Note: Recently, as he was going through our father’s files, my brother Steve came across a column that Dad had published in a newspaper in December of 1970. As we end our season of Advent in 2020 fifty years later, it seems just as important, just as relevant, and just as contemporary, as it was then.
Shades of Rip Van Winkle
Guest Post by Rev. Stanley Partridge
One of the most delightful stories told is the one by Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle. After his very long sleep, he returns to his native village which is supposed to be the most familiar place that he knows. As was his custom, he goes to the tavern. There instead of finding the face of King George on the swinging sign, he sees the face of a man whom he comes to know as George Washington. Most people have enjoyed the story, but not everyone discerns the moral of it. In truth, Rip Van Winkle slept through a revolution.
The American Revolution is dwarfed in comparison to the era in which we are now living. The times of which we are a part is the greatest period of revolutionary ferment the world has seen. Wherever we may turn, the fires of strife in one form or another are blazing, and far-reaching changes are under way. Many political foundations which seemed so secure a few decades ago, are now shaking and sagging before our eyes. The vast colonial empires, so familiar to the older generation, are now becoming an eclipse and who can tell the shape of the new world that is just emerging?
Tragically, too many people today are unaware or just do not care about this global war of ideas, and like Rip Van Winkle, they are sleeping through a revolution. It was at a crucial point in the ministry of Jesus, that of the Sadducees and the Pharisees combined their forces against him. They said to him, “Show us a sign from heaven that you are under God’s authority.” Our Lord answers, “Why do you ask me for a sign? You are the experts in signs. In the evening when the sky is red you say that it is going to be a fine day tomorrow. In the morning if it is red and lowering you say we are in for a stormy day. You know how to interpret the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” They were like Rip Van Winkle too, in that they were asleep to the great potential of the man that was before them. They knew all the “Tricks” of the Roman political games and missed the one who would tower above men of all history—unique, solitary, and majestic.
These searching words of Jesus, “You cannot interpret the signs of the times,” apply to us also, for there are many on business, industry, politics, economics, yes and even the Church who can read most of the signs of our times but cannot see, or refuse to see, what is obvious. How long can the world seek for PEACE and refuse demands for “clean air” and “pure streams” and a better living environment when the only god they know and have known is a god created in man’s image. This age of materialism calls us all to bow down to its demands and has lulled us into a peaceful sleep of lethargy.
Our greatest need today is to begin to bridge the yawning gap between our profession of belief in human freedom and justice and our lamentable practices that discredit us in the eyes of the world and one another.
This is the season of Advent, a time when we again take time to remember that there was a man who came to bring to the world a new lifestyle that wasn’t meant to be encumbered with the trivia of life. He comes to bring to us the things in life that want most but won’t turn to him to find. He comes bringing peace, love, joy, and contentment, but we go our merry way attempting to find peace, love, joy, and contentment in any other place than in him.
Here is a goal for all of us: To follow in the footsteps of Christ our Lord who, when he was reviled, reviled not again, who kept loving men who hated him, who died for men who were unworthy of his sacrifice. But you see, he released a Spirit in the world that alone can draw people together in the bonds of human love and peace under the over-arching care of an eternal God.
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* 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.
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