Note: Recently, as he was going through our father’s files, my brother Steve came across a column that Dad had published in a newspaper in December of 1970. As we end our season of Advent in 2020 fifty years later, it seems just as important, just as relevant, and just as contemporary, as it was then.
Shades of Rip Van Winkle
Guest Post by Rev. Stanley Partridge
One of the most delightful stories told is the one by Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle. After his very long sleep, he returns to his native village which is supposed to be the most familiar place that he knows. As was his custom, he goes to the tavern. There instead of finding the face of King George on the swinging sign, he sees the face of a man whom he comes to know as George Washington. Most people have enjoyed the story, but not everyone discerns the moral of it. In truth, Rip Van Winkle slept through a revolution.
The American Revolution is dwarfed in comparison to the era in which we are now living. The times of which we are a part is the greatest period of revolutionary ferment the world has seen. Wherever we may turn, the fires of strife in one form or another are blazing, and far-reaching changes are under way. Many political foundations which seemed so secure a few decades ago, are now shaking and sagging before our eyes. The vast colonial empires, so familiar to the older generation, are now becoming an eclipse and who can tell the shape of the new world that is just emerging?
Tragically, too many people today are unaware or just do not care about this global war of ideas, and like Rip Van Winkle, they are sleeping through a revolution. It was at a crucial point in the ministry of Jesus, that of the Sadducees and the Pharisees combined their forces against him. They said to him, “Show us a sign from heaven that you are under God’s authority.” Our Lord answers, “Why do you ask me for a sign? You are the experts in signs. In the evening when the sky is red you say that it is going to be a fine day tomorrow. In the morning if it is red and lowering you say we are in for a stormy day. You know how to interpret the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” They were like Rip Van Winkle too, in that they were asleep to the great potential of the man that was before them. They knew all the “Tricks” of the Roman political games and missed the one who would tower above men of all history—unique, solitary, and majestic.
These searching words of Jesus, “You cannot interpret the signs of the times,” apply to us also, for there are many on business, industry, politics, economics, yes and even the Church who can read most of the signs of our times but cannot see, or refuse to see, what is obvious. How long can the world seek for PEACE and refuse demands for “clean air” and “pure streams” and a better living environment when the only god they know and have known is a god created in man’s image. This age of materialism calls us all to bow down to its demands and has lulled us into a peaceful sleep of lethargy.
Our greatest need today is to begin to bridge the yawning gap between our profession of belief in human freedom and justice and our lamentable practices that discredit us in the eyes of the world and one another.
This is the season of Advent, a time when we again take time to remember that there was a man who came to bring to the world a new lifestyle that wasn’t meant to be encumbered with the trivia of life. He comes to bring to us the things in life that want most but won’t turn to him to find. He comes bringing peace, love, joy, and contentment, but we go our merry way attempting to find peace, love, joy, and contentment in any other place than in him.
Here is a goal for all of us: To follow in the footsteps of Christ our Lord who, when he was reviled, reviled not again, who kept loving men who hated him, who died for men who were unworthy of his sacrifice. But you see, he released a Spirit in the world that alone can draw people together in the bonds of human love and peace under the over-arching care of an eternal God.
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* 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.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
There are certain events in history that become defining moments of whole nations, or even entire eras of history. Some completely unknown, ancient person dared to experiment with the chemistry of molten metal in an attempt to make brass harder. And, without ever realizing it, their success ushered in a new era of technology and warfare that we still refer to as the Bronze Age. The coronation of Queen Victoria effectively named a hundred years of history, style, and culture that is still referred to as the Victorian Era. In 230 BC, Ying Zheng unleashed the final campaigns of the Warring States period, conquered the remaining states nearby in the fall of 221 BC and unified what became known as the empire of Qin, or more commonly in English, China as it has been known for the last two thousand years.
At 5:30 am, on July 16, 1945, 210 miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico, on the barren plains of the Alamogordo Bombing Range, the United States Department of Defense triggered the explosion of a single device that released 18.6 kilotons of explosive power and marked the beginning, of what has been known ever since, as the Atomic Age. There are many such moments that define history and many smaller moments that define each one of us. We also find these moments in scripture. These are moments that define generations of people, and ages of time. In Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3, the prophet of God looks forward to a day that will become a turning point, and a defining moment, for the nation of Israel, for the entire world, and for all of us thousands of years later. Isaiah said:
10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
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.
Isaiah sees a day in his future when God changes the destiny of Israel. God will dress the people in new clothing like a bride and groom are prepared for their wedding, and the entire nation of Israel will be lifted up, glorified in the eyes of the world, and vindicated after all her years of suffering and ridicule at the hands of nations like the Philistines, Babylon, Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome, and others. Isaiah sees a moment when all the nations of the world will bow down to Israel’s’ king and Israel will be so transformed that even its name will be changed to reflect its new destiny.
And then, in Luke 2:22-40, we see a moment that, however small it may first appear, is a defining moment for two senior citizen clergy persons, for one poor family from an unpopular village, and that moment became a light, a beacon, that is seen still today as a transformative moment in history for millions of believers.
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismissyour servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
God had promised Simeon that he would live to see the birth of God’s promised messiah. For reasons that he may not have understood, he was drawn to the temple to serve with his tribe even though he could have been excused for his age. And, at the moment that he saw Mary and Joseph, and took their baby into his arms, he knew that God had kept his promise and marveled at what God was about to do, and how this tiny infant was going to change the world.
And it didn’t only happen once. Anna was a prophet and had lived in the temple since she had been widowed many decades earlier. And she too, for reasons unknown to her, was drawn to the place where Simeon was with Mary, Joseph, and their baby. And upon her arrival, she knew exactly who Jesus was, and who he would become. This was a turning point in history. Anna knew that from that moment on, Israel, and the world, was going to change. God was beginning the process of redefining history just as Isaiah had seen and had prophesied.
But two thousand years later, those moments still matter. It wasn’t just the naming of a new age, or the birth of a new nation, or the discovery of a new powerful technology. It was something much more than that. Something far grander than that. Something more pivotal to the lives of everyday people like us and in Galatians 4:4-7 The apostle Paul writes to explain it to his church this way:
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Paul says that the impact of the messiah Jesus on history is much more than the fulfillment of prophecy or keeping God’s promise to two elderly clergy persons. The impact of Jesus’ arrival means the offer of transformation to ordinary people like us. It means an invitation to be dressed as though we are on our way to our own wedding, renamed, adopted as children by the creator of the universe, and loved so intimately that we call our creator “Abba” or in English, “Papa” or “Daddy.” We were transformed in that moment two thousand years ago. Because of that moment, we are no longer slaves but children of God and heirs to the kingdom of the creator of everything.
It is because of that moment that we are who we are.
It is because of that moment that we are invited to become the people of God’s imagination and vision.
It is because of that moment that God is at work transforming us into something greater than we can ever ask or imagine.
It is because of that moment that we can call ourselves, Christ-ians.
And now it’s up to us to live, and to love, as if that destiny matters.
Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.
*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.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
(Note: This is the text from the meditation shared at our Christmas Eve service. You can find the video of that service here: https://youtu.be/PCIT75HQFAk)*
As unusual as this evening has been, we attempted to make it as normal as possible under the restrictions and our desire to keep one another safe during this global pandemic. I want to thank each and every one of you who took the time to email us and tell us that you were coming so that we could light a candle in our sanctuary for you. And I want to thank everyone who volunteered to help with our Advent wreath, or read one of our scripture for this evening, music team and our choir who sang extra songs, the volunteers that set up all our luminaries, or to recorded themselves lighting a candle, or for any of the other things that were needed to record, assemble, and edit this Christmas Eve service. I especially want to thank Bob Wallace for his herculean efforts at video editing. As much effort as it was to record dozens of short, socially distanced video clips, it was a gigantic task to assemble those short videos into one, understandable whole.
But beyond the thank-yous of the evening, is the importance of the message. As we have come together in this virtual gathering for Christmas Eve, I hope that you will all remember that the message of the angels was that they had brought “Good News of great joy for all the people.” The Shepherds watching their flocks were blinded by a great light and heavenly choirs announcing the arrival of the light of the world.
That’s why we came tonight to sing songs of celebration. And that’s why we lit candles and passed them, as much as possible, from one to another.
The light of the world has come.
But the light of the world didn’t come into the world so that we could read about it in a book. That light was the Good News, indeed, good news of great joy. And that good news was shared by the shepherds in the field, and the wise men who visited, and by everyone who had heard the story. That good news was shared, from one person to another, until, two thousand years later, someone shared it with you.
The light of the world has come.
And that light isn’t just something that we read about in a book. That light goes out into the world this evening. You carry that light. You carry that good news. The message of Christmas is that just as the light has been passed from one generation to another, and just as it was given to you, you must pass that light forward to the next person, and to the next generation, just as the flame of the candles was passed from one person to another.
The light of the world has come.
We have come here tonight, and we have heard Good News of great joy that is for all the people.
Let us go out from this place and share that good news with the rest of the world.
Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.
*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.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
If we’ve learned anything from this pandemic, and from the last couple of decades of our national politics, it should be an overdeveloped sense of skepticism. I once had an engineering co-worker say that if our management said that the sky was blue, he would have to look out the window to check. And lately, that describes how many of us are consuming the news about both the coronavirus and politics. As Ronald Reagan once told Mikhail Gorbachev as they negotiated a new nuclear drawdown, “Trust, but verified.” If you think about it, our suspicions aren’t limited to politics and pandemics. You have probably noticed that many of our non-church friends view the stories of scripture with that same sort of skepticism. And, if we’re honest, even as believers, some of those stories strain our ability to believe them. But we aren’t alone. The stories of scripture remind us that the main characters of the story often wondered how such things were possible. And as our first example, let’s begin with a story found in 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16, where we find King David having just completed his ascent to power as the king of a united twelve tribes if Israel, and the construction of his new palace in Jerusalem.
7:1 After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
3 Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.”
4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying:
5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. 7 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’
8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leadersover my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.
“‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you:
16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
David rests from his warfare with Israel’s neighbors, from his political battles, and from his palace construction project, and how his attention turns to the idea of building a temple for the God of Israel. But God denies his request, vetoes his idea, and says that David is not the man for the job. But, rather than allowing this to be a discouraging word, God continues by reassuring David of his love for him and makes him an impossible promise for the future. God promises David that his kingdom will endure forever, and his throne will be established before God… forever.
And, although it doesn’t say so, and although we know that David was a great man of faith, and we know that David trusted God and was a man after God’s own heart, we also know that David was not naïve. David had been around the block more than once. He had been a part of King Saul’s inner circle and then fled for his life after Saul turned on him and sent his entire army into the countryside to hunt him. He had lived for a time as an advisor to the king of one of Israel’s neighbors, he had been betrayed by his friends, by his wife, and would later be betrayed by his own son. David understood that kingdoms do not last forever. And so, it isn’t difficult to imagine that even though David trusted God to keep his promise, he had to be wondering…
… “How can this be?”
And the same thing is true at the beginning of the Christmas story. In Luke 1:26-38, God sends the angel Gabriel to tell Mary that she would be the one whom God had selected to be the mother of the messiah that would fulfill God’s promise to David, as well as many of the prophecies of the Old Testament. Luke says…
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be calledthe Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
God specifically selects Mary to be the mother of Jesus because of her great faith. But even so, when she is told that she will bear a child, and she has never been with a man, she wonders aloud, “How can this be?” And I suspect that even after Gabriel’s explanation, Mary still didn’t really understand how a woman could have a baby without a man, but she trusted that God could find a way.
And that sense of wonder, and of faith, continues in the amazing works of God today. In Romans 16:25-27, Paul says this:
25 Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes fromfaith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
What Paul is saying, is that God is the one who can do things. God was the one who could create a reality in which one of David’s descendants, Jesus, would rule over Israel, and over all the world, forever. God was the one who could make a way for a virgin to have a baby and carry the creator of the universe, and the hope of the world, in her womb in the form a tiny baby human and, at the same time, fulfill hundreds of ancient prophecies and promises that he had made to his people. And that same God is able to draw us toward him, to bring us to a relationship with him, and to establish us in faith and trust as he did with David, and with Mary, with the disciples, with Paul, and with countless others who now gather as a great cloud of witnesses to the unfolding of history. As difficult as it is to believe, and as often as we ourselves might ask, “How can this be?” God is the one who is able to reveal the truth and to unveil the mysteries of the Old Testament, to rescue all of humanity, and to give strength to his people as they struggle through the twenty-first century. But as he always has, God does these tings so that all the Gentiles, all the people of the world, everyone, might come to faith and obedience to the God of creation and to his son Jesus Christ.
The answers to our question of “How can this be?”, is the same as it has always been, “Because God is able,” and “Because God cares for you,” and “Because of God’s great love for all people.”
Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.
U*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.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28
It is probably no surprise to anyone to hear that we are living in an unusual time in history. But what I mean in saying such a thing, is that we are living in a time when we can see the freight train coming. We are as an American society in the twenty-first century, very much in the position of the damsel Nell Fenwick who has been tied to the railroad tracks by Snidely Whiplash and is desperately hoping for the arrival of Dudley Do-Right to come and rescue her. We can see the freight train of rising virus cases caused by Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year gatherings and we can anticipate the terrible consequences but there is little, or nothing that we can do to stop the train. The only things that we can do… is hope.
But, as unusual as this might be, it is not unique in history. As I have mentioned in recent weeks, the prophet Isaiah lived in just such a time. In about 700 BC, Isiah and the people of Israel watched as the Assyrian Empire grew in power, influence, and military might and the Assyrian King Sennacharib had already brought his armies to the gates of Jerusalem. Through God’s grace, Israel was saved, but Isaiah knew that those armies would be back, that Israel and Judah would be captured, marched to Babylon, and held in captivity for seventy years. They saw the train coming down the tracks, they could anticipate the terrible consequences, and they were tempted to despair. But, as difficult as it must have been to hear about God’s judgement and the impending destruction of their nation, because Isaiah also prophecies their eventual return to Israel and proclaims Israel’s rescue and the coming Messiah, Isaiah’s message is ultimately a message… of hope.
