Life on the Edge
A Sermon on 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
We are now in the season of Lent, which began as a parallel to the forty days Christ spent in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. And it is temptation that I want to focus on this morning. Temptation is something that we all must deal with. It seems to be ever-present, and if we are not careful, it can have a strong pull on us.
Someone once asked, “Ever notice that the whisper of temptation can be heard farther than the loudest call of duty?” And it is when we think we are strong in our faith that we have a tendency to live life on the edge of our faith, right next to temptation’s door. And it is there that her whisper seems louder than ever.
Today we will be looking at 1 Corinthians, Chapter 10, to see what the apostle Paul has to say about this. If you have your Bibles with you, why don’t you take them out and turn there with me. We’ll be looking at the first thirteen verses.
Background
When the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he warned them about living at the edge of their faith and tempting temptation. He opens his letter by thanking God that the people of Corinth had a great knowledge of Christ and did not lack any spiritual gift. Yet despite this, they were divided about who they followed, and gave in to the temptation to lift up one man above another rather than letting Christ be their head.
Further down in Chapter 5, Paul castigates them for allowing sexual immorality and even being proud of it. These are the same people who had knowledge of Christ and lacked in no spiritual gift. And yet they did not flee from immorality.
And when Paul addressed food sacrificed to idols in chapter 8, he noted that some could eat with a clean conscience, while others could not. Those for whom it was not sin were pushing the limits of what they could do in Christ, and joining others as they ate the meat. And this was a cause of stumbling for the weaker brethren, and then it became a sin against the brethren (8:12). By saying, “My faith is strong enough to eat meat sacrificed to idols,” they were pushing their faith to the edge to see how far they can go without actually sinning. They were asking, “How much can I get away with and still be a Christian?” If you ever find yourself asking that question, it’s time to run away.
We Like to Push the Limits
It’s typical human behavior though. We like to push the limits and see how far we can go. If you ever turn on the TV or go to the movies, you know we like to push the limits of the acceptable.
The Edge
Ford has a new car called The Edge. The refrain in their commercial is “I like to live on the edge.” And we do. There’s even a popular pizza called The Edge, where the toppings go out to the edge of the crust. We like to see how far we can go without getting into trouble, or getting a heart attack.
Block Towers
Even as young children, we have this tendency. When I build towers with my 2-year-old, we always have to put one more block on top. And if that holds, we put on one more, and one more, until finally we push it too far and everything comes tumbling down.
And it isn’t just, “what can I get away with doing?” but also, “what can I get away with not doing?” - Can I be complacent and still be a Christian? I probably don’t need to tell you that we do that at an early age too. But as we grow up, we don’t always lose that tendency. There are Christians who believe their faith is strong enough on its own and they don’t need to go to church regularly, they don’t need to read their Bible, they don’t need to be prayed for. But faith that isn’t nurtured quickly gets off balance. Far better to come back to the center, and I hope you will see the need for that today.
Blessings do not guarantee survival
In chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, where today’s lesson begins, Paul warns us that living life on the edge of our faith is a recipe for disaster. When we believe that our faith is strong enough to handle anything - that is when it is least likely to be able to.
To make his point, Paul begins with a lesson from Israel’s history. He begins by saying
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. (1 Corinthians 10:1-5, NIV)
In Exodus, chapter 13 (vv. 21-22), we read about how the Lord led the Israelites in the wilderness. He went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He was constantly in front of His people, guiding them on their way.
Every single one of the Israelites who came out of Egypt watched the cloud and moved when it moved, and stopped when it stopped. God’s guidance was very real to them.
And so was His deliverance. Every single one of the Israelites who came out of Egypt passed through the Red Sea on dry ground (Exodus 14), and watched as the Lord destroyed Pharaoh’s army.
Every single one of the Israelites who came out of Egypt were baptized into Moses. Baptism signifies being bound up with the one in whose name you are baptized. Under Moses leadership, they all identified themselves with Moses and had unity because of that – as we who are baptized into Christ identify ourselves with Christ.
And lastly, every single one of the Israelites who came out of Egypt ate and drank the same spiritual food and drink. Certainly this is an allusion to the manna and water from the rock that was miraculously provided by the hand of the Lord. But more than just physical provision, these Israelites also had the spiritual strength of the pre-incarnate Christ with them.
Every last Israelite who came out of Egypt had these miraculous experiences and the power of Christ. It’s sort of parallel to Paul’s comments about the people of Corinth not lacking in knowledge or spiritual gifts. Yet even this did not safeguard them from perishing.
As verse 5 says, God was not pleased with them. Evidence the bodies scattered in the desert. Despite all of God’s blessings in their lives, survival was not guaranteed. Indeed, every single one of the Israelites who came out of Egypt, save two – Joshua and Caleb – did not enter the Promised Land because of their sinful ways. Look at the blessings they had – and they did not stand against the temptations.
History as Warning
Why does Paul tell us about this? What can be gained from hearing of their failures? Paul says in verse 6
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. (1 Corinthians 10:6, NIV)
And again in verse 11, he says:
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. (1 Corinthians 10:11, NIV)
So I think we should take heed. When we look at the great blessings they had, how they failed to stay centered in those blessings, and the tragic results of giving in to temptation, it is a warning to us to be careful that we do not do the same. Do we face the same temptations they did? I think we do - as Paul writes further down: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.”
Common Temptations: Idolatry
So what are these common temptations? Let’s look at the verses in between – verses 7-10. Paul writes in verse 7:
Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." (1 Corinthians 10:7, NIV)
This indulgence in pagan revelry is most likely a reference to Exodus 32. Moses had gone to talk to the Lord and left Aaron in charge. Moses was a long time in coming down the mountain, and the people gave up on him. Patience was not their strong suit. So under Aaron’s leadership, they made a golden calf to worship as their god, declaring that this was the god who brought them out of Egypt.
Funny thing was, that in the midst of all this, Aaron built an altar in front of the calf and declared, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” The word he uses there is ‘Yahweh.’ They made gods, with a little ‘g,’ and thought it would be all right if they dedicated their party to Yahweh.
In some ways it is much like the Catholics who pray to the saints and worship of the virgin Mary – all in the name of God. It sounds an awful lot like worshipping a golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai and calling it a festival to Yahweh.
If we turn to verse 6 of Exodus chapter 32, we see there the reference Paul cites in 1 Corinthians (7b):
So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. (Exodus 32:6, NIV)
When we don’t exercise self-control, but instead give in to the temptation to serve other gods because they seem nearer to us, I guarantee you, God is not pleased. There was plenty of time for the Israelites to think about what they were doing before the festival as they made their preparations. .
Tempted to Swim
Paul says we are to “run the race in such a way as to win the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24b), but instead, we act like the little boy who was told not to go swimming. When he returned home his mother noticed his wet hair and swim suit.
She scolded him, “I told you not to go swimming.”
“I couldn’t help it, Mom,” he said. “The water looked so good.”
“But why did you take your swim suit with you?”
“In case I was tempted.”
Do you ever prepare to give in – in case you’re tempted?
We might not carve out idols from stone and wood, but I’ve known people who carry their rabbit’s foot around in case they are tempted to rub it. We sometimes joke about superstitions, like needing to wear a Michigan sweatshirt rather than a Minnesota sweatshirt to do well in our bowling game – though I won’t name the parties involved. The real danger is when we actually start to believe it.
Arthur
Sometimes my daughter watches the kid’s show Arthur on PBS. One day on the show, the kids lost a ball game, and Francine commented, “I should have worn my lucky socks!”
Their friend who they call Brain doesn’t believe in superstition and tells everyone they lost because the other team was better. But Muffy quickly adds, “And luckier too!”
This sets Brain on a quest to disprove superstition, but he ends up having a lot of “bad luck.” Arthur’s best friend, Buster, has a definite superstitious bent about him, and so he loans Brain all his good luck charms that he has stashed in his gym bag – and there are quite a lot of them. And Brain’s luck seems to turn around.
Eventually, they all discover that Buster actually mixed up his gym bag with his mom’s, and Brain isn’t carrying around good luck charms at all. Brain triumphantly declares, “See, superstitions are false!”
But Buster is a true believer and won’t be swayed. “You haven’t proved that at all,” he says. “What you’ve proven is that these are very lucky gym clothes.”
And we laugh, but something in us sometimes thinks, maybe he’s right. But he isn’t. It can be very difficult to change what we put our faith in. And that is a very good reason not to fall into idolatry in the first place.
What are Your Idols?
Maybe you don’t have a physical idol, like Buster, but what do you worship or adore? Your family? Your possessions? Your Comfort?
What would you rather trust than God? Your income? Your strength? Your intellect?
What would you rather do than worship God? Sleep? Criticize? Stay angry? Work? Study? Eat? Shop?
It is not that any of these things are intrinsically bad. Like meat sacrificed to idols, they can be sin for some and not for others. When you find that these things are calling to you, ask yourself if they are taking the place of Christ at the center of your faith.
Common Temptations: Sexual Immorality
In verse 8 Paul continues with his list of temptations. He says:
We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did-- and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. (1 Corinthians 10:8, NIV)
That’s a lot of people. There was an incident in Numbers, chapter 25, when the men of Israel engaged in sexual immorality with Moabite women as part of their worship of the god Baal. In His anger at this, the Lord sent a plague among the people that killed thousands.
In our world, we hear many argue that our bodies are our own, to do with as we please. If we want to be sexually immoral, what is that to anyone else? But back in chapter 6, Paul says that isn’t so.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV)
Twenty-three thousand people died in one day on account of their sexual immorality. Should that not be a witness and a warning to us about where God stands on that issue?
Justin Armour
The September/October 1996 Issue of Campus Life ran a story about Justin Armour, wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills. Before he played his first pro game, Justin joined some teammates for a night on the town. They ended up by the docs, where one by one his teammates started disappearing on boats with these beautiful women. And he says he’s pretty sure they weren’t going fishing.
He reacted the only way he knew how: “I got out of there as fast as I could,” he said. He wasn’t about to find out if his faith could stand against the temptation if he stayed.
Justin says, “the biggest blessing of choosing abstinence is this: You fall in love and get married for all the right reasons. You fall in love with someone because of how they motivate you, how they encourage you in the Lord, how they hold up your life… This isn’t blind faith. This is practical faith,” he says, “It’s God’s formula for having a relationship that’s real and sustaining and fulfilling – for both people.”
Whether you’re single and trying to save yourself for marriage, or married and trying to be faithful, sexual immorality is something you want to stay as far away from as possible. If you find yourself with someone you know you shouldn’t be with, walk away, run away if you need to. When the night gets late, go home. Don’t wait and see how close to the edge you can get without compromising your integrity.
Common Temptations: Disloyalty
Paul warns us further as we move to verse 9. He writes:
We should not test the Lord, as some of them did-- and were killed by snakes. (1 Corinthians 10:9, NIV)
Considering how much I like snakes, I’m really glad I wasn’t there. This is a story from Numbers 21. Israel had been refused passage through Edom, and they were now taking the long way around. After an attack by a Canaanite king, the Lord had delivered the Israelites and allowed them to destroy the Canaanite towns. Even though God had provided for them in a powerful way, as they continued their journey, they grew impatient. Numbers 21:5 reads:
they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. (Numbers 21:5-9, NIV)
This is what Paul calls ‘testing God.’ When times got tough, their loyalty to God and Moses wavered and they charged God with faithlessness. They didn’t trust God to lead them and feed them, and they didn’t appreciate all that He had done, and in so doing they declared loudly that it was all His fault – why have You brought us here?
Sure they were eating manna every day, and probably got tired of a lack of variety in their diet. But they never had to till the ground, or tend crops. Just before they were refused entrance to Edom, God had provided water to drink out of a rock. Now they have no water again, but they do not ask for water – they simply complain that there is none. They are ungrateful for all the sustenance and military victory that God has provided, and their loyalty shifts. When we accuse God of being the cause of all our troubles, we cultivate an attitude that tests God.
Certainly God has been patient with the Israelites. But here we see there is an end to His patience when He sends the venomous snakes. Nevertheless, even now when they come crawling back admitting their sin, He provides a way for healing. The Lord tells Moses to fashion a snake of bronze and put it on a pole. If any have been bitten by the snakes, they can look upon this bronze snake and be healed. But it never takes very long before they are off complaining against God again. This same attitude existed in Rome in Paul’s day too. When he wrote to them, he said in chapter 2, verse 4:
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. (Romans 2:4-5, NIV)
When in our stubbornness and pride we refuse to flee from the temptation to blame God, we test God, and we test our faith. It is the wise person who will admit they have limits. The wise person will hold his tongue and stop to look at the big picture before complaining against God.
Do we appreciate all that God has done? Or are we tempted to disparage all that He has given us because it isn’t everything that we want? Are we unwilling to look deeply at ourselves when we face tough times to see if maybe we ought to blame ourselves rather than God?
I’m not saying you shouldn’t be honest with God when you’re angry and frustrated. He already knows what you are thinking. But as you vent your feelings, ask God to open your eyes so you can see past the moment, and know that He cares for you in the midst of everything that you face. None of us is perfectly satisfied in all things. But are we grateful for what we have been given? And if we do want more – let me suggest that disrespecting God isn’t the way to get it. If you find you are tempted to test God in this way, look to Israelite history so you do not repeat their mistakes. After all, that is why they have been written down for us.
Common Temptations: Grumbling
Paul’s final admonition is that we should not grumble. That doesn’t seem like such a bad thing to us at times. After all, we all grumble a bit when we have a bad day.
You’ve had a bad day when…
And you know you’re having a bad day when:
You’re twin sister forgets your birthday.
Or you wake up and discover your waterbed broke – and then realize you don’t have a water bed.
Or you deposit your income tax check – and it bounces.
We might grumble a bit at these things, and think little of it. But verse 10 tells us how serious the penalty for grumbling can be.
And do not grumble, as some of them did-- and were killed by the destroying angel. (1 Corinthians 10:10, NIV)
The destroying angel is frequently associated with the plague in scripture. We see the destroying angel during the Passover, striking down the first born sons of the Egyptians (Exodus 12:23), but in the wilderness, God turns the plague on his own people.
Many scholars believe Paul is referring to the incident after Korah’s rebellion found in Numbers, chapter 16. Korah rebelled against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. When he and his followers gathered in opposition to Moses at the Tent of Meeting, the Lord appeared and told the people to back away from Korah and his men. In verse 31, we read:
… the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. (Numbers 16:31-35, NIV)
And we are told that 250 men died that day. But God had not yet sent His destroying angel. After witnessing this, scripture tells us, in verse 41:
The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the LORD’s people," they said. (Numbers 16:41-50, NIV)
Talk about short term memories! Not only is their accusation not true, but there were 250 people who died yesterday because they didn’t support Moses and Aaron. Once you start grumbling, and your heart gets hardened, even the miraculous doesn’t phase you.
God had finally had enough and he sent the plague because of their grumbling – this is by the hand of the destroying angel. An additional 14,700 died by the time Aaron made atonement for their sins.
Now this grumbling by the people of Israel, it wasn’t just a petty complaint, but rather as Anthony Thiselton puts it, “the constant, grudging, carping, querulous moaning which transformed the bold, glad self-perception of those whom God had redeemed from Egypt … into a self-pitying, false perception of themselves as ‘victims’ on whom God had weighted heavy burdens and trials…” (p. 742)
When we get thorns instead of roses, when we have to be the follower instead of the leader, when we get passed over for the promotion even though we’ve worked really hard, when things don’t go the way we think they ought to and no one is supporting our view, the temptation to grumble is great. And if it gets a foothold, we begin to perceive ourselves as victims to justify our sinful self-pitying grudges.
Dentist
Nobody likes a complainer. A dentist once heard a patient grumbling about his fee. “Two hundred dollars – just to pull out a tooth!” she exclaimed, “And you only work for one minute!”
“Well, if you wish,” the dentist replied, “I can pull it out slowly.”
When we grumble against God’s plans, thankfully, He doesn’t send His destroying angel right away. But sometimes He takes away the power of His Spirit in our lives. We end up going through the motions and accomplishing nothing because we are out of sync with God. Other times, we find ourselves not serving any longer because we consistently refuse to let our will be shaped by His. And sometimes – as is witnessed by the Israelites testimony from the wilderness – when our grumbling keeps us from seeing ourselves as the redeemed people of God and begins to drag others down with us, there comes a time when God may choose to remove our presence from this earth.
But all of this should not discourage us. No, it should be a warning to us and a motivator to live our lives differently than those who faced God’s wrath. So what should we do to withstand temptation?
How to Withstand Temptation: Don’t Be Overconfident
In concluding our text for today, Paul says:
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. (1 Corinthians 10:12-13, NIV)
All sorts of things might tempt us in life. The Israelites temptations and failures are common to us as well. We have our idols and immorality to fight against. It is difficult at times to stay loyal to God when life is tough, and easy to grumble against His will.
We can stand up against temptation and win. Joshua and Caleb did, and entered the Promised Land. But we are most in danger when we think that we can handle it on our own. Because when we think we cannot fall, we tempt Satan to pull us down.
Ship Captain
The story is told about a ship Captain who had a route that ran from California to Columbia. One day, as he was preparing to leave California, he was approached by some drug dealers who offered him $50,000 to allow a small shipment of drugs on his vessel. He immediately said no.
On each of his next three trips, they raised the offer, finally reaching $150,000. He hesitated. Then he said ‘maybe.’
As soon as he was alone again, he contacted the FBI an they set up a sting operation and successfully arrested the drug dealers. One of the agents asked the Captain, “Why did you wait until they offered $150,000 before contacting us?”
His reply: “They were getting close to my price.”
When Satan gets close to your price, you have been flirting with temptation too long. You are living too far out on the edge of your faith. Don’t wait until you lose that battle to come back to the center of your faith. 1 John 5:4 tells us that faith is the victory that overcomes the world.
We want to be confident in our faith, confident in our salvation, but we also need to be humble in our abilities.
How to Withstand Temptation: Expose Yourself to Truth
When Paul says that God will provide a way out so we can stand up under temptation, there are some practical things we can do prepare ourselves to follow His way. First, we can expose ourselves to truth on a regular basis. Romans 12:2 says:
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2a, NIV)
In everything that we do, ask if it is an offering of our body to God, and let your mind be involved in your decisions too. But in order for our minds to know what is right, we must constantly be exposing ourselves to God’s truth through His Word, so that our minds will be renewed and transformed.
It is then that we will be able to recognize temptation and learn to resist by holding tightly to the truth of God’s Word, which in the transforming of our mind we have become familiar with. And overconfidence will probably be less of an issue then too.
How to Withstand Temptation: Be Accountable
But lest we think we can stand on our own – for that is when we fall – we need accountability to live the Christian life. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we may be healed. Confession is good for the soul – and the threat of it can motivate us as well.
Do you channel surf alone during late night hours? Do you go to the grocery store when you’re hungry – literally or figuratively? Do you keep the extra when you receive the wrong change? Do you hang out with people who don’t support a commitment to purity and faithful living? Are you accountable to anyone for your choices?
It’s a lot easier to flee temptation and avoid compromising situations in the first place if we know we aren’t the only one who will know about it.
How to Withstand Temptation: Trust God’s Faithfulness
And lastly, and I’ll close with this, we need to trust that God will be faithful to His promises. Just as Paul says:
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. (1 Corinthians 10:13, NIV)
As we draw near to God and strive for Christlikeness in our lives, we need to cultivate a godly life to that we can recognize temptation long before we are caught in its snare.
© Susan Blader, 3/11/07, from the Sermon Series, ‘Lentil Soup’
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Sources:
1) Bible Works 5, Revision 2, (Bigfork, Montana: Hermeneutika Computer Bible Research Software, 2001).
2) Tammy Garrison, "Keep Going!" February 2002, http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=44202
3) Gene Haraldsen, Defeating Temptation, July 2002, http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=30170 – ship captain illustration
4) Adam R. Holz, “Five Keys to Resisting Temptation,” Discipleship Journal, no 116, March/April 2000.
5) David Jeremiah, The Authentic Christian Life, Vol 3, (SanDiego, CA: Turning Point for God), 2004.
6) Mark Moring, “Willing to Wait,” Campus Life, September/October 1996, http://www.christianitytoday.com/cl/6c2/6c2026.html (accessed 3-6-07) - Justin Armour story
7) Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, A Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGTC), (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmanns), 2000.
8) http://www.netfundu.com/jokes/bycata.asp?SID=1&BG=doctorbg.jpg&IG=doctortop.jpg&CID=2 – dentist joke
9) http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=77968&ContributorID=12734 (accessed 3-9-07)–bad day
10) http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=35128&ContributorID=5911 (accessed 3-9-07)-tempted to swim
