March 14, 2004 — Third Sunday in Lent
Christ Lutheran Church, Columbia, MD
Pastor Jeff Samelson
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
When You Are Tempted, God Is Faithful
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Word of God for our study this Sunday is our second lesson, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, as already read:
[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. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 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.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did — and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did — and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did — and were killed by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 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. (NIV)
This is the Word of our Lord. ]
Dear Perfected Saints of God, Still Struggling with Your Imperfections:
“I’m sorry,” said Scott, “I just couldn’t resist.” That was something his friends and family found him saying way too often. Sometimes he was less apologetic— “Oh, come on! You can’t expect me to pass up a straight line like that! She was practically asking to be zinged!”
Sometimes when he watched TV he’d ask, “Why is it that guys like Simon Cowell and lots of comedians get paid tons of money to put people down, and we call it entertainment, but I get in trouble for using my natural wit? It’s not fair — they work at it and get rich, and I just do what comes naturally and get nothing but grief.”
Every once in a while, after Scott’s “wit” had withered someone important to him, or he saw the pain that his put-down caused, well, then, he would promise he’d do a better job of controlling his mouth. But sooner or later he’d find the insults tripping off his tongue again, and there just didn’t seem to be anything he could do about it.
So some days he beat himself up for not having the strength and good sense to keep his mouth shut. And other days he comforted and justified himself with the thought that he really couldn’t help himself — whether his wit was a gift or a curse, he had no choice but to use it, and that meant some sensitive people were probably going to be hurt. He was sorry, but that was just the way things were.
We might have heard similar “justifications” from the children of Israel that Paul mentions in our reading: “Hey — everybody else is bowing down to this golden calf — I don’t really have a choice but to do the same thing.” Or: “Yeah, I know you’re not supposed to do it with anyone you’re not married to, but man, she looked so good — I just couldn’t help myself.” Or: “How can you expect me not to grumble and complain? This desert is boring, this manna is boring, I’m thirsty, and frankly, that Moses guy gets on my nerves.”
But no matter how they might have justified giving in to their various temptations, they couldn’t change the fact that they had sinned against God. And they paid for their rebellion with their lives. God takes his law, his name, and his people seriously — and he doesn’t take excuses.
Paul used the example of the Israelites in the wilderness to warn their spiritual descendants in Corinth not to make the same mistakes. The members of the Corinthian congregation were also being tempted to worship idols, to be sexually immoral, and to grumble and complain about the way God was, or was not, taking care of them. So Paul was using Israel’s example to show that the temptations the Corinthians were facing were nothing new to God’s people and therefore nothing they had no power to say “no” to.
And Paul was also warning them against being cocky. They might think themselves holier, stronger, smarter, or just more modern than the sinners Moses had to face, but they weren’t really any different, any better, or any less likely to sin. And so he told them, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.”
It seems the Corinthians had some real big problems to deal with. It’s a good thing the almost 2000 years of history and progress between us have made us holier, stronger, smarter, and more modern than they were. I mean, Paul and the Corinthians — let alone the Israelites — would never understand what it’s like to be you — right? We’ve got a whole new set of sins and temptations to deal with today.
How many of you here today qualify as Baby Boomers? People who study American society say there’s never been a generation with a greater impact on our culture, and it’s not just because there are so many of them. It’s their attitude — they grew up believing they were the best and the brightest, and they were determined to change the world.
One of the interesting ways this showed itself was when the Boomers started having children. You see, it was as though they thought no one had ever had kids before. When they faced problems as parents, they went to their books and their doctors and even their TVs for advice before they went to their elders, because they knew their own parents and grandparents couldn’t have a clue what it was like to raise children in the modern world. Whether Boomers struggled with potty-training, their kids’ behavior, or teaching values, Grandma’s and Grandpa’s wisdom was smiled at but discarded as out-of–date and practically useless.
But much to their surprise, as the Boomers grew older, they slowly began to realize that the issues they’d been dealing with weren’t so new or special after all. The times had changed, but children and the problems of raising them hadn’t. So maybe Mom and Dad weren’t so clueless after all.
Clueless — that would be us if we really thought that our situation and our temptations were that different from the Corinthians’ or the Israelites’. Times have changed, but people’s problems haven’t.
And that’s because there really is only one basic problem that people of any age or place have to deal with — the problem of sin, because sin is what’s wrong with you, me, other people, and the world itself. Sin is the reason there’s cancer. Sin is the reason people hurt other people. Sin is the reason there are accidents, earthquakes, and epidemics.
Sin is the reason there’s death. That’s why all those Israelites who found their temptations irresistible left their bodies scattered in the wilderness — because death is the price of sin, and in their cases God linked the price directly and immediately to their disobedience.
And so sin is also the reason for Jesus’ death. In the Garden of Eden God told Adam and Eve they would die if they ate the fruit of that tree, and we have been dying ever since they disobeyed and ate it. And God didn’t want anyone to die. Not at all. So in his compassion he announced that he had a plan — a plan to save us from the eternal death of hell that our sins had earned us.
But remember this: He didn’t have to do it, and we didn’t deserve to have him do anything at all. But God so loved the world — loved us— despite our sins, and so he promised Adam and Eve, and their children of every generation, that he would send a Savior to conquer sin, put an end to death, and crush Satan their tempter.
Jesus Christ is that Savior. God sent his Son, and his Son poured out his blood on the cross to wash away all our sins. He gave his life to the people of earth so that no one would have to face eternal death in hell. And when he rose from the dead and left his tomb on Easter morning, there was no doubt that Satan’s head had been defeated.
In other words, God kept his promise and saved us. Christ took away our sins, took care of us, and will take all who trust in him to heaven, to be with him, forever.
And if God was faithful in keeping that most important promise for the life to come, then what does that say about God and the life we’re living now and the temptations we’ll face today and tomorrow? Well, let’s look at an old, but very “contemporary” example. Let’s see what we can learn from Joseph’s life.
You remember Joseph, and how he was his father’s favorite because he was Rachel’s son, and how Joseph always seemed to rub his brothers’ noses in it? And how one day they’d finally had enough of the kid’s attitude, and sold him into slavery, and he ended up in Egypt?
Well, Joseph ended up in the house of Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials. Let’s read a bit from Genesis 39:
When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household … and of all that he owned, [and] the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. … (So far, so good, right? But look what comes next:)
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” (Genesis 39:3-7)
Joseph was tempted. And if you’re familiar with the story, you might be tempted to skip right to its resolution. Don’t. Because if you stop and think about the situation Joseph found himself in here, you’ll realize that the temptations that seized him were no different from the temptations that seize you today. Imagine what could have gone through his head when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him:
There’s the obvious thought — “Ooh — I know I shouldn’t, but how often does an opportunity like this come by? I may be a slave, but I’m still a man. I know I should resist, but I’m not strong enough. It’s out of my control … .”
And even if he got his hormones reined in, he might still have thought, “Man, I don’t really want to do this, but this is my master’s wife. I have to obey her, and if I don’t I know she can make my life a living hell. And I don’t see God giving me any other way out of this.”
But even if he also got his fear under control, his temptations could have come from another direction: “Nuts. This is the last thing I need right now. I’m trying to run my master’s house well and keep him happy, and here his wife wants to take me away from my work. I’ve got to find time to manage the kitchen, keep an eye on the gardeners, make sure the new maids are trained, and check to make sure the food sellers and tradesmen aren’t overcharging us again. If I refuse her, she’s just going to keep on bugging me and make it impossible to get my job done. I know it’s not right, but I have more important things to consider right now. I wish there were another way, but I don’t really have a choice.”
Those and other justifications for giving in to her temptations could have filled Joseph’s head. But what was his response?
… he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. … My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 29:8-10)
It would be nice if the story ended there, with Joseph just saying no to the temptation and that being the end of it. But that’s not what happened — she kept after him, and one day his master’s wife trapped him, and when he refused again, she accused him of assaulting her, and he ended up in prison for something he’d been careful not to do. Standing firm against temptation — well, it didn’t look like it had done him any good.
You ever feel that way? Like somebody should be congratulating you for standing firm and resisting temptation, and instead all you seem to get are bigger problems? You resist the push to cut ethical corners at work, but end up taking the heat for somebody else — and he or she gets off scot-free. Or you give your time for something God wants, instead of catching up on your sleep or just doing something more “fun”, and find yourself bored, or unappreciated, or hours behind in your work. Sometimes it feels like God is no more in control of a situation than you are, doesn’t it?
Joseph’s example tells us something different, though. Years later, after some of those funny “coincidences” that fill the lives of people who trust in the Lord — after Joseph was released from prison and made second in charge of all Egypt, and when the brothers who sold him into slavery were groveling before him, Joseph put it all into perspective.
And he didn’t do what some might have expected — he didn’t point to himself and say, “Hey, brothers, things would be better for you if you’d just be like me! I was tempted badly, but I was strong, and here’s how I managed to make the best of a bad situation … .”
No, Joseph pointed instead to the Lord and said, “Look how he helped me, and helped everybody. See how loving he is, and how he keeps his promises? He’s the one that made the difference every time I was tempted to give in to sin or grumble about my situation. He never let me down, and he never gave me more than I could bear.”
That’s the same point Paul is making for the Corinthians, and for us today: God is faithful. God is faithful. When you’re tempted, don’t look to yourself for strength — you’ll fall. Look instead to your loving Lord and his promises. When you feel you’re all alone, out of control, and slipping into sin, you’re not. You don’t have to be. You’re in God’s good hands. He’s handled these sins before, and he’ll handle them again — in fact, he handled every sin once and for all on the cross — that’s how loving, and faithful, he is.
So when you give in to that temptation to …, tell that convenient lie, or whatever, Jesus is faithful with his forgiveness. Every sin, every time, every day. And when you feel overwhelmed and it seems there’s no option left but to … vent that anger or break that rule, God is faithful with the strength you need to bear your troubles and faithful with a way out so you can stand up under your temptations.
You are not alone. You are loved — by the Lord of grace, who sent his Son to save you. When you are tempted, God is faithful. Amen.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
