food

Worthy

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Worthy

August 01, 2021*

By Pastor John Partridge

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

What does it mean to be “worthy”?

We hear the word used a lot, but what does it mean?

The dictionary definition helps a little.  It says:

wor·thy (/ˈwərT͟Hē/)

adjective

“issues worthy of further consideration”

To repeat, “having, or showing, the qualities or abilities, that merit recognition in a specified way.”

In practice, we use this a lot.  We consider whether a scout, or a military person, or an employee is worthy of promotion to the next rank or to a new job.  We consider whether a political candidate, or Carnation Festival queen candidate is worthy of our vote. 

But why does any of that matter to us in church as the followers of Jesus Christ?

For the moment, just trust me that it does matter.  And hopefully, you will understand why before we finish.

We begin in 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a as we remember the story of how God sent the prophet Samuel to confront David for his sin in sleeping with Bathsheba and in murdering her husband Uriah.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The story begins by saying that what David had done “displeased the Lord.”  God was not happy.  God expected better from David.  God expected better for the leader of the nation of Israel, and David had fallen short of God’s expectations.  But one of the things that makes this story so compelling, is that when he was confronted by Samuel, and was asked to judge the rich man in the story, David angrily demands swift punishment for the rich man and condemns himself in the process.  When confronted with his own actions, David makes it clear that he has not only fallen short of God’s expectations, but he has fallen far short of his own expectations as well.  God deserved better.  Israel deserved better.  And, although it’s too late to do anything about it, clearly Uriah deserved better as well.

And then, in John 6:24-35, as crowds of people follow Jesus after the feeding of the five thousand, we discover that not everyone who followed Jesus did so for the right reasons.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some of the people following Jesus are doing so because he has given them food to eat, and they want more.  But Jesus encourages them not to expend their work and energy for food that spoils, but instead to work for food that lasts for eternal life.  Jesus says that they can get this eternal food from the Son of Man, upon whom God has placed his seal of approval and considers to be worthy.

But the people demand that Jesus feed them like God gave their ancestors manna in the time of Moses.  In the end, Jesus simply says that God has already given them the true bread because he himself is “the bread of life.” 

Let’s step back a moment and consider what we know.  God chose David from among the entire nation of Israel.  David was said to be “a man after God’s own heart.”  We would be safe in thinking that God thought David was worthy of being Israel’s king.  But even so, David fell short of God’s expectations as well as his own.

Jesus was worthy of God’s seal of approval and his life, and his death, are evidence of that.

But what does that mean?  What does worthiness have to do with us?  And why does it matter?

We find the answer in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 4:1-16, where Paul says:

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

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

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

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

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

I urge you to live a life that is worthy of the calling that you have received.

Let me say that again.

I urge you to live a life that is worthy of the calling that you have received.

David was called to be the king of Israel.  God had judged him to be worthy of being king, but David didn’t always live up to God’s expectations.  David fell short and didn’t always live a life that was worthy of the calling that he had received.  And so, Paul encourages his church, and us, to live a life that is worthy of the calling that we have received, to do our very best to live up to God’s expectations of us.

The next question is, what would that look like?  What would it look like if we lived lives of worthiness?  And Paul’s answer is that living up to God’s expectations means that we would lives that are completely humble, gentle, compassionate, and patient with one another, lives that make every effort to be united in Spirit through the bonds of peace.  And, more than just living lives of individual struggle, we are to work together to equip one another for works of service, to learn and to grow in knowledge and in faith so that we might all become mature followers who can each do their share of the work for the Kingdom of God.

We aren’t just called to claim Jesus as our savior… and then coast. 

We were called to expend ourselves, to work toward a common goal, to learn, to grow, and help others to learn and to grow, so that everyone might become mature disciples of Jesus and share the work of building the Kingdom of God.

God has called us just as he called David.  

And God has expectations of us just as he had expectations of David.

May we struggle, work, and make every effort to live lives that are worthy of God’s calling.

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

You Are What You Eat

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You Are What You Eat

November 24, 2019*

(Thanksgiving)

By Pastor John Partridge

 

Deuteronomy 26:1-11                       Philippians 4:4-9                   John 6:25-35

 

Do you remember all the encouragement and education that we once had to eat right?

Maybe they still do that in school, but we once studied things like the food pyramid, and the four food groups, and were encouraged to eat a balanced diet.  We were told that breakfast if the most important meal of the day so that we wouldn’t run out of energy before school was over and so that we could be at our best and learn things more efficiently.  We were discouraged from filling up on junk food and empty calories and we were told, repeatedly, that “You are what you eat.”  Our options seemed clear.  Did we want to be full of wholesome stuff?  Or full of junk?

But if we think about our connection to God in the same way that we think about food, we discover that scripture says a lot of the same things about our spiritual health that we heard about our physical health.  As it turns out, taking care of our spiritual bodies is just as important as taking care of our physical ones.

But before we talk about today, or what we plan for tomorrow, let’s start with remembering what we have been given and learn how the people of Israel made the connection between thanksgiving… and faith.  We begin in Deuteronomy 26:1-11 as we hear God’s instruction to his people as they entered the Promised Land.

26:1 When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, 2 take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name 3 and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. 5 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. 8 So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. 11 Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.

Even before the people entered the Promised Land, God established a system of giving offerings to give thanks for what they had been given.  But it is important to notice that for Israel, thanksgiving was not the Fall, but in the Spring or early Summer.  As the people began to harvest their crops, when the very first plants began to produce fruit, long before the full extent of the harvest was known, the people would bring gifts to God.  Rather than being a tithe, or a percentage of the harvest, as you might do in the Fall, these gifts bridged the gap between thanksgiving and faith.  By bringing the firstfruits of the harvest, the people of God showed their gratitude for what they had been given, but also relied upon their faith that God would bless the harvest that would come in the days ahead.  In this way, the celebration of Israel was not only a time to give thanks for what God had given in the past, but also a bridge to symbolize their trust in God for the future.

But then, with the coming of Jesus, the food for which we are thankful is seen as something altogether different, as we see in John 6:25-35.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Because it is a common theme of the human condition, Jesus often uses illustrations about food to help us understand.  Humans have always had to work for their food.  Either we hunted for it, worked the soil to grow it, or labored at other things in order to pay for it.  But when people started following Jesus in hopes that he would feed them, he cautioned that they shouldn’t work for earthly food that spoils, but instead should work for spiritual food that will endure throughout eternity.

Before we can begin to do good works for God, we must first believe in his son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the bread, the foundational sustenance of our faith, the staple food that anchors everything else.  Jesus is the true bread sent from heaven and not just earthly food that makes us feel good today and hungry again in a few hours.  Once we have accepted Jesus and have taken him into us, so that he becomes a part of us, then our spirit will never again be hungry or thirsty.

But then what?

If accepting Jesus, and having him become a part of us, is the first thing that we must do, then what is it that we are supposed to do next?  And for that, we turn to Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi where he says (Philippians 4:4-9)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, —put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

What Paul says is that accepting Jesus and allowing him to become a part of us, makes a difference.  Being a follower of Jesus Christ changes who we are and how people see us.  In other words…

…We are what we eat.

As the followers of Jesus, we are called not only to be thankful, but to rejoice in what God has done, and in what God is doing in your life every day.  Allow the love of Jesus to flow through you so that it can be seen by the people around you as gentleness and kindness.  Instead of worrying, pray and be thankful.  But, if indeed we are what we eat, then, Paul says, don’t stop eating.  It’s obvious that our physical bodies will starve if we don’t eat enough, and we’ve had it drilled into our heads that eating junk food all the time is bad for us, and Paul says that the same thing is true for our spiritual bodies.  If we want to stay spiritually healthy, we need to have a regular diet of healthy spiritual food, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, —put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

You can’t be physically healthy on a steady diet of Twinkies and no exercise.

If you want to be physically healthy, eat a good balanced diet and do a little work in the gym.

Likewise, you can’t be spiritually healthy on a steady diet of Desperate Housewives and no exercise.

If you want to be spiritually healthy, give thanks, have faith in Jesus, eat a healthy diet of good spiritual food, and do a little work in the spiritual gym by doing the things that Jesus, Paul, and the other disciples taught us and modeled for us.

It makes sense because, just it is for our physical bodies…

…you are what you eat.

Maybe we’ll give that some thought this week before we reach for seconds.

 

 

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

Israel: A Culinary Adventure

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As many of you know, my wife, Patti, and I recently returned from a two-week pilgrimage to Israel.  The trip was nothing short of amazing and you can be sure that I will write several more posts about our time there.  But first, I want to describe the culinary adventure that came with our trip.

Any trip to a new place, whether it is to another town, another state, or to another country always gives us the opportunity to try new things.  When I used to travel for my employer, some years ago, I always tried to be open to experimentation.  I learned that it was fun, and painless, to try local foods, drinks, and be open to learning a little about culture and people. 

But the two weeks we spent in Israel went far beyond my previous excursions.  Every day our hotels would serve enormous buffets for breakfast and dinner, and every day we would stop for lunch at some amazing local spot. 
In two weeks, I tried more new food I have in any other decade of my life and it was glorious.
Those who know me know that I am not generally a fan of breakfast.  The choices that we have for breakfast in American culture bore me.  I don’t much like French toast, pancakes are better for lunch or dinner, and while eggs and bacon and cold cereals are great, I get tired of them. 
And this leads me to the culinary revelation of our trip.  The world of breakfast is far, far, bigger than the choices we have in American culture.  And those new choices were wonderful.
I discovered that fish was an acceptable, and to me fantastic, offering for breakfast.  At various times there was herring, smoked herring, pickled herring, salmon, smoked salmon, raw fish (not sure what kind), and a few other fish that either I don’t remember or which were never identified.  We also had shakshouka, a Middle Eastern egg dish, in which eggs are poached in a tomato and vegetable sauce.  This was good, though not my favorite.
Almost every breakfast (and many dinners) also offered goat cheese, salty white cheese, labane (yogurt cheese), white Bulgarian cheese (20-30% fat), cream cheese, fresh local yogurt, and Greek yogurt.  I list these all together because it sometimes became difficult to discern which were cream cheeses, and which were yogurts.

And many meals also offered hummus, couscous (which I never managed to sample), many varieties of eggplant, Israeli salad, a variety of other unnamed vegetable salads, and halva which looks sort of like a cheese, Braunschweiger, or liverwurst.  It isn’t meat at all but made with sesame paste and honey.  It’s a little crumbly but has a slightly sweet taste.  And there was also a dessert that was something between tapioca and rice pudding but made with a grain that no one could adequately translate.

Lunch was often some variety of falafel, which for the uninitiated, is sort of fried “meatballs” made with chick peas) or shawarma, which is a spicy shaved chicken (shaved off of a spit much like good Greek gyros) with vegetables and served in a pita bread or in a “roll bread” that was a bit heftier than a tortilla, thinner than a pita, but about the size of a tortilla at Chipotle.

And then there were the breads that were served at every breakfast and dinner.  They varied from day to day, but although none of them were labelled, there were breads that resembled challah, butter knots, sesame twists, and tons of other varieties.  There were rolls, fresh pita bread that is far better than anything store bought here at home,  Jerusalem bagels (which are not bagels in the American sense, but a forearm-long, oval shaped, slightly sweet, bread), pastries like rugelach (sort of a chocolate, hazelnut, crescent roll)and others that were variously drizzled in honey or sugar.

And of course there was fruit.  Every day there was an offering of oranges, kiwi, apples, grapefruit, fresh tomatoes, dates, olives, and the discovery of the week (for us), flora fruit.  Our introduction to this was at a snack stop after a worship cruise on the Sea of Galilee where the snack place across from the gift shop had the usual offering of soft drinks, juices, sweet rolls, but also offered a sort of a fruit smoothie that we didn’t recognize.  We asked the proprietor two or three time what it was, and every time we swore that he was saying, “Four.”  We assumed that there was some sort of language barrier and he was telling us the price, but after several attempts he took a small cup, poured out a taste, and offered it to us.  It tasted like some combination of mango and citrus and was so good that Patti immediately bought the regular serving.  It was only after she was halfway through it that we asked our tour guide what it was and he identified it as “Flora” fruit.  As the days passed, we saw this fruit again and again in desserts ranging from something akin to gelatin molds to a topping on something that resembled cheesecake.  They were all delicious.  Some later googling gave us a possible common name, persimmon.
From a culinary point of view, every day was a new adventure and despite my list, I’m sure that I’ve forgotten a few.  More than that, every day I lost count of the things that we saw on the buffet, could not identify, sampled, and still had no idea what it was.
In all, we had a lot of fun sampling as many things as we could (even if we never knew what they were) and our culinary world got a little bigger.
Travel is all about adventure.
Never be afraid to try new things.

Often times, that’s half the fun of your entire trip.

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