Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Spiritual House Cleaning

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 3, 2024

Scriptures: Gen 20:1-17; Ps 19; 1 Cor 1:18-25; John 2:13-22

Yesterday, my son moved out of my guest room into a modest house in Lake City.  After 2.5 years, it was time for him to be on his own again.  Fortunately for him, the landlord had had the place cleaned.  It’s really a sweet place in a quiet neighborhood.  I think he will be happy there.

When we finished lifting and carrying clothes and boxes, I was too tired to clean the guest room and put it back to the way it looked before he came.  My daughter could tell you, I would have had the vacuum and dust cloths out, and the cleaning frenzy would have commenced.  As it was, at 77, I had just enough energy left to come home, take a hot shower, and fall into bed.

Our Gospel today depicts Jesus in a cleaning frenzy.  Unlike me, He was totally energized to clean up His Father’s House.  Let’s not forget that since He too is God, it was His House as well.  And He was incensed that the religious authorities had allowed what He saw going on there.

In our Gospel lesson (John 2:13-22), Jesus goes head to head with the Temple leadership to effect a physical and a spiritual house cleaning.  The religious establishment had authorized both the buying and selling of sacrificial animals, and a coin exchange–for a fee—on the Temple Grounds.  Some worshippers came from long distances without animals of their own.  So those “pilgrims” without animals had to purchase one or two to make their sacrifice.  Additionally, they had to pay a ½ shekel Temple Tax.  The fact that no Roman coins could be used–because they had Caesar’s face on them (a graven image which Jewish law prohibited), as well as the inscription, “Caesar is Lord” (which constituted blasphemy to the Jews), meant that they also had to exchange their money, for a fee.

Jesus was incensed with all of this for a number of reasons:

1.) Those selling the animals unfairly marked them up. They knew people didn’t have a choice, and they gouged them for the convenience. 

2.) They also charged an outrageous fee for the coin exchange.

3.) The animals were smelly and noisy and distracting in what was a house of prayer and a place of worship.

4.) But perhaps worst of all, the marketplace took over the only area in the Temple where Gentiles could gather.  Essentially, they were prevented from worshipping in the only space allotted to them.

So Jesus cleared the area in no uncertain fashion.  He formed a whip and used it to drive away the animals.  He also overturned tables, no doubt scattering money everywhere.  He shouted (v.16) How dare you turn my Father’s House into a market!  Of course, then “The Jews” (John-speak for the religious establishment) want to know what gives Jesus the right to clear the Temple and upset their very profitable businesses.  They said, Give us a miraculous sign—prove You have sufficient authority to do this.  Jesus responds rather cryptically, telling them (v.19), Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.  They think He is speaking of the Temple building and scoff at Him.  We know He was speaking of His body (predicting His resurrection)—a pretty authenticating sign!  But they were so haughty—so sure their understanding surpassed His—that they did not believe Him.  Don’t you imagine that when He left, they went right back to doing business as usual?  

They must have forgotten verse 6 of Psalm 138—God is close to the humble, but distances Himself from the proud.  It’s dangerous to think we always have all the right answers.  Pride caused most of the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees to miss who Jesus was.  They’d made an idol of their understanding of the Scriptures. Because Jesus didn’t fit their preconceptions, they missed out on the opportunity to develop a relationship with the Son of God.  Let’s not make the same mistake. Let’s make sure we clean our spiritual houses of the sin of pride.

Let’s take a look too at our Old Testament lesson from Genesis 20:1-17.  Just last week, we were praising Abraham, the Father of our Faith, for his trust in the Lord.  Abe is such a great example of trusting in the Lord’s provision of the Promised Land; trusting in God’s promise of descendants without number; and benefiting from God’s blessings of health and wealth. Where he seemed to have wavered in his faith, however, was in being certain that God would protect his life.  Apparently, his wife Sarah was very beautiful.  I’ve heard another pastor humorously refer to her as a “Biblical babe.”  Unfortunately, whenever Abraham encountered a foreign ruler, they appeared to covet her.  Back in Genesis 12, when Abraham moved to Egypt due to a famine, the Egyptian pharaoh heard of Sarah’s beauty and took her from him. Abraham in a sense brought this on himself because he lied, telling Pharaoh she was his sister (she was his half-sister), instead of his wife. He was afraid Pharaoh would kill him in order to clear the way to marry her.  In this situation, he didn’t depend on the Lord!

Fortunately for both of them, God protected them anyway. He afflicted the Egyptians with “serious diseases” until Pharaoh gave Sarah back to Abraham and told them both to leave.  So, this had happened before. You would think that Abraham would now trust God to protect him from rulers tempted by Sarah’s beauty.  But no, in today’s lesson, the two encounter Abimelech, a Canaanite king. Like with Pharaoh previously, Abraham again lied and said Sarah was his sister, not his wife. The same thing happened as Abimelech coveted Sarah and took her, intending to add her to his harem. 

Once again, God intervened—not with disease—but with a dream containing a death threat. Abimelech believed God’s message from the dream and immediately returned Sarah to Abraham. But the pagan king was also outraged and demanded to know why Abraham lied to him and put him and his people at risk.  Abraham, the great model to us of faith, had not trusted the Lord to keep him and Sarah safe from another lusty king. Abraham, who God judged as righteous due to his faith, has now lied twice.

What do you make of this?  I think we can safely say that Abraham was a good man but not a perfect man. There was and is only one perfect man–that’s our Lord, Jesus.  Like us all, Abraham’s great faith wavered from time to time.  Don’t we all have times when our faith is stronger or weaker  than usual.  We too may have areas in our lives where we find it very hard to trust God.  Nevertheless, since he was God’s choice as the patriarch of the Jews—since God meant to accomplish great things through him—the Lord guaranteed his safety.  Similarly, I think God has grace for us in those areas we have not yet surrendered to Him.

Remember, we are in the season of Lent.  These two readings today focus on two aspects of human behavior that God wants us to clean out of our spiritual houses:  (1) Pride (and even the misuse of His house of worship), and lying.  Lent is a time for evaluating our behavior, recognizing our sins, and asking God’s forgiveness.  Maybe you are not overly proud and you don’t lie.  But each of us is probably guilty of some other sins we could name.  Soon, in our preparation to receive Holy Communion, we will say a general prayer of confession.  Let’s take a moment now to call to mind our sins and confess them to Jesus, in our hearts, right now.  Let us also be comforted by what the Apostle John promised in 1 John 1:8-9—If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  Amen and amen!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The Crown Without the Cross

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 18, 2024

Scriptures: Gen 9:8-17; Ps 25:1-10; 1 Pet 3:18-22; Mk 1:9-15

I read a funny story the other day that I want to share with you:  

“The local sheriff was looking for a deputy, and one of the applicants – who was not known to be the brightest academically, was called in for an interview.  “Okay,” began the sheriff, “What is 1 and 1?” “Eleven,” came the reply. The sheriff thought to himself, “That’s not what I meant, but he’s right.”

“Then the sheriff asked, “What two days of the week start with the letter ‘T’?” “Today & tomorrow.” Replied the applicant. The sheriff was again surprised over the answer, one that he had never thought of himself.

“Now, listen carefully, who killed Abraham Lincoln?”, asked the sheriff. The job seeker seemed a little surprised, then thought really hard for a minute and finally admitted, “I don’t know.” The sheriff replied, “Well, why don’t you go home and work on that one for a while?” The applicant left and wandered over to his pals who were waiting to hear the results of the interview. He greeted them with a cheery smile, “The job is mine! The interview went great! First day on the job and I’m already working on a murder case!”

(Borrowed from www.sermoncentral.com, 2/16/2024.)

Our Gospel this morning comes from Mark 1:9-15.  You may recall that we have jumped about some in Mark since Epiphany.  We have focused on Jesus’ choice of His disciples.  We have looked at His demonstrations of His power over the supernatural realm and over physical illness.  Last Sunday, we encountered His revelation of Himself, to Peter, James, and John in all His heavenly glory, on the Mount of Transfiguration.  This included God the Father’s order to the disciples to listen to Jesus.  They were reminded that Jesus goes where the Father directs Him, not where they might think He should go.

How odd, then, that we backtrack to the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry today:  He is baptized and blessed by the Father.  This is so very important because psychological research has revealed that fathers convey self-esteem on their children.  God the Father blesses Jesus before He launches on His ministry.  Then, the Holy Spirit leads Him into the wilderness to be tempted.  We could say it is Jesus’ 1st day of His public ministry—His 1st day of walking in His calling.  There is a lesson here for us:

Before He even really begins, He is confronted with three grave temptations.  Satan is trying to get Him to take a short cut or to “do things the easy way.” God the Father and the Holy Spirit are no doubt watching and rooting for Him to resist the possibilities of accepting His crown while avoiding the Cross.

Whoever it is that creates the lectionary arrangement of the readings (I think it’s a committee) wants us to realize—before we get too far into remembering Jesus’ ministry—that Satan will always try to pull us away from, or divert us from what God wants to accomplish through us. 

Will we take the short cut the evil one offers?  Or will we persevere through the tough times, remaining obedient to God as Jesus was?

Let’s look at these 3 temptations Satan presented to Jesus in more detail:

A.  There is the temptation to feed Himself:  Turn stones into bread.  After 40 days without food, He clearly must have been hungry.  We can only go three days without water, but people can live longer without food.  We grow weaker and lose a lot of weight, but we can still hang on to life.  The greater issue behind feeding Himself was would He be willing to use His power to satisfy Himself?  In terms of His ministry to redeem the world, this would have been a short-sighted choice.  It would have also indicated a lack of faith in His Father—He surely trusted that His Father would not have allowed Him to die before He even got started.  I remember telling you all once that I was flying back to Pittsburgh, PA, from Jackson, MS, when our plane was stranded on the tarmac during a terrible rain storm.  Once the lightening relented, we took off into the air, but proceeded to bump around a lot, losing altitude quickly in those sickening drops.  The lady seated next to me was a seasoned traveler who flew weekly for business.  She got out the “barf bag” because it she said it was the bumpiest she had ever experienced.  She wondered aloud if we were going to crash.  I told her no—with total confidence—because I was still in Seminary and I know the Lord was not finished with me yet.  God was not yet finished with Jesus, either.

The temptation to feed yourself is a little like the college quarterback who recently spent his $300,000 signing bonus (not to sign on but to return for another season) on a Lamborghini for himself, instead of offering watches, like Tom Brady did, to the lineman who protected him; or even cash for school tuition for those teammates who lacked athletic scholarships.

Jesus said “No” to this temptation to take care of Himself first.  Can this be said of each of us?

If we are as God-focused as Jesus, our tithe would come off the top of our pay.  It should be the first check we write after receiving our pay.  Please understand I am not urging you to give Wellborn Methodist Church all 10% of your resources.  We need enough money to keep the lights on…but you are free to offer a portion of your tithe to other worthwhile charities/causes as well.  The point is that rather than paying down our responsibilities and giving God the little that is left over, we gift God first.

Truly, the issue is, “Do we trust God to take care of us?”  Since I have lived on my own, I have found that the Lord always provides for me.  I might get down to my last dime to my name, but the Lord will come through with additional cash in the nick of time and usually in ways I would never have expected.  Even in the extreme situation of having no food for 40 days, Jesus trusted in His Father.

What about Jumping to your death on the rocks below?  If I were starving, the turning stones to bread would have truly tempted me.

This one, not so much…even if I knew I had the power to save myself.

I’m wary of heights.  I can recall visiting the Grand Canyon, which is a mile deep, and creeping cautiously to the edge to look down—there are no guard rails so you do have to be careful.  And I hate that feeling you get in roller coasters—and even in elevators or planes—of the bottom falling out.  My kids will tell you I scream all the way on roller coaster rides.  Nothing about dropping into thin air tempts me.

But again, Satan has offered Jesus a selfish way to attract attention and gain fame.  This is another cheap way out.  I’ll bet Jesus was tempted by the bread, but this one probably left Him cold.  Recall how often He asks people He’s healed not to tell anyone about it?  Last week He urged Peter, John, and James not even to tell the other disciples what they had witnessed on the Mount of Transfiguration.  Jesus wisely understood that some flashy, dynamic miracle witnessed by thousands would have gained Him too much attention from His enemies.  They would have come for Him before He had completed the work the Father gave Him.  As it was, He knew 3 years was hardly enough time to redeem as many hearts as He hoped to.  By rejecting Satan’s dare, He demonstrated for us that it is better to avoid the easy, splashy alternative, and just do the work set before us.

The third and last temptation was a doozy!  Serve Satan, instead of God the Father?  Are you kidding me?  Satan was tempting Jesus, who is God, to worship himself, a counterfeit god. This was a challenge to Christ to practice idolatry.  How absurd!  No wonder Jesus directs Satan to be gone from Him.  For us, however, the temptation may be more enticing.

Think of the siren allure of addictions. This substance or behavior will soothe you; it will help you feel nurtured or cared for.  Power and influence can have the same impact.  Watching the Fulton Country (Atlanta, GA) DA is a perfect example of how power and influence can corrupt.   She promised, on videotape, never to sleep with a subordinate.  Not only has she slept with someone she employed, but she paid for lavish trips for the two of them with public funds.  Corruption appears to abound in our federal government and also in state and even local governments.  How many have pilfered tax payer dollars? How many have sold their integrity for generous amounts of cash?  How many are compromised by elicit behaviors that have been videoed, then used to blackmail officials?  We want to remember that whatever we value more than God becomes our false God.

Jesus Christ has shown us the way:  Just say “No” to putting comfort before duty, fame before love of others, and anything before love of God.  Someone has put it this way:

A seeker after truth came to a saint for guidance.

“Tell me, wise one, how did you become holy?”

“Two words.”

“And what are they, please?”

“Right choices.”

The seeker was fascinated. “How does one learn to choose rightly?”

“One word.”

“One word! May I have it, please?” the seeker asked.

“Growth.”

The seeker was thrilled. “How does one grow?”

“Two words.”

“What are they, pray tell?”

“Wrong choices.”

I could be wrong, but I believe God allows us to endure times of testing to strengthen our faith in Him, and to develop our ability to resist the easy shortcuts with which Satan tempts us.

(Borrowed from Brian Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes, published on http://www.sermoncentral.com 2/16,2024.)

Let us keep our eyes on the example of Jesus, choosing to please God and frustrate the devil.  Amen, may it be so!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The Transforming Power of the Holy Spirit

Pastor Sherry’s Message for January 14, 2024

Scriptures: Gen 1:1-5; Ps 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mk1:1-11

The story is told that Dwight L. Moody—the great American evangelist who lived in the later part of the 1800’s—while witnessing to a large group of folks, asked how he might get the air out of a simple drinking glass. One listener shouted out that he should pump all the air out. Moody listened attentively, but replied that pumping the air out would create a vacuum, which would result in shattering the glass. He patiently heard some other suggestions, then took a nearby pitcher of water and calmly filled the glass. “’There,’ he said, ‘all the air is now removed.’ He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by “sucking out a sin here and there,” but by being filled with the Holy Spirit.”

(Illustration borrowed from Today in the Word, September, 1991, p. 30.)

Our Scriptures today each provide examples of the power of the Holy Spirit, perhaps as a way of encouraging each of us to be filled with the Spirit:

A. The Genesis account cited this morning (1:1-5) places the Holy Spirit at the beginning of creation. We are told that the Spirit hovered over the face of the water. Let’s read Peterson’s modern paraphrase of these 1st two verses (The Message, p.20) First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

Then God (the Apostle John tells us this was Jesus) spoke the first element of creation into existence. What came first? Light. He formed light and separated it from darkness. The Holy Spirit empowered the formation of day and night. The Holy Spirit is God’s power source. A former pastor of mine used to explain the Spirit as the electricity that flows behind our walls. We plug into it, and become empowered. But then we sin and pull our plug out and lose our power. The analogy is helpful but somewhat simplistic as the Holy Spirit is not just confined to our walls. Nevertheless, the metaphor poses the question: Are you cooperating with the creative, transformative power of the Holy Spirit in your life? Are you staying plugged in?

B. Our psalm (29) compares the powerful voice of the Lord to a storm in nature. We’ve had a few of these this week, haven’t we? We could hear the wind, a very strong wind (65-75 mph; some reported gusts to 105).

We could see our long, leggy, Florida pine trees bending over from the wind’s force. We saw the sky darken, as rain clouds rushed in. The rain commenced and quickly turned into a torrent. If you were in it, you wanted out of it; if you were in your house, you expected the lights to flicker or go out. Some of us did experience temporary power outages.

King David wrote Psalm 29 and it is clear that he is familiar with the voice of the Lord in all its manifestations: (1) Like in Genesis 1, (v.3)—the voice of the Lord is over the waters. (2) (V.4)—the voice of the Lord is powerful. (3) (V.5)—The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. (4)

(V.7)—The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. (5) (V.8)—The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. (6) (V.9)—The voice of the Lord twists the oak and strips the forests bare. David wants us to be aware of God’s mighty power, which He tends to use to (v.11)—…give strength to His people. His Holy Spirit power could function as a massive destructive force. But instead, He intends the Holy Spirit (1) to lead us to the Truth; (2) to heal us; (3) to help us understand Scripture; (4) to be our companion and friend; and (5) to remind us of the teachings of Jesus.

C. On his 3rd missionary journey, Paul traveled to Ephesus from Corinth. He stayed for 2 years, teaching folks at the Greek School of Tyrannus about Jesus. When he realized that 12 disciples (who had come to Christ through the teaching of Apollos) had been baptized by water, but lacked the Holy Spirit, he saw to it that they were also baptized with the Holy Spirit. The baptism of John the Baptist, which was the only one Apollos knew of at the time, is a baptism of repentance for sins, and places us under the leadership of Jesus. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is what changes our behavior, our attitudes, and even the words that come out of our mouths. Paul wanted the Ephesian disciples to have the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The Holy Spirit lives in our hearts, but can you discern a difference in yourself as a result of His presence? Do others see evidence of the Spirit’s transforming power in your life?

D. Finally, in our Gospel lesson, the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:1-11), we see that the power of the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus as He submitted to John’s water baptism. Jesus was without sin—He did not need a baptism of repentance, but He underwent the ritual in order to identify with our humanity. When He did, the heavens opened and…the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, empowering Him for His public ministry. He also heard His heavenly Father bless and affirm Him, saying (v.11)—You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.

Even Jesus, the 2nd member of the Trinity, needed the power of the Holy Spirit at work in Him—energizing Him to teach and preach, and empowering Him to do miracles.

Before leaving Florida to attend seminary, I asked some Christian friends to pray with me for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We went out to the beach at night and prayed in a pergola perched in the sand. It took a while, but I felt a strong wind come up and blow in my face. It didn’t exactly howl, but it did moan. If you have ever walked the beach during a “nor-easter,” you know the wind comes at you so strongly that you can hardly take a breath. That’s what it was like for me. Afterward, I asked the others if they heard the moaning wind and if they had had trouble catching a breath. They told me they had neither heard nor felt what I did. God had directed that wind of the Spirit just to affect me. In a similar way, when the Bishop laid hands on me to ordain me much later, I felt a huge weight descend on my head. I wondered if the Bishop was trying to push me through the floor. Later I realized the Hebrew word for God’s holiness is kavod, which also means the weightiness of God. The Lord conferred on me both His Holy Spirit power and His sign that He had set me apart for ministry. Praise God!

Todays’ readings compel us to ask, “Are you cooperating with the creative, transformative power of the Holy Spirit in your life?” Our Lord wants to make us more and more like Jesus—and He has the power to pull it off! Are we assisting this process in ourselves, or are we hindering it? He will not force Himself upon us. We have to agree to baptized with the Spirit. Are we willing to take charge of what comes out of our mouths, instead of just allowing ugliness to slip out? Are we willing to restrict our own behavior, doing what will bless but not harm other people? Do we believe that God is with us in the storm, and that He will see us through it? Do we listen for and hear the voice of the Lord in our lives?

Today, let’s pray for a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit on each of us, as we continue to move in 2024: Father God, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth—our true Lord Jesus Christ—that you would send your Holy Spirit to anoint each of us with Holy Spirit power. Power to do the ministries You have set out for us. Power to cooperate with the Spirit and be molded and shaped into better people. Transformative power to become more and more like your son, Jesus. We pray this in Jesus’ precious and most powerful name. Amen!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Arise, Shine, for God’s Light has Come!

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 7, 2024

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

In Rome, there is an ancient burial site containing the remains of hundreds of Christians from the 2nd to the 5th century. Known as the “Catacombs of Priscilla” for the wealthy Roman lady who donated the property, the series of underground tombs also includes some significant artwork by early Christians–including one of baby Jesus with His mother, Mary, and surprisingly, the pagan prophet, Balaam. But instead of gazing at the Madonna and Child, the prophet is pointing to a star over their heads.

(Borrowed from a sermon from www.sermoncentral.com, week of 1/07/2024.)

Perhaps you remember hearing of this “prophet for hire” as he is depicted in Numbers 22-24? If not, take time to read this account as it is both humorous and fascinating. Apparently, the Moabite King, Balak, was alarmed to learn that the Children of Israel were advancing on his country, on their way to the Promised Land. Biblical scholars believe there may have been as many as 2 million Israelites, so they would represent quite a threat to anyone whose land they crossed. King Barak did not believe he was strong enough to defeat them in battle—in fact, Moses reports in Numbers 22:3 that he and his whole nation were… filled with dread because of the Israelites. So he sent for a Prophet for hire, Balaam, and asked him to curse them, telling him (Numbers 22:5-6) A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.

Obviously this Balaam had some power. But as you follow the story, you learn that God Himself talks to Balaam and forbids him to curse His Chosen People. King Balak tries to talk Balaam out of being obedient to God every way he can; but the prophet appears to rightly fear the One True God and wisely refuses to curse the Israelites. Even though Balak is furious with him, Balaam continues to bless Israel and prophesies to Balak (Numbers 24:17) I see Him [Messiah], but not now; I behold Him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob [the Epiphany Star]; a scepter will rise out of Israel [a future king; Jesus].

I find it fascinating—don’t you?—that hundreds of years (1450-1500BC) before Jesus’ birth and the appearance of the Magi, a nonbelieving prophet-for-hire would tell of the appearance of the Star, and prophesy the 1st coming of Christ. The star signaled Jesus’ birth to Gentiles. This star moved, it traveled to the West from the East, and the 3, 12, or 30 magi from the East, followed it to Jerusalem, then on to Bethlehem to worship the infant King. (Tradition says there were 3 kings, because of the three gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh; but there may have been more, especially since all of Jerusalem was in an uproar over their sudden appearance. Three would seem too few to cause a city-wide reaction. Perhaps there were more and no doubt they were accompanied by soldiers for protection.) So their arrival was probably notable and provoked curiosity and speculation. Instead of fireworks, the star was a heavenly manifestation of something truly big and important going on. Folks in that time and era were much more tuned in to the movements of the stars and the appearance of new ones than many of us are today. For those who studied such things, this was an exciting phenomenon which led to an Epiphany (God-sighting).

We celebrate this Epiphany, the visitation of the Magi to honor Baby Jesus today, Epiphany Sunday. Three of our Scripture passages refer to this event.

A. Our Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 60:1-6, appears to ratify or agree with Balaam’s older prophesy. Isaiah (writing from 750-700BC) states in verses 1-3 Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to Your light and kings to the brightness of Your dawn. The prophet uses the Hebrew prophetic tense that speaks of things which have not yet taken place as though they have already come to be. Just as Balaam appeared to have viewed the star to come as a metaphor for Jesus, so too does Isaiah equate Messiah with heavenly light. He is predicting that the “Son of Righteousness,” Jesus, will arise upon Israel just as the sun rises out of and dissipates pitch darkness. Those were dark times in Israel, as they lived under Roman oppression, just as these are dark times for us. But, Jesus has come as our Redeemer. And He will come again to finally free the earth from the grips of evil.

Additionally, Isaiah foretells the arrival again—at Jesus’ 2nd Coming–of kings bringing gifts. They will bring gold and incense (frankincense), but no myrrh—an embalming compound–as death will have been eradicated.

B. Psalm 72 was written by King David as a prayer for the success of his son, Solomon, as he is crowned David’s successor.

In it, King David describes the traits of the ideal king (around 960BC). While these are the hopes of a proud father, the psalm also describes—at a deeper level—the reign of the coming Messiah: Messiah will judge the accused with absolute justice or fairness. He will crush oppressors and defend the vulnerable. He will live forever. He will ensure prosperity for all. He will rule all the earth. And, in what seems like a foretelling of today’s Gospel, (v.10) The kings of Tarshish [modern Spain], and of distant shores will bring tribute to Him; the kings of Sheba [Yemen] and Seba [Sudan or Ethiopia] will present Him gifts.

C. Our Gospeler, Matthew, was intent on proving to the Jewish people how Jesus fulfilled so many of the Old Testament prophesies about Messiah. In today’s passage (2:1-22), he demonstrates how Jesus fulfilled 4 such predictions:

(1)He points out that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and quotes the passage from Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah…out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel. So the minor prophet, speaking for God, precisely predicted Jesus’ birthplace. He was a contemporary of Isaiah, and so wrote during the same time period. He relates how Jesus had to be taken into Egypt to protect Him from Herod’s jealousy. Joseph is told in a dream to leave Bethlehem by night and take Mary and the baby to Egypt.

(2) Hosea, also a contemporary of Isaiah, had prophesied in chapter 11, verse 1 Out of Egypt I called my son. God had planned in advance to have Jesus escape Herod’s “slaughter of the innocents.”

(3) But Jeremiah (626-586BC) had predicted in chapter 31, verse 15 A voice is heard in Ramah [the vicinity of Bethlehem], weeping and great mourning, Rachel [a personification of Jewish mothers] weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.

(4) Finally, Matthew tells us they relocated from Egypt to Nazareth, at God’s direction, to fulfill the prophesy that the Messiah would be a Nazarene. One cannot locate that exact prophesy in the Old Testament. However, it is true that Isaiah 11:1 says a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The passage goes on to describe all the divine attributes of Messiah. Mary and Joseph both were descended from poor, seemingly insignificant branches (shoots) of King David’s dynastic tree. But consider how cleverly the Lord hid Jesus, protected Him–in a place that few would expect to find Him–until it came time for Him to begin His public ministry.

Matthew’s is the only Gospel to describe the visit of the Magi. Luke relates the shepherds’ worship of the newborn king (poor, often disregarded Jews); while Matthew wants us to know that Jesus’ birth attracted the wonder and adoration of Gentile dignitaries. Jesus is a King for us all.

How wonderful of God the Father to have signaled His love for the poor, for His Chosen people, and for we Gentiles, as well.

I don’t know about you but I am struck by the number of times Jesus’ birth was predicted. And not just His birth, but details about His early days; who saw Him and who worshipped Him; Satan’s attempts through Herod and others to eliminate Him; and Father God’s protection of Him.

I’m also amazed about who all prophesied His birth and His role in our lives…So many voices over so many different time periods, but all correct down to every detail. If you ever wonder, as I do occasionally, if all we believe about Jesus is true (doubt is a tool of the evil one), think of these passages and their remarkable consensus, across time and situations, about the reality of Jesus. Who then can doubt?

If I were not a believer and someone walked me through today’s readings, I think I would have to become a believer! To me the Biblical evidence is both convincing and overwhelming. Arise! Shine! For God’s Light has come!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The Christmas Let Down

Pastor Sherry’s message for December 31, 2023

Scriptures: Isa 61:10-62:3; Ps 148; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:22-40

Hopefully you have not experienced it this year but there is a psychological phenomenon called “Christmas Letdown.”

Let me share a story to illustrate: “A number of years ago, when Lou Holtz was at the University of Arkansas, he was taking his team to play a bowl game in Tempe, Arizona. The game was to be played on Christmas day. He was asked how he felt about playing a game on Christmas, rather than being with his family. The coach answered candidly: ‘I would rather be in Tempe. After all, once you have been to church, had Christmas dinner, and opened the presents, Christmas is the most boring day of the year.’”

(Illustration borrowed from www.sermoncentral.com, 12/26/2023.)

YIKES, Lou! Tell us how you really feel! Part of “Christmas Let Down” is the sense of “what now?” As the coach said, what’s left to expect when the gifts under the tree and in the stockings have been discovered and unwrapped? What’s there to look forward to when the festive meal with family and friends has been eaten?

I was working on continuing education to renew my psychology license while I was sick at home these past two weeks. The author of one course I took on addictions said that recovering addicts must not let themselves think of how much they enjoyed their “high.” She called this selective memory “euphoric memory,” and said it could lead a person right back into their addiction. Instead, the recovering addict should discipline their mind to think of all the ways that being clean and sober improve their life.

(D. Poor, “Codependency: Causes, Consequences, and Cures,” Professional Development Resources, 2015, p.33.)

I think this must be the antidote to “Christmas Let Down Syndrome” as well. Rather than focusing on any disappointed expectations of our own from people or events this time of year, we should look to what our God has done already–and will accomplish for us in the future–in Jesus’ 1st and 2nd Comings. This is certainly the perspective of all of our Scripture readings appointed for today.

A. Let’s begin with Psalm 148, a clarion call to all of creation to praise God. The psalmist includes nearly all imaginable created elements and entities, and calls upon them to praise the Lord:

1. Angels and all the heavenly hosts’

2. Sun, moon and stars;

3. Heavens and rain;

4. The oceans and all creatures within them;

5. Lightning, hail, snow, clouds; and wind;

6. Mountains, hills, and all varieties of trees;

7. Wild and domestic animals, as well as birds;

8. All people from rulers to ordinary citizens, young as well as old.

The psalmist expects them all to exalt the Lord. Why? Because the Lord created them all, and because (v.14) He has raised up for His people a horn, the praise of all His saints, of Israel, the people close to His heart. A horn is a figurative term for a powerful ruler; this is a metaphor for Our Deliverer, Jesus Christ. We don’t carry on like disappointed sad-sacks after Christmas because the very date reminds us that God both created us and sent a divine deliverer to save us.

B. The prophet Isaiah (61:10-62:3) assures us that God deserves our praise because of what He has in store for us with Jesus’ 2nd Coming. After Jesus comes again as a righteous, triumphant, all powerful Judge, He will do away with all evil-doers. Oh Happy Day! Won’t that be amazing?! And He will dress those of us living then who love Him in (v.11)—garments of salvation and…a robe of righteousness. We will be as decked out beautifully, as a bride or a groom, wearing especially fine clothes, as befitting such an grand occasion. Additionally, we will be inundated by righteousness and praise…again, Oh happy day!

Chapter 62:1-3 tells us that our Lord yearns for this to happen. Both God the Father and Jesus are looking forward to this time. Jesus will rule the earth from Jerusalem. The Present poor war-torn Israel will finally be at peace, and the beauty of Jerusalem will exceed what it looked like at its height, in the days of King Solomon. In a sense, God will delight over Jerusalem as a bridegroom cherishes his bride.

C. Not only that, but as Paul tells us in Galatians 4:4-7, our status has already improved due to Jesus’ 1st Coming. Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for our sins. Additionally, by redeeming us, He has grafted us into His lineage as sons and daughters of God. He has gifted us with the Holy Spirit, whose job is to lead us into all truth. Because of both Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we are privileged to enjoy a comfortable, intimate relationship with God the Father–so much so that we might call Him Abba or Daddy.

As an aside, notice in (v.4), Paul states that Jesus was—born under law. This means that Mary was a young Jewish woman, who performed all the requirements of the Law around Jesus’ birth and her post-birth purification. I saw on the news this week that some person claimed that Jesus was/is Palestinian because Mary was a Palestinian. No. That’s just not true. This person does not know Scripture. Jesus was born to a Jewish woman and was/is Jewish—though He died to redeem the world.

D. Finally, we see from our Gospel (Luke 2:22-40), that God sent two prophets to attest to Jesus identity as Messiah days after His birth. Luke relates that Jesus is named and circumcised on the 8th day. Circumcision is an undeniable sign of loyalty to God. Additionally, at the end of 40 days, Mary and Joseph present Him at the Temple (6 miles distant from Bethlehem). Women who gave birth were considered ritually unclean for 40 days after the birthing event. Once the 40 days ended, she was required to go and present an offering that signaled her purification. The offering of 2 turtledoves instead of a calf or a lamb attests to how poor Mary and Joseph were. But note: The offering was for Mary, not for Jesus as He was without sin and did not require a sacrifice under the Law. Dr. Luke wanted us to be sure to realize that Jesus’ earthly parents were raising Him in the traditions of their Jewish faith.

While they were in the Temple grounds, they were spotted by a man named Simeon. He was an old man who had served God faithfully for years. The Holy Spirit had told him he would not die until he had seen the Messiah; then the Spirit must have alerted him that Jesus was present and was “the One.” So, he approaches the couple, takes the child and prophesies over Him, saying he is now ready to die because he has seen “Israel’s consolation.” This is another metaphor for the Messiah, who Simeon expects will comfort His people. Simeon’s Holy Spirit-inspired speech is called the Nunc Dimittis, and is almost a word for word, prayerful repetition of Luke 2:29-32—Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all peoples; to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of your people Israel. (The Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019, p.46).

The Holy Spirit uses Simeon to announce that Jesus is to be the means of salvation for both Jews and Gentiles. He will be a cornerstone/strong support for some; and a stumbling block for others. Simeon rightly predicted that Jesus would suffer, and he accurately predicted that Mary would suffer as she watched her son suffer and die on the Cross.

Because Jewish Law required two witnesses to affirm a truth in court, the Lord provided Anna as the 2nd prophetic witness. Dr. Luke tells us she was 84 years old, having been widowed after 7 years of marriage. Anna was a major prayer warrior in the Temple. She was there so much that the priests and Levites gave her a room in which to live. She spent her days praising God and praying. She too was told by the Holy Spirit that Jesus was the Messiah. She reaffirmed this to Mary and Joseph and shared with any interested onlookers Jesus’ true identity.

According to our Scripture passages, we have no excuse to give in to “Christmas Let Down” syndrome. Instead in these days after Christmas, our hearts should be elevated by celebration and praise!

Our God has created and redeemed us. He has great, restorative plans for us that will occur when Jesus returns to earth. Meanwhile, we have been saved by Jesus’ sacrificial death on the Cross and adopted by the Father as His children and as co-heirs with Christ. Many famous Old Testament prophets foretold Jesus’ birth and 2 faithful, spirit-led New Testament persons prophets confirmed His identity even as a newborn infant. So, no matter what has happened to us this Christmas Day and following, we can and should continue to be filled with rejoicing! Emmanuel [God with us] has come to dwell among us. Come, let us adore Him.

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

God’s Perfect Gift

Pastor Sherry’s message for Christmas Eve, 2023

Scriptures: Isa 52:7-10; Ps 98; Heb 1:1-4; John 1:1-14

A pastor wrote, ”Yes, God is our loving and gracious Heavenly Father—but He eternally dwells in unapproachable [ineluctable, unavoidable, inescapable, certain] light. That means that God transcends us and is totally beyond us. In Theology proper a Latin term is used to capture this reality; God is defined as Deus absconditus, which translates as ‘the hidden God’. If God had not initiated revealing Himself to sinful and fallen mankind in the Garden of Eden and onward through the Old Testament; if God had not chosen to come out of His holy habitation—mankind would have hopelessly lived and died without knowledge of Him. Christmas is the time we celebrate God coming to be with us; no longer sending others, like prophets, priests, kings, and angels to give us His Word. Christmas is God Himself no longer sending–but coming.

“We should reflect upon how fortunate we are that God has mercifully and graciously come to us in our dreadfully lost condition. The writer of Hebrews described our distance from God quite simply as, “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). The imagery of God as [a] blazing and consuming fire aptly expresses God’s holy distance. Because of His holiness, God is eternally inaccessible to man. Our God always lives in an atmosphere of absolute purity, far too holy for mortals to ever enter. Note that Hebrews says that ‘our God is [not was!] a consuming fire.’ ”

“But to solve the problem of the God who is unapproachable, God Himself came to be with us—as one of us, to die for the whole world of lost sinners.”

(Dr. John Barnett, sermon entitled, “The Six Names Of Christmas – Immanuel – God With Us,” www.sermoncentral.com, Jul 10, 2018.)

The Scriptures appointed for today share with us God’s motivation for sending Jesus to earth as a tiny baby, as well as what our response to Him should be:

A. Again, the writer to the Hebrews puts it this way in our New Testament reading (Hebrews 1:1-4): In the past, God reached out to us through the prophets (v.1). But, more recently, He …has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The writer to the Hebrews wants us to realize that God reached out to us first. He initiated a relationship with us, not the other way around. First, He sent many prophets (Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, etc.) to let us know who He is and what He wants of us. When all those efforts fell short—because human beings were lukewarm, or even outright rebellious, in their response–He sent us His One and Only Son.

But Jesus is not just a messenger of God! The Son (v.3)is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. I love the way Peterson expresses it (The Message, p.2181)By His Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what He says—powerful words! In other words, Jesus is higher than prophets or even angels. He is perfectly human, but also perfectly God. As God encased in baby flesh, He—the Holy One—can interact with sinful us.

B. The apostle John (1:1-14) begins His Gospel essentially asserting what the Writer to the Hebrews later wrotethat God intends to reveal Himself, His glory, through Jesus! Where Luke and Matthew begin with Jesus’ birth stories, and Mark, with Jesus’ entre into ministry, John takes us back to creation, before time and space began. Jesus was present at Creation. John wants to make sure we understand that Jesus, (v.1)the Word, was with God, distinct from the Father; and also that the Word was Godpart of the same deity. They share an identity of being; like the Father, Jesus is fully divine. The Apostle writes in verse 2 that the Father and the Son were in relationship with each other. Additionally, Jesus, the WORD, was the agent of Creation (v.3). God the Father planned it; but all things came into being through the words Jesus spoke. The WORD is life”the Life force.” Life comes to us not just through Him; in fact, His life is our light. Physically, we cannot live without light. Spiritually, His life enlightens (brings light into) ours. In John 8:12 Jesus saysI am the light of the world. As if to reinforce this notion, the 3rd verse of “Silent Night” statesSon of God, Love’s pure light, radiant beams from Thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth….

Jesus came to dispel the darkness of unbelief, sin, death, oppression, and bondage. Even though He made us, some of us will–and have– refused to believe in Him. In our rebellion, some of us (what John calls the world) will reject Him and the freedom He offers. But to those of us who have received Him (v.10)–we who have accepted His gift of Himself–He has given another gift: the right to become children of God! We are not biological heirs, not heirs through any human effort; instead, we are spiritual children of God, through Christ’s blood and the Father’s will.

In verse 14, John famously assertsThe WORD became flesh and made His dwelling among us! This is a break with all non-Christian thought: The agent of creation becomes a creature. Peterson describes it this way (The Message, p.1916)

The WORD became flesh and blood

And moved into the neighborhood.

We saw the glory with our own eyes,

The one-of-a-kind glory,

Like Father, like Son,

Generous inside and out,

True from start to finish.

Jesus came to demonstrate to us, in the flesh and through His behavior, the Father’s nature. He is God revealing God: (1) Behaviorally, (2) Relationally,

(3) Intellectually, and (4) Spiritually. He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Healer, our Good Shepherd, our King. Our response to Him must go beyond intellectual agreement! We need to be in a personal relationship with Him.

We need to accept God’s Perfect Gift.

C. Our Psalm (98) anticipates Jesus’ 1st Coming and urges us to celebrate Him with great joy.

D. Our Isaiah (52:7-10) lesson anticipates Jesus’ 2nd Coming with the same excitement and joy.

James, the brother of Jesus, wrote (1:17)Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. This Christmas, let us remember that God the Father has given us the Perfect Gift, His Son, Jesus Christ. Even if there are no gifts for you under your Christmas tree, God has generously sent Jesus into your life. Because of this, we are truly blessed!

Because of God’s perfect gift of Jesus, we can state the following with confidence (please repeat after me) (Borrrowed from Joel Osteen’s The Power of I Am, Faith Works, 2015):

1. “I am forgiven. I am redeemed. I am wearing a robe of righteousness. I am clothed in Christ” (p.42).

2. “God promised me beauty for ashes, joy for mourning. I’m not staying here. I’m moving forward. New beginnings are in my future. The rest of my life will be the best of my life” (p.41).

3. “I have grace for this season. I am strong in the Lord. Those who are for me are greater than those who are against me” (p.41).

4. “I am getting stronger, healthier, wiser. My youth is being renewed like the eagles” (p.38).

5. “I am free. Addictions do not control me” (p.39).

6. “I am blessed. I am prosperous. I have the favor of God” (p.38).

7. Sickness, addiction, poverty, you are temporary. I am a child of the Most High God. I am overcoming you,” by the blood of the Lamb of God (p.44).

Jesus is the gift that just keeps giving! 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

Saying “Yes” but Living “No”

Pastor Sherry’s message for October 1, 2023

Scriptures: Ex 17:1-7; Ps 78:1-4, 12-20; Phil 2:1-13; Matt 21:23-32

Isn’t it true that we see lots of examples today of folks who have said “Yes” to something or someone, then proceeded to live like they’d said “No”? Some current day examples include the following:

1. A college football player who signs on for a scholarship—including room, board, books, tuition, fitness training, tutoring, and other benefits—then refuses to go to class, to comply with his training regimen, to attend team meetings, or respect his coach.

2. Federal judges who take a vow to uphold the constitution, then bring in verdicts based on their political loyalties.

3. A husband or wife who promises to be faithful to their spouse in their marriage ceremony, then has affairs with others, often including other peoples’ spouses.

4. A money manager/investment specialist who promises to care for your retirement assets, then either invests them unwisely so that they are lost, or steals them to support their own greed.

5. Teachers who train to ethically convey a body of knowledge to our kids, who then try to indoctrinate them into their gender politics or political beliefs.

6. A “Border Czar” who says our Southern Border is secure while letting in millions of illegal immigrants.

7. Doctors who withhold critical information prior to surgery—like “You’ll be on meds the rest of your life,” or “This artificial joint will need to be replaced in 10-20 years”–or who perform surgeries/prescribe treatments that harm rather than heal (e.g., gender reassignment surgery in children).

You can no doubt think of other examples.

Nevertheless, this kind of behavior is abhorrent to our God. He really hates lying, fraud, cheating, willfully misrepresenting, and so many disreputable behaviors we see all too often today. He has shown us in Scripture how He wants us to behave.

Our Scripture passages today each point out in some way the very different standards by which our God urges us to act:

A. Jesus addresses, in today’s Gospel (Matthew 21:23-32), a specific kind of integrity that He and our Heavenly Father want us to practice: Neither is kindly disposed toward those who say “Yes” to God but then live like they have said “No.” He takes the chief priests and the elders—the religious establishment—to school in this passage. He knows that they have become more and more threatened by His popularity, His healings and His miracles, and the content of His teaching. They jump on this opportunity to confront Him publically regarding the source of His authority. They are saying essentially, “What gives you the right to challenge our teachings and the way we tell folks how they should live?”

We might restate what they are saying as “Who died and put You in charge?” Or, “Who do You think You are?”

He wisely side-steps their challenge (He doesn’t dance their dance-steps or play their game). If He had said He is God or that His authority comes from God, they would have charged Him with blasphemy. As in tennis, then, He sends the ball back into their court saying, ”I’ll answer you if you answer a question for me.” Verse 25John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men? If they agreed John the Baptist’s authority came from God, then they would have had to have admitted they were disobedient to God because they dismissed the prophet (Jesus said John was the greatest of all the prophets) as a wild-eyed religious nut and discredited his ministry. But they were afraid to put down John the Baptist in front of the Jewish crowd because he had been very popular with the people. Jesus thus puts them on the proverbial horns of a dilemma; His question positioned them between a rock and a hard place. Realizing this, they refused to answer Him and so He traps them and essentially says, “back at you, Friends!”

The real lesson from Jesus is contained in the parable He goes on to relate. One son says “No” then lives out “Yes,” while the other says “Yes” but lives out “No.” In verse 31, Jesus asks His religious adversaries the indicting question🡪Which of the two did what His father wanted?

They correctly answered that it was the one who said “no” first, then behaved obediently/walked out “yes.” He then points out to them that they have missed the proverbial boat. They have said “yes” they would serve God, but their behavior consistently demonstrates that they do not listen to or obey Him. They have followed their own wills, not the will of the Father. They have become religious judges and critics rather than servants of God who demonstrate the Lord’s love and grace. Their pride and their hardened hearts have led them to say “No” to God. But tax collectors and prostitutes—folks they despise (those who may have originally blown God off, only to accept Him when they realized they couldn’t manage life without Him)–are way ahead of them in their faith journeys. The chief priests and the elders have their credentials; but their lives lack faith in and understanding of the God they claim they serve.

B. Paul, in today’s epistle (Philippians 2:1-13), directs us specifically to live out a lifestyle of humility, caring for others as well as self, and having “the mind of Christ;” i.e., to say “Yes” and then live “Yes.” We say “Yes” to God and live out our “Yes” by having what Paul calls the mind of Christ. This is not just an imitation of Jesus. Instead it is a real life change, a real heart change, a consistent behavior change accomplished in us by the Holy Spirit.

Eugene Peterson paraphrases verses 1-2 in The Message (p.2138) this way: If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if His love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think back to our recent experience with Hurricane Idalia. One unexpected result of the loss of electricity was that traffic lights did not work. Without the lights, we should have treated each intersection as a 4-way stop, all drivers taking turns so that each could proceed through safely. Instead, many only thought of themselves and barreled on through. Until the lights were restored through generator power, we took our lives in our hands whenever we approached an intersection. Many people today are unwilling to consider…helping others get ahead. All too often they are …obsessed the getting [their] own advantage. Having the mind of Christ also means being as humble and as obedient as Jesus was and is. It means saying “Yes” to God and living out that “yes.”

C. Our OT lesson (Exodus 17:1-7) provides yet another example of how believers can and do say “Yes” but live out “No.”

How patient God is! How frustrated Moses became! Prior to today’s passage, God has rescued the people from Egypt, opened the Red Sea, wiped out the pursuing Egyptian army, fed them manna and quail, and provided them with water, several times over. Yet they still complain and whine and quarrel. They accuse God of bringing them into the desert to die. They remember their recent history as slaves with fondness—What? It defies logic! But isn’t it just like us? We forget what God has done for us in the face of our most recent pressing need. They should have prayed and trusted that God—who has provided for them many times over—would continue to do so. Instead they fail God’s test of them (Massah or testing) and quarrel (Meribah or quarreling) and the geographic place is named accordingly to memorialize this rebellion.

The same principle remains true for you and me. We need to trust in our God. We need to say “Yes” to Him, and live out our “Yes” to Him because He has proven Himself and His good intentions for us over and over.

D. This is the prevailing message of our psalm today (Psalm 78:1-4, 12-20). Credited to Asaph, it records the historical record of how God’s people, from Abraham to Moses, repeatedly demonstrated “practical atheism.” Dr. J. Vernon McGee says we demonstrate practical atheism when we say we believe in God, and we believe God’s promises, but then act as though we cannot trust Him. The psalm reports the marvelous things God did for His people, as well as how quickly they forgot their past experiences with Him when faced with a new dilemma. They were believers who said “Yes,” but—when encountering a tough patch—acted out “No.”

Let’s agree today not to do this to God. We don’t want to be “practical atheists.” We don’t want to be hypocrites, saying we believe, then living like we don’t. We want to live like we believe God is who He says He is and that He does what He promises He will do. We also want to cooperate with the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to have the mind of Christ. Let’s put our new intentions to work immediately by praying that the Holy Spirit would give us each the mind of Christ. 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

Render to God

Pastor Sherry’s message for October 22, 2023

Scriptures: Ex 33:12-23; Ps 99; 1 Thess 1:1-10, Matt 22:15-22

Today’s Gospel (Matt 22:15-22) recounts another confrontation between Jesus and Jewish leaders. The story is told that a…young woman…”was soaking up the sun’s rays on a Florida beach when a little boy in his swimming trunks, carrying a towel, came up to her and asked her, “Do you believe in God?” She was surprised by the question but she replied, “Why, yes, I do.” Then he asked her: “Do you go to church every Sunday?” Again, her answer was “Yes!” He then asked: “Do you read your Bible and pray every day?” Again she said, “Yes!” By now her curiosity was very much aroused. The little boy sighed with relief and said, “Will you hold my [dollar] while I go in swimming?” (As relayed by http://www.Sermons.com, 10/22/2023.)

This child was wisely trying to discover if the young woman was trust-worthy and honest enough for him to entrust her with his cash. But in our Gospel lesson today, the Pharisees and Herodians (a political party loyal to King Herod) were neither wise nor honest. They were unwilling to put their trust in Jesus. They really weren’t even all that interested in his input on an issue of doctrine. They were, in fact, hoping to trip Him up and make Him look bad enough to arrest.

If He supported paying a hated tax—and it was hated—they figured He could not have been their Messiah. Additionally, the coin used to pay the tax, a dinar, had Caesar’s image on it. Jews weren’t allowed to put the likeness of a human face on their coins—so this was already an offense to them. Even worse, the inscription on the coin declared that Caesar was the “Son of God” and “High Priest.” They firmly believed their Messiah would never condone such coinage. However, if He told them not to pay the tax, they could turn Him over to Rome as an instigator of rebellion. To defy Rome in those days usually led to painful death.

But Jesus is absolutely brilliant in His answer, isn’t He? He points out that the coin has Caesar’s image on it. Then without committing Himself to either choice they provided, He simply tells them to render (give or deliver) to Caesar what belongs to him and to God, what belongs to Him. Now the Romans had provided a unified coinage, good roads, and law and order throughout the empire. In other words, Jesus is saying that citizens should be expected to pay Caesar for such perks.

But, what has God provided them/us? How about life, for starters? A beautiful world in which to live? Skills and talents with which to make our way in this world? Family, friends, a nation to provide us with a sense of identity, and a sense of belonging in community? And let us not forget, Someone much bigger and more powerful than us to both give us standards to live by, and provide Himself as a divine entity to Whom we may direct our love and worship? Jesus raises the issue of what we should render to God, but He doesn’t specify His answer in this Gospel lesson, does He?

I think a case can be made that our other passages today provide some answers:

A. In our Old Testament lesson, Exodus 33:12-23, Moses expresses to God his wish to know Him (to see Him). We know Moses met with Him on the mountain top to receive the 10 Commandments, additional laws, and the design for the Tabernacle (Chapters 20-31). Did he see God up there? Not exactly. John 1:18 tells us that no one has ever seen God. So Who did Moses see whenever he visited the tabernacle to meet with the Lord? In John 14:9, Jesus says, Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. Jesus is the full revelation of the Father in human form. So, Moses was meeting with the Pre-incarnate Son of God, Jesus (in the Old Testament, He is often called “the Angel of the Lord”—not “an angel” but “the Angel”).

One verse before our lesson today reports The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Moses spoke with Jesus but did not see the face of the Father. In this passage, however, Moses expresses a desire to see the Father, face-to-face. He wants to know the Father more intimately. This is what Paul means when he says in Philippians 3:10—>I want to know Christ…. This is what Philip was referring to when he asked Jesus in John 14:8, Lord, show us the Father…. Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee writes (Commentary on Exodus, chapters 19-40, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.120)—>”I believe every sincere child of God has a desire to know God.”

Now consider the Father’s response to Moses (v.20)—>You cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live. He is going to pass before Moses, but He will shield the man from viewing His face.

Instead, Moses will see God “in his rearview mirror.” In other words, Moses has asked to become very intimate with God and the Lord has allowed it.

What does this mean to us? It means that if we pursue friendship with God as Moses did, our God will allow us this kind of intimacy with Himself.

We can render to God a desire to know Him intimately, to walk with Him daily, and to talk with Him often.

B. Psalm 99 celebrates God’s kingly might and His holiness. It calls upon all believers to praise the Lord. We are to praise Him because

1.) He reigns and is exalted over all the earth;

2.) He is holy and reigns justly. He does what is right, always.

(Wouldn’t we love to see this in our elected officials at all levels?)

3.) He answers prayers.

4.) He is present to His people of old and to us now.

5.) He forgives our sins, yet punishes us when we deserve it.

Verse 6 admonishes us to Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy. The psalm reminds us to render to our God worship and praise.

C. Paul commends the infant church in Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 1:1-10), for living out the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love. They had turned from idolatry to faith in Christ Jesus. This was their work produced by faith (v.3). They experienced considerable persecution for their faith, but persevered regardless. Second, they labored for the faith because of their love for Jesus (and Paul). Love compelled their obedience to God (and to Paul’s teachings about Jesus). Love for God is expressed by us in our obedience to Him. Third, despite persecution by nonbelievers, their endurance [was] inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (v.3). Their hope was in Jesus’ 2nd Coming—so is ours! Their hope did not reside in human heroes, political movements, presidential candidates, or the alignment of the stars, etc. It rested firmly on Jesus.

Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer once stated, “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.” The British poet, Alexander Pope, wrote, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” Our own statesman and past president, Thomas Jefferson, said, “I steer my bark [small boat] with hope in the head [God], leaving fear astern [behind].” Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish philosopher (1795-1881), asserted, “Man is, properly speaking, based upon hope, he has no other possession but hope, this world of his is emphatically the place of hope.”

So, like the infant church in Thessalonica, we can render to God…our faith in Him; our love expressed in obedience to Him and in loving gestures to others; and in our continued hope—despite the current world situation–in Jesus’ 2nd coming, when He will make all things right.

So what shall we render (give or deliever) to God? Render to God our desire for intimacy with Him. Today, if you use the term intimacy, many people would assume this is meant in a sexual sense which would be abhorrent to God. Instead, I am referring to intimacy in the emotional and spiritual sense–coming to know God as well as you do your spouse, your children, or your best friend. Render to God sincere worship and praise for His power, righteousness, mercy, grace, and love. Render to God faith, love, and hope. Amen! May it be so!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Christ, our Shepherd King

Pastor Sherry’s message for November 26, 2023

Scriptures: Eze 34:11-16, 20-24; Ps 95:1-7a; Eph 1:15-23; Matt 25:31-46

I love funny signs. Here are a few I’ve shared with you in years past and some new ones seen recently. Given it’s deer hunting season, we can appreciate these signs hung on property fences:

1. No hunting; No fishing; No nothing! Go home!

2. No trespassing! Violator will be shot; survivors will be shot again!

3. No trespassing! We’re tired of hiding the bodies.

How about these warning signs?

1. High voltage. Do not touch. Not only will this kill you, it will hurt the whole time you are dying.

2. Unattended children will be given an energy drink and a free puppy.

3. (I need this sign for my yard, since I feed 7 strays on my front porch.) No dumping cats! $750 fine and/or 90 days in jail. But, Hey! I’ll pray for you!

4. My personal favorite: Warning! If you think you can run across this pasture in 10 seconds, Don’t! The bull can do it in 9.

Finally, just for fun:

1. “Thank you for noticing this new notice. Your noticing has been noted and will be reported to the authorities.”

2. “Please do not throw your cigarette butts on the ground. The chickens come out at night and smoke them and we are trying to get them to quit.”

3. A sign outside a coffee shop: “Small coffee,” $5.00; “Small coffee, Please,” $3.00; “Hello, one small coffee, please” with a smile, $1.50.

4. On an infant’s onesie: “I just did 9 months on the inside; my parents are now in for life.”

Today we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. Our readings seem to progress, in a crescendo-like movement, like signs directing us to recognize and celebrate Christ as our Shepherd King.

A. In Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24—God tells us through the prophet that Jesus is our True Shepherd. The false prophets, idolatrous kings, and weak, compromised religious leaders of Israel and Judah have done a miserable job of shepherding God’s people. They have not fed the people on the Word of God; helped the sick; brought back the strays; or loved God’s people. God the Father is fed up with their ineptitude, their selfishness, their failures to protect His people, and their outright abuse of them. He says He will restore the flock and remove the selfish and self-focused shepherds. He will replace them with someone much superior.

So, this chapter contains a prophesy of Jesus. God will appoint Him as their True Shepherd (vv.23-24) I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David [it won’t be David himself, but Jesus from the lineage of David], and He will tend them; He will tend them and be their shepherd. I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David [Jesus] will be prince among them. I the lord have spoken. In other words, about 550 years before Jesus’ birth, and about 450 years after King David’s death, God is telling His people that an earthly king is coming who will rule wisely and justly. They needed Him and we need Him because most of our human leaders—whether religious or political–have been dismal failures. As Scripture says, He will be the One Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the True Shepherd. Like His forefather, King David, Jesus will be a shepherd-king.

B. Psalm 95 is a song of joy and praise! (v.2)—Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and EXTOL [praise, worship] Him with music and song. Why? Because He is our Creator, our Maker, and the Rock of our Salvation. And in verse 7—For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the flock under His care [the sheep of His hand]. Again, we need God—and to be grateful to Him—because He watches over us/guards us like a Good Shepherd. Thus, we can worry less, risk more, and sleep better.

C. In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul’s prayer is for the church at Ephesus, a church noted for its faith and love. He is not praying for material blessings for them. Instead, he wants them to have spiritual blessings: (1) to depend on the Holy Spirit for wisdom and revelation, so they will better understand God’s Word; (2) and for their spiritual eyes to be opened so that they will have hope; they will become aware of their spiritual inheritance because of Christ Jesus (adopted children of God and inheritors of heaven due to Jesus’ work on the Cross); and they will appreciate the exceeding and abundant power of the Holy Spirit—and call upon the Spirit to use this marvelous power in their behalf.

Then he declares that God the Father has made Jesus the Head (or shepherd) over everything! We, the Church, are the Body of Christ. God the Father planned for us; God the Son paid for us with His blood; and God the Holy Spirit empowers and protects us. Again, Jesus is our Good Shepherd.

D. Matthew 25:31-46—Reiterates that, at the end of time, King Jesus will assume the throne of this world. He will then judge the nations of this world (individuals too). God calls us all His sheep. There are two types of sheep: (1) the Saved—those who believe in Jesus and try to live according to His will; and (2) the Lost—those who reject Jesus and live life according to their own will. We only have to look around our world today to see examples of dictators who reject Christ and act as they are laws unto themselves. Folks like Putin of Russia and Ji Jinping of China appear to be among the Lost, especially as Ji has apparently taken it upon himself to rewrite the Bible. What hubris!

Then there are goats—whole nations (ethnos in the Greek) who have rejected Jesus. We recognize Christians by their love. In the Roman colony of Carthage in North Africa, in the second century, there was an extensive plague. Political and religious leaders took off and left the sick behind to tend themselves or to die. Furthermore, unwanted girl babies were abandoned left exposed on the garbage heaps outside the city. But the Christians of Carthage stayed behind to nurse the sick and to rescue the babies. They risked their own health. They did what no usual Roman citizen would. Carthaginian citizens were so astonished by the compassion and love of their Christian neighbors that many came to believe in Jesus as well.

Similarly, non-Christians are and will be defined by their lack of love, their lack of compassion. What kind of government builds weapons and arms but allows their people to suffer hunger? What kind of government uses noncombatant women, the elderly, and children as shields in military fights? What kind of government shoots to kill citizens trying to escape their cruelty? We can identify goats by their behavior. It is not our place to judge, but unless they undergo a heartfelt and radical change to the good, they are lost. I read recently that some of the religious authorities of Hamas told the terrorists, prior to their October 7th raid into Israel, that Allah would overlook their cruelty and barbaric treatment of Israeli women and children. What kind of god would authorize such inhumane behavior? Such people seem to resemble the kinds of folks to whom Jesus said (v.45)—I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

The signs are all there. Thank God, Jesus is our Shepherd King. The ancient Israelites needed Him. We need Him now. And we will need Him om the future. Christ our King is a mighty and a competent shepherd. We can trust in Him to care for us. We are safe in His arms.

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

Both/And

Pastor Sherry’s message for October 29, 2023

Scriptures: Deut 334:1-12; Ps 90:1-6, 12-17; 1 Thess 2:1-8; Matt 22:34-46

The story is told that…

“Isidor Isaac Rabi, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics, and one of the developers of the atomic bomb, was once asked how he became a scientist. Rabi replied that every day after school his mother would talk to him about his school day. She wasn’t so much interested in what he had learned that day, but how he conducted himself in his studies. She always inquired, ‘Did you ask a good question today?’

“‘Asking good questions,’ Rabi said, ‘made me become a scientist.’

“In order to ask a good question I think you need to have noble motives behind the question. You have to want to know the truth. The Pharisees, by contrast, already had the answers to their questions. They felt they already knew the truth. How many times have we had it in for someone, asking a question designed to trap them? We do it to our loved ones all the time. In a moment like this we are not trying to learn; we are trying to injure.

“The Pharisees come to Jesus once again with a question designed to do damage to the reputation of Jesus. And once again Jesus proves he is equal to the task. Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? Now, even though this question was used to test Jesus, it is nonetheless an important question. Perhaps in the life of Israel at that time [and in our lifetime today] it was THE most important question.

(Excerpt from a sermon titled “The Two Most Important Questions a Christian Can Answer” as posted on www.sermons.com, 10/29/2023.)

Jesus’ answer to their question came from the Old Testament:

Believing Jews knew the first part, love God above all things, came from Deuteronomy 6:4-5. It was part of the Shema, which believing Jews recite daily 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 [might; mind]. The second, love others as you do yourself, comes from Leviticus 19:18—>Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Jesus combined these two and pointed out (v.40) that—> All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. The Pharisees and their buddies, the lawyers who specialized in interpreting the Law, counted 613 laws handed down by Moses. Jesus summarized them all into these two, both/and. They are also represented in the shape of the Cross. The vertical is our love for God; the horizontal, our love for others. Furthermore, Jesus strongly asserts that all the Law is based on God’s love for them, as was every action and teaching of each Old Testament prophet. WOW!

Knowing they had set out to stump and to discredit Him, Jesus then turns the tables on them, asking them a riddle: (v.42)—>What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He? They correctly answer that the Messiah comes from the lineage of King David. Now, He’s got them! “How can Messiah be both David’s son and David’s master?” He’s doing a twist on “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” Remember, a crowd was watching and listening to this debate. Many were no doubt delighted to hear Jesus turn the tables, saying in essence,”two can play this game.”

Jesus, God’s Word made flesh, clearly knows His Scripture. He refers them to Psalm 110:1, which He recites from memory—>The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” Perhaps the Pharisees and lawyers did not know that Jesus was, through His mother Mary, a descendant of King David, making Him, in effect, David’s-many-generations-later son. Perhaps they did not believe His Father was God, through the Holy Spirit, making Him the Son of God and King David’s Master. He was and is both fully human and also fully divine.

Notice, this ends the public debate. The lawyers and Pharisees have no answer for Him. As the English Anglican Bishop, NT Wright says, “The answer the opponents couldn’t question was followed by the question they couldn’t answer.” (N.T. Wright, Matthew for Everyone: Part Two, Westminister John Knox Press, 2002, p.93.) If nothing else, this should have proven that Jesus knew and understood Scripture better than they did!

How humiliating for them! At this point, they stop trying to trip Him up in public. Now they will plot a clandestine attack, at night, in the Garden.

But let’s return to the biggest point His enemies missed: The answer to Jesus’ question of them was standing right before them, both David’s son and David’s master! Moreover, He will soon demonstrate the two greatest commandments, through His arrest, crucifixion, and death. He both loved His Heavenly Father enough to give up His life in order to do God’s will. And He loved us enough to take upon Himself the penalty for all of our sins, for all time, past, present, and future. This is extravagant love, poured out on both the vertical and the horizontal plains of the Cross. Again, as N.T. Wright writes, Jesus reveals that He is both King David’s descendant, “the true king of Israel,” and King David’s Lord and Master (Ibid, p.94).

We know the Jews were expecting a militaristic Messiah, a king who, like King David, would defeat all their earthly enemies. The book of Revelation promises us that when Jesus comes a second time, He will indeed arrive as such a conquering monarch. He will eradicate the enemies of God. He will once and for all eliminate sin and death. But in His first coming, He lived out humility and human servanthood. A military Messiah would be unlikely to inspire us to love God or to love others, especially those we dislike. Instead, God the Father knew we needed a humble, righteous, grace-filled and loving Messiah to both teach and to model for us what it looks like to love God and to love others as ourselves.

A unique and modern way of looking at it is that our suffering servant Messiah took on Satan in unarmed combat on the Cross and won! This is a king worth worshipping!

G. K. Chesterton, the famous British author and satirist, said 100 years ago—>“Jesus…tells us to love our neighbors. Elsewhere the Bible tells us Jesus said we should love our enemies. This is because, generally speaking, they are the same people” (repeated from an old sermon of mine in which, unfortunately, I did not cite the source— Sorry! But I do believe the quote is accurate.) The truth is that it is easier to love God than to love our neighbors—especially the irritating ones, or worse yet, the dangerous, sadistic, cruel, and immoral ones. We can do it, but we must be intentional about it. We begin by praying for them, again and again. We continually offer grace to them, just as Jesus has to us. We do not allow them to harm us—we can protect ourselves—but we try to act in a Christ-like manner toward them. As I have related to you before, my step-father (now deceased) was physically and verbally abusive to me during my childhood. I feared him as a child and this fear stayed with me long into my adulthood. I would not visit him and my mother without my own transportation—if things got dangerous, I wanted to have a means of escape. I had forgiven him but I did not trust him for years after I had left to be on my own. We can forgive but also protect ourselves from being re-victimized.

Our Gospel lesson today illustrates for us that Jesus was/is certainly a brilliant debater! He knows His stuff! He even knows His enemies’ motives, and beats them at their own game. He also walked His talk. Unlike His religious opponents, He was not a hypocrite. He meant what He said and said what He meant. I taught my first group of high school seniors in 1970. My wonderful principal—who mentored me as a new teacher—told me to always say what I meant and mean what I said. Especially around classroom discipline, she advised me to never threaten a disciplinary action I was unwilling to carry out. She also warned me that there would always be at least one student who would challenge whether or not I meant it by breaking the rule. She was right, just as Jesus was right.

Jesus truly knew what it meant both to love God above all things—including His own life–and to love us. May we all, by the power of the Holy Spirit, come to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength. And may we also learn to love our neighbors at least as well as we love ourselves.

Amen! May it be so!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams