What’s the Point?

August 25, 2024 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, answer, Broadway, Christ, church, disciples, eternal life, evil, fight, God, good, Jesus, life, Methodist, mission, Ohio, Partridge, party, Paul, point, politics, prayer, quit, Solomon, Street, struggle, temple, United, what's the point?

What’s the Point?

August 25, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

1 Kings 8:1, 22, 24, 27-30, 41-43 John 6:56-69 Ephesians 6:10-20

We have all experienced it.

Whether we were watching a politician’s speech, or reading a book or a scholar’s paper, or listening to the ramblings of a corporate executive whose meeting we got sucked into, or even the occasional pastor’s sermon, we have all, at some point, found ourselves drifting off into our daydreams and wondering… “What’s the point?” Too often we have felt like our time was wasted because the book that we were reading, or the speaker to whom we were listening, just couldn’t seem to find the point that they were seeking. If we’re honest, there are scripture passages that feel like this from time to time, although sometimes those same passages lay the groundwork for others that do make profound and important points… but not always.

As we read the story of 1 Kings 2, we are listening in as Solomon, who is simultaneously his nation’s king, chief politician, and a religious leader by virtue of being king. And in this story, we hear Solomon give a speech and offer a prayer for his nation as the Arc of the Covenant is moved out of the tent in which is has been housed for generations, and into its new home in the newly completed temple in Jerusalem. Solomon’s speech is a bit long because it repeats for the people some important history, but for our purposes, I’m skipping a bunch of it so that we can focus less on history and more on the point that Solomon makes towards the end. Bear in mind that I’m skipping a lot, so if you want to hear the whole thing, you’ll need to read it yourself. We begin in 1 Kings 8:1, 22, 24, 27-30, 41-43 where we hear these words:

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

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

²⁴You 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.

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! ²⁸Yet 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. ²⁹May 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. ³⁰Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

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

The points that I want you to notice are in verses 30 and 37. Solomon asks if it is possible for God to dwell on earth since even heaven cannot contain him. As simple as this is, it is a distinctive feature of Judaism and a deliberate poke at the religions of Israel’s neighbors. Israel’s neighbors all had temples with strikingly similar architecture from which Solomon borrowed, and in the holy place of each of those temples was an idol. In each of those idols, it was said that the spirit of that nation’s god resided and lived among that god’s people. But Israel’s holy of holies was startlingly empty because Israel knew that their God could not be contained.

Solomon follows that statement about the magnitude of God by praying that wherever God might be, whenever anyone prayed in, or even toward this new temple, that God would hear their prayer, and offer forgiveness. Solomon and the nation of Israel knew that, unlike their neighbors, God did not physically live in their temple, but their prayer was that God would establish his name and hear the prayers of his people wherever they might be. Second, Solomon asks that whenever foreigners would come to that place, and offer prayers, that God would hear and answer their prayers so that all the peoples of the earth would know Israel’s God and choose to follow him.

That was the point. Like Solomon, our prayer is that God would hear our prayers, offer us his forgiveness, and also that God would hear, and answer, the prayers of unbelievers so that they would know God and choose to follow him.

Next, we return for what I think is the third consecutive week that we hear Jesus invite us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. But this time, it is not the grumbling of the crowd, or the teachers of the law, or the Pharisees, but Jesus’ own disciples that we hear in John 6:56-69…

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

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

⁶¹Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶²Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spiritand life. ⁶⁴Yet 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. ⁶⁵He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

⁶⁶From 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.

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

It turns out that Jesus’ disciples didn’t like this teaching about his flesh and blood any more than the Pharisees did and our scripture says that it was not some, but “many” of Jesus’ disciples turned back and stopped following him. Even those who didn’t leave admitted that this was a hard teaching. But in the end, they got the point. When Jesus asked them if they didn’t want to leave like everyone else, Peter said, “to whom shall we go?” They knew that Jesus was the one whose words gave eternal life, so leaving was not an option no matter how difficult it might have been to stay.

The disciples who stayed got the point. If we believe that Jesus holds the words of life and death, then we don’t have to like everything that he has to say. We can admit that some of his teaching is hard. We can admit that we don’t like it, that we don’t really want to do it, or that it restricts our selfishness more than we would like, but in the end, we must make every effort to follow him anyway.

And finally, we come to Paul. Who, as always, delivers a message that applies to churches throughout history. Why? Because two thousand years later we’re still asking, “What’s the point?” Of course, there are many ways that we could answer that question, but listen to how Paul sums it all up in Ephesians 6:10-20 saying,

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For 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. ¹³Therefore 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. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

The point, Paul says, is that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Full stop. Let me repeat that. “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” We have not been put on earth to be in combat with the rich, or with the poor, with people of other races or from other countries, with people who disagree with us, with political parties, or any other organization made up of human beings. Our struggle is not with other people, except when it is. Our struggle is with rulers, authorities, and powers of the dark world that are aligned with the spiritual forces of evil. In other words, our fight is not against people, it is against evil and only becomes a fight with people when those people have aligned themselves, consciously or unconsciously, with evil. That means that we fight against the politics of evil regardless of party. We fight against the Republicans where and when their policies are evil, we fight against the Democrats when their policies are evil, we fight against the Libertarians, and the Socialists, and the Communists, and anyone else when they choose evil. We fight against the church when it chooses evil because it is our purpose to fight against evil wherever we find it.

The point is that it is not people against which we fight. Our mission is to stand up for what is good and to fight against evil. Put on the whole armor of God, stand firm, and pray. Pray for the church, pray for your pastor, and remember that all of us here are pastors and priests. So, pray for one another, that whenever we speak, words may be given so that we will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.

Solomon knew that the point of building the temple was that all the people of the world would come to know and to follow the God of Abraham.

The disciples knew that if Jesus was the Messiah who holds the keys to eternal life, then we must obey his teaching even when it is difficult, even when it squeezes us personally, even when we don’t like it, and even when we think that Jesus should have done things differently.

And Paul wanted us to know that the point of the church and its people is not to fight against people, but to stand against evil wherever we find it. And that means to fight against evil even when we find it in people, and in organizations that we like.

Pray for one another, that we may be discerning and see the evil in the world around us. And pray that whenever we speak, words may be given to us by God so that we will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.

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

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Learning Wisdom for Life

August 18, 2024 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Broadway, Christ, church, disciples, God, Jesus, lessons, life, Methodist, Ohio, Partridge, Paul, Solomon, Street, United, wisdom

Learning Wisdom for Life

August 18, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

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

There are several internet memes that have a humorous take on our understanding of wisdom and the one that have in mind says that “The reason that I am old and wise, is that God protected me while I was young and stupid.” I still don’t consider myself to be “old and wise,” but I have realized that somewhere during the years that I have lived and the many miles that I have traveled, I learned a few things. Sometimes that amounts to wisdom, and sometimes I just know stuff, but there are still a great many things that I do not know. The truth of the internet meme is that for most of us, wisdom isn’t something that you can learn in a book, although books can help. Most often, wisdom is the hard lesson that we learn after we make poor decisions, or when we remember the poor decisions that we have witnessed in others.

I have often remembered the scene in our office on Friday the 13, 1989 when there was a significant crash in the stock market. One of our managers, Chuck, who was only a few years older than me, and in is late 20’s or barely into his 30’s, was absolutely panicked and continually tried to reach his investment people on the telephone, but because this was national news, the phone lines were, of course, constantly busy. But while this 30-year-old was freaking out, another of our department members, Charlie, who was at the time only months from retirement, sat at his desk by the window, continued working, and appeared to be completely unconcerned. And this was even though he had, that afternoon, lost more of his invested retirement funds than Chuck had invested or earned in an entire year. But Charlie knew what Chuck did not. Markets are cyclical. They go up, they go down. And Charlie had seen enough stock market crashes and recessions over his 30- or 40-year career, that they no longer excited him. He had learned a little wisdom.

And the lessons of wisdom are what we will search for today in our scripture lessons. We begin today with the end of King David, the beginning of the reign of his son Solomon, the wisdom that Solomon had, the wisdom that God added to his life, and the wisdom that all of us can learn from him. And for that, we begin this morning by reading 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 where we hear this:

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

³Solomon 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.

⁴The 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. ⁵At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

⁶Solomon 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. ⁸Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹So 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?”

¹⁰The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹So 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, ¹²I 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. ¹³Moreover, 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. ¹⁴And 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.”

The phrase “rested with his ancestors,” is an often-used biblical euphemism that meant that David’s bones had been buried in a common crypt or pit with the members of his family that had died before him. In any case, David had died, and Solomon became Israel’s next king. At this point, Solomon was not a child. If David had ruled for thirty-three years in Jerusalem, Solomon could not have been more than a few years younger than that. We know that David first saw Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, from the roof of his palace, and that David had built the palace after he had conquered Jerusalem, it would seem that Solomon’s age could be estimated by starting with David’s thirty-three years of rule and subtracting the time that it took to build a palace. Based on that, estimates vary from twenty-eight down to twelve, but my guess is that it’s toward the high end of that range somewhere in Solomon’s twenties.

But regardless of his age, Solomon had already distinguished himself by his love of God and his obedience to both God and his father David. The exception, according to the history written by the priests in Jerusalem, was that Solomon offered sacrifices in the “high places,” which were centers of worship and sacrifice for Israel’s God that were outside of Jerusalem (and not under the control of Jerusalem’s priests), often these high places were so far from Jerusalem that it was difficult or inconvenient to travel there regularly. But upon David’s death, Solomon offers a thousand sacrifices to God, and after doing so, God appears to Solomon that night as he slept and told him to ask for whatever he wanted.

And this is where we begin to see Solomon’s wisdom even before God gives him any additional gifts. First, Solomon has already demonstrated his faithfulness, and he recognized that his father had become king only because of God’s kindness. But next, Solomon also recognizes that God’s people are “too numerous to count or number” and by saying so, recognizes, not that it was impossible to count them, but that God had prohibited them to be counted, and that David had sinned against God by taking a census to do so. Thus, Solomon demonstrates his wisdom by learning from one of his father’s biggest mistakes. And finally, as we all know, Solomon shows wisdom by recognizing that he doesn’t know everything and would need wisdom to be a good leader, and so, he asks God, not for wealth or long life, but for wisdom.

The next lesson in wisdom for today is found in John 6:51-58 where we hear Jesus say:

⁵¹I 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.”

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

⁵³Jesus 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. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just 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. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

When the doubters of Jesus asked how he could give them flesh to eat, Jesus simply said that whoever did would have eternal life and that he would raise them up on the last day. His explanation was that those who ate his flesh and drank his blood were the people who remained faithful to him. It is in that explanation that we find another of today’s pieces of wisdom. But if you didn’t quite get that one, there will be a summary at the end.

Our last lesson in wisdom comes from the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:15-20, where he says:

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

Paul’s warning is that the church in Ephesus, and ours today, was, and is, surrounded by influences that intend to distract us from our faith and lead us away from God. His example is that while getting drunk is easy, and not necessarily a sinful action by itself, getting drunk often leads to debauchery or other sins because it lowers our inhibitions, reduces our self-control, and causes us to make poor choices. His advice then is not just to avoid sin, but to avoid the things that lead to sin.

Taken together we heard at least six lessons in wisdom today.

First, it is wise to live a life that is faithful and obedient.

Second, there is wisdom in remembering what God has done and to be grateful for what God has done for us.

Third, it is wise to learn from the mistakes of others, as Solomon learned from the mistakes of his father David.

Fourth, learning, and practicing, discernment leads us to make good choices.

Fifth, if we want to be the people that eat Jesus’ flesh, drink Jesus’ blood, and receive eternal life, then we must live a life of faith that shares in the ministry and the suffering of Jesus every day. Jesus said that the one who feeds on him will live, and if we are to feed on him, we must be faithful in consuming his word and doing his work.

And finally, because we live in a world, and in a culture, that surrounds us with influences that distract us from our faith, we must avoid the things that lead to sin rather than simply trying to avoid sin. If drinking leads us to sin, stop drinking, if certain friends lead us to do things that we should not do, then we need to start avoid those friends and make new ones, and if going to certain places and doing certain things lead into temptation and sin, we should stop going to those places and doing those things. In short, this sixth lesson says that rather than attempting to avoid evil, we must avoid the offramps that lead to evil.

We aren’t born wise.

Few of us will be given a sudden gift of extra wisdom by God upon our ascension to the throne.

But all of us, with care, persistence, and faithfulness, can learn wisdom and, although few of us are likely to ever be a threat to Solomon, we can, and should, ask for God’s help in doing so.

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Love: You’re Doing it Wrong

August 11, 2024August 18, 2024 PastorPartridge Sermon Absalom, Alliance, Broadway, calamity, Christ, church, compassion, David, disciples, God, Jesus, love, Methodist, Ohio, Partridge, Paul, Street, United, wrong

Love: You’re Doing it Wrong

August 11, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 John 6:35, 41-51 Ephesians 4:25-5:2

What do you do when someone that you love abandons you, turns their back on you, betrays you, usurps your authority, turns your friends against you, spreads lies about you, steals from you, drives you from your home, causes you to flee your city with your remaining loyal friends, and tries to kill you? And what do you do when the person that did that is your beloved son? That was the story of King David. Absalom wanted to be Israel’s next king and he was angry that David did not consider him above his brothers. But Absalom had been patient and had spent years at the gates of the city, spreading lies about David, undermining David’s authority, and in every way possible convincing David’s military leaders and the people of Israel that David was unfit to be their king and that they should rise up, overthrow David, and make Absalom king by force. And on the day that he selected, armies of men from all over Israel came to fight by his side and it caused an unprepared David to flee Jerusalem with his family and those troops and leaders who were loyal to him. Absalom takes over Jerusalem, moves into the palace, sets up a tent on the roof, in plain view of everyone, and fulfills Nathan’s warning that we heard last week, by sleeping with the concubines that David had left behind to care for the palace.

Most men would be so insulted, hurt, defensive, bitter, and angry that they would want to end the person that had done that to them.

But not David.

In 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 we read this:

⁵The 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.

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

⁹Now 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.

¹⁵And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.

³¹Then 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.”

³²The 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.”

³³The 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!”

Absalom had done to David everything that one human being can do to hurt another. This is especially true of those things that children can do to hurt a parent and included doing damage to your nation by starting a civil war just to further your own personal selfish ambitions. But, no matter what happened to him, or what was done to him, how he was publicly humiliated, David still gave orders to be gentle with Absalom when he was captured, and was utterly broken when he was told that Absalom had been killed. Whether you think that David was foolish, or weak, or unwise, or naïve in his attempt to save the son who had done so much to hurt him, it stands out in the history of human beings as an example of the soft-hearted and irrepressible love that a parent has for their child. As much as David needed Absalom the traitor to stop what he was doing, David never stopped loving Absalom, his son, and never stopped wanting him to be safe.

And then we hear the other side of the story that we read last week. Last Sunday we heard Jesus say, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” But this week we hear what the people thought when they heard him, as well as how they responded to Jesus’ message. In John 6:35, 41-51, we hear this:

³⁵Then 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.

⁴¹At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²They 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. ⁴⁵It 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. ⁴⁶No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ⁵⁰But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. ⁵¹I 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 declares that he will do even greater miracles than Moses, or specifically, that God will do greater miracles through him than God did through Moses, and the reaction of the people in Capernaum that knew him and knew his family, was complete disbelief. I have seen something like this in some of the rural towns in which we have lived. The assumption is that no one that I know can really do any better than what I have seen. We have known highly intelligent, and highly capable young people who, although they were capable of doing more, had no higher aspiration than to work in the coal mines, or in construction, or assisting a veterinarian, like everyone that they knew, despite being capable of attending college and becoming an architect, an engineer, or a veterinarian themselves. In that same way, it was impossible for the people in Jesus’ village to believe that anyone that they knew could do any better than they had done.

But that doesn’t stop Jesus from loving them and he preaches to them that everyone who believes will have eternal life, and that he will give his body over to death in exchange for the life of the world. Much like David, even though the people that Jesus had known from childhood had turned their backs on him, he never stopped loving them.

The negative example of how not to love are obvious. The example of Absalom teaches that we shouldn’t betray the people we love just to further our selfish ambitions. We may not be princes, but neither should we wish that our parents would die so that we can receive our inheritance sooner, or fear that they might spend their money before we inherit it. The example of the people of Capernaum is a little more difficult but may hit closer to home for some of us. That example teaches that we should not doubt or discredit the aspirations or accomplishments of the people around us, just because they are doing better than we are. It might be envy, but it might also be like the people I described earlier, that were so accustomed to the world that they knew, that they simply couldn’t imagine anyone that they knew doing any better than they did, nor could they aspire to anything more than what they knew. Rather than despise or discredit our friends who try to do better, true love teaches us to be sources of encouragement. Rather than grumble and heckle them for doing better than we did, we should be their cheerleaders and rejoice with them in their accomplishments.

But Paul has some other advice in regard to how we should love, and we find that in Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2 where he says:

^4:25Therefore 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, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸Anyone 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.

²⁹Do 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. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

^5:1Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ²and 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’s instruction for the people of the church is to stop lying, but the way that he says that, is to “put off falsehood” and, although the difference is subtle, I think that it is important. Paul says, “we are all members of one body,” which is a nice way of saying that, because we claim to belong to the church, we all represent Jesus Christ, and our individual actions reflect on all of us, and Jesus, collectively. And so, rather than just hearing Paul say that we should stop lying, we should also hear that we should stop spreading gossip, rumors, half-truths and, in the twenty-first century, that probably includes internet memes that contain a seed of truth mixed with half-truths, innuendo, and outright fiction.

And, if you doubt my interpretation, or think that maybe I’m reading too much into that, look at what Paul says next. “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.” That not only means that the followers of Jesus should clean up their potty mouths, but also that we must only speak words that affirm, encourage, build up, and benefit the people to whom we are talking and sharing, and yes, that includes our interactions on the internet.

Paul says that we grieve God when we harbor bitterness, rage, and anger, when we fight and spread untruths about others, or express any sort of malice toward others. Instead, be kind, be compassionate, be forgiving because that is what Jesus Christ did for you. Let’s be clear, this isn’t easy. It’s going to be hard to live our lives this way. But when Jesus calls us to love, Paul wants us to know that walking in the way of love means to love others, including our neighbors, the people on the internet, and including the people that we don’t like, people that don’t like us, and the people that don’t treat us nicely.

David loved even when Absalom stole everything from him and tried to kill him.

Jesus loved even when his friends and neighbors doubted him, turned their backs on him, and abandoned him. Even when his nation hated him, and crucified him, he loved them enough to give his life to save them, and all the rest of us.

The message is clear. Genuine love is not transactional. If you only love the people who love you back, or the people who do something for you, that isn’t real love. Walking in the way of love means loving others, including our neighbors, the people on the internet, people that we don’t like, that don’t like us, and that don’t treat us nicely. And it also means speaking only words that affirm, encourage, build up, and benefit the people to whom we are talking and sharing.

And, unfortunately, if that is the definition of love that we’re supposed to use, and it is, a lot of us doing it wrong.

Let us pray that God would empower us to do better.

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Keeping the Goal in Mind

July 28, 2024July 28, 2024 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Broadway, choice, Christ, church, David, disciples, goal, goals, God, Jesus, Methodist, miracle, Nathan, Ohio, Partridge, Paul, prayer, sin, Street, United, Uriah

Keeping the Goal in Mind

July 28, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 11:1-15 John 6:1-21 Ephesians 3:14-21

Although last week we talked about how God sometimes distracts or redirects us so that he can take us to someplace better, this morning we remember that sometimes it is also important for us to keep the goal in mind, put our heads down, and grind it out. Although I am not in that kind of physical condition now, a few years ago, I got into a regular routine of running and eventually ran a half-marathon. During such a long race, there are plenty of times when you are out of breath, or your feet hurt, or you start to get cramps, or some other part of your body tries to convince you that quitting would be a good idea, or even that just walking for a while would be helpful. Much of that is why you train, after a while, after putting lots of miles behind you, you are familiar with most of those feelings, and you learn how to deal with them or simply to overcome them. And so, during the race, the important thing is to keep the goal in mind, even if you redraw the boundaries so that your new goal is just making it to the next telephone pole, and then the one after that, and the one after that.

Likewise, there are times when we are raising children, that we are ready to give them back, or to give them away to strangers. My own mother told of times when church people would say that I was just so cute, and they could take me home with them. Mom’s reply was that they could, and they would laugh at her joke, but Mom confessed that there were times when she was absolutely not joking. But as hard as it can be, in those moments of desperation, to think a decade or two into the future, those are the times when we need to keep the goal in mind. The goal of childrearing isn’t just to survive the day, although sometimes that is all that we can manage, the goal is to raise decent, kind, caring, and thoughtful human beings who have a solid relationship with Jesus.

And, as we read the scriptures for today, we discover that, in each case, keeping the goal in mind makes a difference in the choices that are made, as well as the direction of the story, and of the lives of those in it. We begin this morning once again with the story of King David, this time when David did not keep the goal in mind, and one bad decision leads to another, and then another, and so on, and so on down a road that he should never had travelled at all, as we read from 2 Samuel 11:1-15.

