Learn from the Past!

3rd Sunday in Lent, 3/3/13
1 Corinthians 10:1-13


Learn from the Past!
I. Don’t take God’s grace for granted.
II. Avoid flirting with evil.
III. Trust your faithful God.


Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. All of us would like to think we’re wise enough to learn from our mistakes. We won’t do that again. We won’t let that happen again. To do so would be foolish.

But are we wise enough to learn from the mistakes of others? Someone once said, “If you don’t learn from history’s mistakes, you’re bound to repeat them.” Those words are full of truth. But it happens all the time. Solid statistics bear the results. If you engage in this type of behavior, here’s what happens, here are the percentages. But people don’t listen. They don’t learn. They do it anyway and they end up paying the price.

That’s bad enough when it comes to a risky investment or a shady business deal. But it causes eternal problems—no, make that eternal disasters—when it comes to spiritual matters. From cover to cover the Bible contains the history of what happens when sinful people ignore what the holy God declares. It’s the height of foolishness, but it happens, daily, in spite of God’s serious warnings.

The Apostle Paul saw it happening among the Christians in ancient Corinth. And it’s still happening today. Let’s not be foolish. Learn from the past! May the Holy Spirit enlighten us and fill us with his wisdom through his words this morning.

Part I.

We hear about amazing events every day. Hearing about them is one thing. Actually living them is another. This past week we heard about an explosion that damaged a hot air balloon in Egypt. It fell 1000 feet. All but 2 people aboard died. I can’t imagine falling 1000 feet. Hearing about it is one thing. Living through it is entirely another.

Paul begins our text by reminding us of some amazing things that the Israelites lived through. These weren’t accidents or random events however. They were powerful acts of God’s daily grace toward them. Paul writes, “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.” Paul writes some things that are difficult to understand. Let’s take a closer look.

He speaks about being baptized in the cloud and the sea. What’s he talking about? Recall how the Lord caused the waters of the Red Sea to part and he allowed the Israelites to pass through the sea. This was a powerful act of God’s grace. In doing so he saved his people from the Egyptian army and spared their lives. Likewise with the cloud. The Lord used this miraculous cloud to guide and protect his people. It was a powerful act of his grace. And, in doing so, he caused these people to follow Moses, his chosen representative.

Paul then moves on to other well-known acts of God’s power. He fed the Israelites manna for 40 years. More than once he miraculously provided water for them from a rock. As they enjoyed the benefits of these miracles, God moved them to place their trust in him to provide for them. He was moving them to trust him not just for rescue from the Egyptians and the harsh desert elements, but also for their salvation, for rescue from hell’s punishment.

That’s why Paul refers to the rock called Christ. God’s master plan for his people was to bring the Savior into the world through them. That Savior, the Son of God, was active in their lives on a daily basis in protecting them and providing for them. On a daily basis he wanted them also to look to him for their salvation.

But listen to Paul’s sad comment on so many of them, “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.” They didn’t all die in unbelief, but countless thousands did. The adults who were led out of Egypt never saw the Promised Land and it was their own fault. God’s daily powerful expressions of grace had been wasted.

Learn from the past!

I don’t have any “miracles” to impress you with this morning. No parting of waters or clouds of glory. No miracles involving food or water. Just the miracle of God’s grace in word and sacrament. And I do mean miracle. Just as God did with the Israelites, so he does with us. He showers his grace on us daily through his word and each time a person is baptized or receives the Lord’s Supper. But is your reaction at times, “Oh, so what? I’m not interested in his grace today. I have better things to do”? If so, learn from the past! Bring your ungrateful and un-amazed heart to the Lord in repentance and then hear his gracious promise and assurance of forgiveness, a forgiveness which Christ, the Rock, won for us when he took our sins and our place on Calvary’s cross. Learn from the past!

Part II.

In spite of our daily dismay at the expressions of evil in our world, there really is nothing new under the sun when it comes to evil. Believe it or not, the sins announced in modern headlines can be found on the pages of Holy Scripture, everything from the murder of children to gross acts of immorality.

And those acts weren’t limited to people such as the men of Sodom. Evil was rampant among God’s own people. Paul helps us remember them with these words, “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.”

Paul recalls the worship of the golden calf, a calf that Aaron called by the name “Lord”—the very God who had strongly forbidden them to make any image and worship it. Worse yet, this idol worship included immoral acts, just like heathen people committed. Paul also refers to another incident in which the people of Moab invited the Israelites to participate in worshipping their false god with acts of immorality and thousands of Israelites accepted the invitation, to their own destruction. More than 23,000 died. And then there were the “lesser” outbreaks of evil such as the grumbling against the leadership of Moses and against the Lord. So the Lord sent an angel in one case and snakes in another to put thousands of them to death. Only then did the evil stop.

Now, why would Paul recall these events for the Christians in Corinth? Undoubtedly because the same temptations were present in Corinth. We know what an immoral city it was. We know that the Christians there were tempted to think they could flirt with immorality and not harm their relationship with Jesus. We know they had issues with the leaders in their congregation just as the Israelites did with Moses. They were tempted to grumble and complain. Evil was rampant among them.

Nothing has changed since then, has it? Evil is rampant now. In fact, so rampant that we become calloused to it, even accept it. Learn from the past! Recognize evil when you see it. It silently enters your very own homes via TV and computer screens and cell phone displays. Consider how much of what you see and hear is evil in the ears and eyes of God. It’s not just an alternative way of thinking. It’s sin. And then there are the “lesser” sins in our lives as well. We’re discontented. We think we have it so difficult. We demand the right to complain, even to God. But what’s so bad about that? It’s an affront to God’s providence and care. It’s void of trust in him. It’s the opposite of praising him. Learn from the past! Don’t flirt with evil. Confess it. Turn it off and turn away from it. And receive the comfort and assurance of forgiveness which Christ, the Rock, won for you. He never succumbed to evil. He paid for every evil act, word and thought.

Part III.

The Christian life has often been viewed as walking on a path to heaven. It’s a narrow path as Jesus said. Satan abhors our walk on it. So he strives all day every day to push us to one side or the other. On one side is sinful pride. On the other is damning doubt and despair.

Paul dealt with both in the closing words of our text. First, sinful pride, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” If you don’t feel the need to stay close to Christ through his word and sacrament, be careful! You’re an easy target for Satan and he will soon bring you down.

But here’s the solution to the other extreme—damning doubt and despair, “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.” In spite of how you feel, you’re not the only one who has it so bad. Other Christians have experienced the same thing; some even worse. God always has a plan for you and he always carries it out. He comforts and strengthens us through his word. He is faithful. Absolutely faithful. That means we can trust him in every difficulty of life. Learn from the past! What a gracious, loving God we have. He didn’t even spare his own Son for us! Trust your faithful God! Amen.