Can You See?

March 26, 2017March 26, 2017 PastorPartridge Sermon David, evil, expert, faith, God, good, justice, sight, understanding, vision

“Can You See?”

March 26, 2017

By John Partridge*

1 Samuel 16:1-13 John 9:1-41 Ephesians 5:8-14

What is it that you are good at?

Each of us is good at something.

With the possible exception of the very young, most people have invested enough time and effort into one or more subjects to have become reasonably good at them, and knowledgeable about them. It might not be rocket science, but just about everyone knows a lot about something. It might be engineering, or law, or medicine, but it might also be homeschooling, or auto repair, antique tractors, hair, jewelry, video games, coin collecting, home repair, or negotiating the convoluted steps of government grant writing. Whatever it is that you are good at, we all recognize that there is a difference between knowing a little, knowing a lot, and being an expert. We all know a little about filing our taxes, but if we’re smart, we know when it’s time to get our questions answered by an expert. Many of us can do basic home repairs, but we still keep the phone number of a good plumber handy.

With that in mind, think about those times when, you, as a person who knows a little, or even a lot, about one particular subject, have had a conversation with someone who was truly an expert. Wow. Sometimes these experts give speeches, and we go to large arenas and concert halls just to hear them talk about the things we are interested in. I follow Buzz Aldrin on Twitter and I read the blog written by Ben Witherington III. Why? Because Buzz Aldrin has forgotten more about space, astronauts, and astrophysics than I can ever hope to know, and Ben Witherington has forgotten more about the New Testament scholarship and proper Greek translation than I am likely to ever learn. When experts look at a problem, they see things that non-experts might not ever notice. The efforts of people like me and other fans or novices are not likely to impress the experts. What will impress the experts are not the things that might impress the rest of us and as a result, we sometimes notice that experts will make surprising choices because they can see and anticipate things that we cannot.

Not surprisingly, we see the same thing in scripture and we also see that when compared to God, even the experts are put to shame.

We begin this morning in 1 Samuel 16:1-13, where we hear the story of when God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint David as the king of Israel in place of King Saul.

^16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

²But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”

The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”

⁴Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”

⁵Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” ⁹Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.”¹⁰Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

¹²So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

¹³So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

Throughout this story, everyone thinks and reacts only within the limits of what they know and of course, this is only natural. We can only use the tools that we have. We can’t use knowledge that we don’t have. And so what we see is town elders who are afraid of God’s prophet because in the past they have witnessed him only as the bearer of bad news. We have Jesse, the father of many sons, and the resident expert on what his children are capable of doing, who fails to call the youngest because someone has to watch the sheep, and who would imagine that the youngest would be of any value for anything that the prophet of God would want? And finally, we have Samuel, the prophet of God, who is indisputably the expert on God, but who is utterly wrong about what God is looking for in a new king.

The town elders were wrong about why Samuel had come because they thought of him only as a messenger of doom. Jesse was wrong because he assumed that David was too small and too young to be of any value. And Samuel was wrong because he was only capable of looking at the superficial realities of how men appeared on the outside. They were wrong because none of their expertise and knowledge came close to the expertise and knowledge of God. Because God knows everything that is know-able, his expertise rises to levels that exceed even our imagination. And because God’s expertise and knowledge so far exceeds our own, God sees differently than humans do. What impresses God is not what impresses human beings, and God’s choices are often not what we would expect.

And that brings us to this week’s gospel lesson from John 9:1-41. This is, as we noted last week, another story that is longer than usual, because it is one of the great stories of scripture. It is the story of Jesus healing a man that had been born blind and it is a story that deserves to be read as a whole and not broken up and studied in pieces.

^9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷“Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

⁸His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

¹⁰“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

¹¹He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

¹²“Where is this man?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. ¹⁴Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. ¹⁵Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

¹⁷Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. ¹⁹“Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

²⁰“We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. ²¹But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” ²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. ²³That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

²⁵He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

²⁶Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

²⁸Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! ²⁹We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

³⁰The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. ³²Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

³⁴To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

³⁷Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

³⁹Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

⁴⁰Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

⁴¹Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

The Pharisees, despite being experts in the Jewish scriptures and writings, were baffled by the healing of the blind man. Their understanding led them to believe, just as the disciples had, that the man’s blindness, because blindness was bad, must have been a punishment from God. And, at the same time, they had never seen, nor heard, of anyone being healed after being born blind.

But God’s understanding goes far beyond that of the religious experts, and Jesus explains that this blindness had not been caused by the sin of the man, nor of his parents, but that sometimes God allows bad things to happen “so that the works of God might be displayed.” What Jesus is saying is hard for us to grasp. But in this passage he tells us that sometimes God allows bad things to happen because, somehow, in ways that we cannot understand or comprehend, these things pave the way for something better to happen later. Somehow, accidents, and even evil, are allowed by God because they fit into, and are a part of, the larger tapestry of God’s plan for the universe. Now I’m not going to even try to tell you that this is much comfort when children die or when the innocent suffer. It is impossible for us to even imagine what good could possibly be accomplished by such things. But somehow, even in our suffering, even in our hurt, even in our disbelief, we must trust that God knows and understands more than we are capable of understanding and far more than we are even able to imagine. Because God is all knowing, but also because God is loving, kind, and just, we must find a way to trust that these things are, somehow, a critical part of the plan of God because anything less would require us to believe that God is capricious and cruel instead of thoughtful and good.

But all of that brings us to the “So what?” part of the message. What difference does knowing these things make to me? And for that we arrive at Ephesians 5:8-14 where we hear these words:

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹²It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

Paul says that because we believe, we have stepped out of darkness and into the light of God and as such we must live and act as if we are. We must be agents of light, goodness, righteousness and truth. Since God is the expert in everything, we must study the word of God to discover what things are pleasing to him and which of those things we can do. Paul says that we must not only avoid darkness and evil but we must work to make the world better, and we must fight against immorality and evil. We must not pass through the world as if we are asleep at the wheel. We must wake up, rise from the dead, and do those things that God has commanded because he is the expert, and our job… is to change the world.

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^* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Life is More than Living

March 12, 2017 PastorPartridge Sermon death, faith, Jesus Christ, life, rescue, salvation, trust

“Life is More Than Living”

March 12, 2017

By John Partridge*

Genesis 12:1-4a John 3:1-17 Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Are there people in your life that you trust?

We probably all have someone that we trust. And, depending on how long we’ve known them, and the history that we have between us, our trust varies.

So I guess the question is, “How much do you trust?”

As an illustration, I want to remind you about Charles Blondin, also known as “The Great Blondin,” or just “Blondin,” whom I have used as a sermon illustration before. Blondin was a tightrope walker and daredevil in the 19^th century. In June and July of 1855 he strung a tightrope across Niagara Falls near where the Rainbow Bridge now stands. The crossing was 1100 feet long on a rope 3.25” in diameter, and 160 feet above the water. During those two months, Blondin made as many as 17 crossings between the United States and Canada, but his own personal drive was such that after the first time, just crossing wasn’t enough. On each trip he did something to make that crossing more spectacular than the last. He once crossed blindfolded, once with his legs in a sack, then on stilts, and once with both his hands and his feet in manacles. He stopped in the middle to do tricks; he did backflips, lowered a rope to the Maid of the Mist on the river below, hoisted a bottled beverage from the boat, drank it, and then continued on. He once carried a stove with him on his back, stopped in the middle, cooked, and then ate an omelet. Once he carried a chair, stopped in the middle, balanced the chair on one leg, and stood on it. He crossed once on a bicycle, once crossed backward, and returned pushing a wheelbarrow. Afterward, he reportedly asked the crowd if they thought he could do it again, and they all shouted “Yes.” He then asked if they thought he could do it again with a man in the wheelbarrow, and again they shouted “Yes.” But when he asked if any of them would volunteer to sit in the wheelbarrow, not one of them volunteered. The crowd believed that he could do it, you might even say that they even trusted that he could do it, but there are limits to our trust. On the other hand, at least once, if not twice, Blondin made the crossing with a man on his back. Once he crossed with his manager, Harry Colcord, and possibly once more with his assistant.

And so again, we return to the question of how much do we trust. Do you trust your boss, or your employees, or coworkers, or anyone, enough to put your life in their hands?

It’s that kind of trust that we need to think about this morning as we begin in Genesis 12:1-4a with the story of Abram.

^12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

²“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
³I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

At the age of seventy-five, Abram makes a new beginning, leaves behind everything that he knew, and sets out for a country that he’s never been to, and in fact toward a destination that he didn’t even know when the trip started.

God said “Go,” and Abram went.

God did not lay out a map, pass out lots of charts and graphs, and give a PowerPoint presentation to show Abram where he was going, what was going to happen when he got there, and what his standard of living would look like.

God said “Go,” and Abram went.

And to be totally fair, so did Sarai.

Because he trusted God, and because he went where, and when, God told him to go, Abram was honored and revered as the patriarch and founder of the nation of Israel for generation after generation. But what was it that made Abram and Sarai honorable? Should they be respected because of their actions or because of their faith and trust in God? And that is exactly the question that Paul answers for us in Romans 4:1-5, 13-17.

^4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? ²If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁴Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

¹³It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

Paul reminds us that Abraham was described in Genesis 15 as being “credited with righteousness” because of his faith and belief in God. For Paul, wages are paid to someone who works and wages are therefore owed to the worker as an obligation of the employer. But on the other hand, for someone who simply trusts God for their justification, it is their faith that results in God crediting them with righteousness. In Paul’s equation, work equals pay, but trust equals faith.

Paul continues by pointing out that since the laws of Moses had not yet been written, it was not the law that saved Abraham either. For Paul, even though he was a Pharisee and a devout Jew, it was not the rules that brought about salvation. Instead, it is our faith, and the grace of God, that brings about our salvation.

All that means that Abram and Sarai weren’t saved because they answered God’s call to “Go,” they went because they had faith and trust in God and believed that God would be faithful in return. It is their faith that makes them admirable.

After all that, I guess the next question is this: Just how important is faith in God and in his son Jesus?

In John 3:1-17, we remember this meeting between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus:

^3:1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ²He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

³Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

⁴“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

⁹“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹²I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. ¹⁴Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, [Note: “lifted up” means “exalted,” but also hints at the coming crucifixion] ¹⁵that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

First, it is important to note that although we often hear stories about how the Pharisees made attempts to trick or trap Jesus, and how Jesus often criticized the Pharisees in return, Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Not only that, he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, and we know that he came to Jesus as a representative of others because he begins his talk with Jesus with a statement in the plural saying, ““Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.” This tells us that at least some of the Pharisees and the members of the Sanhedrin knew that Jesus was a teacher that had been sent by God and they agreed that the signs and miracles that Jesus had performed were certain evidence of this. But Jesus replies that simply knowing, academically, that Jesus had been sent by God was not enough. In order to be credited with God’s righteousness, you must not only be born physically, but also be born of the Spirit of God. In order to go to heaven, you must have faith and trust in God and in his son Jesus Christ.

What Jesus is saying, is that simply being born is not enough. Depending on your Jewish heritage and the covenant of God with Israel was not enough. Following the Law of Moses, the Commandments, and the rules of the Pharisees, was not enough. Living a “good” life and being a “good” person is not enough. Simply being alive is not enough.

There is more to life than living.

Real life is more than living.

Of all the people that gathered to watch the Great Blondin cross the chasm at Niagara Falls, only two had real faith in his ability. It wasn’t enough to believe that Blondin was capable of crossing the chasm at Niagara Falls. Simply believing that he could do it didn’t demonstrate faith or trust. The two that had real faith were willing to get into the wheelbarrow or climb up on his back.

Likewise, it isn’t enough to simply believe that Jesus has been sent by God. It isn’t enough to know, academically, that Jesus has been sent by God. It isn’t enough to believe, academically, that Jesus is the Son of God, and the savior and rescuer of all humanity.

We have to be willing to trust him enough to get in the wheelbarrow. We have to be willing to trust Jesus with our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

There is more to life than living.

Real life, which is eternal life, is lived by trusting Jesus with everything that we are, everything that we have, and everything that we hope for the future. We have to put our faith and trust in him and be willing to answer his call to “Go” wherever he sends us.

And so we return to the question that we started with.

How much do you trust?

Do you trust Jesus enough; do you have faith enough, to get in the wheelbarrow?

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Did you enjoy reading this?
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^* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Called Over the Top

February 22, 2017April 20, 2017 PastorPartridge Blogs church, faith, generosity, love, money, peace, violence

crazy

Be Outrageous. Be stupid.

Jesus said so.

Your friends are supposed to think that you’re crazy.

Seriously.

If you were here, I mentioned this on Sunday, but it’s worth saying again. In Matthew (5:38-48) Jesus makes a series of statements that often begin with “You have heard it said, but…” in which he tells his listeners that the conventional wisdom, the ordinary assumptions of daily life, were just plain wrong. Everyone assumed that the best defense against violence was to fight back, taking an eye for an eye, but Jesus says that the only way to reduce violence is to refuse to participate in it, to “turn the other cheek.”

Most of us have heard that before, but that was just the beginning. He also says that” if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” This is extraordinary. In our litigious, twenty-first century society most of us make two errors in reading this. First, we incorrectly assume that Jesus means for us to give a shirt to someone who won a lawsuit, but that isn’t it at all. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to sue you…” so his instruction is to do an end run around the legal system, call it a loss, and just give it to them. Our second mistake comes from our relative wealth and our expectation of the same on the Biblical story. But Jesus was talking to people who lived in an entirely different world, most of them probably only owned one coat. And so, Jesus’ instruction to “hand over your coat” is not only one of generosity, but one that is over-the-top, crazy, and disturbingly generous. This is generosity that expensive and costly, and not just giving that is comfortable and comes from our excess.

Jesus continues, saying “If anyone forces you to walk one mile, go with them two.” And, while this seems relatively straightforward, most of us still don’t understand the root of his comment. As I understand the history of it, under Roman occupation, one of the standing rules that the occupied nation lived under, was that if any Roman soldier asked, any citizen had to accompany them for one mile and carry their pack, or whatever else they demanded you to carry. So remembering that most people really resented the presence of the Roman soldiers in the first place, Jesus is saying that you need treat your enemies and the people you despise, and here it is again, with… disturbing generosity.

Why should we do all this?

Jesus answered that by saying, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” We are called to behave in these strange, unfamiliar, and unpopular ways because these are the things that God does. This is how God behaves. And if we have any desire to be associated with him, to be called “children of God” then we probably ought to act like God does.

But going this far still wasn’t enough. Jesus pounds the point several more times to make sure that we really begin to understand just how crazy we’re supposed to be. Jesus says, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” That’s pretty plain, but if you need a modern translation, here it is.

It doesn’t impress anyone that your love is “just as good” as the tax collectors, or that you are “just as loving” as everyone else. Being “just like everyone else” means that you are no different than everyone else and that your faith is no better than their lack of faith. The followers of Jesus Christ have been called to be different; we are called to a higher standard. Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

So get out there. Go out into your neighborhoods, and your places of business. Be willing to take a loss. Go out into the world and be extravagantly, disturbingly, generous even when it is costly to you. Be so generous that people think you’re crazy. Be nice. But be so nice that everyone thinks that you must be crazy… or stupid… or both. Be friendly and outgoing. Be loving. But your friendliness and your love should be so over the top that it gets people talking about you.

Be outrageous.

Be stupid.

Your friends are supposed to think that you’re crazy.

Remember our goal isn’t to blend in; our goal is to stand out.

Our goal isn’t to be “just like everyone else,” our goal… is to be perfect.

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Responsibility, Immaturity, Blame

February 12, 2017 PastorPartridge Sermon death, faith, life, obedience, politics, sin

“Responsibility, Immaturity, Blame”

February 12, 2017

By John Partridge*

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Matthew 5:21-37 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

How many of you have ever had to make a choice?

It seems obvious that all of us have. We make dozens, even hundreds, of choices every day. We have to choose whether we want paper or plastic, cash or credit, Colgate or Crest, name brand or generic, roll-on or stick, toast or bagels, and on and on, and on, all day , every day. But sometimes we are faced with bigger choices that have more importance and more impact on our daily lives and on our future. Our own children at the age when they have to choose whether or not they are going to college, and what discipline they want to major in, where to go to school, how much they should study, whether they should be in a serious relationship or not, and so on. After that they’ll have to decide weather they want to be married or not, to whom they want to be married, and whether, or when, they want to have children (let’s be clear, I’m not in a rush for that to happen). As we go through life, some of our choices are clearer than others. Some choices are simple, do I want ‘A’ or ‘B,’ apples or oranges, white or black, but others are a lot like being on “Let’s Make a Deal.” Do I choose door number one, door number two, or door number three? Sometimes we just do the best that we can and hope and pray for the best.

But imagine if we had a clear choice about one of the biggest, most important, decisions of our lives?

What if we had to choose between door number one and door number two, but both doors were already wide open and we could see everything inside of them? It seems obvious that this kind of choice would be easy, but in Deuteronomy 30:15-20 we find that sometimes we make mistakes in even the most obvious of choices. Moses declared to the people:

¹⁵See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.¹⁶For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

We must choose responsibly.

The decision ought to be easy.

The choice is black or white, and literally life or death. Choose to love God, to be obedient to him, and to keep his commands, and you will live and be blessed. Or, turn away from God, be disobedient, and drift toward idolatry, and you will face death and destruction. The choice ought to be easy, God equals life, but many people are so trapped by their addiction to selfishness, that they cannot break away and give their lives, devotion, and obedience to God.

But it isn’t just our obedience that is a part of our spiritual relationship with God. In Matthew 5:21-37 Jesus is very clear that our relationships with our Christian brothers and sisters, and even our relationships with other human beings generally, is an important part of God’s judgement about us as well.

²¹“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²²But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ [An Aramaic term of contempt] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

²³“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

²⁵“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’²⁸But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

³¹“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³²But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ ³⁴But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

Being angry at each other, can bring about God’s judgement and even muttering that some other Christian is a “jerk” under your breath can land you in front of a judge. Before God will accept your offerings and prayers, he wants you to be reconciled with one another because just like disobedience, your personal differences push you away from God. This may be especially difficult in an era of political polarization. But, regardless of our politics, we are called to be reconciled with one another. Jesus then provides several examples that explain why keeping the commandments and obeying the law is even more difficult than we imagined. Divorce is more harmful than we’d like to pretend it is. Adultery is more than cheating on your spouse, it can happen as easily as your head turns to look at a pretty young thing on the beach. Even breaking a promise can open the door to judgement so we are encouraged to always tell the truth and always follow through and do what we have said that we will do. We are called to be so reliable, that people have faith that will do what we have said that we will, or won’t do. There is no need to swear an oath if you are known to be a person of your word.

If we read this carefully, I think that there is another underlying message as well. All of these things that Jesus said include the expectation that each of us are responsible for the things that we do. We are cautioned not to do those things that might cause others to fall into sin, but in every case, the focus is on being responsible for what we have done, and not allowing us to blame someone else for our failures.

And finally, in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Paul encourages the church to grow and mature in their faith and the things that he holds up as examples of immaturity are some of the same ones that we just heard Jesus condemn.

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? ⁴For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

⁵What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.⁷So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Stop arguing with each other. Stop trying to divide the body of Christ by claiming divisions that don’t really exist. We aren’t different because we follow John Wesley, or Martin Luther, or Menno Simons, or John the Baptist, we are the same because we are all followers of Jesus Christ. All of us are working together, or at least we should be, to work in the garden of God’s kingdom.

In all these things, from Deuteronomy, to Matthew, to Paul, to Jesus, we are encouraged to grow up. To become mature followers of Jesus, we must become people who accept responsibility for our own actions, people who work to purify ourselves and are obedient to God, in our faith, in our personal relationships, and in every way so that we can work together and share our responsibility in growing the Kingdom of God.

It’s more complicated than we sometimes think, and it’s harder than we’d like to pretend it is, but in the end there are only two choices.

God is blessing.

God is life.

Without God is death.

Without obedience is death.

What will you choose?

_________
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^* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

As IF

February 5, 2017 PastorPartridge Sermon church, faith, future, Jesus Christ, justice, obedience, politics, power, spirit

“As IF”

February 05, 2017

By John Partridge*

Isaiah 58:1-12 Matthew 5:13-20 1 Corinthians 2:1-12

Are you familiar with sarcasm?

By definition, sarcasm is a form of humor or wit that relies upon the use of irony or satire. The Merriam Webster online dictionary uses this sentence from the weekly column “It Beats Working” in the Charleston Post and Courier as an example: “The best part of being single,” Bryce Donovan jokes, “is being able to choose any woman I want to shoot me down.” In the 1970’s we often heard sarcasm expressed using the phrase “Yeah, right” and during the 1980’s we would end a sentence with the word “not” to express a form of sarcasm, as in “I am the smartest kid in school… not.” And then in 1995, the movie “Clueless” with Alicia Silverstone popularized the expression “As if” to do much the same thing. The Urban Dictionary uses this example: “If a guy tells me he knows I’m in love with him (but I think he’s a total loser), then I say to him “AS IF!””

Curiously, as modern as these sentiments are, we find a very similar message this morning in today’s scripture passage from Isaiah 58:1-12 where we hear God use words that sound very much like sarcasm…

^58:1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
²For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
³‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
⁴Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹²Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

As we listen to these words, we realize that this is God’s criticism of his own followers. God says that people come to the temple every day and genuinely seem to desire the ways of God. They ask for justice, and they seem eager for God to be close to them. They fast, and they humble themselves before God, but they wonder why God doesn’t notice them.

But God did notice.

God noticed all those things, but he also noticed that on the same day that these people fasted before God, they also abused their employees. When they are done acting penitent before God they yell and scream and get into fistfights with one another. And God says that he simply doesn’t work this way. You can’t behave that way and expect God to bless you for being faithful. Instead, God says that the kind of faithfulness that God chooses to bless is the kind that fights against injustice, that frees people from slavery and abuse, that feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and welcomes the stranger. When we do that, is when we will experience healing and feel God’s protection. God’s blessing doesn’t come when our faith is only words. Blessing comes when we act to bring about God’s kingdom on earth and when we do the things that God has commanded us to do. We will be blessed, and the church rebuilt and restored to its former glory, when we fight against oppression, stop pointing fingers at one another and stop talking smack about each other. We will be blessed when we spend our time, our strength, and our energy caring for the hungry, marginalized, outcasts, vagrants, refugees, the oppressed, and the abused.

And just in case we go off on some mistaken assumption that this is limited to some sort of an Old Testament thing, we find almost exactly the same idea in Matthew 5:13-20 where we hear Jesus say…

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

What Jesus is saying, is that each one of us has been put on earth in order to accomplish some purpose. Salt is supposed to be salty. When it is, it does what it’s supposed to do, but when salt loses its saltiness, it becomes nothing better than just a bunch of rocks. Salt that isn’t salty might be good for gravel in your driveway, but not for much else. Likewise, and I realize that this sounds redundant, lights are made to shed light. No one lights a lamp and then hides it. If they did, then why bother lighting the lamp, or turning on the light, in the first place? Lights are only useful when they do what they were intended to do, to drive back the darkness and to provide illumination.

Jesus gives these two incredibly obvious illustrations to make his larger point about the people who were listening to him, and that includes each one of us. Jesus says that you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. You have been created and put on earth for a purpose intended by God. God intends for you, for us, to obey his commands, to do the things that Jesus taught, and to teach others so that God’s kingdom can grow and continue on into the future. Jesus says when his people fail to do these things it’s like salt losing its saltiness, or a light being hidden under a bowl. It’s ridiculous, it’s silly, and it transforms something valuable, into something useless.

And finally, in 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, Paul explains our work, mission, and purpose this way…

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

⁶We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

¹⁰these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.¹²What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.

