Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Correct Assessments

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 21, 2021

Scriptures: Jer 31: 31–34; Ps 51: 1–10; Heb 5: 1–10; John 12: 20-33

Do you remember a Scottish woman named Susan Boyle? She appeared on an English TV program called Britain’s Got Talent in 2001. She wowed the skeptical judges with her stunning rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables.

You may remember that she looked fairly frumpy; both the audience and the judges were cynical and dismissive, until she began to sing! Then they were awed and astonished. She has since gone on to improve her appearance and create award-winning albums.

Susan’s story proves the adage that we should not judge a book by its cover. Psychological research on perception says that we tend to size a person up in five seconds. We decided we would or would not like them based on very little information. We take more time than this to buy a car or rent an apartment. This makes it easier for us to quickly move on to other things but it also results in some misperceptions and erroneous assumptions.

Thankfully, our God has much more information on people and events than we do, and never makes some wrong assessment. His assessments are always correct!

Let’s start with our Jeremiah passage. Just prior to the passage, God says through His prophet to the Israelites, I have loved you with an everlasting love. God is foretelling the day when he will call all the Jews who are scattered throughout the world back to Israel. He will make a new covenant with them. Instead of abandoning them due to their unwillingness to except His son as Messiah, He will write his law upon their hearts. Instead of punishing them for turning away from Jesus, He will claim them to Himself again. As Peterson translates it, “they will no longer go about setting up schools to teach each other about God. They’ll know me first hand, the dull and the bright, the smart and the slow. I’ll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I’ll forget they ever sinned.”

We should rightfully expect judgment, but instead we get mercy, grace, forgiveness, and that everlasting love only God radiates. How surprising! How wonderful! How humble and grateful we should be that God assesses us and still desires to be in close relationship with us all.

Psalm 51: 1–13 is King David’s great penitential Psalm. He has broken the sixth, seventh, and tenth commandments. He had set up Uriah, a loyal bodyguard, to be murdered so that he could claim his wife, with whom he had had an adulterous relationship. And he kept quiet about his massive sins, only to suffer torment he was highly anxious and miserable.

When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became day long groans. The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up.

The writer to the Hebrews (4:13) observes nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Sure enough, God dispatches the prophet Nathan to confront him in story form. David could’ve lied and blown Nathan off. Like many absolute rulers, he could’ve had him killed. But in a plot twist from what one might have expected from any other ancient Middle Eastern king, David admits his guilt—he takes responsibility.

  • For his transgressions—Stepping over God’s boundaries, he transgressed against Bathsheba, Uriah, and to his family. He was a poor example to his sons and to his nation.
  • For his iniquities— those things that are grossly immoral and thoroughly wrong: adultery, murder, covetousness.
  • For sins— failure to meet God‘s standards.

However, David does provide a good model for us in this Psalm. He admits his sins, transgressions, and iniquities; he begs God‘s forgiveness, and he asks God to transform him by the power of his Holy Spirit. In today’s “cancel culture,” David would be toast. His life and his legacy would be ruined. But our God loved his heart, took pity on him, and forgave him. I don’t know about you, but this is the kind of correct assessment I would prefer God had of me.

Hebrews 5:5-10 is making it clear to us that Jesus is our great high priest. But he’s from the tribe of Judah, not descended from Aaron, nor a member of the Levites the priestly clan. However, given God’s correct assessment, the Father defines Jesus as our high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is first mentioned in Genesis 14. He congratulates Abraham on his victory against four pagan kings and blesses Abraham in the name of the Most High God. As king of Salem, he gives Abraham bread and wine. Then Abraham awards him a tithe.

John 12 2333, some Greeks come to ask Jesus their questions. As outsiders they were consigned to the court of the Gentiles in the temple and could not be present to hear Jesus teach. They approach Phillip, perhaps because his name is Greek, who with Andrew bring them to Jesus’ attention. Jesus, knowing He is soon facing the cross, meets with them briefly. We don’t know what the Greeks expect or want to ask. But Jesus reiterates He is going to die.

A millennium later (Psalms 110:4), David speaks prophetically of a priest and king to whom he would bow, Jesus the Messiah. Today’s passage from Hebrews, written just after Christ’s Ascension, asserts that Jesus is a high priest from the order of Melchizedek, a higher order than the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood. Speaking God’s truth and accurately predicting His death, resurrection, and the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus was a prophet in His earthly ministry. He will come again in glory as the universal king. And here we learn Jesus is our great high priest.

The kernel that falls to the ground but results are much fruit and many other seeds

He knows he’s going to the cross and it’s going to be very painful. He doesn’t want to, but he will. For the third time, God speaks encouragement to him. He will be lifted up as His followers hope, but on a cross not to a kingly throne…yet. Nevertheless, over hundreds of years, has He not drawn millions to Him?

So often our God does the opposite of what we might expect, or even what we wish Him to do, so how might we deal with this? We might want to remember that God’s assessments are always correct. We tend to trust in our own perceptions. Experience tells us we are sometimes—maybe even often—wrong. Nevertheless, we worship a God who is always accurate in his assessments.

Are we going to trust in our own perceptions or in God’s accurate assessments?

Proverbs 3:5– trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Proverbs 28-26– he who trust in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.

Prayer:

Lord, help us to put our trust in you, even above ourselves and our own perceptions, judgments, and assessments. Help us to rightly discern the truth and to live lives that are pleasing in Your sight. We pray this in the mighty, compassionate, grace-filled, and always accurate name of Your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Copyright 2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The Saving Power of God

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 14, 2021

Scriptures: Num 21:4-9; Ps 107:1-3, 17-22; Eph 2:1-10; Jn 3:14-21

Stories are told—true stories—of both Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria pardoning someone who had incurred the death penalty. In Queen Elizabeth’s case, the queen was traveling by barge on July 17, 1579. Not realizing her majesty was cruising through the area, a young man named Thomas Appletree was firing off shots into the air to impress his friends. Unfortunately for him, one of his bullets came within 6 feet of the queen, seriously wounding one of her rowers. The queen offered encouragement to the wounded man while young Appletree was summarily arrested by her guards and later condemned to death. Just as Appletreewas being led to the gallows, however, a pardon arrived from the queengraciously sparing his life. We don’t know her motivations. Perhaps she realized it had been a careless accident, “no harm, no foul.” Or maybe she had an appreciation for the folly of youth. Whatever the case, she let the guy go free.

In Queen Victoria’s case (just 18 years old when she came to the throne in 1837), she was asked to sign some documents, one of which concerned the execution of a criminal. She was reluctant to do this and asked, “And must I be a party to his death?” The Prime Minister answered, “I fear it is so, unless Your Majesty desires to exercise her royal prerogative of mercy.” In a surprising move for someone so young and so new to power, she responded, “As an expression of the spirit in which I desire to rule, I will exercise my royal prerogative.” She wrote, “Pardoned” on the document, and the man was freed.

​In both examples, neither fellow to be executed had any power to save himself.  Instead, both were pardoned by the sovereign authority—really by the saving grace–of God and of his compassionate monarch.

​Our scripture lessons today all attest to the saving power ​of our God:

Numbers 21:4-9 Recounts the 8th and final incidence of the Israelites grumbling against God during their desert wanderings.

No doubt they were tired of trudging across desert terrain, of the unchanging wilderness landscape, and of the food—marvelous though it was! Even a daily ration of steak or lobster would lose its appeal if that were all we had to eat.  So, they declare (v.5)àWe detest this miserable food. Despite the fact that it tasted good (like honey and coriander); was so nutritious that they had no diseases, cancers, or flues for 40 years; and they didn’t have to produce it by digging or hunting. They simply had to gather the flakes from the ground each morning.  Falsely asserting that they had it so good back in Egypt, they grumble one too many times.

Their behavior is what we might call “snarky,” or “snaky,” and certainly demonstrated a lack of gratitude to God. So, in an apt judgment for their lack of appreciation, the Lord sets loose poisonous snakes among them. No doubt these snakes bit the worst of the complainers first, and then struck fear into everyone else. (I mean, think of it! No chairs in the desert to jump up on to get away. No guns to shoot the things! YIKES!) But, when they beg Moses for help, God also graciously provides a curious snake-bite remedy: He has Moses fashion a snake out of bronze and affix it to a wooden pole, which he raises up so it can be seen. He then tells them that if they are bitten, they can look upon the snake on the pole and be healed.

This incident and God’s antidote are actually a foreshadowing, or a typology of Jesus: The snake represents the peoples’ sins, ingratitude and rebellion. The snake—sin–is nailed to tree, branch, or cross. (In the Hebrew, all three words are the same. Any portion of a tree, even a twig, was called a tree.) Jesus, on the Cross, exchanges our sins for His right-standing with God the Father.

Today’s Gospel, John 3:14-15, references and interprets this Old Testament event. Jesus says, Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. In other words, as Jesus explains to the Pharisee Nicodemus–and to us–it will be/was necessary for Him to go to the Cross and to die for our sins. We are set free of the penalty for our sins (death) by looking on Jesus with eyes of faith.

John goes on to say, (3:16) For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Notice it says that God loves all, but only saves those who believe in Jesus. Under the Old Covenant, we paid the price for our own sins. We raised or purchased an animal for sacrifice. Our sins were transferred to that animal, which the priest then slaughtered in our presence and burned on the altar. We left sin-free until we sinned again and had to do the same thing over and over. But under the New Covenant, we are forever saved by the power of God through our faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. Please don’t miss the symbolism: Sin (not Jesus) is the snake! But through Jesus, our sin is nailed to the Cross of Christ–nothing else has to die and we are pardoned.

In Ephesians 2:1-10 Paul wants us to be mindful of the fact that we have no power, within ourselves, to save ourselves. Just like the two Brits who were saved by the two young queens, we are guilty of being sinners.

Paul writes, (verses 1-3, Peterson’s The Message) It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose His temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Some scholars believe that, without Jesus, we are all failures, spiritual zombies, lacking any ability to bring ourselves back to life.

But the great Good News is that (v.5)àInstead [of doing away with or executing us], immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He [God] embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on His own, with no help from us! Or, as Paul goes on to explain in verses 8-9 (NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works so that no one can boast.

Another of my heroes of the Christian faith is Martin Luther, the German reformer in the 1500’s. He had an exacting, critical father who wanted him to be a lawyer. Luther aspired to be a Catholic priest instead.

To his father’s huge disappointment, he did get ordained, but suffered from depression—probably somewhat due to having never received his earthly father’s approval. Luther feared he could never be good enough to please God. It is recorded that he read verses 8-9 in Ephesians 2 one day and had a “Eureka moment!” He realized he didn’t have to work so hard to attain God’s favor. No daily confessions–apparently he had attended confession 2-3 times a day trying to overcome his sinfulness. No repeated praying of the rosary day after day and no need to beat himself with a hand-held whip to atone. Instead, he finally realized that God the Father is not like his continually disapproving earthly father. Because of his faith in Christ Jesus, he had God’s favor. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we have God’s favor.

Again, Peterson paraphrases Paul so beautifully here (vv.4-7) Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all His idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. God loves us, but His holiness and His perfect justice require that we confess our sins to and verbalize our need for Him. He has the power and the grace to then forgive us due to Jesus’ atoning death on the Cross, and to (pardon) save us.

Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 spells out for us our appropriate response: In verse 1 the psalmist says we want to give thanks to the Lord because He is good to us and loves us. In verses 17-23 he exhorts us not to be rebellious and ungrateful, like the Israelites in the desert. In essence, we are urged to recognize God’s saving power.

The stories of the pardons of the two British queens are very grace-filled, are they not? They were gracious and magnanimous enough to eliminate the men’s punishment. But let’s remember that our God has done them one better. He didn’t just pardon us. He pardoned us thentook our sentence, the death penalty, so that justice was fulfilled and we wouldn’t have to pay the price There’s a contemporary Christian song with the following, relevant lyrics:

Amazing love, oh what sacrifice,

The Son of God given for me.

My debt He paid and my death He died

That I might live.

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

C 2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The God of Second Chances

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 24, 2021

Scriptures: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Ps 62:5-12; 1 Cor7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20

         Our culture tends to believe that success is good but failure is bad.  Furthermore, we should avoid failure at all costs.  This can lead, however, to some really bad decisions/actions on our parts.  I read this week about the Darwin Awards.  Very cynically, these are given to people…“who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it—usually doing so in an extraordinarily stupid manner.”  I don’t know who these Darwin folks are, but they scan the news, looking for foolish ways that people accidentally kill themselves.  They have been making these posthumous awards annually since 1994.  One recent winner was a 19 YO male from Houston.  He had bragged to his friends that he could win at Russian Roulette.  His gun was a semi-automatic. Apparently he either didn’t know or didn’t remember that it automatically inserts a bullet in the chamber whenever it’s cocked.  In other words, his chances of surviving pulling the trigger were zero, and he indeed died.  A second recent winner was a Malaysian executioner.  Imagine putting that on your resume:  “From 2001 to 2008, I was an official executioner.”  It seem she wanted a friend to take a picture of him standing on the gallows with a noose around his neck.  However, he hadn’t first checked to see if the trap door was locked in place.  When he stepped on the platform with his head in the noose, the trap door opened and he was hanged!  The Darwin Folks would have us believe these two got what they deserved and we are better off without them.

               In a similar vein, do youremember France’s Maginot Line of WWII? The French had heavily armed and barricaded the border they shared with Germany, thinking this would save them from a Nazi invasion.  What they failed to consider is that the Nazis would first invade Belgium, then cross into France from that border, breaking into France to the west of and avoiding the Maginot Line altogether.  I’m sure students of military history have decried France’s misplaced trust in this impaired defensive strategy as a huge and costly mistake.

         Currently we are dealing with the “Cancel Culture.”  If the press or social media discover one bad thing you have done in your past, they come after you with no mercy, shaming and embarrassing you in public.  There is no grace and no mercy.

         Cancel Culture, the Darwin Awards, and even the experience of the Maginot Line would have us all believe that it is fatal to make a mistake. Such a belief is both unchristian and totally at odds with our God!  He often views failure/mistakes as a way to bring about good:

         (a) Failure keeps us humble;

         (b) Failure reminds us we are neither perfect nor gods;

         (c) Failure allows God to mold and shape our character;

         (d) Failure helps increase our dependence upon God.  When we see what a mess we have made of our lives, we realize we need God to guide and protect us.

         Two of our Scriptures today reference a godly response to failure.  In our Old Testament lesson, we catch up to Jonah (3:1-5, 10) post whale experience.  You probably remember that God had given the prophet the assignment to evangelize the Assyrians.  But Jonah was horrified at the prospect and immediately ran in the opposite direction.  Maybe he or his family had been victims of Assyrian raids, as they were feared all over the ancient Near East for their ferocity in battle.  The tales told regaling the revolting and brutal things they did to those they fought and defeated would strike terror into the hearts of any listener.  It is said that piles of human skulls sat outside the gates to all their cities.  Perhaps Jonah ran from the missionary task because he instead wanted God to justly punish them (like the Cancel Culture, he wanted to exact revenge on his enemies).  Or perhaps he just couldn’t get his mind around the fact that God meant to show them—even them!–mercy.  Or maybe he was just simply afraid of them!  Whatever his rationale, he headed to Spain, got caught in a violent storm, was thrown off the ship by the crew—who were sure someone on board had offended the gods–and swallowed by a giant fish/whale.

         Our lesson today picks up with Jonah having been miraculously vomited up onto the beach, only to have God again tell him to go to Nineveh, the capitol of Assyria.  And, having learned his lesson—it’s not healthy to defy God—he goes. Archeological digs dating from the 1950’s tell us the city was apparently 27 miles in circumference (2.5 mi. long; 1.33mi. wide).  It was probably like many of our large cities, in that one suburb ran into another in a big urban sprawl.  It apparently was so large that it took Jonah several days to walk through it, proclaiming his message of repentance.

         Now I don’t know about you, but I have often wondered why fierce Ninevites would pay any attention to a lone, bedraggled Israelite.  But imagine how Jonah might have looked after having spent 2-3 days in a whale’s digestive juices.  Other folks who have been recovered from the stomachs of large fish (and some have over the years), have been found to be hairless.  Like persons who have undergone chemotherapy, they lose the hair on their heads, faces (including eyebrows and eyelashes), and their bodies.  Jonah probably didn’t wear a wig, so his totally hairless appearance, and lack of a beard, would have surely grabbed peoples’ attention.  No doubt the stomach acids altered his skin color as well.  He probably looked orange, the original “Orange Man.”  The folks of Nineveh had never seen anyone like him, so they probably stopped to gawk.  While he had their attention, he told them they had 40 days to change their ways or die! Pagan folks (& some Christians too) are often superstitious.  They would have figured Jonah was someone special, so they all—even the king—immediately fell into repentance.  They were profoundly impacted.  Several hundred thousand people came to grief over their sins and desired to know and follow God.  J. Vernon McGee, my favorite Bible commentator, calls this the largest revival in history.

         This story is such a wonderful demonstration of God’s mercy.  Look at how grace-filled He was toward these horrible Assyrians! He gave them a second chance.  Look at how grace-filled He was toward His disobedient prophet! I’m always amazed at how God uses and redeems our rough experiences, when we allow Him.  He even used Jonah’s altered and strange appearance as a means of attracting an audience willing to listen to this wandering Israelite.

         And these are not the only examples of God’s extension of second chances to folks in Scripture:

         (1) Jacob stole his brother’s inheritance, yet God made  him a patriarch of the faith;

         (2) King David committed adultery and murder, and yet God later—following David’s repentance–made him a man after His own heart.

         (3) Peter denied and abandoned Christ when He needed  him most, yet Jesus made him an Apostle and very likely the first Bishop of Rome.

         (4) Saul, who zealously murdered Christians, encounters the Risen Christ, and becomes Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.

         (5) In Jesus’ story of the Prodigal This son, who according to ancient Near Eastern tradition, should have probably been snubbed by his offended father, is gladly embraced.  Any on-lookers would have expected the father to kick this money-grubbing, insolent, disrespectful son to the curb, but his father greeted him with  kisses.  Their neighbors would have expected to see the son beaten, but instead his grateful father produces a celebratory banquet.

All of these examples demonstrate that our God is a God of grace and forgiveness.   He patiently waits on us to come to our senses and come to Him.   Unwilling that any of us would miss out on His love and mercy, He offers us a 2nd chance, and sometimes even more!

         Our psalm today is Psalm 62, written by King David in his elder years. As you read it, you may be surprised by David’s themes as he wrote this after having survived a palace coup by his favorite son, Absolom.  Over time, and without David’s knowledge, Absolom had curried the favor of former friends of his father’s, and even a portion of the Israelite army no longer loyal to the King.  Absolom and his cronies entered Jerusalem by one gate, while his elderly and grieved father is forced to flee (with his court, advisors, and army personnel still loyal to him), by another.  So, as David composed this psalm, he is feeling rejected and betrayed by his favorite son, and overcome by grief.

         Yet notice how he focuses not on his pain, but on his relationship with God.  He expresses his trust in God!  Though he has been forced from his capital city in defeat, instead of being caught up in bitterness or a desire for revenge, he expresses optimism and praise to the Lord!

         (1) In v.9 He says he doesn’t put his trust in the fickle mob, not in men, but in God;

         (2) In v.10 He says he doesn’t trust in material things;

         (3) In v.11 Instead, he says he trusts in God because God has the Power!

         (4) In v.12 Instead, he says he trusts in God because God is merciful.

         These are such good lessons for us in these uncertain times, aren’t they?  When wild-eyed and unhinged political zealots are calling for revenge and retribution toward their enemies; when the Covid-19 has morphed and ramped up its killing capacity yet again; when the economic future seems uncertain; when we see our civil rights being challenged and increasingly curtailed by big tech, big business, big media, and big government; and when another caravan of thousands of migrants seems poised to storm our borders; in all of these situations, we need to put our trust in God.

         Like Jonah, we can be obedient and stand back and watch Him do miracles!  Like King David, we can trust in Him despite our circumstances…remembering that God has the power to protect us, remembering that God is merciful.  Unlike the people who give out the Darwin Awards, the Nazis, or the Cancel Culture, our God has shown time and time again that He believes we can change—with His help.  He doesn’t demand that we be perfect (the more I feel pressured to be perfect, the more mistakes I tend to make).  He just wants us, like King David, to trust in Him.  And He wants us, like the prophet Jonah, to obey Him.  Thank you, Lord, for being the God of 2nd chances!  Amen!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

God’s Grace versus Cancel Culture

Pastor Sherry’s Message for 8/30/2020

Scriptures: Ex 3:1-15; Ps 105:23-26; Ro 12:9-21; Matt 16:21-28

Recently I came across 2 examples of our current “cancel culture” at work. With the “cancel culture,” you are only as good as your social media account messages are PC.  Step out of line and your reputation is destroyed, while your future is threatened.

The first concerned a Jordanian-American named Natasha Tynes.  Tynes had researched and written about threats to free speech and a free press in Egypt and then had faced persecution in Egypt for it.  Back in the states again, she was riding the DC-area subway, the Metro, when she saw a transit worker eating in the train.  There are signs posted everywhere prohibiting this behavior, so Natasha confronted the worker and pointed out that she was violating the rules.  The worker rudely blew her off! Natasha said she frequently rides the subway hungry and so was frustrated that a person with the power to fine her for eating was herself violating the rules.  As a result, Natasha wrote a letter of complaint to the transit authorities, asking that they take some disciplinary action.  

She probably should have left the matter there, but she also “tweet-shamed” her by calling the woman out on line, including a picture of her eating on the train. Some 45 minutes later, Natasha rethought what she had done and deleted her tweet.  She also apologized on line for her actions, admitting she had responded out of a “short-lived expression of frustration.”  In addition, she wrote the transit authority to ask them to overlook her complaint.  But the Twitter Mob turned on her, calling her “Metro-Molly.”  Ms. Tyne’s publisher learned of this “temptest in a teapot” and decided not to print her latest book. They claimed she had done “something truly horrible” and excused their decision to renege on their contract because Natasha “had threatened the transit worker’s health and safety.  What?

The second incident concerned that vocal young man from the Parkland high school shooting, Kyle Kashuv. We saw him interviewed on TV a number of times.  He received several offers of scholarships to college and turned them all down to attend Harvard.  Later, word got back to Harvard, via some of his classmates that Kashuv–a Jewish conservative–had made anti-semetic and racist comments in a private online chat back when he was 16 years old.  The young man apologized publically.  He even wrote a Harvard dean to admit his responsibility and to ask for forgiveness.

David French of the National Review reported that Kashuv did “everything we want a young man to do when he’s done something wrong.”  Nevertheless, Harvard believed his email remarks from several years younger were too egregious to forgive, and rescinded his admission.

 Recently, Kellyanne Conway resigned as advisor to the President when her 15 year old daughter “tweet-shamed” her and her husband on line.  I am not trying to draw in politics here.  Rather, I am making the point that people feel all too free to call one another out on line.  This teen has hurt her parents very publically by defaming their reputations.  I wonder how she will feel about this when she is 25 or 35, or a parent herself. Sadly, this child has not learned to live out Paul’s admonitions from Romans 12: V.14àBless those who [you believe] persecute you; bless and do not curse; v.16àLive in harmony with one another; and v.17+àDo not repay [even perceived] evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

This is where we are now.  A mistake, a lapse in judgment, can cost you everything today.  Thank God our Lord does not operate by cancel culture rules!  Let’s look at two He could have chosen to cancel, but didn’t, in today’s scripture passages:

First, we have Moses (Ex 3:1-15).  Last week, we saw this Hebrew slave kid rescued from the Nile, to be raised in Pharaoh’s own household.

By this week, he has advanced to the age of 40, and realized God has tapped him to champion his people, the Jews.  Without waiting on God’s direction, however, he kills an Egyptian overseer for beating a Hebrew slave. His own people, seeing him dressed as an Egyptian, fail to trust him, fearing he is an Egyptian murderer.  Furthermore, Pharaoh hears of the incident and wants to arrest him.  So Moses flees Egypt into the desert.  By attempting to do what he thought he should do, He finds himself driven away.

 He reaches Midian and rescues the 7 daughters of Reuel who were also doing what they were supposed to do—watering their sheep.  Moses observed some rowdy male shepherds attempting to push them aside to water their animals first.  Moses rescues the ladies and sends the ruffians packing.  Subsequently, he marries the eldest, Zipporah; soon has a son, Gershom (whose name means “sojourner” or “alien”—kinda suggests how Moses feels about living in Midian); and tends sheep, for another 40 years. Like King David, later, he is going to be called from tending a flock of animals to shepherding God’s people.

 In today’s passage, he encounters God (the preincarnate Christ) in aburning bush that does not burn up.  He is told to take his shoes off becausehe is in the presence of God, which makes the ground they are on holyindeed.  God calls him by name twice (make no mistake, our God knows our names!).  God also reveals who He is:  The God of the Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  God shares that His name is, I am who I am; or, as some translations say, I will be who I will be.   In other words, as the passage states, He is the God who sees, thinks, hears, knows,remembers, and intervenes for His people.

God also reaffirms Moses’ call to deliver the Hebrew slaves from Egyptian bondage.  Notice, God has not canceled him due to having murdered an Egyptian.  Instead God has hidden him out, in the back of the beyond for 40 years, so that the Pharaoh who sought to arrest him has had time to die and be replaced.  Additionally, those Israelite slaves who witnessed the murder have also passed on. God has made sure it is safe for Moses to return to Egypt.  And Moses has learned to wait on God.

Our Psalm mentions how God sent Moses, His servant, to set His people free.

 Now, let’s jump to our Gospel lesson from Matt 16:21-28.  Last week, we read how Peter confessed what the Holy Spirit had revealed to him:  that Jesus was/is the Messiah.  This week, Jesus begins to educate the Twelve regarding what God’s Messiah will do.  Despite their personal beliefs and expectations of Messiah, Jesus says He will die on a Roman cross, condemned by His own; He will die to redeem those very folks and all the rest of us too.  Like Moses before Him, Jesus is a shepherd, our shepherd and a deliverer, our deliverer.  Understandably, Rocky (Peter) is horrified! Like Moses, he gets ahead of himself.  Rather than taking in what Jesus is saying, he tries to talk Him out of it.  YIKES, Peter!  We don’t get to tell God what to do.  Jesus has just praised Rocky, but now he really tears into him—

He calls His dear friend Satan!  He rightly accuses him of interfering with God’s plan.  Whether he or we like it or not, God’s plan appears to require that we (v.24) deny [ourselves, our self-will], take up [our] Cross and follow [Jesus].  Like so many of us, Peter hears from God but he is also motivated by selfish self-interest and perhaps beguiled by the evil one.

 We know the outcome of both stories:  Moses leads the people out of Egypt—even though they wander in the desert for 40 years.  And Peter becomes a dynamic, faith-filled leader of the new Christian Church. God had grace, mercy, and forgiveness for them both!

What would have happened to Moses or to Peter—Rocky–if our Lord operated by the rules of cancel culture?  Cancel culture assumes—impossibly—that you can never make a mistake.  No grace or mercy is allowed for immaturity, anger, impetuousness.  Cancel Culture believes, Once a sinner, always a sinner.   You cannot even apologize and be forgiven.  As we have seen in the examples of Natasha, Kyle, and the Conways, judgment is swift and forgiveness is withheld!  Furthermore, cancel culture ruins the person’s future—despite a very productive present–based on one lapse in judgment or a perceived wrong response. 

Aren’t we glad our God does not operate that way?  Our God is characterized by love, grace, and mercy.  He keeps His promises and He forgives our sins.  He reinstates us. He uses us once we realize we cannot work out His program in our own strength.  Instead, we operate in His strength, surrendered to His will.  Thanks be to God that He has such patience, such forgiveness, such mercy for us.

This week, I challenge you to pray for Natasha Tynes and Kyle Kashuv, and any other victims of the media mob and the cancel culture.  Pray for peace and reconciliation between the senior Conways and their 15 year old daughter.  Let’s also be aware of God’s mercy.  And let’s be grateful that there is no cancel culture with our Lord!

 

c 2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Who Gets Saved?

Pastor Sherry’s Message for August 16, 2020

Scriptures: Gen 45:1-15; Ro 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matt 15:21-28

Who Gets Saved?

Recently I came across this story of a present day American artist, Steven Lavaggi. Some years back, he encountered a number of personal set-backs:  His wife left him to marry a writer for Rolling Stone Magazine.  Not two weeks later, he learned his son was suffering from Juvenile Diabetes. Then his graphic art business failed.

Unemployed, abandoned, and worried about his son, Lavaggi turned to God’s Word.  Sitting on his bedroom floor, and by himself, Steven read the Gospels. He later reported that he skipped over the black letters, wanting only to read the words spoken by Christ. Because he was reading with the intention of finding Jesus, the Risen Christ emerged from the pages. The artist then gave his life to the Lord.

As a new Christian, he clung to Psalm 91:11: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”  Out of his brokenness, came a passion to create a message of hope. To this end, he left the lucrative world of graphic art to become a struggling fine artist.  His paintings typically are of beautiful rural scenes usually populated with tall, graceful angels; he has also fashioned some amazing sculptures of angels.

Lavaggi’s story is of a man who has withstood and overcome the blows of life.  At a point of true despair, he began to search the Bible for encouragement.Reading only the red letters, he found it–Praise God!–and gave his heart to Jesus!  Out of the depths of his pain, Steven sought out and found salvation.  Finding Jesus inspired him to redirect his life’s work from graphic art to painting and sculpting works that bring hope to others.

One of the themes present in our Scripture passages today is that of being saved or experiences of salvation.  Let’s examine these together:

Last week, our Old Testament lesson, related how Joseph’s 10 brothers from other mothers sold him into slavery. This week’s lesson, Genesis 45:1-15, jumps ahead to describe Joseph’s reunion with the 10 half-brothers and with his full brother, Benjamin.  Joseph, after 13-14 years of slavery, interprets Pharaoh’s dreams and reports correctly that they predict 7 years of massively abundant harvests followed by 7 years of desperate famine.

Two years into the famine, his 10 treacherous brothers arrive in Egypt to purchase food for the family.  Unbeknownst to them, their lost brother Joseph has survived—by the design and grace of God—and is now second in command of all of Egypt.  They no doubt fail to recognize him because he is…

[1] Clean shaven rather than bearded;

[2] Dressed in Egyptian clothing and jewelry;

[3] 22 years older than when they last saw him;

[4] Speaking the Egyptian language, while talking to them thru an

interpreter.

         [5] And, not to mention, they probably never expected to see him alive ever again.  It is to Joseph that they must apply to buy grain.  Just as Joseph’s own dreams from age 17 had prophesied, his 10 brothers now bow down to him to request aid.

Wisely, before he reveals himself to them, Joseph checks to see if they have changed in the interim.  He generously sells them the grain they need to live, but also decides to test them in two ways:  1st he requires that they leave Simeon behind and bring back Benjamin.  He is testing their honesty.  He is also checking to see if they will allow another brother (Simeon) to be killed or imprisoned to get what they want.  The brothers return again, to buy more food, and bring Benjamin.  Joseph’s 2nd test involves his full brother, Benjamin.  Joseph has his servants hide a favored cup in Ben’s bags.  This is a set up to see if they will sacrifice the new favorite son.  Joseph wants to know if they have ascertained the cost of jealousy.  Have they become more loyal to their brother from Joseph’s mother?  Have they developed greater compassion for their ageing and heartbroken, grieving father?

Judah, the new leader of the 10 brothers, steps up and offers his life in the place of Benjamin.  The brothers do realize that potentially losing another brother is God’s punishment for what they did to Joseph.  At least Judah—who had been the one to suggest they sell Joseph to slave traders–is willing to sacrifice his life for Benjamin’s.  Judah had been so mortified by his father’s deep grief over Joseph’s supposed death that he had fled the family camp and lived for a time with the Canaanites.  Judah’s offer indicates a true change of heart.

So, satisfied that they have truly undergone a moral transformation, Joseph reveals his true identity to them.  At first, they can’t believe it is him.

Then they fear his retribution.  But in a truly Christ-like way, he reassures them, [Peterson’s The Message](v.5+)àI am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt.  But don’t feel badly, don’t blame yourselves for selling me.  God was behind it.  God sent me here ahead of you to save lives.  There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting.  God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance.  So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God.  He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt.  God uses Joseph to save his father, Jacob/Israel, his brothers, and his whole extended family (a total of 90 people); but Joseph’s wisdom also saves thousands, perhaps millions of Egyptians; as well as untold, unnumbered, other Gentiles.

So, who gets saved?  Joseph’s family and the fledgling Jewish/Hebrew nation.

Our New Testament Lesson, Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32, makes it pretty clear that God has not rejected the Jews as His Chosen People.  Just as God is merciful to us, Gentile believers, He too will have mercy on the Jews.  At some point in the future (probably during the Great Tribulation), many—not all—but many Jews will come to Christ and be saved.

 Who gets saved?  Many modern day Jews in the days to come.

Our Gospel lesson occurs in Matthew 15, but is also told in Mark 7.  Jesus journeys outside Israel’s borders (into Tyre & Sidon, NW of Jerusalem)because He knows He has been rejected by many of his countrymen.  He apparently needs a break.  His focus has been on reaching His fellow Jews, the Children ofIsrael.  But now He appears to indicate, through this story, that He will also receive Gentiles (aren’t we glad?).

This Canaanite (Syro-Phoenecian) woman with a demonized daughter approaches Him.  Apparently, she is noisily insistent that she see Jesus. she persists.  She won’t take no for an answer.  She has no true claim on Jesus as…

[1] She is not a Jew by nationality—wrong ethnicity;

[2] She is not a convert to the Jewish faith—wrong religion;

[3] And she is a woman—wrong gender, by the standards of the day.  And, remember, Jewish rabbis did not typically speak to women.

But this woman is a mother–and apparently a tigress–desiring healing for her child.  Clearly she believes Jesus can free her daughter from demons.  And clearly she isn’t going to be put off.

Jesus uses the metaphor of dogs to remind her, His disciples, and whoever might else might be listening, that His first priority is to the Jews.

Jews often referred to Gentiles as “dogs.”  However, Jesus uses the diminutive of “dogs”, “puppies” in the Hebrew.  He is essentially saying, just as in a family, there is an order here. The children (Israelites) eat first; then puppies get fed, but not from the table and not until the kids are done.  He is not telling her she cannot expect help from Him, but rather that there is a set of priorities to His ministry.

She gets what He is saying, steps into His metaphor, and reminds Him that (v.27)à…but even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.  She knows she does not have a legitimate place at theJewishtable;but she indicates that she believes that Jesus can provideenough to Israel that some leftovers will be available to her and to her daughter.  She dialogues with Jesus in a most respectful way.Notice, she doesn’t say, Give me what I deservedue to my goodness or my rights—or quote “Me too” movement slogans, which some today might.  Instead, as Timothy Keller asserts in his book King’s Cross (2011, p.89), she implies,Give me what I don’t deserve on the basis of Your goodness—and, please, I need it right now.

Jesus commends her:  (v.28)àWonderful answer!  Incredible answer!  You may go.  The demon has left your daughter.  He appears to be impressed with her—and heals herchild—because she got His metaphor without His having to explain it; and perhaps too because she answers Him from within the parable.  These things tell Himshe heard and understood His message to her.

Who gets saved?  This woman and probably her daughter.

So, to sum up, who gets saved?

  1. Steven Laveggi, through reading Scripture;
  2. Joseph’s father, brothers, their wives and kids; through Joseph’s wisdom and forgiving spirit.
  3. God’s chosen people, the Jews, if they behave like they know, obey, and love the Lord; and if they accept Jesus as their Savior.
  4. And Gentiles, like us, who–as Paul reminds us in Romans 10:9–If you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

To this I say “Thank you, Lord, for making it so simple.  Help us all to demonstrate our love and faith in you, daily, by what we say and by what we do.  May it all be pleasing to You!  Amen!”

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams