Jesus Christ

Living Sacrifice. Say What Now?

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Living Sacrifice. Say What Now?

August 23, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Exodus 1:8 – 2:10                   Matthew 16:13-20                 Romans 12:1-8

Each month when we celebrate the Lord’s table, which is also known as the Eucharist, or simply as communion, the liturgy that we use includes the phrase, “we offer ourselves as a holy and living sacrifice.” Since this is the pastor’s part of the liturgy, I often emphasize this part and occasionally add a word or two of what it might mean to be a “living sacrifice.” That language originally comes from the words of Paul in his letter to the church in Rome. But what does it mean? And what does it say about how we should live our lives in the modern world? I hope to offer some understanding and some answers to these questions this morning, and we will, near the end, examine Paul’s words for more detail, but before we do, let’s begin with some examples, first from the story of the Exodus, and second from a discussion between Jesus and his disciples. Once again moving forward in our story of God’s people in the nation of Egypt, we rejoin their story several generations after the death of Joseph as we read these words in Exodus 1:8 – 2:10:

8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”

11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so, the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

2:1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So, the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So, the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

The new Pharaoh was so far removed from those generations that knew Joseph, that they no longer remembered how he had saved the entire nation of Egypt. If any national memory of Joseph remained, it now lay soundly in the realm of fables and mythology rather than that of history. And so, when the new Pharaoh looked at the Israelites, he no longer saw allies, but only potential enemies. Despite living there and calling Egypt home for hundreds of years, the Israelites were still seen as outsiders and not as native Egyptians. And so, the Egyptians oppressed and enslaved the Israelites and worked them without consideration for comfort, well-being, or any kind of compassion or humanity. Even so, no matter how hard they were abused or overworked, the oppression of the Egyptians had the opposite of its intended effect. Rather than reducing them in number, the people of Jacob’s family multiplied even more and now that they were oppressed, became an even greater threat to Egypt’s national security.

And so, Pharaoh orders Israelite midwives to murder any male children at the moment of birth. But two of Israel’s midwives resisted Pharaoh in private and refused to do what they saw as immoral and wrong. At great risk to themselves, these two women, Shiphrah and Puah, refuse to obey the command of Pharaoh, lie to Pharaoh’s face (or at least to the face of his officers), knowing full well that doing these things could cost them their own lives. Interestingly, As Pharoah issues an edict that is the instrument of death for a generation of Israelite male children, God chooses to use Pharaoh’s own daughter as the instrument of rescue for the man that would later rescue the Israelite people and become one of Israel’s greatest heroes.

Next, let us move forward to the moment when Jesus asks his disciples to share the gossip that they have heard about him in Matthew 16:13-20:

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

When Jesus asks what people are saying about him, there are various answers. Some think John the Baptist, which is silly since they were repeatedly seen together, but also Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets from the Jewish scriptures. But then Jesus asks who the disciples think that he is and something interesting happens because the first to answer is Simon Peter. And here we need to remember who Peter is, and what we have seen of him up to this point. Peter is the man who is rash, impulsive, speaks and acts before he thinks, and because of this has, repeatedly, put his foot in his mouth or otherwise said or done things that made him look utterly foolish, or for which Jesus had to publicly reprimand him. And yet, in this case, Peter is not only first to arrive at an answer, but he is also totally correct in his assessment that Jesus is Israel’s promised Messiah, the savior and rescuer of God’s people that had been foretold by God’s prophets throughout Israel’s history. Moreover, Jesus emphasizes that Peter’s answer isn’t just a result of Peter’s typical impulsiveness but is knowledge that has been revealed to him by God himself. The rest of this, though some parts scholars still argue about, essentially represents the idea that Peter, the apostles, and the church now take the place and the authority of the scribes, Pharisees, and the priesthood in the Jewish faith, for the community of Jesus’ followers that they were building.

And finally, we arrive at the words of Paul that began today’s exploration that we find in Romans 12:1-8 where he says:

12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

In the words that we hear each month as we celebrate at the Lord’s table, Paul calls God’s people to offer themselves as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, and Paul goes further to say that our living sacrifice is our true and proper worship. That is both notable and important. Paul is saying that just as worship in the Temple once revolved around the sacrifice of animals, true worship of God still involves sacrifice but now it is the living sacrifice of our living bodies. That seems a little confusing to us, and we wonder what that means, and what that would look like. But Paul understands the needs of his audience, and he continues with an explanation. He says that we must each consider ourselves, our gifts, our education, our abilities, and understand that these are all gifts that God has given to us, but also that each of us are different and have different strengths and weaknesses that God designed to work together.

Paul says that we are called by God to use the gifts that we have been given and that using these gifts is therefore how we give God the living sacrifice of our lives. True worship, Paul says, isn’t going to church, listening to the pastor, and singing some songs. True worship is using our gifts, whatever they are. Prophets should prophesy, teachers should teach, those with the gift of service should serve, those who can encourage should encourage, those whose gift is in giving, should give generously, the merciful should show mercy, and leaders should lead.

Let’s quickly pull all these strings together and see what we have. First, we saw that Shiphrah and Puah used their gifts to actively disobey Pharaoh in order to honor God. Next, we saw Peter being himself and behaving exactly the way we had seen him act. When Peter declared that that Jesus was the Messiah he looked exactly like his normal, rash, impulsive self, and discovered a revelation from God. And finally, we heard Paul’s instruction that we worship God most genuinely, most truly, and properly when we use the gifts, education, abilities, and personality that God has given us to honor God. This is when we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, when we use our gifts and expend our whole selves in the service of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.

Although we call it worship, what we do at church is only a shadow of true worship. We truly worship when we use our gifts, as a living sacrifice, in service of God. What we do during our weekly Sunday meetings are for the church, the gathered body of Christ, to report back on what we have been doing and plan for what ministry we will do in the future.

The question each of us must answer is this: What does true worship look like for me? How can I use the gifts that I have been given in the service of Jesus Christ, so that I can truly offer my life to God as holy and living sacrifice?

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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.™

How Should We Resist?

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How Should We “Resist”?

August 20, 2026

by John Partridge

What does it mean to resist?

It’s been an important catchphrase in political circles, especially, but not exclusively, among those who dislike the current presidential administration. The word “Resist” sometimes with other words, appears on banners, posters, bumper stickers, and of course a host of internet memes. But resistance isn’t new and it isn’t just a political idea. Much has been written about organizations such as the French and Dutch (and others) Resistance during World War Two, and there have been many other organized resistance groups in other conflicts including the American Civil War.

But what would resistance look like in a Christian or Jewish context?

Clearly, many of the people that we find in the stories of resistance against the Nazi campaign to exterminate the Jews were motivated, at least in part, to risk their lives because of their faith. But can scripture offer us a clearer view of what resistance means for the followers of God? As is often the case, of course, the answer is, yes. Toward the end of August, my sermon included the story of Moses’ rescue from a basket in the Nile River in the first chapter of Exodus, and that story included the midwives Shiphrah and Puah. While I used their example in my message, there is more to say about them that applies to us today.

 When Pharaoh began to fear the numerical abundance of the Jews that lived in Egypt, he transitioned their treatment of them from that of citizens to that of slaves and oppressed them bitterly. But their oppression had the opposite of the desired effect. The more that the Israelites were oppressed, the more that they grew in numbers and spread to more places throughout Egypt. To reduce their population, Pharaoh then ordered the midwives to murder any make children as they were being born. But at least two of the midwives among the Israelite people refused to cooperate. Scripture says that they “feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do.” In other words, they refused to do what they knew was wrong in the eyes of God. In our modern context, they resisted.

When they were confronted about why they had not done what Pharaoh ordered, they lied. They said that Israelite women typically bore their children before the midwives arrived to help them and so they had no opportunity to obey. Horrifically, Pharaoh then orders his soldiers to go house to house and do the job he had ordered the midwives to do but let us consider the roles of Shiphrah and Puah and what we can learn from them.

Shiphrah and Puah risked everything. Had they been caught deliberately disobeying Pharaoh and lying about their actions, their lives would have been forfeit. Our story tells us that the Egyptians had no problem with abusing and killing the Israelites and the lives of two midwives would not have made a difference to the mathematics of their oppression. But these brave women were willing to risk their lives to do what was right in the eyes of God and I wonder if those that hid Jews from the Nazis during World War Two saw themselves in the story of Shiphrah and Puah as they did much the same.

But please note what this biblical resistance was not. There were no popular slogans to be chanted. There was no hope that their resistance would help to overthrow Pharoah and bring about new leadership. And there was no expectation that their resistance would at any time bring about the end of their slavery. The only end goal of their resistance was to do what was right and to honor God. As we consider our role in our modern context, that is a difficult thing because what passes for resistance today seems to be filled with these sorts of expectations and very little risk.

What would modern resistance look like? It might look like refusing to answer the questions of law enforcement about our neighbors. It might look like helping our neighbors without transportation to go to the polls. It might look like refusing to use deceptive accounting or billing to overcharge customers or hide corporate or personal income. Godly resistance is saying no and refusing to participate in any activity of which God would not approve. Even if doing so could end your employment result in your arrest and incarceration.

Godly resistance may not have an expectation of making anything better. It probably won’t be flashy or become a popular slogan.

And it might be genuinely risky.

The purpose of our resistance, at least in the example of Shiphrah and Puah, is to honor God.

Often the question isn’t what God would want us to do, because usually we know.

The real question is… what are we willing to risk to do what is right?

Appropriate Guilt?

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Appropriate Guilt?

August 16, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 45:1-15                     Matthew 15:10-28                 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

If I were to ask you what you knew, or what you thought about guilt, what would come into your mind?

As I considered that, there were a range of things that presented themselves from my memory. There is, of course, the caricature of the old school, old-fashioned, Catholic or Jewish mother who used guilt to motivate the people around her, and according to them, everyone should feel guilty for just about everything. I have also heard the church described with similar accusations, that the purpose of the church is to use guilt to consolidate the power that it has over the people who worship there and to manipulate them for its own profit. At the other end of that spectrum are the people that we see on social media, and in some mainline media outlets, who claim that all guilt is fabricated and that no one has any real need to feel guilty for anything. And, while I think that this attitude goes too far, and is frankly, dangerous, there is truth to the idea that we need not feel guilty for everything, even when we sometimes genuinely feel guilty.

But if we agree that there are legitimate things for which we should feel guilt, then somewhere in the middle of that continuum between feeling guilty for everything, and feeling guilty for nothing, there is place where we should, legitimately, feel guilty. But where is that place? And still, the answer to that is complicated and not everyone agrees, but we can learn something from what we find in scripture as we examine the guilt of the people, and in what Jesus, and the writers of scripture, had to say about it. We begin by reading from

Genesis 45:1-15 where our story has skipped several years ahead in telling the tale of Joseph’s slavery in Egypt. Since his brothers sold him to a traveling caravan of merchants, Joseph was sold into slavery, proven himself to be conspicuously honest and faithful, as well as being a skilled manager. He was falsely accused of rape, thrown into prison, but rescued by Pharaoh himself when Joseph was able to interpret the nightmares that had been plaguing Pharaohs dreams. As we rejoin the story, Joseph is now second in authority only to Pharaoh and is overseeing the survival of all Egypt during a seven-year famine. It is then that Joseph’s brothers had come to Egypt to buy food, had not recognized him because by now he looked thoroughly Egyptian, and had been manipulated by Joseph, on an earlier visit, into bringing along Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, who was born to the same mother. I apologize for the long introduction, but our lectionary skipped forward at least a decade, past nearly the entire story and the background is helpful to our understanding.

45:1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So, there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me… you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise, you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’

12 “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.

And all of that brings us to what we heard in the first lines of that passage, that once the brothers learned that this powerful Egyptian ruler was actually their brother Joseph, “they were terrified in his presence.” As we heard last week, the brothers had sold Joseph into slavery, fabricated evidence that he had been killed by wild animals, lied to their father about what had happened, and then lived with what they had done for at least a decade or so. With the exception of Benjamin, who wasn’t there, they all knew exactly what they had done, they all realized that Joseph’s dream in which all of the brothers bowed down to him had come true in spectacular fashion, and it wasn’t difficult to imagine what he could do to them now that he had nearly unlimited power over them.

