Pastor Sherry’s message for July 19, 2026

Scriptures: Gen 28:10-19a; Ps 139:1-2, 23-24; Ro 8:12-25; Matt 13:24-30, 3543

Like a number of folks in our congregation, I like to work jigsaw puzzles. I’ve found a site on line that I like and visit it daily to work a puzzle or two. Friday I worked on a picture of a large whale flipping. You may remember those insurance ads on TV that featured huge whales coming up out of the water and flipping over before descending back into the sea. This behavior is called “breaching.” I find it fascinating. Scientists aren’t sure why they do it: It might be a form of play—they do look like they enjoy it. Or it could be a tactic to remove parasites. It could also be a means of communicating with other whales, in order to rejoin or collect their pod, or for purposes of breeding. Or perhaps it’s a signal the breaching whale has located a food source. Whatever its purpose, it is surely a spectacular sight!

And it puts me in mind of what Paul has to tell us in Romans 8:12-25: We were not the only creatures affected negatively by the Fall in Genesis. Paul says (in verses 20-22, NLT)-→Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Our lives have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. Paul is teaching us that if we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, we are sons and daughters of God. This allows us into intimate fellowship with God the Father—so intimate that we may call Him Abba or Daddy (Remembering that He is omnipotent, we probably don’t want to act too casually with Him). Apparently, the Lord is giving all humans the chance to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior before ushering in the end of times (very patient!). It is then that Jesus will come to earth again, defeat evil, and return all living beings to the state of the Garden of Eden–a perfect world. Could it be that the whales who breach are checking to see—or puzzling it out—whether we humans have yet sufficiently submitted ourselves to God’s Kingdom rule so they can be released from the effects of human sin on them? Searching for food would not be necessary in a perfect world. Barnacles and other pests would not bedevil critters in a perfect world—no more mosquitoes, gnats, or roaches! Whales would not misplace their pods in a perfect world. And they might be able to perform other gymnastic feats (like a triple axle?) in a perfect world.

I think our other scripture passages today also present us with several encouragements to fall into line with Jesus:

A. Psalm 139 really eases any worries we might have about our relationship with God! David wrote it as a theological hymn, reminding us of God’s character traits of omniscience (He knows everything), omnipresence (He is everywhere), and omnipotence (He is all powerful). We are always on His radar and can neither get away from Him nor hide from Him. He sees us. He knows our every thought, and loves us anyway! There’s no problem confronting us that He cannot handle. If you attempt to puzzle this out, you can only end up feeling caught up in God’s love, known by Him, and comforted. Praise God!

B. That theme is expanded in our Old Testament story of Jacob’s flight from Esau. Esau realizes Jacob has stolen the blessing Esau thought was his. He erupts in murderous rage, so Jacob must flee for his life. Isaac and Rebekah tell him to head to Haran (Present-day Northern Syria), find a wife from among Rebekah’s extended family; and lay low until Esau calms down. In other words, they get him out of Dodge, thinking it wouldn’t take long. (It took about 20 years, during which time Jacob’s beloved mother dies, having never seen Jacob again.)

Actually, Jacob seems to have run 52 miles that first day! From 40 miles south of Jerusalem–Beersheba–he made it 12 miles north of the city by sundown. Fear was driving him and he was hoofing it! Jacob then falls into what was no doubt a sleep of exhaustion, and dreams of a ladder from earth to Heaven. He sees angels moving up and down the ladder, implying that heavenly beings do visit earth. He also views God (the Preincarnate Jesus) at the top of the ladder, Who identifies Himself by saying, (v.13, NLT)-→I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. Jesus identifies Himself then goes on to reiterate the covenant promises the Father had made to Abraham and Isaac: (1) Property, including where he laid his head; (2) Progeny, innumerable descendants, spreading all over the earth; (3) Presence (I will be with you; I will not leave you); (4) and Protection.

So, Jacob is running away from home to escape his brother’s wrath, and he encounters Jesus! He’s a scammer and a deceiver, but our Lord sees great promise in him! As I puzzle this out, I believe it means that our God does not allow our sinful tendencies to deter Him from loving us and even blessing us and using us in Kingdom building (Remember, Jacob is the ancestor of Jesus!).

With Jesus, there’s always hope! Secondly, Jacob experiences the fact that he can run from Esau but he cannot outrun the Psalm 139 omnipresence of God.

And, Jacob is humbled—for the moment—and renames the place Bethel, meaning house of God. He sets up a memorial to the dream and his encounter.

He should have been encouraged by the extension of the covenant promises,

but I doubt he had any inkling of what God had in store for him with Uncle Laban, poor soul!

C. But let’s leave Jacob to his future and take a look at our Gospel lesson, Matthew 1324-30, 36-43: And first, let me share a story of a man who owned a parrot.

“Every day at 5:00pm, the man took the parrot and walked down the street to the corner bar where he had a few drinks and talked with his friends. He had taught the parrot to order for him, yelling out, “Gimme a beer, gimme a beer” every time he entered the bar.

“Every Sunday the man and his wife went to church, locking the bird in its cage before they left the house.  One Sunday the door on the cage did not lock well and the bird got out. It flew out an open window and found its way into the church. It flew in and sat down on its master’s shoulder, crying out for all to hear, “gimme a beer, gimme a beer.” The man was embarrassed and told the bird to hush, saying, “Shut up! This ain’t the bar; its the church.” The bird looked around and said, “AWWK, Same old crowd, same old crowd.”

(Fairless and Chilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentary, Year A, 2013, pp.182-183.)

The point of the story is that often it’s hard to tell who are “saints” and who are sinners, or who are the good seed and who are the tares or the weeds, isn’t it? We can deceptively look the same, for a time anyway–“same old crowd!” We want to be wheat or the good seed, but the truth, as Martin Luther put it, is that, “We are all Saint and Sinner at the same time.” (Ibid.) Unfortunately, that is all too true, isn’t it?! Often we do measure up, we do try our best to be like Jesus.

And if the harvest came at a bad time for us—if we were caught doing what we don’t want to do, or neglecting to do what we know God would want us to do–we would, at the least be ashamed wouldn’t we? But fortunately, it is not up to us to judge! Jesus suggests that, at the end of time, the angels will know our true hearts, and they will select out who of us are wheat (good seed) and who of us are tares (the seed of the Devil).

The wheat will go on to (v.43, NLT)-→…shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom, while the tares/weeds will be thrown (v.42)… into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, as we puzzle this out, it becomes clear there is a severe penalty for not choosing to align ourselves with Jesus, isn’t there? Heaven is the end of the journey for the good seed. It’s what we can expect as committed Christ-followers. However, it’s not up to us to judge who gets there and who doesn’t. There’s a little poem that expresses this well:

When you get to heaven, you will likely view

Many folks there who’ll be a shock to you.

But don’t act surprised, or even show a care,

For they might be a little shocked to see you there.

(Anonymous, cited by J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Mathew, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p,180.)

Jesus is telling us that saints and sinners are all mixed up down here for now. Our gracious God waits patiently for everyone who is willing to come to Him. He doesn’t want even one repentant soul to be lost, the message of the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost (prodigal) Son in Luke’s Gospel. Nevertheless, the eternal clock is ticking. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. We don’t know when our end is coming. We learned to our distress that a 44 year old former member of this congregation died suddenly on Wednesday. I’m sure when she went to bed Tuesday night, she never expected that Wednesday was her day to wake up and see Jesus. It’s not something we need to puzzle out: We need to have made our decision to follow Jesus this side of the grave. And just think, the more of us who choose Jesus, the quicker the rest of creation can also be freed from its bondage. It gives new meaning to the slogan from the 90’s, “Free the Whales.”

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

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams