Pastor Sherry’s message for July 20, 2025

Scriptures: Amos 8:1-12; Ps 52; Col 1:15-29; Lk 10:38-42

I just saw this the other day:  a new diagnosis…just what we need, right?  It’s called JDD, or Jesus Deficit Disorder. 

In our Gospel lesson today (Luke 10:38-42), Jesus identifies what may be the first recorded case of this mental and spiritual condition. Jesus and His retinue are gathered for dinner at Lazarus’ house in Bethany.  Sister Mary—and we assume Lazarus and the 12—are seated at Jesus’ feet, absorbing His teaching; while Sister Martha is bustling around in the kitchen, trying to pull a meal together.  She is anxious, nervous, worried…she fears she won’t be able to manage it, or that it won’t be good enough—you know, the biscuits will burn before the meat or the veggies are done. She looks around for help from Mary, but finds her hanging out with the Lord. At this point, she is perhaps even angry. Because she knows Jesus loves her, she looks to Him to send Mary back to the kitchen to assist with the work.  But what a surprise when the Lord says (v.41): My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!  There is only one thing worth being concerned about.  Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.

Jesus correctly diagnoses Martha as being too worried about the details of His visit.  He prescribes the remedy to her anxiety, fear, and irritation: It is to come sit at His feet (to listen and learn).   Seriously, He fed the 5,000 from 5 loaves and two fish—He could have miraculously provided the meal.  We also know that Lazarus was financially well off—no doubt she could have left servants to manage the culinary details.

I’m not going to ask for a show of hands, but how many of us realize we, like Martha, have JDD?  Are we too preoccupied with work, relationships (especially the ones that aren’t going well), what’s on our phones, what’s on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat—or any of a number of other activities and behaviors—to spend daily time with Jesus?  Have we developed a habit of taking time out daily to read the Bible or to engage in a conversation with the Lord?  If we don’t want to develop JDD, these two spiritual disciplines are crucial to our spiritual—and even our mental—health. 

In fact, this is the point of all our readings today:

A. Our Old Testament lesson (Amos 8:1-12) is a continuation of what we read last week.  God is telling the Northern Kingdom of Israel that He is done giving them more time!  His judgment is upon them!  Because they worship false gods, like a golden calf; because they don’t love Him and don’t love others; and because they don’t listen to or believe His prophets.

Most people then did not have access to written Scripture.  Local Rabbis and Pharisees may have had Biblical scrolls to study from, but the ordinary person did not have daily access to these.  So, God’s word was mostly spoken, spoken to them through folks He sent to them, like Amos. 

Last week, we focused on how the people then (and now) are out of plumb with God.  The image He uses this time is a bowl of ripe fruit.  Ripe fruit speaks of harvest time; but it’s also indicative of spoilage/rapid deterioration (vv.4-6).  God is saying the Israelites have turned rotten:

1.) The nearly pagan Israelites rob the poor;

2.) They trample the needy;

3.) They can’t wait for the Sabbath to end so they can continue to cheat the helpless in their businesses;

4.) They force the poor into slavery to pay off debt.

So (v.7), God swears on the name of His coming Messiah (the Pride of Jacob), that He is about to punish them severely (Now a promise like that will for sure take place). He will transform their land from lush green to barren, rocky brown.  Worse yet, He will cease talking to them—which He did for the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments.

The Israelites had a case of GDD, God-Deficite-Disorder. We would be wise to see this as a lesson for us too. God’s patience with us can also come to an end. We may gain a stay of execution by demonstrating our love for and faithfulness to Him by frequent prayer and Bible reading. 

B. Psalm 52 is a teaching psalm (a maschil) by King David, the first of four on the end-times. This one focuses on a prophesy of the antichrist (the spirit of the end times is a spirit of deception/delusion). David was himself betrayed to King Saul by someone named Doeg the Edomite. When David and his men were starving in the wilderness, he approached the priest at Nob (1 Samuel 22), who fed them from the 12 loaves of showbread reserved for God. Doeg ratted David out to Saul, who then avenged himself by murdering the 85 priests there and the entire town of Nob. David makes the point that, like Doeg, (vv.1-4) the antichrist will use deceitful words to destroy people.  People, like King Saul, will be deluded and act immorally.  But God tells the prophet to say He (v.5): …will strike you [the antichrist] down once and for all. He will initiate a reign of terror for 7 years—the Great Tribulation—but when King Jesus arrives in all of His power and majesty (2nd Coming), He will destroy the antichrist.

David concludes this psalm (vv.8-9) by reminding himself and us that righteous persons will renew their commitment to God and feel secure.  We who have a close relationship with Jesus will not fear the end times, but rejoice.  Again, the implication is that we need to habitually nurture our relationship with the Lord through prayer and Bible Study. 

C. Paul, in our Colossians lesson (1:15-29), spells out why we want to stay in frequent touch with Jesus.  It’s not just so we can avoid JDD, but because of how immeasurably important Jesus is:

1.) He is (v.15) the image of God the Father, in the flesh. 

2.) He Who came out of eternity (the prototokis), takes priority over like the firstborn) of every other living creature.

3.) (V.16) Through Him, God created everything!  He is the creator of the visible and the invisible. The Apostle John says in John 1:1-4 (NLT): In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through Him and nothing was created except through Him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created and His life brought light to everyone. 

4.) Everything, including us, was created through Him and for Him. We were created for His pleasure. Mostly we tend to disappoint Him, but hopefully we sometimes bring a smile to His face.

5. (V.17) He existed before anything else and He holds all creation together.  Jesus is…”the superglue of the universe.”  Think of the power that is released when atoms are split in an atomic bomb, yet Jesus has the power to hold those atoms together.

(J, Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Colossians, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, pp.133-134.)

6.) (V.18) Christ is the head of the Church, His body.

7.) He is supreme over all who rise from the dead.  So He is the first in everything.

8.) He now resides in Heaven, at the right hand of the Father, but the time is coming when His will is going to prevail over all of creation.

9.) He was and is 100% God, both now and when He came to earth.

We need to be like Mary of Bethany, Lazarus and Martha’s sister.  We need to sit at Jesus’ feet so our souls and spirits can be nourished with His spiritual food.  We want to take time to be with Christ, despite our anxiety or frustrations.  We want to take time to be with Jesus, so as to be geared up and fearless during the judgments to come.  We need to make time in our busy schedules to spend with Jesus so we will not be deceived by the antichrist or the spirit of the age, the spirit of deception or delusion. There is no reasoning with deluded persons. They persist in believing what they do, despite logic or common sense to the contrary. To avoid the diagnosis of JDD, we need to sit at Jesus’ feet through our practices of daily prayer and Bible reading. Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus, help us to do just that.

Thanks be to God Who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Alleluia, alleluia! 

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams