We have a new sign!
Spiritual House Cleaning
Pastor Sherry’s message for March 3, 2024
Scriptures: Gen 20:1-17; Ps 19; 1 Cor 1:18-25; John 2:13-22
Yesterday, my son moved out of my guest room into a modest house in Lake City. After 2.5 years, it was time for him to be on his own again. Fortunately for him, the landlord had had the place cleaned. It’s really a sweet place in a quiet neighborhood. I think he will be happy there.
When we finished lifting and carrying clothes and boxes, I was too tired to clean the guest room and put it back to the way it looked before he came. My daughter could tell you, I would have had the vacuum and dust cloths out, and the cleaning frenzy would have commenced. As it was, at 77, I had just enough energy left to come home, take a hot shower, and fall into bed.
Our Gospel today depicts Jesus in a cleaning frenzy. Unlike me, He was totally energized to clean up His Father’s House. Let’s not forget that since He too is God, it was His House as well. And He was incensed that the religious authorities had allowed what He saw going on there.
In our Gospel lesson (John 2:13-22), Jesus goes head to head with the Temple leadership to effect a physical and a spiritual house cleaning. The religious establishment had authorized both the buying and selling of sacrificial animals, and a coin exchange–for a fee—on the Temple Grounds. Some worshippers came from long distances without animals of their own. So those “pilgrims” without animals had to purchase one or two to make their sacrifice. Additionally, they had to pay a ½ shekel Temple Tax. The fact that no Roman coins could be used–because they had Caesar’s face on them (a graven image which Jewish law prohibited), as well as the inscription, “Caesar is Lord” (which constituted blasphemy to the Jews), meant that they also had to exchange their money, for a fee.
Jesus was incensed with all of this for a number of reasons:
1.) Those selling the animals unfairly marked them up. They knew people didn’t have a choice, and they gouged them for the convenience.
2.) They also charged an outrageous fee for the coin exchange.
3.) The animals were smelly and noisy and distracting in what was a house of prayer and a place of worship.
4.) But perhaps worst of all, the marketplace took over the only area in the Temple where Gentiles could gather. Essentially, they were prevented from worshipping in the only space allotted to them.
So Jesus cleared the area in no uncertain fashion. He formed a whip and used it to drive away the animals. He also overturned tables, no doubt scattering money everywhere. He shouted (v.16) How dare you turn my Father’s House into a market! Of course, then “The Jews” (John-speak for the religious establishment) want to know what gives Jesus the right to clear the Temple and upset their very profitable businesses. They said, Give us a miraculous sign—prove You have sufficient authority to do this. Jesus responds rather cryptically, telling them (v.19), Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days. They think He is speaking of the Temple building and scoff at Him. We know He was speaking of His body (predicting His resurrection)—a pretty authenticating sign! But they were so haughty—so sure their understanding surpassed His—that they did not believe Him. Don’t you imagine that when He left, they went right back to doing business as usual?
They must have forgotten verse 6 of Psalm 138—God is close to the humble, but distances Himself from the proud. It’s dangerous to think we always have all the right answers. Pride caused most of the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees to miss who Jesus was. They’d made an idol of their understanding of the Scriptures. Because Jesus didn’t fit their preconceptions, they missed out on the opportunity to develop a relationship with the Son of God. Let’s not make the same mistake. Let’s make sure we clean our spiritual houses of the sin of pride.
Let’s take a look too at our Old Testament lesson from Genesis 20:1-17. Just last week, we were praising Abraham, the Father of our Faith, for his trust in the Lord. Abe is such a great example of trusting in the Lord’s provision of the Promised Land; trusting in God’s promise of descendants without number; and benefiting from God’s blessings of health and wealth. Where he seemed to have wavered in his faith, however, was in being certain that God would protect his life. Apparently, his wife Sarah was very beautiful. I’ve heard another pastor humorously refer to her as a “Biblical babe.” Unfortunately, whenever Abraham encountered a foreign ruler, they appeared to covet her. Back in Genesis 12, when Abraham moved to Egypt due to a famine, the Egyptian pharaoh heard of Sarah’s beauty and took her from him. Abraham in a sense brought this on himself because he lied, telling Pharaoh she was his sister (she was his half-sister), instead of his wife. He was afraid Pharaoh would kill him in order to clear the way to marry her. In this situation, he didn’t depend on the Lord!
Fortunately for both of them, God protected them anyway. He afflicted the Egyptians with “serious diseases” until Pharaoh gave Sarah back to Abraham and told them both to leave. So, this had happened before. You would think that Abraham would now trust God to protect him from rulers tempted by Sarah’s beauty. But no, in today’s lesson, the two encounter Abimelech, a Canaanite king. Like with Pharaoh previously, Abraham again lied and said Sarah was his sister, not his wife. The same thing happened as Abimelech coveted Sarah and took her, intending to add her to his harem.
Once again, God intervened—not with disease—but with a dream containing a death threat. Abimelech believed God’s message from the dream and immediately returned Sarah to Abraham. But the pagan king was also outraged and demanded to know why Abraham lied to him and put him and his people at risk. Abraham, the great model to us of faith, had not trusted the Lord to keep him and Sarah safe from another lusty king. Abraham, who God judged as righteous due to his faith, has now lied twice.
What do you make of this? I think we can safely say that Abraham was a good man but not a perfect man. There was and is only one perfect man–that’s our Lord, Jesus. Like us all, Abraham’s great faith wavered from time to time. Don’t we all have times when our faith is stronger or weaker than usual. We too may have areas in our lives where we find it very hard to trust God. Nevertheless, since he was God’s choice as the patriarch of the Jews—since God meant to accomplish great things through him—the Lord guaranteed his safety. Similarly, I think God has grace for us in those areas we have not yet surrendered to Him.
Remember, we are in the season of Lent. These two readings today focus on two aspects of human behavior that God wants us to clean out of our spiritual houses: (1) Pride (and even the misuse of His house of worship), and lying. Lent is a time for evaluating our behavior, recognizing our sins, and asking God’s forgiveness. Maybe you are not overly proud and you don’t lie. But each of us is probably guilty of some other sins we could name. Soon, in our preparation to receive Holy Communion, we will say a general prayer of confession. Let’s take a moment now to call to mind our sins and confess them to Jesus, in our hearts, right now. Let us also be comforted by what the Apostle John promised in 1 John 1:8-9—If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Amen and amen!
©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams
Setting Us Right With God
Pastor Sherry’s message for February 25, 2024
Scriptures: Gen 17:1-7, 15-16; Ps 22:23-31; Ro 4:13-25; Mk 8:31-35
I read a humorous story this week. Again, it has to do with a child’s perception of how things “ought to be”:
“A Sunday School teacher held up a portrait of Christ. She explained to the class that it was not an actual photograph of Christ but only an artist’s conception of what Christ might have looked like.
‘’But,’ said one little girl, ‘you’ve got to admit it looks a lot like him.’’’
(Borrowed from a sermon entitled, “A Pair of Ducks and Abundant Life,” www.sermons.com, 2/23/2024).
Isn’t that just the cutest thing? I love how literal children tend to be and the humor that often results. Little kids are trying to figure out how things in life work. I remember when my 49 year old son was about 2 or two and a half and was trying to figure out animal categories. We had a dog with 4 legs, two ears, and a tail. In his child-logic, he looked at cows and told me (since they had 4 legs, 2 ears, and a tail), “Moo-tows are Biggggg doggies!”
It would be interesting to hear a child’s perspective on the elderly Abraham—at a great-great grandparent age—having a baby and his faith that God’s promise to him could still come true. This constitutes the focus of several of our readings this morning:
A. In our Old Testament reading, Genesis 171-7, 15-16), God appears to Abraham for the 5th time, and reiterates His Covenant Promises:
God is giving him lots of land (the Promised Land, Canaan, or present day Israel; and even a baby from him and his elderly wife, Sarah. Notice, the passage emphasized Abraham’s age, 99 (Sarah’s is 89). God the Father wants Abraham—and us– to know that neither Abe’s biological age, nor his body’s elderly condition, could prevent God’s from fulfilling His promises.
