Harsh Examples
Third Sunday in Lent
Ezekiel 33:7–20, Corinthians 10:1–13, Luke 13:1–9
† In Jesus Name †
Grace and Peace are yours, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mountain Driving/AC and Water Barrels
Caution – turn off air conditioning – to prevent overheating. As you leave the desert floor behind – heading up the grade on your way to Arizona, there are these signs. As you go along further, there are small turnouts – that have 55 gallon water drums, and again signs, warning us to beware of over-exerting the engines and radiators of our vehicles.
Most of us, probably don’t take them too seriously, after all, it is pretty hot down there, isn’t it? Turn off our air conditioning? Submit to a level of heat, that will overheat our bodies far faster that it could overcome our cars? Those signs aren’t really there to warn us, are they? Aren’t they just there for people that drive ancient antique cars, you know the kinds back in the 1970’s and 1980’s?
Then we come up on one of the turnouts, and we see examples, of what the signs warned us. Several modern cars, and even expensive cars, a Mercedes, and a Cadillac, and one of those fancy BmW convertible sports cars, sitting there – hoods up, with grey/white smoke billowing out from their engines, and water pouring out from under the car, evaporating almost as fast as it hits the ground.
Even as we drive by, our hands are quickly moving to the temperature controls, and our passengers are lowering their windows, just in time to catch that lovely smell, of radiator coolant that has burst lines. All of sudden, we take the signs more seriously, because we see the harsh examples of the truth, of which the signs were warning us. The signs and examples serve us, and keep us from having to sit in the sun, awaiting a wrecker to tow us to safety.
We need to read and pay attention to such signs and the examples, not just in our driving, but in our daily lives, and very importantly, in how lives as we deal with temptation and sin. Those danger overheating signs are an example of what we see in today’s scripture lessons. The question is, will we pay attention?
The Signs & Examples
Watchmen
The die is cast?
The various dies –
I would have us look at the Old Testament passage first. There, we shall see a description of a warning sign, that comes along, as we drive the road of our lives.
7“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
Our first sign, is the kind of person that is called a watchman – the person tasked with serving a community, and warning of them about the danger that is approaching. That person has the responsibility of warning the people, and the people are responsible for whether they pay attention, and act, based on the warning.
Pastors serve church communities today in such a role, even as prophets did in the past. This is done, as we instruct God’s people in His law, and in the repercussions, both in our lives today, and eternally, for disobeying God’s law. This is but one part of the preaching and teaching ministry of the church, and it must always be kept in tension with the proclaiming of forgiveness, and the grace of God. The goal remember, is not proclaiming the danger – but in doing so, that we may explain with them the joy that is found in being forgiven.
Even as the church is made up of a priesthood of all believers, we all serve each other in a similar way as well. Please listen carefully, I am not saying that we begin to look out for others are sinning, or that this is our primary focus. By no means! Using the driving up a grade illustration, if you pass a car, and it is billowing white smoke – don’t you beep your horn and get there attention? Similarly, a Christian who sees another in danger, would share God’s word, to call them away from the danger they are in. Even more, should we pray for people in such situations, and as necessary, turn to the pastor and elders, should we not know how to help.
If we are talking of the signs in the Old Testament passage, our epistle certainly shows the spiritual equivalent of the cars broken down on the side of the road. The examples are ones from the Old Testament, and specifically, from the journey of the people of God, through Sinai. As the passage begins, Paul would have us see that these people witnessed the incredible power of God, that they had every advantage, being baptized in the sea, being led around by the pillar of fire and smoke. But then, something happens, as we pick up the passage in verse 6.
6Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7Do 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.” 8We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
Paul brings them to our attention, that they might be examples – bad examples – that we should not copy. For those that like their tools, the word for example is the word similar to a die – the model that is cast for others to copy – or in our case not copy! We don’t want to fall by the side of the road, engines overheating, as the people did. Four sins are mentioned specifically, and they are all symptoms of the first sin, idolatry.
IN the first case, the quote mentions the scene where the golden calf was created. Literally, rather than wait, as God instructed Moses on the mountain, the people rose up and created the golden calf, and threw a huge party, celebrating their “God”, made by there own hands. The second case, is found in Numbers 25, where the people of Israel began to interact with the people of Moab. The passage doesn’t just mention immorality, though that is very clear, but that the immorality also led Israel to abandon God, and worship the God of the people with whom they, interacted.
The third and fourth cases are similar – where Israel doubted God’s care for them, and determined that it would be better to go back to Eqypt, than to receive God’s care and follow Him. They kept on grumbling, and complaining, and saying God, if you really love us, you will, and placed their demands on the table. Rather than trust God, they wanted a God they could control, who did their bidding, who met their wants, rather than their needs.
We see the results of their sins, as if we pass by the turn out lanes. Their lives literally became broken, poisoned, wrecks, as their sins resulted in many deaths. Because they would have something else, or someone else, or they themselves, occupy the spot in their lives, that was meant for God. How incredibly sad, and yet, it was not as if they didn’t know. That too, is made abundantly clear.
They serve us, as perhaps those cars on the side of the road – danger signs of a fate that could easily ensnare us, unless we keep our eyes, on Jesus.
Experience instructs
Gotta prove it/Lay it out
Restore your brother
Rescue! Way out!
It is lent, it is a time for a somber remembrance, that it is because of sin, that Christ had to come, had to die, and for us, rise again. Yet, no sermon is complete with just a warning against sin. There is still and always will be, the gospel – the good news. In our epistle here, we see a tremendous picture of the good news,
12Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13No 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.
Now, you might be thinking, Pastor, is that really “good news”? If you were to ask, I would say, yes, it is. Consider your car again. If you knew you were going to task it with climbing a desert mountain, you would flush the radiator, and put special coolant in, and pack a case of bottled water in the back. You would be prepared, by taking steps to ensure your car didn’t fail, and even have precautions in case it did.
So too, this passage tells us how God is preparing us, to deal with challenges of life. First, a reminder that every temptation – every attempt to prove or disprove your trust in God, for that is what temptation is really about, is common to man. No temptation is new – whether a temptation to idolatry, or to immorality, or just to complain against God.
It doesn’t say that every sin we can overcome by our strength either, rather, it reminds us of God’s faithfulness. For He is faithful – faithful to forgive, because of Christ’s crucifixion. Faithful to show His promised mercy, even as He had promised Israel. But faithful as well, to assist us in enduring temptation now. He helps us, by providing and escape, a way out.
Sometimes, like in the case of Joseph, the way out is running from the temptation. We can literally avoid the scene of the temptation, and stay away. Or to have God remove the temptation, or remove us from it. This is the hand, that quickly turns the A/C off, as the signs and examples are learned from. The grace of the Holy Spirit, whether through the message of those He sends, or from the examples- steers us away, gives us an escape- away out.
There is hope as well, for those who have, for the moment, pulled to the side of the road, those who have stumbled on the way, and find their engines running a little too hot. For in Christ, we have found forgiveness for all of our sins, should we not reject it, but gladly and joyfully receive it. Like the water barrels on the side of the road, there is Christ – the water of life! Come, confessing your sin, and drink of His love, and grace. Come and know, that the body given, was given that you would be able to stand in His righteous. Come and know, the blood that was spilled, that you would be clean and Holy.
Know that God’s gifts, grace, mercy and peace are yours… in Christ. So drink your fill and rejoice!
AMEN?
