Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Sheep Who Listen

Pastor Sherry’s message for 04/26/26 

Scriptures: Acts 2:42-27; Ps 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; Jn 10:1-10

The following story is told of President Franklin D. Roosevelt:

“President Franklin D. Roosevelt got tired of smiling that big smile and saying the usual things at all those White House receptions. So, one evening he decided to find out whether anybody was paying attention to what he was saying. As each person came up to him with extended hand, he flashed that big smile and said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” People would automatically respond with comments such as “How lovely!”

“Nobody listened to what he was saying, except one foreign diplomat. When the president said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning,” the diplomat responded softly, “I’m sure she had it coming to her.”

“The problem today is not that God is not speaking but rather we are not listening for Him. It’s not the Lord who is not speaking, but it’s us who are not hearing.”

(Borrowed from a sermon by Jimmy Chapman, “I Lay Me Down to Sleep” 7/3/08 www.SermonCentral.com)

Our Psalm and Gospel readings both refer to us as sheep and the Lord as our shepherd. Truthfully, the fact that God thinks of us as sheep is not a compliment. One writer I remember from years ago–sorry but I can’t recall who it was in order to give the person credit–claimed sheep are “Dumb, directionless, and defenseless.” Sheep need a shepherd to guide them because they are have a “herd” or a “flock mentality” and will follow their leader. Since they are also prone to over-eating, they have been known to follow their flock leader–while pursing edible grass–right off a cliff. They also have a tendency to wander off and get lost. The people of Jesus’ day understood that a competent shepherd would leave the 99 under the care of an associate and seek out his 1 lost sheep (each one represents money on the hoof). They knew that sheep don’t always look where they are going, and probably don’t assess the risks of going there. Finally, they are notoriously skittish, running in a tight knit circle (with lambs to the inside and rams on the edge) when frightened. They need a shepherd to keep them safe from predators. They also need a shepherd to keep them safe from their instincts.

However, on the plus side, they do recognize the voice of their particular shepherd. In Biblical times, several herds of sheep might be housed at night in a common sheepfold, with shepherds rotating nights they each would stand watch while the others went home to sleep in their own beds. In the morning, each shepherd would approach the fold and call his own herd out by name. He would walk ahead, and his particular sheep would follow him.

Now let’s consider the image of the “Shepherd” in Scripture. In the Old Testament, this term generally refers to God the Father, but it can also mean the Jewish leaders, kings, pastors, or teachers. King David wrote in the 23rd Psalm–>The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. It says in Psalm 100–>…we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. The prophet Isaiah writes in chapter 40, verse 11–>[God] tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young. God, in Ezekiel 34, lambastes the kings, prophets, and priests of Israel, calling them bad shepherds. He accuses them of abusing, neglecting, and even preying upon His sheep. He promises to save His flock, saying in verse 23–>I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and He will tend them and be their shepherd. Now Ezekiel lived about 400 years after David; so this is a prophesy of Jesus, not King David, as our shepherd-king.

In the New Testament, Revelation 7:17 provides yet another sheep/shepherd prophesy: For the Lamb at the center of the throne [the risen Lord Jesus] will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. The Gospel of John, Chapter #10 outlines how Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Scholars say this is the climax of John’s Gospel because Jesus identifies Himself as The Good Shepherd (v. 11), thus equating Himself with God the Father: Verse 14–>I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know Me. In today’s passage (vv.3-5), Jesus says, “The watchman opens the gate for him [the shepherd], and the sheep listen to His voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all of His own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice. But they will never follow a stranger, in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.

How do we know if we are the sheep of the Good Shepherd? 1st, we’re baptized into His flock. 2nd, we learn to hear His voice by developing our spiritual ears. Our God communicates with us! He speaks to us through His written Word, the Bible; through the Holy Spirit. that still, small voice; sometimes through other people; and often through our circumstances. He wants us to communicate back to Him which we do through prayer; through our thoughts, when we meditate on Scripture passages; and through our worship. 3rd, we come to realize that we are each known by Him. It’s such a paradox: We’re members of His flock, but He doesn’t just view us as a herd. He sees us each in all of our individuality. Consider the lessons conveyed in Psalm 139: O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O Lord…for You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.

God knows us intimately, better than we know ourselves. He knows our every action; our every plan; our thoughts, even before they are fully developed; our words, even before we utter them. He has known us since before we were born. Jesus says, in Luke 12:7–>Indeed, the very hairs of your head are numbered. What comfort! He knows us as we are and loves us anyway! 

Psalm 23 spells out the wonderful life benefits that come to us if we listen to and follow Jesus: J. Vernon McGee says the 23rd Psalm is the song of an old, experienced shepherd (King David), looking back over his life. McGee writes, “Life had beaten, battered, baffled, and bludgeoned this man,” and yet…in looking back over his long life, David–also one of God’s sheep–recognizes all the ways that God had intervened for and shepherded him. And he is exceedingly grateful!

1. He provides for us (green pastures, still waters);

2. He renews our strength when we are weak or weary;

3. He guides us along the right paths, encouraging us to avoid pain and destruction;

4. He protects us from being afraid (of threats, of death) and comforts us as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death;

5. He honors and blesses us;

6. And His love and goodness draw us to Himself, now and for eternity.  

( J. V. McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on the Psalms, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.134.)

In John 10:1-10, the Apostle John wants us to realize that “Christianity is not so much a matter of believing certain things as it is of hearing that voice [Jesus] and trusting it with your life.” Have you heard Him call to you from the Scriptures? I have, on a number of occasions. One very meaningful time to me was when I tried to withdraw from the ordination process. I felt I was too old and had had too much schooling and could surely serve God as a Christian psychologist. I opened Scripture and the words of Psalm 110 leaped off the page at me: The Sovereign Lord has decided and will not change His mind. That wasn’t just a coincidence; it was an answer to my prayer from the lips of the Lord Himself. Perhaps passages like the following have really spoken to you: Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28). I came that they might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me (John 14:1). The Holy Spirit will take you to a place in God’s word that truly speaks to your prayer need.

Do you realize that when you hear me preaching (or read my sermons), it is not just me that you hear or read. Please know that I preach what I hear, what I believe God is directing me to preach. I’m not saying this to puff myself up as some great and holy example, because I am flawed and a sinner like all of us. What I hope you hear in my sermons is the voice of the Good Shepherd speaking through me–and sometimes in spite of me. It’s the same voice we hear in the Scriptures. It’s the same voice we hear in the patterned way we worship on Sundays. It’s the same voice we hear in our hymns-→today, we have twice sung hymns asking Jesus to lead us (See Our Great Redeemer’s Praise, p.150 and p.130). As we leave worship this morning, we will remind ourselves in song that He leads us (p.73). It’s the same voice we hear through the lovely weekly anthem our soloists sing for us. “It’s the voice of deep crying out to deep, of Christ’s Spirit seeking out our spirits and calling us to come into the presence of the lover of our souls.”

 (J. Fearless and D. Chilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentary, Year A, 2013, p.122.)

Our God is speaking. Are we listening? We want to be sheep who listen. Our God loves us-→enough to die on a cruel cross to save us. Jesus is calling to each of us. It’s hard to believe that President FDR would have spoken to people who did not take in what he was actually saying. How sad that he could say something so outrageous that only one person picked up on it and responded to him—and that person was a foreigner. Let’s pray now to ask God to help us hear Him (to develop our spiritual ears) and to respond to Him daily.

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Praying with Humility and Gratitude

Pastor Sherry’s message for October 23, 2022

Scriptures: Joel 2:23-32; Ps 65; 2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18; Lk 18:9-14

I have preached here before on the fact that our God answers our prayers. He tends to answer in one of the following ways:

1. Yes, that’s something I am happy to do for you right away.

2. No, I am omniscient and know that would not be good for you.

3. Not yet.

a. I am working out all the intervening variables;

b. Or, I am waiting on you to develop further.

He also likes for us to have an humble attitude toward Him when we pray. In our Gospel Lesson today, Luke 18:9-14, Jesus contrasts the opposite attitudes of the Pharisee and the publican/tax collector.

The Pharisee was a man at the top of the religious ladder of the day. Was he praying out loud or silently? If out loud, how arrogant of him! He appears to be talking to himself, about himself, rather than dialoguing with God. His prayer is a soliloquy, a speech made by himself to himself. Lord, I’m thankful that I am not like other men (v.11)…YIKES! There’s his first mistake. He should have said, “Thank You that You called me to be a Pharisee; I am so happy to serve You and Your people, Lord!” He might have added, “Thank You for keeping me from becoming a robber, an evildoer, an adulterer, or anyone who mistreats others. I know that there, but for the grace of God, go I.” And he would have been very Christ-like to have requested of God, “Lord, I ask you to bless this tax collector and bring him to repentance for any theft or fraud he has committed.” Instead, being very self-focused and lacking humility, he considers himself a cut above other sinners.

The Publican or tax collector, was considered a low-life in that culture (definitely a sinner!). Unlike the Pharisee, however, he seems to have been very well aware of his deficiencies/his sins. He knows that he has denied his nation (as a Roman collaborator); he knows he has alienated himself from his countrymen. The Romans let tax collectors set their own salary, which they did by demanding a certain percentage above what he was required to collect for them. So typically, tax collectors charged extra, taking care of themselves at the expense of their own fellow citizens. Additionally, they didn’t think they needed God or were too ashamed to approach the Lord (We’ve all known people who have said, “If I entered the church, the roof would fall in.)

But notice his prayer, and contrast it with that of the Pharisee: The tax collector admits he’s a sinner! He is humble and humiliated by his past, his present, his bad choices, his wrong actions. He is so aware of his deficiencies before God, he cannot even raise his eyes toward heaven. His prayer is one sentence (v.13): God have mercy on me, a sinner, or God be merciful to me a sinner. This is where we derive The Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” It is a famous old prayer uttered from foxholes, places of danger, and traumatic situations.

I once was visiting some friends when someone they knew asked me to minister to their adult daughter. She had been car-jacked at night, kidnapped, and pistol whipped by two men. She feared for her life, sure she would be raped and murdered. She was a believer and knew to pray “The Jesus Prayer” throughout her entire ordeal. The felons took her to a deserted area, blind-folded her, and told her to remove her clothing. She was sure this was the end for her. Suddenly, however, she heard the sounds of the two men running away. She suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress afterward but also knew that God had saved her in answer to her prayer. We believe the men must have seen a large angel behind her who frightened them away.

So what is the right heart attitude? From what attitude should our prayers arise? Not that of the Pharisee—arrogant, going on about how great we are, how much we’ve done for God, how much better we are than others. Rather, Jesus says the right heart attitude, especially when we pray, should be one of humility–and of gratitude. He says in verse 14–For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. We want to approach God humbly, acknowledging and confessing our sinfulness. And, we want to approach God with gratitude for His mercy and love:

Our other lessons today explain why we should pray to God with gratitude:

A. 800 years before Jesus, the prophet Joel warns the Southern Kingdom (Joel 2:23-32) that the Great Tribulation of God’s Judgment is coming. Actually—even now—we haven’t yet seen the End Times. The prophet assures the people that if they repent and turn back to the Lord, He will respond, take pity on them, and call off the conquering Babylonians.

He foretells that they will rejoice in the Lord because…

1.). He will bring life-giving rain (v.23);

2.) He will repay them (v.25) for the years the locusts [enemies; evil-doers] have eaten.

3.) He will provide them with plenty to eat (v. 26);

4.) He will “pour out His Spirit on all people (v.28), empowering them and us to accomplish miraculous things we could never produce in our own.

5.) Best of all (v.28), Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. This prophesy predates the saving work of Jesus Christ, but it does infer that redemption is coming.

B. In a similar vein, Psalm 65 is called a “Restoration Psalm” and also prophesies what will occur at Christ’s 2nd Coming: King David wrote it in celebration of God’s goodness to him/us. He knew, historically and personally, that God saves His people from our enemies. He also experienced God’s forgiveness for his (and our) sins. Furthermore, God also draws us near to Him—He wants to be with us!

David recognized that God answers our prayers with what he called (v.5) —awesome deeds of righteousness, and addressed the Lord as, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas…. As a former Sociology major, I believe our younger American generations now—who do not know God—are suffering from what the French Father of Sociology, Emile Durkheim, called, anomie. This is a sense of purposelessness, of alienation. It occurs when people’s lives lack meaning, when they fail to see they have a reason for living. If unrelenting, it leads people to suicide and to other acts of desperation, like running people over in a parade, or shooting strangers in a grocery store. But for those of us who know and believe in God, we always have meaning and purpose in life (See Psalm 139), and, we are never alone!

Finally, David praises God for His loving provision for us.

C. 2 Timothy 4 constitutes Paul’s farewell address: He wants Timothy, his spiritual son, to know he has—(v.7)…fought the good fight, like a loyal soldier; I have finished the race, like an Olympic runner; and I have kept the faith—remember in our Gospel lesson of last week (Luke 18:8), Jesus wondered, When the Son of Man comes [when Jesus returns], will He find faith on the earth? Paul has kept the faith. He was, in fact, martyred for his faith. Paul is encouraging Timothy and us to keep our faith in Jesus, no matter what comes.

Why? Because death for us is not the final word/final chapter! It is a release:

1.) From the battles of life—or, “the rat race;” and

2.) From the frailty and failings of our mortal bodies. It is like a ship being untied from a wharf, freed to sail out to sea.

3.) And it is a release that frees us to accept our final reward, what Paul calls a crown of righteousness (v.8). It’s not a wreath of olive leaves, like the original Olympic winners got, or even a medal, like present day athletic stars. It is something Jesus, the Son of Righteousness, gives to each one of us who loves Him. Truthfully, I don’t know what it is, but I do know that I want it when my time comes. Death is not the end for those of us who love Jesus.

So why should we pray with gratitude in our hearts?

1.) Because our God is our creator, our provider, and our protector.

2.) Because He loves, forgives, and redeems us.

3.) Because He gives our lives meaning and purpose.

4.) Because He is present to us.

5.) Because He hears our prayers and responds to us

6.) And because He rewards us with a new and a better life—and some special reward–on the other side of death.

The next time you are feeling downhearted, discouraged, or alone, grab onto any one of those reasons to feel grateful to God. Remember, our God is for us, not against us. Thanks be to God!

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams