“Are You Just Passing Through?”

Scripture Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

In recent conversations with some of you, I’ve heard this same question asked over and over, in one way or another – “We can offer so much to folks here in Campville – why won’t more people join us?” I think that the issue is very complex with most of the reason behind it buried in societal norms, so I would hesitate to try to offer a simple “fix” to resolve the issue. Let it suffice to say that people, both inside and outside of the church, only see the surface luster of faith, which by the way, isn’t all that shiny, and never dig deeper to discover the true treasure of walking with our Lord Jesus Christ.
But this isn’t some new moral condition that has recently sprung up – it has been around for thousands of years, has been written about, discussed in small and large groups, lamented in just about every Christian denomination you can think of, and still it persists. What is this persistent malaise all about?

William Boggs, in his book, Sin Boldly: But Trust God More Boldly Still, writes “What passes for faith in our time is not much different from that experience at the orchard. So often we stay right around the edges, not trying very hard to deepen our understanding, content to lead unexamined lives where we know ourselves very little and God even less. No wonder the fruits of religious experience taste so bitter in our mouths and bring so little nourishment to the lives of people who are otherwise quite famished and searching for something that will fulfill the deepest hunger of their souls.”
“How is it that a message as fresh and invigorating as the one the Bible gives us becomes more like taking a dose of castor oil than biting into a juicy, refreshing peach? Perhaps it is because we pick from the [scraggly] trees around the outer edges of our faith and never bother to go deeper into the truly satisfying experience of a God who deals with us in love and tender mercy. At the center of the Garden, grace brings forth fruits of [faith] and mercy that blossom together.”
-William Boggs, “Sin Boldly: But Trust God More Boldly Still” (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990), 101-102.

Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-5

Israel of 1200 BC was no different than the people of 2010. They ate the wilderness food that God sent every day, drank the wilderness water that gushed out of solid rock, followed the divine fire and cloud that never left them for 40 years, passed through the water safely both at the beginning and end of the journey, and still they wondered why God wouldn’t lead them the way they wanted Him to. They readily accepted the gifts of God, but how often do we read that they ever gave Him thanks for all He gave? Seldom, and then only when Moses made them do it.
And as unhappy as they were with their great Jehovah, God was even more displeased with them.

Have we learned any lesson whatsoever from the Children’s experience in the desert? Not really. They built that horrendous idol that we know as “the golden calf”, and instead of destroying our own “calves”, we create new and improved versions of the beast. We look to our jobs in idolizing ways; we buy fancier cars and bigger homes; we put our personal joys ahead of any joy that we may find in God; we put far more trust in society and the secular culture than we do our faith; we work harder and longer so we can get more money and power, but ignore the most precious gifts that already surround us.
And I include all of these things in the list, not because I’ve seen them in others, but because, God forgive me, they have been mine. And they just might be on your list, too.

How do we get beyond this un-Godly mindset? I believe it was George Washington who said “If we don’t learn our history, we’re doomed to repeat it.” Consider the history of Israel.

Read 1 Corinthians 10:6-11

“Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.” Israel never quite learned the lesson that God was trying to teach them, and over and over they failed drastically. The consequences of their failures were dramatic and painful, but they never seemed to change their ways. “Blame God for the ache, and keep on with the life we have chosen!”
We have the history written down, and placed in our hands, and yet the people of 2010 don’t seem to have learned the lessons very well either. We only see the surface of “church”, and it comes up lacking. And it always will, because the surface has a “human” touch. It represents what people do, and it never is about what God can do. At least that’s how it will be until the people of God begin to stand firm on the gospel of Jesus Christ, and start to show the world what it really means to be a disciple!

Is the surface pain that we see and feel real and hurtful and even debilitating? Absolutely! It is the human condition, and it exists in the church as surely as it exists in the world. But the church has one advantage that the world doesn’t – the Body of Christ can come together as one, to begin the healing process and to let the pain subside. Together we can overcome our limitations, but only if we start to delve deeply into God’s plan for our lives, to seek His will, to know His heart, to receive assurance that this painful existence is only temporary. And this is what is lacking in the church - our witness to the glorious presence of Christ!

Do we act as though this place is the end all, and there isn’t anything else? Or do we see this time as an opportunity to prepare for the next and far more glorious life? Do we follow the rules and standards of earth because we plan to stay here, or do we follow God’s rules because we are just passing through here on our way into His glory? It’s one or the other.

Read 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

So after telling us that our faith must be strong and focused, Paul is now warning us to not get too confident in our faith. And as soon as we think that our faith is firm and solid, he says that we are setting ourselves up for a great fall. But if we praise Christ for our faith, if we give Him the glory for the victory that is already won, if we proclaim our inadequacy and His sufficiency, if we humbly and honestly follow as joy filled servants, and not with grumbling hearts as Israel did, it is then that we will be well on our way.

We can’t be content with a life that exists only on the fringes of faith. We have to be willing to step toward the center and right into the heart of Christ. Remember the words of William Boggs that told us of our tendency to stay just out of reach at the edges, surrendering any desire to deepen our understanding, satisfied to lead hidden lives, knowing so little about our selves and our God.
Boggs wrote “No wonder the fruits of religious experience taste so bitter in our mouths and bring so little nourishment to the lives of people…” Does your tongue sense a bit of bitterness?

We forget the fact, or even worse, fail to acknowledge it altogether, that this life is only a stopping off point on our journey to eternity. Unfortunately, it is a place that all too many people see as a great place to stay. Remember Israel, who, when the first trials of desert life began to wear them down, pleaded with Moses to take them back to bondage in Egypt! It had to be better than this horrible journey in freedom! They had lost sight of their destination, and the blessings that it would bring to them.
Our destination is a land of glory, and this place isn’t it! But we aren’t just passing through – we are also preparing for a grand arrival at the throne of Jesus, and we can’t let the things of this world slow us down or hold us back.

Taste His grace, bath in his mercy, rejoice in His glory, and never forget, even for a moment, the lessons of our history. If we learn those lessons well, others will see the victory in us, and they, too, will see that this isn’t the terminus – and will want to know more about the destination.
Show them, won’t you?