Jesus Christ

Submission and Service

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , , ,

“Submission and Service”
October 18, 2015
By John Partridge

Scripture:  Job 38:1-7, 34-41               Hebrews 5:1-10                     Mark 10:35-45
What’s the first thing that comes into your head when I say the word, ‘submission?’

In today’s usage of the English language, the word ‘submission’ comes to us loaded with a lot of negative baggage. My best guess is that this is largely because of our battle with slavery in American history. There are likely also negative associations with military history where submission of is associated with surrender. While we often use the word ‘submit’ in a variety of perfectly innocent ways (we submit payments, we submit resumes and applications) whenever we talk about human submission, eyebrows are raised, heads turn, and the hair on the back of your neck stands up. If you think I am exaggerating, just wait until someone in church starts a conversation about wives submitting to their husbands, slaves (or employees) submitting to their masters, or discussing what it really means to submit to Caesar. Submission is one of those places where us freedom loving, fiercely independent Americans automatically resist, even if that submission makes complete sense.

Another word that we struggle with, though admittedly not with nearly the same ferocity, is the word ‘service.” Service is just too similar and too connected to that of ‘servant’ and although we don’t occasionally mind serving one another, or serving guests, we resist the idea of being labelled as servants.

But despite our reluctance and resistance to use these two words, this morning we are going to spend some time understanding them a little better. We begin in Job 38:1-7, 34-41 but you need to remember where we left off last week. Last week we heard Job boldly proclaim his desire to get in God’s face, to proclaim his innocence, and demand justice. While we know that Job was completely innocent and that even God considered him to be upright and blameless, it is at this point that Job’s boldness went too far. God comes to Job but his answers are not at all the kind that Job was expecting.

1 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2 “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

God’s response to Job’s boldness is to take him out to the woodshed and give him a whooping. And what we read isn’t even half of what God had to say. God’s answer is, “Who are you to question me?” God is so far above Job that it is as if an ant demanded to know why you mowed your lawn, or if an Army recruit demanded that the President of the United States explain why he had to wear a uniform. The difference between God and Job in intelligence, understanding, strength, power, and authority is so gigantic that Job’s only legitimate response is… submission.

When finally confronted by God, Job must admit that he is not in a position to demand anything at all. He must surrender to the will of God.

Similarly, not long after Jesus explains to the disciples that they will be rewarded for what they have given up to follow Jesus, James and John come to him asking for even more. Many of the disciples were convinced that Jesus was going to overthrow the government, throw out the Roman army, and be crowned as king over all of Israel. James and John are clearly included in this group (which was probably all of the disciples) and, completely ignoring the fact that Jesus has just told them that persecution would be a part of their reward, they are looking forward to how they will personally benefit when Jesus becomes king. (Mark 10:35-45)

35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

39 “We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

In this passage, is as statement that runs absolutely counter to everything that our culture tells us, and nearly contrary to human nature: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” Our culture teaches us to pursue dominance, look out for number one, to climb the ladder of success even if we have to climb over our friends, family and coworkers to get there. Human nature and our natural competitive spirit often motivate us to see leadership and greatness as a competition that we need to win, and to win means that we have to defeat someone else.

But Jesus defines greatness in an altogether different way.

For Jesus, leadership starts with service instead of dominance or competition. Real leaders don’t “look out for number one,” they look out for the people on the bottom. Real leaders don’t climb over other people, they lift other people up. Winning doesn’t mean defeating someone else, winning means building up everyone else on your team so that the entire team can be successful.

As he often does, Jesus stands conventional wisdom on its head.

How would it look if a corporation, or any employer, spent as much time focusing on how to serve their employees as they did trying to make a profit? I’m not saying that profit isn’t important, but wouldn’t the world be a different place if employers saw their employees as masters to be served rather than resources to be exploited?

Even Jesus is not exempt from this new, radical, and transformational leadership formula. Jesus said, “…even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus himself, as the King of kings and Leader of leaders, must therefore, become the servant of everyone. And he does. But Jesus’ service to his people goes even farther than that. In Hebrews 5:1-10, Paul fleshes out this idea of Jesus’ servanthood.

5:1 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.

5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,

“You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”

6 And he says in another place,

You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Jesus has been called to be more than just a servant. Paul says that Jesus has also been selected to be our high priest, which means that he is our liaison, our intermediary, between us and God. Jesus is our representative, our ambassador on behalf of humanity, in the throne room of God. His job is to be compassionate with those who make mistakes because they didn’t know any better and to gently guide those who are wandering off in the wrong direction. Jesus’ job is to serve all of those who serve God in addition to offering himself as the sacrifice for our sins. What’s more, Jesus hasn’t just been appointed as our high priest for a year or two, or even for a thousand years, but he has been appointed as a priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Say what?

Melchizedek. This is one of those weird names, and odd titles, that pop up in scripture that we really don’t understand without a little more background. In these cases, having a Bible with good footnotes can be invaluable to your understanding. Basically, this is a historical reference to a traditional Jewish story. Melchizedek is a priest of God who appears exactly once in the Old Testament but Jewish tradition held that since he was only heard from once, and never mentioned again, it was because he never died. From that tradition grew a literary usage that referred to him as a way of talking about things that never end. Saying that Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek is a way of saying that Jesus will never die and his priesthood will never end.

So what Paul is saying is that Jesus came to earth to offer himself in our place as a sacrifice for our sins, and then became our representative, our ambassador, before God, to spend himself in the service of God’s servants, and to serve both God and humanity forever without end.

As we are called to serve others, we are reminded that once again, Jesus is our role model.

We are called to be servants so that we can serve the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Servant of servants.

Job realized that submission was his only reasonable option and his submission was the beginning of his restoration.

The prayers of Jesus were heard because of his reverent submission to God.

The lesson we must learn is this:

When we are called to God’s mission, we must submit to God and serve others.

Risk and Return

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , ,

“Risk and Return”
October 11, 2015
By John Partridge

Scripture: Job 23:1-9, 16-17                    Hebrews 4:12-16                         Mark 10:17-31

Have you ever taken a risk?

Almost certainly you have. Life is all about risk.

Every time we get out of bed, there is a risk that the effort of waking up will cause a heart attack or a stroke.

