mission

“Mission Impossible?”

PastorPartridge Sermon , ,

“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?

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , ,

“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!

PastorPartridge Sermon , , , , ,

“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.

Six Degrees of Social Media Separation

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    In the last few decades, there has been much talk about “Six Degrees of Separation,” which is the idea that any person in the world can be introduced to any other person in the world, by being introduced through our networks of friends.  Statisticians have demonstrated that anyone in the US can be introduced to almost anyone else in the US by going through only two or three friends.  But as often as we hear such things, it is still amazing when it happens “in real life.”
    This week I received a private message on Facebook from a woman I never met.  And that was the beginning (or possibly the end) of an unusual series of connections through my life and through social media.  To understand the connections that led to this message, let me go back in time to high school.
    After my eighth grade year, my parents moved to the south side of Akron, Ohio.  At our new church I met Keith and Jamie Weaver, who would, within the next few years, depart for Kenya, East Africa as missionaries through Africa Inland Missionwhere they would serve for twenty five years.  After I graduated from college and began working in Cleveland, I was back at that same church and reconnected with Keith and Jamie during their occasional visits home. 
    When the time came for them to consider a return to the states, our church realized that no one (other than their children) had ever had the opportunity to visit them in Kenya.  Two women, Sandi, and my wife, Patti, volunteered and along with our missions committee, we decided that we would raise the funds to send them. 
    While Patti and Sandi were in Kenya visiting Keith and Jamie, they met Steve and Nancy Peifer.  Nancy was the librarian at Rift Valley Academy; Steve was the guidance counselor and also ran a feeding program at local Kenyan schools (Kenya Kids Can).
    With that as background, we return to the funeral preparations for my father.  As soon as it was available, I posted his obituary on my Facebook page and many friends, including Steve Peifer, posted their condolences. 
    The next day I had a private message.  The woman who sent that message acknowledged that we had never met. She had seen my name pop up when Steve had written on the link to my father’s obituary and it had seemed familiar.  She followed the link, read the obituary, realized who my father was, printed it, and showed it to her parents.
    What we discovered was that our fathers had sung together in college, he had been the best man in my parent’s wedding and my father had been the best man in theirs.  Our parents had exchanged letters and cards, but over the years had lost touch with one another.  She sent me a current photo of her parents to give to my mother, and I sent a current address so that they could send their condolences and reconnect.  My Mom was a little stunned when I handed her the photo and explained who it was.
    I know that we live in a connected world, but it was still exciting to see old friends reconnect because of two children on the Internet, two missionaries to Africa, an obituary, and social media.

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A Letter to Sugar Grove Church

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   This week I mailed a letter to the church where I attended while I was away at college more than twenty years ago.  Although I attended Ohio Northern University for six years, I attended Sugar Grove United Methodist Church for only two or three.  I tried other churches and I tried not going to church at all for a while.  Nothing felt right.  Some churches were just cold and no one talked to me.  The big Methodist church downtown was friendly enough but the pastor was a pacifist and I was in the military so it was often awkward.  Finally, I found Sugar Grove.  My welcome there was a little unexpected.  Sugar Grove was several miles outside of town in the middle of miles and miles of wheat and corn.  No students attended Sugar Grove nor did any professors or university staff… just farmers and local folks.  Nevertheless, that is where I was made to feel right at home and a part of the family.  Even though I haven’t had any contact with the good folks from Sugar Grove for a very long time, I wanted to let them know that I will be ordained in June and that they had a part in God’s unfolding plan.  Below are some excerpts from my letter.
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Sugar Grove United Methodist Church                                                                                  

Ada, Ohio 45810

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, from John Partridge, a student you might remember from long ago.

Many years ago, sometime around 1986, I first visited your church at Sugar Grove.  I had been a student since 1982 and, although I had attended many of the churches in town, I had never felt particularly at home in any of them.  I don’t remember whether I came just to give it a try or at the invitation of Don Spar, but the latter is more likely.  In any case, I remember Don telling me that if I wasn’t going home for Easter that year, his mother insisted that I come to church with them, and then follow them home for Easter dinner.  I also clearly remember, after church, seeing an older man, make eye contact from me from the other side of the sanctuary and make his way to me, weaving his way through the maze of pews, just so he could shake my hand and welcome me to Sugar Grove.  I knew that I was, finally, at home.

Whenever I share my call to ministry story, or tell others of what the church has meant to me in my journey, I often share stories about Sugar Grove.  Sugar Grove has always been a part of my story and a part of my call to ministry.  I thought I would write to let you know about my upcoming ordination, because chances are, none of you knew.

I am not sure that there is anyone at Sugar Grove that remembers me, and that’s okay, but I know who you are and what you have meant to me.  Your faithfulness to the message of Jesus Christ is, and always will be, a part of my story.  May God richly bless each one of you and your ministry.  I hope that you will remember that no matter your size, every day you are a part of a thousand stories that you might never hear on this side of eternity.  Never forget that every day you are making a difference in the lives of others just like you made a difference to me.

I hope that Sugar Grove United Methodist Church will always continue to love like Jesus.
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Sugar Grove isn’t unique.  I have known other small country churches that were more loving and more welcoming than other, larger, urban and suburban churches. There’s a lesson in that for all of us.

No matter who you are… 

Love like Jesus.

                                    
 

Westboro is NOT Winsome

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    I have probably mentioned this before, but the folks from Westboro Baptist Church really burn my cookies.  Last night at our youth group meeting we watched a segment of Adam Hamilton’s “When Christians Get it Wrong” and were discussing how well-meaning church people often chase unbelievers away from the church instead of attracting them.  When I was much younger, we were always taught that the Christian faith should be “winsome.”  I wasn’t sure what that meant, but from the way it was used, it sounded as if it ought to be something that looked and sounded attractive.  According to the American Heritage online dictionary it does, in fact, mean charming. 

The followers of Jesus Christ are called upon to tell the world about the Good News of reconciliation, that God has done everything possible to repair our relationship with him and to demonstrate his love for us.  I have to think that demonstrating respect and love for others, for their religion, for their opinions, for their culture and for their existence would have to be the first step in doing that.  Showing up at a child’s funeral or anywhere else with signs that say “God Hates Fags,” “God Killed Your Sons,” or worst of all, “God Is Your Enemy” is definitely going in completely the wrong direction.  First of all these statements tell unbelievers that the church is out of touch and that it is full of bigoted idiots that have no desire (or ability) to understand their situation.  Worse than that, these things are all lies.  There is nothing in scripture that could lead someone to believe that God hates you or that God is your enemy.  the whole point of scripture, especially the message of the Gospel, is entirely the opposite, that God loves you more than you can know.

That doesn’t meant that God is making any compromises about things that he considers wrong, but that a message of love cannot be communicated by being hateful and hurtful.  In his book, When Christians Get it Wrong, Adam Hamilton, correctly, points to the Apostle Paul.  I have used Paul as an example for years, and so have many others.  Paul was a Pharisee.  He was incredibly well educated.  He had studied under some of the most noted Rabbis in history.  Paul knew sin and he wasn’t afraid to point out the sins of others.  Paul had often warned the churches of the evils of idol worship, particularly in those places under the influence of the Romans and Greeks (which we, pretty much everywhere), but that isn’t how he started a conversation with people who actually worshiped idols.  When Paul visited Athens, a city full of idols and temples of numerous false gods and goddesses, Luke tells us that “he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.”  Even so, Paul didn’t launch into a tirade about how evil they all were.  He went into the synagogue and and into the marketplace reasoned with the people. His reasoning was sound enough that he was asked to go to Mars Hill and explain his views further and even there, he didn’t condemn them.  Instead, Paul said:

“People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. (Acts 17:22-23)

Paul began by expressing his admiration for their care in pursuing the truth even though their worship of idols distressed him.  No one will believe you if you tell them you love them while you are beating them over the head.  Telling someone that God hates them is not winsome… or loving. 

It’s just wrong.

Does the Jesus’ Wife Fragment Destroy Christianity??

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If you read the papers, watch television or get your news from the Internet, you have probably seen or heard something regarding the recently announced ‘discovery’ of a papyrus fragment claiming that Jesus (yes, Jesus of Nazareth) was married.  For all the fuss, you’d think that this was the first time anyone had ever suggested that Jesus might have had a wife but clearly it isn’t (I’m still sure he didn’t).  So what does this mean?  Is it interesting? Certainly.  Does it cast doubt on Christianity and the Bible?  Uh, no.  Currently, most scholars who study ancient Coptic (that is, Christian Egyptian) writing believe that this is a total fake, but even if it turns out to be real, there isn’t much chance that it changes much of anything at all.

For a quick run-down of some excellent blogs, you can look at The Biblical World, written by Dr. John Byron at Ashland Seminary.  Dr. Byron presents reminds us to use caution in jumping to conclusions before the scholarly community has even had a chance to look at the fragment and respond.  He then provides a healthy collection of links to other blogs where you can learn more, if you are so inclined.

You might also go to Dr. Ben Witherington’s (Asbury Seminary) blog where he quotes from an analysis by Simon Cathercole, an expert on such documents.  If you are really interested, the link to Cathercole’s blog and the complete text of his comments is among Dr. Byron’s links.

Ben Witherington quotes Simon Gathercole 

If you aren’t really much into reading you can see and hear Dr. Witherington’s comments here.

Long story short, as much as the media seems to be in a feeding frenzy over ‘Jesus’ Wife’, it really isn’t likely to a big deal at all.