On April 15th, 1912, hours after she struck an iceberg, the RMS Titanic sank into the North Atlantic Ocean. More than 1,500 people lost their lives. Lack of lifeboats and a reckless rush to reach port ahead of schedule are the reasons so many people lost their lives. The account of this tragic voyage is well known to you largely because of the romance of Jack and Rose and the singing of Céline Dion.
Everyone has heard of the Titanic. However, it is unlikely that you have never heard of the Tek Sing. 90 years before the Titanic sank, the Tek Sing was sailing from China to Jakarta and was loaded with precious cargo: porcelain, silks, spices, and medicines. In addition to cargo it was also carrying 1,600 emigrants hoping to find a better life elsewhere. On February 6th, 1822, hours after striking a small barrier reef, the Tek Sing sank into the South China Sea. 90 years before the Titanic sank into the sea, lack of lifeboats and a reckless rush to reach the port are the reasons so many people lost their lives.
In 1929 America was plunged into what has become known as the great depression. An estimated 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. Financial institutions making reckless decisions and an abuse of credit are largely thought to be the cause of the Great Depression.
Everyone has heard of the great depression. However, it is unlikely that you have heard of the Long Depression of 1973. A half of a century before the Great depression 18,000 business, hundreds of banks, and 10 states were bankrupt. The Cause of the Long Depression, you guessed it, Financial institutions making reckless decisions and an abuse of credit.
On September 13, 1996 writer, rapper, and actor Tupac Shakur supposedly died. I say supposedly because there are some who claim Tupac is still alive. Maybe you are unaware of suspicious circumstances that surround Tupac’s death, but an artist faking his own death and secretly living among us is nothing new to Elvis fans. Tupac fans point to evidence of Tupac songs and videos released where Tupac is wearing shoes that were released after his death. And of course, Elvis has been spotted all over the world.
Everyone has heard of the conspiracies surrounding Elvis and Tupac. What you might not know is that in 1825 the same stories were being told about the popular Russian emperor Alexander I. Supposedly Alexander also faked his own death and lived out his days as a monk in Siberia. Loyal subjects were convinced their beloved emperor was still alive. They pointed to evidence obtained from the writings of the monk and dead emperor. When compared experts determined they could have been written by the same man.
Time and time again that old familiar saying rings true, “those who are ignorant of the past… are condemned to repeat it.” The saying originated from George Santayana, a Harvard philosophy professor. Santayana observed how often we seem to repeat the mistakes of the past and then suffer same consequences of those mistakes. Santayana’s saying suggests we might at least have a chance of avoiding some mistakes if only we learn from the past.
Santayana’s saying rings true for believers as well. That is why today, through one of His inspired authors our passionate Messiah cautions present believers about ignorantly repeating the mistakes of past believers.
In his letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul writes, “1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers 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.” Saint Paul begins by pointing out how much we have in common with the believers of the past.
The believers who were led out of Egypt were a privileged people. Their God of grace set them free from slavery in Egypt and delivered them from death at the hands of Pharaoh as they passed through the waters of the Red Sea. Paul points out this was a kind of Old Testament baptism for them. Every Israelite who went through that dramatic baptism had a reason to think: “I must be one of God’s people. Look at what a great thing God has done for me!”
Like those Israelites of old, you and I are a privileged people. Our God of grace has set us free from slavery to sin and delivered us from eternal death when the sacramental waters of baptism were poured on our heads. Every one of us who has been baptized has reason to think: “I must be one of God’s people. Look at what a great thing God has done for me!”
The believers who were led to the promised land continued to be a privileged people. Their God of grace miraculously provided them food to eat and water to drink as they wandered through the wilderness. Paul calls it a spiritual eating and drinking of Christ. Every Israelite that was nourished by this food had a reason to think: “I must be one of God’s people. Look at what a great thing God has done for me!”
Like those Israelites, we continue to be a privileged people. Our God of grace has provided us with spiritual food and drink. For us it is not manna from heaven or water from a rock, instead it is the very body and blood of Christ in, with, and under the bread and wine in the sacramental supper. Every one of us who is nourished by this food has reason to think: “I must be one of God’s people. Look at what a great thing God has done for me!”
Paul points out there are a lot of similarities between the believers of the past and the believers of the present, like them we are a privileged people who have a God of grace. In many ways our similarities are a source of comfort. But these similarities become a source of concern when we read what Paul writes in verse 5, “5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.” Now that’s concerning. Out of the 600,000 men who were led out of Egypt, only 2 men, Joshua and Caleb, lived to enter the Promised land. The reason this concerns us is, history has a way of repeating itself and since the believers of the past are so similar to the believers of the present, it would be foolish to think such a thing could never happen to us.
So, how might we avoid the fate of those who have gone before us? Saint Paul tells us we must learn from their mistakes. In verse 6 Paul rites, “6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.” In the verses that follow Paul gives a few examples of the evil things the believers of the past set their hearts on. Paul mentions the incident around the golden calf where the people grew impatient waiting for Moses to return and started acting like the pagans of Egypt. He mentions the casual attitude the people had regarding their sexual partners. He mentions how ungrateful the people were for the material blessings they had been given. He mentions how the people despised God’s Word and the men who preached it. The believers of the past arrogantly assumed that since they were God’s people their sins of idolatry and adultery, ingratitude and grumbling would be overlooked. They foolishly reasoned, since God had done such great things for them, they themselves must be great people and therefore could get away with setting their hearts on evil things. In short, the believers of the past were taking God’s grace for granted. As a result, the bodies of those who arrogantly assumed and foolishly reasoned; who took God’s grace for granted, were scattered over the desert.
Paul repeats himself in verse 11, “11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us.” More concerning than past believers who took God’s grace for granted is the realization that present believers ignorantly do the same. If you have grown impatient as you wait for Jesus to return and have started to act like the pagans of America, you demonstrate your ignorance. If you have ever had sex with anyone except the person you are currently married to, you have demonstrated your ignorance. If you have ever complained about how poor you are or been jealous of someone else’s possessions, you have demonstrated your ignorance. If you have ever skipped church because you were too tired to get up or found something better to do, you have demonstrated your ignorance. We have arrogantly assumed that since we are God’s people our sins of idolatry and adultery, ingratitude and grumbling will be overlooked. We have foolishly reasoned, since God has done such great things for us, we ourselves must be great people and therefore can get away with setting our hearts on evil things. In short, we are guilty of taking God’s grace for granted. For the third time Paul warns, “12 if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” Those who refuse to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
Having cautioned us about the danger of taking God’s grace for granted, having led us to confess our ignorance, saint Paul concludes with words of comfort. In verse 13 he writes, “13 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 stand up under it.” It is concerning to see the similarities between the believers of the present and the believers of the past, however, it is also comforting. Saint Paul speaks to us of our faithful God of grace. Even though a generation of Old Testament Israel did die with their bodies scattered over the desert, their God of grace was faithful and led His people to the Promised Land and sent them the Promised Savior. Our God of grace does the same for us. That promised Savior, that our faithful God of grace sent, has paid for our every sin, even the ones we ignorantly repeat from the past. And our faithful God of grace continues to lead us through the wilderness by ensuring that not one of us faces a temptation that we cannot bear and by never allowing a temptation to come into our lives without also providing us a way to get through it. Still today, our God of grace leads His people to The Promised Land. It was a source of comfort for the believers of the past and it continues to be a source of comfort for the believers of the present that our God of grace is faithful, even when we are not.
Though the saying, ““those who are ignorant of the past… are condemned to repeat it.” has often rang true, let it be said of us, “on March 24th, 2019 the privileged people of the God of grace learned from the mistakes of the past and for once history did not repeat itself.” May our God of grace grant this prayer of His privileged people. Amen.