Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Looking to Self or to Jesus?

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 9, 2020

Scriptures: Gen 37:1-38; Ps105:16-22; Matt 14: 22-33

This is a true story:  In early February, a sheriff’s officer clocked a 2020 grey Kia sedan cruising at the brisk pace of 95 mph on Interstate 10 through Florida’s panhandle.  Two men, in their mid-30’s, were headed east towards Live Oak and Jacksonville, then on their way south to Orlando. This corridor is a major feeder for drug trafficking into the Sunshine State, so officers are constantly on the lookout for signs of suspicious activity.


Federal law permits officers to stop those who are breaking the law, issuing arrests and tickets accordingly. But the Fourth Amendment prohibits the search of vehicles without probable cause, or reasonable suspicion. One lawyer explains it this way:   “Basically, a law enforcement agent’s hunch without proof of illegality isn’t enough for him or her to look through a car legally. Before rummaging through a vehicle, the officer would have to observe something illegal. Examples of this are seeing or smelling an illegal substance. An admission of guilt by the person driving the car is another situation in which an officer can legally examine a car.”


When the officers pulled this vehicle over, they noticed— right in plain sight–two plastic zip-locked bags. Both were clearly labeled “Bag Full of Drugs.” This sight, needless to say, provided sufficient probable cause to warrant a search of the carand of the bags. Inside, Santa Rosa County Sheriffs found a treasure-trove of methamphetamine, GHB, cocaine, fentanyl, MDMA tablets, and various drug paraphernalia. Both driver and passenger were booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail without bond, on charges of drug trafficking. Later, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office posted the following message to Facebook:


“Santa Rosa K-9 Deputies recently assisted [Florida Highway Patrol] on a traffic stop on I-10 where a large amount of narcotics were discovered. Note to self — do not traffic your illegal narcotics in bags labeled ‘Bag Full of Drugs.’ Our K-9’s can read.”

Law enforcement must abide by the 4th Amendment, but to our God–who knows all–words like probable cause and reasonable suspicion are meaningless. He is omniscient. We may attempt to hide our sins, or at least not place them in bags labeled “Bags full of wicked things,” but still He sees. He sees when the door is closed. He hears when the windows are shut. He knows even when our browser history has been completely wiped clean. 

We have a very similar event recorded for us in Genesis 37—as well as its antidote in Matthew 14.  Let’s examine them more closely.

Genesis 37:1-36 records for the backstory behind the enmity of Joseph’s brothers toward him.  Thus far, in each generation of the founding family of the Israelites, God has chosen the younger sibling over the elder:  God chose Abraham’s son by Sarah over the older son, Ishmael;God then chose Jacob, deceitful though he was, over his elder twin, Esau;once again, in this newest generation, God choses the baby son, Joseph, over all 10 of his strapping elder brothers.

Joseph, the son of Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel, is also Jacob’s favorite.

Reuben was the 1st born, but he disqualified himself by sleeping with his stepmother, Bilhah.  Not only is this icky to consider, but it says to his father, in effect, “I wish you were dead.”  The next two eldest, Simeon and Levi, prove themselves to be violent men lacking in integrity.  They violate a treaty their father had made with the King of Shechem.  They are rightfully incensed when their sister, Dinah, is raped by the prince of Shechem.  They expect swift retribution, the prince’s death.  However, their father forges an agreement with the king which would allow Dinah and the prince to marry, provided all the male Shechemites submit to circumcision (i.e., become Jews). The brothers think this is weak on their father’s part, and that he does not sufficiently value their sister’s honor.  So, they sneak into the Shechem at night and kill all the males recovering from circumcision surgery, including their sister’s fiancé.  Father Jacob/Israel is now royally angry and disgusted with all of them, except Joseph.  He fears they have demonstrated to the Canaanites that Jews do not keep their word and violate legitimate treaties.  By this point, Jacob clearly favors Joseph over all of them.  He unwisely uses him to spy on them as they graze their father’s flocks.  He also increases their jealously and enmity by giving Joseph a special garment, in effect saying that Joseph—not any of the other 10–is the heir.

 Naively, Joseph doesn’t help make himself more popular with his siblings when he shares 2 dreams in which it appears he will one day rule over them.

In today’s passage, they stop short of killing him; but instead sell him to Ishmaelite (remember Ishmael, 1st son of Abraham?) traders bound to sell him into slavery in Egypt.  They concoct a plausible story for their Father, not anticipating the depth of his grief.  And they essentially invoke the death penalty upon their brother—as few people in that day survived long as a slave.  Scholars say that ½ of the later Roman Empire consisted of slaves.  They had no pay, no days off, and no rights, so many died early deaths.

 Joseph’s ordeal is memorialized in our Psalm (105:16-22) today.

The jealous and hateful brothers never appear to check out their feelings, or their actions, with God.  They are filled with murderous rage and they act on it.  But our psalmist reminds posterity (both the Jews & us) that God (v.17)...sent a man [Joseph] before them [into Egypt, all of Jacob’s other sons and all their families]—Joseph, sold as a slave.  The equivalent of a prince of his family suffered, being encased in shackles and irons;

He did serve as a slave for 14 years, until…(v.19)…what he had foretold [the two dreams] came to pass, til the word of the Lord proved him true.

 We know the rest of the story:  Pharaoh, nudged by God, appointed Joseph over all of Egypt to superintend the storage and distribution of grain during a 7 year famine.  As a result, he then becomes the means of saving his extended family—including those jealous, murderous brothers—from starvation.  God redeems Joseph, and his brothers and their families.

How might the story have been different if the brothers had consulted God? How might the story have been different if they had prayed for Joseph—and their father, Israel—instead of acting on jealousy, rage, and vindictiveness?

The 10 elder brothers together provide a vivid example of how not to be.

 

For an example of how to be, let’s look at our Gospel lesson, Matthew 14:22-33.  The context is that Jesus has fed the 5,000 + women & children.  He then sends the disciples out to sea in their boat while He trudged up a mountain to pray.  Apparently He prays all night.  He comes walking toward them during what the Romans referred to as the 4th watch, 3-6:00am.  It must have been pretty alarming for them to see Him striding toward them on the waves.  1st they mistake Him for a ghost. He responds (v.27) àTake courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.  He knows they aren’t expecting to encounter Him this way.  He understands their fear, and He compassionately reassures them.

Peter has sized up this unusual situation and desires to walk on the water too.  I don’t blame him—wouldn’t you jump at the chance to defy Physics, or to do something with our Lord that was unheard of?  We observe that Peter did fine, until he took his eyes off Jesus.  There’s the lesson for us all:  Keep our eyes on Jesus!  When we follow hard after God, He holds an umbrella of protection over us.  But when we say in effect, that’s OK God, I don’t need you.  I’ll do this myself, we step out from under that umbrella of protection.  Bad things, scary things, unjust things, stupid things, even evil things happen when we place our attention on ourselves only–like Joseph’s jealous and murderous brothers; or like the 2 drug runners traveling I-10 in the Kia.  Bad things, scary things, unjust things, stupid things, and even evil things can also happen when we put all our attention on persons or activities that divert us from  Christ. 

 Like the old hymn says, we need to “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.”

 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus…

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

 

O soul, are you weary or troubled?

No light in the darkness you see…

There’s light for a look at the Savior,

And life more abundant and free.

 

Through death and into life everlasting

He passed and we follow Him there.

Over us sin no more hath dominion

For more than conquerors we are.

 

Jesus keeps us afloat. Jesus lifts us up and out of ourselves, out of our difficult situations, and into the safety and security of His tender care.  This week, let’s try to remain safe and sound under His umbrella of protection.

 C 2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams>

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Surrender … but hold on!

Pastor Sherry’s Message for August 2, 2020

Scriptures: Genesis 32:22-31; Ps 17:1-7

Can you remember how you felt when you knew you had to face some pretty unpleasant event?  I can think of two such events when I was a kid and even one as an adult.  When I was going into the 7th grade, my dad was transferred to Hawaii.  This was in the late 50’s when the islands were still a territory, not yet a state.  So we had to endure a series of painful immunizations.  I dreaded the days we had to present ourselves for those shots.  The anticipation was far worse than the actual event.  In another example, my brother and I had misbehaved badly for our mother.  When our abusive stepdad went out to sea, we both felt like the clamps had come off and I am sure we manipulated our mother something fierce.  One particular time, she threatened, “Just you want ‘til you dad comes home!”  She marked the days on the calendar.  We got more and more distressed as the weeks sped away and the date of his return loomed before us.  I am sure my brother and I were the only ones on the dock, as the ship came in, who were not celebrating its return.  He did beat us, rather severely.  I was only about 9-10, but I remember recognizing that my mother was a weak disciplinarian who never should have left the job to another.  Interestingly, she never seemed to be able to figure out why we didn’t love him better or have happier memories of our childhood.

As an adult, I had stood up as the lone dissenter in a vote for a new pastor.  The rest of the committee got very angry with me as we decided everything by unanimous vote; they perceived that I was holding up the process.  We eventually decided the matter by drawing lots—an old Biblical tradition—and the guy I felt so strongly about won the job unanimously!  Later the new pastor (who thought I was the lone holdout against him) told me I had to be reconciled with each of the other 11.  I did so, and believe me, I approached each individual appointment with anxiety.  The whole experience was an exercise in humility.

This is essentially the situation the patriarch Jacob faces in today’s OT Lesson, Genesis 32:22-31. He is returning to the Promised Land after 20 years of exile.

Recall that he was named “Jacob” (which meant heel grabber, deceiver) as the younger of a set of twins.  He later manipulated his slower, less cerebral brother, Esau, out of his birthright:  The lion’s share of their father’s property & livestock; but also the Covenantal relationship with God.  This is bad enough, but—with his mother’s complicity—he tricks/deceives his blind father into giving him his blessing!  His mother, Rebekah, should have known better.  God had told her that the older twin would serve the younger.  She should have remembered and waited on God to see how He meant to work this out.  Instead, the wily Jacob and his mother demonstrate no respect for Isaac, no love for Esau, and no faith in God.  Jacob gets the blessing, fraudulently, but he earns the murderous rage and hatred of his only sibling.  This forces him to flee the country—never to see his mother again.

As our passage from last week indicated, Jacob is taken to the Spiritual Woodshed by his mother’s brother, Uncle Laban (Let us all hope we never encounter an Uncle Laban in our lifetime):  Jacob agrees to work 7 years for the lovely Rachel, only to be given the less attractive, older sister, Leah, on his wedding night.  The deceiver is deceived!  Uncle Laban justifies his trickery with the custom that older daughters must marry before younger ones.  Once Jacob recovers from his shock and anger, he agrees to work another 7 years for his true love.  The two “sister wives”compete over who can give Jacob the most sons.  The ladies add two more “sister wives” to fuel the race.  Leah, the less valued wife, ends up with 6 sons and a daughter of her own, and two sons by a surrogate.  The favorite wife, Rachel, struggles with infertility, but has two surrogate sons and, finally, two sons of her own (dying as she gives birth to #2 after Jacob has settled in back home).

Once Jacob’s term of 14 years is up, he is forced to indenture himself to Laban for another 6 years, so as to amass sufficient resources to support 4 wives & 12 children.  Meanwhile, the jealousies, resentments, envy and animosity of the “sister wives” and their children continue to fester.  Laban keeps changing the terms of his contract with Jacob (10 times!), trying to cheat him.  We are talking a highly dysfunctional family here.  By the time of today’s lesson, Jacob has been out of the “Promised land” for 20 years.  Jacob, the “Trickster,” has been repeatedly tricked by an even cannier trickster.  I picture him as exhausted, harried, and burnt-out.

Now Jacob knows God has called him to return home, but what about the vengeful Esau?  When Jacob had last encountered his brother, Esau had been intent on killing him.  So Jacob has finally escaped one enemy—Uncle Laban—only to face another, Esau.  Just prior to today’s passage (Gen 32:9-12), Jacob prays a powerful prayer to God:  (1) He acknowledges how God has blessed him; (2) He reminds God that it is He who has called him home; and (3)He asks God to save him from his brother’s wrath.  He then sends his wives & family across the Jabbok (Wadi Zarqa, 20 mi. west of the Jordan).  Alone, he is suddenly grabbed by God!  He struggled all his life to prevail, no doubt thinking, “I can determine my destiny.”  1st, he had contended with Esau; 2nd, with Uncle Laban.  Now, he wrestles all night with the pre-incarnate Christ–Hosea 12:4-5 reports, He strove with the angel and prevailed, he wept and sought His favor.  He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with him—the LORD the God of hosts, the LORD is His name.

Now, finally Jacob realizes, God holds my destiny.  Actually, God is wrestling with one hand tied behind His back.  But Jacob won’t quit.  Jesus wants to go so He won’t be recognized.  Jacob has surrendered his will to God but he won’t let go of Him.  Jacob has become a perseverer.  Graciously, Jesus will not overrule Jacob’s will, so instead He puts his hip out of joint.  Jacob wisely asks for a blessing from the Divine Logos.  Jesus, who knows everything, asks him a rhetorical question, What is your name?  The Lord then changes his name from Jacob (Deceiver) to Israel (He who contends with God and men and overcomes).

By changing his name, Jesus is indicating that Jacob’s character has been purified. Jesus is also letting Jacob know that his future successes will result (Zechariah 4:6), ”Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty.

Israel wants Jesus’ name but the LORD will not reveal it to him.  We cannot overcome or control God; instead, we yield and hold on!  This is both a spiritual victory for Israel and a demonstration of human frailty in the face of God.  God will superintend the reconciliation with his brother.  As my prayer partner likes to say, God rules and overrules the hearts of men and women.  The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6, …He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  God had begun a good work in Jacob.

The spiritual woodshed was intended to transform him, mold and shape the deceptiveness out of him through adversity.  In wrestling with him, Jesus was saying—without words—your brother, Esau, will not overcome or kill you.  You do not need to fear him, because I and the angel armies are with you.

Among the many lessons of Jacob/Israel wrestling with God are these:

  • God accepts us as we are, but loves us too much to leave us that way. He doesn’t overrule our will, but He will discipline us.  Until we are transformed by this discipline, often the things we most want are what elude us.
  • Nevertheless, He will persist with us, giving us enough lessons to bring us

around.

  • When we finally do surrender to Him, He then blesses us.  Jacob/Israel re-entered the Land with 11 sons and 1 daughter, lots of servants, huge numbers of sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys and camels—enough excess to offer reparations to Esau—or at least “to sweeten” their first meeting.
  • I tell the clients I work with at Honey Lake Clinic, “If you want God to heal you, you have to set aside your ideas of how you will be healed and let God be God.” That is true for all of us. Not my will but yours be done, Oh Lord!  When we are dealing with God, our proper attitude needs to be one of surrender; surrender, but hold on!

 

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

 

 

 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman · 1 Comment

The Original Sister Wives

Pastor Sherry’s Message for July 26, 2020

Scripture: Gen 29:15-28

Have any of you watched the reality TV series, “Sister Wives?’’  I’ve not watched it nor am I recommending it.  It apparently follows the lives of Kody Brown, his 4 wives, and their combined 18 children.  They call themselves practitioners of “Plural Marriage,” better known to the rest of us as “Polygamy.”  They claim they decided to film the show to explain their beliefs and to benefit their children—and to make some money!  Some say it has demonstrated the friendship bonds of the wives; while others contend it exposes the jealousies and hurts one would expect in such an arrangement.  It seems the first wife has infertility issues, and has had only one child.  Wives #2 and #3 have had 6 children each.  Wife #4 has three kids from a previous marriage and two now with Kody.  Their unusual lifestyle makes me wonder if they are aware of today’s Old Testament lesson.

Genesis 29:15-28 was written about 4,000 years ago and concerns the patriarch, Jacob.  In Genesis 25, you may remember that he talks his brother Esau into trading his birthright (the rights of his inheritance as the first born) for a pot of stew.  This exposes Esau as impulsive, a man ruled by his fleshly appetites.  It reveals that Esau had no regard for the Covenant Promises God had made with his Grandfather, Abraham or with his Father, Isaac.  Esau is contemptuous of his spiritual inheritance.  He is a non-believer, a man of little faith in God.  And it demonstrates that the quiet homeboy, Jacob, was capable of setting an effective trap for his brother, the hunter.  Perhaps Jacob was smarter that Esau?  By Genesis 27, Jacob poses as his brother and deceives their now blind father, Isaac, into giving him his blessing as well.  Their mother, Rebekah, collaborates in this deception.  They demonstrate no respect for Isaac and no love for Esau.  They also display no faith in God to provide a way to work out His own prophesy.  Jacob gets his father’s blessing, but also his brother’s enmity.  He has to flee the Land for his life (remember, Esau is an excellent hunter).  His mother, it will turn out, will never see Jacob again.

Now, in Chapter 29, we find Jacob outside “the Land,” seeking a wife from among his Uncle Laben’s (Mother Rebekah’s brother) people.  Jacob doesn’t yet know it, but he has entered God’s spiritual woodshed, and is about to be severely disciplined.  He sees the beautiful Rachel at the well.  Like his mother Rebekah, she was providing water for the flocks.  Jacob sees her and it is love at first sight!  Uncle Laben invites him into the extended family and offers to pay his for his work.   Jacob offers to work for 7 years in exchange for a marriage to Rachel.  Laben has many flocks of sheep, goats and cattle.  He also has two daughters:  Leah, the elder one, whose name means “COW,” and Rachel, the younger, whose name means “EWE.”  Leah was said to have weak eyes.  Her eyes may have been lovely and blue, but it appears she was otherwise unattractive.  Rachel, on the other hand, was lovely in form and beautiful.  Simply put, she was a knock-out!

Maybe Laben thought that someone else would offer for Leah in the meantime, but he makes the deal and Jacob works off his 7 year commitment.  In fact, Scripture tells us (v.20), So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.  (Jacob had fallen hard!)

The time for the marriage ceremony arrives and Jacob says, Give me my wife.  My time is completed and I want to lie with her.  Yikes!  He’s pretty clear on what he wants, isn’t he?!  Some commentators say he should have been more specific:  He should have said, Give me Rachel.  No one had offered for Leah in the interim, so wily Label gowns and veils her and stuffs her into the marital tent under the cover of night.  We assume Jacob consummated the marriage, believing he had in his arms his heart’s desire, only to wake the next morning and discover Leah in Rachel’s place!

Let’s think for a moment about how each player in this drama may have felt:  Laben was no doubt happy to have gotten his less desirable, elder daughter off his hands.  But what about Leah?  Did she sense ahead of time how Jacob might have blamed her?  Did she love him?  Had she hoped he could come to love her?  Or was she mainly a pawn of her Father’s and ashamed of the duplicity?  What about Rachel?  This was to have been her wedding.  Was she disappointed?  Relieved?  Jealous?  Angry at her father?  We don’t now.  She may have perhaps been proud because Jacob immediately agreed to work another 7 years to gain her.  What of Jacob?  Was he disappointed?  Aggrieved?  Furious!  Did he feel resentful and bitter toward Laban?  Resentful and bitter toward Leah?  Determined to marry Rachel whatever it took?  Did he understand that God had allowed the trickster (him) to be tricked?  It is after all no accident that the elder preceded the younger.  It was also no accident that though he had stolen his brother’s birthright and blessing, he now had to work hard for 14 years to earn what he desired.

Ah, but the woodshed experienced didn’t end at the conclusion of 14 days and 2 marriage feasts:  No, we see the impact of unrequited love and a lack of appreciation.  Now we see the rivalry for Jacob’s love by the original “sister wives.”  (The reality TV series has nothing on this story!)  The Lord pities Leah because she is not loved. He blesses her with 4 sons:  (1) Reuben–the Lord sees affliction.  She says, (v.32) It is because the Lord has seen my misery.  Surely my husband will love me now. (2) Simeon–the Lord hears.  She explains (v.33), because the Lord heard that I am not loved, He gave me this one too.   (3) Levi (the priestly tribe)–hope for attachment.  Believing Jacob must surely come to love her now, she exclaims (v.34) Now at last my husband will become attached to me because I have borne him three sons.  (4) Judah (the royal tribe)–Praise for the Lord!  She then declared, (v.35) This time I will praise the Lord.  It appears that 4 sons later, she has given up on Jacob to affirm her worth and has learned to trust the Lord more.  She has become the truly more faith-filled wife.

Meanwhile, Rachel, the favored wife, is barren and envious of her sister.  She blames Jacob, but he seems to have no problem impregnating her sister.  So, like Grandmother Sarah, she gives her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a surrogate mother and 3rd wife.  Bilhah proceeds to bear two sons:  (5) Dan–God has vindicated.  Rachel celebrates his birth by saying (30:6), God has vindicated me.  He has listened to my pleas and given me a son.  (6) Naphtali–a mighty struggle.  Rachel exclaims, (v.8) I have had a great struggle with my sister and I have won.  Leah appears to have perked up at this time, and re-enters the contest:  She offers her servant woman, Zilpah, as surrogate wife #4 to Jacob—just as in the reality TV program.  Zilpah bears two sons:  (7) Gad–good fortune.  Leah says (v.11), what a good fortune!  (8) Asher–happy one.  Again, Leah is delighted and says (v.13), How happy I am!  The women will call me happy! 

It’s the top of the 9th inning, and the score is Leah 4 sons +2 surrogates vs. Rachel’s 2 surrogates.  Leah proceeds to bear two more sons and a daughter, Dinah:  (9) Issachar–God has given me my reward; (10) Zebulon–God has endowed me with a good dowry.  Having borne him 6 + 2 sons, Leah sadly asserts (v.20), This time my husband will treat me with honor because I have borne him 6 sons.  By this point, God has taken pity on Rachel and opened her womb.  She already has the two surrogate sons from Bilhah, but now actually bears (11) Joseph (his father’s favorite and the Old Testament character who most closely represents Jesus).  His name means, May He add/increase.  Rachel has just given birth and she is already looking forward to another son!  She declares (v.24), God has taken away my disgrace.  May the Lord add to me another son.   He does allow her to conceive (12) Benjamin, but dies just after giving him birth.  Jacob names him Son of my right hand.

Move ahead 20 years later, Jacob returns to “the Land,” with large flocks and 12 sons, but what has he learned (and what have we learned)?

  • He has learned that God will not allow His people to secure His blessing through deceptive and manipulative means. What goes around comes around, or as Scripture puts it, we reap what we sow.  If we treat others with deceit, someone will eventually deceive us.  If we abandon others, we will in turn be abandoned.  If we betray someone, we too will eventually be betrayed.  I have seen it happen again and again.
  • God’s plan for marriage is one man and one woman because “Plural Marriage” doesn’t work (See Leviticus 18:18). It leads to heartbreak. There is a real danger in thwarting human affection.  Isaac’s and Rebekah’s favoritism; Jacob and Esau’s lack of love for each other; the sister wives’ jealous competition with each other; the enmity and jealousy between the sons of Leah and the sons of Rachel each result from unloving behavior and attitudes toward one another.  This plural arrangement leads to jealous, unholy competition, and family discord.  Jacob’ family is a train wreck!  TCL or reality TV can spin it any way they want, but you will not convince me that Polygamy or “Plural Marriage” works.  Truthfully, marriage is difficult enough with only one partner!   Jacob’s family saga demonstrates that God’s plan is the best plan!
  • Finally, the real message of grace here, though, is that God has mercy on the unloved wife and blesses her. He also eventually blesses the favored, but dishonored, beloved wife.  Lastly, He redeems their duel by using the 12 sons to create the 12 tribes of Israel.  Praise God we truly do serve a God who can and does redeem our messes.

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Jacob’s Ladder

Pastor Sherry’s Message for July 19, 2020

Scriptures: Gen 28:10-19a; Ps 139:1-12, 23-24; Ro 8:12-25; Matt 13:24-30, 36-43

 Some years ago, I read a story in Christianity Today about a woman in India, who lived in a concrete sewer pipe with her husband and two kids.

Her name is Shivamma.  She was a member of the Dalit caste, the lowest of the low, pretty much untouchable—except for rape.  She remembers she was barren.  A Dalit Christian named Bangarraju prayed for her in her home and she conceived and bore two children, a son and a daughter.  The girl child became badly jaundiced.  Bangarraju returned, prayed, and the child was healed.  Shivamma became a Christian.  She says she accepted Christ  because, I realized that Jesus is the living God.  We used to drink and everyday we would fight, fight, fight.  Jesus Christ brought peace to our family.  I have no fear, because I have come to know the living God.  I trust Him.  God met her in her need, and she now trusts Him.

 In another story, there was a debate between a Christian and an Atheist.  The Atheist began his presentation by writing on a whiteboard, God is nowhere.  When the Christian speaker stood up to make his arguments, he erased nowhere and used the same letters to write, God is now here.

Let’s look at what our Scriptures have to say today about the twin themes of God’s presence and God’s knowledge of us.  In our OT lessonàGenesis 18:11-22, we encounter the patriarch, Jacob.

He is the younger of the twin boys born to Isaac and Rebekah.  He was named Jacob (which means heel grabber because he was born grasping his older twin’s heel; but it also carries the sense of deceiver, schemer.  God had told his mother, when pregnant, that the older will serve the younger.  In other words, God was reversing the usual order of things.

Even from the womb, God had determined that Jacob would be the one to carry out His plan of redemption from Abraham and Isaac.

Nevertheless, Isaac favors Esau, so Rebekah and Jacob collude to rob Esau of both his birthright and his father’s blessing.  Esau is furious when he discovers this, so Rebekah invents the pretext of needing to go abroad to find a suitable wife to help Jacob escape his brother’s wrath.  Jacob leaves the family compound.  Notice none of them bothers to check in with the Lord: Not Mama Rebekah; Not brother Esau; Not Papa Isaac; Not even the culprit, Jacob.  This does not appear to be a family of very firm faith!

Our passage today finds Jacob has put 40 miles between himself & Esau by the time he stops for the night.  He was “booking it” to get out of Canaan! How must he have felt? No doubt he was anxiously looking over his shoulder for his murderous brother.  He must have felt alone.  Perhaps he was worried about the long, potentially dangerous journey ahead of him, uncertain of his future.  Can you identify?  Maybe you find yourself in a dark & lonely place right now; perhaps you too are filled with uncertainty.  Maybe, like Jacob, it’s even your fault that you find yourself “out there, on your own.”  Well, this story was made for you (and me), so read on!

Jacob falls asleep (not the sleep of the just) and dreams of a ladder or a set of stairs reaching to heaven.  The Lord is at the top (“the Voice from top of stairs”), and Jacob, realizes he is sleeping, at the bottom.  Angels are traversing the ladder, some going up, others coming down.  The Lord reiterates to Jacob the promises He has made to Grandfather Abraham and Father Isaac:  I am giving you Propertyàthe land; Progenyàlots of descendants to populate the land and to bless all people of the earth; PresenceàGod would be with him; and ProtectionàGod says  I am with you and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you…. Notice:  God does not require anything of Jacob.  There is no if…then clause.

God has chosen an unlikely patriarch.  Even though, as Psalm 139 affirms, God knows his every thought and scheme.  There is no place Jacob can go where God might lose track of him (or of us).  Not departing the Promised Land for Haran (Syria); not getting lost in NYC or the Amazon jungle; not even by participating in a Witness Protection Program, in Minot, ND, where our names and ID’s are changed; Not living in a sewer pipe outside some remote Indian village—these are just issues of geography.

Not even struggling alone with a job loss, the death of a loved one, declining health, financial setbacks, or troubled relationships. Our God knows where we are emotionally and spiritually, besides.  He is the with us God, Emmanuel.  He knows our names.  He is always present to us.

Now do you notice Jacob’s response to God?  He doubts.  He has chutzpah, vowing to follow the Lord if God goes with him; if God protects him; if God provides for him; and if God brings him safely back to the land again.  To his credit, He sets up a memorial stone (and names it Bethelàhouse of God) to commemorate his encounter with the pre-incarnate Christ.   And he promises a tithe, a 10th of all God gives him.  But the schemer is bargaining with God.

I don’t’ know about you, but I take a great deal of comfort from the Jacob story:  Jacob is not of man of strong or good character.  He’s a liar;a trickster.  He’s not even a strong believer.  God has promised him 4 P’s without strings, but he puts conditions on his commitment to God.  He’s not perfect, but still God loves him.  We could say God goes out of His way to comfort Jacob.

If we follow Jacob’s story thru the next 22 chapters of Genesis, we find that the Lord does take Jacob to His woodshed/the Refiner’s Fire:  The deceiver is himself deceived, by wily Uncle Laban. He spends 20 years outside the land, working off debt to his Uncle; building up a family (12 sons, 1 daughter); and acquiring herds and wealth with which to support them.  He flees his Uncle when he returns to the Promised Land.  He fears a hostile reunion with the brother he wronged. His favorite wife dies in childbirth. His only daughter is raped.  His sons cause him grief.  They jealously sell his favorite son into slavery and lead him to believe Joseph is dead.  And, upon entering the Land, he wrestles all night with the pre-incarnate Christ, Who leaves him crippled, but changes his name from Jacob to Israel—he who struggles with God & men, and overcomes.

It’s a heck of a journey, isn’t it?  Jacob’s story makes me glad I am not him!  But it also assures me (and you) that God never deserts us; that He loves us even if we are Scallywags; and that He cares for us, faithfully.

Do you know that scholars believe Jacob’s Ladder is really an image, a prediction of Jesus?  Jesus, you see, mediates between us and God.  Jesus is our only way—our ladder, if you will–to heaven.

So what are the lessons we can draw from Jacob?  (1) If we think God doesn’t know where we are, or what we are thinking, we are grossly mistaken!  (2) Our God appears to enjoy overturning human convention and Human expectations.  He can do great things with the least likely.  He’s not discouraged by our rebellion, sinfulness, or unbelief.  (3) He clearly sees us as we are—there’s no hiding from Him, or fooling him–as well as who He wants us to become.

 There is an ancient Hebrew poem that I think sums this up very well:

Wherever I go…only Thou!

Wherever I stand…only Thou!

Just Thou!  Thou, Thou,

Thou!  When things are good,

Thou!  When things are bad…

Thou!  Thou, Thou, Thou!

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Truth Stranger Than Fiction

Pastor Sherry’s message for July 5, 2020

Scriptures: Gen 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Ps 45:10-17; Ro 7:15-25a; Matt 11:16-19, 25-30

A nine year old boy was asked by his mother what he had learned that day in Sunday School. “Well mom,” he said, “our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  When he got to the Red Sea, he had his army build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely.  Then he radioed headquarters for reinforcements.  They sent bombers to blow up the bridge after the Israelites were saved.   Pharaoh’s chariot guys all drowned.

Mom asked, “Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?”

“Well no, Mom,” the boy declared in exasperation, “but if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!”

 

Today, we have another Old Testament story that defies logic, unless you believe in a God of miracles.  Remember Isaac, the miraculous “child of promise,” born to parents aged 100 and 90?  Last week, we examined how God demanded that Abraham sacrifice this child to Him, but also rescued Isaac at the last minute by providing a ram to take his place.

Isaac is one of the 4 patriarchs of our faith, but Scripture only gives us a very few glimpses of him.  Nevertheless, we can infer that he was a good son, because he was obedient to his father Abraham—even given the threat of death.  And today’s passage reveals him as a man of faith, praying to God as his bride arrives on a camel.

Let’s examine the story in more depth, as I believe it reveals some principles we can live by today.  Abraham is concerned that Isaac have a wife…(v.1) now Abraham was now old and well advanced in years….He calls his trusty servant (Eliezar?) and tells him to journey to NW Mesopotamia (Syria) to find a good woman from among his extended clan (the people he left behind to follow God).  He does not want Isaac to marry a pagan Canaanite woman.  Nor does he want Isaac to journey outside the Land.  The servant prays to Abraham’s God and suggests a fairly complex sign by which he might recognize God’s choice of a bride for Isaac:  (1) She will offer him water to drink; (2) She will even draw water for his 10 camels; And (3) She will offer traditional ancient middle eastern hospitality including water for the feet; food/refreshments; and overnight accommodations for him and his animals.

When he arrives at the appropriate village, the servant encounters a beautiful young woman who does exactly that.  She gives him water.  She draws water for his animals.  She invites him home to meet her family and to partake of their hospitality.  This woman is Rebekah, Abraham’s great-niece, the virgin granddaughter of his brother.

Now of all the towns the servant could have visited, what are the chances that he would run into Abraham’s kin?  What are the chances that they would still even be alive?  God has clearly superintended this journey.  The servant recognizes this and offers praise and thanksgiving to God: (v.26)–Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, ”Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master.  As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my masters’ relatives.”

This woman, Rebekah, is clearly God’s choice for Isaac.  The servant tells her the story of how he decided to approach her—he’d asked God for a sign.  She doesn’t seem to have difficulty believing him. And he gives her a ring and two gold bracelets, as proof of Abraham’s wealth.  Her brother, Laban, shows up, hears the story, and also invites the servant home.  Once again, the servant shares his instructions with everyone.  Probably Rebekah is somewhere, outside the tent, listening in as the story is retold.  Everyone seems to agree she is God’s choice of a bride for Isaac.  Additionally, the servant has also filled them in on Isaac’s miraculous birth and his divine rescue.  The family appears to be impressed with the costly gifts he has bestowed on the maiden, signifying that Abraham is indeed as wealthy she the servant has claimed.  The bride-price is agreed upon, but by the next morning the family appears to back off a bit.

In an intimation of things to come—Uncle Laban will later renege on his agreement with Jacob, Rebekah’s as yet unborn son–the family urges the servant to wait another 10 days before departing.  Maybe they want to drive the bride-price up a bit.  No doubt concerned for Abraham’s age and health, the servant urges an immediate departure, with no delay.  Interestingly, the family suggests that Rebekah be consulted.  From what she’s heard and experienced, the young woman is ready to go! Maybe she fears her wily brother will somehow interfere with her opportunity.  Whatever the case, she is prepared to go off with a servant she barely knows, to a country she’s never seen, to meet a husband she’s only heard of.  What a brave young woman and what an adventure!

What principles might this story hold for us today?  1st, we note the faithfulness of the servant.  He’s given his word to Abraham to do his best; but otherwise he has no stake in the outcome.  Nevertheless, he works hard to fulfill his word.  He prays for the Lord’s favor.  He diligently repeats his instructions from Abe.  He obviously does not want to mess up!

This servant also moves at the leading of God, rather than his own fleshly desires or his fears.  He is willing to carry out the task his master, Abraham has given him and he appeals to Abraham’s God for help.  This is the antidote to our sinful fleshly desires, as given expression by Paul in Romans 7:15-25a.  The antidote to our self-will is obedience—obedience to Christ, cooperating with the transforming power of His Holy Spirit.

The example of this unnamed servant is about 4,000 years old.  2,000 years later, Jesus will say, Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no.

We are to keep our word.  Like Eliezer, we are to say what we mean and mean what we say.  This is the kind of behavior that helps others to trust us.

Second, I am struck with the willingness of Rebekah.  She doesn’t know Abraham from Adam’s house cat.  She is looking at marrying a dude she’s only just heard of and never seen. She will be making her home far away from her family, probably never seeing them again.  What convinces her to take the risk of leaving everything she has ever known?  Perhaps it was hearing the servant relate the miraculous nature of Isaac’s birth. No doubt she also heard the story of his almost-sacrificial death, and been impressed with the fact that—while he could have overwhelmed his father’s strength, and taken himself off the altar–he instead chose to be obedient to and respectful of his father.  Maybe she rightfully understood that Isaac was special to God and wished to link her future to such an esteemed man.

And, if she were a woman of faith, she might have been able to see and understand how God had indeed chosen her to be Isaac’s mate.  After all, the servant had asked for a complex set of signs; and, without any prior knowledge of them, she had fulfilled each one.

I don’t know if you have ever experienced God providing you a sign, but I have.  My best buddy in seminary came from the Chicago area.  She was trying to verify if God was truly calling her to seminary.  She was walking the shores of Lake Michigan and asked God to affirm her call by proving a green rock among all the gray ones.  She was amazed and delighted to minutes later encounter a green rock—the only green rock–on the shore.  Not only that, the green rock was shaped like a triangle.  She understood this mean she was to attend Trinity out of the other 10 seminaries in our denomination.  Similarly, I asked God for direction as to which seminary He wanted me to attend.  I was living in Tallahassee, Florida, then.  Rarely does anyone in Tallahassee ever hear of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Trinity is located.  For weeks, my daughter and I were inundated with what we called our “Pittsburgh signs”:  PA license plates, bumper stickers for the Steelers or the Penguins; movies we rented that had been filmed in Pittsburgh or which featured the city; and magazine articles in doctor’s or dentist’s offices on some aspect of life in Pittsburgh. We laughingly told God we got it and He could stop the signs anytime. We were not too surprised when they dried up immediately!

Several years after arriving at seminary, my best buddy and I attended a healing conference.  We shared a motel room while there and I awoke one night to hear her crying.  She was in crisis, doubting her call, and worried she would graduate with a Masters of Divinity, but be unable to locate a Bishop willing to ordain her.  By this time I knew her well, was convinced she was called to ordained ministry, and—coming under conviction–told her she was not to look to the left or the right, or to listen to the opinions of people, but to keep her eyes on the Cross of Christ  She was to trust that the Lord had indeed called her. The next morning, while serving us communion, the lead pastor of the healing ocnference spoke directly to her and said, “You are not to look to the left or to the right, or to listen to the opinions of people, but to keep your eyes on the Cross of Christ.  You have been called into ministry and Jesus will see you through.”  She felt affirmed by this marvelous sign and so did I.  These experiences taught me that we can ask God for signs and He will and does respond.

Our Genesis lesson today has a happy ending.  It’s actually a love story!  Rebekah gets on her camel and rides to Israel and to Isaac.  The evening she arrives, Isaac is out praying.  He sees her and is intrigued.  She sees him, leaps off her camel (she’s impressively energetic, isn’t she?), and wraps herself in her veil, thus indicating she is a single woman.  The servant then relates the entire saga to Isaac.  Isaac obviously sees Rebekah as God’s answer to his prayers (& his father’s plans).  Verse 67 tells us, Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah [now dead], and he married Rebekah.  So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

In a number of ways, this story is stranger than fiction, but I believe the lessons are pretty clear:  (1) We want to be faithful to God; (2) We can ask Him for a sign; (3) We want to say yes to whatever He arranges for us; and (4) We can trust that there is a reward for our obedience.  Our God is good.  He desires our love and devotion to Him.  He takes good care of those who love and obey Him.  Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!  Alleluia! Alleluia!

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

My Way or God’s?

Pastor Sherry’s Message for June 28, 2020

Scriptures: Gen. 22:1-14; Ps 13; Ro 6:12-23; Matt 10:40-42

It appears that this has become the my summer of sermons beginning with songs. For example, two weeks ago, I cited a great hymn about the Trinity. Then last week, I quoted the lyrics from the theme song to the TV show, “Friends.”  This week, I want to remind you of the old Frank Sinatra hit, “I did it my way.”  You may remember that the song is a retrospective view of a man’s life as he considers his mortality:

For what is a man, what has he got? 

If not himself, then he has naught.

                                    To say the things he truly feels, and not the words of one who kneels.

                                    The record show I took the blows, and did it my way.

These are the words of someone who is totally self-possessed, totally self-reliant, and very proud!  These are the words of a person who has decided to live life on his own terms, without regard for God.  The song is from the 1970‘s—in fact, Sinatra quipped that it was our real national anthem in 1974.  Upon reflection, we realize it could easily still be so today.

If we let those lyrics sink in, we realize they celebrate a God-less perspective.  Last week, I talked about how Abraham faced a difficult choice:  Honor God (and his wife, Sarah) and run off Ishmael; or disobey God and keep his first born son close by (and ultimately threaten Isaac, the “child of promise.”  Abraham passed the test (and God took care of Ishmael).  This week, our Old Testament passage has Abraham face another test, his 4th.  YIKES!  In his 1st test, God told him to leave his home and family, in Ur, and go where the Lord would lead him. His 2nd test was Lot’s request that they divide the land to accommodate their growing herds, whereupon Abraham allowed the choicest land to go to Lot. The 3rd test was to set aside Ishmael to protect Isaac.  And now, almost beyond belief, is God’s demand that he sacrifice that same child.

Doing life his way must have looked pretty good to Abraham by this point.  He is now about 136 years old, and Isaac is either about 15 or some scholars believe he is as old as 30 (as Christ was when He began His public ministry). There will be no more children after Isaac from Abraham and Sarah.  Abraham is also probably aware that child-sacrifice is abhorrent to God.  Who knows what he was thinking as he and Isaac trudged toward their destination?  Nevertheless, amazingly, Abraham submits his will to God’s.

Would we be so faith-filled or so obedient, do you think?  This Old Testament lesson (Genesis 22:1-14) is again a rich fore-shadowing of Jesus:  God sends Abe and Isaac to the region of Moriah.

This is the same ridge as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (constructed much later).  It also appears to be the same ridge as Golgatha, the site of the Crucifixion. There is to be a sacrifice of an only, precious son.  It is a 3 day journey for them,  as would be Jesus’ journey from death to resurrection.

God, at the last minute, provides the sacrificial animal.  This is a male sheep, fully grown (a ram) because the Bible records only one “Lamb of God,” Jesus Christ!  This story vividly demonstrates Abraham’s faithàvv.7-8àIsaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”  “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.  “The fire and the wood are here,” Isaac said, “But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”  Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”  It also establishes the precedent for substitutionary atonement, wherein Jesus took our place as He paid the penalty for our sins.

The test was “Will you do what I ask even if it costs you. What is most precious to you?”  Remember last Sunday Jesus said (Matthew 19:37) we cannot love any person more than we love God?

Abraham is the Father of our faith because he—like Jesus later—did exactly what his heavenly Father asked of him.  It should be obvious that this was a gut-wrenching choice.  It should also be obvious that many of us would not have been willing to submit to God’s will in that situation. Many Biblical scholars hypothesize that Abraham believed God could resurrect Isaac–if it came to that—or somehow restore him.  Actually, he had implied to the two servants that he and his son would meet back up with them.  And he trusted that God would keep His promise to bring forth many nations from Abraham’s and Sarah’s bodies.

This is the best response to any test God may send us.  It is to trust in what you know about God’s nature, even if you don’t understand what He is doing or why.  Our best response is to trust in who God and in what He has promised us.

Our other passages today provide essentially the same message:

This is what David is saying in Psalm 13.  He is weary of being pursued by a murderous King Saul, so he turns to God in prayer, admitting he is afraid even to sleep.  But, by vv.5-6, he has reassured himself of God’s goodness and trustworthiness, and we get the sense that he relaxes.

Paul, in our Romans 6 lesson, reminds us that we all must choose whom we will serve.  He says we either serve ourselves—our sinful nature—or we serve God.  Additionally, if we choose to serve God, we cannot, by our own strength, successfully live a Christian life style.  We need to approach the task with faith like Abraham’s.  We need the assistance of the Holy Spirit at work in and empowering us.

Jesus, in Matthew 10:40-42, also commends the role of faith and obedience.  We participate in God’s work when we do even small acts of service to others.  Additionally, we are not to be overwhelmed by the size of the task.  Instead, we recognize in faith that God has called us to a given task; then we recognize in faith that God will enable us to do what He has called us to.  Finally, trusting in the Holy Spirit rather than in ourselves, we partner with Him to put forth our best effort.

Think today of the times and ways that God has tested you:

Perhaps you have given back an overpayment at the cash register.  Maybe you have held yourself back from taking from social services or the government what you know you don’t truthfully deserve. Possibly you are scrupulous abut providing a full day’s effort for a full day’s pay.  Or, perhaps

if a group of folks were looting the Dollar General Store up the road, rather than joining in with them—even if you thought the police wouldn’t arrest you—you gather friends to intervene and prevent further unlawful mayhem and destruction.  And we are all presented with the choice, aren’t we, to cheat on our taxes or our spouse?

There appear today to be many, many opportunities to do

the wrong thing.  But as followers of Jesus Christ we don’t go the way of the crowd.  We don’t even do it “my way” (according to our will, our flesh).  No, to please our loving Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ, we choose to do things God’s way.  This week (and always), let’s pray for the strength and courage to make choices, every day, that please our God.

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Difficult Choices!

Pastor Sherry’s Message for June 21, 2020

Scriptures: Gen 21:8-21; Ps 86; Romans 6:1-11; Matt 10:24-39

Happy Father’s Day!  It must be God’s sense of humor that our OT lesson relates a difficult choice for a loving father.  Scripture tells us that Abraham had two sons:  The first born, Ishmael, was born through human expediency.  Sarah had despaired of getting pregnant and had offered for Abraham to impregnate her slave, Hagar.  It was the custom of the day that a barren woman could adopt as her own a child born to her husband and her slave girl (an authorized adultery strategy that Rachel, Jacob’s wife and Leah, her sister-wife also employed).  The other child, Isaac, was born to Abraham and Sarah by the miraculous and incontrovertible intervention of God.  Both Abraham and Sarah were well beyond childbearing years when they conceived and bore Isaac.  In fact, his name means “laughter” as they were both so amazed and delighted with his birth that they rejoiced with laughter.

The problem arose when Ishmael’s true character was revealed.  You may recall that his mother had had contempt for Sarah.  Earlier God revealed to Hagar that Ishmael would be …a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him.”  So, at 15-16 years old, Ishmael ridicules or demonstrates contempt for his younger half-brother at the feast surrounding Isaac’s weaning (Isaac was probably about 3YO)–(vv.9-10)—But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”  He may have been making fun of Isaac’s childish antics; or he may have said something like, “That little idiot will be my father’s heir.”  At any rate, Sarah correctly sees him as a threat to Isaac and insists Hagar and Ishmael be disinherited and run off.  (Remember, both Abraham and Sarah were well into their 100’s and would not have been around to see to it that Ishmael did not later take from Isaac his rightful inheritance.)

No doubt this was a difficult choice for Abraham as he loved Ishmael.  God tells him to do as Sarah suggests (vv.12-13)–Do not be so distressed about the boy of your maidservant.  Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.  I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.  How difficult for Abraham!  Ishmael was the only son he had had for years (ages 85-100)!  Imagine having to choose between your children.  (Remember the book and movie, Sophie’s Choice?  The mother, Sophie, had to choose between saving her baby daughter or her young son as they faced the gas chamber in WWII.  She chose her daughter but was never psychologically healthy after realizing she had consigned her son to certain death).  At least in this instance, God is promising to care for Ishmael.  He grows up to become, with Esau (Isaac’s son), the father of the Arab nations.  God does prevent him and his mother from dying of thirst in the desert.  Ishmael eventually becomes known as a great archer.  He experiences divine blessing and protection.  He lives in the wilderness and his mother finds him a wife from among the Egyptians.

 Dads, how would you feel if the Lord asked you to separate yourself from one of your children?  It had to have been really tough on Abraham!

In a number of ways, Isaac foreshadows Jesus:  (1) The births of both Jesus and Isaac were foretold in advance–Abraham/Sarah were told 25 years earlier by God; Jesus had been predicted 1,000 years earlier in a promise by God to King David–the promise of a Messianic king who would come from David’s lineage.  (2) Both births were miraculous: Isaac’s due to his parents’ ages (99, 90); and Jesus’s due to virgin birth/divine conception through the Holy Spirit.  (3) Both were named before they were bornàSarah laughed (Gen 17); Joseph, told by an angel in a dream …you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins (Matt 1:21).  (4) Both sons were obedient to their fathers, even unto death.  (5) Isaac’s birth to parents far beyond the years of childbearing pictures the resurrection of Jesusàlife coming forth from death.  And (6) both are a joy and delight to their fathers.

 

Paul’s arguments for justification in Romans 6 make a point similar to that which God makes with Isaac/Ishmael.  Paul explains that God declares us good (guilt for our sin is removed) even Jesus’ death doesn’t make us good.  Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins.  Nevertheless, we can still live wild, worldly, and sinful lives (which incidentally makes us look like hypocrites to nonbelievers and gives Jesus a black eye)!  We have to agree to surrender our wills to God.  We have to cooperate with the transformative power of the Holy Spirit to live godly lives.  Why?  Because God—not me–declares it to be so.  Surely Ishmael and his mother thought he, as first born, would be Abraham’s heir.  But God makes a decision contrary to the will or tradition of humankind.  And He often asks us to make decisions contrary to our logic, tradition, or intuition.

 Our Gospel lesson from Matthew (10) contains a number of difficult teachings of Jesus’.  Again, in a way that defies human logic or tradition, Jesus makes some bold and troubling statements:  Just as Abraham had to obey God and put aside his elder son, so too is Jesus telling us no one person can come before Him in importance in our lives.  We cannot love a son or daughter, or a spouse, or a mother or father, more than we do our Lord.  Remember in another Old Testament story, God asks

Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, long after having sent Ishmael away.  Now God himself provides the substitutionary sacrifice, so Isaac’s death proves unnecessary.  Nevertheless, the point is that no human relationship can be more important to us than our relationship with Jesus.  Additionally, we are all subservient to Jesus.  Since the very hairs of our heads are numbered, we are not to worry about being murdered for our faith.  If we do deny Christ, He will later deny us before the Father.  YIKES!  And, in His first coming, Jesus did not arrive to institute peace on the earth.  Actually, human beings are incapable of creating lasting peace on earth; true peace is only available when Jesus comes again, or when we find ourselves in heaven—whichever comes first.

We might want to argue with each of these principles—just as Abraham might have wanted to argue to keep Ishmael close….But we worship a God whose thoughts and plans are as high as the heavens are above the earth from ours.  Who of us can comprehend the mind of God?  So who are we to argue with Him?  Our job, even if we don’t understand why, is to try to trust in God’s goodness and in His divine purposes.

In The Lord’s Prayer, we pray, deliver us from evil—actually, the most accurate translation is save us from the time of trial.  God often seems to allow us to be tested with difficult choices.  Will we still love Him when He doesn’t answer our prayers as we wish?  Will we still trust Him when our lives are more difficult than we expected?  None of us expects to have to die a martyr’s death, or even to have to choose our faith over the love of our family members.  Let’s pray that the Lord gives us wisdom to make the difficult choices in a way that honors Him.  Let’s pray that He also gives us the courage and strength to do His will in this life.  Amen!  May it be so!

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

For the Love of God!

Pastor Sherry’s Message for June 14, 2020

Scriptures Gen 18:1-15; Ps 116:1-2, 12-19; Ro 5:1-8; Matt 9:35-10:8

How many of you remember the TV sitcom, “Friends”?  I was not really a fan of the program, but I do recall that it had a memorable theme song.  Truthfully, though, who knew the words?  According to YouTube, the lyrics went something like this:

 So no one told you life was gonna be this way…

Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s D.O.A.

It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear…

When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your

year.

You’re still in bed at 10 and work began at 8…

You’ve burned your breakfast…

So far, things are going great.

Your mother warned you there’d be days like these…

But she didn’t tell you when the world has brought you down to your

Knees…

You know, some of us can truly relate to those 1st two verses….We all have bad days, sometimes bad weeks, months or even years.  We can catch ourselves talking like Eeyore (of Winnie the Pooh), saying things like, “whatever can go wrong will go wrong.”  We can become downcast or pessimistic, and may feel depressed and discouraged.  We stress over the Chinese Corona Virus, being quarantined (sheltered in place); being out of work, or not having a job to return to; watching riots and looting—anarchy—play out on the news; witnessing a new and reprehensible hatred for the police; observing no politicians stepping up to make the streets safe again; and hearing of dentists and other professionals being so discouraged and hopeless that they choose suicide over waiting to see how this crisis will work out.

In this environment, the chorus of the Friends theme song is important to remember:

I’ll be there for you

                    When the rain starts to pour.

                    I’ll be there for you

                    Like I’ve been there before.

 

You see, the song celebrates the value of true, blue friends; but it could just as well celebrate the love of God for us.

 

               Our Scriptures today all celebrate the love of God for us.

Let’s consider them together:

Our psalm, Psalm 116, is a thanksgiving or Hillel psalm.  Scholars believe Jesus sang it on his way to the Garden of Gethsemane (Hebrews 12:2–Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God).  Imagine knowing what was going to happen to Him, and nevertheless singing God’s praises as He went to His death!  How brave of Jesus!

The psalmist acclaims his love for and trust in God because he knows that God hears him, and pays attention to his cry for mercy.  Isn’t that true for us too?  We can take all of our stressors, disappointments, frustrations, health concerns, and fears, to the Cross and leave them with Jesus to redeem and transform.  V.12 asks, How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?  Then David answers his own question:  We repay the Lord by lift [ing] up the cup of Salvation; And by fulfil [ing] my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people.

Now what does this mean to us?  The cup of salvation refers to one of the cups of wine consumed at the Passover meal.  It represented the peoples’ thanksgiving to God for their deliverance from slavery in Egypt; it symbolized offering thanks to God for redeeming them.  Like them, we celebrate Jesus’ redemptive act in communion, when we call the cup the blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.   Our vows to the Lord is a Biblical expression of our decision to praise God.  We praise God, out loud, each Sunday when we spell out the ways He has blessed us this past week (our joys). Dr. J. Vernon McGee says, “Prayer springs from need; but praise follows deliverance.”  Praise, love, and obedience are the only things we can offer to God—He doesn’t need or require anything else from us.  Our psalm also calls this (v.17) a sacrifice of thanksgiving.  We take time away from our own concerns to think of the things for which we are grateful to God.  Then we take time away from our own concerns to direct our thanks to Him.

What are some things for which we can and should express our  thanks to God?  Again, our scripture lessons offer some examples:

Our OT reading (Gen 18:1-15) describes a visitation to Abraham by the preincarnate Christ (& 2 angels).  In the finest Middle Eastern tradition, Abraham offers Jesus and friends water, shade, rest, and food.  Jesus responds with a prediction that Sarah will have “the child of promise,” Isaac, within the coming year.  Now Abraham and Sarah have waited 25 years to have this child. Earlier, the Lord changed Abram’s name from “exalted father” to Abraham, “father of a multitude.”  Finally, in the year to come, Abraham would be able to finally feel like he had lived into his name.  Finally, Sarah would be able to hold and love on a baby of her own.  Don’t you know that they rejoiced and praised God!

In our Epistle lesson, St. Paul extols the benefits we received

from Christ’s atoning death for our sins. Because of Jesus, we have peace with God.  Because of Jesus, we have open access to God through prayer.  Because of Jesus, we have hope for the future (the proper antidote to the news).  Because of Jesus, we know God is with us in our troubles and He helps us triumph over them.  These are all fabulous benefits of our relationship with Christ and most worthy of our gratitude and praise.

Finally, we notice in our Gospel, Matt 9:35-10:8, two remarkable considerations for which we can be grateful:  First, v.36 tells us that Jesus looked about Him, noted the crowds, and …He had compassion on them.  He had been teaching and healing, and may have been tired; but instead of focusing on His needs, He felt great love and empathy for His people.  He still has great love and empathy for us, and we can and should be grateful to Him for this.

Second, He then sends the 12 out to do what He has been doing all along.  He changes their status from disciple (learner) to apostle (delegate); and He empowers them to (v.8)…heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.  He has authorized them to continue His ministry.  He has authorized us to do so as well.  We can be grateful to Christ for their ministry and for ours.

 As I was growing up, I often heard my non-believing parents, say (when frustrated or surprised) things like Oh, good grief! Or For heaven’s sake!  For crying out loud!  Good God Almighty!  (oops, that one is suspiciously like taking God’s name in vain.) And–uttered with great distain and frustration–For the love of God!  These statements were an improvement over some of their more “colorful metaphors,” but it occurs to me that they did not really know what they were saying.  Whether my folks recognized it or not, these expressions all reference the LORD.  And the last one, “for the love of God,” really does summarize what our Scriptures emphasize today.  Because of the love of God for us, we have many things

for which to be grateful to Him.  Friends are lovely, but no one is better at consistently loving us than God.  This week, let’s be grateful for our human (and animal) friends, but let us also be mindful of the many ways in which

God has blessed and continues to bless us.

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

 

 ©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

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Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Trinity Sunday

Pastor Sherry’s message for June 7, 2020

Scriptures: Gen 1:1—2:4a; Ps 8; 2 Cor 13:11-14; Matt 28:16-20

The story is told of a Jewish father who was concerned about his son’s lack of a spiritual life.  The father had never demonstrated what it was to be a practicing Jew.  So, he felt guilty.  As a result, he sent his son to Israel to experience his Jewish heritage, and hopefully to help him develop a lively faith.  The son returned after a year.  He thanked his father for the opportunity to visit the Holy Land and he reported that living in Israel had been both wonderful and enlightening. Then he confessed that while there, he had encountered some Christ-followers and had decided to become a Christian.

The Jewish father was terribly upset, and in the tradition of the patriarchs, he sought advice and comfort from his best friend. “It is amazing that you should come to me,” said his best friend. “I too sent my son to Israel and he returned a Christian!”  So, again according to long standing tradition, the two friends sought out the wisdom and counsel of a rabbi.  “It is amazing that you should come to me,” stated the rabbi.  ”I also sent my son to Israel and he too developed faith in Jesus of Nazareth.  “What is happening to our sons?”

All three lifted their hands to God and began to wail and pour out their grief.  As they prayed, the heavens opened and a mighty voice exclaimed, Amazing that you should come to Me.  I, too, sent My son to Israel….

 Today is Trinity Sunday, the day the Christian Church celebrates one of its most central beliefs.  We believe in One God in Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  You may recall having sung the hymn, “Come Thou Almighty King” (c.1757), which extols all three persons of the Trinity:

Come thou Almighty King, help us Thy name to sing,

Help us to praise, Father whose love unknown

All things created own,

Build in our hearts Thy throne, Ancient of Days.

 

Come thou Incarnate Word, by heaven & earth adored;

Our prayer attend:  Come, and Thy people bless;

Come, give Thy Word success;

Stablish Thy righteousness, Savior and Friend.

 

Come, Holy Comforter, Thy sacred witness bear

In this glad hour:  Thou, who almighty art,

Now rule in every heart,

And ne’re from us depart, Spirit of Power.

 

To Thee, great One in Three, the highest praises be,

Hence evermore;

Thy sovereign majesty may we in glory see,

And to eternity love and adore.

 

We believe the Trinity is One Divine God with 3 personalities or 3 roles.  This foundational truth is hard to explain.  We call it a “holy mystery.”

We know that St. Augustine of Hippo took nearly 30 years to write 15 volumes called About the Trinity.  He continued for years to update and revise it.  It is said that he was walking the beach one day, struggling to understand this profound mystery, when he saw a little boy digging a hole in

the sand with a seashell.  The boy would run to the ocean, fill his shell, and rush back to pour the contents into the hole.  St. Augustine said to him, “What are you doing, my little man?”  The boy replied, “I am trying to put the ocean into this hole.”  Augustine later wrote that this experience helped him to see that this was what he had been trying to do with his 15 volumes:  fit the vastness of the Trinity into the limited container of his mind.

The word Trinity appears nowhere in the Bible, but it is implied:  In our Old Testament lessonàGenesis 1:1-2:4–We read the Creation Account:  Verses 1-2, In the beginning [time], God created the heavens [space] and the earth [matter]...and the Spirit of God [creative force] was hovering/moved/brooded [in motion] over the waters.   John 1 further informs us: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.   All 3 members of the Trinity were involved in Creation.  Notice, the Bible doesn’t try to prove the existence of God.  It just states that HE IS.  Psalm 14:1 declares–The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”  Psalm 19:1–The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. 

 

Our Psalm for today, 8, is a creation hymn.  It is quoted 3 times in the New Testament, including once by Jesus (v.6–You made Him [Jesus] ruler over the works of Your hands; You put everything under His feet.)  These words testify to God’s great creative power and His accomplishments.  King David asserts (v.1)–O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth.  In other words, God the Father is the creator of all the earth.  In the 1st chapter of Genesis, God the Father says, Let there be…10 times, and whatever He has envisioned or planned comes into being.  Even more fantastic than speaking creation into existence, He creates it out of nothing. The Hebrew word for this is bara; in the Latin, it is called ex nihilo.  Only God can create something out of nothing. The rest of us must start with raw materials.

 

Chapter 1 of Genesis also reveals that He is a God of order:

Day 1, He creates light; Day 2, He creates “air spaces” between the waters on earth and the waters in the sky (vertical division); Day 3, He separates dry ground from the seas (horizontal division); Day 4, He creates vegetation, plant life; Day 5, He creates living creatures in the seas and birds of all kinds; Day 6, (vv.24-25), He creates livestock & wild animals;

Then in verses 26-31, He creates humans. Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.  This means we have personality; that we are conscious of ourselves (metacognition) and of our actions; and that we are free moral agents.  In other words, we get to decide things for ourselves. Notice how God the Father references the other members of the Trinity in this creative act (let us…our), implying there are more than one divine person involved.

 

Continuing, in Chapter 2, God establishes the Sabbath principle our need for rest following work.  This is also evidence that our God is a  God of compassion.  John Wesley reportedly summarized God’s creative acts in Genesis 1 & 2 by stating, “God created the heavens and the earth and didn’t half try.”

 

Paul provides us with a Trinitarian blessing in our New Testament lesson today (2 Corinthians 13:11-14)—May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ [the Son] and the love of God [the Father], and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Without calling it the Trinity, Paul presumes its existence.  Like a good pastor, he wants believers to experience the blessings of the entire Godhead: grace, love, and communion.

 

Jesus, in our Gospel, sends us out to do the work of the Church in the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20)à…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus invokes the names of all three divine persons.

 

So what do we learn about the Trinity from our passages this morning?  Again, All 3 members of the Trinity existed prior to and were active in the Creation of the world.  They are distinct entities but eternally connected in love and communion with each other.

 

God the Father is Immortal, Invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible hid from our eyes….Creation appears to have been His idea.

He is spirit, completely transcendent, wholly other; enthroned in Heaven; compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin.  Clearly the Father is in command but never dominates or abuses the other two persons. We pray to Him, in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  My earthly father was killed when I was 5 years old.  My mother remarried 3 years later.  My step-father, unfortunately was verbally and physically abusive to me.  Because of this, I initially had difficulty seeing God the Father as anything other than a remote, critical, punishing, and disapproving God.  It is only as I have developed further in my faith that I have come to realize He is instead the loving, accepting Father I always wished I had known growing up.

 

God the Son, Jesus, is our Brother, Savior, Redeemer, and Friend.

He came to earth, God-in-the-flesh, as a vulnerable baby.  He demonstrated God’s love by teaching, healing, forgiving, modeling how to live, and by dying for our sins.  He demonstrated God’s power by performing miracles, rising from the dead, and ascending into heaven.  He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.  We sing, What a friend we have in Jesus…and it is the truth, isn’t it!

 

God the Holy Spirit is the immanence (everywhere-ness) of God, the “with us” God who is always available to us.  He is how we experience the Trinity today.  He leads, guides, and directs us now; He intercedes for us when all we can do is groan; He sanctifies us and empowers us for ministry.

 

To echo the hymn, To Thee, great One in Three, the highest praises be, hence evermore; Thy sovereign majesty may we in glory see, and to eternity love and adore!

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

A Call to Pray and Fast

Sisters and brothers, I ask you to join me in spending the next week in prayer and fasting for North America (Wednesday, June 3 – Wednesday, June 10). For those who can fast the whole week, a day, or a meal, I ask you to set aside time to intercede on behalf of your community, state, and nation. 

Pray in the Holy Spirit and as the Holy Spirit leads you, and as you do, consider these petitions:

  • Show me my own sin; reveal to me the darkness of my own heart (Psalms 139:24)
  • Reveal to me the repentance I need in my own life
  • The ending of the lawlessness and violence
  • Justice for those who have had their lives taken from them, especially George Floyd, and comfort for their families
  • Comfort for the family and friends of the thousands of people who have lost their lives because of COVID-19
  • Help for the millions who find themselves suddenly without a job
  • Provision for all those business owners who have lost their business because of the rioting, for those who have insurance and those who do not
  • Strength for the health care workers, nurses, doctors, technicians in hospitals and medical facilities who continue to work fearlessly to save lives
  • Wisdom for our government and civil leaders as they seek to keep us safe both from the virus and from the violence in our cities
  • Food and provision for those who are hungry and in need
  • Fresh anointing for the Church of Jesus Christ to faithfully proclaim the Gospel and reach people who are hurting, suffering, alone, and in need
  • Specific acts of grace and mercy that You want me to carry out in this time