Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The Trouble with Comparisons

Pastor Sherry’s message for October 26, 2025

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

Back in the late 80’s, as I was working on my doctorate in psychology, my next door neighbor was working on hers in Early Childhood Education. Her dissertation research examined how 4th grade children manage comparisons with their peers. As any of us who have raised children would know, 4th graders (10YO’s) are already comparing themselves to the kids around them. They compare clothing, book-bags, shoes, haircuts, lunch bags and what’s in them, grades, athleticism, etc. 

It even starts earlier than 4th grade, doesn’t it? Very little children compare cookie or cake size. Don’t we hear about it if their sibling or friend gets a bigger piece than they do? To keep the peace, we have to be sure things are doled out fairly. When my grandson, Noah, was 3-4YO, he would run a distance and then tell us adults that he was faster than Usain Bolt, the 8 time Olympic Gold medal sprinter from Jamaica. Our family thought his comparison was adorable because it was so unlikely, but it just goes to show how “hard-wired” is this tendency we have to compare ourselves with others.

Hoping we come out as well as, or perhaps even better than others seems to be a permanent factor in our fleshly natures.

Consider this: For those of you who follow professional tennis, Valentin Henequin (a photographer living in France), looks like and is frequently mistaken for tennis champ Novak Djokovic.  He appears to be Novak’s doppleganger, an unrelated identical twin. As a result, tourists often ask him for selfies. But a woman named Kayla Nicole had a totally different reaction to having a doppleganger. She dated Travis Kelse just before he began seeing–and is now engaged to–Taylor Swift. Kayla, who is frequently negatively compared to the singer on social media, finds it exhausting, and says it has lowered her self-esteem. Being compared to—or comparing ourselves to others—can be dangerous and destructive. Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Mark Twain took it one step further insisting, “Comparison is the death of joy.”

Think for a moment about the Biblical examples of brothers who compared themselves: Cain was so jealous of his brother that he killed Abel. Jacob cheated his twin, Esau, of his birthright as well as their father’s blessing. Joseph’s brothers were so jealous of him that they sold him into slavery, fully expecting the experience would kill him. There were two pairs of brothers among Jesus’ 12 Apostles: James and John, Peter and Andrew.

James and John created a ruckus among the other 10 when they asked to sit at Jesus’ left and right hands in His Kingdom. We are not told directly about whatever animosity may have arisen when He singled out Peter as “the Rock.” (The series, “The Chosen” depicts Peter as a clear leader, so it may be that they all deferred to him because of his obvious gifting.) 

(Concept borrowed from “The comparison Complex,” www.proclaimsermons.com, 10/26/2025).

But the point is that we are not meant by God to compare ourselves to others. The only way we are to measure ourselves is against the standard or yardstick that the Lord has for us. How does He see us? What does He want of us? This is the only measurement of comparison that really matters.

In our Gospel lesson today (Luke 18:9-14), Jesus reveals what He thinks when we compare ourselves with other people. He is on His way to Jerusalem to die when he tells the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Tax Collector). As I have said here before, this is His final chance to teach His disciples about His Kingdom and how we should behave in it. He is no longer focused on evangelizing the Jewish nation. Instead, He is trying to deepen the faith of those Jews who believe in Him. His time is short, so we can assume He is teaching concepts He thinks are important for them to have to sustain their faith when He is gone. 

There are only two men in this story: The Pharisee, a man at the top of the religious ladder of his day; and the Publican or tax collector, a social bottom-feeder. Jesus shares how the self-righteous Pharisee compares himself to the tax collector. We don’t know if he was praying out loud or silently, but Jesus knew what was in his heart. Rather than talking to God, he appears to be making a speech about himself to himself. In verse 11 he boast

Lord, I’m thankful that I am not like other men. The guy is puffed up with arrogance, isn’t he? He might have said, “Thank you that You called me to be a Pharisee; I am so grateful to You, Lord!” He could have also prayed, “Thank you for so guiding my steps that I never became a robber, an evildoer, an adulterer—or even a tax collector, bless their hearts. I mean, there but for the grace of You, Lord God, go I.”

Then Jesus compares the Pharisee to the Tax Collector: This poor fellow knows he’s a sinner! He is humbled and humiliated by his past, his present, his bad choices, his wrong actions. He is so aware of his deficiencies before God, that he cannot even raise his eyes to heaven. He knows that he has denied his nation as a treasonous Roman collaborator. He knows he has alienated himself from his own people. The Romans let tax collectors set their own salaries above what they collected for them. The downtrodden Jews saw this as legalized robbery, because tax collectors profited at the expense of their countrymen. He also clearly knows he has neglected God and sinned against Him. His prayer is one sentence: “God have mercy on me, a sinner,” or “God be merciful to me a sinner” (v.13). This is the early forerunner of “The Jesus Prayer”: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Over the millennia, this prayer has been uttered from foxholes, places of danger, and in the midst of traumatic situations.

Jesus clarifies the lesson from this parable in verse 14–I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.  Jesus is teaching us that social comparison (comparing ourselves to others) is dangerous. Like the Pharisee, we often consider ourselves to be better than the one to whom we compare ourselves. We tend to think things like, “At least I’m not as fat as that person,” or, “I’m not as big a gossip as that one.”

The Pharisee had a pride problem, and we know how God hates our pride! The Pharisee was also a religious leader and teacher who lacked compassion on those God had given him to shepherd. Jesus is also teaching that the best way to come before God, in worship or in prayer, is to be humble. We are to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift us up (James 4:10); And (Micah 6:8), what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Our other lessons today show us many reasons why we should be humble and compassionate as we relate to God and to others:

A. The prophet Joel (2:23-32) supplies 5 reasons:

1. God is faithful to His people.

2. God provides for His people. The Jews’ agricultural economy depended on rain. He promised them abundant food, which we enjoy as well.

3. He restores to us what the evil one has stolen from us. I went to Seminary in 1996 with an IRA of $28,000. But my teenaged daughter got sick and we were without health insurance. Also, our house turned out to be a money pit. I had to cash in my IRA (resulting in a financial penalty), and take on a fulltime job. When I graduated from Seminary 5.5 years later, the college I worked for had put money into a retirement IRA. I left seminary with exactly $28,000 in that retirement account. I knew in my heart that the Lord had graciously replaced what the “locusts” had stolen from me.

4. In the end times, He will pour out His Holy Spirit on all people, men women, sons, daughters.

5. And, most importantly, (v.32)🡪Everyone [at the end of time] who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 

B. King David tells us 5 reasons in Psalm 65:

1. God answers our prayers.

2. God forgives our sins.

3. God has chosen those of us who believe in Him to dwell with Him forever.

4. Our God is an awesome, all-powerful, and righteous being.

5. And as Joel will later echo, God provides for those who love Him.

C. Paul, in 2 Timothy 4:6-18, gives us 4 reasons:

1. Paul does not fear dying and neither should we because we know God loves us and that He has given to us each a ministry which He has empowered us to complete.

2. Paul had a lot of friends. Our God has surrounded us with friends in the church for the spiritual journey.

3. Even when our associates betray or disappoint us, God never gives up on or abandons us.

4. And He delivers us from danger and sustains us through attacks by the evil one.

This week, let’s try to be aware of when we are comparing ourselves to others. Let’s remember to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, recognizing that when we think we are better than others, it is the sin of pride at work in us. Let’s also be grateful to the Lord for…                  (1) Rescuing us and providing for us; (2) Loving us so faithfully; (3) Forgiving us; (4) Empowering us; (5) Restoring our relationships, material goods, and God’s peace and joy that Satan occasionally has stolen from us; And (6) Protecting us from “ghoulies, ghosties, long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night.” 

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

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

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Pastor Sherry’s message for May 5, 2024

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

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

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

What’s love but a second-hand emotion.

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

Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

He Messes with our Messes

Pastor Sherry’s message for 2/25/23


Scriptures: Gen 21:8-21; Ps 86:1-10, 16-17; Ro 6:1-11; Matt 10:24-39


Beth Moore is a fabulous Bible teacher. Over the years, I have taken part in probably well over a dozen of her Bible studies. I recommend her to you. She is a life-long Baptist who has recently become an Anglican. In one of her studies, she made the statement that, “God loves to mess with our messes.” Let me illustrate this with a story from the early ministry of Tony Campolo.

He was a sociology professor who challenged his students, one day, to think about what Jesus might have said to a prostitute. He was hoping to get to evangelize them, quoting from such passages as John 4 and John 8. He wanted to demonstrate that Jesus was compassionate and merciful—much more so than the leaders of any other world religion.

He was stopped in his tracks, however, when a Jewish student in his class spoke up saying, “Jesus never met a prostitute.” The student continued to reiterate his perspective whenever Professor Campolo tried to resume his agenda, asserting, “Professor, you didn’t hear me. I said that Jesus never met a prostitute.” When Campolo persisted despite the young man’s argument, the student then said rather forcefully, “You’re not listening to what I am saying. I am saying that Jesus never met a prostitute. Do you think that when He looked at Mary Magdalene He saw a prostitute? Do you think He saw whores when He looked at women like her? Doc, listen to me! Jesus never met a prostitute!”

This silenced Professor Campolo. He realized he, a Christian, was being taken to school by a Jewish student who seemed to understand Jesus better than he had. (Illustration provided by The Rev Fred Demaray from AHA: The God Moment that Changes Everything, by Kyle Idelman, David C. Cook, 2014.)

The Jewish student makes the point that Jesus didn’t share our mistaken perceptions or attitudes. Instead, He offered grace, He offered mercy. He sees beyond our habitual behaviors to the heart of each of us. He loves us as we are, but also loves us too much to leave us that way. He wants to change our mistaken perceptions and attitudes. He wants to change our sinful behaviors. I believe, along with Beth Moore, that our God loves to mess with our messes—if we let Him! Let’s examine what our Scripture passages today tell us about our Lord’s ability to redeem what we have messed up.

In our OT lesson, (Genesis 21:8-21), we find God acting, in a surprising way, to fix a big mess that Sarah and Abraham had created. Remember, God had promised a child/an heir (so, a boy) to Abraham and Sarah, when Abe was 75 and Sarah 65. Back in Genesis 12:1, God had promised I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. This assumed a large extended family; this assumed a son, but no son had come. Later, when Abraham is about 78 or so, and his son had not appeared as yet, the Promise was reiterated by God in Genesis 15:4. Abraham feared his estate would go to his manager, Eliazer, as was the custom. But God reassured him, saying This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir. Even later, when still there is no heir, Sarah came up with a “bright idea:” I’ve got an Egyptian servant girl. Sleep with her and her child will be your heir.” Abraham was about 85. Hagar was to be a surrogate for Sarah. Today they might visit a sperm bank and be artificially inseminated with am anonymous stranger’s DNA, but they did what was available to them at the time. Though not very clinical, Abraham copulates with her, and Hagar bears Ishmael for them.

As you can imagine, problems then arise between Sarah and Hagar:
Hagar apparently acts like the one of greater status, bragging over being the “baby-mama,” while the infertile Sarah does a slow, jealous burn. This is a mess! They’ve created a mess! Sarah’s bright idea leads to the kinds of unanticipated problems that plague many blended families today. Some years back (preceding seminary), I worked as a middle school counselor for a year. I was walking a troubled 8th grade boy back to class when he said to me, “See that girl over there. She used to be my sister.” I wondered how that could be. I knew his father and mother were divorced. He lived with dad because mother, a nurse, had a drug problem and had lost custody. Dad, however, would move his current girl-friend into their house—often with her children—and these new kids would become his “brothers” and “sisters” for a time. When dad and girl-friend inevitably broke up, the woman and her kids would move away, and this boy would lose his new siblings. In Abraham’s day, as in ours, it was very difficult to blend families of children from different parents.

Nevertheless, as we read last week, God finally acted when Abraham was 100 and Sarah, 90! Sarah conceived Isaac, carried him to term, and they were thrilled! But, YIKES! Ishmael is the first born (maybe as old as 14-15 by then). One day, Sarah overhears him mocking her small son. Having had her fill of Hagar’s bragging and now Ishmael’s contempt, she demands that Abraham drive them away. She may have feared that Ishmael would later kill Isaac in order to inherit; or, as a least one scholar has suggested, she may have read into Ishmael’s remarks a threat to sexually abuse his half-brother, Isaac. She certainly doesn’t trust that he will carefully guard his rival, the Heir. Like a mama bear, she wants Ishmael away from her cub. She convinces a broken-hearted Abraham to run both mother and son off.

Now before we get to what happens to mother and son in the desert, let’s check out a meaningful set of comparisons: Remembering that the Old Testament always points to Jesus, I feel a need to point out to you 9 similarities between the births of Isaac and that of Jesus:


(1) Both were promised. 25 years earlier, God had told Abraham that He would give a son to Abe and Sarah. We are told in Scripture, 750 years before Jesus was born, (Isa 7:14) The Virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel [God with us].


(2) With both births, there is a long interval between promise and fulfillment: 25 years for Isaac; more like 1,000 years for Jesus, going back to God’s promise to King David in Psalm 89:29 I will establish His line forever, His throne as long as the heavens endure.


(3) The people involved are incredulous when they hear the birth announcements, as they seemed impossible. Genesis 18:12 tells us So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my husband is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Dr. Luke shares in Luke 1:34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” Mary is confused, but humbly concurs. She responds to the angel, “I am the Lord’s servant….May it be to me as you have said.”


(4) Both sons were named before they were born. Remember, Sarah laughed Isaac means he laughs. In Matthew 1:21, the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.


(5) Both births occurred at God’s appointed time. We are told in Genesis 21:2 that Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Similarly, Paul states in Galatians 4:4 But when the time had fully come, God sent His son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those under the Law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.


(6) Both births were miraculous–Isaac’s because of the ages of his parents; Jesus, because of Mary’s virginal state.


(7) Both sons brought particular joy to their fathers. Abraham and Sarah both laughed and were delighted with Isaac’s birth. God the Father put His stamp of approval on Jesus at His baptism in Matthew 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”


(8) Both were obedient to their fathers, even unto death.
Isaac was about 18 (some say he was as old as 33) when Abraham had him lay upon the altar, prepared to sacrifice him to God’s will. Jesus was 33 years old when He obeyed the Father and submitted to the Cross.


(9) Finally, the miraculous birth of Isaac is a picture of, or a metaphor for the resurrection of Jesus: In Romans 4:19, Paul tells us Without weakening in his faith, he [Abe] faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about 100 years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. As with resurrection, out of death comes life! And, in today’s epistle to the Romans (6:1-11), Paul wants us to understand that since we are “in Christ,” and Christ was resurrected from the dead, we will be too. In verse 4 (Peterson, the Message, p.2041) Paul insists That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father….Then, in verse 8 he adds Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in His life-saving resurrection.

Thank you, God, for covering us with Jesus’ righteousness in baptism. Thank you, Jesus, that You see us not as we are but as we were meant to be.Thank you, Jesus, that You redeem and resolve the messes we make through our ignorance or our willfulness.

Now, let’s go back to God’s care of Hagar and Ishmael (and of Abe): God assures Abraham that a great nation will come from Ishmael. Abe may never see him again, but God tells him that Ishmael will live and prosper/become a great nation. This had to have been hard on Abe, but it also beats sending your son off to war and not knowing if he will survive; or having him die in a car wreck, a drive by shooting, or some incurable disease.

Abe sends the two away with as much food and water as they can carry. Eventually, they run out of water. Hagar knows they will soon die. She places a weakened Ishmael at some distance from her so she will not have to observe his death. Both Hagar and Ishmael—nonbelievers, despite having lived with Abraham for years–are crying, and an angel calls to her, What’s the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation [now Hagar knows his destiny]. Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. God was with the boy as he grew up [for all intents and purposes, he had no father but the Lord]. The Lord provides water. The Lord provides protection from wild animals and hostile drifters. Later, Hagar finds him an Egyptian bride, but God, his heavenly father, makes him into a great nation. Ishmaelites became known as nomads in Sinai and on Paran (present day Iran). They later blended with the kin of Esau, grandson of Abraham through Isaac, to become the Arabs.

We serve a God Who loves to mess with our messes! Our God plans for events (and people) waaaaay in advance. He knows ahead of time what will happen to us. He provides a way for us to survive and to thrive—if we look to Him.
He also redeems our sins/our misguided solutions/our messes:
There is no doubt that God did not approve of Abraham and Sarah’s “plan B.” Sarah’s impatience led to the birth of the Arab peoples, who have always been antagonistic to God’s chosen people, the Jews. Nevertheless, when Abe and Sarah created a mess, God took care of Ishmael. God loves to mess with our messes! My experience is that He often redeems our thoughtlessness, our mistakes, if we only think to ask. I have found that if I am running late and worry I will be demonstrating to another that I don’t value their time, I ask God to intervene, and they end up being late too. As with the Tony Campolo story, Jesus sees us as we are and can be, not as our behavior indicates.

Finally, our God loves us as we are, but also loves us too much to leave us that way. So, be aware: He will mess with your mess!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

He’s a Good, Good Father

Pastor Sherry’s message for June 18, 2023

Scriptures: Gem 18:1-15; Ps 116:1-2, 12-19; Ro 5:1-8; Matt 9:35-38, 10:1-8

Happy Father’s Day to our fathers present here and to those who have gone on, we hope, to glory. Remember Paul Harvey? He wrote the following about fathers:

“A father is a creature that is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic. A father growls when he feels good and laughs when scared half to death.

“A father never feels worthy of the worship in a child’s eyes. He’s never quite the hero his daughter thinks; never quite the man his son believes him to be, and this worries him—sometimes. So he works too hard to try to smooth the rough places in the road for those of his own who will follow him.

“A father gets very angry when the school grades aren’t as good as he thinks they should be. So he scolds his son—though he knows it’s the teacher’s fault. A father gives his daughter away to another man who is not nearly good enough—so that he can have grandchildren who are smarter than anybody’s. A father makes bets with insurance companies about who will live the longest. One day, he loses—and the bet is paid off to those he leaves behind. “ (Paul Harvey, quoted by Chuck Swindoll in The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, p.204.)

It’s a touching tribute, isn’t it? I hope that is what your father was/is like. If not, we can all look to our Father God, to understand what a good father—what a really good, good Father is like! Our Scripture passages today make that point clearly.

A. Let’s begin with what Paul tells us in Romans 5:1-8. Paul is instructing us in the great progression of the generous gifts and blessings we obtain—like the one baptized as well as those we receive into our church fellowship today–when we believe in God and in our Lord Jesus Christ:

First, we are reconciled to God through Jesus. This is a huge blessing! Paul teaches, in Romans 1, that we pull ourselves away from God by our sinful behaviors (carnal nature), our rebellious and idolatrous thinking, and by allowing our feelings to dictate our behaviors and our beliefs. Feelings provide us with important data, but we do not want them to direct or compel our behaviors. We live now in an American culture where many people appear to believe it is okay to be driven by their feelings. This kind of behavior is out of control and leads to harm and to chaos. So, often because we do not sense God’s presence, we assume it’s hard to have a relationship with Him! This is just not true! Our Lord is only a prayer away! And He desires a deep connection with each one of us—which Jesus has made possible through His death on the Cross for our behalf.

A second concern, however, is what happens to us as we are drawing closer to God, and engaging in Kingdom work (spreading the gospel, sharing our testimonies regarding our own faith journeys). We encounter trouble! You see Satan leaves us alone if we are not pursuing God or are neutral about the Lord. But when we draw near to God, the evil one comes after us, “tooth and nail,’ trying to turn us against Him. The world and our flesh, inspired by the devil, try to discourage us. These forces work hard to pull us away from Jesus.

If we can hold on to our faith—in the face of trouble—we will emerge victorious. We will have become one who perseveres; one who learns patience; one who develops grit or persistence. This ability to persevere strengthens our character. We become more resilient. Psychology calls resilience the bounce-back factor. Resilient folks recover more quickly from the slings and arrows the enemy throws at us than do people who are not. Resilient people learn that even if we don’t feel God’s presence, we can trust He is with us in our suffering. All of this—suffering, perseverance, and a resilient character–helps us to have hope. We worship the God of all hope. And because our God keeps His promises, this hope does not ultimately disappoint us.

Finally, in verse 8, Paul pens this famous line But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We love and serve a God who has pursued us for relationship, even when we didn’t deserve His attention. This is the height of romance, isn’t it? John Eldredge, a contemporary Christian author, wrote a book called, The Sacred Romance, in 1997. His premise was that we each want to feel so cherished by another that that person would court us/pursue us, and want to live out their life with us. He contends and I agree that our God has done just that. The woman we baptize this morning has said “yes” to God. Each of us who has been baptized has said “yes” to God. Praise God and Halleluiah!

B. We see the miraculous hand of God in today’s story of Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:1-15). Abraham is now 99 years old, and Sarah, 89. They are way past child bearing possibilities! But two angels and the pre-incarnate Jesus visit them to say “the Child of Promise,” Isaac, will finally appear within the year. Sarah laughs at the idea of conception at their ages. (I think I would cry! Of course, they were wealthy and had a lot of servants, so she would have had sufficient help, bless her!) But they are both told (v.14) Is anything too hard for the Lord? It’s a rhetorical question. The answer is, “of course not!” We love and serve an all-powerful God of miracles.

C. Our Psalm (116:1-2, 12-19) reminds us that we appreciate and thank God because He hears and responds to us when we are in distress or trouble. He is our Rescuer, our Redeemer.

D. And our Gospel (Matthew 9:35-38, 10:1-8) demonstrates how He trusts us and empowers us to do Kingdom ministry. He sends out 12 ordinary men and tasks them with preaching the Gospel; warning folks that the Kingdom of God is near [that’s Jesus; Jesus is coming to visit them soon]; healing the sick; casting out demons; and even raising the dead. YIKES! How extraordinary! And He has empowered His followers today do the same.

Chris Tomlin wrote a sang a contemporary worship song called, “He’s a good, good Father.” We do worship a good, good Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. What wonderful blessings we enjoy when we ally or bind ourselves to Jesus Christ:

(1) We experience peace with God and the peace that passes all understanding.

(2) We experience being deeply loved.

(3) We come to enjoy hope, despite our earthly circumstances.

(4) Our characters are developed and strengthened.

(5) We trust that our Redeemer hears and responds to us.

(6) We realize He trusts us enough to give us Kingdom building work to do.

(7) And we align ourselves with the God who works unheard of miracles for those He loves.

Thank you, Lord, for the good fathers you have given us and for modeling what it is to be a good, good father. Amen!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Happy Father’s Day.
Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The WHY Questions

Pastor Sherry’s message for May 7, 2023

Scriptures: Acts 7:54-8:1; Ps 31:1-5, 15-16; 1 Pet 2:2-10; Jn 14:1-14

Remember when your kids or grandkids played “the Why Question Game” with you? We’ve all experienced it. Perhaps we were driving somewhere in the car, or trying to put them to bed, and they would pipe up with a Why question. Example One: We announce, “Kids, We’re going to stop at McDonalds for lunch.” The chorus from the backseat sings out, “Why?” “Because we all like McDonalds!” “Why?” “Well,” we say, “it’s quick and everyone can get what they want.” “Why?” By this time we are beginning to get irritated. But we’re on to them. We know how this goes, so we put a stop to the game. We say, “No more why’s!” From the back seat, accompanied by giggles, we hear, “Why?”

Example Two: The child has been bathed, teeth are brushed, a bedtime story has been read, and prayers are said. We say, “Good night. It’s time to go to sleep.” Just as we go to turn out the light, and close the door, we hear, “Why?” “Because you’ve had a busy day. You need your rest. ” “Why?” “Because your bones grow mainly when you are asleep.” “Why?” And on it can go, ad nauseum, and ad aggravation.

Actually, it’s a very good thing to ask why! Kids can ask why to manipulate or to irritate, but they can also be genuinely interested in cause and effect, and in finding out how their world works. Someone, somewhere once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In other words, that person meant that we are not to live without questioning our routine and habitual ways of living out our lives. From this perspective, asking Why is among the most important things we ever do.

We must all answer for ourselves the Great Existential (things related to life and living) Questions:

1.) Who am I? (This deals with our identity.)

2.) Who (or what) made me?

3.)Why am I here? (What’s my purpose?)

4.) How do I know I have lived a good life?

5.) Where do I go when I die?

They are not all why questions but they do try to get at the Why? of our existence and of our purpose.

Peter offers, in today’s Epistle reading (1 Peter 2:2-10) some pretty effective answers to the Why Questions of life. As Christians, we know we are children of God, created by our Lord to know, love, and serve Him. That belief answers the Who made me Question. The answer, of course, is God. It also addresses the Why am I here Question: (1) To come to know God; (2) To develop a relationship with and learn to love God; and (3) to serve God and his people.

Peter also offers us answers to the identity and purposeful life questions: In verse 5, Peter refers to us each as …living stones [who are] being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Remember, Jesus is the Rock. He changed Peter’s name from Simon to Peter, which means little rock, or chip off the Rock. As Christ-followers, we too are to live our lives as though we are chips off of Jesus–not just those who follow Christ’s teachings intellectually, but those who imitate Him, in what we do and in what we say.

The Lord wants to use us, as we serve Him, as a holy priesthood. In following Jesus denying Jesus then being lovingly forgiven and received back by Jesus, Peter knows the most important thing for us in life is to be closely connected to Jesus. What is the job/the role of a priest? It is to explain God to people—Who He is and what He wants from us. It is also to help people relate to Him—here’s what helps you draw nearer to Him and here’s what distances you from Him. Finally, a priest assists us to offer sacrifices to God–no longer animals, thank God, because Jesus is the once and for all perfect Sacrifice. But we offer God sacrifices of praise (consider our “Halleluiah Sing” this past Sunday. We each took an hour out of our day to sing hymns to the Lord). We also offer Him our time and talents (to cook, to decorate or maintain the church, to practice and perform music, to operate the Thrift Store, etc.). And we offer to Him money or tithes to help build up His Kingdom here on earth.

Peter goes on to exclaim (v.9) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Peter asserts that we each were chosen. Here’s a great Why? Question. Why was Israel chosen to be God’s special people? Why were each of us chosen to be Christ-followers? Why did God pick us? While each of us is unique and special, none of us has earned special recognition from God—none of us deserves to be among God’s chosen. So why did God choose us? He chose each one of us because of His love and His grace. It all starts with Him. He initiates relationship and we respond to Him. The “Two Bubba’s and a Bible” say it so well: Why were we chosen, royal, holy [set apart]? Because of the pure, unbridled, unadulterated, unmitigated, unreasoned love of God. Why? …Not why as in, ”Why has God loved us, chosen us, made us royal and holy?” But Why as I, “Why has God called us together, what are we chosen for, what is our purpose, our reason for being?” Peter tells us that God has chosen us so that [we] may proclaim the mighty acts of (the One) who has called (us) out of darkness into God’s marvelous light. (Fairless and Chilton, The Lectionary Lab, Year A, 2013, pp.126-127).

There it is! Our purpose is to know, love and serve God by telling others about Him. Our purpose—as they say in Cursillo–is to “be a friend, make a friend, bring a friend to Christ.” Our greatest purpose in life is to help make Jesus known to others. We can do this by talking, blogging, or writing, recounting from our hearts how knowing Jesus has changed our lives. We can do this by assisting people in need, then giving Jesus the credit if they try to thank us. We can do this by the way we live our lives.

Stephen (Acts 7:54-8:1) witnessed to Jesus as he was being stoned to death. Saul observed Stephen’s death and scholars believe the way Stephen died subsequently prepared Saul to accept Jesus (in Acts 9) on the road to Damascus. We can fulfill our divine purpose in life by praying that people who don’t yet know Jesus to come to know Him.

Our Psalm (31:1-5, 15-16) and our Gospel (14:1-14) further illuminate our reasons to love and serve God:

Psalm 31 is a prayer for deliverance from trouble. Certainly being dragged out by an angry mob to be stoned to death, like Stephen–or crucified, like Jesus–qualifies as “big trouble.” Both Stephen and Jesus quote this psalm as they are being murdered: Verse 5 Into Your hands I commit my spirit. Both Jesus and Stephen exhibit the kind of faith in God demonstrated in verses 15-16 My times are in Your hands; deliver me from those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. They knew that whether they lived or died was up to the Father. Both also forgave their murderers as they were being executed.

In John 14:6, Jesus declares that He is…the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. We love and follow Jesus because He is our only route to the Father. People who espouse other beliefs are offended by what they consider to be the “exclusive claims of Christianity.” Jesus is clearly saying no other set of religious beliefs will get us to heaven–neither worshipping the Buddha, Confucius, any Hindu gods, Allah, Baal, Satan, nor even a political party or “the state,” as communists do, will earn someone salvation. The Gospels and the Epistles proclaim that only Jesus can ultimately rescue us.

Jesus goes on to say in verses 9-10 Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?” Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? In other words, Jesus is the Face of the Father. The Father is spirit and does not take on human form. Jesus fully represented God the Father on earth.

He gave us a human face to look upon; then, He only said what the Father told Him to say; and He did only what the Father told Him to do. He is what people might call “God with skin on.” So, we know we have lived a good life if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and if we have tried to live a life pleasing to Him, obeying Him and His Father.

One final thought: Our Gospel passage today also answers for us the final existential question—Where do we go when we die? John 14:1-3 is often read at funerals because of the hope and comfort it offers. Jesus promises (per Peterson’s The Message, NavPress, 2002, p.1948) Don’t let this throw you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust Me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on My way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. Where do we go when we die? If we love Jesus, we go to live with Him forever in Paradise, in a room or a home He has prepared for us.

It’s good to ask “the Why Questions.” But it’s even better to know the answers. All of the great existential questions are answered, for those of us who love Jesus, though our faith in our Him.

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

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Resurrection Power

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 26, 2023

Scriptures: Eze 37:1-14; Ps 130; Ro 8:5-11; Jn 11:1-45

Have you ever wondered about what you might do if you were God? Jim Carey plays a guy who thinks he can do things better than God in the 2003 film, Bruce Almighty*. (Hard to believe it’s now 20 years old!) You may remember that Morgan Freeman, dressed totally in white, plays the role of God the Father. He gives Bruce His godly powers, then goes on vacation. At first, Bruce does not believe he has God’s powers.

Then he begins to experiment, with hilarious results: He starts his cranky, clunker of a car by simply telling it to start, and is gratified. He walks on water and is both scared and amazed. He produces a spoon to stir his coffee just by thinking it up. He creates a wind in a diner that parts his soup into two pools. As the movie progresses, most of what Bruce does is either silly, or selfish, or vindictive, or damaging—thereby making the point that we humans don’t have the necessary love, maturity, or wisdom to use such power judiciously. If we were God, we would most likely mess up massively.

Our scripture readings today all celebrate the phenomenal power of God, and the very wise and compassionate ways in which He utilizes it in our lives:

A. Psalm 130 sets the stage: In the ancient church tradition of naming the psalms by their first few words in Latin, Psalm 130 is called “De profundis”–or “Out of the depths.” Whoever composed this psalm captures our times of grief, despair, or overwhelm in his 1st verse: Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord. The psalmist is saying “Lord, I am at the end of my resources. Help!” Or, as I said last week, “Lord, I’m at the end of myself. Help!” We can all think of times, can’t we, when we are overtaken by profound despair, debilitating grief, or hopeless depression? If we believe in God and in His power, at some point we remember to call upon Him for help. Verse 2 reads O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If we are wise—and if we trust in Jesus—we take our distress to the Lord.

This psalmist clearly trusts in the Lord. He is very aware that we are all sinners who really don’t deserve God’s mercy, forgiveness, or grace. Yet he counts on it! He waits for the Lord to act on his behalf. My favorite verse is #7 O Israel [O Christ-followers], put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption. In other words, we can and should trust in God to love us despite our shortcomings. In other words, we can and should believe in His ability to overcome our suffering and to redeem our pain—even redeem our messes, if we surrender them to Him. Our God has the power to pull us up out of whatever depths we have sunken into.

B. Paul continues this theme in Romans 8:5-11. Before exploring the meanings of the passage, it is most helpful to begin before verse 5, at Paul’s basic premise expressed back in verse 1: Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. What a relief! If I abide in Christ—maintain my heartfelt relationship with Him—my sins aren’t counted against me. And not just me! All of our sinfulness is covered/hidden behind/or rather accounted for by the righteousness of Christ!

Back in the beginning of Lent (2/12/23), I preached on Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthian Church (3:1-9). You may recall that he differentiated between the saved and the unsaved, as well as between spiritual (Mature) Christians and carnal (Immature) Christians. He is making a similar point to the church in Rome in the remainder of this passage: Rev. Dr. Eugene Peterson paraphrases it this way (The Message, NavPress, 2002, pp.2044-2045) Those who think they can do it on their own [overcome their carnal nature] end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life…..

The carnal Christian has a mindset that is controlled by his/her sinful nature. Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee says our sinful nature acts like a big bully, constantly trying to ambush us and beat us up (Commentary on Romans, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.141). It feels like that, doesn’t it? Sin beats us up!

Paul states that the sinful nature leads us to death (certainly spiritually, but often even physically). On the other hand, the Spirit-led mindset leads us into life. The Holy Spirit acts like our big brother who shows up in the nick of time to save us from the bully. I didn’t have an older brother; in fact I saved my little brother’s neck a bunch of times. But even so, I know how good that feels to know the Holy Spirit is willing to go toe-to-toe with the bully and win for my behalf.

Additionally, Paul explains, (MSG, p.2045) But if God Himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of Him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome Him, in whom He dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, He’ll do the same thing in you that He did in Jesus, bringing you alive to Himself? What a blessing!

God the Holy Spirit abides in us and protects us from the bullies. And He also functions to grow us up into mature Christians.

C. This transformative, life-giving power is revealed in Jesus in our Gospel lesson from John 11:1-45. This is the familiar story of Jesus arriving in Bethany 4 days after his friend Lazarus has died. Both of Lazarus’ sisters greet Jesus with faith statements (v.21 and v.32) Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Both sisters trust that Jesus could have healed Lazarus of his fatal illness. Though neither has heard that He has the power to restore a dead person to life, they believe in the final resurrection after we die. Jesus reveals to Martha that (vv.25-26) I am the resurrection and the life. He [or in this case, she] who believes in Me will live, even though he [she] dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.

Then Jesus prays to His Father and proceeds to bring forth a living Lazarus from the grave. The formerly dead man walks out of the grave, but is still bound up in his grave wrappings. He probably looked somewhat like a mummy—alive but not really free—so Jesus directs the onlookers to (v.45) Take off the grave clothes and let him go. Jesus, God-incarnate, has the power to raise a dead person to life. Glory to God!

This is astonishing and defies science as we understand it! If any of you has read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—which she wrote at the age of 18—you may have noted that it is not only one of the first novels in the horror genre, but it is also a morality tale. Dr. Frankenstein wants to prove that humankind can create something alive from dead matter. He cobbles together cadaver parts, then shoots incredible amounts of electricity into the monster’s body to bring it to life. Later on the amoral, rogue monster kills his creator. The moral is that humans should stay in their own “wheelhouse” and leave the creation of life to God. God can simply call a person by name to bring them come back to life.

D. Additionally, as our OT lesson shows us (Ezekiel 37:1-14), our God can also resurrect an entire nation! By the power of the Holy Spirit, God takes the prophet Ezekiel to a wasteland, desert valley in which he sees the dried, scattered, skeletal remains of innumerable warriors killed long ago in some titanic battle. God then asks Ezekiel if these bones can return to life. The prophet wisely replies (v.3) O Sovereign Lord, You alone know. Like many of us, Ezekiel knows God can do it. He’s just not sure if, in this case, God will do it. But God tells the prophet to command the bones to come to life. Ezekiel does exactly what the Lord has told him.

Even as he is still speaking God’s words over the bones, they begin to move; they reassemble into human form; and they become upright but unbreathing cadavers. .

Then God tells the prophet to prophesy to the breath (v.9) Come from the four winds, O Breath, and breathe into these slain that they may live. God allows Ezekiel (who speaks for God) to command the Breath—the ruach [the word in the Hebrew for wind, breath, or Holy Spirit] to bring these cadavers to life. He does as directed and a mighty army returns to life! Bruce Almighty asks, “Who has the power?”

Ezekiel and we know that only God has the power to bring the dead back to life! This exercise in the Valley of the Dry Bones was meant to let the Israelites know that God will one day restore that nation–not as it is today, a geographical and political entity that barely acknowledges God. But, at Jesus’ 2nd Coming, as a nation of true-believers.

Our God has such extraordinary, resurrection power over our lives that He can resurrect us when we die. Many of God’s/Jesus’ miraculous powers amaze me. But, given the eternal consequences, none is as important as is His ability to bring us to new life in Christ Jesus, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory over death, through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

*Bruce Almighty

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

When Rule-Breaking is Justified

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 21, 2022

Scriptures: Jer 1:4-10; Ps 71:1-6; Heb 12:14-29; Lk 13:10-17

The story is told about… “Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers ‘the Little Flower’ because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself.

“Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter’s husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. “It’s a real bad neighborhood, your Honor.” the man told the mayor. “She’s got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson.” LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said “I’ve got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions–ten dollars or ten days in jail.” But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: ‘Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.’ So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.”

(Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Multnomah, 1990, pp 91-2.)

This is a story of grace in action, isn’t it? The mayor exacted the lawful penalty, paid it himself–just as God has done for us through the saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Then, by fining each person present 50 cents, he made everyone aware of the fact that no one should have to starve in NYC. It was a wise move by an elected official. It makes me wish we had more persons like him as mayors in big cities today. He didn’t break the rule; instead he enforced it and took it a step beyond.

In our Gospel lesson today (Luke 13:10-17), Jesus demonstrates for us a criterion for when rule-breaking is justified.

The Gospels mention 5 healings by Jesus on the Sabbath:

1.) The first (Luke 4:31+; Mark1:21+) is of a demon-possessed man in the synagogue at Capernaum. Interestingly enough, the demons recognize that Jesus is the Son of God. He has to tell them to hush, as He sends them out of the guy. Everyone present is amazed at His power to heal and His authority over demons (the supernatural realm).

2.) The 2nd (Luke 6:6+; also recounted in Matthew and Mark), Jesus heals a man with a withered right hand. Again, the people are delighted; but, by now, the Scribes and Pharisees are feeling threatened by Jesus and are looking to discredit Him for violating their interpretation of what it means to keep the Sabbath holy. This time before healing the man, Jesus asks, Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it? He had just asserted in verse 6, The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath [He is uniquely qualified to establish and interpret the law]. Now He equates healing with doing good and saving life. It is alright to break the Sabbath rule about not working when it involves healing a person. He has challenged their interpretation of what can be done on the Sabbath and this infuriates the religious establishment.

3.) 3rd, John 5:1-18 the man at the Pool of Bethesda or Bethsaida. The religious officials do not see Jesus heal the man—remember He said, Get up! Pick up your mat and walk. Instead, they bust him, the man who had been an invalid for 38 years, for working on the Sabbath. Carrying his mat was construed by them as doing work. He tells them he is just doing as he had been told. They want to know who healed him, but he doesn’t know. He later learns it was Jesus and “rats Him out.” Such ingratitude!

4.) The 4th account is recorded for us in today’s Gospel. The poor woman has been bent over for 18 years. Did she have severe scoliosis? Or a bad bend like a “Widow’s Hump” from osteoporosis? We don’t know the nature of the affliction, but we can become quite vividly aware of what this would be like. Stand up, bend over half way, and take a minute to notice what this feels like. If you were out in public, you would not be able to see peoples’ faces. Your behind is pointed up, which would leave you feeling very vulnerable. And, just like with people in wheelchairs, you might be overlooked or dismissed due to your shortened stature. I once flew to a conference with a fellow named David who was wheel-chair bound. He had a Labrador named Zeus as his PAWS service dog. Zeus wore a small saddle with a handle by which he could tow David when the man tired. Whenever we approached an airline gate, I noted that the attendants usually spoke to me rather than David. He would then speak up and say, “I am right here and can respond to you about me,” to redirect them to his status as an adult.

In our Gospel lesson today, the Synagogue ruler is indignant: He insists, “Today is for worship; healing can take place the other 6 days of the week.” Jesus then addresses everyone who agrees (v.15) You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham who Satan has kept bound for 18 long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her? Her condition cries out for a healing, which Jesus graciously provides. Again, the rule can be broken when doing so might promote someone being healed.

The conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities now intensifies as (v.17) The people were delighted with all of the wonderful things He was doing. But the synagogue ruler and however many Pharisees and scribes were present … were humiliated.

5.) The 5th and last Sabbath healing occurs when Jesus is dining at a Pharisee’s house (Luke 14:1-6) A man with “dropsy” (accumulation of fluid in the legs; Elephantiasis?) appears. Before He acts, Jesus asks, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? As any good teacher would do, He is reviewing with them what they may have learned. He is asking, “Have we learned anything new about how we apply the rules for Sabbath-keeping? Have your hearts changed at all?” The answer is “crickets.” They respond with silence. Jesus then heals the man and asks, If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out? Again, they do not answer. There was provision in the rules for such a rescue. Their Sabbath rules permitted loosing/untying a bound animal on the Sabbath so it could access water. However, Jesus knows their hearts are hard and that they are opposed to Him and to His teaching. I believe the man may have been a set-up, which Jesus would have ascertained.

Notice that Jesus acts compassionately, anyway. Like Jeremiah, called to preach an exceedingly unpopular message to Jerusalem (“Repent! The end is coming!”)—Jesus is now healing at his own peril. Don’t you admire His courage? They are even now plotting against Him, but He continues to go about doing the will of His Father.

Let’s look again at the Bent-Over Woman: She doesn’t approach Jesus. She’s been miserable and perhaps in pain for a long, long time.

Nevertheless, Jesus calls her forward (Remember, Rabbis typically did not speak to women). But Jesus participated in a theological discussion with the unnamed woman at the well (John 4:1-41); spared the unnamed woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11); and forgave the unnamed woman who washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair (Luke 7:36-50). I believe these women are un-named because the Lord wants us to identify with them. Jesus correctly recognizes that she is crippled due to demonic activity. He has authority over the demonic, so He touches her and speaks a rhema healing word to set her free. In the original Greek text, this is a play on words: Satan has bound her but Jesus loosed her.

He uses a style of rabbinic argument they would have recognized if you would do this for your animals (the lesser) than why not for a person, a daughter of Abraham (the greater)? They are not logical in their zeal for the letter of the Law. They have let their focus on upholding the Law obscure their love for a neighbor. They have let their jealousy and envy of Jesus’ power blind them to the spirit of the Law. They seemed to have missed that God, the Lord of the Sabbath, sometimes works on the Sabbath.

People can still be bent over today due to disease, right? But what else keeps people bound? Habitual sins like alcoholism; drug-addiction; pornography and sex addiction; and choosing the pursuit of money, power, fame, etc, over pursuing God.

What is our response to them supposed to be? Respond with the compassion of Christ. Like the former mayor of NYC, we can keep the law but also exhibit compassion. Like Jesus, who created the Law, we may break a rule to mend a broken life. This week, look for any opportunities God sets before you to demonstrate compassion. Take the risk of being rejected or of looking foolish. You may be used by God to utter healing words. You may be used by God to demonstrate love to the unloved or unlovely (what Jesus called …the least of these). By doing so, you might just save someone’s eternal life.

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

In The Master’s Hand

Pastor Sherry’s message for 5/1/2022

scriptures: Acts 9:1-20; Ps 30; Rev. 5:11-14; Jn 21:18-30

I want to share with you a poem from 1921, written by the American poet, Myra Brooks Welch, entitled, “The Touch of the Master’s hand’:

‘Twas battered and scarred and the auctioneer

Thought it scarcely worth his while

To waste much time on the old violin,

But he held it up with a smile:

“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,

“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”

“A dollar, a dollar; then Two! Only two?

Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?

Three dollars once; three dollars, twice;

Going for three—.” but no,

From the back of the room, far back, a gray-haired man

Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,

And tightening up the loose strings,

He played a melody pure and sweet

As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,

With a voice that was quiet and low,

Said: “What am I bid for the old violin?”

And he held it up with the bow.

“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?

Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?

Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice,

And going, and gone,” said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,

“We do not quite understand.

What changed its worth.” Swift came the reply:

“The touch of a master’s hand.”

And many a man with life out of tune,

And battered and scarred with sin,

Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,

Much like the old violin.

A “mess of pottage” [soup or stew], a glass of wine;

A game—and he travels on.

He is “going once,” and “going” twice,

He’s “going” and almost “gone.”

But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd

Never can quite understand

The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought

By the touch of the Master’s hand.

Like the old violin, our value is enhanced—and our lives straightened out– when we place ourselves in the hands of our Master, Jesus Christ.

Our Scripture passages today give us several illustrations of what can happen to people who entrust themselves to Jesus’ transforming care:

Our Acts passage (9:1-20) relates the events in Paul’s conversion from being an enemy of Christ, Saul, to becoming His Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul. Since the events we addressed last Sunday, the 11 apostles have been operating out of Jerusalem: They have been active, teaching, preaching, and healing. They have added a replacement for Judas (Matthias); they also decided to add “deacons” to give the apostles time to pray, teach, and heal. The new converts have been meeting together, worshipping, breaking bread, sharing resources, studying God’s word–until Deacon Stephen was arrested and stoned to death (Chapter 8). Now Saul was present at Stephen’s martyrdom. This event culminates in an increased persecution of new followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, who then scatter out from the city, seeking safety elsewhere.

One of them, Philip, leaves to evangelize the Samaritans–and also encounters the Ethiopian Eunuch–and the faith begins to spread to North Africa. And recently (on Easter Sunday), we read about how Peter was directed by the Holy Spirit to disciple the Roman Centurion, Cornelius, in Caesarea, a faith-inroad into the Roman Empire. The Good News of Jesus Christ has begun to spread from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and Saul/Paul is going to take it to other Gentiles–the beginning of …to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). When we first encounter Saul, he was an extremely zealous Hebrew who thought Christ’s followers were heretics. In his zeal for the One True God, he was committed to wipe out “the Way.” He had grown up reciting the Shema daily, (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. The Shema assumes a single-minded devotion to one God. Saul did not believe that God had a Son, Jesus; and in his study of Scripture, he missed the references to the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, he got the OK from the Sanhedrin to arrest any Christians he found in Damascus, in present day Syria. Damascus is 150 miles N of Jerusalem (in that day, a 4-6 day journey). Those motivated to wipe out the infant Church knew Damascus was strategic because it had formed around the crossroads of several major East-West and North-South trade routes. The enemies of Jesus realized that once Christianity flourished there, it wouldn’t be long before it led to conversions all over the empire.

But, on his way to Damascus, Saul encounters Jesus! Verses 3-4 tell us suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul has to be shocked and stunned! He’s blinded by bright light, a sign of God since only God…dwells in unapproachable light whom no one has seen or can see (1 Timothy 6:16). He hears his name called twice, a Hebrew literary device for emphasis. Saul, knowing he is in the presence of the divine, asks (v.5), Who are you Lord? Jesus answers him, I am Jesus, whom you are now persecuting (v.6). Jesus then directs him to go into the city where he will be told what comes next. He has lost his sight, so he has to be led to the home of someone called Judas who lives on Straight Street. According to verse 9, He was unable to see for 3 days; and he neither ate nor drank anything, which implies he was fasting and praying. Notice he doesn’t get angry with God, but resorts to prayer to discern God’s will. Then, through a Christian named Ananias, Jesus tells Saul that God has declared, (vv.15-16) This man [Saul/Paul] is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show Him how much he must suffer for my name. Ananias then confers on Saul the Holy Spirit for ministry; Saul’s sight is restored; and he agrees to be baptized.

The next thing we know (v.20), Saul began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. What an amazing transformation! What a radical turn-around of a single life in the hands of our Lord, Jesus Christ! In the Master’s hands, we can be directed, redirected, and empowered to do…immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20).

The same phenomenon is reported in Psalm 30. King David recounts how, due to the Master’s grace and mercy, he has moved from sickness to health; mourning to gladness; silence to praise. He had been seriously sick. Perhaps he had some variant of the Covid? He pleads for his life, saying (v.9) What gain is there in my destruction [in my death], in my going down into the pit [grave]? Will the dust praise You [my dead body]? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness? David is pleading for his life, reminding God that he needs to remain alive to continue to praise Him. God apparently heals him and he celebrates God’s goodness. In the Master’s hands, despite our trials, we come to a place of rejoicing!

In our Gospel lesson, John 21:18-30, Jesus has just restored Peter 3 times to reverse or redeem his 3 denials. Then He goes on to predict how Peter will die (crucified, upside-down), and reiterates His command, Follow Me! Jesus wants Peter to entrust himself to Him. But in a way so characteristic of all of us, Peter looks around, sees John, and says, But what about him? Jesus doesn’t reveal John’s future. Essentially, He tells Peter it’s none of his business. And John, the author of the 4th Gospel, attests that all he has written of Jesus is true, though only a portion of all the things He said and did. In the Master’s hand, we are restored, sometimes rebuked, and generally always redirected.

What is revealed in our Revelation lesson (5:11-14), however, is the scope of worship in the heavenly throne room. God the Father and Jesus, the Lamb of God, are seated on the throne. And everyone rejoices and sings praises to God: Every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and on the sea worships God–even the 4 Seraphim and the 24 elders. As I preached last week, we are created to worship and to enjoy God. When we do, one payoff is that we will be included in that heavenly service. (Maybe we will even learn in heaven all the stories and healings and miracles John and the other three gospels did not include.)

We sing like that old violin at the auction when we experience the touch of the Master’s hand. Who we are as persons is enhanced because Jesus Christ brings out our very best when we place ourselves in His hands. There is no better place to be. Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia, alleluia!

©2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Repent or Perish!

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 20, 2022

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

Normally, I like to begin my sermons with a story, or a real life application of our Scripture passages. But on this 3rd Sunday of Lent, I want to review: Remember, our focus has been on using the 40 days of Lent as a time for “spiritual house-cleaning”–a time to consider and confess our sins; a time to renew and strengthen our relationship with God. Two weeks ago, I preached about several ways the Bible suggests we can respond to temptation. Last week, I concentrated on how (and why) we want to pursue full-on access to God.

This week our Scriptures center on two additional but related themes: 1. How we attempt to meet our spiritual hungers; and 2, repenting or perishing.

A. Our Isaiah 55:1-9 passage reiterates the truth that we, ourselves, decide whether or not we will come to God. No one can do this for us. The prophet presents God’s offer of salvation as if He were extending to us free food to eat and no cost water, wine, and milk to drink. The food and drink he refers to are not the physical, material substances themselves, but are metaphors for the spiritual nourishment God has for us. St. Augustine (354-430) taught that there is a God-shaped hole in us (I think it is located somewhere in our chest area) that only God can fill. We work hard in life to fill it with other things (idols), but none of these truly satisfies or fills the hole up.

Given that truth, our God does not want us to pursue these false gods. “Rather,” He says in verse 3🡪Give ear and come to Me; hear Me that your soul may live. False gods—like materialism, money, sex, power, influence, popularity, and intellectualism—are all dead ends. They ultimately leave us feeling disillusioned, empty, and dissatisfied. The American millionaire, Jay Gould (1836-1892, his assets then converted to today’s values= $78.3 billion) said as he lay dying, “I suppose I am the most miserable devil on earth.” Similarly the poet, Lord Byron, had fame creative genius, money, position, and lived a life of pleasure, yet he wrote in his poem, “On my Thirty-Sixth Year,” “The worm, the canker, and the grief are mine alone.” (J. Vernon McGee’s commentary on Isaiah 55, p.130). The day I defended my doctoral dissertation, my committee turned to me and each one shook my hand and said, “Congratulations, Dr. Adams!” I walked out of that experience feeling ecstatic, proud of that achievement. About 2-3 days later, however, I thought to myself, “Now what?” That great feeling of accomplishment did not last. But God offers us, through Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and our Bible reading, food for thought and living water that truly sustains us, more than money, fame, pleasure, or accomplishments.

Isaiah also urges us to be ready for God’s deliverance from captivity in Babylon for the Jews (this was the short term prophesy, as Isaiah wrote this before the Jewish population was carried off into captivity). Before He “lowered the boom” on them (enacted punishment) for their continued idolatry, God was already promising them a return to the land (70 years later, allowing the generation of the idolaters to die off). The prophet also foresaw a coming redemption from sin and death with Jesus’ 1st Advent (this is a mid-range prophesy which unfolded 700-750 years later). Finally, he forecasts judgment for us at Jesus’ 2nd Coming (this is the long term prophesy, which has not yet been fulfilled). This is why he says in verse 6🡪Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. In God’s mind, our opportunity to choose Him is time-limited (there is an expiration date). We are to remember that we don’t think on the same level or in the same way as He does.

B. David wrote Psalm 63 from the desert, as he was being pursued by the jealous and murderous King Saul. You would therefore think his first plea would be for God to “save his neck” (protect him from his enemy). Instead, his first request of God is for greater intimacy with Him (verses 1-2)🡪…earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You. He wants to see God (as do we all). He desires full-on access to God. If he can be close to God, he insists that (v.50)🡪My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods….(another food/drink image).

He only refers to God’s protection of him by verses 7-8🡪Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. Even then, David does not ask for God’s protection and defense; instead, he regards it as a “given,” already believing that God will take care of him. Oh, if we all only had faith like that!

C. Paul gives us a history lesson in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. He recounts how the ancient Israelites blew off (dismissed and ignored) God. Verse 1🡪…our forefathers were all under the cloud…they all passed through the sea. He is saying that they were guided by God (His cloud by day, His pillar of fire by night) as they escaped slavery in Egypt. He also miraculously opened the Red Sea for them to cross. God ordained Moses as their leader. So, in a sense they… were baptized into Moses, meaning they identified with him as their leader—just as we identify with Jesus as our leader and submit to His authority in our own baptism. He goes on to recount in verse 3🡪They ate the same spiritual food [the manna] and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Remember how Jesus offers the woman at the well (John 4:10) living water, free flowing water that never runs out? This is eternal life. Also recall that He refers to Himself as (John 6:35) the bread of life. He is both our spiritual food and our spiritual drink. In a sense, God gave the Israelites in the wilderness Holy Communion before Jesus would later invent it. They had God’s direction, protection, and provision. Nevertheless, as Peterson puts it (The Message, v.11) But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.

Paul then goes on to list the ways they rebelled against God:

1.) Some became idolaters (Golden calf) (Exodus 32);

2.) Some committed sexual immorality (during pagan fertility rites)—23,000-24,000 died (Numbers 15:1-9).

3.) Some tested God (regarding food) He sent a wasting disease one time; poisonous snakes another (see Psalm 78:18; 95:9; and 106:14).

4.) Some even complained against God He sent a destroying angel (Numbers 16:41; 21:5-6).

When I was a child, I wrongly assumed that God indiscriminately killed off (smote) a bunch of folks and I felt sorry for them. I have since come to realize that God knows our hearts. He was well aware of who, among the 2 million coming out of Egypt, was guilty of great sin against Him. He singled out only the guilty for punishment, punishment they had been warned would take place. There would have been no cases of mistaken identity or guys punished who were not guilty. Don’t we wish this were so in our court systems today?

Next Paul says (v.11) These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. We can learn vicariously from their experiences. Unfortunately, we are just as capable of messing up as they were and yet, we have Jesus—the fulfillment of the ages. Thank God for Jesus, the fulfillment of over 325 prophesies from the Old Testament! He is our divine rescuer.

Paul concludes that he doesn’t want us to become overly confident, to be naïve, or to think we are exempt from temptations. Instead, he wants us to realize that our Lord never allows us to be tempted without providing us a way out. He is for us, not against us. He will rescue us if we but ask.

D. Jesus is very clear in the Gospel of Luke (13:1-9) that the time for choosing Him is now—Repent or Perish! He lists 2 examples of folks who died untimely deaths. He says their deaths were not due to their sinfulness. His point is that their deaths were unexpected. Since we don’t know the day or time that we will die, we want to get right with God and remain right with God. His fig-tree parable is a metaphor for the nation of Israel. God planted them and provided for them, but they had not gotten themselves right with God. Jesus was implying they still had time. God was/is mighty patient with them/us; but their time was running out, as is ours. For them, time ran out 35 years after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and dispersed the population

We don’t want to run out of time! We want to turn away from the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil and choose God’s free gifts of spiritual food and drink for our souls. This is the only thing that fills up the God-shaped hole in our lives. We want to see God and to be satisfied with intimacy with Him. We don’t want to rebel from God, taking His grace for granted, and sinfully cut ourselves off from Him to perish.

Perhaps you have heard this story: The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message: “Alter your course 10 degrees south.”

Promptly a return message was received: “Alter your course 10 degrees north.”

The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: “Alter your course 10 degrees south—I am the captain!”

Soon another message was received: “Alter your course 10 degrees north—I am a seaman third class.”

Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: “Alter your course 10 degrees south—I am a battleship!”

Then the reply came: “Alter your course 10 degrees north—I am a lighthouse.”

(As read in Chuck Swindoll’s The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, pp.539-540.)

There is no safety or peace in rebellion from God. I believe we want to repent and to choose life, not perish!

©2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams