The Promise of Hope, Peace, and Love

December 22, 2024 PastorPartridge Sermon Advent, Alliance, baptism, Baptist, Broadway, Christ, church, Elizabeth, faith, God, hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, John the Baptist, love, Luke, Mary, Methodist, offering, Ohio, Partridge, Paul, peace, sacrifice, United, United Methodist

The Promise of Hope, Peace, and Love

December 22, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

Micah 5:2-5 Luke 1:39-45 Hebrews 10:5-10

We have often spoken about the grand themes of scripture and, not surprisingly, each week we have focused on one of those themes during the season of Advent, and this week is no different. While we have already, in the first week, mentioned the theme of hope, we visit that theme again as we consider this week’s theme, and look forward to a season of peace both as a nation and as individuals. But one of the consistent messages of scripture that brings hope to the people of God, is God’s reliable character and integrity, and the love that he has demonstrated to us by keeping his promises.

And so, we begin this morning by reading a part of God’s message that was spoken through his prophet Micah. Micah is yet another lesser-known messenger who warned Israel of its coming destruction at the hands of the nation of Babylon seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus. Micah lived and preached before the time of Jeremiah and at the same time as the prophet Isaiah. Much as we heard in the message of Zephaniah last week, Micah wrote a book with messages of God’s judgement but included among them were messages of restoration, peace, and hope for the future. And that message is what we hear this morning as we read Micah 5:2-5 where God says:

²“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clansof Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.”

³Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.

⁴He will stand and shepherd his flock
    in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
    will reach to the ends of the earth.

⁵And he will be our peace.

Through his prophet Micah, God declares that the small town of Bethlehem will one day produce a son who is already ancient, a ruler whose origins are from ancient times. And although God speaks of how the nation of Israel will be abandoned, he also promises a time when the people will return. And it is in that day, God says, that this future ruler will rise up, lead his people in the strength and the majesty of God himself, and under his leadership the people will live in security and peace.

And that is the picture and the promise of God that we should have in mind as we remember the story of Mary, already pregnant and carrying Jesus, as she arrives to visit her relative Elizabeth who will soon give birth to John the Baptist. We hear this story in the words of Luke 1:39-45:

³⁹At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

I am certain that those who are skeptical of the claims of the Bible will remind us that it is common for third trimester babies to move about in their mother’s womb. Some move about so often, and so forcefully, that their poor mothers are left a bit battered, bruised, and exhausted. But in Luke’s story, Elizabeth’s baby didn’t just move about, he chose the exact moment of Mary’s arrival and greeting to do so. Elizabeth understands that this is a sign from God that Mary is carrying the savior that was promised by God through the words of Micah and many other of his prophets. And clearly Luke accepts this interpretation and so he includes this story as proof that God keeps his promises, that Jesus is the promised savior, and that God has given us hope for the future.

But aside from hope, what did the coming of Jesus bring to the people of God? What did God hope to accomplish? What were God’s goals? And not only that, what does all of that have to do with us, what does God expect from us, and how is any of that supposed to bring us peace? In Hebrews 10:5-10 Paul explains it this way:

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me;
⁶with burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you were not pleased.
⁷Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
    I have come to do your will, my God.’”

⁸First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. ⁹Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

In this, Paul reminds us of Jesus’ own words, that although the laws of Moses required offerings and sacrifices, those were not the things that God desired. Instead, what God wanted was obedience. And so, Jesus said that the reason that he had come was not to make sacrifices on the altar of the temple in Jerusalem, and not to make a lot of money so that he could give offerings to God, but instead the reason that he had come was to do the will of God. Israel’s God was not like the gods of the Greeks and the Romans that needed the gifts and sacrifices of the people to make them powerful.

Instead, Paul explains, that no matter how rich or abundant they might have been, God was not pleased with offerings and sacrifices. Instead, Jesus came to set aside sacrifices so that he could establish a people who would love him enough to be obedient and do the things that God had called them to do. Moreover, Paul says, it is through the will of God, that we have been made holy because it was through the obedience of Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice, that we were made holy, were adopted into Jesus’ family, and invited into God’s kingdom.

And so, as we pass through the season of Advent and prepare ourselves for the arrival of God’s messiah, let us consider just a few of the ways in which God has demonstrated his love for us.

We know that we worship a God who always keeps his promises.
We worship a loving God who always cares about the needs of his people.
God’s messiah is described as a loving shepherd who leads his people in strength and majesty to a place of security, safety, and peace.
God does not desire an abundance of sacrifices or expensive gifts and offerings.
God sent his son so that we could be made holy, become members of his family, and enter his kingdom.
Because what God wants is our obedience, he places no priority of rich over poor, or royalty over common peasants. Before God, we are all equal. He only asks that we do what he has taught us and calls us to do.

For these reasons, and many others, we have hope for the future, hope for a day when all nations can live in peace with one another, and find peace within ourselves in the present. But most of all, we can know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God loves us, cares for us, watches over us, and wants what is best for us.

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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.™

Death’s End

November 3, 2024 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Broadway, Christ, church, death, end, faith, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, John Partridge, Lazarus, Martha, Mary, Methodist, Ohio, resurrection

Death’s End

November 03, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 25:6-9 John 11:32-44 Revelation 21:1-6a

Although our contemporary culture almost exclusively publicizes and promotes Halloween, that celebration of darkness is rooted in the church celebration of All Saints Day on November first. If the light of the saints is celebrated and remembered on November first, then October thirty-first must be the last day for darkness to have one last hurrah. But although they do so in different ways, both days manage to remind us of our frail mortality. We are reminded that, except for Jesus, everyone who has ever been born will eventually die. Death has a one hundred percent success rate. But as we remember and celebrate All Saints Day today, we remember that this will not always be true.

We begin this morning in Isaiah 25:6-9, where we hear a message of hope in the prophecy that one day death will be defeated, not just once, but for everyone and forever.

⁶On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
    a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
    the best of meats and the finest of wines.
⁷On this mountain he will destroy
    the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
⁸    he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
    from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
    from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.

⁹In that day they will say,

“Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

But despite the prophecy of Isaiah, death remained undefeated for eight hundred more years. Nothing seemed to change. The cycle of life and death remained exactly as it was… until Jesus arrives three days late to his friend Lazarus’ house. Had Jesus only arrived earlier, things might have been different. And that is exactly the thought with which Lazarus’ sister Mary greets Jesus upon his arrival in John 11:32-44.

³²When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴“Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

³⁵Jesus wept.

³⁶Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹“Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

⁴⁰Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

⁴¹So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

⁴³When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

And suddenly, at least for a few years, death’s track record was less than one hundred percent. And then, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, it was broken for good. But still, it was broken by just one person and still held power over every other member of humanity. But again, this will not always be the case. Lazarus and Jesus were just a preview of what is to come. A demonstration of what is possible, and evidence that death’s power has been broken. God was clear in his message to Isaiah that death will be overthrown, that the shroud that enfolds all people and the sheet that covers all nations will be destroyed for all time and death swallowed up forever. But despite the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus, and a few others, that hasn’t happened yet. But in Revelation 21:1-6a, through the vision and Revelation of the disciple John, God repeats the promise that we heard in Isaiah. There is a day coming when God’s people will see the end of death.

^21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

⁵He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

⁶He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.

Here, John tells us of his vision in which he saw the end of everything permanent. The end of heaven, the end of earth, and the end of the sea. God descends from above and takes up residence among his people and wipes away every tear from their eyes. No longer will there be pain, suffering, mourning, or crying. No longer will death rear its ugly head. This is the day that we will finally witness death’s end and the beginning of a new forever. This is the day that death will be defeated, not just once, and not just for one person, for all people, and for all time. Everything will be made new, Jesus will give us the water of life, and we will live in Christ, and forever with Christ.

Until then, we will gather, as we have today, to celebrate and remember those who have crossed over from this life into the next. And we will continue to remember, until it is our turn to join them or until Christ’s return brings an end to death forever.

That is God’s promise and our great hope.

Until the return of Jesus Christ, death continues to be inevitable and unavoidable.

But for the people of God and the followers of Jesus Christ…

…death is only a temporary condition.

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(Insert Your Name Here)

December 24, 2023December 24, 2023 PastorPartridge Sermon Advent, Alliance, Animal House, Broadway, Christ, Christmas, church, David, Delta House, fulfill, Gentiles, God, insert, Jesus, Mary, Methodist, mission, Nathan, National Lampoon, Ohio, Partridge, Paul, prepare, promise, rescue, Romans, Rome, Street, United, virgin, your name here

(Insert Your Name Here)

December 24, 2023*

By Pastor John Partridge

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Luke 1:26-38 Romans 16:25-27

There is a scene in the 1978 movie, National Lampoon’s “Animal House,” where the new class of pledges for the Delta House are sworn into the fraternity. In it, they are asked to say “I… state your name… “and every single one of them says the words “state your name” instead of saying their name. And we all laughed because we all assume that everyone knows what to do in such a situation. Whenever we fill out forms for our schools, doctors, insurance companies, the Internal Revenue Service, retirement funds, and all sorts of other things, we encounter a box or a line that asks us for our name. At other times, we have been asked to include our names in a script where we take an oath of office, or are sworn into the military, or, in this case, a fraternity, we just include our own names where we are told to do so.

But as common as it is in our everyday lives, we often miss it when the same thing happens as we read scripture. And that’s a point that I want to make today. As we make our final preparations for Christmas tomorrow morning, it’s important for us to remember that we are included in the story of scripture. We aren’t everywhere, of course, because the story is about characters that are so familiar to us. This morning we will hear about King David, the prophet Nathan, the angel Gabriel, Elizabeth, Mary, the Apostle Paul, and… (insert your name here).

We begin with God’s words found in 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 where we hear God’s promise to King David given through his prophet Nathan:

^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.

¹⁶Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”

David had finally become secure in his leadership of Israel. He has built a palace, united the twelve tribes, settled, and secured the borders with other nations, and at this moment he looks at the tent that houses God’s tabernacle and imagines that it is time to build a permanent dwelling place for the Ark of the Covenant and for Israel’s God. But God isn’t having any of that just yet. God’s words to David are that he is not the one who has been called to build God’s house. Instead, God reminds David of his roots and humble beginnings, how God brought David to this place, how God will place the name of David among the greatest men on the planet, and how God has plans that extend far beyond David’s lifetime. God promises that David’s family, and David’s kingdom will endure forever.

God’s message to David is, “Look how far you have come. Look at how far I have brought you. And I’m not even close to being done yet.”

And that leads us back to the Christmas story in Luke 1:26-38 where God sends the angel Gabriel to visit Mary and announce her pregnancy.

²⁶In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be calledthe Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷For no word from God will ever fail.”

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Mary wonders how this could happen. She knows where babies come from, but she also knows that she and Joseph have not yet slept together. Given that their two families do not live in the same town, the chances are good that she and Joseph rarely, if ever, see one another, and it’s quite possible that she hasn’t seen him at all since the contract was signed pledging them to be married. But as difficult as it is to believe, Mary accepts her role in this unfolding drama saying, “May your word to me be fulfilled.”

It is important to notice that Gabriel also affirms God’s promise to David, and Mary understands that she will be a part of the fulfillment of that promise. God promises that Mary’s son will inherit the throne of King David and become a part of a kingdom that will never end. And so, Mary clings to God’s promise. If God has come this far, over thousands of years, to fulfill his promise to David, Mary’s prayer is that God will do the same for his promise to her, saying, “May your word to me be fulfilled.”

But what does that have to do with us?

Where is the fill in the blank part?

And as we often do, we find the application in Romans 16:25-27, in the very last words of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome where he says…

²⁵Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, ²⁶but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes fromfaith— ²⁷to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

And there it was. Did you hear it, or did you miss it?

Paul says that God has revealed his salvation, through his son Jesus Christ, through the writings of the prophets of Israel… so that… all the nations, or in another translation all the Gentiles, might come to obedience and faith. God says that the entire journey of the people of Israel, through Abraham, David, and to the Christmas story, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, the entire story was commanded by God for the purpose of bringing hope to the world and calling the Gentiles, and all the nations of the world, to faith in Jesus.

That is where you can insert your name.

Paul said, “the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, ²⁶but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that (insert your name here) might come to the obedience that comes fromfaith…”

But the story isn’t over.

The story wasn’t over when God brought David from herding sheep to unite the twelve tribes of Israel, and the story wasn’t over with the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God did all these things so that all nations, and all people, might come to obedience and faith in Jesus Christ.

There is still work to do.

And God is calling each one of you, (insert your name here) to finish the job.

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Few. Many. You.

April 9, 2023June 1, 2023 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Broadway, carriers, Christ, church, death, Easter, friends, God, Heather Locklear, Jesus, John, Mary, Methodist, Ohio, Partridge, Peter, resurrection, rise, running, Street, Sunday, tell, United

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Few. Many. You.

April 09, 2023*

(Easter Sunday)

By Pastor John Partridge

John 20:1-18 Acts 10:34-43 Colossians 3:1-4

In 1984, the Faberge company hired popular actress and model, Heather Locklear to star in a commercial for their new line of Faberge Organics shampoo. In that commercial, Heather Locklear says that she was so impressed by the results of using this new shampoo, that she told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on. And with each repletion of those words, the image of Heather Locklear doubles, and continues to multiply. Many of us remember that commercial.

But whether we remember seeing it or not, it is a good representation of what happens when we learn of new products that excite us, or hear juicy gossip, or any other kind of news that gets us excited. And this is the way that the news of the resurrection happened. There wasn’t a mobile television news crew from channel eight broadcasting live from Jesus’ tomb, nor were there any newspaper reporters or internet bloggers skulking around looking for a scoop that would sell newspapers or make their blog go viral. News, even incredibly exciting news, traveled the old fashioned way, one person told their friends, and they told their friends, and so on, and so on, and so on. And that’s exactly what we see in the story of the resurrection recorded for us by the Apostle John in John 20:1-18.

^20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ²So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

¹¹Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹²and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

¹³They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

¹⁵He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

First, I want to notice that everyone is running. This isn’t the kind of news that is merely interesting and you think to yourself that you’ll need to tell someone the next time you see them. This is earth-shaking, life or death, call 911 and start CPR, kind of news. First, Mary Magdalene finds the empty tomb, then Simon Peter and John run to join her and see for themselves. Then the disciples leave and Mary is left alone, only to be joined buy two angels, and then by Jesus. But, after Jesus leaves, Mary runs to the place where the disciples are staying so that she can tell as many people as possible.

The message of the resurrection began with only one, and then to only a few, but it didn’t end there or none of us would be here this morning. Not too long after the resurrection of Jesus, on the day of Pentecost, Peter and the disciples were still in Jerusalem. But now, instead of hiding, they shared the good news of Jesus’ resurrection with a crowd of many people as we hear in the story of Acts 10:34-43.

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. ³⁶You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

³⁹“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, ⁴⁰but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Rather than sharing the news with two friends, who can share with two more friends, Peter speaks to a crowd of people from every nation to which Jews had migrated. Being one of the required feasts, pilgrims from everywhere had come to Jerusalem and there, Peter and the disciples shared with them the story of Jesus and the news of his crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection. The reason that this story is good news is that it is not limited to one group of friends, to one group of people, or to one nation. Peter preaches that he now knows that “God does not show favoritism” so the people who had come there from Africa, and Asia, and everywhere, are just as known, and just as loved, by God as the people who live in Jerusalem. God’s love, grace, and forgiveness are not limited by ethnicity or geography, but are now available to everyone who believes.

But that wasn’t the end of the story either. Decades later, when Paul wrote his letter to the church that he had founded in the city of Colossae, in what is now the nation of Turkey, he says this in Colossians 3:1-4:

^3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

On Easter morning, Mary Magdalene discovered that she was the only one who knew the truth, but then she told two friends, and those friends told more friends, and eventually announced the good news to many, and soon that news was traveling all over the known world. And here, in the worlds of Paul, we find God’s call to us. “Since you” (that’s us) “have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above. Set your minds on things above and not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden in Christ with God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Like Mary Magdalene on Easter morning, and like the disciples at Pentecost, we are witnesses. We have received, and we are the carriers of the greatest pieces of good news ever shared from one human to another. Like Mary, and the disciples, and legions of people since then, we are still called to share the good news that we have received. Although millennia have passed, this news is so good, far better than the discovery of a new organic shampoo, that we are still called to tell our friends and our neighbors what we have seen, and what we have heard. And, like always, when we tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on, then our good news will find its way… to everyone.

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Religious Extravagance

April 3, 2022April 4, 2022 PastorPartridge Podcast, Sermon accomplishment, Alliance, arrogance, authority, Broadway, Christ, church, extravagance, extravagant, faith, God, gold, gratitude, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leadership, Lent, mansion, Mary, message, Methodist, ministry, mission, Ohio, Partridge, pastor, platinum, power, prestigious, Rolex, Rolls Royce, Street, United, zeal

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Religious Extravagance

April 03, 2022*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 43:16-21 John 12:1-8 Philippians 3:4b-14

What do you think of when I say the word… extravagant?

We buy things that we need, but how nice those things are often depends upon how much money we have available to spend on things that don’t matter. We might need a watch, but we could buy a cheap one at the dollar store that will keep time, or we can buy a decent Timex that will last longer. But when we have a little more disposable income, we might consider buying an Apple watch or a Garmin sport watch that not only keeps time but counts our steps, calories, tracks our heartrate, and a bunch of other things. And there are some people who have enough money that they can wear a year’s salary, or even the value of a house, on their wrist with wildly expensive watches made of gold and platinum. But do you know what those expensive watches say at three o’clock in the afternoon? They say that it’s three o’clock. The difference between a Timex and a Rolex isn’t that the time is different, or that expensive watches somehow give their wearers twenty-five hours in a day instead of the usual twenty-four, the difference is in their level of extravagance.

We could say that a house with four bedrooms is better than a house with one bedroom if you have a larger family. But at some point, as homes grow larger and pass three thousand square feet, four thousand, five thousand square feet, and even larger, at some point we’ve crossed a line from utilitarian and into extravagance.

And so, if I were to ask you what comes to mind when I say the words “religious extravagance,” I wouldn’t blame you a bit if you began to think about the mansions that we’ve seen on television that belong to a variety televangelists and other religious leaders who have capitalized, in one way or another, on their position, power, or notoriety. But is religious extravagance about 25,000 square foot mansions, Rolls Royce automobiles, and private jets?

As we consider that question, let’s begin by remembering what God said through his prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 43:16-21.

16 This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses,
    the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.
20 The wild animals honor me,
    the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21     the people I formed for myself
    that they may proclaim my praise.

As I read that passage, I divided it into four sections that each said something different. The first, asks God’s people to remember what God is capable of doing and all the amazing, awesome, powerful, and even impossible things that God has done. The second, simply says that while we should remember what God has done, we should not live in the past or get stuck there. The third, says that as we keep the first two things in mind, the big news is that God is doing something new. Now, God is doing the impossible. He is making a road through the impassable wilderness and bringing free flowing water to the desert. The fourth thing explains why God does everything that God does. The reason that God does extravagant miracles, achieves the impossible, blesses his people, feeds them, and cares for them, is not just so that they will give thanks, but so that they will tell the world about his greatness.

But in John 12:1-8 we see an entirely different sort of extravagance as the time of Jesus’s crucifixion draws near.

^12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³Then Mary took about a pintof pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

For perspective, let’s consider the value of what Mary did for Jesus. It’s one thing to say that she anointed Jesus with perfume that cost a year’s wages, but it’s another thing entirely to put that into language that is personally meaningful to our wallets. Thinking about a year’s wages in a vague sort of way sounds like it might be a lot, but we feel a punch in the gut when we put that into numbers that we understand. And a number that most of us can understand is the median income. The “median” is the annual income at which half of all wage earners made more, and half made less. And in the United States, the median income in 2021 was $79,900. So, when we say that Mary poured $80,000 on the ground, we feel that it a different way than saying that it was worth about a year’s wages. John uses this as an opportunity to criticize Judas for being a thief, but it’s hard not to think, as Judas suggested, about how much food, clothing, rental assistance, bus passes, or other things that we could buy for the poor with $80,000. Mary’s gift was not just costly, it was extravagant. But Jesus understands and explains to everyone present that there was a limited time that anyone could give such a gift, and while God’s intent was that this gift should have been for Jesus’ burial, Mary chose to give her gift to Jesus while he was still alive rather than after he was dead.

And in Philippians 3:4b-14, the Apostle Paul frames the discussion about extravagance differently. Rather than reminding everyone about the extravagant gifts that God has given to us, or about the extravagant gift that Mary gave to Jesus, Paul explains how his life changed because of his reaction and response to God’s extravagance. Paul says:

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

⁷But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith inChrist—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Paul begins by reminding his readers that for all the worldly reasons that people can have confidence, trust, and even arrogance, Paul has all of them… in abundance. Paul had money, possessions, accomplishments, power, authority and more. He was born into the right kind of prestigious family, he mixed with the right kinds of prestigious people, he followed all of the church’s rules in a very public way in the sect of the Pharisees, and even among the Pharisees, he was outstanding in his passion, zeal, and herculean efforts as a defender of the faith and a warrior for the church as he persecuted those who followed Jesus, and he did all these things so well that no one could find fault with his theology or practice. Paul was beyond a rising star in the leadership of the church and was on track to be among those in the very highest levels of the Jewish church and the leadership of Israel.

But Paul after he met Jesus, he threw it all away.

Because he chose to follow Jesus, Paul lost his position in Jewish leadership, was cast out of the Pharisees, excommunicated, banned from the Temple, and we suspect that he may have even been disowned by his family. Paul says that he has now given up anything that he once considered to be valuable because the value of knowing Jesus was worth more than anything that he had before. In fact, what Paul received when he put his faith in Jesus was so extravagantly valuable that in comparison, everything that he had before was worth no more than garbage to him.

The value of what Paul received from God through faith in Jesus Christ is so valuable, that even after he has given up everything that he had, Paul still looks forward to the future and presses onward so that he can become whatever God called him to be, and to do whatever God called him to do. Paul freely admits that Gods work in him, and through him, is not yet finished, but he continues to do the work of Jesus Christ, and to press on so that he can earn the reward that God has prepared for him.

Isaiah said that our mission it to show the world how amazing, wonderful, and awesome God is, and not spend our time and money showing people how awesome we are. The goal is to get the people around us to give thanks to God and give praise to him, not to give thanks and give praise to us. Mary shows her gratitude to Jesus by giving him the most extravagant gift that she can imagine. It is a gift that is her life savings and represents her pension and her rainy-day fund all wrapped up in one package. Paul says that God’s gift to us, the gift of his own son, Jesus Christ, is such an extravagant gift, that nothing that we have, and nothing that we can do, can ever begin to show God how grateful we are. Instead, Paul’s response was to give up all that he had and spend his entire life giving of himself to do the work of God’s kingdom.

