Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Wise or Foolish?

Pastor Sherry’s message for May 12, 2024

Scriptures: Acts 1:15-26; Ps 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mothers!  “Former president Jimmy Carter spoke at Southern Methodist University and related an incident that occurred after he left the White House. A woman reporter came to Plains, Georgia, to interview his mother [Lillian Carter] in relation to an article about Mr. Carter and his family. His mother really didn’t want to be interviewed but was being gracious. So when the reporter knocked at her door, Mrs. Carter invited her in. The reporter asked some hard questions and actually was rather aggressive and rude.

“I want to ask you a question,” she said. “Your son ran for the presidency on the premise that he would always tell the truth. Has he ever lied?”

Mrs. Carter said, “I think he’s truthful; I think you can depend on his word.”

The reporter again asked if he had ever lied in his entire life.

His mother said, “Well, I guess maybe he’s told a little white lie.”

“Ah, see there!” the reporter exclaimed. “He’s lied! If he told a white lie, he has lied.”

The reporter was still not satisfied and asked, “What is a white lie?” And then Lillian Carter said, “It’s like a moment ago when you knocked on the door and I went to the door and said I was glad to see you.””

(Brett Blair, http://www.eSermons.com. Adapted from an unknown source.)

Isn’t that just a great story?  Former President Carter’s mother was honest, but also protective of him.  Ms. Lillian was a true southern lady: she was neither rude nor unkind, but she still conveyed her distain for the pushy reporter.  We hope for this from our mothers, don’t we?  They are very well aware of our failings and foibles, but–because of their love for us– they would never admit these to an “outsider.

I think this is the attitude of Jesus in today’s Gospel reading (John 17:6-19).  Jesus is headed to the Cross and so He prays over His disciples to His Father.  He knew He would be leaving them shortly, due to His imminent death, so He was asking His Father to protect them.  He reminds God that He did not lose anyone the Father had placed into His hands [anyone who believed in Him].  He had kept His disciples safe, all except for Judas, His betrayer.  By his choice, Judas rejected Jesus, then (due to guilt, shame, and despair) took his own life.  Jesus refers to Judas as (v.12) the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.  How sad for Jesus to know, the whole time He and Judas were developing a relationship, that Judas would betray Him. 

Notice, Jesus is not praying for the world here, but rather about the 11 He had spent 3 years training (plus all of us who have believed in Him down through the ages).  He is headed to the Cross but He is praying for us.

What a gift to have Jesus pray to the Father for us!  He is still doing this to this day.  He sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven and intercedes for us daily.  What a gift to us if our mother and father prayed for us daily!  I remember reading some books back in the early 1990’s by a woman named Stormie Ormartian.  She wrote The Power of a Praying Wife, and The Power of a Praying Mother.  In the latter book, she prayed for the spouses of her newborn children, from their birth until they eventually married.  She saw her children joined to godly spouses due to her long term prayers.  What a gift to our children and grandchildren if we pray for them daily! 

Additionally, Jesus asks His Father not to remove us from the world—even though we, like Him, don’t belong to this world–but rather to keep us safe from the evil one.  He prayed for our protection. President Carter’s mother, Lillian, in a Christ-like way, was trying to keep her son’s reputation safe from an antagonistic reporter.

Our Lord—and our mothers—want us to withstand the seduction of the evil one and make wise choices for our lives.

In Psalm 1, our Lord spells out the biggest most profound decision we will ever make: to choose to be follow God or to reject God.  The psalmist couches this choice as that between godliness/righteousness and that of ungodliness/wickedness.  Do we choose the way of sinners or the way of those who love and obey God?  Proverbs 1:7 reminds us that—the fear of [awe, reverence for] the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.  Choosing to revere our God is the wise choice.  Choosing to reject our God is foolish.  Those are the two choices before us. 

The psalmist goes on to assert that the person who chooses to follow God is blessed or experiences true happiness. This blessed person resists becoming ungodly: The blessed person resists listening to the advice of the ungodly, such as, “Go ahead, seek revenge;” or “Hey, steal what you want…no one is looking, and even if they catch you, you won’t serve any time.;” or “You deserve love, even if it means cheating on your spouse, abandoning your children, etc.”  The blessed person resists hanging out with sinners.  We might befriend them so as to lead them to Jesus.  But if we linger with them too long, they begin to win us over to their way of thinking and of living. The blessed person resists joining in with mockers or atheists.  Atheists don’t just deny God’s existence, love, or power.  They are more dangerous than this; they are actually antagonistic to God.

The blessed person, instead, meditates on God’s Word, written and in the flesh (Jesus).  This is where he/she derives guidance to live a godly life. Such persons are fruitful, productive, lively, thriving. The ungodly, by contrast, live meaningless lives. They do not impact others for good, and in the end, are blown away like chaff by the wind.

The psalmist concludes by stating, For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.  This is consistent with Jesus’ prayer of John 17:6-19, isn’t it?  Jesus prays for those of us who love Him that the Father will protect us from the evil one.

The Apostle John, writes in his first letter (1 John 5:9-13), He [or she] who has the Son has life; he [or she] who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  It’s the same choice as that in our psalm, isn’t it?  If Christ dwells in us—due to our faith, due to our having chosen to follow Jesus, due to our being born again—we are wise, godly, and blessed. 

If not, we are foolish and, as Scripture calls it, wicked.

The disciples were attempting to comply with this in their choice of a successor to Judas (Acts 1:15-26). You see, in the Hebrew way of thinking, 12 is the number of completion; eleven is therefore incomplete. They looked for other followers of Jesus worthy of being the 12th man on the leadership team.  Texas A&M Aggies football fans who attend the games in their home stadium call themselves “the 12th man.”  There are 11 players on the field forming their team, but the fans in the stands make the 12th.  

Peter, the other 10, and 109 or so other followers of Jesus are in the “Upper Room,” waiting on the impartation of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost—remember, next week, wear red, the color of fire and of the Holy Spirit), and develop criteria for the 12th man:  (1) He had to be someone who had followed Jesus from the beginning of His public ministry; and (2) He had to be someone who like them had witnessed and believed in the Resurrected Christ. They came up with two names, Joseph Barsabbas (also called Justus) and Matthias.  They drew lots and discerned that Matthias was God’s choice.  The Holy Spirit made the decision. It was not based on human favoritism or bias. The disciples looked for and ratified God’s choice. They trusted in God to make the final decision.

When we trust in God, we communicate with Him, and we obey, in faith, what we discern He says to us.  This is wisdom.  I once served on a call committee for my church.  We had narrowed down the candidates for our new pastor to two men.  We make our decisions by unanimous vote, assuming that if the Holy Spirit were leading us, we would all agree.  The vote was locked up for 3 meetings, 11 for one fellow, and 1 for the other.  People got angry at the lone hold-out, who was me (this happened before I left for Seminary).  They wanted to vote to change the unanimous agreement requirement so they could vote in the fellow they all liked.   I reminded them that such a vote would require 100% agreement and I would not cooperate in changing the rules until after this pastor decision had been made.  Someone asked me if I would consider voting by lots.  I agreed because I had faith that God’s will would prevail.  Someone else put 12 purple-wrapped candies in a basket along with 12 gold-wrapped candies.  No one could see what we were choosing because the basket of candies was passed over our heads.  As God would have it, all 12 of us picked the color designated for the guy for whom I had held out.  We were all blown away!  We did call that pastor and he lead us into a deeper faith and a deeper knowledge of Scripture.  He was a blessing to our church.  People who operate this way are blessed.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I want to share a Biblical example of a Godly woman, Abigail.  We find her story in 1 Samuel 25:1-44.  She is described as both (v.3) beautiful and intelligent.  But, she was married to a harsh and mean-spirited man, Nabol (his name in the Hebrew actually means fool).  Nabol was wealthy, owning 1,000 goats and 3,000 sheep, but he was also selfish and greedy.  David had been anointed king but was being chased about the wilderness by the jealous King Saul.  David sent emissaries to Nabol to ask for food from his flocks to feed his growing army and his followers.  He reminded Nabol that his men had protected Nabol’s flocks from both human and animal predators.  Nabol’s response was arrogant, inhospitable, and dangerous (vv.10-11)—Who is this David?  Who is this son of Jesse?  Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days.  Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where? 

YIKES!  Is this the way this fool insults his future king?  David hears the report from his delegation and is steamed!  He assembles 400 soldiers and lights out to set Nabol straight.  He has vengeance on his mind.

Abigail hears from a servant that Nabol has offended the future king. She wisely knows she needs to remedy this or her foolish husband is toast. She gathers several donkeys’ loads of food and wine and heads to intercept David and his men.  She falls at David’s feet, amazingly accepts the blame for her husband’s foolish actions, and offers the hospitality her husband should have provided.  Furthermore, she urges David not to sully his reputation by taking revenge against Nabol.  David commends her for her grace, wisdom, and generosity, and accepts her gift of provisions.  But God takes Nabol’s life 10 days later.  David doesn’t kill him but God protects His anointed.  David then proposes to Nabol’s widow and Abigail becomes the wife of the future king.

Can we aim to be like this?  Righteous, wise, godly, like Abigail?  Or will we be foolishly reckless and contemptuous, like Nabol?  Let us pray that we each make the right choice, the wise choice.  Amen!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

SMART SHEEP

Pastor Sherry’s message for April 21, 2024

Scriptures  Acts 4 5-20; Ps 23; 1 Jn 3 16-24; Jn 10 1-18 

The story is told about a woman calling for help from a small plane. She and her husband were flying a small plane to dine with friends, perhaps from Live Oak to Cedar Key.   Once airborne, the husband got sick and fainted.  Scared witless, she radioed for help, saying she didn’t know how to fly. Lots of people provided lots of advice as to her location, her altitude, how to find out how much fuel remained, and how to turn on her landing lights. A flight instructor out at a nearby airport heard the radio chatter. He jumped into his plane and took off. He wisely waited for a lull in radio traffic, then told others who he was and to stop transmitting. He introduced himself to her and told her he would try to coach her down safely. When he saw her plane, he told her to turn her landing lights off. Then he came alongside her and taught her the basics of flying. He also called ahead for an ambulance for her husband and then helped her to land safely. The woman and her husband were saved because she obeyed the voice of the flight instructor.

Our Psalm and Gospel readings both reference us as sheep, and the Lord as our Shepherd. At first blush, referring to us as sheep is not very flattering  they are notoriously helpless, often grazing their way lost; they are skittish, fleeing when frightened; they are prone to over-eating (along with goats, they will even eat kudzu); and, if they fall into running water, their heavy coats will become waterlogged and they will drown.   However, they do recognize the voice of their particular shepherd.

Do you know there are over 700 references to sheep and shepherds in Scripture?   In the Old Testament, the Good Shepherd was God, the Father 

1.) 23rd Psalm The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want (Peterson expresses it this way in The Message  I don’t need a thing!).

2.) Psalm 100  …we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

3.) Isa: 40

:11  [God] tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.

4.)   In Ezekiel: 34, God the Father lambasts the kings, prophets, and priests of Israel, calling them bad shepherds. He accuses them of abusing, neglecting, and even preying upon His sheep. He promises to save His flock.   In verse 23, He declares  I will place over them one shepherd, My servant David, and He will tend them and be their shepherd.   Now Ezekiel lived about 400 years after King David, so he wasn’t talking about David per se.   Instead, he was prophesying about Jesus (who, like David and out of his lineage) is a Shepherd-King.

In the New Testament, the Good Shepherd is Jesus, God the Son   Our Gospel today is from John 10 1-18.   Scholars say this is the climax of John’s Gospel because Jesus identifies Himself as “The Good Shepherd” (v.11), thus calling Himself one with God the Father. In verse 14, Jesus says  I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me. God the Father called Himself “I am that I am.”  Every time in John, when Jesus makes an “I am” statement, He is admitting that He is God.

We find Him in today’s passage teaching in the Temple during the season of Hanukkah.   He identifies for His audience the bad shepherds  They victimize God’s sheep; they are thieves and murderers; and they are not willing to die to protect their sheep. Then He describes what a Good Shepherd does. Back in Jesus’ day, sheep from several flocks were gathered into a sheepfold at night (a kind of roofless barn bordered by a rock fence). The shepherd would lay across the opening to this structure to make sure the sheep stayed within and that predators would remain outside. So He is saying that He is willing to lay down His life for the benefit of His flock [us].   Unlike a hired hand, he does not flee when confronted with danger.   He is invested in the welfare of His sheep [gain, us].

How do we know we are the sheep of the Good Shepherd?

First, we are baptized into His flock (we become children of God).

Second, we learn to hear His voice  our God communicates with us through our spiritual ears, a kind of knowing that just comes into our heads. He also speaks to us through His written Word; by His Holy Spirit (the still small voice); in our dreams–We know many Moslems have come to Jesus in recent years because He has appeared to them in their dreams– through song lyrics, bumper stickers, billboards; sometimes through other people, even including overheard conversations; and often through our particular circumstances. He speaks to us and He wants us to communicate with Him in return. We talk with Him by praying—it’s just having a conversation with Him. We also talk with Him through our worship and praise. 

Third, we come to realize we are each known by Him. He has known us from before we were born. Psalm 139 says  O Lord, You have searched me and You know me.   You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.   Before a word is on my tongue, You know it completely, O Lord…for You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb…When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.  Jesus adds, in Luke 12 7  Indeed, the very hairs of your head are numbered!  God knows us intimately, better than we know ourselves  He knows our every action; our every plan; our thoughts, even before they are fully formed; our words, even before we utter them. This is such a paradox    all of us are members of His flock, but He views us individually as well (I once saw a humorous bumper sticker that read, “Jesus loves you, but I’m His favorite!”).  

Fourth, if we are smart sheep, we follow Him. Shepherds in Jesus’ day led their flocks, from the front. They did not push from behind. They whistled and called the sheep by name. The shepherd’s job, as Psalm 23 says, was to lead them to green pastures (healthy, plentiful food), beside calm, clean waters, to calm them down and settle their fears, and to protect them from predators.  When we follow Him, we go where He wants us to go, we do what He wants us to do.   Because He is the Good Shepherd, we can trust in His intentions for us.  He wants only the best for us, as Jeremiah 29 11 says  ”For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.   “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future.”

When we follow Him… we are to be obedient. Most of us are not too keen on obedience; we prefer to do things our own way (We have all heard toddlers say, “Me do it!”).   This kind of independence starts young.   Beth Moore shared that her 3 year old daughter once stood on the third step of the staircase, with her hands on her hips, and defiantly declared, “I am the boss of me!” But Jesus is clear, saying in John 14 23-24  If anyone loves Me, He will obey my teaching.   My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.   He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.

We obey His teaching by putting our love into action! Christian love cannot be just a sentiment, a feeling. Christian love must be a Love Relationship–with the members of this body; with the people of this community; with those who do not yet know Jesus. Jesus blesses us when we obey His commands and love one another.

Fifth, smart sheep know Jesus is Lord!   Our Acts passage demonstrates, once again, that Peter and John were so emboldened by the Holy Spirit, that they were brave enough to confront the Jewish religious leaders (the Sadducees), despite their power to jail them. The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection and did not want them teaching the Jesus had been resurrected.   His resurrection did not fit their narrative, so they denied it. After discussion these leaders let them go, but warned them not to continue to teach anyone about Jesus.   Peter replies, (vv.19-20)  Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.   For we [Peter and John] cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.   In so many words, what Peter means is, “I know Jesus is Lord so I will obey Him in spite of your threats or intimidation.” 

John writes in his epistle (1 John 3 16-24), Christian love means being willing to give your life for the welfare of another (verse 16). Christian love is not just words, but actions (verse 18)!   Smart Sheep demonstrate this by the way we go about loving others.

Just as the lady in the plane lived to tell the story because she listened to and trusted in the flight instructor, we too are best off when we do what our Lord asks of us.  Like the flight instructor, He keeps us on course and guides us to safe landings.  But better than that flight instructor, He knows us intimately and loves us.   This week, let’s remind ourselves that we have a shepherd Who knows and loves us, intimately; Who cares for us generously and graciously; and Who desires that we serve and bless those around us.   For His love’s sake, we want to be smart sheep!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Smart Sheep Hear the Shepherd’s Voice
Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Good Friday, 2024 

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 29, 2024

Scriptures: Isa 52:13-53:12; Ps 22; Heb 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42

Our Scripture passages today are all very solemn, fitting this day we remember the death of our Lord, Jesus Christ, on the Cross:

A. The Passion narrative according to John, takes us through…

(1) Jesus’ arrest.  He had made Himself disappear suddenly, in the past, when He did not intend to be captured.  This time, knowing what He was to do, He allowed them to capture Him.  Did you notice, they fell back when He identified Himself as Jesus of Nazareth?  Were they frightened?  Did they glimpse a hint of His divinity?  He seemed firmly in control as He calmly surrendered.  They had sent a group of 500 men to capture Him, armed with clubs and weapons.  But He wouldn’t allow a fight to ensue.  He tells them to let His disciples go.  Luke tells us He even healed Malchus’ ear, after Peter cut it off.

(2) Then to Annas,’ the former high priest’s place.  Out of favor with the Romans, Annas was still the religious power broker of Jerusalem—sort of like George Soros today.  Biblical scholars say Annas was both brilliant and satanic.

Many credit him with this plan to eliminate Jesus, waiting until the cover of night, when all those who loved and believed in Jesus would be at home.  Jesus challenges him honestly, (v.23)—If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong.  But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike Me?  Jesus, again calmly but firmly, reminds them they are out of line:  by Jewish law, no court trial could begin at night/be held at night; no one could strike a person on trial without a verdict; Jewish Law also prohibited sentencing a man on the day he was brought to trial.  But this was Annas’ Kangeroo Court, and side-stepping the law to suit one’s agenda is not new.

(3) Annas sends Him to Caiaphas, the Roman’s choice for “high priest,” Annas’ son-in-law (an early example of nepotism).  John reminds us that in Chapter 11:50, Caiaphas had said to the Sanhedrin, You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.  Caiaphas did not realize at the time that he was speaking prophetically.  In fact, Jesus knew He was laying down His life for the sins of Israel and for us.

Caiaphas and Annas find Jesus guilty of blasphemy, because He admitted He is the Son of God.  This was and is the truth, but they did not believe Him.  They would have liked to have stoned Him, but the Romans forbade any nation to invoke capital punishment but them.

(4) So Jesus is sent to Pontius Pilate.  Pilate tries every which way to free Jesus.  He knows the Jewish religious hierarchy are just jealous of Him.  Hoping to placate them, he has Jesus scourged (39 lashings with a whip).  He offers to set Him free due to the Passover Holiday.  He can find nothing wrong with Jesus, but hands Him over to be crucified when the Jews threaten to tell Caesar that Pilate has let go a man claiming to be king of the Jews.  Pilate is a political animal who wants desperately to leave Judea and return to Rome, so he capitulates, despite his conscience.

(5) And so, trading the sinless Son of God for a murderous rebel, the Jewish leadership have their way and Jesus is crucified.  Ironically, the sign on His cross identifies Him as King of the Jews: It is written In Hebrew or Aramaic, the language of religion; in Greek, the language of culture and education; and in Latin, the Roman language of law and order.  The Jews want it adjusted to read, “He claimed to be the King of the Jews,” but Pilate will not bend.

(6) Notice that John does not tell us much about the crucifixion.  He reports that the soldiers gamble over who will get His clothes.  John relates 3 statements Jesus makes as He is dying:  He asks John to care for His mother, Mary; He says He is thirsty; and, lastly, He asserts, It is finished (meaning He had completed the work of salvation He was sent to do).

(7) Finally, we learn He was taken down and buried just before the Sabbath began at sundown.

B. All 4 of the Gospelers were pretty circumspect about Jesus’ 6 hours on the Cross.  They highlight Jesus’ dignity. They did not want us to focus on Christ’s agony.  J. Vernon McGee says the Father deliberately made darkness come over the land from noon until 3:00pm so watchers could not see Jesus’ intense suffering as He took on all the sin of the world, past, present, and future; and as the Father turned His back on Him.

To get a sense of what the crucifixion was like for Jesus, we have to turn to Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. 

A. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is the 4th and final Suffering Servant Song, Messianic Prophesy (called the Gospel in the Old Testament).  Isaiah tells us Jesus will be raised high, lifted up (on the Cross) but also highly exalted (when it is all over).  No one would think so as they observed Him carrying His Cross.  He will in fact startle [not sprinkle] the whole world—render them speechless—because it will be through the loss of all things that He gains all things.  Such a paradox!

700 years before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah accurately predicts the kind of death Jesus will endure.  An ordinary man to begin with—not a fellow with Rock Star looks–He will be 

1.) verse 3—despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering…

2.) beaten beyond recognition;

3.) pieced, crushed, oppressed, afflicted;

4.) killed in the worst possible way, like a common criminal, hung between true felons;

5.) He will die childless—“cut off,” to the Hebrews, evidence of a tragic, futile existence due to no progeny to carry on the family blood line; 

In fact, people will think He got what He deserved, but He didn’t…

1.) Verses 4-5—Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows….the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.

2.) Verse 9—He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

3.) The Father will richly reward Him—verse 11—After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life [resurrection], and be satisfied…Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong.  God intends to reward Him as though He were a king sharing in the spoils of a great victory, because He went willingly to death, and because He interceded for our sins. 

B. Psalm 22 reveals to us Christ’s thoughts on the cross: He feels forsaken by His Father.  The Father was with Him when He was arrested.  The Father was with Him during His ridiculous trials.  The Father was with Him when He was beaten.  The Father was with Him when He was nailed to the Cross.  But the Father turned His back on Him when He became sin for us, from noon until 3:00pm.

He admits to feeling like a worm—a Coccus worm, in the Hebrew. This particular worm emitted a substance used to make red dye, symbolic of Jesus’ blood poured out for us.

From the Cross He feels surrounded by His enemies: The soldiers are many bulls…the strong bulls of Bashon.  His tormentors from the foot of the Cross—scribes, Pharisees, the hostile mob—resemble (v.13)— roaring lions tearing their prey; and (v.16)— dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.  Nevertheless, He trusts in the love of His Father.

Biblical Scholars tell us Jesus fulfilled 28 prophesies of the Messiah from the Cross.  You can recognize them and count them from our Psalm and Isaiah passages.  The sinless Son of God laid down His life for us, paying the penalty for our sins; reconciling us to God the Father; and clothing us in His righteousness.  These sacred writings prove to us that Jesus—and only Jesus—was and is the Messiah, the Son of God.

Today through Sunday, Let us ponder His sacrifice and offer Him our gratitude and love.

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Spiritual House Cleaning

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 3, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Setting Us Right With God

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 25, 2024

Scriptures: Gen 17:1-7, 15-16; Ps 22:23-31; Ro 4:13-25; Mk 8:31-35

I read a humorous story this week.  Again, it has to do with a child’s perception of how things “ought to be”:

“A Sunday School teacher held up a portrait of Christ. She explained to the class that it was not an actual photograph of Christ but only an artist’s conception of what Christ might have looked like.

‘’But,’ said one little girl, ‘you’ve got to admit it looks a lot like him.’’’

(Borrowed from a sermon entitled, “A Pair of Ducks and Abundant Life,” www.sermons.com, 2/23/2024).

Isn’t that just the cutest thing?  I love how literal children tend to be and the humor that often results.  Little kids are trying to figure out how things in life work.  I remember when my 49 year old son was about 2 or two and a half and was trying to figure out animal categories. We had a dog with 4 legs, two ears, and a tail. In his child-logic, he looked at cows and told me (since they had 4 legs, 2 ears, and a tail), “Moo-tows are Biggggg doggies!”

It would be interesting to hear a child’s perspective on the elderly Abraham—at a great-great grandparent age—having a baby and his faith that God’s promise to him could still come true.  This constitutes the focus of several of our readings this morning:

A. In our Old Testament reading, Genesis 171-7, 15-16), God appears to Abraham for the 5th time, and reiterates His Covenant Promises:

God is giving him lots of land (the Promised Land, Canaan, or present day Israel; and even a baby from him and his elderly wife, Sarah.  Notice, the passage emphasized Abraham’s age, 99 (Sarah’s is 89).  God the Father wants Abraham—and us– to know that neither Abe’s biological age, nor his body’s elderly condition, could prevent God’s from fulfilling His promises.

Our God is capable of making awesome promises, with spectacular fulfillments.  The Israelites later did occupy God’s Land Grant.  And, at age 100 for Abraham (and 90 for Sarah), Isaac was born to them.  The Jewish people came from Abe via Isaac, and later Jacob.  The Arab people came from Abe via Ishmael, and Jacob’s twin, Esau.  By now, those two people groups constitute, in fact, millions upon millions of Abraham’s descendants.

B.  Paul is very taken by this fact, as evident in today’s epistle reading from Romans 4:13-25.  He is arguing for Abraham’s faith, and the need for our faith!  He is saying God fulfilled His promises to Abraham not based on anything Abe had done for God (except for trusting in Him).  God fulfilled His promises to Abraham due to Abe’s faith in the Lord to fulfill His promises.  This is so important for us to understand!  We are to trust in God, as Abraham did.  We are not looking for a promised baby in our old age, or a promised land.  We are looking for salvation.  Perhaps we are looking for healing or for peace.  We are anticipating living with God forever in Heaven—our happy ending.  But none of these gifts are due to any of our actions or our works.  Our salvation comes from the actions, the completed work of Jesus Christ and Him alone. 

Who would have thought His death on the Cross and His resurrection would be the means by which God would redeem us?  Who would have thought a 100 year olf man would birth a man who would then go on to have…first 2, then 12, then dozens, then hundreds, then thousands, then millions of descendants?  Clearly Isaiah the Prophet was correct when he quotes God as saying (Isaiah 55:8-9, as per Peterson’s The Message, p.1317)”I don’t think the way you think.  The way you work isn’t the way I work.”  God’s decree.  “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.“

Our God makes awesome promises.  He provides spectacular fulfillments.  In deed, He set us right with Himself.

C.  This is why Jesus gets so upset with Peter in today’s Gospel (Mark 8:31-38).  This interaction takes place just after Peter tells Jesus, “You are the Christ,” meaning the Messiah or the Anointed One.  It is also just before Jesus reveals Himself as God on the Mount of Transfiguration—during which Peter is present.  Jesus is trying to tell them all what His mission entails:  To redeem human kind, He must (v.31)— …suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the Law, and that He must be killed, and after three days rise again.  Peter was so outraged after hearing this that he probably stopped listening when he heard Jesus say He would be executed.  We can imagine this, can’t we?  It’s just so human.  We don’t want someone we value or love or admire to die early.  Neither do we want them to die a horrible, gruesome death.  No, we want them to continue to live so we can enjoy their presence.  In speaking up so, poor Peter doesn’t realize he has just voiced to Jesus Satan’s short cut—take the crown but reject the cross.  Poor Peter doesn’t realize until he’s said it that Satan has used him to again tempt Jesus.  Jesus’ response is swift, isn’t it? (V.31)—Get behind Me, Satan!  Then He admonishes Peter—You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.  Or, as Peterson paraphrases it, Peter, get out of My way.  You have no idea how God works.”

It’s true, isn’t it?  Peter doesn’t want Jesus to suffer and die.  He wants Him to keep on teaching, interpreting Scripture, healing, and casting out demons…being his friend.  Obviously, these are the desires of men and women, but in this case, not of God.  Having total faith in the Father, Jesus is committed to doing God’s will God’s way.  Nothing will deter Him from it.

He knows His mission is a huge undertaking. It is nothing less than setting us right with God! 

D.  Additionally, Jesus is familiar with Psalm 22.  We will note on Good Friday that the first portion of the psalm predicts Jesus’ thoughts from the Cross.  In the portion assigned to us today, verses 23-31, King David (and later Jesus) assert that they will praise God the Father amidst the congregation of all the people.  Even from the cross, Christ will trust that God still loves Him.  The hours on the cross, when Jesus becomes sin for us, the Father will turn His face from Him.  Nevertheless, He knows His Father is waiting to welcome Him back, to resurrect Him.  Too exhausted to speak, He praises God in His heart, crying out only (v.31) Tetelestai/it is finished.

Jesus’ final words from the cross are that He has completed the work of redemption the Father gave Him to do.  He has set us right with God again.

Thank you, Jesus, for Your courage and bravery!  Thank you for Your great agapeo (New Testament)/hesed (Old Testament) love for us.  Your loyal, everlasting, long-suffering love for us.  Thank You that You love us enough to have done for us what we could not do for ourselves.  Thank you for setting us right with God.

None of us knows what You look like, but I’ll bet Your face in Your resurrected body is beautiful.  (Isaiah said that His face would be unremarkable in His first Coming, so as to not attract the kind of fame a rock star gathers about himself; see Isaiah 53:2.)  Keith Greene, a Christian musician who died at 28 years old–way too young–in a 1982 plane crash, wrote and sang a song about the face of Christ.  The words go like this: 

Oh Lord, You’re beautiful,

Your face is all I see,

For when Your eyes are on this child,

Your grace abounds to me.

I want to take Your word and shine it all around

But first help me just to live it, Lord

And when I’m doing well help me to never seek a crown

For my reward is giving glory to You.

Oh Lord, please light the fire

That once burned bright and clean

Replace the lamp of my first love 

That burns with holy fear.

Oh Lord, You’re beautiful,

Your face is all I see,

For when Your eyes are on this child,

Your grace abounds to me.

Listen here.

May it be so for each of us.  Amen and Amen.

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

The Crown Without the Cross

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 18, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A seeker after truth came to a saint for guidance.

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

“Two words.”

“And what are they, please?”

“Right choices.”

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

“One word.”

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

“Growth.”

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

“Two words.”

“What are they, pray tell?”

“Wrong choices.”

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

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

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

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Come and Hear for Yourself!

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 21, 2024

Scriptures: 1 Sam 3:1-20; Ps 139:1-6, 13-18; 1Cor 6:12-20; Jn 1:43-51

This weekend, I attended a Retreat put on by my former church in Gainesville, Florida, Servants of Christ Anglican Church. The retreat leadership had texted me in early October to ask me to come and graciously offered to pay my expenses. Later, I learned this was the same weekend of the inaugural conference in Florida of the Global Methodist Church. My head told me I should cancel the healing conference and attend the meeting of our new church peers. But I believe the Holy Spirit protested and insisted I attend the healing retreat instead. Sometimes that is exactly what happens: The Holy Spirit urges you to do one thing while your practical, cognitive mind argues the opposite. I have learned over the years to always obey the leading of the Spirit.

The retreat was held in Steinhatchee, Florida, a fishing village on the Gulf Coast. For the past week and a half, I had been experiencing pain in both hips—pain when walking and pain on trying to rise from a chair or to navigate steps. By the time I arrived Friday evening, I could hardly walk. By Saturday afternoon, when they held their healing service, I had figured out that my feet, my knees, and my hips all needed healing from pain. At night when I laid down to sleep, my legs throbbed. It occurred to me that Satan was trying to either handicap me or to take me out of active ministry. The team I approached for prayer agreed that he was attacking me from the ground up. They prayed that the Holy Spirit would then flood me with a healing anointing from my head down. I immediately felt relief, especially in my hips. No more pain! They had bound the powers of hell from inflicting pain upon me and they prayed that the Lord Jesus would heal and restore me. Like the woman with the 12 year issue of blood (Mark 5:21-43), I had the faith that the Lord had healed me. Since then, with any twitch or ache in my feet, legs, or hips, I have audibly affirmed that I have been healed and have observed that the pain then desists. Clearly the Holy Spirit wanted me to attend that retreat and I am so glad I listened.

This brings me to an important set of questions for you: Do you hear from the Holy Spirit? Do you hear from the Lord? Do you have a place where you can go to be alone and communicate with or hear from the Lord? Many people refer to this special place as their “prayer closet.” It’s separate from other spaces in a house. When you are there, you can count on not having your prayer time disturbed. It’s lovely if you can dedicate a small room or even a walk in closet for this effort. If not, your prayer closet may be your car or your shower; it may also be your garden or your daily jog or walk, or even when you do the dishes. The main point is to locate a space and visit it regularly so you can talk to God and hear back from Him.

In this vein, I want to focus on today’s Gospel, Psalm 139, and our 1st Samuel reading.

A. In our Gospel lesson today (John 1:43-51), Jesus is calling His disciples. In verses 35-42, just prior to today’s reading, Jesus calls the first 3: Andrew and Peter, Andrew’s brother–both from Bethsaida; and a third un-named one who Church tradition says is John, the Gospel’s author. In today’s passage–which takes place 1 day later–Jesus calls Philip. Philip then locates his friend, Nathanael, and tells him (v.45) We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael responds rather sarcastically Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? Philip then invites Nathanael to come and see for himself.

Now let’s take a deeper look at Nathanael. He is also known in Scripture as Bartholomew. Confusingly for us, his names are used interchangeably in the New Testament. Scholars believe Bartholomew may have been what we would call his “last name.” Remember Peter had been known as Simon Bar Jonah, son of Jonah. Nathanael may have been called Nathanael Bar Tolmai, or son of Tolmai, which eventually morphed into Bartholomew.

We don’t know much about him except that he was honest–even perhaps to a fault—and skeptical. It appears he was from Cana, a rival village just over the hill from Nazareth, so he may have been calling on village prejudice when he doubted the Messiah could ever come from Nazareth. It is his honesty that impresses Jesus, Who calls him (v.47) …a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile/nothing false/no deceit.

Jesus is saying that, unlike the Jewish patriarch, Jacob, who was a schemer and a cheat, Nathanael is not. Jesus recognizes him as a guy who calls a spade a spade. He has integrity; he’s authentic; he is not an insincere fake.

Nathanael is naturally curious about how Jesus recognized him and read his character so correctly, since they had never met before. Jesus tells him that He saw him (v.49) …when you were under the fig tree. Fig trees grow out kind of round with branches that may dip to the ground. If a man crawled inside, he could lean against the trunk and be nearly hidden. Or, if the tree were older and larger, he could find respite from the sun and support for his back as he sat beneath it. This is where Jesus had a vision of him. Afterall Jesus, as God, is omniscient, knowing all things. Jesus knew this is where Nathanael had gone to study Scripture and to pray. As He does with any of us (see Psalm 139), Jesus knows our thoughts. There is no place we can run to and hide from Him. Nathanael had been studying Scripture in his “fig tree prayer closet,” seeking to know God better. So Jesus calls him as a disciple.

We can also safely assume, I think, that Nathanael had accurate insight or spiritual discernment. In verse 49 he says Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel. In that moment, in that brief interaction, Nathanael realizes Jesus’ true identity. Jesus is more than a Rabbi. Jesus, referring back again to the patriarch, Jacob, tells Nathanael he will …see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (v. 51). The pre-incarnate Christ is the one Jacob saw in his dream of a ladder with angels ascending and descending. Here He is telling Nathanael that He, Jesus, is the ladder [the bridge; the mediator] between God and humankind. Philip invited Nathanael to come and see; but Jesus drew him near to see and hear for himself.

B. Oh, that we all might be such serious readers of Scripture, such dedicated followers of Christ. Our Old Testament lesson from 1 Samuel 3:1-20 describes another person who came forward and heard for himself. In gratitude to God, the barren Hannah, when she conceived and bore Samuel, obediently took him to be mentored and trained up for service to the Lord by Eli, the priest. Samuel was probably 3 years old when Hannah delivered him to Eli, as Hebrew women tended to nurse their babies for that length of time. Unfortunately, Eli was not a good father. His two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were notoriously evil men. They served at the temple, but had contempt for the Lord and for their father. Eli rebuked them but did not remove them from their priestly duties. Later, God Himself pronounced a death sentence on them and had them killed by the Philistines.

Despite his lack of success as a father, Eli functioned as Samuel’s mentor. Samuel was about 12 or so when God called him twice. Samuel thought he was being paged from sleep by Eli because he did not at this point discern the Lord’s voice. We are told in verse 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to Him. This does not reflect at all well upon Eli as a priest. Shame on him! Samuel has been serving God in His Temple at Shiloh for 9 years, but Eli has not taught him about God! YIKES! Telling people about God is the primary job of a priest. No wonder the Lord is going to strip the priesthood from Eli and his descendants. We find in this passage that God is initiating a long-overdue relationship with the young man who had been destined to serve Him since before his birth.

The third time God called him and Samuel mistakenly responded to Eli, Eli figured out that it was the Lord Who was summoning Samuel. Eli tells him to listen to and respond to God the next time He calls his name. Sure enough, God calls him a 4th time and this time Samuel says,(v.10) Speak, for your servant is listening. God then declares a judgment against Eli and his descendants. He also installs Samuel as his prophet, now replacing judges and priests as God’s spokespersons.

So what does this mean for us? Psalm 139 assures us that God knows us and knows our thoughts even before we express them. He seeks us out for relationship. He delights in responding to those of us who have sought Him. And He reveals Himself to those who are ignorant of Him.

If we want to have an intimate relationship with the Lord, we need to spend regular time communicating with Him. We need to locate or set up a prayer closet. We need to spend time reading and thinking about God’s Word.

In closing, I want to share a Christian song with you. It’s sometimes used at funerals—in fact, I would love to have it sung at mine—but it also refers to having attuned your ears to hear from the Lord. In 2010, I went with 9 others on a mission trip to Turkey. This song became our theme song. We sang it to a house church of 40 Iranian Christians, who had already worked a 12 hour day, and yet who crammed themselves into a hot, unairconditioned room in a town in Turkey to worship God and to hear from us. Please listen as we play this acapella version of “There’s a Stirring” from YouTube:

There’s a stirring deep within me

Could it be my time has come

When I see my gracious Savior

Face-to-face when all is done.

Is that His voice I am hearing,

“Come away my precious one”?

Is He calling me?

Is He calling me?

I will rise up, rise up.

Then I’ll bow down

And lay my crown at His wounded feet.

May we all come forth and hear (and respond to) the Holy Spirit when He calls us.

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Waiting on Jesus

Pastor Sherry’s message for December 3, 2023

Scriptures: Isa 64:1-9; Ps 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Cor 1:3-9; Mk 13:24-37

Waiting is difficult, isn’t it? Think of all the times you’ve had to wait…

1. Would you get the job you just interviewed for?

2. What about the results of that medical test or scan you just underwent?

3. Did that person you fell in love with also love you back—remember the agony of that wait?

4. Would your child get into the college or internship of their choice?

5. Would your house sell? Would the sellers of the house you want accept your offer?

6. How about that last month of pregnancy? Would that baby ever make an entrance?

7. What about waiting on a grant to come through or a check in the mail?

8. How about those hostages of Hamas, waiting to be set free, or their families, dying to know how they are?

9. Remember being a kid and having to wait for Christmas morning to finally arrive?

Most of us hate to wait. We wring our hands. We pace the floor. We lose sleep. We grumble and groan and complain. We engage in what addiction counselors are now calling “BEEPS” Behaviors, Experiences, Events, People, and/or Substances that help us self-medicate or suffocate our anxiety as we wait.

(Ed Khouri, Restarting, Life Model Works, 2010, p.32.)

If we’re really smart, we pray and ask God to help us wait, so that we can learn what He means for us to learn during this time; so that we may develop the spiritual fruit of patience.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent—a time of great anticipation as we wait upon the arrival of Jesus.

A. In Isaiah 64:1-7, the prophet reminds us both that God controls the entire universe and that our condition as humans is that of unclean sinners (vv.5-7). Verses 1-2 constitute a cry, a plea for God to come down to earth, to defeat Israel’s enemies (and ours), and to make things right.

Isaiah recalls times God did intervene on the behalf of Israel doing (v.3)—…awesome things that we did not expect. He also reminds them and us, (vv.4-5)—Since ancient times, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God beside You, who acts on behalf of those who wait [there it is, wait] for Him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. In other words, we can and should call upon God for help when we are troubled or anxious, when we are worn out with waiting. Isaiah assures us God will respond!

But notice, the prophet attaches this caveat: God rescues those who do the right thing, who remember to do as God would have us do.

I have told you before that I had some difficulty and fear around selling my house when I was leaving seminary. I had listed it in September of 2001, but then 9/11 took place and no one in SW Pennsylvania was buying or selling homes. By January 21, 2002, I had completed my degree but still had no buyers for my home. Worse yet, I had no job and no money. I was sick with a cold and would awaken all through the night whenever I became too congested to breathe. I would take something then return to bed, begging God in prayer to sell my house. Finally, at about 4am, I asked the Lord if I were doing something or not doing something that served as an impediment to Him taking action. I heard Him say, in my spirit, that I had not surrendered to being a lead pastor. He was of course right. I had thought to assist someone, as my gifts are in teaching and counseling, not in administration or leadership. I immediately agreed to surrender to His will, got up at 8:00am, and sent off letters to 4 small parishes in North Florida (I wanted to go home and I wanted a church small enough so I could know everyone’s names.) I put those letters in the mail at 10:30am on January 22nd. My realtor called at 11am with a couple interested in my house. They came at 5:00pm that day and signed a contract by 8:30pm. Additionally, I needed to close on February 7th as my next mortgage payment was due on the 8th and I knew I would be unable to pay it. My Jewish realtor said there wasn’t enough time to make that happen, but I replied that she did not know my Jesus. Sure enough, we closed on my house on the 7th, thanks be to God! I learned from this that God sometimes waits for us to change before He moves on our behalf. We have to be willing to ask if our wills are blocking His will and take action to rectify that.

Finally, Isaiah reminds us in this passage that we are like clay in the great Potter’s hands. We want to conform to His will. We want to allow Him to mold and shape us into the image of our best selves. When we wait upon God to act, God is working on our character, transforming us more and more into the image and likeness of Jesus. We may hate to wait, but God uses that time to do a work in us.

B. Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19, is both a prayer for God to relieve the peoples’ suffering—especially after an attack by brutal enemies—and a plea for God to lead them again. The psalmist, Asaph, a contemporary of King David, appeals to God as our shepherd king as He is enthroned in heaven. He is asking God to move on behalf of His people. In the desert wanderings, the ark and the cloud would move out for the days’ march. This signified that God was their leader. When camped, three tribes situated themselves to the north of the ark, three to the east, three to the west, and three to the south, with God at their center. When they moved, however, the tribe of Benjamin, along with the half-tribes of Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh (remember, Benjamin and Joseph were Jacob’s two favorite sons), would past like the Red Sea, allow the Ark to lead them, then follow directly behind. Then the other 9 tribes would all fall in behind them as well.

Asaph asks for God’s favor (v.3)—Restore us, O God: Make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved (This is repeated 3 times). This is a poetic way of saying, smile at us. Demonstrate on your face that you enjoy being with us. Picture how people hold an infant and smile as they talk baby-talk to the new little one. Our faces often “shine upon” or look with great favor upon babies when we talk to them.

He also uses the images of eating and drinking tears to describe how much Israel has suffered. Some biblical experts believe there is no nation ever that has suffered to the degree that Israel has—and survived. (J. Vernon McGee, Commentary on Psalms, Chapters 42-89, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.5.) According to Paul, as he writes in Romans 11, the Jews have suffered because they rejected Jesus as the Messiah when He walked among them. However, when “the time of the Gentiles” is over–or after the Church is raptured–and when the Great Tribulation begins, there will be a huge harvest of God’s original chosen people, as they finally recognize Jesus Christ as their Messiah.

Indeed, verse 17 predicts that Messiah, Jesus, will be standing at God’s right hand and will come (2nd Coming) to save them. We are to await that great day with hope and faith.

C. In 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Paul refers to Jesus Christ a total of 5 times in 7 verses. The season of Advent calls upon us to be a waiting people. Who or what are we waiting for? Paul asserts it is Jesus, the end all and be all of our lives. And Paul assures us He will impart to us grace with which to await His 2nd Coming.

D. Finally, in our Gospel lesson (Mark 13:24-37) we are reminded, as we wait, of Jesus’ 2nd Coming. At the Incarnation, Jesus’ 1st Coming, God broke into human history, as a flesh and blood infant person. He came to preach, teach, heal, encourage, and to demonstrate to us God’s great saving love for us. When He comes again, it will be as the Great King of the Universe, and as a conquering military hero, to judge all the people of the earth. He will liberate all of the Christ-followers who are left from the effects of a fallen world.

His 2nd arrival will follow what the news media will probably proclaim as great heavenly catastrophes and climate change calamities: The sun and the moon will no longer give off light (the light source will be God the Father and Jesus). The stars will fall and planets will change their orbits. Non-believers will be horrified, terrified of what is to come. But Jesus will have already gathered to Himself the Church in the Rapture, and will at that time, then gather in those who have come to believe in Him through the Great Tribulation. Christ’s warning to us is clear: We are to be ready for when this happens…this afternoon or tonight, next month or next year. We don’t know the hour or the day, but while we wait, we need to get ready.

We hate to wait, so what can we do to help us wait with grace and peace? First it helps to understand that waiting can reveal to us our true motives. Are we committed enough to take some time. Or, are we so “me focused” that we are impatient and won’t postpone gratification?

Second, waiting builds the spiritual fruit of patience. The old saw goes, “Don’t pray for patience. If you do, God will put you in a situation that requires that you develop it.” God will and does answer that prayer, but you may wish He had taught you that virtue another way.

Third, waiting builds anticipation, so that we better appreciate those things that did not come to us immediately.

Fourth, waiting builds intimacy with and dependence upon God. Remember that waiting is the crucible of the saints! Back before pills were packaged, pharmacists used a mortal and pestle to pulverize substances into powder form, then sold the compounds they created in little bags. We are like those substances, with God grinding out our impurities as we wait. We are not alone in having to wait. In fact, waiting is a grand Biblical tradition: Abraham waited 25 years for Isaac; (his descendants waited 440 years to inherit the Land). Jacob, his grandson, worked for Laban 21 years before returning to “the Land” as Israel. Joseph was a slave in Egypt in Potipher’s house for 7 years, then in prison for another 7 before being raised second only to Pharaoh. Moses waited 40 years in Egypt, then another 40 years as a shepherd in Midian, before he led the nation of Israel out of bondage. King David was anointed by Samuel, then waited 20 years to become king. Jesus was 30 before beginning His ministry.

As I have said before, waiting molds and shapes our character. God uses it to train us to trust and to persevere. God uses the time to burn off or grind down our impurities (impatience, anxiousness, bad temper, Beeps). God uses it to make us dependent upon Himself. The result, if we wait and trust, is fantastic! The prophet Isaiah wrote in 40:31—Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not be faint.

We have a God who keeps His promises! Let us wait upon Him and His timing with grace and in faith. In this season of Advent, let’s not grow anxious or impatient. But, instead, let’s trust in God’s goodness and loving kindness towards us, and in His perfect timing!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Kingdom Courage

Pastor Sherry’s message for November 19, 2023

Scriptures: Jud 4:1-24; Ps 90:1-12; 1 Thess 5:1-11; Matt 25:14-30

Chuck Swindoll recalls the story of a 70 year old man who was being celebrated aboard a cruise ship for having saved a young woman. These folks were on a week-long cruise from California to Hawaii. The man was out walking on the deck when he saw the young woman fall overboard. He saw she could not swim, so he immediately went in after her, staying with her until they were both rescued. That night, the captain insisted they honor the somewhat embarrassed gentleman, over dinner, for his heroic actions. Speeches were made and the story of the man’s bravery was told and retold. Finally, they invited the fellow to the mike to say a few words. In what was probably the shortest hero speech ever offered, the fellow spoke these stirring words:

“I just want to know one thing—who pushed me?”

(Chuck Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Pub., 1998, p.119.)

I love this story because it illustrates so well the fact that our God can make the most unlikely of us into heroes. Can you imagine jumping overboard—at age 70—to rescue someone you didn’t know? Perhaps you’ve heard of similar stories. Courageous persons don’t allow their fears to talk them out of doing the brave thing. They also usually involve trusting in God to see them through a tough situation.

Our Old Testament and Gospel lessons today give us two examples of God’s concept of Kingdom Courage:

In our Old Testament lesson (Judges 4:1-24), we have the only example of a woman called to lead the nation of Israel, Deborah the Prophetess. Scripture mentions several women prophets: Miriam (Moses’ sister) (Exodus 15:20), Huldah, who sent a message to the good King Josiah (2 Kings 22:14), Noadiah, a bad prophet who tried to thwart the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 6:14), and Anna, who recognized that the infant Jesus was the Messiah (Luke2:36).

Deborah was called and equipped by God to lead during the time of the Judges. Joshua had died at 110, leaving no successor (no human understudy to rise up and lead in his place). Even though the people had promised him many times they would remain obedient to God, within 40 years, they had taken up idolatry and forsaken the LORD. The Lord would then allow a Canaanite people—Amorites, Amonites, Moabites, Midianites, or even Philistines—to then oppress them. They would then call out to the LORD for His rescue. God would forgive them and raise up a judge to lead them in defeating their enemies. They would thank and praise Him; but shortly, once the threat was over, they would again forget about their loyalty to God. And the 40 year cycle would begin all over again. The book of Judges reports 7 such cycles and 7 judges. Deborah was the 4th.

Who was she? Scripture tells us she was…

1.) A wife to Lippidoth. We know nothing of him, except that he seemed to have recognized God’s call on his wife’s life and did not appear to try to frustrate her influence or power.

2.) “A mother of Israel,” out of the tribe of Ephraim. While this may mean she had children of her own, it also means she nurtured and cared for the nation.

3) A wise counselor people came from miles around to seek her wisdom and advice.

4.) A renown judge—like Judge Janine Pirou or Judge Judy. Instead of sitting at the city gates to hear cases as was typical in those days (V.5)She sat beneath a palm tree named for Her–the Palm of Deborah–located between the cities of Ramah and Bethel.

5) A legitimate prophetess—She was anointed by God, who told her what to say to His people. She foretold events accurately, and nothing she prophesied disagreed with Scripture.

6.) We learn in today’s passage that she was a warrior.

7.) She was also a poet—She wrote a song/psalm, describing what God accomplished through her leadership in Judges 5.

8.) Finally, she was a woman who loved and trusted God—I’d say she had Kingdom Courage.

The situation Deborah finds herself in is that the Canaanite King Jabin had oppressed the Israelites for 20 years. He terrorized them with 900 iron chariots and horses and his successful General Sisera. Sisera’s army had confiscated all the Israelite‘s iron weapons in their initial victories. The Israelites were left then with wooden and stone weapons, clubs, rakes, etc.—they were at a distinct disadvantage. God tells Deborah to call for Gen. Barak from the tribe of Naphtali. She did, telling him that God meant for him to lead the people into battle against Sisera: (v.6–The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulon and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I [the Lord] will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.

God told Deborah and Gen. Barak that He was going to give the Israelites the victory. The General doesn’t see how—he doesn’t really trust in God. He focuses on the fact that his troops are outnumbered 10 to 1. He also knows he has no horses or chariots and that Sisera’s army is much better equipped (with iron weapons) than his army is. Barak agrees, but only if the prophetess will accompany him. However, since he doesn’t really seem to trust her or God, she tells him God will give the victory (Gen Sisera) to a woman (Jael, the wife of a weapons maker).

This previously unknown woman, Jael, was married to a Jewish man named Heber. He was an iron weapons manufacturer and a turncoat who collaborated with the Canaanites against his own people. To expedite his transactions, Heber and his much more loyal wife, Jael, lived in tents near the Canaanite army and the proposed battle site. (Sorry to say, but the men in this account do not appear to have the same moral fiber, Kingdom Courage, or faith that the women do.)

Much of what happens in the ensuing battle is recorded by Deborah in her psalm, in chapter 5. From her victory song we learn the LORD sent…

1.) Soldiers from the 6 tribes of Naptali, Zebulon; Issachar; Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin.

2.) He also sent hail, sleet, and torrents of rain in which…

a.) bogged down the 900 chariots in deep mud;

b.) panicked the horses so they ran off;

c.) Canaanite archers couldn’t shoot their arrows in the sleet;

d.) and their swordsmen couldn’t wield their swords as well in the cold (remember this is essentially a desert-like land, where they are used to the heat, not the cold).

e.) Additionally, many enemy soldiers were swept away in a flash flood.

The battle belonged to the Lord. Israel’s army was able to kill all the enemy, except Sisera, who ran off in a desperate attempt to save himself. He escaped on foot and asked for sanctuary with Jael in her tent. In that culture in that day, the only man who was authorized to enter a woman’s tent was her husband. To hide out in a woman’s tent was outrageous. Remember, Jael is the wife of the Jewish weapon-maker. Sisera asked for water, but she gave him warm milk which we know would make him sleepy. Once he nodded off, she then executed this terrifying enemy of her people while he slept—and with the only weapon she had at hand. Interesting that, like the shoemaker’s daughter who has no shoes, this woman does not even have a metal knife at her disposal. Instead, she pounds a tent peg through his temple, killing him instantly, and fulfilling Deborah’s prophesy.

In her psalm, Deborah gives God the glory for their victory. Deborah trusted in God to free her people from oppression. She used her gifts of leadership in the face of overwhelming odds. Because of her faithful obedience and her Kingdom Courage, God gave Israel another 40 years of peace.

In our Gospel lesson, Matthew 15:14-30, Jesus provides examples of two courageous servants who utilize their talents for God and one who does not. Jesus says the master in the story leaves his assets in the hands of three servants. He appears to dole out his assets according to his trust in their abilities/motivation. One very able fellow gets 5 talents. Back then, a talent was equal to 1 years’ wages. For purposes of illustration, let’s say a years’ wages were $30,000; this guy has been entrusted with 5 times that or $150,000. The next gets 2 talents, or $60,000; and the third, 1 talent or $30,000.

When the Master returns, He expects them to account for how they invested His money. The fellow who had 5 talents invested them wisely and wound up earning double or $300,000! The guy with 2 also invested wisely and earned double, or $120,000. The guy with no faith or Kingdom Courage hid his 1 talent, so he gained nothing. At least he was honest and returned the $30,000. But the master was angry because he could have at least deposited the $30,000 somewhere and earned interest.

The Master commends the first two, Well done, good and faithful servant…Come and share your master’s happiness! But He has nothing but contempt for the third. This guy was either so lazy as to not use the talents, or too afraid to fail, so he did nothing. This guy gets thrown into the outer darkness, (v.30)…where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Many see this as a very hard teaching of Jesus. What they need to understand is that this is not a story of money or of wise investment practices. It is about utilizing the skills and gifts we have been given by God to build up His Kingdom. Notice, all are called to account: Those who use their gifts are blessed now and join Jesus in eternity. Those who do not are chastised and punished. I believe when we stand before God at His judgment seat, He will ask those of us who love His Son two questions: How well did you do at loving others? And how well did you use the gifts I gave you to advance My Kingdom?

So what is the point for us today?

First, like the 70 year old man pushed to rescue a woman at sea, God can make even ordinary people into heroes. Deborah was very gifted, but think about the housewife, Jael. She not only countered her husband’s disloyalty to Israel, but she was brave enough to kill a cruel enemy with a tent peg and a hammer.

Second, think about the two unnamed servants who took a risk and invested their master’s money. What about the risk and Kingdom Courage it takes us to step into our gifting? We need to not focus on our fears, but rather trust in God to help us achieve what He has put in our hearts. He expects us to use the talents He has given us to bless others.

Finally, God wants us to exhibit Kingdom Courage. He often uses ordinary people who trust in Him to accomplish His will. Do you trust God?

Are you willing to be obedient to Him, even when your situation seems difficult or impossible? If He can use an essentially unarmed army to defeat a vastly superior force, He can master any situation we bring before HIM.

What situation are you in that has you flummoxed, frightened, or frustrated?

Give it to the Lord, over and over until you see results (this is called “praying through”). Then ask God to give you Kingdom Courage to do any hard things that He may indicate He wants you to do.

Amen. May it be so!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman w/a Mary Jo Delaney

Love in Action

Pastor Sherry’s message for September 10, 2023

Scriptures: Ex 12:1-14; Ps 149; Ro 13:8-14; Matt 18:15-20

A group of 4-8 year olds was asked, “What does love mean?” Here are some of their answers:

Rebecca — age 8—>“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore so my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.”

Karl — age 5—>“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.”

Chrissy — age 6—>“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.”

Danny — age 7—>“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay.”

Bobby — age 7—>“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”

Noelle — age 7—>“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.”

Cindy — age 8—>“During my piano recital I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.”

Chris — age 7 —>“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt.”

Lauren — age 5—>“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.”

Jessica — age 8—>“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.”

(Borrowed from PASTOR LARRY PRESNELL’S BLOG, 2/14/11.)

These kids have the right idea, don’t they? Love is a positive, generous feeling. But it is a feeling expressed in an action. Kids recognize love when they observe a loving action.

Our God tends to express his love in action and wants us to do likewise.

A. Psalm 149 is a psalm of praise to God because He is both our Creator and our Redeemer. He redeemed the Israelites from Egypt by the blood of the Passover Lamb and through His powerful judgment of Egypt. Just as the Israelites (v.3) Praise[d] His name with dancing and ma[d]e music to Him with tambourine and harp following their escape through the Red Sea, we too can and should praise Him for His powerful, redemptive acts on our behalf. Scripture tells us that God is love. If we have eyes to see, we can confirm that He clearly loves us. As we acknowledge each Sunday in our “Joys” of Our “Joys and Concerns Prayers,” we can and do see clear evidence of His love in action in our lives.

B. Paul exhorts us to make sure our actions are loving in Romans 13:8-14. He insists that those who abide by the 10 Commandments are living a life-style characterized by love, as (v.10)—>Love does no harm to its neighbor. Again, as I have mentioned before, the vertical of the Cross represents our love for God (commandments 1-4), while the horizontal, our love for others (5-10). People who love well do not break these laws.

C. Jesus describes a loving way to address conflict between Christians in Matthew 18:15-20. We are not to sweep conflict under the rug and ignore it. And, rather than talk ugly about a person who has offended us—which many choose to do–we are to go to that individual and try to work it through. I recommend you pray before trying to do this. Ask God to give you the words, the wisdom, and the right heart attitude, and also to be working on the other person before you meet. He often, I find, solves the problem before we even begin the needed conversation.

D. Our Old Testament Lesson (Exodus 12:1-14) provides a perfect and memorable example of God’s love expressed in His actions. You may recall that back in Ex 3:7+, God had told Moses:

I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. That was God’s promise: He would create a situation that would compel stubborn Pharaoh to let His people go. The Hebrews had been in Egypt about 400 years—long enough for the Canaanites to have time to come to love the true God–which they never did. So the Lord was ready to rescue the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and give them the land occupied by various pagan Canaanite tribes. His method was to judge Egypt with 10 plagues. Each plague was actually a put down of some Egyptian god. Yahweh had declared war on the gods of Egypt:

1st, He turned the Nile to blood—the fish died and no one could drink the water. They had to dig wells. The Egyptians so depended on the river for their water supply and commerce that they equated it with life. By polluting the Nile, God was saying to them, “I, not your river god, am the source of all life.”

2nd, He sent down upon them a superabundance of frogs. Egyptians of that day equated frogs with evil spirits. God is saying, “I can produce animal pests which your numerous gods of nature cannot prevent.”

Similarly, out of dust Moses tosses into the air, God produces 3rd, a plague of lice and 4th, of biting flies. God is saying, “Why aren’t your gods able to counter and destroy these pests?”

5th, God sends disease on their cattle, rams, sheep, and goats–many of which die. The Egyptians had gods for each of these animals. But our God is saying, “I have complete control over animal life, not Osirus, the bull god or Apis the ram god.”

6th, He afflicted the animals that remained—as well as the people—with boils. Even Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t prevent these painful boils from manifesting. God is saying, “Only I have power over physical health.”

7th, He sends hail, actually fiery ice clumps. Egypt normally gets very little rain. God is saying, “I—not Hephaistos, your god of fire or Porphry, your god of rain—have complete authority over forces of nature.”

8th, God sends locusts to eat up any vegetation left over, then sends them to drown in the Red Sea. Egypt’s gods of nature are obviously helpless to combat any act of the One, True God. Our God is saying, “I can raise up hordes of any destructive creature, deploy them, and then I can put an end to them.”

By now, the Egyptian economy is in ruins, but still Pharaoh will not let his slave labor go free. God then sends the 9th plague, 3 days of complete darkness over all of Egypt–except over the Nile delta where the Israelites live. God is saying, “Your sun god, Re, is powerless before Me.”

Finally, God sends the 10th plague, the death of the firstborn person and animal. Egyptians believed their god, Horus, was the god of life.

They also believed they owed their lives to their Pharaoh, who they believed was divine. But God is saying, “Not so fast, My friends! I am the giver of life and I can take it away when it is in rebellion against Me…even to and including the first born of Pharaoh.

This brings us to chapter 12 and the institution of the Passover: God intended to take the life of every 1st born in Egypt. Those who loved Him, however, were to be spared. Through Moses, He told the Hebrew slaves to select a perfect 1 year old male lamb. They were then to slaughter it on the evening of Abib 14th (meaning young head of grain for the Spring harvest), or the 14th of Nisan (the later Babylonian name). God directed them to re-order their calendar so that Nisan became the first month of their year. Additionally, they were to paint their door frames with the lamb’s blood. The blood of the lamb would signal to the angel or death that they were true believers and their lives will be spared. They were to remain inside their homes, but dressed for travel, as they would be leaving Egypt directly.

Next, they were to eat the roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. Roasting, rather than baking or boiling, was meant to recall the fire of God’s judgment on Egypt. The bitter herbs were to remind them of their tribulations under slavery. Leaven was a metaphor for sin, so the purpose of unleavened bread (like a pita) was to prompt them to remember that something else—the lamb-had paid the price for their sin. They were protected from the angel of death by the blood of the Passover Lamb. The first born of all of those with no blood over their doors died that night. By the next day, all of Egypt wanted the Israelites to be gone!

This is love in action! God protected the Israelite people from the angel of death by the blood of the Passover Lamb with which they had earlier anointed their door frames. The Historic Jewish Passover finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ—it foreshadows or predicts Jesus’ blood shed for us on the Cross. He too was a perfect male lamb—>John the Baptist calls Him, in John 1:29—>…the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. He was completely without sin. He was God, the only Son of God, so His blood was the blood of God. No imperfect person would have been capable of atoning for our sins. But the writer to the Hebrews says that Jesus is the once and for all perfect sacrifice for our sins. Peter, on trial before the Sanhedrin, testifies in Acts 4:12 that—>Salvation is found in no one else [meaning Jesus] for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. John tells us in 1 John 3—>This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. What perfect love!

We know that God is love. We also know He daily demonstrates His love for us in action. We must have spiritual eyes to begin to recognize His loving actions toward us. The 10 plagues and the Passover constituted God’s strategy for motivating a despot, a tyrant, to let go of a free labor force of 1-2 million people. The plagues and the Passover demonstrate how far God will go to redeem those He loves. Jesus’ death on the cross proves the same truth again: Our God has died an undeserved but agonizing penalty to obtain our freedom from slavery to sin and death. Like His Father before Him, He has gone to extreme lengths to redeem us.

As the apostle John tells us in 1 John 4:10—>This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

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

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Pastor Sherry’s messages will return in October following her vacation.