Trinity 9

Good Shepherd

2004 Pass Rd, Biloxi, MS 39531

Draft 2 Sam 22:26–34; 1 Cor 10:6–13; Lk 16:1–13; Ps 51:1–12; antiphon: v. 18   –     8/2/26

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Looking at the examples St. Paul uses in his epistle today we can see the truth of David’s words in the Old Testament reading: With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the purified you deal purely, and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. When St. Paul writes to the church in Corinth he writes this passage today to warn them through five examples of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness about their own sins of idolatry, sexual immorality, testing of God’s patience, despising God’s church and shepherds and gifts, and their own complacency and conceit. When he has done that, he then reminds them, as David says, that the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. That is, though the devil, the world, and their own sinful flesh tempt them to sin, God has provided them and always provides them the means of enduring and escaping temptation. In turn, the Corinthian church like the wandering Israelites serve as examples to us, warnings against sin, but also images of God’s faithfulness to His people.

So, St. Paul writes warning of idolatry, Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. The event he means here is when some of the wanderers complained about the manna God had given them and spoke longingly of the meat and fresh vegetables they had in Egypt. While there is nothing wrong with meat and vegetables, these people made the food and themselves evil because of their association with Egypt. They were rejecting the gifts of God and the freedom He had given them in favor of the slavery of Egypt. Therefore God sent them a plague to punish their idolatry of preferring slavery and impurity over the worship of God. The Corinthians also sinned by desiring the food and delicacies of the pagan temples. They coveted and denied God, breaking the First and Tenth Commandments.

Second, St. Paul writes warning of idolatry leading to sexual immorality, 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.” This event is the golden calf. Israel grew impatient with Moses and thus made an idol to represent God, which He had expressly forbid in the first commandment, and then after their idolatrous worship they moved straight into sexual immorality. The Corinthians faced a similar temptation whenever they went to the pagan temples for food, because all the temples had temple prostitutes. They despised the spiritual food of God in favor of demonic food and sexual immorality. First they would sit down to eat in honor of an idol breaking the First Commandment, then were invited to rise up and break the Sixth.

Third, St. Paul writes warning against sexual infidelity itself, We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. This concerns Israel’s travel around the land of Moab toward the promised land. The devil, through his servant Baalam, instructed the Moabites to put their women along the path of the Israelites and tempt them into joining them women in their ungodly rituals. In this way the Moabites hoped Israel would earn God’s wrath and be destroyed. For the Corinthians, some of them were engaged with prostitutes. One of our theologians writes, “Paul is warning the Corinthians in Corinth not to fall into the same trap of idolatry and its attendant immorality. As the true temple of God, with the Spirit of God dwelling within them, their lives should be characterized by holiness (1 Cor 3:16–17; 6:19). Sexual sins are uniquely vile because they are sins against one’s own body (6:18).” (Lockwood, CC 333)

Fourth, St. Paul writes warning against testing Christ, We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents. This event follows Israel as they travel around the land of Edom. The people have once again become impatient and are complaining against God and Moses saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” (Num 21:5) As a result of their quarreling and despising the manna God sends fiery serpents to kill them. For the Corinthians this warning, like the first, the second, and the next one concern their improper use and treatment of the Lord’s Supper.

Thus in the fifth example, St. Paul writes warning against despising God’s church and pastors, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. While we see Israel grumbling all the time throughout their wanderings, St. Paul likely has one particular instance in mind, specifically the rebellion of Korah and the men with him. Korah and the other men grumbled against Moses and wanted to have the same authority as Moses and Aaron. They tried to usurp his position and Aaron’s. In response, God commanded the earth itself to swallow up those men. God had placed Moses in his position and Aaron in his, not man. For the Corinthians, they were complaining about the authority of St. Paul and the other pastors and bishops and likewise ignoring some of God’s Word especially that concerning the Lord’s Supper, breaking the First, Third, Seventh, and Tenth Commandments. St. Paul is warning them so that they do not sin as Israel did and suffer God’s wrath to the point where He destroys them.

The unifying sins between these five examples for the Corinthians is that they are full of conceit and complacency and thus face an immanent downfall, as Solomon warned in the Proverbs: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (16:18). Therefore St. Paul writes, 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. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. The Corinthian church, as our own church here, dwells in the end of the ages, the last days, the very last hour, proverbially, of the world. God’s plan of salvation is accomplished already in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and only the Day of Judgment awaits. Corinth and Biloxi live in the shadow of the last great day when Christ will return to judge the living and the dead. Therefore, since the Corinthians know this they ought not be complacent and proud lest the same destruction which fell upon Israel for their unbelief happen to the church of Corinth.

In effect, St. Paul is warning the Corinthians in the same way he warned the church in Roman, that the Israelites were branches whom God pruned because of their unfaithfulness. Meanwhile the Gentile believers are a wild branch that has been grafted in place of unbelieving Israel into the true olive tree Who is Christ. If the natural limbs of the olive tree were cut off because of unbelief, how much more repentant ought the grafted limbs be lest they too be broken off. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. The haughty Corinthians who prided themselves in their freedom in the Spirit must be careful lest they fall from grace. So we also must be careful.

Now that he has warned the Corinthians that they must repent of their sin and return again to Christ, St. Paul gives them comfort, saying, 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. The temptations they face, as the temptations we face, are common to humanity, something all sinners are susceptible to (cf. Gal 6:1). And yet God is with the faithful Corinthians and will strengthen them and provide them a means of escape and enduring.

All of the examples St. Paul gives are a reminder of the weakness of our own sinful flesh, but this last statement is also meant to remind us that where ancient Israel failed, God remained faithful, always preserving a remnant through the trials and temptations in the wilderness. But more so than that, St. Paul would have us remember that Jesus fulfills all that ancient Israel failed to do. He remained faithful under temptation, He endured every wile of the devil and the world, He overcame sin, death, and the devil. All who believe in Christ, who are called by His name in baptism, God makes capable of escaping and enduring temptation. And God has provided you that means of escape in the Lord’s Supper, that meal of faith which is given to us for the forgiveness of our sins, the strengthening of our faith, and for our perfection in righteousness. Every day, through His Word and His Sacraments, God will give you the strength to endure and the means of escape. As the writer to the Hebrews says, do not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (10:25). The work of the Church is also for us to gather together around God’s gifts that He may increase our faith, give us forgiveness, and lead us into good works, that is why we read this at the end of Acts 2: And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. The Early Church gathered together to hear the preaching of Christ and to encourage one another, and to partake of the Lord’s Supper and pray for one another in the divine service. It is through these means that God would strengthen you and give you the means of escape from temptation. For the strengthening of your faith by hearing the word of God and partaking of Christ’s body and blood is effective for your daily lives.

For the Corinthians, it is the Lord’s Supper that they neglected and abused, and it is because of that neglect and abuse more so than their other sins that they suffered, some were sick, and some died. Let it not be so among us. But let us be the one who is faithful in a very  little and let us go to the table of the Lord with repentant hearts and joyful for in that bread and in that wine are the true body and true blood of Christ given and shed for you for the forgiveness of our sins. Our minds cannot grasp how this can be that we who are of man will dine on the body and blood of God, and yet that is the very exercise of faith that God called the church of Corinth to, and calls us to. In this manna from heaven is our life, God’s forgiveness, and the salvation Christ won for our sakes on the cross, that on the final day when this age ends we may stand in righteousness and holiness before the throne of God. David says, For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. Amen.

Now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.