Every time we get in a car, there is a risk that we will be in an accident.

Every time we take a bath or a shower, there is a risk that we will slip and fall.

Every time we eat fresh produce, or other foods, from the grocery store or prepared meals from a restaurant, there is a risk that something has gone wrong somewhere along the line, and there is a risk of serious illness.

We make choices, and take risks, all day, everyday.

The choices that we make cannot eliminate risk; all that we can do is to make choices that limit our risk to a level where we feel comfortable.

Some of us feel safer staying at home, while others are perfectly comfortable skydiving or SCUBA diving.

But our ability to risk, our comfort level with risk, is also a key factor in the way that we invest and prepare for the future. Investment advisers make a living helping others to make wise choices, based in-part on how comfortable they are with risk, in how they invest and prepare for retirement and other future events.

And our understanding of risk also plays a big part in how we understand the choices that we make about what happens after our lives end. We must decide what happens when this life is over and what preparations we can or should make for what comes next.

We begin again this morning in the book of Job (Job 23:1-9, 16-17), where Job wrestles with his suffering which he perceives as being sent by God unfairly.

Then Job replied:
2 “Even today my complaint is bitter;
his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.
3 If only I knew where to find him;
if only I could go to his dwelling!
4 I would state my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would find out what he would answer me,
and consider what he would say to me.
6 Would he vigorously oppose me?
No, he would not press charges against me.
7 There the upright can establish their innocence before him,
and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.

8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if I go to the west, I do not find him.
9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Job wants to confront God and demand answers for the injustice that he feels. He knows that God is fair but God seems to be missing and Job cannot find him. Job is accustomed to talking to God and to feeling his presence but suddenly he cannot and this, combined with the terrible things that have happened to him, make Job afraid. But even in the face of injustice, even in the face of fear, even in the face of death, Job perseveres and presses on. As Job evaluates risk, even in the face of all that he has endured, Job will not give up, and he will not give up on God.

But even if we are enough like Job to hold on to God in times of trouble (and it isn’t always easy), we still worry that God’s standards are too hard. We worry that we aren’t good enough, that we don’t trust enough, or have enough faith. We worry that God’s judgement will be too harsh when our lives are finally weighed in the balance. And it isn’t just paranoia that feeds this kind of worry. There are well-known stories in scripture, stories about Jesus which can feed our fear if they are understood incompletely. One of those stories is found in Mark 10:17-31, where a man wants to follow Jesus, but finds that he cannot because Jesus’ standards are just too high.

17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

This man, known as the rich, young ruler, claims that he has followed all of the commandments of God (Jesus only listed six) but when asked to give away his money he cannot. Most of us, even if were asked by Jesus himself, would hesitate to give up everything that we own, but the rich, young ruler believed that he kept all of God’s commands. He walks away not because Jesus condemns him, but because Jesus’ question reveals his sin. He loved money more than God. He coveted money and has made money into an idol. That’s at least three commandments that he couldn’t keep.

And he is not the only one who is worried about Jesus’ reply. The disciples themselves worry that this standard is so high that none of them would be good enough. But Jesus’ answer to them is one of comfort as well as mathematics. Jesus tells the disciples that God keeps accounts. God keeps track. God knows what we do and how we live our lives. God knows the risks we take and he knows what we give up to serve him. God knows what you have given up in terms of money, family, time, pride, prestige and popularity to follow him. And Jesus promises that your return on investment will be 10,000 percent. As we evaluate the risk of investing in a future that lies on the other side of the chasm of death, we recognize that there is risk, but the reward is so significant, so amazing, that even a small amount invested will result in enormous returns.

But the best wrinkle in this story of risk is shared with us by the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 4:12-16) who reassures us about the fairness of God’s judgment where he says:

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Simply put: God is not dead.

The word of God slices into us, even in the darkest corners of our soul, and reveals our sin. God’s word shines the light of judgement on our actions, thoughts and attitudes. But even though our innermost thoughts are revealed before the judgement seat of Jesus, we have no need to fear. Our high priest, Jesus, who sits in on the throne of God, was a human being just like us. He knows exactly what it means to be afraid. He knows how it feels to take risks. He understands us better than we do ourselves and it was his sacrifice that rescues us from our sins.

Even though it is frightening to know that God keeps an accounting of every moment of our lives, God’s accounting of the followers of Jesus Christ is not intended to condemn or destroy us. Instead, because Jesus knows us and understands what it is to be human, and because we have put our faith and confidence in him, we can approach the throne of God with confidence instead of fear. When we are weighed in the balance, the penalty for our sins has already been paid.

On the day that we approach the throne of judgement, instead of finding condemnation, we will instead find a place of mercy and grace.

There is no risk in trusting God.

There is no risk in following Jesus.

There is only reward.

There are only two real risks that we need to worry about.

First, there is the huge risk of failing to put our trust in Jesus.

And the second is in failing to invest in the life we have with him both now and forever.

Sinners in Heaven and Saints in Hell

PastorPartridge Sermon , ,

“Sinners in Heaven, Saints in Hell”
October 04, 2015
By John Partridge

Scripture: Job 1:1; 2:1-10                   Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12                       Mark 10:2-16

Has your life ever taken a wrong turn?

What I mean is, have events in your life ever unfolded much differently than you expected them to?

Life is like that but sometimes, as Christians, we struggle with it. In fact, unbelievers often struggle with the same thing without having a good scriptural understanding to fall back on. When (my wife) Patti returned from the recent Kairos prison ministry, she told me that one of the very powerful things that happened that weekend, was when the women who were volunteering, shared some of the problems that they and their families were having. Many of the women in prison simply assumed that these church ladies had it all together and that God was making their lives run smoothly.

But life isn’t like that at all.

Moreover, the Christian life isn’t like that.

Just because we follow Jesus, and have put our faith and trust in him, doesn’t mean that life always treats us with kid gloves. Too many of us have suffered from cancer, rebellion, unemployment, under-employment, abuse, disease, divorce, disaster, death and a host of other things. Just because we trust Jesus to welcome us to heaven doesn’t mean that believers do not sometimes live through little pieces of hell right here on earth.

During those times, the story of Job reminds us that even the best among us have faced suffering and hard times. (Job 1:1; 2:1-10)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Job lost his money, his home, his children, and finally even his health despite the fact that he was “blameless and upright.” He was a moral and faithful follower of God. He did nothing to deserve the things that happened to him. But they happened all the same. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes terrible, awful, horrible, indescribable things happen to good people. And sometimes those things happen for no reason (that we can discern) whatsoever. God may have a hand in it, God may allow it, God may have a plan for it, God may use it, but whether he does or does not, it may be years (if ever) before we discover why. All we know is that the followers of God, regardless of how faithful or blameless, sometimes suffer and for reasons that we do not always understand, God allows it.

What is perhaps worse, is that virtually none of us are as good as Job was. There are few of us who can even come close to calling ourselves, “upright and blameless.” In fact, in Mark 10:2-16, Jesus raises the bar so high that destroyed even the Pharisees, and these were men who dedicated their lives to following rules that were intended to lead them to perfection.

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

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

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

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

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

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

These were times that were, in many ways, much like ours. They were times when divorce was common and accepted both culturally and within the church. The Pharisees were, morally speaking, among the most morally “upright” in society, and they accepted divorce as normal, natural and acceptable before God and man. They tested Jesus because different factions among the church leaders argued over what was an acceptable reason for divorce, but Jesus raises the bar higher than any of them expected. Jesus says that divorce, for any reason, is sin and what’s more, insists that remarriage is also sin. In one moment, Jesus raises the bar so high that what is normal and acceptable becomes sin and meeting the standard become almost impossible. In a single moment, Jesus exposes many of the church’s “upright” leaders as sinners. Jesus then explains to his followers that the faith of a believer has to be like the faith of a child. Genuine faith must be trusting, teachable, humble, open, and accepting of others. In fact, if we kept reading for another couple verses, Jesus states quite emphatically, that no one is good, except God alone.

No one is good.

The bar has been set too high.

The standard is too difficult for us.

None of us is good enough.

All of us are sinners.

But there is good news.

And in Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12, Paul reminds us what it is.

1:1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

2:5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But there is a place where someone has testified:

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
7 You made them a little lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honor
8 and put everything under their feet.”

In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. 9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. 12 He says,

“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the assembly I will sing your praises.”

Paul zeros in on the core of the issue.

God’s standards are set impossibly high.

We are not perfect.

None of us are good enough.

But Jesus is the one who provides purification of sins.

Jesus is the one whom God has placed over all things.

Jesus is the one who suffered and died in our place.

And Jesus is the one who makes us holy.

We are all sinners.

But sinners like us will go to heaven if, like children, we put our trust in him.

Saints, like the Pharisees, those people who do all the right things and seem to follow all of the rules, will end up in hell if they place their trust only in themselves.

It is Jesus that makes all the difference.

Have you put your trust in him?

3 Steps to Change the World

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , ,

“3 Steps to Change the World”
September 27, 2015
By John Partridge

Scripture:   Esther 7:1-10, 9:20-22             James 5:13-20                        Mark 9:38-50

It has been quite a while since I mentioned it, probably too long, but does anyone here (besides David Hartong, who knows the inner workings of our church very well) remember the mission statement of The United Methodist Church?

I knew that it wouldn’t be many. So here it is:

“The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
– Mission Statement of The United Methodist Church

So if we are United Methodists, and we are, we have signed on to team that has every intention of changing the world.

But how do we do that?

Our mission statement says that we do that by making disciples and that makes sense, but if you’ve been in the local church for even a little while, it isn’t long before you realize that making disciples isn’t always an easy thing to do.

So how do we do that?

In our scripture today, first from Esther, then Jesus, and finally James, we can see a 3-step pattern repeated that should clearly be a model for each of us, and for the local church, today. We begin at the high point of the book of Esther. The evil Haman had tricked king Xerxes into condemning to death, all of the Jews throughout the known world but neither Haman nor Xerxes realized that Xerxes own queen, Esther, was a Jew. In this confrontation, Esther exposes Haman and his evil to the king (Esther 7:1-10, 9:20-22)

7:1 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, 2 and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”

3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”

5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

6 Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”

Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen

7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.

The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”

As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

The king said, “Impale him on it!” 10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.

9:20 Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, 21 to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar 22 as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor. [This holiday is known as Purim]

While most of us will never be called upon to rescue our entire nation, or an entire people, we can still learn something from the way that Esther approached her problem and so that we can apply it to the smaller problems that we face. Despite the fact that she was his wife, before Esther would even approach the king she declared a time of fasting and prayer and asked everyone that she knew, to fast and pray with her as she did so. Only then would she invite the king to dinner, and only then would she make the request that would save the life and property of every Jew in the known world.

Another key step can be found in Mark 9:38-50, as Jesus explains how his followers should live their lives.

38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.

42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where

“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’

49 Everyone will be salted with fire.

50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

There is a lot there and I could probably write an entire sermon on that passage alone, but for the moment, let’s focus on Jesus’ main point that we find at the end. ” Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?”

After reading the rest of that passage and understanding that Jesus is warning his followers that they should live their lives with purity and a pursuit of perfection, then we understand that his point is the same as we often hear in James. The followers of Jesus are expected to act like Jesus. Jesus compares us to salt. If salt isn’t salty, it isn’t good for much of anything except as gravel.

If the followers of Jesus do not act like Jesus, then we really aren’t good for much of anything.

Finally, James puts all of these ideas together for us in James 5:13-20.

13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

In this passage, James connects the dots for us and lays out three steps to making disciples, three steps to rescuing people who have been condemned to death (which is, after all, what we are doing when we bring people to faith in Jesus Christ), and three steps to changing the world.

First, if you are in trouble, or if you’re sick, if you have sinned, then you should pray. In this case, you are not praying for the other guy yet, you are praying for you, for your trouble, for your healing, or for your forgiveness. What James is telling us is that the first step in changing the world is to start with ourselves. Before I can change the world, I have to change me. Before you can change the world, you have to change you. Get right with God. Ask for forgiveness. Forgive those who have hurt you and, as we heard Jesus say in Mark, start acting like Christians.

As much as possible, be like Jesus.

Step two comes to us from both Esther and James and that is, simply, pray. This is where we pray for the other guy. Pray for the people that you are trying to rescue, pray for those to whom you hope to witness, pray for the people that your mission teams hope to connect with, pray for the mission and outreach of your church, pray for your neighborhood, but in all that you do, and for all of those who are in need of rescue, pray.

Finally, step three is spelled out in the simplest of terms by James, “Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death.” What James is saying, is that in order for the lost to be saved, in order for the dying to be rescued, someone needs to get out there and save them. Someone needs to get out there and do the rescuing. It wouldn’t do any good if the Coast Guard spent all of their time sitting in lecture halls talking about rescuing people but never actually set foot in a boat. It isn’t enough to sit in the church and pray that people would be rescued; someone needs to actually put “boots on the ground” and make the attempt. And that someone has to be those of us in the church, the followers of Jesus Christ.

So there you are. Three steps to changing the world.

First, get right with God and with others. Do the things that Jesus has taught us to do and act like Jesus teaches us to act.

Second, pray.

And third, get out there and get it done. Go out there and rescue others or at least make the attempt. Talk to people. Share Jesus with them. Tell them what Jesus has done for you and let them know that Jesus wants to get to know them, that Jesus loves them. Let them know that Jesus came so that they could be forgiven and rescued from death.

It might sound simple, but that’s all there is to it.

Because whenever you save a life…

…you change the world.

Actions, Actions, Actions

PastorPartridge Sermon , ,

“Actions, Actions, Actions”
September 20, 2015
By John Partridge

Scripture:     Proverbs 31:10-31             James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a             Mark 9:30-37

Have you ever been in a situation where things just didn’t work out, in real life, as good as they looked on paper?

When I was in marching band in high school, every couple of weeks we would learn a new band show. To do that, the band director would pass out assignments to the squad leaders and we would work out how and where we needed to march for each measure that we were playing in the music for that week. But what often happened was that, at some point, squads would collide or find themselves completely out of place for the next formation, not because they had made a mistake, but precisely because they were following the directions. At those moments we used to laugh and say, “Well, it worked on paper.”

Later on in our lives, many of us have had the experience of meeting a new employee at our place of business. And at some point we discovered that although this new person had great credentials, they had gone to a good school, they got good grades, they had worked for important people or prestigious companies, but somehow, after they were hired, they just couldn’t live up to their own hype. They just couldn’t get the job done.

And the opposite is also sometimes true. Sometimes the people we least expect to excel, perform far beyond our imagination.

In the end, what is on paper, or in our imagination, is not as important as real life action and performance.

Not surprisingly, we find this to be true in scripture as well.

We begin this morning with Proverbs 31:10-31, whose description of an ideal wife is so well known that it is often referred to simply as “the Proverbs 31 woman.”

10 A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

The ideal woman described in Proverbs 31 isn’t wonderful because she is pretty, or charming, or even because she has lots of children. The woman, of whom the writer of Proverbs thinks so highly, is praised because of the things that she does. As we read that passage, it is full of action verbs. She gets, she provides, she buys, she works, she cares, she helps, she is compassionate, strong, wise, faithful and has a sense of humor. The Proverbs 31 woman is praised not because of what she looks like, or because of her ambition, or because of what she intends to do, but because of the things that she actually does. This is true of all of us.

In the end, we will not be judged by our intentions, but by our actions.

You will remember that this was a common theme from our study of the book of James. In James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8 we hear these words…

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.

The truly wise people of the world show their wisdom by their actions, by their deeds, and by living the kind of life that true wisdom demonstrates. It is only through their actions that people can show that they are peace-loving, considerate, submissive, merciful, impartial, and sincere. We can preach it as much as we want, we can intend to do it all that we want, we can plan to do it all that we want, but in the end we are not any of those things if we do not do them.

Our actions demonstrate the contents of our heart.

Our actions demonstrate our faith.

This is also the message of Jesus in Mark 9:30-37. We often say that this passage is all about offering hospitality to children, but it is much more than that.
30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

For Jesus, academically understanding the lesson isn’t all that there is. True understanding is something that is demonstrated and lived out. Real understanding results in a changed life. Real understanding results in actions that prove it.

Leaders aren’t leaders because they are more powerful than everyone else.

Real leaders don’t get things done because they bully everyone into doing what they want.

Real leadership isn’t about making everyone afraid of you.

Real leadership is about service.

Those who lead best are the best servants of the people they lead.

It’s all about action. Action, action, action.

The followers of Jesus are called to be like Jesus, and that means acting like Jesus, doing the thing that Jesus did, and living like he teaches us to live.

Jesus challenges us to live lives of purity, love, compassion, mercy, and grace and living like that can sometimes be unspeakably difficult and we often intend to do more than we deliver.

But it is our actions that count.

We are judged by what we do and not by what we intended to do.

What is on paper is not as important as action.

Imagination is not as important as action.

Theory is useless without results

Action always outweighs intention.

Telling people that God loves them, but acting like you hate them, just doesn’t work.

Reading the Bible everyday, but acting like the Pharisees are the real heroes, doesn’t work.

It just doesn’t cut it to go to church but act as if Jesus had nothing to say about love, compassion and mercy.

In the end, nothing that happens on Sunday morning matters…

… if you don’t act like Jesus when you leave.

The Heart of God’s Lover

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , , , , , ,

“The Heart of God’s Lover”
August 30, 2015
By John Partridge

Scripture: Song of Solomon 2:8-13          1 John 3:2-4          Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Have you ever been to a wedding? Certainly, almost all of us have and of all the things that we always remember at every wedding is how beautiful the bride was. It doesn’t really matter what kind of a wedding it is either. It could be a traditional wedding, a country and western wedding, a formal wedding, an informal wedding, they are all the same in that the bride does her very best to look beautiful. I once performed a wedding in which our church secretary got a phone call from the court house, in the morning, from a couple who was there getting their wedding license. They wondered if the pastor could marry them that afternoon so that they could be done and home before the kids got home from school. It seems that they had been living together for eight or ten years and the groom was finally in a mood to get married, and so the poor woman knew she didn’t want to waste her chance. They dashed off to the courthouse, got a wedding license, came down to the church with another couple as witnesses, and got married in my office. And even then, the bride took the time to stop at home and make sure that her hair and make-up got a little extra attention.

At any wedding, it is the love that the bride and groom have for one another that makes them want to look their best for the one that they love.