Even though they saw the train coming, and they knew that hard times were coming, they knew that God cared about them and that God had a plan to rescue them. We hear a part this message in Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11:
61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
8 “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
Isaiah speaks about the coming Messiah, we hear a message that we will hear again from John the Baptist, and we hear a message from a God who loves justice, and who loves and cares for his people. And that message, given to a people who watched as the freight train of the Assyrian army grew ever closer, shined like a beacon on a dark night and for hundreds of years, through invasions, captivity, destruction, suffering, sorrow, and death, this was a place where they could find hope.
And then, in John 1:6-8, 19-28, Isaiah’s vision becomes reality as John the Baptist announces the imminent arrival of Jesus.
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.
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John proclaimed that the time had finally come for the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, and that while he was not the messiah that God had promised, that messiah was already standing “among” them. After hundreds of years and many generations, the prayers of Israel’s people were being answered. God’s rescuer and redeemer had arrived, and the hope of the people was transformed… into joy.
Well, at least it did for some of them. John rejoiced, as did many of the people, but not everyone. It was the people that Isaiah had talked about who found joy in the coming of the messiah. It was the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, prisoners, those in mourning, the grieving, the people who suffered from injustice, robbery, and wrongdoing, it was the outcasts, the least, and the lost who rejoiced. But the wealthy, and those whom the system served, and whose success had been tied to the success of the system saw the coming of the messiah as a threat to their success and to their way of life. This disconnect between the haves and the have-nots grew until it exploded into violence, crucifixion, and death in the Easter story as the system struggled to maintain the status quo.
And later, long after the resurrection of Jesus, the church remembered the lesson of joy and in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica and gives them these words of instruction:
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
Rejoice always. Find joy in the story, in the message of Good News, and in the prophecies of God. Give thanks, at all times, for the things that God gives you, even when those times are difficult. Do not cast aside the prophecies and promises of God just because you think that God is taking too long, or that there is too much pain, or too much suffering, or that your circumstances are too hard. Instead, test the prophecies of God to find the truth. Test them against what you know about God. Hold on to what is good because we know that God is good. Reject every kind of evil, because we know that God is never found in any kind of evil deeds. Our God is a god of peace who is always faithful and who always keeps his promises.
In some ways, our joy is a test. The coming of Jesus was intended to upset the apple cart and to disrupt the status quo. We are called to rejoice in that disruption and not be so married to our success, to our wealth, our culture, and to the status quo that we become like Israel’s leaders and reject Jesus simply on the basis that his existence will be disruptive and make our lives more complicated. Secondly, we are invited to test all of God’s prophecies because we know that God is always good and so we know that what God wants for us is good and that we can reject anything that is evil as not being godly.
The coming of Jesus at Christmas is intended to bring good news of great joy.
Let us rejoice.
But let us remember to find joy in the right things.
Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.
*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.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Ohio has now raised our county’s COVID-19 alert level to “purple, or level four. We are now, more than ever, feeling threatened by the pandemic as this invisible virus threatens to overwhelm doctors, hospitals, caregivers, nursing homes, and even the coroner and the county morgue. Many of us had already felt isolated and alone, and now reason, good sense, and caution urge us to retreat even further from human contact. We are staying in contact with our families and friends by mail, by telephone, social media, Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and anything else that we can think of, but there are no handshakes, hugs, or kisses on the cheek but we can feel our hunger for human contact gnawing at us.
Our holiday traditions are being upset, upended, and overturned at every turn. Certainly, no one has seen such an unusual Christmas season since the Spanish Flu swept around the world, twice, in 1917 and again in 1918. Our company Christmas parties, as well as traditional gatherings at church, social clubs, service clubs, scouts, school, sports teams, and other groups that we normally enjoy, are probably all cancelled and, as a result, we’re spending more time at home than we have since we were in diapers.
But how will we use this time?
Some of us have rediscovered crafts and hobbies that we had left behind years ago. Many have rediscovered a love for the outdoors and for anything that can be done, away from crowds, outside of our homes. Stores were sold out of fishing tackle and kayaks for months because everyone was trying to get out on a lake somewhere. And I’ve heard stories that this might be a banner year for Christmas lights because everyone had time to dig things out of the attic and put them up.
But what will you do for your heart?
I’m not talking about walking or running, or any kind of cardiovascular exercise. In the middle of our physical isolation from other human beings, I’m talking about doing what we can to prevent spiritual isolation. In a normal year, and in a normal Advent and Christmas season, we can often rely upon our patterns of living, our habits, and our traditions to help us feel Christmas-y. Even if we aren’t regular in attendance during the year, we often return to church in the fall, or at least after Thanksgiving, so that we can get into the spirit of Christmas. We know that seeing the church decorated for Christmas, hearing the music, and singing the songs of Christmas stir something inside of us that we need to be stirred. I have often been deliberate in listening to Christmas music after Thanksgiving to help me feel less like Scrooge and more like Bob Cratchit. At church we can rely upon our Sunday school teachers, our pastor, and even our friends wearing festive sweaters, to help us feel a stirring in our souls and a closeness with God?
But all the tools that we have used throughout our lifetimes are being taken away from us as we stay home and insulate ourselves, and others, from a virus that wants to do us harm. And so, what will we do to feel Christmas? What will we do to feel a familiar stirring in our souls? What will we do to draw closer to God without parties and Christmas carols? What will we do without seeing the decorations at church, or hearing the pipe organ, seeing a parade of ugly sweaters, or lighting a candle on Christmas Eve?
Don’t panic.
Remember that while your church may not be doing things in the same way that we’ve always done them, we are trying to bring Christmas to you in other ways. At Christ Church we decorated the church so that you can see it in our videos and we’ve already begun recording portions of our Christmas Eve service and invited you to record yourself so that we can all “see” one another, our Sunday school classes are meeting online via Zoom, and we’re doing whatever we can to make Christmas as normal as possible.
But that may not be enough.
Many of those folks who bought kayaks discovered that to get across the lake, you may need to paddle a bit, and sometimes paddling can be hard work. Likewise, although your pastor, church staff, and volunteers are doing what they can, much of what you feel at Christmas is up to you. But that’s always been true. When I started to feel too much like a Humbug, I knew that it was time to start listening to Christmas music. What will it take to move you from Scrooge to Cratchit? What will it take to stir your soul? What will it take for you to draw closer to Jesus this Advent and Christmas?
Just as we bought board games, kayaks, and fishing equipment in the spring, we may need to invest something of ourselves this Christmas. For me, it may be listening to Christmas music and watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” But it will also mean joining with our church family on YouTube and singing hymns, sharing communion together on Zoom, and opening my Bible to the book of Luke and reading the Christmas story for the hundredth time. Be prepared to go out and do whatever it is that you need to do to stir your soul and draw closer to Jesus this Christmas.
As much as we are starving for human contact, our souls are starving for closeness with Jesus.
Don’t push away from his fire and allow your soul to grow cold like Ebenezer Scrooge.
Do whatever you need to do to stir your soul and draw close.
As Tiny Tim said, “God bless us… every one.”
Merry Christmas.
Blessings,
Pastor John
And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
Certainly, current events will give us much to complain about and mourn over for years to come, but we also get glimpses of the occasional silver lining in our ongoing battle with the coronavirus. Certainly, among these are an array of new medical technologies that have been brought to bear as our doctors and scientists seek new medications and new life-saving treatments, as well as new technology that has allowed us to develop multiple vaccines in just 18 months when the previous speed record for such an accomplishment was five year long rush program with the Ebola virus that was only recently approved. But another important silver lining may be the attention that our forced lockdown and resulting isolation and seclusion has brought to those among us who suffer from depression, suicidal thoughts, and a variety of other mental illnesses. While isolation is difficult for all of us, it is harder for extroverts, and disastrous for many people who suffer even in ordinary circumstances. And while today’s message isn’t going to solve these difficult mental health issues, perhaps by shining a light, and continuing to raise our awareness of these problems, we can begin to make a difference in the lives of the suffering.
But for the rest of us, as we struggle with our isolation and lack of human contact, many of us, the midst of a pandemic, and the resulting upheaval of everything familiar, which is, of course, piled on top of our normal level of change and upheaval, are wrestling with how can we possibly find… peace. Our minds are constantly pulled in a hundred directions at once, we worry about our employment, we worry about our families, we worry about our health, about our church and other institutions and business that we care about, and in the midst of our whirling, dizzying, wrestling match with fear, worry, depression and despair, we hear the prophet Isaiah calling to us as we prepare for the arrival of the Messiah. In Isaiah 40:1-11 we hear these words, spoken to Israel as their nation, their religion, and everything they knew, faced destruction at the hands of the Assyrian empire.
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem
and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
9 You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Even as the disaster they are expecting approaches, God promises to bring comfort after Israel’s hard service was completed and her sin paid for on the day God would send the messiah to rescue them. God declares that people are like grass because we fade, fail, and fall away. Our failure comes because our faithfulness fails and not because God has failed. We know that God never fails, and that God endures forever. And that is why in this dark hour, Israel could find hope in God’s promise to send a messiah that would make the world right again. Like us, Israel looked forward to the day that God would return their world to normal. Best of all, was knowing that God wasn’t doing to do fix things with floods, fires, earthquakes, or destruction, but like a shepherd gathering his flock and carrying his lambs close to his heart.
And, because we get to read their story, we know that after their time of suffering in Babylon, the people of Israel, at least the few that had remained faithful, returned home to rebuild their nation just as God had promised. And much later, in Mark 1:1-8, we hear the story of the coming of God’s promised messiah. As Mark writes:
1:1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you withwater, but he will baptize you withthe Holy Spirit.”
Echoing Isaiah’s message, John the Baptist preaches a message of baptism, repentance, and a return to faithfulness. And this time, the people are ready, and Israel answers John’s call. Mark says that the entire city of Jerusalem, and the whole Judean countryside went out to hear John, confess their sins, and be baptized by a man who spoke like, and dressed like, the ancient prophets. Of course, we understand that Mark is exaggerating. We know that the entire city of Jerusalem and the entire countryside of Judea did not go out to hear John preach and to be baptized, but the numbers must have been so large, that it seemed as if everyone was going. And we can certainly understand that so many people went to hear John that almost everyone must have known someone who had done so. But even though the people came, and even though John looked, dressed, and acted like a prophet, John’s message is that the people must be prepared for imminent arrival of messiah that God had promised.
God’s redeemer had arrived, and in the middle of an enemy occupation, and their struggles with Rome, the people were reminded of God’s words that they had heard from the prophet Isaiah, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed.”
But then what? Two thousand years have passed between them and us, between then and now. What can those two-thousand-year-old words have to tell us during a modern pandemic? But that isn’t a new question. The church has been asking that question from the beginning and Peter wrote to his church friends and explained it this way (2 Peter 3:8-15a):
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.
Peter wants the church to remember that God hasn’t forgotten us. What seems like a frightfully long time to us, is not a long time to God. Rather than hurrying, God is being patient and giving people time for a second chance. We are reminded that Christ’s return, and his judgement, are still unpredictable and may come at any time, like a thief in the night. As such, we must be prepared for his arrival by living godly lives, to watch, and look forward to his coming. On that day, everything physical will be destroyed but we are more than physical. What is physical will be destroyed, but what is spiritual will remain. It is for this reason that we must do everything that we can to be as blameless and perfect as we possibly can. On that day we will see a new heaven and a new earth, where everything will be right once again. Finally, the world will return to normal, and we will live in peace with one another the way that God intended. And it is for this reason that we look forward with hope.
God’s promise, given through the prophet Isaiah, to the people of Israel came eight hundred years before the arrival of Jesus in Bethlehem. And, since then, we have waited another two thousand years. But God’s promises remain. The people of Israel held on to God’s promises as they endured the loss of their homeland, the loss of their freedom, and the loss of God’s temple and their freedom to worship. But God kept his promise and many people returned to Israel and rebuilt it. As we endure a pandemic and wrestle with our feelings of separation, fear, depression, worry, and despair, we too hold on to the promises of God. As we celebrate Advent, we are especially reminded of God’s promise of redemption and rescue and we look forward to celebrating his arrival both at Christmas and upon his return someday in the future. God’s promises are not just something that we read about in the distant past, but an ever present, immovable rock upon which we build our lives, safe from the storms that swirl around us. God’ promises are not a thing of the past, but an anchor for our present lives in which we find hope…
Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.
*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.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
As I write this, we are less than two weeks from Thanksgiving. When you read this, it will likely be almost, or already, December and we will be counting down to Christmas. We, both individually and collectively, have been trying to manage, and cope with, the constantly changing restrictions on our lives brought on by the Coronavirus since March. And the latest resurgence and new peaks of COVID-19 are forcing change on us yet again.
As I met with our Worship Committee and our staff, I had hoped to find a way for us to hold on to some of our Advent and Christmas traditions. We talked about a drive through service, and even began designing a Christmas Eve service that would travel from station to station, in small groups, through the church and still light candles in the sanctuary. But with the latest surge in virus cases, and the newest recommended restrictions, I doubt that we will even be able to do that. Instead, we will pivot, again, and try to find a meaningful way of celebrating Christmas Eve together while we are apart.
Few of us imagined a Christmas quite like this one in March and, if we’re honest, we’re having a hard time imagining it now. But as we rush toward the end of what has probably been the strangest year any of us has ever seen, we also struggle to imagine what the new year will bring us. We have hope that new vaccines will successfully conclude their clinical trials, be approved, and begin distribution but, at this point, we are told that widespread availability probably won’t happen until mid-summer. Sigh. That means we probably should prepare ourselves for Coronavirus to dampen our plans for yet another Easter.
But a new year still encourages us to image a new beginning. A new year now, as always, presses us to reflect on the year we leave behind and envision a better, brighter, bolder, future. Perhaps this year, more than ever, we look forward to leaving 2020 behind and hoping for something better. But as we do, let us also grapple with what lessons, however difficult, that we have learned.
I believe that this pandemic has taught us, or at least boldly reminded us, that “church” is not a building and “mission” is not what happens inside of that building. We are learning that “community” and “family” are bigger ideas, and stronger ties, than just the people with whom we can shake hands each Sunday and we are finding ways to stay connected to the people we care about, the people in our church family, and the people in our communities in other ways. We are learning that the “reach” of our church, and our worship, is bigger than just the people who show up in person, on Sunday morning and we are learning, I hope, how to reach out to, and to connect with, the people around us in ways that we hadn’t considered before. We are already seeing “new faces” in our church that have joined us on the internet and haven’t yet attended a single “in-person” worship service, and despite not having what we might have, a few months ago, considered to be an essential element, they now consider themselves to be a part of our church.
And so, as we hurtle toward the end of one year and the beginning of the next, I hope that we will continue to reframe our ideas of what some of these words mean. For some of us, words like church, mission, outreach, community, and even family will never be the same even after things return to “normal.” As we grapple with these new meanings, and with our new knowledge, and yes, new skills, let us also continue to re-imagine what we could be, what we can be, and what God is calling us to be as individuals, as a people, and as a church. Clearly, the situation that we have is not one that we wanted, or even one that we ever imagined, but I am certain that through it, God is trying to teach us something incredibly valuable…
…if we are willing to listen… and learn.
I pray that, years from now, rather than mourn over the things that we lost during the pandemic of 2020, we would instead rejoice over the things that we learned, and what that new knowledge, and that new understanding, allowed us to achieve.
As I mentioned in the announcements yesterday (if you missed them click here), we are working on several things to make our Virtual Christmas Eve service as special, and as “normal” as possible. But to do that, we NEED YOUR HELP. Both of these things are a part of the candle lighting that we traditionally have at the end of the Christmas Eve service.
Each Christmas Eve we look forward to seeing our sanctuary fill with light. But, if you can’t physically BE there, how will we do that? Let’s just say that we have a plan and we intend to light a candle in the sanctuary for EACH ONE OF YOU in a way that you can watch. But to do THAT, we need to know how many of you will “attend” our Christmas Eve service. So, whether you have attended our worship services in person, or if you’ve been worshipping with us virtually from wherever you live, or if you have visited for Christmas Eve in the past, or if you intend to visit for the first time on Christmas Eve, please DO THIS: a) Send an email to Pastor@CUMCAlliance.org and tell me that you are coming. b) Tell me how many will be with you, and c) tell me their names, or at least a name for your family group (ie. “the Schultz family”). Names may not be strictly necessary, and we may not use them for anything, but it will help me to keep track so I don’t count people twice. Then, when we record the candle lighting portion of our service, we will light a candle for EACH ONE of you to represent that you ARE THERE with us.
This one is harder but I hope that you will try. Record a ten second (more or less) video of you lighting a candle. Maybe even dress up a little like you would if you were there. Start with a lit candle in front of you on a table (or chair, or whatever you have) and then, holding a second candle, light it from the first one and hold it in front of you. Click here to see a short video from Bob Wallace demonstrating what we have in mind. If there are more than one of you, feel free to make a video for each of you or, record everyone taking a light at the same time or, pass the light from one person to the next just like you would have if you were standing in “your” pew at church. The plan is to edit all of your videos together so that on Christmas Eve we get to SEE one another lighting our candles. I hope that we will get to see ALL of you. If you need help, ask a friend of help you, but PLEASE send us a video. When you’re done send your completed videos to: rlwallace@mac.com and put <Candle Light Video> and YOUR NAME in the subject line.
DEADLINE: In order for us to have some time to record and edit these videos, please try to send your emails and videos by DECEMBER 15th.
Obviously, we’ve never done this before, so it may not turn out exactly like we planned, but if it’s going to work at all, we will certainly NEED YOUR HELP.
Many of us have been so isolated because of the coronavirus that we don’t get to talk to very many people but when we do, one of the common thoughts that we share is, “what a strange time this is.” Our isolation, in fact, is one of the big worries that we have about quarantines, self-isolation, and social distancing. Social, isolation amplifies our feelings of loneliness, abandonment, depression, and hopelessness which, in turn, increases the likelihood of alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, and suicide. And all these things, as well as our fear of disease, sickness, and death, are what makes living through a time of pandemic so hard.
But the people of scripture were familiar with hardship.
At the time of Isaiah, the Assyrian empire was on the rise and its armies were marching across the region toward Israel and Judah exactly at a time when those nations were declining in influence and military power. Worse, Isaiah carries a message from God that Israel will be defeated, destroyed, and her people carried off into seventy years of captivity and slavery in Babylon. Life was about to get more difficult than anyone had imagined, and everyone’s plans and dreams for the future were about to be erased and dramatically rewritten. But before Isaiah ends that bleak message, he also includes these words (Isaiah 64:1-9):
1Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. 4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. 5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? 6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over toour sins.
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.
As doom approaches Israel, the prophet Isaiah prays that God would come down and reveal his power to the world just as fire unleashes its power and is revealed to anyone, and anything, that comes close to it. Fire cannot hide the effects of its heat and, Isaiah knows that likewise, God’s power is so great that its effects cannot be hidden from the world. When God comes down from heaven, nations quake and mountains tremble. But Isaiah also knows that our God is different than other gods. The God of Israel does not use power to bring death and destruction, but to help and to heal people who do what is right and who remember to follow and obey the ways of God.
But God’s love and care for the righteous is exactly the thing that has brought judgement and destruction to Israel’s doorstep. Isaiah confesses that for too long, Israel has persecuted and sinned against the true followers of God and brought harm to them. It was that sin against the good and the righteous that angered God against his people and caused him to turn his face from them. Israel had entered a time when God simply refused to rescue them from themselves and allowed them to stew in the mess that they had created. As such, Isaiah’s prayer both confesses their guilt, but also begs that God would not stay angry at them forever. Despite their guilt, Isaiah has hope for the day that God would once again return to rescue them because, regardless of what they had done, they remained God’s chosen people.
And then, in Mark 13:24-37, at a time that was nearly as familiar with difficulty and hardship as in the time of Isaiah, Jesus picks up the Old Testament theme discussing the day of judgment and the coming of the Messiah. At that time, Israel was no longer captive in a foreign land, but they were ruled by a foreign government, watched over by a hostile army, and paid heavy taxes to Rome. And in that time, just as they had in the time of Isaiah, the people of Israel prayed for God’s Messiah to rescue them. And Jesus said…
24 “But in those days, following that distress,
“‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that itis near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
Jesus reinforces God’s promise that the Messiah would return in judgement and declares that at that time, God would finally reveal his power and glory to the world and would gather his people from the ends of the earth. But until then, Jesus reminds us that although no one can know the day or the hour of his return, the end of the world will not come completely without warning. Just as we watch the trees during the winter, and we recognize that Spring is coming when the trees begin to bud, in the same way we will know that judgment and the end of the world is coming if we are alert and watch for the signs.
Similarly, Jesus warns his followers, and us, that we are like the servants that have been left in charge while the owner of the house is away. We do not know when he will return, but we must watch for his return, remain at our posts, and continue to do the work that he has given us, so that we will not be found slacking when he returns.
And so, once again, God’s promise and prophecy bring hope to his people, both in the time of the New Testament and in the twenty-first century, as we look forward to the return of God’s messiah the rescue of God’s people, and the final redemption of the world.
But as is often the case, as we look forward, we often worry about how which side we will find ourselves on Judgement Day. And so, the very passages of scripture that were intended to give us hope, are the very passages that cause us concern and steal our joy. But Paul knew that people in the church were going to worry about that and so as he wrote to the church in Corinth, in 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, he reassured them by including this reminder:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul reminds us that it in, and through, Jesus Christ that we are enriched in every way and given our abilities to speak, to preach, to tell stories, and to carry the gospel message to the people around us. It is through God’s gifts of speech and knowledge that God confirms the truth of our testimony. Further, while we wait for the return of Jesus Christ, we are given all of God’s spiritual gifts to aid us in sharing the gospel and in carrying out the mission and vision of Jesus Christ. What’s more, Paul says, is that it is Jesus, and his power, that hold us steady and firm in the against the temptations of the world, so that we will be found blameless when Jesus return and we stand in judgement. And finally, Paul reminds us of the faithfulness of the God who called us to follow Jesus and who adopted us as his children. If God has done all these things, and if we continue to diligently work for him while he is away, then we have nothing at all to fear when he returns because we know that on that day, the world will finally be put right, justice will be done, the broken will be repaired, the lame will walk, the blind will see, disease, suffering, poverty, and death will come to an end, and the world will finally know… peace.
And that is why, from the time of Isaiah, to the coming of Jesus, and even until today, the consistent message of scripture is that the coming of the Messiah, and the day of judgement, is not a message that should cause us fear or concern. Instead, the message of the power of God, the birth of his Son Jesus, and the promised day of judgement was, is, and has always been…
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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.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
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