Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. ⁶ Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. ⁷ 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." ⁸ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. ⁹ We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, ¹⁰ nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. ¹¹ 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. ¹² Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ 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.

Many of us have stories from our childhood or early adulthood that are good examples of what not to do. I have my share of stories from my childhood and teenage years that I have been banned from telling my children. Stories like the time I was twelve. I was always interested in how things worked. I watched everything. I watched how people drove, how they shifted the car, and how they fixed the car. I was so fascinated with driving I had to try it. I knew I could do it, after all I watched and observed hours of driving. So, I took my mom’s 1970 something chevy station wagon for a ride around town. Do you remember those huge station wagons? They seemed like the size of an aircraft carrier. Remember, I said I was twelve. I was about 3 miles from the house when the car quit. Uh O, what now? I opened the hood and played around a bit and got it started and went straight home. I drove well, but what a stupid thing to do. I could have hurt someone or got pulled over by the police. I put my license in jeopardy. In Wisconsin if you drive before you have a license you can’t get it until you are 18. In my case everything turned out Ok, but I never should have done it. Now, I understand there is an appropriate time, setting, and reason to tell these stories but if you don’t tell them it seems to take away a parenting tool. How else can our children learn from our mistakes? How else can we pass along what we learned by enduring these mistakes? Without the stories or lessons the children are bound to repeat the mistakes we made. But we have to be honest with ourselves. We want to tell some of our stories just to relive the event or show our children that we aren’t as stuffed shirt as they think we are. In which case we haven’t learned anything and the story has no value anyway.

The Israelites had their share of stories that are good examples of what not to do as well. They had stories of idolatry, sexual immorality, putting Yahweh to the test, and grumbling against Yahweh. In our text Paul refers to these stories not for Israel to "look cool in front of the kids", or to "show what they got away with." No, he refers to these stories so the Corinthian Christians would learn from Israel’s mistakes.

You see the Corinthian Christians were having difficulties living together as brothers and sisters in Christ. They were pushing the limits and thinking they could straddle the fence between Christianity and worshipping Idols. They were doing all the things ancient Israel was doing. They thought they had everything going their way. Paul warns them in verse 12; "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." Paul calls the Corinthians and us to remember that the "wise," those "who thinks that he stands" can so easily forget that God’s grace puts us in a personal and responsible relationship with Christ. You see, God’s grace and gifts, revealed in Jesus’ death and resurrection, do not shield them from sin, nor does it keep them from sinning, and it doesn’t ensure they will not be judged.

Ancient Israel is a reminder of this. They forgot about their personal relationship. They forgot about their responsibility in that relationship. They sinned and they were judged. Paul makes it clear that the Corinthian Christians can’t ignore the example of ancient Israel. The Israelites knew God’s grace. We Christians experience God’s grace in action in our baptism as we pass through the water with the word. They experienced the same fullness of God’s grace in action as they passed through the Red Sea. They were fed a spiritual supper given by their Lord as we are. There supper was a supernatural supper of manna and water which sustained them physically and spiritually in the wilderness. Our supper is the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper which sustains us spiritually. God truly provides marvelous gifts.

Even with God’s grace and gifts the Israelites fell. They sinned; they provoked God’s judgment because they thought they knew better than God. Turn to page 956 in your pew bible 1 Corinthians 8:1-3. "Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." This "knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up. ² If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. ³ But if anyone loves God, he is known by God." The Israelites knowledge puffed them up where as love leads to service and therefore builds up. Paul is showing that even though the church in Corinth is fractured it can be strengthened by love. Love causes us to reach those who have gone astray both in and out of the church. The prayer of the day echoes Paul, "bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of His word."

The New Israel, us the church, can learn as well from Israel’s history; "let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." You, as a Christian shouldn’t live in fear or terror because you know your faithful God remains protectively in charge of your lives. What Paul writes to the Corinthians applies to you as well; "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."

You heard the stories. They were told at the appropriate time, setting, and for the right reason, unlike the stories I wanted to tell my children. The warning stands. The world you live in is a world full of sin and you are confronted daily with idolatry, sexual immorality, and grumbling. You dare not allow yourselves to be affected by these temptations.

For that you have Jesus whose suffering, death, and resurrection have redeemed you from death and destruction. For that you have His Spirit who leads you into all the truth. For that you have one another, the body of Christ into which you have been called. In the body of Christ you celebrate God’s love through the Lord’s Supper. For that you build up through love and service to each other and your neighbor.

Amen.