communion

Confident Submission

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Confident Submission

April 07, 2023*

(Good Friday)

By Pastor John Partridge

Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9                    Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12

When you do the things that you do, are you sure, are you certain, are you confident?

When we drive our cars, are we confident in our ability to navigate, to drive defensively, and to arrive safely at our destination?  When we go to work, are we confident, because of our education, skill, and experience, that we can do whatever our employers ask of us?

But how are you at submission?

Those of us who are married likely were asked a question like this:

“Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her?”

And we said, “I will.”

But there in the middle, where it said, “honor and keep him or her” in years past, might well have been worded to say, that we should submit to one another.  Now, we just say that we should “honor” one another, but the meaning is the same.  We honor our spouses by valuing their opinion, submitting to them, and doing the things that they want to do instead of the things that we want to do.  Of course, that has to be a two-way street.  Life is all about balance.

For that reason, at least in the case of our spouses, we are often both comfortable, and confident, in our submission.  We are accustomed to the give and take of a healthy relationship.  Sometimes our spouses do things because we like them, and sometimes we do things that may not be our favorite things, just because we know that our spouse likes them and because it makes them happy.

And it is this kind of healthy obedience and submission that I think we see in the description of the coming Messiah that we find in Isaiah 52 and 53.  It’s worth reading.  I’m not going to take the time to read all of it this evening, but in it we hear things like:

52:13 See, my servant will act wisely he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him, his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness.

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.

 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

That was the kind of person that Israel expected as their Messiah, and that’s the kind of person that we meet in the person of Jesus Christ.  The writer of Hebrews, in Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 says this:

4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

God heard the prayers of Jesus because of his obedience and reverent submission.  Jesus knew exactly what waited for him in Jerusalem and he went anyway.  Jesus knew that the members of the Sanhedrin were conspiring to kill him, but he went anyway.  He knew that the path that lay in front of him was filled with suffering, pain, and death, but he went anyway.  He did not turn aside from God’s will, he did not swerve, he did not flinch from his calling because he was confident in God, confident in the will of God, and confident in his submission to God.

The writer of Hebrews said, 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

God asks for our submission.

Can we do any less?

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*You have been reading a message presented at First Christian Church in Alliance, Ohio 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.™

What Should We Remember?

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What Should We Remember?

April 06, 2023*

(Holy Thursday)

By Pastor John Partridge

Exodus 12:1-4, 11-14                         John 13:1-17, 31b-35            1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Even a cursory glance at our history books reminds us that there are a great many things that we are supposed to remember.  We have been told that we should “Remember the Alamo,” “Remember the Maine,” “Remember the Lusitania,” remember Pearl Harbor, remember 9-11, and those don’t even count the movies that asked us to “Remember the Titans,” or political slogans like “Remember the Dreamers.”  Probably a good percentage of the people in this room could not tell me why we’re supposed to remember the Maine and even less what we should remember about the Lusitania even though most of those things happened less than 100 years ago and all of them happened within the last 200 years.

But some of the things that we are called upon to remember in church happened two thousand years ago, and others closer to 3500 years ago.  So, what is it that we should remember?  Specifically, as it relates to Holy Week and Easter, the first, and oldest, of these things is found in the story of Passover and the rescue of the people of Israel from their slavery in Egypt, roughly speaking depending on whether you believe in an early or a late date, around 1300 BCE.  We find God’s command to remember that event in Exodus 12:1-4, 11-14.

12:1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lambfor his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.

11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.

After Israel is rescued from eight hundred years of slavery in Egypt, God commands them to celebrate that rescue every year so that they can remember it forever.

But then, more than a thousand years later, while Jesus and his disciples were celebrating Passover, Jesus gave them a new thing to remember.  We find that command in the story found in John 13:1-17, 31b-35.

13:1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

31 Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jesus didn’t repeal God’s command to remember Passover, he added to it.  Jesus said that just as they remembered God’s grace and the rescue of Israel from slavery, his followers should always remember how much he loved them.  But the way that they should remember his love was to love the people around them the way that Jesus had loved, to love with such an extravagant love, that everyone would know that they were his followers.

But that wasn’t the only thing that Jesus asked them to remember.  In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, the Apostle Paul remembers something else that Jesus wanted his people to remember forever.  Paul says…

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

And so, much like “Remember the Alamo,” but far more urgent and enduring, God commands us to remember. What God wants us to remember is that although it took longer than they expected, God never stopped loving his people and rescued them from their slavery and distress.  God wants us to remember that his Son loved the people around him, and us, with an extravagant kind of love.  Jesus calls all of us who follow him to remember how much he loved, and calls us to love the people around us with the same extravagant, costly, even life-threatening love with which Jesus loved.  And finally, in place of sharing an annual Passover meal, Jesus asks us to regularly share this meal, the Eucharist, or communion, to remind us of all these things.  We share this meal together to remember the life, death, resurrection, and crazy, extravagant, costly, love of Jesus Christ and to remember that the love with which Jesus loved us, is the love to which he calls us to love others.

And that, is what we are supposed to remember.

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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.™

Remembering Who We Are

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Remembering Who We Are

April 01, 2021*

(Holy Thursday)

By Pastor John Partridge

Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14             John 13:1-17, 31b-35                         1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Often during the important seasons of the church year, we find ourselves wondering why.  Why do we do this every year?  Why to we say the same words, read the same scriptures, and repeat the same rituals?  Why do we tell the stories of Holy Week?  Why is it important?  Why does it even matter?

And our answer in the twenty-first century is the same as it was in the first century and the same as it was a thousand years before that.  And that, of course, is another story worth repeating.  This story is the story of the first Passover that is recorded in Exodus 12:1-14:

12:1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lambfor his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs, and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.”

Even before the Passover happened, God commanded his people to commemorate, to tell the story, to repeat the rituals, so that they would remember what had happened, so that they would remember what God had done for them, so that they would remember where they had come from, and so that they would remember who they were, and to whom they belonged.

These stories serve the same purpose for us.  They remind us of where we have been, where we came from, and where we are going.  They remind us that we are a part of a much larger story and they remind us that over thousands of years, God has never stopped loving us.  Of course, while we remember the story of the Passover, with the coming of Jesus, that is the focus of our ritual.  But in our modern liturgy, we heard the story of the Last Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:24, and we remember that Jesus said, “do this in remembrance of me.”

Just as God commanded Moses and the people of Israel to repeat the story of the Passover, and to make it a lasting remembrance, Jesus commands us to repeat the story and remember.

Just as it was thousands of years ago, we tell the stories, and repeat the rituals, so that we will remember what happened, remember what God had done for us, remember where we came from, remember who we

are, remember to whom we belong, remember that we are loved, and remember the price that was paid for our rescue.
And we remember because, by remembering the story, we are better able to remember what we are supposed to do with our lives.  Because the stories that we tell aren’t just the stories of the past, they are the stories that shape our present, and our future.  Because as we remember where we came from and who we are, we can clearly hear the words of Jesus in John 13:34-35 when he says,

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

May we remember who we are and live lives that the world around us will see and feel… as love.

Video of this service can be found at: https://youtu.be/EFVvpfpdZ2g

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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.