Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Faith of our Fathers

Pastor Sherry’s message for June 16, 2024

Scriptures: 1 Sam 15:34-16:13; Ps 72; 2Cor 5:6-13;Mk 4:26-34

Happy Father’s Day to all of our fathers with us today. In honor of Father’s Day, I want to share a story of a heroic father.  The man’s name was the Rev. John Harper.  He, along with his 6YO daughter, sailed aboard the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic. We know that on the night of April 14, 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg.  Six watertight compartments were flooded, compromising the remainder of the ship.  As the supposedly unsinkable ocean liner began to submerge into the sea, pastor John Harper, was observed to place his daughter in a life boat, hug and kiss her, and tell her he would see her again someday.  He next walked up the deck of the tilting ship yelling, “Women, children, and all unsaved, into the lifeboats!”  He encouraged the ship’s orchestra, located on the fantail, to play, “Nearer my God to Thee.”  Along with many other stranded passengers, he then jumped into the icy waters and proceeded to swim from person to person trying to lead them to Christ.  He approached one young man holding onto a piece of floating debris.  When Harper asked him if he were saved, he said “No,” and that he wasn’t interested in hearing about Jesus.  Harper then gave him his own life-vest and said, “Then here, you need this more than I do.”  Harper swam over to others, urging them to believe in Jesus.  Passing the young man again, he did succeed in leading him to accept Christ. 

Of the 1,528 people who had jumped into the frigid waters that night, only 6 were rescued by lifeboats.  (Seventy percent of the women and children aboard the Titanic were saved, while only 20% of the men survived.)  One of the men rescued was Agrilla Webb, the young fellow who Harper had at last convinced to confess Jesus.  At a Titanic survivors’ meeting held 6 years later, Webb, in tears, recounted how John Harper had led him to faith. He also said he had witnessed Harper finally succumb to hypothermia and slip down into the frigid sea. Agrilla Webb reported Harper’s final words were, “Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

(Graham Twelftree, Your Point Being?, Monarch Books, 2003, pp.64-65.)

This is an extraordinary story of both bravery and faith, isn’t it?  John Harper’s daughter, Annie Jessie, survived to become the longest living Scottish survivor of the Titanic.  Hopefully she heard the testimonies of her father’s efforts to lead others into eternal life and his own dying words. 

Several of our Scriptures today have things to say about  Fathers.

A.  In our Old Testament reading, 1 Sam 15:34-16:13, we learn that God has fired Saul as king of Israel and has anointed David in Saul’s place. Apparently Saul, like so many monarchs after him, became too full of himself to seek the Lord.  He was disobedient to God.  He did not really worship God, love Him, or trust Him.  He took credit for what others did and denied responsibility for his wrong actions.  He did not humble himself and ask God’s forgiveness when he sinned.  In sum, Saul seemed to have forgotten that all Israelites kings served at God’s pleasure.

So the Lord sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to seek out the sons of Jesse, to crown from among them Saul’s replacement.  Notice, the prophet does not know ahead of time which of Jesse’s eight sons God has chosen.  Note also that the prophet fears Saul’s retaliation (should he discover why Samuel is there), so he journeys to Bethlehem under a “worship ruse.”  He asks to see Jesse’s sons, and is introduced to Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah, Nethanel, Raddai, Ozem, and Zeruiah, by birth-order.  They are each tall and handsome—much like King Saul.  But God has read their hearts (v.7) and passes on each of them.  Jesse, David’s father, seems to have overlooked his youngest son.   This is not behavior we would expect or admire in a good father.  A good father recognizes his childrens’ gifting and potential, and tries not to “play favorites.”  But Samuel has to request that David be brought forth.  Surprising everyone, including the prophet, David is God’s choice.  Verse 7 explains God’s reasoning for His choice—The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.  Then, according to v.13—…and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power.   God then granted David gifts of leadership and a deepening of his faith.  Now God is a good Father!

B.  Psalm 72 was written by King David much later in his life, and constitutes his prayer for his son and successor, King Solomon.  David’s record as a father, unfortunately, is spotty at best.  As a consequence of his sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, the Lord ordained that (2 Samuel 12:10)—Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your [King David’s] house.  David appeared to have ignored and never fully addressed the jealousy and bad feelings between his sons and daughters by different mothers.  He seemed to have favored some over others, and did not discipline his children or intervene to redirect them  as he should have.  But in this psalm, we see he did love Solomon and wish the best for him as King. 

Some portions of the psalm point to the King of Kings, when Jesus will return to earth a second time.  But others are direct prayers that the Lord will help Solomon to love justice and righteousness; to judge his people rightly; to treat the marginalized fairly and mercifully; and to defend the defenseless.  

King David’s example shows us that a good father prays for his children.

C. Our Gospel lesson, Mark 4:26-32, presents us with two parables involving seeds:

The first involves scattering seed on the ground.  No matter what the man does, waking or sleeping, the seed “does its thing.  The man may apply some fertilizer or water, but God superintends the growth!  In a sense, how the seed grows is a mystery.  We know the seed takes root, sends a shoot erupting through the earth, which then becomes a stalk, finally bearing fruit as it ripens.  But we don’t really know how it happens.  The planter/farmer harvests what God has caused to grow.  Notice, the role of the person:  The man broadcasts the seed, but he cannot really control the growth.  In God’s Kingdom, that part is left up to God.

Pastor John Harper called those who faced death on the Titanic to new life in Christ Jesus.  He spread the word.  Jesus brought in the harvest!

Think about what Christ did with this one man.  He used him to rescue the lost into lifeboats, then to bring the drowning to a saving faith in Christ.

Consider who sowed into your life?  On this Father’s Day, was it your dad–or another Father-figure (a spiritual father)?  Perhaps it was a spiritual Mother?  My Grandmothers both told me about Jesus.  Did the peace and joy of a Christian friend convince you?  You may want to thank whoever it was.

The second parable is the famous one of the mustard seed.  My father’s mother gave me a necklace containing a mustard seed when I was a child.  I understood it meant that my faith might start small, but like the tiny seed, it could grow into a large tree if I nurtured my relationship with Jesus.  Looking back on this as an adult, I also think she meant to remind me that God likes to use little things–little people, like Jesse’s youngest child, David–to do great works. 

Both of these interpretations of the mustard seed are correct, but they also seem just a little too safe!  Jesus taught in parables in order to challenge people’s thinking.  He hoped to overturn their usual assumptions, to frustrate and then transform them–and us.  It was a hated Samaritan who nursed the Jewish man back to health; the shepherd left the 99 to go rescue the one lost sheep; the father forgives the prodigal son and reinstates him—even though he had wasted his father’s resources–while the righteous elder son sulks; the last laborer gets the same pay as those who toiled longest.  Pick your favorite.  In most all of them, Jesus turns human logic on its ears.

So we want to look for what might be radical about a mustard seed, or the ways in which Jesus might just be challenging our common conceptions.  As a result, I think Jesus is directing us not toward cultivated mustard, which grows in rows, and is used in medicines and as a spice.  I think He is referring to wild mustard, the Biblical equivalent of Kudzo!  Wild mustard is a weed that you would hate to take root in your yard or garden.  Like bamboo, ivy, potato vines, or dandelions, it just takes over!  Normally, cultivated mustard grows in shrubs that reach 3-4 feet high.  Wild mustard, can however, become tree-sized, if allowed to run amok. 

Could our Lord be telling us, tongue in cheek, I’m not saying God’s Kingdom grows like a tame and cultivated variety of plant, carefully shaped by humankind into something resembling an English garden (or clipped and snipped to look like Mickey Mouse).  Oh no!  I’m talking about God’s Kingdom reaching out and overtaking people, one sinner, or one swimmer, at a time.

The Kingdom of God—or God’s reign—is not something you or I can limit or manage.  Our job is to tell people about Jesus.  We put the word out there.  Then God superintends the growth.  He is not looking for results from us but obedience.  Then, like the seed described in the 2nd parable, and like Pastor Harper, God’s Kingdom moves at the direction of the Holy Spirit.

On this Father’s Day, and always, may our love of Jesus spread like Kudzo.  AMEN!  May it be so!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Be Careful What You Ask of God

Pastor Sherry’s message for June 9, 2024

Scriptures: 1 Sam 8:1-20; Ps 138, 2 Cor 4:13-5:1; Mk 3:20-35

The story goes that Wally, from Wellborn, Florida, was vacationing in New Mexico.  He knew there was a famous, annual Chili Cook-Off scheduled for the next day. He arrived and thought to himself, “Lord, how I would love to be a judge of this!  All kinds of great chili recipes and all the beer you can chase it down with…sounds like my kind of heaven!”

As it happened, the man slated to be the 3rd judge had come down with the flu, so our Wellborn friend—standing in just the right spot—got asked to take his place.  “Thank you, Jesus!” he said to himself.  He just couldn’t get over his good fortune!

Here are the scorecard notes from the event:

Chili #1—Mike’s Maniac Monster Chile:

1.) Judge #1—A little too heavy on the tomato.  Amusing kick.

2.) Judge #2—Nice, smooth tomato flavor.  Very mild.

3.) Wellborn Wally—Holy Cow!  What’s in this stuff?  You could use it to remove dried paint from your driveway!   Took me 2 beers to put the flames out.  I hope that’s the worst.  These New Mexicans are crazy! 

Chili #2—El Rancho’s After Burner Chili:

1.) Judge #1—Smoky, with a hint of pork.  Slight jalapeño zest.

2.) Judge #2—Exciting BBQ flavor; needs more peppers to be taken seriously.

3.) Wellborn Wally—Keep this out of the reach of children.  I’m not sure what I’m supposed to taste besides pain.  I had to wave off two people who wanted to give me the Heimlich maneuver!

Chili #3—Alfredo’s Famous Burn-Down-the-Barn Chili: 1.) Judge #1—Excellent firehouse chili.  Great kick!

2.) Judge #2—A bit salty.  Good use of peppers.

3.) Wellborn Wally—Call the EPA!  I’ve located a uranium spill.  My nose feels like I have been snorting Drain-O.  Pour on the beer before I ignite!

And on it went—until Mike, complaining that his stomach had imploded—passed out.  (Sorry but I cannot credit the source of this story!  I came across it about 12-15 years ago on the internet.  Back then, I was preaching about 6-8 times a year for vacationing pastor friends and did not think—since my sermons were not being reprinted—to provide footnotes.)  The moral of the story:  Be Careful What You Ask of God.

Our OT lesson, 1 Samuel 8:1-20, makes a similar point.  Let’s examine it:

Samuel, the Prophet, followed the last of 12 Judges to rule Israel.  He provided leadership much like that of Moses ad Joshua, and had done an excellent job until he decided to retire.  Apparently without consulting God, he appointed his two sons to succeed him.  You may remember that he had seen the wickedness of Eli’s (the priest who had mentored him) sons and that God had removed them from power and set Samuel in their place. In what must have surely been a senior moment, he forgot (1) only God—not any person—appoints leaders over His chosen people, Israel; and (2) how incompetent and unworthy his own two sons were.  This is a sad commentary on human memory…or perhaps human ego.  Someone once said, “If we don’t remember history, we are doomed to repeat it.”  Eli’s boys had seduced female assistants at the Tabernacle and had taken the best sacrificial meat (God’s portion) for themselves.  Samuel’s boys were almost as bad.  They took bribes from the worshippers they served and they perverted justice.

So the Administrative Counsel or the Call Committee of that time approached Samuel (vv.4-5) and with all of the subtlety of a New Mexican chili, they said, “Samuel, you are old” (he was all of 65).  Didn’t they know that 65 is the new middle age?  Didn’t they recall that Moses lived to 120 and Joshua, to 110?  So 65 was hardly old.  They were trying to justify their demands.  They were inventing excuses!   They added, “Your sons are reprobates!”  This was true.  But the right thing for the Administrative Counsel, or the Call Committee, and even for Samuel to have done would have been to consult God:  Lord, who is Your choice of the next leader or the next prophet over Israel?  Instead, they arrive at their real agenda:  Make us a king, like all the other nations.  They want to be like everyone else.  What parent hasn’t heard this refrain:  I need a phone, a brand of jeans, or a car/truck just like everyone else has?

Now the selective amnesia has jumped to the people!  Have they forgotten that they were singled out to serve God from the time of Genesis 15?  What about when God says in Exodus 19:5–>Although the whole earth is Mine, You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  They had a special and a unique relationship with God.  He ruled over them and they were His people.  As long as they obeyed Him, they enjoyed His provision, protection, and presence.

But Samuel is feeling rejected, so he takes his disappointment to the Lord (v.6).  The Lord tells him essentially, don’t take it personally. It’s not you they are rejecting; it’s Me.  They’ve got a covenant with Me, the Ruler of the Universe.  I have provided for them, daily.  I have protected them, better than any human king could.  It’s ironically true that the only time Israel lacked protection was whenever they would rebel against God.  Time and time again, it was their idolatry and their disobedience that brought them military defeat.  God was always able to care for them.  

But, by this time, they want a human to take God’s place. Amazingly, God tells Samuel to let them have what they want.  Samuels’ mind must have traveled to Deuteronomy 17:14-20—in which God specified what a king should be like: (a) He should be chosen by God; (b) He should be an Israelite; (c) He should be a covenant-keeper (a member of the Jewish faith); and (d) He should live a simple lifestyle—none of this owning 10 palaces, 20 chariots, and 3 yachts sort of thing. 

Furthermore, God also tells Samuel to warn them that having a king will cost them in ways they may not anticipate.  (In other words, be careful what you ask for!) Samuel proceeds to tell them a king will abuse power (there are 5 he [meaning a king] will take’s in the text):  (1) He will reign over them/or oppress them; (2) He will take your sons for soldiers/or institute a military draft; (3) He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.  Perfumers was an Old Testament euphemism for concubines.  Samuel was warning them that their daughters will go into servitude, of one form or another.  (4) He will take the best portion of your fields, vineyards, and olive groves, your cattle and donkeys—for his personal use.  And, finally, he will take a 10th (in taxes) of your flocks—and you yourselves will become his slaves. Remember, we have long held in America that the power to tax is the power to destroy.

Knowing all of this—being forewarned by God Himself—they still say they want a human king.  Be careful what you ask of God.  Like Wellborn Wally, they get what they thought they wanted.  But look at the heartburn!  They had Saul, then David, then Solomon, all of whom started well and finished badly—though David did repent and reconcile himself to God.  The Kingdom then split into Northern/Israel (10 tribes) and Southern/Judah (2 tribes).  Israel went on to have a succession of 20 kings, all of them bad.  Judah also had 20 kings, only two of whom proved to be good, God-fearing, and honorable, Josiah and Hezekiah.  This was not a stellar record!  God then allowed the flood of the Assyrians in the North and the Babylonians in the South to end the Israelite monarchy.  God cleaned house in 578 BC!  There were no more kings in Israel until the King of Kings, Jesus, arrived on the scene more than a half century later!

The lesson, again, is be careful what you ask of God.  He knows better than we do what we need.  But He also gives us free will.  He lets us decide for ourselves.  Paul reminds us in Romans 1 that, when we insist, God lets us have our way.  Unfortunately for us, when our way differs from God’s, we step out from under His protection and His provision.  And the consequences can be dire.  If only they were no more painful than Wellborn Wally’s   mammoth indigestion!  Think about the times you took control of your life out of God’s hands.  I can.  It wasn’t pretty.  I wish I had made better choices.  I wish I had let go of my own control and let God.  But isn’t it true that “trial and error” learning can be very effective—Once burned, twice learned.  The lesson sticks with us for a long time, but the cost is also often very high.

Let’s take a lesson from our ancestors of the faith, the Israelites.  They were so sure they needed a human king.  1st & 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, and 1st and 2nd Chronicles all report the trouble that decision brought upon them.  The next time you are tempted to make a major decision for your life, run it by Jesus.   When we trust in humans, we may find our freedoms diminishing.  But as our 2 Corinthians and Gospel (Mark 3:20-35) lessons tell us, our Lord Jesus expands rather than restricts our lives.  Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we who believe in Him now step confidently from this life to an even better one.  Jesus also expands the meaning of family.  Our faith in Christ binds us together more powerfully than blood ties.  We love and serve a Savior Who loves and blesses us when we seek Him.  Amen!   

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Making Room for God

Pastor Sherry’s message for June 2, 2024

Scriptures: 1 Sam 3:1-21; Ps 139:1-6, 13-18; 2 Cor 4:5-12; Mk 2:23-3:6

A pastor related the following story:  Apparently, the church he served was in a city and “…was located next to a Jewish synagogue. That synagogue was served by a rabbi who quite typically walked to the synagogue on the Sabbath, though his house was some distance away. It was not that he didn’t have a car, but that for him it was improper to drive on the Sabbath, for that constituted work. Sometimes I would see him riding a bicycle to synagogue. I suggested to him that that was a lot more work than simply turning on the ignition in an automobile. He said that when a person is riding a bicycle on the Sabbath, the person is not tempted to go shopping or run errands, or to pick up something at the cleaners. However, when one is driving a car, it is easy to do many more things than one intended to do, and thus, the special nature of the day is lost. He was, of course, attempting to live up to the requirements of the third commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.” Some people would honor his attempt to live by the requirements of this commandment. Others would see it as an unnecessary concern for an outdated concept.”

(Illustration borrowed from www.sermons.com, June 2, 2024.)

From this side of the Cross, we know that Jesus often got into it with the Pharisees over the issue of proper Sabbath-Keeping.  Notice, He never said we were not to honor the Sabbath.  After all, the 3rd Commandment requires us to keep a Sabbath. Jesus would not have ever suggested we violate any of the Commandments.  He just wanted us to be sure to take into account human needs (love, grace) over strict rule-keeping.

To understand where He was coming from, we need to remember the history behind the Father’s institution of the Sabbath.  It’s based on God’s model of resting, on the 7th day (in Genesis 2:2-3), after having worked six days to create the world.  We know from Psalm 121:3-4 that our God neither slumbers nor sleeps.  He, then, does not require rest to maintain or sustain Himself.  So, the obligation to keep a Sabbath was for our benefit, not His.  Additionally, the Israelites had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. That meant they worked 7 days a week, without a break.  Our gracious, loving God wanted them and us to be guaranteed at least a one-day pause.  He knew our bodies, minds and spirits needed rest.  He also knew our human tendency was to do as much as we could each day.  So perhaps He was also building in a brake system to help prevent “workaholism.”

But I think God also knew He would need to appoint a time for us to make room for Him in our lives.  Yes, we are to worship Him on Sundays—our Sabbath due to Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter Sunday.  (The Jewish Sabbath is sundown Friday until Sundown Saturday.)  But we are also meant to use this time to make room for our relationship with Him.  Think about this:  The prohibition against murder (Commandment #6) is spelled out by God in four words—You shall not murder.  But God used 94 words to explain the Sabbath (Commandment #3).  God obviously views our keeping a Sabbath as very important.  Incidentally, your Sabbath does not need to be Sunday.  Many folks have to work on Sunday.  If this is true for you, be sure to set aside another day to seek rest and to visit with God.

Let’s see what further light our Scripture passages today shed on this topic:

A. 1 Samuel 3:1-21 relates God’s call to the young man, Samuel, to become His prophet (our Old Testament lesson last week shared a similar call to Isaiah, who came later in Biblical history).  You may recall that Samuel was given over to the priest, Eli, to be raised for God’s service (his previously barren mother, Hannah, had made this promise to the Lord).  He would have been about 3 years old when Hannah placed him in Eli’s care.

Eli had fed and housed him, and no doubt showed him what to do in God’s service–but he, a priest, did not teach him to make room for God in his personal life.  YIKES!  So Scholars tell us the 1st two calls awakening the sleeping Samuel were God’s call to salvation.  (Samuel would have been about 12 years old.) The latter two calls were God’s call upon him to serve the Lord as His prophet.  This is just after the time of the Moses, Joshua, and the Judges—all men (and one woman) whom God had selected to lead Israel (about 1200-1000BC).  From Samuel’s time until that of Jesus, God tended to speak to His people through prophets.

Eli was now old and out of touch with the Lord.  Verse 1 tells us—…in those days the word of the Lord was rare….God wasn’t speaking because few folks were listening.  God no longer spoke to Eli, his clergyperson.  Eli apparently went through the motions, but did not make space in his life for a relationship with the Lord.  So in this passage, God essentially fires Eli and calls Samuel to replace him.  Eli wasn’t so far gone that he did not realize what was happening.  He did prepare Samuel to answer the Lord’s call.  Samuel then went on to serve God faithfully for years.  The Lord used him to anoint the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David.  And Samuel listened carefully to God, making room for Him in his life.

B. In light of this lesson, we can look at Psalm 139 perhaps in a new way.  It’s certainly reassuring to know that God knows us intimately (He is both omniscient and omnipresent), and that there is nothing we might say or do that He does not already perceive.  But consider also how carefully and completely God pursues us for relationship.  He created us for relationship with Him.  He has made room and time for us.  So, if we do not feel close to God, who is at fault?  It’s us!  It is up to us to nurture a deep relationship with Him—to meet Him halfway.  King David encourages us in this psalm to make room in our lives for God.

C.  Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4:5-12 exhorts us to be aware of how generously God has gifted us:  In verse 6, he proclaims—For God, who said, ’Let light shine out of the darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Christ.  In other words, He loved us enough to send Jesus into our lives.  Jesus–and now, since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit–both gift us with life and light.  These are both “treasures” to which God has given us access, even though we are weak containers/”jars of clay”/”earthen vessels.”  He calls ordinary folks like you and me so that only God gets the glory.

Paul fervently believed our job/our ministry is to convey this wonderful knowledge we hold within ourselves—our born again relationship with Jesus, and the Gospel of Christ—to others who don’t know Him.  There is an old country expression:  “You can’t get back from where you ain’t been.”  In other words, we can’t convey to others what we don’t know ourselves.  Paul’s understanding, and ours, is that we cannot do this well if we do not make room in our lives for—or abide in–Jesus.

D. Finally, we have our Gospel message, Mark 2:23-3:6.  In this extended passage, Jesus has two encounters with the Pharisees over Sabbath-Keeping:

One occurs while Jesus and His disciples are out walking through a field.  His disciples are hungry.  There was room in God’s Law to cover this situation—Deut 23:25—If you enter your neighbor’s grain field, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.  But the Pharisees had decided picking kernels was work and should not be done on the Sabbath, no matter who hungry you might be.  Jesus, however, trumps them with precedent:  David and his men, pursued through the wilderness by King Saul, were hungry.  The High Priest, Abiathar, gave them the 12 loaves of showbread in the Holy Place to eat (1 Samuel 21:1-6).  It was reserved for the priests to eat at day’s end.  Jesus uses this to make the point that legalities must be tempered with love and grace.  You may bend the Sabbath Law in service of saving the lives of righteous persons.  David and his Mighty Men, as well as Jesus and His closest followers, were both hungry and righteous.

The other incident takes place, during worship, in a synagogue.

The guy with the withered hand was probably a “plant.”  Knowing this was a trap, Jesus calls the guy forth, saying (3:3)—Stand up in front of everyone.  Obviously, and knowing their negative intent, Jesus did not back away from doing what He knew was the right thing, to heal the handicapped man.  He also very wisely asks the Pharisees, (3:4)—Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?

In both instances, Jesus reiterates that the Sabbath was made for we humans.  The Pharisees practically abolished it by hemming it in with too many, often ridiculous rules.  We have practically abolished it by paying it too little attention.

An Eastern guru once poured tea for a fellow who insisted he wanted to discover how to have a deeper relationship with the divine.  The fellow kept talking and talking as the guru poured and poured, letting the tea overrun the cup.  When the seeker asked what the guru was doing, the wise man said, “This cup is like you.  You are so full of yourself there is no room for God.”   We don’t want to be like that guy.  We want to make room for the Lord.

Sabbath-Keeping helps us make room for God.  Being here in church every Sunday shows Him we are serious about wanting to honor Him. 

We want to get to the place that we don’t feel right if we haven’t been to church.  We probably should feel guilty if we have let other things take precedence over our relationship with the Lord.  This is a way we can tend the vertical of the Cross.  When I finally got this point in my early 40’s, I realized there was always something I heard each week—whether from the Scripture readings, the hymns, the sermons, the prayers, or even a comment by another member of the congregation—that I knew the Lord meant for me to hear.  If I missed church, I ran the risk of missing what God had for me.

Sabbath-Keeping also keeps us connected to our spiritual family, the horizontal of the Cross.  Each of us is important here.  When we don’t attend, the Body is left poorer.  Before I went to Seminary, I attended the same church in Tallahassee for 11 years.  I realized if I did not attend church a given Sunday, I would miss seeing some of those dear folks I did not encounter in any other arena of my life.  Let’s try to be consistent present in  worship each Sunday.  Your spiritual family loves you and misses you when you do not attend.  Amen.

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Holy Trinity Sunday

Pastor Sherry’s message for 5/26/2024 

Scriptures: Isa 6:1-8; Ps 29, Ro 8:12-17; John 3:1-17

Last Sunday, Pentecost, I shared with you 13 of the many functions of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Anticipating today being Trinity Sunday, I also pointed out the individual roles of the 3 members of the Holy Trinity.  In honor Trinity Sunday, let’s review these today and consider Who of the Godhead you tend to feel closest to:  

Maybe you stand in awe of the Father: Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible hid from our eyes, most blessed, most glorious, the ancient of Days, almighty victorious, Thy great Name we praise.  These are lines to a hymn to God the Father, Creator of the Universe, completely transcendent, wholly other.  He is the Covenant God, meaning He keeps His promises, always.  He is enthroned in Heaven.  He revealed Himself to Moses as (Ex. 34:6-7): The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. He is clearly in command, but never dominates the other two persons.

I was in the 9th grade before I ever learned my step-father had one good thing to say about me.  He was always very critical and I had learned I could never please him.  One day one of his friends gave me a ride home from school and told me how proud of me my dad was.  I was shocked!  I had been elected president of my high school class, but my dad had never said a word to me about it.  Reading the Old Testament through taught me how much my heavenly Father loves me—and you—and how often He says so, and I have been so grateful, and loved Him back, ever since!

Or perhaps you relate best to Jesus, our Brother, Our Savior, Our Redeemer, and Our Friend: What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!…Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.  Here we have a hymn about Jesus.  Jesus is God-in-the- flesh, coming to earth as a vulnerable infant, teaching and healing us, then dying for our sins.  He really helps us learn that God is indeed love.  Jesus too is compassionate, forgiving, and very patient.  If you have watched any episodes of “The Chosen,” you would have to agree that they depict Christ as someone easy to love.  He tried hard to reach us through memorable stories.  And, remember, it was Jesus who said (Jn 14:11), If you have seen me, you have seen the Father, for I and the Father are one.   Again, God-in-the-flesh.  

I was driving in Pittsburgh one winter, on my way to work, when I rounded a curve on a divided highway only to see several wrecked cars all over the road in front of me.  There was no place for me to pull off to avoid the wreck, as there were concrete barriers on both sides.  I downshifted and braked, but hit a patch of “black ice” and went into a spin.  I was then facing southbound in the northbound passing lane, and could see a large utility van headed toward me.  I knew he would soon hit the very same ice and skid into me.  I felt I was a goner.  I quickly prayed, “Lord Jesus, who will raise my daughter?”  My daughter, Meredith, was about 12 or 13; my son, David, was away in college and launched.  But my girl remained at home with me.  The van did hit me.  My airbag bruised my sternum; my glasses flew off and my briefcase went airborne from the back seat to the front.  The front of my little sports car crunched up like an accordian, but nothing was damaged in the cockpit.  Ambulances took a bunch of us involved in the pile-up to be checked out in the hospital.  But I was fine, just bruised and shaken up.  I knew Jesus had saved me and I was so grateful. 

Others gravitate to the Holy Spirit, the immanence of God, the “with us” God: Holy Spirit, Love divine, glow with in this heart of mine; kindle every high desire; perish self in Thy pure fire.   This is a hymn about the Holy Spirit.  He is how we experience God and Jesus now.  The Father and the Son reside enthroned in Heaven; so it is the Spirit Who leads, guides, and directs us here/now.  He tweaks our conscience when we sin;  He intercedes for us when all we can do is groan; and He equips and empowers us for ministry.  This week I had a word from the Holy Spirit.  He directed an intervention in a psychodrama I was to lead.  He told me to do something I had never done before.  I did what He said to do and the results were amazing!  I have learned to always do what He tells me to do, because He is always right.

Each of us may have a favorite, but the truth is the doctrine of the Trinity helps keep us balanced by reminding us there are 3 persons in our one God.  The Trinity also models for us how we are to live:  God lives in loving, cooperative community and we are to do the same!  The Son and Spirit are submitted to the will of the Father; but the Father does not dominate them.  Rather they coexist in steadfast love, mutual respect, and mutual cooperation.  That’s our model.

Let’s see how our Scripture passages today amplify these truths:

A. Our Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 6:1-8 and recalls for us the priest Isaiah’s additional call to become a prophet.  He is apparently praying in the Temple when he has a vision of God the Father.

He relates that King Ussiah, the last good King of Judah, had just died, having reigned 52 years (792-740BC).  Isaiah sees (v.1): The Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  How enormous!  How exciting!  Isaiah is grieving the loss of the good king, but then realizes the REAL KING, God, is still on the throne.

Isaiah is reassured that all is still well.

Isaiah also sees seraphs—6-winged, angelic creatures who normally surround God’s throne.  They are shouting, Holy, holy, holy! for the 3 holy Ones, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Their shouts were so loud they shook the Temple foundations, and smoke filled the Temple.  Their job is to search out sin—God’s holiness does not keep company with sin.  In their presence—and in the Lord’s presence—Isaiah becomes mortally aware of his own sinfulness (v.5): Woe to me!…I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and My eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.  As one commentator puts it, “Seeing God as holy reminds us deeply and painfully that we are not.”  (J. Fearless and D. Chilton, The Lectionary Lab for Year B, 2014, p.192.)

Job had a similar response to seeing God (42:5-6): My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.  Daniel saw God in a vision and reported (10:8): I had no strength left, my face turned a deathly pale and I was helpless.  We know what happened to Saul/Paul (Acts 9:4-19): he was knocked off his high horse and blinded for 3 days.  Even St. John, Jesus’ close friend, reports (Rev. 1:17): When I saw Him I fell at His feet as though dead.  So, like them, Isaiah expects to at least faint or even to be slain.

Instead, in God’s mercy, one of the seraphim-searcher-outers-of-sin, brings him an antidote.  He touches his lips with a live coal—OUCH!  And says (v.7): See, this has touched your lips: your guilt is taken away and your sins atoned for.  They have been instantly burned away.  Then God issues Isaiah’s call to become the Lord’s prophet: (v.8): Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?  Hebrew has no royal “we,” the king speaking in the plural (for himself and the country).  Instead, this is an Old Testament reference to the Trinity.

B.  Psalm 29, written by King David, poetically describes the voice of God.  He mentions God’s voice 7 times (the number for perfection, completeness).  And every metaphor David uses is a strong one.  Isaiah perceived God as huge!  King David perceived God as loud and commanding.

C. In our Romans passage (8:12-17), Paul continues to list the roles of the Holy Spirit: Verse 13: He puts to death the misdeeds of our body [helps us overcome sin]; Verse 14:  He leads and guides us; 

Verse 15a: He does not lead us into fear, but into sonship/daughtership;

Verse 15b: The Spirit calls us into an intimate relationship with God, in which we can actually call Him Abba [daddy].  Verse 16: He testifies that we are God’s children.  And, verse 17: …we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.

D. Finally, in our Gospel passage (John 3:1-17), Jesus is having a dialogue with an open-minded Pharisee, Nicodemus.  Nicodemus, an Old Testament scholar and teacher, wants to know how to enter heaven. Jesus says he has to be born again of the Holy Spirit.  Nick doesn’t understand this, confusing our spiritual birth with our physical one.

Remember, 4 weeks ago, I preached on what it means to be born again:  

(1) We believe in Jesus –so Nick has to have faith in Christ,

(2) And we learn to love Him—this is not so hard to do once we realize all He has done for us.  Being born again is a work of the Holy Spirit:  He leads us into faith in Jesus.  He convinces us to love Jesus.  Jesus is emphatic with Nicodemus:  We do not enter heaven because we know and follow the Law.  We do not enter heaven due to our ancestry or our spiritual or economic rank and privilege.  We enter heaven because of the efforts of the Holy Spirit to bring us into an intimate relationship with Jesus.

Jesus then reminds the Pharisee that no one sees or controls the Holy Spirit.  He shows up when and where God wants Him to be.  We don’t control Him.

I often remind my clients of the Serenity Prayer.  I want to end today with the Serenity Prayer, which always reminds me of the wisdom of the Trinity (The entire prayer is longer, but this is the short, easy to remember version): Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change [others’ behavior, my past, etc.], the courage to change the things I can [myself], and the wisdom to know the difference.  Our triune God grants to us the peace—serenity– that passes all understanding.  Our triune God infuses us with courage when we need it.

Our triune God gifts us with wisdom when we ask.  Amen!  May it be so.

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Come, Holy Spirit!

Pastor Sherry’s message for 5/19/2024

Scriptures: Acts 2:1-21; Ps 104:24-35; Ro 8:22-27; Jn 15:26-27, 16:5-15

Do you remember learning this when you were a kid?  “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” It’s a famous, old “tongue-twister.”  I just learned there’s another verse:  “He would chuck you wood as much as he could and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.”

This reminds me somewhat of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4—Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort:  Who comforts us in all our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  Instead of going on about woodchucks and wood, this passage repeats over and over the idea of comfort.  As Christians, we often comfort others in the same way we ourselves have been comforted. Who better to comfort a widow than another widow?  Especially one who has grieved her grief, and has learned there are ways to not only survive but thrive beyond the loss of a spouse.  Who better than a cancer survivor to minister hope to a new cancer patient?  AA and other such similar recovery programs have former addicts sponsor or mentor new members, encouraging them toward sobriety. We also as kids said, “It takes one to know one.”  Maybe it is truer to say…”It takes one to comfort one.”

One of the key ways we experience the Holy Spirit is as our Holy Comforter. He is called the Parakletos in New Testament Greek.

Para means alongside; Kaleo means to call.  When we pray, the Holy Spirit, the Parakletos, is called alongside us to help or comfort us.  This is one of His jobs.

(Chuck Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Ox Cart, Word,1998, p.272.)

Our Scripture passages today all refer to or describe the responsibilities or jobs of the Holy Spirit:

A.  In our Acts 2:1-21 lesson, the Holy Spirit births the Christian Church.  He is a spirit, so they don’t see Him but they do…see tongues of fire or detached flames above all their heads; and they hear an intense wind, like the noise of freight train engines or a tornado.  When several of my friends prayed for me to be baptized by the Holy Spirit—before I went to seminary–a great moaning wind blew in my face such that I could hardly breathe.  After that experience, I asked my friends what they thought of that wind and none of them had heard or felt it!  I knew then that that had been just for me and I believed.  

Similarly, the Holy Spirit settled upon each one of the 120 disciples gathered together, waiting for Him as Jesus had instructed them.  They then tumble out of the room, praising God and telling the marvelous story of Jesus’ death and resurrection in dozens of different languages.  How amazing this must have been to them and to those listening to them! Worshippers gathered in Jerusalem, from all over the known world, hear their own language spoken with no discernable accent.  Those in the crowd who knew many of the disciples were from Galilee wondered how regular, working-class folk like them could know these foreign tongues. They knew Aramaic, which Jesus spoke, a mix of the Hebrew and Canaanite languages.  They also knew Koine Greek, a kind of Hebrew influenced Greek, and distinguished from classic Greek or the Greek spoken today.  But how might they know all these other languages?

So we can gather from this that the Holy Spirit gets people excited enough and empowered enough to boldly proclaim God’s truths.

1.) He empowers;

2.) He inspires;

3.) and, He equips people to do things they had not done previously (equips us for service).

B.  Our psalmist (Psalm 104:24-35) reminds us that the Holy Spirit is the creative arm of the God-head.  We worship one God in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God the Father is the Head, the leader—He forms the ideas, the plans.  God the Son takes His orders from the Father, and has appeared to us in flesh to demonstrate the Father’s great love for us by saving or redeeming us.  We know from the 1st chapter of the Gospel of John that Jesus (the Logos—The Word made flesh) spoke creation into existence.  When He comes again, Revelations tells us He will speak a word and all evil persons assembled at Armageddon will immediately perish.  God the Holy Spirit is the power source, the energy.  An Episcopal priest I know used to say the Holy Spirit is like the electricity in the walls.  We have invisible power cords we plug into the wall sockets to become energized.  We can also unplug ourselves and lose that energy. The analogy is not quite accurate, however, because the Holy Spirit is not confined to our walls.  He is everywhere and can be accessed anywhere.  Nevertheless, He makes extraordinary things happen–like fluently speaking a language you never learned.

So this psalm celebrates God’s creative ingenuity:  He came up with so many different kinds of creatures, elephants, woodchucks, giraffes, octopi, and dogs.  Through the Holy Spirit, God the Father…

4.) gave us/them life (in Hebrew, the Holy Spirit is called the Ruach—the breath).  In verse 30—When You send Your breath [the word Ruach is used here], they are created and You renew the face of the earth.

5.) And He feeds them—the Holy Spirit sustains us.

C.  Paul, in our Romans lesson (8:22-27), gives us the perspective of the rest of creation as we all await Jesus’ 2nd coming:  He says (v.22)—We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Another Biblical scholar puts it this way:  “The creation is like a bride, dressed for the wedding, who sees her groom killed just before the ceremony.”  (Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Romans, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.154.)  Hearts are broken and the rest of creation is grieved.  Adam and Eve were supposed to steward it all according to God’s orders.  They failed in their responsibilities.

As a penalty to Adam for his sin, God (Genesis 3:17-19) curses the ground.  We have been liberated from sin by Jesus’ saving death on the Cross.  But the rest of creation, the ground, must still wait to be redeemed. Death still takes place.  Mold and decay still plague us.  Animals and vegetation all await a return to the order that was in the Garden of Eden, before Adam and Eve fell into sin. 

But what is the job of the Holy Spirit in all of this?  Paul says (v.26)—…the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  When we don’t know what or how to pray, the Spirit helps us.

6.) He comforts us.

7.) He intercedes with heaven for us.

He takes what we hold in our hearts and transmits it to Jesus. Then loving us as He does, Jesus intercedes for us with the Father.

D.  In our Gospel lesson (John 16:5-15) Jesus tells the apostles He needs to leave so the Holy Spirit can come to them.  Jesus, encased in a body, can only be in one place at a time.  Since the Holy Spirit is a spirit, He can be lots of places at one time.  How does that work?  I don’t know.  But I do know He is God and that through God all things are possible.

Jesus calls Him the Counselor.  I’ve been trained as a counselor, so I know very well what such a person is supposed to do: They listen empathically, trying to figure out the nature of their client’s problem and how the client thinks and feels about it. They restate or summarize what they have heard, in their own words, providing clarity to the client. They help the client arrive at the solution to their problem, serving as a sounding board.  Wise counselors are supposed to refrain from giving advice.  This is smart because we humans don’t always know the best action for another.  But the Holy Spirit is God so He does know and He does correctly advise.  If we are smart, we learn to listen to and follow His advice.

Jesus calls Him the Spirit of Truth.  This is why we can trust His still, small voice.  He speaks God-given truth, all of the time.

8.) He leads us to Christ;

9.) He reminds us of what Jesus has taught.  He brings to our minds the words of Scripture, as we need them;

10.) He counsels us;

11.) He even convicts us of our sins, so that we will confess them and ask God’s forgiveness.

The Holy Spirit is perhaps the least understood member of the Trinity.  This Pentecost, let’s try to remember that we need the Holy Spirit in our lives.  

His responsibilities are numerous:

1. To empower, 

2. To inspire, 

3. To equip us, 

4. To give life us life,

5. To sustain life,

6. To help us, 

7. To comfort us, 

8. To intercede for us,

9. To wisely counsel or advise us,

10. To lead us to faith in Jesusm

11. To remind us of Jesus’ teachings, 

12. To help us recognize our sins, 

13. To lead us to repentance.

Thank God Jesus did not abandon us when he jetted off to Heaven!

He left us the Holy Comforter.  If we listen to the Holy Spirit and obey Him, we are in good and capable hands until Jesus comes again.

Let us pray:  Come Holy Spirit, kindle in us the fire of your love.  Lord, send forth Your Spirit to rest upon us and to renew us.  Empower us to be faithful followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Come, Holy Spirit!

Pastor Sherry’s message for 5/19/2024

Scriptures: Acts 2:1-21; Ps 104:24-35; Ro 8:22-27; Jn 15:26-27, 16:5-15

Do you remember learning this when you were a kid?  “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” It’s a famous, old “tongue-twister.”  I just learned there’s another verse:  “He would chuck you wood as much as he could and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.”

This reminds me somewhat of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4—Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort:  Who comforts us in all our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  Instead of going on about woodchucks and wood, this passage repeats over and over the idea of comfort.  As Christians, we often comfort others in the same way we ourselves have been comforted. Who better to comfort a widow than another widow?  Especially one who has grieved her grief, and has learned there are ways to not only survive but thrive beyond the loss of a spouse.  Who better than a cancer survivor to minister hope to a new cancer patient?  AA and other such similar recovery programs have former addicts sponsor or mentor new members, encouraging them toward sobriety. We also as kids said, “It takes one to know one.”  Maybe it is truer to say…”It takes one to comfort one.”

One of the key ways we experience the Holy Spirit is as our Holy Comforter. He is called the Parakletos in New Testament Greek.

Para means alongside; Kaleo means to call.  When we pray, the Holy Spirit, the Parakletos, is called alongside us to help or comfort us.  This is one of His jobs.

(Chuck Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Ox Cart, Word,1998, p.272.)

Our Scripture passages today all refer to or describe the responsibilities or jobs of the Holy Spirit:

A.  In our Acts 2:1-21 lesson, the Holy Spirit births the Christian Church.  He is a spirit, so they don’t see Him but they do…see tongues of fire or detached flames above all their heads; and they hear an intense wind, like the noise of freight train engines or a tornado.  When several of my friends prayed for me to be baptized by the Holy Spirit—before I went to seminary–a great moaning wind blew in my face such that I could hardly breathe.  After that experience, I asked my friends what they thought of that wind and none of them had heard or felt it!  I knew then that that had been just for me and I believed.  

Similarly, the Holy Spirit settled upon each one of the 120 disciples gathered together, waiting for Him as Jesus had instructed them.  They then tumble out of the room, praising God and telling the marvelous story of Jesus’ death and resurrection in dozens of different languages.  How amazing this must have been to them and to those listening to them! Worshippers gathered in Jerusalem, from all over the known world, hear their own language spoken with no discernable accent.  Those in the crowd who knew many of the disciples were from Galilee wondered how regular, working-class folk like them could know these foreign tongues. They knew Aramaic, which Jesus spoke, a mix of the Hebrew and Canaanite languages.  They also knew Koine Greek, a kind of Hebrew influenced Greek, and distinguished from classic Greek or the Greek spoken today.  But how might they know all these other languages?

So we can gather from this that the Holy Spirit gets people excited enough and empowered enough to boldly proclaim God’s truths.

1.) He empowers;

2.) He inspires;

3.) and, He equips people to do things they had not done previously (equips us for service).

B.  Our psalmist (Psalm 104:24-35) reminds us that the Holy Spirit is the creative arm of the God-head.  We worship one God in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God the Father is the Head, the leader—He forms the ideas, the plans.  God the Son takes His orders from the Father, and has appeared to us in flesh to demonstrate the Father’s great love for us by saving or redeeming us.  We know from the 1st chapter of the Gospel of John that Jesus (the Logos—The Word made flesh) spoke creation into existence.  When He comes again, Revelations tells us He will speak a word and all evil persons assembled at Armageddon will immediately perish.  God the Holy Spirit is the power source, the energy.  An Episcopal priest I know used to say the Holy Spirit is like the electricity in the walls.  We have invisible power cords we plug into the wall sockets to become energized.  We can also unplug ourselves and lose that energy. The analogy is not quite accurate, however, because the Holy Spirit is not confined to our walls.  He is everywhere and can be accessed anywhere.  Nevertheless, He makes extraordinary things happen–like fluently speaking a language you never learned.

So this psalm celebrates God’s creative ingenuity:  He came up with so many different kinds of creatures, elephants, woodchucks, giraffes, octopi, and dogs.  Through the Holy Spirit, God the Father…

4.) gave us/them life (in Hebrew, the Holy Spirit is called the Ruach—the breath).  In verse 30—When You send Your breath [the word Ruach is used here], they are created and You renew the face of the earth.

5.) And He feeds them—the Holy Spirit sustains us.

C.  Paul, in our Romans lesson (8:22-27), gives us the perspective of the rest of creation as we all await Jesus’ 2nd coming:  He says (v.22)—We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Another Biblical scholar puts it this way:  “The creation is like a bride, dressed for the wedding, who sees her groom killed just before the ceremony.”  (Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on Romans, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.154.)  Hearts are broken and the rest of creation is grieved.  Adam and Eve were supposed to steward it all according to God’s orders.  They failed in their responsibilities.

As a penalty to Adam for his sin, God (Genesis 3:17-19) curses the ground.  We have been liberated from sin by Jesus’ saving death on the Cross.  But the rest of creation, the ground, must still wait to be redeemed. Death still takes place.  Mold and decay still plague us.  Animals and vegetation all await a return to the order that was in the Garden of Eden, before Adam and Eve fell into sin. 

But what is the job of the Holy Spirit in all of this?  Paul says (v.26)—…the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  When we don’t know what or how to pray, the Spirit helps us.

6.) He comforts us.

7.) He intercedes with heaven for us.

He takes what we hold in our hearts and transmits it to Jesus. Then loving us as He does, Jesus intercedes for us with the Father.

D.  In our Gospel lesson (John 16:5-15) Jesus tells the apostles He needs to leave so the Holy Spirit can come to them.  Jesus, encased in a body, can only be in one place at a time.  Since the Holy Spirit is a spirit, He can be lots of places at one time.  How does that work?  I don’t know.  But I do know He is God and that through God all things are possible.

Jesus calls Him the Counselor.  I’ve been trained as a counselor, so I know very well what such a person is supposed to do: They listen empathically, trying to figure out the nature of their client’s problem and how the client thinks and feels about it. They restate or summarize what they have heard, in their own words, providing clarity to the client. They help the client arrive at the solution to their problem, serving as a sounding board.  Wise counselors are supposed to refrain from giving advice.  This is smart because we humans don’t always know the best action for another.  But the Holy Spirit is God so He does know and He does correctly advise.  If we are smart, we learn to listen to and follow His advice.

Jesus calls Him the Spirit of Truth.  This is why we can trust His still, small voice.  He speaks God-given truth, all of the time.

8.) He leads us to Christ;

9.) He reminds us of what Jesus has taught.  He brings to our minds the words of Scripture, as we need them;

10.) He counsels us;

11.) He even convicts us of our sins, so that we will confess them and ask God’s forgiveness.

The Holy Spirit is perhaps the least understood member of the Trinity.  This Pentecost, let’s try to remember that we need the Holy Spirit in our lives.  

His responsibilities are numerous:

1. To empower, 

2. To inspire, 

3. To equip us, 

4. To give life us life,

5. To sustain life,

6. To help us, 

7. To comfort us, 

8. To intercede for us,

9. To wisely counsel or advise us,

10. To lead us to faith in Jesusm

11. To remind us of Jesus’ teachings, 

12. To help us recognize our sins, 

13. To lead us to repentance.

Thank God Jesus did not abandon us when he jetted off to Heaven!

He left us the Holy Comforter.  If we listen to the Holy Spirit and obey Him, we are in good and capable hands until Jesus comes again.

Let us pray:  Come Holy Spirit, kindle in us the fire of your love.  Lord, send forth Your Spirit to rest upon us and to renew us.  Empower us to be faithful followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Wise or Foolish?

Pastor Sherry’s message for May 12, 2024

Scriptures: Acts 1:15-26; Ps 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mothers!  “Former president Jimmy Carter spoke at Southern Methodist University and related an incident that occurred after he left the White House. A woman reporter came to Plains, Georgia, to interview his mother [Lillian Carter] in relation to an article about Mr. Carter and his family. His mother really didn’t want to be interviewed but was being gracious. So when the reporter knocked at her door, Mrs. Carter invited her in. The reporter asked some hard questions and actually was rather aggressive and rude.

“I want to ask you a question,” she said. “Your son ran for the presidency on the premise that he would always tell the truth. Has he ever lied?”

Mrs. Carter said, “I think he’s truthful; I think you can depend on his word.”

The reporter again asked if he had ever lied in his entire life.

His mother said, “Well, I guess maybe he’s told a little white lie.”

“Ah, see there!” the reporter exclaimed. “He’s lied! If he told a white lie, he has lied.”

The reporter was still not satisfied and asked, “What is a white lie?” And then Lillian Carter said, “It’s like a moment ago when you knocked on the door and I went to the door and said I was glad to see you.””

(Brett Blair, http://www.eSermons.com. Adapted from an unknown source.)

Isn’t that just a great story?  Former President Carter’s mother was honest, but also protective of him.  Ms. Lillian was a true southern lady: she was neither rude nor unkind, but she still conveyed her distain for the pushy reporter.  We hope for this from our mothers, don’t we?  They are very well aware of our failings and foibles, but–because of their love for us– they would never admit these to an “outsider.

I think this is the attitude of Jesus in today’s Gospel reading (John 17:6-19).  Jesus is headed to the Cross and so He prays over His disciples to His Father.  He knew He would be leaving them shortly, due to His imminent death, so He was asking His Father to protect them.  He reminds God that He did not lose anyone the Father had placed into His hands [anyone who believed in Him].  He had kept His disciples safe, all except for Judas, His betrayer.  By his choice, Judas rejected Jesus, then (due to guilt, shame, and despair) took his own life.  Jesus refers to Judas as (v.12) the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.  How sad for Jesus to know, the whole time He and Judas were developing a relationship, that Judas would betray Him. 

Notice, Jesus is not praying for the world here, but rather about the 11 He had spent 3 years training (plus all of us who have believed in Him down through the ages).  He is headed to the Cross but He is praying for us.

What a gift to have Jesus pray to the Father for us!  He is still doing this to this day.  He sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven and intercedes for us daily.  What a gift to us if our mother and father prayed for us daily!  I remember reading some books back in the early 1990’s by a woman named Stormie Ormartian.  She wrote The Power of a Praying Wife, and The Power of a Praying Mother.  In the latter book, she prayed for the spouses of her newborn children, from their birth until they eventually married.  She saw her children joined to godly spouses due to her long term prayers.  What a gift to our children and grandchildren if we pray for them daily! 

Additionally, Jesus asks His Father not to remove us from the world—even though we, like Him, don’t belong to this world–but rather to keep us safe from the evil one.  He prayed for our protection. President Carter’s mother, Lillian, in a Christ-like way, was trying to keep her son’s reputation safe from an antagonistic reporter.

Our Lord—and our mothers—want us to withstand the seduction of the evil one and make wise choices for our lives.

In Psalm 1, our Lord spells out the biggest most profound decision we will ever make: to choose to be follow God or to reject God.  The psalmist couches this choice as that between godliness/righteousness and that of ungodliness/wickedness.  Do we choose the way of sinners or the way of those who love and obey God?  Proverbs 1:7 reminds us that—the fear of [awe, reverence for] the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.  Choosing to revere our God is the wise choice.  Choosing to reject our God is foolish.  Those are the two choices before us. 

The psalmist goes on to assert that the person who chooses to follow God is blessed or experiences true happiness. This blessed person resists becoming ungodly: The blessed person resists listening to the advice of the ungodly, such as, “Go ahead, seek revenge;” or “Hey, steal what you want…no one is looking, and even if they catch you, you won’t serve any time.;” or “You deserve love, even if it means cheating on your spouse, abandoning your children, etc.”  The blessed person resists hanging out with sinners.  We might befriend them so as to lead them to Jesus.  But if we linger with them too long, they begin to win us over to their way of thinking and of living. The blessed person resists joining in with mockers or atheists.  Atheists don’t just deny God’s existence, love, or power.  They are more dangerous than this; they are actually antagonistic to God.

The blessed person, instead, meditates on God’s Word, written and in the flesh (Jesus).  This is where he/she derives guidance to live a godly life. Such persons are fruitful, productive, lively, thriving. The ungodly, by contrast, live meaningless lives. They do not impact others for good, and in the end, are blown away like chaff by the wind.

The psalmist concludes by stating, For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.  This is consistent with Jesus’ prayer of John 17:6-19, isn’t it?  Jesus prays for those of us who love Him that the Father will protect us from the evil one.

The Apostle John, writes in his first letter (1 John 5:9-13), He [or she] who has the Son has life; he [or she] who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  It’s the same choice as that in our psalm, isn’t it?  If Christ dwells in us—due to our faith, due to our having chosen to follow Jesus, due to our being born again—we are wise, godly, and blessed. 

If not, we are foolish and, as Scripture calls it, wicked.

The disciples were attempting to comply with this in their choice of a successor to Judas (Acts 1:15-26). You see, in the Hebrew way of thinking, 12 is the number of completion; eleven is therefore incomplete. They looked for other followers of Jesus worthy of being the 12th man on the leadership team.  Texas A&M Aggies football fans who attend the games in their home stadium call themselves “the 12th man.”  There are 11 players on the field forming their team, but the fans in the stands make the 12th.  

Peter, the other 10, and 109 or so other followers of Jesus are in the “Upper Room,” waiting on the impartation of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost—remember, next week, wear red, the color of fire and of the Holy Spirit), and develop criteria for the 12th man:  (1) He had to be someone who had followed Jesus from the beginning of His public ministry; and (2) He had to be someone who like them had witnessed and believed in the Resurrected Christ. They came up with two names, Joseph Barsabbas (also called Justus) and Matthias.  They drew lots and discerned that Matthias was God’s choice.  The Holy Spirit made the decision. It was not based on human favoritism or bias. The disciples looked for and ratified God’s choice. They trusted in God to make the final decision.

When we trust in God, we communicate with Him, and we obey, in faith, what we discern He says to us.  This is wisdom.  I once served on a call committee for my church.  We had narrowed down the candidates for our new pastor to two men.  We make our decisions by unanimous vote, assuming that if the Holy Spirit were leading us, we would all agree.  The vote was locked up for 3 meetings, 11 for one fellow, and 1 for the other.  People got angry at the lone hold-out, who was me (this happened before I left for Seminary).  They wanted to vote to change the unanimous agreement requirement so they could vote in the fellow they all liked.   I reminded them that such a vote would require 100% agreement and I would not cooperate in changing the rules until after this pastor decision had been made.  Someone asked me if I would consider voting by lots.  I agreed because I had faith that God’s will would prevail.  Someone else put 12 purple-wrapped candies in a basket along with 12 gold-wrapped candies.  No one could see what we were choosing because the basket of candies was passed over our heads.  As God would have it, all 12 of us picked the color designated for the guy for whom I had held out.  We were all blown away!  We did call that pastor and he lead us into a deeper faith and a deeper knowledge of Scripture.  He was a blessing to our church.  People who operate this way are blessed.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I want to share a Biblical example of a Godly woman, Abigail.  We find her story in 1 Samuel 25:1-44.  She is described as both (v.3) beautiful and intelligent.  But, she was married to a harsh and mean-spirited man, Nabol (his name in the Hebrew actually means fool).  Nabol was wealthy, owning 1,000 goats and 3,000 sheep, but he was also selfish and greedy.  David had been anointed king but was being chased about the wilderness by the jealous King Saul.  David sent emissaries to Nabol to ask for food from his flocks to feed his growing army and his followers.  He reminded Nabol that his men had protected Nabol’s flocks from both human and animal predators.  Nabol’s response was arrogant, inhospitable, and dangerous (vv.10-11)—Who is this David?  Who is this son of Jesse?  Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days.  Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where? 

YIKES!  Is this the way this fool insults his future king?  David hears the report from his delegation and is steamed!  He assembles 400 soldiers and lights out to set Nabol straight.  He has vengeance on his mind.

Abigail hears from a servant that Nabol has offended the future king. She wisely knows she needs to remedy this or her foolish husband is toast. She gathers several donkeys’ loads of food and wine and heads to intercept David and his men.  She falls at David’s feet, amazingly accepts the blame for her husband’s foolish actions, and offers the hospitality her husband should have provided.  Furthermore, she urges David not to sully his reputation by taking revenge against Nabol.  David commends her for her grace, wisdom, and generosity, and accepts her gift of provisions.  But God takes Nabol’s life 10 days later.  David doesn’t kill him but God protects His anointed.  David then proposes to Nabol’s widow and Abigail becomes the wife of the future king.

Can we aim to be like this?  Righteous, wise, godly, like Abigail?  Or will we be foolishly reckless and contemptuous, like Nabol?  Let us pray that we each make the right choice, the wise choice.  Amen!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Pastor Sherry’s message for May 5, 2024

Scriptures: Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-5; John 15:9-17

Back in 1984, the singer, Tina Turner, released a song called, “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” Some of you may remember the chorus to this song:

What’s love got to do, got to do with it?

What’s love but a second-hand emotion.

What’s love got to do, got to do with it?

Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?

The song had a great tune and was catchy, but the theme was sad. She sang that you can’t trust in love. She sang that she is trying to protect herself emotionally. She was tempted to love again, but feared that if she did, her heart could be broken (and no doubt already had been).

A lot of people go through life this way.  They hold themselves back, afraid to invest in others.  They prefer emotional safety to the potential for hurt and disappointment.  Last week, I talked about how countercultural our God is…this is exactly a case in point:  We are called to love Him and to love others, despite the emotional risk to ourselves.

To quote Tina, “What’s love got to do with it?” Our Scriptures today answer:  Everything!

A. In our Gospel lesson (John 15:9-17) Jesus calls us to love Him, love others, and obey God.  He is essentially repeating and emphasizing the greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-38)—Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind [Be all in with God].  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  Love your neighbor as yourself.  He also reminds us that we demonstrate or show our love by being obedient to God.  So, even though we might be disappointed or even have had our hearts broken, our Lord wants us to continue to love Him and to love others.  Love is how we abide in Christ—it’s how we stay attached to the Vine.  Sorry, Tina, holding back out of fear is an excuse Jesus would understand but He would not want us to let that fear limit us.

B.  John, the beloved disciple, says pretty much the same thing, but with a slightly different emphasis (1 John 5:1-6): In verse 1, he defines what it means to be born again.  We believe in Jesus and we learn to love Him.  We are born again through our faith, together with our love.  In verse 3, he stipulates how we prove our love for God—This is love for God: to obey His commands.  And His commands are not burdensome….We believe, we love, we obey.  In verses 4-5, he argues that we overcome whatever evil there is in the world not by fighting, but by our faith (typically expressed in prayer).

C. Today, I want to make two points concerning these truths:

1. 1st, we often find what we are looking for, or what we are focused on: The story is told of two fellows who had been in India and happened to be visiting in the home of the same friend.  The guests were talking about mission trips and missionaries.  The first man—who had been in India all of 5 months–said, “I have no use for missions and missionaries.  I spent months there, and didn’t see that they were doing anything; in fact, in all that time I never met a missionary.  I think the church is wasting its money on missions.”  The second fellow was a quiet older gentleman.  He had not spoken up at all until this point.  He now said, “Pardon me; how long did you say you were in India?  ‘Five months.’ ‘What took you there?’  ‘I went out to hunt tigers.’  ‘And did you see any tigers?’  ‘Scores of them.’  ‘It is rather peculiar,’ said the old gentleman, ‘but I have spent thirty years in India, and in those years I never saw a tiger but I have seen hundreds of missionaries.  You went to India to hunt tigers and you found them.  I went to India to do missionary work and found many other missionaries.”

(As reported by Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on 1 John, Thomas Nelson, 1991, pp.143-144.)

In the same way, I had never noticed pregnant ladies in bathing suits at the beach, until I became one.  Then I saw them everywhere.  If you drive a Jeep or a Corvette, I am told, you similarly note them wherever you go. The point is that we find what we focus on.  If it’s on becoming broken-hearted, Dear Tina, that’s what we will notice.  But if we can begin to trust in love, we will begin to notice evidence of trust-worthy love all around us.

Neuroscience tells us that our brains are pre programmed to look for the negative in life.  It was probably adaptive back when we were trying to avoid saber-toothed tigers (speaking of tigers).  To habitually think positively, we have to reprogram our brains, deliberately developing new neural pathways.  We have to train ourselves to think positively and this positive thinking is highly correlated with achieving happiness.  Negativity may keep a person emotionally and physically safe, but it does not lead them to happiness.

2. The 2nd point is that any fight we face in the world is God’s to contend with.  He usually does not call us to fight but rather to obey Him in faith.  Paradoxically, Joshua’s battle at Jericho is a perfect example of this (Joshua 6:1-20).  Joshua was God’s choice to succeed Moses as the leader of the children of Israel.  The Lord charged him with taking the Promised Land and conquering the pagans who inhabited it.  Lest you feel sorry for the pagan Canaanites, please note that the Lord gave them over 400 years to accept Him as God and they refused.  They seemed to prefer sacrificing their babies to the fire, and all the sexually perverse religious rituals they performed, to worshipping a holy God.  So He determined that He—who owns the whole earth—would give the land to His Chosen Ones.

In a strategy that is masterful and brilliant, God first stopped up the Jordan at flood stage so all 2 million Israelites could cross over into Canaan (on dry land, as the text makes clear).  Remember the generation that had refused to trust in God to take the Promised Land 40 years earlier had all died out during the wilderness wanderings.  They had experienced the Red Sea Crossing.  Their younger descendants had not.  So God repeats the miracle, both to show them He is with them and to remind them of what He had done for them in the past.

Now bear in mind that this strategy no doubt freaked out the folks of Jericho, who mistakenly thought they were safe until the Spring floods receded. Then when the Hebrew army approached the city, they simply marched around the outside of the city walls.  The Levites carried the Ark of the Covenant and 7 priests blew ram’s horn trumpets, signaling that the Lord will be taking the city.  The soldiers followed, armed, but did not engage the enemy.  They did this once a day, as per the Lord’s instructions, for six days.  Don’t you know the folks of Jericho were wondering, “What in the world are they up to?”  The truth is that our God was engaged in psychological warfare.

On the 7th day (seven being the number for completion or perfection), they marched around the city seven times.  On the 7th trip, the trumpets were blown, the marching army and the encamped women, children, and elderly shouted in unison, and the city walls suddenly collapsed.  Without their massive walls to protect them—and given how psychologically demoralized they must have been–the citizens of Jericho were quickly overcome.

This is such a great example of how God fights for us (2 Chronicles 20:15)—This is what the Lord says to you: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army.  For the battle is not yours , but God’s.”  We often summarize this passage by saying “the battle belongs to the Lord.”  Back in Joshua 5:14, and prior to the circular marches, Joshua had encountered the pre-incarnate Christ, Who calls Himself, the Commander of the Army of the Lord (Remember, when Jesus comes again, He will slay all the evil people at Armageddon; He will return as the “Commander of the Army of the Lord”).  At this meeting, Jesus told General Joshua God’s strategy and said to Joshua, See I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 

We may not have a similar encounter with Jesus, but it is still true that the battles we believers face belong to the Lord.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12—For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  The forces of evil inhabit this world.  When things look to be inspired by evil, we utilize the main weapons we have—the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and prayer.  Upset about the economy?  Pray that God would reverse the policies and the governmental overspending that have led to inflation.

Distressed about strife or broken relationships in your family or difficulties at work?  Pray that God will soften hard hearts and bring about peace and reconciliation.  Out of work? Pray that God would supply the right job and help you to have the right attitude as you embark on it. Troubled about your health or your finances?  Pray.  None of these issues is too difficult for God to address and to transform.  On our own, we can’t but He can!

We worship the God who is love.  So “What’s love got to do with it?”  Everything!  Love is the key.  Love is of foremost importance to God–followed closely behind by our faith and our obedience.  We are usually not called to fight; instead, we are called to believe, to trust in the Lord.

If we love God, have faith in Him, and are obedient, we are indeed His children.  He will and does provide for us.  He will and does protect us.  He will and does bless us and shower us with His love!  Thanks be to God Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!  Alleluia, Alleluia!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Counterculture

Pastor Sherry’s message for April 28, 2024

Scriptures: Acts 8:26-40; Ps 22:15-31; 1 Jn 4:7-21; Jn 15:1-8

Years ago (in the early 1970’s), I was teaching Sociology in a Catholic Girls School in Newport, Rhode Island.  I was a new teacher, trying to impress upon my high school students—all 12th graders—how difficult it is to not conform to societal expectations.  It seems to be true that most of us conform or go along with what is expected, most of the time, so as not to be singled out or harassed by “the crowd.”  You would not usually drive the wrong way on a one way street, for instance.  Most of us would not deliberately walk out of a store without paying for what we found there.  My biggest fear in high school was that I would show up to “Wear Your Pajamas to School Day” in my pj’s, only to discover I had the wrong day.  People are doing more outrageous things in public now than was true back in the 70’s…but most people, most of the time, do what we call is normative or normal. 

So I asked my girls if they would be willing to try a harmless experiment in not conforming.  They wore school uniforms, so there were very few ways they could modify their dress to be unique.  I challenged them to do something simple like wear ribbons in their hair (not a trend at that time).  No one was willing to do even something this tame.  When I led them in a discussion as to why that was, they replied that they did not want to “stick out.”  I considered the experiment a success because they had to seriously consider the personal cost of not conforming to cultural expectations, and decided the potential embarrassment wasn’t worth it.

I bring this up today because, as Christians, we sometimes forget how countercultural Jesus was, and how countercultural He expects us to be as well:

A.  Let’s look at Acts 8:26-40.  In this passage, Dr. Luke describes deacon Philip’s encounter with a fellow returning to Ethiopia.  Persecution against Christians had broken out in Jerusalem.  One would think, “This is terrible!”  But in a countercultural, counterintuitive way, God uses it to begin to push the disciples out into Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (to begin to fulfill the “Great Commission”).  Philip (not the Apostle, but a deacon) goes to Samaria.  In verses 5-8, before this passage, we are told that he preached the Word, healed the sick, and cast out demons.  He was doing an excellent job!  The culture would say, “He’s a success. Keep him there!”  But God, through the Holy Spirit, sends him off in a countercultural direction.

Philip was serving the Lord in Samaria, to the north, but was suddenly sent to the Gaza Road, way to the South.  The Holy Spirit directs him to the Ethiopian Treasury Secretary.  The guy was a North African believer in Judaism.  Notice:  He has already encountered the Word of God in the Old Testament.  He is reading Isaiah 53, the last of the 4 Suffering Servant Songs—all of which predict Jesus—but he does not understand it.  Philip, in a divine appointment, offers to help him.  The Holy Spirit has already prompted the Ethiopian official to be curious about Scripture.  Then God prompted Philip to be right there to explain.  Philip does such a good job of explaining the Gospel that the guy wants to become a Christ-follower.  He asks to be baptized.  They are in what is essentially a desert, but miraculously spy water—is this a divine appointment or what?–and out in broad daylight, before any passersby, in a countercultural, not-to-be expected way, Philip baptizes him.  Wow!

Wouldn’t we expect, then, that Philip would continue to hang out with the guy, to be sure any other of his questions were answered?  But no, the Holy Spirit immediately whisks him away to a Philistine city, Ashdod, to evangelize others.  Our God seems to delight in doing the unexpected.

In fact, I think He enjoys surprising us in countercultural ways.

Scripture is silent about how many Samaritans or Philistines came to Christ through the ministry of Philip.  But Early Church history tells us that the first big Christian church was built in Ethiopia!  That Ethiopian must have gone home and told many others about Jesus.  Even today Ethiopia is a majority Christian nation surrounded by Moslem nations.

In 1 John 4:7-21, John, the Apostle of love, sets out several countercultural realities about AGAPEO love—the love of God poured out upon us–not philios [brotherly ] or eros [sexual] kinds of love.  In verse 7, we are told that agapeo love comes from God, because God is love.  Love is not our initiative; we humans did not invent it.  So, it makes sense that, as stated in verse 12, when we demonstrate love, we are imitating God.  God demonstrated His love for us (verse14) by sending Jesus to redeem us.  Verses16-17 remind us that one of the ways we see or experience or cooperate with God is by doing things that are motivated by love. 