Just as we mentioned a few weeks ago, Paul again reminds us that the power of the message of Jesus Christ isn’t anything that depends on us. It isn’t our strength, or our eloquence in using big words or flowery phrases, it isn’t our courage, or much of anything else that we can take credit for. Paul says that he came in weakness and fear and trembling but was successful, not because of anything that he did, but because of the power of God. We can never know the thoughts, fears, motivations, or much of anything else about the people we meet and the people we talk to, but God does and it is God’s Spirit that is at work whenever we have those spiritual conversations about the person and message of Jesus.

Jesus says that you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. You have been created and put on earth for a purpose intended by God. God intends for you, for us, to obey his commands, to do the things that Jesus taught, and to teach others so that God’s kingdom can grow and continue on into the future.

What we cannot do is to be un-salty salt, or hidden lights, or people who appear to act as if they want God, but who never do the things that God has asks us to do.

We have been created by God and deliberately placed on earth for a purpose.

Let’s get busy.

We have work to do.

_________
Did you benefit from reading this?
Click here if you would like to subscribe to these messages.

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog, Crossfusion.

_______________

^* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Eulogy and Obituary for Lann L. Ford

December 29, 2016 PastorPartridge Eulogy faith, life, love, vision

Eulogy for Lann N. Ford

December 29, 2016

by Rev. John Partridge

With my arrival here at Trinity Church five years ago, I came into the middle of everyone’s lives and clearly the middle of Lann and Larry’s difficult story. When I arrived, Lann had already been fighting for several years, had already retired, and was already staying mostly at home. Everyone knows that part of the story so there isn’t any need for me to say much more except that even at that late date, there were things that I learned from Lann Ford. But before we talk about that, let’s go back to the beginning.

Lann N. Huntsman was born November 5^th, 1955 as the fifth child (there would eventually be eight) and second daughter of Robert and Dorothy Huntsman. From the beginning, it was obvious that Lann was her own person. She had a plan, and she didn’t care if other people, even her parents had different expectations. She was a good student, but more than that, she had a plan. She didn’t just go to school, she wanted to get an education and there were certain pieces, certain bits of education that she wanted, and she made sure that she got them. She was in speech, and in plays, and she deliberately designed and used her high school career to prepare her for college and the things that she wanted out of life in general. She knew that she wanted to go to college, even though no one else in her family had gone and even though college education wasn’t something that her parents thought was important for girls. It didn’t matter. She pushed and she pushed and she went anyway. More than that, she worked to earn her own money to pay for it.

Lann knew that she wanted to be an elementary school special education teacher but when Bard was ready to start school, he wasn’t too sure what he wanted to do or what he would be good at. But at registration, Lann knew exactly what he should do, and she took him by the hand and got him signed up. Not only that, she got him a job to help pay for it, and Bard told me that Lann basically got him through his first two years of school at Kent Stark. The two of them always scheduled their classes so that they could have time to eat lunch together every day. Lann excelled in education, both as a student and as a teacher, and on the day that she graduated, she was the first in her family to earn a college degree.

After graduation, Lann worked in Massillon, and at Reedurban, and several others before landing at St. Joan of Arc, although even then, technically, she worked for Perry Local Schools. Lann Ford was a teacher through and through. She was selfless. Her students were “her” kids, she loved her kids, she was their teacher, their friend, and their greatest advocate.

I mentioned earlier that Lann disagreed with her parents on the subject of education, but despite their disagreement, she loved her family and she was still daddy’s little girl. She knew how to use tools, but not on a car. She never touched a car. There was always dad or a brother to do that for her, and she was fine with that even though all of the cars that she drove were always beaters. Lann never owned a nice car until Larry bought one for her.

This reminds me, Larry and Lann met because Lann was dating Larry’s friend Paul Vaccani. But they broke up, and when they did, Larry was waiting and stepped right in. It must have gone well, because they were married in 1980 outside of the North Canton Civic Center. It had rained all day and stopped just in time for the wedding. Next door, there was a girls’ softball game being played, but the coaches stopped the game during the ceremony so that they wouldn’t be too disruptive. In 1983 Dara arrived and then Dustin in 1986. As much as Lann loved her students, she loved her family more. She was very family oriented and attended everything that her kids were in, she never missed a game or an event even when she had to get there in a wheelchair. And Lann was a great supporter and fan of her husband too. When Larry was awarded Teacher of the Year at Claymont, nearly all of Larry’s acceptance speech was about how Lann was responsible and why she was the reason that he was good at what he did.

I asked the family to tell me about vacations that they took together and no one could really pinpoint any one big trip or talk about an annual camping trip or anything. They remembered that Lann really loved Utah, and she loved to plan parties, but nothing else really stood out. Even so, vacations were about family. Since Larry and Lann were both teachers they had the summer off, but the impression that I got was that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, ‘ya know? Dara and Dustin were just as busy and as driven as Lann and they had plans for the summer, and so Larry and Lann would spend the summer doing whatever their kids were doing. Lann just loved being around family.

Of course, not going away on a big vacation trip meant that the summer often turned into a “stay-cation.” Especially since Lann loved keep busy, there was always something to do in the house, to the house, or around the house. One summer they tore up all the carpet, sanded, and refinished the hardwood floors underneath… in the whole house. Another summer they sided the garage, and so on.

As we met together, there were things that I heard from her family that I had heard many times before from many other people, and things that I had learned for myself. Lann Ford was a ball of energy and was always cheerful. She never seemed to have a bad day. Whenever she met someone, it was as if she had always known them. She liked to talk, genuinely cared about people, and never held a grudge. She was always happy and always thought of herself as a dancer. She danced on her toes from the time she was a little girl and she loved gymnastics.

Lann was first diagnosed with Multi-System Atrophy in 2004 and took disability retirement in 2007 but through it all, she always handled her disability with calm, humility, and grace. When I first met her, Lann was already in a wheelchair, had difficulty speaking and was already transitioning to using her spelling board. It was hard for us to communicate and between her soft voice and my hearing loss, it was impossible without another person to listen and repeat what she had said. But even then, she just smiled and did the best that she could. Lann Ford had every reason to be frustrated and angry from time to time. Everyone would have understood if she occasionally yelled at God and lashed out at people… but she never did.

I’m not sure that I would be able to do what she did if I was confronted with the sort of challenges that she faced. But that was the strength of her character. This was the woman who, even in high school, knew what she wanted to do, where she wanted to go, and what she needed to be doing to get there. This was the woman who determined to go to college even though no one from her family had done it before, even though her parents didn’t think that it was important, and even though she had to find ways to pay for it herself. This was the woman who came to every event that her children participated in, was her husband’s greatest supporter, encourager, and cheerleader, and who challenged her employers, or administrators, or the system if she needed to so that she could advocate for her students. Lann Ford must be one of the strongest women that I have ever known. From the very beginning, she was determined to live life on her terms and she refused to allow her disability to change that. Lann refused to allow her disease to change who she was no matter what.

My friends, if any of us have learned anything at all from Lann Ford, it’s this: If any of us can be half as brave, half as strong, half as determined, half as kind, half as compassionate, half as caring, and half as happy as she was, we will change the world. I am certain of this because every one of us is here today because Lann Ford inspired us or changed us in some way, and every one of us that is here can name five more people who aren’t here for whom she did the same thing. As we leave this place, the best way for us to honor Lann is for us to be for our families, our friends, our coworkers, and the people around us, the kind of a person, the kind of a blessing, that Lann was for us.

—————

Lann liked the words from Ecclesiastes 3:1-14, as well as the song, Turn, Turn, Turn by The Byrds which used that scripture as the basis for the lyrics. We aren’t able to play the song for you today, but listen to these words recorded for us by King Solomon:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

²a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
⁷a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

⁹What gain have the workers from their toil? ¹⁰I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. ¹¹He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; ¹³moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. ¹⁴I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.

————–

Obituary

Lann N. Ford

November 4, 1955 – December 24, 2016
Resided in Canton, OH

Lann N. (Huntsman) Ford, 61, passed away December 24, 2016 following an extended illness. She was born November 4, 1955 in Canton to the late Robert and Dorothy (Tyrell) Huntsman.

Lann was a 1974 graduate of Perry High School. She was an elementary L.D. teacher for Perry Local Schools until she took disability retirement in 2007. Lann loved her work and was a devoted advocate for her L.D. students. Lann was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Perry Heights.

Lann was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her husband of 36 years, Larry K. Ford; daughter, Dara; son, Dustin and daughter-in-law, Megan; siblings, Lee Huntsman, Brent Huntsman, Brad Huntsman, Lynn Fay, Laynn Vaccani, Bard Huntsman, and Brett Huntsman; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Calling hours will be held in Reed Funeral Home Canton Chapel on Wednesday, December 28 from 6-8pm. Funeral service will be held in Trinity United Methodist Church (3757 Lincoln Way East Massillon, Ohio 44646) on Thursday, December 29 at 10am with Pastor John Partridge officiating. Interment will follow at Richville Cemetery. In Lieu of flowers family suggests donations to Trinity United Methodist Church in Perry Heights.

Finding Peace On Earth

December 25, 2016December 25, 2016 PastorPartridge Uncategorized church, faith, followers of Jesus, Jesus Christ, peace, violence

“Finding Peace On Earth”

December 24, 2016

By John Partridge*

Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-20

READINGS:

Reading 1 – Isaiah 9:2-5

² The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
³You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
⁴For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
⁵For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

Reading 2 – Isaiah 9:6-7

⁶For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Reading 3 – Luke 2:1-7

^2:1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Reading 4 – Luke 2:8-14

⁸In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

Reading 5 – Luke 2:15-20

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

MEDITATION:

Imagine with me the world to which the prophet Isaiah spoke. Isaiah wrote from the land of Judah at a time when the Assyrian Empire was growing stronger by the day. He watched as Judah’s King Ahaz, rather than stand together with Syria and the northern tribes of Israel, allied himself with the Assyrians instead. Despite Isaiah’s warning to the contrary, Ahaz aided the Assyrians in conquering their neighbors and brothers in Israel. Everyone could see the handwriting on the wall. Everyone knew that, eventually, the Assyrians would come for them as well and, although it wouldn’t happen for more than a hundred years, Isaiah wrote about the eventual conquest of Judah, the captivity of both Israel and Judah in Babylon, the rise of power of Cyrus the Persian, and the return of the Jews to Israel and Judah after seventy years of captivity, as well as the Messiah that was to come.

Although these were dark days, Isaiah wrote about the light that was coming that would dispel the darkness. Although the people were oppressed, Isaiah wrote about the freedom that would come. Although they were surrounded by armies and warfare and bloodshed, Isaiah wrote about a child who would be the Prince of Peace. Isaiah proclaimed that a day was coming when a rescuer would come from God who would have the authority to bring about endless peace and he would establish his kingdom not with force and oppression, but with justice and righteousness.

More than seven hundred years later, in a land occupied by foreign armies, and to a people who were also well acquainted with violence, oppression, warfare, and bloodshed, angels appear in the skies over a band of shepherds and declare that the day prophecied by Isaiah had finally come. “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

Two thousand years later, we still remember that night and we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, the rescuer and redeemer of all humanity, and yet, much like the people in the time of Isaiah, and in the time of the shepherds, we too are a people who are all too familiar with violence, oppression, warfare and bloodshed. And we still look forward to the day when the boots of our soldiers and all of their bloodstained uniforms will be thrown into the fire. We look forward to the end of darkness, and oppression, and death. We look forward to the day when there will be endless peace and Jesus Christ will rule over all the earth with justice and righteousness.

But while we wait, we must also remember the instructions contained in the words of the prophet Titus who said (Titus 2:11-14):

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,¹²training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly,¹³while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ¹⁴He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

While we wait for the return of Jesus we have work to do. Amid the chaos of the world in which we live, we are to pursue purity, and live lives that are self-controlled, righteous, and godly. Jesus came, and surrendered his life, so that we could be rescued from sin and death, and to be transformed into a people who are passionate about doing good.

And so, while we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, and while we look forward to the return of Jesus Christ, until that time, his work falls to us. Until Jesus sits on the throne and brings peace and justice to the world, we are called by God to do whatever we can to bring godliness, justice, righteousness, purity, and yes, peace, into the world in which we live.

I admit it’s a big job. It’s huge. It’s enormous.

But it is possible.

With. God’s. Help.

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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Christmas Heroes

December 18, 2016December 18, 2016 PastorPartridge Sermon church, faith, freedom, hero, justice, love, truth, violence

“Christmas Heroes”

December 18, 2016

By John Partridge*

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-13

In 1959 a story appeared in Showcase comics and was retold in a July 1960 magazine entitled “The Planet of the Doomed Men.” In this story, Abin Sur crashes his alien spaceship in a remote and desolate part of planet Earth. He is dying. And as he dies he searches for a man who is, at the same time, most outstanding and quite peculiar. Abin Sur wears a ring of power that searches the world to find the type of man that he needs – and in all of planet Earth, only two such men are found, Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan. Because time is of the essence, test pilot Hal Jordan is selected because he can be reached and summoned to the crash site more quickly.

And so, Hal Jordan becomes one of Earths greatest Super Heroes, The Green Lantern.

The thing that made Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner and later John Stewart and Kyle Raynor unique wasn’t their choice of career. While Hal Jordan was a test pilot, Guy Gardner was a school teacher, Kyle Raynor an artist, John Stewart an architect, and Abin Sur was a professor of history. Their careers were not what made these men unique. What made these men worthy of being selected as member of the Green Lantern Corps was something that they lacked. While every man and woman on Earth experiences fear, a Green Lantern has no such capacity. Sometimes the banner heading of the comic magazine would say that, “Green Lantern, man without fear.”

If you hadn’t guessed, I am a fan of Green Lantern, and for many years I collected comic books and there were things that I learned from them. The comics of the Golden and Silver ages and to a lesser degree, still those of today, teach such things as integrity, chivalry, honesty, patriotism, the value of every intelligent being, teamwork, and freedom.

The downside is that comic books aren’t real. There really aren’t superheroes that we can call upon when we are in trouble. There was no Superman or Green Lantern to help us on 9/11. And there is no such thing as a man without fear. There is an old phrase that says, “A hero isn’t a person that isn’t afraid, it’s a person that is afraid but does their duty anyway.” A hero isn’t someone without fear, but someone who perseveres, who does their duty, who does their job, or who just does what has to be done despite their fear. I challenge you to read sometime the stories of the men and women who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Under the circumstances that arose for which they earned their medals, fear was natural and often pervasive.

The difference is that a hero keeps moving when normal people are paralyzed with fear.

As we read the Christmas story, we would do well to notice an underlying theme. It is one that we know but probably haven’t thought about consciously. Today I want to take a different look at the people of the Christmas story and I suppose the obvious people to start with would be Mary and Joseph.

These two young people often did not understand what was happening to them, or to the son that God had given to them. But do you suppose that Mary was afraid of what her father would think of her when she became pregnant before her wedding day? Do you think that she was afraid that her future husband would demand that she be stoned to death outside the city gate, as was his right? Do you suppose that she was afraid that Joseph would return her to her father and demand that the bride price be returned to him? We read a lot about Mary, but we need to remind ourselves that she was still just a tiny, thirteen years old, little girl. All of these things were real possibilities. And ye, Mary trusted God and moved forward anyway.

In Matthew 2:1-13 it says:

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ²and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
⁶” ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'”

⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

What about Joseph? Did Joseph worry that his reputation, as well as his father’s and his family’s reputation, would be degraded because his betrothed had become pregnant before their marriage? I’m sure that he did. Everything I have read indicates that a family’s reputation, their honor, was literally worth money. From how you were treated in the legal system, to what kind of kind of loans and interest rates you could get, to what kind of deals that you could make in the public market to whether of not you could do business as a tradesman, all depended on the appearance of your family’s honor. I say ‘appearance,’ because honor was very much a thing of appearances.

This system of honor goes a long way toward explaining how the system of law worked, and how even the sacrificial system worked. If someone did something that dishonored another person, that dishonored the community or that dishonored God, some penalty had to be levied that would the system back into balance and that would restore honor and holiness to the people. This is why an unfaithful woman could be stoned for bringing dishonor upon her family. This is why the husband, father and brothers of the woman were permitted to hunt down a rapist and kill him, or demand from him the bride price and possibly, that he marry the girl. These were all means by which the family’s honor could be restored.

Did Joseph worry about that? Was he afraid of what the people of his village would think of him and how it would affect his business? You can bet that he did. You can believe that despite the promises of an angel sent by God, that Joseph worried about being able to feed his family and you can be absolutely sure that he was afraid when he heard that Herod was sending his soldiers to kill his son. Herod had done things like that before… and worse. This story was entirely believable and their fear caused Mary and Joseph to make good speed in getting out of town in the middle of the night and fleeing to Egypt. Was Joseph afraid? I’m sure that he was, but it never stopped him from doing what God told him to do, or from doing what he needed to do.

Were the shepherds afraid when the angels came to give them the good news of the birth of the savior? We know that they were. But were they afraid of what they would find in town? Shepherds were among the bottom of the social classes right near the prostitutes and the tax collectors. Shepherds smelled bad and they were most certainly not welcome in town. Were the shepherds afraid of the reception that they might get in town? Did they worry that angry townspeople would drive them out of town again? They had cause to worry. But the things that the angels had told them were so incredible that they had to see it with their own eyes anyway.

Were the wise men afraid when they realized that all of their study and all of their data indicated that the new king that they had expected (because of the signs in the stars) would be born in Israel? These men, government officials for a hostile government, would need to visit the Tetrarch of Judea, Herod, the man who was widely known as evil, vicious and cruel. They would visit Herod while in the company of a token force of their own military, but while flying the flag of an enemy to Rome and they would visit Jerusalem, a city with an entire Roman legion in and around it. Were they afraid? I suspect that they would have been less than wise if they were not, but they pressed on anyway.

Did Anna worry about how she would live when her husband of only seven years did and left her with no children and no way to support herself? Did Simeon perhaps worry that he had misunderstood God and that he would not really live to see the salvation of Israel?

And what about Herod? Was Herod afraid when he heard the wise men say that a new King had been born? What about when his own advisors searched their own scriptures and found pretty much the same information? From everything that we know, from scripture, history and archaeology, Herod was desperate to protect his job. An appointment within the Roman government was tenuous and subject to removal or assassination. Herod was constantly afraid of any upset in the peace or in the status quo in the nation of Israel. If there were unrest or civil war, the Romans would move into Jerusalem in force to restore order, and Herod would be sent back to Rome, or worse. Was Herod afraid? Absolutely.

But here we have a dividing line of sorts. When Herod was threatened and was afraid, he did not react the way that the other characters in this drama reacted. Herod’s response to being threatened was to strike back at the source of his fear. Instead of responding in love or in faith, he responded in violence. When others were afraid, they prayed and they trusted. When Herod was afraid he mis-trusted. When Herod was afraid, his fear and mistrust brought death to hundreds of innocent children in a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere. When Mary was afraid she trusted and her faith and her trust brought new life and salvation to all people.

We need to remember that in our real world, babies from the planet Krypton don’t crash to earth. In our reality Abin Sur didn’t give his ring of power to Hal Jordan, and none of the other amazing superheroes of the comic books are going to come to our aid.

We do however, worship a powerful God who created the universe, who knows each and every one of us, and who loves us so much that he allowed his only son to die in our place. We worship a God who orchestrates the movement of the planets and who answers the prayers of little children. The good news is that although our world doesn’t have Superman or the Green Lantern or even mutant warriors like the X-men, God has sent us heroes. God has sent us heroes throughout recorded history, people that we know from the Bible and from other books. Even today there are often even heroes among us. God has sent us heroes that have shown us how to be faithful and how to make good choices. From our heroes we learn things like integrity, chivalry, honesty, patriotism, the value of every intelligent being, teamwork, and freedom. All of us should have a hero.

But although there is no such thing as a man without fear, the good news is that heroes are very real.

The key to having worthwhile heroes is in how you will identify them.

Green Lantern Abin Sur searched the world for a hero using his amazing ring of power.

How will you search?

Who will be your heroes?

You might start with the Christmas story. It’s full of them.

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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Eulogy and Obituary for Richard (Dick) Lewton

December 16, 2016 PastorPartridge Eulogy Eulogy, faith, life, love

Eulogy for Richard (Dick) Lewton

December 12, 2016

by Rev. John Partridge

In a way, this isn’t new. Almost all of us have experienced loss before. Most of us know what it is to lose people, friends, and family that we love. But in many ways, this is different. Richard (Dick) Lewton was a different sort of a man than many of the people we know and so losing him is an entirely different sort of a loss. Regardless of who you are, and regardless of how you knew Dick, we have all lost something of great value. Dick was one of the people that, regardless of whether we were family, or friends, or employers, or employees, or church family, or something else, Dick was on the incredibly short list of people that we knew, that no matter what happened, we could rely upon to keep his word, and to get things done. But before we go too far in that direction, let’s go back to the beginning.

Dick was born on February of 1929 in Lisbon, Ohio and lived there until he was about 12 years old. That was just long enough for him to pick up a few mannerisms and unique speech habits that although they may not, technically, have come from Lisbon, that’s where the blame has typically fallen. And so, at the age of 12 his parents moved from Lisbon to Perry Township. To make a little money, Dick became a paperboy, and curiously, one of the houses on his route was the home of Wanda and her parents. Nothing really happened at that point, except we know that is the earliest that Dick and Wanda knew one another.

A few years later, after Dick had graduated from Lincoln High School and was about 20, his brother Ralph had returned home from his time of military service, Ralph asked Dick to be the best man in his wedding. As it happened, Ralph was marrying Wanda’s sister, and Mary asked her to be her maid of honor. Now before you go and think that this is some kind of fairy tale thing, Wanda clearly remembers asking her mother, “Do I have to spend the whole day with him?” She was none too excited about the possibilities. But, she told me, as the day wore on she discovered that this guy was actually pretty nice. Three years after that, Dick and Wanda were married, at Trinity church, and bought a house together, and it was only then that Dick got drafted and left for the Korean Conflict. He was gone for almost two years. Oh, there’s something else I should mention, when Dick left for Korea he left a little something behind and Ron was born not long after he left. As it happened, the Red Cross failed to notify him, and he only found out about the birth of his son from a letter from one of his relatives. By the time Dick came home and got to meet his son, Ron was already 13 or 14 months old.

As I met with Dick’s family, his children told me that they never, in their entire lives, saw Dick and Wanda fight. Of course, they are sure that there must have been the occasional disagreement between them, but if they did, it never happened in front of the kids. In fact, their children told me that they could never remember a time when Dick even got particularly upset with them, although to be fair, Wanda admits that they were blessed by children who never really caused them any problems.

I’m not really sure, after delivering newspapers at the age of 12, when Dick really began working in retail. When he was in Korea he ran the Post Exchange, or PX, which, for those of you who might not have experience military life, the PX is a sort of general store and is often the only connection with the “real world” and the only chance that men and women in uniform have to buy much of anything, particularly when they are in a combat zone. And so, after Dick came home, he started working for the Acme grocery chain and did so for the next 43 years. As manager, he worked lots of hours. He worked 6 days a week and they were long days. And then, with the family waiting in the car, he still had to stop at the store every Sunday after church to make sure that all of the freezers and refrigerators were working properly. But then, after he checked that everything was okay, every Sunday during the summer, the whole family would drive to Atwood Lake where they would meet Ralph and Mary and the entire extended family and all the cousins would be together. In all, work took a lot of Dick’s time, but any time that he wasn’t at work, you know that he would be with his family, or at church, or both.

As a family they would do things together any time they could. They traveled together to Atwood Lake every Sunday in the summer, they went to the Outer Banks, and over the years they went camping in Michigan, West Virginia, Hocking Hills, Mohican and other places. And the whole family went hiking, in all of those places, and wherever they could. Later, Dick and Wanda organized 17 different bus trips to New York and Chicago and places all over. Many of those trips were with the folks from their Sunday school class. And on top of all that, Dick and Wanda still found time to be alone from time to time, and together, just the two of them, they traveled to Alaska and Hawaii.

By the time his grandchildren arrived on the scene, he had retired from Acme and he wasn’t about to miss a single minute of anything if he could help it. He went to everything, every dance, every volleyball game, every football game, everything. By now you probably have the impression that Dick Lewton had a strong work ethic, and you’d be right. His work ethic was as strong as they come, but if you thing about it, it wasn’t just about work. Whatever Dick did, he committed himself, he devoted himself, wholeheartedly, to doing it to the best of his ability with everything that he had. He worked like crazy at Acme, even when he suffered from terrible headaches he would still go to work. He joined the Canton Kiwanis club and became their president. He spent hours and hours helping with the Genoa schoolhouse project. He was the president of the condo association. He still attended monthly lunches with his friends from Lincoln High School. He enjoyed working at the church and he was, as I noted earlier, one of those people that you knew you could call to get things done, and you knew that if he agreed to do it, that it would absolutely get done. He taught Sunday school for ten years, was the president of the Pathfinders class, and worked on almost all of the church committees at one time or another, although he liked working with the church finances more than the others things.

Richard Lewton was the kind of a man that could talk to anybody and nobody was a stranger, at least not for long. Everyone who knew him, liked him, and that includes all of the employees who worked for him. He was the kind of a man who didn’t talk about people behind their back and who, despite working six or even seven days a week, with long hours, never spoke negatively of his employer. Dick always had to be busy with something or be busy talking to someone. He was always busy with a hobby, or building something, or fixing something, or even planning something. Even when he really couldn’t do a lot himself, he was still imagining what could be done and really seemed to enjoy proposing ideas to my sons for their Eagle Scout projects.

Just a moment ago, I mentioned that, as a family, they would do things together any time they could. His children admitted that, learning from Dick’s example, and with some encouragement from him, they often would look for an excuse to get together. They would have campfires, or bonfires, or picnics, or some other kind of gathering just so that family could get together. And Dick loved every minute of it. He once told them, “This is what it’s all about.” It was all about the gathering. It was all about being together. It was all about family. It was all about… love.

Everyone who knew Dick Lewton always felt both loved and valued. And in the world in which we live, that is truly a special gift. If I had to boil everything that I know about Dick Lewton into four words, I’d end up with words like family, committed, faithfulness, and… love.

I have no difficulty imagining that as Richard Lewton arrived at the gates of heaven, he heard the words of his master saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21)

Tyler Higgins (grandson):

Yesterday we lost the greatest grandpa anyone could ask for. Thank you for introducing me to woodworking, taking me fishing when I was younger, and teaching me to golf (although I don’t know how much you taught me golfing if you look at my scorecard). I’m going to miss your back cracking bear hugs and your amazing personality. I just want to thank you for everything you have done for me and turning me into who I am today.

Jennifer (Jenni) Lewton-Yates (granddaughter):

The last time I lived in Ohio and got to see Grandpa more than maybe just once or twice a year was thirteen years ago, and writing this now I realize that almost everything I think and feel about him is focalized through my eyes as a either child or at best a “barely adult,” so I generally just come up with a feeling of warm fuzzy –and that’s difficult to put into words. He had the best toys (usually battery operated and noise making), a pool when I was little (he could shoot amazing water jets with his hands), always had candy or cookies in the house, ice cream before bed when I spent the night, chocolate milk when we went out to eat, cable TV –almost like he was a giant kid. I loved the way his eyes got extra sparkly when he smiled, which was a lot. He taught me how to play checkers and the importance of antiques –that’s a lesson I may have internalized and taken to the extreme in my choice of career. As an adult I see that he modeled, really without ever making an overt point of it, two thing that have been so important to me as I’ve learned to make a home so far from family. First –he loved Grandma; that was so very, very clear. Many of my memories of him are inextricably linked to thoughts of her because they were and are a pair. This steadfast companionship in a spouse –Grandpa got that and showed that. Most of the time his eyes were sparkling at Grandma. Second –he took participation in a church community seriously. What to a child sounded like strange talk about renovations to a crazy place called the “northex” (one of Grandpa’s charming Lisbon pronunciations like “chimbly”) –Sunday school classes who made peanut brittle were much more up my ally—I now understand this as part of the work that keeps a church going. Now that I’ve had to put down new roots far from home, I recognize how important being a part of a church community is to my sense of well-being. Grandpa clearly got that, too. I will forever be grateful for the fun, for the boundless love, and for the fantastic example you set forward.

Lauren Higgins (granddaughter):

My grandpa was an amazing, caring, and such a loveable person. He was such an amazing person to look up to. I am beyond blessed to be able to call him my grandpa. Growing up, both of my grandparents were at every little league softball, cheerleading, and volleyball game. If they weren’t at one of my games, they were watching my brother at one of his games. We are so grateful to be able to say that. Not a lot of people know what it is like to have grandparents that are willing to spoil you with their time rather than material things. As we grow older, that is something that I will always cherish. I can’t express how grateful that I will forever be to both of my grandparents for that.

Growing up, my favorite holiday was always Thanksgiving. I loved this holiday because I got to spend the entire weekend at my grandparents’ house. I would stay the night and we would watch Christmas movies and my grandpa and I would eat way too much ice cream. Over the weekend we would help my grandma decorate Christmas cookies. Now, if you know my grandpa, you know how ornery he was. He would frost the cookies but he would “accidentally break them,” and say “Oh well, no one wants to eat a broken Santa Claus, looks like I have to eat it.” After the 12^th cookie, my grandma caught on to what he was doing. These silly memories may have not seemed like anything, but they were everything to me. I can’t even put into words how great of a person and grandfather he was. I just want to thank both my grandpa and grandma for everything that they have ever done for me, and thank you grandpa for being such a positive impact in my life.

John 3:16-21 (one of Dick’s favorites)

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Obituary

Richard (Dick) Lewton

February 24, 1929 – November 30, 2016
Resided in Perry Township, OH

Born 2/24/1929 in Lisbon, Ohio to Carl and Jessie Lewton. Moved as a teenager to Perry Township where he resided until his death on November 30.

Proceeded in death by his parents, sister Jean Evans, and brother Harold.

Dick leaves behind loving and devoted wife of 67+ years, Wanda. She has been at his side faithfully every day throughout his decline over the past 5 months. He is survived his older brother Ralph (Mary). His children are Ron (Kathy), Denny, and Kari (Dean) Higgins; grandchildren Jennifer (David) Yates, Tyler and Lauren Higgins, great-granddaughter Lily Yates. He was also very close to his extended family which includes many nieces and nephews.

Dick proudly served his country in the Korean War, was retired as a store manager from Acme Grocery after 43 years of service, and was always very active in his church (Trinity UMC) and community organizations. He was a past president of the Canton Kiwanis Club. He loved his family dearly; he was a friend to many.

We will miss him greatly.

His life will be celebrated on Monday, December 12th at 11 a.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church. The family will receive friends at the Paquelet & Arnold-Lynch Funeral Home on Sunday, December 11th from 2-4 p.m. and on Monday at the church from 10-11 a.m.

Contributions can be made in his memory to the Perry History Club for the renovation of the historic 1893 Genoa grade school building, P.O. BOX # 80575, Canton, OH 44708-0575. Renovating this building was his passion over the past many years.

Enemies United

December 4, 2016 PastorPartridge Sermon faith, peace, unity

“Enemies United”

December 04, 2016

By John Partridge*

Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4-13 Matthew 3:1-12

Who was your worst enemy in high school?

Are you still mad at them, or did you finally make friends with them?

Although our personal lives can be messy and we can harbor grudges for a long time, in global politics, time has a way of shifting our opinions. Our nation was once divided into factions of north and south, but people cross back and forth so freely today that it’s almost impossible to be in a place, north or south, that doesn’t have people who were born on the other “side” of that border. The United States and its allies fought World War Two against Italy, Germany, and Japan, but those nations are, today, some of our closest friends and allies. We fought the cold war against the Soviet Union, but now work together every day with Russia to keep the International Space Station, a joint project, up and running. France, England, and Spain once fought generations of bloody wars against one another but now, despite England’s vote for “Brexit,” they all live and work together as a part of the European Union.

Our scriptures for today remind us that God has sent his Son, not only to rescue us, but to heal the divisions between his people. In Isaiah 11:1-10, God said this about the coming Messiah:

^11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
²The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
³and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
⁴but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

⁶The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
⁷The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
⁹They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

The messiah will come and he will have wisdom, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. He will decide based on righteousness, aid the poor, strike down the wicked, and rule with righteousness and faithfulness. And when the messiah comes, natural enemies will lay down their hostility forever. Wolves and lambs, calves and bears, will be friends and even the lion, who is often the enemy of everyone, will become as harmless as an ox. No longer will their hostility toward one another bring harm or destruction in God’s city. And then Isaiah concludes with some very obvious military battle metaphors. To those of us in the twenty first century, in a world of radios and instant communication, these may not be quite as obvious as they once were but if you’ve ever watched the history channel, or read stories about Richard the Lionheart, or even Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, these metaphors remain clear.

¹⁰In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

The messiah will raise his banner for the people. Before the advent of radio, armies went to war and the king, or commander, communicated with the disparate segments of his forces by using flags. In the chaos of battle sometimes even the king had to move from place to place, and his forces could be scattered but, at some point, once a new position had been secured, the king’s banner, battle standard, or battle flag would be raised. Everyone could see where the king was, and they would rally, warriors who had been scattered all over the battlefield would fight their way to where the king was and regroup.

This is the picture that Isaiah paints. In that day, the messiah will raise his kingly banner, and nations from all over the world will join him and stand together.

In Romans 15:4-13, Paul reiterates this idea while both clarifying and amplifying it.

⁴For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

⁵May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, ⁶so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed ⁹and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing the praises of your name.”

¹⁰Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

¹¹And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples extol him.”

¹²And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.”

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul says that what had been written in the past was intended to encourage us and to teach us endurance so that we might all come to have the same attitude, or the same mindset, so that we might think like Jesus. And even greater than that, Paul says that in having the mind of Christ, we would be able to accept one another just as Jesus has accepted each one of us. But Paul wants to be sure that his readers understand exactly what he means and so he clarifies this with an example, Paul says that we shouldn’t just accept people who are like us, because Jesus had become a servant of both the Jews, who had received the promises of Abraham, as well as the Gentiles whom the Jews had considered to be the enemy for thousands of years. And just to be sure that his readers really understood that this is what he meant, Paul quotes four different passages of Isaiah that remind them that God intended to invite the Gentiles, the outsiders, the enemy, into his camp alongside the Jews.

Paul concludes by saying “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This once again reminds everyone that as we trust in Jesus Christ, our hope in God should fill us with joy and peace in such measure that our hope overflows into the people, and the world, around us.

But as the time approaches for the arrival of the messiah, John appears in the desert preparing a way for him by preaching a baptism of repentance. (Matthew 3:1-12)

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”

⁴John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.⁹And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John called God’s people to repent, and they came confessing their sins before God, except the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Knowing their character, and how John reacted to their presence, it appears that these church leaders did not come to repent and to confess, but instead came as a group to see where all their people were going and what all the fuss was about. To them, John says that is isn’t enough to claim the ancestry of Abraham for your salvation before God. Simply being a member of the family, or being a member, or even a leader of the church wasn’t enough. What was necessary was to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” And what that means is, that real repentance looks like it made a difference in your life. People who find real repentance live as if God, and his teaching, actually matter. People who find real repentance produce fruit for the kingdom of God.

John ends his speech with a warning for everyone. He says that although he has come to baptize and to issue a call for repentance, he is only preparing the way for the arrival of another. The one who is coming is more powerful than John. So much more powerful, that John is unworthy even to be the servant that carries his shoes. John’s warning is that although he himself is calling for repentance, the one who is coming will come not to plant, but to harvest. When the messiah comes to bring in the harvest, he will gather the wheat and burn the rest.

And so, as we prepare for the arrival of the Messiah at Christmas, we look forward to a day when all of God’s people are united, friends, strangers, and enemies, people of every language, and every color skin, and from every nation on earth. We are encouraged to read the scriptures and to internalize their message so that we become like, and think like, Jesus. We are called not only to read about Jesus, and not only to think about Jesus, but to act like Jesus. And we are warned that failing to do so will come at a cost.

As we celebrate this season of Advent, may we all recommit ourselves to becoming more like Jesus, thinking more like Jesus, and acting more like Jesus so that on the day he raises his banner, we can stand with our brothers and sisters, from every nation of the world, at his side.

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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

“Can You See?”

March 26, 2017

By John Partridge*

“Life is More Than Living”

March 12, 2017

By John Partridge*

Genesis 12:1-4a John 3:1-17 Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

“Responsibility, Immaturity, Blame”

February 12, 2017

By John Partridge*

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Matthew 5:21-37 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

How many of you have ever had to make a choice?

But imagine if we had a clear choice about one of the biggest, most important, decisions of our lives?

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

We must choose responsibly.

The decision ought to be easy.

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

And finally, in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Paul encourages the church to grow and mature in their faith and the things that he holds up as examples of immaturity are some of the same ones that we just heard Jesus condemn.

It’s more complicated than we sometimes think, and it’s harder than we’d like to pretend it is, but in the end there are only two choices.

God is blessing.

God is life.

Without God is death.

Without obedience is death.

What will you choose?

“As IF”

February 05, 2017

By John Partridge*

Isaiah 58:1-12 Matthew 5:13-20 1 Corinthians 2:1-12

Are you familiar with sarcasm?

Curiously, as modern as these sentiments are, we find a very similar message this morning in today’s scripture passage from Isaiah 58:1-12 where we hear God use words that sound very much like sarcasm…

But God did notice.

And just in case we go off on some mistaken assumption that this is limited to some sort of an Old Testament thing, we find almost exactly the same idea in Matthew 5:13-20 where we hear Jesus say…

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

And finally, in 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, Paul explains our work, mission, and purpose this way…

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

What we cannot do is to be un-salty salt, or hidden lights, or people who appear to act as if they want God, but who never do the things that God has asks us to do.

We have been created by God and deliberately placed on earth for a purpose.

Let’s get busy.

We have work to do.

Eulogy for Lann N. Ford

December 29, 2016

by Rev. John Partridge

Obituary

Lann N. Ford

November 4, 1955 – December 24, 2016 Resided in Canton, OH

“Finding Peace On Earth”

December 24, 2016

By John Partridge*

“Christmas Heroes”

December 18, 2016

By John Partridge*

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-13

And so, Hal Jordan becomes one of Earths greatest Super Heroes, The Green Lantern.

The difference is that a hero keeps moving when normal people are paralyzed with fear.

In Matthew 2:1-13 it says:

Did Anna worry about how she would live when her husband of only seven years did and left her with no children and no way to support herself? Did Simeon perhaps worry that he had misunderstood God and that he would not really live to see the salvation of Israel?

We need to remember that in our real world, babies from the planet Krypton don’t crash to earth. In our reality Abin Sur didn’t give his ring of power to Hal Jordan, and none of the other amazing superheroes of the comic books are going to come to our aid.

But although there is no such thing as a man without fear, the good news is that heroes are very real.

The key to having worthwhile heroes is in how you will identify them.

Green Lantern Abin Sur searched the world for a hero using his amazing ring of power.

How will you search?

Who will be your heroes?

You might start with the Christmas story. It’s full of them.

¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

²³“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

³¹“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³²But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

¹⁰these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

November 4, 1955 – December 24, 2016
Resided in Canton, OH