It is that principle that I want you to keep in mind.

Throughout scripture, God’s redeemer and rescuer, the Messiah, is described as the bridegroom. The prophet Isaiah said that (Isaiah 62:5) “As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”

In Matthew 9:15, Jesus describes himself as the bridegroom saying, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”

And in John’s Revelation the bride is revealed to be all of those whose names have been written in the Lamb’s book of life, that is, the followers of Jesus Christ, his church.

It is these sorts of lessons that bring the Old Testament into sharper focus. We always knew that the Old Testament was full of interesting stories but aside from revealing things about the basic morality of the Israelites, a bit of history, and a lot of weird stuff about the old system of worship and sacrifice, we often had a hard time understanding it. But, with the arrival of Jesus and the fulfillment of prophecy, we can go back and revisit some of those books that we thought were old and dusty, and see them in an entirely new light. We can see them differently, because we can now see them through the lens of Jesus.

For example, let’s look at the Song of Solomon. We always knew that this was a great book about love and sex, but if we think about Jesus as the bridegroom, our understanding of the story changes completely. (Song of Solomon 2:8-13)

8 Listen! My beloved!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said to me,
“Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, come with me.
11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me.”

It’s easy to picture a bridegroom peeking through the lattice at his beloved, singing with joy, but when we re-imagine that scene where it is God that is peeking at us, where God is filled with anticipation of being with us, because of his passionate love for us, then the whole thing takes on a completely different, and amazingly wonderful, flavor.

If God loves us in this deep and passionate way, then we are more than simply loved by God, we are the beloved of God or, in other words, we are God’s lover.

But if God is in love with us in this amazing way, then how are we, as the Bride of Christ, to prepare ourselves for our wedding? What does it look like for us to, spiritually, do our hair and make-up and beautify ourselves for our bridegroom?

If we look, we can find the answer directly from the lips of Jesus. In Mark chapter 7 the Pharisees take issue with the behavior of Jesus’ followers because they are not following “the rules” of the law and so are living lives that are unclean. Because of this, these church leaders attach Jesus. (Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

7:1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’

8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
The issue for Jesus, you see, is, and always has been, an issue of purity.
In 1 John 3:2-4, John puts it this way:

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

The way that we beautify ourselves for our bridegroom is to purify ourselves and Jesus wanted to be sure that we understood that purity isn’t about washing our hands before we eat, or rinsing cups or kettles, or blindly following old traditions.

Purity is all about the heart.

Purity is all about what’s on the inside.

As we prepare ourselves for our beloved, and for our wedding day, our goal isn’t to get rich, or to elect the right political party, or be famous, or to do so many other things that our culture thinks are important. Instead, as James (James 1:27) taught us,

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

God loves us deeply and passionately and our goal is to prepare ourselves for the day that he will call us to live with him in his pure and perfect home. To do that, we must deal with a serious heart condition. We must purify our hearts, filling them with the word of God and other things of purity, and we must do the things that God has called us to do.

Because the heart of God’s lover…

…is our own.

Nowhere to Run

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , ,

“Nowhere to Run”
August 23, 2015
By John Partridge

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

Have you been reading about all that has been happening in the Middle East since the Arab Spring? There has been a rise in radicalism throughout the region that is not limited to ISIS. There are dozens of radical groups fighting against the government, and against one another, in Syria, Iran is becoming even more anti-western and anti-Christian than ever before, and although many good people are trying to help, radical groups in Egypt have dramatically escalated their attacks on Christians (who are known as Copts, or Coptic Christians in Egypt) and on Coptic Churches. Throughout the Middle East, and in many parts of North Africa, Christians are being persecuted and killed far more than they have been in generations. Ships full of refugees are arriving daily in Europe seeking asylum.

And yet, interesting stories are emerging from that part of the world that tell us that God is alive and well and still involved in the world in which we live.

Before I elaborate, I want to remember the story of Jonah. We aren’t going to read it today, but remember that God called Jonah and sent him on a mission. But Jonah didn’t want to go and, for whatever reason, Jonah thought that if he could just get far enough away, God wouldn’t be able to find him. And so, Jonah looked at the map, picked the port that was farthest away on the map. Jonah bought a ticket to Tarshish, a city in North Africa on the Atlantic coast that appeared to be at the end of the world, and ran away.

But you cannot run from God.

Although many of the gods of other nations were known to be regional gods who cared only for a certain, limited, part of the world, the God of Israel is the god who created the heavens and the earth and all that is.

There is nowhere to run.

You cannot run from a God who is everywhere.

And so, in the Middle East where many violent people are doing their best to say that the God of Israel isn’t real, that the Jesus of the Christians was nothing more than a prophet, and are trying to destroy, by any means possible, the witness of the church, people are discovering the same thing that Jonah found something like four thousand years ago.

You cannot run from God.

Despite the violence, Christians are taking a stand. The witness of persecuted Christians is being noticed. And I have heard several stories of Muslims who have encountered the risen Christ in their dreams or who have heard a voice who told them to learn more about Issa (the Muslim name for Jesus). With and without the efforts of missionaries and other believers, the name of Jesus is being made known. In fact, according to a witness quoted in a recent issue of Charisma magazine, in some churches as many as 80 percent of those in attendance will say that they came to Christ because of a dream. Veteran missionaries say that more people are converting from Islam to Christianity than in any other time in history.

You cannot run from God.

And so, with that in mind we begin our scripture reading from the book of First Kings chapter 8 as Solomon dedicates the Temple of God in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30)…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When the Ark of the Covenant is placed in the temple, the presence of God follows. Just as it was in the days of Moses when God went before the people and appeared as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day, God’s presence appears as a cloud, fills the entire Temple, and the priests are forced to leave the building because they cannot see. Solomon understands the nature of God and declares that the heavens cannot contain God. He goes on to say that the people of God, and even those who are foreigners, do not necessarily have to pray in the temple to be heard by God but only to pray toward the temple. Solomon understands that God hears the prayers of all people no matter where they are.

Often, however, this message is difficult to accept. Sometimes we don’t want to do what God asks us to do. In John 6:56-69, we discover that even Jesus’ own disciples had difficulty accepting his message.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Even the disciples of Jesus, many of those beyond the twelve who were closest to him, had trouble accepting that Jesus was the only path to God. They couldn’t accept that what they had been taught for years might not be complete, that the message of Moses and the prophets and the system of sacrifice in the Temple might not be pointing to something better. But Peter, the twelve, and a few others knew that Jesus spoke the words of God. They knew that if Jesus was truth then there was nowhere else that they could go, even if his words were difficult to hear.

They knew that we cannot hide from God just because he says things that make us uncomfortable.

And, in the end, regardless of how difficult the teachings of God might be, and how we are occasionally convicted by them because of the things we like to do (all of us seem to have a favorite sin do we not?), there is only one place where we can find truth. And with that in mind, we must prepare ourselves to go out into the world. To do so, to prepare our hearts and minds so that we can we a witness to the world without becoming corrupted by it, Paul says this (Ephesians 6:10-20):

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

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

We have often heard this passage about putting on the armor of God read and explained in such a way as to understand that we are preparing ourselves for battle as the knights of old prepared, by buckling on armor and sharpening our swords, but while there is, obviously, an element of that, I also think that Paul is pointing to something quite different. I think that Paul is using military imagery to point to something that is quite the opposite. Paul emphasizes that our fight is not with a flesh and blood enemy. There will be no clash of swords, no throwing of spears, or the twang of a bow. What we prepare for is not a fight that any of us would ever recognize as a fight at all and our preparations would be utterly strange to soldiers and knights in battle. Our preparations are not directed toward the defeat of an enemy outside of ourselves at all, except for the enemy of our souls because every preparation that Paul describes is not aimed at others, but only within ourselves. The way that we are called to fight is to draw close to God, to open our hearts to truth, to struggle toward righteousness, to stand at the ready in the cause of peace. We are to be armed, not with weapons of destruction but to defend ourselves with peace. Instead of retaliating and returning blow for blow and wound for wound, we are called to defend with the words and the truth of God.

I think that Paul deliberately uses the imagery of conflict to highlight a message of peace.
Instead of raising an army to go out to fight those who attack the cause of Christ, our call is, instead, to lift up our voices in prayer and to proclaim the mysterious and miraculous story of the gospel. Our call is not to prepare for battle, but to prepare our hearts, to prepare ourselves, so that we can become the tools that God needs. Because, in the end, the fight against evil is not ours, the fight belongs to God.

We are thousands of miles from the Middle East. We cannot, nor should we, raise an army to fight against ISIS and others who are persecuting the church, but what can do, what we have been called to do, is to draw closer to God, to purify our hearts, and to pray. God is already at work changing hearts and calling disciples even in places where his people are driven out, silenced, and murdered. We are called to testify, to teach the gospel message, and to pray.

Because no matter where you are and no matter how much evil tries to hide it…

…there is nowhere to hide.

You cannot run from God.

 

(Not) The Politics of Power

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“(Not) The Politics of Power”
August 16, 2015
By John Partridge

Scripture: 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14                Ephesians 5:15-20                   John 6:51-58

Why would any reasonable person want to be the president of the United States?

President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy.” So what is it that drives so many people to run for president, especially knowing the meat grinder that you and your family will pass through at the hands of the media and the other candidates? Why would anyone subject themselves to that?

Certainly, the reasons every candidate has will be different. But while patriotism and service to country certainly should be among the driving factors, we have to at least suspect that fame, money, and power are almost certainly included as well. The salary for the President of the United States is $400,000 per year, but there are some pretty expensive perks that come with that. Some past presidents have made out quite well financially after being in our nation’s highest office, but others have nearly gone bankrupt from bad financial dealings. The candidates for the next election are all over the map financially. Donald Trump, of course is a billionaire with a net worth of $4.5 billion, Carly Fiorina is a former executive of a Fortune 500 company and is worth around $80 million, Hillary Clinton has $15 million (and Bill has another $38 million), and all the way down at the bottom are Marco Rubio and Bernie Sanders who each have less than a half a million.

So is it money that attracts people to run for president or is it power, prestige, or something else?
These, after all, are the politics of power.
Whatever it is, it is interesting to compare those who lead us, whether it is those in government or those at the top of the corporate world, with the kind of leaders that God calls to lead his people. We begin, once again, by rejoining the story of the nation of Israel recorded in 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14, this marks the end of David’s life and the beginning of the rule of his son, Solomon.

10 Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11 He had reigned forty years over Israel—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.

3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.

    This short passage highlights the character and leadership of King Solomon more than just about any other passage of scripture. As Solomon becomes king, God gives Solomon the opportunity to write his own ticket and asks the “genie in a bottle” question. In no other place in scripture does God allow anyone to “Ask for whatever you want” and perhaps it is because that God knows that Solomon, alone, is the one man who is capable of accepting such a blessing. Because when Solomon is allowed to choose anything in the world, he does not choose wine, women, song, or pleasure. He does not choose money, or power, or prestige, or conquering armies, or fame, or anything else. Instead, Solomon reveals something about himself that we do not often see in people with great power. Solomon, instead of demonstrating greed, or lust, demonstrates humility.

Instead of asking for anything at all for himself, Solomon asks for wisdom so that he can lead well.

And scripture tells us that because Solomon had the humility to ask for something that would benefit his nation and his people instead of something for himself, God gives him all of those other things. Again, perhaps because Solomon alone is the one man who is capable of handling such a blessing.

So as we witness all of the grandstanding and listen to the daily soundbites on the news, it is fair for us to wonder, what is it that makes a good leader?

In Ephesians 5:15-20, Paul echoes the lessons of Solomon but he adds something to our discussion.

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    So, for Paul, wisdom is a major component of good leadership but in Paul’s mind, wisdom is inseparable from faithfulness to God. Paul calls all of us to be filled with the Spirit of God, to be hearers of God’s word, worshippers of God, and to give thanks to God for everything.

Finally, let us look at the example of Jesus. What characteristics of leadership does Jesus bring to the table? What does the leadership of Jesus tell us about what we ought to be looking for in our earthly leaders, and finally, what characteristics should we be growing in ourselves?
Jesus said (John 6:51-58),

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

    Jesus was the King of the Universe but his approach to leadership is not power, or authority, or wealth, or fame, but instead, as the king of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus steps down from his throne, descends to earth, gives up everything he has, is born into a poor family from the middle of nowhere, and gives his life as a sacrifice so that human beings can be rescued from sin and death.

The life of Jesus tells us that real leaders serve.

And one of the highest marks of leadership, God’s way, is sacrifice.

And so as we listen to the sound bites of another political election season we will hear a great many promises. Some will seek leadership because they feel the need to be in front and be the center of attention. Others will be lured by power and authority, some by acclaim, fame, and name recognition, and still others by money. In the political world, these men and women will attempt to convince us that they are qualified because they have already had great power, great wealth, or great experience. That is, after all, normal in the politics of power.

But in the end, scripture teaches us to look for something deeper than motivations of the flesh, these desires, lusts, and greed of our humanity. Instead we are called to look for an altogether different set of qualifications. Instead of business as usual, or politics as usual, instead of looking for the things that the newspapers and the television and Internet soundbites focus on everyday, let us look instead to those far more unusual qualifications. Let us look for men and women, real leaders, who have the heart of God, who lead with humility, wisdom, discernment, service to others, faithfulness, and sacrifice.

Too many people seek to run for president and other offices, political and otherwise, because of what they can gain but that doesn’t make them leaders.

Real leaders lead, because of what they can gain, but because of what they can give.

And that is not the normal politics of power.

May we, as God’s people, be people who seek to serve others, and care for the needs of others, before we seek to satisfy our own desires.

Disobedience, Tears, and Death

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“Disobedience, Tears, and Death”
August 09, 2015

By John Partridge

Scripture: 2 Samuel 18:5-15, 31-33                         Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2                   John 6:35, 41-51

Close your eyes.

Do you remember when you were a young person and you did stupid stuff that got your parents to yell at you? Now remember when you did something worse, not everyone has that moment but many of us have, when you did something so bad or so unexpected, that your parents didn’t… couldn’t yell, or even speak. Remember how your heart broke when you noticed that this thing you had done or said, made them sit, with nothing to say to you… and weep. Some parents have hidden that moment simply by saying things like, “Go to your room,” or “I’m so angry I don’t even want to see you right now.” But you heard them talking from your room and later you noticed (although they wouldn’t admit it) that they had unusually red eyes like they had been crying.

Maybe you were a good kid and that didn’t happen to you, but maybe your children did it to you as a parent. Or maybe it happened to a friend, or someone from church, but I want you to hold on to that idea, that moment when the words or the actions of another individual, a person you love, are so disastrous, so hurtful, that you, yourself are brought to tears from the pain that you feel on their behalf.

Open your eyes but hold on to that feeling in your memory.

It is moments like these that we will be reading about, and talking about this morning. Once again rejoining the story of King David, now as his son Absalom has dethroned him, run him out of Jerusalem, taken everything that he had, slept with his wives, and now is literally at war with David, we begin in 2 Samuel 18:5-15, 31-33.

5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.

6 David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.

9 Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.

10 When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”

11 Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt.”

12 But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ 13 And if I had put my life in jeopardy—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have kept your distance from me.”

14 Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. 15 And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.

—-

31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.”

32 The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.”

33 The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”

David has been attacked by his own son. Absalom has taken David’s throne, been crowned as king, and driven David into the countryside. But as David’s loyal friends, soldiers, and others rally to his side and he begins to fight back, David, even though he is now at war with his own child, still loves Absalom and orders that he should not be harmed, and in fact, that he should be treated gently.

But as David’s commanding general finds Absalom, he disobeys David’s explicit orders and kills the young man on the spot as he hangs, helplessly, from a low-hanging branch, by his hair.

And when David hears the news that his son is dead, David weeps.

David had every reason to be happy. His throne, his power, his wealth and everything else had been returned to him. The rebellion had been crushed. But David, despite the betrayal, despite the disobedience, despite the pain, still loved his son. And David went to a quiet place and wept.

The next passage of scripture doesn’t sound like it is related to the story of David that we just read, at least at first. But with a little thought and reflection, everything starts to fall into place. (John 6:35, 41-51)

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

41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Jesus said, “I am the living bread.” And then, “This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” From this, and all of the gospel stories, we know that Jesus is the bread, which was given by God, so that the whole world could be rescued and given life. The gift of eternal life, the gift of Jesus, was given as a gift of forgiveness, a gift of wholeness.

The gift of Jesus was a gift of sacrifice.

And it was given because God witnessed our betrayal and disobedience. We have all done the very things that God knew would destroy us. We have done the things that God commanded us not to do. We knew that God was the king of the universe, but we chose to overthrow him. We wanted to sit on the throne. We wanted to make the rules. We wanted to do whatever we wanted.

And our betrayal and disobedience caused God so much pain that he wept.

But even in the face of our betrayal and disobedience, even in the face of his pain and sorrow, God never stopped loving us. In fact, just as David ordered his men to be gentle with Absalom, God still wanted to rescue us from our own mess. God knew that the penalty for our sin and betrayal was death.

But instead of making us pay, God chose instead to sacrifice his own son in our place.

Jesus came to earth to rescue us from the problems and pain that we created for ourselves. Jesus came to become the bread of life and said, “This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

That is an enormous responsibility.

We owe God a great debt.

But what can we do? How can we even begin to repay what God has done for us? What can we do to show God that we are grateful?

And in Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2, Paul answers us by saying…

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

5:1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Paul says that we are all members of one body, which to me is another way of saying that we all belong to the same family, but, more than that, it is, just what Paul said, that we are part of the same body. Some of us are hands, others feet, and so on, but anything that harms one of us, harms all of us. And so, Paul’s instructions are to speak the truth and to make sure that we don’t do foolish things when we are angry. We all know that when we get mad enough, something inside of us wants to react, to lash out at the thing that hurt or angered us, but in Paul’s mind, that action gives our enemy a grip on us. Instead of lashing out, we need to be thoughtful and loving like David. We need to offer second chances. We need to put aside all sorts of wrongdoing, like stealing. We need to use our speech to lift people up and not to tear them down. Our speech should bring glory to God instead of making dirty jokes, talking about Desperate Housewives, and other unwholesome talk. Unwholesome talk encourages sin. Paul says that all these things “grieve the Holy Spirit of God.”

These are the things that make God weep.

Instead, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

5:1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Instead of living lives of betrayal and rebellion, let us live lives that are dedicated to helping one another, loving one another, forgiving one another, encouraging one another, and offering our lives, and everything that we do, as an offering, a sacrifice, to God.

Eulogy for Diane Day

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Eulogy for Diane Day
August 03, 2015
by Rev. John Partridge

This is the day.

This is the day that we knew was coming.

For months (or longer), we knew that one day soon, we would be here but no matter how much we knew, today still came faster than we expected and far faster than we wanted it to. Despite our knowledge and anticipation of this day, our pain is undiminished. Nothing the doctors said makes today any easier. And realistically I know that likewise, little or nothing that the preacher says is going to make it easier.

We have lost a friend, a wife, a sister, aunt, great-aunt, coworker, bowling buddy, and many other things. It is as if a light has been extinguished in an already darkening room. Diane Day was many things to many people, but to everyone who knew her, she was a light that brightened the room and the mood wherever she went. It was almost as if she was a star, and all of us who knew her had been pulled into her orbit. As she has been lost to us we feel as if we have been cast off in some way, we have lost the pull of her gravity, and we are adrift.

For Ronnie, Diane was his world, but much the same is true of Jan and Joan and the rest of Diane’s family. They have all lost the pull of her gravity, the anchor of her faith, the light of her smile and her sense of humor and so many other things. We will all struggle to find a new “normal” but the struggle will obviously be harder for those who knew her best.

Diane’s sister Joan shared this with me yesterday:

Diane was our older sister. I remember growing up always thinking she was the smart one. She did very well in high school; it seemed to come easy for her. She took French and many years later she could still speak it. Anything she wanted to do she would teach herself to do, sewing, cake decorating, canning, gardening, figuring out how to work the mechanics of things. She loved to read, loved the Indians, the Browns and always her cats. She was independent, disciplined, a hard worker, faithful to her friends and enjoyed cutting up with family. She was always willing to pitch in and help whatever the need. Her most outstanding quality was her love of her family. She didn’t have children of her own but loved all of ours. She took pride in her abilities to calm a fussy baby, crawl on the floor with the toddlers, play games with the younger, take the older bowling or play in the pool with them. My kids only saw her once a year or so but grew to know, love, and appreciate Aunt Dee. She is my big sister and she will always be loved and missed.

    Diane’s niece Julie remembered that, on her wedding day, she forgot the wedding license at her house and it was Diane who, typically, volunteered to retrieve it. This, Julie said, “was the essence of Aunt Dee.” She was always giving of herself, always trying to help others. Several people told me that even though Diane never had children of her own, she loved on her nieces and nephews, all 13 of them, as if they were her own. Honestly, we saw the same thing at church. I don’t know of anyone who didn’t love Diane, or anyone that Diane didn’t like. Even when Diane was well, it took her a while to get in and out of the sanctuary at church because she had to get a hug from just about everybody. And during those times when Diane was not doing so well and was in a wheelchair, or simply not quite as mobile, everyone came to where she was. There was a line of people waiting to give Diane a hug.

And there is something else worth noting about that scene. Some of us realized just how much of an accomplishment it was for Diane to even be there. Each week, Diane wanted to be in church. Even during those times when she wasn’t doing especially well, if she cold possibly get out of bed she wanted to be in church. Ronnie would help her to get ready, help her to the car and bring her to church. At the back door Jan, or Wade, or both, would be waiting for them, help Diane to the door, up the elevator and into her spot in the sanctuary. Sometimes there were a few of the ushers and other folk who helped out too. It took a team effort of love to make sure that Diane got to spend time each week with her church family, but especially with her Jesus. No one on that team begrudged the extra effort it sometimes took because of all the love that Diane had poured into their lives over the years.

Diane had just a few great loves in her life, Ronnie (of course), for whom she would do almost anything, her family, work, bowling, and, again, her Jesus. Diane loved to work. Even when she didn’t feel well and when many of us would have called in sick, Diane pushed herself to put one foot in front of the other and went to work anyway. And when she was well, she was pretty much unstoppable. Regardless of what it was, like Julius Caesar, she came, she saw, she conquered.

And through it all, Diane loved her Jesus. I know I’ve already said that a couple of times but this is an incredibly important thing. Earlier I said that little or nothing that the preacher says is going to make it easier. But if I have anything helpful to offer, this is it. Those of us who have put our faith, hope and trust in Jesus Christ receive great comfort in knowing that this world is not all that there is. We know that the world that God created has been distorted and perverted by imperfect human beings. We know that the world that God created, and the world in which we will one day live, is a world in which there is no pain, no suffering, and no death. We know that Diane has gone ahead and is already in that place. Diane is no longer in pain, no longer suffering, and, if Jesus knows how to bowl, she has probably already challenged him to a line or two. Even more importantly, we know that if we have put our faith, hope and trust in Jesus, we will one day join Diane in Jesus’ house. In that place, we will all be reunited with the people that we love, and we will live there together forever. As we lose the pull of Diane’s love, may we all fall farther into the orbit of Jesus’ love.

I know that my words will not make your pain any less. But my prayer is that in the words of scripture, and the words of Jesus, we can all find hope. Diane believed that. She had that kind of faith and hope, and I am certain that she would want you all to know that you can too so that you can join her someday in her new, and eternal home.

Obituary

Diane F. Day

December 16, 1949 – July 29, 2015
Resided in Massillon, OH

Diane F Day, 65, of Massillon passed away on Wednesday, July 29, 2015. She was born December 16, 1949 in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Diane was employed by K-Mart in Massillon for 30 plus years and loved bowling. She was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church.

She was preceded in death by her father, Carl Rohleder and brother, Kenny Rohleder.

Diane is survived by her husband, Ron; mother, Dolores Rohleder; sisters, Linda Stanley, Joan (Ed) DesCombes and Janet (Wade) Gash; brother, Charles (Patricia) Rohleder; sister-in-law, Sandra Rohleder and a host of nieces, nephews, family and friends.

The family will receive friends on Monday, August 3, 2015 from 1pm to 2:30pm at Reed Funeral Home Canton Chapel, 705 Raff Rd Canton with funeral services to follow at 2:30pm.