My friends, religious extravagance isn’t about churches that seat tens of thousands, or 25,000 square foot mansions, Rolls Royce automobiles, and private jets. Those sorts of things point people in exactly the opposite direction that God wants us pointing. Religious extravagance is demonstrating to the world that what God has given to us in Jesus Christ is so valuable that we will give, or do, anything to show God our gratitude and to do the work of the kingdom of God so that, as God said through Isaiah, the world would proclaim God’s praise.

When the followers of Jesus Christ are extravagant, every part of that extravagance should point to God so that the world sees the wonders of our amazing God… and not us.

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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 references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Wedding Gifts

January 16, 2022January 18, 2022 PastorPartridge Podcast, Sermon Alliance, Broadway, Cana, Christ, church, community, disciples, faith, Gentile, gift, gifts, invited, Isaiah, Jesus, John, Mary, Methodist, mission, Ohio, Partridge, purpose, share, spirit, Street, unique, United, water, wedding, wine

What would God give you for your wedding?

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Wedding Gifts

January 16, 2022*

by Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 62:1-5

John 2:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

What is an appropriate gift that you would give at a wedding? What we give, and how much we can afford to spend, changes with our own marital status, income level, relationship with the people being married, how well we like them, and probably what kind of mood we were in when we went shopping. We hear about the typical gifts of toasters, blenders, electric blankets, and other small appliances, sometimes we shop from the list that the couple provided on their gift registry, the crafty among us give thoughtful, handmade gifts time and self, but there is variety in our gift giving and it changes with the passage of time and changes in culture.

When my parents were married, not long after World War Two, most people were “getting by” but didn’t have a lot of money and so, among other things, my parents received enough towel sets that they were still unboxing them fifteen or twenty years into their marriage. One of my college roommates gave Patti and I a plunger with rolls of toilet paper slid onto the handle. His logic was that, when he and his wife lived in their first apartment, the toilet overflowed and… they didn’t own a plunger. Panic ensued. But, in any case, the lesson that he learned was that sooner or later, whether you realize it or not on your wedding day, everyone will eventually need a plunger. But when you need it is a terrible time to go shopping for one. Honestly, despite this being a relatively inexpensive gift, we needed it, we appreciated it, we used it, and I still think that his logic is a bit brilliant in its own way.

But with all those gift-giving ideas floating around in our minds, what sorts of wedding gifts do you think that we might find in the pages of scripture? As you might expect, they can be quite different depending on who is giving them, who is receiving them, and the time, place, and culture in which the gifts were given. But there’s a twist here. Before we’re finished, we will discover that some of the wedding gifts that we find in scripture are gifts that are being given… to us. But before we get to that, let’s begin with the words of the prophet Isaiah found in Isaiah 62:1-5 where he says:

^62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
    for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,
    her salvation like a blazing torch.
²The nations will see your vindication,
    and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
    that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
³You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
    a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
⁴No longer will they call you Deserted,
    or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah, [ Hephzibah means my delight is in her.]
    and your land Beulah[Beulah means married.];
for the Lord will take delight in you,
    and your land will be married.
⁵As a young man marries a young woman,
    so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
    so will your God rejoice over you.

Isaiah says that he will not shut up until Israel is vindicated by God and the world sees God’s glory and Israel’s splendor as a jewel in God’s hand. At that time, Isaiah says, Israel’s name will be changed from Deserted to Delighted, and from Desolate to Married, or perhaps, from Desolate to “Beloved Bride.” Isaiah says that at that time it will be as if Israel’s builder will marry her, and rejoice over her, like a bridegroom marries and finds joy in his bride.

And then in John 2:1-11, we see Jesus give an entirely different sort of gift to an unknown couple from the village of Cana in Galilee. We don’t know who they were, but Jesus’ mother was invited and so was Jesus, and so were all his disciples. As we will see in a moment, it was a seriously big wedding and an enormous party afterward.

^2:1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ²and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

⁷Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so, they filled them to the brim.

⁸Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

¹¹What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

We don’t know the people who are being married. We don’t know their parents. And no one in the entire story is named other than Mary and Jesus. We aren’t even sure how Mary or Jesus knows them because the wedding is in Cana and they were from Nazareth, but most likely Mary, Jesus, or both, knew the bride, the groom, their parents, or had some connection. My guess is that the disciples were invited out of politeness because they were known to be “with” Jesus. It was common, at that time, for weddings to included entire villages, last for a week or more and, as we look at the story about the wine, we can see just how big this party is going to be.

At some point, and we really don’t know how long it took, the wine ran out. This is not trivial. This is a big deal. Jesus lived in a culture that was based on a system of honor. The loss of honor could cost a family, or an entire village, the ability to do business, lose customers, make it difficult to find spouses for their children, or even buy and sell at a disadvantage in the marketplace. Honor was everything. And running out of wine, halfway through the wedding party could cost this family, and possibly the entire village, their honor. Our story says that before the master of the feast even finds out what is going on, Jesus has the servants fill six stone jars with what adds up to be as much as 180 gallons of water.

I think that it’s interesting that, before Jesus performs this miracle, he is essentially drafted by his mother. Jesus protests that it is not yet time for his ministry to begin, or since he has already gathered his disciples, that it is not yet time for him to reveal himself by performing miracles, but just as mothers have done for, well, pretty much forever, when Jesus disagrees with her, Mary just ignores him entirely and tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. And even though Jesus is 33 years old, runs his father’s business, is the head of the household, and the Son of God, he does what dutiful sons do, and obeys his mother.

Jesus obeys his mother and, in addition to whatever gifts they might have brought with them, Jesus gives the bride, the groom, their families, and even their village, the gift of what we would calculate to be 75 cases or more than 900 bottles of wine. And, if we assume that the original supply got them at least halfway through the party, 900 bottles of wine, for the two or three days that remained of the wedding reception tells us that there were a lot of guests, that this was a really big party, and a really big deal. Jesus’ gift wasn’t just a gift of wine, it was a gift of honor and a rescue from an enormous embarrassment. Much like Isaiah had described 800 years earlier, Jesus brought a wedding gift of vindication before it was even needed, and transformed embarrassment, ruin, and dishonor into delight before the disaster even happened.

But the promise that we read in Isaiah wasn’t just that the builder and creator of the universe would show up at a wedding, but that he would be the bridegroom and would marry the church and its people. And, as you might expect, Jesus brings gifts to his bride as a part of that relationship, and we see some of those gifts listed in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth as we read his words in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

^12:1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ²You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

⁷Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Paul says that the gifts that God gives to his people are varied and are unique to the needs, personality, goals, purpose, and mission of each person that chooses to follow Jesus. We are given different gifts, called to different kinds of service, and given different kinds of work to do, but all those varied, unique, and individual pieces of the puzzle are a part of larger whole, a part of a greater purpose than our own lives or the lives of our immediate family. The gifts given to us by God’s spirit are not only given for our benefit but are intended for use toward the common good of our community, our church, and the kingdom of God.

Whether we have been given wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, discernment, a facility in speaking or understanding languages, or any other gift, our wedding gifts are not intended to sit on a shelf and gather dust. Neither are those gifts intended to enrich our selfish desires. God’s purpose in giving wedding gifts to his bride, to us, is now, and has always been, is for us to share those gifts with others; to use them for the common good, to help the people around us, to benefit the churches to which we belong, to rescue to the lost, bring comfort to the suffering, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, share the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to grow the kingdom of God. God’s gifts to us weren’t intended to be hoarded. They were intended to be shared with entire world.

And so, unlike the gifts that we give to a bride a groom at a wedding, God isn’t waiting for us to send a thank you card, and God isn’t wondering how well we liked his gifts. The question that God is asking is…

…how are you healing, how are you helping, how are you growing, how are you helping, and what are you doing with the gifts that I gave you?

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Freedom

April 3, 2021 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Broadway, Christ, church, crucifixion, death, disciples, Easter, failure, favoritism, fear, forgive, forgiveness, freedom, fresh start, fullfill, Gospel, grace, guilt, Jesus, John, July 4, Mary, mercy, Methodist, mistakes, nepotism, Ohio, Partridge, past, Paul, Peter, priorities, prophecy, racism, rescue, resurrection, revolution, Salome, salvation, sin, Street, suffering, United, United States, witness, witnesses

Freedom

April 04, 2021*

(Easter)

By Pastor John Partridge

Mark 16:1-8 Acts 10:34-43 I Corinthians 15:1-11

We are three months early.

Three months from today, July 4^th, is our nation’s birthday and a grand celebration of freedom and independence.

An in that sense, our celebration today, on April 4^th, is three months early. But our celebration today is the celebration of a freedom that is far grander, and far more amazing, that our independence from King George and the nation of England.

The freedom that we celebrate today has been the subject of our sermons for the last seven and a half weeks and even then, we’ve barely scratched the surface of why our remembrance of this day is the cause of so much joy, gladness, and celebration. But make no mistake, like the celebration of July 4^th for the citizens of the United States of America, the Easter celebration for the citizens of the Kingdom of God and of Jesus Christ, is a celebration of freedom. I’m going to briefly recap the last seven weeks and remind you of a few of the freedoms that we are celebrating in a little while, but first I want to read words of Mark 16:1-8 and add to our remembrance of the story of Easter that our youth began this morning in our sunrise service.

^16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. ²Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

⁴But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

⁶“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

⁸Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

As the two Marys and Salome walked to the tomb, they were worried about what Jesus body would smell like, they were worried that the stone was too large for the tree of them to move, worried that there might not be anyone to help them move it, and worried that the Roman soldiers, or whomever was guarding it, would refuse to help them, or even refuse to allow them to re-wrap Jesus’ body with the spices, incense, and aromatic tree sap that they had brought with them. But upon their arrival, the two-thousand-pound stone had already been moved and they worried about why it had been moved. But when they entered the tomb to look inside, instead of finding Jesus, they found a messenger from God whose first words were, “Don’t be afraid.” But after he had given them their instructions and sent them on their way, they were still trembling, confused, and afraid.

But that initial reaction changed as they met Jesus face-to-face and realized that Jesus was alive. As time passed, they began to understand the things that Jesus had taught them, including the things about death, burial, and resurrection that had always been confusing. They began to understand that everything that they had seen, had happened exactly as Jesus had said that it would happen, and exactly as the ancient prophets had described hundreds of years earlier. And, by the time that Peter stays in the home of a Roman Centurion named Cornelius in Caesarea, he has processed the lessons that he learned from Jesus in an even deeper way (Acts 10:34-43).

Peter realized that Jesus’ fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament had begun something entirely new and changed the way that God’s people would engage the world around them and change the way their entire relationship with God. The new covenant, this new contract with God, was a contract without favoritism, without nepotism, without racism, and without judgement except for the judgement of the one person who understood us best, and who was perfect, just, and infinitely wise.

And just a few decades later, Paul, having learned from the disciples, as well as through his own experience, and having had even more time to process what he had learned, seen, and heard, writes to the church in Corinth to help them to understand what the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus meant to them, and still means to each one of us (I Corinthians 15:1-11).

^15:1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ²By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

³For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. ⁶After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹Whether then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Paul reminds us that it was by this gospel, this story of life, death, and resurrection, through which we were saved… if we hold firmly to what we have learned. Paul knows what his life was like before he met Jesus. Paul knows that he is utterly undeserving of God’s rescue, let alone the honor of being counted among the disciples of Jesus Christ. Paul remembers that he had been so anti-Jesus that he had become known as the hunter of Christ followers who had them arrested, tortured, and worse. And because of who he was, and the life that he had once lived, Paul understands the depth of God’s mercy and grace.

Through the story of Easter, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, Paul had found freedom. And that freedom has flowed down through history to us. It is a freedom that is far grander than anything that we celebrate on July fourth. It is more than our freedom from King George and the nation of England. It is more than the freedoms enumerated in the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

The message of the gospel is a message of many freedoms.

Mary, Mary, and Salome learned that it is a message of freedom from fear.

Peter learned that it was a message of freedom from favoritism, nepotism, and racism.

Paul learned that it is a message of mercy, grace, and freedom from our past.

And as we’ve learned over the last seven and a half weeks, it is a message of freedom from corruption, rescue from the flood, freedom from the Law of Moses, freedom from the demands of other gods, a message of keeping God at the center of our lives, freedom from the misplaced priorities and wisdom of the world, freedom from our failures, freedom from our guilt, freedom from suffering, freedom from sin, and even freedom from death.

And that is why we repeat the story every year, and why Easter should be filled with joy.

The message of Easter was a story about freedom long before the events of the Revolutionary War and long before July fourth had any meaning to the citizens of North America.

We celebrate Easter because today is the day when God gave us the immeasurable gift of freedom.

Happy Easter everyone.

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/JpemgjB6bIY

Did you enjoy reading this?

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

A New Dawn

January 2, 2021January 2, 2021 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Christ, Christmas, church, dreams, epiphany, fulfillment, Herod, hope, Jesus, Joseph, magi, Mary, Messiah, new year, Ohio, planetary conjunction, prophecy, star, United Methodist, why does it matter, wise men

A New Dawn

January 03, 2021*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 60:1-6 Ephesians 3:1-12 Matthew 2:1-12

We don’t often take the time to sit and watch the sunrise but when we do, we are often rewarded bountifully for our patience. This is especially true if we are in a place where there is an unobstructed view to the east. Recently, Patti and I went to South Carolina to attend our nephew’s wedding and on the way, we stayed at a hotel in Myrtle Beach in a room that faced the beach. Getting up just a little bit early, making a cup of tea, and sitting on the balcony watching the dawn was almost as memorable a moment as the wedding. The beauty and serenity of the sunrise, combined with the sound and movement of the surf, was a life-giving moment that fed my soul.

It’s a little odd that a sunrise can be so staggering because it happens every day. Every day, for millions upon millions of years, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It seems as if it should feel as ordinary as every other moment of every other day. But every sunrise is different, and every sunrise, just like every New Year’s Day, is meaningful to us because it represents a new day, a moment filled with possibilities, a moment saturated with our dreams and filled with hope. It is for exactly that reason, that dawn is often used in literature, biblical and otherwise, to represent hopes, dreams, and new beginnings. And that is what we find as we read Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming messiah, a vision for the future that would, for hundreds of years, fill God’s people with hope. (Isaiah 60:1-6)

^60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
²See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
³Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

⁴“Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip.
⁵Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.
⁶Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.

Isaiah describes the coming of the messiah as if the entire world had been living in darkness and was now experiencing the dawn for the first time. But rather than seeing the rising of the sun, the world would stand as witnesses as the Lord himself would rise over them and the light that they would see would be the glory of God. Kings would be drawn to that light and they would bring gifts of gold, and incense as they bring praise and worship to God.

And hundreds of years later, we see Isaiah’s vision fulfilled in Matthew 2:1-12 as the Magi see the glory of God in the heavens and follow his star to the house in Nazareth (not Bethlehem, because this was a year or three later) where Mary and Joseph and Jesus lived.

^2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magifrom the east came to Jerusalem ²and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Just as Isaiah had said, the future ruler and shepherd of Israel had been born in Bethlehem, and after Mary, Joseph, and Jesus had returned to Nazareth, the Magi found them and again, just as Isaiah had foretold, they recognized Jesus as a king, worshipped him, and brought gifts of gold and incense. But look at how they arrived there. First, they stopped in the capitol, assuming that a king would have been born in the palace. From there, they likely started toward Bethlehem, but we don’t really know that Jesus was there. Since Joseph’s home had been in Nazareth, it seems reasonable to assume that they returned there after the census was over.

But even if they had chosen to stay in Bethlehem, we would be right to ask how the Magi found them, but Matthew’s answer leaves us with even more questions. Matthew says, “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.” Listen to that again, “the star they had seen… went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.” That’s the only explanation that Matthew offers. But clearly, since stars, and even planetary conjunctions, simply do not, and cannot, guide us from one town to another, and certainly do not lead us to distinguish one house over another, we have no idea what it was that the Magi were following. Except that in some way, they were following God. And we see that every step led them to the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies.

And the arrival of the Magi fulfilled one more prophecy that is a little less obvious, but which is of vital importance to you and me. Paul recognized its importance, and explains it to the Greek church in Ephesus this way (Ephesians 3:1-12):

^3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

²Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, ³that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. ⁴In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. ⁶This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

⁷I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. ⁸Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, ⁹and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. ¹⁰His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, ¹¹according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹²In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

The arrival of the magi signifies the fulfillment of God’s promise to break out of the confines of Israel, to break out into the world, to adopt the Gentiles into God’s family as well as the Jews, and to become the rescuer of all humanity. Paul says that the miracle that is revealed in the gospel is that the Gentiles have become heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers in the promise of Jesus Christ. The arrival of the magi is indeed the moment of a new dawn, the beginning of God’s new work in the world. It is at this moment when our families, and we ourselves, were invited into, and indeed adopted into, God’s family. And, with the adoption of the Gentiles, we can easily visualize the vast number of nations, kings, presidents, prime ministers, and others around the world who have, and who now worship Israel’s king.

But why? As impressive as it was, and as impressive as it still is, why did it happen and why does it matter?

And Paul provides the answer to that as well saying, “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, ¹¹according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹²In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”

His intent was that now, through the church, the wisdom of God would be made known because it is in him, and through faith in him, that we have the freedom and confidence to approach God, to share our joys, our troubles, our sorrows, and our prayers with him, and to become, and to participate, in our new family.

It is a new dawn.

And today our mission remains the same. God intent, God’s mission, is for us to make the wisdom of God known to rulers, to authorities, and to everyone that has not heard the Good News.

Because it is, indeed, good news, of great joy… for all the people.

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/t-yzH9sS9xs

Did you enjoy reading this?

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

And She Told Them

April 12, 2020April 10, 2020 PastorPartridge Sermon church, Easter, followers of Jesus, good, Good News, Jesus, Magdalene, Mary, mission, missionary, rescue, restoration, resurrection

And She Told Them

April 12, 2020*

(Easter Sunday)

By Pastor John Partridge

John 20:1-18 Acts 10:39-43

Well here we are.

Happy Easter.

Our church is empty… But so is the tomb.

Even though we are unable to be together, and even though our entire planet is grappling with fear, isolation, depression, sickness, and death, we rejoice because today reminds us that we are a people who are connected to one another by our celebration of resurrection.

Death itself has been defeated.

But, aside from Easter baskets full of candy, a ham in the oven, and maybe, if we can stay six feet apart, a family gathering, what should we take away from today’s celebration?

Well, let’s read the story first, and then we can circle back to that.

We begin in what we now remember as the first Easter morning, the day after the Sabbath day, where in John 20:1-18, we hear this:

¹³They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

¹⁵He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

First, I love the way that John finds a way to write this and include a piece of the rivalry that must have existed between him and Simon Peter. Sure, Jesus told Peter that “on this rock I will build my church,” but in this passage, John always makes sure to refer to himself as “the one Jesus loved” and not once, but three times, John points out that as they raced to the tomb, John was faster than Peter. I don’t want to dwell on that, but feel free to read that again and count them. Three times.

The second thing to notice is the shift in tense. Although the disciples don’t yet understand that Jesus has risen from the dead, the crucifixion and even Jesus’ death has shifted to the past tense. We hear phrases like, “the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head.” Jesus used to be there, but now he wasn’t, the cloth used to be wrapped around his head, but now it wasn’t. Although they didn’t yet understand exactly what had happened, clearly something had changed. And so, Peter and John go to the tomb to check things out, they see that the tomb is empty, and they go back to the house where everyone is staying. Maybe that house is where the Upper Room was, where they shared that last meal together with Jesus, and maybe it was someplace else, but they go, they see, they go home.

But Mary stays.

Mary stays by the empty tomb and cries. She is emotionally lost. First, she watched as Jesus, her anchor, mentor, rescuer, and friend is arrested, tortured, hung on a cross, died, and was buried. And now, there isn’t even a place for her to mourn him. The stone has been rolled away and the body is gone. She is emotionally adrift.

And then two angels show up and ask her one of the most ridiculous questions ever to be asked in a cemetery. “Woman, why are you crying?” Seriously, if anyone, ever, sees someone crying in a cemetery, it’s painfully obvious why they are crying. But not to the angels. And, if we think about it at all, it’s certainly because they knew the truth. They aren’t confused as to why someone would be crying. They’re confused as to why anyone would be crying for a person who was no longer dead. But when she turns around, she doesn’t see the two angels who were just there, instead she turns and sees Jesus. But again, blinded by her grief, she doesn’t realize that it is Jesus.

Until he says her name.

There was only, ever, one person who ever said her name like that. Maybe her grief allowed her to confuse the sound of his voice when he said the other things, but as soon as he said her name, she knew.

But what happens next is deeply meaningful for each one of us and for our understanding of our calling as Christians and as followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus says two things, “Don’t hold on to me,” and “Go and tell.” Jesus tells Mary that she has to let him go, because he still has work that needs to be done. She has to let go of the old mission, her old role as his follower, so that both she, and Jesus, can move forward to something new. The first thing on Mary’s new list is to “Go and Tell.” And, John says, Mary goes, “and she told them.”

In that moment, Mary is transformed. Mary’s role, and her mission, is transformed. Instead of being simply a follower of Jesus, instead of being in charge of cooking, or taking care of the disciples, or whatever else she may have done, Mary now becomes the world’s first Christian missionary, and the first human being, ever, to share the good news of his resurrection.

Jesus’ instructions to Mary were to go and tell… and she told them.

Mary is the first, but certainly not the last.

Jesus’ instructions to Mary overflow into the disciples, and into every person who chooses to follow Jesus. In Peter’s famous speech in Acts 10:39-43, he says,

“We are witnesses.”

“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.”

I want you to hear that again.

“We are witnesses.”

On this odd Easter morning when we find our churches empty, we remember what Mary did as she left an empty tomb.

“…and she told them.”

We must do the same.

Have a great week everybody.

And…

Happy Easter!

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/v8w2ohL_my4

Did you enjoy reading this?

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

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Pastor Partridge

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Mary

The Promise of Hope, Peace, and Love

The Promise of Hope, Peace, and Love

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Death’s End

Death’s End

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(Insert Your Name Here)

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Few. Many. You.

Few. Many. You.

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(Easter Sunday)

Religious Extravagance

Religious Extravagance

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Freedom

Freedom

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A New Dawn

A New Dawn

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And She Told Them

And She Told Them

April 12, 2020*