Trusting God in the Wilderness
a homily based on 1 Cor 10:1-13
by Rev. F. Schaefer

This Sunday marks the half-way point in our journey of Lent 2001.  So far, so good...I hope.

Interestingly, our Scripture lessons for today are beginning to shift focus from human responsibility, need for repentance, and dealing with temptation toward God's grace and covenant faithfulness.  While our epistle lesson is continuing our lesson on temptation  from last week, Isaiah proclaims: "God wants to reestablish God’s covenantal promise that was originally made to David, a promise of unfailing love and mercy."  Likewise, the Gospel lesson speaks of the God of second chances. Actually, the gardener in Jesus's parable, urges the plantation owner to give the barren fig tree another chance after four years of not bearing fruit.

Even St. Paul, after getting through a whole lecture on human sin and weakness ends on a word of hope:

"God wants to reestablish God’s covenantal promise that was originally made to David, a promise of unfailing love and mercy."  Likewise, the Gospel lesson speaks of the God of second chances. Actually, the gardener in Jesus's parable, urges the plantation owner to give the barren fig tree another chance after four years of not bearing fruit.

Even St. Paul, after getting through a whole lecture on human sin and weakness ends on a word of hope: "[God] will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it." (1Cor 10:13)

I guess it is "popular" nowadays to doubt this saying.  Is it really true that God doesn't give us more than we can handle? At times, quite the opposite seems true, we feel we have been given too much on our plate.

Yet, from the beginning of our "record of faith" in Genesis, God made it clear that the human person is responsible for his/her actions and, what is more, God suggests that he has equipped us to be able to handle temptation and master sin. God says to Cain in Gen 4:7 (before he murdered his brother Abel: "And if you do not well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it."

If God says that I must master sin and overcome temptation, then God must believe that I can--at least theoretically--do so. If God promises that he will not test me beyond my strength, then that, too, must mean that--theoretically--I can overcome.

But note the other, very significant theological statement St. Paul is making in our lesson. He knows that, practically, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23), and so he says: God will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure [the testing]." (1Cor 10:13).

What does this mean? How can this help us in the tests of life, in the temptations, in the dark valleys of despair and suffering? I would suggest that Paul means that we need to...trust! we need to trust God! It sounds too easy. We may say: yes, of course, I trust God. But what happens to that trust when the going gets rough ?

Look at St. Paul's own illustration of the people of Israel in the wilderness. When the going got rough for them, when there was not enough food, water, or when snakes and illness and adversity came against them, their natural instinct was to ...complain! Instead of trusting God they complained!

And consider the kind of provisions God had made for them.  They witnessed God's mighty acts of salvation; they were led through the waters of the Reed Sea dry shot; they had seen God destroy their enemies; they witnessed the miraculous provision of manna from the sky...and yet, when the tests came, they were not able to put their trust in God.   They failed every test god gave them.

When the going gets rough, the natural human attitude is not one of trust, but of wallowing in misery and complaining. I suspect that we are no better than our brothers and sisters in the wilderness.  We are not doing too well on God's tests either.

And this in light of the fact that God has given us a sample test. You know the kind they give you for the SATs--some sample questions to help you prepare for the real deal. Paul says in verse 11: "These things happened to [the Israelites in the wilderness] to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, . . ."

The thing about God's tests is that they don't feel like tests--they feel like plain old disasters, tragedy, or tormenting temptations. If we were always aware of the fact that we are being tested by God we would probably do much better on God's tests. Isn't it true that when we face those tests, we most often feel deserted by God? Our natural human inclination is to think that God is nowhere near when times are hard.

However, the truth is that God is probably never as near to us than when we are going through the troughs of life. That's what St. Paul is saying in verse 13: "[God] will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it." In other words, St. Paul is saying that God is right there beside us, making sure that the test is not going to get too hard for us to handle.

God knows our potential, God knows what we are capable of. God created us in the first place--remember? God is watching us closely during those times of trials and temptations, making sure we don't get more than we can handle. And we usually act like God isn't anywhere near.

If we were aware of his presence we would do much better on our tests.  Perhaps, our attitude could be more trusting if we could just visualize God being by our side.

Illustration (you may want to insert an example from your own experience):

During my childhood years I was into gymnastics.  Those were the days when I was still lean and flexible.   I remember doing some pretty scary exercises on the parallel bars.  I would probably not have done some of these routines if my coach had not provided the safety.   He used to stand right by the bars ready to catch me if I should slip.  It made me go for more; it enabled me to do things I didn't know I could. The knowledge of my coach standing by to catch me should I fall made the difference.

That's what it means to trust God: to believe that God is right there beside us just like a coach.  To trust that God is going to catch us when the bottom seems to drop out of your world; to know that God will not allow us to be tested above and beyond our ability; that we will come through in Jesus name. So, let's stop complaining and start trusting God. Let's ace that test, God has set before us. Let's make our God proud of us. With his help and a more trusting attitude on our part, we will be able to make it through. Amen? ...Amen.