1 Cor. 10:1-5
I want you to know, 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.
This is our text.
“On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.” This image of the Rock is one that can easily come to mind -- The solid rock; the sure foundation of our faith; the immovable mooring of our life and destiny. Here we have it depicted in colored glass window and connected with patience. We can be patient knowing our steady Rock won’t ever let us down.
The Rock followed them. Seems that in their journey through the wilderness they would on different occasions come across this miraculous Rock. Now initially, it looked like a rock. So how can one say that the Rock was Christ? They couldn’t see Jesus, but He was there. They only saw a rock, but there was Jesus giving flowing water for thirsty people.
Today we want to review those events from at Meribah and Massah, in the wilderness and learn from them. In those Olden days of the Exodus, a pillar of cloud led the people of God, through land and sea, through sunshine and storm, through days of terror and days of blessing until they reached the promised land. Hidden in the cloud was God their Savior, watching over them and leading them on their way. The Pillar of Fire by night and the Pillar of Cloud by day went before the people, just as now in these last days, Christ our Savior goes before us. He goes before us into baptism and to the cross and to the grave and the resurrection. He leads us through sunshine and storm, through days of terror and days of blessing until we reach our promised land.
Three times in today’s Bible readings the events at Massah and Meribah are recorded. Exodus is the first recorded history of the events. Then also, in 1 Corinthians 10 St. Paul explains them and teaches that it was Christ who was there giving blessings. And then in the Psalm 95 appointed for the day, the Lord mentions this event and warns us, future generations, not to grumble and whine like they did back then. Psalm 95:7-9
Today, if you hear his voice,
[8] do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
[9] when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
It’s sort of surprising to hear it this way. Despite all the overabundant blessings that God gave the people of Israel, they put him to the test at Meribah and Massah. They felt God had dealt poorly with them. He hadn’t given them what they wanted. They demanded more and doubted that God would do more.
With 10 miraculous plagues, God had freed them from bondage and slavery in Egypt.
God had rescued them from the Egyptian army at the Red Sea
He rained down on them food from heaven, manna
He provided fresh water from a rock
And most significantly He was right there with them, His gracious glorious presence in the cloud
Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
They didn’t believe Him. They put him to the test.
They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" (Exodus 17:3) and they said, "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exodus 17:7).
It’s sad how we human beings can be so ungrateful toward our Creator. “As we live and breathe and have our being, our rude minds say, is he even here? As we are showered with gifts, new every morning, we look at them and say, “Oh, that’s nice, but it’s not what I wanted.”
The Israelites foolishly thought back to the days of slavery in Egypt and thought, “You know, it wasn’t really that bad being slaves. It was better than this trouble out here in freedom.”
If you ever have a chance to go on Google maps and search for Egypt and then look at it in Satellite View you can plainly see the environment where these events took place. As you pan across Northern Africa and onto the Sinai Pennisula and the Middle East it’s all just this light brown, sandy tan. It’s the wilderness a great desert. But in Egypt there is this beautiful lively, green strip running from South, North into the Great Mediterranean Sea. Rich, fertile Farmland is thriving with grain, and vegetables and fruits watered by the Nile River. For thousands of years there has been a land of plenty of water and food in the Nile River of Egypt, surrounded by the harsh barren Wilderness of North Africa and the Middle East.
Out in the wilderness of Sin, Sinai, the people of Israel longed for the tasty food and refreshing water of Egypt’s verdant Nile Valley. In longing for the good things, they thought little of the bad things that were back there: They were slaves. They were forced to build the great projects that their Egyptian overlords demanded. They had to build huge buildings with bricks made with no straw. The Egyptians controlled their lives, even to the point of controlling how many babies they could have, who could live and who had to die. It must have been horrible to be treated this way. And the Israelites are thinking, “but wasn’t it nice to have plenty to eat and drink?” When people are singularly obsessed with material things, the passions of the flesh, the pleasures of the moment, they are not mindful of how good or how bad off they really, truly are.
How many men and women, boys and girls in our generation are going through life loving just for the pleasures of the moment? They don’t care about God, and so they give no thought to the fact that there is nothing but hell at the other end of their short lives.
It’s just the same now as it was back then. Those ancient people at Meribah and Massah were only thinking about satisfying their cravings. They didn’t believe that the Lord was with them. It was so completely unsatisfying to them to hear that the Lord was there hidden in the cloud, hidden in the rock. They only cared for what they could see, and feel, and fill their bellies. They thought they lacked food and water and the comforts of life. But by God’s judgement what they lacked was gratitude and patience and faith.
Learn from the Israelites to count our blessings and to count our deficiencies – to be truly mindful about what we have and also what we lack.
Do you lose sleep worried that your accounts don’t have enough money in them? Count your blessings instead, knowing that your heavenly Father has given you His Kingdom and an eternity of joys in His presence.
Are you proud of your possessions, your success in this life, your position in this world? Don’t forget to count your deficiencies. Your possessions will go to others when you die. Your good name will eventually be forgotten here in this world. Your earthly success has no bearing on your spiritual failures as a sinner.
Then count your blessings. You have been baptized into Christ, so now you live in Christ. He promises you, I will be with you always. You have eternity with Christ to receive His constant blessings.
About the whining, complaining children of Israel, it says this, Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Dear children of God, know this, God is pleased with you in Christ. You who believe and are baptized and are daily receive the blessings God has to give, God is pleased with you. So don’t be tempted to despair about what you lack. Rejoice in what you have, the good favor of your God.
Going back to the Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians, St. Paul says something that might sound kind of weird, He says, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27).
This is weird because it is an idea that is pretty much unheard of nowadays: Self-discipline. It doesn’t come up enough. Instead we are encouraged at every turn to spoil ourselves. In the parable Jesus tells about the workers who worked different hours but all got the same pay, it’s almost comical how some of them got so upset. They thought they deserved much more than they got. Indignantly they tried to tell the boss, how according to their logic and their feelings, he must give them more than the agreed upon wage.
Let’s not foolishly assume we deserve more than what we are getting in this life. No instead, we must teach ourselves, train ourselves, discipline ourselves to say “no” to unrighteous, impure and unhealthy things that please the flesh, that we may look to the Lord for what He gives which is truly pleasing.
It would be good for us modern people to learn from the wisdom of the past when it comes to disciplining the body. It will help us get our minds off the passions and cravings of this earthly, momentary life and strive instead for those things that are truly wholesome, righteous and lasting for eternity.
And that’s gonna take some faith -- Faith that realizes that Christ is there for you -- Hidden though he may be. As He was hidden in the rock and in the cloud and in the preaching of Moses, so Christ is now here for you, even though He is hidden behind the things God now provides you, the preaching of the church, the water, the bread and the wine and the suffering of bearing the cross in this short but troublesome life.
Christ is with us. He is our rock. In Him we have hope and salvation -- only in Him. He alone deserved all glory and honor and praise. He alone deserves more than what He got in this life. Because actually, He just got what everyone else gets -- Suffering, pain, and Death a horrible death. But he never complained about what he lacked. Instead He lived and died for what He knew was truly important, truly righteous, truly eternal – you, His beloved friends.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment