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Purity, Lobsters, and Poly-Cotton Blends

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Purity, Lobsters, and Poly-Cotton Blends

by John Partridge

One our recent class reading assignments has covered a range of issues surrounding the idea of purity and holiness in the nation of Israel (and the diaspora) as described in the Old Testament. As you likely know, many of the rules and regulations surrounding these two ideas of purity and holiness are found in the book of Leviticus where we also find God describing to Moses the fundamentals of worship, the design of God’s worship space, the sacrificial system and, perhaps most importantly, who and what God desires for his followers to be. 

As Protestant Christians in the twenty-first century, many, if not most of us, just kind of skip over Leviticus (and most everywhere else that rules about purity and holiness crop up) for several reasons. Let’s face it, it’s a little boring because it’s full of lists and genealogies, we’ve been convinced that all those purity codes don’t apply to us, and… if we’re honest, some of them are just downright weird. So weird in fact, that non-Christians point them out in an effort to describe our faith as something illogical or nonsensical.

But after diving a little deeper and learning more about it, some of those purity rules aren’t as strange as they might at first appear.  But before I get to that, I want to back up to my first paragraph and look at the last sentence.  It’s that last part that I think is most important.  God lays out his system of worship, the sacrificial system, the rules about purity and holiness because all of those things point to who and what God desires for his followers to be.  And so, even though our Christianity (thankfully) doesn’t sacrifice animals, or follow ancient Jewish rules about purity and holiness, those parts we skip over can still tell us something about who God want us to be as his people.

It’s worth noting that Israel wasn’t the only nation with holiness or purity codes.  Other nations, and other gods, had rules that had to be followed, and purifying rituals that had to be performed, before coming into the presence of their god or entering their temples. So, holiness or purification wasn’t unusual in and of itself. What made Israel’s God different was that he didn’t just call his people to follow these rules to enter the Tabernacle or to worship him, although there was a set of rules for that. What stands out was that Israel’s God intended for his people to follow these rules all the time so that they could be purer and holier than the people and the cultures that surrounded them.  God’s intention was for them to be different and to stand out because of it.  Three times in Leviticus (in chapters 19, 21, and 22) God instructs his people saying, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy,” (NIV) or some similar variation.

So how do rules about food, clothing, work, and a pile of other things accomplish that?  Honestly, there are things that we find in those lists that never made any sense to me.  Sure, taking a ritual bath before entering the Temple made some sense. Much like our concept of baptism, it isn’t hard to envision a ritual bath as both a physical and ritual cleansing and leaving our impurities behind us before coming into God’s presence.  But there are a bunch of other things on those lists that just seem weird. I mean, what’s wrong with lobsters?  I like lobster and crab, but they were both absolutely forbidden to a Jew.  And what about pork, or clothing made of two kinds of fabric? And what was the deal about skin diseases, sex, menstrual cycles, nocturnal emissions, anything to do with blood, or dead animals?

Admittedly, that’s a lot of stuff. But it all goes back to, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”

The logic behind it all began simply with the belief that God was perfect and holy.  We still believe that. And so, if God has called his people to be holy, then they must, as much as possible, do things that make them fit to be in God’s presence and to physically be the kind of holy people God called them to be. We still believe that too. But all those rules about purity and holiness flowed out of this belief. We can understand the logic as if these ancient people imagined what a perfect world would be like so that they could be perfect enough, and holy enough, for a perfect and holy God.  Genesis is clear that the world we live in is broken, so what would the earth have looked like before it was broken? The Israelites’ answer that to that question was that in a perfect world, everything would fit into sensible categories and classifications.  That isn’t an outrageous assumption. Modern science is based on entire systems of classifications to make sense of our world. We have the periodic table to classify elements and the taxonomic system that categorizes every plant and animal on earth into seven classifications of kingdom, phylum class, order, family, genus, and species.

Obviously, five thousand years ago (give or take a couple thousand), the categories weren’t so complex. But for them, “clean” things were those things that seemed to fit into a sensible order and didn’t cross boundaries. First, blood was life-giving.  And so, any animal that took life, or ate blood, like predators or scavengers, was not clean. Fish were clean, but fish with skin or legs like a land animal, were not clean. People could be clean, but bodily fluids, which were supposed to be on the inside, made people unclean if they were on the outside. That’s how lepers with skin diseases, menstruating women, men who had a nocturnal emission, or anyone with an open wound were defined as unclean. And in that system of classification and boundaries, while linen (which is made from stems of the flax plant) and wool (which comes from sheep or goats) were each fine for use as clothing, mixing them (possibly because one was from a plant and the other from an animal) was seen as crossing boundaries, and was therefore prohibited.

When we understand this system of classification, the Old Testament rules of purity and holiness make a lot more sense. But why does it matter? We aren’t Jewish and the rules about food and purity don’t apply to us.  Right?

Well, no. And yes.

We aren’t bound by Jewish dietary rules or many of the others. But, as the followers of God, we are still connected to their intent. We still believe that God speaks to us when he says, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” We are still called to be different from our culture, and to be a holy people who are set apart by God. That’s why we still talk about sin and living a life that looks like the one Jesus modeled for us. We may not follow the Old Testament codes of purity and holiness, but our calling is the same. In our own, Protestant Christian, twenty-first century way, we are still called to live lives that are pure, holy, and different from the people around us.

God still calls us to stand out from the crowd… and be a little weird.

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How Will God Change You?

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Ancient Meaning – Modern Application

Easter 2023

For the last several years, I have mentioned in this letter, that “this is an unusual time.”  But, for the most part, we are putting the unusual-ness of the pandemic behind us and accepting what’s left as a new normal.  We are going out to eat, holding church dinners, attending plays and concerts, and doing almost all of the things that we were doing before we first heard the acronym COVID-19.

But why does it matter that we are returning to normal?

It matters because a return to normal means that we can be done focusing only on surviving for the next few months or even for the next year.  Returning to normal means that our focus once again shifts to look farther into the future.  How do we envision Christ Church five years from now, a decade from now, or fifty years from now?  Shifting our focus requires that we imagine how Christ Church might be different and how it might change.  And imagining how Christ Church might change means that we must consider how we might change.  And considering how we might change must include both the plural and the singular, both we collectively, and each of us individually.

But those things are also a part of the message of Lent and Easter.  As we hear the familiar stories from scripture, as we read and listen to the story of Lazarus’ resurrection and his unprecedented second chance, as we hear the wonder in the voices of the crowd of witnesses, of the women who find an empty tomb, of the men walking to Emmaus with Jesus, of Thomas as he puts his hand in the Jesus’s wounds, and of the disciples who witness Jesus appear in a locked room, we must imagine with them, how our lives will be changed.

The resurrection of Jesus changed everything.  It changed the direction of the lives of everyone who knew him.  Peter and the others would never go back to their fishing boats because God had a different future planned for them.  And twenty-one centuries later, the resurrection of Jesus is still transforming lives.  As we celebrate Easter and move into the season of Eastertide, let us once again consider where God is leading us, how God intends to change us and transform us so that we are fit to do the work and the mission of the future that he has planned for us.

We are the disciples of Jesus Christ.

And God is still calling us to do his work.

Let us listen to his voice, consider what we must do, and how we might need to change in order to receive his blessings and arrive at the future that he has planned for us… for our children… for our grandchildren… and beyond.

Blessings,

Pastor John

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A Cup Full of Jesus, Please

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A Cup Full of Jesus

by John Partridge

In my New Testament Culture class discussion this week, we noted that today’s church, and its people, often bears a striking resemblance to the ancient Jerusalem temple and its Jewish congregants.  Like us, they had priests and Levites who were the professionals that led worship, nearby were the faithful “serious lay scholars” that were the Pharisees.  These folks were lay people, but nearly all of their free time was dedicated to the church and to the study of scripture.  Neither of these groups were large and, together, only represented a small percentage of Jerusalem’s population.  The people in the temple courts were, like today, divided among the regular attenders, the occasional visitors, and those, both local and from far away, that only showed up for the big holy days and festivals. 

Two thousand years of history hasn’t changed human behavior much.  Then, like now, many of the people in the temple and in the church, were folks who were just trying to get by, survive, and get through life.  But all of that reminded me of a Sunday school lesson that my friend Brian Baer used in our class something like thirty years ago.  In that lesson, much like I mentioned during our Sunday morning prayer time recently, Brian reminded us that we worship a God of miracles.  Our God is the god who spoke the universe into existence, set the stars in place, created the earth and all that is in it, and knit us together each with our own skills, talents, and abilities.  We follow Jesus who raised Lazarus from the dead, healed incurable diseases, rose from the dead, and changed the course of human history forever.

And yet, how many of us come to church expecting little or nothing?  How many of us are so focused on getting by, or so focused on stability, repeatability, and maintaining the status quo of our lives, that we ask nothing more from God than absolutely necessary.  We come to the foot of a raging waterfall of miraculous power and blessing that dwarfs Niagara Falls, and in our hand is nothing more than a teacup.

I’d like a cup full of Jesus, please.

The only thing we ask is enough of Jesus to get by, to get us through the next week, and for only enough of Jesus to survive.

Why is that?  What are we afraid of?

Are we worried that too much of Jesus would overwhelm us?  That asking, and expecting, more from Jesus would be transformative and force us to change?  Are we worried that if God’s Spirit and blessing really poured out upon us that we would have to deal with changes in our church, our families, or our personal lives?  Are we worried that God might change how we think about the people around us and how we act around them?  Or are we worried that God might ask something of us in return?  Would God pour out his blessing on us and ask us to go on a mission trip, or teach, volunteer, go into ministry, or do something, anything, outside of our comfort zone?

God is waiting to pour out a Niagara Falls of his Spirit and blessing into your lives.

Don’t be afraid to ask for big things.  Don’t be afraid of what a loving God might want to give you, how he might want to transform you, or how he may intend to change us both personally, and as a church.

At the very least, let us come to Jesus with expectation and hope and not, teacup in hand, asking only for another cup of Jesus.

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Lent, John the Baptist, and the Asbury Revival

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Lent, John the Baptist, and the Asbury Revival

February 22, 2023

by John Partridge

Regardless of whether you watched the unfolding events at the chapel on the campus of Asbury University, particularly during this season of Lent, I have been struck by the similarities between the events unfolding at Asbury and the ministry of John the Baptist. As the weekly chapel worship service at Asbury continued well beyond its scheduled ending, the students stayed because, whether they could put a name to it or not, they didn’t want to leave the presence that they felt in that place.  In Christian circles, we would say that they felt the presence of God.  Reports say that they were called to a closeness with God, they felt the call of God upon their lives, and they felt a call and a need for repentance. 

That chapel service continued for the rest of that day, on into the night, and for more than a week beyond its scheduled time.  Students arranged to lead worship in shifts of sorts, not with an official schedule, but by choosing small groups of worship leaders from among those present as the Spirit led them.  The names of the worship leaders weren’t given to the press because they wanted God to get the credit.  If you knew who they were, you could find PhD’s bringing water to thirsty people in line, pushing wheelchairs, and guiding visitors to the nearest restroom.

Students and adults from nearby towns came first, then folks from out of state, and brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world.  They came to see, and to feel, this thing that God was doing and, by the accounts that I have read, they were deeply moved and came away changed, even if their visit was brief.  But of course, they weren’t the only ones that came.  Asbury’s campus was also visited by the media, the curious, by academics who had written about an earlier Asbury revival in the 1970’s, by “ministry professionals” with decades of experience, and some who were openly skeptical.

Within days, the academics, the skeptics, and the “ministry professionals” could be found online, critiquing Asbury, its students, the worship leaders, and everything about that event.  Whether you want to call it a revival or something else, it reminded me a lot of Jesus’ baptism.  John was admittedly more than a little odd.  He dressed in camel hair, ate locusts and wild honey, and wandered the countryside preaching a message of repentance.  But as odd as he was, people felt something in his presence.  People from across the entire region flocked to hear him, to repent of their sin, recommit their lives to following God, and be baptized as an outward sign of their repentance.

But mixed in among those whose lives were changed were the curious, the academics, the skeptics, and the “ministry professionals.”  The Pharisees then, as the modern equivalents are doing even now, insisted that this isn’t how God works, that John was doing it wrong, that the people were being deceived, and that certainly, as professionals, they knew better.  And yet, God didn’t choose to work through them.  God has always chosen unexpected, under-prepared, and often unqualified people, in unexpected places, to do unexpected things, and following paths that surprise us.

So, what was really happening at Asbury University?  I won’t pretend to have all the answers, but it seems safe to say that God was doing something, even if we can’t put a name to it, or explain exactly what it was.  After all, scholars and skeptics are still trying to explain what John the Baptist’s ministry was about, what he accomplished, and what God was doing through him.  I’m certain that books and countless internet articles will debate what happened at Asbury for decades to come.  But from my perspective, I think that we can all find comfort, reassurance, and a timely message for Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. 

We are both comforted and reassured as we see God engaged in human affairs.  God has not abandoned us.  God still walks the earth and is still calling us to follow him.  But particularly in this season of Lent, just as we heard from the ministry of John the Baptist, we are reminded that God is calling us to repent of our sins and to recommit our lives to following God.  I’m certain that as you read about what happened in Kentucky on the campus of Asbury University, that you will hear the voices of the skeptics, the critics, and the “ministry professionals” proclaiming that they know better.  But I also hope that you will hear the quiet voice of God in these remarkable events as he says, “Follow me, and I will give you rest.”

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The Super Bowl of Lent

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The Super Bowl of Lent

Our season of Lent begins this coming Wednesday, February 22nd.

But what does that mean?

The season of Lent is a time that we have set aside as a season of preparation.  It is a time to remember and to reflect.  We will soon celebrate Jesus’ resurrection at Easter but also, like any of life’s significant endeavors, in order to do something well, we must take the time to prepare. 

Many of us recently watched the Super Bowl, but you can be sure that none of those on the field just woke up that morning and decided to walk onto the field.  Despite the relative youth of many of those players, they have all spent much of their lives in preparation, in learning the game, refining their skill, daily building strength and stamina through rigorous exercise and brutal daily workouts, and finally competing regularly against those who are the best in the world at what they do.  This week, professional baseball players will begin their preparations. On February 13th pitchers and catchers, and on February 16th position players will report for Spring Training so that when baseball season begins on March 30th, they will be back in the habit of working together on the field.

Easter is the biggest event of the church year  and  is a bookend to the Christmas story.  For that reason, both emotionally and spiritually, we don’t want to show up unprepared.  We don’t want to cram all our preparations into one hurried trip to Wal-Mart the night before.  Instead, let us commit to a season or preparation so that we will arrive on Easter morning properly prepared, with our hearts renewed, our souls properly exercised, and fully open to the joy, wonder, excitement, and the calling of God.

Join us so that our team can prepare together during this season of anticipation.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Christ United Methodist Church

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An Update on Scouting

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An Update on Scouting

Christ Church and our relationship with the post-lawsuit BSA

I occurs to me that many of you probably know very little about what has been happening at Christ Church in our scouting ministry.  Please notice how I said that.  I specifically said, “our scouting ministry” rather than saying “our scout troop” or even just “at Troop 50.”  I hope that we will all begin to speak, and think, about scouting this way, as ministry, and I will explain that shortly.

First, you may have heard national news stories about the lengthy year-long lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America and their ensuing bankruptcy.  It is a long story, about which I could bore you for hours, but here are a few important things to note.  At the very beginning, the BSA decided that its goal, as much as possible, was justice for those persons who were harmed by abuse under their watch.  Toward that end, they included in their negotiations anyone with a claim, and did not ever seek to exclude anyone for whom the statute of limitations would have expired.  Therefore, many of the plaintiffs admitted to the lawsuit have claims that would have legally expired decades ago but the BSA included them anyway because it was the right thing to do.  This is a part of the reason that the settlement that has been reached is the largest legal settlement in the history of the United States.

During the negotiations of this settlement, many of the organizations that charter scout troops, such as the Catholic Church, the Mormon church, the United Methodist church, and others, worked with the BSA so that they would be included in the settlement so that they could not be sued later for the same thing.  Toward that end, these organizations, and their insurance carriers, contributed large sums of money toward the final settlement. 

Because the United Methodist Church paid out something like ten million dollars, they changed their instructions and advice on how we, as a local church, should treat our scout troops, and thus limit our legal liability.  Their advice was to stop signing the charters with Troop 50 that we have signed for over a hundred years, and instead allow some other organization in town sign a charter instead, and then our only involvement would be to have the troop sign a “facilities use agreement” as we would if they were only renting space from us.  

That didn’t sound right.  After 100 years of our relationship between Christ Church and Troop 50, it didn’t seem right to make them feel a if they needed to “belong” somewhere else.  And so, I talked to our district superintendent, our Annual Conference lawyer, and the folks in Nashville, TN that are the UMC liaison with the BSA.  It turns out that there is another option, but it’s an option they aren’t even talking about.  That option is to treat our scouts as if they were, as they should be, a youth ministry, or an outreach ministry, of the church.  And so, our trustees increased our insurance coverage, and we signed a regular charter just like we have for the last 100 years.  Oddly, our new charter included many additional protections (for us) that the UMC had asked for during their earlier negotiations.

So, I hope that you will join me in thinking about our scout troops and cub pack as “Our scouting ministry” or simply as an extension of our existing youth ministry (because it always has been).  I believe that thinking about scouting in this way will lead us to new membership participation in scouting and the way that our church and troop relate to one another.

It’s also important for you to know that our troops have continued to grow.  Our Girls’ Troop 50 has recently added a second patrol, so that we now have four fully equipped patrols, two girls and two boys.  And that means that they need more equipment, more adult leaders, and more space.  Currently, our troops store many of their belongings in their scout trailers, but that means that whenever they go anywhere, they take with them a great many things that they don’t need simply because those things “live” in the trailer.  But, with Men’s Challenge moving to the Neighborhood Center this month, our trustees have given the first-floor corner room (next to the elevator) to our scout troops to use for storage.  That will allow some of our troop equipment to be stored indoors rather than in the trailer, and it will also allow many shelves, cabinets, klondike sleds, and other things to be moved out of the Scout Room and give them enough meeting space to accommodate our growing troops.\

I’m sure that I will have more to say about this on Scout Sunday, February 12th, but please prayerfully consider how you can be a part of this exciting and growing youth outreach ministry of our church with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness.

Blessings,

Pastor John

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Who Cares?

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Note: What follows is specific to Christ Church, but if you attend elsewhere, please feel free to consider how it might apply to you in your ministry context. How can you be a part of something new?

Who Cares?

January 2023 Newsletter

Do you read your alumni newsletter as soon as it arrives?

Do open your newspaper, or internet news first thing every morning to check on the scores of your college teams?

Do you have season tickets to the Mount Union football games, or did you sit in the cold to watch the Raiders play their post-season games this winter?

In essence, what I’m asking is, do you care about what’s happening on campus?  Whether it’s Mount Union specifically, or Ohio State, Ohio Northern, Wittenberg, or wherever you went to school, my question is the same.  Do you have a passion for young people who are on university campuses?

Specifically, I’m asking, do you care about their spiritual well-being?

This week our Staff – Parish Relations Committee was discussing, and nominating persons who we… guess… have a passion for university students.  Our goal is to form a small team that will consider how Christ Church might take a more active role in campus ministry.  Just because we are a mile away and not right on the edge of campus, like the folks at Union Avenue, doesn’t mean that we don’t have a role to play.  But what is that role?  What would campus ministry look like for us?

Does that sound like a conversation in which you would like to participate?  It doesn’t matter if you are a snowbird, or if you don’t drive at night, what matters is that you have a passion, that you care about the spiritual care of the young people on campus.  If that’s you, please let me, or Sara Sherer, know who you are.

Our church budget has a line item for hiring a new staff person that will help us with campus ministry (along with applying for a grant from the East Ohio Conference).  But this isn’t something that we can just contract out.  We can’t hire someone to do ministry for us, we must be in ministry with them.

But is that the right thing to do? 

Is campus ministry a good fit for Christ Church?

Those are exactly the questions that we need to answer.  And, if you can help us find those answers, if you have a passion for the University of Mount Union, or if you care about the spiritual well-being of the students on campus, then please raise you hand and let us know so that we can put you on our team.

I am excited for the exciting things that Christ Church is doing.  I think that God has new and wonderful things in store for us in the future.

I hope that you will be a part of it.

Blessings,

Pastor John

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Light, Incognito

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Due to technical issues, only the benediction was recorded. Click here to watch: https://youtu.be/3xpW5ZC5-YQ

Click here for the podcast of the benediction

Light, Incognito

December 25, 2022*

(Christmas Day)

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 52:7-10                        John 1:1-14               

It is well known that Keanu Reeves, despite his stardom, lives an almost ordinary life.  Despite living in an eight-million-dollar home in Hollywood Hills (that he bought for five million dollars in 2003), he is regularly seen riding his motorcycle to run errands, doing ordinary chores like grocery shopping himself and, when in New York, regularly rides the subway with everyone else, without bodyguards or entourage, rather than hiring a car service or a limousine.  At the other end of the spectrum are the stars that are so overcome by their stardom, and so overwhelmed by their fans, that they rarely go out in public without trying to do so incognito, or in disguise. 

We can all picture the old movie trope of traveling incognito by wearing a trench coat, floppy hat, and dark sunglasses, but what if more movie stars did what Keanu Reeves does?  What if they traveled incognito, as themselves, and just disappeared into the crowd by setting aside their stardom and being ordinary?

The idea of traveling incognito is really at the core of the Christmas story.  We begin this morning with the promise of the coming messiah found in Isaiah 52:7-10 where we hear these words:

7 How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    “Your God reigns!”
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
    together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
    they will see it with their own eyes.
9 Burst into songs of joy together,
    you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people,
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arm
    in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
    the salvation of our God.

Isaiah and the prophets told Israel, and the world, that the messiah would come to bring good news, peace, glory, grace, and truth.  There was no reason for anyone to miss the arrival of something so well announced, anticipated, and expected.  But that’s exactly what happened.  In the gospel of John 1:1-14, we hear John’s telling of the story of Jesus’ arrival.

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John says that the Word came, that word was with God, and that was word was indeed God in human flesh.  Jesus, the Word, was with God at creation, was the agent of creation, and personally made everything that exists.  He was the light of the world that God sent to shine light into the darkness.  But before he came, just to make sure that no one missed it, God sent John the Baptist to announce his arrival.  But despite centuries of prophecy telling of the Messiah that would come, despite the angel of God announcing his arrival and a heavenly host singing praises on the hillsides of Bethlehem, and despite the announcements of John proclaiming that the long-awaited messiah had arrived, the world still missed it.  The savior and rescuer of the world was not incognito any more than you can say that a light in the darkness is hidden.  And yet, the world that he created completely missed him.

But not everyone missed him.  The creator of the universe came to earth and lived among mortal human beings.  Some of them saw.  They witnessed his light, his glory, his grace, and his truth.  And those witnesses spent their lives telling others what they had seen.  But today the world has the same problem.  The rescuer of humanity still travels in broad daylight but incognito from the world.  He is not hidden just as a light in the darkness is not hidden, and yet the world does not see him. 

And so, as it was before, the mission of telling the world falls to his witnesses.  We who have witnessed his grace, his glory, his gentleness, compassion, care, and love are still called to tell the world what we have seen and heard.  Every day, Jesus lives among us. He is not incognito.  He should not be missed by the world around us.  Our mission is the same as those who witnessed his birth and his life two thousand years ago, to spend our lives telling others what we have seen.

Merry Christmas everyone.

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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.™

Humbug!

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Humbug!

Christmas 2022

by John Partridge

Another year has passed, and we are only a short time away from Christmas. With my return to school this Advent season has seemed to be even more of a whirlwind than before even though we no longer have children home and the demands of sporting events and Christmas concerts. And despite the busyness, perhaps because of the busyness, it feels less like Christmas than usual. This week I intend to decorate.  Being festive for the holiday season is typically not my “thing” but I feel the need to do it just so that the visible signs, the decorations, and the lights, can help to prepare me, and bring me into the spirit of Christmas.

It isn’t uncommon for me to feel a bit of humbug during this season, and I once played a lot of Christmas music to fight against it. But music isn’t as easily accessible to me as it once was.  But although I know that some of you are die-hard Christmas people who start decorating before Halloween, play Christmas music almost year ‘round, put up five Christmas trees, and own a Christmas sweater for every day in December, I suspect that I’m not alone.  I’m pretty sure that there are others of you who fell like Christmas has snuck up on them and who are struggling with a bit of ‘humbug.”  It doesn’t yet *feel* like Christmas. 

Maybe it’s because the kids aren’t at home, or because we haven’t gone to a Christmas concert, because we haven’t had time to decorate, or because there’s an empty chair at the table that held a loved one last year, or because… well, because life happens, and all sorts of things happened to us since last year. I get it. It’s happened to me.

But whether that resonates with you or not, I invite you to fight against the humbug. We still have some time left.  Come to church, listen to the choir, sing some carols, enjoy our decorations, push yourself to do some decorating of your own, even if you only have the energy to put up a construction paper Christmas tree, then do it.

Put Christmas Eve on your Calendar and come and enjoy a celebration of the Christ child with us at 7:00 pm. And remember that this year, Christmas falls on Sunday so plan on being here at Christ Church, or wherever you worship, on Christmas morning. It isn’t a surprise.  It happens every seven years.  But rather than thinking of it as an inconvenience, consider it an opportunity to celebrate the birth of Jesus on his birthday.  It’s a bit like children who are born on February 29th.  They have a birthday every year, but they only get to celebrate on their actual birthday once every four years.

Don’t let Christmas sneak upon you.  Talk to your families.  Plan to join us on Christmas morning to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  We won’t be long.  I promise that the sermon won’t be long.  But I hope that all of you will decide to come to the party and celebrate with Jesus on his birthday. 

Don’t be a humbug.

I look forward to seeing you on Christmas Eve on Saturday, and the next day on Christmas morning.

Blessings,

Pastor John

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Where is Jesus on Your List?

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Where is Jesus on Your List?

by John Partridge

It is the time of lists. We have all sorts of lists. We have chores that must be done, decorations to put out, cookies to bake, gifts to buy for the kids’ gift exchanges at school, gifts to buy for the gift exchange at Sunday school, or Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions Club, bridge club, train club (actually we don’t have one), open houses, bowling team, things to do before our visiting relatives arrive, packing that must be done before we leave to visit other relatives, last minute projects that need to be completed for school or for work, and of course a list of gifts to buy for family, friends, your letter carrier, newspaper person, lawn service, fitness coach, more gift exchanges, employees, pets, neighbors, and who knows what else.

But amid all the busyness of the season, and among the lists of things we have to do, and gifts we have to buy, where is Jesus?

Will coming to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas, be the only time that you remember to check Jesus off your list?  Will you put a few dollars in the offering plate at church, or a few coins in the red kettle at the drug store, and check that off your list too? 

As we spend time with family, friends, co-workers, and parties for clubs and other activities, how much time will you spend with Jesus?  If we made a list of all the places you spend time this season, where will Jesus rate on that list?  As we spend money, and buy gifts, where will our gifts to Jesus rate? Will our gifts to Jesus match what we spent on our spouse or our children? Will he be measured more closely to the tip we give to our letter carrier? Or will our gifts to Jesus rank closer to what we’re spending on gifts and outfits for our pets?

I’m not saying that you should, necessarily, give those gifts to Christ Church, but when the season is over, how will Jesus rank?  How much time will you spend with him?  What gifts will you bring him?  How will you honor him?  Will you feed the hungry?  Clothe the naked? Comfort the troubled?  Heal the wounded?  Love the unloved?

Before we get too wrapped up in our busy-ness let us seriously consider…

…Where is Jesus on our list?

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