Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Follow Me into the Light

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 19, 2023

Scriptures : 1 Sam 16:1-13; Ps 23; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41

My new, favorite, contemporary, Christian song is, “Follow Me,” by Casting Crowns* (Thrive CD, 2013). The lyrics are as follows:

(Look/listen for the repeated themes.)

At the end of myself, I am empty and dry

I have nothing to give, But surrender inside.  

[Jesus responds] Let down your nets, This is not the end

From now on, you’ll be Fishers of Men. [Who is this? Peter, Lk 5:1-11]

Follow Me, Follow Me, Follow Me.  

At the end of myself, Judgment calls out my name

I’ve been looking for love, but I’m swallowed by shame. 

[Jesus responds] Throw away all your stones, Find forgiveness in Me.

Let me be your new passion, My daughter you’re free [Woman caught in adultery, Jn 8:1-11]. 

At the end of myself, I’ve done things my own way;

This world gave up on me, now it’s death I do pay.

[Jesus responds] You know who I am, I’m sin’s sacrifice;

Today you will be… in paradise.  [Thief on the Cross, Lk 23:32-45]

[Any seeker] Who is the man who calmed the seas?

And Who is this man who loves the least of these?

[Jesus responds] I am the Promised One; God gave His only Son.

And those who believe…Will live eternally.

At the end of yourself, just follow Me.

I will give you new life, just follow Me, Follow me.

If at the end of yourself, just follow Me.

You may lose everything, just follow Me.

I will give you new life, just follow Me, follow Me.

The repeated themes are, off course, Follow Me, and, At the end of myself. When we come to the end of our own resources, we know we need Jesus. Another way of saying this is that without Jesus, we are spiritually blind. Two of our Scripture passages today deal with blindness (physical and spiritual) and what it takes to come out into the Light of Christ. Let’s examine them together:

A. John 9:1-41 details Jesus’ healing of the man born blind.

The context is that of a Sabbath Day when Jesus spots this blind man begging before one of the Temple gates in Jerusalem. Blind and other physically impaired persons usually did not make a living—in those days–by practicing a trade. Instead, they customarily stationed themselves somewhere near consistent foot traffic and begged for food money from passersby.

Upon seeing him, the disciples want Jesus to explain the cause of the man’s blindness (a theoretical, theological discussion). But Jesus downplays the issue of who or what to blame, saying (v.3, The Message, Eugene Peterson, NavPress, 2002, p.1937)”You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. Then He proceeds to meet the man’s most pressing practical need, saying (vv.4-5, MSG)We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent Me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. [Remember, this was a predominantly rural culture with no one working past sundown.] For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light. (Other translations say, I am the Light of the World.) The poor guy has lived in darkness his whole life! Jesus isn’t going to stand there and argue the why’s of the fellow’s condition. He intends to heal him.

He also intends for them and for us to realize He is God. He makes an “I AM” statement—to Jewish ears, he was declaring His divinity. God the Father had identified Himself to them as “I am Who I am,” meaning that He has always existed; in a sense, our God is always exists in the present tense. In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes many I am statements so that the Jews would realize He was identifying Himself as God: I am the Living Water; I am Manna from Heaven; I am the Way, the Truth; and the Life; I am the Good Shepherd; I am the Resurrection and the Life; etc.

Now, this poor blind man has never enjoyed light in his life, but the One who is the Light of the World is going to bring it to him. He makes a kind of clay from saliva and dirt and places it on the guy’s closed eyes.

Now, consider this: The blind fellow has heard Jesus’ voice; he has felt Jesus’ touch; he has probably even smelled Jesus’ scent. He obeys his unseen Redeemer by going, as instructed, to wash the clay off in the pool of Siloam (which John tells us means “sent.” The man was sent by Jesus to the pool named “Sent”). He seems to trust Jesus, sight-unseen. He chooses to do what Jesus tells him (Contrast this with Naaman the Syrian general who was too proud to dip himself—as the prophet had instructed him—in the Jordan. His servants had to convince him to “follow orders” to obtain his healing.)

Throughout the rest of the incident, the Pharisees are trying to figure out how a rabbi who breaks Sabbath rules against working on that day—which makes Jesus a sinner in their eyes—could possibly work a miracle of God. The guys’ neighbors can’t explain it. Some of them don’t even recognize him since he is now sighted. His parents do recognize him but are afraid the religious rulers will excommunicate them if they celebrate Jesus, so they avoid committing themselves. But the grateful and spunky guy takes them to task! He’s not concerned about their theological issues. He just knows he was born blind but now has his sight.

Then Jesus turns the tables on the Pharisees when He calls them physically sighted but spiritually blind. He has worked a miracle that they cannot accept. In so doing, He has fulfilled the prophesy from Isaiah 61:1 that Messiah would restore sight to the blind. But in their confidence that Jesus cannot really be the Messiah, they refuse to see the evidence before their own eyes.

B. Paul also addresses the topic of spiritual blindness in Ephesians 5:8-14. Of course he (and we) start from knowledge that Jesus is the Light of the world. As Peterson puts it his paraphrase (MSG p.2132), Paul exhorts us You groped your way through that murk [habitual sins] once, but no longer. You are out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it. In other words, prior to accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we lived in spiritual darkness. Once we accept Jesus, we live the Light of Christ. As St. John would say later in 1 John 1:5-6 God is Light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. We demonstrate the fact that we dwell in Christ’s light by living a life different from that of our culture: We demonstrate goodness or kindness to others. We live lives that are righteous as we try to do those things of which Jesus would approve, and avoid doing the opposite. Our words and our manner reflect truth—i.e., we are sincere and genuine.

Finally, Paul urges us to (v.11) have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness….Dark deeds aren’t driven away by preaching or lecturing against them; but rather, our actions speak louder—and are a better witness to Christ—than are our words. Rev. Dr. J. Vernon McGee relates a true story of one of his parishioners. She was a married lady who grieved the fact that her husband was uninterested in Jesus. She wanted him to share her faith and to accompany her to church and in prayer. So she educated, begged, pleaded, nagged, and even resorted to crying through the two meals a day they were together. Dr. McGee told her to stop that immediately. He recommended she pray, fix excellent meals, and deal with her husband with a smile on her face and a loving attitude. It took about six months, but one day he suggested they attend church together. We cannot shame another into accepting Christ (McGee’s commentary on Ephesians, Thomas Nelson, 1991, pp.142-143).

The song I read earlier gives 3 examples of people who chose to follow Jesus: Peter, the woman caught in adultery, and the thief on the Cross. Our Gospel lesson provides an additional one, the man born blind. As with each of them, we often come to Jesus when we come to the end of ourselves; i.e., when we exhaust ourselves trying to save ourselves. We realize we can’t do it on our own. We recognize we need Jesus. Then, like the man born blind, we obey Him out of thanksgiving for His gift of salvation and healing.

Following Jesus means we don’t just claim we love Him, but we live lives that are changed due to our relationship with Him. We come to demonstrate the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22) love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, goodness, patience, faithfulness, and self-control. We live out being good, being right with God, and being truthful.

Dear Lord, help us to live lives that are pleasing to You and that reflect Your Light to a lost, angry, and hopeless world. Help us to truly follow You. May the way we live attract others to You, O Lord, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

*Follow Me by Casting Crowns’ video: https://youtu.be/LraPDltKlvI

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Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Immature Christians

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 12, 2023

Scriptures: Deut 30:15-20; Ps 119:1-8; 1 Cor 3:1-9; Matt 5:21-37

About 10 years ago, I was teaching Introductory Psychology at Santa Fe College, in Gainesville, Florida, when I had in my class a young man on the autism spectrum, likely diagnosed with Asperger’s Disorder. He was 18 years old, earnest, and smart, but also very concrete in his thinking. He seemed not to be able to comprehend abstract ideas. He told me he had an older brother who was a pharmacist, and his perception was that his brother was their parent’s favorite. He told me how hard he worked to be just as good as his brother, academically, and how important it was to him to make A’s to impress his parents. I noticed in the parking lot that he drove a brand new Ford Mustang GT with racing stripes, so his parents must have favored him more than he acknowledged.

Now the study of Psychology involves a great number of abstract ideas, so I was worried that he would not score well on my tests. Sure enough, he failed the first one. Given the amount of pressure he put on himself, I suspected his reaction to his score would be one of intense disappointment. What I was not prepared for was his startling behavior.

When the other students filed out of the classroom, he threw himself on the floor and had a temper tantrum like that of a 2 or 3 year old. He flailed his arms and legs. He screamed and cried. Believe me, I felt compassion for him in his distress; however, his behavior was thoroughly inappropriate for a college student.

I stood near him and told him, calmly, to stop that. I said his tantrum was not age appropriate. I asked him to get up off the ground and to seek the free counseling that the college offered (which he later did). He needed to learn to control his anger and to manage his distress, and he needed to learn to express negative emotions in an age-appropriate manner. Such a response was immature and would only earn him his peers’ and his professors’ contempt.

Immaturity is the issue that Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. Let’s back up for just a minute and put Paul’s concern into context. In chapter #2, he had divided humankind into two classes of people: the unsaved and the saved. The unsaved he also called the natural man, or the fleshly man. Such persons either reject the idea that God exists– they are atheists–or, they worship gods they create in their own image, and we call them idolaters. Or they cling to their own wills, believing spiritual things are foolish. They are so fascinated by their own intellects that they believe they can save themselves (I have met many like this in academia).

Paul contrasted the unsaved with the saved or spiritual man. This man or woman has accepted Christ. They are spiritual enough, or practical enough, or wise enough to realize (1) they can receive the wisdom of God; but, (2) they cannot attain righteousness on their own. On other words, they know cannot save themselves—they need Jesus.

Now, in chapter 3, he further divides Christians (the saved; spiritual persons) into two classes: Paul asserts there are Mature Christians, who are cooperating with the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. You can see evidence that their life has changed since they came to know Jesus. They are not perfect, but they do most everything they do with the awareness that God is watching. A church in Live Oak has on their sign, “God saw that.” I think that’s funny. It’s also true since God is omniscient and omnipresent. He does see everything. Furthermore, mature Christians do most everything they do with a desire to please the Lord. They are also future thinking, often considering what might be the eternal consequences of their current actions and words. They are constantly learning from Jesus and/or Scripture and desire to share what they learn with others.

Then there are also what Paul calls Carnal or Immature Christians. They are Christians who look like and live like everyone else in the culture. Coming to know Jesus has not changed them at all. The Greek word for carnal is sarkikos, which means fleshly. In Latin and in French, carna means sensual. Thus, the word carnival comes from carna vale—or farewell to the flesh. This is why many cultures celebrate the Tuesday before Lent starts—Fat Tuesday—as the last opportunity for gluttony allowed before the traditional deprivations of Lent set in. This is who Paul meant when he wrote in Philippians 3:19 [they are the ones]…whose god is their belly. Paul thinks of them as “spiritual infants;” they are as immature acting as my former student.

Paul tells them he fed them milk, the basics, because they were too immature to digest meat. They may have come to know Biblical stories, but were probably not familiar with Biblical doctrine. When I arrived at a church in New Orleans to assist my friend, the lead pastor, we discovered the staff were all reading The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown. They did not understand why Jesus would not have impregnated Mary Magdalene and left behind a child the Catholic Church worked hard to deny. We shared with them the doctrine that Jesus was sinless as he walked the earth. He needed to be in order to save us. Also, He would not have committed fornication, nor would He marry only to have shirked His responsibility as a husband or father. The staff were “baby Christians.” They hadn’t really studied Scripture (which is both milk, bread, meat, honey), like the Corinthians. Or perhaps they had studied God’s Word, but they had not digested the hard truths they found there (like in today’s Gospel lesson). They weren’t cooperating with the Holy Spirit, so there was no spiritual fruit in their lives, little grace for others, and no true desire to live a life pleasing to Christ.

In verses 1-3, Paul says that the Corinthians are immature, worldly, and carnal Christians. He is convinced his assessment is accurate due to their (a) quarreling (strife)—they are too fascinated with fallen humans; (b) jealousy of (and gossip about) one another; (c) factions; and (d) the fact that they allow gross immorality to go on in their fellowship in the name of toleration. He then reverts back to his arguments of chapter #1they are being carnal, immature Christians when they try to elevate Paul over Apollos, or vice versa. There is not to be any competition, as both are servants of God who do different aspects of God’s work: Paul planted the church and the “seed” of God’s Word in their hearts. Apollos then “watered” that seed as the great preacher and teacher who God used to deepen their faith. They were a kind of one-two punch for Jesus!

Paul wants them and us to be sure that God alone gets the glory. It’s not who the preacher or teacher is–not their personality or their skill set; not even whether we like them or not. It is, instead, whether God is using that person! He rarely ever uses only one person. I have heard other pastors criticize an Ed Young, Jr. and a Joel O’Steen because they preach “Gospel light.” They are both invested in attracting nonbelievers to Jesus. Once people have accepted Christ, they probably then move on to someone like Ed Young, Sr., Charles Stanley, or Dr. David Jeremiah to dig down deep to experience being discipled in the faith. I believe God uses many persons of differing skill sets to bring us to a full, mature faith. Again, Paul, Peter, and Apollos did not compete with one another. All three were doing the work assigned to him, under Christ’s Lordship.

Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 is that he wants both the Corinthian Church, and us, to grow up in our faith! (Remember, I told you last week that God told me to “Grow up!” because I am usually reluctant to preach from Paul’s letters?)

We become mature Christians when we marinate ourselves in God’s Word, the Bible. Make it a practice to read a passage daily. If you don’t understand it, get a study Bible and/or a good commentary to help you. Ponder what you have read and notice how opportunities to apply it come up in your daily life. When I was doing fulltime therapy with folks, I often found the Scripture I had read that morning was immediately relevant to what they were going through, and because it was fresh on my mind, I could share it with them. The Bible consists of God’s thoughts–God’s wisdom–written down for our benefit, ”The Word of God for the people of God.” Let what it says begin to guide your behavior. Let what it says begin to corral and transform your thoughts. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you change the way you live and think so that you line up with how Jesus lived and how He thinks.

We become mature Christians as we notice things like gross immorality in our culture—like drag shows for toddlers and sex change operations for children—and refuse to participate in it ourselves. Pray that those who practice these things come to a saving faith in Jesus, rather than summarily condemning them. Instead of condemning corrupt politicians, pray they discover Christ. Instead of seeking revenge, pray the evil-doer has a life transforming experience with the God you know and love. Finally, look for opportunities to offer nonbelievers knowledge about Jesus. This could include your personal testimony about how faith in Him has changed your life. It might also involve sharing the truth that all of the addictions or immoral practices people are using to fill the God-shaped hole in their lives will never satisfy them as Jesus can and will.

Thanks be to God who desires to grow us up into Mature Christians through our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia! Alleluia!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

What Does God Want From Me?

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 29, 2023

Scriptures: Micah 6:1-8; Ps 15; 1 Cor 1:18-31; Matt 5:1-12

I heard an interesting, true story this week: A high school student I know—Jake–was called down to the office and told another kid—Sam–had accused him of bringing drugs to school to sell. Now Sam had been caught red-handed with illegal substances. When the school authorities asked where Sam got the drugs, he falsely named Jake. They brought Jake in, told him what he had been accused of, and searched him. Jake defended himself by saying he doesn’t do drugs and he certainly would neither bring them to school nor sell them. Because they had Sam’s story 1st, the authorities seemed reluctant to believe Jake. They frisked him and searched his locker and backpack but found nothing. Finally, they let Jake return to class yet would not tell him the name of the student who had falsely accused him.

The grown-ups must have forgotten that this is a small town. Word got out—as it generally always does–and Jake learned the identity of his accuser. Jake’s parents were furious at Sam—and wanted to address the matter with Sam’s parents straight away–but Jake asked them to let him handle the situation. Jake calmly confronted Sam, asking him why he had lied about him. Sam “stone-walled,” would not answer Jake, and would not give him eye-contact.

I was appalled when I heard this and I wondered if this is indicative of the value system of most teens today. Jake, a Christian, has taken a wise stance: he is now praying for his false-accuser…Praying that Sam would come to know Jesus; and Praying that Sam would regret lying and trying to get an innocent person into trouble. I commend him and would only add my hope that Sam comes to know the 10 Commandments—bearing false witness is #9.

Thinking about this incident over the last few days, I realized Jake’s response is right out of our Micah 6:1-8 lesson, as well as our psalm and Gospel:

The prophet Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah in Judea, and of Amos and Hosea in Samaria, during the 8th century BC. It was a time of great prosperity and wealth in Judah. It was also a time of extensive apostasy. Political corruption was rampant; the rich and powerful felt free to exploit those who were weaker; and many had fallen away from God.

When they did worship Him, their worship was pro-forma, mind-less and rote. Mostly, they just went through the motions. And their moral behavior was despicable. Actually, they were behaving a lot like modern Americans today.

So God appointed Micah as a “whistle-blower” to his time period. His job was to challenge the people on their arrogance, dishonesty, and hypocrisy. He was also tasked with warning them of the judgment to come if they did not turn back to the Lord.

Chapter 6:1-8 forms the climax of Micah’s prophesy: He portrays God as confronting Judah, as though they were adversaries in a court of law.

Listen to Peterson’s paraphrase (The Message) of verses 1-2–Take your stand in court. If you have a complaint, tell the mountains [powerful nations]; make your case to the hills [smaller. Less influential nations]. And now, Mountains, hear God’s case; listen, Jury Earth—For I am bringing charges against My people, I am building a case against Israel. God is telling the world to watch and listen.

But instead of going on the offensive, God asks what He is guilty of that His people have all but abandoned Him. He reminds them of their salvation history with Him:

(1) He has rescued them slavery in Egypt.

(2) He provided them with good leaders like Moses, Aaron and Miriam.

(3) When the king of Moab, Balak, hired the false prophet Balaam to curse them, God protected them by blocking any curses.

(4) He also provided for them when Joshua assumed leadership from Moses (at Shittim), and protected them at Gilgal as they recovered from circumcision. (They had not circumcised anyone on the wilderness march, so all the adult males now needed to take the sign of their covenant with God. Doing so required about 3 days recovery time when they would have been too vulnerable to resist an enemy attack). God had been faithful while they have been faithless.

Then the prophet anticipates the people’s response to God’s indictment: (verses 6-7) —Should we bring an armload of offerings topped off with yearling calves? Would God be impressed with thousands of rams, with buckets and barrels of olive oil? Would He be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child, my precious baby, to cancel my sin? They are essentially asking, “What do we do to make amends to God?” “Is God mad because we didn’t do enough?” “Should we do more to try to please Him?” But God does not want extravagant offerings from us. As if we can do something for God! A much later generation will ask the same thing of Jesus, and He will answer (John 6:28-29) —This is the work of God [that you can do], that you believe in Him Whom He has sent [faith in Jesus]. All we can do, and the best we can do, is to have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And in verse 8, Micah summarizes the issue: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Listen to the way Peterson paraphrases it: But He’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what GOD is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously.

They are dwelling in darkness, as are many in our country today. . Psalm 15: 2-3 says [Those who please God are] the one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does not wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others. Sam’s behavior demonstrates he is dwelling in darkness. The folks back then—much like many “religious” folks today–are focusing on external religious practices, while neglecting their internal experience of God. They need to know and relate to God’s heart.

So what does Micah mean in verse 8? This side of the Cross, we know that we must believe in Jesus to be saved. What God wants from us is to demonstrate our faith by living a life that pleases Him:

(1) To act justly means to do what is right and truthful in God’s eyes. Sam lied to get the focus off himself—he threw Jake under the bus. If Sam had acted justly, he would have admitted his own fault and left Jake out of it. To act justly means exhibiting honest practices in business; not cheating on your taxes or your spouse; giving your employer a full day’s work for a full day’s pay (and employers should give their workers the pay they have earned; playing by the rules in sports and cards, etc; in other words, doing the right thing in God’s eyes.

(2) To love mercy means to offer others grace—i.e., treat them better than they deserve. Justice is a great starting point, but it’s not enough. Grace is Jake forgiving Sam for having tried to ruin his reputation and get him into trouble. God has saved us, through Jesus, when we did not deserve it. We offer grace to others because Jesus offered/offers it to us.

(3) To walk humbly with our God means to do God’s will instead of our own. Humility says “God made me and He knows what is best for me. I’m not as smart as He is, so I will submit to Him and follow His will.” Pride, on the other hand, says, “I’m in charge of me and I will do what I want to do.” It puts self ahead of God. In fact, it makes self a god instead of the One Who is God. Prideful people lack a “teachable spirit.” They are unwilling to admit they don’t always know what is best and are therefore unwilling to listen to someone who might be wiser or more experienced.

No wonder God says in Isaiah 66:2–But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My Word.

No wonder Jesus lists humility of spirit as the 1st characteristic to be blessed in the Beatitudes of Matthew. As Peterson phrases it, You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule.

So what’s God want from me, from us? What defines a life that pleases God? First, we must have faith in His Son, Jesus. Next, we try to live a life that is characterized by the following: Acting honestly and rightly; offering grace to others, even when they don’t appear to deserve it; and being humble with regard to God, remembering to be grateful to Him for all of His blessings, and to be obedient to Him, even when it’s hard. I believe Jake pleased God when he confronted Sam face-to-face, rather than castigating him on social media. This righteous behavior took courage and humility. That young man certainly set an example for Sam, and for us.

May we all remember to act justly, offer grace/mercy to others, and walk humbly with our God! Amen!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Turn Around!

Pastor Sherry’s message for December 4, 2022

Scriptures: Isa 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-7,18-19; Ro15:4-13; Matt 3:1-12

Someone asked me recently if I preached sermons I find online. I told the person that I do not. I write my own—hopefully with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit–but do locate online illustrations that are relevant to what I hope to convey. In that light, I have borrowed the following story from a Pastor online named Chuck Lawless (Jan 29, 2019):

He recalled that some years back he and his wife lived next door to a little boy named Charlie. One day there was a knock at their door, and Charlie stood there asking if the Pastor could please come out and play. Pastor Chuck figured “Sure, why not? The kid was a nice little guy.”

He discovered that Charlie had just received a new whiffle ball and bat. The child proceeded to tell the pastor, “Here’s what we do, Mr. Chuck. I’ll stand back here,” he said, “you throw the ball, and I’ll hit it.” Chuck threw his first pitch, only to see Charlie swing and miss the ball by several feet. He encouraged the little guy, adjusted his hands on the bat, then threw a 2nd time, only to have the kid miss again. The next pitch was no better – Charlie missed it again.

By now the child was exasperated – at the Pastor! He hefted the ball back to Chuck and yelled out to him, “Mr. Chuck, you’re doin’ it wrong!”

“What do you mean that I’m doing it wrong, Charlie?”

The boy answered: “Mr. Chuck, you’re supposed to be throwing the ball where I’m swinging the bat!”

At the time, he laughed over the boy’s logic…until it occurred to him later that we often treat God the same way. He says, “We’re willing to follow God as long as His plans meet ours, as long as what He demands fits inside our own box – as long as He’s pitching the ball where we’re swinging the bat. That’s not the way it works, however. The Almighty God, the Creator of the world, the Ruler of the universe does not adjust His pitching to where we’re swinging the bat. We’re the ones who must make the adjustments; we follow God and do whatever He demands, even if His plans stretch us.”

Our Advent preparation focus today is on peace; we lit the second or peace candle. Our Gospel lesson describes the work of John the Baptist. So, you might be wondering what does doing things God’s way, or even John the Baptist (JtB), have to do with peace? John, for instance, seems bent on shaking up, maybe even destroying folks’ peace. His message was essentially, Repent! In the original Greek, the word is metanoia. It means to turn, to change, to reverse oneself. It was not a particularly religious word back then. Instead, it was an ordinary, everyday word for turning around (execute a u-turn) and commence immediately to go the other way. But the sense of the word as JtB uses it is not just changing your mind, but totally re-orienting your will. He is saying, If you want true peace, you need to go the direction God is going; If you want true peace, you need to do things the way God wants them.

So, if God’s way is not the way we have been doing things, what are we to do? Here are some possibilities:

1. Consider Giving God a blank check. Don’t put any restrictions or limitations on what you want Him to do. I once counseled a guy who was frustrated about finding a wife. As we processed his dilemma, I discovered he had a whole check list of qualities and characteristics he wanted God to match: pretty, good figure, brunette, green eyes, etc. His list contained all physical attributes—nothing about her character or her personality. Now could God have located a woman who matched his list? Of course. But the Lord had not. Like Charlie, the fellow wanted God to throw the ball where his bat was.

Certainly we can make suggestions to the Lord, but we also need to let God be God. We need to swing our bat where He is pitching the ball.

2. Ask God to show you if there are areas of your life where you are waiting for God to adjust, rather than the other way around. Let’s say God tells you you are too stubborn, too proud, or too rigid? Are you willing to accept His assessment and turn around or turn away from that behavior? Recently a friend told me God had used a pastor to tell him he lacked a heart-to-heart relationship with Jesus. At first this fellow was insulted; but as he thought and prayed about it, he realized the man had been right. He had a head-knowledge of our Lord, but no true relationship with Him. Thankfully, he agreed to change this.

3. Finally—and this is a big one–try hard not to get frustrated with God’s plans for you. I thought God had called me into ordained ministry, after getting my doctorate in Psychology, so that I could do therapy with the clergy. That really never worked out! Instead, here I serving Him and you as a pastor in this church, and happy to do so. I have learned from this that the path to peace is following God’s will. Also, God’s path to peace often involves waiting. Have you ever noticed that many of the Old Testament saints had to wait for years to obtain their promised rewards? I think of waiting as the crucible of the saints. God uses the time to wear off our rough and sharp edges, to mold and shaped our character.

But, to get back to Chuck Lawless’ story, I have had to make adjustments to my swing, instead of expecting God to fulfill my plans—and perhaps you have too.

Let’s turn to our Gospel lesson again–John the Baptist’s words to the Pharisees and Sadducees were straight and true! They had joined the crowds that were coming to JtB, ostensibly to ask to receive the baptism of repentance. So why did John blast them, calling them “you brood of vipers”? He called them out because, as a prophet, he knew they had joined the crowd only out of curiosity. They were not there to humbly ask God’s forgiveness because they realized they needed to change. They did, in fact, need to change their hearts toward God and toward God’s people, but they were clearly unwilling to change.

So he thundered at them, Bear fruit worthy of repentance! What he meant was “Let me see some evidence of a changed direction in your life. You guys seem to believe because you are leaders of God’s Chosen People, you don’t have to examine your consciences, or to consider whether following the rules often means you are missing out on understanding the heart of God. You seem to have overlooked the truth that God is heading in one direction, and you insist you are following Him, even though you are wrong-headedly going the other way.”

If the Kingdom of God is at hand—and if we want the Advent peace God promises–what must we do to get ready? We want to look at the direction God is going, get ourselves turned around, and follow Him. It’s not up to us to debate the quality or direction of God’s pitches. We can insist on our own way and lose out. Or we can surrender our wills to His and join Him.

That’s where we will ultimately find the peace that Isaiah describes in his Chapter 11:6-9 passage this morning:

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the kid [young goat], the calf and lion and the yearling [young deer] will eat from the same trough, and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their calves and cubs grow up together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens, the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent. Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill on My holy mountain, for the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Oh Lord, may it be so and soon! Amen and Amen!

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Our God Prefers Truth over Lying to Influence People

Pastor Sherry’s message for November 6, 2022

Scriptures: Haggai 1:15-2:9; Ps 145:1-5; 2 Thess 2:1-17; Lk 20:27-40

One of the things I most love about our God is that He is a straight shooter. He always speaks the truth, and nothing but the truth, even if folks don’t like it or don’t want to hear it. Truth, real truth, is often a scarce commodity. In this time of elections, for instance, we hear “facts” from a candidate that are called “disinformation”—or outright lies—by his/her opponent. Since they contradict each other, we end up wondering which one is telling the real truth. The same is true of newscasters. Remember the days of the great Walter Cronkite? He detailed the news without spin or opinion. We felt like we were hearing the truth and we trusted him. Telling the truth leads to trust in the person who tells it.

Two stories I read recently highlight this:

(1) The first concerns 2 outrageously wealthy and wicked brothers. They were consummate hypocrites, acting like they were such great Christians on Sundays, and contributing tons of money to various church projects—you know the type—while the rest of the week, they schemed and scammed at work, defrauded their friends and colleagues, and cheated on their wives. (These are the kinds of Christians that non-Christians point to, paint with a broad brush, and use to call us all hypocrites.)

A new pastor arrived who preached Biblical truths with passion and commitment. Under his leadership, the church grew so much that the congregation needed to enlarge their worship space. At about that time, one of these brothers died. The other brother approached the new pastor and offered to cover the entire cost of the building expansion, if the new pastor would claim at the funeral that the deceased brother had been a saint.

Now the new minister had discerned the truth about these two brothers. Nevertheless, he gave his word that he would call the deceased a saint. He took the check to the bank, where he immediately deposited it. He then said the following at the funeral the next day: “This man was an ungodly sinner, wicked to the core. He was unfaithful to his wife, hot-tempered with his children, ruthless in his business, and a hypocrite at church…but compared to his brother, he was a saint.”

(2) The 2nd story comes from a 4th grade class who wrote a letter to their teacher who was convalescing in the hospital from surgery: “Dear Mrs. Fisher, Your fourth grade class wishes you a speedy recovery by a vote of 15-14.”

(Both stories reported by Chuck Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, pp.587-588.)

Two of our passages today demonstrate God’s preference for truth-telling over lying:

A. Haggai 1:15-2:9. The prophet Haggai, another minor prophet, proclaimed God’s word to the Israelite remnant when they returned to the Promised Land after their 70 year exile in Babylon. He ministered during the same period as Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, and Zechariah. His book is the 2nd shortest in the Old Testament (only Obadiah is shorter).

He gave five messages to the people and each is precisely dated based on the reigns of the kings of Persia. The challenge which proceeds today’s reading (1:1-11) was given on September 1, 520BC. The people had encountered resistance from Samaritans and Arabs around them in their efforts to rebuild the Temple. So when the process became difficult, they wrongly assumed it must not be God’s will to rebuild at that time. God rebuked and redirected the remnant’s erroneous assessment (1:12-15) on September 24, 520. Essentially, the Lord told them, “Au contrare, mes amis. [This is the last that I remember of my high school French.] You have deserted your work on My house to work on your own houses. I am not happy with this! Don’t worry about the resistance because…(v.13) I am with you.” So they jumped to it! (v.15b) on the 24th day of the 6th month in the 2nd year of King Darius.

After they had gathered material and begun again to rebuild, the Lord encouraged the people, (2:1-9) on October 21st, 520. The elderly folks—who had been around to see the grandeur of Solomon’s Temple—were dismayed by how pitiful (to them) the reconstructed temple looked. Solomon’s Temple, which Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had destroyed, had been a “jewel box,” and one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. It had been constructed of marble overlaid with gold, silver and jewels. These poor refugees had no such gold, silver, or jewels; they rebuilt with just rock set upon rock. So God had the prophet tell the political leader, Zerubbabel, the religious leader, Joshua (a different Joshua from the one who had led the Children of Israel into the Promised Land), and all the people, Be strong…for I am with you. The Lord encouraged them by saying (vv.6-9) In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land [in other words, shock and awe everyone]. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations [Jesus] will come, and I will fill this house with glory [because Jesus will be teaching within it]. The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine…the glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house…and in this place I will grant peace.

So God conveyed to them the stark truth: “You have abandoned building My house because you got scared, then focused on your own houses. You need to get cracking on My house!” Once they did begin construction, they were disappointed with the results. Again, God redirected them. “I’ve got this. This house will exceed the beauty of Solomon’s Temple, though plain, because Jesus, My Son, will grace it with His divine presence.” Notice: God is honest with them but also tender and encouraging.

2. Luke 20:27-40. In a way similar to that of God the Father, Jesus rebukes and redirects the Sadducees. Remember, the Sadducees were the rich, urbane, religious liberals of the day. They dismissed the Pharisees as fundamentalists, and they curried the favor of the Romans for power and influence. They approach Jesus with a ridiculous issue: How likely is it that a woman would marry one brother after his elder brother had died, on and on through 7 brothers? Brothers 3-7 would no doubt decide she was cursed and would avoid her, or barren and would avoid her.

We see this with Judah’s 1st two sons. Back in Genesis 38, Tamar married Judah’s 1st son, Er. He was so wicked he was put to death by God.

Then, according to the law intended both to provide for and to protect widows—as well as ensure descendants for the dead man–Tamar married Judah’s 2nd son, Onan. Onan was also very evil so the Lord put him to death as well. Judah refused to allow Tamar to marry his 3rd son, Shelah, believing she might somehow cause his death too. My maternal grandmother married five times (but not to 5 brothers). Each died a natural death. Nevertheless, we teased her claiming that marrying her was the “kiss of death” for her husbands.

These Sadducees should have been familiar with this Genesis story, so would have known their example was preposterous. Additionally, as Luke points out, Sadducees didn’t even believe in an afterlife or in a resurrection.

Matthew and Mark both report that Jesus told them they neither knew Scripture nor understand the power of God (they didn’t believe in the supernatural or in miracles). Jesus doesn’t really address their ridiculous case, but instead demonstrates from Exodus 3 that Our God is the God of living persons. He says to them (v.37) But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” [all present tense]. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive. He is the God of all of us on earth and also of those who go on to heaven to dwell—in a different life form—with Him there. He rebukes them for their ignorance of God’s Word and their unbelief, but redirects them to the reality of resurrection.

So what is God saying to us today thru these passages? Among a number of possibilities are the following:

(1) I believe He is asking us, “Will we be honest with people?” Like our God is, like the new pastor in the story was, and like the children were. God the Father enjoined us not to lie, making slander or “bearing false witness,” the 9th of the 10 Commandments. We want to remember that Jesus called Himself the way, the truth, and the life. To our God, truth is not just a virtue or a concept, it is the person of Jesus! Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth, so He too both embodies truth and can lead us to the truth. We can ask the Holy Spirit to help us discern what is true and what isn’t. We can also ask the Holy Spirit to give us the courage to speak the truth, in all situations.

(2) We want to speak truth, but we also want—as best as we can– to speak the truth in love. The Father rebuked the remnant, then also encouraged them. Jesus rebuked the Sadducees, then redirected them, addressing their core theological errors. In both stories I related, the folks involved told the truth, but without much love or compassion.

(3) Lying politicians, newscasters, and others need to beware. Jesus says of Satan, in John 8:44 that…[Satan] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lives. Lying helps us resemble the evil one in behavior. Lying is never a good idea. It offends God. Additionally, the truth generally always comes out, then the liar is shown for what he/she is.

This Tuesday, Election Day, let’s watch and see who the American people perceive are the liars, and may the truth-tellers win! And may we resolve always to speak the truth in love.

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Why the Wait?

Pastor Sherry’s message for October 30, 2022

Scriptures: Hab 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Ps 119:137-144; 2 Thess 1:1-4,11-12; Lk 19:1-10

Habakkuk is one of the Minor Prophets (a short book at the end of the Old Testament, only 3 chapters long) whose major theme is faith/believing/trusting in God. Habakkuk was a contemporary of Jeremiah and lived from approximately 640-570BC. Instead of writing warnings to sinful Israel to repent, he delivered a series of dialogues between himself and God. In our reading today, he asks God (Chapter1),

1.) Why is there so much violence and injustice?

2.) How come You tolerate wrong-doing, LORD?

3.) Why don’t You do something?!!

Then, in Chapter 2, he asks, Why would you use an unjust nation (Babylonia) to punish us? True, I get that we are sinners who deserve punishment; but why would You use them? They are worse than we are, and they aren’t even believers!

Let’s focus on how God answers Habakkuk, because both the issues the prophet raises–and God’s responses–are very contemporary. To the question of why God permits evil, the LORD says, (v.5) Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. What could that be? In the short run, He is going to allow them to be chastised by/taken to “the Biblical woodshed” by being defeated and captured by the pagan Babylonians. This happened in 587BC. Jerusalem and the Temple were burned; the people who were not killed were chained and led off to Babylon as slaves. However, as the books Ezra and Nehemiah later attest, they were freed to return to the Land after 70 years of captivity. In the long run, however, it is a subtle prediction of the coming of Messiah. Jesus, God Himself coming to earth in human form, is indeed… something in your days that you would not believe. Jesus, Emmanuel—God with us–will be breaking into human history to both demonstrate God’s love for us and to save us from our sins.

To the question of why God uses sinful nations to punish His people—and bear in mind that we Christ-followers are His People, and that we do currently deserve punishment for a multitude of national and personal sins—the prophet says, (2:1) I will stand at my watch and station myself at the ramparts; I will look to see what He [God] will say to me. As a person of great faith, the prophet states essentially, “I don’t understand so I am going to wait on the LORD to make it clear to me.” Notice, he doesn’t say, “This is nuts! I’m just going to do what I need to do to take care of me and mine.” Instead, he waits in faith, trusting in God’s purposes for him and for us.

God does answer him: (2:2-3) …though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. What’s God mean by this? It is as though the Lord is saying, “Yes I am using a corrupt, immoral nation to discipline My People, but the day will come that I discipline them too.” Nebuchadnezzar was puffed up and arrogant. History reports that Babylon fell in 539 BC, overtaken by the Medes and the Persians. No nation lives outside God’s purview, not then and not now. The Lord truly is sovereign over all things. King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong. People wrongly assume that God is not watching, that He doesn’t know what’s going on. When it looks like He is tolerating evil behavior, it’s not an invitation to continue to do wrong. He is instead giving a nation time to come to its senses and repent.

So what is Habakkuk saying to us today? I believe he is making at least four important points:

1. Our God is very aware of all the sinful behavior around us (ours and others’).

2. God’s judgment may not come speedily, but it does come eventually.

3. In the meantime, our Lord is exceedingly patient, not wanting anyone to perish. He gives us all plenty of time and multiple opportunities to come to Him in repentance. And don’t we love and appreciate that about Him!

4. When we don’t understand why God is doing what He is doing, we should follow the example of Habakkuk: Be a watchman or watchwoman, and Trust in the Lord; Pray; and Wait.

Now, let’s turn our focus to today’s Gospel lesson, Luke 19:1-10, a perfect example of why God often chooses to wait.

Jesus is headed toward Jerusalem to be crucified. He enters Jericho, a town 20 miles NE of Jerusalem. Just prior to entering the city, Jesus restores the sight of the blind man, Bartimaeus. Next, He is on the lookout for a notorious sinner, Zacchaeus. Always guided by the Father’s will, Jesus goes looking for this man. This is a divine appointment.

Zacchaeus (ironically his name means pure) is…

1. The Chief Tax Collector for the region— As I explained last week–in reference to the prayers of the Pharisee versus those of the tax collector—tax collectors were despised by their countrymen because they were perceived as Roman collaborators/sell-outs/traitors, as well as thieves. The Mishna, a Jewish commentary on God’s Law, pairs tax collectors with murderers and robbers.

2. He was also very rich because, in a pyramid system, he took a percentage of what every tax collector under his authority pocketed;

3. He was a man who had forsaken his religion in a quest for wealth;

4. Lastly, he was short in stature.

Zacchaeus learns Jesus is coming and wants to see Him (He appears to have a spiritual hunger, like the blind man, Bartimaeus). He runs ahead and climbs a sycamore-fig tree. This tree would have been between 30-40 feet high, with slick bark, and low, broad limbs that ran parallel to the ground. He could have viewed Jesus from that vantage point without being observed—or so he thought! Jesus, of course, knows he is there, stops, and calls to him to come down. Again, this is a divine appointment. Jesus’ mission has always been to reclaim the prodigals (Luke15:11-31—the Parable of the Prodigal Son), and to welcome the humble into God’s kingdom (Luke 18:9-14—the humble. praying tax collector of last week’s Gospel). Notice Jesus says to him, (v.5) Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. Now I ask you, what’s with the must? Who can make Jesus do anything? Only God the Father has that kind of influence.

The people murmur….Jesus does not stay at the home of a Pharisee; nor does He appear to visit the most influential persons of the city. Instead he chooses to hang out with the most notorious and despised man there. The crowd considers him outside the possibility of redemption; but thank God Jesus does not write off any who are open to God. There appears to be a time lapse—we don’t know how long they conferred at Zach’s house. But Jesus (and His Father) recognized Zach’s spiritual bankruptcy. Jesus probably talked with Zacchaeus about our need for God and God’s willingness and ability to meet that need.

But whatever was said, Zacchaeus is transformed! He admits he has been robbing the poor and says he will give ½ of his wealth to make amends (compare this with the Rich Young Ruler who could not let go of his money to follow Jesus, Matthew 19:16-24). The Law required giving back what was taken and adding 20%. So a “fine” of 20% was considered generous. Zacchaeus is going to gift the poor with 50% of all he has. He also promises to give back 4 times what he defrauded others. He actually penalizes himself by meeting the standard expected of rustlers: In Exodus 22:1, if a person stole an ox, they had to replace it with 5 cows; if one sheep, 4 sheep were required. Zacchaeus demonstrates his new faith with his works (James 2:18). Jesus affirms his transformation by saying (v.9) Today salvation has come to this house….He also points out that Zacchaeus is a son of Abraham—no matter how bad a sinner; and that Jesus came (v.10) to seek and to save what was lost. (Remember the parables of Luke 15 one lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son, all of whom were located).

So why the Wait? Because God may be doing a new thing. So that sinners like Zacchaeus (and us) can be saved. So that we might fall in love with Jesus and desire to please Him. So that we become magnanimous, forgiving, and grace-filled toward Him and others. Thanks be to God Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Gratitude Like The One In Nine

Pastor Sherry’s message for October 9, 2022

Scriptures: Jer 29:1-7; Ps 66:1-12; 2 Tim 2:8-15; Lk 17:11-19

A Jesuit priest has said, “It’s not joy that makes us grateful, it’s gratitude that makes us joyful.” That bears repeating: “It’s not joy that makes us grateful, it’s gratitude that makes us joyful.” Modern psychological research has shown that finding things to be grateful for is a key to good mental health. People who can think of 3 things for which they are thankful, daily, are less likely to be depressed and more likely to be happy.

A cartoon in a magazine shows a couple, at the church door, saying goodbye to the pastor following the service. The man says, “Wonderful sermon! Thanks for not mentioning my name.” We can be grateful for not having our sins shared from the pulpit. (I promise you, I will never name you and your personal sins from this pulpit.)

I can think of two other examples of grateful people:

(1) The leader of our denomination, John Wesley, “…was about 21 years of age when he went to Oxford University. He came from a Christian home, and he was gifted with a keen mind and good looks. Yet in those days he was a bit snobbish and sarcastic. One night, however, something happened that set in motion a change in Wesley’s heart.

“While speaking with a porter, he discovered that the poor fellow had only one coat and lived in such impoverished conditions that he didn’t even have a bed. Yet he was an unusually happy person, filled with gratitude to God.

“Wesley, being immature, thoughtlessly joked about the man’s misfortunes. “And what else do you thank God for?” he said with a touch of sarcasm.

“The porter smiled, and in the spirit of meekness replied with joy, ‘I thank Him that He has given me my life and being, a heart to love Him, and above all a constant desire to serve Him!’

“Deeply moved, Wesley recognized that this man knew the meaning of true thankfulness.

“Many years later, in 1791, John Wesley lay on his deathbed at the age of 88. Those who gathered around him realized how well he had learned the lesson of praising God in every circumstance. Despite Wesley’s extreme weakness, he began singing the hymn, ‘I’ll Praise My Maker While I’ve Breath.’”

(From a sermon entitled “True Thankfulness” by Donnie Martin, July 26, 2010)

(2) Albert, the fellow who manned a drive up window at a Café DuMonde in New Orleans, where I stopped most mornings to get a CafeAuLait. He lacked most of his teeth but the ones he had were gold. He probably worked for minimum wage, but when I asked him each day how he was, he always replied, “I’m blessed!” The Lord used Albert in my life just as he used the porter in John Wesley’s. Two “simple” but wise—though economically disadvantaged persons–knew the value of daily expressing their gratitude to God.

Let’s see what our Scripture lessons today have to say about daily expressing gratitude to God:

A. Our Psalm (66:1-12) instructs us to praise God because of His deliverance, His preservation, and His provision for us.

B. In our Epistle (2 Timothy 2:8-15), Paul instructs us thank God for our redemption through Jesus Christ.

C. In our Old Testament lesson (Jeremiah 29:1-7), the prophet has written a letter to the Jewish captives in Babylon. They had been carted away, in defeat, to a pagan foreign nation. Surprisingly, instead of commiserating with them, Jeremiah essentially tells them that they are to “bloom where they have been planted.” This sentiment was often pictured on posters in the 1960’s and I remember thinking as a young person, “I don’t want to bloom where I am planted. I want to, instead, change my environment.” I didn’t realize then that God often calls us to do our best where we are, as He intends us to be transformed there, as well as to influence others to be transformed. So, Jeremiah encourages the deportees to build homes for themselves and their families. They are to settle in where they have wound up. Further, he encourages them to plant gardens, so they can feed themselves. Obviously, the Lord intends that they will be there for a while.

They are to marry and have sons and daughters. Again, this implies they will be there for some time. This side of the Cross, we know they were there for 70 years, or for most of 2 generations. Rather than being frustrated or resentful (hateful), they were also to contribute to the peace/prosperity of the city of Babylon. In fact, the Lord says, through the prophet, (v.7) —Pray to the LORD for it [Babylon], because if it [Babylon] prospers, you too will prosper.

They were not to be grateful for their captivity, their deportation to a foreign land. God used that experience to punish them because He is holy (and cannot abide sin). They were guilty of idolatry, greed, lust and sexual perversion, and multiple abuses of power. They had been grossly out of line for a long time. We know from Hebrews 12:5-11 that God disciplines those He loves. We also realize that if He didn’t, we could not really trust Him. He means what He says in Scripture, and He says what He means. The Lord has punished them, hoping they will change their sinful attitudes and improve their behavior in the future. The point is that—even though they are captive in a foreign land—which seems terrible to them, it comes as no surprise to God—He engineered it. They can and should be grateful to Him because they are alive and He has not abandoned them.

We want to be grateful to God for what He teaches us through our trials. When we go through trials—emotional pain—we are molded and shaped by God. Years ago, I was counseling college students at Florida State University as part of a pre-doctoral psychology internship. While there, I encountered a “trust fund baby,” a young man who had been handed everything. He told me that he drove a brand new BMW; all his expenses were paid by his parents; he had a job waiting for him, in his father’s firm, when he finished school; and he had never had to mourn the loss of someone he loved. In other words, he had never suffered, he had never had to struggle. He asked me to help him develop some motivation for life. I suggested he volunteer at a soup-kitchen for the homeless, or spend time with disadvantaged kids in daycare. I have never known anyone to have compassion for others who has not observed or experienced suffering. When we go through trials, we learn compassion for others. We learn to have patience. We learn to trust in God despite our circumstances.

D. In our Gospel lesson (Luke 17:11-19, Jesus heals 10 lepers.

Our Lord is headed to Jerusalem to die. At the fringe of some unnamed village, 10 lepers appeal to Him for healing. He gives them what they want, freely, graciously. Notice: they had faith in Him and in His ability to heal them. He says to them, (v.14) —Go, show yourselves to the priests.

Leviticus 14:1-10 describes all the things a leper who had been healed had to do: (1) Show him/herself to the priest. (2.) The priest would then perform a detailed ritual to ensure the person was cleansed spiritually as well as physically; (3.) Then the healed person was to wash his/her clothes; shave off all his/her hair, even eyebrows; and bathe with water.

So, the ten obey Jesus and scurry off to begin the cleansing process. It is on their way that they are healed. They had stepped out in faith. They had trusted in Jesus. And unlike Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5), they were immediately compliant. But only one guy notices his healing and returns first to thank Jesus. Maybe the other nine were just too overjoyed to focus on gratitude. Or maybe they believed they deserved it (they felt entitled). Most likely their attention was on remembering and performing the religious requirements, or on the anticipated happy reunions with their families. We don’t really know why they didn’t think to thank the LORD.

The one guy who does was a hated Samaritan! We would say today that he wasn’t raised right; that he was not well bred; that he was “sorry from way back.” But the fellow who wasn’t raised right knew enough to express his gratitude. Maybe he was shocked that Jesus would heal even him. Maybe he was aware that he didn’t deserve this kind of grace from a Jewish rabbi. Jesus’ response to the Samaritan’s gratitude was fantastic—v. 17–Rise and go; your faith has made you well. This implies that the fellow was kneeling at Jesus’ feet; or maybe he had prostrated himself, in adoration. Jesus is so pleased that he commends him for his faith and for his manners. This guy has received the same physical healing as the other 9; but he has also received a complete healing. In addition to the physical, he received a spiritual healing as well–forgiveness for his sins. Both healings merited eternal gratitude.

Today’s lessons go beyond issues of disease or misfortune and healing: They challenge us to be mindful of all that God has done for us and to be grateful to Him. Too many of us are like a demanding guy in the Post Office. A guy with a broken right arm goes into the Post Office. The lady at the counter asks how she might help him. He proceeds to ask for a post card and a stamp. Then he asks her to write out his message on the card, and finally to address it to his friend. She asks again if there is anything else he needs. He looks at the card and says, “Yes please add an apology to my friend for the bad handwriting.”

(Borrowed from John Fairless and Delmer Chilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentary, Year C, 2015, p.310.)

Are we like that—or like the 9 who were healed, but didn’t express their gratitude? It’s all too easy, isn’t it, to take God’s grace for us for granted and to forget to express to Him our grateful thanks. This week, let’s remember to express to our Lord our thanks and praise. Even better, try to think of three things daily for which you are grateful to God. Do this for a month and watch and see what happens. You should find yourself being more joy-filled.

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Cooking the Books

Pastor Sherry’s message for 9/18/2022

Scriptures: Jer 8:18-9:1; Ps 79:1-9; 1 Tim 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13

Remember “Cliff Notes”? Back in the day before computers and the internet, if you were assigned a novel you dreaded to read—like Silas Marner or Moby Dick, you could get one of these little black and yellow booklets and learn what you needed to from them. No telling how many people have successfully made it through high school or college English classes by consulting Cliff Notes. They would reveal to you the themes and subthemes, what the major characters represented (if they were symbolic), the setting, the tone and the genre of the book, etc.–enough so that you could pass a test on the required reading without really reading it. I guess the internet has put Cliff Notes out of business.

Nevertheless, today—since I want to focus on the Gospel lesson–I am going to begin by giving you the Cliff Notes version of our other three readings. They are too valuable to skip over.


A. In Jeremiah 8:18-9:1, the prophet is actually weeping over what the Lord has told him will be the capture and deportation of Judah. The prophet knows his apostate countrymen and women will wonder why Jerusalem is sacked and the Temple destroyed. They believed God would never allow this to happen, no matter their behavior. They missed that our God does not revere buildings. He loves the people who worship Him inside the buildings. So, because they no longer believe in God, they will not understand they are being punished for their idolatry and faithlessness.

Both due to their spiritual adultery—despite all his warnings to the contrary–and due to his identification with their distress, Jeremiah grieves over them.

B. Asaph, the author of Psalm 79, is aware that God has used the Babylonians to punish His wayward Judean Chosen People. He begs God to forgive and restore the nation. He also asks God to bring judgment against Babylon, a pagan nation (v.6) …pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you. How ironic that God often uses non-believing nations to discipline His chosen (Pagan Assyrians carted off the Northern Kingdom in 722BC, for example.) Finally, in verse 9, he begs God to …help us Oh God our Savior, for the glory of Your name.

C. Paul advises Timothy (and us) to pray for national leaders, whether we like them or not. YIKES! We have been praying weekly that corrupt and dishonest leaders be replaced by ethical, God-loving ones; but I confess I have been remiss in praying for the folks in that first category. OOPS! Paul says we are to do so in order that the Gospel continues to spread into the world; and because God does not wish for anyone to perish. Remember John 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in His shall not perish but have eternal life. God loves everyone, unconditionally. But the gift of eternal life is conditioned on believing in Jesus.

Much more could be made about all three of these passages, but I have given you the gist, the Cliff Notes version.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the Gospel lesson assigned for today, Luke 16:1-13, the Parable of the Crooked Steward. It directly follows the parable of the Prodigal Son. Remember how the younger son asked for his inheritance early and squandered it all? Well, this crooked steward—we would probably call him a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) today—has mismanaged his boss’ accounts, and misappropriated his boss’ profits.

We’ve heard of this happening all too often, haven’t we (the Enron scandal and the housing debacle of 2008, etc.)?

The story is told of a man who was interviewing candidates for an accounting job… When the first man came in, the interviewer asked, “OK, what’s two plus two?” The candidate replied, “Four,” and the interview was over. Same thing happened with the next man. But the third candidate, when asked the same question, stood up and locked the door. He closed the blinds, then leaned over the desk and asked, “How much do you want it to be?”

(Borrowed from a sermon by Rev. Timothy Archer, “Bad Books, Good Lessons,” Feb. 15, 2004).

I worked on my doctorate at Florida State University from 1986-1989. In my final year, I saw student clients at the university’s counseling students. Among them were several accounting majors from the College of Business—one of the most difficult majors at FSU at that time. Now this was in the days prior to internet searches, and students were often required to search out and read important research articles in professional journals. I asked one of the librarians then how many journals the library subscribed to and was told 40,000. These monthly or quarterly scholarly works were bound into volumes by year and you had to physically go to the stacks and search them out. Because accounting was such a competitive major, some students–to thwart their student rivals–would use razor blades to remove the relevant articles from the library’s reserved sources. I remember thinking at the time that (a) I would not want one of the guilty parties to be my accountant; and (b) why we would wonder that some professionals have no integrity.

But back to our parable: The boss gets wind of the fact that the CFO has “cooked the books” and cans him. Interestingly, he isn’t immediately escorted out of his office, with his parking pass confiscated and his computer codes changed. Instead, the boss tells him to prepare for a financial audit. The crook knows his fraudulent practices will soon be uncovered.

So, what’s the Crooked CFO to do? He shrewdly decides he needs to convince those who owe the boss money that he is on their side. They may not even be aware he is crook. Nevertheless, he offers to discount what they owe the company. Perhaps he had inflated what they owed to begin with (pocketing the difference), but he now reduces one guy’s bill by 50%, and another’s by 20%. Every bit helps, right? Wouldn’t we all love to have someone cut our grocery bill by 50% or our gas bill by 20%? He seems to think these fellows will remember him kindly once the boss has sacked him. They might hire him—not as an accountant it is to be hoped–so that he doesn’t have to dig ditches or wave traffic around road construction sites.

Now Jesus surprisingly commends the dude! Don’t you want to say to Jesus, “But Lord, he’s a crook!” However, Jesus isn’t commending him for being dishonest. This is a parable of contrast, like the how much more stories Jesus tells:

1.) If the unjust judge will give a powerless widow woman justice, how much more will the Lord do?

2.) If a son asks for an egg, will his earthly father give him a scorpion? How much more then will his heavenly father provide?

3.) If the grouchy neighbor will give his friend bread at midnight, how much more generously will our heavenly father respond?

4.) If the earthly father celebrates his prodigal son’s return, how much will our heavenly father celebrate our return to Him?

Jesus commends the guy—not for being a shyster but for investing in relationships (with those who owe the boss) instead of monetary greed. We don’t know if he truly underwent a lasting attitude adjustment. But consider what William Barclay has to say about him in his commentary:

“If only the Christian was as eager and ingenious in his attempt to attain goodness as the man of the world is in his attempt to attain money and comfort, he would be a much better man.”

(William Barclay. The Gospel of Luke. The Daily Bible Study Series, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 208.)

Our God wants us to passionately pursue doing the right thing toward others. Jesus also commends the guy for trusting in the merciful nature of his boss. Remember, the Prodigal Son’s trust in his father’s grace and mercy compelled him to return home. Jesus is following up that parable by demonstrating that we can trust in our God’s compassion for us.

Martin Luther once wrote, That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself, I say, is really your God. Others have suggested we need only review our bank account expenditures to see what we value most. We need to be mindful of loving God above all things, even money! Like this shyster steward–once he knew he was in trouble–we need to invest more in relationships with others than in lining our own pockets, cooking someone’s books, or taking care of ourselves first, and maybe only.

Jesus goes on to say that we cannot serve God and money! He never said no one could become wealthy. You can clearly be a Christian and make money. I once sat on a plane next to a guy from a well-known, Christian financial ministry. He told me that making money is a gift from God. It is a gift that most people lack. He has had rich men approach him, desiring to leave off making money to become a member of his ministry. He said he tells them to keep on making money, since it is such a rare gift, but plough the excess into ministries for others. Do you remember Rick Warren’s books, The Purpose-Driven Life and The Purpose-Driven Church (2002)? Pastor Warren made millions on these two books. He asked God what to do with the proceeds. He did not trade in his old car for a Mercedes or a Lexus; he did not buy a new, bigger house; instead, he told his church to no longer pay him a salary, kept a small portion for his family’s needs, and put the rest into 5 ministries: One for breast cancer research (his wife had breast cancer); one for aids research; and 3 others dedicated to raising up Christian leaders in Africa. So you see, you can make money but you cannot let a love for money take the place of God in your life.

Additionally Jesus implied that if we are faithful stewards of what He gives us, He will give us more. It’s a paradox, isn’t it? If we don’t think God is very generous towards us, we may want to consider how generous we are toward Him and towards others. If we want God to be generous toward us, we must be generous toward others as well. Amen!

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

True Disciples

Pastor Sherry’s message for September 4, 2022

Scriptures: Jer 18:1-11; Ps 139:1-18; Philemon 1-21; Lk 14:25-33

Back in the 1980’s, when I was first coming into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I looked to a set of commentaries to help me understand the New Testament. I had been asked to lead a women’s Bible Study and knew I needed help with understanding the difficult passages. My parish priest (I was an Episcopalian at the time) suggested I consult William Barclay’s commentaries. Rev. Dr. William Barkley, was a minister in the Church of Scotland and lived from 1907-1978. At that time, his volumes were paperback books with distinctive blue, green, or pink covers, each one explaining a given book of the Bible. Since I knew next to nothing—and my church had the whole set—I was grateful to delve into them.

Over time, however—and as my faith deepened—I began to see some problems. First, Barclay didn’t believe in the miracles of Jesus and, as a student of the Enlightenment, attempted to explain them away with science. In my heart of hearts, I knew this couldn’t be. The Gospel of Mark certifies that Jesus had power over nature, including the laws of nature; the supernatural, including angels and demons; and both physical illness and mental infirmity. Even more impressive, He had the authority to forgive sins and to bring dead people back to life. I loved Barclay’s wisdom and knowledge, but I began to believe his concept of God was too limited. I knew then (and now) that I wanted a God who is powerful enough to alter the very laws of nature that He has put into place. I wanted a God who can truly do …immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)—and we have Him!

Secondly, I also discovered Barclay must have been what is known as a dispensationalist. These folks believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were given for a specific era, which ended before our time; that is, the miraculous works Jesus and the apostles did (healing, raising people from the dead, etc.) ended upon their deaths. But I have witnessed and experienced miracles of healing and perhaps you have too—these gifts are not passé.

Nevertheless, I would never suggest we dismiss all that Barclay had to say. Among many wise things he wrote, I believe his distinction between being a disciple and a follower of Christ is both profound and accurate:

It is possible to be a follower of Jesus without being a disciple: to be a camp follower without being a soldier of the king; to be a hanger-on in some great work without pulling one’s weight. Once someone was talking to a great scholar about a younger man. He said, ‘So and so tells me that he was one of your students.’ The teacher answered devastatingly, ‘He may have attended my lectures, but he was not one of my students.’ There is a world of difference between attending lectures and being a student. It is one of the supreme handicaps of the Church that in the Church there are so many distant followers of Jesus and so few real disciples.

(Chuck Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, p.162.)

I believe this is the consistent message of our Scripture passages today. All four lessons assigned for today are variations on a common theme: True Discipleship.

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

The power of the Potter is absolute! He has a plan/purpose as He works in and with us. Interestingly, He can rework pots or vessels that turn out wrong or are flawed. If we allow Him to do so, He has the power to shape us into vessels of honor. What a wonderful thought! But, this requires us to be totally cooperative and totally committed. Christ’s disciples say “yes” to this process. Barclay would suggest that distant Christ-followers, however, tend to walk their own way, paying little attention to what Jesus might desire of them daily.

A true disciple, then seeks out and cooperates with the will of our Potter.

B. Psalm 139:1-18 gives us a perfect rationale for surrendering our will to that of our Lord. In verses 1-4 He has searched us and He knows us. He knows who we are. He knows our thoughts. He knows what we intend to say before we say it. He knows our behavior too—what we are up to. Additionally, in verses 5-11, we learn there is nowhere that we can run to escape Him or His knowledge of us. He is omniscient, and also omnipresent. Where-ever we may go, He will be there too. He is the “with us” God, Immanuel. And, in verses 13-16, the psalmist declares: He made us (knit me [us] together in my [our] mother’s womb). He thought each one of us up and called us into being, regardless of what our parents planned. He ordained how long we would live. And He ordained a plan and a purpose for each of us.

This psalm assures us that God knows us, is with us, and has a plan and purpose for each one of us. Doesn’t it just make so much sense for us to want to fall into step with God’s plan? Those of us who have ignored God’s plan for our lives, and walked our own way, know from hard experience that pathway leads to turmoil and trouble. Again, you know you are a disciple—not just a follower—when you surrender to God’s plans for your life.

C. Philemon is such a beautiful little book! Paul is in prison, waiting to be executed, but he takes the time to write a dear friend in Christ. Paul had disciple Philemon, who now has a house-church meeting in his home. Paul, as Philemon’s mentor, could have demanded that he allow Onesimus, Philemon’s former slave, to remain free. But instead, Paul blesses him and entreats him to accept Onesimus back as a freed man. He is asking Philemon—out of love for Paul and as a disciple of Christ—to be obedient to Jesus. Scholars speculate that the population of the Roman Empire was about 120,000; 60,000 of those were slaves. Slavery was very common then. As people were conquered, they were enslaved. Nevertheless, Jesus had said in John 8:36: So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Jesus would want Philemon to allow Onesimus to remain free, as the former slave is now his brother-in-Christ. This is no longer an economic or a political issue, but a moral and a spiritual one. True disciples do not hold on to the things of this world, but rather seek to please the Sovereign King of this world.

D. Finally, Jesus, in today’s Gospel lesson (Luke14:25-33) draws our attention to the cost of discipleship. Believers or followers should think ahead of committing themselves to being disciples, as the cost is high.

Nothing is to come before Jesus in our hearts–not spouses, children, parents, siblings, or self. Jesus is stating a strong contrast for effect. He does not really mean we have to hate these relationships. There is a place for them in our lives; but all of them should take a distant back seat to Jesus.

Just as a builder considers his/her resources before planning construction, and just as a king considers his resources before engaging in battle, so too must we estimate or count the cost. My son is a structural engineer in business by himself. He is now reconfiguring what he calls “boomerang” plans. He had designed, signed and sealed the plans, but the contractor then complained that he/she could not locate the materials called for—due to supply chain issues–or that the materials specified—due to inflation—were no longer financially feasible. The plans were then returned for my son to redesign with cheaper or more readily available materials substituted for the original ones. Back in Jesus’ day, builders tended to know the cost of wood and bricks for home building. But, even so, a home owner would need to estimate the cost of construction and have the money and building materials at hand before beginning a building project.

The point is, if you can’t commit all, then remain a believer, a follower.

But being Christ’s disciple, a true disciple, means being willing to give all of one’s self to the effort, including carrying a cross.

True disciples, then,

(1.) Allow God to mold and shape us.

(2.) Understand that since God made us, knows us, and knows all things, it makes good sense to cooperate with His plan for our lives.

(3.) Learn to “let go and let God”; or to honor God’s will over our own.

(4.) Have thought through the potential cost, and then commit to Christ no matter what.

Are we willing to do these things? Consider the following old illustration:

A hog and a hen sharing the same barnyard heard about a church’s program to feed the hungry. The hog and the hen discussed how they could help. The hen said, “I’ve got it! We’ll provide bacon and eggs for the church to feed the hungry.” The hog thought about the suggestion and said, “There’s one problem with your bacon and eggs solution. For you, it only requires a contribution, but from me, it will mean total commitment!” That’s the cost of true discipleship. (Source unknown.)

Let’s pray: Lord, you are asking of us a difficult thing. We want to be more than just Christ-followers or believers in Jesus. We desire to be Jesus’ disciples. Give us the grace and the courage to do so. Help us to trust in You and to let go our control over our lives and give it to You. We pray this in the precious and efficacious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The Watchman’s Challenge

Pastor Sherry’s message for July 17, 2022

Scriptures: Amos 8:1-12; Ps 52; Col 1:15-28; Lk 10:38-42

Last week, I encouraged us to become like “watchmen” on the walls surrounding our country. By this I meant “Prayer Warriors” for the USA. We looked at Amos, chapter 7, and recognized how America—like ancient Israel—is out of alignment with the Lord. Amos’ image, given to him by God, was that of a plumb line. It is a simple device (a string with a weight at the end will do) to help insure a straight vertical line for a wall, or for hanging wallpaper. I’ve seen cabinet installers use laser beams to ensure they set the cabinets in straight; the laser is a new form of plumb line.) The prophet was telling the Northern Kingdom that they were out of plumb with God. Citing a number of examples, we could see where our country, too, is currently out of plumb with God.

This week, in Amos 8:1-12, God gives His prophet the image of ripe fruit. Ripe fruit is fruit taken at its peak. Prior to ripening, it is too sour or too hard to eat. By the same token, you don’t want to let ripe fruit sit around for very long. It gets mushy, brown, or soggy—it spoils; it also attracts fruit flies. God is saying to Israel that “the time is ripe” for them.

Either they change their sinful ways and return to sincere worship of God; or God will no longer spare them. This was God’s final image of warning to them in the book of Amos.

Again, I think this is a very relevant message for us in America today. Like with the Northern Kingdom, many Americans don’t worship the One, True God anymore. And some who do are only going through the motions: God condemned the Israelites for thinking about their businesses while at worship. What do we think about while here in church together? Are we focused on the Lord, or on what we’ll have for lunch after? What we might do later?

The Israelites were infamous at that time for corrupt business practices: Skimping on the quantity—providing less of what was wanted for the same or a larger price; inflating the price; cheating with dishonest scales (and other measures); and buying the poor (with silver or for a pair of sandals.) We tend not to think of ourselves as buying the poor, but what about engaging in sex trafficking, buying the sexual use of someone’s body. And while we no longer have debtors’ prisons, we do have a staggering number of homeless persons who cannot afford to live in today’s economy. It appears as though a surprising number of folks in America don’t realize that God sees all and knows all, and intends to hold them (us) accountable. In vv.7-10, God reminds Israel (and us) The Lord has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.” The Pride of Jacob is a poetic name for the yet to come Jesus (as predicted by Amos around 750 BC). God is swearing by His Son, Jesus, that He will not forget their corrupt deeds (He sees and remembers all evil acts). If the Father makes a vow based on His Son, is there any question that He means to abide by it? No!

I have heard people joke about going to hell: they say they intend to party with all their friends who they think will be there too. YIKES! This is no joking matter! Humans in hell will not be partying! They will be eternally separated from God, as well as from any of their godly friends and relatives. Worse yet, they will experience unending, everlasting torment at the hand of demons who hate God and God’s people. This is not something to aspire to, even glibly.

Amos ends the passage with predictions of what is to come in the end times (the 7 year Great Tribulation): (1) There will be massive earthquakes. (2) Sunlight will be limited to ½ a day. (3) Those who rejoice now will be weeping then, in mourning, wishing they had chosen to follow Jesus while there was yet time. (4) And there will be a famine of hearing God’s Word.

Back then, God sent no more prophets, after Malachi, to declare His word for the 400 years remaining before Jesus’ birth and the appearance of John the Baptist. It appears that even now the Lord has lifted His hand of protection from us, so that we are already experiencing …an increase of evil (as predicted by Jesus in Matthew 24:12).

If this alarms you, be at peace as our remaining Scriptures today are all very encouraging.

A. Our Psalm 52 describes King David’s fearless confidence in God when he was attacked by an arrogant and wicked enemy king. In vv.1-4, he declares there is no reason for evil ones to boast as God will bring them down. John Lawrence, in his book Down to Earth, reports how a city of wicked and sacrilegious people dared God to show Himself:

“On December 25, 1908—Jesus’ Birthday–a newspaper published in Messina, Sicily, printed a parody against God, daring Him to make Himself known by sending an earthquake. Three days later, on December 28, the city and its surrounding district was devastated by a terrible quake that killed 84,000 people.” (Cited in Today in the Word, October, 1997, p. 25). This foolish city went too far. They incurred the wrath of God. We can only hope that God separated out the scoffers and blasphemers for judgment and spared the righteous. At any rate, He clearly remembered their arrogance and their unbelief.

King David goes on to assert (vv.6-7) that the righteous will be ultimately vindicated–which David was, again and again. And those of us who love Jesus will be too. Verses 8-9 conclude with David asserting that he will trust in the Lord—an encouragement for us to do likewise.

B. In Colossians 1:15-28, Paul makes his case for the supremacy of Christ. Why should the believer trust in Jesus? Because Jesus…(1) created all things; (2) is set apart from and is superior to all created things; (3) holds all of creation together (Science has discovered that all human and animal connective tissue has at its heart a substance called lamina. This substance appears in cell bodies in it the shape of a cross. Literally, the Cross of Christ holds our bodies together. (4) He is the head of His body, the Church; and (5) because God had Jesus reconcile all things to the Father. (6) Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Father now looks at those of us who love His Son through the eyes of Christ. He forgives us our failings. He offers us grace, love, and mercy.

C. Our Gospel lesson (Luke 10:38-42) records Jesus’ interactions with Mary and Martha. God bless her, Martha is focused on the task of creating a meal for our Lord. Mary, her sister, has abandoned the task to deepen her relationship with Jesus. Jesus reassures Martha that she is not to worry, while affirming Mary’s focus on Him and His teaching. This is a lesson for each of us, too, isn’t it? We don’t want to be invested in doing things for God without spending time investing in our relationship with Him daily.

God’s judgment is coming for America, just as it did for ancient Israel. But we still have time to get right with our Lord: First, we can trust in Him…as a God who protects and defends those who love Him; because of Jesus’ redeeming work on the cross for our sakes; and because He desires a deep relationship with each one of us.

Last week, I encouraged us to stand as watchmen (and watchwomen), praying daily for our country to turn back to God.

This week, I challenge us to pray daily for America. We want to do this because we love the USA. We want to do this because prayer– and the ballot box–are the only means we have for encouraging a national return to Christ. Consider this story from Stuart Strachan, Jr., about Babe Ruth, the great professional baseball player from 1914—1935. For those not familiar with “the Babe,” he hit 714 home runs in his career, and was responsible for bringing another 2, 214 runners in to score. He also contributed to a phenomenal 12 World’s Series wins:

Most of us have heard of Babe Ruth, but have you ever heard of Babe Pinelli? Pinelli was an umpire in Major League Baseball who once called The Great Bambino (Ruth) out on strikes. When the crowd began booing in disapproval of the call, Babe turned to the umpire and said “There’s 40,000 people here who know that the last pitch was a ball.” The coaches and players braced for a swift ejection, but instead, Pinelli responded coolly, “Maybe so, Babe, but mine is the only opinion that counts.”

In life it’s easy to get caught up in the opinions of others, but in the end, it’s not our scoffers or critics by whom we will be judged. The Only Opinion That Matters is God’s.

God may be ready to “lower the boom” on America. Whether His judgment comes tomorrow or 5 or 20 years from now, we should not be afraid. Instead, we are to be faithful until Christ returns. Instead, we need to function as praying watchmen as we wait and watch to see what God does.

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams