Step ten: "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it." The 12 steps are a long journey, and the texts for today are ones that help us continue on the long journey.

This passage from Corinthians is one I think should be a history teacher's delight. It is a mode of scriptural interpretation known as "typology." It is a form of historical study. This method sees events in the history of Israel as "types" of events like other events. Here the redemptive events in Israel's history foreshadow and are similar to the final victory through Christ.

The past has lessons. Years ago my mother had me read these words: "Alas, times are not what they used to be. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone wants to write a book about it." That was written in Egypt, about 2000 B.C. The types of events that happened before happen today.

Paul was using these lessons to speak to some church folk in Corinth who thought themselves protected by their baptism and communion despite their actions outside the church.

Paul then reminded them how the Hebrews traveled to the edge of the Red Sea, and though they were sure they had left Egypt only to die in the desert, God parted the sea, and they crossed safely while their pursuers entered the sea only to drown. Crossing the Red Sea and the enveloping cloud are "types" of Christian baptism. But that was no protection against the consequences of their behavior.

The miraculous good, the manna from heaven, and drink are "types" of the Lord's Supper. But that was no protection against the consequences of their behavior.

Paul refers to the wonderful statement in Exodus 13:21, telling about the people of Israel who were fleeing from the Pharaoh: "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and night." But that miracle God gave them was no protection against the consequences of their behavior.

When they were thirsty, God told Moses to strike a rock with his rod, and water gushed forth. Rabbinic tradition says that the rock then followed them through the wilderness, a legend they would have known. According to Paul, the rock itself is a type of Christ. But that was no protection against the consequences of their behavior.

Baptism and partaking in the Lord's Supper are not enough to guarantee salvation, any more than it was a guarantee of salvation to go with Moses across the Red Sea or to be fed in the desert.

The people strayed after having been given such privilege by God. Twenty-three thousand who died in the wilderness were involved in both sexual immorality and idolatry. Many of the men became sexually involved with Moabite women and were drawn to the pagan altars by these women. It does not say having illicit sex killed them there and then. It did cause them to stay wandering in the desert the rest of their lives, no longer able to receive the promise.

Even those whose sin was complaining were struck down (Numbers 14:29-30). If you think it is okay to grumble, remember that all those who grumbled against God in the wilderness were refused entrance into the promised land. Even those blessed by such a great miracle were not protected from the consequences of their misdeed.

We may think all is well with God since we led a good life so far and God's favor has shown on us. Now we can coast a bit. But Paul warns, "Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall (10:2)."

There is a cartoon of a couple driving around, apparently lost, saying, "I know the church is around here somewhere. It was here last Easter." Many of us wait until there is a crisis to recall God's grace. "I know God's grace is around here somewhere. It was here last emergency."

Paul warns not to depend on the past and what those people did. That is no protection to us. It reminds me of the couple who came to see me because they wanted to get married.

After we exchanged names and shook hands, his opening statement was, "The first thing I want you to know is that my grandfather gave a lot of money to this church." Since he himself had no relationship with the church, I can only assume he wanted a cut-rate wedding. In the category of "What I should have said ..." is, "What have you ever done for the church?"

The good deeds of those who went before us have no consequence for us. There was a major controversy in the early days of the church in this nation called the "Half Way Covenant."

The first generation of adults who settled in Massachusetts were confessing Christians, as were almost all of their children. But there came a time when some of the children drifted from the church. They, however, still wanted to come to the church for weddings, baptisms and funerals.

It was decided that if your parents were church members, you were entitled to the rites of the church. But a generation later it got stretched even further so that if your grandparents were church members, you were entitled to receive the rites of the church, even if neither you nor your parents were active believers.

Eventually they reexamined this "half way covenant" and came to realize the truth of what Paul said. It does not matter what your parents believe let alone your grandparents. We all face God alone. We must account to God alone.

The past teaches lessons. A feeling that all is now secure can be a terrible illusion. A woman chose to live in a maximum security building in Tulsa, Oklahoma, because it would feel safer from burglars and muggers. But the very security of the building cost her her life.

One night she became ill and called an ambulance. But the ambulance attendants could not get into the building because of security. When the police arrived, they could not get in to help her because of the security. When the apartment manager finally arrived, it was too late. The building security kept her from getting the life-saving help she needed.

We can put things around us - the good our parents did or the good we have done, the blessings we have received - and think all is secure.

Baptism does not make us safe. Receiving the Lord's Supper does not make us safe. What our parents did 30 years ago or what we did yesterday does not make us safe. Paul urges those of us who are self-confident to be vigilant. Do not sit back waiting for a miracle of God to take care of you.

We can be like that man who prayed and prayed that God would help him win the New York lottery. He had been a good man. Certainly he had great and legitimate needs. Somebody was going to win the lottery, why not him? So he prayed night after night, "Dear God, please let me win the lottery." After months and months of praying with no answer, in great frustration he finally asked God why his prayers had not been answered. There came a voice from heaven saying, "Give me a chance. At least buy a ticket!"

The promise is not for those who sit and wait for God to take care of their needs. It is for those who with perseverance face life's trials.

Paul tells us that God gives us what we need to face life. Whatever the day brings, we can face it. Any temptation that comes to us is not unique. Others have endured it and others have come through it. When we are going through things, we are going through things others have, by the grace of God, suffered, endured and conquered.

The purpose of a test is not to make the student fail, but to emerge stronger than ever. We are not delivered from temptation, but we are promised the strength to face it, and to grow because we faced it.

Paul does not say that it is God who tempts us, but God who permits the temptation. It is like the petition in the Lord's Prayer: "lead us not into temptation." God allows the test and gives us a way to pass the test, to be led from temptation. God will not allow us to be subjected to an impossible strain.

None of this negates any of the benefits of being baptized and receiving the Lord's Supper. It puts it in proper perspective. We are given entry into the life of faith. We are given sustenance to live the life of faith. It is for us to be vigilant and persistent.

Vigilance and persistence are also the message of Jesus' parable of the faithful and unfaithful servants. Why the unfaithfulness? There was a delay which led to the freedom to act without the thought of consequences.

I think this is the lesson for the presidential candidate and the television preacher whose misdeeds are exposed in the media. Most of us have done things of which we are not proud. We did what we thought at the time seemed the thing to do. We were not thinking about some divine judgment exposing what we were doing.

That glare of publicity that the politician and television preacher receive is something like what happens in God's judgment. All the secret sins are no longer secret but known to the point of excruciating embarrassment. The judgment does not kill you, but causes the deepest pain. The very shame is punishment enough.

Even seeing ourselves growing spiritually and emotionally can cause problems. Most of us can look back at our lives and feel good about significant accomplishments we have made along the way. There are certain temptations we have overcome. There are bad habits we have corrected. There are emotions we can now at last control.

We may feel rightly that we have something about which to feel good. It has been a long, difficult journey, so we are going to coast. If I knew the judgment were coming today, I would get ready. But it has been so long delayed, I am going to rest a bit. I will take some time off from what I know is right. But God does not let us get away with that so easily.

We have a wonderful, awful burden. We have heard the warning of Paul. We know what is required. We have heard the gospel read. We know what is required. We have heard Psalm 15 read. We know what is required. Therefore more is required of us than if we had not heard, and the failure to obey bears more serious consequences.

It is Psalm 15 that specifically talks about the things God requires of us. The psalm is addressed to the sojourner, the permanent guest. This is like the theme we have chosen for our church stewardship campaign this fall: This is not my church, this is not your church. This is God's church. We are the guests. What qualifies us to be a guest in God's house? The psalmist asked, "Who is qualified to dwell in fellowship with God?"

This particular psalm is referred to as a liturgy for admission to the temple. "Liturgy" is a term which refers to the order of worship. Literally it means "the work of the people." This lists the work the people need to do to be worthy to worship God.

Think of this as a psalm that would be read responsively. The people ask, "Who shall sojourn in thy tent? Who shall dwell on the holy hill?" The priest answers with a listing of 10 commandments.

• he who walks blamelessly, and does what is right,
• and speaks the truth from his heart;
• who does not slander with his tongue,
• and does no evil to his friend,
• nor spreads rumors about his neighbor;
• who despises those whom God rejects,
• but who honors those who fear the Lord;
• who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
• who does not put out his money at interest,
• and does not take a bribe against the innocent.

As we find elsewhere in this series, worthiness of worship in God's house has very much to do with how we treat God's people. The conclusion of the psalm is that doing what is required is to receive this blessing: "He who does these things shall never be moved."

Life is a long journey, and on a long journey we get tired. We need to be fed and renewed. For those who seek to be faithful in the journey, whether they follow the 12 steps of AA, the 10 listed in the psalm, or another particular journey of faith, is what kept the faithful people going for 40 years through the desert with Moses, what kept Paul going through his trials, is what can help us gain strength, the place where faith is to be built, which is Christ, our solid rock.