mission

Jesus the Destroyer

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , ,

“Jesus the Destroyer”

August 14, 2016

By John Partridge*

 

Scripture: Luke 12:49-56                   Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2                  Isaiah 5:1-7

 

If any of us have learned anything from the current election cycle, I think that there are two lessons that we have seen repeated over and over again. First, many people are not what they appear to be on the surface, and second, that no matter how badly you have mess up, a good publicist can “spin” it to look like something that wasn’t really that bad.  These same lessons can be applied to scripture.  By that, I don’t mean that Jesus has a publicist that is busy making him look better than he really is, but what I mean is that well meaning teachers, pastors and interpreters often focus on the good things, the nice things, the gentle things, about God and Jesus while overlooking some of the harsher aspects of their personalities.

Occasionally, this is deliberate, but I would guess that most of the time it is done simply because explaining and understanding these harsher realities is a little more difficult.  Likewise, understanding these harsher realities is more difficult for all of us to fit within our pre-established assumptions and understandings of both God and Jesus. But it is for exactly that reason that covering these aspects of scripture is important.  It is one thing to vote for a candidate because you heard all about the wonderful things that they have done, but before you vote, it is also critically important that we understand how they behave in private and that we know something about their core moral and ethical values.

If these things are important for us to know before we vote for a candidate for president, how much more important are they for us to know these things about the God that we worship?

We begin this morning with God’s message to the people of Israel during the time of the prophet Isaiah.  Here, God describes Israel as his very own vineyard where he had high hopes of raising a good crop, and producing a fine wine, but got something else entirely. (Isaiah 5:1-7)

I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.

3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?
5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”

7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

God says that he cleared the land, planted the absolute best quality stock, watched over it, and did everything he could to prepare for a good crop, but all that he got was rotten fruit.  God asks, “what more could I have done?”  “Why did my vineyard only produce rotten fruit?”  But clearly, God is not pleased and he has already decided on a course of action.  The walls that protect it will be torn down, the hedges that made it pretty will be uprooted, and the vines will be trampled underfoot.  Nothing and no one will live there except briars and thorns.

Even the rain will refuse to go there.

And God says that is what will happen to Israel because the people of Israel are the vines that God has cared for and tended.  God didn’t look for grapes or wine from his people.  What God wanted was justice, but instead they only produced violence.  What God wanted was righteousness, but what his people produced was the distress of the poor, the underprivileged, the outcasts, and the outsiders.

Even though Israel worships a merciful, giving, loving, compassionate god, they have exceeded his patience and God declares that he will remove his protection and allow them to be trampled underfoot by their enemies.

That isn’t the picture of God that we usually get, but it is a vitally important one.  God is a god of justice, mercy, love and compassion, but God has limits.  There are limits to his anger, there are limits to his compassion, there are limits to his mercy, and there are limits to his love.  Just because God loves us, just because he is merciful, compassionate, and loving does not mean that we can do whatever we want.

We worship a loving God, but there are limits to what he will tolerate.

God freely pours out his love and his blessings upon his people, but he still expects something in return.  God expects his vineyard to produce fruit.  God expects his people to act with justice and righteousness.

We must also remember that Jesus is not just a nice man who was kind to women and children, who welcomed strangers and foreigners, and loved everybody.  Jesus has more than one mission.  During his first time on earth, Jesus came as the holy Lamb of God.  He came to be the rescuer, the redeemer, and the sacrifice for the sin of humanity.  But that isn’t the only role that Jesus has to play.  Jesus is also the commander of the Army of the Lord, the Lawgiver, the Lord of our Righteousness, the Mighty One, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and the one who will sit upon the Throne of Judgement.

In Luke 12:49-56, Jesus says,

49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

54 He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

Jesus says that he has been sent to set fire to the earth and he wishes that the fire had already started but he cannot because the time is not yet right.  Jesus says that he has not been sent to bring peace, but division.  In this role, Jesus is the destroyer.  The coming of Jesus will divide families, communities, and nations.  The coming of Jesus really is the beginning of the end of the world.  After his coming, Jesus says that we should be on the lookout for signs that will help us to interpret the times that we live in.  Some of these are signs of the coming of the end of the world but others are signs that we can, or at least should, interpret because they have happened before and we can find them in scripture.  What happened to Israel, God’s favorite nation, his very own people, the people with whom God made a covenant of love and protection, when Israel became morally corrupt and God could no longer find justice and righteousness in his vineyard?

God brought destruction.

And the reality of scripture is that the coming of Jesus wasn’t the beginning of pie in the sky by and bye where the world would be filled with everything wonderful and all God’s children would finally get along with peace and harmony.  Instead, the arrival of Jesus was a sign of the beginning of the end times.  Because of the coming of Jesus, families would be ripped apart, and family members would turn against one another.  Not only did this happen in good Jewish families and in Greek and Roman families in the time of Jesus but it is happening today.  It is difficult to think of a better example than those we see in the news in Muslim families where children are disowned, beaten, or even murdered because they have become Christian.  This is not limited to Muslims.  It is not uncommon for Jewish families to disown family members who convert, great tensions are created in some atheist families when one member comes to faith, and I have met Indian men whose families turned their backs on them when they converted from their Hindu faith.

So what is it that God desires from us?

We’ve heard it before in previous weeks but in Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2, Paul says,

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

What Paul says is that following Jesus is no guarantee that life will be one endless chain of joy and wonder.  We aren’t guaranteed a dance in the meadow with unicorns and rainbows.  Instead, Paul reminds us of all the faithful people who died because of their faith… many of them horribly.  But Paul says that all of these faithful people are watching over us, are praying for us, and encouraging us.  Our goal is to do the best that we can, to trust Jesus as much as we can, even when life doesn’t isn’t all roses and margaritas and doesn’t go at all the way that we planned.  Paul’s message reminds us to hold on to faith even if we don’t live to see God’s promises fulfilled in our lifetime.

Jesus is the Savior of the world, the Lamb of God, the Author and giver of life, but also the commander of the Army of the Lord, the Lawgiver, the Lord of our Righteousness, the Mighty One, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and the one who will sit upon the Throne of Judgement.

