It occurred to me that many of us, myself included, have often used the pandemic and our current denominational stress as excuses to put off doing the important work of the church. We decided that we didn’t want to invite people to church because, well, we weren’t having in-person church, or because we were only having parking lot church, or because we were afraid that they might not want to come because they’d heard about the division within our denomination. But the problem with that kind of procrastination, is that it’s and excuse that never ends.
Every one of us has heard Harry Chapin’s 1974 hit song, “Cat’s in the Cradle.” In it, the man telling the story always promises his son that he would find time for them to be together, but he never did. And at the end of the song, the son is exactly the man that his father was, and repeatedly promises that one day they will find the time to be together. But sadly, we all know that they never will. We hear a similar tale in Robert Bloch’s story “That Hellbound Train.”
In it, a young hobo, Martin, makes a deal with the devil and exchanges a trip to hell for a watch that will allow him to stop time at the happiest moment of his life. And at each of his happiest moments, his wedding day, the birth of his children, Martin debates whether he should use the watch and stop time or if an even happier moment is yet around the corner. And, in the end, Martin never manages to use the devil’s watch before he dies.
Our reaction to our current crises seems to be the same.
We all thought Covid was going to go away in a few weeks, or months, and here we are, more than two years along that road, and still the end is not yet in sight. We keep hearing promises that our denominational confusion will end at “the next General Conference,” but I remember that my pastor and mentor, Linda Somerville, had the same hope when elected as a delegate to the 2000 or 2004 General Conference. Even now, even as churches are choosing to leave our denomination and form another, I simply do not believe that the end is anywhere in sight.
What I’m trying to say, is that there is no point in waiting to do the things that we know that we must do. We know that our church must continue to do the work of Jesus Christ, we know that we must continue to reach out, to be agents of healing and hope, and to continue the mission that Jesus Christ has given to us in Alliance, in Ohio, and in the world. We know that we must grow, we know that we must become an invitational church, we know that we need to reach out to our neighbors, coworkers, family, and friends. We know that we must show them the love that Jesus has shared with us, and invite them to be a part of Christ Church, and a part of Christ’s eternal kingdom.
There’s never going to be a “perfect” time. We don’t know when, or even if, this pandemic is going to end, or what the new normal will look like on the other side of it. We have no idea when, or if, the division within our denomination will end, or if it will just transmogrify into some new kind of debate.
There’s no point in waiting.
There is no benefit to procrastinating or kicking the can down the road.
The only thing that makes any sense, is for us, to do the things that God has called us to do…
Our Easter Sunday worship service this year had a better attendance than in 2019. This year’s official count was one hundred and three years ago it was ninety-three, and attendance at our Easter Vigil service was three more than the last time that we were able to have one. Does that mean that our worries about Covid -19 are over, and our church is “back to normal”?
Well, no.
At the very least, it’s too soon to tell.
Yes, we do seem to be past the worst of it. And yes, many of our members and friends do seem to be finding their way back to in-person worship. But I’m not ready to say that we’re completely out of the woods and our concerns about Covid-19 are behind us.
While the war in Ukraine has pushed Covid out of the daily headlines, the pandemic, and the virus that caused it, is still causing trouble around the world. Most recently, China has been dealing with multiple outbreaks in several places, locking down entire cities, shutting down businesses, closing ports, and creating more disruption to the supply chain which, in turn, causes problems for people, and businesses, around the world. And China isn’t the only country that has had problems. Several European countries have had surges in their case counts, health officials in the United States have seen spikes in several areas and are still warning that we might see additional problems in some places. So, it may be too soon to throw away our supply of masks, although we can all hope that we won’t need them.
The good, even extraordinary, news is that things are getting back to some sort of normal. Many, though not all, of our members and friends are returning, in-person, on Sunday mornings. And, more importantly, although attendance hasn’t quite returned to where it was, it is getting better. Moreover, using Easter attendance as a benchmark suggests that we’re doing pretty well. Some churches have suffered significant declines during the pandemic that look as if they may be permanent, but indications are that we seem to have weathered the storm… so far.
At this point, we have returned to doing most of the things that we were doing before. Our committees are all meeting, we’re holding most of our activities, and we’re almost back to “normal.” And the good news is that the necessities of the pandemic taught us some things, such as Zoom, that we continue to use to allow increased participation and save some of us from extra trips into Alliance. But we aren’t yet where we want to be.
“Almost” isn’t good enough.
While our Easter attendance is certainly encouraging, and our weekly attendance is getting better, we aren’t yet back to where we were. And, honestly, where we were still isn’t where we want to be. Some of our members still don’t feel safe going out in public, and that’s okay. After worrying for more than two weeks while Patti was in the hospital last fall, I completely understand why being in a large group, like in church, might concern some folks. And, knowing that the virus is still spiking in some places suggests that it could happen here, again, too.
So, what should we do?
First, have hope. With the arrival of effective vaccines, things are much better, and, over the course of the last two years, our doctors and hospitals have become much at treating this illness, survival and recovery rates have increased, and promising new Covid-specific antiviral medicines seem close to approval.
Second, stay safe. We understand that all of us are different. Each person, and each situation, is different. So, do what you need to do to stay safe, and to feel safe. We will continue to offer online options for those of you who are unable to get here in person and we will welcome you back when you are ready.
Third, don’t stop being who you are. Christ Church is an amazing and awesome place that is filled with amazing and awesome people. We are known in our community for our outreach and love for our neighbors and that is an incredible reputation so don’t stop doing the things that we’ve always done.
And fourth, don’t stop inviting people to Christ Church. What we have here is great, but people won’t, and can’t, know how wonderful it is unless someone like you points it out to them. Every time it comes up in conversation, and sometime when it doesn’t, invite your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, hairdressers, barbers, classmates, and anyone else you encounter to visit us. Carry invitation cards with you in your wallets and purses. Don’t keep our church a secret. Go out of your way to sing the praises of Christ Church everywhere you go. And, since we now have such a strong online presence, and our livestream compares very favorably to other churches, inviting those people to check us out online is a good option.
This year, our season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, on March 2nd.
But what will that look like?
Lent is a time to remember and to reflect. Spring is coming. And with its arrival, we will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection at Easter. Ordinarily, we see Lent as a time to prepare. A time to give up a favorite treat, food, or activity to remind ourselves of Jesus’ sacrifice and to reflect on him whenever we think about our abstinence from the thing that we “gave up” for Lent. But over the past two years we’ve all given up so many things, my heart almost breaks when I think about giving up anything else.
Our hearts ache for the return of “normal.”
And isn’t that sort of the point?
And so, let’s think about Lent, and our preparation for Easter with that in mind. Last year, we couldn’t be together for Lent. We held Ash Wednesday online, but in dispensing own ashes, and marking our own foreheads, we missed out on pieces that felt crucial to our sense of belonging and normalcy. This year we are worshipping in person and this year we will hold Ash Wednesday in person (and since we noticed that our attendance at our virtual Ash Wednesday far exceeded our regular in-person service, we will also have a livestream).
As we walk through the scriptures of preparation during Lent, you will notice that then, like now, the disciples were passing through a season of radical change. Their routines were disrupted. They were separated from their families, from Jesus, and often from one another. By Easter morning they were heartbroken, frustrated, grieving, and longing for a return to normal. And while our circumstances are vastly different, our own experiences over the last two years certainly make us appreciate what they were going through.
And, assuming the progress of the pandemic continues the downward trend that we’ve been seeing, let’s plan to be together on Easter. Let us use this time to start breaking the habits of the pandemic. Rather than “giving up” for Lent, let’s start “adding back.” Let’s try to attend church on Sunday rather than on Monday or Tuesday (remember YouTube tells me when you’re watching), try to get back in the habit of watching “live” at 10:15 instead of watching in the afternoon and try to attend weekly instead of skipping weeks.
In short, let us use this season of lent hopefully, and prepare ourselves for a return to as “normal” and Easter as we can muster.
Let us commit to a season of preparation so that we will arrive on Easter morning renewed, refreshed, equipped, expectant, and joyful.
My hope is that we can journey together during this season of anticipation and arrive, together, joyfully on Easter morning.
The last year and nine months has been, and continues to be, a long, strange, whirlwind of constant changes, news stories, changes, adaptations, and continued hope for a return to something approaching the “normal” that we remember. Because of the threat of the coronavirus, and the statewide lockdown, we were unable to meet in person for Christmas Eve and so we did the best that we could to “meet” one another virtually. Due to the hard work of our church staff and volunteers, and the amazing video editing of Bob Wallace, we produced a Christmas Eve video that I think surpassed almost any other similar attempt.
But as good as it was, it just wasn’t the same.
No matter how well we celebrated the arrival of the Christ child individually, there was still something missing. Christmas wasn’t the same without being together.
Families are like that. When we are apart, we can mail our gifts to one another, but it isn’t the same as being together. In fact, for many of us, giving and receiving gifts has lost the urgency and the sparkle that it had when we were children. What’s important, and treasured, now is just being together, seeing one another, sharing our stories and our lives, and just spending time together.
And Christmas Eve is all of that, and more. Because the Spirit of God dwells within each one of us as the followers of Jesus, when we are together, we feel the presence, not only of other people, but also the presence of God himself. That’s true every Sunday, and any time that we meet in groups that are large or small, but if you are like me, we feel that sensation of closeness to God most keenly only a few times each year and one of those times is on Christmas Eve.
This year, many of us will, once again, meet together, in person, for Christmas Eve, but we will also be livestreaming that worship service for anyone who is unable to attend or who still feels uncomfortable being around a crowd of people. Rest assured, however, that we continue to encourage mask wear for everyone in attendance and remember that there is ample room to find seats with plenty of “social distance” between you and others. In fact, if this year looks like others in recent history, you can probably have the balcony all to yourself.
But, whichever, option you choose, I hope that you will join us. Moreover, I hope that each one of you will invite at least five others to join us. Christmas Eve is easily one of the most attended worship services of the year in almost every church in North America and, for that reason, is a time when friends are most willing to accept an invitation to attend.
Christmas Eve and Christmas are a time when we draw close to one another, and draw close to God, in a way that is both special and memorable not just because of the people, but because it is a time when we encounter the Spirit of God in a special way. Of course, we will share the extraordinary experience of hearing our choirs, bell choirs, pipe organ, and singing traditional and meaningful carols of Christmas together. But most importantly, we will remember the story of God’s invasion of the earth and the arrival of the Christ child, who would become the rescuer and redeemer of all humanity.
I hope that you will join us as we draw closer one another, and closer to God, together.
During 2021 we continue to struggle with the fallout from the global COVID-19 pandemic. For nearly half of the year we were online only, then in-person, but outdoors, and now indoors with livestreaming to those who remain uncomfortable with a return to indoor worship. The pandemic, and its effects on worship has, not surprisingly, had enormous ripple effects throughout the life of the church. Giving, while stable through 2020, saw a major decline during the first half of 2021 but has seen some recovery since our return indoors. Church committees, which did an admirable job of pivoting to Zoom during the lockdown, have largely returned to in-person meetings but, to some extent, still struggle with finding ways to maintain effective mission and ministry while also wearing masks, social distancing, etc.
But, as we have transitioned back to worship in our sanctuary, and have retained our online presence, we are hopeful that, as the pandemic, eventually, winds down, that we will see more members return to a fact-to-face connection. We are hopeful that we will renew our connection with our friends and meet in-person with those who found us online, and whom we have only met virtually. We are hopeful that our attendance, and giving, will return to, and exceed, our pre-pandemic levels, and we look forward to a return to more active participation in mission and ministry outside the walls of our church.
But that doesn’t mean we haven’t done anything this year. Although all meals continue to be carry-out only, we continue to host the weekly community dinners which are now serving more than 130 meals each week. Christ Church once again raised considerably more than was pledged for our part in the “Apostle Build” Habitat for Humanity house constructed this summer. And, due to the unexpected spike in the price of building materials caused by the pandemic lock down, the excess funds that we raised were sorely needed and greatly appreciated. Our United Methodist Women had a successful Basement Sale fundraiser and, once again, donated a large amount of unsold clothing and housewares to our friends at the Big Creek mission in the Red Bird missionary conference. Even though we have been unable to send a mission team for two years, we hope to deliver a full trailer of donations before the snow flies. These and other mission efforts have adapted and continued despite the difficulties of the past two years. This adaptability and persistence encourages us and makes us hopeful that next year will be even better.
And so, as we move toward Thanksgiving, Advent, and a New Year, we understand that the crisis is not over. We look forward to preparing 1200 Thanksgiving meals for our community, double our number for last year and close to where we were before the pandemic. But we know that we will continue to face struggles and will have obstacles to overcome. At the same time, we are encouraged and hopeful that God will has plans for us and will continue to use Christ Church as a lighthouse of hope and an embassy of his kingdom in our community and for our world. Our prayer is that we will move from a place of struggle and surviving, to reviving, and then onward to thriving.
We may not know the future, but we know who holds the future.
Yogi Berra famously said, “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over.” And that kind of sums up where we are in our struggle to return to normal from this global pandemic. Some things are returning to normal but, as it has been for the last fifteen months, “normal” remains a moving target. Even so, things are getting better and as they do, our church is returning to more familiar routines. But even as we move toward the familiar, our routines will be different than they used to be.
What does that mean?
Well, let’s talk about a few of our routines and how they might be different.
We’re moving back to indoor church. Hooray! But being indoors isn’t going to be exactly like it used to be (yet). We are returning indoors, but we’re still concerned about the spread of COVID, so some things will remain different for a while. Sunday school classes and church committees are returning to in-person meetings, but not all of them. Not everyone feels comfortable meeting in groups and some committee meetings are sometimes more convenient online, so some of those groups will remain online.
We are going to worship indoors, but worship still isn’t going to be the same as it used to be. We are going to take the offering differently, we will be space ourselves out more than we used to, we plan to wear masks when we sing, and some people will likely choose to wear masks all the time.
The building isn’t how I remember it. We’ve made some changes. Some of them are pandemic related, and some aren’t. Our trustees have not been hibernating for the last year. I’ve mentioned before that there were new lights installed above the stairs by the handicap entrance and in the lounge, but most of you will soon be seeing those changes for the first time so it will look a little different. The trustees have other projects in progress that haven’t happened yet, so you can expect more changes. In part because of COVID and in-part because of security concerns, we just aren’t going to unlock as many doors as we used to. Many of you won’t even notice, but we will put up signs and let you know what’s going on so that we can all get used to entering through the doors that are open.
Money. Honestly, this one is entirely up to you. To everyone’s credit, last year, our giving remained steady even though we stayed home and made the transition to online worship. But 2021 has not been kind to us. I’m not sure that there is any single reason that can explain it. We got out of the habit of coming to church. We got out of the habit of putting our offering in the plate. We got worried about our personal finances and cut back. It could be any of those, or all of those, or a hundred other things. But our offerings changed. Dramatically. I won’t belabor the point here, because our members will soon be receiving a letter that will go into more details. For now, let’s just say that our budget, our staff, and all sorts of things will be facing substantial changes if 2021 doesn’t start to look more like 2019.
Dress. I don’t really know. But I suspect that over the last year, many of you have grown accustomed to attending church in your bunny slippers. I’m sure you don’t want to show up half-dressed, but if a year of worshiping online makes you feel like you want to dress more comfortably, I’m pretty sure no one will mind. I’m sure I’ll go back to wearing a suit at some point, but I admit that I rather liked being able to preach wearing denim pants and hiking boots. The important thing is that we all get back in the habit of going to church and being together.
People. While we were online, we’ve had a few new people begin to worship with us. Even though they have been “in church” with us for months, they will be unfamiliar to most of you. I hope that you will make them feel welcome. If you are one of those folks that joined us online, I hope that will join us in-person even though almost all of us will be unfamiliar to you. At the same time, I’m sure that there are a few folks who just got out of the habit of coming to church and won’t be returning. I hope it isn’t many. And I hope it isn’t you. We are the church. We are the body of Christ. All of us. Together.
I’m sure that’s not all. I’m sure that there are changes I forgot to mention, and others that I haven’t learned about, or that haven’t happened yet. But life is all about change. As we return to in-person, indoor worship, things are going to seem more like normal. But, at the same time, not… quite… normal. Whenever you feel comfortable, I hope that you will return to worship in-person. And, until you do, we are working hard to continue some sort of online worship. Although that may face some changes too.
We would never dream of putting up a sign that said, “Unvaccinated? Keep OUT.”
But that’s exactly what we’re doing.
It’s become a cliché to ask, “What Would Jesus Do?” But this week, I’ve been thinking church should be asking itself what Paul would do. Of course, anyone who has spent any time in church or Vacation Bible School has heard about Paul the Apostle. Paul was born in Tarsus which was a part of what is now the nation of Turkey. But despite being born far from Rome, Paul was born to parents who were both Jews and Roman citizens.
There were privileges that came with being a Roman citizen. It was as if the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights only applied to citizens, and you carried those rights wherever you went, anywhere in the Roman world. Non-citizens didn’t have the same rights and slaves certainly did not have them. Romans could not be beaten or treated harshly, and while they could be arrested, they couldn’t be tried in any court outside of Rome but had to be returned to Rome, or to a Roman court, for trial. In modern language, citizens were privileged.
But Paul didn’t always use that privilege. Paul found that sometimes his privilege, his rights, his citizenship, and even his freedom, was a disadvantage when sharing the message of Jesus with the people around him. In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul said:
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Even though Paul was not a slave, he sometimes gave up the rights that he had so that he could be heard by the slaves and share the message of Jesus with them. Even though Paul knew that following Jesus released him from some of the dietary restrictions and rules of the Jewish faith, he would follow those customs when he was with the Jews so that they would be able to hear his words when he shared the gospel. But when Paul was living among the Greeks and other people who were not Jewish, he would follow their customs for the same reason.
Wherever Paul went, he did whatever he could to allow people to hear his message. And that often meant giving up something important. Paul found that his rights, his privileges, and even his freedom, got in the way of people hearing the good news of Jesus Christ. Slaves wouldn’t hear a message that was preached by someone who used their citizenship and their freedom to act better than them. Jews wouldn’t listen to someone who was an outsider and violated their religious laws. And people everywhere feel more comfortable around a person who respects their customs.
But what does that mean to us? What would Paul do if he lived among us today?
As we near what we hope is the end of this pandemic crisis in the United States, we are hearing a lot about rights and privileges. We have a right to move about freely. We are free to choose whether we will wear a mask. And those persons who are vaccinated are being granted special rights and additional freedoms.
But is exercising those freedoms the right thing to do?
I’ve seen churches advertising that they are “Open and Mask-less.” Vendors are selling signs saying that vaccinated persons are welcome in their church. And I’ve seen churches that say things like, “All are welcome. Unvaccinated persons must wear masks.” I understand that these are the rights that are given to us under the United States Constitution, and the privileges of having access to the Covid-19 vaccine. But will exercising these rights prevent us from sharing the message of the gospel?
It was once common for churches to ask visitors to stand up and introduce themselves. That custom made me so uncomfortable that I vowed never to return to any church that made me do it. And so, I worry that requiring unvaccinated persons to wear masks will make them feel unwelcome. We would never dream of putting up a sign that said, “Unvaccinated? Keep OUT.” But that’s exactly what these signs are saying. Anything that draws a line between “us” and “them” is exactly what Paul spent his life trying to avoid.
If Paul were writing today, I wonder if his words wouldn’t be, “Though I am vaccinated, and am free to do as I wish, I have made myself to be unvaccinated, to win as many as possible. To the unvaccinated, I have become unvaccinated to win the unvaccinated. With the mask wearers, I have worn masks, to win those that wear masks.” I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
We have rights. But what if using them turns people away? In the twenty-first century, like Paul, we must be careful that our rights, privileges, and freedoms do not get in the way of people hearing the good news of Jesus Christ.
On several long car trips, I have seen signs along the highway that remind drivers to put their phones down and to avoid distracted driving. Not long ago, that wasn’t something that we even thought about. We didn’t have phones in the car, or computer screens for navigation, or many of the other things with which today’s driver can be distracted. We had a handful of radio buttons and maybe a box full of cassette tapes and the highway signs only reminded us to fasten our seat belts. But while our children, radios, and fast-food lunches always had the potential to draw our attention away from the highway, today’s abundance of electronic devices distract us in similar abundance and our distraction at seventy miles an hour in heavy traffic can become deadly in the blink of an eye. Our life, and the lives of those around us, depends upon us keeping our focus on the important things and not being distracted by the army of ephemera that nags at the edges of our consciousness.
But scripture tells us that our spiritual lives are much like that, and worse.
In Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Moses warns the people of Israel that they must listen to God and not be distracted.
15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
Moses warns the people that while it is critically important to listen to God’s prophets and to obey God’s commands and instructions, they must be careful not to be distracted by people who only pretend to speak for God. He says that there will inevitably be people who speak fake and false prophecy for their own benefit, or who attempt to speak for other gods to distract God’s people and shift their focus from where it should be. Just as it is when we are driving, God’s people are at risk any time that our attention turns away from the main thing.
In Mark 1:21-28, an evil spirit comes into the synagogue and is afraid of Jesus.
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
The impure spirit knows who Jesus is and is afraid of his power, but it also is trying to begin a discussion with him that is a distraction from Jesus’ main message. But Jesus knows the importance of keeping his focus on the main thing and does not allow the impure spirit to distract the people in the synagogue from the message that he is teaching. The spirit tries to steer the discussion in the synagogue to one about Jesus’ intensions toward the spirit world, but while Jesus’ presence and his message will ripple into their world, what happens to demons and impure spirits is not the focus of Jesus’ ministry. The message of Jesus isn’t about the destruction of evil spirits, but about the rescue of the lost and the salvation of the living.
But what application does that have for us today?
Of course keeping the main thing, the main thing means sharing Jesus’ message about rescuing the lost and the salvation of the living. That is, after all, the mission of the church and the mission of every follower of Jesus Christ. But keeping the main thing, the main thing can mean more than that as we see in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. In that place, there were people who had converted from Judaism, people who had been Christians for some time, and people who had only recently converted to Christianity from idol worship.
In Corinth, most of the meat that was available had been sacrificed to some idol at the pagan temples and then sold later in the meat market. Similarly, the traditional place to hold many weddings, celebrations, and other gatherings was at those same pagan temples. So, among the people of the church, there was a dispute. If Christians stayed away from the idols and pagan temples, they would miss the weddings of their friends, and be excluded from many celebrations and business opportunities. If they refused to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols, they might rarely eat meat at all. And so, in the middle of this dispute, Paul writes these words to the church (1 Corinthians 8:1-13):
8:1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God.
Paul recognizes that the more mature believers understand that the idols aren’t real. They know that our God is the only god that there is and that gods made of stone and metal had no real power. Whether they attended an event at the pagan temple or ate meat that had been sacrificed there made no difference. But many of the newer converts, who had grown up in that system, still believed that setting foot in a pagan temple, or even eating the meat that had been sacrificed there, gave power to those gods, and gave them power over you.
And what Paul says, is that “We possess all knowledge.” Yes, we know that these are false god. Yes, we know that attending your nephew’s wedding at the pagan temple makes no difference. We know that eating meat, or not eating meat, makes no difference. But, if we read the rest of this passage, Paul encourages them not to do these things anyway. Why? Because even though idols and false gods have no power, and even though believers in Jesus Christ had every right to attend social gathering and eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols, exercising that right caused harm to fellow believers whose faith was not yet as mature as theirs. Attending those gatherings, and eating that meat, caused less mature believers to doubt their faith and possibly leave the church. Paul says that more important thing is not what knowledge we have, or what rights we have, but that we do not cause harm to our brothers and sisters in Christ. For Paul, it wasn’t an issue of knowledge or of rights, but of keeping the main thing, the main thing.
Even two millennia later, this idea flows into everything that we do. One of the foundational principles of the Methodist movement is “Do no harm” and it is often a check for us to keep the main thing, the main thing and to keep our focus where it belongs. Even though we have every right to hold in-person worship, we must consider what harm we might cause to fellow believers by exercising that right. Even though we may personally feel that we have every right not to wear a mask in public, do we cause harm to the people in the community, and to fellow believers, and to their faith, if we choose to exercise that right. Paul’s message to the church in Corinth, and to us, is just because we have the right to do something, doesn’t mean that we should exercise that right, or that exercising that right is a good thing.
The more important principle is to do no harm.
When we drive our automobiles down the highway, we understand that the full focus of our attention is required for the task at hand, and that our distraction can lead to our death, or to the death of others.
Moses warned that God’s people needed to test the people who claimed to be prophets and only listen to those that proved to be real because being distracted from God’s message could lead to death.
When Jesus preached in the synagogue, he did not allow the impure spirit to change the subject and distract him from the focus of his message. The main thing, had to remain the main thing and the most important message wasn’t about the future of the spirits, but about rescuing the lost and calling God’s people to repentance and obedience. Paul knew that throughout our daily lives we run the risk of distraction and death.
We must constantly struggle to keep the main thing the main thing. To keep our focus on the mission of the church, to rescue the lost, and to preach a message of salvation and the Good News of Jesus Christ. And in the process of doing that, we may occasionally need to set aside our rights, to surrender to God some of the things that we feel like we have earned for ourselves because the main thing isn’t about exercising our rights, or about doing things just because we can do them.
The main thing is to do no harm to fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and to the community around us.
Because despite living in a country where we hold our rights to be incredibly important, sometimes our rights are a distraction from our main purpose, focus, and mission.
And distraction is death.
Let us keep our focus on rescuing the lost and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.
And let us continue our struggle to keep the main thing, the main thing.
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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.
At the end of every January, we file our church’s End of Year reports. And even though only a few months have passed since we filled out our Charge Conference reports, it is useful to look at some of the numbers and see how we did over the last twelve months. I think that it may be particularly useful to look at how we did during such a strange and difficult year when many of those months we were grappling with the restrictions and changing demands of a global pandemic.
Among the first things that the report form asks are questions about church membership, and there we continue to see a significant decline due to the deaths of our members. In 2019 we removed ten members from our membership rolls for this reason and in 2020 that number climbed to eighteen. We mourn the passing of these members and we will, of course, remember them on All Saints Day. But these losses challenge us as a church because even though many of them had not been able to actively attend worship, we feel the losses not only in the loss of our friendships, but also as we count attendance and in giving.
In this unusual year of largely virtual worship, we wonder about church attendance and understanding that number this year is a lot like trying to catch a greased pig. On our Charge Conference paperwork, we reported our average attendance from January to March up to the point that we stopped meeting in person, and we will use that same number on one line of our End of Year reporting as well. That attendance number (75) will look almost the same as the number that we reported last year (80), but only represents three winter months and, of course, doesn’t include any information about the last nine months of the year so, for most of us, that feels inadequate.
We have kept track of our online presence and activity through various social media statistics, but because there are many ways that those number could be reported. Without going into too much confusing detail, every week I watch several numbers.
Our online worship services on YouTube produce daily updates on viewers and traffic and, since it quickly became obvious that not everyone watches at 10:15 am on Sunday, I record our “official” traffic numbers seven days after each video goes live online. That means that, unlike church worship where we simply count the number of people in the sanctuary, we don’t have a real count of our attendance for each week until the following Sunday. With that in mind, when we first transitioned to online worship, Easter Sunday had an “attendance” of about 117, Palm Sunday had 123, and Christmas Eve also had 123.
And while those number may sound a little low, compared to what we might have expected in person, in the online world, an attendance of 123 represents 123 different computers, not 123 people. And, since we know that most of our congregation doesn’t join our online service to worship alone, we know that the number of people is much larger. Among the churches in our United Methodist connection, churches are assuming that the number of computers should be multiplied by anywhere from 1.3 to 2.0 (or more) to arrive at what honestly is a guess at the actual number of people who are participating. That means that if 123 unique computers connected to our Christmas Eve service, then somewhere between 159 to 246 (or more) were worshiping with us. Our average, over 40 weeks of online worship, is about 78 “clicks” or “views” and 54 uniquely identified computers. And, if you assume that more than one person is typically at every computer, that’s not out of line with what we might have expected in person. The number on online worshipers that we reported on our End of Year report form was 81.
It is also worth noting that, over the course of the year, 7 more people have started following our church Facebook page (for a total 227), we have gained an additional 56 subscribers to our online sermon postings (for a total 393), and 57 people now subscribe to the YouTube channel where our worship services are posted (45 more than last year). But all those numbers come with assumptions and guesses. We know that all our members have not been able to join us digitally, we know that the numbers get confused when we have parking lot services as well as an online service, we know that some people are joining us online who live outside our community, and we have no idea how many people will feel comfortable enough to return to in-person worship, even when it’s safe to do so. What we do know, is that since moving to an online format, the number of people who have been participating in worship since March has remained consistent.
Not unexpectedly, we fell a little behind where we were financially in 2019. Giving was off a little, there was no “loose” offering to count with a digital offering plate, we had no income from “Burgers in the Park,” and the economic uncertainty of these unusual times influenced giving. But the changes that we made also led us to spend less, while also increasing our giving to missions. While some churches are desperately struggling, the people of Christ Church have been incredibly faithful and with only a small infusion from our endowment, we have been able to remain current on all our bills, pay all our apportionments, complete several capital improvement projects in our building, and support all our missions at the same, or at an increased level. I am incredibly proud to be a part of Christ Church and I want to thank all of you for your continued faithfulness.
I realize that is a lot of data, and while there is much murkiness and uncertainty due to both the numbers and to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, overall, I believe that our church will not only survive this crisis but thrive. I hope that you are as proud to be a part of this church as I am, and that you will continue to tell your friends about the work that we are doing. Tell them what great people attend here, how good it feels to be a part of this family, and invite them to join us online today, and in-person later this year. I am certain that God has great things in store.
Blessings,
Pastor John
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Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28
It is probably no surprise to anyone to hear that we are living in an unusual time in history. But what I mean in saying such a thing, is that we are living in a time when we can see the freight train coming. We are as an American society in the twenty-first century, very much in the position of the damsel Nell Fenwick who has been tied to the railroad tracks by Snidely Whiplash and is desperately hoping for the arrival of Dudley Do-Right to come and rescue her. We can see the freight train of rising virus cases caused by Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year gatherings and we can anticipate the terrible consequences but there is little, or nothing that we can do to stop the train. The only things that we can do… is hope.
But, as unusual as this might be, it is not unique in history. As I have mentioned in recent weeks, the prophet Isaiah lived in just such a time. In about 700 BC, Isiah and the people of Israel watched as the Assyrian Empire grew in power, influence, and military might and the Assyrian King Sennacharib had already brought his armies to the gates of Jerusalem. Through God’s grace, Israel was saved, but Isaiah knew that those armies would be back, that Israel and Judah would be captured, marched to Babylon, and held in captivity for seventy years. They saw the train coming down the tracks, they could anticipate the terrible consequences, and they were tempted to despair. But, as difficult as it must have been to hear about God’s judgement and the impending destruction of their nation, because Isaiah also prophecies their eventual return to Israel and proclaims Israel’s rescue and the coming Messiah, Isaiah’s message is ultimately a message… of hope.
Even though they saw the train coming, and they knew that hard times were coming, they knew that God cared about them and that God had a plan to rescue them. We hear a part this message in Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11:
61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
8 “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
Isaiah speaks about the coming Messiah, we hear a message that we will hear again from John the Baptist, and we hear a message from a God who loves justice, and who loves and cares for his people. And that message, given to a people who watched as the freight train of the Assyrian army grew ever closer, shined like a beacon on a dark night and for hundreds of years, through invasions, captivity, destruction, suffering, sorrow, and death, this was a place where they could find hope.
And then, in John 1:6-8, 19-28, Isaiah’s vision becomes reality as John the Baptist announces the imminent arrival of Jesus.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John proclaimed that the time had finally come for the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, and that while he was not the messiah that God had promised, that messiah was already standing “among” them. After hundreds of years and many generations, the prayers of Israel’s people were being answered. God’s rescuer and redeemer had arrived, and the hope of the people was transformed… into joy.
Well, at least it did for some of them. John rejoiced, as did many of the people, but not everyone. It was the people that Isaiah had talked about who found joy in the coming of the messiah. It was the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, prisoners, those in mourning, the grieving, the people who suffered from injustice, robbery, and wrongdoing, it was the outcasts, the least, and the lost who rejoiced. But the wealthy, and those whom the system served, and whose success had been tied to the success of the system saw the coming of the messiah as a threat to their success and to their way of life. This disconnect between the haves and the have-nots grew until it exploded into violence, crucifixion, and death in the Easter story as the system struggled to maintain the status quo.
And later, long after the resurrection of Jesus, the church remembered the lesson of joy and in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica and gives them these words of instruction:
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
Rejoice always. Find joy in the story, in the message of Good News, and in the prophecies of God. Give thanks, at all times, for the things that God gives you, even when those times are difficult. Do not cast aside the prophecies and promises of God just because you think that God is taking too long, or that there is too much pain, or too much suffering, or that your circumstances are too hard. Instead, test the prophecies of God to find the truth. Test them against what you know about God. Hold on to what is good because we know that God is good. Reject every kind of evil, because we know that God is never found in any kind of evil deeds. Our God is a god of peace who is always faithful and who always keeps his promises.
In some ways, our joy is a test. The coming of Jesus was intended to upset the apple cart and to disrupt the status quo. We are called to rejoice in that disruption and not be so married to our success, to our wealth, our culture, and to the status quo that we become like Israel’s leaders and reject Jesus simply on the basis that his existence will be disruptive and make our lives more complicated. Secondly, we are invited to test all of God’s prophecies because we know that God is always good and so we know that what God wants for us is good and that we can reject anything that is evil as not being godly.
The coming of Jesus at Christmas is intended to bring good news of great joy.
Let us rejoice.
But let us remember to find joy in the right things.
Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.
*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Pastor Partridge 