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SERMON
As Pastor Ted rightly noted in last week's message, chapters 8-10
ostensibly deal with the problem of what Christians should do with meat
that had been sacrificed to idols. That was the "presenting
problem" as they say. But the underlying issue, the crucial point
that Paul wanted to drive home, had to do with attitude. In chapter 8 he
reminded them that while everything is permissible for Christians, not
everything is helpful. Therefore, he says, "Be careful that the
exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the
weak." That is, when it comes to exercising your freedom, your
attitude should be one of concern for your brothers and sisters, and not
one of insisting on your own rights.
Then, in chapter 9, Paul gives a very personal illustration of that sort
of attitude. He reminds them that, even though he had every right to
expect to be compensated fairly as an Apostle, he was willing to forego
that right (or almost any other right for that matter) if denying
himself would make it possible for someone to receive the gospel. In
fact, in verse 12 he said that he would "put up with anything
rather than hinder the gospel of Christ." And so, he went on to
say, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible
means I might save some."
And then, knowing how the Corinthians were proud of the fact that their
athletic games were second only to Athens, Paul ends his personal
"aside" in chapter 9 with an analogy they would clearly
understand. He reminds them that athletes who are out to win will go
into a rigorous program of personal discipline in hopes of winning a
laurel crown that would wither in a few days. "I, however,"
he
says, "want to discipline myself for a crown that will last forever." But the clear implication was that, while Paul would love
to receive a crown for his faithful service as an Apostle, he didn't
want to wear it. It's as if he were saying, "I want to be able to
take that crown and place it at the feet of Jesus; to offer that crown
of victory to the One who deserves it - to him who was willing to wear a
different kind of crown, a crown of thorns, for my sake." That was
Paul's attitude, and he invited his brothers and sisters in Christ to
follow his lead.
Then, following his personal "aside," he turns the focus back
on his readers at chapter 10. He begins: "I don't want you to be
ignorant of the dangers in becoming too confident of your own status
with God. True, you are the new 'Chosen People,'" he says. But he
reminds them that the old "Chosen People" (their spiritual
forebears) thought they had it made, too. And yet they managed to get
themselves seduced by all kinds of temptations. Paul says that they even
had their own version of the sacraments. But even though they had, in a
sense, been "baptized" into Moses in the Red Sea, and even
though they had shared the "communion" of manna, the bread
from heaven, in the wilderness, that didn't keep them from doing some
really stupid things.
Paul then lists, in rather graphic detail, a number of instances in
which God's Chosen People gave in to the temptation to indulge in
idolatry and pagan revelry and sexual immorality. (Keep in mind that
these things happened while God was personally leading them through the
wilderness on their way to the Promised Land.) The net effect of their
behavior, says Paul, was that "God was not pleased with most of
them; their bodies were scattered over the desert." This is all a
matter of historical record. You'll find these sad incidents catalogued
in the book of Numbers.
Then Paul writes at verse 11, "These things happened to them as
examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the
fulfillment of the ages has come." That is to say: "The
Children of Israel could perhaps plead ignorance. They could argue that
they gave into temptation because they didn't know any better. But since
Jesus has come and we have received the Holy Spirit of truth into our
lives, we have no excuse." Those stories of the grim fate of many
of the children of Israel were meant to be a warning. That's why Paul
goes on to say in verse 12: "So, if you think you are standing
firm, be careful that you don't fall!"
Now, if the theme of chapter 10 thus far seems rather dismal, take
heart. Because what follows is, at least to me, one of the most
reassuring passages in the Bible. Paul writes, "No temptation has
seized you except what is common to man." There's a sense in which
your temptation, whatever it might be, is not unique. Most of us would
like to think it is, of course. When we are tempted, whether to despair
or anger or infidelity or whatever, we would like to believe that nobody
has ever had to deal with what we're going through. "If you only
knew my wife," he'll say, "you wouldn't blame me." Or
someone will say, "You just don't understand. He drove me to it. I
couldn't help it!"
"That's not true," says Paul. "No temptation has seized
you except what is common to man." Paul's measured words come as a
message of realism, firmly reminding you when you face temptation that
you are not alone. But they also come as a word of hope, gently
reminding you that people very much like you have made it through. So
it's true that in one sense your temptation is not unique.
But there's another sense in which your temptation, whatever it might
be, is unique. Why? Because you are unique. We're not clones. None of us
is exactly like everybody else. We're all different, and so our
temptations are, in that sense, unique. Fortunately, God knows that. And
here is where I find Paul's words as profoundly comforting as they are
realistic. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to
man," he says. Then he goes on: "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."
Now, I want you to understand the implications of what Paul is saying
here. He's talking to people who have committed their lives to Jesus
Christ, and he says that God will never let any temptation push you
beyond your capacity. You can trust God to always provide you with a way
to deal with it. But whether you accept God's way of dealing with it is
another matter. So one of the clear implications of Paul's teaching is
that, if you give in to temptation as a Christian, it will be your
choice.
I wonder if there are any Christians here today who, even though they
know better, have nevertheless given in to temptation. Perhaps I should
put the question the other way around. Are there any Christians here
who, knowing better, have not given in to temptation? Paul would say
that you have no one to blame but yourself. That's one unavoidable
implication of what he's saying here. But in the same breath he wants
you to understand that there is an even deeper implication in his words.
And that deeper mystery of God's grace is that, even with those who have
given in to temptation, there is still hope.
You may know people who have fallen for some temptation and now find
themselves held captive against their will. They may even hate what
they've become, but they're powerless to escape. They could be caught in
some nightmare of substance abuse or obsessive behavior or sexual
immorality. When you see them you might wonder if there's any hope for
them. Well there is.
Paul's words here are just as true for them: "God is faithful…
and he will provide a way out." And he has. Jesus said, "I am
the way," and "I have come to seek and to save what was
lost." And though one might argue that those who are lost have only
themselves to blame for their bad choices, I'm here to tell you that
Jesus loves us so much that he gave up his life to suffer the
consequences of our bad choices. And he lives in us to help us shoulder
that burden of temptation, to "stand up under it" as Paul puts
it, until that day when it is finally lifted forever.
That is the mystery at the heart of the sacrament we're about to
receive. Whenever we try to explain what Jesus did for us on the cross
and the way he proposes to live in us as his body, words inevitably
fail. Fortunately, our Lord has given us a sacrament that expresses it
all. And yet there is hardly a meal we eat that is more humble, more
simple than this one. A little piece of bread and a taste of juice is
all. But it's not so much the substance but the significance that
matters; it's not the size of the portion but the sign of his presence.
Paul reminds us here in verses 14-17 that when we eat this bread and
drink this cup, we are participating in the life of Jesus. How can I say
it any more dramatically? In this act of incorporation, when we take
into ourselves the body and blood of Christ, we're inviting him to come
in and become the most intimate part of our life together.
That's why Paul says what should be obvious, but isn't always so. If we
have joined ourselves to Christ in communion with him, then we have to
"flee from idolatry." That is, we have to make a clean break
with what we know is wrong. We have to give sin a wide berth. We can't
come to this table and receive Christ anew into our hearts, and then go
out and live however we wish. In this sacrament we are marked as the
Lord's people. And because you and I have been made one with Christ, we
simply can't overlook dishonesty or deceit when it happens in front of
us. Because we have joined ourselves together with Christ, the phrase
"me first" is no longer appropriate. In fact, because Christ
has entered our hearts, the way in which we should operate in every
aspect of our daily lives can be summed up in one simple rule. In verse
31 Paul says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do
it all for the glory of God."
That's wonderful advice. But how are we going to remember to follow that
rule: "whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God?" Well,
Johann Sebastian Bach may have inadvertently given us a very
Presbyterian clue. (Presbyterians seem to have a fixation on three
letter acronyms - COM, COC, RTC, PBE.) I think J. S. Bach must have been
a closet Presbyterian; because on all of his manuscripts, whether they
were written for church or for any other use, that great composer wrote
three initials, SDG. They stood for the Latin phrase, "Soli Deo
Gloria," which means simply, "To God alone be the glory."
Bach understood perfectly what Paul was saying and he made it the theme
of his life. God grant us the grace, in whatever we do, to make this our
theme every day: "To God alone be the glory."
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