Our God is capable of making awesome promises, with spectacular fulfillments. The Israelites later did occupy God’s Land Grant. And, at age 100 for Abraham (and 90 for Sarah), Isaac was born to them. The Jewish people came from Abe via Isaac, and later Jacob. The Arab people came from Abe via Ishmael, and Jacob’s twin, Esau. By now, those two people groups constitute, in fact, millions upon millions of Abraham’s descendants.
B. Paul is very taken by this fact, as evident in today’s epistle reading from Romans 4:13-25. He is arguing for Abraham’s faith, and the need for our faith! He is saying God fulfilled His promises to Abraham not based on anything Abe had done for God (except for trusting in Him). God fulfilled His promises to Abraham due to Abe’s faith in the Lord to fulfill His promises. This is so important for us to understand! We are to trust in God, as Abraham did. We are not looking for a promised baby in our old age, or a promised land. We are looking for salvation. Perhaps we are looking for healing or for peace. We are anticipating living with God forever in Heaven—our happy ending. But none of these gifts are due to any of our actions or our works. Our salvation comes from the actions, the completed work of Jesus Christ and Him alone.
Who would have thought His death on the Cross and His resurrection would be the means by which God would redeem us? Who would have thought a 100 year olf man would birth a man who would then go on to have…first 2, then 12, then dozens, then hundreds, then thousands, then millions of descendants? Clearly Isaiah the Prophet was correct when he quotes God as saying (Isaiah 55:8-9, as per Peterson’s The Message, p.1317)”I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s decree. “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.“
Our God makes awesome promises. He provides spectacular fulfillments. In deed, He set us right with Himself.
C. This is why Jesus gets so upset with Peter in today’s Gospel (Mark 8:31-38). This interaction takes place just after Peter tells Jesus, “You are the Christ,” meaning the Messiah or the Anointed One. It is also just before Jesus reveals Himself as God on the Mount of Transfiguration—during which Peter is present. Jesus is trying to tell them all what His mission entails: To redeem human kind, He must (v.31)— …suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the Law, and that He must be killed, and after three days rise again. Peter was so outraged after hearing this that he probably stopped listening when he heard Jesus say He would be executed. We can imagine this, can’t we? It’s just so human. We don’t want someone we value or love or admire to die early. Neither do we want them to die a horrible, gruesome death. No, we want them to continue to live so we can enjoy their presence. In speaking up so, poor Peter doesn’t realize he has just voiced to Jesus Satan’s short cut—take the crown but reject the cross. Poor Peter doesn’t realize until he’s said it that Satan has used him to again tempt Jesus. Jesus’ response is swift, isn’t it? (V.31)—Get behind Me, Satan! Then He admonishes Peter—You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Or, as Peterson paraphrases it, Peter, get out of My way. You have no idea how God works.”
It’s true, isn’t it? Peter doesn’t want Jesus to suffer and die. He wants Him to keep on teaching, interpreting Scripture, healing, and casting out demons…being his friend. Obviously, these are the desires of men and women, but in this case, not of God. Having total faith in the Father, Jesus is committed to doing God’s will God’s way. Nothing will deter Him from it.
He knows His mission is a huge undertaking. It is nothing less than setting us right with God!
D. Additionally, Jesus is familiar with Psalm 22. We will note on Good Friday that the first portion of the psalm predicts Jesus’ thoughts from the Cross. In the portion assigned to us today, verses 23-31, King David (and later Jesus) assert that they will praise God the Father amidst the congregation of all the people. Even from the cross, Christ will trust that God still loves Him. The hours on the cross, when Jesus becomes sin for us, the Father will turn His face from Him. Nevertheless, He knows His Father is waiting to welcome Him back, to resurrect Him. Too exhausted to speak, He praises God in His heart, crying out only (v.31) Tetelestai/it is finished.
Jesus’ final words from the cross are that He has completed the work of redemption the Father gave Him to do. He has set us right with God again.
Thank you, Jesus, for Your courage and bravery! Thank you for Your great agapeo (New Testament)/hesed (Old Testament) love for us. Your loyal, everlasting, long-suffering love for us. Thank You that You love us enough to have done for us what we could not do for ourselves. Thank you for setting us right with God.
None of us knows what You look like, but I’ll bet Your face in Your resurrected body is beautiful. (Isaiah said that His face would be unremarkable in His first Coming, so as to not attract the kind of fame a rock star gathers about himself; see Isaiah 53:2.) Keith Greene, a Christian musician who died at 28 years old–way too young–in a 1982 plane crash, wrote and sang a song about the face of Christ. The words go like this:
Oh Lord, You’re beautiful,
Your face is all I see,
For when Your eyes are on this child,
Your grace abounds to me.
I want to take Your word and shine it all around
But first help me just to live it, Lord
And when I’m doing well help me to never seek a crown
For my reward is giving glory to You.
Oh Lord, please light the fire
That once burned bright and clean
Replace the lamp of my first love
That burns with holy fear.
Oh Lord, You’re beautiful,
Your face is all I see,
For when Your eyes are on this child,
Your grace abounds to me.
May it be so for each of us. Amen and Amen.
©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams
The Crown Without the Cross
Pastor Sherry’s message for February 18, 2024
Scriptures: Gen 9:8-17; Ps 25:1-10; 1 Pet 3:18-22; Mk 1:9-15
I read a funny story the other day that I want to share with you:
“The local sheriff was looking for a deputy, and one of the applicants – who was not known to be the brightest academically, was called in for an interview. “Okay,” began the sheriff, “What is 1 and 1?” “Eleven,” came the reply. The sheriff thought to himself, “That’s not what I meant, but he’s right.”
“Then the sheriff asked, “What two days of the week start with the letter ‘T’?” “Today & tomorrow.” Replied the applicant. The sheriff was again surprised over the answer, one that he had never thought of himself.
“Now, listen carefully, who killed Abraham Lincoln?”, asked the sheriff. The job seeker seemed a little surprised, then thought really hard for a minute and finally admitted, “I don’t know.” The sheriff replied, “Well, why don’t you go home and work on that one for a while?” The applicant left and wandered over to his pals who were waiting to hear the results of the interview. He greeted them with a cheery smile, “The job is mine! The interview went great! First day on the job and I’m already working on a murder case!”
(Borrowed from www.sermoncentral.com, 2/16/2024.)
Our Gospel this morning comes from Mark 1:9-15. You may recall that we have jumped about some in Mark since Epiphany. We have focused on Jesus’ choice of His disciples. We have looked at His demonstrations of His power over the supernatural realm and over physical illness. Last Sunday, we encountered His revelation of Himself, to Peter, James, and John in all His heavenly glory, on the Mount of Transfiguration. This included God the Father’s order to the disciples to listen to Jesus. They were reminded that Jesus goes where the Father directs Him, not where they might think He should go.
How odd, then, that we backtrack to the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry today: He is baptized and blessed by the Father. This is so very important because psychological research has revealed that fathers convey self-esteem on their children. God the Father blesses Jesus before He launches on His ministry. Then, the Holy Spirit leads Him into the wilderness to be tempted. We could say it is Jesus’ 1st day of His public ministry—His 1st day of walking in His calling. There is a lesson here for us:
Before He even really begins, He is confronted with three grave temptations. Satan is trying to get Him to take a short cut or to “do things the easy way.” God the Father and the Holy Spirit are no doubt watching and rooting for Him to resist the possibilities of accepting His crown while avoiding the Cross.
Whoever it is that creates the lectionary arrangement of the readings (I think it’s a committee) wants us to realize—before we get too far into remembering Jesus’ ministry—that Satan will always try to pull us away from, or divert us from what God wants to accomplish through us.
Will we take the short cut the evil one offers? Or will we persevere through the tough times, remaining obedient to God as Jesus was?
Let’s look at these 3 temptations Satan presented to Jesus in more detail:
A. There is the temptation to feed Himself: Turn stones into bread. After 40 days without food, He clearly must have been hungry. We can only go three days without water, but people can live longer without food. We grow weaker and lose a lot of weight, but we can still hang on to life. The greater issue behind feeding Himself was would He be willing to use His power to satisfy Himself? In terms of His ministry to redeem the world, this would have been a short-sighted choice. It would have also indicated a lack of faith in His Father—He surely trusted that His Father would not have allowed Him to die before He even got started. I remember telling you all once that I was flying back to Pittsburgh, PA, from Jackson, MS, when our plane was stranded on the tarmac during a terrible rain storm. Once the lightening relented, we took off into the air, but proceeded to bump around a lot, losing altitude quickly in those sickening drops. The lady seated next to me was a seasoned traveler who flew weekly for business. She got out the “barf bag” because it she said it was the bumpiest she had ever experienced. She wondered aloud if we were going to crash. I told her no—with total confidence—because I was still in Seminary and I know the Lord was not finished with me yet. God was not yet finished with Jesus, either.
The temptation to feed yourself is a little like the college quarterback who recently spent his $300,000 signing bonus (not to sign on but to return for another season) on a Lamborghini for himself, instead of offering watches, like Tom Brady did, to the lineman who protected him; or even cash for school tuition for those teammates who lacked athletic scholarships.
Jesus said “No” to this temptation to take care of Himself first. Can this be said of each of us?
If we are as God-focused as Jesus, our tithe would come off the top of our pay. It should be the first check we write after receiving our pay. Please understand I am not urging you to give Wellborn Methodist Church all 10% of your resources. We need enough money to keep the lights on…but you are free to offer a portion of your tithe to other worthwhile charities/causes as well. The point is that rather than paying down our responsibilities and giving God the little that is left over, we gift God first.
Truly, the issue is, “Do we trust God to take care of us?” Since I have lived on my own, I have found that the Lord always provides for me. I might get down to my last dime to my name, but the Lord will come through with additional cash in the nick of time and usually in ways I would never have expected. Even in the extreme situation of having no food for 40 days, Jesus trusted in His Father.
What about Jumping to your death on the rocks below? If I were starving, the turning stones to bread would have truly tempted me.
This one, not so much…even if I knew I had the power to save myself.
I’m wary of heights. I can recall visiting the Grand Canyon, which is a mile deep, and creeping cautiously to the edge to look down—there are no guard rails so you do have to be careful. And I hate that feeling you get in roller coasters—and even in elevators or planes—of the bottom falling out. My kids will tell you I scream all the way on roller coaster rides. Nothing about dropping into thin air tempts me.
But again, Satan has offered Jesus a selfish way to attract attention and gain fame. This is another cheap way out. I’ll bet Jesus was tempted by the bread, but this one probably left Him cold. Recall how often He asks people He’s healed not to tell anyone about it? Last week He urged Peter, John, and James not even to tell the other disciples what they had witnessed on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus wisely understood that some flashy, dynamic miracle witnessed by thousands would have gained Him too much attention from His enemies. They would have come for Him before He had completed the work the Father gave Him. As it was, He knew 3 years was hardly enough time to redeem as many hearts as He hoped to. By rejecting Satan’s dare, He demonstrated for us that it is better to avoid the easy, splashy alternative, and just do the work set before us.
The third and last temptation was a doozy! Serve Satan, instead of God the Father? Are you kidding me? Satan was tempting Jesus, who is God, to worship himself, a counterfeit god. This was a challenge to Christ to practice idolatry. How absurd! No wonder Jesus directs Satan to be gone from Him. For us, however, the temptation may be more enticing.
Think of the siren allure of addictions. This substance or behavior will soothe you; it will help you feel nurtured or cared for. Power and influence can have the same impact. Watching the Fulton Country (Atlanta, GA) DA is a perfect example of how power and influence can corrupt. She promised, on videotape, never to sleep with a subordinate. Not only has she slept with someone she employed, but she paid for lavish trips for the two of them with public funds. Corruption appears to abound in our federal government and also in state and even local governments. How many have pilfered tax payer dollars? How many have sold their integrity for generous amounts of cash? How many are compromised by elicit behaviors that have been videoed, then used to blackmail officials? We want to remember that whatever we value more than God becomes our false God.
Jesus Christ has shown us the way: Just say “No” to putting comfort before duty, fame before love of others, and anything before love of God. Someone has put it this way:
A seeker after truth came to a saint for guidance.
“Tell me, wise one, how did you become holy?”
“Two words.”
“And what are they, please?”
“Right choices.”
The seeker was fascinated. “How does one learn to choose rightly?”
“One word.”
“One word! May I have it, please?” the seeker asked.
“Growth.”
The seeker was thrilled. “How does one grow?”
“Two words.”
“What are they, pray tell?”
“Wrong choices.”
I could be wrong, but I believe God allows us to endure times of testing to strengthen our faith in Him, and to develop our ability to resist the easy shortcuts with which Satan tempts us.
(Borrowed from Brian Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes, published on http://www.sermoncentral.com 2/16,2024.)
Let us keep our eyes on the example of Jesus, choosing to please God and frustrate the devil. Amen, may it be so!
©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams
Heavenly Surprises!
Pastor Sherry’s message for February 11, 2024
Scriptures: 2 Kings 2:1-12; Ps 50:1-6; 2 Cor 4:3-6; Mk 9:2-9
Last Sunday, my kids, grandkids, and I all drove up to Valdosta, GA, to see the first three episodes of season 4 of “The Chosen.” If you have not tuned in to watch it, I highly recommend it. It very closely follows Scripture. And the actor who plays Jesus does a phenomenal job! You can purchase the first three seasons’ worth on video now.
I won’t spoil the suspense, but let me just say that season 4 begins with Jesus’ frustration over the fact that His disciples do not really understand His mission. We saw last week, in Mark 1:29-39, that they assumed He would remain in Capernaum, healing all that needed Him there.
He assertively redirected them. He told them in v. 38 Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come. His mission was greater than serving just Capernaum. They kept trying to guide Him here and there–or to protect Him from this Roman soldier or that Pharisee–according to their ideas of what the Messiah should be doing. But He kept gently resisting their need to control or to shape His ministry.
Imagine, then, how unsettling it must have been for Peter, James and John to have witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration! Isn’t it true that we form these ideas of how God should act, and then are so surprised or even shocked when He behaves in ways we never imagined? Let’s look at what our Scriptures today have to say about this phenomenon:
A. The Gospel (Mark 9: 2-9) is Peter’s (via John Mark) account of the Transfiguration. Peter had earlier proclaimed to Jesus (in Mark 8:29)—You are the Christ (Lk 9:20—the Christ of God). The word, Christ, remember, is a title—the Greek word for anointed one, or Messiah, in the Hebrew. Peter gets that Jesus is indeed the long awaited Messiah.
Luke tells us it was about 8 days after this (Mark tell us it was 6) that Jesus took the three with Him (9:28)—…onto a mountain to pray. Imagine their thoughts when they observed Him in all of His heavenly glory!
Luke describes His face changing, and His clothes…(v.29)—…became as bright as a flash of lightning. Mark (v.3) describes the same thing this way—His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. Matthew writes (17:2)—His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. They used the words they had to describe the incredible brightness of how Jesus shone. These three disciples were being treated to a mind-blowing sight! (I have seen something similar as I work with clients who are in a residential treatment center for addictions and mental health issues. Their pictures are taken when they first arrive; but as they learn, grow, and heal, their visages change so as to be almost unrecognizable from those original photographs. There is a transformation that takes place that is seemingly miraculous.)
In addition, the three disciples see the long dead but clearly resurrected Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. If that were not all, then they are treated to hearing the actual voice of God the Father speaking from out of a cloud (v.7)—This is My Son Whom I love. Listen to Him! (not to your ideas of what He should do, but to My ideas….)
If you had been there to witness this Heavenly Surprise, wouldn’t you have been shaken up? Jesus is not just the long-awaited for Messiah, the Christ, the anointed One. He is God incarnate! How would that realization shape your responses to Him? How would that new, earth-shaking knowledge shift your ideas of what he can and cannot, should or should not do? I believe any of us would immediately move to “Who are we to try to direct Him to do what we want?” Or, “Who are we to try to protect Him from anyone?”
B. Our Psalm (50:1-6) fits this set of insights so nicely. Asaph, the choir director, tells us that when God speaks (v.1)—He…summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets. Our most powerful God has created the sun and set the earth into an orbit such that it appears the sun rises and sets over planet earth. Additionally, God manifests in fire and tempests, when He appears in judgment. He is so powerful that when He summons the heavens or the earth, these great celestial creations do His will. Asaph wants us to realize (v.6) our God is all powerful and totally righteous…and so too is Jesus!
Scripture talks about Mary, Jesus’ Mother, who (Luke 3:51)— treasured all these things in her heart. Can’t you just picture Peter, James, and John all doing the same? Pondering this great heavenly surprise; trying to process it, to figure out what this meant for and to them.
C. This is what Paul is referring to in 2 Corinthians 4:3-6. He directly follows this up in verse 7—We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
What is the treasure to which Paul is referring? It is the knowledge that Jesus Christ is God Himself, come to live among us and to die to redeem us. What are the jars of clay? Those are us! We are fragile repositories of this great and precious knowledge.
Paul describes Jesus among us as a light (v.6)—like the light of His transfiguration—which shine[s] out of the darkness. It illuminates this dark world. It guides us and gives us comfort. Best of all, this light of Christ, this heavenly surprise— shine[s] in our heats to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Jesus draws us into His redeeming light. Knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, ensures we will dwell with Him in His light eternally.
D. Then we have this unusual passage from 2 Kings 2:1-12.
What a send-off for a mighty prophet! Elisha, his loyal side-kick, goes with Elijah on his farewell tour. Directed by the Lord, they say goodbye to prophets at Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho. Elisha remains with his mentor as they cross the Jordan River, moving outside the Promised Land.
Then Elijah asks Elisha what he wants (v.9)—”Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. It may sound greedy to us, but what it meant was that Elisha saw himself as Elijah’s spiritual son and wanted what a firstborn son would inherit from his father, a double-portion (all the rest got divided among any other children). He was essentially asking to be equipped to carry on his spiritual father’s ministry.
This was a difficult request for Elijah to honor as the prerogative to instill Elisha with Elijah’s power belonged to God alone. God must have quickly told the older prophet that the heir would know his request had been granted if he saw Elijah jet off to heaven. This is exactly what happens!
What a heavenly surprise, what a dramatic exit! Elijah is carried away by a chariot and horses of fire. Elisha witnesses this and knows his request has been granted. He grieves the loss of his mentor, but he is allowed to see that Elijah is…taken up to heaven, bodily, without dying—like Enoch (see Genesis 5:24); and taken away outside the promised land without leaving a grave, like Moses. This is a bigger deal than the funeral of a king. The Lord is saying Elijah, and now Elisha–and not an apostate king–is the true representative of God on earth.
Once again, in a spectacular fashion, our Lord demonstrates the truth of Isaiah 55:8-9—”For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Who would think that the Lord would carry off His prophet in a fiery chariot? Who would think Jesus would appear to His 3 favorites as His pre-Incarnate, heavenly self? How terrific of God to frame these events in bright lights and pyrotechnics we might never even think of! If we had seen them, our faith would never waver, would it?
Not only that, but do you see that our Lord is capable of spectacular surprises? Peter, James, and John must have been blown away by what they saw and heard on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. Elisha, too, must have pondered what he had seen at length. Such events expand exponentially our concept of what God is capable of.
Additionally, as the disciples eventually discovered, we don’t want to be found thinking we can direct God or dictate to Jesus what He will do. If we do, we will find ourselves highly disappointed. We hear people express anger because God did not do what they prayed for. The truth is we can ask, but we cannot demand. He will answer, but He may tell us “Yes,” “No,” or “Not yet.” We need to remember that God is God and we are not.
©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams
The Necessity of Prayer
Pastor Sherry’s message for February 4, 2024
Scriptures: Isa 40:21-31; Ps 147:1-11, 20c; 1 Cor 9:16-23; Mk 1:29-39
Some time back, the devotional booklet, Our Daily Bread, ran the following story:
“A father took his small son with him to town one day to run some errands. When lunchtime arrived, the two of them went to a familiar diner for a sandwich. The father sat down on one of the stools at the counter and lifted the boy up to the seat beside him. They ordered lunch, and when the waiter brought the food, the father said, “Son, we’ll just have a silent prayer.” Dad got through praying first and waited for the boy to finish his prayer, but he just sat with his head bowed for an unusually long time. When he finally looked up, his father asked him, “What in the world were you praying about all that time?” With the innocence and honesty of a child, he replied, “How do I know? It was a silent prayer.”
(As repeated on the website, www.sermoncentral.com, 2/2/2024.)
Isn’t that just like a little kid? So literal: “If it’s truly silent, even I don’t know what I’m praying.” Whatever was on his mind and heart, I’m sure that it brought a smile to God’s face.
I believe that Jesus is taking us—and His disciples–to school today on the necessity of prayer. Prayer is talking to God or conversation with Jesus.
Technically, it’s our pleas or our praise directed to God, through the intercession of His Son, Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s see what our readings today have to add to this topic:
A. Our Gospel is from Mark 1:29-39—In it, Jesus gives us a great model for prayer. Remember, Biblical scholars believe Mark is actually Peter’s Gospel. Peter was too busy doing ministry, so he has his apprentice, John Mark, write down for him Peter’s experiences with Jesus. (I did this once for a friend from seminary. He was pioneering in bringing drug dealers, addicts, prostitutes, and pimps to Christ on the south side of Jacksonville, Florida. He had a substantial collection of hair-raising stories about such folks coming to Christ. I offered to write them down for him as he was too busy doing the work of ministry himself. I wrote, he edited, and we published a book called, Gospel Chains: Inspirational Stories of Changed Lives through Chains of Relationship, Anglican Revitalization Ministries, 2022. Peter was trying to win over a Roman audience to Christ. He focuses on something Roman soldiers would relate to and appreciate: the authority of Christ.
He reports in Chapter 1 that Jesus successfully overcomes the temptations Satan presents to Him. He then returns to Capernaum to recruit his first disciples, and to worship in the Synagogue there. As Jesus is teaching and preaching in the synagogue, a demon manifests in a man in the congregation. Jesus muzzles it with a minimum of fuss and casts it out of the man. The worshippers of Capernaum were amazed—and so too would have been the Romans—that Jesus has authority over the spiritual realm.
And so we find Him in today’s passage, leaving the Synagogue with James and John to visit at Simon Peter’s house. Let’s focus on 3 noteworthy points: First, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law. This indicates that He has authority over physical illnesses. Second, the word travels after Sabbath just as you might expect in a small town—Jesus has freed a demonized man and now He has healed Peter’s wife’s mother. Imagine if our church offered a service in which we prayed for folks from Wellborn (which I hope we will begin doing later this year). Next imagine that many were healed due to our intercessory prayers for them. Needless to say, the very next time we offered prayer, people would crowd in, bringing their sick 2nd cousins, neighbors, and friends for healing. Verses 33-34 state it this way—The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but He would not let the demons speak, because they knew who He was. Somewhere reputable I read that the 4 Gospels list 31 healings. But the truth is that Jesus healed many, many more than Scripture describes. The Apostle John writes at the end of his gospel (21:25)—Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would have room for the books that would be written.
The 3rd important point is that Jesus, the Son of God, also operated under authority—that of God the Father. Verse 35 tells us—Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed. (I used to wonder, “Wasn’t He worried He might be assaulted by bad-actors, by Himself in the dark?” Then I realized, “Of course not. He’s God! Who could mess with Him and win?”). We do not know how often He did this, but I would bet that He checked in with His Father daily. Bu doing so, He nurtured their relationship, plugged back into His power-source, and He got His directions, His marching orders for the next step.
When Peter and the others look for Him, because a morning crowd has formed, they urge Him to return to the house to meet these additional needs. But Jesus does not bow to their demands; He’s not a people-pleaser. He asserts instead (v.38) Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come. Capernaum may be His headquarters, but He will not be limited to ministering there only—the mission the Father has given Him is broader than what the disciples considered. This fact, too, would have appealed to a Roman military audience, as they too served a mission greater than one duty station warranted.
B. Our Isaiah lesson (40:21-31) reminds us of God’s limitless power. Peter and John Mark—if they had thought of it–should have attached this reading to the Gospel account to impress the Romans. It is the Christian God who sits enthroned above the earth, not the Roman panoply of arrogant and merciless master-manipulators. Verse 23 tells us—He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. God the Father (and God the Son) (v.26) made and named the stars. God the Father (and God the Son) created (v.28) the length and breadth of the earth. It is He and Jesus who set things into motion and it is He and Jesus who sustain all things.
Furthermore, (v.29)—He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. We renew our strength when we abide with Him. Jesus knew this and so sought the Father in prayer. Have you ever noticed how un-frazzled you become after a time of prayer? Seeking the Lord calms and relaxes us.
We are also renewed when we hope in the Lord! Now Roman soldiers would have loved to have known that secret. This would have eliminated the need to use drugs to stay awake. They would have had no need to rely upon substances to increase strength. Evidence has been uncovered that indicates the Nazis used drugs to amp themselves up before an offensive action. We also know that the Hamas terrorists, who stuck Israeli kibbutzim on October 7th, were strung out on some drugs that gave them energy for days with no sleep, and also lowered their inhibitions so they could commit the atrocities they did. We don’t need to resort to such as God is willing to renew our strength in righteous causes. To quote Psalm 62:6, the Lord is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. Additionally, Roman soldiers should have become impressed to learn that our God truly is the Commander in Chief, sovereign over all the earth!
C. Psalm 147:1-11 reiterates essentially the same message as the Isaiah passage: Verse 5 states—Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. Verse 3 promises, like Isaiah 61:1—He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He is both all-powerful and yet extremely compassionate. Verse 11—The Lord delights in those who fear Him [look to Him with awe], who put their hope in His unfailing love. It just makes sense to worship and to pray to an all-powerful God who loves us and cares for us.
D. And in our 1st Corinthians passage (9:16-23), the Apostle Paul wants us to know that his relationship to God compels him to preach the Gospel far and wide. Paul admits he is as winsome as he can be in an effort to appeal to all to accept the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ. He did not want any impediments to exist in him that would inhibit spreading the Gospel to those who had not heard it. He doesn’t mention prayer per se, but we know he was a mighty man of prayer. He prayed for the wisdom and stamina to travel and to deliver the message. He ended many of his epistles by asking God to bless those who labored with him in this great endeavor around the Mediterranean Sea basin. I think we can safely assume he sandwiched all of his efforts at kingdom building with prayer.
Our readings today are telling us that daily prayer for us is a necessity. We need to communicate with the Lord to understand His will for us. We need to abide with or stay connected to Him to have the power to do His will. We need to pray to Him so as to remain attached to Him.
Firm attachment to the Lord renews our strength. Residing in God’s pocket (I like to think of myself as settled into His breast pocket where I can hear His heartbeat) allows us to soar like eagles. Amen. May it be so!
©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams
Feel the Fear and Obey God Anyway!
Pastor Sherry’s Message for January 28, 2024
Scriptures: Jonah 3:1-10; Ps 62:5-12; 1 Cor 7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20
Consider this for just a moment: Last week we addressed how we recognize when God is speaking to us. We get a nudge in our spirit. It’s usually not an audible voice, but rather a kind of message that drops into our head. I have come to recognize it as it doesn’t sound like “normal me.” With increased experience in discerning God’s voice, we learn that we want to obey the Voice/Him. But what if the Voice/the Knowing asks us to do something terrifying? What if God wants us to walk down the center of the Gaza Strip, trying to tell Hamas to lay down their arms and come to Jesus, and they have 40 days to do this or face annihilation?
What if the Lord wants to use us to bring these terrorists to Christ? We know He is Immanuel, God with us, so we would not walk the Gaza Strip alone. But there are plenty of missionaries who have lost their lives while trying to bring the Gospel message to those who have not heard it. Jim Elliott comes to mind. At 28 years old, he and 4 others were killed, in 1956, by the very people they intended to serve, the Huaorani or Auca Indians of Ecuador. He is famously remembered for the following quote: He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. To give up what you cannot keep your life; to gain what you cannot lose your salvation, or your relationship with Jesus. Or what about the Rev. Thomas Baker, a Wesleyan missionary, who was killed and eaten by the very cannibals of Figi, on July 21, 1867, that he had intended to convert?
(Wikipedia note on the life of Jim Elliot, 1/27/2024).
When the Lord sends us into dangerous situations, we have no guarantee that we will live through them.
This may have been Jonah’s thinking when the Lord told him to go evangelize the Assyrians of Nineveh.
Before we examine his actions, let’s take a look at Jonah, the man: We don’t know much about him, except that he appeared to minister around 760BC. He came from Jesus’ home area of Galilee, specifically from Gath-hepher, a village 3 miles north of Nazareth. He is the only prophet of the Old Testament from Galilee—a home to many Gentiles. (Think about how well the Lord hid Jesus. The Jewish religious leadership would never have thought to look for their Messiah among the Gentiles.) But living among “outsiders” would have given him experience with non-Jewish culture. Incidentally, he and Daniel are the only Old Testament prophets to the Gentiles. Jonah is called a minor prophet–not because his ministry wasn’t important–but because his book is so short (just 4 chapters. I encourage you to go home and read it if you have not already).
Nevertheless, Jonah was amazingly effective. Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee contends that he led the greatest revival of all times! (Thru the Bible Commentary Series: Jonah, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.55.) All of Nineveh repented ! He went in fearing for his life, and—even if his efforts were timid or half-hearted—even if he hated the Assyrians, God used him to bring many lost terrorists to Himself.
What would prompt these violent and barbarous people to listen to Jonah? After 3 days in a great fish, he would have been hairless, bald–no beard, not even any eye-brows or eye-lashes. Also, from modern day rescues of people swallowed by large fish/whales, the creature’s stomach acid turns human skin a yellow-orange color. Obviously Trump is not the first “orange man.” Jonah surely looked weird and would have attracted a crowd wherever he stepped in Nineveh. When they asked what had happened to him, he could honestly say, “I was rescued from the belly of a large fish by the Hebrew God. He’s given you an ultimatum: repent within 40 days or else.
The back-story to our Psalm today (62:5-12) gives us another example of someone responding to a difficult call from God. It was written by King David in his elder years. The context is a rebellion against his rule (a coup attempt) led by his favorite son, Absolom. Absolom, together with former friends of David’s, and an Israelite army disloyal to the King, enter Jerusalem by one gate, while the elderly and grieved David is forced to flee–with his court, advisors and army personnel still loyal to him–by another gate. David is feeling rejected and betrayed by his son, broken-hearted, and filled with grief. He is fleeing for his life and no doubt wonders where God is in all of this. Yet look at the theme of his psalm: Like Jonah in the big fish, he expresses his trust in God! He is forced from his capital city in defeat, but instead of being caught up in bitterness or a desire for revenge, he expresses optimism and praises the Lord! In verse 9, He says he doesn’t put his trust in the fickle mob, nor in individual men, but in God. In verse 10, He says he doesn’t trust in material things either. Instead (verse 11), he puts his trust in God because God is powerful and God is able! He also trusts in God (verse 12) because he knows God is merciful and will not abandon him.
Notice, Paul says essentially the same thing 10 centuries later (1 Cor 7:29-31). Paul is clear that our time on earth is short. Nineveh had 40 days. The world as we know it could end tomorrow or next year. Paul exhorts us to put God first, not allowing our lives to be consumed by earthly things. He says we should not put all of our attention on our spouses or our friends. His book is not a prophesy but an account of this experience: He hears God and his discerns rightly that he is to go to Nineveh. He is to preach a message of repentance. He is to give them a deadline 40 days or they are toast. Now Nineveh was a large metropolitan area, a city with suburbs if you will. It sat at the conjunction of the Tigris and Upper Zeb Rivers in the nation of Assyria. Today we would say it lay near Mosul, in N. Iraq. Scripture refers to it as a “great city” verse 3 Now Ninevah was a very important/great city—a visit required 3 days. It had a circumference of 27 miles, and was 2.5 miles long and 1.33 miles across. It likely did take 3 days to walk through. Think about how long it would take to walk across Jacksonville, FL, from the West side to the Beaches, or across Orlando, FL, from Disney east to Deltona. Scholars estimate there were anywhere from ½ to 2 million inhabitants in metro-Nineveh. So, again, consider how you might feel if God told you to go to Mosul today—or to the Gaza Strip—to walk through, and to preach the gospel to a hostile audience of anti-Christian terrorists.
