By Dr. Mickey Anders
South Elkhorn Christian Church
Lexington, Kentucky
March 7, 2010

Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Travel writer Jan Morris says she has a number of scars on her body that are theresult of several falls in locations around the world. Writing in a nationalnewspaper last year, she said, "The sad truth is, I have been falling over foryears. I have tripped, slid, toppled and collided with lampposts on severalcontinents, often because I am reading a book as I walk, or contemplating adistant skyline. I carry with me always the scars of a wandering mind." Shegoes on to tell the stories of several of her more memorable falls, includingone in 1953 when she stubbed her left big toe so hard on an ice block on MountEverest that every five years since the toenail has come off.

Falling is a very common accident, especially in a church like ours. I canthink of ten or fifteen people in our church who have fallen in the past year. Some get away with just bruises, others have had broken wrists and cracked hips.The older we get the more dangerous a fall becomes. I encourage people to hangon to that cane or that walker and don't let embarrassment lead you to aterrible fall. Safety is the name of the game!

Paul gives us the theme verse in this section near the end of the passage inverse 12, which says, "So if you think you are standing, watch out that you donot fall." The apostle Paul commented on this falling behavior, though he hadspiritual falling, not physical falling, in mind. From verse 13, we know thathe is talking about temptation. Temptation is a common human experience. Butnot all of us respond to it in the right way.

Oscar Wilde once said, "The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield toit." (Ministers Manual for 1995, p. 262) In another place, he said, "I canresist everything except temptation" (Lady Windermere's Fan).

Paul's message is that we must always be on the alert for temptation. Even whenwe thing we are standing, when we think we are strong and are right with God,then we may well fall.

The great English preacher, Charles Spurgeon, noted that "we are never out ofthe reach of temptation. Those who think themselves secure are more exposed todanger than any others."

Then Paul turns to an example from the people of Israel. He makes clear hisintent in verse 11, "These things happened to them to serve as an example, andthey were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come." He has said the same thing in verse 6, "Now these things occurred as examplesfor us, so that we might not desire evil as they did."

Then Paul devotes considerable attention to the failures of the Hebrew people. His point is that spiritual complacency can lead to disaster, and it can beprevented only by knowing and heeding the warnings of history.

1I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,that our ancestors wereall under the cloud, andall passed through the sea, 2andall were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3andall ate the same spiritual food, 4andall drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock thatfollowed them, and the rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased withmost of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

All of the Israelites had the same experiences in Exodus. They all saw the samephenomena and the miraculous interventions from God. They all worshipped Godtogether and were nourished. But not all of them were faithful.

In the process of reviewing this history lesson, Paul refers to several unusualaspects of the Exodus story. He spiritualizes their experiences in afascinating way.

First, he reminds us of the cloud and the sea as signs of God's saving power. When the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness, they were led by a cloudin the daytime and by a pillar of fire by night. When they came to the Red Sea,God miraculously parted the waters. The people of Israel walked through on dryland, but the armies of the Pharaoh were trapped by the water.

With very unusual terminology, Paul says they were "baptized into Moses in thecloud and in the sea." Paul is taking some liberties with the idea of baptismas an initiation into the ways of God. He sees the cloud and the sea as symbolsmuch like John the Baptist does when he says that the one to come after himwould baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Paul's point is that anyonewho has been so baptized with the miracles of the cloud and the sea shouldsurely resist temptation.

Then Paul talks about the "spiritual food" and "spiritual drink," obviouslyreferring to the manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4, 35) and the water thatcame from the rock (Exodus 17:5-6). The Israelites had literal food and drink,but Paul is saying they also had spiritual food and drink. Again, Paul's pointis that anyone who has had the spiritual food and drink from the rock shouldsurely be able to resist temptation. But many of the Israelites failed the testwhen it came. They yielded to sin and nearly destroyed their nation.

Then he makes the astounding statement in ver se 4, "For they drank from thespiritual ro ck that followed them, and the rock was Christ."

He gives four examples of their failure. In verse 7, he says that somecommitted idolatry. He is obviously referring to the time that Moses came downfrom the mountain to discover that Aaron and the people had made a god out of agolden calf.

In verse 8, he says that some committed immorality. He is apparently referringto a passage in Numbers 25, when the men of Israel had sexual relations with thewomen of Moab.

In verse 9, he says that some put Christ to the test. This is an apparentreference to Numbers 21, when the people were bit by serpents. In Numbers 21:9,we read, "So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; andwhenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronzeand live."

In verse 10, he says some grew impatient with God. The people of Israel werefamous for all their grumbling throughout the wilderness experience. In Numbers14, they complain, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would thatwe had died in this wildernessQ Why is the Lord bringing us into the land tofall by the sword? �would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?"

All of this review of history is to make Paul's main point - We cannot count ona false security based on formal religious observances. Even baptism and theLord's Supper cannot keep us from temptation and sin. We are warned againstpresumption and arrogance about our standing with God. Verse 12 says, "So ifyou think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall."

Verse 13 of our passage is a good one to quote, "God is faithful, and he willnot let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will alsoprovide the way out so that you may be able to endure it."

If everyone is tempted, what is the difference between temptation and sin? Martin Luther once said that temptation is like a bird flying over our head. Noone can prevent that from happening. But sin is when we let the bird build anest in our hair!

While on the subject of temptation, we should point out that the book of Jamestells us that temptation does not come from God. "No one, when tempted, shouldsay, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil and hehimself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one's own desire, being lured andenticed by it, then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, andthat sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, mybeloved" (James 1:13-16).

I like Paul's imagery of temptation as falling. "So if you think you arestanding, watch out that you do not fall." Dr. James Butler, senior lecturer onphysiology in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard, said thatsomething as simple as toe clearance can increase the risk of a fall. Hemeasured the height that the foot is lifted from the floor during walking anddiscovered that a very small difference, even by as little as the thickness of apiece of tape, can make a huge difference in whether a person falls or not.

He then applied that finding to life in general, saying that we often think itis the big things, the big obstacles, the big dangers that threaten us the most,but he says it is equally if not more important to pay attention to the smallthings.

Dr. Butler said, "In lots of ways this is a kind of turning upside down view �that the small things are really big, and the big things are not nearly as bigas they appear."

That has special application for Christians, for the big sins are so obviousthat it is hard to accidentally commit them. We know we are doing wrong if wehead down those paths. But the smaller ones are the ones that can trip us up.

When William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was an undergraduate, he wentto hear a well-known American evangelist preach about God's forgiveness of sins.This preacher used the text, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be aswhite as snow."

Temple said, "Though I went to the meeting in a serious, enquiring spirit, Ifound myself quite unmoved, for, alas, my sins were not scarlet, they were gray� all gray. They were not dramatic acts of rebellion and violentself-affirmation, but the colorless, tired sins of omission, inertia andtimidity."

He was right. It is the little things that trip us up. Things like beingselfish, thoughtless, taking one another for granted, not listening, and doingsimilar small but hurtful things.

So Paul is telling us to remain upright, to be careful not to fall. But if we dofall, and we all will sooner or later, it makes a difference where we fall. Falling is not good, but it is better when there are loving people to help usclean up after it happens and get us back on our feet.

Ginny Grush of Farmington Hills, Michigan, told of being in a crowded church inBolivia where she had been a Peace Corps volunteer. At one point in the service,she was so overcome by the heat, incense and candle smoke that she fainted andfell. When she came to, she realized that she was being passed along over theheads of the worshipers to the door where she could get some fresh air. Onceoutside, congregants fussed over her. (Grush, Ginny. "Falling down: Memoir of agrounded person." The Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2006, A15.)

Sometimes when people take a tumble, the first thing they do is stop coming tochurch. Maybe they think others are going to judge them. Maybe they think itwould appear hypocritical to come. Maybe they are embarrassed or ashamed. Butwhatever their reason, they are cutting themselves off from a great source ofhelp.

We are all susceptible to spiritual tumbles of one sort or another, to littlesins or even big ones. But let's keep our connection with our congregationactive and strong. It's one of the good places to be, if we happen to fall. It'sa good place to receive help to get upright again.

Let me end with a great story from John Bunyan's classic Pilgrim's Progress.Christian has finally learned not to get off the road for any reason. As heclears a high hill, he sees two large lions waiting on the road ahead. He movesforward down the road, repeating to himself, "Stay on the road, stay on theroad," even as he wonders what he should do. As he stays on the road and drawscloser to the lions, he discovers the way of escape. He sees that the lions areactually beside the road and chained so that if he walks in the middle of theroad he will be safe. Pilgrim does pass safely beneath the lion's breath andgoes on down the road to the Celestial City. (Ministers Manual for 1998, p. 53)

Remember Paul's great advice about temptation. "So if you think you arestanding, watch out that you do not fall� God is faithful, and he will not letyou be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also providethe way out so that you may be able to endure it."