Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Without Regrets!

Pastor Sherry’s message for September 28, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 32:1-15; Ps 91; 1 Tim 6:6-19; Lk: 16:19-31

Before I begin this morning, I want to apologize to you for a mistake I made last Sunday. I really do my best to be sure what I preach and teach from Scripture is accurate and supported by the scholarship of noted Christian authorities in whom I trust. But last Sunday I wasn’t paying proper attention to the names of the two men in Jesus’ parable. I erroneously stated that the rich man was Lazarus and the poor man was Dives, when the opposite is true! The word divies means rich man in the original Greek of the New Testament. So that guy is really unnamed by Jesus—we just know him by his position, by his wealthy life style. And the poor man is named Lazarus (a possible clue that he is valued more by Jesus than the other guy?). Again I apologize for the mistake (I never claimed to be perfect, just forgiven!)

Unlike Jesus’ good friend, Lazarus, who He raised from the dead, and who was well off financially, this Lazarus was a poor, sick beggar. However, the two men were similar in that they were righteous believers in God. So the poor beggar finds himself in Paradise while the rich, entitled, godless Dives finds himself in Hades or Hell. Dives lived a life sold out to money;

In Jesus’ parable, Dives becomes the beggar—though with an arrogant attitude—while Lazarus has become the rich man.

(J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Luke, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.207.)

Do you think Dives regretted the ungodly way he lived his life? It seems pretty clear that he did. He’s living in torment and is desperate for a drop of water. If we don’t want what is happening to him to happen to us, we need to live our lives—beginning today if not before this—without regrets.

Our passages today suggest how we might accomplish this:

A. Both the Gospel passage (Luke 16:19-31) and Paul’s admonitions to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:6-19) warn us not to be tempted by the love of money. Focusing our thoughts and efforts on money will squeeze out or replace our single-minded devotion to God. Paul states in verse 10 (NLT) For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It may or can make life easier this side of eternity, but it doesn’t really satisfy. Being wealthy doesn’t guarantee us good health or gratifying relationships. What does ultimately satisfy is what Paul exhorts Timothy to do in verse 11—Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. By righteousness and godly living, he means live a life pleasing to God. Remember the “WWJD” bracelets from the 1990’s? If we would think before acting, “What would Jesus do?” we would find ourselves on the right track.  By then listing faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness, he is saying live a life that demonstrates the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22—…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control).

Paul goes on to urge young Pastor Timothy to (verses 17-19)—Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, Who rightly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life. In other words, it’s not having money that is the problem for us humans. The problem is do we spend our resources on just doing for ourselves—better and grander homes, better and grander vacations, more extravagant clothing, vehicles, toys and entertainments—or do we see the needs of others and give to them generously from our extra?  I participated in a weekly Bible Study small group for 5 years while I was in seminary. One couple in the group included a physician whose spouse invented and sold medical equipment. They were very wealthy. I wondered as we studied this very passage how they did not feel condemned. It was because they generously funded a number of charitable concerns.

Jesus tells us Dives lived in luxury, while Lazarus lay at Dives’ gates, a sick beggar, hoping for crumbs from Dives’ table. Apparently Dives knew of him but never offered to help him. He could have offered him medical treatment, but he didn’t. He could have provided him some “take out” from his table, but he didn’t. Dives was selfish and self-focused. His love of money blinded him to the needs of others. He did not love God. He did not love others. No wonder he found himself in the bad place, enduring eternal regrets! As I said last Sunday, this is not where we want to find ourselves.

B. Psalm 91 is extraordinarily comforting, isn’t it? Iff (this is an indicator of an important “if” clause) we (v.1)— live in the shelter of the Most High…and iff (v.2)—[God] alone is my refuge, my place of safety…my God, and I trust Him…Then (v.3)—…He will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.  He protects those who trust in Him. We who do trust in Him are protected from enemies, disease, the wicked, and fear…because He assigns His angels to watch over us. Friday I talked to someone who had prayed—like I did—for God’s protection over their home during the worst of our three hurricanes last year. As with me, trees were blown over all around them, but none fell on their house or car. I prayed for safety from 11:00pm until 2:00am (the time the hurricane was raging over my neighborhood)—and even heard the sound of a tornado (striking the chimney of a neighbor 2 houses away), but my home stayed safe. I had a pastor friend who lived in a coastal Mississippi town during Hurricane Katrina. Her home was the only one left standing in her neighborhood. She told me she was embarrassed before her neighbors. I replied that her home was a monument/an Ebenezer to the goodness of God to those who love Him. Hers is an example of the safety that this psalm speaks of. This is the result of our faith in a God who keeps His promises.

In verse 14, the psalmist writes—The Lord says “I will rescue those who love Me. I will protect those who trust in My name.” If you can say this and believe it, God holds you in the palm of His hand.

Truly trusting in God is a way to live life without regrets.

C. But you may point to our Old Testament lesson (Jeremiah 32:1-15) and say, “But what about them?” As we tune into the prophet, the year is 587 BC and Jerusalem is under siege by the Babylonians. For over 30 months, their army starved the city into surrender and then swept in through the broken down walls and gates, overcoming any remaining opposition. They destroyed the Temple of God. They set fire to the city. They slaughtered the old and the infirm, and carried off most of the rest into slavery in Babylon. The godless king, Zedekiah, escaped but was captured by Nebuchadnezzar in Jericho. He was forced to watch all his sons put to the sword; and then he was blinded and led off to Babylon.

Prior to this, Jeremiah had been imprisoned by the heretical king, because Zedekiah hated hearing the prophet’s accurate predictions of Jerusalem’s coming defeat. I wonder if he regretted having blown off Jeremiah’s warnings. 

Curiously, in the midst of the siege, God tells Jeremiah to buy property in his hometown, Anathoth. Doesn’t it seem strange to buy property—a sign of hope in the future—in the midst of wartime and defeat? But God is thereby saying to Jeremiah and the people of the Southern Kingdom that “this too shall pass.” Have you ever said this to yourself? I have. My mother died just before my comprehensive exams, tests over every class I had taken in my doctoral program. I was grieving as I had to dedicate time to study, but consoled myself saying, “This too shall pass.” I did the same while undergoing childbirth, surgeries, and other painful things—and so can you! The Lord is intimating, through this real estate transaction, that His chastened people, cleansed of idolatry, will return to the Land. And 70 years later, the king of Persia, Cyrus, frees them to return and to rebuild Jerusalem. Of course, Jeremiah has long since perished, but God’s restoration of His people came to pass. The point is that our God redeems His people. He may discipline us, but we can hope in the future because of His love for us.

Let’s have no regrets!  Let’s choose to live our lives in such a way that we please our all-powerful, loving and grace-filled God. The psychologist Erik Erikson postulated that we are presented with a series of developmental stages as we progress through life. He believed we are confronted with a crisis at each stage that we must master in order to enjoy good mental health thereafter. The first one, at about age 2, is “Trust vs. Mistrust”. By that point have we learned to trust others or not? If not, we will be emotionally crippled as we move through the remainder of our life. Interestingly, he named the final stage before death, “Integrity v. Despair.” To be emotionally healthy in old age, we need to be able to look back over our life and decide that despite our flaws, we actually did the best we could. In other words, we can say we have few regrets. Those who, like Dives, see a number of instances where we made fatal mistakes will find ourselves in despair. Let’s determine now, today, to live so that we die without regrets.

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Single-minded Devotion

Pastor Sherry’s message for September 21, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 8:-9:1; Ps 4; 1 Tim 2:1-7; Lk 16:1-13

Have you ever considered to what or to whom you might be single-mindedly devoted? To what in your life do you most give your attention and your effort? (1) Your spouse, focusing on his or her health and wellbeing? Charlie Kirk’s wife Ericka said recently that he asked her daily, “How can I serve you today?” He was a committed Christian but it also seems like he approached his marriage with a servant’s heart. (2) Your children or grandchildren? Are you fixated on their behavior, good or not so? Do you find yourself praying for their future spouse or for them to make wise decisions? (3) What about an aging parent? Are you absorbed with remembering their doctors’ appointments? Their medications? Their physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing? (4) Or perhaps you are obsessed with your physical home? The repairs that are needed? Worried about worn out appliances or systems (roof, AC, heat, etc.) that should be replaced? Perhaps your pets take most of your attention (health, food, behavior.) This week I spent a significant time at the vets with a sick cat, so I know how that can happen. (6) Or maybe you are fixated on your work? Crops that demand harvesting now, or looming deadlines that demand your time and energy? Someone told me he had 4 deadlines to meet in 4 days this past week. It made for a very stressful few days. Frustrations with a boss that cannot be satisfied, miserable office mates, or work that has become boring and meaningless can all engross your time and mental effort.

Do you notice what I haven’t yet mentioned: Our God. Can we honestly say we have a single-minded focus on our Lord? This is the point of today’s seemingly “squirrely” Gospel (Luke 16:1-13). In it, Jesus tells the story of a dishonest but street-smart steward—let’s think of him as a manager of a “big box store” like Lowe’s or Home Depot. He’s supposed to be overseeing the condition and sale of the corporation’s goods, the dedication and performance of his employees, the satisfaction and safety of his customers, and the orderliness and cleanliness of the physical plant. But instead, corporate hears (probably due to a whistleblower) that he’s been dishonest and needs to be fired. The higher ups call him to task; his head’s on “the chopping block.” “Be prepared to endure an audit,” they say. “Be prepared to explain why you should not be fired immediately.”

This shrewd manager calls in customers whose accounts are in arrears, and offers them sweet deals. True, he’s tampering with the books—cheating the company–but says to one building contractor, “Here, I’ll cut what you owe Lowe’s in half.”  For another, he reduces the balance owed by 1/5th. Why the difference? Maybe one is his cousin or his brother-in-law, while the other is only a stranger. This is certainly a corrupt way to conduct business, but remember, the guy is a scoundrel! His single-minded devotion is to his own future! He’s hoping that when he is fired, these guys will remember him kindly and perhaps offer him a job. They may offer him a job not because he’s competent or honest, but because he did them a huge favor (quid pro quo).

Jesus is not commending him because he’s a model manager. The guy’s a crook who deserves to be fired! This parable is what is called a “parable of contrast”; by contrast, we don’t want to follow this guy’s immoral example. Think about the Rich Man, Lazarus, and the poor beggar, Dives (Luke 16:19-31). Lazarus never helped Dives while they both lived. Jesus says this Lazarus goes to hell but he wants Dives, who went to heaven, to go warn his living brothers of the dangers of being selg-focused and neglecting the poor. Jesus is saying, Don’t be like this Lazarus. Similarly with the fellow who goes to the king’s wedding but refuses to wear the wedding garments (Matthew 22:1-14). The king has already invited his friends, but they all give lame excuses not to attend. So, in anger, the king tells his servants to go out into the streets and bring in even strangers and the homeless. This random guy attends the wedding, but is not suitably attired, even though the king provided the appropriate clothing. The man is thrown out, losing heaven due to his ungrateful and rebellious spirit. Again, Jesus is saying, Don’t be like this guy!

Jesus does commend the unscrupulous manager due to his single-minded devotion—even though his focus is on himself and his personal economic security. Our Lord wants our focus to be single-mindedly on Him and on His Kingdom. We are to put Jesus first, daily, hourly.

I The other passages appointed for today help explain why our focus should be single-mindedly on Christ:

A. In Jeremiah 8:8-9:1, we find God about to punish the folks of the Southern Kingdom for not attending His prophet. Jeremiah weeps over Jerusalem and his countrymen. The Lord has allowed him to see into the future. He knows and describes the extreme devastation about to come. The Lord, too, is heartbroken that they are so hard-headed and so rebellious. Clearly there was enough balm or healing ointment in Gilead to heal them all; but they refused to humble themselves, ask God’s forgiveness, and accept His remedy. If they had remained faithful to the Lord, the Babylonians would not have been able to invade and subdue them. If they had single-mindedly focused on the Lord, they could have averted calamity and chastisement.

This brings me to an important aside: Do we really want to be healed? Sometimes—not always—it takes being submitted to God’s will, humbling ourselves, and also being repentant. It takes being willing to do whatever it takes. I remember a woman in seminary whose teen daughter was bedridden with an auto-immune disorder. She spent all she had chasing a cure for her child. She was actually single-mindedly focused on helping her daughter get well—to the exclusion of classes, assignments, and a fulltime job. She traveled to cities at some distance, whenever someone would say they knew of a doctor there or of an allergy specialist who had cured someone with similar symptoms. When one doctor at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh accused her of having Munchausen’s by Proxy—a condition where the parent makes the child sick so the parent can receive attention—the woman grew furious and told the medical fellow he was blaming her because he could not figure out what was wrong with her child. Finally, she heard of a doctor at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore who was researching teenaged autoimmune disorders. She took her adolescent there and they discerned the girl had all the classic symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Disorder, an illness little understood in the late 1990’s. Nevertheless, the girl and her mother finally had a diagnosis. It took another several years before the teen was healed, this time at a church in South Georgia who had a healing ministry. Are we willing to do all it takes to be healed? This woman was, for the sake of her child. 

B. In 1st Timothy 2:1-7, Paul tells us we must pray for our leaders and pray for our country. We are to pray for our leaders even if we didn’t vote for them; even if we don’t like or respect them; and even if we believe they are corrupt. Apparently there is an “assassination culture” gathering strength in our country today whose adherents believe that it is acceptable to kill those with whom we disagree politically. This should be abhorrent to us as Christians. We are not to kill our political adversaries. Paul insists we pray for those with whom we disagree. We ask God to help them see the Light (God’s Truth); we intercede for them; and we even give thanks for them.  

Paul goes on to say that he was chosen by Jesus to carry the message of Christ, as the Mediator between us and God the Father, to the Gentiles (the Lost at that time). We too are to carry the message that Jesus died to redeem sinners to those who don’t yet believe in Him. As he says in 2 Corinthians 5:18, we are Christ’s ambassadors, meant to join Him in this work of reconciliation. Without a doubt, Paul certainly served as a great example of single-minded devotion to Jesus.

C. Finally, in Psalm 4, David emphasizes for us the idea of God as redeemer and protector. In verse 1, he reveals that he is just like the rest of us—“His heart failed in the time of trouble.” (McGee, Psalms, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.42.) It’s true, isn’t it? Like the Shrewd Steward, we often focus on “Woe is me” when we encounter trouble, instead of taking our trouble to the Lord and trusting Him to deal with it. In verses 2-3, David rebukes his enemies, and reassures himself that God will answer his earnest prayers. Further, in verses 4-5, he gives advice to the godly, those of us who love the Lord to not sin in our anger, and to trust in God. In the final three verses of the Psalm, he remembers God’s goodness to him, and that he can sleep well knowing the Lord keeps him safe.  David was, for the most part, single-minded in his devotion to God.

Let’s review the steps he recommends: (1) Recognize that our default is to lose heart when challenged with a crisis. (2) Reassure ourselves that God is for us, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). (3) Don’t proceed to sin, but trust in God. (4) Remember God’s goodness—you can rest in it.

This week, let’s try to follow his example and that of Paul. Lord, please give us hearts that are truly devoted to You. Amen!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Lost, but Found

Pastor Sherry’s message for September 14, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 4:4-12, 19-28; Ps 14; 1 Tim 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-10

Perhaps you have been more discerning than I have as you have read the 15th chapter of Luke. In studying our Scripture passages this week, I realized I had never quite put it together that the 3 parables Jesus provides the Pharisees about “lost things” are each a response to their grumbling criticisms. They notice that He hangs out with and even eats with notorious sinners.  They are critical of Jesus because He does not behave as they do–He does not always go along with the status quo, the expected way they think people, especially rabbis, should behave. He dares to do something different, something unexpected.  Rather than consider that they might be wrong in their attitudes and behavior, they find offense and reject Jesus. Nevertheless, He shares 3 stories (parables) that perfectly demonstrate God’s attitude toward “the lost.”

The Pharisees could easily grasp the need to locate a lost sheep.  A sheep represented money on 4 hooves. Any economically shrewd shepherd would go search for this absent asset–perhaps not because they valued the particular sheep per se, but because they valued the asset it represented. They could also understand the imperative to search for a missing coin of significant value. What was lost to them, however, was the Lord’s priority to locate and bring into His Kingdom people who had wandered far from God—people whom He knew needed Him.

Jesus wanted them…”to make the leap from sheep and coin to tax collector and sinner.”  (borrowed from www.Sermons.com, 9/9/2025.)

Our Lord knew that our values drive our behaviors. He knew that the Pharisees, God’s spiritual shepherds, did not value lost people.  He knew that God the Father did, as did He.  He taught these parables, hoping the religious leadership of His day would get it. Our God is a God of grace, love, and mercy. But they stubbornly held to their notion that He is a rather heartless God of rules.

At one time or another, we have all been lost. Aren’t we grateful we have a God who searches for and saves the lost? Consider this true story:

“Nine hundred miles out to sea, on an ocean liner headed to the Middle East, a sail was sighted on the horizon. As the liner drew closer, the passengers saw that the boat—a small sloop flying a Turkish flag—had run up a distress signal and other flags asking for its position at sea. Through a faulty chronometer or immature navigation the small vessel had become lost. For nearly an hour the liner circled the little boat, giving its crew correct latitude and longitude.  Naturally there was a great deal of interest in all the proceedings among the passengers of the liner.  A 12 year-old-boy remarked aloud to himself—‘It’s a big ocean to be lost in.’

“It’s a big universe to be lost in, too.  And we do get lost—we get mixed up and turned around. We despair, we make mistakes, we do evil to each other [e.g., the man who killed the Ukrainian refugee woman on the train in Charlotte, NC, and the assassin of Charlie Kirk].  We deserve the wrath of God and that is what the Pharisees who criticized Jesus maintained.  But Jesus understood God more.  He knew God as a Shepherd in search of the one lost sheep.  He knew God as if He were] a woman searching in the dark, in the crevasses, for that valuable coin.  In the end it was Jesus’ view of God which prevailed and not his critics. 

(Brett Blair, Christian Globe Network, as presented by www.Sermons.com, 9/9/25.)

Thank God our Lord is concerned about the very least of us—those without wealth, influence, popularity, and looks. Thank God our Lord loves us despite our sin and how often we disappoint Him.Thank God our Lord seeks to find and save the lost.

Hear the cry of God’s heart for the lost:

A.  In our Old Testament lesson (Jeremiah 4:4-12, 19-28), beginning back in verse 1, the lord makes it clear that He wants the people of Jerusalem and Judea to give up their idol worship and return to Him.  As J.Vernon McGee states, “He is vitally interested in them and He wants to bring them back into right relationship with Him.”  (Mc.Gee, Through the Bible commentary on Jeremiah, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.42).  God wants them to (v.4)  surrender your pride and your power.  The situation is dire:  Unless they obey God, He is going to unleash a lion of destruction upon them (The Babylonian Empire).

While Jeremiah weeps as he gives his countrymen this dreadful prophesy, God says in verse 22 (NLT)  My people are foolish and do not know Me…they are stupid children who have no understanding.  What would He say about us in America today?  Don’t you think His message would be similar?  We tend to believe we can proceed as a country indefinitely into the future.  But our founders at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts made a covenant agreement with the Lord.  We would be a city built on a hill, a light to the nations.  They dedicated our country to God.  We have over the past 250 years broken this covenant.  The choice facing the folks in Jerusalem during the 580’s is the same one we face today:  Pray, repent, fast, turn back to God, or face the destruction, the ruins, the barrenness Jeremiah predicted in verses 23-28.  There is a cost to stubbornly, willfully remaining lost.

     B.  In Psalm 14, King David is also prophesying, but about the depravity of humans in the last days.  He agrees with God’s assessment, as I just reviewed and as was stated later in Jeremiah 4:22, asserting  Only fools say in their hearts, there is no God.  They are corrupt, and their actions are evil.  None of them does good.  David predicts that in those days many will turn against God.  Without God, neither their intellects nor their academic credentials (nor their money or their influence) will save them.  David predicts people will turn against God and against each other.

However, due to God’s mercy and His pursuit of the Lost, in verse 7, David concludes that salvation will come out of Zion’s hills  Jesus will arrive, riding on the clouds.  (Look up on YouTubeMusic the contemporary Christian song, “These are the days of Elijah.”  Listen and see how the writer incorporated verse 7 into the chorus.)  Even when things appear the darkest ever, our God has a plan for our redemption.  Jesus, in His 2nd Coming, will once again rescue those who have survived the Great Tribulation, believing in Him.

    C.  Finally, we see in Paul’s 1st letter to Timothy (1 Timothy1:12-17)– who he brought to faith and mentored—that Paul is exceedingly thankful for God’s grace-filled pursuit of his lost self.  He admits that he was saved by grace; he knows that Jesus Christ Himself put him into the ministry.  This was nothing he had earned or merited.  He had been an enemy of the infant Christian Church.  In verse 14, Paul praises the Lord for filling him with faith in and love for Jesus.  And then, in verse 15 (NLT), he asserts so beautifully and so famously—This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it.  “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.”  How honest he is with Timothy and with us!  How many of us would be willing to admit—especially to someone who looks up to us–that we are terrible sinners?

Paul realizes that he was lost, and then found and redeemed by Jesus.  He admits he was a sinner who repented, and that the Lord has used him in ministry as both a preacher of the Gospel and an example of the Gospel in action.  (J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on First Timothy, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.32.).

Essentially, what Paul is saying to encourage Timothy is that he was lost and now found, and so can anyone be who believes in Jesus!  He admits he was a sinner who repented, and that the Lord has used him in ministry as botha preacher of the Gospel and as an example of the Gospel in action (J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on 1st Timothy, Thomas nelson, 1001, p.32.).

Our Lord Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  That’s us…each one of us in the words of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” I once was lost but now am found.”  This is why we need to be mindful of the God-ordained opportunities that present themselves to us to tell others about Jesus, and to pray for their faith and their situations.  Thank you, Jesus, that You seek us until You find us. We are all so grateful!  We praise You, we bless You, and we adore You. Amen!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Living by God’s Grace

Pastor Sherry’s message for September 7, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 18:1-11; Ps 139:1-6, 13-18; Phi 1:4-21; Lk 14:25-33

Consider the following true story:

“Missionaries Robert and Mary Moffat labored faithfully in Bechuanaland (now called Botswana) ten years without one ray of encouragement to brighten their way.They could not report a single convert.

“Finally the directors of their mission board began to question the wisdom of continuing the work. The thought of leaving their post, however, brought great grief to this devoted couple, for they felt sure that God was in their labors, and that they would see people turn to Christ in due season. They stayed, and for a year or two longer, darkness reigned.  [They worked there for 12 years!]

“One day a friend in England sent word to the Moffats that she wanted to mail them a gift and asked what they would like.Trusting that in time the Lord would bless their work, Mrs. Moffat replied, “Send us a communion set; I am sure it will soon be needed.” God honored that dear woman’s faith. The Holy Spirit moved upon the hearts of the villagers, and soon a little group of six converts was united to form the first Christian church in that land. The communion set from England was delayed in the mail, but on the very day before the first commemoration of the Lord’s Supper in Bechuanaland, the set arrived.”

(Robert J. Morgan, ed., Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes (Thomas Nelson, 2000, p.138).

At first brush, it would seem this is a story about the persistent faith of the missionaries, Mary and Robert Moffat.  It clearly is a great example of trusting in God no matter your circumstances. But let’s not miss that it is also a lesson about God’s grace.  Remember grace is unmerited favor, undeserved and often unexpected blessing. It was by God’s grace that their English friend offered to send them something right then to help them with their missionary work. It was by God’s grace that—after 12 years without a convert—6 Botswanans were ready, at that time, to choose to follow Jesus. It was by God’s grace that the communion set arrived just in time for their first communion service.

And so it is with all of us…instead of the Humpty Dumpty poem, let’s consider this version on grace:

Jesus Christ came to our wall,

Jesus Christ died for our fall;

So that regardless of death and in spite of our sin,

Through grace, He might put us together again.

(Anonymous entry in Chuck Swindoll’s The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, p.251.)

You may recall in the original poem that, “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty back together again…” but Jesus can!

Paul wrote long ago in Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT) God saved you by His grace when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  Grace is a gift from God. And grace is also a choice we make:  We can choose to offer it to others; Or we can choose to withhold it.

Our Scripture lessons today are all about what it means to be a true disciple of Christ.  As we review them this morning, let’s examine them through the lens of giving or withholding grace.

A.  Our OT lesson is from Jeremiah 18:1-11.  God directs the prophet to go observe what takes place at a potter’s shop. Then, as now, potters worked moist clay on a wheel. As the wheel spun, the potter would use his hands to shape the clay into a bowl or pot to then be fired or hardened in a kiln. The image of a potter with wet clay is a metaphor for God’s relationship with Judah, back then, and with us now. If the clay (we) are malleable, then the potter (God) can mold and shape according to His plan.

Notice, the power of the Potter is absolute!  He has a plan, a purpose as He works in and with us. If we allow Him to do so, He has the power to shape us into vessels of honor.  This requires us to be totally cooperative and totally committed.  True disciples say “yes” to this process. But perhaps even better, if we turn out rebellious or flawed in some way, He can rework cracked pots like us, as a result of His love, mercy and grace. Disciples and followers of Jesus Christ cooperate with God, the Potter, because we realize He approaches us with grace.  He has chosen to be grace-filled toward us.

God has chosen to offer grace to us. As a consequence, we should be willing to offer grace to others.

B.  Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 gives us a perfect rationale for becoming a true disciple of Christ.  In Verses1-4, King David affirms He has searched us and He knows us. He knows who we are.  He knows our thoughts. He knows what we intend to say before we say it. He knows everything we do. There is no hiding from Him!  We may hide things from our friends and families, but not from God! And yet He loves us and offers us His grace. 

Since He is omniscient (knows all things) and also omnipresent (is everywhere), There is nowhere that we can run to escape Him or His knowledge of us.  If His intentions for us were bad, this would be excruciating for us.  But He is patient with us.  He loves us and offers us His grace.

And, verses13-16 He made us (knit me [us] together in my [our] mother’s womb).  He ordained how long we would live.  And He envisioned a plan and a purpose for each of us.

This psalm assures us that God knows us intimately—better and longer than anyone else—and despite our faults and flaws, wants us to form a deep, loving relationship with Him.  Doesn’t it just make so much sense for us to want to fall into step with God’s plan? Those of us who have ignored God’s plan for our lives, and walked our own way, know that pathway leads to turmoil and trouble. Truthfully, aren’t we both surprised and gratified by God’s grace toward us?

Again, as a result, true disciples of Christ choose to offer grace to others.

C.  Our NT lesson this morning is from Philemon—such a little jewel of a letter!  Paul is in prison, waiting to be executed (about 60AD), but he takes the time to write a Christian friend, Philemon, who lives back in Colossae (present day Turkey).  Remember, most all of Paul’s epistles were to churches.  A few, like his letters to Titus and Timothy, were intended to teach and to encourage new pastors of the infant Christian Church.  But Philemon is the one personal letter included in the canon of Scripture to teach us about grace.

Paul, who had persecuted the infant Church, knew he had been a proud, wicked, wrong-headed, man saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. As a result of having been shown grace, he uses the word grace over 100 times in his writings (Jesus and the other disciples use it about 40 times).

Here he addresses Philemon, the slave-owner of Onesimus, both of whom Paul had led to Christ.  Instead of insisting Philemon accept Onesimus back without vengeance, Paul blesses the man and asks him to accept Onesimus back as a freed brother-in-Christ.  He is asking Philemon—out of love for Paul and as a true disciple of Jesus—to offer grace and freedom to Onesimus. In those days, slave owners had life and death control over their slaves and slaves were considered their property.  However, as the Apostle John reminds us, (John 8:36) So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  Paul is urging, not demanding, that Philemon offer forgiveness to Onesimus. This is no longer an economic  or property issue, but a moral and a spiritual one.  In those days, the Roman Empire was said to have a population of 120 million, 1/2 or 60 million of whom were slaves.  The practice to own another person was common, but Paul wants the members of the Church to choose grace.  Again, true disciples of Christ seek to please the Lord by freely offering grace to others.

D.  Finally, in today’s Gospel lesson (Luke14:25-33), Jesus draws our attention to the cost of discipleship. Believers or followers should think through committing themselves to being disciples, as the cost is high.  Nothing is to come before Jesus in our hearts–not spouses, children, parents, siblings, self, etc.  We don’t have to hate these relationships. There is a place for them in our lives, but all of them need to take back seat to Jesus.  This is one cost to consider.

Additionally, just as a builder considers his/her resources before planning construction, and just as a king considers his resources before engaging in battle, so too must we estimate or count the cost of becoming a disciple of Christ.  If you can’t commit all, then remain a believer, a follower. But being Jesus’ disciple, a true disciple, means being willing to give all of one’s self to the effort, including carrying a cross.  It also means offering grace to others, even though you might be angry with or disappointed in them.

We offer grace to others not because they deserve it, but because God has offered it to us when we did not deserve it. True disciples of Jesus allow God to mold and shape us, like a potter with clay. True disciples of Jesus understand that since God made us, knows us, and knows the future, it makes good sense to fall into line with His plans for us. True disciples of Jesus learn to let go and let God. True disciples of Jesus have reviewed the potential cost, but commit to Christ, choosing to live by God’s grace, and choosing to extend grace to others.  Amen!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Humble Yourself in the Sight of the Lord

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 31, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 2:1-13; Ps 81:1,10-16; Heb 13:1-8,15-16; Lk 14:1-14

I begin today by playing the acapella version of “Humble Yourself in the Sight of the Lord” (by The Acapella Company; see YouTube music).  These folks have very effectively combined the verse from James 4:10 (NRSV) :  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you!—with our Gospel lesson and with verses from “Amazing Grace.”  It’s beautiful, isn’t it?  It seems that the way to elevate ourselves in God’s eyes is to be humble.

Consider this example from, “A radio conversation between a US naval vessel and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland.

Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.

Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER  USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS.  I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, THAT’S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER- MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.

Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.”

(Borrowed from www.thepastor’sworkshop.com, 8/28/25)

Slightly embarrassing, wouldn’t you say?  The aircraft carrier captain had to humble himself or risk running aground on rocks, sandbars, or perhaps icebergs.  Having come from three generations of US naval personnel, I know that the worst offense one can commit in the Navy is to run your ship aground.  Any ship captain unfortunate enough to do this is immediately relieved of his command and can kiss his career in the service goodbye!

The Proverbs often point out that God hates human pride (8:13) and the Psalms(149:4) insist that He…crowns the humble with victory.

This is the point of all of our readings today.  Let’s examine them together.

A.  In Luke 14:1-14. Jesus appears intent on teaching the Pharisees a lesson on etiquette—but it’s more consequential than that.  He has been invited to dine at a Pharisee’s house. The Gospels record several of these occasions, each of which provides a lesson for the haughty religious leaders.  In this case, the host has set a trap.  It’s the Sabbath. They produce a man with “Dropsy”—what we today call “Edema,” serious swelling of the arms and legs—and watch to see what Jesus will do. This side of the Cross, we know Jesus will heal the guy, because He came to bind up the broken-hearted and to set the captives (of illness) free.

He asks the religious leaders (vv.3-4, NLT): Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?  When they remain silent, He asks them another question (v.5): Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath?  If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?  Of course events and needs occasionally necessitate that they work on the Sabbath.  (They defined healing as work.)  The religious leaders remain silent because their hearts are hard—they are blinded by their sin of pride.  They believe they know better than God’s own Son how folks are to behave on the Sabbath. 

The Lord then provides a lesson for the guests at the dinner, the “Parable of the Impolite Guests”:  In those days, there were no place cards to reserve seating.  Think about wedding receptions today.  The bride and her mother work tirelessly to be sure those seated next to each other are friendly and get along.  Woe be unto anyone who comes in and moves the place cards around to suit themselves! But Jesus observes that in their pride, these guests rush to put themselves in the seats of honor, the 4 middle of three seats on each side of a table; or if the seating arrangement were U-shaped, the seat of honor was at the bottom of the U.  Jesus watched these guests exalting themselves; each one was only thinking of himself.  Jesus instructs them to seek the least favored place and then be happily surprised when the host invites them to accept a more honored place.  He then summarizes His lesson in verse 11—>For those who humble themselves will be exalted and those who exalt themselves will be humbled.  We please God by being and behaving humbly.

(Darrell Bock, The NIV Application Commentary, Zondervan, 1996, pp.392-393.)

Jesus’ lesson for the hosts is similar: Serve the needy, not those for whom you feel a social obligation, for such humble service pleases God.

B. The writer to the Hebrews (13:1-8, 15-16) lists out for us behaviors, such as the following, that should characterize all Christians:

1. Love each other, as we are all brothers and sisters;

2. Show hospitality to strangers (and entertain angels?).  A clergy wife told me recently that her pastor husband encountered a homeless man at the mall, playing a guitar with an open guitar case to catch donations.  The young man was an excellent musician, and the pastor—a guitar player himself—was impressed.  So he complimented the man and dropped a $10.00 bill in his guitar case, and then walked away.  Thinking the young man may have been an angel, his wife asked him when he recounted the incident, “Why didn’t you invite him home for a shower and a meal, and offer to allow him to wash his clothes?”  She had remembered this verse from Hebrews 13

3. Remember those in prison and those mistreated;

4. Remain faithful in marriage;

5. Do not love money, but be satisfied with what you have;

6. Have no fear, because the Lord is our helper;

7. Remember your leaders who taught you the Word of God;

8. Praise Jesus often because…(v.8):  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

We are also to continue to humbly do good, and to share with those in need, because (v.16): These are the sacrifices that please God.

C. In Jeremiah 2:1-13, the Lord is lamenting, through His prophet, how His Chosen People have deserted Him.  He poignantly reminisces about the “springtime” of their relationship with Him.  He protected them in the wilderness.  He brought them into a rich land.

But once they inherited the Land, they forgot Him (Read the books of Joshua and Judges).  Even the priests and the pastors deserted Him!

The people of Jerusalem and Judea fell into the 3 evils that universally and historically lead to a nations’ collapse:  (1) Spiritual apostasy—they abandoned the One, True God; (2) Moral awfulness—instead of behaving like a people group set apart, they joined into pagan sexual rituals and chose to serve false gods they could manipulate; and (3) Political anarchy.  As we think about these three causes of national collapse, consider where we are as a country today: Spiritual apostasy?  Check.  Moral degradation?  Check.  Political anarchy?  Almost.  In recognizing this, we can appeal to the Lord to help our country turn back to Him.  This takes concerted prayer and country-wide revival.

(Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p.29.) 

So how did the Southern Kingdom specifically and thoroughly offend God?  They rejected Him for idols and pagan deities, and they built shrines to these false gods and worshipped them.

Interestingly, God Himself humbly asks them (v.6): What did your ancestors find wrong with Me that led them to stray so far from Me? They worshipped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves.  This is certainly a strong condemnation from the Lord!  Almost again, as in a law court, He is asking what He’s done or not done that justifies their defection.  He, the Creator of the Universe, is humble.

So too was Jesus, as He humbled Himself and endured a criminal’s death on the cross for our sakes. 

God concludes, in verse 13, that in their pride and arrogance, “My people have done two evil things:  They have abandoned Me—the fountain of living water, and they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all.”  Rather than humble themselves in the sight of the Lord, they adopted gods they could manipulate, gods whose worship included sexually immoral behavior, gods made in their image rather than in that of the Lord.

D. The portion of Psalm 81 that we read today (1, 10-16) is a call to celebrate God because He delivered them from bondage in Egypt and blessed them.  But as the author, Asaph, continues, it is clear that God is severely disappointed in them (vv.11-12): But no, My people wouldn’t listen.  Israel did not want Me around. So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas.  Who had become their God?  Just like Satan in his fall from heaven, just like Adam and Eve who wanted to be like God, they succumbed to their pride and decided for themselves who they would let act as their gods.  And like the lamenting Lord in Jeremiah 2, God states that if they would just return to Him, He would both subdue their enemies (protect them) and provide for their needs.  Humility before God is key. 

Remember Micah 6:8: He has shown you, O man [O woman], what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.   There it is: Be just and merciful toward others, and walk humbly with God.  Our pride has no place in our relationship with God.  Our God could rightly shine forth with all pride and arrogance, but He doesn’t.  We are to be like Him in this, to be humble.  Like the aircraft carrier’s captain, we hold onto our pride at a serious potential cost.  Like the impolite banquet guests at the Pharisee’s house, we are to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord so that He may lift us higher and higher.  Amen!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Running an Endurance Race

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 24, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 1:1-10; Ps 71:1-8; Heb 12:1-13; Lk 13:22-30

Our Gospel lesson this morning (Luke 13:22-30) is very sobering.  In it Jesus states firmly to His Jewish followers that many may know of Him, but only a relative few of them will enter His Kingdom. 

Consider this story told by Ravi Zackarias:

“On his way to work every day, a man walked past a clockmaker’s store.  Without fail, he would stop and reset his watch from the clock in the window, then proceed on to the factory.  The clockmaker observed this scene morning after morning.  One day he stepped outside and asked the man what he did and why he set his watch every morning.  The man replied, ‘I’m the watchman at the factory, and it’s part of my job to blow the 4:00 whistle for the end of the day.  My watch is slow, so I reset it [by your clock] every morning.’ The clockmaker laughed and said, ‘You won’t believe this.  That clock in the window is fast, so I reset it every afternoon by the factory whistle. Heaven only knows what time it really is.’”

(retold from The Real Face of Atheism, Baker books, 2004, p.52.)

Each man’s standard was the other guy’s timepiece. Incidentally, often before church I compare my watch and the church clock with a parishioner’s phone. My watch runs slow and so does the church clock. I know your time is important to you. I don’t want to start church either too early or too late. We figure the time on our phones is probably most accurate—but again, who really knows? Nevertheless, the point of the story is that we have to be aware of the accuracy of the standard against which we measure our behavior.

No standard is going to be as accurate as that set by Jesus. He’s on His way to Jerusalem to be crucified, teaching as He goes, no doubt imparting what He knows are the most important teachings to leave with folks.  Someone in the crowd asks, (v.23):Lord, will only a few be saved?  Whoever this is has been listening to Jesus’ Kingdom parables and apparently finds the standards the Lord sets out to be high. And Jesus answers that that person is correct in his assessment. The door by which we gain entrance is narrow—only through Jesus–though the road to Him is broad.  Not everyone who attempts to enter will be allowed in.  In fact, (vv.25-27):When the Master of the house [God the Father] has locked the door, it will be too late.  You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’  But He will reply, “I don’t know you or where you come from.’  Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with You, and You taught in our streets.’  And He will reply, “I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from.  Get away from Me, all you who do evil.” 

The door is narrow because it’s not enough to simply know about Jesus. The only ones entering His Kingdom are those with a personal relationship with Him (those who are born again): Those who believe in Him; Those who are obedient to Him. The fact that you may have heard of Jesus will not be enough. The fact that you were a nice person in this life will not be enough. Neither your DNA, nor your church attendance, nor the fact that your grandma or grandpa was a believer will be enough. You, yourself must have made a decision during your lifetime for Christ. Even more alarming is the fact that Jesus already knew many of His Jewish brothers and sisters—despite His death on the Cross–would reject Him, and yet He still trudged on toward Jerusalem. He ends the parable by saying that many Gentile believers would enter in while God’s Chosen People would exclude themselves by their unbelief. No wonder a few verses later (34-35), Jesus will weep over Jerusalem. 

Why would our Lord be so grieved?  He loves us and He desires that none should perish.  Our other lessons point out some additional reasons.

A.  Jeremiah 1:1-10 recounts for us God’s call to Jeremiah to become a prophet.  Jeremiah was probably between17-20 when God ordained him (around 626BC). His father, Hilkiah, was already serving the Lord as a priest in their home town of Anathoth, located just north of Jerusalem. Because of his age and position, scholars believe Jeremiah and King Josiah may have been friends.  King Josiah was about 22 at that time and reigned until he died at age 39, another 17 years later. Jeremiah served all during the remainder of Josiah’s reign, as well as during the reigns of kings Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim (sons of Josiah), Jehoiachin (Josiah’s grandson), and Zedekiah (a third son of Josiah’s). Josiah had been a good and godly king, and had led his people in a revival, leading their hearts back to God.  But his sons and grandsons were another story.  Because of their idolatry and wicked behavior, God allowed the last (Zedekiah) to be defeated and carried off into slavery by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  In fact, Nebuchadnezzar forced him to watch his sons be murdered before putting his eyes out.  Zedekiah’s last sight was observing his sons die, a truly cruel punishment. 

But, to return to Jeremiah, notice how God calls him into service:  Verse 5, NLT:Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.  This is pretty impressive, isn’t it?  It implies that God knows us before we are even conceived, that He calls us into being, and that He has a plan for our lives.  This is the best argument against abortion that I know.  We come into being at God’s behest.  What right have we to contradict God’s will?  The Lord tells Jeremiah He had determined that he would become a prophet to deliver to His people God’s own words.  Jeremiah, a humble and an obedient young man, tells God, (v.6):I am only a child.  In other words, “Yes, I will do it, but I am young and inexperienced; I wouldn’t know what to say!”  God’s response must have been very reassuring (v.7):Do not say,’ I am only a child.’  You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.  The Lord gave Jeremiah words and direction; and He promised to take care of him, even though He was calling him to prophesy divine judgment on Judah and her heretical kings.

So here is another reason why God grieves over us.  Our God clearly knows us and the plans He has for us as He calls us into being in our mother’s womb.  How happy He must be when He sees us choosing to believe in His Son.  How pleased He must be when we endeavor to move forward in His plan for us.  And how it must disappoint Him when we veer away from His plans and from Him.  Remember, He later tells Jeremiah (29:11, NIV):”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord.  “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

B. The psalmist who penned Psalm 71 was clearly an elderly person (perhaps King David), looking back over his life, recalling the times the Lord had protected him.  This person was a man of faith.  He remembered (v.1) how the Lord had saved him and rescued him.  He appears to need help again, and asks God to (v.3):Be my Rock of safety where I can always hide. Give the order to save me, for You are my Rock and my Fortress.   Because of his “lived experience” with God, he trusts that God will respond to him and help him once again (vv.5-6):O Lord, You alone are my hope.  I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb [There it is again.  The psalmist believes Psalm 139 and what God says to Jeremiah in chapter 1] You have cared for me.  No wonder I am always praising You!

The psalm encourages us each to do the same. To trust God, not grieve Him, from our birth until our death.  We are to trust God because He knows us and loves us.

C.  The writer to the Hebrews reminds us in chapter 12:1-13, that we have to keep moving forward in our faith.  In other words, just as we can’t say, “We’ve heard about Jesus, therefore we are saved;” we also can’t say, “I’m saved, therefore there is nothing further expected of me.”

The writer to the Hebrews likens the Christian walk to a race that requires endurance and faith.  Difficulties will come to each of us:

1.) Sometimes as tactics of the evil one to discourage us and pull us away from God;

2.) Sometimes as a result of our own sins or poor choices (we reap what we sow);

3.) Difficulties may come to us for standing up for what is right.

4.) Sometimes because the Lord is disciplining us, causing us to adjust or correct our course. The Lord disciplines those He loves. We need to accept that He wants us to shape up.

No matter the reason, we are to persevere in our faith, just like the heroes of the faith listed in chapter 11. We are also to cast off whatever impedes us in this race.  We don’t run with a backpack filled with boulders.

We take frequent inventory of our sins and confess them to God.

Paul tells us in Romans 8:31:If God is for us, who can be against us?  Our fuel and our ability and our motivation to run an endurance race is God’s love.  Most of us are not called to be prophets, but our God knew each of us from the womb also. He has given us various gifts and talents. We are to use these to make our way in the world and also to build up His Kingdom. When we squander or horde our gifts, we grieve Him. Remember, in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the Master was angry with the fellow who had not used his talent but had buried it in the backyard.

God is willing to be present to us all of our lives long. He protects us and provides for us. He is present to us–only a prayer conversation away. It’s got to grieve Him to watch us suffer when He is ready to help if we would just call upon Him.

From the day we choose to follow Jesus until the day we die, we are running an endurance race. We win this race if we keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. And if we don’t grow weary or lose heart.  AMEN!

©️Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Reading the Signs of the Times

Pastor Sherry’s message for 8/17/2025

Scriptures: Isa 5:1-7; Ps 80:1-2, 8-19; Heb 11:17-40; Lk 12:49-56

It’s pretty difficult for ordinary persons—those who lack the gift prophesy—to predict the future, isn’t it? One of my favorite stories about this phenomenon concerns a guy named Moshe, a medieval Jewish astrologer:

Moshe unwisely “…prophesied that the king’s favorite horse would soon die. Sure enough, the horse died a short time later.

“The king got really angry at Moishe, certain that his prophecy had brought about the horse’s death.

“He summoned Moishe and commanded him, “Prophet, tell me when you will die.” Moishe realized that the king was planning to kill him immediately no matter what answer he gave, so he crafted a careful response.

“I do not know when I will die,” he answered. “I only know that whenever I die, the king will die three days later.”

“Moishe lived a long life”.  (I am sorry that I cannot credit the source as it was unlisted in some old papers of mine.)

It is a good thing to be able to think quickly in times of trouble! Hopefully Moshe learned not to make pronouncements of future events unless directed to do so by the Lord.

In this morning’s Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 5:1-7, the prophet Isaiah is told by God to share the “Song of the Vineyard” with His Chosen People. It is an indictment against the Southern Kingdom. They have not learned anything from observing their Northern Brothers and Sisters get killed and captured by the terrifying Assyrian Army in 722BC. The 10 northern tribes had become idolaters. They lacked faith in God and they were not obedient to Him.  So He removed His longstanding protection (of 500 years) and they were devastated. Rather than look at that experience and determine to do better, the 2 tribes of Judah and Benjamin to the South, blithely fell into the same behavioral trap.

So God convenes court and invites Jerusalem and Judah to judge between Him and them.  He shares, in poetic form, a tale of how He (the pre-incarnate Jesus) worked to establish a lovely vineyard. All throughout the Old Testament, the vineyard is a metaphor for Israel. He says He planted His people on a fertile hill. As such, the vineyard would have good drainage, and no problem with the soil.  He removed the stones—probably using them to create a wall about the property. He built a watchtower, from which to guard it from predators, enemies, or squatters. He prepared a winepress, anticipating a good crop of grapes…but sadly, the grapes that grew were bitter. The Lord asks Jerusalem and Judah (v.4, NLT)—What more could I have done for My vineyard that I have not already done? The obvious verdict is Nothing. The Lord did His part, but the Southern Kingdom did not do theirs.

The prophet relays, in verses 5-6, what God’s judgment will be (NLT)—Now let me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:  I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed.  I will break down its wall and let the animals trample it. I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns.  I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it. YIKES! Not only is the Lord going to neither prune nor weed among His people; but He is removing His hand of protection from them.  He had protected them from invasions for over 6oo years.  Now, there would be no walls or hedges to keep trampling or destructive animals like wild hogs or invading armies out.  Additionally, He will also deny it rain—it will experience severe, longstanding drought!  Israel profited from Fall and Spring rains.  Even today, the Fall rains have returned but the Spring ones have not. 

Why is God so put out? Why is He willing to lower the boom on them? How have they earned such costly judgments? Remember Micah 6:8, NIV—What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. He expected them to act justly toward others, but instead found them oppressing the less powerful, those without influence.  He expected them to be righteous (love mercy), but instead found them acting with violence (v.7). 

Now, if we were to read the remainder of Chapter 5, we would see specifically the charges the Lord brought against them (think about modern day America as I present their sins to you):

1. They coveted what others had (Lust of the Eyes). Bigger businesses swallowed up smaller ones. Making a profit became their god—this is idolatry. So (vv.9-10) God sent famine into the land.

2. They habitually engaged in drunkenness and immoral pleasure-seeking (Lust of the Flesh). Like Jeffrey Epstein and P. Diddy, they indulged their carnal natures. Their punishment (v.12) was captivity and death.

3. They continued to sin without shame or conscience (v.18).

4. They attempted to destroy God’s standards of right and wrong (v.20).

5. They were proud of their rebellious selves (v.21)—Proverbs 6:16—There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes [pride; this is listed first, even before murder], a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

6. They had lost all sense of godly values.

The combined punishment from God for #3-6 (human pride and disregard for God’s standards of right and wrong) was God’s judgment, the Babylonian Captivity. If you observe our culture today, all 6 of these offenses against our Lord are rampant. I’m not a prophet, but I believe we are in the last days. We have no idea how long they will last. But, because we worship a merciful God, I also believe we can prevail upon Him, through our prayers and devotion, to give our nation more time to return to Him. 

Now contrast what the Father said through Isaiah with what Jesus says in today’s Gospel, (Luke 12:49-56):   Jesus is rebuking His disciples for making accurate predictions from weather signs,  while neglecting to consider the pain and destruction of the coming judgment upon the earth and all people. Remember, after the Great Flood, God told Noah He would never send flood waters to destroy the whole earth again.

Instead, what does Jesus say will happen (v.49)—I have come to set the world on fire and I wish it were already burning!  It sounds like He is referring to both the fire of Judgment, and the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit.  Remember, at Pentecost, tongues of fire rested over the heads of the disciples. The Bible says our God is a consuming fire. 

Instead, I think the Lord is getting at something more positive for us here. Remember John the Baptist said (Luke 3:16)—I baptize you with water, but Someone [Jesus] is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be His slave and untie the straps of His sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Jesus came the first time to save us, not to judge. Judgment will characterize His 2nd Coming. So this fire He references is Holy Spirit power, a great move of God—a revival–drawing many hearts to Him. 

This won’t happen until after His crucifixion and resurrection. The disciples will see this manifested in them at Pentecost, 50 days later.  What the Lord is saying here is that He wants us to burn with passion for God!

Jesus forces us to make a decision for or against Him. This decision can and does separate us from members of our families and from former friends.

We no longer engage in the same activities. We no longer talk, dress, or even think the same way.  We may not even laugh at the same jokes.  Jesus says this as He is moving toward the Cross. He wants us to be able to discern spiritual truths and separate these out from whatever is circulating in the culture. He wants us to be aware of our relationship to God and to make the necessary adjustments now before it’s too late.         

The Signs of the Times suggest our time to decide to live for Christ—like that of Jerusalem and Judah in the late 500’s BC—is drawing to a close. We don’t want to be guilty of the kinds of things the Lord charged His vineyard with. I guess you could say that how we choose to live our life provides critical evidence of how sincere we are in our commitment to God. 

Consider the following parable written by the playwright, Oscar Wilde:  Jesus was walking through the streets of a city. In an open courtyard. He saw a young man feasting gluttonously and growing drunk with wine. “Young man.” said Jesus. “why do you live like that?” “I was a leper.” said the young man, “and you cleansed me. How else should I live?” Jesus went on and he saw a young girl clad in tawdry finery, a girl of the streets, and after her came a young man with eyes like a hunter. “Young man,” said Jesus, “why do you look at that girl like that?” “I was blind.” said the young man. “and you opened my eyes. How else should I look?” “Daughter.” said Jesus to the girl. “why do you live like that?” “I was a sinner.” she said. “and you forgave me. How else should I live?” Here were three people who had received priceless gifts from Jesus and who used them like that”. (William Barclay. And Jesus Said. Westminster Press, 1970, p. 141). 

Our church sign outside says we have been bought at a price.  Let’s be neither a rebellious nor an idolatrous vineyard.  Let’s read the spiritual signs of the times correctly and live like we know Jesus died for us. Let’s stay under the shelter of our Lord’s wings, close enough to hear His heartbeat. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

We Gotta Have Faith!

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 10, 2025

Scriptures: Isa 1:1, 19-31; Ps 50:1-13, 22-23; Heb 11:1-16; Lk 12:32-40

School starts here in Suwannee County tomorrow.  That means that football season is only weeks away.  You know I love college football, especially the Gators.  I even fly a U.F. Gator flag from my front porch.  I love the game and I also love the human interest stories the commentators share about the athletes, and am often amazed at how many athletes are Christians.  One such story concerns Nick Foles (a pro, and a former college player), the Super Bowl MVP in 2017, 8 years ago, but perhaps some of you remember:

“Nick Foles didn’t set out to be a Super Bowl MVP. In fact, at one point, he almost walked away from football altogether. He’d been traded. Benched.  Injured. Forgotten [a back up only].

“In 2016, he nearly quit the NFL and considered becoming a pastor. But God wasn’t finished with his story.  Foles stayed. And in 2017, he was backup quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Then their starting QB, Carson Wentz, went down with a [knee]  injury. Foles stepped in.

“Everyone wrote the Eagles off. But game by game, Foles led them to the Super Bowl—and not just any Super Bowl, but one against Tom Brady and the Patriots.  And then… the unthinkable happened. Foles played the game of his life. He threw for three touchdowns. Caught one himself in a play forever known as the “Philly Special.” The Eagles won their first championship [their second one was this past year].

“In the post-game interview, Foles didn’t boast. He said:  ‘All glory to God.’ He talked about how he had leaned on his faith, how failure and setbacks had shaped him, and how he wanted his story to inspire others to keep trusting God.

His journey wasn’t about football—it was about faith through the ups and downs. Believing that God writes bigger stories than we can imagine.

“Sometimes, mountain-moving faith doesn’t take you to the pulpit. Sometimes, it takes you to the huddle—and reminds you that wherever you are, you can glorify God.”  

(Borrowed from www.NewstartDiscipleship.com, 8/7/2025)

Praise God that Nick Foles hung in there!   He credits his wife with having convinced him not to quit in 2016, but he also truly must have believed in the verse from Hebrews11:1 (NIV)—Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  The New Living Translation put it this way—Faith shows the reality of what we hope for.  It is the evidence of things we cannot see.

It’s like believing in the words of Isaiah the prophet, when he proclaims God’s warning to Judea (Isaiah 1:19-31).  Isaiah said the Lord was calling the world to come to court to hear Him testify against His Chosen people.  They were disobedient and rebellious and He was on His last nerve with them.  They even had the sad example of the Northern Kingdom’s  capitulation to the Assyrians for the same offenses, but they had not changed their ways.  Nevertheless. God was giving them yet another chance to repent and return to Him.

It’s like believing Asaph, the psalmist (Psalm 50), who claims that God does not need our offerings.  Verses 9-12 state—But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens.  For all the animals of the forest are Mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are Mine.  If I were hungry, I would not tell you for all the world is Mine and everything in it.  We don’t give the Lord offerings because He needs them.  And we don’t give Him tithes to sweeten Him up towards us—that would be manipulative and we cannot manipulate God.  We give to Him as a way of expressing our gratitude to Him for His goodness, grace and mercy.

It’s like believing Jesus when He tells us that the Kingdom of God is “a kingdom of servants; people whose purpose in life is serving each other and the world.”  God’s Kingdom is not a place or a location; it’s a heart attitude we carry within us.

(Fairless and Chilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentary, Year C, 2015, p.263.)

It’s like believing that God created the entire universe…(Hebrews 1:2)—…at [His] command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.  When we create something, we use raw materials, wood, yarn, veggies, meat.  When God creates, He creates from nothing, or what is called ex nihilo, speaking things into existence

This morning, I want to focus our attention on “the Biblical Greats” who serve as examples to us of people who not only believed in God but also demonstrated great faith in Him by their actions (Hebrews 1:1-16):

A.  Abel, the younger of Adam and Eve’s first two sons, was a faithful believer in the Lord.  We can only assume that Adam—who had disobeyed God–must have intentionally taught his sons how to please God. God forgave him and Eve by shedding the blood of two sheep and using the fleeces to cover them as they were exiled from the Garden.  He would have told them that it takes a blood sacrifice—an animal must give up its life—to cleanse a person from their sin.

Abel, a shepherd, brought the Lord a spotless lamb from his flock. While Cain, the elder son, brought the Lord veggies and fruits he had grown.

Fruit, vegetables, grain are all gifts that represent thanksgiving to God; but such an offering would not cleanse Cain from his sin.  He should have taken some of his produce to his brother to buy from him a lamb suitable for a sin sacrifice.  But, he was too arrogant, too prideful to submit to his father’s teaching and to the Lord’s will.

We are told in verse 4 (NLT)—It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did.  Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed His approval of his gifts.  Faith is demonstrated by our obedience to God.  Faith is humble—it says, I will do what God wants, even if I might think I know a better way.

B.  We don’t know much about Enoch…except that he pleased God. Apparently he was a descendant of Seth, Adam and Eve’s 3rd son.  Enoch’s clan consisted of loyal followers of God.  Enoch lived for 365 years and walked with God.  This means he was a man of faith.  This means he was obedient to the Lord.  God was so pleased with Enoch’s faith that he took him up into heaven directly (like Elijah), so that he never experienced death.

C.  The next hero of the faith listed was Noah.  He was a 10th generation descendant from Adam, and was 500YO+ when his sons were born.  He lived a righteous, blameless life and was obedient to God, despite the widespread sin and degradation in the culture surrounding him.  Verse 5  tells us (NLT)—It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood.  He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before.   He was told to save his family and 1 pair of every known animal.  It took him and his 3 sons 100 years to build the ark.  It measured 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet and was made of gopher wood (perhaps cypress).  By today’s standards, it is estimated that 1300 standard shipping containers could have been fit within it.

Imagine the ridicule he endured, as scholars tell us it had never rained prior to the flood.  Irrigation rose up from beneath the ground.  Water also existed in rivers and streams.  But Noah believed God when told it would rain.  His neighbors probably brought tours by at all hours to view “Noah’s folly” (but they weren’t laughing when the flood waters appeared).

D. Abraham was so faithful to God that he underwent 7 separations to please Him:  (1) He left his home country, Ur of the Chaldees; (2) He left his father in Haran; (3) He left his extended family, all except his nephew Lot, when he departed for Canaan; (4) He allowed Lot to leave him and take the best land for grazing sheep and goats; (5) He banished Ishmael and Hagar in order to protect his younger Son of Promise, Isaac; (6) Believing God could raise Isaac from the dead, He obeyed God by preparing an altar on which to sacrifice him; and (7) Finally, he was separated from his beloved Sarah at her death.

(Shared with me by Dustin Bell, a Pentecostal pastor, student of the Bible, and friend)

How many of us would have submitted to God through all of those losses?  No wonder God (Genesis 15:6)—…credited it to him as righteousness.

E. Sarah, too, is included as a person of faith.  Even though she despaired of waiting on God and talked Abraham into impregnating her Egyptian slave, Hagar, to produce Ishmael, (By the way, this was a common practice for the barren wives of wealthy men in that time, but not something approved of by God.)  Even despite this, she saw God open her womb at 90YO to give birth to Isaac.  I think it took marvelous faith to believe she could raise him up, as well!

God credits them with being the patriarch and matriarch of Israel (v.12, NLT)—…a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.  

These are our heroes of the faith.  They were not perfect, but they believed in God and were obedient to him.  They persevered through tough times and held on to their faith.  They were obedient to God and He rewarded them.

I want to conclude this morning with a story about a special type of Chinese bamboo tree:

“When you plant the seed, nothing happens. No sprout. No shoot. No sign of life. One year goes by—still nothing. Two years—still nothing. Three. Four. Five years—nothing.

“Then, in the fifth year, something miraculous happens. The bamboo tree suddenly shoots up—up to 90 feet in just six weeks. But here’s the truth: it wasn’t doing nothing all those years. Beneath the soil, it was growing an incredible root system—a foundation strong enough to support its sudden, towering growth. 

“That’s how faith works. You pray. You serve. You obey. And for a long time… it seems like nothing’s happening.  But deep below the surface, God is preparing something far bigger than you can see. He’s growing roots. Strengthening character. Building the foundation for what’s coming. And when the time is right—breakthrough comes fast. Faith is showing up, watering the soil, and believing the harvest is coming—even when the ground looks empty.” (www.NewstartDiscipleship.com, 8/7/2025)

May this be true of each of us.  Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Alleluia, alleluia!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Bought at a Price

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 3, 2025

Scriptures: Hosea 11:1-11; Ps 107:1-9. 43; Col 3:1-11; Lk 12:13-21

Last week, we saw how in Hosea 1:1-11, the prophet was told he was to live out a metaphor of God’s faithful love for His faithless people.  God tells Hosea to marry a whore, a woman who would be repeatedly unfaithful to him. How painful for poor Hosea! The Lord meant for the Northern Kingdom to view Hosea’s tragic marital life as a portrayal of how He (the Lord) felt about the entire nation’s “spiritual adultery.”  Hosea’s wife, Gomer, humiliated him time and again by running around with other men. By Jewish law, Hosea would have been justified in stoning her to death.  

But God told him to break the law God Himself had created in order to make his life an object lesson for the people.  So, Hosea remained faithful, as does our God, to a spouse who was a serial or repeated adulterer.  

Worse yet, Gomer bore him 3 children, but he could not be sure they were his. The Lord had him name his 2 boys and 1 girl names that reflected the Lord’s increasing disappointment with and distress over Israel: (1) A son, Jezreel, whose name meant, variously, God scatters, not pitied, or bastard; (2) A daughter, Lo-Ruhamah, whose name meant not loved; and (3) A second son, Lo-Ammi, whose name meant not My people.

Through these children, God was saying to the people of the Northern Kingdom, I have faithfully loved you, but you have been consistently and blatantly unfaithful to Me.  I am withdrawing from you.  I will scatter you.

Interestingly our Lectionary skips Chapter 3, in which Gomer finds herself trapped in sexual slavery, and on the auction block—for sale to the highest bidder.  The Lord tells Hosea to go bid on her and buy her freedom.

Imagine how this woman has humiliated him, yet he has to demonstrate God’s unfailing love by using perhaps all the money he has to set her free.

Scripture tells us he offers 15 pieces of silver—a slave in those days cost 30. This would amount to about $230 in today’s money.  Remember Who was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver?  Jesus, the King of the Universe, was handed over to His enemies for the price of a slave.  Hosea paid half that in cash–perhaps because it was all he had—so he also added a bag and ½ of horse feed.  The man gave everything he had to buy her back!   Hold on to this metaphor:  Hosea redeemed Gomer at great price to himself!

Now, in chapter 11 (today’s reading), God changes the metaphor from a marital relationship to a parent-child relationship. He poignantly recalls (vv.3-4): It was I who taught Ephraim [Israel] to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them.  I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.  God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt.  He freed them, loved them, healed them, led them, and fed them.  And how did they respond to His continuous, long-suffering, fatherly love for them?  They turned away from Him, like Gomer, to take up with pagan gods.  So, the Lord names the nation He will use as His method of discipline: Assyria (who defeated and ravaged the Northern Kingdom in 722BC (Hosea prophesied this message in approximately  750BC). 

Chapter 11 also movingly portrays God’s love and His emotional agony as He considers disciplining His people.  Verse 8 (NLT): Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?  How can I let you go?  How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim [2 cities neighboring Sodom and Gomorrah, probably just as evil and destroyed as collateral damage].  My heart is torn within Me, and My compassion overflows.   The Lord is heart-broken!  Nevertheless, His love endures.  The chapter closes as He expresses His intention to re-gather His scattered people and to bring them back to the Land (at Jesus’ 2nd Coming). 

Now perhaps you are asking yourself, why is this Hosea-Gomer saga paired with today’s Gospel, Luke 12:13-21?  They don’t seem very connected, but I believe they are.  Let’s examine how that may be:  A man from the crowd listening to Jesus’ teaching asks Him to make his brother share an inheritance.  We all know how these situations can be, don’t we?  One sibling gets more than the others, and resentments grow as jealousy and envy reign.  Or one sibling hires a slick lawyer to get a fair settlement overturned in their favor.  I personally know of a situation where the younger two siblings sued their older brother for a larger share of the inheritance.  They wrestled over this in court for five years, such that much of the remaining money went to attorneys.  The guy’s beef may be legitimate, but Jesus won’t go there!  His focus during His 1st trip to earth was to save us.  It will only be at His second coming that He will arrive to judge us. 

So instead of addressing the inheritance issue directly, He replies with a proverb (v.15; NLT): Beware.  Guard against every kind of greed.  Life is not measured by how much you own.  Then He teaches what’s now known to us as “The Parable of the Rich Fool.”   Peace, happiness, health, true friends do not come as a result of how many possessions or things we have.  Desires for abundant material goods are insatiable:  John D. Rockefeller, the richest man in America in the 1950’s was once asked how much money was enough.  He answered, “One dollar more than I have.”  No matter how much we have, we always want more because money or material things don’t truly satisfy. Furthermore, there are no U-hauls going to heaven.  The parable calls this kind of greed folly:  It violates the 1st and 10th Commandments and it puts having stuff ahead of loving God, which is idolatry.

The man in the parable is wealthy.   Even if people don’t realize it,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   wealth (and the ability to accrue it) is a gift from God.  James 1:17 says: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights.  Our Psalm 107 reminds us: For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Jesus focuses in on the man’s surplus, which is a problem for him.

He is already living well.  The man does not need the extra.  But he is greedy and self-centered.  Notice how often he uses the words, me, my, I, and myself: 11 times in 3 verses.  What letter is at the center of the word sin?  It’s I, isn’t it?  Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 5:10: Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loses wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.  Paul states emphatically in Ephesians 5:5: For of this you can be sure:  No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man/woman is an idolater—has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.  He reinforces this in Colossians 3:5, Our New Testament reading: Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:  sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Selfishly, the man has no plans of providing for others out of his surplus; but, instead, he plans to horde his excess profits.  The Greek word used for the rich man is actually aphron: without mind, spirit, or emotions.  He thinks he is smart; but spiritually, he’s a zombie, a dead man walking.

Jesus is saying the man’s plan for the good life is foolish!  His life, like all that he has, is transitory, on loan and God is calling the loan in.  Jesus knows the man in the crowd is invested in gathering more money.  He also knows, and so should we, that our money, our worldly wealth cannot save us.

So, Who or What does save us?  Just as God the Father used Hosea to redeem Gomer from sexual slavery, He sent Jesus Christ to redeem us from slavery to sin and death.  In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV) Paul asserts: You are not your own; you were bought at a price!  As I have said many times, the Old Testament always points to the New (finds its completion in the New Testament).  The price for our redemption wasn’t 30 or even 15 pieces of silver and a bag and ½ of horse feed.  It was the precious blood of Jesus Christ!  Scholars believe Hosea bid all the cash resources he had to free Gomer.  We know that Jesus gave all He had to gain our freedom!   Hosea and Gomer present a picture of what was to come about 780 years later through Jesus’ great sacrifice on the Cross.

Do you suppose Gomer was grateful that Hosea had rescued her?  As she stood on the auction block and heard the demeaning things carnal men said about her—perhaps she was even groped!—she must have been so relieved to see her long-suffering husband come to her rescue.   This side of Heaven, we can’t know for sure, but we can hope.  Similarly, I believe we need to live every day grateful that Jesus bought us with His own blood.  Years after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, Peter wrote (1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV): For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. His saving act removed us from the auction block of sin.

Let us pray: Thank you, Father God, for loving us so much as to send us a Redeemer.  Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your selfless love foreshadowed by Hosea, and for volunteering to be that Redeemer. We could not save ourselves, but You were and are our Savior.  Please keep us ever mindful of this fact. We thank you, we love you, and we worship you in gratitude, now and always. Amen!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The Trouble with Judging

Pastor Sherry’s message for July 27, 2025

Scriptures: Hosea 1:1-10; Ps 85; Col 2:6-19; Lk 131:1-17

I have a good friend in ministry, a Pentecostal pastor, who preaches whatever the Lord lays on his heart.  In our tradition, however, we tend to preach the readings already chosen for us and listed in what is known as “the Revised Common Lectionary.”  Back in 1983, representatives of 19 Christian denominations in the US met and agreed upon 4 Scripture passages—one from each of the Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament, and Gospels–to be read each Sunday in each of their churches.  Typically, Methodist (United and Global), Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Episcopalian, and Roman Catholic pastors preach from these selections.  They allow us to touch on much of Scripture over the course of 3 year cycles.

In my 24-25 years of ministry, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to discover the appointed readings often meet a congregation right where they are that very moment.  We could say that they are Holy Spirit inspired, and they are!  But so too is the method of asking the Lord what to preach.  Back before I went to seminary, in the 1990’s, I was doing nursing home mental health work in Tallahassee, Florida.  There was a very well run nursing home, called Miracle Hill, in the African American section of town that my team and I visited once a week.  All the patients and all of the staff were African American.  We learned they had a preacher come in on the day we visited to hold a service for the residents.  We heard him a time or two and discovered he did an excellent job.  So, we planned our time to complete our paperwork around his sermon time.  He would tell the patients that he and his wife had “gone before the Lord” to get the message he was to present to them.  I had never heard of this before, but I was very impressed with the wonderful messages he brought them weekly. 

This week, I have used both traditions: I have drawn the first 3 readings from the Lectionary.  But the Lord directed me to exchange the 4th reading, the Gospel, for an alternative.  That’s why it’s not what was printed in your bulletin (I know I drive a number of people crazy when I do this).

But when the Lord directs me to focus on a specific passage, I must comply.

He apparently wanted me to preach this morning on the problems with making judgments about others.  Consider the following true story:

“GUILTY AS SIN the headline read just a few years ago. The banks in New Jersey had been robbed systematically, one after the other. What made the robber stand out was his politeness. He just gave the tellers a note which said, “Please place your money in this bag. Thank you.” The newspapers called him the Gentleman Bandit!

“The widespread publicity led to a very unlikely arrest – the suspect was a Catholic priest. His church was appalled but stood beside him, saying they knew he could not be the bandit. They signed petitions, held protest marches and came up with his bail. But the police were certain they had their man. All of the eyewitnesses positively identified him. And the news media dug into his past, to find that in a previous church he had left under a cloud because of financial irregularities in the parish. For a priest he had a pretty expensive lifestyle – his own apartment and a fast car. People whispered his church was probably standing up for him because otherwise they looked like dupes.

“As people across the country watched the story unfold on the news, they were positive this priest had pulled a fast one. He probably had a sociopath personality so he could rob banks during the week and preach the next Sunday without feeling any guilt. No one outside his congregation was standing up for this guy. But then a funny thing happened. The real Gentleman Bandit was caught red-handed. As it turned out, he was the spitting image of the priest. It’s just that he wasn’t the priest. The priest was released, his church threw him a big party, and the news media and those who had prematurely judged him moved on to the next story.”   (Contributed by Pastor Sheila Crowe, http://www.sermon central.com, 7/2017.)

Obviously, one problem with judging others is that we often lack all the facts necessary to make an accurate assessment.  We may think we have correctly discerned the truth—at least from our point of view; but we can do damage to peoples’ relationships and to their reputations by passing along falsehoods we mistakenly think are true.  We especially need to be careful when sharing our views within the hearing of non-Christians.  Unbelievers tend to have heard of Jesus’ words from His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:1-2): Judge not lest you be judged, or as the New Living Translation rephrases it: Do not judge others and you will not be judged.  For you will be treated as you treat others.  The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.  The Bible comments on judging over 180 different times, so we can correctly infer from this that the topic is important to God.

In fact, in the Gospel the Lord told me to address today (Luke 13:1-17), Jesus teaches about our tendency to make judgments about others.  The context is two horrendous events that had recently occurred in Jerusalem:  Pilate had some men from Galilee killed as they offered sacrifices (i.e., were worshipping in the Temple).  The crowd was understandably upset and wanted to know how God could have allowed that to happen.  Many assumed the dead men must have been terrible sinners.

Additionally, 18 men constructing a tower near the Pool of Siloam were killed when the tower collapsed (they must not have had a qualified structural engineer overseeing the build).  Again, the people were wondering if the 18 dead men had been terrible sinners to deserve their fate.  Notice, Jesus does not answer their questions about the victims’ spiritual states.  Instead, He redirects them to consider their own spiritual condition (Matthew 7:3, NLT: Why worry about the speck in your friend’s eye when you have a beam in your own?)

Jesus then tells the crowd the parable of the Fig Tree:  It appears to be barren, yielding no fruit, at the very time the owner should be able to expect a harvest. The owner makes a judgment:  Cut it down.

The gardener (Jesus) offers another perspective:  Let’s be patient, tend it another year, and then decide.  Our Lord recommends grace instead of judgment, continued care instead of condemnation.

There are actually several morals to this story:

1.) Trouble doesn’t always come to a person due to their sins.

My first year of seminary, I saw my savings of $30,000 go up in smoke due to having no health insurance and a house that was a money pit (despite a home inspection stating it was fine prior to purchase).  I would not be so arrogant as to say I was sinless during that time, but looking back, I believe the Lord wanted me to learn He would provide for me when my resources were exhausted.  It was one of a number of similar lessons He provided until I decided I really could trust in Him regarding money-matters.  Additionally, I learned He can only fill us when we are empty (of ourselves and our own resources)!

2.) Another important lesson is that becoming a follower of Jesus does not inoculate us from trouble.  Instead, the evil one paints a target on us.  We need to persist in our faith that the Lord protects us and sees us through whatever trouble the devil sends.

3.) Finally, when trouble comes to someone else, it doesn’t necessarily indicate that we are morally superior to them.  Consider the Central Texas floods.  Did you at any time wonder what they had done to experience such widespread death (135 by the latest count), with over 60 still missing?  Do you think they thought the same thing last year when our area experienced 3 hurricanes?  We are not to judge others.  Instead, the Lord expects us—as with the barren fig tree–to extend prayer and  compassionate care as we are able.

Finally, Jesus demonstrates His compassion for the bent over woman.  She doesn’t even approach Him.  She has been bent over, almost in half, for 18 years.  How uncomfortable and inconvenient this must have been for her.  He sees her in the synagogue, and has mercy on her (on the Sabbath).  He tells her (v.12), Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness [such wonderful words!].  And she stands straight up (no weeks of physical rehabilitation for her!).

The guy in charge of the synagogue gets mad.  Notice he doesn’t directly address Jesus but instead tells the crowd to come any other day to be healed.  He has judged that the Sabbath is for worship alone, so Jesus and this woman are in the wrong.  Jesus correctly calls him—and those who value rules over a person’s well-being–a hypocrite.  He has missed the point of God’s mercy (remember the parable of the barren Fig Tree.)

Now, compare this with the adult life of the Prophet Hosea:  God calls him to be a prophet (1 of 7) to the morally corrupt Northern Kingdom.  But He gives him an especially tough assignment. He is to live out for the Israelites how God feels being in covenant relationship with them.  He is told to marry an unfaithful woman—actually a prostitute (YIKES!  This is a pretty strong statement about how the Lord regards Israel at this time.) Hosea’s lived experience is to remain faithful to someone who is not faithful—with all the attendant heartbreak, humiliation, and public shame and ridicule that entails.

Hosea is remarkably obedient.  He marries Gomer and they have one child, a son.  Some scholars believe this child was truly his son, but others are not convinced.  God tells Hosea to name the child, Jezreel, which means the Lord will scatter—clearly a warning of the invasion and captivity to come.  But it also means not pitied, and bastard.  Poor kid!  None of these translations would be easy to live with.  Since Gomer is adulterous, Hosea has no idea if the next two kids are biologically his:  A girl named Lo-Ruhamah, or Not Loved; and a second boy named Lo-Ammi, not My People.  God is making some strong statements to the wayward Israelites.

Are Hosea or his children to blame for Gomer’s infidelity/sin?  No, God is using them as object lessons to His people—they represent His pain due to their spiritual adultery.  Imagine what Hosea’s neighbors probably had to say; imagine their judgments of Him.  He would have been a laughing stock and considered a weak, spineless man, a “cockhold.”  Imagine what they probably said about each of his children.  They were no doubt bullied and ridiculed by the other kids.  This is yet another reason why we want to be cautious of judging others. 

Think of the falsely condemned Catholic priest.  Thank God the true bank robber, his look-alike, was found and arrested!  Let’s remember we will be judged by God according to the measure we used with others: (Matthew 12:37, NLT): The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.

Let’s pray:  Lord Jesus, we need Your help with this!  Help us to see others with Your eyes.  Help us to speak words of grace and mercy, rather than of judgment and condemnation.  Help us to leave the judgments to You, the One Who sees and knows all, and Who judges with righteousness.  Amen! 

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams