things took place as example for us. The Old Testament lessons are just as relevant today as they were in Paul’s time. So let’s examine what Paul was telling the church.

The Israelites were freed from bondage to Egypt through a series of miracles and led across the Red Sea and out into the wilderness by Moses according to God’s plan. The people were under a cloud which led them and protected them. This cloud showed the divine favor and protection of God in the form of light to the Israelites. It provided them with cool in the day and heat by night. But to their enemies it appeared as a dark and threatening pillar.  It was a miraculous guide, a shelter, and a defense. 

Then, by yet another miracle of God, Moses led the people through the Red Sea. When the pursuing Egyptians followed, they were drowned. Paul rightly calls their passing through the sea ‘baptism.’

Martin Luther say of our baptism: “It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.” In a similar fashion, God rescued His people from death by Pharaoh and his army and saved them.  As His baptized children walking in the desert wilderness, God continued to protect them from all enemies along the way. Just as your baptism protects you from Satan and spiritual foes, God protected them from their enemies. 

As they continued their journey, God provided for their hunger and thirst. The fact is that all the Israelites were nourished and supported in this remarkable manner by food given directly by God. The manna which they ate provided physical life, but Paul calls it spiritual because it was given by the Spirit of God. Manna was the result of God’s gift which was not produced in an ordinary way but by a miracle. That manna, that very Bread which came down from heaven corresponds to the Lord’s Supper.

The Lord’s Supper which we now eat gives us forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. We eat His supper in a visible way, but our souls are nourished and strengthened through Christ’s own body and blood. He is indeed the living bread which comes down from heaven in a mysterious way.  And of course Jesus is the rock from which life giving water flows.

Christ is the Rock on which the Christian church is built; and from the streams that issue forth, all believers drink, and are refreshed. We drink from that Rock through faith in Jesus Christ.  As we hear His word, we drink from the waters of salvation; His Spirit fills us, overflows and follows us as we journey through this life.  We have the physical example of this through the Israelites which is filled with Spiritual significance.

The Israelites all had evidence of His divine protection and favor by their crossing through the waters, by His manna and by the water that miraculously flowed from the rock that they were all under His divine care.

 Likewise, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and His Word are not only God’s means of providing our Spiritual nourishment, they are also the means whereby through faith, we physically apprehend His spiritual gifts and have evidence of our salvation.

But there’s more to Paul’s lesson. Christians, like the children of Israel, are passing through the world as travelers, and to us that world is a wilderness—a desert fraught with danger. Like the Israelites, we can travel through this world confident knowing that the Lord is watching over us and protecting our souls. Somehow however, the Israelites got the notion that since they were under God’s protection they were free to indulge in every kind sin without fear of any consequences. 

For instance, they partook of a feast in honor of a golden calf idol. It was common for all peoples to keep a feast in honor of an idol, and the food which was eaten on such an occasion was mainly the meat which had been offered in sacrifice to it. Food eaten in such a manner was considered eaten in the presence with the god or gods who were being honored. Now, the Israelites believed in the true God and knew that the idol was just something that man had made.  They did not believe that the calf was a god so they saw no harm in eating and drinking food sacrificed to it. What they did not realize however, that is in doing so, they were disobeying the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods.”

Then to make matters worse, after they had eaten meat and drunk wine, they rose up to play in a very adult and sinful way paying no heed to the commandment relating to adultery.

They were in essence, tempting God. When tempt is used with reference to God, it means to try His patience, to provoke his anger, or to act in such a way as to see how much He will bear, and how long He will endure the wickedness of people. The Israelites tempted Him, or “tried his patience and restraint,” by rebellion, complaining, impatience, and dissatisfaction with his dealings.

The argument of their complaining was that they had been disappointed. O sure, they had been brought out of a land of bondage, but during their bondage they had plenty to eat and drink. Now they had been taken out of bondage but into a wilderness of want.  They had been set apart for God and He was providing for them, but they found plain water and manna lacking in taste and rather boring. 

They complained also about not being able to store any of manna up and that if they took it up wrongly it would spoil. In addition to all that, they grumbled that instead of being delivered at once to the land of milk and honey, they were left to wander in the desert. Many of them desired to return again to Egypt.

So as an example to all generations, twenty-three thousand Israelites fell in a single day. Others were bitten by poisonous snakes whose bite burned like fire and all of those who complained died in the desert, never to see the Promised Land. Nothing in Scripture is written in vain; and it is our wisdom and duty to learn from it. Others have fallen, and so may we.

Paul says that the Israelite all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were made partakers of the spiritual rock, Jesus Christ. Nothing can be a more decisive proof than this that people, who have every outward observance of the power of God, and are made partakers of the grace of our Lord Jesus, may so abuse their privileges and grieve the Spirit of God as to fall from their state of grace, and perish ever-lastingly.

The same God directs our affairs that planned theirs; and if we sin as they did, we also must expect to be punished, and excluded from the favor of God and from heaven if we do not take into account the terrible price that Jesus paid for us on the cross. 

Therefore we should fear the sins of Israel, if we want to avoid their plagues. And we should rightly fear that those who tempt Christ, by their unrepentant sins, will find themselves left in the power of the old serpent.

We are to remember that we are baptized children of God and that entails that we should remember that we share in the death of Jesus Christ. We are to die to this world of sin and live to Christ. To be sure, Baptism protects you from Satan, but it does not protect you from yourself. Luther states that, “Baptism indicates that the old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desire, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”

God affords you the forgiveness of sins and nourishes your soul with the assurance of your salvation with His Supper, His spiritual manna.  But if you take it wrongly or without acknowledging His presence, you take it to your harm.

God sends His Spirit upon you but if you continue in unrepentant sin, you vex His Spirit and He will depart from you and the destroyer will take His place. The Israelites that died are an example for the Corinthians and to you. The world today can be compared to the immorality and overindulgence of Corinth very easily.  And you can certainly see how the world is still in bondage to sin. Christians still have to walk through this world of wickedness and the temptations are various and diverse.

However to this word of caution, a word of comfort is added. Others throughout history have had like burdens, and like temptations--when it comes to sin, there is nothing new under the sun. 

Christians try to avoid temptation and when we give in; we come to the Lord for forgiveness and receive it. 

When we stop coming for forgiveness and take Him for granted, we run the risk of losing our Salvation and dying an eternal death.

God will keep you secure when you find yourself surrounded by temptation. He gives you the proper means to seek His aid, and to depend on His promises though His Holy Spirit.  To depend on the faithfulness of God is implied throughout Scriptures.  To reject the proper use of His means and to seek out the places of temptation is to tempt Him. We can certainly get into enough trouble without going looking for it.

When we look to God, however we find a firm foundation in the Rock of Jesus Christ. that rock is the fullness of the Messiah, and His word is the abundant grace which flows to His people. The water is an illustration of our continued and constant dependence on Him for our daily supply of all that we need. You have full encouragement to flee from sin, and to be faithful to God. You cannot fall by temptation, if you hold fast to Him.

God is wise and faithful. He will make our burdens according to our strength. He knows what you can bear. He will make a way to escape; he will deliver either from the trial itself, or at least from the harm that would otherwise befall you.

Once again Martin Luther tells you to fear, love and trust in God.  The fear of the Lord placed in your heart, will be the great means of safety. The love of God in Christ Jesus leads to a peace which the world cannot give and the trust in God leads to the Promised Land and eternal contentment.

So we go forth uncomplaining, as Christ went to the cross. We look forward with patience knowing that God will provide all things necessary for us.  And we patiently await the land that He has promised to the Glory of God through His Son Jesus Christ now and forever, Amen.