A friend was recently criticized for being depressed. His friend reminded him that he had a great job, a beautiful wife, life was going great and he didn’t have any reason at all to be depressed. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. Those who suffer from depression are often told to “Get over it” or “Suck it up,” or “It’s all in your head.”
But depression doesn’t work like that.
Imagine that you have a friend who limps. Would you ever dream of saying, “Dude, you have a great job and a beautiful family, you eat right, and sleep well, why do you have to limp all the time?” That seems silly because you understand that while all those things are true, there’s something about your friend’s knee that doesn’t work quite right. Maybe it’s arthritis, or a bone spur, or some degeneration of some kind, but whatever it is, it isn’t quite what it’s supposed to be, it’s painful and so he limps. You get it.
Depression really isn’t that different.
Instead of a knee that doesn’t work quite right, there are chemical reactions in your friend’s brain that don’t work quite right. It could be dopamine, or a bunch of other possibilities, but whatever it is, it isn’t quite the way it’s supposed to be and his brain “limps.” Maybe even worse, these negative attitudes are so common that people are afraid to get help, or accept a prescription for medication.
That’s depression.
Heck, that describes a host of mental illnesses.
Instead of telling your suffering friends that they should just magically “feel better” why not do the same thing that you’d do for a friend with a limp. Encourage them to see their doctor, or a specialist who treats those sorts of illnesses. Often, like knees, brains with a limp can get a little better with treatment and the right medication.
Have you ever been strangely captivated by television images of natural disasters and incredible destruction? In recent years we’ve seen the towers fall on September 11th, 2001, earthquakes in various places around the world, and because of the popularity of cell phones and security cameras, we have seen countless images of tsunamis in Thailand, and Japan.
But imagine with me what would happen if time travel were possible.
On April 18th, 1906 the earth shook for less than a minute in San Francisco, California, but between the shaking, poor construction, and the resulting fires, the city was devastated. Nearly 500 city blocks were destroyed, 3,000 people were killed, and 400,000 people, nearly half of the city’s population, were left homeless. Enormous tent cities grew up in Oakland in and other places across the bay as the homeless found their way across the few bridges that hadn’t been destroyed.
But imagine that someone from the twenty-first century, perhaps you, had travelled back in time and wandered the streets of those tent cities with the displaced residents of San Francisco. Imagine what they would think of your message as you told them how their city would recover, rebuild, grow, and flourish in the next century. Assuming that they believed you, can you imagine the hope that your message might bring to them. It’s difficult to imagine a brighter future, when you’re surrounded by the destruction of everything familiar. It would take something extraordinary to grasp the vision, to see and understand, that there might be a path that would return the world to normal again.
But that is exactly what Isaiah does. As Isaiah writes to the people of Judah, Syria and the northern tribes of Israel, and all their lands, have already been captured by the Assyrian army. Many people have seen the handwriting on the wall, they have heard the prophecy of Isaiah, they understand that soon, the nation of Judah would be next. The people despair for their nation, lose hope for the future, and struggle to understand what this means to their faith in God. And in the midst of this uncertainty and despair, Isaiah writes a message of hope for the future. (Isaiah 62:1-5)
62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2 The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. 3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, [ Hephzibah means my delight is in her.] and your land Beulah; [Beulah means married.] for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
For the people of God, the destruction of Israel and Jerusalem is the almost the same as saying that God is a lie. Jerusalem is God’s city, it contains God’s place of worship, and Israel is God’s people. If they are all taken away, then what does it say about the reality of God himself? But Isaiah tells of time when Jerusalem and Israel are vindicated. When God, and his people, are proven right in front of the entire world. Jerusalem herself will be renamed. Instead of being known as “deserted” she will be known as “delightful.” Instead of “desolate” she will be known as “married” or perhaps we might understand it better as “my beautiful bride.” Isaiah says that just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will God rejoice over Jerusalem, over Israel, and over his people.
Much like it would be if we could go back in time and tell the refugees from a destroyed San Francisco about the wonders of their city in the twenty-first century, Isaiah speaks of a time that is a hundred years or more in the future, when their city, their nation, and their people will be rebuilt.
It is, for them, a message of transformation… and of hope.
And then, eight hundred years later, Jesus is invited to a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee, and, quite by accident, begins his ministry by performing his first miracle. And in this miracle, Jesus brings hope to the world by bringing about a transformation of an entirely different kind. (John 2:1-11)
2:1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Although this is a great story, what we often miss is the culture of the time. Jesus lived in a culture of honor and shame. In that culture, there were certain events, certain taboos, that could not be broken without bringing shame, and loss of honor. That loss of honor could be personal, or quite widespread. In some cases, in the Old Testament, entire tribes were dishonored and carried that dishonor for hundreds of years. The loss of honor, as a person, as a family, or even as a tribe, could cost someone money, customers, business contracts and many other things. In this story, it is quite likely that the servants and hosts in the back rooms were in a blind panic. Weddings were attended by people from the entire village and beyond. Running out of wine so early in the celebration would have been a major embarrassment that could have caused a loss of honor to the family and to the entire village. It was a really big deal.
And so, Jesus’ mother, remembering all those things from Jesus birth and childhood that she had “treasured in heart,” comes to him with the confidence that he could do something about this problem. And Jesus, although not originally intending to begin his ministry this early, transforms 180 gallons of plain water, into fine wine. By doing so, Jesus doesn’t just save one family from a minor embarrassment and rescue one party, Jesus literally redeems an entire village from a dishonor that could have cost them jobs and livelihoods for generations.
In the very first act of Jesus’ ministry, he provides a glimpse, a sneak peek, into his transformational power that will rescue his people and redeem the entire world from sin and death.
And then, in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, the Apostle Paul describes how that same transformational power flows into the modern world that we live in today.
12:1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Paul writes to the church in Corinth, but he speaks just as clearly to us half a world away in the twenty-first century. Paul says that we used to be (past tense) pagans and unbelievers that were led astray and worshipped idols. But now, we have been filled with the Spirit of God and given gifts that have transformed our lives, prepared, and equipped us to serve the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ in our world. Each of these gifts, Paul says, is the manifestation, the living example, of the Spirit of God in the modern world, who is working for the common good of all humanity.
No one, Paul says, gets skipped, forgotten, ignored, or missed. To “each one,” to each person, the living example of the Holy Spirit is given. Not everyone is the same, and not everyone gets the same gift, but everyone is gifted, everyone receives a gift from God through the Holy Spirit. Some receive wisdom, others knowledge, some receive the gift of faith, others healing, or miraculous powers, prophecy, discernment, or gifts of languages. These are all gifts of the spirit and each of these gifts is determined by the Holy Spirit, in order to advance the message and the mission of Jesus Christ in the world even in the twenty-first century.
In the time of Isaiah, God revealed that he could and would transform Israel, in the time of Jesus, God revealed that he can transform not only the physical and material world, but the lives of the people and culture around them. And in our modern world, God continues to do the work of transformation in our physical lives, our culture, our world, and in our spiritual lives as well. God pours out the gift of transforming power into the lives of his followers by giving us amazing and powerful gifts that he intends for us to use to as his agents. We are called not only to be grateful for the gifts that he has given to us, we are called to use those gifts, each and every one of us, to transform the world around us, to carry out the mission, vision, and ministry of Jesus Christ, to rescue to lost, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, be a voice to the voiceless, a father to the fatherless, and in every way possible reveal the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world around us.
It is a huge responsibility and an incredible, even herculean, task.
But that is exactly why we have been transformed, gifted, and equipped by the creator of the universe to do it.
Right now, I want you to think of one person. I want you to think of one person whose life you can make better this week. Call them, love them, shovel their sidewalk, pay a bill for them, buy them a cup of coffee, for each of you, and for each person you are thinking of, it will be different. But I want you to choose one person, whose life you can change, even a little bit, and show them the love of Jesus Christ this week.
Let’s get busy.
Let’s go change the world.
One.
Life.
At a time.
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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Each fall our church staff and volunteers fill out several forms, with line after line of questions, we also submit quite a few other reports, budgets, lists of nominated and elected officers, and all of this is compiled into our Charge Conference report. By the middle of January, we report even more numbers, on five or six more forms, for our official “End of Year” report. Many of these numbers are of not that interesting to the casual observer, but there are a few that are, and some of these are useful in “taking the temperature” of the church and help us to see where we are and in what direction we might be going. I have a few other numbers that I track monthly and the end of the year is a good time to look at that data as well.
Although we report church membership at both Charge Conference and in the End of Year report, it is difficult to draw too many conclusions from it. It is difficult, because our membership is more than three times our annual attendance. And that, in turn means that either we have a great many inactive members (which might be good if we can get them to attend more regularly) or, that we have many people on the membership rolls that shouldn’t be, or both. In any case, in 2016 membership at Christ Church was 362, in 2017 it was 356, and in 2018 we ended with 323. In the last year, we lost 18 members to death, 2 to transfer, and 14 were removed simply because we had lost all contact with them. We did, however, add one member to our rolls through transfer (Hi, Hayley!). So is declining membership bad? Maybe, but it’s hard to tell.
I guess the good news (if you can call it that) is that we don’t remove people every year, those who were removed haven’t attended for a long time, and our number of deaths was much larger than usual. So, although membership “declined” by 33 people, the impact on our congregation, although significant, is not as bad as the numbers might imply.
On the other hand, while our average Sunday attendance was 69 in 2017, it was 71 in June, and by the end of the year had risen to 78. Similarly, we saw an increase in Sunday school attendance, an increase in the number of people who were giving to the church, and a healthy increase in our stewardship pledges. Not only that, but we also saw an increase in participation in missions and outreach, an increase in the number of people we served in our community, and a small decrease in our total church expenses. In short, attendance is increasing, and we’re doing more, with less.
Another measure that is not yet reported to our district or Annual Conference, but is of growing usefulness, is our ability to engage with our community on social media. For the moment, the only number that I can report to you is our number of Facebook followers. In the last year, the number of people who have “liked” our Facebook page has increased by 27, from 172 to 199. That isn’t a lot, but it’s a positive increase and it at least hints at a growing engagement between our church and our community.
I understand I’ve only been here for half a year, but even if I were here longer, I know that I am not solely responsible for any of this. We are a church and a community, and we work together as a team. But as I have said before, what I see in our reports, and what I see in these, and other numbers, is good news. Clearly, we have work to do, but in many ways we are doing well, or at least doing better. Digging through the numbers and filling out reports is not anyone’s idea of fun, but I want to thank Dolores, Julie, and all our staff and volunteers that help us do it.
Because, in the end, when I read through our reports, I see every reason to be hopeful, even excited, about the direction that we are going, the future of Christ Church, our ministry here, and our outreach to our community and the world.
Don’t stop doing what you’re doing.
Keep up the good work.
Let’s build on what we have and make 2019 even better.
3:1There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil?10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.
Matthew 5:1-12
5:1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I spent some time talking to Wayne’s friend, Maggie Bugara, yesterday to get a sense of who Wayne Rinehart was. It didn’t take too long to understand that he was a nice guy and the sort of a man that people respected and liked to be around. Wayne didn’t ever really have a use for the church so, as a pastor, many of the things that I usually say at funerals feels sort of awkward or out of place. But as a veteran, I think I have a feeling for who Wayne was at a different level.
Wayne Rinehart, “Moose” to many of his friends, was a kind man. He was a long-time member, and twice elected commander, of VFW Post 1036 here in Alliance. He selflessly spent his time, his talent, and his treasure to work for, and to help fellow veterans. In return, those veterans became friends and loved him back. And in the last few years, after he had moved to the Danbury, he continued to make friends of both his fellow residents as well as the staff there. Wayne was a kind, compassionate, and loving man.
But Wayne Rinehart was also a man who loved his family. He never stopped loving his wife Marjorie, whom he married in 1959, and to whom he remained married for 49 years. Even after he lost Marjorie in 2008, Wayne never stopped missing her. Wayne also loved his brothers and sisters and their children, his daughter Sherri, and his granddaughter Ashlyn.
For years, one of his favorite things in the world was to go to fairs and horse shows, and watch Ashlyn show horses. He was so very proud of her, and almost never stopped talking about his great love, and his pride in her. Even after he and Sherri were estranged from one another, he never stopped caring, or loving, any of his family. He missed them and wanted them to be a part of his life. Even as he neared death, he would call out to them. In fact, Wayne often wondered what he had done wrong and thought about how things could ever be made right between them again. Many tears were shed with his friends as he thought about such things and their separation weighed heavily upon him. In the end, his friends think that Wayne just gave up fighting, and it is entirely possible that Wayne simply died of a broken heart.
But through it all, it is clear that Wayne “Moose” Rinehart touched many lives, and many of you who are gathered here can testify to what he has meant to you in your life.
There’s an often repeated saying that is worth repeating again here:
Cry not because he’s gone.
Smile because he was here.
And now, I’m turning the eulogy over to you, because each of you knew Wayne better than I did. What is it that you remember? How did Moose touch your life? How did he make you smile? How did he make you laugh? These are the things that you should remember, hold onto, and treasure.
Obituary for
Wayne A. “Moose” Rinehart
Wayne Allen “Moose” Rinehart, age 86, of Alliance, passed away at 4:35 p.m., Thursday, January 10, 2019, at Danbury Senior Living of Alliance.
He was born August 23, 1932, in Garards Fort, Pennsylvania, to Calvin “Ed” and Gail (Blake) Rinehart.
Wayne served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955.
He was employed with Highway Asphalt: Division of Kenmore Construction until his retirement.
Wayne joined the International Union of Operating Engineers in 1955, the Masonic Lodge in 1964 and was a lifetime member of the VFW Post 1036, which he served as commander two times.
He enjoyed gambling and loved watching his granddaughter show her horses.
Survivors include his daughter, Sherri (Jim) Pinkerton; granddaughter, Ashlyn Pinkerton; and sister, Carol White, all of Alliance; and close friend and caregiver, Maggie Bugara, of Sebring.
In addition to his parents, Wayne was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie (McCreery) Rinehart, whom he married July 4, 1959 and who died January 7, 2008; three brothers and a sister.
Services will be held 11 a.m., Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at Cassaday-Turkle-Christian Funeral Home with Pastor John Partridge officiating. Friends may call from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, January 15, at the funeral home. Interment will be at Highland Memorial Park.
Arrangements are by Cassaday-Turkle-Christian Funeral Home 75 S. Union Ave., Alliance, OH 44601.
For those of you old enough to remember, from 1981 to 1986, actor Lee Majors starred as a stuntman in a successful television show called, “The Fall Guy.” A number to times, that show featured stuntmen doing fire stunts. And if you have ever watched action movies, like James Bond, or something with Arnold Schwarzenegger, you have probably also seen the same sort of thing. Fire has a way of capturing our imagination like few other things can. And so, our question for today, “Are you fireproof?” probably also stirs our curiosity. But that title isn’t just marketing, it’s a real question that’s asked by today’s look into scripture.
At the same time, while you may not know it, this is another special Sunday. It is lesser known than Christmas or Easter, and even lesser known than Epiphany, but this is the week that we traditionally set aside to read and remember the baptism of Jesus. There are several reasons for this, but primarily our need for a regular remembrance is because, like many other things, we are forgetful and need to remind ourselves why this event is important, and what it means to us.
We begin, once again, in the book of Isaiah where we hear more about the messiah that is to come (Isaiah 43:1-7.)
43:1 But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Isaiah describes a messiah who would redeem and bring back the children of Israel that had been carried away into slavery, or forced from the land by famine, pestilence, warfare, or poverty. But he also talks of how God will be with them, and protect them, they will pass through the water in safety, they will walk through the fire and not be burned, and the flames will not set them ablaze. God is saying, at least allegorically, that they will be fireproof.
Clearly, in the near term, God is promising that there was hope. This was a promise that the people who had been (or soon would be) carried into captivity, or their children, would eventually return to Israel. God was promising that despite the chaos and warfare that surrounded them, that he would watch over them and protect them, and bring them home.
But in the longer term, Israel understood that this scripture also applied to the messiah that was to come. This was a promise that one day there would be an even bigger return of God’s people to the nation of Israel and that throughout the centuries, and even millennia, God would continue to watch over his people, protect them, and love them.
That expectation for the coming messiah endured. It was passed on from generation to generation and to each generation it brought the hope that God cared, that God was watching over them, that God had a plan for them, and that there would, eventually, be a rescuer. Filled with this hope, the people continued to keep watch and we see that expectation as we read Luke 3:15-17, 21-22.
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
The people saw John, they saw that he was dressed the way that some of the Old Testament prophets had dressed, he lived in the wilderness as some of them had, and he preached with an intensity and a passion that hadn’t been seen in Israel for generations. And when they saw these things, combined with their continued expectation and hope for a rescuer, redeemer, and messiah, they wondered if John was the one. But John answers and explains that he is not the messiah but had been sent to announce the arrival of the messiah.
While baptism had become symbolic of purification and reminded the people of their passing from slavery in Egypt to freedom through the waters at the Red Sea and crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land of Israel, John proclaims that his baptism was only to prepare the people for the arrival of the God’s messiah. The coming messiah would not only baptize with water but would also baptize with fire. And John warned that the messiah would come not only to harvest God’s people, but to burn up the useless chaff with fire.
But the coming of the messiah meant more than the rescue of the Israelites two-thousand years ago. In Acts 8:14-17, we hear the story of how baptism spreads beyond the borders of Israel into Samaria.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Remember that Samaria was not Israel but was almost a country within a country and sat between Jerusalem and Galilee. But the Samaritans were not, strictly speaking, Jewish. They had intermarried with outsiders and foreigners during Israel’s seventy years in captivity and were despised by the Jews as “half-breeds.” But we also remember that Jesus stopped in Samaria as he passed through, met a woman at a well, and stayed to preach and to teach his message to the entire village. And so here, in the book of Acts, the disciples hear that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God and had already been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus but had not yet received the Holy Spirit. Peter and John, despite the hostility that they had once had for the Samaritans, went to Samaria, laid hands on those who had believed in Jesus Christ, and the people received the Holy Spirit.
Like the story of Epiphany, this story reminds us that the message of Jesus Christ, as well as the baptism of both water and of the Spirit, wasn’t something old fashioned that only happened two thousand years ago, and it wasn’t something that was exclusively reserved for the Jews or the people of Israel, the baptism of Jesus Christ and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is open to all who believe, and that means that it was open to the hated Samaritan half-breeds in the first century as well as to gentiles of the twenty-first century like us.
Our baptism symbolically welcomes us into God’s family and represents our death to sin and resurrection with Christ into a new life in him. We become fireproof in the same sense that Isaiah taught, that now, through Christ, we have hope and we know that God watches over us, cares for us, and loves us. But we also know that through the influence, guidance, and help of the Holy Spirit received at our baptism, we are drawn, daily, closer to Jesus Christ so that we will be fruitful and not become useless chaff that is burned in the fire. We are also comforted as we remember the story of Jesus’ baptism when we notice God’s words of blessing, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” We are comforted when we realize that at the moment of his baptism, Jesus had not yet begun his ministry. He had not yet called all his disciples, and he had not yet done much of anything at all to earn God’s favor or his love. And yet, this was the moment that God chose to publicly state his love for Jesus. We are comforted because this reminds us once again, that there is no need for us to try to earn God’s love. God loves us, and has always loved us, long before we were able to anything to please him.
Doesn’t it feel good to be fireproof?
But, if you haven’t yet been baptized, and you would like to have this confidence and this hope, please come and see me.
Because the people of God should be… fireproof.
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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Have you ever read mystery stories? Honestly, there was a long time during which, although I was an avid reader, I never had any interest in reading mysteries. But at some point, I took a class that studied the genre of mystery stories for a required credit in English literature. For that class we were required to read, and study, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, and a dozen others. But in studying this subject, we learned a new word that stuck with me despite being a word that is a little uncommon. We learned the word, “denouement.” Here’s an official definition.
The final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together, and matters are explained or resolved. The climax of a chain of events, usually when something is decided or made clear.
What this means, at least as we discuss mystery stories, is usually the part of the story where the detective calls everyone together and points out the guilty person, or explains how the mystery happened, and clears up all the confusion that the reader has been wrestling with during the story. This is usually the climax of the story and from then on, most of the story is just housekeeping and explaining how everyone lived “happily ever after.”
But by now you’ve noticed that this morning’s message is entitled, “Mystery Revealed” so I’m sure some of you are wondering what that’s all about. In reply, I’m going to ask you to bear with me for a little while because before I get to the end, it will all become clear(er). We begin 800 years before the time of Jesus in the writings of the propher Isaiah where we hear these words that describe the Messiah that was to come (Isaiah 60:1-6):
60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip. 5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. 6 Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
Even in such a quick reading, we can immediately see several things that sound familiar to us from the Christmas story: a messiah that brings light to the world and dispels the darkness, nations that are drawn to toward the light of the new messiah, wanderers, expatriates, and captives that return to Israel from afar, kings of other nations who worship him, and who send gifts of gold and incense. And we see the fulfillment of many of these prophecies in the coming of the magi in Matthew 2:1-12.
2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Nations came to the light of his star to worship him and bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And while all of God’s lost children have yet been repatriated into Israel, we remember that Jesus often said that his mission on earth was to rescue the lost sheep of Israel. And if we continue reading the scriptures, we also find Paul’s explanation of the mystery of Jesus Christ as it relates to Isaiah, Jesus, and the coming of the magi in Ephesians 3:1-12.
3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
Paul says that the mystery of the messiah was revealed to Paul, and the mystery is that through Jesus Christ, the Gentiles have been invited back into the family of God. And once this mystery was revealed to us, then we realize that we can see that revelation from the beginning of the Christmas story. We realize that the genealogies of Jesus, found in the gospels, show us that Mary and Joseph came from a family that welcomed in foreigners and strangers, and we realize that the story of the magi is a story about gentiles and foreigners being among the first worshippers of the newborn messiah king.
The revelation of Paul, the mystery that is revealed, is that not only is the Christmas story a beautiful story, not only is it “good new of great joy” but that the messiah Jesus came “for all the people” and it wasn’t just all the Jewish people or for all the descendants of Abraham. The story of Christmas is good news of great joy for all the gentile people, and that means all of us. The arrival of the magi in the Christmas story is the part of the story where we show up. While the shepherds were the Jewish outsiders, the magi are the aliens, the strangers, the ultimate outsiders. This is one of the reasons that the Orthodox church celebrates Christmas in January, today, at Epiphany. The arrival of the magi is the part of the story that includes us, it is the gentile denouement, the climax of the story where everything is revealed.
Epiphany, and the arrival of the magi, is the part of the Christmas story where we are invited in and where we become a part of God’s family.
Epiphany means that Christmas isn’t just a Jewish story.
It’s our story.
And we are invited, in fact, as the church, we are commanded, to tell the world so that the story of Christmas, and the love of Jesus Christ, can be everyone’s story.
How’s that for a Christmas present?
Merry Christmas.
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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Tonight as we watch the clock count down to the New Year, scientists around the world are watching two spacecraft doing something totally amazing but altogether different.
The New Horizons probe, which just a few years ago took some incredible photographs (and changed planetary science) as it passed Pluto, tonight, just past midnight, passes by Ultima Thule (Ull-tim-a Too-lee), a smallish object (about the size of New York – 20 miles across) in the Kuiper belt. Ultima Thule hadn’t even been discovered when New Horizons launched. Optima Thule is more than 4.1 BILLION miles from earth and a billion miles beyond the orbit of Pluto, so far away that even at the speed of light, radio messages to earth take six HOURS to return to earth. New Horizons is traveling at almost 10 miles per second (32,000 miles per hour) as it speeds by, but the photos and other information that it collects in the next few hours will take more than a year to transmit home. Ultima Thule is the most distant object that humanity has ever been able to study up close.
And earlier this evening, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, after a delicate astrophysical dance that lasted for months, has slipped into orbit around asteroid Bennu. While Bennu is “only” 1.2 billion miles away, it has taken OSIRIS-REx over two years to arrive since its launch. But if Ultima Thule is the most distant object we are studying, Bennu, at only 1600 feet wide, is clearly the smallest. And because Bennu is so small, its gravity is similarly weak, making it incredibly difficult to carefully place OSIRIS-REx into orbit. The spacecraft’s orbital speed is only one TENTH of a mile per hour (or five centimeters per second) and it is orbiting only 1.25 miles (2 km) from the center of Bennu. OSIRIS-REx will study Bennu for about a year, and then, around July of 2020, will descend, capture a sample from the surface of Bennu, and return that sample to earth in 2023.
While sometimes the news headlines make us despair for the future of the human race, we often fail to pay attention to those who represent the better part of our nature.
I often wonder what discoveries await us after the return of Jesus Christ when we will have all eternity to explore.
Happy New Year everyone.
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A friend was recently criticized for being depressed. His friend reminded him that he had a great job, a beautiful wife, life was going great and he didn’t have any reason at all to be depressed. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. Those who suffer from depression are often told to “Get over it” or “Suck it up,” or “It’s all in your head.”
Wayne Allen “Moose” Rinehart, age 86, of Alliance, passed away at 4:35 p.m., Thursday, January 10, 2019, at Danbury Senior Living of Alliance.
And earlier this evening, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, after a delicate astrophysical dance that lasted for months, has slipped into orbit around asteroid Bennu. While Bennu is “only” 1.2 billion miles away, it has taken OSIRIS-REx over two years to arrive since its launch. But if Ultima Thule is the most distant object we are studying, Bennu, at only 1600 feet wide, is clearly the smallest. And because Bennu is so small, its gravity is similarly weak, making it incredibly difficult to carefully place OSIRIS-REx into orbit. The spacecraft’s orbital speed is only one TENTH of a mile per hour (or five centimeters per second) and it is orbiting only 1.25 miles (2 km) from the center of Bennu. OSIRIS-REx will study Bennu for about a year, and then, around July of 2020, will descend, capture a sample from the surface of Bennu, and return that sample to earth in 2023.
Pastor Partridge 