God is Faithful!

If I was in control, then gas prices would not be so high. If I was in control, then inflation would not be an issue. If I was in control, then there would be peace in the world. If I was in control, then we would not be in credit card debt. If I was in control, then my kids would behave. If I was in control, then my roommate would respect our shared space. If I was in control, then no one would grumble about anything like I am right now.

Grumbling comes in many forms. We are all good at it and we are all guilty of it. In our New Testament reading from 1 Corinthians 10, we hear, 10 “And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.” This warning came in a series of warnings Paul was giving to the believers in Corinth while warning them against the broader sin of idolatry. The reference Paul was making was to what we read in our Old Testament reading from Numbers 16. In Numbers 16, some leaders in Israel from the tribe of Levi were grumbling against Moses and Aaron. They were upset that the priesthood belonged only to the family of Aaron and accused Moses of nepotism as Aaron was his brother. In response, 28 … Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: 29 If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.” 31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. Those who grumbled against Moses and Aaron, were really grumbling against God who had set them in place as the leaders of Israel. And after the earth swallowed all these people, it was clear that Moses was faithfully carrying out what God had told him, and it was clear that God is faithful when it comes to punishing those who do wrong.

The account of those who grumbled against Moses was recorded for the lasting benefit of God’s people. Paul prefaced his series of warnings in 1 Corinthians 10 against idolatry and grumbling with these words, 6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Since God is faithful in punishing those who do evil, what they did was written down in the hopes of sparing others from the same fate. This means God is also faithful to remind us of things we need to know. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10, 1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Paul reminded the Corinthians of God’s faithfulness to keep the nation of Israel alive, protected, fed, hydrated and aware of his presence during their time wandering in the wilderness between Egypt and the promised land of Canaan, which would become Israel when resettled by the Israelites. Then, Paul indicates why he needed the remind the Corinthians of God’s faithfulness toward Israel in the wilderness by writing, 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Paul reminded the Corinthians that the problem with Israel was with their wicked behavior, that is what brought about their deaths. God was not pleased with their wicked behavior, so he allowed them to die in the wilderness rather than enter the promised land.

You need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness to punish. God does not stand for greed, letting people go hungry, unjust war, coveting, gossip, disrespect, grumbling or idolatry. God will always punish wickedness. This makes him good. God is always faithful to what is good, but you and I are not. You and I need to be reminded that God holds us accountable for our sins. The temptation for you, God’s people, is as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10, 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. Whether it was the Israelites or the Corinthians, you or me, we are all affected by thinking we are standing firm. We are all tempted to see ourselves as winning the battle with temptations like idolatry or grumbling, which go together. Idolatry is substituting a person or thing for God. Grumbling results from putting yourself in first place, as the authority, as God, who criticizes others and sees their own thoughts, goals, desires and objectives as the right way, and does not submit to others. When God asks you and I to keep the first commandment found in Exodus 20, 3 “You shall have no other gods before me.” He is asking that we do what is written in Deuteronomy 6, 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These words were echoed by Jesus in the New Testament in Matthew 22, 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ You might not have an idol of wood or stone on an altar in your home as in ancient times, but you might have a nice wood cabinet with a big screen on it. And when you review what you have watched on that screen, your unfaithfulness to God and idolatry is revealed. The many hours of worshipping politicians, scientists, news anchors, actors, actresses, etc. have made it so that they often hold the most power over the way you think, speak and act. Your unfaithfulness to God and worship of others must be punished.

God punished your unfaithfulness in a spectacular way. Again, Paul reminded the Corinthians about God’s spectacular faithfulness to the Israelites by splitting the waters of the Red Sea, providing them with manna, the sweet tasting bread from heaven, and giving them water to drink from a rock. And he reminded them of spectacular ways God has punished people like swallowing them down into the earth alive. Yet, these did not fully punish sin. Instead, God himself was faithful to forgive and came to earth to save the world. Your unfaithfulness and sins have been forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus as we hear in John 3, 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. He was faithful in punishing wickedness and sin through the innocent death of his Son so that he can be faithful to forgive.

Jesus spoke of God’s faithfulness to forgive us in our Gospel reading from Luke 13. In Luke 13, Jesus said, 5 … “unless you repent, you too will all perish.” 6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ 8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” Jesus’ point with this parable is repent while there is still time. God is faithful in punishing sin, faithful in reminding us of the danger of sin, faithful in his forgiveness and here he shows is faithful love that continues to reach out to us as long as possible.

God is faithful to loving you. Temptations will continue to be in your life. God is there to help you endure them. This is a key truth to understand, overcoming temptation means enduring temptation. Giving in to temptation is to sin. And only in heaven will we be free from temptation and sin. So, while you are in this world facing temptation, Paul wrote in our New Testament reading from 1 Corinthians 10, 13…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 endure it. God’s faithfulness allows you to endure temptation. When you are tempted, God is faithful as your source of strength to fight against temptation. Having your Bible with you, having Scripture memorized, having a congregation of believers encouraging you and praying for you, asking in the name of Jesus for temptation and the devil to leave, etc. is God’s faithfulness helping you fight temptation. And when you fail to endure temptation, when you are unfaithful and give in to temptation, and sin, God is faithful to forgive you through Jesus. In Hebrews 10, we read, 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” … 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. God’s will, his desire, was to save you, to be faithful to forgiveness and love for you through Jesus’ trading his perfect life to you and taking your sins to the cross.

God is in control. You have no reason to grumble and no reason to search for faithfulness somewhere else. God is faithful to punishing sin, faithful to remind you of the danger of sin, faithful to forgive you and faithful to love you when temptation comes. So, if you think you are standing firm be careful not to trust in your faithfulness, but to give thanks that God is faithful to you. Amen.