It wasn’t difficult at all to imagine that he would want revenge for what they had done, but instead of being angry, he immediately tells them not to be distressed or even to be angry with themselves for what they had done. Rather than offering his brothers a cold dish of revenge, Joseph instead offers them forgiveness and his understanding that, through their actions, and through his time of slavery, God had sent him ahead of them so that he could save the lives of his family, and tens of thousands others through the preparations that he had directed in the nation of Egypt before the famine struck.

It was obvious to everyone that the brothers had good reason to feel guilty and had need of Joseph’s forgiveness. But what if the circumstances aren’t as clear? How do we know what sorts of things are appropriate for which to carry guilt and require forgiveness? While they do not offer a clear guideline or rule, the stories of Jesus in Matthew 15:10-20-28 do offer us some clarity as he explains why it isn’t a sin for his disciples to eat without washing their hands:

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So, his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes, it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

First, Jesus calls the people to both listen to his words, and to understand them, which are two separate things. Jesus continues by saying that what we eat, whether that is eaten with washed hands, or implying even suggesting prohibited foods, are not the things that make us guilty, sinful, corrupt, or defiled. What marks us as sinful and defiled are the words and language that come out of our mouths. The Pharisees, who had a great many rules about what observant Jews were, and were not, allowed to eat, were offended by what Jesus had said, but Jesus accuses them of being blind and teaching things about which they had no real knowledge. And then Jesus explains more clearly that food does nothing more than go into your mouth, pass through your stomach, and come out the other end. But that the words that come out of our mouths are the product of what is in our hearts. It is the heart that is the source of evil such as murder, adultery, immorality, theft, perjury, false witness, and slander. These are the things that require forgiveness and should cause appropriate guilt but eating with unwashed hands is not at all in the same category.

In the next story, Jesus is asked to heal a daughter that is demon possessed. We do not know if these were real demons, or if the girl had something that the ancient world blamed on demons but was a sort of disability or disease that we would recognize as something different. In either case, when the woman demonstrates her great faith and understanding to Jesus, knowing that even a healing miracle such as this is just a crumb of the power that he possesses, Jesus heals the girl without ever meeting her. In this case, there is no guilt at all. Jesus does not blame the girl or her mother for her suffering, though some in that culture may well have done so.

But what do we do with what we have learned? And what do we do with the knowledge that we have? In Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, in Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32, he says:

11:1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.

29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Paul makes several things clear. God did not reject the Jews. God’s gifts and God’s invitation are permanent and never rescinded. Paul also clarifies that God never compels anyone to disobedience or sin but has declared, as a judge or jury would, that some are guilty so that they might see their need for forgiveness. But an important bit for all of us is that the Jews have now become disobedient so that they might see their need for forgiveness and can receive mercy from God because of God’s mercy to us. What does that mean? It means that because we have received God’s mercy, because we have confessed our guilt and sin, and because we have been forgiven, we can now pass that blessing on to others. The Jews brought about the faith and the nation of Israel, and that in turn brought about the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was then shared with the Gentiles, with us, and now Gentiles are called to share Jesus and his forgiveness with the Jewish people and with everyone who does not yet know him.

There are several things to take away with you today. Yes, there are things for which we should feel guilty, and for which we are in need of forgiveness. But we need not feel guilty for everything. With that said, because we have been forgiven by Jesus, we are called to share that opportunity with others who haven’t yet heard the message of the Gospel.

The question you must answer for yourselves is this: Will the words and actions that come from your heart be ones that require forgiveness, or will they be ones that lead others to Jesus?

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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.™

The Chasm Between Theory and Practice

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The Chasm Between Theory and Practice

August 09, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28                        Matthew 14:22-33                 Romans 10:5-15

In my high school marching band, there was a phrase that we used whenever we learned new shows. We would learn the music in the band room or wherever else we practiced, but to learn the movements on the field, our director would have charts that plotted everyone’s movements. Once we were in position, the director, charts in hand, would move from squad to squad and explain how we were to move during the next section of the music. Once everyone knew what we were supposed to do, we would begin playing, or just begin marching, and proceed to follow his instructions. That sounds straightforward, right?

And it was… except when it wasn’t.

You see, the director’s movement charts only mapped the beginning position of each squad and the place where they would end. But sometimes, during the movement from one place to another, there would be a conflict in which two or more squads attempted to move through the same location. When that happened, we would stop, shake out heads, and say, “Well… it worked on paper.” It worked on paper, but not on the field in practice. It wasn’t a huge problem, and we always found a way to work through, or around, it, but you can see how such things can happen. There is always a gap between mapping things on paper and an actual marching band on the field. There is a chasm between theory and practice.

In military circles, there is an often-repeated quote from 19th-century Prussian field marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder that says, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” And this principle is so common that even boxing great Mike Tyson has summarized it by saying, “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.”

In other words, there is a chasm between theory and practice.

And we see that gap, that chasm, in scripture as well. We begin this morning with a story about Jacob’s second to youngest son, Joseph that we find in Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28.

37:1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.

2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line.

Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornaterobe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

And here the lectionary skips ahead for brevity, but it is worth noting that in the passages that are skipped, Joseph tells his brothers about a dream in which they all bow down before him, and he is the ruler over them. Obviously, this does not go over too well.

12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied.

14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”

So, Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.

28 So, when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekelsof silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

As one might expect when there are ten brothers plotting against the eleventh brother, things get complicated quickly. As a group, they plot to kill Joseph because of his dreams, because he is their father’s favorite, and because he ratted them out and told their father that they had been slacking off in some way. But Reuben, the eldest brother, determines to save Joseph’s life and return him to their father. And, while he manages to save Joseph’s life, before he can rescue Joseph from the bottom of an empty cistern, Judah, the fourth eldest, convinces everyone to sell Joseph into slavery. They then sell Joseph for twenty pieces of silver, about two and a half years wages for a shepherd, and that amount is further divided by ten, so they each end up with about a three-month bonus for selling their own brother. Purely in terms of the raw silver involved, they each take away about $40 at today’s silver prices. No matter how you slice it, it isn’t much for the life of your own brother. In theory, getting rid of a troublemaking, dreamer of a brother sounded good. But there was a chasm between the theory and the reality of actually going home, lying to your father, and living with what they had done.

Although it is a little less dramatic, we see something similar in the story of Jesus, and Peter, walking on water in Matthew 14:22-33, where it says:

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

We’ve all heard this before. Jesus finally gets the chance to be alone and pray, waits until dawn, and then walks on the lake out to his disciples who are still struggling against the wind. The disciples are afraid, Jesus calms them, and Jesus invites Peter to get out of the boat and join him. Peter, to his credit, immediately does so, and he does, incredibly, walk on water with Jesus. But Matthew says, “when he saw the wind, he was afraid.” Peter thought it was a good idea. He asked Jesus to invite him, Jesus did so, and Peter eagerly accepted the invitation, got out of the boat, and physically walked on water. And then reality punched him in the mouth. It sounded like a great idea in theory. If Jesus can do it, and if Jesus invites me to do it, then I can walk on water. And it works… right up until he realizes that he is walking on water, in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, during a storm, and he sees the wind and the waves… and he panics because reality was much different than how he imagined it.

There is a chasm between theory and practice.

And this chasm, this separation, is what Paul is pointing to in Romans 10:5-15 when he explains, to the church in Rome, the difference between grand ideas of spirituality and the practical reality of true faith. Paul says:

5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Paul says that righteousness under the law means following all the rules, but righteousness by faith is different. It is not some lofty aspiration to ascend into heaven because of your meditation, or study, or fervent desire, and it is not some grand pilgrimage or crusade like the labors of Hercules. Instead, genuine faith is near you. It lives in your mouth in the way that you speak, it lives in your heart in the way that you live and in the way that you treat others. Believing in Jesus, truly, in your heart, is all that is necessary to be justified before God and that is true for every person on the planet. There are no divisions within the followers of God. There is no separation between Jews, Greeks, Romans, or Gentiles, no separation between nationalities, no division because of race or gender, no classification by class or wealth. ““Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

But once again, we must be careful of the chasm between theory and practice because Paul doesn’t stop with nice thoughts about unity and being together in one family with Jesus. All that is true, and it is all important, but Paul immediately points out what that all means. Paul asks us, that if there is no division between Jews and Gentile, and if everyone from every nation and every race are brothers and sisters, then how will the world call on a Messiah that they do not know? How can the people from every nation, tribe, and race believe in Jesus if no one has told them who he is?

The answer is so obvious that Paul doesn’t even say it. The answer if that if you have faith, if you believe, if you have been made righteous before God by the blood of Jesus Christ, then a part of your calling is to do what you can so that the people of the world can hear the good news.

Faith isn’t just pie in the sky by and by, it is dirty, boots on the ground, evangelism.

There is a chasm between theory and practice.

Theory is easy… until reality punches you in the face.

What will you do so that the world can hear the good news of Jesus Christ?

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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.™

When Plans Fail

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When Plans Fail

August 02, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 32:22-31                   Matthew 14:13-21                 Romans 9:1-5

Most of us have seen an abundance of memes on the internet. One that stands out and matches the theme of today’s message is one that simply said, “If I had to describe my life in one sentence, it would be, “Did not go according to plan.” And the meme is funny because that resonates with our lived experience. We missed an interview because of a flat tire, a missed airline connection meant that our cruise ship sailed without us, our late flight meant that we spent the night at the airport so we could catch our connecting flight on the next day, we cancelled our family vacation because we spent the money at the orthodontist, or because one of our children had to stay home to attend summer school, or any one of a thousand other things.

The only rule that seems predictable is that life is not predictable and rarely goes according to plan. I once added an additional year of college because while I had planned to attend a summer class at Ohio Northern after four weeks of training for the Army, when I arrived in Virgina I was told that my orders were incorrect and the class was not four weeks, but six. It was frustrating, but life is like that, and we learn to adapt or we end up bitter and angry about things that we have no power to change. And, as we read our scriptures for today, we are reminded that the people we meet in the Bible had the same sorts of problems that we have experienced. Even God’s prophets, the patriarchs of the Old Testament, the disciples, and Jesus himself were not immune. We begin today by rejoining the story of Jacob and Esau as Jacob hopes to spend the night alone, thinking and planning how he will meet his brother Esau the next morning. But even that does not go according to plan. Reading from Genesis 32:22-31, we hear this:

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

Jacob clearly did not plan to spend the entire night wrestling with a stranger. It is frustrating that scripture tells us nothing about where the stranger came from, or how the two decided to wrestle, but by morning, Jacob had decided that the stranger must have been God himself. If this was indeed God in human flesh, as we noted in another story a month or so ago, this might well be a Christophany, an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament. In any case, rather than spending the evening in thought and meditation before his meeting with Esau, Jacob exhausts himself wrestling with God physically rather than emotionally or spiritually. Worse yet, as he fears his confrontation with Esau, and worries what his brother’s reaction will be to their meeting, after spending decades believing that he had swindled his brother out of his inheritance, or at least believing that Esau believed that he had been swindled, Jacob now arrives at their meeting with a distinct limp and permanent physical disability. Even for Jacob, who was known to manipulate the people and the circumstances around him, life did not go the way that he had planned. Instead, he followed God’s plan, and received not only his father’s blessing, but God’s as well.

And, as we read the introduction to the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand in Matthew 14:13-21, we discover that the entire encounter was an accident.

13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus hadn’t planned to preach. He hadn’t planned to gather a crowd. He wasn’t even planning to work. Instead, Jesus was trying to escape the business of his ministry, find a quiet place, pray, and rest. But the crowd had other plans. Since the people on foot could travel faster than the disciples in a boat, they watched Jesus leave the shore, followed the boat as it sailed, or rowed, estimated where Jesus was going, and arrived there before he did. And rather than send them away, Jesus had compassion on them and healed whatever sick persons that they had brought with them.

And because no one had planned to be in the middle of nowhere at dinnertime, no one had planned to feed fifteen or twenty thousand people. And so, one of Jesus’ greatest miracles happened, not because Jesus or his disciples planned it, but simply because life had not gone according to plan. Or at least, not according to the plans of humans, but completely according to God’s plan. But, as we read Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, in Romans 9:1-5, we realize that even when things go according to God’s plan, we may sometimes mourn that things cannot go another way. Here, Paul says:

9:1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

Paul says that, if it were up to him, he would accept curses upon himself and give up his salvation in Jesus Christ, if by doing so he could convince the Jewish people to accept Jesus and follow him. Instead, he mourns with great sorrow and anguish because his people had made their own choices and had chosen another path. As much as he wanted a different result, no amount of planning or sacrifice on his part could change the choices that his people had made, or the harvest that they would reap for turning their backs on Jesus.

Our own lived experience has taught us that life often does not go according to plan. Jacob’s meeting did not go according to plan. Even Jesus’ time of quiet and rest did not go according to plan. And we find that though we might sometimes be frustrated when that happens to us, we realize that we rest in God’s hands, and trust that his plans are always better than ours. Like Jacob, God often chooses to bless us through our times of unplanned struggle. But we also find that sometimes, as much as we trust in God’s plan, we may mourn over the choices that our friends, family, and coworkers make for their own lives. No matter how hard we work, we cannot make the choice to follow Jesus for anyone other than ourselves. We cannot rescue another for eternity, no matter how much we love them, by sacrificing ourselves or taking their place. 

And while we may mourn for those who reject Jesus, we are not powerless.

Our strength lies in living a life that follows the teachings of Jesus and in sharing the message of hope, compassion, and rescue that we have found in the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We cannot decide for others, but we can tell the message of Jesus, give them hope, and pray that they will make that choice for themselves.

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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.™

Entitlement or Effort?

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Entitlement or Effort?

July 12, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 25:19-34                   Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23                     

There is an ongoing conversation in American culture that revolves around who should, and who should not, go to college. I realize that this is not always a popular subject in a college town, particularly with many college graduates, staff, and professors in attendance, but the conversation is still worthwhile. Let me be clear, I do not mean to say that some people should not go to college based on some arbitrary measure like family income, race, religion, or other socioeconomic factors. Neither, in this case, do I intend to open the important subject of young people who graduate with a degree they didn’t really want, a mortgage with no house, and few prospects for a career that will pay off their loans. Although I regard that as a genuine problem, instead what I mean is that simply by temperament, giftedness, and passion, some among us are simply not built for higher education despite many of those people being more than capable of it.

In my previous career, I often spoke with one of our machinists. He was kind, friendly, intelligent, and a good conversationalist as well as being an experienced, and highly skilled machinist. But while higher education could have prepared him to own and operate his own business as a machinist, he had no desire whatsoever to do so. Likewise, in one of our previous appointments, one of our neighbors was a skilled auto mechanic, but although he was willing to substitute as a shift manager, he too preferred to do the hands-on labor and had little desire to be responsible for the accounting and other duties required to own and operate his own business. In a different way, while our son Noah is more than intelligent enough to tackle college courses, and while he already operates his own business, he is not at all interested in dedicating four, or even two, years to academic study.

As much as many of us value higher education, if we’re honest, we recognize that not everyone has a need, a desire, or the temperament to pursue it. And that is one of the things that we see in our scriptures for today as well as the encouragement to be aware of the needs, desires, and temperaments of the people with whom, and to whom, we are in ministry. We begin this morning with the story contained in Genesis 25:19-34, in which Abraham’s son Isaac, and his wife Rebekah, have their own children.

19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So, she went to inquire of the Lord.

23 The Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb,
    and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
    and the older will serve the younger.”

24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so, they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so, he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So, he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So, Esau despised his birthright.

One of Isaac’s favorite foods was wild game and, being too old to hunt, or too busy with the family business (you will recall that Abraham was wealthy and only had one heir), and so Isaac was particularly fond of Esau who preferred living in open country and occasionally brought him his favorite food. Rebekah, however, found that her favorite child was Jacob who was more of a homebody and was a man who knew how to cook. And so, when Esau came home hungry, he demanded some of the stew that Jacob was cooking, and Jacob only offered it in exchange for the birthright, in this case two thirds of their eventual inheritance from Isaac. But despite the price, Esau accepted because, as our scripture says, “Esau despised his birthright.”

But the birthright that would be passed down from Isaac wasn’t just financial, but also spiritual. The brother with the birthright would become the spiritual head of the family, and Esau is not interested or temperamentally inclined to act in this capacity. Despite God’s promise to Rebekah that “the elder will serve the younger” Jacob finds it necessary to help God out and negotiate for that position anyway. My commentary described Esau as being too “profane,” “coarse,” and “unspiritual” to be suitable as a part of the Messiah’s family tree. But more than that, I think, is that God had created Esau as a man who didn’t want the job. He was not temperamentally suited for being the spiritual leader of the household, nor did he have any desire to oversee the extensive lands, herds, businesses, and financial holdings of their family. Moreover, Esau’s own comments imply that he thought that his lifestyle of living outside in the open country would likely lead him to die long before his brother Jacob anyway.

And when we consider temperament, giftedness, and inclination in our way of thinking, then we see Jesus’ parable of farmer sowing seeds in Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 in an entirely different light when it says:

13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

We have all heard this parable before and have discussed it in bible study or Sunday school, but the way we usually look at it is simply as a guide to why our evangelistic efforts sometimes fail. And what we take away from such a discussion is only that we should share the message of the gospel, which is planting seeds, wherever we can, but that we should not be discouraged that many of our attempts will not be successful. And that’s all true. But what if the passage is trying to teach us something deeper? What if we look at this passage while we keep in mind the differences between Jacob and Esau? The brothers were built differently. Esau loved hunting and the open country while Jacob preferred his job as a shepherd and staying close to home. Esau was not built to be the head of Isaac’s clan, but he was good at other things. And if we consider that when we look at the parable of the sower, the deeper truth is not only that sometimes our efforts will fail, but also that we should account for the differences in the people, and the soil, in which we plant. If we thought about planting in that way, then maybe we put out netting to keep the birds from eating the seeds, add a little soil to the rocky places, and pull up a few thorns to give the seeds more space. Instead of just flinging out some seeds and accepting failure, we should, like good gardeners, also pay attention to the unique individual needs of our audience so that we can nurture them and help them grow.

By tradition, Esau was the firstborn brother and was entitled to the birthright, entitled to his father’s blessing, and entitled to becoming the head of the clan of Abraham and Isaac. But even before they were born, God knew that Isaac was the one who would be better suited and better equipped by faith and by temperament to lead his family both spiritually and financially. Although Jacob and Rebekah both conspired to make that happen, it would have happened in any case because God promised that it would be so. In the end, Jacob inherited the birthright, not because he swindled his brother out of it, but because he was better suited to it. God chose for the birthright to pass, not to the brother that was entitled to it, but to the brother that would do the work to honor God’s gift.

Likewise, just because we plant, just because we share the message of the gospel, doesn’t mean that we are entitled to any particular result. Just as it was in his creation and treatment of Jacob and Esau, God has created each person as a unique individual with different skills, talents, and abilities, but also with diverse needs. While it’s true that not every seed that we plant will produce a crop, it is also true that we cannot simply shrug and accept that our work will fail. Instead, we must consider the differences between those to whom we have shared the message of Jesus and, like a skilled gardener, put a net over some, soil over others, and a little shade and water where needed. We shouldn’t simply assume that we will fail but instead be prepared to nurture the seeds we have planted so that we can raise crops in unexpected places.

Success, both financially and spiritually, doesn’t come from entitlement, but from faith, thoughtfulness, nurture, and hard 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.™

Through the Impossible

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Through the Impossible

July 05, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67          

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30                 

Romans 7:15-25a

In September 1814, during the War of 1812, American lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key traveled to Baltimore on a truce ship. His mission, authorized by President James Madison, was to negotiate the release of Dr. William Beanes, an American civilian who had been captured by the British. While Key successfully negotiated Beanes’ release, he and his companions had overheard the British planning their upcoming attack on Baltimore, so they were detained for their own security.

On September 13, 1814, the British Royal Navy launched a massive assault on Fort McHenry, the military stronghold guarding Baltimore Harbor. For 25 hours, Key watched in captivity as rockets and bombs rained down on the fort. Because of the heavy smoke and the darkness of the night, Key could not tell if the fort had fallen or if the Americans had surrendered. The only proof that the fort was still holding was the occasional flash of the “rocket’s red glare,” briefly illuminating the skies.

At the break of dawn on September 14, the smoke began to clear. Through his spyglass, Key looked toward Fort McHenry and saw a giant American garrison flag waving triumphantly over the ramparts.

Elated and moved by the fierce American resistance, Key pulled a letter from his pocket and began crafting a poem that would later be set to music and become our national anthem.

O say, can you see
By the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilight’s last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars
Through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watched
Were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets’ red glare
The bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?  

– Francis Scott Key

During the dark night of September 13th, 1814, while watching the continuous violence of the British naval bombardment of Fort McHenry, it must have seemed impossible for the American defenders to survive. Only brief flashes from the exploding shells gave occasional hints that the American flag still flew over the fort until, finally, the dawn revealed that twenty-five hours of sustained British bombardment had been unsuccessful in dislodging the defenders.

That, I think, sets the tone for the theme of today’s message. When have you witnessed the impossible unfold before your eyes? In my career as a pastor, and even before we went into ministry, Patti and I have witnessed quite a few impossible events that I cannot help but describe as miracles. And while we might not describe all the stories contained in today’s scriptures as miracles, certainly they all describe God working to bring his people through impossible situations… including you and me. We begin this morning by returning to the story of Abraham as he seeks to find a bride for his son Isaac. Not wanting his son to be misguided and led astray by a Canaanite woman from their new home, Abraham sends a trusted servant to his father’s family in search of a bride in Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67, he finds one, and this is how he explains his search to her family:

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.

Think about what happened. Abraham’s trusted servant, a man who does not share Abraham’s faith, is sent to place he has never been, to find a woman among a people that he has never met and, out of respect for his employer, prays to Abraham’s God that he would be led to the right woman, and specifies the conditions so that he might know that God had chosen that particular woman. And everything unfolds, exactly as he prayed that it would. What Abraham asked was difficult. What the servant prayed for was impossible. And yet, God moved through the impossible and the servant meets Rebekah in exactly the way in which he had prayed.

In an entirely different way, Jesus addresses a crowd of people who are likewise faced with impossible and insurmountable problems and many of these problems are still faced by the people around us today: Poverty, hunger, unemployment, sickness, violence, uncertainty, difficult employers, and more. On top of these daily worries, religious leaders piled on mountains of rules that made life even more difficult and more expensive. And Jesus speaks these words of comfort in Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30:

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 said that this generation was just like the children who played games in the marketplace and made rules that found fault no matter what choices you made. Life was already difficult, but Israel’s leaders, instead of making things easier, chose instead to make things harder in people who were already struggling. And Jesus calls to these hurting people and declares that he will help them to move through the impossible, saying, “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.”

And finally, in his letter to the church in Rome, Paul describes a struggle that every Christian has faced throughout history. No matter how strong our intentions are to do better, we always seem to fall short of our aspirations, and often our failures are even more dramatic. In Romans 7:15-25 Paul writes:

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; 23but 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!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature, a slave to the law of sin.

Paul admits that he simply cannot help himself. As much as he intends to do what is right and good, as much as he intends, and desperately wants, to do the things that he knows that he should do, he cannot. Worse, the things that he knows, and wants not to do, despite his best efforts, he does those things anyway. “I desire to go good, but I cannot carry it out.” And in this, Paul describes not only his inner being that delight’s in God and in doing God’s will, but also his inner human sinful nature such that good and evil live side-by-side inside of him. His point is that we fall too easily into temptation, and even when we try to do good, we often fail. But as discouraging as that may sound, Paul’s conclusion is to give thanks to God who delivers us through Jesus Christ regardless of our sin and failure.

This is the miracle that we see every day as the followers of Jesus Christ. Just as God made a way through the impossible so that Abraham’s servant could find the bride that God had chosen for Isaac, God continues to make a way through impossible circumstances for us today. No matter how hard life can get, no matter what difficult circumstances we may find ourselves in, no matter the struggles that we face, Jesus calls to hurting people and declares that he will help them to move through the impossible, saying, “28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Likewise, when we are tempted to criticize and beat ourselves up because of our failures, Paul reminds us that our failure only reminds us that we are human. The good news is, as it has always been, that this is why we follow Jesus and why Jesus gave his life to save us, because despite our failures, despite the drama, despite our overwhelming shortcomings, God delivers us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

No matter what we face, no matter how impossible, God always makes a way.

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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.™

Why I Spend Two Weeks Outdoors

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Why I Spend Two Week Outdoors

July 2026

by John Partridge

Most of you know that I am involved in Scouting. I was a scout in my youth but did not pursue it the way that my two Eagle Scout brothers did but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t like it. I came back to scouting when our sons were old enough to join Cub Scouts, and I have remained active in scouting since then. And, once we came to Christ Church and the incredible leaders (and scouts) of Troop and Pack 50, I am once again, attending weekly and even joined them at scout camp last year.

Cold Showers and Tent Camping

But even so, some of you may not understand why I occasionally serve on the staff of the National Scout Jamboree or what it is that I do when I am there. At a fundamental level, from my earliest days of scouting as a youth, things like the Philmont Scout Ranch, other high adventure camps, the National Scout Jamboree, and the World Jamboree were unattainable, unaffordable, dreams. I left scouting too soon as a youth, but our family could not afford such a thing in any case. But, in 2015 or 2016, the United Methodist Men, who function as our denomination’s liaison with scouting, issued a plea for pastors to serve on the chaplain’s staff for the 2017 National Jamboree and I jumped at the chance to fulfill a truly “bucket list” item.

Was it primitive? Of course. It’s called scout “camp” and not scout “hotel” for a reason. But I camped with scouts in my youth, camped with my family on vacation both as a child and as a parent, camped in the military, camped at Annual Conference, and even camped on vacation. Camping doesn’t bother me. I *like* camping, even if the ice-cold showers are not my favorite thing. But what happened at the 2017 Jamboree, and every subsequent event of that kind, was so deeply worthwhile that I keep spending my own money to go back.

And yes, the staff pay to go to the Jamboree. Many of the scouts, and even leaders, assume that what they pay to attend covers the cost of the staff as well as the cost of the Jamboree itself. But no, the staff pays as much, or more, than the participants themselves. And, although there are repeated promises that the staff will get designated “days off” to attend some of the available activities, everyone knows that, while the intentions are good, there are rarely more than a few hours that we can sneak off to see some of the sights.

But What Do You Do?

Much like scout camp, the chaplains at the Jamboree fill several roles. Our primary responsibility, of course, is to being a spiritual leader. But at scout camp that doesn’t always look like what we do at church. We do, as a group, organize and officiate worship services for the staff as they arrive on Sunday evening, and then for the entire camp the following week, but with several dozen chaplains, many of them Protestant, I am unlikely to preach, although the Bishop serving West Virginia might be asked to say a few words at the Methodist worship service. At these services I have passed out music, offered prayer, assisted with the serving of communion, or shared a brief meditation.

During the week, chaplains take shifts so that someone is always on hand at the field hospitals to minister to both patients and doctors, as well as to work with mental health professionals if needed. Chaplains also help medical staff to watch for scouts who might be at risk for heat injury while sitting outdoors for hours at large events. Early in the week we will introduce ourselves to all the troop leadership in our subcamp (this year there will be 40 troops with approximately 2,000 scouts) so that they can call on us to talk with campers for everything from homesickness to a crisis at home such as divorce or the loss of a parent. We also have occasionally functioned as mediators between adults who can get a little frayed at the edges after a week or two of cold showers, lack of sleep, and herding cats.

But when we’re not doing chaplain things, our second (third?) role is to do whatever needs doing for the regular subcamp staff. We help to greet and guide troops on arrival day, when hundreds of Greyhound buses disgorge thousands of scouts in a handful of hours, and the reverse on departure day. In between, the logistics of overseeing two thousand scouts and 80 or 90 adult leaders can be formidable. This scout needs an escort to the medical tent, someone else needs the key to get their daily allotment of propane, another lost his identification, or needs directions, or other staff have done these things and they just need someone to staff the office (tent) while they are gone, or a thousand other things.

On the few hours during the week that I break away, or pass by traveling from one place to another, there are many interesting things to see and do in the merit badge tents, informational displays put on by environmental and conservation groups, military units, national parks, coal mining companies (it *is* in West Virginia after all), automobile manufacturers, the Rotary Club, and many others. I have, in different years, gone rock climbing, ziplining, mountain biking, watched Scottish Highland games, talked to someone in Colorado via Ham radio, and met wonderful people from every corner of our nation, Canada, and around the world.

Yes, I do have a little fun, but I also learn something every day, work from breakfast to bedtime, and am effectively the pastor of a small-town of two thousand people comprised mostly of young adults. I am thankful that Christ Church recognizes that this is not a vacation but simply ministry in a different location. By the end of these two weeks, I will be exhausted, sunburned, and a little dehydrated, but although every single day, and every jamboree is different, I will also be helping youth and adults to have an amazing experience. Without question, the work is hard, but it is also remarkably fulfilling and rewarding.

And that is why I spend two weeks outdoors, sleep in a tent, and take cold showers.

Thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to do this.

Blessings,

Pastor John

Beware: The Summer Slump

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Beware: The Summer Slump

June 2026

by John Partridge

It’s coming.

The school year is fast coming to an end, families are making vacation plans, our church has scheduled our Sunday worship in the park and time in our air-conditioned fellowship hall. Warm weather is already teasing us enough that we aren’t always certain whether we will need a jacket or not.

Soon, summer will be upon us.

But beware, along with summer, we risk facing… the summer slump.

Church leaders know exactly what that means. As soon as families take time off for summer vacation and church members make plans to enjoy the warm weather fishing, camping, and other outdoor activities, church attendance, and often church finances, will see a twenty to thirty percent reduction. We know it’s coming, we plan for it, but even so, it can be discouraging to see (more) empty seats, fewer friendly faces, and struggling finances that were on good footing the month before.

But the summer slump goes deeper than empty pews and slim spreadsheets.

The summer slump is personal and has a very real spiritual component. As we begin to prioritize family, vacation, and summer fun (and that’s not a bad thing), we often neglect to spend time with God. For many of us, Sunday morning is the only time we spend in study, worship, and prayer and when we skip it, often for weeks at a time, our spiritual health suffers and, unintentionally, we drift away from God. Every week we spend away from church makes it just a little easier to skip yet another week. Every missed moment in God’s presence, in study, worship, prayer, or meditation, draws us closer to the world, to the values of its culture, and farther away from the values that God wants to teach us.

As we make plans for the summer, we should also make plans to avoid the summer slump. Whenever possible, honor God by planning to be in church and trust that God will honor the sacrifice of your time by allowing you to work efficiently and accomplish your goals and beyond with the time that remains. But when your schedule forces you to miss your time with God on Sunday, commit to setting aside another time during the week to read scripture, pray, or work through a bible study of some kind. Do what you can to prevent your summer busyness from causing a summer slump and wandering from your relationship with God.

It’s coming.

Beware; the summer slump.

Choosing Slavery

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Choosing Slavery

June 28, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 22:1-14                     Matthew 10:40-42                             Romans 6:12-23

This morning, I want to begin with two questions which are, in the end, really only one question.

First, what does it mean to surrender? Not the kind of tepid negotiated peace that we often see in modern political conflict, but the absolutely dominating peace that follows what is known as unconditional surrender. What sort of treatment would one expect, and what would it mean to surrender… unconditionally?

Second, under what conditions would you choose to become a slave? And again, I don’t mean the lighthearted sort of slavery that we see in high school fundraisers where you must do the bidding of an upperclassman for a day. I mean absolutely surrender your life, liberty, choice, and freedom for the rest of your natural life. As Americans, our national and cultural core clings to things like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But under what conditions would you give that all up?

This was not an uncommon choice in the ancient world. Remember that I have said that in places like Israel, as well as many others in the first century Roman world, approximately 90 percent of the population lived at a subsistence level of poverty. Subsistence level means that, while they may have owned land, or even possessed valuable skilled trades, they earned just enough to feed themselves and their families, and no more. They were, perpetually, one bad harvest or one bad debt from starvation. Worse, those persons to whom you owed money were entitled to recover what was owed from whatever personally belonged to you… including your life and your liberty, as well as that of your family.

And so, some people, faced with an insurmountable debt, might occasionally sell their freedom, possibly to someone that they knew would be a humane master, so that their debts would be paid and their family would not be sold along with them. At other times, there were historically recorded instances, when people would work to pay off a debt, more as indentured servants, and would then ask to become slaves to their employer so that they would not have the constant worry and fear of daily earning enough money to remain free. There were still other similar cases that involved romantic relationships between a free person and a slave in which the free person chose slavery so that they could stay together.

And so, as we read our scriptures for today, we find Abraham who, while not a slave, has a relationship with God that checks all the same boxes, we have a teaching from the Apostle Paul that insists that everyone is a slave, and there is a brief word from Jesus who explains how his followers should treat one another. While these may not seem to have a lot in common, bear with me and, hopefully, you will see how this all fits together. As I noted, we begin with the story of Abraham in Genesis 22:1-14, when God asks him to do something that, given the path that Abraham and Sarah traveled to parenthood, is absolutely inconceivable.

22:1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

God commands Abraham to take Isaac, his only son, who is, you will remember from last week, Abraham’s only son because Abraham was forced into an impossible position and compelled to divorce his wife Hagar and send both Hagar and his other son, Ishmael, away. And now, having done that, God commands Abraham to offer Isaac to God as a sacrifice on an altar on top of a mountain. And Abraham collects Isaac, and he goes. We don’t know what Abraham was thinking. I suspect that he didn’t tell Sarah where he was going, because this was Abraham’s test, and because I don’t think she would have let him go. But Abraham does tell his servants that “We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham was fully committed to sacrificing Isaac but, at the same time, believed that, somehow, Isaac would be restored to him at the end of the day.

But, in the end, after being brought to the razor’s edge, where the knife was already aimed for his son, and Abraham completely ready and willing to take his life, God stops him and then says, “Now I know that you fear God.” This is God acknowledging that Abraham was completely sold out, completely surrendered to God. Abraham was, by all definitions, a slave to God who was willing to do absolutely anything that God commanded him to do.

Next, we come to the words of Jesus regarding welcome and hospitality in Matthew 10:40-42, that, at first, seem ridiculously out of place in a discussion about slavery, but if you bear with me, I think it will all fit together in the end. Jesus said:

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

And, once again, you are thinking that this is all about hospitality and cannot possibly have anything to do with slavery. I can understand that, because that’s what I was thinking the first several times that I read through these scriptures. But hold on to that, and I think you will understand how it fits in few minutes after we read Paul’s explanation of our own relationship to slavery in Romans 6:12-23 when he says:

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul explains that because we are now under the grace of Jesus Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin, and thus sin is no longer our master. But that means that we are now slaves to Jesus Christ because we have given ourselves to God and he has purchased us with the life of his son, Jesus. Moreover, Paul says that everyone that you know, whether they follow Jesus or not, is a slave to something because “you are slaves of the one you obey.” If we were not slaves to Jesus, we would be slaves to sin, wickedness, impurity, or pleasure, or money, or power, or influence, or charisma, or politics, or knowledge, or… something else. But because we have offered ourselves to Jesus, and because we have been rescued from sin and death, we are now slaves to God and slaves to Jesus Christ. As such we should be just as sold out, just as committed, and just as completely surrendered to the will of God as Abraham was.

And once we understand that then this also explains how we connect to Jesus’ words about hospitality that we read from the Gospel of Matthew. If we recognize that we are all slaves to Jesus Christ, then how can we not act hospitably and welcoming to others that also belong to him. Can you imagine that a slave owner would be pleased with one of his slaves mistreating another? It would follow that it would please a master for his slaves to care for one another and do everything in their power to encourage and equip them to do the work that the master had given them to do and not to discourage or impede them from doing it.

Just as Abraham was, we are called to be fully committed, sold out, and completely surrendered to the will of God just as if we were slaves to Jesus. And having accepted Jesus as our master, then we must not only do everything we can, with all that we are, to accomplish the work that he has given us to do, but we must also welcome others who follow him, and do whatever we can to aid them in doing his work as well.

*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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