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Peace through… What?

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Peace Through… What?

December 09, 2018*

(Second Sunday of Advent)

By Pastor John Partridge

 

 

Malachi 3:1-4             Luke 3:1-6                  Philippians 1:3-11

 

Peace.

In our modern world, we have often heard the phrase, “Peace through strength.”  Nations, from ancient Rome, to Hitler’s Germany, to today’s military-industrial machine, have all claimed to bring about peace through having a powerful military, but it has rarely worked out that way.  Peace through strength only works when that strength is used to threaten the peace of others.  Granted, used rightly, and justly, that same strength can be used to rescue people, and nations, from abuse by other nations or from terrorists.  But God’s story leans in another direction.  God’s story bends the claim of “peace through strength” into a different shape entirely.  In Malachi 3:1-4, God says:

3:1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

God says that he will send a messenger to his people and this will be the messenger that Israel has desired, and has prayed for, for thousands of years since the time of King David.  But this promise also comes with a warning.  When God’s messenger, God’s Messiah, appears, he will prepare the way for God by refining and purifying his people.  God’s message is that there is strength through purity and strength through righteousness.

But let’s look a little deeper and understand why this is a warning.

Malachi says that God’s messenger will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and will purify the Levites, the priests of God, and refine them like gold and silver.

Why is that a warning?  It is a warning if you understand how silver and gold are purified.

When silver is refined, the silversmith places the silver over the fire, in the middle of the furnace, where the fire is the hottest and waits while the fire burns away all its impurities.  During this process, the silversmith can never take his eyes away from the silver or it might overheat and be destroyed.  But the silversmith knows the precise moment when the silver has been purified, because at that moment, he can clearly see his reflection in it.  God’s warning is that that he intends to purify his priests, and purify his people, by burning away all of their impurities so that they will reflect his image and his glory.

Peace through purification. 

Peace through trials.

Peace through the refiner’s fire.

We await the return of Jesus.  We are expectant.  But we are warned that, for us, his return may not be easy.

John the Baptist reinforces this same image in Luke 3:1-6, where we hear these words:

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
    every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
    the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

John preached that God’s people must busy themselves preparing the way for the arrival of the Messiah by repenting of their sins.  “Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low, the crooked roads shall become straight, the rough places smooth”, and only then… “all the people will see God’s salvation.”

Peace through repentance.

And finally, we come to the Apostle Paul as he writes to the church in Philippi and prays for them as we see in Philippians 1:3-11.

3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Right off the bat, Paul begins by saying that God has begun a good work in his church and prays that God will continue the work that he has already started.   And, just in case you missed the importance of this, I want to restate it.  Paul tells the church that what they are doing is good, but that God isn’t finished with them yet, that there is more work to do, that we are a work in-progress, and he is praying that God would continue to move us in that direction until we have accomplished everything that God has intended for us to do.  Second, Paul reminds the church that whether we are together or apart, we share God’s grace and we share God’s work.  And finally, Paul’s prayer is that the love of the church may grow greater and greater, that the people will grow in the knowledge of God and in depth of insight into the mind of God so that  we might be able to discern what is best, so that we might be pure and blameless on the day of Christ’s return, and so that the church will be filled with the fruits of righteousness, so that God would be given praise and glory.

And if we boil that down, we find Paul’s prayers for the people of Jesus Christ are these:

Peace through the perfecting work of God.

Peace through the grace of God.

Peace through love.

Peace through the knowledge of God.

And we hear the united voices of Malachi, John the Baptist, and the Apostle Paul saying,

“Peace through the righteousness of God.”

The second coming of Jesus Christ will not be easy.  We must work diligently to live up to the high calling as a kingdom, and as priests, of Jesus.  We are being refined and purified into something better.  We must daily work to move toward the perfection of Jesus, to struggle daily to be more like Jesus, so that we can love others like Jesus.

It is no accident that Isaiah 9:6 describes the Messiah this way:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

We are a kingdom of priests, be he is…

The Prince of Peace

No matter the strength of a nation, or it’s swords, horses, and armies or navies, peace through strength will always fail… without the Prince of Peace.

There can only be peace…

            …through Jesus.

 

 

 

 

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online).  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Pastor’s Report – Charge Conference 2018

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Every fall, our church has a “Charge conference” in which we present our slate of officers for the next year and next year’s proposed budget, we also vote on staff salaries, and turn in paperwork that is intended to satisfy our District Superintendent, Bishop, Annual Conference, the IRS, and other end of year housekeeping.  As a part of that, I am asked to submit a “pastor’s report” outlining our activities for the year and my expectations for next year.  It’s a lot like the “What I did last summer” reports that we wrote in the fall as school children.  In any event, I wanted to share that report with you, so what follows is the report that I turned in at Charge conference last month.

 

Pastor’s Report

Charge Conference 2018

Having arrived at Christ UMC only three months ago, I really don’t have a lot to reflect upon.  But I can, at least, share my observations.  Christ Church is a busy church with almost constant activity.  We are deeply involved in the community at many levels, from our association with Habitat for Humanity, Men’s Challenge, and the Alliance of Churches, which have office space on our first floor, to our participation in local food pantries and “flight pack” food programs for school children, to the professional involvement of our members in the Chamber of Commerce, the Lion’s Club, and other organizations.  Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts meet here, are strongly supported and our own youth group, though small, has the deep and enthusiastic support of every member regardless of age.  Not only does Christ Church host the weekly community dinner (which is averaging well over 100 people, and often 150), our church isn’t content to simply feed people, it is active in teaching life skills, such as cooking, so that many of those same people can become more independent and self-sufficient.

We have also found, that the people of Christ Church are not just supportive of local outreach efforts but are incredibly supportive of missions nationally and internationally.  Two members of our church volunteered for our planned mission to Kentucky when we had only just arrived here, and they had hardly done more than met me.  There were several others who expressed a sincere interest in going with us but who had scheduling conflicts that prevented it.  I have no doubt that we will be successful in returning to Kentucky with another team at least once next year, and we are exploring the possibility of doing so cooperatively with the chaplain at the University of Mount Union.  What’s more, since we arrived in Alliance and at Christ UMC so close to our planned mission trip to Liberia with the East Ohio Conference’s Farmer to Farmer mission, Patti and I understood that our ability to do fundraising would be limited.  But what we found, was a church family who had already sent their lay leader to Sierra Leone, who was so incredibly supportive of our trip that they repeatedly asked us to do informational presentations, and who raised more support for our trip than we imagined possible even if we had done more extensive fundraising.

As if these things weren’t enough, despite everything that Christ Church and its people are doing, their passion, compassion, and enthusiasm are regularly causing them to ask, “What more can we do?”  As such, this year Christ Church is taking over the Thanksgiving meal that had formerly been spearheaded by the United Church of Christ.  Since last year’s project distributed approximately 1,500 meals, this is an enormous undertaking, but the evidence is that Christ Church, and our Alliance community, are rising to the challenge.

So, even though I have only been at Christ Church for a few months, several things seem clear.  First, although the people of Christ Church sometimes seem a little weary, their enthusiasm, faith, compassion, and heart for Jesus fill them with an enthusiasm that other churches might envy.  Second, as we see with people, and with churches everywhere, although there is a fondness for doing things that “we have always done,” the people of Christ Church are unafraid, open, and even eager, to try new things.  Third, it is apparent from conversations in our community, that Christ Church is viewed by the people in and around Alliance in a very positive way.

Taken together, these things, and others, tell me that God isn’t done with Christ Church yet.  There is much to be done, and the people of Christ Church are interested, and ready, to discover what God is calling us to do next.  I am sure that, working together, we can find a way for Christ Church to be healthy, vital, and vibrant as we make disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of Alliance, Ohio… and the world.

Past, Present, Future

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BellsLast night I attended our youth group meeting and had the incredible opportunity to climb the bell tower and see some of the “behind the scenes” things that most people never see.  I posted pictures on Facebook of our bells, the view of the street through the wire mesh, and the incredible size of some of the beams that support the roof.  Those beams are huge, and every few inches is a rivet the size of a half dollar or a half of a golf ball.  Mike Greiner and I were marveling as we remembered what it must have took to put that all in place in 1896.  Fifty years before welding was invented, each of those rivets would have been hammered in by hand while still red-hot, and each of those mammoth beams had to be carefully raised into place three for four stories above the ground. img_20180923_222439_111

While we were in the tower, we also had the chance to jump over one of those beams, climb down a rickety looking ladder, climb the catwalk, maneuver around some other beams, and ultimately stand in the space above our sanctuary ceiling.  It is only in that space that you can see the original sanctuary ceiling which was covered up during a renovation in the 1930’s.  At that time, the ceiling was lowered, perhaps in an effort to add insulation and increase energy efficiency, but that effort also allowed the removal of the great sanctuary chandelier gas lights and install overhead electric lighting in the ceiling instead.

img_20180923_190423428I love being able to do things like that.  I had a great time, and I’m pretty sure that all our youth did too (Thanks Mike!).  But this experience got me thinking.  As our trustees and finance committees meet, I often thank God for the gifts that have been given to us by those giants of the faith who were here before us.  Since 1839, generations of men and women have labored together in this place and contributed their sweat, their time, their passion, their hearts, and their money to the ministry that goes on here still today.

But we also remember, that as impressive as it is, they didn’t do all of this so that we could take up space in an impressive building.  Buildings may be impressive, and they may be beautiful, but they don’t inspire, and they don’t accomplish the mission.  Those men and women who were here from 1839 until now left us a legacy of more than bricks and mortar.  Each of them worked to preach the message of the Gospel, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, to care for the widows and the orphans, to reach the lost with the good news of Jesus Christ, to offer light to a dark world, and rescue to people who were condemned by God.

And thinking about all of that brought me to this thought: What will we be remembered for?  Many of us, and many of those in our community, have a relationship with the risen Jesus Christ because generations of people in this place made sure that they passed on what they knew to the next generation.  We stand on the shoulders of giants.  Those men and women built a church, they carved out a community and a city in the middle of a wilderness, they constructed, and remodeled, a marvelous architectural work of art in which we worship, and they remained faithful to the mission and the vision of Jesus Christ. img_20180923_183536_854

But today, the responsibility for that mission and vision has fallen to us.  If we are to be remembered, then resting on the shoulders of those giants isn’t enough.  We must carry on, and move forward, with the same vision, passion and commitment as those who went before us.  It’s our turn to preach the Gospel, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the widows and orphans, offer light to a dark world, and rescue the lost.

Make no mistake.  Our church building is incredible.  But as we admire its beauty we should ask ourselves:

How will we be remembered?

What legacy will we leave behind?

Leader or Servant? – Why Character Matters

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“Leader or Servant?”

(Why Character Matters)

September 23, 2018*

By Pastor John Partridge

Proverbs 31:10-31                 Mark 9:30-37             James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a

Have you ever seen someone use authority well?

Sometime around 1995 I was working in research and development on a new type of control system for residential forced-air heating systems.  We had developed the technology in the laboratory and were ready to install several systems, in various parts of the country, run them in the homes of real people, and collect data on their operation.  One of the homes in which our system would be installed belonged to an executive in major furnace manufacturer which was one of our industry partners.  Everything was proceeding on schedule and under budget until we were within a week or two of the installation.  We had our plane tickets in hand.  The equipment was already on site.  But everything got jammed up when our company lawyers couldn’t agree with their company lawyers over who was liable for what.  As engineers, it was completely out of our hands.  All we could do was watch as faxes and emails went back and forth between us and our partner.

Until our Vice President, who oversaw the entire research department, stepped in.  One day, in the middle of this impasse, he stopped in to ask why nothing was happening.  So, we told him.  By the next day, the contracts were completed, signed, and the project was back on track.  When I asked my manager what happened, he said that our VP had simply called their VP, they both called their respective lawyers, told them that they wanted it done, and POOF!  It got done.

I’ve always remembered that story because it reminds me that a key responsibility of leaders is to work for, to serve, their subordinates.  Our VP rarely involved himself in the daily affairs of engineers, but he reminded us that when we really needed his authority, he worked for us.  By virtue of his position, title, and power, he could get things done that we couldn’t hope to do.  We had no ability to argue with our legal team or to overcome their objections and concerns, but all he needed to do was to tell them to get it done… and it was done.

In each of our scriptures today we see different types of godly leadership that we can apply to our lives in church, at home, and in our schools and workplaces.  We begin at home, in Proverbs 31:10-31, which is the one chapter of the Bible that is known to be written by a woman.  Proverbs 31:1 says that these words are:

31:1 The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him.

And so, even though King Lemuel put the words on paper, he made sure that everyone knew that these were his mother’s words.  We continue reading in verse ten where it says:

10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff  and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

This passage is sometimes criticized as a description of the expectations placed upon women, but I don’t see it that way.  Instead, I find that this describes a woman of strong character who is, as much as possible in the culture in which she lives, a full and dedicated partner, with her spouse, in the life of their family and in building a life together.  She is, without question, a leader in her community who dedicates her time and effort to lifting up her family, her household, the poor, and her entire community.  She and her husband act as a team.  Their efforts, together, build the respect in the community for both of them and although he must have some sort of employment, she seems to earn just as much for her family and provides for them in ways that he cannot.  Neither of the members of this partnership would do as well without the other.  She is able to do what she does because of him, and he is able to do what he does because of her and each would be severely handicapped without the other.  Because of her hard work, her leadership, and her compassion for others, she is honored and praised by her family, and by the leaders of her community.

But what is it about this woman that makes her good and honorable?

Is it just because she works hard?  And what can we learn from this and apply to our own lives?

In James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a, we hear this explanation:

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James simply says that character matters.  If you are wise and understanding… prove it.  If you are smart, then your life will show the world that you are smart.  The way that you live, the deeds that you do, the friends that you keep, the actions that you take, the humility that you show in your interactions with others, is the proof that the world will witness.  At the same time, bitter envy and selfish ambition is proof that you are earthly, unspiritual, and even demonic because envy and selfish ambition are not the proof of wisdom, but the hallmarks of disorder and evil.

In contrast, the wisdom that comes from God is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, merciful, impartial, sincere, and full of good fruit.  It is the peacemakers, James says, who produce great harvests of righteousness in the lives of others.  Fights and quarrels are the result of conflicting human desires.  Our desires, greed, and covetousness drive us toward evil, violence, and death.  We claim that God doesn’t hear our prayers, but the James says that the real reason our prayers go unanswered is that we ask with the wrong motives.  We ask God to give us stuff so that we can spend what he gives us for our own pleasure and not for the things of God and for God’s kingdom.

James’ recipe for success, is to submit to God.  Men and women must both submit to God.  We must resist the devil, resist evil, come to God, and only then will God come close to us.  We must purify ourselves, our motive must be pure, so that we are not double-minded.  We cannot want what God wants and want what we want.  We cannot pray that God would bless his ministry and grow his church and use his blessings for our own pleasures.

I admit that this is difficult stuff.  James is ruthless and his teaching pierces the hearts of the best among us.  But his message is clear.  A pure heart is a heart that is dedicated to God… alone.

And so, what does any of that have to do with leadership?  How does a heart dedicated to God look to the outside world, or to our church, or to our family?

And for that, we turn to Mark 9:30-37 where we hear the answer from Jesus.

30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Jesus says that the hallmark of true, humble, peace-loving, pure, godly leadership is servanthood.  Leaders are called to be servants first and tyrants last.  These are the things that reveal our character.  David fell when he considered his desires ahead of Uriah’s, but also ahead of the needs of Bathsheba, the needs of his nation, or the will of God.  The illustration and visual aid that Jesus uses is the welcoming of little children.  With few words, this speaks volumes about leadership.  Jesus says that leaders do good, even for those who can do nothing for you in return.  This is as far from “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” as you can possibly get.  This says, “I’ll scratch your back, even if you don’t have any arms.”  This says that leaders help others, not because they expect something in return, but simply because they can.  The Vice President of Research had little (something but not much) to gain by helping us break the logjam on our project, but with one phone call, he did what several engineers and two or three managers couldn’t get done in weeks.  He wasn’t a particularly godly man, as far as I know, but I have always remembered this example of leadership.

This is why character matters.  Real leaders are not just leaders.  Real leaders, godly leaders, must be servants at heart.

As leaders, our personal desires must take a back seat to the needs of those whom we lead and serve.

Our priority must always be the mission, but also the care of those under our authority, whether or not they like us, whether or not we like them, and whether or not they can do something for us in return.

And don’t think that you are off the hook because you aren’t a leader.  All of us, in one way or another, are leaders or, at the very least, are training for leadership.  All of us, at one time or another, find ourselves responsible for others.  We teach Sunday school, we parent children, we babysit, and so on.  Many of us are what the military refers to as unofficial leaders, or back-channel leaders.  We are people who others look up to, and respect, simply because we are older, or have done our jobs longer, or because we are known to be honest, or diligent, in our work.  Leadership doesn’t have to come with an official title.

All of us are leaders.

All of us must lead with a servant’s heart.

Because…

…character matters.

_________

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online).  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Connecting the Dots

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dog-connect-the-dotsHave you ever played “Dot-to-Dot”?  Do you remember doing those dot-to-dot games and worksheets when you were younger?  When you start one of those sheets, it just looks like a mess, an unorganized mass of dots.  But as we move our pencils and draw lines from one number to the next, the picture begins to fill in.  In Kindergarten, our puzzles only had a few dots, but the older we got, the more complex they became until there were some advanced puzzle sheets that, with a little patience and care, became beautiful and interesting pictures.

Real life in our church is lot like that.

It’s a conversation that I’ve had with our church staff and with a few others and it’s a conversation that we will likely keep having because, like all humans, we tend to forget.

The reason we need to keep talking about it, is this: Our church, like most other churches, does a lot of great things.  We care.  We care about people, and we care about things like scripture, and faithfulness, and Jesus, and sharing the gospel.  But sometimes, we get so focused on doing all the things that we do, that we forget to “connect the dots.”  It’s important to stay focused on the mission of Jesus Christ, to rescue the lost and bring comfort to the poor and the hurting.  But while we do that, we need to remember that coming to faith in Christ is a process that doesn’t happen all at once.  People don’t hear about Jesus and suddenly <<POOF!>> become mature disciples.

And so, as a church, we find ourselves with all these “dots.”  We have a “dot” for evangelism, and a dot for missions, and a dot for Christian Education, and a dot this, and a dot for that, and, if we aren’t careful, it begins to look like a mass of unorganized dots.  The goal is to connect the dots, so that we can not only reach out to the lost, but to also guide them along a process that will lead them to faith in Jesus, and then to church attendance, church membership, growing Christian maturity, and eventually to becoming mature disciples of Jesus Christ working toward the transformation of the world.

I encourage us all to think about how we “connect the dots” here at Christ Church.

As we plan worship services, and mission trips, and evangelism, and all sorts of other “dots”, let’s try to remember to pause occasionally to ask ourselves, “What happens next?”  What part of the process came before this one, and what part should come next?  Let’s think about how we can guide new people and fellow believers alike through the process from unbeliever to mature disciple.

We will need to work together to accomplish our mission and… connect the dots.

Blessings,

John

Purpose. Words. Action.

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , ,

“Purpose. Words. Action.”

August 26, 2018*

By Pastor John Partridge

 

1 Kings 8:22-30, 41-43                      John 6:56-69              Ephesians 6:10-20

Have you ever gone on a vacation?

Or, have you ever turned a corner in a part of town that you don’t visit often, and discover that there’s a new building that you’ve never seen before?

Often, for both vacations and construction, as well as almost everything else, things seem to happen suddenly, almost magically.  We even talk about it that way.  We say things like, “We’re going to disappear for the weekend.” Or, “We just took off for a quick holiday.”  But, even something as simple as a weekend getaway doesn’t “just happen.”  We had the idea that we might want to do that, we coordinate schedules, we take time off of work, kennel the dogs, get a cat-sitter, we plan where we’re going, make reservations, pack suitcases, get the car serviced, or at least buy gas, and only after all of that do we “disappear for the weekend.”

Getting from point A to point B takes planning and preparation.

But it also takes purpose.  Before you go on a vacation or build a building, you must have a reason to do so.  It might simply be that you’re tired and need a break, but something made you decide.  You had something in mind as a goal even if your only goal was to relax.  A new building is, from the very beginning, designed with a specific goal in mind and, as a result, a church looks very different than an office building, or a factory, or a doctor’s office.  This idea is so common, that we have an expression for it, “Form follows function.”

The church is no different.  And so, when we read the story about the construction of the temple that Solomon built to honor God, we discover not only the purpose for which the temple was built, but also the purpose that God has for his people and for his church.  (1 Kings 8:22-30, 41-43)

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said:

“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.

27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

41 “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

I think that it’s worth noting that God promises Solomon that his descendants will continue to sit on the throne and be blessed by God only if they are careful in all that they do and walk faithfully with God as David did.  We must be careful in what we draw from this because none of us are likely to be descendants of King David and this promise is therefore not directly aimed at us, but all the same, as a general guideline, this tells us a lot about how God might choose to disburse his blessings upon his people.  We cannot reasonably expect that God will bless what we do, if we are not careful in what we do and walk faithfully with God.

But even more importantly, I think, is that after Solomon prays that God’s name will “be here” in that place, he prays that God would hear the prayers of the foreigners who have come from far away because they had heard of the greatness of Israel’s God.  Solomon prays that God would answer the prayers of the foreigner so that…, and here I need to interrupt myself.  Whenever we encounter words such as “so that” or “therefore” we need to sit up and pay attention because those words signal a conclusion that summarizes everything that came before.  And so, having built a great temple for the God of Israel, and having prayed that God would be present in it, and that God would answer the prayers of his people as well as the prayers of foreigners from far away, Solomon declared that the reason for all of it, is so that all the people of the earth would know God in the same way that the people of Israel knew God and that they would know that the temple that Solomon had built was a place where God was present.  Solomon wants the world to know that this is not Solomon’s temple, but that it is God’s Temple.

Fast forward three thousand years and that same purpose is easily transferable to us.  The purpose of this church, and of this people, is that all the people around us would know God the way that we know God and that everyone who encounters us would know that this is a place of prayer where they can meet God and experience his presence.

The purpose of the church has not changed.

Having established the purpose of the church, let’s return to the story of Jesus as he explains the idea of sharing his flesh and his blood in John 6:56-69.

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Jesus said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.”  And if you remember, last week we learned that John described Jesus by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  And from that we understand Jesus’ references to flesh and blood to be a connection not only to his bodily sacrifice, but to the words that he said and the things that he taught.  Jesus emphasizes this in the passage that we just read when he said, “The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”  We see this again when Peter says, “You have the words of eternal life.”

Even Jesus’ own disciples knew that this was a difficult teaching.  We must feed on the word of God to sustain our spiritual lives, just as we must eat food for our physical bodies to survive.  Jesus has the words of eternal life.  We must always keep this in mind as we set out to be the church and to save the world.  We cannot save the lost, or rescue the hurting, or be a lighthouse of hope, or even truly feed the hungry or clothe the naked unless we share with them the words and the Good News of Jesus.  What good would it be to save physical lives and, at the same time, make no attempt to rescue them for eternity?

But what else?

We know the purpose of the church, and we know that we need to consume the word of God and we know that we need to be about the business of saving the world by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, and his words, with them.

But what else?

And again, Paul has something to say about that, this time in his letter to the church in Ephesus. (Ephesians 6:10-20)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Paul emphasizes that our choice is more than just sharing or not sharing, and even more urgent than just reading the word or not reading it.  Paul explains that this isn’t the same as choosing between a stop at Sunoco or a stop at BP for fuel.  This is not a picnic, or even a friendly competition.  When we choose to follow Jesus Christ, we are thrust into the middle of an all-out war.  There can be no casual observers because once we put on the uniform, we have taken sides.  As followers of Jesus, we are identified as such and become the enemies of his enemies.  For our own self-defense, and for the protection of our families, friends, and fellow believers, we must arm ourselves for the fight that rages around us.  Paul urges us to put on the armor of faith, defend ourselves from the enemy, and fight against him with everything that we have within us.  Stand your ground against evil, stand for truth, be righteous and stand for righteousness, be ready, spread peace, have faith and arm yourself with the Spirit of God.  At the same time, pray for your leaders, pray for your pastor, pray for our missionaries, pray for one another, and pray for all of those whom we might reach with the message of God’s rescue.  All of these have already been identified as the enemies of Satan, all of them will fall under the attack of his armies, and all of them are in need of God’s protection.  Your prayers, for yourself, and for others, is needed, necessary, and helpful in the fight against evil and for the ultimate victory of Jesus Christ.

In short, if we know the purpose of the church, and if we are fed with the words of Jesus Christ, we must also know that stopping there simply isn’t good enough.  There is work to do.  We are at war.  And every single soldier is needed for the battle.

Let us encourage one another.

Let us pray for one another.

Let us ready ourselves.

We are at war.

We must take action.

Let’s fight to make a difference.

 

 

 

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online).  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Karma, Deception, and Grace

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , , , ,

“Karma, Deception, and Grace”

August 05, 2018*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a                    John 6:24-36              Ephesians 4:1-16

Have you ever heard of Karma?  Most of us have.  It’s a popular idea even if the word is often misused.  In Hinduism and Buddhism, by definition, karma is “the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.”  What that means is, karma is the thing that will punish an evildoer, by guiding them to an unpleasant reincarnation as a poor person, or as a slug, or some other unpleasant experience in proportion to the evil that they did in a previous life.  In popular usage, karma is (wrongly) thought of as “what goes around comes around” or why bad things will, eventually, happen to bad people.

But within Christianity, we don’t believe in karma.  Instead, we believe in a sovereign, all-knowing, all-seeing, God who promises justice and judgement.  In Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a, we rejoin King David’s story as David’s crimes are revealed and his punishment levied.

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.”

Last week we noted that God was undoubtedly disappointed by David’s failure, but we realize, as we read this week’s passage, that “disappointed” doesn’t go far enough.  Our scripture tells us that “the thing David had done displeased the Lord.”  Even David, when presented the facts of his own case simply disguised as a story about a prized lamb by the prophet Nathan, condemns himself and demands that no pity should be taken on such a person.  But in the next moment, David’s sin is revealed as Nathan proclaims, “You are the man.”  Murder by proxy is still murder.  Nathan doesn’t quibble about who “pulled the trigger” or whose hands killed Uriah, Nathan simply says, “You killed him,” and “You took his wife.”  Before announcing David’s sentence.  God declares, “the sword will never depart from your house” or, that violence will always be a part of David’s life, and that members of his own family will one day betray him, and sleep with his wives.  David’s punishment is truly, “what goes around comes around” but it isn’t karma, it’s justice handed out by an all-knowing God.

David, like many people throughout history, including many people in our present-day world, was deceived by money, sex, and power, and began to believe that he was above the law.  He was the king, he was rich and powerful, so he could get away with it.  But in the end, David remembers the truth, that nothing is done that God does not see, that no one is above the laws of God, and that, in the end, no one escapes justice.

But don’t be fooled into thinking that David’s story is a condemnation of rich people.  In John 6:24-35, we hear a familiar story about Jesus in which ordinary people, and a great many of them, suffer from the same kind of deception that David did.

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.

An entire crowd of people climbed into boats and went in search of Jesus, but Jesus knew that every one of them had been deceived.  All these people, rich and poor alike, had followed him, not because of Jesus’ miracles, and not because of his teaching, but because they thought that he would keep feeding them.  They weren’t following Jesus the savior of mankind, or even Jesus the great teacher, they were following a meal ticket.  They didn’t follow Jesus because he confronted them with their sinfulness, or because he could help them to get closer to God, or because he would help them to become better people, they followed Jesus because of what they thought that they could get out of him.  In this case, food.

This hasn’t changed.  There are a lot of people who come to church and are known to be good upstanding members of the community and longstanding church members who have been coming to church for entirely the wrong reasons.  They come to church because their parents did, or because that simply “what good people do,” or because it’s “good for business.”  But, just like the crowds that followed Jesus, all these people have been deceived.  They are following Jesus for what they can get out of him.

And Jesus sets them all straight saying: “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.”  Jesus tells the people not to be deceived by food… or by anything that spoils.  Don’t be deceived by money, sex, or power, but neither should we be deceived by more common things like clothes, or cars, nice apartments, houses, prominent businesses, job titles, professional associations, or anything else that disappears like smoke after you die.  Instead, be concerned about things that last for eternity long after your life on earth is over.

Believe in the one that God has sent and make it your business to invite others to know him.  Only your life, and the lives of others, will endure into eternity, and only Jesus can give us the bread of life.

But if we are to keep our focus on God and not be deceived by “stuff,” then how should we live our lives?  And, once again, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul shares what a life lived for God might look like. (Ephesians 4:1-16)

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; 5 one 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 it [Psalm 68:18] says:

“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 reminds the church that we have been called to follow Jesus, adopted into God’s family, and work alongside Jesus, on his mission, and are empowered by the Holy Spirit, and we ought to live our lives in such a way as to be worthy of that high calling.  We should be completely humble, patient, and loving and make every effort to remain in the unity of the Spirit through the peace that binds us together.  Jesus has poured out grace upon each one of us but in doing so he also gave us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

But why?

Why do we need those people?  Do we need them so that we can delegate the work of the church to them?

Clearly, Paul says, no.  Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are not employees.

Instead, Paul says that all these were called by God and sent by Jesus to equip the church for the works of service that he has called them to do.  And we are to do these works of service to build up the body of Christ until such a time that we all become mature.  And Paul says that we will be mature when we no longer act like children, no longer get tossed back and forth by our culture, no longer deceived by money, sex, power, and the craftiness of deceitful schemes.  The body of Christ, Paul says, is held together by every supporting ligament, it grows, it builds itself up in love, and every single part of the body of Christ does the work that God has called us to do.

Every single part, every single person, every single believer, has work to do.

Every one of us must be out on the field.

There are no spectators.

Maturity doesn’t come because we belong to the church and it doesn’t come simply because we stuck around for a few decades.

The way that we learn not to be deceived like David, or like the crowd that followed Jesus, the way what we become mature, is to listen and to learn from scripture.  To listen and learn from the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers that God has called so that all of us are equipped to do the work that God has called us to do.

And we must persist, we must keep on doing that work until we, eventually, become mature.

 

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online).  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

The Power of a Pure Heart

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“The Power of a Pure Heart”

July 29, 2018*

By Pastor John Partridge

 

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

 

How many “church words” do you know?

You know what I mean.  If you’ve been around churches or church people for any length of time, you begin to pick up a new vocabulary of “church words” that mean special things to “church people.”  “Church words” leave unchurched people a little baffle when they hear us using them.  And sometimes even church people can be a little confused.  We hear these words, we know that the pastor uses them, and sometimes we might even use them ourselves, but if we’re honest, sometimes we aren’t completely sure what they mean.

I mention all of this because when we aren’t sure about the meanings of some of these words, we are also likely to misunderstand, or fail to understand, why those words are important.  This morning we’re going to talk about some of these common church words.  Specifically, we are going to talk about the words ‘spirit,’ ‘filled by the spirit,’ ‘heart,’ and ‘having Jesus in your heart.’  We hear these words all the time and we know that they’re supposed to be important, but at the end of the day sometimes we’re left wondering, “What difference does it make?”  But it *does* make a difference.  And I hope, after we work our way through today’s scriptures, that most of us will have a better understanding of these ‘church words’ and why they’re important.

We begin, once again, with the story of King David.  But today we join the story in 2 Samuel 11:1-15, where we find David making what is almost certainly the greatest mistake of his entire life.

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.”

This is a difficult story for us because David is supposed to be a hero.  As we noted last week, David is referred to as “a man after God’s own heart.”  But the man in this story seems to be almost a completely different sort of fellow.  In this story, during the spring when kings went off to war, David dialed it in, he sent Joab to war while he stayed home in his cedar paneled palace.  When a naked woman took a bath across the street, David watched instead of looking away and then invited her over when he should have minded his own business. Then he slept with another man’s wife, tried to cover it up, and then, when he discovered that her husband, Uriah, was unfailingly loyal to his king, his country, and to his fellow soldiers, David rewarded his loyalty by betraying him and plotting his murder at the hands of the enemy.

That sure doesn’t sound like a hero to me.  David’s behavior is nothing short of awful, even horrific.  But this story does tell us something about the hearts of human beings, even the hearts of people who are good.  We are reminded that even good people make mistakes.  Good people still fall, we still sin, we still behave in ways that are brutally selfish and that ignore the commands of God even when we absolutely know better.  When we read this story, we can’t help but be disappointed in David… and we should be.  I’m certain that God was disappointed as well (not surprised, but disappointed nonetheless).  And perhaps this allows us a taste, a sample, of how God must feel when we fail.

But before we dwell too much on sin, and selfishness, and disappointment, lets read an entirely different story about Jesus for comparison.  The focus on this story, naturally, is Jesus and the miracle that he performs with the feeding of the five thousand.  But as I read the story, today I want you to listen for the part of Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother because, although his part is small, his contribution changes the entire story from one of hopelessness, to one of victory, triumph, and faith. (John 6:1-15)

6:1Some 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.

How many of you were able to recognize the part that Andrew plays in the story?

It went by quickly, and I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you missed it.

But when Jesus asks where they can buy bread for a crowd of ten of fifteen thousand people, Philip’s answer is hopeless.  Philip’s thinking runs basically in this direction, ‘We’re too far away from any town or from any bakery.  There’s no way that the bakery would have enough food to feed this many people.  And even if food could be found, there’s no way that we would have a fraction of the money that we would need to buy it.’

But Andrew is entirely different.  Andrew has no idea how so many people can be fed.  But rather than focusing on what they don’t have, Andrew focuses on the two things that they do have, the sack lunch that a loving mother packed for her son… and Jesus.

Andrew remembers that even when they didn’t have all the things they thought that they needed, what little they had, plus Jesus, had always been enough.  Andrew remembered that Jesus had sent them all out to preach with no money, no food, no change of clothes, but only what they wore on their backs and staff.  And with that they preached, and taught, and healed, and cast out demons, and the whole nation noticed.

Andrew reminds us all that even when it seems like we don’t have nearly enough, if we have faith, Jesus can use what we have, to accomplish far more than we ever imagined possible.

Little becomes much, when Jesus is in it.

So, as we think about the comparison of these two stories, and these two men, David and Andrew, let us also consider the words of the Apostle Paul from Ephesians 3:14-21 for some perspective.

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in 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 prays that God, from his storehouse of glorious riches, might strengthen the church with power through the Holy Spirit so that Jesus Christ might dwell in our hearts through faith. Paul prays that we might be rooted and grounded in love, and be given power, so that together with all of God’s people, we might begin to understand how much Jesus loves…  not just how much Jesus loves us, but how much Jesus loves everyone.  Paul also says that when we begin to understand how much Jesus loves, then we will know a love that is greater than knowledge, and only then will we be filled to overflowing, Paul says “filled to the measure of all the fullness, of God.”

These two stories give us a little insight into some of those ‘church words’ I mentioned earlier.  Although David was a man after God’s own heart, during the story of his encounter with Bathsheba, he was not acting in a godly way and we can see that he was not filled with the Spirit of God nor was he following the direction of the Spirit.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  Andrew, on the other hand, was listening and the Spirit within him prompted him to bring Jesus a sack lunch, even though he had no idea why, or how it could possibly be useful in feeding fifteen thousand people.

If you are ever tempted to ask, “What difference does it make?” to have Jesus in your heart, or to invite the Spirit of God to be at work within you, just remember these two men.  By listening to God’s Spirit, Andrew’s faith allowed Jesus to do the impossible, but by ignoring that same spirit, David suffered one of his greatest failures.

When we put our faith in Jesus and invite his Spirit to be at work in us, we are empowered by God to do great, even miraculous, things even when we don’t have much to offer by ourselves.  Remember that if one sack lunch can feed fifteen thousand people, God can do miracles with what you have to offer him too.  Because little is much, when we offer it to God through faith.

 

 

 

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online).  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Watching the Impossible

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“Watching the Impossible”

July 01, 2018

By John Partridge*

 

Deuteronomy 30:9-14                       Jeremiah 18:1-6

 

Have you ever been asked to do the impossible?

 

For those of us who study history, or for those who are old enough to remember it, it is worth noting that the Polish Army has been ridiculed because at the beginning of World War Two, they attacked German tanks with cavalry.  Men on horseback would seem to be a remnant of a bygone era. While this seems ludicrous, the truth is that the Polish army had some of the best tanks and anti-tank weapons in all of Europe, including those brought to the field by Germany. But while it seems odd that Poland had mounted cavalry units in the field, we forget that every other nation involved in that great conflict did as well, including the United States who used cavalry units in the Philippines.  Poland’s cavalry were skilled infantry soldiers who each carried a rifle, a saber, and the single best anti-tank weapon available in that day. For the Poles, horses were simply a means of moving an infantry force with greater speed and flexibility.

 

From our perspective, asking soldiers on horseback to fight against tanks was asking the impossible, but the bravery and training of the Polish troops may have achieved the impossible. Although the German Army had rolled through the contested lands between Germany and Czechoslovakia without opposition, the war for Poland lasted for thirty-six days. In a single battle, between a Polish Cavalry Brigade and Germany’s 4th Panzer Division, Germany lost over 100 armored fighting vehicles and at least 50 tanks. Ultimately, the superior size of the German military overcame the resistance of the Polish army, but their defense was of major significance. The advance of the German army was slowed enough to allow the evacuation of much of the Polish army and, as a result, Polish military units fought their way from the beaches of Normandy, across Europe, into Germany, and to the surrender of her port cities.

 

Although people laugh at the ridiculousness of attacking tanks with cavalry, the reality is that the Polish Army did the impossible.

 

Today, the question I would like to ask is this: Has God ever asked you to do the impossible? What is it that God has put on your heart? How many times have you thought or felt that you ought to do something, or even that God might be leading you to do something and yet rejected the idea because it was too hard or even seemed to be impossible? I think that at one time or another, this has probably happened to all of us, but our scripture for today promises something different. (Deuteronomy 30:9-14)

 

9Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

 

In this passage, we are reminded that it is God that does the doing. It is God that commands, it is God that rejoices in our obedience and it is God that orchestrates our success. We are taught that God will bring success when we are obedient and faithful. What’s more, we are told that what we have been asked to do is not out of our reach simply because God has given us everything that we need in order to be obedient.

 

In September of 2001, along with you, I watched in horror as two commercial airliners were flown into the World Trade Center, a building that I had visited only a few years earlier. Perhaps in part because of these disturbing images, I began to reconsider the meaning of my work and of my life. Only two or three years earlier I had changed jobs in order to find work that was more tangible. With a degree in electrical engineering, I had been working at a Laboratory in Cleveland, testing gas appliances for compliance with national safety standards. There, I often felt as if we were just spinning our wheels, always doing the same thing and generating tons of paper doing it. In my new job in North Canton, we were building machines and equipment for the steel industry. It was satisfying that once every few months we could go out to the loading dock and see the end result of our work as it was shipped to its destination. Occasionally, we would also have the opportunity to travel and help with the installation. I felt challenged by my work and I was happy with what I was doing but there began to be a nagging afterthought.  I began to wonder what good I was doing. I realized that much of the equipment we were building was replacing machines that had been designed and built by engineers (like me) twenty or thirty years earlier and I came to the realization that in another twenty or thirty years all of our work would likewise be torn out, melted down, and replaced.

 

Less than six months later, I was called into my supervisor’s office and informed that my services were no longer required. There was no warning, there were no memos outlining my failures, just an abrupt termination. I really struggled with that. The way in which I was let go, and my resulting unemployment, was difficult for me but also for my family. Not only did they have to deal with our lack of income, but also with my depression, moodiness and underlying anger. I was unemployed for two years. In an economy that was good, and with a degree and a work history that was solid, I should have had no trouble finding work, but instead it seemed like I couldn’t even buy an interview. During this time, I questioned God’s will for me. I started by crying and yelling and eventually began to pray and study. I devoured books and study materials that my pastor thought might be helpful and finally began to consider the unthinkable. I grew up in the home of a United Methodist pastor. I moved three times and attended school in four school districts. For forty years, I swore that there was no way on God’s green earth that I would ever even consider being a pastor.

 

But, God had other plans.

 

Sometimes during the course of our lives, the game changes. Where we find ourselves is not where God wants us to be, and he will use whatever tools necessary to move us from where we are to where he wants us to be.  Some faithful followers are so well attuned to God that they respond to his hints, nudges, suggestions, and whisper.  But others of us are stubborn.  In our stubbornness, God sometimes finds it necessary to hit us upside the head with a 2 x 4. You need to know that this change of heart wasn’t only a big deal for just me. When we were married, Patti told me that she was glad that I was an engineer because she never wanted to be married to a doctor or a pastor. During my unemployment, Patti was involved in a Bible study in local church other than our own. Somehow, in that study, God was working on Patti’s heart. I knew that God would never call me into ministry unless he called both of us.  And one day, before I had ever hinted to Patti what God might be doing, Patti came to me and said something shocking. Patti said that God had made it clear to her that I needed to do what God wanted me to do, even if that meant answering a call to pastoral ministry. You need to understand that several years earlier, during a church revival weekend, both Patti and I had felt that God might be calling us into some kind of full-time ministry. We both felt that whatever God was calling us toward was still in the future and, we both assumed, since we headed the church missions committee, that it might somehow involve missions.

 

And so now I was contemplating the impossible. I asked my pastor if, as an engineer, I had any possibility of being admitted into seminary. With a background in mathematics and physics, I wondered if I would meet any prerequisites at all. My pastor laughed. She laughed. We knew that our pastor had gifts, and two gifts that Pastor Linda Somerville had in abundance were a sensitivity to God’s will, and an amazing ability to read and understand people. When I asked Pastor Linda about seminary and about a potential call to ministry, she told me that she had known for over a year that God was calling us into ministry but was afraid that if she said anything to us, she would mess up whatever God was trying to do.

 

After that, things seemed to begin to fall into place. I was introduced to the Provost of Ashland University by a mutual friend, applied for admission at Ashland Seminary, was accepted, started classes, and then, finally found a part-time job. Six months later I was appointed as a student pastor in the Mid-Ohio District just south of Mansfield, Ohio. A condition of being a student pastor was that I had a half-time ministry and was to attend seminary on a full-time basis, and I did. After four years of seminary I graduated in 2008. During our time at Johnsville/Steam Corners, the financial health of the church had been changing. While we hadn’t grown much in attendance, financially we managed to grow, just a little, each year. It was expected that when I graduated, we would be moved and another student would come to take my place. But instead, Johnsville and Steam Corners decided that they were able to afford a full-time pastor and asked that we stay. As a result, instead of moving after only three or four years, as many students do and as many of Johnsville pastors had, we stayed for six.

 

We then moved to Barnesville and, although we expected to say longer, for a variety of reasons, we left after only two years.  One again, God had other plans and we moved to Trinity in Perry Heights between Massillon and Canton.  And after six years, although we thought we would be staying longer, we find ourselves here, in Alliance.  As always, we believe that God has been a part of this process.

 

Of course, there is more to our story but that’s enough for today. For us, God has done the impossible and has moved the immovable. To get us where we are today, God has done miracles and changed us in ways we never thought possible.

 

Before we close I would like to share a passage from Jeremiah 18.

 

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

In the end, we are all like clay in the hands of the potter.  If you’ve ever watched a pot being formed you will sometimes see that a small defect, a grain of sand or a small pebble, come to the surface while the clay is spinning on the wheel.  When that happens, it scars and ruins the entire piece and the only choice left is for the potter to pick up the clay, smash it into a lump, plop it back onto the wheel and start over.  Our lives are like that.  It is never fun when we are squashed and plopped down on the wheel but through it all we can know that God is lovingly and carefully shaping us into the people that he has created us to be.

Today we stand as witnesses that God is able to accomplish whatever he has put in your heart to do. We are witness to God’s faithfulness and power. We know that it is God that does the doing. We know that God brings success when we are obedient and faithful. We know that it is God that commands, it is God that rejoices in our obedience and it is God that orchestrates our success.

 

Today, as we sit in church, the question I would like to ask is this: Has God ever asked you to do the impossible?

 

What is it that God has put on your heart?

I urge you to attempt the difficult and consider the impossible… before God decides to use a 2×4 to get your attention.

 

 

 

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Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

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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 Pastor@CUMCAlliance.org.   These messages can also be found online at hhttps://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Why I am Not Posting

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There haven’t been any updates here for a couple of weeks now and it’s not an accident.

But why?

Those of you who follow me on social media already know, but some folk might have missed it.

We’re moving.

Most of my post come from our regular Sunday worship services, or from funerals, weddings, hallway conversations, questions that I get asked or commentary on news events that intersect with the church or religion in some way.  But while my/our ministry is continuing, it is also changing locations.  I have been reassigned from Trinity church in Massillon, Ohio to Christ United Methodist Church in Alliance, Ohio.  We’ve already hauled five or six trailers full of stuff out of the house and into storage.  For the last week or two we’ve been attending our church’s Annual Conference at Lakeside near Sandusky, Ohio but for the last few months we’ve also been packing.  Within the next couple weeks the moving trucks will come, friends will volunteer, and everything we own will be transported to a new house, a new church, and a new community.

It’s a lot to take in.

And there are a ton of details to wade through.

So, in the meantime, I’m not spending a lot of time on my computer doing much of anything.  I will, however be preaching at Christ Church in Alliance on July first and that message will appear here.  As we get settled in, a more regular pace will be reestablished.

And possibly a few new surprises as well.

Stay tuned.