Warning labels and warning signs are all around us these days.  It's enough to drive you crazy - as if people are so dumb we can't figure things out.  We find them on medicine bottles, freeways, and television commercials.  They threaten harm and danger if a product is misused, if directions aren't followed, or if precautions aren't taken.  Warnings are meant to be taken seriously, but we see them so often we can become callous to them, and then not take them seriously.

          Some warnings come because they want to protect people, but some are there just to protect products from frivolous lawsuits.  Consider these from the "Wacky Warning Label Contest," conducted by the Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch.  Here are the top four wacky warnings:
4.      On a fishing lure with steel hooks:  "Harmful if swallowed."  (I hope the fish read it)
3.      On a 12 inch high storage rack for CDs:  "Do not use as a ladder."  (It'd be a short one!)
2.      On a sled:  "May develop high speed under certain snow conditions."  (Why else did they buy it?)
1.      On a bottle of drain cleaner:  "If you cannot read all these directions, cautions and warnings, do not use this product."  (I sure hope someone will read that warning to them!)

          Some warnings can be a waste of time, but some are serious.  Parents try to warn children of the consequences of certain actions to keep them from making the same mistakes they did.  They try to keep their kids from getting hurt or abusing drugs or sex, or they tell them the dangers of dropping out of school, or mismanaging money or driving carelessly.  Many such warnings, however, fall on deaf ears.  So often kids will do what kids will do, regardless of what we say.

          Today's text from I Corinthians 10 is God's warning to us, and it's all about temptation.  You heard it this past week and you'll hear it again this coming week.  You might have heard it already on your way here.  It's that little voice whispering in your ear, saying, "Go ahead, do it!  It may be wrong but you'll like it.  Who'll know - just do it.  Everybody else is!"  That's the voice of Satan, the Lying Tempter, and every Christian hears it.  It's there when we're young and it'll be there when we're old.  So, how do we handle the tempter's voice?  How do we deal with temptation?

          It's been said, "Opportunity knocks, but temptation leans on the doorbell."  Whoever said that understood the big picture.  In this life we will always be within an arm's reach of temptation.  The Bible passage for today says temptation is common to all adults and children.  The Christian life is a constant struggle with temptation.  The world entices us at every moment from every corner.  And if the world weren't bad enough, there's the evil inclinations of our own hearts.  Satan knows our weaknesses and exploits them whenever he can.  That being the case, we should do all we can to overcome temptation.  Yet most of us rarely do.

          A fireman doesn't wait till the building is burning to learn to put out a fire.  He gets trained.  He learns how fire works and the kinds of fire, so he can use the right approach or right chemical to put it out.  An army general defending a city doesn't wait for the attack to plan his defense.  He does it ahead of time.  He knows where the weak spots are and which direction the enemy could come from.  He knows what weapons they will have and how big their army is.  Likewise, you and I should sit down ahead of time and plan our defense against temptation.

          During the 1982 war in the Falkland Islands between England and Argentina, the Royal Navy's 3,500-ton destroyer HMS Sheffield was sunk by a single missile fired from an Argentine fighter jet.  It caused some people to wonder if modern surface warships were obsolete, all of them sitting ducks for today's sophisticated missiles.  But a later check revealed that the Sheffield's defenses did pick up the incoming missile, and that the ship's computer correctly identified it as a French-made Exocet.  But this computer was programmed to term Exocets as "friendly."  Because it didn't recognize the danger and thought the missile wouldn't do harm, it didn't sound the alarm.  The British destroyer was sunk by a missile it could have evaded, but it didn't think it was dangerous.

          That can be what happens when Christians don't plan a defense against temptation.  We may know it will come, but if we don't recognize it as dangerous or know how to take evasive action, it can sink us.  In our Bible text, St. Paul reminds us we have an ally against temptation, the Holy Spirit.  He will help us resist temptation if we ask Him.  He will arm us with the Word of God if we read it, and that's our best weapon.

          When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He fought back with the Word of God.  Every time He was tempted, He beat the devil back with a Bible verse.  The Bible is God's Word and it's powerful.  It not just some human writing, it's the power of God Himself.  The Holy Spirit is always more powerful than the devil, the world, or the flesh, and He is ready to help us whenever we need Him.  But He won't help us unless we ask.

          First, we must always remember that God never promises to remove temptation.  It will always be around.  He doesn't say we can escape temptation, but He can deliver us from it when it comes our way.  When we pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation," we're asking God to help us hold up under temptation.  And that He'll help us do - we can count on it!  When Jesus was in the Garden on the night He was betrayed, He prayed for His disciples, not to remove them from the world, but that they'd be protected when tempted by the world.

          Martin Luther, in his earthy way with words, said we can't keep birds from flying over our heads, but we can keep them from making nests in our hair.  With today's open society and so many kinds of media, the birds are flying over in flocks!  Temptation is everywhere, right at our fingertips.  Even if we pulled all the plugs and threw away all the gadgets, even if we cancelled the subscriptions and burned the bad books, even if we moved to the mountains and lived like a hermit, still our sinful hearts and minds would dream up something to tempt us.  Nowhere does God promise that the tempter's voice will not be whispering in our ear.  He just promises to help us ignore him.

          But why does God allow temptation in our lives?  Can't He just get rid of it all?  What's the reason or purpose for it?  We find the answer in the Word of God.  James, the brother of our Lord, tells us, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4)   Again James wrote, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." (James 1:12)

          St. Peter has a little different slant.  He said, "These [temptations] have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:6-7)   When it comes right down to it, I guess temptation can be good for us.  Triumphing over it develops and strengthens our faith.

          What can we can do to resist temptation?  Here are four suggestions:
(1)  Know your weaknesses.  Recognize what it is that tempts you.  If you take a little time to think through your weaknesses, you can watch for the pitfalls and know what to do.
(2)  Keep busy with useful things.  Idle time isn't bad, but too much of it can become the devil's workshop.  TV and computers are good, but watch out lest what they lead you to see.
(3)  Divert your attention when your temptation comes.  We can't avoid it, but we can ignore it.  And if we can't find the strength to ignore it, then there's one sure way left:
(4)  Pray!  Temptation can't live long in the Godly atmosphere of prayer.  Talk to the Lord instead of dancing with Satan.  Drown him with a flood of God's Word, just like Jesus did.

          Temptations change as we age.  When we are young, sex turns our heads, or popularity or celebrities.  Money tempts us at any age.  A recent temptation for older folks is to hate evildoers, those who kill indescriminately.  Last week they blew up the innocent, even some babies, and now Spain has its own 9-11.  A part of me wants to kill them all -- nuke them if we could just find them.  But then we'd be no better than they.  Irrational, irresponsible hatred destroys only the hater, and it weakens all mankind, and so we must never join them.  Let other religions blame, but not us.  Let others spew hatred, but not us.  We must never become like them.

          God bids us love our enemies.  Yes, we don't have to invite them for dinner, but we cannot hate them without hurting ourselves.  Christ forgave His captors.  He loves mankind even when it hated Him - and millions in the world still do!  He was tempted just as we are, but without sinning, and because He kept the Law perfectly, we are freed from eternal death.

          Let us all, then, stand firm in the faith, by the power of the Spirit who has been given to us.  Let us look to Christ the crucified and risen One, our Savior and Lord.  He will guide us when tempted and bring us to God, forgiven and restored.  In the precious name of Jesus, amen

Copyright © 2004 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.