Are You Worthy?

PastorPartridge Sermon

Are You Worthy?

August 04, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a                    John 6:24-35              Ephesians 4:1-16

It is a common occurrence for people to reach prominent levels of achievement only to then feel as if they do not belong there. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, has said that, although few of them will say it out loud, every person that sits in the executive suites of national and international businesses experiences the feeling of not really belonging there. It’s so common that it has a name, imposter syndrome. Tina Fey said that she often bounces between egomania and feeling as if she is a total fraud. Nobel Laureate Maya Angelou said, “I have written eleven books, but each time I think, ‘uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.'” Even Albert Einstein felt as if the acclaim that he had earned was too much. He once said, “The exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.”

But you don’t have to have a chair on the top floor of a Fortune 500 corporation to feel that way. Pastors feel that way all the time, and so do people of all levels of responsibility. It’s an almost natural thing for anyone who achieves something when they came from humble backgrounds or went through times in their lives when they had few possessions and resources.

And that describes King David. We all know the story. David was the youngest son, of a family that no one had ever heard of, from a small town that people barely remembered, and who belonged to one of the smallest and most unimportant tribes of Israel, but eventually finds himself, not only at the top of his own clan and tribe, but manages to reunite all twelve tribes of Israel and become the king of the reunited nation and a regional power with which other nations had to reckon. But how did David react to his ascension to power? Did he feel as if he was an imposter? Did he overcome it? Or did he overcompensate? Last week, we read the story of David’s poor decisions, his descent into sin, and his betrayal of an innocent, loyal, and honorable man.  This week, as we read 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a, we learn that David’s actions did not go unnoticed by God…

11:26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

12:1 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

At some point in his life, David forgot how he got to the top of the pile and, at the same time, forgot who had put him there. When that happened, David put aside any imposter syndrome that he might have been experiencing and chose egotism instead. He was the king and could do whatever he wanted regardless of who got hurt. And the message delivered by the prophet Nathan makes it clear that God sees whatever is done in secret and will not be forgotten. There will be a price for our egotism and selfishness.

We see a different sort of test for imposters in the story of John 6:24-35. The morning after we witnessed Jesus feed more than five thousand people and saw Jesus walk on water, the people find him again in Capernaum.

24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Once Jesus says that he isn’t going to give people bread every time a crowd gathers, they want to know how they can tell if he is an imposter. People thought that Jesus might be the Messiah, but Jesus wasn’t the first person to claim to be the Messiah of Israel. There had been many before him and many came after him, and so the people ask what sign he will give to prove that he is not just another imposter. And so, Jesus says that the sign he will give is himself, that his followers will never be hungry for spiritual food that gives real life.

And finally, as Paul sits in yet another prison, he writes to the church in Ephesus and, in Ephesians 4:1-16, urges them to live lives that are worthy of the calling that God has put upon their lives.

4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why itsays:

“When he ascended on high,
    he took many captives
    and gave gifts to his people.”

9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows, and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Paul says that a life that is worthy of the calling of God is a life that is humble, gentle, patient, loving, peaceful, and in unity with one another through the Spirit of God. He knows that we are not perfect, but because we are not, God has given each one of us the grace to live with one another and with the people around us. Paul says that it is Jesus who sent us the gifts of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, and I would add the many authors of excellent books of spiritual teaching that have been given to equip us, God’s people, for works of service. In turn, our spiritual service is to build up the body of Christ until all of us are united in faith and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and become mature and attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

That last part, “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ,” should be remembered from last week. It means, that we are filled with the same powerful love that fills Jesus, and that we love others in the same way that Jesus loved. When we are mature, Paul says, we will no longer be tossed back and forth by the wind and the waves of faddish teachings, or the cunning, crafty, and deceitful schemes of those who would use the church or its people for their own selfish ends, but that we will speak the truth and work together to love one another and to love others.

David allowed his ego to take him down a path that he should have never followed and it destroyed the life of Uriah and the lives of many others. There is no need for us to suffer from imposter syndrome, but if we are to be worthy of God’s gifts to us, we must do as Jesus did, to keep God at the center of our lives and give of ourselves so that others can receive the gift of spiritual food that Jesus offers. A life that is worthy of the calling of God is a life that is humble, gentle, patient, loving, peaceful, and in unity with one another through the Spirit of God.

It is a high calling, but there is no need for us to suffer from imposter syndrome. Instead, we must give thanks for the amazing gifts that we have been given, and live lives that are worthy of them.

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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.™

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Keeping the Goal in Mind

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Keeping the Goal in Mind

July 28, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 11:1-15                   John 6:1-21                Ephesians 3:14-21

Although last week we talked about how God sometimes distracts or redirects us so that he can take us to someplace better, this morning we remember that sometimes it is also important for us to keep the goal in mind, put our heads down, and grind it out. Although I am not in that kind of physical condition now, a few years ago, I got into a regular routine of running and eventually ran a half-marathon. During such a long race, there are plenty of times when you are out of breath, or your feet hurt, or you start to get cramps, or some other part of your body tries to convince you that quitting would be a good idea, or even that just walking for a while would be helpful. Much of that is why you train, after a while, after putting lots of miles behind you, you are familiar with most of those feelings, and you learn how to deal with them or simply to overcome them. And so, during the race, the important thing is to keep the goal in mind, even if you redraw the boundaries so that your new goal is just making it to the next telephone pole, and then the one after that, and the one after that.

Likewise, there are times when we are raising children, that we are ready to give them back, or to give them away to strangers. My own mother told of times when church people would say that I was just so cute, and they could take me home with them. Mom’s reply was that they could, and they would laugh at her joke, but Mom confessed that there were times when she was absolutely not joking. But as hard as it can be, in those moments of desperation, to think a decade or two into the future, those are the times when we need to keep the goal in mind. The goal of childrearing isn’t just to survive the day, although sometimes that is all that we can manage, the goal is to raise decent, kind, caring, and thoughtful human beings who have a solid relationship with Jesus.

And, as we read the scriptures for today, we discover that, in each case, keeping the goal in mind makes a difference in the choices that are made, as well as the direction of the story, and of the lives of those in it. We begin this morning once again with the story of King David, this time when David did not keep the goal in mind, and one bad decision leads to another, and then another, and so on, and so on down a road that he should never had travelled at all, as we read from 2 Samuel 11:1-15.

11:1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So, Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So, he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So, Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”

David’s first mistake was the one that led to all the rest, and we find it in the first sentence. “In the spring… when kings go off to war…” Joab and all of Israel’s armies, conscripts, and mercenaries, go off to war with the Ammonites. They defeat the armies of Ammon in the fields and now besiege the walled city of Rabbah, which is, today, known as Amman Jordan. But in the days when kings go off to war, David, the king, does not go off to war, but instead loses sight of the goal, does the thing that is contrary to every other story that we have read about David since he fought against Goliath as a teen, stays home and lets others fight his battles for him. Having done that, David is now in a place where he should never have been in the first place, and his mistakes, and his sins, begin to pile up upon one another. David looks when he should have looked away, asked when he should have remained silent, sent messengers when he should have been conducting business, slept with another man’s wife when he already had more women than anyone needs, and then conspires to cover it all up and make it go away. In each case, David lost sight of the goal and it led him to seek the destruction of one of the most honorable men that we meet in all of scripture.

And then in John 6:1-21, we read two stories, each of which tells a story about goals.

6:1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing, and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

First, we find the disciples trying to work out how to feed the crowds of people who had come to hear Jesus. Philip is gobsmacked by the impossibility of feeding them all. In Matthew’s version of this story the disciples suggest sending everyone home before it gets too late so that the people in the crowd can eat at home or find someone to sell them something to eat.  But Andrew, even though he doesn’t fully understand, keeps the goal in mind. Andrew knows that the goal is to minister to the crowd and to care for their needs and so, even though he isn’t sure how it can help, he is hopeful, insightful, and faithful, and offers Jesus the sack lunch that the mother of one small boy had sent along with him. And because of Andrew’s insight, Jesus feeds more than five thousand people. It is worth noting here that although I have heard folks try to explain this away, that this wasn’t really all that miraculous, and that what really happened was that the boy’s generosity inspired others in the crowd to share the food that they had brought, that is not what the story says. John clearly says that in the end, they gathered twelve baskets that were filled “with the pieces of the five barley loaves” that were left over.

Next, after Jesus withdraws to a mountain, by himself, to rest, the disciples lose sight of the goal. We would expect that the goal, in this case, is for Jesus to minister to the people and for the disciples to minister to, or to at least follow, Jesus. But at some point, the disciples seem to decide that home and a comfortable bed are not that far away, they leave Jesus, and head back to Capernaum without him. On the way, they encounter a strong wind blowing against them, and so they cannot sail, and they are forced to row against what John says was not just a breeze, but a strong wind. Rowing three or four miles against a strong wind had to be an ordeal. But then they see Jesus walking on the water, take him into the boat once they stop being terrified that he might be a ghost, the wind stops, and they miraculously reach the shores of home.

And finally, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul reminds us of the goal we should all keep in mind. Reading from Ephesians 3:14-21, we hear this:

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every familyin heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Paul says that he prays so that Christ would live in the hearts of the people through faith. He prays so that they would be rooted and established with love and so that we would have the power to understand how amazing the love of Jesus is, and Paul’s hope is that the people of the church would be filled with the same measure of love.

David and the disciples of Jesus are reminders of what can go wrong when we fail to keep our goals in mind. The real goal of following Jesus is to be filled with the love of Jesus and to love others the way that Jesus did.

All the rest, as important as it might be, are details.

The real goal of following Jesus is to be filled with the love of Jesus and to love others the way that Jesus did.

Let us pray that might keep that goal in mind.

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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.™

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Not This. That.

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Not This. That.

July 21, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 7:1-14a                   Mark 6:30-34, 53-56             Ephesians 2:11-22

When we first got our German Shepherd, Natasha, as a puppy from our son Noah, we knew that she was going to be a large dog and that, with her level of energy, we would need to be diligent, and start early, to train her. One of the reasons that we loved her, even before Noah decided that she was too much to handle at that stage in her, and his, life, was that she always had a sweet temperament.  But even nice dogs can get into trouble if they don’t learn good manners. And so, we took Natasha to a local dog trainer for weekly lessons, and then lots and lots of daily walks, practicing, and learning new skills. But one of the important training tools that we used, and still use, is the same as one that we use on children, and on adults, and that is redirection.

With dogs, we redirect them from a negative behavior, say barking at the neighbor, to a positive behavior such as repeating a skill that they already know and then reinforcing or rewarding the positive behavior. It really isn’t that hard. As an example, Natasha has mostly gotten used to having neighbors but some of our neighbors got new dogs this year, or they dog sit for their children. And so, when Natasha gets too interested or distracted by dogs in the neighbor’s yard, I first tell her to “leave it” which she knows, and if she does not comply, I say “house” which calls her back inside. Natasha’s compliance with “leave it” is pretty good, and “house” is very good, though not yet bulletproof. With children, you might just distract them by saying “look over there” or inviting them into another room. Good adult mentors do the same thing, but they do it at a different level. A good mentor will look at what you are doing, praise you for your efforts and progress, and then suggest that “you might consider” or “you might have better results if” you tried another approach.

All these examples, whether it is about dogs, children, or adults, communicate the idea of “Not this. That.” And that message, in various forms, is what we find in all our scriptures for today. “Not This. That.” We begin by returning once again to the story of King David, this time after David has secured Israel’s borders and conquered or otherwise pacified its enemies. In 2 Samuel 7:1-14a, we hear this:

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: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands.

What we find here is that, at first, Nathan, the prophet of God, tells David that God is pleased with him, and that he could surely go ahead with whatever plans that he might have in mind. But that night God comes to Nathan and redirects both Nathan and David. God says that yes, he is indeed pleased with David, but rather than building a house for the ark and for God, his priority should be to make Israel a place where his people can feel safe, protected, and at home. For generations, Israel has suffered from internal division and external hostility and violence. David’s mission, God says, is to keep the peace, and build a home. David’s son, however, a son who is not yet born, will be the one that will God call upon to build his house.

Not this. That.

And we see something similar, though not nearly so well-orchestrated or planned, in the story of Mark 6:30-34, 53-56, as crowds of people follow Jesus with such desperation that it becomes impossible for Jesus and his disciples to take a break and get away from them even for a short rest.

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So, he began teaching them many things.

53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns, or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Jesus and the disciples were so busy with the activities of ministry that they didn’t even have a chance to eat, and so, by the end of the day they are feeling the need to take a break. And so, they set out, without the crowds, in a boat, to find a place where they can be alone. But, as I have mentioned before, the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberius or the Lake of Gennesaret, is not that big. As a result, the people from the crowds guessed where they might be going, and got there, on foot, ahead of them. And, as Jesus looks at the people in the crowd, what he sees is not a mob, and not a mass of screaming fans with Beatlemania or adoring Swifties, but Jesus sees them as sheep without a shepherd. People who want, and need guidance and direction, but who can’t afford to take the time off to go to Jerusalem and who might have lived too far away, or have too little time, to gather at a synagogue or seek out other religious instruction. And so, Jesus, filled with compassion, understands God’s leading and, despite his hunger and fatigue, he stays and teaches them.

Not this. That.

And finally, in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he explains how Jesus Christ is bridging the gap, and bringing together two groups who have been, throughout history, separate, divided, and sometimes hostile and violent to one another. Reading from Ephesians 2:11-22, we hear this:

11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Paul says that anyone who was born in any family, anywhere, that was not Jewish, was born a Gentile and was called “uncircumcised” by the Jews who referred to themselves as “the circumcision.” Before these Gentiles met Jesus, they were outsiders who were excluded from citizenship in Israel because they were foreigners and strangers to the promise and the covenants that God had made with Moses and Abraham. As a result, the Gentiles were disconnected from God and without hope. But now, with the coming of Jesus, the door has been opened to the Gentiles to come near to God.

Paul says that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, has destroyed the barriers and walls of exclusion, set aside the law and the rules through the suffering of his own flesh so that the Jews and the Gentiles could be reconciled with one another, and a new humanity created by joining the two together, and thus ending their hostility and bringing peace just as David had done with the tribes of Israel and their neighbors. Paul says that through Jesus Christ, both Jew and Gentile have access to God through the Holy Spirit and, as a result, we, the Gentiles, are no longer excluded. We are no longer foreigners and strangers, but are now fellow citizens and members, together, of one single household. Likewise, together, we are becoming a single building in which God lives. We were once excluded from God’s people but are now joined together. We were once foreigners and strangers but have now become members of God’s family who live together in one household.

Not this. That.

Like a dog trainer, parent, or mentor, like a shepherd of lost sheep, God distracts us, nudges us, and redirects us in the directions that he wants us to go. David wanted to build God’s temple, but God said, “Not this. That.” Jesus and the disciples desperately needed to take a break and rest, but God knew that there were sheep without a shepherd that needed their compassion and said, “Not this. That.” Jews and Gentiles once were at odds with one another and the Gentiles were excluded, foreigners to the covenants of promise, and were without hope. But God said, “Not this. That.” And sent his son Jesus to bridge the gap and bring reconciliation to all those who would seek him and follow him so that we can become members of God’s family and live together in one household.

We get frustrated and angry when we don’t get our way and that included the times when God says “No” to us and doesn’t seem to be listening to our prayers. But when that happens, remember that as it is when training dogs, or raising children, or mentoring younger or less experienced employees, God often redirects his sheep so that he can shape us into becoming the kind of people he needs us to be.

And so, the next time you think that God isn’t answering your prayers, or you think that God’s answer to those prayers was “No,” pay close attention and listen carefully, because God might just be pointing you toward something better.

What God just might be telling you is…

“Not this. That.”

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*UYou 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.™

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God’s Choice

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God’s Choice

July 14, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19                     Mark 6:14-29                         Ephesians 1:3-14

What choices have you made so far today? It seems obvious to say that everyone here chose to wake up, get out of bed, get dressed, and come to church. Most of us also chose to take a shower, brush our teeth, and otherwise make ourselves presentable. But those are the easy choices.  We like to eat and have the money to pay for things, so we choose to go to work. But occasionally, at work, at home, and elsewhere, we must make harder choices. Do we go along with the crowd, do we follow our friends, even when what they are doing is not honoring to God? Do we stand up against our own political party, or our own church denomination, or our alumni association, or the club to which we’ve belonged for many years, when those groups choose a path that runs against the instructions of scripture? Or do we sometimes elevate our need to belong, or our allegiance to some organization, above our obedience to God and, in doing so, make it into an idol?

Our scriptures for today are dramatically different from one another and have little in common except that, in each one, the people in the story had to make choices, and the choices that they made defined them and revealed who they were at heart. We begin by returning once again to the story of David contained in 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 in which, with Israel now unified and at peace, David and his army retrieve the Ark of the Covenant and bring it to Jerusalem.

6:1 David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. 2 He and all his men went to Baalahin Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums [an Egyptian shaker/rattle instrument] and cymbals.

So, David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.

David had been anointed as king and had unified all twelve tribes of Israel. Together they had conquered the Jebusites and declared Jerusalem as the capitol of their unified nation. David had choices. He could do anything that he wanted to do, but among the first things that he does is to take his entire army, travel to Baalah in Judah, take possession of the Ark of the Covenant, and bring it, with much celebration, to their new home. But watching from a window was David’s wife, Michal, who was the daughter of King Saul. As she watched David singing, and dancing before God in celebration, she did not approve. To her, it was undignified for the king to sing and dance and act with joyful abandon in public. But David had made a choice. David could have built a palace, or set out to conquer his neighbors, or undertake projects that would make Israel, and him, richer. But David wanted to honor God first and chose obedience and faithfulness instead of wealth, power, prestige, or even dignity. David chose joy and thankfulness over appearances, respectability, and decorum. And it was those choices, among many others, that defined who David was, and revealed his heart to God and to the world.

In an entirely different story, of an entirely different sort of king, we read the story of king Herod Antipas and the death of John the Baptist in Mark 6:14-29. And in this story, like David, Herod makes some choices that defined him, and revealed his heart.

14 King Herod [Antipas who ruled over Galilee and Perea, the areas east of the Jordan River] heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”

And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”

16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” [Herod Philip who ruled over Ceasarea Phillip and the area north and west of Galilee] 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter ofHerodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Although Herod was distressed by the choice that he was forced to make because of the unwise oath that he had taken in front of his guests, rather than choosing what was right, he chose violence. Rather than choosing repentance and righteousness, Herod chose his reputation. For Herod, it was more important to look good than to be good.

And now we come to Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus and the words of Ephesians 1:3-14, where Paul reminds us of what God chose. God’s choices were, and are, limitless. God is the creator of at least one universe and all that we know. God could do anything, but Paul reminds us that the choice God makes is utterly astounding and, as it did in the case of David and Herod, God’s choice reveals his heart. Paul says:

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 hepredestined us for adoption to sonshipthrough Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 hemade known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

As I said a moment ago, God’s choices were, and are, limitless, and Paul’s point is that with infinite power at his fingertips, God chose… us. Paul says that before the creation of the world, God intended for us to be holy and blameless and planned to adopt us into sonship. And it is worth a moment of explanation that the phrase that Paul uses, “adoption to sonship” isn’t just flowery or emotional language, it is a Greek legal term that describes a legal and binding adoption. God, through Jesus Christ, legally adopts us as his children, with all the rights of inheritance that implies, forgives our sins, and pours out his grace on us. Paul says that we were chosen to be a part of God’s plan to bring about the will of God. And, when we chose to believe, we were marked with the Holy Spirit as a deposit and downpayment of our future inheritance as God’s children.

When David became king, his choices revealed his heart and his character and, instead of choosing to pursue wealth, power, notoriety, or ego stroking building projects, David chose to make his first act an act of faithfulness, obedience, and joy.

In contrast, when asked for the head of John the Baptist, Herod Antipas chose violence and reputation over repentance and righteousness.

But God, the king of the universe, with infinite power to do whatever comes to his mind…

… chooses us. And not only does God choose us, but he also plans, in advance, even before creation, to make us holy and blameless through the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ, and to legally adopt us as his heirs, as sons and daughters of the king. And just to be sure that that we know that he loves us, and see his intentions for us, God marks us with a seal, and leaves us with a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance, by sending the Holy Spirit to live with us, and in us.

David chose obedience.

Herod chose his reputation.

God… (pause) …chose us.

Like David, and like Herod, God’s choice reveals his heart and his character and leaves us with a choice.

Will we choose God, and follow him?

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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.™

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The (Un)Importance of Literacy in the Gospels

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The (Un)Importance of Literacy in the Gospels

July 10, 2024

by John Partridge

When we read the Bible, or when we teach, preach, or listen to the Sunday sermon in church we use our imagination to picture, in our mind, the one of the biggest mistakes that we make is to imagine that the people of the New Testament were just like us. Oh, we know that they didn’t have modern conveniences like telephones, electricity, and air conditioning, but in our mind’s eye we see the characters of the bible as having the same values, education, and attitudes that we do… and almost every time we do that, we’re wrong.

Often, our being wrong in this way is not a problem. I have often said on Sunday mornings that as much as times have changed, people are still people and so it’s easy for us to imagine the feelings and emotions that the people in our scripture lessons felt. When we read stories of families who suffered from infertility, in a culture where fertility was seen as God’s approval and blessing, we can feel their frustration and pain. When we read about the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus, it isn’t hard for us to feel the grief and loss of his sisters Mary and Martha. And it doesn’t matter much if we make a few incorrect assumptions about their values and education.

But sometimes it does.

As I studied the history of first century Israel and Judea this week, I was struck by the literacy rates that historians now attribute to the people of that time and place. But before I get to that, consider that, in the United States, the average rate of literacy is 79 percent. The highest rate of literacy is in the state of New Hampshire at 94.2 percent and the lowest rate is in the state of California which has a literacy rate of 76.9 percent. Without getting into a discussion of politics or education, many nations, even many of those that Americans would look upon as less developed, clock in much higher.

But statistics like these assume that literacy requires both reading and writing because, in our modern culture, reading and writing, for both genders, are both assumed to be necessary. But that hasn’t always been the case, and it certainly wasn’t the case at the turn of the first century. When we read the stories of the New Testament, the people that we meet live in a literary world that is nothing at all like the one in our lived experience and that difference can sometimes change the way that we see and understand them.

One of the first places that we see this difference is found in our expectation of what would be seen as Jesus and his disciples visited synagogues in and around Galilee. Because our life experience tells us that (almost) every church has a pastor or priest, every synagogue has a rabbi, and all of them are literate, we have a natural expectation that this is what happened in the world of the gospels also.

But it isn’t.

First, synagogues, as dedicated buildings, were rare. Instead, in the first century, many synagogues were meetings in private homes or in public buildings that served multiple purposes much like “meeting houses” that were seen in small towns in the American West. Second, while there were such things as rabbis, the rabbis of the first century were scholars and theologians who mostly studied in Jerusalem and rarely, if ever, taught anywhere. Likewise, Pharisees didn’t teach, nor did scribes, which I will say more about later. What happened in synagogues was that the Torah was read or recited from memory. And here we encounter our first big break between our expectations and reality as it relates to literacy.

The typical synagogue rule was that any male in the synagogue gathering could stand and read from the Torah and, from our experience, we would expect that this would be most of the men present. But that wasn’t the case at all. And it is here that I need to draw another distinction that we typically do not make in the twenty-first century, and that is the difference between reading literacy and writing literacy. While we see both as vitally important, that was not the case in the first century. The ability to read simple literary texts, reading literacy, was less than 10 to 15 percent and the majority of those who could do that would be found among the aristocracy in cities and larger towns and not in the small rural areas of Galilee. But to refine that idea a little further, since the literacy rate among girls would have been nearly zero, then the apparent literacy among men would have appeared to be higher. In any case, the result was that in a small rural synagogue, the number of men in the gathering who could read well enough to stand and read from the Torah would have been very small.

In most cases, both in Jewish and in Greco-Roman families, education was private and informal, meaning that the father would teach his children (if the father had any education himself), and then usually only his sons as it was seen to be a waste of time to educate girls. Public schools, as we understand them, simply did not exist in the first century and children did not have the leisure time necessary for education. In a subsistence economy, the labor of children, as soon as they were able to do much of anything, was needed to help their families to grow crops, fish, spin cloth, or whatever was needed for their family to survive. Illiteracy was not seen as a bad thing; it was just an ordinary thing. Only those parents who valued education and had the financial wealth to do it, and had the needed leisure time, would have promoted education, and that leaves us with only a handful of moderately wealthy families.

As I noted earlier, even fewer people could write. Perhaps 10 to 15 percent of people could write slowly, but many not at all. And, as we would measure literacy, being truly literate and able to both read and write, reduces the number to only 2 or 3 percent. According to Richard Horsley, “Writing had little importance except for certain functions of the elite.” People simply did not write letters, or keep journals, or take notes in school. If you needed something written, you hired a scribe, or used a slave that knew how to write. Persons who could write were not seen as socially valuable and may even have been looked down upon. Writing was a skill, much like we see modern tradespersons. If you needed it done, you hired someone who could do it. And that helps explain why scribes didn’t teach. While they had the skill to write, most often they were not otherwise particularly learned or educated.

And when we begin to think about the world of Jesus in this way, it changes how we see the people, the events that we see in the synagogues, about how Jesus was able to read from the Torah scroll (or did he?) and how the Gospels themselves came to be written.

________________________________________________

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The Unlikely, Improbable, and Impossible

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The Unlikely, Improbable, and Impossible

July 07, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10              Mark 6:1-13               2 Corinthians 12:2-10

If you look at today’s sermon title, you will see three words of interest: Unlikely, Improbable, and Impossible. So, what, you might ask, is the difference? And to describe the difference, at least for us to have a starting point, let me give you some examples.

First, although I can, technically, choose to retire, or outright quit, any time that I want to do so, it is unlikely that I will do so anytime in the next couple of years. Although I can, I am not likely to do so unless something significant were to change. Second, since I have been here at Christ Church for six years, and have been in ministry for twenty, and the bishop of the East Ohio Conference has never once set foot in my church on a Sunday morning, it is improbable that our bishop would unexpectedly arrive to worship with us this morning. It is, of course, possible, since our bishop can choose to attend church anywhere that she wants to, but given our experience, it is improbable that it would happen today. And finally, since she lacks the ability to speak in a human language, it is impossible for our German Shepherd, Natasha, to arrive at church and preach today’s sermon. It isn’t just that it is unlikely for Patti to drive, or even walk, Natasha to church on a Sunday morning, or that it is improbable that Natasha would have any interest in preaching, but since she cannot speak English, let alone with any significant vocabulary, we understand that such a thing would be impossible.

Looking at these words from another perspective, Arthur Conan Doyle through his character, Dr. Watson, once asked Sherlock Holmes how he could have reached his conclusion and solved the mystery from the few facts that were in evidence. In answer, Sherlock famously said, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

And so, with the impossible in mind, let us return once again to the story of Israel’s great King David. You will remember that in our scripture lesson last week, we read of the death of King Saul, and the subsequent mourning of David and the entire nation of Israel. But this week, we see something new as both the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Judah, come together to anoint David as their king. This didn’t happen right away. After the death of Saul and Jonathan, the southern tribe of Judah anointed David as their king, but the northern tribes of Israel followed Saul’s surviving son, Ishbaal. What followed was something like a civil war with tensions and violence between the two, but finally Ishbaal was assassinated by two of his own officers, who were later put to death by David for Ishbaal’s murder. But after the death of Ishbaal, we come to 2 Samuel 5:1-10 and hear this:

5:1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”

3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.

4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” 7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.

8 On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies.” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”

9 David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terracesinward. 10 And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

And thus, in this short reading, we see David being anointed for the third time, the first when he was a young man about 15 years of age by the prophet Samuel, again by the tribe of Judah after the death of Saul, and now by the other 11 tribes as Israel returns to what is referred to as the United Monarchy when all 12 tribes joined together. That journey, from shepherd boy to king, was seen, even by David’s family, as impossible. And yet, because God was in it, the impossible became reality. Next, was the story of how the united nation of Israel, captured the city of Jerusalem, which was so well constructed, and so well defended, that it was thought to be impossible to capture. And yet, Israel does so.

Still more impossibilities become reality in the account of Jesus and the disciples found in Mark 6:1-13 where we hear this:

6:1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place, and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons, and anointed many sick people with oil, and healed them.

First, as Jesus preaches in his hometown, the people are offended that Jesus preaches with wisdom and authority because they cannot imagine that someone that they know could possess such amazing gifts from God. They knew, or at least they believed, that such a thing was impossible. Such things just didn’t happen. But it did.

Second, as Jesus sends his disciples out to preach, teach, and cast out demons in the surrounding villages, he takes particular care that none of them are equipped with anything that could support them in their work. They took a walking stick, but no money, no food, no change of clothing, and not even an empty sack that they might use to save leftovers. The result was that they did what was humanly impossible. They preached without education, they drove out demons, and they healed the sick. In other words, they did things that only God could do and by doing so, demonstrated that God was with them.

And that is exactly the point that Paul makes about his own ministry, as well as ours in 2 Corinthians 12:2-10. Rather than protest, as many of us do, that we can’t do this thing, or that thing because we aren’t properly educated, or haven’t had time to prepare, or that we don’t have enough money, or some other excuse, Paul says that our weaknesses are exactly the point. He says…

2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul says that all sorts of unlikely, improbable, and impossible things happened to him and the only explanation that he can offer is, much like Sherlock Holmes, having eliminated the impossible, the only reasonable conclusion that is left is the truth that God must have done it.

For the youngest son, of an unimportant man, from an unimportant tribe, to become the king, was impossible but David did it.

For anyone to capture Jerusalem, was physically, militarily, tactically, geographically, and topographically impossible but Israel did it.

For the son of a carpenter, without the benefit of higher education, to preach, teach, heal, and cast out demons was impossible, but Jesus did it.

For uneducated fishermen and the other followers of Jesus to go into the countryside without food, or clothing, or any assistance at all, and to preach, teach, cast out demons, and heal the sick was impossible, but the disciples did it.

For Paul to accomplish what he did, in the face of insults, hardships, persecutions, arrests, beatings, and imprisonment was impossible, but he did it.

Too often we focus on what we think we need to do the job, but our God delights in our weakness because it is in our shortcomings where the world sees God pulling the strings behind the curtain. We don’t need faith when we see the Cleveland Clinic heal people, armed with thousands of doctors, and tens of millions of dollars in laboratories, technicians, tools, machines, and other medical whiz-bangery. But watch an ordinary lay person, lay hands on a sick person, pray, and bring about their healing, and we stand amazed because we know that we have witnessed the hand of God.

We are all called by God to do his work and, regardless of who we are, or how unprepared we might feel, we must act and do what God is calling us to do. Because, at the end of the day, we see God most clearly when, with his help, we accomplish the unlikely, the improbable, and the impossible.

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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.™

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Testing Love

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Testing Love

June 30, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27               Mark 5:21-43             2 Corinthians 8:7-15

We hear the words “I love you” often. We hear them from our loved ones, we hear them on television and in the movies, and we hear the word “love” thrown around by churches, ministry groups, rescue groups, and even government officials in an almost constant stream.

But what if love came with a test?

What would it look like if there was a test to determine if love was real? Is there a way for us to tell if the people who throw around the word “love” really do love, or if they are only using the word to manipulate and to appear to be something more than they really are?

And, although on the surface it may appear that our scriptures for today are not connected, as we dig a little deeper what we find is that they all reveal the truth about the love of the people in them. We begin once again with the story of David. In this passage from 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27, David learns that King Saul, and his son Jonathan, David’s best, and closest, friend, have died in battle. This is the moment that David knows that Saul will no longer hunt for him, or send his entire army to hunt for him, so that he could be captured and put to death, the moment that David learns that he is no longer a fugitive. This is the moment that David realizes that his anointing as the king of Israel by the prophet Samuel might finally become a reality. But as these realities come into his mind, this is how David reacts:

1:1 After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.

17 David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, 18 and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):

19 “A gazellelies slain on your heights, Israel.
    How the mighty have fallen!

20 “Tell it not in Gath,
    proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad,
    lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.

21 “Mountains of Gilboa,
    may you have neither dew nor rain,
    may no showers fall on your terraced fields.
For there the shield of the mighty was despised,
    the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.

22 “From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.
23 Saul and Jonathan—
    in life they were loved and admired, and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

24 “Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
    who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.

25 “How the mighty have fallen in battle!
    Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother;
    you were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful,
    more wonderful than that of women.

27 “How the mighty have fallen!
    The weapons of war have perished!”

Rather than rejoice over the end of being hunted or looking forward to finally having a chance at becoming king, rather than cursing the man who expended so much effort in trying to destroy him… David mourns. David weeps over the loss of his best friend but also over the loss of Israel’s greatest warrior and admired king. Despite Saul’s madness and his persecution of David, David never stopped loving him as his friend and mentor or stopped admiring him and respecting him as Israel’s king.

This is the moment that tests David’s sincerity, and we see that David didn’t just use the word “love” because it was politically expedient or momentarily popular, David’s tears and songs of mourning reveal that his love for both Saul and Jonathan was real.

Curiously, there are two stories, which we have heard and read many times, from the Gospel of Mark, which illustrate this same sort of test for the sincerity of love, trust, and faith and we read these stories this morning from Mark 5:21-43, where it says:

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came, and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

36 Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

First, Jesus meets Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, or archisynagōgon, who was a powerful and influential man. Far from our thinking that he was the local church lay leader, because there was no such thing as the separation of church, state, or culture, the archisynagogon was the church lay leader, mayor, city administrator, community organizer, and cultural ambassador all rolled up in one person, at least as far as their Roman overlords allowed. But when his daughter was dying, Jairus didn’t go to a rabbi, or to the temple authorities, or to some Roman government official, he came to see Jesus. And when people told him that it was too late, and that his daughter was already dead, Jesus encouraged him to “just believe,” and, despite the laughter of his family and friends who understood that death was permanent and that resurrection was impossible, his love for his daughter allowed him to trust Jesus anyway.

Likewise, after searching for twelve years and seeing every doctor, shaman, healer, and charlatan that she could find, and after spending every penny that she ever had, this poor suffering woman, rather than giving up, thought that she would try one more time. Despite being classified as unclean and being prohibited from coming in contact with “normal” people, she sneaks in from behind everyone, and reaches through the crowd just so that she can touch the fringe on Jesus’ outer garment. When she was tested, there was nothing fake about this poor woman’s suffering nor was there anything fake about her faith.

And I want you to keep those stories in your mind as we read Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 because Paul understands that sometimes people, and churches, sometimes give lip-service to love. We say that we love Jesus, but we don’t act like it, and we say that we love the people around us, because we know that we’re supposed to, but when push comes to shove, we don’t act very much like we love them. Paul says…

7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love, we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

10 And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.

13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

Paul says that the people in the churches of Corinth are fantastic. They have strong faith, vast knowledge, they are earnest in the things that they do and in the love that they began when they first heard the stories of the gospel.

But Paul wants to test the sincerity of their love.

Paul wants to make sure that they aren’t just giving lip-service to love without really acting like they love. Paul wants to test their love by comparing their earnestness, their passion, against the earnestness and passion of others. He points out that when there was a need, the church in Corinth was the first to step up and give to meet the need, but now Paul asks if their love will compel them to finish what they started. The test, Paul says, isn’t that they should give until they themselves are in need, but that they should give from their abundance until those in need become their equals.

That is quite a test… and it asks a lot of us.

The test of love isn’t just to feed the hungry, but to give from our abundance, not just to feed the poor for a day, but to help the poor, and lift them up, until the poor become our equals. That isn’t a once and done kind of a thing. Like Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, you should be loving enough that your eager willingness to do a project may be matched by your completion of it.

Starting a project to help others is a good thing.

But finishing that project is the real test of love.

That’s asking a lot.

But real love isn’t cheap, and we might wonder…

…will our love pass the test?

*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.™

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David’s Faith… in David

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David’s Faith in… David

June 25, 2024

by Pastor John Partridge

This past week at our church Annual Conference meeting, our Bishop, Tracy Smith Malone, preached a message in which she shared the story of David and Goliath, and framed David’s self-confidence as being a matter of David’s faith in God.

And that’s true.

But it’s more than that.

We can all agree that the story of David and Goliath is clear that while King Saul, and his entire army, were in fear and panic of the size, strength, skill, and power of the Philistine warrior Goliath, David’s faith enabled him to be the only one who had the self-confidence and faith to meet Goliath in single combat, one on one and man-to-man.

But David’s confidence wasn’t entirely faith-based. There was more to it than that and while we usually do a respectable job of preaching the faith part, the other part is just as important. Let me back up and lay some groundwork before I go any farther.

First, it was well-known that a skilled slinger could outrange an archer, strike a moving target at two hundred yards, and were said to be so accurate that they could aim for a specific part of a target’s face. Typical sling stones were 2 to 3 inches in diameter (5-7 cm) and weighed as much as a half-pound (0.25kg). These projectiles would be flung at 100 to 150 miles per hour (160 to 240 kph). Stones of that size, thrown at that speed, could kill by a blow to the head, or by rupturing an organ. Second, we also know that David, spending years in the fields watching his father’s sheep, had ample time, and plenty of rocks, with which to practice his skills with a sling and to become proficient. Third, the stories that we have of David rescuing his sheep by killing a bear and a lion can be offered as evidence of his skill, his fearlessness, and his faith.

And so, you see, David not only had confidence in God, but he also had confidence in… David. He had done the work of preparation. David had practiced during all those lonely years in the wilderness with his father’s sheep. David knew what he could do. He had developed, and honed, his skill with his sling, and he had been battle tested in his encounters with both a lion and a bear.

Yes, David had faith in God. But David had done the work of preparation, and he knew that those two things combined would bring victory against Goliath.

David wasn’t foolish. He didn’t just leap into a fight that he couldn’t hope to win and put all his eggs in the basket of his faith. David did the work of preparation. He developed his skill, and he tested it against deadly opponents. David knew that he had what it took to win, but he also knew that in a fight against a skilled adversary, anything can happen. David did the work of preparation; he did everything that he could to be ready… and the rest he trusted to God.

That was David’s faith… and it’s a model that we would do well to remember.

Faith isn’t jumping off a cliff and hoping that God will save you. Faith is buying a parachute, learning how to use it, and then jumping off a cliff… and trusting that God will use and guide your skill to bring about the desired result.

Faith is important.

But God still expects us to do the work of preparation.

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The Limits of Preparation

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The Limits of Preparation

June 23, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49              Mark 4:35-41           Corinthians 6:1-13

German Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke was a brilliant military strategist in the 19th Century. He is known today for a quote that has gained popular traction in a shortened form that simply says, “No plan survives contact with the enemy”. This saying applies outside of its obvious military roots because no matter how much we plan or prepare, life is always more complicated and unexpected than our preparations. Olympic athletes train in all sorts of weather, they get hundreds of our nation’s best scientists to develop and oversee their training programs, nutritionists to maximize their diet for the best possible outcome, and still, on the day of the race, they can turn an ankle, trip over an unseen obstacle on the way to the race, or even stumble when a stray cat runs across the track. Life is unpredictable and while preparation must still be an important part of our planning, our preparation and planning won’t always get us across the finish line.

Let’s begin with a story that we have all probably heard before, the story of David and Goliath. I’m going to assume that most of us are familiar with the story, so I’m going skip around a little to save some time. We begin reading this story today from 1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49.

Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah.

4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. [9 ft. 9 inches, for reference, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neill are 7’1” and Andre the Giant was 7’4”] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels [125 pounds]; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. [15 pounds] His shield bearer went ahead of him.

8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.

32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So, he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

There’s a lot that can be said about what we find in that reading, but here are the things that I want to highlight: First, Goliath was the champion of the Philistine army. He wasn’t just big; he was the strongest and most skillful soldier of all the Philistines such that none of their other soldiers could beat him. Second, when Goliath offered to end the war by fighting one-on-one with anybody from Israel’s army, Saul the king, as well as his bodyguards, all of the professional soldiers, as well as all of those men, like David’s bothers, that had been conscripted, were terrified because no one, trained or not, could imagine that they could fight Goliath and win. Third, their fear was so great, that whenever they saw Goliath, they ran… but not David. Fourth, Goliath, Saul, and David all spent time in preparation.

Goliath had spent his entire life as a warrior, training with his sword, spear, and javelin. Saul had trained, but he knew that he had been prepared to lead and not to fight. And so, as best as he was able, Saul prepared David to face Goliath the ways that he knew. He gave him his own layers of armor, his helmet, and his sword. But they didn’t fit David, he hadn’t trained to use them, and was unaccustomed to how they felt. And so, instead, David prepared the way that he knew. He took off the armor, set aside the helmet and sword, picked up his shepherd’s staff, and selected five stones (which were probably just a bit smaller than baseballs) that he knew would be suitable for spinning and throwing with his sling.

Of course, David won. But there was more to his accomplishment than preparation because there were others in Saul’s army that knew how to use a sling.

Jesus points to what made David different in Mark 4:35-41, where we hear this:

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

The fishermen were prepared. They had a boat, and they had years of experience, but… there was a squall, a particularly bad, and sudden, appearance of stormy weather. The thing that separated the fishermen from success was… faith.

But, as we consider our present situation and what it takes to share in the work of the Kingdom of God, to share our faith, to grow our church, and to share the good news of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul has a few more words of advice that we find in 2 Corinthians 6:1-13. Paul says…

6:1 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says,

“In the time of my favor I heard you,
    and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

3 We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8 through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. 12 We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. 13 As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

I have often said that the first rule of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ is simply… don’t be a jerk. But Paul puts a finer point on it than that. He says that because God wants to save every single person on the planet, and because God is at work trying to rescue them, in all our encounters with the people around us we should “put no stumbling block in anyone’s path.” Which means, don’t do, or say, anything to the people around you that will make it harder for them to hear the message of Jesus Christ from you, of from anyone else today, tomorrow, or ten years from now. If you were trying to save someone from drowning, you would neither put rocks in their pockets, nor do anything to make them afraid of lifeguards or Coast Guard rescue swimmers. Even if you aren’t having any success, even if they favor a brand of politics you don’t like, or participate in a lifestyle with which you disagree, don’t do anything, or say anything, that might prevent them from hearing about Jesus from someone else. Secondly, Paul says, give freely of your affection and “open wide your hearts.” And that means to ask nicely, be kind, be friendly, be loving, and be polite.

It is good for us to read the Bible, study scripture, read books, come to Sunday school and church, learn how to share our faith, and build our confidence in doing so. But the reality is, and always has been, that “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” Life is complicated, and no matter how much we prepare and plan, life doesn’t always happen the way that we had hoped. But beyond our planning and preparation, like David, we have faith that God has our backs to do the things that we can’t do and to plan for the things we cannot know. But we must also listen to Paul so that we are not the reason that someone stumbles and is unable to hear God calling them through the voices of others now, or in the future. Don’t be a jerk. Give love freely, ask nicely, be kind, be friendly, be loving, and be polite.

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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.™

Who Was Cherea Cassius?

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At What Cost?

(What is Worth Your Life?)

June 16, 2024

by John Partridge

Who was Cherea Cassius?

Cherea Cassius was willing to sacrifice his life for something worthwhile. The odds are good that you have never heard of him, but his life, though far from perfect, teaches us something and forces us to look inside and examine ourselves.

The Roman historian Josephus called Cherea Cassius a hero. He was a tribune, a leader of the Pretorian Guard. That group was made up of hand-picked, elite troops of the Roman Army, were the personal bodyguards for the emperor of Rome in both war and peace and, during the rule of Caesar Caius, the Pretorian unit was also responsible for the security of the Senate, and for some law enforcement functions in Rome, and were the only persons who could carry weapons in the sacred parts in the center of Rome.

The Pretorians rubbed shoulders with everyone who was important in Rome and Cherea Cassius met with Caesar every day, knew everything about him, and accompanied him everywhere. But Caesar Caius was not a nice person. His first two years were not that bad, and it seemed as if he was going to be a good leader, but then the power of his office went to his head. While previous emperors had been proclaimed as gods, they knew that they were not, and while Augustus allowed people to say so, he tried to discourage it. But Caius was different. He began to believe that he really was a living god. He demanded the worship of the people around him, and he did things like stealing money from the temples of the gods for his own use, arguing that it was proper because he was a god as well.

Worse than that, he was cruel, and he loved to use his power to watch other people suffer and die. Would take things that he liked, whether they belonged to others or not, even accusing wealthy and powerful people of terrible crimes so that he could kill them and take their lands and estates. Caius was also unpredictable. Someone who was a friend today, and who might have been a friend for years, could find themselves accused of terrible crimes tomorrow.

No one was safe.

I might also mention that Caius was also known as Gaius or, as Caligula (which is a name that some might recognize). Because he thought so highly of himself, Caligula could not stand the idea that the Jews in Judea would not worship him. Most other nations worshiped Rome and its Caesar alongside all their other gods and would offer sacrifices to them together. But the Jews would not. For a long time, Rome had accepted a compromise that every day, in the Temple in Jerusalem, a priest would offer a sacrifice of two lambs and a bull to Israel’s God for the health and prosperity of Caesar, but not to Caesar himself. But that was not good enough for Caligula. He ordered that a statue of himself be constructed and installed inside the holy of holies, the most sacred place in the Temple of Jerusalem. That did not happen, but the Jews never forgot, or forgave the offense against them, and against their God.

In any case, after four years of his rule, and at least two years of living in absolute terror, the leaders in Rome knew that something needed to be done. Many people were so afraid of Caligula, and what he would do to them, and to their family, friends, and anyone else that they cared about, that they just tried to get along, stay out of the way. and not be noticed. But Cherea, and others, knew that anyone who was safe today, could be accused and put to death tomorrow. They knew that no one was safe, and worse, that their nation, and the whole of the Roman empire, was being destroyed because of Caligula.

Cherea also knew that if he were to assassinate the emperor, his life would be forfeited. He understood law enforcement and he knew that murder, even murdering a psychopathic murderer, had to be punished. But he also knew that his family, his friends, fellow soldiers, his nation, and the empire would be safer, and better off, if Caligula was dead.

And so, Cherea organized one of several plots to assassinate Caesar Gaius Caligula and his plan was the first to succeed. In fact, Cherea was first to attack Caligula and draw blood, but his sword thrust was deflected by a bone so that others delivered the fatal blow. Afterward, as you might expect, there was a time of considerable chaos. The Senate wanted to take the opportunity to return Rome to its origins as a democratic republic, but the military feared a republic because they saw the senate as being corrupt, and the people simply mourned because, despite his cruelty, Caligula was popular because he offered them free food and “entertainments” that were often bloody battles in the arena with wild animals, gladiators, prisoners of war, criminals, or the people that Caligula had accused of crimes.

In the end, Claudius was eventually recognized as the new emperor and, as Cherea expected, he, and his conspirators were arrested and put to death. At his execution, Cherea held his head high and acted nobly. He shared a word of encouragement with the soldier, whom he likely knew personally, who had been assigned as the executioner and even asked if he might be killed with the sword with which he had struck Caligula.

It is an ugly story, but Josephus explains that Cherea was remembered, even decades later, as a hero.

So, besides telling a long story, what is my point?

Well, as I read this story, while it is clear that Cherea Cassius was not a perfect human being, and is in no way messianic, he knew that what was happening in his nation was not good. Cherea knew that he was one of the very few people who had the opportunity to do something about the problem. But he also knew that taking action would cost him his life… and he was willing to give up his life to make life better for the people around him.

And that makes me ask this question…

…What are you willing to give to make the world a better place for the people around you?

Are you willing to share what God has given to you to feed the hungry and clothe the naked? Are you willing to speak for the voiceless, care for the broken hearted, bind the wounds of the afflicted, bring hope to the hopeless, and seek justice? Are you willing to share the good news of Jesus Christ with people who are lost, hurting, and trying to find their way in a world that is increasingly hostile and difficult?

Maybe you don’t think that Cherea Cassius was particularly heroic, and that’s okay, but he did what he could, even at the expense of his own life, to make the world a better place.

What are you doing?

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