^11:1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

²One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, ³and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. ⁵The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

⁶So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. ⁷When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. ⁸Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So, Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. ⁹But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

¹⁰David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So, he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

¹²Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So, Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

¹⁴In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”

David’s first mistake was the one that led to all the rest, and we find it in the first sentence. “In the spring… when kings go off to war…” Joab and all of Israel’s armies, conscripts, and mercenaries, go off to war with the Ammonites. They defeat the armies of Ammon in the fields and now besiege the walled city of Rabbah, which is, today, known as Amman Jordan. But in the days when kings go off to war, David, the king, does not go off to war, but instead loses sight of the goal, does the thing that is contrary to every other story that we have read about David since he fought against Goliath as a teen, stays home and lets others fight his battles for him. Having done that, David is now in a place where he should never have been in the first place, and his mistakes, and his sins, begin to pile up upon one another. David looks when he should have looked away, asked when he should have remained silent, sent messengers when he should have been conducting business, slept with another man’s wife when he already had more women than anyone needs, and then conspires to cover it all up and make it go away. In each case, David lost sight of the goal and it led him to seek the destruction of one of the most honorable men that we meet in all of scripture.

And then in John 6:1-21, we read two stories, each of which tells a story about goals.

^6:1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), ²and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. ³Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. ⁴The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

⁵When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

⁷Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

⁸Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ⁹“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

¹⁰Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). ¹¹Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

¹²When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” ¹³So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” ¹⁵Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. ¹⁸A strong wind was blowing, and the waters grew rough. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. ²⁰But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” ²¹Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

First, we find the disciples trying to work out how to feed the crowds of people who had come to hear Jesus. Philip is gobsmacked by the impossibility of feeding them all. In Matthew’s version of this story the disciples suggest sending everyone home before it gets too late so that the people in the crowd can eat at home or find someone to sell them something to eat. But Andrew, even though he doesn’t fully understand, keeps the goal in mind. Andrew knows that the goal is to minister to the crowd and to care for their needs and so, even though he isn’t sure how it can help, he is hopeful, insightful, and faithful, and offers Jesus the sack lunch that the mother of one small boy had sent along with him. And because of Andrew’s insight, Jesus feeds more than five thousand people. It is worth noting here that although I have heard folks try to explain this away, that this wasn’t really all that miraculous, and that what really happened was that the boy’s generosity inspired others in the crowd to share the food that they had brought, that is not what the story says. John clearly says that in the end, they gathered twelve baskets that were filled “with the pieces of the five barley loaves” that were left over.

Next, after Jesus withdraws to a mountain, by himself, to rest, the disciples lose sight of the goal. We would expect that the goal, in this case, is for Jesus to minister to the people and for the disciples to minister to, or to at least follow, Jesus. But at some point, the disciples seem to decide that home and a comfortable bed are not that far away, they leave Jesus, and head back to Capernaum without him. On the way, they encounter a strong wind blowing against them, and so they cannot sail, and they are forced to row against what John says was not just a breeze, but a strong wind. Rowing three or four miles against a strong wind had to be an ordeal. But then they see Jesus walking on the water, take him into the boat once they stop being terrified that he might be a ghost, the wind stops, and they miraculously reach the shores of home.

And finally, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul reminds us of the goal we should all keep in mind. Reading from Ephesians 3:14-21, we hear this:

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every familyin heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Paul says that he prays so that Christ would live in the hearts of the people through faith. He prays so that they would be rooted and established with love and so that we would have the power to understand how amazing the love of Jesus is, and Paul’s hope is that the people of the church would be filled with the same measure of love.

David and the disciples of Jesus are reminders of what can go wrong when we fail to keep our goals in mind. The real goal of following Jesus is to be filled with the love of Jesus and to love others the way that Jesus did.

All the rest, as important as it might be, are details.

The real goal of following Jesus is to be filled with the love of Jesus and to love others the way that Jesus did.

Let us pray that might keep that goal in mind.

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Not This. That.

July 21, 2024 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, answer, Broadway, change, choice, Christ, church, David, direction, disciples, God, guidance, Jesus, Methodist, Natasha, Nathan, no, Ohio, Partridge, prayer, redirect, redirection, rest, Street, United

Not This. That.

July 21, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 7:1-14a Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 Ephesians 2:11-22

When we first got our German Shepherd, Natasha, as a puppy from our son Noah, we knew that she was going to be a large dog and that, with her level of energy, we would need to be diligent, and start early, to train her. One of the reasons that we loved her, even before Noah decided that she was too much to handle at that stage in her, and his, life, was that she always had a sweet temperament. But even nice dogs can get into trouble if they don’t learn good manners. And so, we took Natasha to a local dog trainer for weekly lessons, and then lots and lots of daily walks, practicing, and learning new skills. But one of the important training tools that we used, and still use, is the same as one that we use on children, and on adults, and that is redirection.

With dogs, we redirect them from a negative behavior, say barking at the neighbor, to a positive behavior such as repeating a skill that they already know and then reinforcing or rewarding the positive behavior. It really isn’t that hard. As an example, Natasha has mostly gotten used to having neighbors but some of our neighbors got new dogs this year, or they dog sit for their children. And so, when Natasha gets too interested or distracted by dogs in the neighbor’s yard, I first tell her to “leave it” which she knows, and if she does not comply, I say “house” which calls her back inside. Natasha’s compliance with “leave it” is pretty good, and “house” is very good, though not yet bulletproof. With children, you might just distract them by saying “look over there” or inviting them into another room. Good adult mentors do the same thing, but they do it at a different level. A good mentor will look at what you are doing, praise you for your efforts and progress, and then suggest that “you might consider” or “you might have better results if” you tried another approach.

All these examples, whether it is about dogs, children, or adults, communicate the idea of “Not this. That.” And that message, in various forms, is what we find in all our scriptures for today. “Not This. That.” We begin by returning once again to the story of King David, this time after David has secured Israel’s borders and conquered or otherwise pacified its enemies. In 2 Samuel 7:1-14a, we hear this:

^7:1 After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, ²he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”

³Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying:

⁵“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? ⁶I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. ⁷Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’

⁸“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. ⁹I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. ¹⁰And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning ¹¹and have done ever since the time I appointed leadersover my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.

“‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: ¹²When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands.

What we find here is that, at first, Nathan, the prophet of God, tells David that God is pleased with him, and that he could surely go ahead with whatever plans that he might have in mind. But that night God comes to Nathan and redirects both Nathan and David. God says that yes, he is indeed pleased with David, but rather than building a house for the ark and for God, his priority should be to make Israel a place where his people can feel safe, protected, and at home. For generations, Israel has suffered from internal division and external hostility and violence. David’s mission, God says, is to keep the peace, and build a home. David’s son, however, a son who is not yet born, will be the one that will God call upon to build his house.

Not this. That.

And we see something similar, though not nearly so well-orchestrated or planned, in the story of Mark 6:30-34, 53-56, as crowds of people follow Jesus with such desperation that it becomes impossible for Jesus and his disciples to take a break and get away from them even for a short rest.

³⁰The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. ³¹Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

³²So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. ³³But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So, he began teaching them many things.

⁵³When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶And wherever he went—into villages, towns, or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Jesus and the disciples were so busy with the activities of ministry that they didn’t even have a chance to eat, and so, by the end of the day they are feeling the need to take a break. And so, they set out, without the crowds, in a boat, to find a place where they can be alone. But, as I have mentioned before, the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberius or the Lake of Gennesaret, is not that big. As a result, the people from the crowds guessed where they might be going, and got there, on foot, ahead of them. And, as Jesus looks at the people in the crowd, what he sees is not a mob, and not a mass of screaming fans with Beatlemania or adoring Swifties, but Jesus sees them as sheep without a shepherd. People who want, and need guidance and direction, but who can’t afford to take the time off to go to Jerusalem and who might have lived too far away, or have too little time, to gather at a synagogue or seek out other religious instruction. And so, Jesus, filled with compassion, understands God’s leading and, despite his hunger and fatigue, he stays and teaches them.

Not this. That.

And finally, in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he explains how Jesus Christ is bridging the gap, and bringing together two groups who have been, throughout history, separate, divided, and sometimes hostile and violent to one another. Reading from Ephesians 2:11-22, we hear this:

¹¹Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— ¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Paul says that anyone who was born in any family, anywhere, that was not Jewish, was born a Gentile and was called “uncircumcised” by the Jews who referred to themselves as “the circumcision.” Before these Gentiles met Jesus, they were outsiders who were excluded from citizenship in Israel because they were foreigners and strangers to the promise and the covenants that God had made with Moses and Abraham. As a result, the Gentiles were disconnected from God and without hope. But now, with the coming of Jesus, the door has been opened to the Gentiles to come near to God.

Paul says that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, has destroyed the barriers and walls of exclusion, set aside the law and the rules through the suffering of his own flesh so that the Jews and the Gentiles could be reconciled with one another, and a new humanity created by joining the two together, and thus ending their hostility and bringing peace just as David had done with the tribes of Israel and their neighbors. Paul says that through Jesus Christ, both Jew and Gentile have access to God through the Holy Spirit and, as a result, we, the Gentiles, are no longer excluded. We are no longer foreigners and strangers, but are now fellow citizens and members, together, of one single household. Likewise, together, we are becoming a single building in which God lives. We were once excluded from God’s people but are now joined together. We were once foreigners and strangers but have now become members of God’s family who live together in one household.

Not this. That.

Like a dog trainer, parent, or mentor, like a shepherd of lost sheep, God distracts us, nudges us, and redirects us in the directions that he wants us to go. David wanted to build God’s temple, but God said, “Not this. That.” Jesus and the disciples desperately needed to take a break and rest, but God knew that there were sheep without a shepherd that needed their compassion and said, “Not this. That.” Jews and Gentiles once were at odds with one another and the Gentiles were excluded, foreigners to the covenants of promise, and were without hope. But God said, “Not this. That.” And sent his son Jesus to bridge the gap and bring reconciliation to all those who would seek him and follow him so that we can become members of God’s family and live together in one household.

We get frustrated and angry when we don’t get our way and that included the times when God says “No” to us and doesn’t seem to be listening to our prayers. But when that happens, remember that as it is when training dogs, or raising children, or mentoring younger or less experienced employees, God often redirects his sheep so that he can shape us into becoming the kind of people he needs us to be.

And so, the next time you think that God isn’t answering your prayers, or you think that God’s answer to those prayers was “No,” pay close attention and listen carefully, because God might just be pointing you toward something better.

What God just might be telling you is…

“Not this. That.”

________________________________________________

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

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God’s Choice

July 14, 2024 PastorPartridge Sermon adoption, Alliance, Antipas, Broadway, choice, choices, Christ, church, David, God, heart, Herod, Jesus, Methodist, Ohio, Partridge, Paul, Philip, reveal, Saul, Street, United

God’s Choice

July 14, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 Mark 6:14-29 Ephesians 1:3-14

What choices have you made so far today? It seems obvious to say that everyone here chose to wake up, get out of bed, get dressed, and come to church. Most of us also chose to take a shower, brush our teeth, and otherwise make ourselves presentable. But those are the easy choices. We like to eat and have the money to pay for things, so we choose to go to work. But occasionally, at work, at home, and elsewhere, we must make harder choices. Do we go along with the crowd, do we follow our friends, even when what they are doing is not honoring to God? Do we stand up against our own political party, or our own church denomination, or our alumni association, or the club to which we’ve belonged for many years, when those groups choose a path that runs against the instructions of scripture? Or do we sometimes elevate our need to belong, or our allegiance to some organization, above our obedience to God and, in doing so, make it into an idol?

Our scriptures for today are dramatically different from one another and have little in common except that, in each one, the people in the story had to make choices, and the choices that they made defined them and revealed who they were at heart. We begin by returning once again to the story of David contained in 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 in which, with Israel now unified and at peace, David and his army retrieve the Ark of the Covenant and bring it to Jerusalem.

^6:1 David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. ²He and all his men went to Baalahin Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. ³They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart ⁴with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. ⁵David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums [an Egyptian shaker/rattle instrument] and cymbals.

So, David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. ¹³When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. ¹⁴Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, ¹⁵while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

¹⁶As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. ¹⁹Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.

David had been anointed as king and had unified all twelve tribes of Israel. Together they had conquered the Jebusites and declared Jerusalem as the capitol of their unified nation. David had choices. He could do anything that he wanted to do, but among the first things that he does is to take his entire army, travel to Baalah in Judah, take possession of the Ark of the Covenant, and bring it, with much celebration, to their new home. But watching from a window was David’s wife, Michal, who was the daughter of King Saul. As she watched David singing, and dancing before God in celebration, she did not approve. To her, it was undignified for the king to sing and dance and act with joyful abandon in public. But David had made a choice. David could have built a palace, or set out to conquer his neighbors, or undertake projects that would make Israel, and him, richer. But David wanted to honor God first and chose obedience and faithfulness instead of wealth, power, prestige, or even dignity. David chose joy and thankfulness over appearances, respectability, and decorum. And it was those choices, among many others, that defined who David was, and revealed his heart to God and to the world.

In an entirely different story, of an entirely different sort of king, we read the story of king Herod Antipas and the death of John the Baptist in Mark 6:14-29. And in this story, like David, Herod makes some choices that defined him, and revealed his heart.

¹⁴King Herod [Antipas who ruled over Galilee and Perea, the areas east of the Jordan River] heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

¹⁵Others said, “He is Elijah.”

And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”

¹⁶But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

¹⁷For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. ¹⁸For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” [Herod Philip who ruled over Ceasarea Phillip and the area north and west of Galilee] ¹⁹So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, ²⁰because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

²¹Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²²When the daughter ofHerodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

²⁴She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

²⁵At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

²⁶The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. ²⁹On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Although Herod was distressed by the choice that he was forced to make because of the unwise oath that he had taken in front of his guests, rather than choosing what was right, he chose violence. Rather than choosing repentance and righteousness, Herod chose his reputation. For Herod, it was more important to look good than to be good.

And now we come to Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus and the words of Ephesians 1:3-14, where Paul reminds us of what God chose. God’s choices were, and are, limitless. God is the creator of at least one universe and all that we know. God could do anything, but Paul reminds us that the choice God makes is utterly astounding and, as it did in the case of David and Herod, God’s choice reveals his heart. Paul says:

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵hepredestined us for adoption to sonshipthrough Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹hemade known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

¹¹In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹²in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

As I said a moment ago, God’s choices were, and are, limitless, and Paul’s point is that with infinite power at his fingertips, God chose… us. Paul says that before the creation of the world, God intended for us to be holy and blameless and planned to adopt us into sonship. And it is worth a moment of explanation that the phrase that Paul uses, “adoption to sonship” isn’t just flowery or emotional language, it is a Greek legal term that describes a legal and binding adoption. God, through Jesus Christ, legally adopts us as his children, with all the rights of inheritance that implies, forgives our sins, and pours out his grace on us. Paul says that we were chosen to be a part of God’s plan to bring about the will of God. And, when we chose to believe, we were marked with the Holy Spirit as a deposit and downpayment of our future inheritance as God’s children.

When David became king, his choices revealed his heart and his character and, instead of choosing to pursue wealth, power, notoriety, or ego stroking building projects, David chose to make his first act an act of faithfulness, obedience, and joy.

In contrast, when asked for the head of John the Baptist, Herod Antipas chose violence and reputation over repentance and righteousness.

But God, the king of the universe, with infinite power to do whatever comes to his mind…

… chooses us. And not only does God choose us, but he also plans, in advance, even before creation, to make us holy and blameless through the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ, and to legally adopt us as his heirs, as sons and daughters of the king. And just to be sure that that we know that he loves us, and see his intentions for us, God marks us with a seal, and leaves us with a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance, by sending the Holy Spirit to live with us, and in us.

David chose obedience.

Herod chose his reputation.

God… (pause) …chose us.

Like David, and like Herod, God’s choice reveals his heart and his character and leaves us with a choice.

Will we choose God, and follow him?

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The (Un)Importance of Literacy in the Gospels

July 10, 2024 PastorPartridge Blogs Christ, disiples, education, Gospel, illiteracy, Jesus, Jesus Christ, literacy

The (Un)Importance of Literacy in the Gospels

July 10, 2024

by John Partridge

When we read the Bible, or when we teach, preach, or listen to the Sunday sermon in church we use our imagination to picture, in our mind, the one of the biggest mistakes that we make is to imagine that the people of the New Testament were just like us. Oh, we know that they didn’t have modern conveniences like telephones, electricity, and air conditioning, but in our mind’s eye we see the characters of the bible as having the same values, education, and attitudes that we do… and almost every time we do that, we’re wrong.

Often, our being wrong in this way is not a problem. I have often said on Sunday mornings that as much as times have changed, people are still people and so it’s easy for us to imagine the feelings and emotions that the people in our scripture lessons felt. When we read stories of families who suffered from infertility, in a culture where fertility was seen as God’s approval and blessing, we can feel their frustration and pain. When we read about the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus, it isn’t hard for us to feel the grief and loss of his sisters Mary and Martha. And it doesn’t matter much if we make a few incorrect assumptions about their values and education.

But sometimes it does.

As I studied the history of first century Israel and Judea this week, I was struck by the literacy rates that historians now attribute to the people of that time and place. But before I get to that, consider that, in the United States, the average rate of literacy is 79 percent. The highest rate of literacy is in the state of New Hampshire at 94.2 percent and the lowest rate is in the state of California which has a literacy rate of 76.9 percent. Without getting into a discussion of politics or education, many nations, even many of those that Americans would look upon as less developed, clock in much higher.

But statistics like these assume that literacy requires both reading and writing because, in our modern culture, reading and writing, for both genders, are both assumed to be necessary. But that hasn’t always been the case, and it certainly wasn’t the case at the turn of the first century. When we read the stories of the New Testament, the people that we meet live in a literary world that is nothing at all like the one in our lived experience and that difference can sometimes change the way that we see and understand them.

One of the first places that we see this difference is found in our expectation of what would be seen as Jesus and his disciples visited synagogues in and around Galilee. Because our life experience tells us that (almost) every church has a pastor or priest, every synagogue has a rabbi, and all of them are literate, we have a natural expectation that this is what happened in the world of the gospels also.

But it isn’t.

First, synagogues, as dedicated buildings, were rare. Instead, in the first century, many synagogues were meetings in private homes or in public buildings that served multiple purposes much like “meeting houses” that were seen in small towns in the American West. Second, while there were such things as rabbis, the rabbis of the first century were scholars and theologians who mostly studied in Jerusalem and rarely, if ever, taught anywhere. Likewise, Pharisees didn’t teach, nor did scribes, which I will say more about later. What happened in synagogues was that the Torah was read or recited from memory. And here we encounter our first big break between our expectations and reality as it relates to literacy.

The typical synagogue rule was that any male in the synagogue gathering could stand and read from the Torah and, from our experience, we would expect that this would be most of the men present. But that wasn’t the case at all. And it is here that I need to draw another distinction that we typically do not make in the twenty-first century, and that is the difference between reading literacy and writing literacy. While we see both as vitally important, that was not the case in the first century. The ability to read simple literary texts, reading literacy, was less than 10 to 15 percent and the majority of those who could do that would be found among the aristocracy in cities and larger towns and not in the small rural areas of Galilee. But to refine that idea a little further, since the literacy rate among girls would have been nearly zero, then the apparent literacy among men would have appeared to be higher. In any case, the result was that in a small rural synagogue, the number of men in the gathering who could read well enough to stand and read from the Torah would have been very small.

In most cases, both in Jewish and in Greco-Roman families, education was private and informal, meaning that the father would teach his children (if the father had any education himself), and then usually only his sons as it was seen to be a waste of time to educate girls. Public schools, as we understand them, simply did not exist in the first century and children did not have the leisure time necessary for education. In a subsistence economy, the labor of children, as soon as they were able to do much of anything, was needed to help their families to grow crops, fish, spin cloth, or whatever was needed for their family to survive. Illiteracy was not seen as a bad thing; it was just an ordinary thing. Only those parents who valued education and had the financial wealth to do it, and had the needed leisure time, would have promoted education, and that leaves us with only a handful of moderately wealthy families.

As I noted earlier, even fewer people could write. Perhaps 10 to 15 percent of people could write slowly, but many not at all. And, as we would measure literacy, being truly literate and able to both read and write, reduces the number to only 2 or 3 percent. According to Richard Horsley, “Writing had little importance except for certain functions of the elite.” People simply did not write letters, or keep journals, or take notes in school. If you needed something written, you hired a scribe, or used a slave that knew how to write. Persons who could write were not seen as socially valuable and may even have been looked down upon. Writing was a skill, much like we see modern tradespersons. If you needed it done, you hired someone who could do it. And that helps explain why scribes didn’t teach. While they had the skill to write, most often they were not otherwise particularly learned or educated.

And when we begin to think about the world of Jesus in this way, it changes how we see the people, the events that we see in the synagogues, about how Jesus was able to read from the Torah scroll (or did he?) and how the Gospels themselves came to be written.

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The Unlikely, Improbable, and Impossible

July 7, 2024July 7, 2024 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Broadway, Christ, church, David, disciples, God, impossible, improbable, Jebusites, Jerusalem, Jesus, love, Methodist, Ohio, Partridge, Paul, Saul, Street, United, unlikely, weakness

The Unlikely, Improbable, and Impossible

July 07, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 Mark 6:1-13 2 Corinthians 12:2-10

If you look at today’s sermon title, you will see three words of interest: Unlikely, Improbable, and Impossible. So, what, you might ask, is the difference? And to describe the difference, at least for us to have a starting point, let me give you some examples.

First, although I can, technically, choose to retire, or outright quit, any time that I want to do so, it is unlikely that I will do so anytime in the next couple of years. Although I can, I am not likely to do so unless something significant were to change. Second, since I have been here at Christ Church for six years, and have been in ministry for twenty, and the bishop of the East Ohio Conference has never once set foot in my church on a Sunday morning, it is improbable that our bishop would unexpectedly arrive to worship with us this morning. It is, of course, possible, since our bishop can choose to attend church anywhere that she wants to, but given our experience, it is improbable that it would happen today. And finally, since she lacks the ability to speak in a human language, it is impossible for our German Shepherd, Natasha, to arrive at church and preach today’s sermon. It isn’t just that it is unlikely for Patti to drive, or even walk, Natasha to church on a Sunday morning, or that it is improbable that Natasha would have any interest in preaching, but since she cannot speak English, let alone with any significant vocabulary, we understand that such a thing would be impossible.

Looking at these words from another perspective, Arthur Conan Doyle through his character, Dr. Watson, once asked Sherlock Holmes how he could have reached his conclusion and solved the mystery from the few facts that were in evidence. In answer, Sherlock famously said, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

And so, with the impossible in mind, let us return once again to the story of Israel’s great King David. You will remember that in our scripture lesson last week, we read of the death of King Saul, and the subsequent mourning of David and the entire nation of Israel. But this week, we see something new as both the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Judah, come together to anoint David as their king. This didn’t happen right away. After the death of Saul and Jonathan, the southern tribe of Judah anointed David as their king, but the northern tribes of Israel followed Saul’s surviving son, Ishbaal. What followed was something like a civil war with tensions and violence between the two, but finally Ishbaal was assassinated by two of his own officers, who were later put to death by David for Ishbaal’s murder. But after the death of Ishbaal, we come to 2 Samuel 5:1-10 and hear this:

^5:1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. ²In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”

³When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

⁶The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” ⁷Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.

⁸On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies.” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”

⁹David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terracesinward. ¹⁰And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

And thus, in this short reading, we see David being anointed for the third time, the first when he was a young man about 15 years of age by the prophet Samuel, again by the tribe of Judah after the death of Saul, and now by the other 11 tribes as Israel returns to what is referred to as the United Monarchy when all 12 tribes joined together. That journey, from shepherd boy to king, was seen, even by David’s family, as impossible. And yet, because God was in it, the impossible became reality. Next, was the story of how the united nation of Israel, captured the city of Jerusalem, which was so well constructed, and so well defended, that it was thought to be impossible to capture. And yet, Israel does so.

Still more impossibilities become reality in the account of Jesus and the disciples found in Mark 6:1-13 where we hear this:

^6:1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. ²When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? ³Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

⁴Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” ⁵He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. ⁷Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

⁸These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. ¹⁰Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place, and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

¹²They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³They drove out many demons, and anointed many sick people with oil, and healed them.

First, as Jesus preaches in his hometown, the people are offended that Jesus preaches with wisdom and authority because they cannot imagine that someone that they know could possess such amazing gifts from God. They knew, or at least they believed, that such a thing was impossible. Such things just didn’t happen. But it did.

Second, as Jesus sends his disciples out to preach, teach, and cast out demons in the surrounding villages, he takes particular care that none of them are equipped with anything that could support them in their work. They took a walking stick, but no money, no food, no change of clothing, and not even an empty sack that they might use to save leftovers. The result was that they did what was humanly impossible. They preached without education, they drove out demons, and they healed the sick. In other words, they did things that only God could do and by doing so, demonstrated that God was with them.

And that is exactly the point that Paul makes about his own ministry, as well as ours in 2 Corinthians 12:2-10. Rather than protest, as many of us do, that we can’t do this thing, or that thing because we aren’t properly educated, or haven’t had time to prepare, or that we don’t have enough money, or some other excuse, Paul says that our weaknesses are exactly the point. He says…

²I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. ³And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— ⁴was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. ⁵I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. ⁶Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, ⁷or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul says that all sorts of unlikely, improbable, and impossible things happened to him and the only explanation that he can offer is, much like Sherlock Holmes, having eliminated the impossible, the only reasonable conclusion that is left is the truth that God must have done it.

For the youngest son, of an unimportant man, from an unimportant tribe, to become the king, was impossible but David did it.

For anyone to capture Jerusalem, was physically, militarily, tactically, geographically, and topographically impossible but Israel did it.

For the son of a carpenter, without the benefit of higher education, to preach, teach, heal, and cast out demons was impossible, but Jesus did it.

For uneducated fishermen and the other followers of Jesus to go into the countryside without food, or clothing, or any assistance at all, and to preach, teach, cast out demons, and heal the sick was impossible, but the disciples did it.

For Paul to accomplish what he did, in the face of insults, hardships, persecutions, arrests, beatings, and imprisonment was impossible, but he did it.

Too often we focus on what we think we need to do the job, but our God delights in our weakness because it is in our shortcomings where the world sees God pulling the strings behind the curtain. We don’t need faith when we see the Cleveland Clinic heal people, armed with thousands of doctors, and tens of millions of dollars in laboratories, technicians, tools, machines, and other medical whiz-bangery. But watch an ordinary lay person, lay hands on a sick person, pray, and bring about their healing, and we stand amazed because we know that we have witnessed the hand of God.

We are all called by God to do his work and, regardless of who we are, or how unprepared we might feel, we must act and do what God is calling us to do. Because, at the end of the day, we see God most clearly when, with his help, we accomplish the unlikely, the improbable, and the impossible.

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Testing Love

June 30, 2024August 1, 2024 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Broadway, Christ, church, Corinth, Corinthians, David, faith, fake, God, Goliath, Gospel, Jairus, Jesus, Jonathan, love, Methodist, Ohio, Partridge, real, Saul, Street, test, United

Testing Love

June 30, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 Mark 5:21-43 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

We hear the words “I love you” often. We hear them from our loved ones, we hear them on television and in the movies, and we hear the word “love” thrown around by churches, ministry groups, rescue groups, and even government officials in an almost constant stream.

But what if love came with a test?

What would it look like if there was a test to determine if love was real? Is there a way for us to tell if the people who throw around the word “love” really do love, or if they are only using the word to manipulate and to appear to be something more than they really are?

And, although on the surface it may appear that our scriptures for today are not connected, as we dig a little deeper what we find is that they all reveal the truth about the love of the people in them. We begin once again with the story of David. In this passage from 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27, David learns that King Saul, and his son Jonathan, David’s best, and closest, friend, have died in battle. This is the moment that David knows that Saul will no longer hunt for him, or send his entire army to hunt for him, so that he could be captured and put to death, the moment that David learns that he is no longer a fugitive. This is the moment that David realizes that his anointing as the king of Israel by the prophet Samuel might finally become a reality. But as these realities come into his mind, this is how David reacts:

^1:1 After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.

¹⁷David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):

¹⁹“A gazellelies slain on your heights, Israel.
How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰“Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.

²¹“Mountains of Gilboa,
    may you have neither dew nor rain,
    may no showers fall on your terraced fields.
For there the shield of the mighty was despised,
    the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.

²²“From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.
²³Saul and Jonathan—
in life they were loved and admired, and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

²⁴“Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.

²⁵“How the mighty have fallen in battle!
    Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
²⁶I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother;
    you were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful,
    more wonderful than that of women.

²⁷“How the mighty have fallen!
The weapons of war have perished!”

Rather than rejoice over the end of being hunted or looking forward to finally having a chance at becoming king, rather than cursing the man who expended so much effort in trying to destroy him… David mourns. David weeps over the loss of his best friend but also over the loss of Israel’s greatest warrior and admired king. Despite Saul’s madness and his persecution of David, David never stopped loving him as his friend and mentor or stopped admiring him and respecting him as Israel’s king.

This is the moment that tests David’s sincerity, and we see that David didn’t just use the word “love” because it was politically expedient or momentarily popular, David’s tears and songs of mourning reveal that his love for both Saul and Jonathan was real.

Curiously, there are two stories, which we have heard and read many times, from the Gospel of Mark, which illustrate this same sort of test for the sincerity of love, trust, and faith and we read these stories this morning from Mark 5:21-43, where it says:

²¹When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. ²²Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” ²⁴So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. ²⁵And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. ²⁷When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

³⁰At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

³²But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came, and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

³⁵While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

³⁷He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. ³⁸When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. ³⁹He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” ⁴⁰But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴²Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. ⁴³He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

First, Jesus meets Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, or archisynagōgon, who was a powerful and influential man. Far from our thinking that he was the local church lay leader, because there was no such thing as the separation of church, state, or culture, the archisynagogon was the church lay leader, mayor, city administrator, community organizer, and cultural ambassador all rolled up in one person, at least as far as their Roman overlords allowed. But when his daughter was dying, Jairus didn’t go to a rabbi, or to the temple authorities, or to some Roman government official, he came to see Jesus. And when people told him that it was too late, and that his daughter was already dead, Jesus encouraged him to “just believe,” and, despite the laughter of his family and friends who understood that death was permanent and that resurrection was impossible, his love for his daughter allowed him to trust Jesus anyway.

Likewise, after searching for twelve years and seeing every doctor, shaman, healer, and charlatan that she could find, and after spending every penny that she ever had, this poor suffering woman, rather than giving up, thought that she would try one more time. Despite being classified as unclean and being prohibited from coming in contact with “normal” people, she sneaks in from behind everyone, and reaches through the crowd just so that she can touch the fringe on Jesus’ outer garment. When she was tested, there was nothing fake about this poor woman’s suffering nor was there anything fake about her faith.

And I want you to keep those stories in your mind as we read Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 because Paul understands that sometimes people, and churches, sometimes give lip-service to love. We say that we love Jesus, but we don’t act like it, and we say that we love the people around us, because we know that we’re supposed to, but when push comes to shove, we don’t act very much like we love them. Paul says…

⁷But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love, we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

⁸I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

¹⁰And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. ¹¹Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. ¹²For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.

¹³Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. ¹⁴At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, ¹⁵as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

Paul says that the people in the churches of Corinth are fantastic. They have strong faith, vast knowledge, they are earnest in the things that they do and in the love that they began when they first heard the stories of the gospel.

But Paul wants to test the sincerity of their love.

Paul wants to make sure that they aren’t just giving lip-service to love without really acting like they love. Paul wants to test their love by comparing their earnestness, their passion, against the earnestness and passion of others. He points out that when there was a need, the church in Corinth was the first to step up and give to meet the need, but now Paul asks if their love will compel them to finish what they started. The test, Paul says, isn’t that they should give until they themselves are in need, but that they should give from their abundance until those in need become their equals.

That is quite a test… and it asks a lot of us.

The test of love isn’t just to feed the hungry, but to give from our abundance, not just to feed the poor for a day, but to help the poor, and lift them up, until the poor become our equals. That isn’t a once and done kind of a thing. Like Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, you should be loving enough that your eager willingness to do a project may be matched by your completion of it.

Starting a project to help others is a good thing.

But finishing that project is the real test of love.

That’s asking a lot.

But real love isn’t cheap, and we might wonder…

…will our love pass the test?

Photo by Comstock on Freeimages.com

David’s Faith… in David

June 25, 2024 PastorPartridge Blogs Alliance, Andre the Giant, Broadway, Christ, church, David, faith, God, Goliath, Gospel, Jesus, limits, Methodist, Ohio, Partridge, preparation, prepare, Street, United

David’s Faith in… David

June 25, 2024

by Pastor John Partridge

This past week at our church Annual Conference meeting, our Bishop, Tracy Smith Malone, preached a message in which she shared the story of David and Goliath, and framed David’s self-confidence as being a matter of David’s faith in God.

And that’s true.

But it’s more than that.

We can all agree that the story of David and Goliath is clear that while King Saul, and his entire army, were in fear and panic of the size, strength, skill, and power of the Philistine warrior Goliath, David’s faith enabled him to be the only one who had the self-confidence and faith to meet Goliath in single combat, one on one and man-to-man.

But David’s confidence wasn’t entirely faith-based. There was more to it than that and while we usually do a respectable job of preaching the faith part, the other part is just as important. Let me back up and lay some groundwork before I go any farther.

First, it was well-known that a skilled slinger could outrange an archer, strike a moving target at two hundred yards, and were said to be so accurate that they could aim for a specific part of a target’s face. Typical sling stones were 2 to 3 inches in diameter (5-7 cm) and weighed as much as a half-pound (0.25kg). These projectiles would be flung at 100 to 150 miles per hour (160 to 240 kph). Stones of that size, thrown at that speed, could kill by a blow to the head, or by rupturing an organ. Second, we also know that David, spending years in the fields watching his father’s sheep, had ample time, and plenty of rocks, with which to practice his skills with a sling and to become proficient. Third, the stories that we have of David rescuing his sheep by killing a bear and a lion can be offered as evidence of his skill, his fearlessness, and his faith.

And so, you see, David not only had confidence in God, but he also had confidence in… David. He had done the work of preparation. David had practiced during all those lonely years in the wilderness with his father’s sheep. David knew what he could do. He had developed, and honed, his skill with his sling, and he had been battle tested in his encounters with both a lion and a bear.

Yes, David had faith in God. But David had done the work of preparation, and he knew that those two things combined would bring victory against Goliath.

David wasn’t foolish. He didn’t just leap into a fight that he couldn’t hope to win and put all his eggs in the basket of his faith. David did the work of preparation. He developed his skill, and he tested it against deadly opponents. David knew that he had what it took to win, but he also knew that in a fight against a skilled adversary, anything can happen. David did the work of preparation; he did everything that he could to be ready… and the rest he trusted to God.

That was David’s faith… and it’s a model that we would do well to remember.

Faith isn’t jumping off a cliff and hoping that God will save you. Faith is buying a parachute, learning how to use it, and then jumping off a cliff… and trusting that God will use and guide your skill to bring about the desired result.

Faith is important.

But God still expects us to do the work of preparation.

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