Jonah gets the call and promptly boards a ship headed in the opposite direction. He buys a one-way ticket to Tarshish/Tartessus, Spain, near Gibralta. He was headed about as far as you could get, going west, from Mosul/Nineveh in the east. He was effectively telling God, “I think this a bad idea; If it is all just the same with you, no thanks, Lord! Let me serve You somewhere else.”
We know the rest of the story though: God sends a huge storm, the ship is nearly swamped, and the sailors believe Jonah is the problem and throw him overboard. He is promptly swallowed by a huge fish. Inside the belly of the whale or fish, he realizes that his disobedience and fear have brought him to this dire situation. So he calls out to God in a prayer of praise, in advance, for his rescue (what faith!). God graciously has the fish burp him up on a beach. Thus chastened, Jonah now heads to Niveveh.families; nor on any grief or tragedy that has befallen us; nor on our own pleasure; not our possessions; not even our business enterprises. He wants us to keep our eyes focused on Jesus.
These are such good lessons for us in these uncertain times, aren’t they? When…
1.) wild-eyed and unhinged political zealots are calling for revenge and plotting retribution toward their enemies;
2.) new viruses have morphed and ramped up their killing capacity yet again;
3.) hyper-inflation is eating up whatever financial resources we have;
4.) we see our civil rights challenged and curtailed by big tech, big business, big media, and big government;
5.) millions of illegal immigrants swarm across our borders to be subsidized by our tax dollars. When these things happen, we need to put our trust in God.
Like Jonah, we can be obedient and stand back and watch the Lord do miracles! Like King David, we can trust in Him despite our circumstances…remembering that God has the power to protect us and that He is merciful. He doesn’t demand that we be perfect (the more I feel pressured to be perfect, the more mistakes I tend to make). He just wants us to, like King David, trust in Him; like the prophet Jonah, to obey Him; and like Paul says, to put Him first.
©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams
Come and Hear for Yourself!
Pastor Sherry’s message for January 21, 2024
Scriptures: 1 Sam 3:1-20; Ps 139:1-6, 13-18; 1Cor 6:12-20; Jn 1:43-51
This weekend, I attended a Retreat put on by my former church in Gainesville, Florida, Servants of Christ Anglican Church. The retreat leadership had texted me in early October to ask me to come and graciously offered to pay my expenses. Later, I learned this was the same weekend of the inaugural conference in Florida of the Global Methodist Church. My head told me I should cancel the healing conference and attend the meeting of our new church peers. But I believe the Holy Spirit protested and insisted I attend the healing retreat instead. Sometimes that is exactly what happens: The Holy Spirit urges you to do one thing while your practical, cognitive mind argues the opposite. I have learned over the years to always obey the leading of the Spirit.
The retreat was held in Steinhatchee, Florida, a fishing village on the Gulf Coast. For the past week and a half, I had been experiencing pain in both hips—pain when walking and pain on trying to rise from a chair or to navigate steps. By the time I arrived Friday evening, I could hardly walk. By Saturday afternoon, when they held their healing service, I had figured out that my feet, my knees, and my hips all needed healing from pain. At night when I laid down to sleep, my legs throbbed. It occurred to me that Satan was trying to either handicap me or to take me out of active ministry. The team I approached for prayer agreed that he was attacking me from the ground up. They prayed that the Holy Spirit would then flood me with a healing anointing from my head down. I immediately felt relief, especially in my hips. No more pain! They had bound the powers of hell from inflicting pain upon me and they prayed that the Lord Jesus would heal and restore me. Like the woman with the 12 year issue of blood (Mark 5:21-43), I had the faith that the Lord had healed me. Since then, with any twitch or ache in my feet, legs, or hips, I have audibly affirmed that I have been healed and have observed that the pain then desists. Clearly the Holy Spirit wanted me to attend that retreat and I am so glad I listened.
This brings me to an important set of questions for you: Do you hear from the Holy Spirit? Do you hear from the Lord? Do you have a place where you can go to be alone and communicate with or hear from the Lord? Many people refer to this special place as their “prayer closet.” It’s separate from other spaces in a house. When you are there, you can count on not having your prayer time disturbed. It’s lovely if you can dedicate a small room or even a walk in closet for this effort. If not, your prayer closet may be your car or your shower; it may also be your garden or your daily jog or walk, or even when you do the dishes. The main point is to locate a space and visit it regularly so you can talk to God and hear back from Him.
In this vein, I want to focus on today’s Gospel, Psalm 139, and our 1st Samuel reading.
A. In our Gospel lesson today (John 1:43-51), Jesus is calling His disciples. In verses 35-42, just prior to today’s reading, Jesus calls the first 3: Andrew and Peter, Andrew’s brother–both from Bethsaida; and a third un-named one who Church tradition says is John, the Gospel’s author. In today’s passage–which takes place 1 day later–Jesus calls Philip. Philip then locates his friend, Nathanael, and tells him (v.45) We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael responds rather sarcastically Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? Philip then invites Nathanael to come and see for himself.
Now let’s take a deeper look at Nathanael. He is also known in Scripture as Bartholomew. Confusingly for us, his names are used interchangeably in the New Testament. Scholars believe Bartholomew may have been what we would call his “last name.” Remember Peter had been known as Simon Bar Jonah, son of Jonah. Nathanael may have been called Nathanael Bar Tolmai, or son of Tolmai, which eventually morphed into Bartholomew.
We don’t know much about him except that he was honest–even perhaps to a fault—and skeptical. It appears he was from Cana, a rival village just over the hill from Nazareth, so he may have been calling on village prejudice when he doubted the Messiah could ever come from Nazareth. It is his honesty that impresses Jesus, Who calls him (v.47) …a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile/nothing false/no deceit.
Jesus is saying that, unlike the Jewish patriarch, Jacob, who was a schemer and a cheat, Nathanael is not. Jesus recognizes him as a guy who calls a spade a spade. He has integrity; he’s authentic; he is not an insincere fake.
Nathanael is naturally curious about how Jesus recognized him and read his character so correctly, since they had never met before. Jesus tells him that He saw him (v.49) …when you were under the fig tree. Fig trees grow out kind of round with branches that may dip to the ground. If a man crawled inside, he could lean against the trunk and be nearly hidden. Or, if the tree were older and larger, he could find respite from the sun and support for his back as he sat beneath it. This is where Jesus had a vision of him. Afterall Jesus, as God, is omniscient, knowing all things. Jesus knew this is where Nathanael had gone to study Scripture and to pray. As He does with any of us (see Psalm 139), Jesus knows our thoughts. There is no place we can run to and hide from Him. Nathanael had been studying Scripture in his “fig tree prayer closet,” seeking to know God better. So Jesus calls him as a disciple.
We can also safely assume, I think, that Nathanael had accurate insight or spiritual discernment. In verse 49 he says Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel. In that moment, in that brief interaction, Nathanael realizes Jesus’ true identity. Jesus is more than a Rabbi. Jesus, referring back again to the patriarch, Jacob, tells Nathanael he will …see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (v. 51). The pre-incarnate Christ is the one Jacob saw in his dream of a ladder with angels ascending and descending. Here He is telling Nathanael that He, Jesus, is the ladder [the bridge; the mediator] between God and humankind. Philip invited Nathanael to come and see; but Jesus drew him near to see and hear for himself.
B. Oh, that we all might be such serious readers of Scripture, such dedicated followers of Christ. Our Old Testament lesson from 1 Samuel 3:1-20 describes another person who came forward and heard for himself. In gratitude to God, the barren Hannah, when she conceived and bore Samuel, obediently took him to be mentored and trained up for service to the Lord by Eli, the priest. Samuel was probably 3 years old when Hannah delivered him to Eli, as Hebrew women tended to nurse their babies for that length of time. Unfortunately, Eli was not a good father. His two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were notoriously evil men. They served at the temple, but had contempt for the Lord and for their father. Eli rebuked them but did not remove them from their priestly duties. Later, God Himself pronounced a death sentence on them and had them killed by the Philistines.
Despite his lack of success as a father, Eli functioned as Samuel’s mentor. Samuel was about 12 or so when God called him twice. Samuel thought he was being paged from sleep by Eli because he did not at this point discern the Lord’s voice. We are told in verse 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to Him. This does not reflect at all well upon Eli as a priest. Shame on him! Samuel has been serving God in His Temple at Shiloh for 9 years, but Eli has not taught him about God! YIKES! Telling people about God is the primary job of a priest. No wonder the Lord is going to strip the priesthood from Eli and his descendants. We find in this passage that God is initiating a long-overdue relationship with the young man who had been destined to serve Him since before his birth.
The third time God called him and Samuel mistakenly responded to Eli, Eli figured out that it was the Lord Who was summoning Samuel. Eli tells him to listen to and respond to God the next time He calls his name. Sure enough, God calls him a 4th time and this time Samuel says,(v.10) Speak, for your servant is listening. God then declares a judgment against Eli and his descendants. He also installs Samuel as his prophet, now replacing judges and priests as God’s spokespersons.
So what does this mean for us? Psalm 139 assures us that God knows us and knows our thoughts even before we express them. He seeks us out for relationship. He delights in responding to those of us who have sought Him. And He reveals Himself to those who are ignorant of Him.
If we want to have an intimate relationship with the Lord, we need to spend regular time communicating with Him. We need to locate or set up a prayer closet. We need to spend time reading and thinking about God’s Word.
In closing, I want to share a Christian song with you. It’s sometimes used at funerals—in fact, I would love to have it sung at mine—but it also refers to having attuned your ears to hear from the Lord. In 2010, I went with 9 others on a mission trip to Turkey. This song became our theme song. We sang it to a house church of 40 Iranian Christians, who had already worked a 12 hour day, and yet who crammed themselves into a hot, unairconditioned room in a town in Turkey to worship God and to hear from us. Please listen as we play this acapella version of “There’s a Stirring” from YouTube:
There’s a stirring deep within me
Could it be my time has come
When I see my gracious Savior
Face-to-face when all is done.
Is that His voice I am hearing,
“Come away my precious one”?
Is He calling me?
Is He calling me?
I will rise up, rise up.
Then I’ll bow down
And lay my crown at His wounded feet.
May we all come forth and hear (and respond to) the Holy Spirit when He calls us.
©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams
The Transforming Power of the Holy Spirit
Pastor Sherry’s Message for January 14, 2024
Scriptures: Gen 1:1-5; Ps 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mk1:1-11
The story is told that Dwight L. Moody—the great American evangelist who lived in the later part of the 1800’s—while witnessing to a large group of folks, asked how he might get the air out of a simple drinking glass. One listener shouted out that he should pump all the air out. Moody listened attentively, but replied that pumping the air out would create a vacuum, which would result in shattering the glass. He patiently heard some other suggestions, then took a nearby pitcher of water and calmly filled the glass. “’There,’ he said, ‘all the air is now removed.’ He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by “sucking out a sin here and there,” but by being filled with the Holy Spirit.”
(Illustration borrowed from Today in the Word, September, 1991, p. 30.)
Our Scriptures today each provide examples of the power of the Holy Spirit, perhaps as a way of encouraging each of us to be filled with the Spirit:
A. The Genesis account cited this morning (1:1-5) places the Holy Spirit at the beginning of creation. We are told that the Spirit hovered over the face of the water. Let’s read Peterson’s modern paraphrase of these 1st two verses (The Message, p.20) First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
Then God (the Apostle John tells us this was Jesus) spoke the first element of creation into existence. What came first? Light. He formed light and separated it from darkness. The Holy Spirit empowered the formation of day and night. The Holy Spirit is God’s power source. A former pastor of mine used to explain the Spirit as the electricity that flows behind our walls. We plug into it, and become empowered. But then we sin and pull our plug out and lose our power. The analogy is helpful but somewhat simplistic as the Holy Spirit is not just confined to our walls. Nevertheless, the metaphor poses the question: Are you cooperating with the creative, transformative power of the Holy Spirit in your life? Are you staying plugged in?
B. Our psalm (29) compares the powerful voice of the Lord to a storm in nature. We’ve had a few of these this week, haven’t we? We could hear the wind, a very strong wind (65-75 mph; some reported gusts to 105).
We could see our long, leggy, Florida pine trees bending over from the wind’s force. We saw the sky darken, as rain clouds rushed in. The rain commenced and quickly turned into a torrent. If you were in it, you wanted out of it; if you were in your house, you expected the lights to flicker or go out. Some of us did experience temporary power outages.
King David wrote Psalm 29 and it is clear that he is familiar with the voice of the Lord in all its manifestations: (1) Like in Genesis 1, (v.3)—the voice of the Lord is over the waters. (2) (V.4)—the voice of the Lord is powerful. (3) (V.5)—The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. (4)
(V.7)—The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. (5) (V.8)—The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. (6) (V.9)—The voice of the Lord twists the oak and strips the forests bare. David wants us to be aware of God’s mighty power, which He tends to use to (v.11)—…give strength to His people. His Holy Spirit power could function as a massive destructive force. But instead, He intends the Holy Spirit (1) to lead us to the Truth; (2) to heal us; (3) to help us understand Scripture; (4) to be our companion and friend; and (5) to remind us of the teachings of Jesus.
C. On his 3rd missionary journey, Paul traveled to Ephesus from Corinth. He stayed for 2 years, teaching folks at the Greek School of Tyrannus about Jesus. When he realized that 12 disciples (who had come to Christ through the teaching of Apollos) had been baptized by water, but lacked the Holy Spirit, he saw to it that they were also baptized with the Holy Spirit. The baptism of John the Baptist, which was the only one Apollos knew of at the time, is a baptism of repentance for sins, and places us under the leadership of Jesus. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is what changes our behavior, our attitudes, and even the words that come out of our mouths. Paul wanted the Ephesian disciples to have the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The Holy Spirit lives in our hearts, but can you discern a difference in yourself as a result of His presence? Do others see evidence of the Spirit’s transforming power in your life?
D. Finally, in our Gospel lesson, the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:1-11), we see that the power of the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus as He submitted to John’s water baptism. Jesus was without sin—He did not need a baptism of repentance, but He underwent the ritual in order to identify with our humanity. When He did, the heavens opened and…the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, empowering Him for His public ministry. He also heard His heavenly Father bless and affirm Him, saying (v.11)—You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.
Even Jesus, the 2nd member of the Trinity, needed the power of the Holy Spirit at work in Him—energizing Him to teach and preach, and empowering Him to do miracles.
Before leaving Florida to attend seminary, I asked some Christian friends to pray with me for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We went out to the beach at night and prayed in a pergola perched in the sand. It took a while, but I felt a strong wind come up and blow in my face. It didn’t exactly howl, but it did moan. If you have ever walked the beach during a “nor-easter,” you know the wind comes at you so strongly that you can hardly take a breath. That’s what it was like for me. Afterward, I asked the others if they heard the moaning wind and if they had had trouble catching a breath. They told me they had neither heard nor felt what I did. God had directed that wind of the Spirit just to affect me. In a similar way, when the Bishop laid hands on me to ordain me much later, I felt a huge weight descend on my head. I wondered if the Bishop was trying to push me through the floor. Later I realized the Hebrew word for God’s holiness is kavod, which also means the weightiness of God. The Lord conferred on me both His Holy Spirit power and His sign that He had set me apart for ministry. Praise God!
Todays’ readings compel us to ask, “Are you cooperating with the creative, transformative power of the Holy Spirit in your life?” Our Lord wants to make us more and more like Jesus—and He has the power to pull it off! Are we assisting this process in ourselves, or are we hindering it? He will not force Himself upon us. We have to agree to baptized with the Spirit. Are we willing to take charge of what comes out of our mouths, instead of just allowing ugliness to slip out? Are we willing to restrict our own behavior, doing what will bless but not harm other people? Do we believe that God is with us in the storm, and that He will see us through it? Do we listen for and hear the voice of the Lord in our lives?
Today, let’s pray for a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit on each of us, as we continue to move in 2024: Father God, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth—our true Lord Jesus Christ—that you would send your Holy Spirit to anoint each of us with Holy Spirit power. Power to do the ministries You have set out for us. Power to cooperate with the Spirit and be molded and shaped into better people. Transformative power to become more and more like your son, Jesus. We pray this in Jesus’ precious and most powerful name. Amen!
©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams
Arise, Shine, for God’s Light has Come!
Pastor Sherry’s message for January 7, 2024
Scriptures: Isa 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-14; Eph 3:1-12; Matt 2:1-12
In Rome, there is an ancient burial site containing the remains of hundreds of Christians from the 2nd to the 5th century. Known as the “Catacombs of Priscilla” for the wealthy Roman lady who donated the property, the series of underground tombs also includes some significant artwork by early Christians–including one of baby Jesus with His mother, Mary, and surprisingly, the pagan prophet, Balaam. But instead of gazing at the Madonna and Child, the prophet is pointing to a star over their heads.
(Borrowed from a sermon from www.sermoncentral.com, week of 1/07/2024.)
Perhaps you remember hearing of this “prophet for hire” as he is depicted in Numbers 22-24? If not, take time to read this account as it is both humorous and fascinating. Apparently, the Moabite King, Balak, was alarmed to learn that the Children of Israel were advancing on his country, on their way to the Promised Land. Biblical scholars believe there may have been as many as 2 million Israelites, so they would represent quite a threat to anyone whose land they crossed. King Barak did not believe he was strong enough to defeat them in battle—in fact, Moses reports in Numbers 22:3 that he and his whole nation were… filled with dread because of the Israelites. So he sent for a Prophet for hire, Balaam, and asked him to curse them, telling him (Numbers 22:5-6) A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.
Obviously this Balaam had some power. But as you follow the story, you learn that God Himself talks to Balaam and forbids him to curse His Chosen People. King Balak tries to talk Balaam out of being obedient to God every way he can; but the prophet appears to rightly fear the One True God and wisely refuses to curse the Israelites. Even though Balak is furious with him, Balaam continues to bless Israel and prophesies to Balak (Numbers 24:17) I see Him [Messiah], but not now; I behold Him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob [the Epiphany Star]; a scepter will rise out of Israel [a future king; Jesus].
I find it fascinating—don’t you?—that hundreds of years (1450-1500BC) before Jesus’ birth and the appearance of the Magi, a nonbelieving prophet-for-hire would tell of the appearance of the Star, and prophesy the 1st coming of Christ. The star signaled Jesus’ birth to Gentiles. This star moved, it traveled to the West from the East, and the 3, 12, or 30 magi from the East, followed it to Jerusalem, then on to Bethlehem to worship the infant King. (Tradition says there were 3 kings, because of the three gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh; but there may have been more, especially since all of Jerusalem was in an uproar over their sudden appearance. Three would seem too few to cause a city-wide reaction. Perhaps there were more and no doubt they were accompanied by soldiers for protection.) So their arrival was probably notable and provoked curiosity and speculation. Instead of fireworks, the star was a heavenly manifestation of something truly big and important going on. Folks in that time and era were much more tuned in to the movements of the stars and the appearance of new ones than many of us are today. For those who studied such things, this was an exciting phenomenon which led to an Epiphany (God-sighting).
We celebrate this Epiphany, the visitation of the Magi to honor Baby Jesus today, Epiphany Sunday. Three of our Scripture passages refer to this event.
A. Our Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 60:1-6, appears to ratify or agree with Balaam’s older prophesy. Isaiah (writing from 750-700BC) states in verses 1-3 Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to Your light and kings to the brightness of Your dawn. The prophet uses the Hebrew prophetic tense that speaks of things which have not yet taken place as though they have already come to be. Just as Balaam appeared to have viewed the star to come as a metaphor for Jesus, so too does Isaiah equate Messiah with heavenly light. He is predicting that the “Son of Righteousness,” Jesus, will arise upon Israel just as the sun rises out of and dissipates pitch darkness. Those were dark times in Israel, as they lived under Roman oppression, just as these are dark times for us. But, Jesus has come as our Redeemer. And He will come again to finally free the earth from the grips of evil.
Additionally, Isaiah foretells the arrival again—at Jesus’ 2nd Coming–of kings bringing gifts. They will bring gold and incense (frankincense), but no myrrh—an embalming compound–as death will have been eradicated.
B. Psalm 72 was written by King David as a prayer for the success of his son, Solomon, as he is crowned David’s successor.
In it, King David describes the traits of the ideal king (around 960BC). While these are the hopes of a proud father, the psalm also describes—at a deeper level—the reign of the coming Messiah: Messiah will judge the accused with absolute justice or fairness. He will crush oppressors and defend the vulnerable. He will live forever. He will ensure prosperity for all. He will rule all the earth. And, in what seems like a foretelling of today’s Gospel, (v.10) The kings of Tarshish [modern Spain], and of distant shores will bring tribute to Him; the kings of Sheba [Yemen] and Seba [Sudan or Ethiopia] will present Him gifts.
C. Our Gospeler, Matthew, was intent on proving to the Jewish people how Jesus fulfilled so many of the Old Testament prophesies about Messiah. In today’s passage (2:1-22), he demonstrates how Jesus fulfilled 4 such predictions:
(1)He points out that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and quotes the passage from Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah…out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel. So the minor prophet, speaking for God, precisely predicted Jesus’ birthplace. He was a contemporary of Isaiah, and so wrote during the same time period. He relates how Jesus had to be taken into Egypt to protect Him from Herod’s jealousy. Joseph is told in a dream to leave Bethlehem by night and take Mary and the baby to Egypt.
(2) Hosea, also a contemporary of Isaiah, had prophesied in chapter 11, verse 1 Out of Egypt I called my son. God had planned in advance to have Jesus escape Herod’s “slaughter of the innocents.”
(3) But Jeremiah (626-586BC) had predicted in chapter 31, verse 15 A voice is heard in Ramah [the vicinity of Bethlehem], weeping and great mourning, Rachel [a personification of Jewish mothers] weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.
(4) Finally, Matthew tells us they relocated from Egypt to Nazareth, at God’s direction, to fulfill the prophesy that the Messiah would be a Nazarene. One cannot locate that exact prophesy in the Old Testament. However, it is true that Isaiah 11:1 says a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The passage goes on to describe all the divine attributes of Messiah. Mary and Joseph both were descended from poor, seemingly insignificant branches (shoots) of King David’s dynastic tree. But consider how cleverly the Lord hid Jesus, protected Him–in a place that few would expect to find Him–until it came time for Him to begin His public ministry.
Matthew’s is the only Gospel to describe the visit of the Magi. Luke relates the shepherds’ worship of the newborn king (poor, often disregarded Jews); while Matthew wants us to know that Jesus’ birth attracted the wonder and adoration of Gentile dignitaries. Jesus is a King for us all.
How wonderful of God the Father to have signaled His love for the poor, for His Chosen people, and for we Gentiles, as well.
I don’t know about you but I am struck by the number of times Jesus’ birth was predicted. And not just His birth, but details about His early days; who saw Him and who worshipped Him; Satan’s attempts through Herod and others to eliminate Him; and Father God’s protection of Him.
I’m also amazed about who all prophesied His birth and His role in our lives…So many voices over so many different time periods, but all correct down to every detail. If you ever wonder, as I do occasionally, if all we believe about Jesus is true (doubt is a tool of the evil one), think of these passages and their remarkable consensus, across time and situations, about the reality of Jesus. Who then can doubt?
If I were not a believer and someone walked me through today’s readings, I think I would have to become a believer! To me the Biblical evidence is both convincing and overwhelming. Arise! Shine! For God’s Light has come!
©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams
Wellborn Methodist Church--Wellborn, Florida 