Posted on by Cheryl Norman

We Can’t Outgive God

Pastor Sherry’s Message for December 20, 2020

Scriptures: 2 Sam 7:1-11, 16; Ps89:1-4, 19-26; Lk 1:26-38

How many of you are aware of the Jan Karon series about the town of Mitford, in western North Carolina, and the pastor there named Father (Fr.) Timothy Kavanaugh?  Karon has now published 14 books in this series.  They are “clean,” Christ-centered, and heart-warming stories. In seminary, many of us hoped to serve at a parish like Mitford (the church there is called “Lord’s Chapel”).  We would have done much better, however, had we hoped we would be more like Fr. Tim himself.  Karon’s Fr. Tim is modest and self-effacing.  He is honest but also tactful.  He is inordinately patient with the elderly, children, and even unruly pets.  He displays a great sense of humor.  He has a pastor’s heart for his people, and he clearly loves Almighty God!

I recently read the 12th book in the series titled Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good, and what I found to be most noteworthy is Fr. Tim’s remarkable prayer life.  Fr. Tim frequently lifts up the needs of his parishioners.  He prays with them, he prays for them while engaged in other activities, and his favorite come-back for a prayer request is, “Consider it done!”  A Bible-believing Episcopal priest, he has memorized many of his denomination’s beautiful prayers called “Collects.”  Quite a few were written by Archbishop Cranmer following the Protestant Reformation in the mid-1500’s.  Fr. Tim wakes up and ends his days reciting them.  He praises God when things go well.  He often prays what he calls the prayer that never fails: Lord, thy will be done….

Isn’t it true that most of us pray for help when our world is looking grim?  Or we pray to know God’s will when facing a big decision.  We may even remember to thank and praise Him for the wonderful moments, the miraculous events, the blessings in our lives.  But do we ever think to ask Him what He’d have us to do bless Him?  “Lord, how can we give back to You?”  Or, “What could we do that would please You?”

Today’s Old Testament lesson (2 Sam 7:1-11+16) sheds some light on what tends to happen when someone wants to gift God.

We are presented with King David, who lived about 1,000 years before the 1st Coming of Jesus.  Though he was a member of the tribe of Judah, he united all12 tribes to form the nation of Israel.  He also established Jerusalem as his capital.  With God’s help, he subdued all of Israel’s enemies and, at the time of this passage, is experiencing an unprecedented period of peace.  Furthermore, he brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and danced before it, worshipping God as it entered the city.  He composed some great worship music, many examples of which are preserved for us as Psalms.  As you can imagine, our passage finds him very grateful to God for having blessed him in all of these ways.

My favorite Bible Commentator, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, suggests it might have been on a rare stormy or rainy day that the king spent some time and energy comparing his situation in his palace with that of God’s in the Ark.  He may have fretted, “Here I am sitting in this lovely cedar-lined palace, dry and warm, while God’s Ark sits out in the rain.  That is hardly right.  Why don’t I build God a house?”  Truly, the “tent” which held the Ark was not covered.  Nevertheless, David doesn’t pause to ask God if this is something that will please or bless Him.  He just assumes it will.  To King David, it probably seemed like a slam-dunk.

Even the prophet, Nathan, agreed with the idea, saying essentially, “Great concept!  Run with it!”  But God grabs ahold of Nathan and says, Go back!  Tell David I said “no.”  Furthermore, God adds, whoever said I needed a house?  For years, God had lived in a tent!  It has the advantages of being mobile, flexible, and portable (Other people groups in that day believed their local gods were confined to one geographic area; but the Hebrew God went all over the place).  God is saying, essentially, I appreciate the thought, but I will not be contained by humankind.

Afterall, He’d manifested as a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night.  When He gave directions for them to build the “Tent of Meeting”—in which He met with and spoke to Moses and Joshua– He was present but not confined by the tent.  All of this was so until God allowed David’s son, Solomon, to build His Temple; and until informs us in John 1:14–The Word became flesh and dwelt (tented; pitched His tent) among us–a tent of flesh!

God denied the gesture but honored David’s intention.  He then proceeds to give David more than he could have asked for or imagined.

  1. First, He calls David “Servant.”  This is actually a Biblical term of endearment indicating a special relationship between a person and the Lord.  Typically it is used only with some patriarchs, the prophets, the nation of Israel, and Jesus.
  2. Next he tells Nathan, “Tell David I will build him a house” (dynasty).  David already has a luxurious palace.  The word House is bayith in Hebrew.  It has 3 meanings:  (1) David’s palace (vv.1-2); (2)Yahweh’s Temple (vv. 5-7, 13); and (3)David’s dynasty (vv.11, 16, 18, 19, 25-27, 2 times in 29).  This is the only royal house that the Lord would ever sanction in perpetuity.
  3. God then sets out the terms of His Covenant with David.  God promises:

    1.) I will make your name great (famous/renoun)

   2.) I will provide a place for My people;

  3.) I will give you rest from your enemies;

4.) I will raise up offspring to succeed you;

5.) I will establish the throne of your kingdom forever.  This means that God would not allow anyone to usurp David’s throne from him.  It also means that while the dynasty may fade, it will not disappear completely.

6.) I will be his Father/He will be My son.  God will father Solomon after David passes away.  And later, God will be/is still the Father of Jesus.                         

7.) I will discipline Him….God allows David’s wicked descendants to be taken out by the Assyrians or the Babylonians.  And much late–though He was without sin–Jesus is flogged and crucified.

 8.) But I will always love him!

9.) Your throne will be established forever:  In Luke 1:32–Gabriel says to Mary, He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of his father David.

         This 2 Samuel 7 passage is a very important section in the Old Testament as it expresses the Messianic Hope!  Our God is a Promise-Keeping God.  He placed the scepter (symbol of kingly power and rule) in the tribe of Judah way back in Genesis 49:10.  This Messianic Hope is reiterated time and time again in the Old Testament: 4 times in Isaiah; 3 times in Jeremiah; 2 times in Ezekiel; and once each in Hosea, Amos, and Zechariah.

Additionally, this passage shapes our Christian understanding of Jesus Christ:

  1. He is a son of (descendant of) David;
  2. One who will rise up from the dead;
  3. He is the capstone or cornerstone of the House of GodàJohn 2:19–Destroy this Temple (His body) and I (Jesus) will raise it again in 3 days.
  4. He is the possessor of a throneàRevelation 3:21–To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne…
  5. He rules over an eternal Kingdom:
  6. Jn 18:36–Jesus said, My Kingdom is not of this world.  If it were, My servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews.  But My kingdom is from another place.
  7. Matt 28:28–And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
  8. He is the Son of God:
  9. Mark 1:1–The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
  10. Acts 9:20–At once [Paul] began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God.
  11. He is also the product of an “immaculate,” miraculous
  12. conception since God is His Father.
 

Now what does this mean to us today?  For one thing, our God keeps His promises, both to David and to us!  Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is descended from King David’s line.  He thus fulfills all of the Old Testament prophesies about His identity.  Just as He was the hope for David (and for many down through the ages), He is our hope, right now!  He has made us for relationship with Himself.  He loves us with a steadfast and loyal love. He is faithful and true.  He will never leave or forsake us.

For another, we can never out-give God.  Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from the penalty for our sins.  The great temple built by Solomon (later rebuilt by Herod the Great) is gone (destroyed by the Romans in 70AD, and not yet to this day rebuilt.)  The point of that is thatGod’s house is not a building!  Now, it’s us.  By the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit, our bodies are God’s temple.

I think the literary character, Fr. Tim Kavanaugh, truly demonstrates how to live and pray in a way that honors God.  As we approach Christmas this week, let’s come to God with grateful hearts.  Like dear, humble Mary, let’s seek to do God’s will at all times.  And, while we can’t out-give God, let’s ask Him how we might bless Him this Christmas.  Amen.

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Using Our Talents

Pastor Sherry’s Message for November 15, 2020

Scriptures: Judges 4:1-7; Matt 25:14-30

A pastor friend tells the story of his brother, Tony, and their elderly Aunt Mildred.  Aunt Mildred was getting along in years, so the two brothers bought her a motorized recliner.  You know the kind, it pushes you up and out of the chair so you don’t have to struggle to stand.  Soon after gifting her, Tony went to see how Mildred liked her new chair.  “Tony,” she says, “I’m having a lot of trouble getting out of my chair.”  Puzzled, Tony replied helpfully, “Let me check on the motor.”  Mildred then told him, “Well, that won’t do no good.  I never plug it in!”  Dumbfounded, Tony asked, “Well, whyever not?”  To which Aunt Mildred replied, “Well, what if the power goes out whilst I was a-laying back in it?  I wouldn’t never be able to get out of it!”  I love this story because it demonstrates so well how fear, and a lack of faith, can prevent us from using the blessings, the “talents,” God has given us.

Our OT and Gospel lessons today give us two examples of what God thinks of those who do not trust in Him enough to utilize the talents He has given us for building up His Kingdom. In our OT lesson, we have the only example of a woman called to lead the nation of Israel, Deborah the Prophetess.  She was called and equipped by God to lead during the time of the Judges.

The backstory is that Joshua has died at 110 years of age without a follow-up human leader.  The Israelites had not yet been governed by a king.  Their leader, to date, had been a man like Moses or Joshua, selected  and directed by God)   Even though the people promised Joshua three times (recall our OT passage from last week), they would remain obedient to God, within 40 years, they had taken up idolatry and forsaken the LORD.  As a result, the Lord would then allow a Canaanite people—Amorites, Amonites, Moabites, Midianites, or even Philistines—to oppress them.  They would then call out to the LORD for help.  He would reply by raising up a judge to lead them in defeating their enemy.  They would thank and praise Him.  But, shortly, once the threat was over, they would again forget about their loyalty to God.  And the 40 year cycle would begin all over again.  Deborah, a woman, was the 3rd such judge God provided.

Who was she?  She only takes up two chapters of Scripture in which we learn the following about her:

            1.) She was a wife to Lippidoth.  We know nothing of him, except that he seemed to have recognized God’s call on his wife’s life; and he did not appear to resent her influence or power. 

2.) She was “a mother of Israel,” out of the tribe of Ephraim.  While this may imply she had children of her own—if so they are not mentioned in Scripture–it certainly means she nurtured and cared for the nation.

            3) She was a wise counselor.  People came from miles away to seek her wisdom and advice.

            4.) She was a renowned judge like Judge Judy, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, or Judge Jannine Pirow.  Instead of sitting at the city gates to hear cases, verse 5  tells us she sat beneath a palm tree named for Her–the Palm of Deborah–located between Ramah and Bethel.

            5) She was a legitimate prophetess.  Like her male counterparts, she was anointed by God, who told her what to say to His people.  She conveyed God’s words to the people and she foretold events accurately.

            6.) We learn in today’s passage that she was a warrior.

            7.) She was also a poet.  She wrote a song/psalm, describing what God accomplished through her leadership—in Judges chapter 5.

            8.) Finally, she was a woman who loved and trusted God.

Notice, she had many gifts/talents.  What did she do with them?  The Canaanite King Jabin had oppressed the Israelites for 20 years. He terrorized them with 900 iron chariots/horses, and an able-bodied general named Sisera.  During this oppressive time, Jabin confiscated all the Israelites’ iron weapons.  The people call out to God for help, and God tells Deborah to send for General Barak of the tribe of Naphtali.  She did and told Barak that God intended for him to lead the people into battle against Sisera.  In V.6 she says to Barak, The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulon and lead the way to Mount Tabor.  I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.

Deborah knows that God is going to give Gen. Barak the victory.  The General doesn’t see how—he lacks faith in God.  His citizen army is outnumbered 10 to 1, and Sisera’s army is much better equipped.  He must have felt like Deborah was essentially telling him to prepare for his death.  He does eventually agree to go as directed, but only if the prophetess will go with him.  Is he afraid?  Or is he simply clear that he needs the counsel of the one who hears from God?  Since he doesn’t really seem to trust her or God etirely, she tells him God will give the victory (over Gen. Sisera) to another woman (Jael, the wife of a weapons maker).

Judges, chapter 5, is called Deborah’s Song:  Some Biblical scholars call it “one of the oldest and finest pieces of Hebrew poetry.”  In it, Deborah gives God the glory for their victory.  Deborah walked in faith to free her people from oppression.  She used her gifts of leadership to direct the Israelites into battle, despite overwhelming odds and the prevailing customs for women of the time.  Because of her obedience, God gave Israel another 40 years of freedom and peace.

In our Gospel lesson, Matthew 15:14-30, Jesus provides examples of two who utilize their talents for God and one who does not.  In His parable,the master (probably God) leaves his assets in the hands of threestewards/servants (believers).  He appears to have doled out his assets according to the degree to which He trusts in their abilities and their motivation.  One very able fellow gets 5 talentsàA talent back then was equal to 1 years’ wages; for the purpose of illustration, let’s say a years’ wages were $30,000.  That would mean this 1st guy has been entrusted with 5 times that or $150,000.  The next gets 2 talents, or $60,000;and the 3rd gets 1, or $30,000.

When the Master returns, He expects them to account for how they invested His money during His absence.  The fellow who had 5 talents invested them wisely and wound up earning double or $300,000!  The guy with 2 also invested wisely and doubled his earnings, netting $120,000.  The faithless guy hid his 1 talent, so he gained nothing.  Although he was honest and returned the $30,000 in tact, the master was angry because he could have at least deposited it somewhere and earned interest on it.  The Master commends the first two dudes, but He has nothing but contempt for the third.  This guy was either so lazy as to not use the talents at all.  Or perhaps like Aunt Mildred, he was too afraid to fail, so he did nothing (safe but unproductive).  This guy then gets thrown into the outer darkness, (v.30)…where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth—not a pleasant place!

This is not a story about investing money wisely.  It is about utilizing the skills and the ministry gifts we have been given to build up God’s Kingdom.  Notice, all are called to account—this is the “White Throne Judgment” at the end of time:  Those who have used their gifts are blessed now and in the afterlife; while those who have not are chastised and punished.  Those of us who believe in Jesus Christ will be clothed in His righteousness, so we will not be reminded of all of our sins in this judgment scene.  Instead, we will probably be asked how we did at loving God and others (The Great Commandment), and whether or not we used our talents and gifts to benefit God’s Kingdom (The Great Commission).

So what is the point for us today?  God uses people who trust in Him.

Do you trust God?  Are you willing to be obedient to Him, even when the situation seems difficult or impossible?  If He can use an unarmed army to defeat a vastly superior force, He can master any situation we bring before Him.  God expects us to use the talents He has given us to bless others.  Are we doing that?  May it be so!

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams