hard

Curses, Love, and Fruit

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Curses, Love, and Fruit

July 13, 2025*

By Pastor John Partridge

Amos 7:7-17               Luke 10:25-37                        Colossians 1:1-14

In the Gorge Metropark in Summit County, there is a hiking trail on which, midway through your hike, the trail diverges in two directions and, at the point where the two trails split, there is a sign that, at one time, simply pointed in each direction with the labels, Easy” and “Hard.” Such a sign was brutal in its honesty and efficiency. But while both paths eventually returned you to the trailhead and the parking lot, the harder of the two paths will take you past some incredible scenery and through house-sized (and larger) boulders that were scooped up in Canada during the last glacial period and deposited here as the glaciers melted.

Life is often like that. We often have choices to make that will cause our path in life to diverge and while some of those paths are easy, others are extraordinarily hard. At the same time the scenery, and often the destination of the two paths, can be vastly different. For example, choosing to quit your job so that you can go back to school or learn a trade so that you can get a job that pays better can be a lifechanging decision. Likewise, choosing to join the military so that you can escape from a neighborhood that is likely to pull you into a gang and trap you in poverty is a choice that can take you in a direction that is almost unimaginable to the friends that you leave behind. In contrast, Patti and I have met people in prison who, if you met them on the street, would seem no different that many of the people you know from church and around town, except for one bad choice that resulted in their incarceration. Some choices, good and bad, forever change the scenery and the destination of our lives.

And that is exactly what we find in our first scripture today. God’s prophets, specifically the prophet Amos, had warned Israel to follow the commands of God but, despite those warnings, Israel and her leaders had chosen another path. And so, as we join the story, we hear God explaining to Amos that Israel was about to be measured and tested according to God’s standards. We begin reading from Amos 7:7-17 where we hear this:

7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”

“A plumb line,” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

9 “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
    and Israel will surely go into exile,
    away from their native land.’”

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,

“‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
    and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
    and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a pagan country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,
    away from their native land.’”

As God speaks to the prophet Amos, he explains that after all the instructions and commands of God, after all the teaching and preaching, it is time for Israel to be measured the way that a builder measures his work during the construction of a building. God intends to measure his people and his nation and assess the results of all the teaching just as a builder uses a plumb line to measure the straightness of a wall. Worse, God already knows the results and, just as a builder will tear down a wall that isn’t straight, God intends to tear down his own nation and start over.

It is too late for warnings.

Bishop Hopkins once asked the East Ohio Conference, “Are we an institution? Or are we a movement?” As a church, our history, and our calling, is to be a movement, but it is all too easy to drift into institutionalism where all we want to do is to preserve the bureaucracies that we have built and forget that the entire purpose of the church’s existence is to reach the lost. In the story of Amos, we discover that this exact thing has happened to Israel. There has been lots of worship, there has been lots of teaching, and many priests have expended themselves in preserving the institution of the church, but the end result has been a people that follow the king and the church but do not follow God, act in the way that God has called his people to act, or love in the way that God has called his people to love.

It isn’t a surprise that the priests shout and tell Amos to shut up and go home because no one wants to hear the prophecies that he has brought. But that rejection of Amos and the message that he has brought, just results in God bringing a curse against Amaziah the priest and all of Israel that will take many of them into captivity in Babylon, or worse.

But if it is so easy, and common, for the church and its leadership to fall into the trap of preserving the institution, then what does it look like to understand and implement God’s message correctly? And for that, we only have to turn to Luke 10:25-37 where we hear one of Israel’s resident theologians ask Jesus that exact question.

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

When Jesus tells the religious scholar to love his neighbor, his immediate question is to wonder who it is that he should treat as a neighbor. What he is really asking is, what does real love look like? And the story that Jesus tells in reply is that our calling is to love, even the people who are foreign enemies of our people, or even more simply… everyone you can imagine is your neighbor. And that even includes the people that you were absolutely certain were not your neighbor.

