Month: August 2023

Do the Stuff

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Do the Stuff

August 28, 2023

by John Partridge

This isn’t a particularly religious idea, but it’s one that has grown on me over the years and one that I frequently repeated this summer. In the early 1990’s Patti and I were in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at a camp Patti had worked at during college, and which we often visited. What was unusual was that on this visit, my parents stopped to visit us and see the camp because they were also in the area. As it happened, had made a stop in Frankenmuth at Bronner’s the year-round Christmas store and were (I think) heading across the Canadian border to ride the train through the Agawa Canyon which Dad had read about for years in Model Railroader magazine.

That part makes sense. The part that never made sense to me was that later, when I asked them what they thought of the train ride… they didn’t go. They drove all the way to the Upper Peninsula, crossed the border into Canada, and… decided that the train ride was too expensive. They had a good time, I guess, but they didn’t do the thing. They didn’t do the thing that Dad had read about, and probably dreamed about, for years, all because the train tickets cost as much as a night in a hotel (they still cost around $100 CDN per person). I couldn’t get over it. It bugged me then, and it still bugs me now. There is a time to save money, but there are times when you just… do the stuff.

When Patti and I first went into ministry, we didn’t have much money and we did our best to squeeze what we could out of every penny. When we went to Annual Conference at Lakeside, we slept in a tent at the campground because that’s what we could afford. But we still would buy ice cream with the kids at least once during the week and play putt-putt golf and do other things with the kids just because we were there. There are times when you can make memories and there are other times when you can save money. Sometimes, you just… do the stuff.

This summer in Israel, our group made a choice of whether we wanted to stop for lunch each day, or just carry snacks in our backpacks and keep going so that we could see more archeological sites and spend more time at others. The choice for all of us was easy. We paid a lot of money to take this class, and to travel to Israel, to see and to learn… not to eat nice, sit-down lunches. In other words, we just wanted to… do the stuff.  On at least one evening, after we had been touring and hiking all day, and were already tired, we had the option of walking into downtown Bethlehem to do a little shopping and to get some falafel from a local vendor. I was already tired, but… my choice was to do the stuff.

At the National Scout Jamboree in July, there were also several times when I had the chance to walk less, to stay out of the heat and out of the sun instead of hiking an extra three or five miles… but sitting in the shade wasn’t why I was there. I made the extra effort because I wanted to do the stuff. I gave this same advice to several people during the Jamboree as they struggled with decisions about what they wanted to do with their day. I gave this advice because I knew, from watching my dad thirty years ago, that sometimes you only get one chance to do the stuff. Years from now no one will remember the time that you sat in the shade, but you will almost certainly remember climbing the rock wall, riding mountain bikes, or whatever else that you were daydreaming about.

This is also a part of the reason why I went back to school at a time when Patti and I are thinking seriously about our retirement. I always wondered if I had what it takes to earn an advanced degree. It was the stuff of daydreams, but could I do it? And a part of me said… do the stuff. I do not want to spend my retirement wondering if I could have done it. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, it’s time-consuming. Yes, at times it’s a giant pain in the keister. But I decided to try, and so every day I just… do the stuff.

One step at a time.

But, in the end, this does have an application to our spiritual life. As we move through our church year, especially as Christ Church sets goals for next year and considers a strategic plan and a new vision for our future, we will almost certainly arrive at moments when we must decide whether to continue doing what we’ve always done, or to do something different.

Sometimes rather than wondering how we might draw closer to God, or how we might find God’s purpose for our lives, or whether it might help to join a Bible study, have a daily devotion time, get back into the habit of reading scripture, attend church more regularly, join a Sunday school class, or do something entirely new and unexpected, what we ought to be thinking is whether we will regret NOT doing them later. Sometimes the best way out of our indecision, is simply to decide to just…

…do the stuff.

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Risk

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Risk

August 27, 2023*

By Pastor John Partridge

Exodus 1:8 – 2:10                  

Matthew 16:13-20                            

Romans 12:1-8

If I said the word “Risk,” what do you think of?

Perhaps you think of gambling, or maybe the board game of “Risk.” Or maybe you think about a list of things that, in your head, you have classified as “risky.” But risk isn’t always about Las Vegas, and it isn’t always a bad thing. We take risks every day, from using a gas pump handle that hasn’t been cleaned for the last week, to eating gas station hot dogs, or just driving to church, our lives are full of risks. Every day we make a thousand decisions while, consciously or unconsciously, evaluating the level of risk that we’re willing to take. Some of us will throw away the food in the refrigerator as soon as it’s even close to its expiration date, and others of us will open the lid and give it a sniff regardless of the date on the package.

The question isn’t whether we are willing to take risks because we all do. The question we ask ourselves is, “How willing am I to take this particular risk?” And that’s what I want to think about as we read today’s scriptures. Each character in these stories is taking a risk, and each of them is weighing the cost of those risks and what those risks, and their potential cost, might mean to their future. We begin with the origin story of Moses in Exodus 1:8 – 2:10, where we hear these words:

8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”

11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so, the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile but let every girl live.”

2:1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basketfor him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So, the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So, the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Although we see Pharaoh as the bad guy in this story (and we should), we also understand that he was weighing his risks. The Egyptians were worried that the Israelites would soon outnumber them, if they didn’t already, and decide to ally themselves with Egypt’s enemies. And so, Pharaoh had to decide of it was better to risk a revolt, or to commit genocide.

The soldiers had to decide whether they should obey their orders and become murderers, or if it was more dangerous to disobey orders from the Pharoah. Unlike the soldiers, however, the midwives in this story chose to risk open defiance and disobedience of Pharoah’s orders and refused to murder the male children.

Moses’ mother and father took an incredible risk. In hiding him for three months they could easily have been discovered and suffered imprisonment or death for their disobedience. But despite the care that they took to waterproof the little basket and turn it into a tiny boat, the odds of success were incredibly slim. So slim, I think, that playing Russian roulette would be far safer in comparison. If the boat leaks, Moses drowns. If it doesn’t leak, he could get eaten by a crocodile, and if his boat goes safely down the river, he dies from dehydration, starvation, or exposure. This was the longest of longshots. There was almost no chance of success but, when they evaluated the risks, Moses’ parents decided that the risk of putting their baby in a boat were better than trying to hide him from the Egyptian soldiers.

Moses’ sister took a risk in following the basket down the river. Was she risking an encounter with crocodiles? Was it a risk to ask the princess about finding a wet nurse for the baby? And what risk did Pharaoh’s daughter take in accepting a Jewish baby into her home and adopting him as her own son?

Everyone in the story, in their own way, evaluated their options and took risks that led them to make the choices that they did. But Moses’ family put their trust in God. They took risks because they trusted that God was a part of their story and had a compassionate and loving interest in outcome.

In Matthew 16:13-20 where we read the story of Peter’s recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, and we can see the risk that he took to do so:

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hadeswill not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will bebound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will beloosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Other disciples may have come to the same conclusion but, just as he did when he stepped out of the boat to walk on water, Peter took a risk and spoke up first. And, in accepting the appointment of being the head of Jesus’ church, Peter understood he might be painting a target on his back, and that was even more clear after Jesus’ crucifixion.

But what about us? What risks do we take? Or rather, what risks should we take? In Romans 12:1-8, Paul reminds us of a few things we should consider.

12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with yourfaith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Paul doesn’t use the word “risk,” but he does use the word “sacrifice.” He knew that our bodies, our actions, and the way that we spend our time and our energy, are all offerings and sacrifices that we give to God. Our everyday actions, the choices that we make, and the risks, large or small, that we take, are all offerings to God as our true and proper worship of what he has given to us and what he has done for us. But Paul’s caution in this is that we must not allow ourselves to be tempted or persuaded by what is perceived as “normal’ in the culture that surrounds us. Rather than committing ourselves to keeping up with the Joneses and trying to be like our neighbors, or keeping up with the Kardashians, instead we must remain intent upon the transformation and renewing of our minds so that instead of becoming more like the people of our culture, we increasingly reflect the character and the mind of God and of Jesus Christ.

Moses’ parents risked their lives because of their trust in God.

Peter risked humiliation to be the first to proclaim Jesus was the Messiah and risked death to be the leader of Christ’s church.

Paul says that every choice that we make, our every act, every demonstration of faith, every risk that we take on behalf of Jesus Christ, is an act of worship that transforms us, day by day, moment by moment, into the likeness of Christ.

What will you risk for him today?

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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 quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Get Out of the Boat!

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Get Out of the Boat!

August 13, 2023*

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28                        Matthew 14:22-33                 Romans 10:5-15

During my last several years at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio, I tended bar at night at the Station House Inn downtown. Since I worked there for several years, I naturally got to know, and became friends with, many of our regular customers. And it was through some of these regular customers that I got invited to join what was jokingly referred to as the “Dunkirk Ski Team.” My friend Don Spar owned a small ski boat and, along with Gary, and several others, he would take his boat out to the abandoned Dunkirk quarry (that had filled with water when quarrying had accidentally struck a natural spring) and went water skiing around the quarry. At the time, I did not know how to water ski, but this did not deter my friends and they were determined to teach me. And they did. As they told me, it isn’t hard, all you have to do is stand up once the boat starts moving, and if you fall, you just fall into the water.

I fell a few times, but I did learn to ski.  Perhaps not well, but I could do it, and we had a good time. But the very first thing to know about learning to water ski is that you can’t do it from shore, and you can’t do it from inside the boat. If you’re going to ski, you have to get out of the boat. 

That seems obvious, and even a little silly. But that is an important lesson that we find several times in today’s scriptures. We begin with the story of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28, but while we often focus on Joseph when we read this story, today I want you to listen, and pay attention to the actions of Joseph’s oldest brother Reuben.

37:1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.

2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line.

Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornaterobe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied.

14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”

So, Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm, and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.

28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekelsof silver [eight ounces @ $23.19/ oz = $185.52] to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

Most of you are familiar with Joseph’s story, and you can be sure that we’ll be hearing more about him in the coming weeks. But to cut right to the heart of today’s lesson, what did you hear Reuben do? Out of all of Joseph’s brothers, only Reuben thought that killing Joseph was wrong. Or, if he wasn’t the only one who thought it was wrong, then he is the only one who had the courage to act on his beliefs. Reuben convinced his brothers not to kill Joseph and hoped to return and set him free. Joseph still got sold into slavery, but he owed his life to Reuben.

More than one brother might have felt that murdering their brother was wrong…

…but Reuben was the one who got out of the boat.

An even more obvious example is Peter in the story of when Jesus walked on water in Matthew 14:22-33 where we hear this:

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

I cannot count the number times that I have heard this story read and at some point, someone tries to discredit Peter for his lack of faith. Pastors preach that Peter didn’t have enough faith, or that Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, or that Peter allowed himself to be distracted by the things of the world, or some other commentary that makes Peter somehow look like the bad guy. But folks, I’m here to tell you that I am completely impressed by Peter’s faith because, outside of folks in Minnesota in January, Peter is the only person in the history of our planet, other than Jesus, to walk on water. At the end of the day, fear or not, sinking or not, crying for help or not, Peter walked on water.

And the reason that Peter walked on water is that…

…Peter got out of the boat.

There were at least eleven other people on that boat, and more than one of them might have been wishing that they could do what Jesus was doing. More than one of them may have been wondering if they could walk on water. But Peter was the one who acted. Peter was the one who got out of the boat.

And hopefully, now that this idea of getting out of the boat is firmly implanted in your mind, I want to move on to Paul’s letter to the church in Rome as he teaches them something about the need to share their faith in Romans 10:5-15:

5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one, of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Paul enumerates the story of our faith and how we were rescued by Jesus and reconciled to God, but then he insists that the only way that the people around us will ever know the joy of rescue and reconciliation that we have already found, is if we get out of the boat. How can they call on a God that they don’t know? How can they believe if no one tells them? How can they hear if no one preaches?

In the time of the New Testament, feet were ugly. Walking outside meant that by the end of the day, or any time that you came indoors, your feet were covered in dust, animal droppings, trash, and whatever filth had been laying or decaying in the streets. Many houses had special basins of water by the door for foot washing as soon as you came in from the street. But even then, Paul says “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” The news of Jesus Christ is so good, that the people who hear it will love you… and your ugly feet.

Just as we hear in the message of the Christmas story, the Good News of Jesus Christ is “good news of great joy that is for all the people.”

But all the good news in the world won’t make any difference if we don’t get out of the boat.

If we’re going to change the world, if we’re going to make a difference, if we’re going to grow our church, if we’re going to save the souls of the lost…

…We have to get out of the boat.

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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 quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Choosing to be Alone

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Choosing to be Alone

August 06, 2023*

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 32:22-31                   Matthew 14:13-21                 Romans 9:1-5

A great many books have been written and many movies have been made about being stranded on a desert island. Stories like Robinson Crusoe, The Lord of the Flies, Brooke Shields in Blue Lagoon, Harrison Ford’s “Six Days, Seven Nights,” Tom Hanks’ “Cast Away,” and even Sigourney Weaver in “Alien” only scratch the surface of stories in which the characters are stranded and alone.

All those stories are about characters who were stranded accidentally or in some way against their will, but sometimes people seek out isolation and solitude deliberately. In the study of Christianity, or history, we encounter those who are referred to as “the desert fathers.” These were early Christian hermits whose practice of self-denial in the Egyptian desert, beginning in the third century, formed the basis of what would become Christian monasticism. Some of their writings have survived into the modern era and continue to inform our study and our faith. As we toured the fortress of Masada in the Judean desert, we saw the remains of many of small huts, caves, or shelters that had been made, and lived in, by some of these early Christian hermits. Their hope was that by choosing to be alone, their voluntary isolation would allow their study, meditation, and prayer to draw them closer to God and to see his truth more clearly.

Such monasticism isn’t for most of us, but there are times when we just want to be alone. There are times when being alone helps us to think, to pray, to study, to collect our thoughts, to make sense of our feelings, and, just as the desert fathers hoped, to draw closer to God. But the desert fathers were far from the first people to seek solitude to find God. We often see the prophets of the Old Testament wander off to the desert or to other lonely places for the same reason, and this is exactly what we see in Genesis 32:22-31. In this story, Jacob contemplates his reunion with Esau after decades of separation.  He has already sent gifts ahead of him, as well as all his flocks, herds, and servants. And, as we rejoin that story, Jacob even sends his family ahead of him so that he can remain in that place… alone.

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” [Israel means he struggles with God.]

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, [Peniel means face of God.] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

Jacob’s intent may have been just to enjoy the solitude and to collect his thoughts about what he might do, or say, when he finally encountered his brother, whom Jacob had swindled out of his inheritance. But, since we also know that Jacob is one of the patriarchs and founders of the faith of Israel, we should also consider that his intent was to stay behind, meditate, pray, and meet with God. And, as it happens, that’s exactly what happens, though in a much more real sense than Jacob anticipated. Jacob wrestles all night with a man who Jacob believes is more than just a man and at daybreak, demands a blessing before releasing him.

Jacob is wealthy. He has herds of camels, sheep, and goats, he has servants and a family. Jacob has all that he needs, but he knows that the blessing of God was more important than having more material things. And so, he demands a blessing from God, and he gets one, along with a limp that he will have for the rest of his life as a constant reminder of his encounter with God.

I want to pause here for a moment and illuminate this point. Jacob clearly wrestles with a flesh and blood man, but Jacob also knows that this is more than just a man and afterwards names the places Penial because “I met God face to face.” When we put these two things together, we concluded that Jacob met God in human flesh. Meeting God is, theologically speaking, a theophany. But, as Christians, we already have a name for God in human flesh and that is… Jesus. And so, this passage brings us a curious question. Does God have more than one human manifestation? Is there more than one way that God can choose to appear in human flesh? Or was this a theological “Christophany”? Was the man with whom Jacob wrestled, Jesus, two thousand years before Jesus’ earthly, physical birth? Honestly, I have no idea, and neither does anyone else, but it is an interesting thing to think about.

Fast forward those two thousand years, and in Matthew 14:13-21, we find Jesus trying to find that same solitude that Jacob was seeking.

13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus was teaching and preaching, and news finally reaches him that his cousin John the Baptist had been beheaded, and Jesus is just done. He leaves the place where he has been preaching, gets in a boat, and heads for a quiet place where he can grieve the loss of his family member, come to grips with his emotions, and get his head together. Jesus knows that he needs some time alone, and he knows that he needs some solitude to spend in meditation, prayer, and meeting with God just as Jacob did.

But the people follow him. His work follows him. The needs of the people follow him. And despite his disappointment at his failure to find some solitude, Jesus responds not in frustration, but from a spirit of compassion. As tired as he was, as grief stricken as he was, as frustrated as he was, Jesus responds by attempting to meet the needs of the people and he heals the sick. For hours on end, Jesus heals the sick, until they start running out of daylight and everyone is getting hungry for something to eat. But because the day had started by deliberately traveling to a solitary place, there wasn’t anything nearby.

But, after inventorying every scrap of food that they can find, they produce five loaves of bread and two fish. Life is like that, and so is our life of faith. As much as we’d like to start out our adult life like we do in the game of Monopoly, with a few million dollars, some property, a house, and a car, most of us do not. We can only begin where we are with what we have. And that’s what Jesus does. He begins where they are, with what they have. He begins in the middle of nowhere, with five loaves of bread and two fish. He begins there… but he doesn’t end there. Jesus gives thanks to God for what they have and starts passing it out… to five thousand men, plus the women and children, so in my estimation, at the very least, there are ten or fifteen thousand people gathered in this remote place. And everyone eats, not just until everyone has had a nibble of something, but until every person has eaten and was satisfied. When they were finished, they had twelve basketsful of food leftover.  And, in case you forgot, not only did fifteen thousand people eat, but there was still more food leftover than the five loaves and two fish with which they had started.

But in Romans 9:1-5, Paul considers an entirely different kind of solitude. Here, Paul mourns for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying…

9:1 I speak the truth in Christ. I am not lying; my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

What Paul is mourning is that the people of Israel have followed God for so many years, through all sorts of battles, disasters and triumphs, destruction and rebuilding, through good kings and terrible kings, through a host of different occupying nations and armies, and through all these things continued to follow God. But now, because their focus was on the status quo, remaining in power, and maintaining their relationships with Rome, they refused to see the fulfillment of scripture and accept the arrival of the promised messiah in the person of Jesus Christ. Despite their history, their adoption by God, their covenants with God, the laws of Moses, the temple, the patriarchs, despite all of the promises that God had given to them, and despite the Messiah tracing his family tree through them, they now were lost because they refused to follow Jesus.

Jacob chose to be alone with God and he was blessed.

Jesus set out for solitary place so that he could be with God, and he performed miracles that began only with what he had.

But the leaders of Israel were lost because despite all that they had, they chose to be alone, without God.

And God let them go.

The choices that you make can change everything. You can begin with what little you already have.

God drew Jacob closer, and he let Esau walk away.

God will give you what you want.

You can choose to be alone with God, or alone without God.

Choose wisely.

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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 quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™