All these things are true.

We know that our God is a god of love, grace, mercy and compassion, but we also must not ignore the reality that God’s patience has limits and that we do not have license to do as we please.

As people of faith, as followers, and as disciples of Jesus Christ, we trust God, but we must also be constantly striving to be worthy of the God that planted us in his vineyard…

…so that we can produce fruits of justice and righteousness.

 

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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646.  These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org.  To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn.   These messages can also be found online athttps://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Choose What is Better

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , , ,

“Choose What is Better”

July 17, 2016

By John Partridge*

 

Scripture: Luke 10:38-42                   Colossians 1:15-23                     Amos 8:1-12

 

Which would you choose, three quarters or a $1 bill?

There’s a joke about a local barber that liked to make fun of one of the neighborhood kids.  “That kid is so stupid,” he would say.  And later, as the boy walked by, the barber would get the attention of everyone in his shop, call to the boy and offer him a choice, a choice between three shiny new quarters or a crisp new $1 bill. Just as the barber had predicted, the boy chose the three quarters and walked away while everyone laughed at him.  The next day one of the customers saw the boy on the street and asked him, “Why did you choose the three quarters instead of the dollar bill?”  At which the boy smiled and said, “Because I can get three quarters from that guy two or three times every week, but as soon as I pick the dollar bill, the game is over.”

Our lives are full of choices.  We make thousands of choices every day whether we realize it or not.

Get up or stay in bed?  Paper or plastic? Democrat or Republican? Television, radio, or internet?  Ford, Chevy, or an import?  Union or non-union?  Soup or Salad?  Exercise or dessert?  Pain or pleasure? Regular or high-test?

But every day we also get to choose between things like spending time with God or spending that time watching television.  Should we spend time reading scripture, or spend it reading the latest pulp fiction novel?

Having choices is nothing new, and in Amos 8:1-12, God outlines his grievances against Israel, many of which were because of the poor choices that God’s people had made.

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit.2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.

“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!”

4 Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor of the land,

5 saying,

“When will the New Moon be over
that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
that we may market wheat?”—
skimping on the measure,
boosting the price
and cheating with dishonest scales,
6 buying the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.

7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.

8 “Will not the land tremble for this,
and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
it will be stirred up and then sink
like the river of Egypt.

9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your religious festivals into mourning
and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth
and shave your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.

11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

God’s principle accusation against the people of Israel is that they are abusing the poor saying that they “trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land.”  They observe the Sabbath and other holy days, but only grudgingly, and they wait impatiently for them to be over so that they can start selling things and making money again.  And when they do reopen, they cheat on the measurement, overcharge their customers, use rigged scales, and cheat any way they can think of including selling the stuff that they swept up off the floor.  They go out of their way to rip off the poor, even buying their slavery when their debt is no more than the cost of a pair of sandals.

Every day we have choices to make.  In the time of Amos, the people chose poorly.

And God says, “I will never forget anything they have done.”

For their love of money, and their offenses committed against the poor, God says that he will rise up and overwhelm them like the Nile floods the land every spring.  Destruction and agony will come to Israel because they only cared for themselves.  And worse, God will bring about a spiritual famine in which people will seek God, seek God’s words, and search out wisdom, but no one will be able to find it.

But there is another way.

In Colossians 1:15-23, Paul reminds us of how our relationship with God has changed.

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Paul reminds us that there was a time when each of us was an enemy of God because of the things that we did.  But now our lives have been turned around, we are forgiven for the ways that we disobeyed and offended God, and our relationship with God has been repaired because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Jesus intends to present us to God as perfect and holy… if we continue in faith and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.

Every day we have choices to make.  And even though we have chosen to come to faith in Jesus Christ, our choices today still make a difference.  We have chosen to follow Jesus, but our daily choices can still be choices to do things that can move us away from God and can destroy our relationship with him.

And so, as we move forward, we must remember the words of Jesus in Luke 10:38-42.

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Martha gets a bad rap for being bothered by her sister’s behavior.  Jesus comes to her house with twenty of thirty guests.  People are packed into the room and overflowing into the next so that they can hear Jesus teach.  And, being a good host, Martha is in the kitchen with her friends and neighbors and whatever help that she can get, trying to make food, and fetch water from the well, and find bedrolls, and whatever else she can think of to make Jesus and his friends comfortable.  But while she is slaving away, she discovers that he own sister, Mary, her absolute best friend and right hand helper, is nowhere to be found.  Instead of helping, Mary is sitting on her behind, listening to Jesus.  But when Martha complains, Jesus explains that Mary had a choice between working in the kitchen and sitting in the living room.  Both of these things were important and either choice was a good and worthwhile choice.  But by listening to Jesus, Mary has chosen what is better.

That little kid knew that even though the men in the barbershop would laugh at him, taking three quarters was a better choice because he could sucker the barber for three more quarters every few days.

The people of Israel chose money and wealth over compassion, mercy, and obedience to God.

Jesus had a choice, and he chose to die in our place so that we could be rescued from death.

Mary had a choice between two options that were both good and important, but knew that listening to Jesus was the better choice.

Every day our lives are filled with choices.  Choices to spend time with God, read scripture, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, to love mercy, to pray for others, to love our neighbors, and many other things.

Let us always remember that Jesus has called us to…

…choose what is better.

 

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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646.  These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org.  To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn.   These messages can also be found online athttps://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

God and Weasels

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , , , , ,

“God and Weasels”

July 10, 2016

By John Partridge*

 

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37              Colossians 1:1-14                  Amos 5:7-17

 

Do you watch the news at all?

Does this year’s political fiasco stir up any questions for you or for your friends?

I suspect that it has, and I think that it should.

Here are some politically charged questions that are often asked by the followers of Jesus Christ as well as your average person on the street.  And, while they are politically charged questions, they deserve thoughtful, theological, answers.

Why do good things happen to bad people?

Why don’t bad things happen to bad people?

Why are there people, that no matter what they do, nothing bad ever seems to ever happen to them?

Why do these same people manipulate the media so that the people don’t ever hear the truth?

The funny thing about these questions is that, while I have put them into a 21st century context by the way that I worded them, I wasn’t referring specifically to the Bushes, Cheneys, Clintons, or anyone else.  In fact, I drew these questions from a story in the Bible from almost three thousand years ago.  (Amos 7:7-17)

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

“A plumb line,” I replied.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

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

Amos was just a guy herding sheep in the middle of nowhere until God called him to take a message to the people of Israel.  But when he did, the priest at the nation’s most important place of worship, the place where the king would have sacrificed and worshipped, Bethel, sends a message to King Jeroboam that Amos is trying to undermine his authority and destroy Israel.  In our terminology, he is conspiring to control the news cycle and stifle free speech, so that the people won’t have a chance to hear the truth, so that the people won’t have a chance to hear message from God that Amos is preaching.

Amaziah the priest goes on to tell Amos to go home and not to bother coming to bring God’s words to the king, to the capital city, and to the nation’s most prominent place of worship.  But Amos’s answer is this: If God has called me to bring a message to Israel then I will bring a message to Israel.  And if you want to stop me, then God has a message of disaster for you as well.

King Jeroboam didn’t like bad news and he didn’t like his people to hear bad news either.  In fact, he had been manipulating the news for so long that he didn’t want the people to hear the truth at all.  On top of that, the church, along with the nation’s most important priest, was one of his leading coconspirators. Together, they had been building something that God says doesn’t measure up, a nation, and policies, morals and ethics, that don’t match God’s standards.  And the message that Amos brought was that God himself was coming with his plumb line, his measuring stick, to see what is built to standard, to see what is straight, to find what is crooked, to test them, to measure them, and everything, and everyone, that didn’t measure up would be destroyed.

Perhaps one of the most important messages that we learn from Amos is that while God’s justice may not always be immediate, or as fast as we would hope it would be, God has not forgotten.  The weasels will get what they deserve, in God’s time.  Ignoring God does not make God, or God’s justice, go away and ignoring God’s laws does not protect you from the consequences of breaking them no matter how wealthy or important (or unimportant) you may be.

Nearly eight hundred years later, in the time of Jesus, people haven’t changed.  Leaders of the nation and of the church are still trying to manipulate and misinterpret the words of God for their own benefit but Jesus isn’t having any of it.  (Luke 10:25-37)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

This man, who is described as an expert in Jewish law, comes to Jesus and seems confused by the meaning of one of the two fundamental laws of God, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  He accepts that this is a fundamental law of God, and he accepts that he is commanded to love his neighbor, but when it comes time to decide who his neighbor might be, he wants to play fast and loose with the definition.

He knew that he wasn’t loving and so, because “he wanted to justify himself” he tries to get Jesus to give him a definition of “neighbor” that will allow him to weasel out of loving people that he doesn’t like.

But Jesus isn’t having any of that noise.

Jesus tells him a story, in which the hero of the story, the most loving, and most godly character, is a man that every Jew has been raised and trained to hate with every fiber of his being, an enemy that they disliked more than they hated the Romans, a Samaritan.  In the end, the teacher of the law admits that it was his enemy that showed mercy, but even then he can’t bring himself to even say the word “Samaritan” out loud.

Jesus wants us to know that just like it was in the time of Amos, we can’t change God’s rules just because we don’t like them.  Redefining words, or misinterpreting scripture, to make ourselves look good is not acceptable.

We cannot follow the way of the weasel.

There is another way.

As the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Colossae, he begins by complimenting them because the things that they have been doing have people all over talking about them. (Colossians 1:1-14)

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

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

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

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

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

The faith of the church in Colossae, their love, and their ministry, is bearing fruit and people are talking about them so much that Paul keeps hearing about them as he travels on his missionary journeys.  And so, Paul, and his travelling companions, are continually in prayer for the Colossian church so that God would continue the good work there, strengthen them, and give them great endurance and patience so that the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ might continue to grow throughout the world.

Jesus calls us to follow him and to obey his teaching.  But the followers of Jesus Christ are called to do things his way and not to redefine words, reinterpret, and misinterpret scripture so that we make the gospel message into something it isn’t just so that we can look good.

Instead, we are reminded of God’s promise in Deuteronomy 30:9-10 where it says, “The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

God’s justice may not always come as fast as we would hope it would but God has not forgotten.  The weasels will get what they deserve, in God’s time.

Ignoring God does not make God go away.

Ignoring God does not make God’s justice go away.

Ignoring God’s laws does not protect you from the consequences of breaking them.

We are called to follow the way of Jesus Christ… and not the way of the weasel.

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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646.  These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org.  To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn.   These messages can also be found online athttps://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Why Study Poverty?

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urban-povertyWe all think we know what poverty is.

Almost all of us are wrong.

In August, Trinity Church will host Dr. Ken Price as he presents a one day seminar called Bridges Out of Poverty.  I’m certain that many people think that this is unnecessary and until a few years ago, I was one of them.

We all think that we know what poverty is, what it means to be poor, and many of us think that we have to solution to how poor people can get back on their feet again.  We think that poor people just need to work harder, or sign up for this or that government program, or get more education, or stop making foolish choices.

These thoughts are almost always wrong.

Poverty is much more complicated.  In fact, there are a great many forces that (unintentionally) work together to trap people in poverty and prevent very logical solutions from being successful.  These forces also prevent those people who are most in need from working harder, getting education, or doing many of the things that ought to lift them up to the next level.

As a church, both locally and nationally, we try to provide assistance to the poor but very often our best efforts are unsuccessful and we struggle to understand why.  We thought that we did all the right things, but the people didn’t come, or the help that we offered didn’t work when we thought that it should.

More often than not, the failure isn’t one of planning, or effort, or budgets but a much more fundamental failure to understand the complexity of the problem.  Moreover, these failures are not unique to the church but the same mistakes are often made by school systems, businesses, local, state and federal governments, and many others.

In order to be good stewards of our gifts, talents, abilities, time and money we should do our best to understand the problem before we set out to fix it.  And that is exactly why I invited Dr. Price to come here and why we are offering the Bridges Out of Poverty seminar.  This seminar was originally designed to teach school teachers so that they could better understand the students (and their families) that lived in poverty but it quickly grew beyond that.  It is regularly taught in businesses, social service agencies, charitable organizations, churches and other groups that work with, or seek to help, people in poverty.

I hope that you will join me, and Dr. Ken Price, on Saturday August 27th as we learn the hidden “rules” that govern the lives of the poor, why the poor can’t get the services that you take for granted, and many other ways in which our own culture and basic assumptions set us up for failure when we try to help.  This seminar is not free.  Participants will each get a course book, and we will be serving lunch, but if you would like to attend and the cost is a problem for you, please talk to me.  I don’t want anyone to miss this because they can’t afford it.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Before Birth

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“Before Birth”

June 26, 2016

By John Partridge*

 

Scripture: Luke 1:57-66, 80                Acts 13:22-26                 Isaiah 49:1-6

 

How many of you have noticed that our culture, over the last forty years of more, has spent a lot of time arguing over the legality, morality, and ethics of abortion from the time of conception to the moment of birth?

Don’t get yourself worked up, because this isn’t a sermon on abortion (although I have preached them).  Instead, this morning I want to bring to mind an idea about God that while it may, or may not, inform our thinking on the issue of abortion, has even bigger implications for each one of us and how we choose to live our lives.

The message of scripture is one that you have undoubtedly heard before, and it is this:

Our God is the god who goes before us.

What that means, is that God is omniscient, which means all-knowing.  God knows everything, past, present, and future.  God knows everything that is know-able and that includes the things that happen in secret.

Most likely, we’ve all heard that before.  But what does it mean?  How does that play out in history?  And how does that have anything at all to do with me?

Let’s begin this morning by reading a bit from the prophet Isaiah, who lived and wrote the words of God, about 800 years before the birth of Jesus.  (Isaiah 49:1-6)

49:1 Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”

5 And now the Lord says—
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Isaiah proclaims that God knew him by name, and called him to be a prophet, before he was born.  Isaiah even has a Jimmy Stewart moment that sounds like something from “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  He admits that there was a time when he believed that he had worked for nothing and wasted his life, but then realized that he has worked in the service of an all-powerful God.  In the end, Isaiah trusts that whatever reward is owed to him because of his life and his work, is in the hands of a good, loving, and trustworthy God.

But Isaiah also proclaims that God has plans for the future, plans to restore Israel to its former glory, to return to Israel those whom God has protected, and finally, God intends to create a person who would call to the Gentiles so that God’s rescue and salvation could expand across the entire world.  This person was known to God, and their mission and ministry established, long before they were born.  Clearly, it is a reference, 800 years before his birth, to Jesus, the rescuer of all humanity, but it may also speak of the ministry of John the Baptist who announces the coming of Jesus.  If this passage does not speak of John indirectly, there are other passages of scripture that describe John quite clearly.  In Luke 1:57-66, 80, we hear John’s story begin this way…

57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

The Old Testament prophets told of one who would come to announce the coming of the Messiah and that person was described as someone who would be like Elijah the prophet.  But closer to the time of his birth, Elizabeth and Zechariah are told about his coming, what his name was to be, and that God had already set him apart for a special ministry.  All these things were known by God long before John was conceived in his mother’s womb.

And of course, in Acts 13:22-26, Luke reminds us of another similar story.

22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

23 “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

God knew everything that David would do, long before he did it and in fact, God not only knew what David would do, God knew that David would do the things that God wanted him to do.  Further, Luke makes sure that everyone reading his letter, including both Jews and Gentiles, that God’s message of salvation has been sent to us so that we could be rescued, but also entrusted to us so that we could rescue others.

So let’s review for a moment.

Isaiah tells us that God called him to be a prophet, by name, before he was born and also that God made plans for the future of Israel at least hundreds of years in advance.  Isaiah also tells us that eight hundred years before it happened, God was already planning the arrival of the Messiah and preparing the people who would surround him.

Elizabeth and Zechariah are told that they will have a child, and what God has named him, before that child is even conceived.  In addition, the mission and ministry of that man is already known to God.

And Luke tells us that the message of Jesus Christ is intended for the children of Israel and for the rest of the world.  That message of salvation and rescue was intended for us even before we were born and it is intended for future generations even before they are born.

But so what?

How does this help us to think about abortion?

What does this mean for our lives?

First of all, I promised that this isn’t a sermon on abortion, but it is worth mentioning because it crosses paths with the main point.  As we consider the abortion debate, we may not come to the same conclusions, but regardless of our personal thoughts on these matters, it is important that we think about these things.

So what does this all mean?

What it means is that our God is bigger than the ways in which we often think about him.  God is all powerful (omnipotent) and all knowing (omniscient), and exists outside of time.  The creation story tells us that God created night and day, and by doing so is arguably the creator of time itself.  But regardless, God not only knows the future, God plans and prepared the future.  More importantly, God’s plans and preparations are not vague generalities, but specific plans, involving the lives, missions, and ministries of specific people that he calls by name hundreds or thousands of years in advance.  God raises up and destroys nations and shapes cultures over vast expanses of time to prepare each moment for the mission and ministry of his people.

And if you boil that down to what it means to your life and to my life, it means that God knew you, by name, hundreds and thousands of years before you were born.  God knew about you, your life, your personality, and everything about you, before the creation of the universe itself.  God knew what you would be good at, what gifts, skills, and abilities that you would have and God knew what mission and ministry he had in mind for you, for me, and for every human being ever born.

The universe is not without meaning.

This world is not without meaning.

Your life is not without meaning.

God has a plan… and you, your gifts, your skills, your abilities, your personality, are a part of that plan.

Knowing that, we are obliged to do whatever we can, through study, meditation, and prayer, and other spiritual disciplines, to discover what God has called us to do.

And then, we must help others to know Jesus Christ, and help them to understand what God has called each of them to do.

 

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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646.  These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org.  To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn.   These messages can also be found online athttps://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Why Does God do Miracles?

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“Are You Raised, Transformed, or Redirected?”

(Why Does God do Miracles?)

June 05, 2016

By John Partridge*

 

Scripture: Luke 7:11-17            Galatians 1:11-24         1 Kings 17:8-24

 George Herbert Leigh Mallory was born on June 18th, 1886 and was an extraordinary mountain climber who was attempting to be the first to reach the peak of Mount Everest.  He made climbs of nearly every well known mountain and in the 1920’s made three attempts, in 1921, 1922, and again in 1924, to reach the summit of Everest.  On March 18, 1923 a reporter from The New York Times asked Mallory, “Why did you want to climb Mount Everest?” This question was asked particularly in light of his plans to go again in 1924, and Mallory responded with what has been described as the most famous quote in mountaineering, “Because it’s there.”

During Mallory’s third attempt, on either 8 or 9 June 1924, Mallory and his climbing partner, Andrew “Sandy” Irvine both disappeared on the North-East ridge when they were only about 800 vertical feet from the summit.  Mallory’s body was lost for 75 years and only discovered in 1999.  Irvine’s body, and the camera that he carried (which might provide evidence of whether or not they reached the summit before Sir Edmund Hillary), remain missing even today.

And that brings us to the question for today because last week we talked a lot about the great power of God and the amazing miracles recorded in scripture that displayed God’s power.  But in the end, we often ask the same question that the New York Times asked George Mallory… “Why?”  Why does God perform miracles?  Why does God choose to display his unlimited and unmeasurable power?  And in order to arrive at an answer we will, once again, take a look at some of the miracles that God has performed.  We begin again with the stories of Israel’s greatest prophet, Elijah, during a drought and famine that caused hardship all over the region. (1 Kings 17:8-24)

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there [Zarephath was to the north of Israel, beyond Galilee, in what was then a part of the Assyrian empire and what is now the nation of Lebanon]. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

God does some amazing things in this story, but this is what I want you to remember: At the end of the story we hear the widow say, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

And then Luke 7:11-17, we hear about a miracle of Jesus that echoes the story of Elijah…

11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 “They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.”

In this story, Jesus is in the town of Nain which, while it isn’t as far north as Elijah was, is still in the region of Galilee and far enough north to remind everyone of Elijah’s story.  Here, Jesus meets a funeral procession on its way to the cemetery.  The funeral is already over, the time of mourning in the home is over, and the mourners are now carrying the body to be buried.  Jesus stops and touches the bier, or platform, on which the body rests and the pall bearers stop with him.  Jesus simply commands the dead man to get up, and he does.

And once again I want you to remember the last two verses from that story: “They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.”

And finally we come to the story of Paul’s conversion that we discussed last week. This time found in Galatians 1:11-24.

11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.

21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they praised God because of me.

Paul is even farther north than Elijah and Jesus as he travels in Syria and Cilicia (which is in modern Turkey).  Paul’s entire life is changed.  He doesn’t physically come back from the dead, but he is restored to life eternal by his recognition of Jesus as the Messiah.  Paul’s entire life is transformed and given a new direction.  And what is the result?  Paul says: “They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.  And they praised God because of me.”

And so today we have heard three stories about the power of God and each time we heard words that sound very similar.

  • Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

 

  • “They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.”

 

  • They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”  And they praised God because of me.

Each time, the “why,” the reason that God performed a miracle, was so that God could be made known to humanity.

I have had people ask me why we don’t see miracles as often as we used to, or why we don’t see miracles in North America when others in places like Africa, parts of Asia and Cuba, do occasionally see them.  And at least a part of the answer is in these three scriptures.  If God performs miracles so that he can be made known, what need is there to perform them in places where there are already an abundance of believers who have already been called to do that very thing?

But more important than that is the understanding that God never performed miracles just so that he could be famous.  God doesn’t just want to be made known so that everyone knows him.  God wants to be known so that he can use us.  For reasons that we don’t understand, God wants us to join his family and to live with him.  But before we can do that, he needs to make us perfect.  Few, if any, of us will come anywhere close to perfect in this life, but God intends to move us in that direction whenever possible.  God is at work every day moving us toward perfection… if we will let him.  And in the process, God will do three things: First, he will rescue us from death and raise us to a new life.  Not just a new life after this one ends, but a new life that begins now, a new and radical life that is dedicated to serving him.  Second, God will be at work transforming our lives so that we, more and more, resemble him.  Every day, little by little, we should increasingly reflect God’s values, love, compassion, justice, mercy, forgiveness, and every other aspect of his personality.  At some point in that process, others will likely begin to notice that we are different than we used to be and, if we are doing it right, they will want to know what happened to us so that they can have whatever we have found.  And third, God is at work redirecting us so that instead of dedicating our lives in the pursuit of pleasure, money, power, or something else, the direction of our lives becomes a reflection of his will and his mission so that we truly become the hand and feet of Jesus.

In reality, answering the question of “Why” God does miracles is the easy part.

God does it for us.

God performs miracles to make himself known to humanity. But what follows is harder.  What follows is a journey of faith that begins with our resurrection to life eternal, continues with transformation into a new creation as we become the people that God intends for us to be, and finally begins a pursuit to become a reflection of his will and mission so that we do the work of the Kingdom of God and truly become the hands and feet of Jesus.

The hard questions are these: Are you raised, transformed, and redirected?

How far have we come?

Are we moving forward, or are we stuck?

What must I do to become the person that God created me to be?

How is God calling me to become the hands and feet of Jesus?

 

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* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646.  These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org.  To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn.   These messages can also be found online athttps://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

“Mission Impossible?”

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“Mission Impossible?”

March 13, 2016

By John Partridge*

 

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

Have you ever watched Mission Impossible?

It doesn’t really matter if you’ve seen the newer movies with Tom Cruise or the original television series that ran from 1966-1973 with Peter Graves and Barbara Bain.  All of them begin with the Impossible Mission Force being offered a mission that most sane people would find to be either completely impossible or totally suicidal.  But somehow, through good planning, quick thinking, enormous talent, and more than a few cool gadgets, the IMF team always manages to get things done.  In real life however, all of us know that things don’t usually work out that way.  But imagining that the impossible might actually be possible can be encouraging, even if it is a momentary fantasy.

But our scriptures today remind us that even though Tom Cruise and the Impossible Mission Force don’t belong to our church, what seems to be impossible is not always really impossible.  We begin this morning with the words from Isaiah 43:16-21, where we hear God make two significant declarations.

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.

God’s first declaration is found in the very first verse where he says that he was the one who “made a way through the sea.”  God reminds his people that he is the one who has already done the impossible.  No human being, nor any other god that has been worshipped on earth, has ever done, nor could ever do what Israel’s God has already done.

But then, just a few verses later, God says, ““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.”  The desert wilderness of Israel is one rocky mountain after another and mile after mile of desert that is strewn with boulders.  Making a path through the wilderness and making rivers flow in the desert is pure, impossible fantasy.  But, God says, this is exactly what he is doing.

Israel’s God, our God, is the god that has already done the impossible, and even today, continues to do the impossible.

If we have any doubts, let us turn to John 12:1-8, where we remember these words:

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of 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.

4 But 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.” 6 He 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. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

As we continue to prepare our hearts for Easter and the resurrection of Jesus, we are reminded that even before his death on the cross, Jesus had already done the impossible.  Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after he had been buried for several days.  Not even the greatest of the ancient prophets had ever done such a thing.

But then Mary did something that was, although certainly not impossible, undoubtedly unexpected.  While Jesus was having dinner (our scripture says he was reclining because that was how people often ate at that time) Mary came and poured a year’s wages worth of perfume on Jesus’ feet.  Let’s think about that for a minute.  In order for us to see that in today’s perspective, the average annual income in the United States is $46,481.  Since Chanel No. 5 is $325 per ounce, a year’s pay would buy just a little over a gallon.  But Ralph Lauren’s perfume “Notorious” costs $1416 per ounce so a year’s pay would only buy about a quart.  And so Mary was being extraordinarily generous with her sacrifice.  And, as we imagined a gallon of Chanel No. 5 or a full quart of Notorious, we have no difficulty in understanding how the fragrance of the perfume would have “filled the whole house.”

But we also see how Judas might have been shocked at the extravagance of her sacrifice.  Despite Judas’ protests, Jesus understands that Mary’s gift was given in order to bring him honor.  Jesus understands that God’s people will be fighting a battle against poverty and attempting to help the poor from that time until the end of time.  But in the end, honoring Jesus as Mary did, while not impossible, was something that could only be done for a short time before Jesus’ death.

And then, in Philippians 3:4b-14, Paul explains that we too have been given an “impossible mission.”

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised 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; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What 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 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not 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. 13 Brothers 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, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Paul says that he has given all that he has to God and everything that he used to have, although nearly priceless in the world and culture in which he lived, is worthless compared to the gift of Jesus.  His goal was once to follow the law and to look good to people that he thought were important, but having met Jesus, his goals changed.

Paul’s new goals in life are to know Jesus and to one day live with him.

Paul knew two things.  First, Paul understood that fully knowing Jesus is impossible.  Because Jesus is a part of the Trinity, God in human flesh, he is unknowable.  And second, Paul knew that understanding the power of Jesus’ resurrection and fully grasping our own resurrection, is utterly impossible during our mortal life here on earth.  But all the same, Paul refuses to give up his dogged pursuit of this impossible mission.  Every day of his life, he allows his past and all that he once valued, to be forgotten, to disappear into the mists of history.  And every day, he refuses to give up and relentlessly presses forward.  Every day, Paul tries to know Jesus better than the day before, and every day he tries to become more like Jesus.

This is our mission.

And although this is our “Mission Impossible,” we know that we worship a God who has done the impossible and, even today, continues to do the impossible.

There is no Tom Cruise or Peter Graves that can do it for us.  But nonetheless, we, like Paul, must press forward.  This goal is no momentary fantasy.  We must never give up.  Every day we must try.  Every day we must strain to learn more about Jesus, to better understand Jesus, and every day we must do whatever we can to become more like Jesus.

This is your mission… should you choose to accept it.

* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646.  These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org.  To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn.   These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Resurrection. Then What?

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“Resurrection. Then What?”

February 07, 2016

By John PartridgeU

 

Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-13                      1 Corinthians 15:1-11                       Luke 5:1-11

Have you ever tried to figure out one of those Rube Goldberg machines?  If you aren’t familiar with the name “Rube Goldberg,” these contraptions are those machines that take lots of unnecessary steps to do something simple.  The beginning of the television detective show, “Elementary,” starring Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson begins with that sort of machine. There are many videos on the Internet that show these kinds of machines and a few really incredible ones by the musical group “OK Go.  Years ago, Kermit the Frog used to have one occasionally to talk about “what happens next” and with each step he would talk about, not surprisingly, what happens next.  Whether we are young enough to watch Sesame Street, or old enough to remember when Basil Rathbone was the definitive Sherlock Holmes, watching these sorts of things is fascinating as we all wonder how the builders think and we wonder what will happen next.

It is with this fascination that we look forward to the next book in a series, or the next sequel to our favorite movie.  And it is with this same fascination that we read other stories, including scripture, and we wonder, what happens next.  And so, even though the Easter story of Jesus’ resurrection is the highlight of the Christian year, and the climax of the Biblical narrative, we keep on reading to see what happens next until Jesus ascends into heaven, and then later, the story of Pentecost.

But then what?

When we read the Bible like a story that has a beginning, middle and end, we know that the Old Testament is the beginning and has a lot of the background and back stories that we need to understand the characters.  We understand that the Christmas story is the beginning of the Jesus story and Easter and the resurrection are the climax.  But what happens next?  Is the story over when Jesus returns to heaven?  Obviously, the disciples go out into the world and their story is in the rest of the New Testament, but what is the point?  If the whole story starts in Genesis, and Easter is the climax, then what’s the point?  We read these stories and we often wonder… what happens next?

To answer that, let’s begin once again in Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-13) so we can understand the background that led to the coming of Jesus the Messiah.


6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9 He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’  10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, 12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

Isaiah proclaims that Israel will be destroyed, the cities left empty, houses deserted, fields and crops burned, and even those who survive will face another round of destruction until even the forests are left with only stumps.  All of Israel is described as a desolate wasteland.

But hope remains.

Isaiah doesn’t describe the stumps of the trees as dead things as most of us would expect, but as seeds.  “The holy seed will be the stump in the land.”  Isaiah wants the people to know that the holy seed, that thing that God is doing, remains in the land.  Although the land is desolate and the people are few, God is not dead.  Instead, both the land and the people of Israel are to endure a time of dormancy.  In more modern language, Isaiah says, “Winter is coming.”  But dormancy and winter, although dreary and dark, still contain a seed of hope… the hope of spring.

And we find the spring in the coming of Jesus.  In Luke 5:1-11 we hear these words:

5:1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

In this short story, there are several things that reveal who Jesus is.  The fishermen can see immediately that Jesus is able to see things in nature that they cannot.  They see that Jesus can see in each of them, what they could not see in themselves.  They see that God can prepare a blessing for them even though they cannot see it.  And finally, they see that Jesus’ knowledge of the world, and of them, is truly frightening.  For these men there was no doubt that the seed Isaiah spoke of had sprouted, there was no doubt that winter was over, and that the promised Messiah had come.

That was God’s story all along.  Eight hundred years before the coming of Jesus, during the life of the prophet Isaiah, God knew.  God knew that Jesus would stand by that lake; he knew that those fishermen would be there, and he knew that those fish would be where he needed them to be.

God knew.

It was a part of his story.

But where does that leave us?

How does this all lead us to what happens after the resurrection?

And so, let us turn to 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, where Paul is answering a very similar question.

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. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After 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. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But 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. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

At first, this may not seem to answer the question about what happens after the resurrection but it does, so bear with me for just a minute.

Paul says that the story of Jesus, his birth, life, death, and resurrection, is what he has preached, what we have all believed, and that our belief in that story is what has saved us.  Then Paul says that this story, that Jesus died for our sins, is of first importance.

And so what happened after the resurrection of Jesus?

After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the twelve disciples.  Then he appeared to more than five hundred men and women who believed in him, and then he appeared to Paul and converted him as well.

And if we go one step further, what happened next?

What did the disciples do after they saw Jesus resurrected, alive, and walking the earth?  What did the five hundred do when they heard?  What did Paul do when he heard?  And what did Paul’s church do when he told them?

They all did what Paul was doing.  They all considered that story, the birth, life, death, resurrection of Jesus to be of first importance, to be more important than anything else.  And all of them committed their lives to telling others what had happened so that they could also hear the good news and be saved.  Each generation that has heard this story has believed that it was true, and they took upon themselves that same mission.  Each generation told the next generation until now that story has come down to us.

Every story has a beginning, middle, and end.  God’s story didn’t end with the resurrection.  God’s story is still being written.

“What happens next,” has been happening for two thousand years and is still happening today.

What happens next is that the story that Paul told is still the story of first importance.  The story of the Gospel message is still the most important story ever told, it is still the most important story that we know, and it is still the most important thing that we do.

What happens next is that we must still do what the disciples did, what the five hundred did, what Paul did, and what every generation since then has done.

We are no longer the people who listen; we have become the people who know the story.  And because we know the story, the story that is of first importance, it is our turn, it has become our job, our mission, to share that message of good news with anyone who hasn’t yet heard it.

That is what happens next and that is what happens after the resurrection.

The Gospel story is of first importance.

And sharing that story with others is the first, and the most important, thing that we do.

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U You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646.  These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org.  To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn.   These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

God’s Greatest Mystery: Revealed!

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“God’s Greatest Mystery: Revealed!”

January 03, 2016

(Epiphany)

By John Partridge*

 

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

For hundreds of years, perhaps even thousands, there was a great mystery of faith and scripture.  Since almost the earliest writings of the prophets, there was a promise that God would send a king, a redeemer, a rescuer, that would lift Israel above the other nations of the earth and who would bring about a time of great justice, righteousness and peace.

But despite a great many clues, despite even knowing where he would be born, no one knew who it would be or when he would come.  It was, undoubtedly, God’s greatest mystery.  Although a great many prophets had provided a part of the story and a part of the mystery, the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 60:1-6) said this:


60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations 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.
5 Then 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.
6 Herds 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 proclaims that the coming of the Messiah would be like the dawn of a new day, a time when the darkness was stripped away and a new light appears.  He also told that it would be a time of great joy, when the sons and daughters of Israel would return home, when Israel would regain her wealth, and when foreigners would come to Israel, bringing great gifts and lifting praises to God.

This was indeed a great mystery.  What would it be like to live in such a time?  Would there not be a great fanfare at the birth of such a person?  Surely, the entire nation would rejoice.  There would be parades and celebrations everywhere.  Surely, if visitors from other nations came bearing gifts, then the birth of this amazing person must have been announced everywhere.  But what kind of a person would this be?  Would it be the son of a king or the high priest?  Would there be a great announcement by Israel’s greatest prophets?

But that is not how it happened.

Instead of grand announcements, parades, and fanfare, the Messiah was born in the back room of a tiny forgotten town, to a poor family no one ever heard of.

But even so, the angels sang and heaven rejoiced.

And even so, dignitaries came from far away bearing gifts just as Isaiah has said. (Matthew 2:1-12)


2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and 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.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When 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.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He 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.”

9 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. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On 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. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The heavens themselves proclaimed the arrival of this child.

They saw his star and knew that the time had come.

But the king in Jerusalem, Herod, himself a foreigner, an Idumean, a descendant of Esau and not of Jacob, whose family had converted to Judaism, missed the signs, and so did all of his advisors and all of the scholars and religious leaders.  Until, of course, the magi arrived in search of him.  And then Herod wants to know, he wants to find this child, this supposed king of the Jews.  Not because he wants to worship, but because he is threatened and afraid.  Herod was paranoid and overprotective of his dominance and power.  Herod was not a nice man.  History tells us that he executed his own wife; sons, brother-in-law, his wife’s grandfather, and several other family members who he thought might threaten his power.  And so it is not difficult to understand that Herod’s motives in asking where the child was born were not noble.

Herod wanted to find the child so that he could make this new problem go away.

But Herod’s fear, was as misplaced as it was ironic.

In his letter to the church in Ephesus, an ancient Greek city that is within the borders of modern Turkey, Paul explains that the birth of Jesus was not only the fulfillment of prophecy, but the revelation of the mystery that everyone had been talking about for millennia. (Ephesians 3:1-12)


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

2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which 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. 6 This 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.

7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although 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, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.10 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, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Paul’s great insight is that the Magi, the wise men from foreign nations, were the first of a new kind of believer, the first to hear a new invitation from God.  This great mystery that is revealed in the birth of Jesus, is that the Gentiles, those people who were not genetically Jewish or converted to Judaism, were also being invited to be followers of God and heirs together with Israel and the Jews, who would be adopted in to one single family of faith.

And that is the ironic part of Herod’s fear.  Herod was afraid of being the outsider.  He was afraid that this new Jewish king would be a threat to his rule and reign because he was born to be the King of the Jews and, being Jewish by birth, would gain the trust and support of the people over and above Herod who was a foreigner and a convert.  But instead of being a threat, the child, the new Jewish king, had come, not to overthrow Herod for his foreignness, but for the particular purpose of inviting the foreigners and Gentiles into God’s family.

Herod was afraid of being the outsider but Jesus had come to invite the outsiders in.

And Paul’s message to the church, beginning with a church full of outsiders, Greeks, Turks, and non-Jews, was that the mission of the church was to tell this good news, this revealed mystery of God, to rulers, authorities, and everyone we can find.  The coming of the wise men signified the arrival of, and the invitation of, the foreigners, strangers, and outsiders, Gentiles, non-Jews, people like the Greeks…

…and people like us.

God’s rescuer was not only the fulfillment of a great many promises, he was, and is, an explosion of grace and an amazing expansion of God’s invitation.  Jesus came to earth not only to rescue the Jews, but to invite all people, everywhere, regardless of birth, or wealth, or nationality, to follow God.

And Paul’s revelation was not only this understanding of the mystery, or this invitation, but that we, the church, have now been given the responsibility to make this good news known to all people, everywhere. (Luke 2:9-11)

9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

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U You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page.  Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, 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 may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646.  These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership.  You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org.  To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn.   These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

The Forgotten 93 Percent

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    Today, Governor John Kasich added Ohio to the list of several other states that are refusing to accept even one refugee from the war torn areas of Syria and other nations.  This announcement is purely political and is entirely lacking in common sense and human compassion. 
    Judging by the Facebook posts I’ve been reading for two days, I’ve just offended many of my friends. 
I don’t care.
    Why? Because if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are completely ignoring nearly every instruction that Jesus ever gave.
Let me explain.
    It is obviously apparent that terrorists have infiltrated the flood of refugees landing in Europe and elsewhere.  But while estimates of how many terrorists might be among them range from a few to as many as 15 percent, most estimates go no higher than 7 percent.  Still, considering that there are hundreds of thousands of refugees, 7 percent is a lot.  Allowing 10,000 refugees into the United States could mean admitting 700 terrorists.
That is unacceptable.
So why do I think that Governor Kasich and a whole host of other politicians have it wrong?
    Because closing the doors on legal immigrants, even in the face of this enormous threat, conveniently ignores too much human pain and suffering.  Before I get around to Jesus, let’s first take a look at who these refugees are and why they are fleeing to other countries.
    The civil war in Syria isn’t just about one group of radicals who are fighting against the government.  We think that way because we think of the Confederate States fighting against the Union, but that example is just wrong.  In Syria, there are literally dozens of armed factions that are warring, not only with Syria’s government, but against one another.  And so thinking that this is like the Rebs against the Yankees doesn’t really do it justice.  Instead, imagine that every church that you passed this week represented the headquarters of a different armed group.  Imagine that, in your community, the Baptists are fighting the Lutherans, the Catholics are killing Pentecostals, and the Republicans are at war with Democrats.  Not only is your neighborhood a war zone, every week or two, another group tries to capture it from the group that captured it the last time.  Some towns have been blown up and shot up multiple times, churches have been burned, women raped, and entire towns lined up in the streets and murdered.
This is daily life in much of Syria.
    And so, not surprisingly, a lot of people, both Christian and Muslim, have left their homes, their families, and all that they own, to literally walk across several entire countries in hope of finding something better.
Are there “bad guys” mixed in with the “regular” refugees?  Yes.
But those of us who claim to follow Jesus are called to see the world in a different way.  Not through the lens of Democrat or Republican, but through the lens of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.
    If we look at what Jesus taught, we won’t find words like revenge, retaliation, or retribution.  We won’t find instructions to hate our neighbor or to fear the foreigners.  Instead, what we find are instructions to be merciful, compassionate, loving, and helpful.  Our mission is to rescue the lost, heal the sick, clothe the naked, and help others find hope and a future so that they too might hear the message of the Prince of Peace.
    We have every right to be concerned about the possibility of allowing hundreds of jihadi terrorists into our country, but that fear cannot allow us to slam the door on the 93 percent who are only looking for a place to live that won’t get blown up next week.
    It is convenient and easy for politicians to preach from a pulpit of fear and xenophobia.  But as Christians, we are not called to follow the teachings of John Kasich or any other politician.  We are called to follow the teachings of Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t expect us to be stupid or act foolishly.
We remember that Jesus teaches love, mercy, and compassion, but he also said, 
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”(Matthew 10:16 NIV)
We are called to be merciful, but to be smart about how we do it.
Governor Kasich and other politicians are looking for easy, and popular, solutions but in doing so they sell Ohio, and the people of the United States short. 
We are smarter than they give us credit for.
We are more than capable of sorting through the refugees and discerning which ones can be allowed in safely.
It won’t be easy.
But we can do it.
And it’s the right thing to do.