But if that is what love really looks like, then what does it look like when the church gets it right? And for that, we find a fitting example in the church in Colossae, when Paul writes to compliment them in Colossians 1:1-14, where he says:

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sistersin Christ:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on ourbehalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified youto share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Paul tells the people in the church of Colossae that others are talking about them and about their ministry, and that some of those kind words have even reached him where he is imprisoned in Rome. But what is it that people are talking about, and that Paul has heard, that allows him to know that the church has a strong faith? Quite simply, what Paul has heard, is that the church has love for all of God’s people. Moreover, because of what he has heard, he and his companions never stop praying for the church in Colossae and its people, and they encourage them to continue doing more of the things that they have already been doing.

It is notable at this point to highlight one more thing. Paul says that the people of the church can avoid the trap of preserving the institution and forgetting their kingdom mission. But, to do that, we must instead live a life that is worthy of God and bear fruit by doing good work. No, that’s wrong. Paul doesn’t say that we should just do good work.  He says that we should bear fruit by doing every good work.

As individuals and as the church, we have choices to make, and the best choices do not always take us down easy paths.

Bear fruit by doing every good work. That means, don’t just love some people, love all people. Don’t just love a little, love in abundance. Don’t just love ordinarily, love extravagantly.

Because the difference between preserving the institution and advancing the missional movement is found in who we love, and how much we love them. As Paul knew, in the end, the way that we bear fruit for the kingdom of God is to love all the people around us, and by doing every good work.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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Life is Hard. God has Standards.

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A tsunami warning sign that says "Life is Hard"

Life is Hard. God has Standards.

October 06, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

Job 1:1; 2:1-10                       Mark 10:2-16            

I heard an interesting question this week and, that question boils down to, what did the people of North Carolina, Florida, and all the places in between do to make God angry enough to bring destruction upon them through such a violent hurricane?

Of course, the correct answer… is nothing.

However, this has now become known as the Pat Robertson Syndrome, which is named after, obviously, the televangelist Pat Robertson, who once said that God’s wrath would bring destruction upon this place or that place because the people there had sinned in some spectacular way. More recently, the Pat Robertson Syndrome is being applied to the media’s haste to label every single weather event as being caused by global warming. Sure, global warming is real, but sometimes weather is just weather.

The answer is… none of the people who have been harmed did anything to bring destruction and devastation upon themselves. Sometimes, life is just hard. But even when we acknowledge that life is hard, we must also remember that even though he loves us and is filled with love and grace, God has standards. And what we wrestle with is that sometimes God’s standards do nothing to make a hard life easier.

We begin this morning with a snippet of the story of Job. If you aren’t familiar with his story, Job was an honest man of devout faith in God whom God himself declared to be both righteous and blameless. But because Job was doing so well, Satan asked God for permission to torment Job in order to prove that Job’s love of God was only the result of God giving him good things. God allowed this to happen, and Satan took away all of Job’s wealth, and killed all his children. And still Job honored God. And that is where we join the story in Job chapter 2… (Job 1:1; 2:1-10)

1:1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

2:1 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

Job lost his wealth, he lost his children, and he lost his health. He was covered in painful sores and could only sit and suffer. Even his wife told him to give up on God, but Job, who had done nothing wrong, held on to his faith in God. Remember that Job knew nothing about Satan’s requests to prove that Job’s faith was only a payment for the blessings that God had given him. Job only knew that he had done nothing wrong but lost everything anyway.

Life is hard.

And, as we read the gospel story of Mark, we find that following God, and obeying God, doesn’t always make life easier. In Mark 10:2-16, the Pharisees test Jesus with a question about divorce. You see, different factions within the religious leadership and the elites of Israel regularly argued about what conditions were needed to allow a married couple to divorce. Some said that infidelity would be required, while others said that nearly any minor offense was enough for a husband to divorce and abandon his wife. In general, everyone followed the guidance of Roman law, but this was a regular argument among the priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, and others. And so, they ask Jesus to weigh in on their ongoing debate in order to see on whose side he will be lend his support.

2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh. So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Jesus deconstructs the entire argument about divorce by saying that it is God that created men and women, it is God that puts married couples together, and it is only the hardness of human hearts that makes divorce necessary. If human beings weren’t broken and unfaithful to God, divorce would not be necessary. By that measure, Jesus says, anyone who divorces and remarries commits the sin of adultery. This is harsh. By the standards and measures of our modern culture, this is hard to swallow. But even in the first century, this was stricter than what any of Israel’s teachers, priests, and religious leaders were teaching.

But I want to be clear about something. I don’t think that Jesus is teaching that people who divorce and remarry are condemned by God. Instead, Jesus is pointing out that the human weakness in all of us often causes us to fall short of God’s standards and fall into sin. But this strictness on the part of Jesus is immediately contrasted by the compassion that he shows for the children. The disciples try to run the kids, and their parents, off, but Jesus invites them to come to him and explains that all of us should aspire to have the pure and honest faith that children have.

So, what have we heard today?

First, God did not send destruction upon the people of the American south.

No one did anything for which God has chosen to “smite” them or punish them.

But if we learn anything from Job, one of those things should be that even though we didn’t do anything wrong, sometimes life is hard. Bad things, sometimes horrible things happen, and we may not ever know why it happened or why God allowed it to happen. And when (not if) that happens, we should aspire to be like Job. Feel free to mourn and sit in a pile of ashes and pray. Feel free to sit and commiserate with your friends. Feel free to argue with God and protest your innocence.

But don’t give up on God.

Accept that life is hard and is sometimes flat out horrible. But through it all, God will never leave you even when it might feel like he has.

Second, we must remember that God’s standards are not our standards. Sometimes what God requires of us is harder and stricter than the rules that our culture expects. And sometimes God’s expectations are so strict that our culture cries out that God is unjust. Even so, we must do our best to rise and meet God’s standards as best we can.

The good news, as always, is that as the followers of Jesus Christ, we are covered by God’s grace.

When life is hard, God is with us.

When terrible things happen, God sustains us.

When we fall short of God’s expectations for us, God loves us and forgives us.

And we should aspire to be as faithful to God as God is to us. We aspire to have the pure and honest faith of children and rest in the arms, and in the love, of God…

…even when life is hard.

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Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

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*UYou have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

I Will Go… Or Will I?

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I Will Go… Or Will I?

July 09, 2023*

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67         Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30      Romans 7:15-25a

Throughout our lives we must decide in whom we will put our trust. When we are children, we trust our parents.  In school, we often trusted our teachers. In college we trusted that the curriculum and all the agony that it put us through, would be useful and valuable to us upon completion. When we accepted employment, we put a lot of trust in the company that hired us, as well as the supervisors and managers that trained us and oversaw our work. And any of us who served in the military entrusted our lives to those persons who made our duty assignments and sent us to places down the street and around the world.

In recent weeks we have studied how Abraham was repeated tested by God. First God called Abraham to “go to a place that I will show you,” and then we read about Abraham’s conflicted emotions, and his trust in God, as he sent Hagar and Ishmael out into the wilderness, and then again when God tested his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. And those are just a few of the many examples from Abraham’s life. But, as we continue reading the story of Genesis, the family of Abraham continues to be tested by God. As Isaac matures to a marriageable age, his father worries that Isaac’s faith might suffer if he were to marry a Canaanite woman. And so, Abraham sends one of his trusted servants to go back to his home country, to find the descendants of the family that he left behind, and among them find a wife for Isaac.

It is almost certain that Abraham’s servant has never been to the place that he has been sent but he trusts that his master would not send him into great danger. At the same time, Abraham and Isaac trusted that this servant would be a good judge of character as his mission was, literally, to select the person with whom Isaac would spend the rest of his life. And so, in Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67, the servant finds Abraham’s extended family, meets a girl, and this happens…

34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. 37 And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, 38 but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’

42 “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. 43 See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” 44 and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’

45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So, I drank, and she watered the camels also.

47 “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’

“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’

“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, 48 and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”

58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”

“I will go,” she said.

59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“Our sister, may you increase
    to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess
    the cities of their enemies.”

61 Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So, the servant took Rebekah and left.

62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

“He is my master,” the servant answered. So, she took her veil and covered herself.

66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So, she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

And so, not only did Abraham’s servant trust his master, and not only did Abraham and Isaac trust the servant, but Rebekah was asked to trust a man that she had just met, to leave her home, journey to meet a total stranger, whose family she had never met, so that she could get married and spend the rest of her life with them and almost certainly never see her parents, family, or friends, ever again.

That’s a lot of trust.

But trusting is hard.

And sometimes the people in whom you are asked to place your trust are not trustworthy. And that was, in large part, the situation that Jesus finds in the story of Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30. Although Jesus and the disciples were faithful Jews who attended services in the synagogues and observed the prescribed feasts and festivals at the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus also knew that following God was hard and not everyone had the faith of Abraham. And worse, Jesus knew that many times, the people who ran the Temple, and who led God’s people, were not the most trustworthy people.  And in that story, Jesus speaks into the situation this way…

16 “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

17 “‘We played the pipe for you,
    and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
    and you did not mourn.’

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus says that many of the people in that generation were like the children that demand that strangers play a game with them. Only they know the rules, they won’t explain the rules, and then they are angry that you didn’t play their game according to their rules. Jesus continues by explaining that the religious leaders of Israel have behaved exactly that way. They saw John refraining from food and drink, and they criticized him for doing so, but then Jesus came and did not refrain from eating and drinking, and they criticized him for that. Just like children in the marketplaces, the religious leaders of Israel were angry because John and Jesus had refused to play their games.

But Jesus also knew that many people really wanted to follow God and to have a good relationship with God, but the leaders of Israel had made the rules so confusing that it kept people up at night. The leaders had created a system of worship that was overly burdensome, time consuming, and still left people unsure of their standing before God. And into this confusion, Jesus says, ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus says, “Following God, and having a good relationship with God is not as hard as you’ve been told. All that you need to do, is… trust me.”  Trust me, and I will take away the burdensome rules and the sleepless nights. Trust me… and find… rest.

But Paul finds that even following Jesus can still be difficult. As we read just last week, Paul knows that even though we have grace and forgiveness because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are not free to sin, but must still strive live a life of righteousness. But doing what is right can be hard. In Romans 7:15-25a Paul says…

15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

When we read these words quickly, we find that these might almost be unintelligible gibberish. But, if we slow way down, read slowly, think about what we’re reading, and consider the meaning, we can dig down into it and get a better sense of what Paul was trying to communicate. And, if we’re honest, this is how Paul intended it to be. This isn’t a comic book, or even a newspaper, that has all the imagery and ideas distilled down into their simplest form that we can skim over, past, and through with little effort and no intellectual engagement. These are transformational ideas that require the focus of our minds and spirits.

And, when we do that, we discover that Paul is saying several things that create a logical progression of thought. First, Paul says that he keeps doing the things that he doesn’t want to do, and so he agrees that the law is good because the law helps to keep him righteous.  For example, we know, intellectually, that driving too fast is dangerous, but without speed limits, we will almost certainly do so. We might not always obey the speed limits, but that boundary helps us to be conscious of our speed and keep everyone on the road safer. In the same way, the boundaries given to us in the law help us to be righteous.

Second, after a lot of confusing language about what he wants to do in comparison to what he actually does, Paul concludes that because of the sin that lives inside of him, he is incapable of consistently doing good.

Simply put, we just can’t do it by ourselves.

But Jesus stands ready to walk with us, and to help us to do better and to overcome the natural evil that lives within us.

Like we saw with Moses, his servant, Isaac, and Rebekah, scripture repeatedly tells us stories about trust. Our relationship is built on our ability to trust in God.

Paul admits that trusting is hard, and that the sin and evil that is inside of us makes it impossible to be consistently good. We, like Paul, must admit that we simply cannot do it alone. We must surrender control, offer our lives as a living sacrifice to God, and trust Jesus to transform us into something better.

It is Jesus who says, trust me, and I will take away the burdensome rules and the sleepless nights.

Trust me… and find… rest.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio.  Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you.  Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601.  These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org.  These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com .  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Built to Last: Prepared for Struggle

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Note: You can find the video of this message here: https://youtu.be/Bkp_61ShDYs

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Built to Last: Prepared for Struggle

August 22, 2021*

By Pastor John Partridge

1 Kings 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43               John 6:56-69              Ephesians 6:10-20

How old, is old? 

When we think of antiques, or national monuments, or other things built by human hands, how long do we expect things to last?

We live in an era when we’re surprised if anything lasts for more than ten or twenty years, and we’re impressed by old farmhouses and barns (and churches) that have lasted for more than a century.  But as I was thinking about a few other well-known monuments around the world, I started looking up some dates and I put them in sort of a chronological order.  The Eiffel Tower was built between 1887 and 1889 for the 1889 Paris World’s Fair was supposed to be temporary and dismantled afterwards.  Most of the Great Wall of China was built between 1300-1600 AD, though parts are much older.  Heidelberg Castle was built in 1214, Windsor Castle in 1000, British Parliament has existed, in various forms, since 1295, and England as a nation from 959.  Hadrian’s Wall was constructed across northern England during the Roman era as protection from the Picts, and about the same time, the world saw the construction of Masada, the Colosseum in Rome, and so many other Roman artifacts.  The

Western Wall, also known as the “Wailing Wall,” in Jerusalem also dates to the time of Jesus and some of the foundations found on the Temple mount can be dated to David and Solomon in 1000 BC.  The Great Pyramid of Giza is over a thousand years older and was built around 2500 BC, and Stonehenge is older still because we calculate that it was constructed over time between 3000 and 2000 BC.

But do you know what they all have in common? 

They weren’t easy.

You don’t just slap together a few boards and some sheet metal and expect it to last for a hundred, or even for a thousand years.  When you intend for things to last, the construction of those things takes thought, planning, preparation, hard work, and sweat.

And you know what else those things have in common?

They all stand witness to the world that endurance isn’t easy.  Every one of those monuments from the youngest to the oldest has witnessed the struggle and upheaval of human society, and have endured countless thunderstorms, lightning bolts, fires, floods, earthquakes, sandstorms, crawling vines, insects, and everything else that mother nature could throw at them.  They stand as witnesses that life is hard and not everyone, or everything, is prepared to endure for the long haul.

And it was the long haul that David and Solomon were thinking about when they planned and built the first Temple in Jerusalem.  But what they were building was more than just a building.  We rejoin the story in

1 Kings 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43.

8:1 Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.

6 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.

10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said:

“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.

27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

41 “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

God promised David that there would never fail to be a successor on the throne of Israel if his descendants would continue to walk faithfully with God.  God was building the foundations of a building, but also the foundations of a nation, and a faith that was intended to reach every tribe, every nation, and every people on the face of the earth.  And in the Gospels, we find God fulfilling his promises to David, and revealing his greatest outreach to the people of the world… but it wasn’t always easy, and not everyone was willing to put in the effort that it required.  In John 6:56-69, Jesus says…

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Just as God had promised, Jesus was the descendant of David who would walk faithfully with God, and would sit on the throne of David, of Israel, and of God forever.  But not everyone could bring themselves to believe.  Following Jesus was going to be hard.  Following Jesus was not going to make anyone rich, or powerful, or popular.  And when they saw that, many of Jesus’ followers bailed.  They quit rather than committing themselves to the hard work of really following and shaping their lives after Jesus.  But there were a few who saw who Jesus was, and they knew that there was no other way.

But even for those who stood by Jesus, their lives didn’t magically become easy and without pain or trouble.  All but one of the disciples of Jesus, all but John, would be executed or murdered while they were doing the work of Jesus and sharing the message of the Gospel.  And even though John died of old age, he too had been tortured, imprisoned, and died in exile on the island of Patmos.  Paul’s life wasn’t any easier.  Although he wasn’t one of the original twelve, Paul dedicated his life to following Jesus and to sharing the stories of the Gospel message, and he was also, repeatedly, tortured, chased out of town, imprisoned, and ultimately was also executed for his faith.  But during one of his times of imprisonment, Paul this advice to the church and to anyone who would answer the call to follow Jesus in Ephesians 6:10-20:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

I want to pull out a few key phrases that I think are important to the context of what we’ve been talking about this morning.  First, “Be strong” but not just trying to be strong by relying upon our own strength, “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”  Second, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood…” tells us that it is not the people around us with whom we fight, but we fight against principalities (governments), against powers (kings and other government officials), and against unjust systems that are subverted by evil.  Third, that we must arm ourselves with all the protection that God offers so that we can stand firm, stand our ground, and live without retreating from the enemy.  Fourth, never stop praying.  And finally, note that Paul says that he is “an ambassador in chains.”  He is writing to the church from prison, and he begins by reminding them that even though they may not be in prison at that moment, that life, for all of us, is going to be a struggle.  When we read scripture, we remember that we shouldn’t be surprised when life is hard, we should be surprised when life isn’t hard.  Some of Jesus’ own followers quit because, while they loved the good news, they didn’t want to hear the bad news.  They didn’t want to do the hard work that comes with following Jesus but that has been God’s message all along.  The Kingdom of God has its foundations deep in the Old Testament.  God is building his kingdom, and he is building our lives, to last forever. 

But endurance is never easy.

If we are going to follow, we must be willing to do the planning, preparation, hard work, and sweat. We will need to rely upon God’s strength working through us.  We will need to fight against governments, against officials, and against systems that are corrupted and subverted by evil.  We must arm ourselves with all the protections that God offers so that we can stand without retreat.  We must never forget to pray for one another and for all of God’s people. 

And we must always be…

…prepared for struggle.

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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.

Just Do The Next Thing

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Some years ago, when I was still working as an engineer, I used to listen to a Christian radio station in Cleveland, Ohio and would often hear a program hosted by Elizabeth Elliot. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that name, Elizabeth Elliot was the widow of a missionary, Jim Elliot, who was killed by Ecuadorian natives from the Huaorani tribe– also called the “Auca”, along with Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and their pilot, Nate Saint in 1952. Their story spread around the world and was recorded by Elizabeth Elliot in a best selling book “Through Gates of Splendor” as well as subsequent movies and other books written by Elliot and others.

In any case, in a conversation with a caller on her radio show, Elizabeth Elliot noted that there were many times, particularly after she was widowed with small children, as well as other crises later in her life, that she would remember and recite to herself an old poem entitled, “Do The Next Thing.” On that show, on more than one occasion, I heard her recite it, at least in part, and remind her listeners that when life is hard, when we are struggling to understand how we can possibly move forward, her advice was simply to put one step in front of the other, and just “do the next thing.”

Although I didn’t need that particular wisdom on the day that I heard it, my brain filed it away somewhere. And, there have been several occasions since then that I found myself reciting parts of it to myself, looking up the entire poem online, or just reminding myself to just “do the next thing.”

It occurred to me today that some of you might not have heard it and during the turmoil caused by the Coronavirus, or for a host of other possible reasons, maybe you needed to hear it today. Here it is:

Do The Next Thing

From an old English parsonage down by the sea
There came in the twilight a message to me;
Its quaint Saxon legend, deeply engraven,
Hath, it seems to me, teaching from Heaven.
And on through the doors the quiet words ring
Like a low inspiration: “DO THE NEXT THING.”
Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity, and guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, do the next thing
Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand
Who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,
Leave all results, do the next thing.
Looking for Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering, be thy demeanor;
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing.
Then, as He beckons thee, do the next thing.
– Elizabeth Elliot

Hang in there friends.

Whatever it is that you are facing, you will get through this.

Television pastor and writer Rev. Robert Schuller used to say,

“Tough times don’t last, tough people do. ”

I said it before, but I’m going to say it again anyway…

Whatever it is that you are facing, you will get through this.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and just…

Do the next thing.

God Bless.

____________________________________________________

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The Anti-Blessings of God

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The Anti-Blessings of God

June 14, 2020*

By Pastor John Partridge

 

Genesis 18:1-15                  Matthew 9:35 – 10:23                Romans 5:1-8

 

 How would you feel if you prayed that God would protect you and pour out blessings on you, and what you got was trouble, suffering, and pain?  Would you feel protected and blessed?

What if you prayed, in the middle of your pain, for the suffering to end, and it just kept going, and going?  Would you feel as if God answered your prayers?

And imagine that you spent your entire life praying for God to answer one specific prayer, one that everyone around you seemed to have answered, and after a lifetime of prayer, you gave up simply because the answer to your prayer was no longer even possible.  Would you feel blessed?

Contrary to what we might want, and contrary to what some television preachers might tell you, God isn’t a genie that dispenses wealth and happiness in answer to our prayers like some kind of cosmic vending machine.  God is more complicated than that just as our lives are more complicated than simplistic sayings like “earning a living” and “raising a family.”  Life can be hard, but we worship a God who understands our needs better than we do and who dispenses blessings that are far more complex than those things for which we might have asked.  Rather than giving us things that we think we want; God blesses us with gifts that he knows we will need.  Unfortunately, we often find that these “anti-blessings” are gifts for which we would never have prayed and are gifts that we didn’t want.

In Genesis 18:1-15, we hear the story of how Abraham met God, and was given a gift for which he and Sarah, his wife, had prayed for decades.  But now, as Abraham and Sarah had given up on that prayer, after both were long past the age of having children, God begins the fulfillment of an almost forgotten promise.

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs [about 36 pounds] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”

7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he said.

10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

God visits Abraham decades after he changed his name from Abram, which means “father of many,” to Abraham, which means “father of nations.”  By the time of this visit, Abram and Sarah are in their eighties or nineties, or as the passage notes, “already very old, and Sarah was well past the age of childbearing.”  And yet, God honors his promises, and when the visitor returns a year later, the impossible has happened and Sarah, the octogenarian, has given birth to a son named Isaac.  This is amazing, and miraculous, but imagine the pain that the two of them endured for generations.  Imagine introducing yourself as “the father of nations” but having no children.  Why did God allow that to happen?  Isn’t the creation of these circumstances extraordinarily cruel?  What could God possibly have had in mind?

We will come back to that, but now, let’s consider the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples, and the warnings that he gave them, and us, at the same time in Matthew 9:35 – 10:23.

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

 10:1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town, and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you; it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time, you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because he saw people who, like sheep, were lost, aimless, alone, and suffering from a total lack of unity.  To combat that isolation, Jesus sent the disciples into the world to cast out spirits and heal the sick.  And while that sounds a bit like sending gallant knights on a brave quest, this blessing, and these gifts, come with a warning that would turn your hair white.  Jesus warns the disciples, and us, that the world isn’t going to be appreciative or grateful for the message that we carry.  Instead, Jesus frighteningly compares those that carry the message of the kingdom of God to sheep among wolves.  The disciples are warned that they will be arrested, judged, hated, beaten by their own churches, persecuted, and made homeless when they do what he has sent them to do.  But, at the same time, they will be given gifts from God, be accompanied by God, and be used by the Spirit of God.

These anti-blessings are gifts that none of us want.  Jesus isn’t promising that his followers will have wealth, comfort, happiness, and career advancement.  He is promising misery, suffering, pain, and death.  These are not the things that you would find on a recruiting poster, these are the things that wake you in a cold sweat run screaming into the night.

And so again, just as we did with Abraham, we ask ourselves, “What could God possibly have in mind?”

We find some of the answers in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome (Romans 5:1-8).

5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Paul explains to the church that the things we find through our relationship with Jesus aren’t wealth, prosperity, and comfort.  What we find in Jesus… is peace with God.  Paul says that if we want to learn perseverance, we learn it through suffering.  If we want to build character, we build it through persevering through suffering.  And if we want to find hope, we find it while we are journeying through suffering and building character.  If you ask someone if they would like to learn patience, most will say yes.  But we all know that the only way to learn patience, is to live through difficult circumstances that require it.  The same is true here.  While everyone wants to have hope, and character, the path we follow as we learn them takes us through dark places that are filled with pain and suffering.

So why did God allow Abraham and Sarah to endure, and suffer, for fifty or seventy years while they waited for God to fulfill his promise?  Perhaps it is because God needed a man and woman with a specific set of skills and gifts to be the parents of Isaac.  Perhaps God needed parents with perseverance, character, and an abundance of hope.  God called Abraham and Sarah to be the parents of his new nation, but first he needed them to become the kind of people that Isaac, Israel, and the world, would need.

The same applies to the disciples and to us.  God calls us as we are, but to do the work that he has called us to do, it is often necessary for us to become the people that he needs.  And the journey from where we are to where God need us to be often passes through pain and suffering so that we can learn perseverance, character, and hope.

So yes, God just might be answering your prayer for his blessing when you are on the receiving end of trouble, suffering and pain.

And yes, when your suffering lasts longer than you had hoped, and even long after you prayed for it to end, God may just be answering your prayer in ways that you hadn’t expected.

While none of us wants these kinds of anti-blessings, God might just be allowing them today so that we can become the people that he needs tomorrow.

 

 

 

Have a great week everybody.

 

 

 

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/8ywdXlDfGjI

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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.