Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Palms to Passion

Pastor Sherry’s message for April 13, 2025

Scriptures: Lk 19:28-40; Ps 118:1-2, 19-29; Isa 50:4-9; Ps 31:9-16; Phil 2:5-11; Lk 22:14-23:56

Our custom here at Wellborn Methodist Church has been to focus on Jesus’ Passion—His experiences and thoughts leading up to and including His Crucifixion.   Typically, then, we have handed out palm crosses, like you have today, but without focusing on Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. This year, I wanted us to focus on the difference between Palm Sunday and Good Friday.  This is why we began our service on the front porch today, symbolically outside Jerusalem, if you will. And we followed the path of Jesus, riding on a donkey, as He made His way from the city gate into the Temple.

Now the Sadducees of 2000 years ago believed the Messiah would enter the city 4 days before Passover. Passover would have begun at sundown on Friday and ended at sundown on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.Thus, they made sure the gates to the Temple remained open the first day of their week, so Messiah could walk right on in and assume His throne.

Under normal circumstances, then, there would have been a great deal of hoopla and excitement among the Passover crowds, with people asking, “Is this the year?  Will Messiah show up? “  Knowing He would be arrested early Thursday morning and hanging on His Cross by Friday, Jesus chose to enter Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday.  What courage!

He fulfilled the prophesy of the minor prophet, Zechariah, from chapter 9, verse 9 (NLT) Rejoice, O people of Zion!  Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!  Look your king is coming to you.  He is righteous and victorious, yet He is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.  Victorious kings, Like David, would have entered the city to large, cheering crowds.  The people would have waved palms and placed their garments on the road for the King to tread upon.  At the end of 4th season of “The Chosen,” in episode 8 (you may call it up on YouTube), the writers re-enact one such victorious return, singing of King David, “Hosannah, Our King is Victorious!”

King David would have ridden in on his war-horse, but King Jesus rides in on a humbler animal, a donkey.  Luke wants us to be sure to know that this animal was borrowed from someone who knew of and loved Jesus, and it had never been ridden before.  Many in Jerusalem assumed Jesus was the Messiah and thronged around Him, praising Him and singing many of the lines read today from Psalm 118:25-29. Hosannah (Yesha anna in Hebrew) means save us now.  The crowds are asking Jesus to save them.

Do you think they knew that He was God in the flesh? They are cheering Him on. They are rejoicing in His presence. They are filled with hope that He is their Messiah.

The Passion readings appointed for today lead us from this celebratory procession to Jesus’ arrest, trials, death, and burial: 

A. Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:5-11 that Jesus humiliated or humbled Himself to come to earth to save us.  The Palm Sunday crowds expected Him to save them and that is exactly what He intended to do.  Paul wants us to be as humble and as obedient to the Father as Jesus was. Jesus obeyed His Father in everything, even up to and including His manner of death. Though totally righteous and holy, He died as though He were a rightfully tortured and despised criminal.

Paul also desires that we appreciate the depths of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf:  He gave up His heavenly prerogatives as King of the Universe–the One who spoke creation into existence–to be born in a stable, to a poor, young, homeless couple, in a ragtag and oppressed, tiny nation. Instead of demanding respect and a wide following as a great and exalted leader, He humbly behaved as a servant to all. No wonder the Father has honored Him above all things, declaring that His name commands total obedience, from every being, in every sphere of the universe!  Incidentally, this includes non-believers who will be shocked to arrive at the Great White Throne Judgment, only to discover they made the wrong choice to dismiss Him during their lifetimel

B.  Isaiah prophesies in 50:4-9 how Jesus, the Suffering Servant of God, will be treated during His Passion experience.  Verse 4 tells us He was tutored by Holy Scripture and also by His heavenly Father.  Verse 5 insists that He was always obedient to the Father’s will.  Verse 6 peaking for Jesus in the first person—I offered My back to those who beat Me, My cheeks to those who pulled out My beard.  I did not hide My face from mocking and spitting. This verse tells us He would endure beatings:  He was beaten by the Jewish Temple guards during the night;

Then He was beaten again by the Roman soldiers early in the morning. He would be spit upon, in His face (such a sign of contempt and hatred), and on His bloody body (YIKES!  to so desecrate God Himself)!  He will have His beard pulled out.

But notice too, in verses 7-9a—He will trust in God, His Father, the entire time.  He remained constant and faith-filled, despite all the evil that was done to Him!  I think He thus modeled to us how we might withstand persecution, if such befalls us for being Christians.  We are to hold on to our faith in God and to the love of Jesus for us, with both hands.

C.  Psalm 31:9-16 was written by King David.  The portion we read today is a prayer in which he seeks the Lord’s deliverance from a very powerful foe.  It is also very aptly describes what Jesus probably suffered on the way to His crucifixion at Golgatha, and even as He hung suspended from the Cross:  

   (1) V.9— Be merciful to Me, O LORD, for I am in distress… 

(2) V.10—My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; My strength fails….

(3) Vv.11-12—Because of My enemies, I am the utter contempt of My neighbors; I am a dread to my friends—those who see Me on the street flee from Me.  I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.  

He is experiencing despair and grief.  But He does not succumb to it.  In verse 14, he reminds Himself, But I trust in You, O LORD.  I say, “You are my God.”  And He reaffirms for Himself, (v.15) My times are in Your hands.  We can trust in God to sustain us through the most difficult times because He is only a prayer away (meaning He is present to us).  He loves us, and He sent His only, beloved Son to die to save us.

D.  Our Passion narrative comes from Luke this year (22:14-23:56).  It needs little explanation as it speaks very powerfully for itself.  We see and understand that, though they had welcomed Him as a hero on Sunday, by Thursday they had replaced their Hosannah’s with outraged cries to Crucify Him!  What happened?  Well, quite simply, He disappointed their expectations.  They wanted a military leader to subdue the Romans; a warrior on a war-horse rather than a humble donkey.  They expected Him to overthrow their oppressors instead of teaching and praying daily in the Temple.  He didn’t live up to their idea of a Savior.  Their disappointment turned into anger and murderous rage, fueled and stoked by the jealous religious leadership who felt threatened by Him. So they killed Him.  But they didn’t eradicate either His memory or His influence.

We are currently living through a period in our country in which the influence of Jesus appears to have waned.  Fewer and fewer people seem to know Who Jesus is and why believing in Him and worshipping Him is important. Many churches have declining memberships. Folks appear to have given up regular Sunday attendance.  In fact, a statistic I heard recently said that most committed Christians only attend church once every three weeks.  Many activities compete for our attention—sporting events, leisure time pursuits, work, even sleeping in.  I was probably in my late 30’s when I realized that God spoke to me during Sunday worship.  His voice came to me through the music, the sermon, the readings, or sometimes from something a fellow worshipper said.  As much as I wanted to sleep in, I realized if I missed church, I would miss what the Lord had to say to me that week.  And as I came to regard my congregation as my “spiritual family,” I also realized I would miss what was often only a once a week contact. 

We need to remember all that Christ has done for us.  As I preached last week, we need a Savior because we cannot save ourselves.  The Good News is that we are washed clean of our sins by the sinless blood of the true Passover Lamb, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Come, Let us adore Him!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

If You Thought This was Spectacular….

Pastor Sherry’s message for April 6, 2025 

Scriptures: Isa 43:16-21; Ps 126; Phil 3:4b-14; Jn 12:1-8

I love stories of healing:  (1) One of our parishioners told us once that she felt God free her from years of a smoking addiction while sitting here in our sanctuary.  (2) We learned several weeks ago that someone we had been praying for for weeks was suddenly healed of Stage 4 Cancer. (3) John Wimber, who founded the Vineyard Church (a charismatic, nondenominational church that focuses on healing), reported many healings but one in particular seems pretty spectacular to me:

“…he received a phone call from a distraught father.  The man was sobbing and could hardly talk.  ‘My baby is here in the hospital,’ he said, ‘and they have tubes from machines attached all over her body.  The doctors say she will not survive the night.  What can you do?’  John said he would come to the hospital.  After he put the phone down, he prayed, ‘Lord, is this baby supposed to die?’  John sensed the Lord saying, ‘No!”  John walked into the hospital with the knowledge that he was a representative of Christ, a messenger who had a gift for that baby girl. 

“When John entered the baby’s room, he sensed [a spirit of] death, so he said quietly, ‘death, get out of here [in Jesus’ name].”  It left, and the whole atmosphere of the room changed, as though a weight had been lifted. Then he went over and began praying for the girl.  After only a few minutes he knew she was going to be healed, and so did her father.  Hope came into his eyes.  

“She is going to be okay,’ he said; ‘I know it.’. 

“Within 20 minutes she had improved greatly; several days later she was released, completely healed.”

(Graham Twelftree, Your Point Being?,  Monarch Books, 2003, p.132.)

Stories like these touch our hearts. They remind us of God’s great love for us.  They deepen our faith.  And they are evidence that our God didn’t just do miracles in Bible-times.  There is in some corners of the Church a believe called dispensationalism. Folks who subscribe to this belief feel convinced that all miracles of healing or deliverance stopped with the death of the last Apostle.  But we know this is simply not true.

All of our Scripture passages today seem to suggest God’s great delight in surprising us with his grace and goodness.  It’s as though He is saying to us, If you thought this was spectacular….

A. In Isaiah 43:16-21, the prophet Isaiah reminds God’s Chosen People of His redeeming work on their behalf.  They had been bound up as slaves in Egypt for 400 years.  God had tucked them out of the way while He waited on the Canaanites to accept Him as their Lord.  They didn’t.  So God sent Moses as His choice of a leader to free the Israelites.  Miraculously, then, Moses led 2 million people, plus their animals and belongings, through a supernaturally dried up Red Sea (1446BC). They walked through on dry land, while the Egyptian army and the chariots that pursued them were drowned.

Isaiah speaks for God saying essentially, “If you think that was spectacular, wait til you see this new thing I am going to do. In verses 18-19 (MLV), the Lord says—But forget all that—It is nothing compared to what I am going to do.  For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun!  Do you not see it?  He is referring to how He, the Lord, will lead His people with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  He will provide them with supernatural food (manna) from heaven and supernatural water from rocks.  He will protect them from enemy attacks. physical diseases, and even from wear and tear on their clothes and sandals.

But, most spectacular of all, He is predicting—through His prophet—the redemption of all humankind He has planned through the efforts of Jesus Christ. In the entire history of the world, there has never been a religion in which the deity comes to earth to save human beings.  This is clearly “a new thing.”

B.  Psalm 126 offers a similar refrain.  This time the Jewish people have been released from their 70 year exile in the Babylonian-Persian Empire.  God had allowed the forces of King Nebuchadnezzar to defeat Judea, destroy Jerusalem, and cart the people off (586BC).  He was chastising them—after many warnings of judgment to come—for their idolatry and stubborn disobedience.  The news that they were free to return to Jerusalem stunned the Jewish captives!  The psalmist writes in vv.1-3—When the LORD brought back His exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!  We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.  And the other nations said, “What amazing things the LORD has done for them.” Yes, the LORD has done amazing things for us! What Joy!

This probably felt to them like a spectacular new thing.  God’s miracles for His people were clearly not at an end.  And, just as the Isaiah passage predicted Jesus’ 1st Coming, this psalm looks forward to the Jesus’ 2nd Coming. 

C. The Isaiah reading dealt with the Exodus, and our psalm, with the return of the Babylonian exiles.  Paul takes us in a different but related direction in Philippians 3:4b-14.  Paul had, prior to coming to Christ, thought he could manage his own salvation by his own efforts.  He lists 7 credentials he had accumulated that made him a religious superstar:

1.) He had godly parents, who saw to it that he was circumcised on the 8th day—by Jewish Law. 

2.) He was purely a Jew—no nonbelieving Gentiles in his gene pool. 

3.) He was a member of the tribe of Benjamin, Jacob’s favorite son after his loss of Joseph.

4.) He was an elite leader.

5.) He was a Pharisee by training, dedicated to teaching and enforcing Jewish Law.

6.) He was so zealous that he persecuted the infant Christian Church.

7.) And he kept short sin accounts with God, making the requisite sacrifices when he sinned.

But, since becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, he considers all his worldly accomplishments worthless. And so should we.  It’s not about impressing others with what we have done or not done. Paul knows he could not make himself right with God through his own efforts.  He wants us to realize that (v.9)—…God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith.  It’s about having faith in Jesus Christ.  He is now dedicated to getting to know Jesus better and better, and to helping others do so too.  And so he presses on (vv.13-14)—Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us. 

This is definitely a spectacular new thing: Salvation does not come from our efforts, but has been won for us by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We don’t have to try to be perfect. Our sins are covered by the sacrificial blood of the sinless Son of God. Our striving can cease, replaced by our faith.

D. Finally, in our Gospel lesson (John 12:1-8), we see a young woman do something extraordinarily new to honor Jesus.  The scene is a dinner party in Jesus’ honor at the home of Lazarus.  Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee says the Lazarus family represents 3 essentials in every Church:

(1) The resurrected Lazarus has new life in Christ.

(2) Martha no doubt prepared and served the meal, so she represents service.

(3) Mary kneels at Jesus’ feet, worshiping and adoring Him.

(McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on John, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.38.)

Notice how extravagant are Mary’s efforts.  Jesus will wash His disciples’ feet with water at the Last Supper, but she anoints His feet with a very expensive perfume from India, and dries them with her lovely long hair.

Mary of Bethany realizes how very special Jesus is and she honors Him with a pound of spikenard worth a year’s wages.  She, like Paul who comes after her, has made worshipping Jesus the most important thing. Jesus accepts her worship as if she is anointing Him for His death some 6 days ahead. We could say she is fully committed and has the utmost faith in Jesus. 

I don’t know about you, but I find that Jesus often surprises me by answering prayers I haven’t even put into words.  There’s a certain busy intersection, with no light in my town, into which it is very difficult to turn left. For several days, as I have approached this intersection, there has been—amazingly—no traffic in either direction. As I have easily executed my left-hand turn, I have laughed and thanked the Lord. This is not as spectacular as opening the Red Sea, returning exiles to Jerusalem, or healing a dying baby.  But it serves as a reminder to me that Jesus sees me, loves me, and wants to have me cross the intersection safely.

Like Paul and like Mary of Bethany let’s during what’s left of Lent, focus on how grateful we are to serve a God who enjoys gifting us with spectacular large and delightful small surprises.

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

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

God Never Gives Up On Us

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 30, 2025

Scriptures: Jos 5:9-12; Ps 32; 2 Cor 5:16-21; Lk 15:1-32

I ask your forgiveness if I have used this story before.  After 10 years here at Wellborn Methodist Church, I have lost track of which stories I have told when.  In this story a guy who committed a crime was sentenced to time in prison:

“ On his first day there he was sitting in the dining hall at lunch and suddenly a man stood up and shouted 37!  And everybody laughed.  After a while another man stood up and shouted 52!  And everybody chuckled and smiled.  After a few more minutes somebody else stood and yelled 86!  And again everyone laughed.  The new guy leaned over toward the man across from him and said, “What’s going on?  Why is everyone laughing at those numbers?” 

“The man said, “It’s like this.  There are only a hundred of so jokes in the world, and in here you hear them all.  We decided to save time and give them numbers.”  Wishing to fit in and win friends, the new convict decided to give it a try.  “17!” he yelled out.  Nobody laughed, nobody looked at him; finally, he sat down mystified.  “What happened?”  he asked his new friend.  The man shrugged and said “Oh, some people know how to tell a joke, and some people don’t.”   

(Fairless and Chilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentary: C, 2015, pp.128-129.)

Sometimes those of us who preach end up feeling this way about certain Bible stories.  They are so well known we could call out their names—like numbered jokes–and you would remember them.  Think of Noah and the Flood, Jonah and the Whale, the Good Samaritan, or the Woman at the Well.  You know these stories, you’ve heard them preached or discussed many times, and you could probably tell us all how they apply to our lives.

So what’s a preacher to do to bring new insights to such well-known tales and keep you all awake during the telling?

Our Gospel today (Luke 15:1-31) certainly falls into this category of famous parables. With the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I will try to bring something fresh to our understanding of these well-beloved Parables.

A. Dr. Luke, the author of our Gospel account, has grouped together three parables of Lost things in Chapter #15.  They all say essentially the same thing, but using 3 different illustrations:

(1) An example directed at men (shepherds), a lost sheep;

(2) An instance directed at women (housewives), a lost coin;

(3) And an image most of us can relate to, a lost child, or son.

These constitute Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees’ criticism that He, a rabbi, hung out with sinners.  He knew they were muttering against Him (v.2) This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.  Jesus’ three examples—especially the final one—contrast the love of God for sinners, against the exclusiveness and snobbiness of the Jewish religious leaders.  Those folks, over time, had established themselves as a “holy club” whose members they considered special while those outside the club were considered losers.  Jesus is saying, among other things, God the Father and He, Jesus, both love the Lost Ones, the losers.. Yes, He also loves those of us who He has already found, and who have accepted Him.  In all three parables, Jesus defines repentance as the acceptance of having been found.  The initiative belongs to God.  He never gives up on trying to reach us.  He really goes out of His way to find us.  And, I could be wrong, but studying Jesus’ model, I think our job, as followers of our God, is to notice those who don’t love Him—or don’t even know about Him–and tell them the Good News of the Gospel:

(1.) Jesus Christ came to save the Lost;

(2.) He died on a Cross, taking upon Himself the penalty for all of our sin, for all time;

(3.) And He rose again, overcoming the penalty for our sins, which is death, and guaranteed to each of us eternal life in Heaven with Him.

Our Lord Jesus hung out with sinners because He hoped to save them.

B. While we’re on the subject, let’s take a look at our Old Testament lesson from Joshua (5:9-12).  The context is that God has safely delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.  During their 40 years of wilderness wanderings, He has protected them from illness and enemies; provided them with water from the rock (Jesus) and has fed them with manna (also Jesus); He has disciplined those who were rebellious and ungrateful; and He has now directed General Joshua, their new leader, to lead them across the Jordan River into the Promised Land.

Instead of immediately attacking and defeating Jericho—which you might think He would do–God has Joshua circumcise all the men and boys born since the exodus.  YIKES!  Besides being very painful, this no doubt laid them out for several days as they recovered.  It also required that the Lord continued to protect them as they were vulnerable to attack. Clearly this was important to our God.  Why?  Circumcision was the undeniable, indelible, permanent sign of their covenant relationship with God—a daily reminder that they belonged to Him.  They had not practiced it in the latter years of slavery and didn’t stop traveling to circumcise in the desert.  God was saying to them, You are not lost; you belong to Me; You must carry the sign of our Covenant relationship.

Next, He directed Joshua to lead them in a Passover service.  The Lord wanted them to remember how He saved them from the angel of death—the 10th plague—in Egypt.  He wanted them to remember they were saved by the blood of the Passover Lamb painted over their doorways—a foreshadowing of Jesus.

Having rededicated themselves to God, the Lord discontinued the daily drop of manna and they ate instead of the grain and fruit of their new territory.  

Again, notice the lengths our Lord goes to help us remember we are His.

C. David’s psalm (Psalm 32) is what is called in the Hebrew a maschil, a psalm of instruction.  In Psalm 51:12-13, King David’s great penitential psalm, He promised that if God forgave him for his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah her husband, he would teach others to love and obey God.  Scholars believe Psalm 32 is David’s fulfillment of that promise.  (Obviously, the psalms are not listed in chronological order.)

In verse 1, David writes (NLY, p.671)—Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight.  David is clearly speaking as someone who has experienced God’s forgiveness. He is rejoicing in the fact that God did not give up on him, despite his egregious sins.

He recounts how the Holy Spirit afflicted his conscience (v.3) until he came to a point of repentance.  He celebrates the fact that (v.5)—I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”  And You forgave me.  All my guilt is gone.

He uses the remainder of the psalm to praise God as his hiding place (v.7), and to instruct us that (v.10)—many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.

D. Paul picks up a similar refrain in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.

1st he states that we have no basis for judging others, as we are all sinners, and Christ died for every one of us.  Because of this, we are all new creatures in Christ.  He has pursued all of us. He has redeemed all of us. This fact has resulted in a new relationship between us and our God. Just as the reiteration of the covenant at Gilgal (which means rolled away; at that place God rolled away the shame of their past slavery, through circumcision and Passover) reaffirmed the Israelites as God’s Chosen People, we have—through our belief in Jesus–been reconciled to the Father.

We have also been given a ministry (vv.18-20, NLT)—And all of this is a gift from God who brought us back to Himself through Christ.  And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him.  For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.  And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.  So we are Christ’s ambassadors.  We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

During Lent, as I said last week, as we do our spiritual housecleaning, we must all come to grips with the fact that we are all sinners.   As Paul says (Romans 5:8)—While we were still sinners, Jesus Christ died for our sins.  Our Lord Jesus is not satisfied until we Lost Ones are found by Him.  Our God is called The Great Hound of Heaven because He pursues us like a bloodhound until He finds us.  He and all of Heaven celebrate when we turn to Him.  He loves us with a steadfast and faithful agape love.  He is willing to forgive us whenever we repent and ask Him.

Interestingly, in the stories of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, there is an invitation to us to party, but we don’t know if anyone did.  Similarly, in the story of the Lost Son, we know the party takes place, but we don’t know if the self-righteous older son ever participated.  These parables are left open-ended for a reason.  The ending is up to us.  How will each of us respond?  Let us join in with our reconciling Lord, who never gives up on us.  Please also turn to www.YouTube.com and listen to a song by Jesus Culture called “One Thing Remains.”

©️ Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Radical Heart Surgery

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 23, 2025

Scriptures: Isa 55:1-9; Ps 63:1-8; 1 Cor 10:1-13; Lk 13:1-9

I believe I’ve mentioned several times in the past that I taught Psychology at Santa Fe College in Gainesville for about 5 years. Most majors at Santa Fe required Psychology—even welding!—so there were many sections offered. Whether you are majoring in Biology, English, or even Art, a basic understanding of human behavior can be very helpful.

I enjoyed how bright and how funny the students were, and often learned as much from them as they hopefully learned from me. Instead of a term paper every semester, I had them embark on a Self-Change project. They were to use principles of psychology to either (1) add a new, good habit like drinking more water, or working out more regularly, or even devoting more time to study; or (2) they could try to overcome a bad habit, like quitting smoking or dipping, or one young lady who decided to stop gossiping at work. She noticed her coworkers always talked badly about whoever was not present. She realized that probably meant they criticized her when she wasn’t there. She admitted that work had become an unsafe place, emotionally. A non-Christian, she decided to do something about it by abstaining from gossip.

Another young woman said she wanted to avoid talking and thinking negatively. She’d noticed that always focusing on the negative put her in a bad mood (This is true for most people).She planned to substitute three good thoughts for every negative one she had—it turns out that recent psychological research has shown that substituting positive for negative thoughts is an excellent way to overcome depression..

These young women had great intentions. I had hoped these self-change projects would make a significant difference for my students, but I sometimes had my doubts. A girl in one of my classes said she was going to control her road rage, and she appeared to have done so. The following semester, however, I was right behind her in traffic when she grew enraged at the driver ahead of her, and then honked, yelled, and made rude hand gestures to this person. She didn’t see me, but I emailed her about witnessing her relapse into road-rage, and encouraged her to remember her intentions to change and try again.

What that proved to me was that to overcome long standing bad habits, we need the help of the Holy Spirit. Simply put, our willpower alone is not enough. We are told by Jesus that (Matthew 12:34) Out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks. To achieve the kinds of behavioral changes we may want to make requires radical heart-surgery—a transformed heart! My students needed Jesus, and so do we! 

In our Gospel lesson today, Luke 13:1-9, Jesus talks about a what we may term “radical heart surgery.” Just as with real estate, a critical factor in understanding any passage from Scripture is its location, location, location! In the end of Chapter 12, is Jesus’ final appeal to the nation of Israel to repent. He tells them they are responsible for every sin they commit. He also reminds them to keep short accounts with God, asking for forgiveness daily, while they still have time to make things right. In the passage right after this one, Jesus again heals on the Sabbath. He has already duked this one out with the Jewish religious leaders several times. It is lawful to heal on the Sabbath, because the Sabbath was made for humankind, and besides He, Jesus, is Lord of the Sabbath. Therefore He has the authority to determine what is lawful to do during it. So He heals a woman in the Synagogue who has been bent over for 18 years. He then looks to see if the hearts of the religious establishment have been changed since He healed the man with the withered hand. Apparently not! The Synagogue ruler dresses Jesus down for healing during worship! And Jesus calls him a hypocrite for leading his animals to water on the Sabbath, but denying a woman freedom from her crippled condition. 

So our passage is sandwiched between two important notions: (1) Your hearts are not right with God (including Jesus). Do something about this now, as your time for changing is short. And (2) your hearts are not right with your neighbors. In other words, “You’d stress the letter of your interpretation of the Law over this woman’s welfare? Really?”

Then He moves on to two examples from real life: Some listeners (believers? Scribes, Pharisees?) relate to Him the latest of Pilate’s atrocities. We tend to think of Pilate only in the context of Jesus’ crucifixion, but he was a weak leader, “sentenced” to serve Caesar in Judea as a last chance to prove himself. Thus he was highly reactive and overly sensitive to whatever might displease Caesar. Apparently Pilate exacted capital punishment on some Jews from Galilee as they were in the act of worshipping at the Temple. To the Jewish mind, then, this was pretty horrific. Furthermore, whatever happened to the notion of “sanctuary”? Like if terrorists stormed Wellborn Methodist Church and killed us all while we were singing or praying together, we and others would be outraged.

These tale-bearers then ask, Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus?

They want a judgment call. The prevailing thought at that time was that all misfortune—disease, financial struggles, relationship problems, premature death—was due to your being an extreme sinner. They really believed that you could recognize a sinner by the amount of tragedy in his/her life. They perhaps wanted some assurance they are not as bad as the slain worshippers.Note Jesus’ answer: I tell you, No [they were not worse sinners]; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Does that answer strike you as a little strange? Jesus responds to their question—NO—then redirects them from the issue of whose sin is worse. Just as back in Chapter 12, He wants them (and us) to remember they (and we) are all sinners.(a) We need to get right with God and others; (b) We are all going to die someday, somehow; (c.) So, right now we need to admit our sin, confess it to God, and ask His forgiveness. And by the way, He probably didn’t miss that they had pointed out that the unfortunate citizens Pilate had executed were—like Jesus—Galileans. Some scholars posit that they were either being dismissive of Jesus —like saying He was a hick from Wellborn or Live Oak! Or, even more subversive, they were trying to set Him up to condemn Pilate so they could then rat Him out to the Romans. By this point in Luke’s Gospel, the gloves are off between the Jewish religious leaders and Christ.

Then Jesus brings up another tragic account: the tower that fell, killing 18 workers.This may have been a portion of an aqueduct that Pilate was having built in Jerusalem—so, back at you with the Pilate provoked deaths of Galilean Jews. This time the persons killed were residents of Jerusalem. Jesus poses their question back to them, Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Silo’am fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you NO; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.With an economy of words, Jesus deflects from the issue about the degree of sin because it distracts from the weightier, more important issue: Don’t worry about who sinned more than whom; it’s not a contest as every sin separates us from God, so there are no degrees of sin. But right now, you (we) need to look to the evil in our own hearts. Do we love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength?Do we love our neighbors as ourselves?

Then He follows up with the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree. In the Old Testament, vineyards and orchards were metaphors for the nation of Israel.Fig trees were often planted in vineyards. They typically took three years to mature (bearing fruit, when mature, 10 months out of 12); Then another 3 years to bear fruit that God would not allow them to use; But, by the 7th year, (4th year with fruit), this fruit belonged to God; This barren fig tree has not produced fruit for 7 years (seven means completion in the Hebrew numbering system)! The tree’s time was complete.

The Vineyard owner is God (representing God’s justice).The Lord is disappointed that the Jewish religious leadership has not been more fruitful. He is ready to cut them down!They’re hogging soil nutrients that could go to the vines, the people.The vinedresser is also God (representing God’s mercy), and asks for patience, grace. Let me dig about it, aerate it, water it; let me pour manure on it, and offer it more time to change. Jesus is making a point the religious leaders would have well understood! “You are helpless to help yourself! Heart-changing help must come from outside yourself —we/you are all sinners in need of a Savior.”And whether they accepted it or not, Jesus was giving them a limited time to repent/to accept He is God.We know they ultimately rejected Christ and so God allowed the Romans to destroy the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD.

So what does this mean to us? Jesus is sharing us the truths that (1) We are all sinners! (2) Sin kills. It cuts us off from God, and it warps our relationships with others. Consider the example of pornography—a self-change project that several of my male students embarked upon.

It objectifies the person viewed.It tends to result in the viewer becoming angry with the object of their lust, blaming her for posing for the picture.

And it sends every thought through a sexual filter. (3) We all need to repent.(4) We need to invite the Holy Spirit to do radical surgery on our hearts.

Jesus gave these hardhearted, religious leaders another chance. Let’s remember this week how gracious and patient He is with each of us. Then let’s humbly and sincerely thank Him for His grace, His mercy, and His forgiveness. AMEN!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Transfigured to Transform

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 2, 2025

Scriptures: Ex 34:29-35; Ps 99; 2 Cor 3:12-4:2; Lk 9:28-43

Today the Church celebrates Transfiguration Sunday. What does it mean that Jesus was “transfigured”? The story is told of a Sunday School teacher trying to explain our Gospel story to a group of young children:

She noticed one little boy seemed confused.  When she was finished [reading] she asked him, “Johnny, why don’t you tell us where Jesus was in this story” He replied, “Oh, he was on a mountain.”

“Yes, that’s right; said the teacher, “Do you remember why he was up there?”

Johnny answered with a confused look, “I guess that’s where his arithmetic class was held .”

The teacher looked at him and wondered what he meant. “What do you mean, arithmetic class?”

“Well” Johnny replied, “The Bible said, ’Jesus went up on the mountain and there he BEGAN to FIGURE.”

(Tim Zingale, “Transformed,” 2/11/02, www.sermons.com)

Don’t you love the unique and literal way that little kids think?  The child obviously didn’t get it—the teacher needed to explain further.

There is a story told about Napoleon that comes closer to describing it.  It took place during his disastrous invasion of Russia (1812).The Emperor“

“… somehow got separated from his men and was spotted by his enemies, the Russian Cossacks. They chased him through the winding streets. Running for his life Napoleon eventually ducked into a furrier’s shop. Gasping for air and talking at the same time he begged the shopkeeper to save him. The furrier said, “Quick hide under this big pile of furs in the corner.” Then the furrier made the pile even large by throwing more furs atop of Napoleon.

“No sooner had he finished when the Russian Cossacks burst into the shop. “Where is he?” they demanded to know. The furrier denied knowing what they were talking about. Despite his protests the Russian Cossacks tore the shop apart trying to find Napoleon. They poked into the pile of furs with their swords but did not find him. The eventually gave up and left the shop.

“After some time had past, Napoleon crept out from under the furs, unharmed. Shortly after Napoleon’s personal guards came into the store. Before Napoleon left, the furrier asked, “Excuse me for asking this question of such a great man, but what was it like to be under the furs, knowing that the next moment could surely be your last?”  Napoleon became indignant. “How dare you ask such a question of the Emperor Napoleon?” Immediately he ordered his guards to blindfold the furrier and execute him.  The furrier was dragged out of the shop, blindfolded and placed against the wall of the shop. The furrier could see nothing but he could hear the guards shuffling into a line and preparing their rifles. Then he heard Napoleon call out, “Ready!” In that moment a feeling the shopkeeper could not describe welled up with him. Tears poured down his cheeks. “Aim!”  Suddenly the blindfold was stripped from his eyes. Napoleon stood before him. They were face to face and Napoleon said, “Now you know the answer to your question.”

“The lesson here is obvious: How can you describe a near death experience? You can’t. It has to be experienced. Jesus’ transfiguration falls in the same category of events which cannot be described. I think that is why Luke says that they kept it to themselves and told no one what they had seen. How do you describe it? It had to be experienced.”

(Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com, 2/27/2025.  Adapted from a story from Wayne Heyer.)

It’s interesting, isn’t it?  People can talk around it, but apparently the experience was difficult to describe.   Jesus’ transfiguration means that, for a brief time, He appeared to His closest friends in all His heavenly glory.  He had metamorphosized before their eyes.  Blinding light emanated from Him— His whole body radiated light   So Jesus shines bright as the brightest sunlight; He blazes brighter than a raging bonfire.  This gives new meaning to the praise song, “Shine, Jesus Shine,” doesn’t it?  Also, consider the Aaronic Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26, NIV):  The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.  Remember, the book of Revelation (21:22-24) tells us that Jesus and God the Father will be our light sources in the New Jerusalem, following Jesus’ 2nd Coming, as there will be no more sun, moon, or stars.  Paul tells us that we too will undergo this kind of transformation when we enter heaven.  We too will shine in the reflection of the Lord’s presence…but more about this in a minute.  (By the way, the three friends did not talk about what they saw because Jesus told them not to.  If you had seen Him in His heavenly state, wouldn’t you have kept quiet if He required it of you?)

II. Body—>Did you notice that all of our readings today focus on Jesus’ Transfiguration?

A. In our Gospel passage (Luke 9:28-43) Peter, James, and John are eye-witnesses to Jesus’ transfiguration.  By this third year of their “seminary experience” with Him (seminary normally takes 3 years), they probably thought they knew Him pretty well.  They have only seen Jesus as the itinerant rabbi from a humble, back-water town.  Yes, they have witnessed Him perform miracles.  They have been astonished by His wise but counter-cultural teaching.  But they have not, prior to this, been exposed to Him in all His heavenly glory.

Now, He metamorphosizes before them into the God He really is. Seeing Him this way should have convinced them that He truly is the Son of God.  Furthermore, they recognize Him talking with Moses, the deliverer and Law-Giver, and Elijah, the great prophet!  Finally, in the coup de grace, they hear God the Father say (v.35)—>This is My Son, whom I have chosen.  Listen to Him.  Surely these special friends realize in this experience that they have massively underestimated Jesus!  This very special event should have helped move them to the awareness that they were friends and comrades of the long-awaited Messiah.  The two figures with Him were both divinely favored heroes of Israel:  Moses, like Jesus, had lead God’s people out of bondage—>he foreshadowed Jesus as savior and redeemer.  Elijah was a great prophet who, like Jesus, held power over nature, performed wonderful miracles, and defeated 850 priests of Satan.  God the Father, in His proclamation, makes it clear that He sees Jesus as similar to but superior to them both.

You might be wondering how they knew it was Moses and Elijah who conversed with Jesus.  The Holy Spirit probably just revealed their identities to them, because they just seemed to know.

B.  Speaking of Moses (Exodus 34:29-35), he too briefly reflected God’s glory whenever He visited with the Lord.  Let’s consider first the backstory to this event: Just 3 months after crossing the Red Sea and escaping the pursuing Egyptian army—as well as having been fed, watered, and protected by God in the meantime–the Israelites are  encamped at the base of Mt. Sinai.  They have violated their covenant with God by worshipping a golden calf.  They have thus already broken the 1st (No gods before Me) and 2nd (No graven images/no idols) commandments which Moses is bringing to them.  Biblical scholars tell us had he brought the two tablets into the camp, their punishment would have been death to every one of them!  But, in anger and grief—and to protect them from the death penalty–Moses breaks the original tablets containing the 10 Commandments before returning to the camp.  God then commands the Levites faithful to Him to go throughout the camp, killing those guilty of worshipping the golden calf (spiritual adultery).  The guilty parties die (surely God discerned who offended and who did not), but how does the rest of the community get back into God’s good graces?

Moses journeys back up to meet with God a 2nd time.  He goes to beg the Lord to forgive His people. He hopes to try to repair the broken Covenant.  And, of course, he needs to request a new set of stone tablets.

God, in response, identifies Himself as patient, loving, faithful, forgiving, and just; and He demonstrates to Moses and to us that His covenant promises depend more upon His unchanging nature than on Israel’s (or our) unfaithfulness to Him.  Then He writes, a 2nd time, His Laws on new stone tablets.

As a result of this extraordinary encounter, Moses’ face shines!

He has experienced God’s glory and it is reflected on his countenance.

At first, he appeared not to have been aware; but in verse 30, we are told—>When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.  He had to call them to himself to convince them it was still Moses that they saw, and that he was all right.  Interestingly, he then veiled himself as the glow wore off.

He spoke to God and to the people bare-faced, but he “masked up” afterward, to prevent anyone from seeing the glow diminish.  It appears he was trying to manage their perception of him.  He may have wanted their respect.  He may have wanted them to remember he spoke frequently with the Lord.

C. But Paul tells offers us an alternative explanation in 2nd Corinthians 3:12-4:2.  He asserts that Moses veiled himself…not because the people were afraid of him—at least not after the 1st time; but instead because Moses wanted them to focus on the Lord and not on Moses’ face (another form of idolatry).  He wore a veil until the shine dimmed.  He wore a veil because the people’s hearts were hard and not yet ready to draw close to God.  What Paul is saying in our passage today is that because Jesus has come and revealed Himself as our Messiah, we do not veil the Gospel but teach it freely and openly (Vv.16-17, NLT)—>But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  We teach the Gospel without any gimmicks or tricks.  Additionally, neither Paul nor any of us is veiled because the Lord wants all to see His glory reflected in us. He wants others to see the life-giving Holy Spirit at work in our lives, and reflected in the faces of all believers.

D. Finally, Psalm 99 enjoins the people of all nations to worship the Lord, the King of all the Earth, who rules from Mt. Zion (the Temple Mount in Jerusalem).  We are reminded that Moses and Aaron served Him.  They called out to Him for help and He answered them.  He punished idolaters and the rebellious.  And He has always acted justly and righteously.  We will be able to gaze upon Him in heaven.  Again, our faces will be unveiled, and our eyes will be able to behold His brightness.  

So What are we to take away from Jesus’ Transfiguration?  First of all, clearly He is God.  Jesus shone with His heavenly glory and if we had been there, with Peter, James, and John, we would have seen it.  Moses picked up some of God’s reflective glory whenever he visited with the Father either on top of the mountain, or in the Tent of Meeting.  But Paul wants us to reflect Jesus’ glory in the way we look, the way we act, and in the way we speak to others.  Jesus transfigured so that we might be transformed more and more into His image and likeness.  We can do this as we allow the Holy Spirit to continuously mold and shape us more and more into the image and likeness of Christ.

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Forgiveness: A Difficult Command

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 23, 2025

Scriptures: Gen 45:3-15; Ps 37:1-11, 39-40; 1 Cor 15:35-38, 42-50; Lk 6:27-38

Dr. Harry Ironside (1878-1951) was a gifted pastor who first served in the Salvation Army, then became the long term minister, and famous preacher, at the Moody Baptist Church in Chicago.  He told the following story:

On the Lord’s day a group of missionaries and believers in New Guinea were gathered together to observe the Lord’s Supper. After one young man sat down, a missionary recognized that a sudden tremor had passed through the young man’s body that indicated he was under a great nervous strain. Then in a moment all was quiet again. The missionary whispered, “What was it that troubled you?” “Ah,” he said, “But the man who just came in killed and ate the body of my father. And now he has come in to remember the Lord with us. At first I didn’t know whether I could endure it. But it is all right now. He is washed in the same precious blood.” And so together they had Communion. It is a marvelous thing, the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Does the world know anything of this?” 

(Borrowed from http://www.sermons.com, 2/20/25.)

I heard a similar story told by a man involved in Chuck Colson’s Prison Ministry.  He said a young fellow had killed this woman’s son, and was tried and sent to prison for the murder.  Some months later, she felt compelled—perhaps she had read this very Gospel account—to write to him and tell him she forgave him.  That’s extraordinary, isn’t it?  She send him 5 letters, and he returned each one to her unopened.  Finally, he responded to her following her 6th attempt to reach him. He was amazed that she would be willing to forgive him for his crime and wanted to know what compelled her to do so.  She wrote back, telling him about Jesus Christ.  They corresponded for a time and she led him to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  They then decided to lead a Bible study in the prison, together, helping others come to a place of confession and forgiveness.  By several years after this, they had become such good friends that the woman asked to adopt the man who had killed her son.  He agreed.  This is the kind of extraordinary forgiveness that can only be accomplished by those who love Jesus and are inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Demonstrating forgiveness is difficult for any of us.  It’s easy enough to talk about, but very hard to practice.  I have said here before that it often feels like the emotional equivalent of curling your toe-nails backward.  We hope there is an easier way. I remember a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon from some years back in which the 6YO Calvin was telling his stuffed Tiger—who came to life when the two of them were alone—how bad he felt for calling a little girl names and hurting her feelings.  Hobbes was a very wise tiger and so he suggested that Calvin apologize to her.  Calvin thought about it for a moment then said, “I keep hoping there is a less obvious solution.”  Like Calvin, we just don’t want to experience the emotional pain of subduing our pride and admitting our fault.  In other words, we hate to humble ourselves, because forgiveness strikes at our pride.

Two of our passages today deal directly with the difficulty of forgiving another, or even ourselves. 

A. Jesus gives us His take on forgiveness in our Gospel lesson, Luke 6:22-38, , a continuation of His Sermon on the Plain.  Our Lord directs us to (v.27, NLT)—…love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.  Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.  This is really a difficult command, isn’t it?  At the least, would just like to avoid them forever.  But at our worst, we want to avenge ourselves.  The typical human response is to want revenge.  The young man in Dr. Ironside’s story had to forgive the cannibal who killed and ate his father–YIKES!  Forgiveness like this is truly beyond our human abilities.  It requires the supernatural assistance of the Holy Spirit.

Additionally, in verse 29, Jesus commands us to famously “turn the other cheek.”  J. Vernon McGee tells the story of an Irish prize fighter who was converted and became an itinerent pastor. 

“He happened to be in a new town setting up his evangelistic tent when a couple of tough thugs noticed what he was doing. Knowing nothing of his background, they made a few insulting remarks. The Irishman merely turned and looked at them. Pressing his luck, one of the bullies took a swing and struck a glancing blow on one side of the ex-boxer’s face. The former boxer shook it off and said nothing as he stuck out his jaw. The bully took another glancing blow on the other side. At that point the preacher swiftly took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and announced, “The Lord gave me no further instructions,” Whop!” 

(As related by J. Vernon McGee in Charles Swindoll’s Tale of a Tardy Oxcart, 1998, p 214.)

Jesus later, in Matthew 18:22, tells Peter the trouble with forgiveness is that we are to forgive the same person not 7 times but 70 X 7—or an unlimited # of times.  He sums it up in today’s passage by charging us to (v.31)—Do to others as you would like them to do to you.  We are not to seek revenge or repay evil with evil.  Instead, we are called to treat everyone– even enemies– with love and mercy. 

Furthermore, He exhorts us just beyond this passage (vv.37-38)—Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For, with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

In A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World, “Ron Lee Davis retells the true story of a priest in the Philippines, a much- loved man of God who carried the burden of a secret sin he had committed many years before. He had repented but still had no peace, no sense of God’s forgiveness.

In his parish was a woman who deeply loved God and who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ and He with her. The priest, however, was skeptical. To test her he said, “The next time you speak with Christ, I want you to ask him what sin your priest committed while he was in seminary.” The woman agreed. A few days later the priest asked, “Well, did Christ visit you in your dreams?”
“Yes, he did,” she replied.
“And did you ask him what sin I committed in seminary?”
“Yes.”
“Well, what did he say?”
“He said, ‘I don’t remember'”


We all need to remember that whatever God forgives, He chooses to forget.  The God who knows everything—He is omniscient—choses to forget our sins when we confess them and ask for His forgiveness.  The poor priest was hanging onto to guilt that God had excused years ago. 

According to Jesus, we are blessed in the measure to which we bless others.  The trouble with un-forgiveness—even of ourselves–is that it blocks our ability to receive the blessings our Lord wants to give us, including healing.  Additionally, when we forgive others, and even ourselves, we experience a deep release of tension we might not even know we were holding in. 

B.  Jesus’ admonitions to forgive, not judge, and not condemn are so beautifully lived out by Old Testament Joseph (Genesis 45:3-15).  Recall that Joseph’s 10 brothers by other mothers had sold him into slavery (at age 17).  They fully expected him to die in Egypt. They then compounded their sin by lying to their father about Joseph’s supposed death, causing Jacob inordinate grief.   Joseph, after 14-15 years of slavery, correctly interprets Pharaoh’s dreams–Remember, 7 years of plentiful crops, followed by 7 years of devastating, region-wide famine. Two years into the famine, his 10 treacherous brothers arrive in Egypt to purchase food.

Unbeknownst to them, their lost brother Joseph has survived—by the design and grace of God—and is now second in command of all of Egypt  They fail to recognize him because he is clean shaven rather than bearded; dressed in Egyptian clothing, wig, and jewelry; 39 years old, 22 years older than when they last saw him; and speaking the Egyptian language while talking to them through an interpreter.

Now, with his brothers gathered around him in all his splendor as Prime Minister of Egypt, he sees/discerns/and reveals God’s purposes in the brothers’ crime against him.  At first, they can’t believe it is their brother.  Then they fear his retribution.  But in a truly Christ-like way, he reassures them, [The Message] (v.5+)—I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt.  But don’t feel badly, don’t blame yourselves for selling me.  God was behind it.  God sent me here ahead of you to save lives.  There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting.  God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance.  So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God.  He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt.  God uses Joseph to save his Father, his brothers, and his extended family (90 folks), as well  untold numbers of Egyptians and other gentiles in the region. 

Forgiveness, though difficult, is imperative.  Christ requires it of us.  Jesus modeled it for us, forgiving His murders from the Cross.  And He tells us in several places in Scripture that He forgives us to the degree we forgive others.  If we want God to forgive us, we need to be willing to forgive others.  Both OT Joseph and Jesus saw the blessings that flow to us from our forgiveness of others.

Finally, think about this story from the life of Martin Luther (1483-1546):

“In a dream, Martin Luther found himself being attacked by Satan. The devil unrolled a long scroll containing a list of Luther’s sins, and held it before him. On reaching the end of the scroll Luther asked the devil, “Is that all?” “No,” came the reply, and a second scroll was thrust in front of him. Then, after a second came a third. But now the devil had no more. “You’ve forgotten something,” Luther exclaimed triumphantly. “Quickly write on each of them, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses us from all sins.'”

(Kurt Koch, Occult Bondage and Deliverance, Knegel Publishing, 1972, p. 10.)

Without a doubt, the main blessing is that God forgives us.  He covers our sins with the blood of Jesus Christ and he remembers them no more!  I attended a healing conference at the church of a friend of mine Friday night and Saturday morning.  The speaker said that not all illnesses are caused by forgiveness, but a great many are.  We tend not to think there could be spiritual roots to some diseases, but I have experienced for myself, as well as seen others healed when they made a list of all those they have not yet forgiven and pray forgiveness for them.  It’s a great practice!  Make a list of those you know you resent and need to forgive.  Then forgive them and watch and see what God does.

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

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

All you need is Love

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 2, 2025

Scriptures: Isa 62:1-5; Ps 36:5-10; 1 Cor 13:1-13; Jn 8:1-11

A few weeks ago, I told you I had gone to college with Bob Dylan (not physically, but his music saturated my college experience).  In a similar way, I could say I went to high school with the Beatles.  Their lyrics were simpler than Dylan’s (e.g., She loves me, yeah, yeah, yeah…)—and sometimes didn’t even make sense–but their melodies were catchy.  A good example is their song, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, called, “All you need is love.”  The verses are somewhat nonsensical, but the chorus has stuck with me for years:

“All you need is love;

All you need is love;

All you need is love, love, love is all you need.”

You can see where this chorus could get into your mind and replay itself for so long that it drives you nuts!

Now we know that God is love.  He loves us with a steadfast, loyal love.  And He wants us to try to love others, even when they don’t appear to us to be very lovable.  Think about the fellow who cuts you off in traffic, or the woman who is loudly cussing out her kids in Walmart, or the person who confronts you in anger and with shouting and intimidation. In these cases, we need more than the intention to love others.  We need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to love the irritating, the irritable, the grumpy, and the disagreeable.  We need love and a supernatural boost to exhibit it.

All of our Scripture lessons today focus on God’s ideas of love.

A.  Let’s begin with our New Testament lesson from 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.  St. Paul has just taught us about spiritual gifts in the 12th chapter.  He names a few and says we are all given at least one in order to contribute to the Church, the Body of Christ.  He even says we can ask for more.  But, in chapter 13, he insists that no spiritual gift is more important than love.  If we, for instance, have a gift of prophesy or of healing others, but are not exercising these out of love, then these gifts have no value in God’s eyes.  Someone has said, “Even the most impressive sacrificial gifts mean nothing if not motivated by love.”  (www.bibleproject.com, 1/28/2025)

St. Paul also wants us to know that to the Christian, love is not self-centered.  It is not self-focused.  It’s not a “quid pro quo” I do what you need or want for you so that you will do what I need or want for me.  That’s a transaction, not a gift.  That kind of love is motivated by my self-interest.

That’s also where a lot of married people get love wrong, feeling they are owed certain behaviors by their partners in order to love them back.  Instead, Christian love is the “willingness to give up one’s own desires for the good of others.”

(www.bibleproject.com, 1/28/2025)

It is a way we serve or bless others.  It is exactly what Jesus does, over and over in the Gospels.

B.  Let’s look at John 8:1-11, the story of the woman caught in adultery.  Jesus is teaching in the Temple and is rudely interrupted by some religious leaders.  They don’t have a theological issue for Him, like healing on the Sabbath or which commandment is the most important.  Instead, they have set a trap for Him and, because as God He is omniscient, He knows it.  Rather than taking Him aside privately, they throw a woman they’ve caught in the act of adultery onto the ground before Jesus and the crowd, and demand to know what He believes should happen to her.  The woman is clearly guilty. 

But where’s her partner?  No one commits adultery all by her or himself.  These hypocrites don’t care about the male partner or about justice.  Rather, they are hoping to make a public scene in which Jesus will violate either the Torah or Roman Law.  It’s a lot like current congressional hearings where the representatives or senators pose questions that can only be answered by “yes” or “no.”  The trap is this:  If Jesus says, “You are right, stone her,” they can run to the Romans to accuse Him (only the Romans could authorize the death penalty).  But, If He urges mercy for her, they can claim He violates Jewish Law.  

What’s interesting is that in trying to trap Jesus, they have themselves violated the spirit of the Law:  Leviticus 20:10 reads If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—the wife of a neighbor—the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.  The same sense is replicated in Deuteronomy 22:22 If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die.  You must purge the evil from Israel.   Notice, the means of death is not specified in either passage—there is no mention of stoning.  And also notice the Law is aimed at the male and they have not bothered to drag him in.

Finally, notice Jesus doesn’t say a word —THEY CAN’T TRAP HIM IF HE DOESN’T SPEAK!  Jesus is so brilliant as He outsmarts them and their plot.

Instead, He begins to write in the dirt with His finger.  What could He have been writing? Isn’t it a shame that we have no record or the only thing Jesus Christ ever wrote?  I think He looked at them one-by-one and wrote their name next to a big, secret sin, and perhaps the name of the person they had sinned with.  This makes sense because, after having apparently listed their major sins, He then states, (v.7) —IF any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.  The only sinless person there is Jesus.  One-by-one, they leave, in age order (maybe the older ones had accumulated more sins?  Or maybe they were just willing to admit to them?)

So then Jesus turns His attention to the woman:  Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?  She respectfully replies, No one, Sir.  And Jesus responds, Then neither do I condemn you.  Go now and leave your life of sin (sin no more).  The only one who could have legitimately judged her did not.  Instead, Jesus recognizes her sin, but also offers her grace—unmerited, or unearned favor–and forgiveness.  This is a powerful example of love in action.

C.  Our Old Testament lesson and our Psalm provide two more examples of how the Lord views love:

Psalm 36 (verses 5-10) was written by King David.  In it, he describes how he has experienced our God:  To David, God is merciful and faithful; God is righteous and always delivers right judgments; and God is trustworthy and relates to us through His loving kindness.

In verse 7, he writes —All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of Your wings.  David references God’s assertion in Exodus 19:4 —You have seen what I did to the Egyptians.  You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.  David is teaching us that–for those of us who love God—the Lord offers protection, security, rest, and love.

In Isaiah 62:1-5, the Messiah is speaking to Jerusalem from the standpoint of His 2nd Coming.  Jesus will be ambitious for Jerusalem —He will give her a new name.  She will no longer be called The Forsaken City or The Desolate Land.  Rather, her new names will be Hephzibah (The City of God’s delight) and Beulah (the Bride of God).

Since, at Jesus’ 2nd Coming, the Jews of Jerusalem will have come to realize that Jesus is their Messiah, she too—along with the Christian Church—will be the bride of Christ.  The Lord’s love for Jerusalem will be returned to Him, and He will rejoice over her!

The Beatles would have us believe that all we need is love.  But we know that human love—while wonderful—is not enough to nurture and maintain relationships and life.   We need to experience God’s love in our lives.  We need to act out God’s version of love.  We need a boost from the Holy Spirit to love others, especially the seemingly unlovely ones.  And we need to love generously, without expecting something in return.

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Despite Rejection

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 26, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 1:4-10; Ps 71:1-6; 1 Cor 12:12-31a; Lk 4:14-30

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln…

“…was defeated seven times for elective office before winning the Presidency of the United States. He certainly defied the odds. And he did not give up.

“Then there was Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh earned all of $85 from his paintings during his lifetime. One hundred years after his death, just one painting alone, Dr. Bachet, sold for the incredible sum of $82.5 million.

“Then there was this itinerant, middle eastern preacher who lived some 2,000 years ago — his ideas were definitely rejected by the people of his hometown, as well as the religious leaders of his time and country. Yet he continued his ministry as he understood it to be — Divine Defiance?

“The point is clear. If Abraham Lincoln, Vincent van Gogh, or Jesus of Nazareth had let rejection rule their lives, and let it keep them from doing and saying what they felt sure to be right — our world would be incredibly impoverished today.”

(Dianne O’Connell, “Divine Defiance,” www.esermons.com, 1/20/2025)

Consider how often these three must have felt discouraged, frustrated, or ready to give up?: Yet, what great examples to us of the importance of persevering in the face of repeated rejection.

Two of our Scripture passages today illustrate this theme of persevering despite rejection:

A.: Our Old Testament lesson is from Jeremiah 1:4-10, and recounts the divine call to Jeremiah to become the Lord’s prophet.

Jeremiah was probably between 17-20 years old when this takes place.  He was already serving God as a priest in his home town of Anathoth, located just North of Jerusalem. King Josiah was about 22 then, in 626BC, and reigned until he died at age 39.: He and Jeremiah were contemporaries, and likely became friends. Jeremiah served all during the remainder of Josiah’s reign, and continuing also during the reigns of kings Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim (sons of Josiah), Jehoiachin (Josiah’s grandson), and Zedekiah (a third son of Josiah).

Josiah, a good and godly king, had led his people in a revival to turn their hearts back to God; but his sons and grandsons were another story.

Because of their idolatry and wicked behavior, God allowed the last to be defeated and carried off into slavery by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

Notice how God calls Jeremiah into His service: verse 5: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.: This is amazing and also a bit intimidating, isn’t it?: It implies that God knows us before we are even conceived, and that He has a plan for our lives—He has given us life for a purpose.: The Lord tells Jeremiah He had determined–even before the young man’s birth–that he would become a prophet and deliver to His people whatever God told him to say.: Jeremiah is a humble young man who replies to God, (v.6): I am only a child, meaning, Yes, I will do it, but I am young and lack much life experience.

In other words, I wouldn’t know what to say!: God’s response must have been very reassuring (v.7): Do not say,’ I am only a child.’: You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.: The Lord assures him He will tell Jeremiah what to say; and He promises to take care of him, even though He was calling him to prophesy divine judgment on Judah and her heretical kings.

If we skip ahead 40 years to the end of Jeremiah’s life and career, we would find that he apparently never made a single convert; after King Josiah, the people ignored or ridiculed his preaching entirely.: He was rejected by his people because of his message, hated, beaten, put in stocks, imprisoned, and charged with being a traitor. He was later called “the prophet of the broken heart” because God’s judgments on his people—and their rejection of God–were so distressing to him.: Actually his emotional response to his rejection mirrored God’s own saddness.: Once, King Jehoiakim cut his hand-written, prophetic scrolls up.: He destroyed them by throwing them into the fire (but God just retold the contents to Jeremiah so he could write them again).

I don’t know about you, but though I would have been proud to speak the Lord’s words to His people, I would also have been exceedingly distressed to have had been so unsuccessful in changing peoples’ behavior.: Jeremiah may have been just as distressed, but he persisted!: He may have been disappointed, but he kept on giving out God’s messages.: He may have been discouraged, but he never gave up!: I think that he stands as an excellent example to us:: He trusted in God’s promise to him and he persevered despite what he probably considered his limited impact.

And, as Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:7: I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.: Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.: Those lousy kings after Josiah are no longer remembered by anyone, but Jeremiah’s two books of the Bible (Jeremiah and Lamentations) remain available today, 2700 years later!

With what in your life are you struggling today?: With a relative, a co-worker, or an unfair boss?: With an illness or a chronic condition?: With a lack of money or a lack of peace? Jeremiah’s obedience to God, and his perseverance in the face of repeated rejection, inspire and encourage us 

(1) to put one foot after the other, continuing to try to do good where we can; and (2) not to give Satan the victory by caving in to dejection and perceived defeat. 

B.: The same is true of Jesus (as per our Gospel lesson, Luke 4:14-30).: Jesus reads His job description from Isaiah 61:1, and tells His friends and neighbors in Nazareth that they are witnessing the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy in Him.: At first, they were impressed with His knowledge and wisdom–until someone spoke up who reminded everyone that Jesus was the carpenter’s son.: This person had placed Jesus in a box and would not consider that He might in fact have become “more than a carpenter.”

His former neighbors were eager to see Him work some miracles, but they were unwilling to alter their perceptions of Him.: John Mark tells us in Mark 6:5: He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them…due to their lack of faith.

Jesus really gets them riled up when He reminds them (v.24): I tell you the truth…no prophet is accepted in his hometown.: Then He further incenses them when He gives them two examples of “outsiders,” Gentiles whom God had provided for, rather than bless Israelites.: There were many widows in need in Israel during the famine and drought of Elijah’s day, but God sent the prophet to minister to a Phoenician woman.: He provided her with a continuous supply of food, and even resurrected her son when he died.: There were lots of Israelite lepers, but God chose to heal the Syrian general, Naaman.: In other words, Jesus is warning them that God will not bless them if they do not believe in His Son.

By this point, they are so enraged that they attempt to kill Him by tossing Him off a cliff.: The fact that He could just disappear from an angry mob should have stretched the box in which they had confined Him.: Surely Jesus was disappointed with their rejection of Him.: He was obviously willing to heal many, but their contempt and anger, their lack of faith, limited what His heavenly Father would allow Him to do there.: Just as with Jeremiah, His own did not believe Him.: So, He moves His base of operations to Capernaum.

I think what is most instructive for us is that is the example Jesus gives us in the face of rejection:: (1) Respond honestly, if given the opportunity.: He was admitting to them that He was the Messiah by saying He fulfills the Isaiah 61:1 passage.: He did not deny the truth even thught hearing it incited them to violence against them.: Don’t deny the truth as you know it, but also (2) don’t reply with anger, name-calling, or physical intimidation.: Years ago, I worked for a woman pediatrician in Tallahassee who gathered several social workers into her practice.: She worked with kids whose conditions did not resolve through the usual medical interventions, so instead, she involved the kids in counseling. I was there to supervise several interns she had working toward licensure, and I counseled some of the parents.: The longer I was there, the more it became evident to me that one of the women I was supervising (though she was married to a man) was having a lesbian affair with the doc.: The woman was good with the kids she counseled, but she viewed their parents as the enemy.: I repeatedly told her she needed to align sufficiently with the parents to change the social and psychological environment they created for their children. She resisted this vehemently.: I told her I could not then recommend her for licensure.: Our boss—and her lover—then demanded I do so despite my reservations.: I had to resign and leave that practice. As my Christian therapist friends helped me move my office, I walked out the door and “shook the dust off my sandals.” (3) Like Jesus, I remained calm, and moved on. The Lord provided me another location to do what He had gifted me to do…and He will do the same for you.

We cannot allow rejection to rule our lives.: We will not win over everyone we encounter.: Let’s remember how Lincoln, Van Gogh, Jeremiah–and even President Trump, whether you like him or not—as well as Jesus, all persevered despite being repeatedly rejected.

In Galatians 6:9, St. Paul encourages us (NLT): So: let’s not get tired of doing what is good.: At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.:  We are not meant to just, “Be calm and carry on,” but to continue to do our best to please God and to trust in Him.

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

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams  

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Invite Jesus!

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 19, 2025

Scriptures: Neh 8:1-10; Ps 19; 1 Cor 12:1-11; Jn 2:1-11

Remember the old TV show, “The Tonight Show” with comedian Johnny Carson?  He was hilarious, wasn’t he?  You can probably recall some particularly funny episodes (You can locate reruns on www.YouTube.com).

One night he featured an interview with an 8 year old hero.  The child had rescued two friends who had gotten trapped in a West Virginia coal mine.

As Johnny continued to talk with the boy, it became obvious that the child was a Christian.

So Johnny asked him if he attended Sunday school. When the boy said he did Johnny inquired, “What are you learning in Sunday school?” “Last week,” came his reply, “our lesson was about when Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine.” The audience roared, but Johnny tried to keep a straight face. Then he said, “And what did you learn from that story?” The boy squirmed in his chair. It was apparent he hadn’t thought about this. But then he lifted up his face and said, “If you’re going to have a wedding, make sure you invite Jesus!” 

(Borrowed from www.Sermons.com, 1/14/2025)

The child was wise beyond his years!  We are told in Ecclesiastes 4:12 a cord of three strands is not easily broken.  This passage (4:9-12) is often read at weddings.  The bride and groom represent two of the three strands.  The marriage is strengthened if the third strand is Jesus.

Again, the child said, “If you are going to have a wedding, make sure you invite Jesus.” 

Our Gospel lesson today (John 2:1-11) recounts the wedding at Cana—to which Jesus had been invited.  Weddings were important events in Israel in the time of Christ.  They often involved feasting, dancing, and visiting with friends and family for up to a week!  It was time off for everyone to celebrate!  The couple didn’t take a Honeymoon in those days.

Instead, in the place of what we would call a Wedding Reception, the newlyweds would share their joy, and strengthen their ties, with their relatives and neighbors, with feasting and fun. 

Now the village of Cana was just over the hill from Nazareth.  Some scholars believe Mary, Jesus’ mother, had relatives there, so she, Jesus and the rest of her family had been invited.  You can thus see how, if a couple were poor, there was a real danger of running out of food and/or wine.  Wine to them was a staple with meals.  Perhaps the alcohol content helped kill bacteria in their unfiltered water.  However, drunkenness was universally condemned.  This couple, in our story today, does run out of wine, and the bridegroom is about to be publically embarrassed.

So Mary brings their dilemma to Jesus’ attention.  She says, They have no more wine.  Jesus responds, Dear woman, why do you involve Me?  Scholars are undecided about why she would ask Him to do something for them in this setting.  Jesus knew His Heavenly Father had not yet told Him to begin His public ministry, so He was reluctant to perform a miracle—He says, My time has not yet come.  I have heard this passage preached where the minister claimed Mary was a pushy, Jewish mother.  I could be wrong, but I think because she was His mother, she knew of knew His capabilities and His compassion. She had empathy for the couple.  Thus it is very likely that God the Father nudged Mary to “jump start” Jesus.

Whatever the case, He honors her by resolving the crisis.  He has servants gather 6 large water jars, each holding 20-30 gallons.  This would have been water set aside for ritual purification.  He then transforms the water into the best wine ever—somewhere between 6X20=120 gallons to 6X30=180 gallons!  This was an audaciously generous amount of delicious wine.  The one we would call “the wedding planner” or the master of the banquet, is amazed!  In so doing, Jesus has just offered the first sign of His divinity:  He can transform matter/material world.

We know from this side of the Cross that Jesus only did what His heavenly Father told Him to do.  So why unveil His divine powers at a wedding?

Our Psalm (19) celebrates God as our creator and redeemer. The Hebrew word used for God in the first 6 verses of this psalm is Elohim—it is the plural form of El—the Mighty One, or God the Creator [indicating that all 3 persons of the Trinity were involved in creation].  He created grapes and led someone at some point to ferment grape juice into wine.  The Vineyard is one of several metaphors God uses to describe the nation of Israel. The wedding takes place within the vineyard, Israel, and the groom has need of more wine. Perhaps God is saying, Jesus will meet your need, and what He supplies is better than the best.

In the 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 passage, Paul lists 9 spiritual gifts potentially given– through the power of the Holy Spirit–to those of us who love Jesus. These gifts are not given to us for our personal enjoyment, but for us to help with building up God’s Kingdom here on earth.  Among these is miraculous powers.  Jesus demonstrated His miraculous powers at the wedding in Cana.  Some believe this signaled His endorsement of the marital union.  (Since God the Father invented marriage in Genesis, we can be sure God the Son would support the Father’s idea.)  Other scholars make the distinction between Moses and Jesus: Moses’ first miracle was to turn Nile River water into blood (representing the Law);  Jesus’ first miracle was to turn water into fine wine (indicating grace and mercy).  Still other Biblical experts assert that Jesus took something old and battered (the jugs/water pots) and filled them with something new designed to meet their needs. In other words, He took a good thing from the past—water—and turned it into a good thing for the future–good, new wine. This way, we can begin to see the wine as a metaphor for the generous blessing of God.

Additionally, we have paired with these readings the Old Testament lesson from Nehemiah 8:1-11, which takes place in Jerusalem in 445BC.  Jewish POW’s of first the Babylonian, then the Persian Empires, had been set free by the Persian king, Artaxerxes, to return to their homeland.  Under the oversight and direction of their governor, Nehemiah, they have completed the massive rebuilding of the city walls in just 52 days.  Ezra, their priest, had begun the sad reconstruction of the Temple—which would take many more years.  We find them today assembled–on the equivalent of their New Year’s Day—inside the Water Gate (1 of the 12 refurbished gates of the city).  You may remember that business, legal, and political matters were debated and decided, in those days, at the city gates. So this wasn’t just some narrow passageway. It was, instead, a gate opening into a sizeable square or assembly area.

Ezra and Nehemiah had convened a “solemn assembly” of all the returning citizens.  Scholars estimate some 49,000 men, women, and children of an age to understand, had gathered there.  After 70 years of exile in a foreign nation, they were probably starved for God’s word.  They may have held Bible studies while in captivity, but they had not really been formally taught the Torah (the Law). Ezra and Nehemiah did not want the people to be ignorant of God’s Law. Their parents’ and grandparents’ ignorance and rebellion is what got them transported to Babylon in the first place.

Notice what happens: Ezra proclaims God’s word, in a loud voice, from a raised platform (perhaps the first pulpit). The people remain standing, and quiet, and as they listen for some 4-6 hours!  This is where the synagogue tradition of standing for the reading of Scripture began.  Standing is a sign of respect, of reverence.  I went to 4 years of Catholic Girl’s School (though not a Catholic) and learned quickly that one stood when called upon by one of the nuns. These Israelites are hearing God’s Law, Torah read to them—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—perhaps for the first time.  There are Levites/priests available to walk among the crowd and explain what God’s Word means.  This is probably the most important job we pastors do—explain the meaning of Scripture, as best as we can.  The pre-Reformation Catholic Church had moved away from this important duty, focusing instead on the dictates of “holy mother church.”  The Protestant Reformers were thus insistent that we preach and explain God’s word.  Like the people of Nehemiah’s day, we cannot obey God’s Word if we don’t know or understand it.

The people respond with AMEN, AMEN! May it be so, hands lifted, praising God.  We say, Thanks be to God! following the reading of Scripture in our worship services, and hopefully we mean it.  They then, as the Word sunk in, became convicted of their sinfulness.  They now knew the standard, and could gage how far short of it they fell.  So, they prostrate themselves and cry tears of repentance.  But Ezra, Nehemiah, the 13 on the platform, and the Levites among them, tell them not to grieve or mourn…a. They were to celebrate their deliverance from captivity by God.  He once again (remember 400 years in Egypt) freed them and restored them.  He hadn’t turned His back on them!  And now they had had a new chance to get it right.  This was an occasion to celebrate, to rejoice about the goodness and mercy of the Lord!

We are just 2 and ½ weeks into the New Year.  Let’s invite Jesus—not just to the wedding—but into our lives.  Let’s also commit ourselves to reading and studying Scripture, God’s Word.  Let’s allow God’s Word to cleanse us, or as Paul puts it in Ephesians 5:26–>wash us with the water of the Word.  God’s Word transforms us, if we are open to Him.  God’s Word leads, guides, and directs us. Finally, let’s look for the miracles, or blessings, He has for us, and be sure to thank Him for them.  Amen!  May it be so!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Light’s On!

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 5, 2025 

Scriptures: Isa 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-7, 10-14; Eph 3:1-12; Matt 2:1-12

A fable is told of… “a cave which lived under the ground, as caves have the habit of doing. It had spent its life in darkness. It heard a voice calling to it: “Come up into the light; come and see the sunshine.” The cave retorted: “I don’t know what you mean; there isn’t anything but darkness.” Finally, the cave ventured forth and was surprised to see light everywhere. Looking up to the sun [the] cave said: “Come with me and see the darkness.” The sun asked: “What is the darkness?” The cave replied: “Come and see.” And so, one day the sun accepted the invitation. As it entered the cave it said:  “Now show me your darkness.” But there was no darkness!”

(Autoillustrator.com, TRUTH, as shared on www.FamilyTimes.com, 1/2/2025.)

It’s true, isn’t it…that the presence of light dispels darkness. Where ever you shine a lamp, a flashlight, a candle, your I-phone, light overcomes or invades and eliminates darkness.  This is the point of our Scriptures today:  Jesus Christ is the Light of the World.  He came into this world to save us, but He also shone the light of His sinless example to model for us a better way to live.

Today our Gospel Lesson (Matthew 2:1-12), on the Sunday closest to January 6th, celebrates Epiphany.  An epiphany is a God-sighting.  It always occurs on God’s timing, and it indicates a moment when the veil is pulled back, allowing humans to see God–and to realize that they have seen Him.  My 17 year old grandson was in a wreck in his pick-up truck on New Year’s Eve morning.  It was foggy and the road was slick.  His truck flipped but he emerged from the accident without a scratch.  It was a miracle that he wasn’t killed.  I told him afterward how happy I was that he is alive, and that it was God who had spared him.  That experience was an epiphany for him and for all of us in my family.

The first NT epiphany occurred when Mary and Joseph beheld the infant Jesus’ face.  The 2nd folks to view Jesus—and recognize Him as Messiah—were the shepherds, the night (or early morning) of His birth.

The prophets Anna and Simeon recognized Him when He was presented on His 8th day at the Temple (though the priests serving there, and the other worshippers, missed out).   But interestingly, the Christian Church has long celebrated Epiphany as the date that marked the visit of the Gentile Magi to Bethlehem.

The Magi seem to materialize out of nowhere, present their gifts, and disappear.  Only Matthew references them and he doesn’t tell us when they came.  I always thought it was directly after the shepherds, but Biblical scholars believe it was up to 1- 2 years later.  Matthew 2:11 reads—on entering the house.  This suggests that after eveyone else who had journied to Bethlehem to be counted and taxed had gone back home, Mary and Joseph had decided to remain.  They had been homeless, but let’s not forget that, as a carpenter, Joseph had a trade he could practice anywhere to support them.  So Jesus may have been a toddler by the time the Magi visited Him.

Matthew also doesn’t tell us how many Magi made the trip.  Paintings from the 2nd and 3rd centuries show four of them.  Other accounts cite 12. Church tradition settled on 3, because there were 3 types of gifts.  But because their caravan caused quite a stir in Jerusalem, there were probably more.

Furthermore, Matthew doesn’t really clarify who they were, or where they were from.  Again, tradition/song refers to them as Kings, probably based on the 10th verse we recited this morning from Psalm 72—May the kings of Tarshish [Turkey] and of the isles render Him tribute; may the kings of Sheba [Yemen] and Seba [Sudan] bring gifts. Some believe they were descended from Noah’s 3 sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.  A Greek manuscript from the 6th century actually names them:

(1)  Balthasar, who was said to have been a black king from Ethiopia, about 40 years old, brought myrrh. Myrrh was used in perfumes but also as a pain-killer and as a funeral gift.  Due to its high cost, it was used for embalming a dead prophet or a king.

(2) Melchior, also 40, a King of Arabia, brought gold –-the world’s most precious commodity, a gift you presented to royalty! (3) and Caspar, a King of Turkey, around 20, brought frankincense–fragrant gum resin burned as incense in worship services,  This was a gift typically provided to a priest, wheich he would then use in a worship service. 

Thus they appear to represent Gentiles of all nations and races, and to bring gifts fitting for Jesus in his three “offices” (or functions) as suffering prophet, high priest, and king.  All Matthew tells us is that they came “…from the East” [east of Israel](v.1).  The Greek historian, Herodotus, writes that the priestly caste of the Medes [of Iran] were called Magi.  Magi are also mentioned in the Old Testament books of Esther, Jeremiah, and Daniel.  Jeremiah and Daniel both describe the Magi as serving in the Babylonian [Iraqi] court.  They were the doctors, scientists, mathematicians, and legal authorities (wise men) of their time.  They were also well-schooled in astronomy and astrology, and they advised the king.  In Daniel 2:48, King Nebuchadnezzar appoints Daniel, the Jewish prophet, master of all his Magi.  No doubt Daniel, and the other Jews living in Babylon, shared their faith in Israel’s One, True God.  Perhaps they also shared with them prophecies regarding the Coming Messiah.  So it is quite possible that they were familiar with the predictions from Numbers 24:17—A star shall come forth from Jacob [meaning Israel], and a scepter [indicative of a king’s rule] shall rise from Israel…and from Micah 5:2—But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel. 

What we do know for sure about these Gentile visitors is that they came from some distance, bringing gifts, and that they worshipped the baby Jesus. They are probably the first Gentile believers. They were drawn, obediently, to Bethlehem by the star–a “star” that traveled westward, leading them from the East.  This special star appeared to have stopped  and remained over Bethlehem on the exact night of the birth of Jesus-–and may have flashed on and off for some time after—light’s on for the Magi.  This Epiphany light was predicted in our Old Testament Lesson, Isaiah 60:1-2—Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.  See, [spiritual] darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory [His bright, shining light] appears over you!

The Apostle Paul assures us in Ephesians 3:6 (NLT) that God the Father always intended for us Gentiles to come to know His Son, Jesus—And this is God’s plan:  Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children.  Both are part of the same body [the Christian Church] and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.  God ensured that the Magi would not miss out on the birth of His Son.  And He didn’t want us to either!

On Epiphany Sunday, we celebrate the fact that the Light of Christ has come into the world!  It is possible to miss it!

Consider the following story:

“A man flew into Chicago and hired a taxi to take him downtown. As he was riding along they came to a red light & the driver went right on through the red light. The man said, “Hey, the light was red. You’re supposed to stop.” The driver said, “Yeah, I know, but my brother does it all the time.” Soon they came to a second red light and again he went right straight through. The passenger said, “You’re going to get us killed. That light was red. Why didn’t you stop?” The driver said, “Don’t worry about it. My brother does it all the time.” Then they came to a green light and he stopped. The man said, “The light is green. Now is the time to go. Why don’t you go on through?” The driver answered, “I know it’s green. But you never know when my brother may be coming through.” Sometimes it seems as if all the world is going through on red and stopping on green. We’re constantly trying things that don’t work. But the Gospel works. Folks, the Gospel works.”

(Melven Newland – Sermon Central; www.family times.com, 1/2/2025).

We don’t want to be misperceiving the meaning of the Light of Christ. We don’t want to stop when we should go or go when we should stop!

Let’s Pray:  Lord God, please help us to recognize any epiphanies—any God-sightings—in our lives.  Through Your Son, Jesus, you have caused a new light to shine in our hearts.  You’ve turned His light on!  May others see that this Christ light shines in us.  May we deeply believe in Him, treasure His light, and allow His light in us to dispel the spiritual darkness of the world around us.  Amen.

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams