Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Single-minded Devotion

Pastor Sherry’s message for September 21, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 8:-9:1; Ps 4; 1 Tim 2:1-7; Lk 16:1-13

Have you ever considered to what or to whom you might be single-mindedly devoted? To what in your life do you most give your attention and your effort? (1) Your spouse, focusing on his or her health and wellbeing? Charlie Kirk’s wife Ericka said recently that he asked her daily, “How can I serve you today?” He was a committed Christian but it also seems like he approached his marriage with a servant’s heart. (2) Your children or grandchildren? Are you fixated on their behavior, good or not so? Do you find yourself praying for their future spouse or for them to make wise decisions? (3) What about an aging parent? Are you absorbed with remembering their doctors’ appointments? Their medications? Their physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing? (4) Or perhaps you are obsessed with your physical home? The repairs that are needed? Worried about worn out appliances or systems (roof, AC, heat, etc.) that should be replaced? Perhaps your pets take most of your attention (health, food, behavior.) This week I spent a significant time at the vets with a sick cat, so I know how that can happen. (6) Or maybe you are fixated on your work? Crops that demand harvesting now, or looming deadlines that demand your time and energy? Someone told me he had 4 deadlines to meet in 4 days this past week. It made for a very stressful few days. Frustrations with a boss that cannot be satisfied, miserable office mates, or work that has become boring and meaningless can all engross your time and mental effort.

Do you notice what I haven’t yet mentioned: Our God. Can we honestly say we have a single-minded focus on our Lord? This is the point of today’s seemingly “squirrely” Gospel (Luke 16:1-13). In it, Jesus tells the story of a dishonest but street-smart steward—let’s think of him as a manager of a “big box store” like Lowe’s or Home Depot. He’s supposed to be overseeing the condition and sale of the corporation’s goods, the dedication and performance of his employees, the satisfaction and safety of his customers, and the orderliness and cleanliness of the physical plant. But instead, corporate hears (probably due to a whistleblower) that he’s been dishonest and needs to be fired. The higher ups call him to task; his head’s on “the chopping block.” “Be prepared to endure an audit,” they say. “Be prepared to explain why you should not be fired immediately.”

This shrewd manager calls in customers whose accounts are in arrears, and offers them sweet deals. True, he’s tampering with the books—cheating the company–but says to one building contractor, “Here, I’ll cut what you owe Lowe’s in half.”  For another, he reduces the balance owed by 1/5th. Why the difference? Maybe one is his cousin or his brother-in-law, while the other is only a stranger. This is certainly a corrupt way to conduct business, but remember, the guy is a scoundrel! His single-minded devotion is to his own future! He’s hoping that when he is fired, these guys will remember him kindly and perhaps offer him a job. They may offer him a job not because he’s competent or honest, but because he did them a huge favor (quid pro quo).

Jesus is not commending him because he’s a model manager. The guy’s a crook who deserves to be fired! This parable is what is called a “parable of contrast”; by contrast, we don’t want to follow this guy’s immoral example. Think about the Rich Man, Lazarus, and the poor beggar, Dives (Luke 16:19-31). Lazarus never helped Dives while they both lived. Jesus says this Lazarus goes to hell but he wants Dives, who went to heaven, to go warn his living brothers of the dangers of being selg-focused and neglecting the poor. Jesus is saying, Don’t be like this Lazarus. Similarly with the fellow who goes to the king’s wedding but refuses to wear the wedding garments (Matthew 22:1-14). The king has already invited his friends, but they all give lame excuses not to attend. So, in anger, the king tells his servants to go out into the streets and bring in even strangers and the homeless. This random guy attends the wedding, but is not suitably attired, even though the king provided the appropriate clothing. The man is thrown out, losing heaven due to his ungrateful and rebellious spirit. Again, Jesus is saying, Don’t be like this guy!

Jesus does commend the unscrupulous manager due to his single-minded devotion—even though his focus is on himself and his personal economic security. Our Lord wants our focus to be single-mindedly on Him and on His Kingdom. We are to put Jesus first, daily, hourly.

I The other passages appointed for today help explain why our focus should be single-mindedly on Christ:

A. In Jeremiah 8:8-9:1, we find God about to punish the folks of the Southern Kingdom for not attending His prophet. Jeremiah weeps over Jerusalem and his countrymen. The Lord has allowed him to see into the future. He knows and describes the extreme devastation about to come. The Lord, too, is heartbroken that they are so hard-headed and so rebellious. Clearly there was enough balm or healing ointment in Gilead to heal them all; but they refused to humble themselves, ask God’s forgiveness, and accept His remedy. If they had remained faithful to the Lord, the Babylonians would not have been able to invade and subdue them. If they had single-mindedly focused on the Lord, they could have averted calamity and chastisement.

This brings me to an important aside: Do we really want to be healed? Sometimes—not always—it takes being submitted to God’s will, humbling ourselves, and also being repentant. It takes being willing to do whatever it takes. I remember a woman in seminary whose teen daughter was bedridden with an auto-immune disorder. She spent all she had chasing a cure for her child. She was actually single-mindedly focused on helping her daughter get well—to the exclusion of classes, assignments, and a fulltime job. She traveled to cities at some distance, whenever someone would say they knew of a doctor there or of an allergy specialist who had cured someone with similar symptoms. When one doctor at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh accused her of having Munchausen’s by Proxy—a condition where the parent makes the child sick so the parent can receive attention—the woman grew furious and told the medical fellow he was blaming her because he could not figure out what was wrong with her child. Finally, she heard of a doctor at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore who was researching teenaged autoimmune disorders. She took her adolescent there and they discerned the girl had all the classic symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Disorder, an illness little understood in the late 1990’s. Nevertheless, the girl and her mother finally had a diagnosis. It took another several years before the teen was healed, this time at a church in South Georgia who had a healing ministry. Are we willing to do all it takes to be healed? This woman was, for the sake of her child. 

B. In 1st Timothy 2:1-7, Paul tells us we must pray for our leaders and pray for our country. We are to pray for our leaders even if we didn’t vote for them; even if we don’t like or respect them; and even if we believe they are corrupt. Apparently there is an “assassination culture” gathering strength in our country today whose adherents believe that it is acceptable to kill those with whom we disagree politically. This should be abhorrent to us as Christians. We are not to kill our political adversaries. Paul insists we pray for those with whom we disagree. We ask God to help them see the Light (God’s Truth); we intercede for them; and we even give thanks for them.  

Paul goes on to say that he was chosen by Jesus to carry the message of Christ, as the Mediator between us and God the Father, to the Gentiles (the Lost at that time). We too are to carry the message that Jesus died to redeem sinners to those who don’t yet believe in Him. As he says in 2 Corinthians 5:18, we are Christ’s ambassadors, meant to join Him in this work of reconciliation. Without a doubt, Paul certainly served as a great example of single-minded devotion to Jesus.

C. Finally, in Psalm 4, David emphasizes for us the idea of God as redeemer and protector. In verse 1, he reveals that he is just like the rest of us—“His heart failed in the time of trouble.” (McGee, Psalms, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.42.) It’s true, isn’t it? Like the Shrewd Steward, we often focus on “Woe is me” when we encounter trouble, instead of taking our trouble to the Lord and trusting Him to deal with it. In verses 2-3, David rebukes his enemies, and reassures himself that God will answer his earnest prayers. Further, in verses 4-5, he gives advice to the godly, those of us who love the Lord to not sin in our anger, and to trust in God. In the final three verses of the Psalm, he remembers God’s goodness to him, and that he can sleep well knowing the Lord keeps him safe.  David was, for the most part, single-minded in his devotion to God.

Let’s review the steps he recommends: (1) Recognize that our default is to lose heart when challenged with a crisis. (2) Reassure ourselves that God is for us, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). (3) Don’t proceed to sin, but trust in God. (4) Remember God’s goodness—you can rest in it.

This week, let’s try to follow his example and that of Paul. Lord, please give us hearts that are truly devoted to You. Amen!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Lost, but Found

Pastor Sherry’s message for September 14, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 4:4-12, 19-28; Ps 14; 1 Tim 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-10

Perhaps you have been more discerning than I have as you have read the 15th chapter of Luke. In studying our Scripture passages this week, I realized I had never quite put it together that the 3 parables Jesus provides the Pharisees about “lost things” are each a response to their grumbling criticisms. They notice that He hangs out with and even eats with notorious sinners.  They are critical of Jesus because He does not behave as they do–He does not always go along with the status quo, the expected way they think people, especially rabbis, should behave. He dares to do something different, something unexpected.  Rather than consider that they might be wrong in their attitudes and behavior, they find offense and reject Jesus. Nevertheless, He shares 3 stories (parables) that perfectly demonstrate God’s attitude toward “the lost.”

The Pharisees could easily grasp the need to locate a lost sheep.  A sheep represented money on 4 hooves. Any economically shrewd shepherd would go search for this absent asset–perhaps not because they valued the particular sheep per se, but because they valued the asset it represented. They could also understand the imperative to search for a missing coin of significant value. What was lost to them, however, was the Lord’s priority to locate and bring into His Kingdom people who had wandered far from God—people whom He knew needed Him.

Jesus wanted them…”to make the leap from sheep and coin to tax collector and sinner.”  (borrowed from www.Sermons.com, 9/9/2025.)

Our Lord knew that our values drive our behaviors. He knew that the Pharisees, God’s spiritual shepherds, did not value lost people.  He knew that God the Father did, as did He.  He taught these parables, hoping the religious leadership of His day would get it. Our God is a God of grace, love, and mercy. But they stubbornly held to their notion that He is a rather heartless God of rules.

At one time or another, we have all been lost. Aren’t we grateful we have a God who searches for and saves the lost? Consider this true story:

“Nine hundred miles out to sea, on an ocean liner headed to the Middle East, a sail was sighted on the horizon. As the liner drew closer, the passengers saw that the boat—a small sloop flying a Turkish flag—had run up a distress signal and other flags asking for its position at sea. Through a faulty chronometer or immature navigation the small vessel had become lost. For nearly an hour the liner circled the little boat, giving its crew correct latitude and longitude.  Naturally there was a great deal of interest in all the proceedings among the passengers of the liner.  A 12 year-old-boy remarked aloud to himself—‘It’s a big ocean to be lost in.’

“It’s a big universe to be lost in, too.  And we do get lost—we get mixed up and turned around. We despair, we make mistakes, we do evil to each other [e.g., the man who killed the Ukrainian refugee woman on the train in Charlotte, NC, and the assassin of Charlie Kirk].  We deserve the wrath of God and that is what the Pharisees who criticized Jesus maintained.  But Jesus understood God more.  He knew God as a Shepherd in search of the one lost sheep.  He knew God as if He were] a woman searching in the dark, in the crevasses, for that valuable coin.  In the end it was Jesus’ view of God which prevailed and not his critics. 

(Brett Blair, Christian Globe Network, as presented by www.Sermons.com, 9/9/25.)

Thank God our Lord is concerned about the very least of us—those without wealth, influence, popularity, and looks. Thank God our Lord loves us despite our sin and how often we disappoint Him.Thank God our Lord seeks to find and save the lost.

Hear the cry of God’s heart for the lost:

A.  In our Old Testament lesson (Jeremiah 4:4-12, 19-28), beginning back in verse 1, the lord makes it clear that He wants the people of Jerusalem and Judea to give up their idol worship and return to Him.  As J.Vernon McGee states, “He is vitally interested in them and He wants to bring them back into right relationship with Him.”  (Mc.Gee, Through the Bible commentary on Jeremiah, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.42).  God wants them to (v.4)  surrender your pride and your power.  The situation is dire:  Unless they obey God, He is going to unleash a lion of destruction upon them (The Babylonian Empire).

While Jeremiah weeps as he gives his countrymen this dreadful prophesy, God says in verse 22 (NLT)  My people are foolish and do not know Me…they are stupid children who have no understanding.  What would He say about us in America today?  Don’t you think His message would be similar?  We tend to believe we can proceed as a country indefinitely into the future.  But our founders at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts made a covenant agreement with the Lord.  We would be a city built on a hill, a light to the nations.  They dedicated our country to God.  We have over the past 250 years broken this covenant.  The choice facing the folks in Jerusalem during the 580’s is the same one we face today:  Pray, repent, fast, turn back to God, or face the destruction, the ruins, the barrenness Jeremiah predicted in verses 23-28.  There is a cost to stubbornly, willfully remaining lost.

     B.  In Psalm 14, King David is also prophesying, but about the depravity of humans in the last days.  He agrees with God’s assessment, as I just reviewed and as was stated later in Jeremiah 4:22, asserting  Only fools say in their hearts, there is no God.  They are corrupt, and their actions are evil.  None of them does good.  David predicts that in those days many will turn against God.  Without God, neither their intellects nor their academic credentials (nor their money or their influence) will save them.  David predicts people will turn against God and against each other.

However, due to God’s mercy and His pursuit of the Lost, in verse 7, David concludes that salvation will come out of Zion’s hills  Jesus will arrive, riding on the clouds.  (Look up on YouTubeMusic the contemporary Christian song, “These are the days of Elijah.”  Listen and see how the writer incorporated verse 7 into the chorus.)  Even when things appear the darkest ever, our God has a plan for our redemption.  Jesus, in His 2nd Coming, will once again rescue those who have survived the Great Tribulation, believing in Him.

    C.  Finally, we see in Paul’s 1st letter to Timothy (1 Timothy1:12-17)– who he brought to faith and mentored—that Paul is exceedingly thankful for God’s grace-filled pursuit of his lost self.  He admits that he was saved by grace; he knows that Jesus Christ Himself put him into the ministry.  This was nothing he had earned or merited.  He had been an enemy of the infant Christian Church.  In verse 14, Paul praises the Lord for filling him with faith in and love for Jesus.  And then, in verse 15 (NLT), he asserts so beautifully and so famously—This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it.  “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.”  How honest he is with Timothy and with us!  How many of us would be willing to admit—especially to someone who looks up to us–that we are terrible sinners?

Paul realizes that he was lost, and then found and redeemed by Jesus.  He admits he was a sinner who repented, and that the Lord has used him in ministry as both a preacher of the Gospel and an example of the Gospel in action.  (J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on First Timothy, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.32.).

Essentially, what Paul is saying to encourage Timothy is that he was lost and now found, and so can anyone be who believes in Jesus!  He admits he was a sinner who repented, and that the Lord has used him in ministry as botha preacher of the Gospel and as an example of the Gospel in action (J. Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary on 1st Timothy, Thomas nelson, 1001, p.32.).

Our Lord Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  That’s us…each one of us in the words of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” I once was lost but now am found.”  This is why we need to be mindful of the God-ordained opportunities that present themselves to us to tell others about Jesus, and to pray for their faith and their situations.  Thank you, Jesus, that You seek us until You find us. We are all so grateful!  We praise You, we bless You, and we adore You. Amen!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Living by God’s Grace

Pastor Sherry’s message for September 7, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 18:1-11; Ps 139:1-6, 13-18; Phi 1:4-21; Lk 14:25-33

Consider the following true story:

“Missionaries Robert and Mary Moffat labored faithfully in Bechuanaland (now called Botswana) ten years without one ray of encouragement to brighten their way.They could not report a single convert.

“Finally the directors of their mission board began to question the wisdom of continuing the work. The thought of leaving their post, however, brought great grief to this devoted couple, for they felt sure that God was in their labors, and that they would see people turn to Christ in due season. They stayed, and for a year or two longer, darkness reigned.  [They worked there for 12 years!]

“One day a friend in England sent word to the Moffats that she wanted to mail them a gift and asked what they would like.Trusting that in time the Lord would bless their work, Mrs. Moffat replied, “Send us a communion set; I am sure it will soon be needed.” God honored that dear woman’s faith. The Holy Spirit moved upon the hearts of the villagers, and soon a little group of six converts was united to form the first Christian church in that land. The communion set from England was delayed in the mail, but on the very day before the first commemoration of the Lord’s Supper in Bechuanaland, the set arrived.”

(Robert J. Morgan, ed., Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes (Thomas Nelson, 2000, p.138).

At first brush, it would seem this is a story about the persistent faith of the missionaries, Mary and Robert Moffat.  It clearly is a great example of trusting in God no matter your circumstances. But let’s not miss that it is also a lesson about God’s grace.  Remember grace is unmerited favor, undeserved and often unexpected blessing. It was by God’s grace that their English friend offered to send them something right then to help them with their missionary work. It was by God’s grace that—after 12 years without a convert—6 Botswanans were ready, at that time, to choose to follow Jesus. It was by God’s grace that the communion set arrived just in time for their first communion service.

And so it is with all of us…instead of the Humpty Dumpty poem, let’s consider this version on grace:

Jesus Christ came to our wall,

Jesus Christ died for our fall;

So that regardless of death and in spite of our sin,

Through grace, He might put us together again.

(Anonymous entry in Chuck Swindoll’s The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, p.251.)

You may recall in the original poem that, “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty back together again…” but Jesus can!

Paul wrote long ago in Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT) God saved you by His grace when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  Grace is a gift from God. And grace is also a choice we make:  We can choose to offer it to others; Or we can choose to withhold it.

Our Scripture lessons today are all about what it means to be a true disciple of Christ.  As we review them this morning, let’s examine them through the lens of giving or withholding grace.

A.  Our OT lesson is from Jeremiah 18:1-11.  God directs the prophet to go observe what takes place at a potter’s shop. Then, as now, potters worked moist clay on a wheel. As the wheel spun, the potter would use his hands to shape the clay into a bowl or pot to then be fired or hardened in a kiln. The image of a potter with wet clay is a metaphor for God’s relationship with Judah, back then, and with us now. If the clay (we) are malleable, then the potter (God) can mold and shape according to His plan.

Notice, the power of the Potter is absolute!  He has a plan, a purpose as He works in and with us. If we allow Him to do so, He has the power to shape us into vessels of honor.  This requires us to be totally cooperative and totally committed.  True disciples say “yes” to this process. But perhaps even better, if we turn out rebellious or flawed in some way, He can rework cracked pots like us, as a result of His love, mercy and grace. Disciples and followers of Jesus Christ cooperate with God, the Potter, because we realize He approaches us with grace.  He has chosen to be grace-filled toward us.

God has chosen to offer grace to us. As a consequence, we should be willing to offer grace to others.

B.  Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 gives us a perfect rationale for becoming a true disciple of Christ.  In Verses1-4, King David affirms He has searched us and He knows us. He knows who we are.  He knows our thoughts. He knows what we intend to say before we say it. He knows everything we do. There is no hiding from Him!  We may hide things from our friends and families, but not from God! And yet He loves us and offers us His grace. 

Since He is omniscient (knows all things) and also omnipresent (is everywhere), There is nowhere that we can run to escape Him or His knowledge of us.  If His intentions for us were bad, this would be excruciating for us.  But He is patient with us.  He loves us and offers us His grace.

And, verses13-16 He made us (knit me [us] together in my [our] mother’s womb).  He ordained how long we would live.  And He envisioned a plan and a purpose for each of us.

This psalm assures us that God knows us intimately—better and longer than anyone else—and despite our faults and flaws, wants us to form a deep, loving relationship with Him.  Doesn’t it just make so much sense for us to want to fall into step with God’s plan? Those of us who have ignored God’s plan for our lives, and walked our own way, know that pathway leads to turmoil and trouble. Truthfully, aren’t we both surprised and gratified by God’s grace toward us?

Again, as a result, true disciples of Christ choose to offer grace to others.

C.  Our NT lesson this morning is from Philemon—such a little jewel of a letter!  Paul is in prison, waiting to be executed (about 60AD), but he takes the time to write a Christian friend, Philemon, who lives back in Colossae (present day Turkey).  Remember, most all of Paul’s epistles were to churches.  A few, like his letters to Titus and Timothy, were intended to teach and to encourage new pastors of the infant Christian Church.  But Philemon is the one personal letter included in the canon of Scripture to teach us about grace.

Paul, who had persecuted the infant Church, knew he had been a proud, wicked, wrong-headed, man saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. As a result of having been shown grace, he uses the word grace over 100 times in his writings (Jesus and the other disciples use it about 40 times).

Here he addresses Philemon, the slave-owner of Onesimus, both of whom Paul had led to Christ.  Instead of insisting Philemon accept Onesimus back without vengeance, Paul blesses the man and asks him to accept Onesimus back as a freed brother-in-Christ.  He is asking Philemon—out of love for Paul and as a true disciple of Jesus—to offer grace and freedom to Onesimus. In those days, slave owners had life and death control over their slaves and slaves were considered their property.  However, as the Apostle John reminds us, (John 8:36) So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  Paul is urging, not demanding, that Philemon offer forgiveness to Onesimus. This is no longer an economic  or property issue, but a moral and a spiritual one.  In those days, the Roman Empire was said to have a population of 120 million, 1/2 or 60 million of whom were slaves.  The practice to own another person was common, but Paul wants the members of the Church to choose grace.  Again, true disciples of Christ seek to please the Lord by freely offering grace to others.

D.  Finally, in today’s Gospel lesson (Luke14:25-33), Jesus draws our attention to the cost of discipleship. Believers or followers should think through committing themselves to being disciples, as the cost is high.  Nothing is to come before Jesus in our hearts–not spouses, children, parents, siblings, self, etc.  We don’t have to hate these relationships. There is a place for them in our lives, but all of them need to take back seat to Jesus.  This is one cost to consider.

Additionally, just as a builder considers his/her resources before planning construction, and just as a king considers his resources before engaging in battle, so too must we estimate or count the cost of becoming a disciple of Christ.  If you can’t commit all, then remain a believer, a follower. But being Jesus’ disciple, a true disciple, means being willing to give all of one’s self to the effort, including carrying a cross.  It also means offering grace to others, even though you might be angry with or disappointed in them.

We offer grace to others not because they deserve it, but because God has offered it to us when we did not deserve it. True disciples of Jesus allow God to mold and shape us, like a potter with clay. True disciples of Jesus understand that since God made us, knows us, and knows the future, it makes good sense to fall into line with His plans for us. True disciples of Jesus learn to let go and let God. True disciples of Jesus have reviewed the potential cost, but commit to Christ, choosing to live by God’s grace, and choosing to extend grace to others.  Amen!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Running an Endurance Race

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 24, 2025

Scriptures: Jer 1:1-10; Ps 71:1-8; Heb 12:1-13; Lk 13:22-30

Our Gospel lesson this morning (Luke 13:22-30) is very sobering.  In it Jesus states firmly to His Jewish followers that many may know of Him, but only a relative few of them will enter His Kingdom. 

Consider this story told by Ravi Zackarias:

“On his way to work every day, a man walked past a clockmaker’s store.  Without fail, he would stop and reset his watch from the clock in the window, then proceed on to the factory.  The clockmaker observed this scene morning after morning.  One day he stepped outside and asked the man what he did and why he set his watch every morning.  The man replied, ‘I’m the watchman at the factory, and it’s part of my job to blow the 4:00 whistle for the end of the day.  My watch is slow, so I reset it [by your clock] every morning.’ The clockmaker laughed and said, ‘You won’t believe this.  That clock in the window is fast, so I reset it every afternoon by the factory whistle. Heaven only knows what time it really is.’”

(retold from The Real Face of Atheism, Baker books, 2004, p.52.)

Each man’s standard was the other guy’s timepiece. Incidentally, often before church I compare my watch and the church clock with a parishioner’s phone. My watch runs slow and so does the church clock. I know your time is important to you. I don’t want to start church either too early or too late. We figure the time on our phones is probably most accurate—but again, who really knows? Nevertheless, the point of the story is that we have to be aware of the accuracy of the standard against which we measure our behavior.

No standard is going to be as accurate as that set by Jesus. He’s on His way to Jerusalem to be crucified, teaching as He goes, no doubt imparting what He knows are the most important teachings to leave with folks.  Someone in the crowd asks, (v.23):Lord, will only a few be saved?  Whoever this is has been listening to Jesus’ Kingdom parables and apparently finds the standards the Lord sets out to be high. And Jesus answers that that person is correct in his assessment. The door by which we gain entrance is narrow—only through Jesus–though the road to Him is broad.  Not everyone who attempts to enter will be allowed in.  In fact, (vv.25-27):When the Master of the house [God the Father] has locked the door, it will be too late.  You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’  But He will reply, “I don’t know you or where you come from.’  Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with You, and You taught in our streets.’  And He will reply, “I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from.  Get away from Me, all you who do evil.” 

The door is narrow because it’s not enough to simply know about Jesus. The only ones entering His Kingdom are those with a personal relationship with Him (those who are born again): Those who believe in Him; Those who are obedient to Him. The fact that you may have heard of Jesus will not be enough. The fact that you were a nice person in this life will not be enough. Neither your DNA, nor your church attendance, nor the fact that your grandma or grandpa was a believer will be enough. You, yourself must have made a decision during your lifetime for Christ. Even more alarming is the fact that Jesus already knew many of His Jewish brothers and sisters—despite His death on the Cross–would reject Him, and yet He still trudged on toward Jerusalem. He ends the parable by saying that many Gentile believers would enter in while God’s Chosen People would exclude themselves by their unbelief. No wonder a few verses later (34-35), Jesus will weep over Jerusalem. 

Why would our Lord be so grieved?  He loves us and He desires that none should perish.  Our other lessons point out some additional reasons.

A.  Jeremiah 1:1-10 recounts for us God’s call to Jeremiah to become a prophet.  Jeremiah was probably between17-20 when God ordained him (around 626BC). His father, Hilkiah, was already serving the Lord as a priest in their home town of Anathoth, located just north of Jerusalem. Because of his age and position, scholars believe Jeremiah and King Josiah may have been friends.  King Josiah was about 22 at that time and reigned until he died at age 39, another 17 years later. Jeremiah served all during the remainder of Josiah’s reign, as well as during the reigns of kings Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim (sons of Josiah), Jehoiachin (Josiah’s grandson), and Zedekiah (a third son of Josiah’s). Josiah had been a good and godly king, and had led his people in a revival, leading their hearts back to God.  But his sons and grandsons were another story.  Because of their idolatry and wicked behavior, God allowed the last (Zedekiah) to be defeated and carried off into slavery by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  In fact, Nebuchadnezzar forced him to watch his sons be murdered before putting his eyes out.  Zedekiah’s last sight was observing his sons die, a truly cruel punishment. 

But, to return to Jeremiah, notice how God calls him into service:  Verse 5, NLT:Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.  This is pretty impressive, isn’t it?  It implies that God knows us before we are even conceived, that He calls us into being, and that He has a plan for our lives.  This is the best argument against abortion that I know.  We come into being at God’s behest.  What right have we to contradict God’s will?  The Lord tells Jeremiah He had determined that he would become a prophet to deliver to His people God’s own words.  Jeremiah, a humble and an obedient young man, tells God, (v.6):I am only a child.  In other words, “Yes, I will do it, but I am young and inexperienced; 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 gave Jeremiah words and direction; and He promised to take care of him, even though He was calling him to prophesy divine judgment on Judah and her heretical kings.

So here is another reason why God grieves over us.  Our God clearly knows us and the plans He has for us as He calls us into being in our mother’s womb.  How happy He must be when He sees us choosing to believe in His Son.  How pleased He must be when we endeavor to move forward in His plan for us.  And how it must disappoint Him when we veer away from His plans and from Him.  Remember, He later tells Jeremiah (29:11, NIV):”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord.  “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

B. The psalmist who penned Psalm 71 was clearly an elderly person (perhaps King David), looking back over his life, recalling the times the Lord had protected him.  This person was a man of faith.  He remembered (v.1) how the Lord had saved him and rescued him.  He appears to need help again, and asks God to (v.3):Be my Rock of safety where I can always hide. Give the order to save me, for You are my Rock and my Fortress.   Because of his “lived experience” with God, he trusts that God will respond to him and help him once again (vv.5-6):O Lord, You alone are my hope.  I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb [There it is again.  The psalmist believes Psalm 139 and what God says to Jeremiah in chapter 1] You have cared for me.  No wonder I am always praising You!

The psalm encourages us each to do the same. To trust God, not grieve Him, from our birth until our death.  We are to trust God because He knows us and loves us.

C.  The writer to the Hebrews reminds us in chapter 12:1-13, that we have to keep moving forward in our faith.  In other words, just as we can’t say, “We’ve heard about Jesus, therefore we are saved;” we also can’t say, “I’m saved, therefore there is nothing further expected of me.”

The writer to the Hebrews likens the Christian walk to a race that requires endurance and faith.  Difficulties will come to each of us:

1.) Sometimes as tactics of the evil one to discourage us and pull us away from God;

2.) Sometimes as a result of our own sins or poor choices (we reap what we sow);

3.) Difficulties may come to us for standing up for what is right.

4.) Sometimes because the Lord is disciplining us, causing us to adjust or correct our course. The Lord disciplines those He loves. We need to accept that He wants us to shape up.

No matter the reason, we are to persevere in our faith, just like the heroes of the faith listed in chapter 11. We are also to cast off whatever impedes us in this race.  We don’t run with a backpack filled with boulders.

We take frequent inventory of our sins and confess them to God.

Paul tells us in Romans 8:31:If God is for us, who can be against us?  Our fuel and our ability and our motivation to run an endurance race is God’s love.  Most of us are not called to be prophets, but our God knew each of us from the womb also. He has given us various gifts and talents. We are to use these to make our way in the world and also to build up His Kingdom. When we squander or horde our gifts, we grieve Him. Remember, in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the Master was angry with the fellow who had not used his talent but had buried it in the backyard.

God is willing to be present to us all of our lives long. He protects us and provides for us. He is present to us–only a prayer conversation away. It’s got to grieve Him to watch us suffer when He is ready to help if we would just call upon Him.

From the day we choose to follow Jesus until the day we die, we are running an endurance race. We win this race if we keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. And if we don’t grow weary or lose heart.  AMEN!

©️Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

We Gotta Have Faith!

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 10, 2025

Scriptures: Isa 1:1, 19-31; Ps 50:1-13, 22-23; Heb 11:1-16; Lk 12:32-40

School starts here in Suwannee County tomorrow.  That means that football season is only weeks away.  You know I love college football, especially the Gators.  I even fly a U.F. Gator flag from my front porch.  I love the game and I also love the human interest stories the commentators share about the athletes, and am often amazed at how many athletes are Christians.  One such story concerns Nick Foles (a pro, and a former college player), the Super Bowl MVP in 2017, 8 years ago, but perhaps some of you remember:

“Nick Foles didn’t set out to be a Super Bowl MVP. In fact, at one point, he almost walked away from football altogether. He’d been traded. Benched.  Injured. Forgotten [a back up only].

“In 2016, he nearly quit the NFL and considered becoming a pastor. But God wasn’t finished with his story.  Foles stayed. And in 2017, he was backup quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Then their starting QB, Carson Wentz, went down with a [knee]  injury. Foles stepped in.

“Everyone wrote the Eagles off. But game by game, Foles led them to the Super Bowl—and not just any Super Bowl, but one against Tom Brady and the Patriots.  And then… the unthinkable happened. Foles played the game of his life. He threw for three touchdowns. Caught one himself in a play forever known as the “Philly Special.” The Eagles won their first championship [their second one was this past year].

“In the post-game interview, Foles didn’t boast. He said:  ‘All glory to God.’ He talked about how he had leaned on his faith, how failure and setbacks had shaped him, and how he wanted his story to inspire others to keep trusting God.

His journey wasn’t about football—it was about faith through the ups and downs. Believing that God writes bigger stories than we can imagine.

“Sometimes, mountain-moving faith doesn’t take you to the pulpit. Sometimes, it takes you to the huddle—and reminds you that wherever you are, you can glorify God.”  

(Borrowed from www.NewstartDiscipleship.com, 8/7/2025)

Praise God that Nick Foles hung in there!   He credits his wife with having convinced him not to quit in 2016, but he also truly must have believed in the verse from Hebrews11:1 (NIV)—Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  The New Living Translation put it this way—Faith shows the reality of what we hope for.  It is the evidence of things we cannot see.

It’s like believing in the words of Isaiah the prophet, when he proclaims God’s warning to Judea (Isaiah 1:19-31).  Isaiah said the Lord was calling the world to come to court to hear Him testify against His Chosen people.  They were disobedient and rebellious and He was on His last nerve with them.  They even had the sad example of the Northern Kingdom’s  capitulation to the Assyrians for the same offenses, but they had not changed their ways.  Nevertheless. God was giving them yet another chance to repent and return to Him.

It’s like believing Asaph, the psalmist (Psalm 50), who claims that God does not need our offerings.  Verses 9-12 state—But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens.  For all the animals of the forest are Mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are Mine.  If I were hungry, I would not tell you for all the world is Mine and everything in it.  We don’t give the Lord offerings because He needs them.  And we don’t give Him tithes to sweeten Him up towards us—that would be manipulative and we cannot manipulate God.  We give to Him as a way of expressing our gratitude to Him for His goodness, grace and mercy.

It’s like believing Jesus when He tells us that the Kingdom of God is “a kingdom of servants; people whose purpose in life is serving each other and the world.”  God’s Kingdom is not a place or a location; it’s a heart attitude we carry within us.

(Fairless and Chilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentary, Year C, 2015, p.263.)

It’s like believing that God created the entire universe…(Hebrews 1:2)—…at [His] command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.  When we create something, we use raw materials, wood, yarn, veggies, meat.  When God creates, He creates from nothing, or what is called ex nihilo, speaking things into existence

This morning, I want to focus our attention on “the Biblical Greats” who serve as examples to us of people who not only believed in God but also demonstrated great faith in Him by their actions (Hebrews 1:1-16):

A.  Abel, the younger of Adam and Eve’s first two sons, was a faithful believer in the Lord.  We can only assume that Adam—who had disobeyed God–must have intentionally taught his sons how to please God. God forgave him and Eve by shedding the blood of two sheep and using the fleeces to cover them as they were exiled from the Garden.  He would have told them that it takes a blood sacrifice—an animal must give up its life—to cleanse a person from their sin.

Abel, a shepherd, brought the Lord a spotless lamb from his flock. While Cain, the elder son, brought the Lord veggies and fruits he had grown.

Fruit, vegetables, grain are all gifts that represent thanksgiving to God; but such an offering would not cleanse Cain from his sin.  He should have taken some of his produce to his brother to buy from him a lamb suitable for a sin sacrifice.  But, he was too arrogant, too prideful to submit to his father’s teaching and to the Lord’s will.

We are told in verse 4 (NLT)—It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did.  Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed His approval of his gifts.  Faith is demonstrated by our obedience to God.  Faith is humble—it says, I will do what God wants, even if I might think I know a better way.

B.  We don’t know much about Enoch…except that he pleased God. Apparently he was a descendant of Seth, Adam and Eve’s 3rd son.  Enoch’s clan consisted of loyal followers of God.  Enoch lived for 365 years and walked with God.  This means he was a man of faith.  This means he was obedient to the Lord.  God was so pleased with Enoch’s faith that he took him up into heaven directly (like Elijah), so that he never experienced death.

C.  The next hero of the faith listed was Noah.  He was a 10th generation descendant from Adam, and was 500YO+ when his sons were born.  He lived a righteous, blameless life and was obedient to God, despite the widespread sin and degradation in the culture surrounding him.  Verse 5  tells us (NLT)—It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood.  He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before.   He was told to save his family and 1 pair of every known animal.  It took him and his 3 sons 100 years to build the ark.  It measured 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet and was made of gopher wood (perhaps cypress).  By today’s standards, it is estimated that 1300 standard shipping containers could have been fit within it.

Imagine the ridicule he endured, as scholars tell us it had never rained prior to the flood.  Irrigation rose up from beneath the ground.  Water also existed in rivers and streams.  But Noah believed God when told it would rain.  His neighbors probably brought tours by at all hours to view “Noah’s folly” (but they weren’t laughing when the flood waters appeared).

D. Abraham was so faithful to God that he underwent 7 separations to please Him:  (1) He left his home country, Ur of the Chaldees; (2) He left his father in Haran; (3) He left his extended family, all except his nephew Lot, when he departed for Canaan; (4) He allowed Lot to leave him and take the best land for grazing sheep and goats; (5) He banished Ishmael and Hagar in order to protect his younger Son of Promise, Isaac; (6) Believing God could raise Isaac from the dead, He obeyed God by preparing an altar on which to sacrifice him; and (7) Finally, he was separated from his beloved Sarah at her death.

(Shared with me by Dustin Bell, a Pentecostal pastor, student of the Bible, and friend)

How many of us would have submitted to God through all of those losses?  No wonder God (Genesis 15:6)—…credited it to him as righteousness.

E. Sarah, too, is included as a person of faith.  Even though she despaired of waiting on God and talked Abraham into impregnating her Egyptian slave, Hagar, to produce Ishmael, (By the way, this was a common practice for the barren wives of wealthy men in that time, but not something approved of by God.)  Even despite this, she saw God open her womb at 90YO to give birth to Isaac.  I think it took marvelous faith to believe she could raise him up, as well!

God credits them with being the patriarch and matriarch of Israel (v.12, NLT)—…a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.  

These are our heroes of the faith.  They were not perfect, but they believed in God and were obedient to him.  They persevered through tough times and held on to their faith.  They were obedient to God and He rewarded them.

I want to conclude this morning with a story about a special type of Chinese bamboo tree:

“When you plant the seed, nothing happens. No sprout. No shoot. No sign of life. One year goes by—still nothing. Two years—still nothing. Three. Four. Five years—nothing.

“Then, in the fifth year, something miraculous happens. The bamboo tree suddenly shoots up—up to 90 feet in just six weeks. But here’s the truth: it wasn’t doing nothing all those years. Beneath the soil, it was growing an incredible root system—a foundation strong enough to support its sudden, towering growth. 

“That’s how faith works. You pray. You serve. You obey. And for a long time… it seems like nothing’s happening.  But deep below the surface, God is preparing something far bigger than you can see. He’s growing roots. Strengthening character. Building the foundation for what’s coming. And when the time is right—breakthrough comes fast. Faith is showing up, watering the soil, and believing the harvest is coming—even when the ground looks empty.” (www.NewstartDiscipleship.com, 8/7/2025)

May this be true of each of us.  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

The Trouble with Judging

Pastor Sherry’s message for July 27, 2025

Scriptures: Hosea 1:1-10; Ps 85; Col 2:6-19; Lk 131:1-17

I have a good friend in ministry, a Pentecostal pastor, who preaches whatever the Lord lays on his heart.  In our tradition, however, we tend to preach the readings already chosen for us and listed in what is known as “the Revised Common Lectionary.”  Back in 1983, representatives of 19 Christian denominations in the US met and agreed upon 4 Scripture passages—one from each of the Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament, and Gospels–to be read each Sunday in each of their churches.  Typically, Methodist (United and Global), Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Episcopalian, and Roman Catholic pastors preach from these selections.  They allow us to touch on much of Scripture over the course of 3 year cycles.

In my 24-25 years of ministry, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to discover the appointed readings often meet a congregation right where they are that very moment.  We could say that they are Holy Spirit inspired, and they are!  But so too is the method of asking the Lord what to preach.  Back before I went to seminary, in the 1990’s, I was doing nursing home mental health work in Tallahassee, Florida.  There was a very well run nursing home, called Miracle Hill, in the African American section of town that my team and I visited once a week.  All the patients and all of the staff were African American.  We learned they had a preacher come in on the day we visited to hold a service for the residents.  We heard him a time or two and discovered he did an excellent job.  So, we planned our time to complete our paperwork around his sermon time.  He would tell the patients that he and his wife had “gone before the Lord” to get the message he was to present to them.  I had never heard of this before, but I was very impressed with the wonderful messages he brought them weekly. 

This week, I have used both traditions: I have drawn the first 3 readings from the Lectionary.  But the Lord directed me to exchange the 4th reading, the Gospel, for an alternative.  That’s why it’s not what was printed in your bulletin (I know I drive a number of people crazy when I do this).

But when the Lord directs me to focus on a specific passage, I must comply.

He apparently wanted me to preach this morning on the problems with making judgments about others.  Consider the following true story:

“GUILTY AS SIN the headline read just a few years ago. The banks in New Jersey had been robbed systematically, one after the other. What made the robber stand out was his politeness. He just gave the tellers a note which said, “Please place your money in this bag. Thank you.” The newspapers called him the Gentleman Bandit!

“The widespread publicity led to a very unlikely arrest – the suspect was a Catholic priest. His church was appalled but stood beside him, saying they knew he could not be the bandit. They signed petitions, held protest marches and came up with his bail. But the police were certain they had their man. All of the eyewitnesses positively identified him. And the news media dug into his past, to find that in a previous church he had left under a cloud because of financial irregularities in the parish. For a priest he had a pretty expensive lifestyle – his own apartment and a fast car. People whispered his church was probably standing up for him because otherwise they looked like dupes.

“As people across the country watched the story unfold on the news, they were positive this priest had pulled a fast one. He probably had a sociopath personality so he could rob banks during the week and preach the next Sunday without feeling any guilt. No one outside his congregation was standing up for this guy. But then a funny thing happened. The real Gentleman Bandit was caught red-handed. As it turned out, he was the spitting image of the priest. It’s just that he wasn’t the priest. The priest was released, his church threw him a big party, and the news media and those who had prematurely judged him moved on to the next story.”   (Contributed by Pastor Sheila Crowe, http://www.sermon central.com, 7/2017.)

Obviously, one problem with judging others is that we often lack all the facts necessary to make an accurate assessment.  We may think we have correctly discerned the truth—at least from our point of view; but we can do damage to peoples’ relationships and to their reputations by passing along falsehoods we mistakenly think are true.  We especially need to be careful when sharing our views within the hearing of non-Christians.  Unbelievers tend to have heard of Jesus’ words from His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:1-2): Judge not lest you be judged, or as the New Living Translation rephrases it: Do not judge others and you will not be judged.  For you will be treated as you treat others.  The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.  The Bible comments on judging over 180 different times, so we can correctly infer from this that the topic is important to God.

In fact, in the Gospel the Lord told me to address today (Luke 13:1-17), Jesus teaches about our tendency to make judgments about others.  The context is two horrendous events that had recently occurred in Jerusalem:  Pilate had some men from Galilee killed as they offered sacrifices (i.e., were worshipping in the Temple).  The crowd was understandably upset and wanted to know how God could have allowed that to happen.  Many assumed the dead men must have been terrible sinners.

Additionally, 18 men constructing a tower near the Pool of Siloam were killed when the tower collapsed (they must not have had a qualified structural engineer overseeing the build).  Again, the people were wondering if the 18 dead men had been terrible sinners to deserve their fate.  Notice, Jesus does not answer their questions about the victims’ spiritual states.  Instead, He redirects them to consider their own spiritual condition (Matthew 7:3, NLT: Why worry about the speck in your friend’s eye when you have a beam in your own?)

Jesus then tells the crowd the parable of the Fig Tree:  It appears to be barren, yielding no fruit, at the very time the owner should be able to expect a harvest. The owner makes a judgment:  Cut it down.

The gardener (Jesus) offers another perspective:  Let’s be patient, tend it another year, and then decide.  Our Lord recommends grace instead of judgment, continued care instead of condemnation.

There are actually several morals to this story:

1.) Trouble doesn’t always come to a person due to their sins.

My first year of seminary, I saw my savings of $30,000 go up in smoke due to having no health insurance and a house that was a money pit (despite a home inspection stating it was fine prior to purchase).  I would not be so arrogant as to say I was sinless during that time, but looking back, I believe the Lord wanted me to learn He would provide for me when my resources were exhausted.  It was one of a number of similar lessons He provided until I decided I really could trust in Him regarding money-matters.  Additionally, I learned He can only fill us when we are empty (of ourselves and our own resources)!

2.) Another important lesson is that becoming a follower of Jesus does not inoculate us from trouble.  Instead, the evil one paints a target on us.  We need to persist in our faith that the Lord protects us and sees us through whatever trouble the devil sends.

3.) Finally, when trouble comes to someone else, it doesn’t necessarily indicate that we are morally superior to them.  Consider the Central Texas floods.  Did you at any time wonder what they had done to experience such widespread death (135 by the latest count), with over 60 still missing?  Do you think they thought the same thing last year when our area experienced 3 hurricanes?  We are not to judge others.  Instead, the Lord expects us—as with the barren fig tree–to extend prayer and  compassionate care as we are able.

Finally, Jesus demonstrates His compassion for the bent over woman.  She doesn’t even approach Him.  She has been bent over, almost in half, for 18 years.  How uncomfortable and inconvenient this must have been for her.  He sees her in the synagogue, and has mercy on her (on the Sabbath).  He tells her (v.12), Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness [such wonderful words!].  And she stands straight up (no weeks of physical rehabilitation for her!).

The guy in charge of the synagogue gets mad.  Notice he doesn’t directly address Jesus but instead tells the crowd to come any other day to be healed.  He has judged that the Sabbath is for worship alone, so Jesus and this woman are in the wrong.  Jesus correctly calls him—and those who value rules over a person’s well-being–a hypocrite.  He has missed the point of God’s mercy (remember the parable of the barren Fig Tree.)

Now, compare this with the adult life of the Prophet Hosea:  God calls him to be a prophet (1 of 7) to the morally corrupt Northern Kingdom.  But He gives him an especially tough assignment. He is to live out for the Israelites how God feels being in covenant relationship with them.  He is told to marry an unfaithful woman—actually a prostitute (YIKES!  This is a pretty strong statement about how the Lord regards Israel at this time.) Hosea’s lived experience is to remain faithful to someone who is not faithful—with all the attendant heartbreak, humiliation, and public shame and ridicule that entails.

Hosea is remarkably obedient.  He marries Gomer and they have one child, a son.  Some scholars believe this child was truly his son, but others are not convinced.  God tells Hosea to name the child, Jezreel, which means the Lord will scatter—clearly a warning of the invasion and captivity to come.  But it also means not pitied, and bastard.  Poor kid!  None of these translations would be easy to live with.  Since Gomer is adulterous, Hosea has no idea if the next two kids are biologically his:  A girl named Lo-Ruhamah, or Not Loved; and a second boy named Lo-Ammi, not My People.  God is making some strong statements to the wayward Israelites.

Are Hosea or his children to blame for Gomer’s infidelity/sin?  No, God is using them as object lessons to His people—they represent His pain due to their spiritual adultery.  Imagine what Hosea’s neighbors probably had to say; imagine their judgments of Him.  He would have been a laughing stock and considered a weak, spineless man, a “cockhold.”  Imagine what they probably said about each of his children.  They were no doubt bullied and ridiculed by the other kids.  This is yet another reason why we want to be cautious of judging others. 

Think of the falsely condemned Catholic priest.  Thank God the true bank robber, his look-alike, was found and arrested!  Let’s remember we will be judged by God according to the measure we used with others: (Matthew 12:37, NLT): The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.

Let’s pray:  Lord Jesus, we need Your help with this!  Help us to see others with Your eyes.  Help us to speak words of grace and mercy, rather than of judgment and condemnation.  Help us to leave the judgments to You, the One Who sees and knows all, and Who judges with righteousness.  Amen! 

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Getting Plumb with God

Pastor Sherry’s message for July 13, 2025

Scriptures: Amos 7:7-17; Ps 82; Col 1:1-14; Lk 10:25-37

The three best professors I ever had—in 12 years of post-high school education–were all from my seminary. My Church History prof, Dr. Les Fairfield, was exceedingly knowledgeable, was a great story teller, and had a wonderful sense of humor. The other two men were Old Testament scholars. I learned to sign up for any class they taught. Dr. Alan Ross, from whom I took  a class on Isaiah, read from the ancient Hebrew, simultaneously translating into English as he taught us. As I listened to him, the tears would slowly run down my face; I knew he was revealing to me the truth of God’s immense and patient love for all of us. Dr. Paul House, wrote the book, Old Testament Theology (InterVarsity Press, 1998), which describes what God conveyed to us from every book of the Old Testament.  As with Dr. Ross, I have found his insights to be spot-on-accurate, and I credit them both with helping me to fall in love with the God of the Old Testament.  I frequently use Dr. House’s book as a preaching/teaching resource.  If I struggle with trying to figure out what a passage means, both of these two men—plus the biblical commentator, Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee—always seem to point me in the right direction.

Dr. House says that God sent the prophet Amos to convey to the Northern Kingdom (Israel) that He was done with their idolatry and their blatant disregard for their covenant relationship with Him.

God, as a lion, was about to roar against Israel’s sin (house, p.35-359).

In our passage appointed for today (Amos 7:7-17), God shows Amos a plumbline, an Old Testament symbol of coming judgment. God is measuring His chosen people and tells the prophet they are out of plumb. He has given them 2 centuries to repent and straighten up (930-760). He has sent them prophet after prophet to warn them of the judgment to come.  But as we can conclude from the snarky accusations of the apostate priest, Amaziah, they have not listened to God.

Consider this:  Amaziah is leading them in worshipping a golden calf at Bethel (the name means house of God). He is a false priest, who has rejected the words of the One True God.  Thinking Amos is a false prophet, or perhaps threatened by Amos’ words of truth, he dares to spin-doctor Amos’ God-given, plumbline words.  God had told Amos that He was going to bring King Jeroboam’s dynasty to an end.  Amaziah tells the king Amos has hatched a plot to kill him, and falsely claimed the people will be exiled. God hears these lies, is totally fed up with Amaziah’s misrepresentation of His prophet, and roars His judgment on Amaziah (YIKES!): Amaziah, deported, will die outside the Promised Land.  His sons and daughters will be killed by the invaders (Assyrians, 722 BC). His wife, with no one to support her, will be reduced to prostitution to live.  His estate will be taken over and occupied by others. And what remains of Israel will be exiled—and all of this happened! (The mark of a true prophet.)

It’s not wise to ignore God.  Whether or not a person chooses to believe in the Lord does not nullify His existence or His rule.  Our God is still large and in charge, sovereign over all things. This could very well be a warning to America and to us, individually….We too, like Israel, began as a country in a covenant relationship with God.  Like Old Testament (and modern) Israel, we have broken our agreement and drifted away from Him.

We have become a nation of idolaters, worshipping many things other than the One True God, and His Son, Jesus Christ.  And we have ignored His Words, preserved for us in the Bible.  Our nation is currently out of plumb with God.  Amos wants us to realize that God’s patience with us will eventually wear out.

Our other readings today reinforce this lesson from Amos and point us toward how we can live so as to avoid God’s judgment:

A. Psalm 82, penned by Asaph, is a prophetic reminder that God will judge the judges.  Whether these leaders/judges are human persons or demonic entities influencing the corrupt judges, God views them as oppressors. They lack integrity. They have made decisions based on their desires to please certain people; or they have bowed to political-pressure; or they’ve been bought and paid for. Doesn’t this sound amazingly contemporary? (As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, There is nothing new under the sun.)  They have not pleased God by rendering righteous judgments, defending the weak and the fatherless, the needy, or those oppressed.  

We know the Law of Sowing and Reaping will eventually see them get what is coming to them.  But this psalm prophesies that Jesus will judge them when He establishes His reign on earth. Verses 7-8 are a judgment from God: I [the Lord] say, ‘You are gods [human leaders and demonic influencers], you are all children of the Most High.  But you will die like mere mortals and fall like every other ruler.’

The Lord means for this psalm to reassure us in the midst of the lying, corruption, and injustice we witness around us. We worship the God of justice. We can take comfort in the fact that (Ps 34:15-16, NIV):  The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. 

In our Gospel lesson (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus once again demonstrates the principle of love (for God and others) through the Parable of the Good Samaritan.   Another foolish religious leader, a lawyer, tries to test Jesus before a crowd by asking Him, (v. 25): What must I do to inherit eternal life?   Jesus knew the guy knew the answer;

So He uses the Socratic Method (answer a question with a question), and answers the guy with a question of His own (v.26): What is written in the Law?  How do you read it?  The guy does a great job: Love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself.  But the man is trying to make points to the crowd at Jesus’ expense, so he then probably snidely asks (v.29): And who is my neighbor?

This famous parable is Jesus’ answer.  In it, He reveals three classes of people, or three philosophies of life:

(1) The thieves who robbed and beat the man. Their philosophy was, What you have is mine—everything should be shared.  Sounds like Socialism or Communism, doesn’t it?  No one has the right to private property.

(2) The religious leaders who were unwilling to aid the man as doing so would make them ritualistically “unclean.”  Their philosophy was, What I have is mine.  We might say this is godless capitalism—Nothing is to be shared; simply look out for #1.

(3) The Good Samaritan, the despised enemy who had compassion on the injured man.  His philosophy was, What I have is yours if I can help you.  This is an example of Christian love for a neighbor, because a neighbor—according to Jesus—is anyone in need.  (McGee, Through the Bible commentary on Luke, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p.138.)  I wonder when the snarky lawyer realized that Jesus had accurately understood him? And had outsmarted him?

C. Finally, Paul, while praying for the Colossian Church from prison in Rome (Colossians 1:1-14), actually tells us how to live a life that is plumb with God:

(1) He thanks God (v.4) for their faith in Jesus, and their love for Jesus and others: may our faith and love be as strong as theirs.

(2) He asks God to (v.9) fill them with the knowledge of God’s will.  He wants them to have both spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they may live lives that produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit, because this is pleasing to God.  May this be true of us as well.

(3) He bids God that (v.11) they be so strengthened by His power that they might patiently endure any trials, and be filled with joy. Wwho among us does not need patience and more joy?

(4) And he encourages them to thank God (v.12) for rescuing them (and us) from the kingdom of darkness into His kingdom of glorious light.

In a nutshell, here is how we can come to measure up to God’s expectations of us and avoid His punishment: Have faith in Christ—this is key, this is most important! Live out Christian compassion, loving God and our neighbors.  Ask the Lord for spiritual wisdom and then understanding to know His will. Bear spiritual fruit.  Be patient and joy-filled.  Have an attitude of gratitude to God. Amen! May it be so in our lives!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Resurrection Sunday, 2025

Pastor Sherry’s message for April 20, 2025

Scriptures: Isa 65:17-25; Ps 118:1-2,14-24; 1 Cor 15:19-26; Lk 24:1-12

How many of you enjoy a good mystery?  Briefly, here are two.  See if you can figure them out:

1. “Everyday a gentleman went to work.  Every day, he would ride the elevator all the way to the bottom floor of the high rise apartment building in which he lived.  But when he came home from work, he would ride the elevator back up to only the 6th floor.  Then, he would take the stairs to his apartment many stories higher in the building.  This he did every day, unless it was raining.  If it was raining, he would ride the elevator all the way to the floor of his apartment.  Why?”

2.  Here’s the second one:  “Ann is lying on the floor dead.  There’s broken glass and water all around her.  Stuart is asleep on the couch seemingly oblivious to the death that has occurred.  How did Ann die?”

To keep you from puzzling these two mysteries out while I continue to preach, I’ll tell you their solutions: “In the first one, the gentleman would only go to the 6th floor on his return home from work because that was the highest button that he could reach on the elevator control panel.  He was a short man.  On days that it rained, he had his umbrella with him, and he could use that to punch the button that indicated his floor.” “In the second situation, it might help you to know that Ann is a fish, and Stuart is a cat.  And the glass and water all around Ann on the floor is from her fishbowl that Stuart successfully knocked over.”  The true mystery here is what then kept Stuart from eating Ann? 

(Borrowed from a sermon by Chris Talton, April 15, 2001, www.sermoncentral.com, 3/24/2005)

If we put ourselves in the position of the women who went to Jesus’ tomb on the morning of His Resurrection Day, we would realize they too were presented with several mysteries:

1. The gigantic stone that had sealed the entrance to the tomb had been rolled back.  Who could have done such a thing?  Remember, these ladies had been with Jesus at the Cross.  They had seen Him suffer and die.  They had watched Joseph and Nicodemus remove Jesus’ body from the Cross and transport it for burial in the new tomb nearby.  They also knew the men had hastily anointed Jesus body with embalming ointments and cloths, and had come to neaten things up and complete the job.  Surely they realized no single person could have rolled that huge, heavy stone away.

They probably also knew a contingent of Roman soldiers had been assigned there to guard the tomb.  So what had happened to them?  Had the Romans stolen Jesus’ body?  Had the Jewish religious authorities taken it?  They had to be both puzzled and alarmed.

Cautiously, they stepped inside the tomb to see if His body was there. Instead of finding Jesus’ corpse, they suddenly encountered two “men” in brilliant white clothes–angels.  It’s almost comical that the angels ask them, Why do you look for the living among the dead?  [He is alive!]  He is not here; He has risen.  Literally, the ancient Greek states, He has been raised.  The verb tense implies that God the Father has raised Jesus.

Angels had proclaimed His birth; now angels proclaim His resurrection (The angels and the women are all witnesses to this miracle).  These angels remind them of Jesus’ teachings about His death and resurrection on the 3rd day.  This is a prompt for them to remember. but it’s also a rebuke—”How could you forget something so very important?!!”

Then they do remember, and go to tell the disciples (the next  resurrection witnesses).  The Eleven do not believe them, even though they should have known these women were reliable truth-tellers.  Peter takes off for the tomb, to see for himself (he is now a witness).  Peter probably now knows better than anyone not to doubt the Lord’s words.  But he still wonders (perhaps “marvels”) about what Jesus’ absence in the tomb means. 

This passage (Luke 24:1-12) closes with questions in everyone’s mind about what has happened (big mysteries). 

The accounts of Jesus’ Resurrection are also reported in the other three Gospels, Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; and John 20:1-8.

A. You might want to read them each and compare to get a fuller sense of how the first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection responded to the mysteries with which they were presented.

B. Paul, as we know, came to believe in Jesus sometime after the events of Resurrection Sunday.  By then, the mysteries had been explained.

So Paul is intent, in our 1st Corinthians 15:19-26 lesson, that we understand that Jesus’ resurrection is the defining moment of Christianity.

First, back in verses 5-8, he reminds us of who all saw Jesus following His resurrection:  Peter (omitting the women); the 12 minus Judas; more than 500 disciples (maybe he included the women among the 500); Jesus’ brother, James; and Paul himself.

Next, in verses 13-19, Paul asserts that our entire faith depends upon the truth of the resurrection:  Verse 14—If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. In other words, Christ’s resurrection from the dead is incontrovertibly true and forms the basis of our belief in Him.  We worship a God who has the power to bring His Son back from the dead.  I want a strong, powerful God like that, don’t you?  We worship a God who loves us so much that He sacrificed His one and only Son to redeem us.  We worship Jesus, the One and Only, the God Who—because of His self-sacrificing love for us and His obedience to His Father–was willing to cover the cost of our sins.  The sinless Son of God gave up His life so we might have new life, and have it abundantly.  We can connect directly with the Father because Jesus opened the way for us (As He hung on the cross, the massive Temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom.)  We can anticipate being resurrected because Jesus opened the way for us.  And, when He comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead, He will destroy death…Praise God! 

C.  We don’t know who wrote Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24, but it is an ode to joy!  The psalmist invites us to focus on heavenly realities–not the frustrations and disappointments of this life.  Because of the mighty things Jesus will do [has done]—including demonstrating His power over death—we can gratefully rejoice in the Lord and praise Him for our deliverance, provision, and protection.

We are to be thankful to Him because (V.1)—The Lord is good; His love endures forever.  (V.14)—The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.  (V.18)—Prophesying Jesus’s resurrection, the psalmist wrote, I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done…He has not given Me over to death. Jesus was laid dead in a tomb–But He did not remain there as we would have.  He rose again, overcoming death for our sakes!  We are also grateful for the fact that (v.22)—The stone the builders rejected [Jesus] has become the capstone.  The capstone was either (1) a large rectangular stone used as a lintel over a doorway; or (2) a large square or rectangular stone used to anchor or align the corner of a wall; or (3) it might also be the keystone or middlemost stone in an arch.  The capstone (building corner or doorway lintel) or keystone (arch) kept the building from collapsing by supporting what existed beside and above it. The psalmist prophetically meant this as a metaphor for Jesus, who holds all things together for us— no wonder we call Him our Rock and our Redeemer.

Our passage today ends with this line (V.24)—This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

D. Isaiah 65:17-25 reminds us both that Jesus overcame sin and death, and that we too will therefore experience a joy-filled life after death.

After Jesus defeats the forces of evil at Armageddon, God (v.17) will create new heavens and a new earth.  If you read through the book of Revelation, you can tell that our world will be a disastrous mess by the time Jesus appears a 2nd time.  We will probably need a new earth, at a minimum.

Verse 19 tells us that the newly created Jerusalem will be delightful!

God will be overjoyed with His people there; and they too will be very happy, with no one weeping or crying.  Premature death will be an event of the past (no cancers, illnesses, strokes, heart-attacks, eye problems, hearing loss, or sciatic pain).  People will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labors (no warfare or taxes).  All of God’s people will be blessed!  God will answer our prayers before we even finish praying them.  And all animals will become plant-eaters—no more carnivores devouring prey—and will be at peace with each other.

Thanks be to God the mysteries presented the women at the open tomb have been solved.  We are not left to wonder.  Paul wants us to fully appreciate what Jesus has done for us through dying and rising again.  Our psalmist calls upon us to be grateful and to rejoice!  And Isaiah describes a wonderful world ahead for us when the resurrected Jesus comes back to earth.  Let’s celebrate by singing along to Keith and Kaitlin Getty’s version of https://youtu.be/m_063OI38RQ?si=Dre8ll-AV-GHUlPB In Christ Alone.

©️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

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