Aren’t we touched when we see a TV ad (like for Tunnels to Towers or St. Jude’s Childrens’ Hospital), through which generous people provide homes for disabled servicemen, pay off mortgages for police widows, or pay for treatment for kids with cancer?  James writes in 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  In other words, if you are moved to do something generous or kind—like contribute to one of these charitable organizations–it is because the Holy Spirit has inspired you.  Watch the news.  It’s hard to see any evidence of love in action.  Loving actions are countercultural and our God wants us to get into the habit of behaving this way.

John adds in verse 18—There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear.  Knowing God loves us can keep us from caving in to fear.

God’s perfect love for us casts out our fear.  If we live on a daily diet of the broadcast news, we can become fearful of many things…everything from nuclear holocaust, to being mugged or car-jacked, or to losing our homes, health, or incomes.  But if we can focus on God’s love for us, we can enjoy freedom from these kinds of anxieties.  The peace that passes all understanding—not dependent upon our circumstances, but on our relationship with Jesus–is clearly countercultural.

C. Our Psalm today, (22:25-31), reminds us that God’s rule is universal.   If we are aware of what is going on in the world currently, we might be skeptical that this is true.  Anti-Jewish protestors are swarming our college campuses nationwide, threatening the safety of Jewish students; and causing graduations to be cancelled for the very students who missed their high school graduation ceremonies due to Covid lockdowns.  There are wars in Ukraine and between Israel and Arab Terrorists.  Our economy is shaky and the cost of gas and groceries is sky-high.  Wherever we look, it appears as though what we call wrong is seen as right by the culture, and what we see as right, the culture condemns.

The psalmist, King David, wants us to be reassured that the day will come that (vv.27-28)—All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before Him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations.  This view is countercultural now, but we who believe in Jesus Christ, and in His 2nd Coming, trust that this prediction will come true.

D. Finally, we have our Gospel lesson, John15:1-8—I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  In this lesson, Jesus is referring to Himself as the “genuine Israel.”  All throughout the Old Testament, the vineyard or grape vines are a metaphor for the Jewish people.  If Jesus is the authentic Israelite, it is because He has loved His Father, been obedient to His Father, and loved His people. 

Additionally, He is saying that we can do nothing of any significance apart from Him.  Our culture would have us believe that might makes right; that the one with the most money, biggest social network, or most political power/influence wins. But, counterculturally, we know that none of that stuff will get us to Heaven!  Money, power, fame, even health can all be lost. But a vital relationship with Jesus will see us through this life and safely into the next.

If loving Jesus today makes us nonconformists or even dinosaurs, well I say, so be it!  I don’t know about you, but I would rather love Jesus and live outside the current norms than be a cultural conformist.  Remember, as my little experiment with my high school students demonstrated, the pull or power of the culture over us is very strong.  Wearing ribbons is not a sufficient motivator to behave in a countercultural manner, but being a follower of Jesus Christ is—or should be!

This week, try to be aware of times and events when our faith runs counter to the culture.   Look for the opportunities that exist when God provides you a divine appointment.  Let’s try also to be countercultural people who daily demonstrate God’s love.  Amen and amen!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

SMART SHEEP

Pastor Sherry’s message for April 21, 2024

Scriptures  Acts 4 5-20; Ps 23; 1 Jn 3 16-24; Jn 10 1-18 

The story is told about a woman calling for help from a small plane. She and her husband were flying a small plane to dine with friends, perhaps from Live Oak to Cedar Key.   Once airborne, the husband got sick and fainted.  Scared witless, she radioed for help, saying she didn’t know how to fly. Lots of people provided lots of advice as to her location, her altitude, how to find out how much fuel remained, and how to turn on her landing lights. A flight instructor out at a nearby airport heard the radio chatter. He jumped into his plane and took off. He wisely waited for a lull in radio traffic, then told others who he was and to stop transmitting. He introduced himself to her and told her he would try to coach her down safely. When he saw her plane, he told her to turn her landing lights off. Then he came alongside her and taught her the basics of flying. He also called ahead for an ambulance for her husband and then helped her to land safely. The woman and her husband were saved because she obeyed the voice of the flight instructor.

Our Psalm and Gospel readings both reference us as sheep, and the Lord as our Shepherd. At first blush, referring to us as sheep is not very flattering  they are notoriously helpless, often grazing their way lost; they are skittish, fleeing when frightened; they are prone to over-eating (along with goats, they will even eat kudzu); and, if they fall into running water, their heavy coats will become waterlogged and they will drown.   However, they do recognize the voice of their particular shepherd.

Do you know there are over 700 references to sheep and shepherds in Scripture?   In the Old Testament, the Good Shepherd was God, the Father 

1.) 23rd Psalm The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want (Peterson expresses it this way in The Message  I don’t need a thing!).

2.) Psalm 100  …we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

3.) Isa: 40

:11  [God] tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.

4.)   In Ezekiel: 34, God the Father lambasts the kings, prophets, and priests of Israel, calling them bad shepherds. He accuses them of abusing, neglecting, and even preying upon His sheep. He promises to save His flock.   In verse 23, He declares  I will place over them one shepherd, My servant David, and He will tend them and be their shepherd.   Now Ezekiel lived about 400 years after King David, so he wasn’t talking about David per se.   Instead, he was prophesying about Jesus (who, like David and out of his lineage) is a Shepherd-King.

In the New Testament, the Good Shepherd is Jesus, God the Son   Our Gospel today is from John 10 1-18.   Scholars say this is the climax of John’s Gospel because Jesus identifies Himself as “The Good Shepherd” (v.11), thus calling Himself one with God the Father. In verse 14, Jesus says  I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me. God the Father called Himself “I am that I am.”  Every time in John, when Jesus makes an “I am” statement, He is admitting that He is God.

We find Him in today’s passage teaching in the Temple during the season of Hanukkah.   He identifies for His audience the bad shepherds  They victimize God’s sheep; they are thieves and murderers; and they are not willing to die to protect their sheep. Then He describes what a Good Shepherd does. Back in Jesus’ day, sheep from several flocks were gathered into a sheepfold at night (a kind of roofless barn bordered by a rock fence). The shepherd would lay across the opening to this structure to make sure the sheep stayed within and that predators would remain outside. So He is saying that He is willing to lay down His life for the benefit of His flock [us].   Unlike a hired hand, he does not flee when confronted with danger.   He is invested in the welfare of His sheep [gain, us].

How do we know we are the sheep of the Good Shepherd?

First, we are baptized into His flock (we become children of God).

Second, we learn to hear His voice  our God communicates with us through our spiritual ears, a kind of knowing that just comes into our heads. He also speaks to us through His written Word; by His Holy Spirit (the still small voice); in our dreams–We know many Moslems have come to Jesus in recent years because He has appeared to them in their dreams– through song lyrics, bumper stickers, billboards; sometimes through other people, even including overheard conversations; and often through our particular circumstances. He speaks to us and He wants us to communicate with Him in return. We talk with Him by praying—it’s just having a conversation with Him. We also talk with Him through our worship and praise. 

Third, we come to realize we are each known by Him. He has known us from before we were born. Psalm 139 says  O Lord, You have searched me and You know me.   You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.   Before a word is on my tongue, You know it completely, O Lord…for You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb…When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.  Jesus adds, in Luke 12 7  Indeed, the very hairs of your head are numbered!  God knows us intimately, better than we know ourselves  He knows our every action; our every plan; our thoughts, even before they are fully formed; our words, even before we utter them. This is such a paradox    all of us are members of His flock, but He views us individually as well (I once saw a humorous bumper sticker that read, “Jesus loves you, but I’m His favorite!”).  

Fourth, if we are smart sheep, we follow Him. Shepherds in Jesus’ day led their flocks, from the front. They did not push from behind. They whistled and called the sheep by name. The shepherd’s job, as Psalm 23 says, was to lead them to green pastures (healthy, plentiful food), beside calm, clean waters, to calm them down and settle their fears, and to protect them from predators.  When we follow Him, we go where He wants us to go, we do what He wants us to do.   Because He is the Good Shepherd, we can trust in His intentions for us.  He wants only the best for us, as Jeremiah 29 11 says  ”For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.   “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future.”

When we follow Him… we are to be obedient. Most of us are not too keen on obedience; we prefer to do things our own way (We have all heard toddlers say, “Me do it!”).   This kind of independence starts young.   Beth Moore shared that her 3 year old daughter once stood on the third step of the staircase, with her hands on her hips, and defiantly declared, “I am the boss of me!” But Jesus is clear, saying in John 14 23-24  If anyone loves Me, He will obey my teaching.   My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.   He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.

We obey His teaching by putting our love into action! Christian love cannot be just a sentiment, a feeling. Christian love must be a Love Relationship–with the members of this body; with the people of this community; with those who do not yet know Jesus. Jesus blesses us when we obey His commands and love one another.

Fifth, smart sheep know Jesus is Lord!   Our Acts passage demonstrates, once again, that Peter and John were so emboldened by the Holy Spirit, that they were brave enough to confront the Jewish religious leaders (the Sadducees), despite their power to jail them. The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection and did not want them teaching the Jesus had been resurrected.   His resurrection did not fit their narrative, so they denied it. After discussion these leaders let them go, but warned them not to continue to teach anyone about Jesus.   Peter replies, (vv.19-20)  Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.   For we [Peter and John] cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.   In so many words, what Peter means is, “I know Jesus is Lord so I will obey Him in spite of your threats or intimidation.” 

John writes in his epistle (1 John 3 16-24), Christian love means being willing to give your life for the welfare of another (verse 16). Christian love is not just words, but actions (verse 18)!   Smart Sheep demonstrate this by the way we go about loving others.

Just as the lady in the plane lived to tell the story because she listened to and trusted in the flight instructor, we too are best off when we do what our Lord asks of us.  Like the flight instructor, He keeps us on course and guides us to safe landings.  But better than that flight instructor, He knows us intimately and loves us.   This week, let’s remind ourselves that we have a shepherd Who knows and loves us, intimately; Who cares for us generously and graciously; and Who desires that we serve and bless those around us.   For His love’s sake, we want to be smart sheep!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Smart Sheep Hear the Shepherd’s Voice