Visionary Blindness

March 15, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, arrogance, blind, blindness, Broadway, Christ, church, culture, David, Ephesians, expectation, faith, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, John Partridge, Methodist, Ohio, Paul, prejudice, Samuel, vision, visionary

Visionary Blindness

March 15, 2026*

(Fourth Sunday of Lent)

By Pastor John Partridge

1 Samuel 16:1-13 John 9:1-41 Ephesians 5:8-14

At the beginning of the 1991 war in the Persian Gulf, in what is known as the Battle of 73 Easting, a U.S. formation of M1A1 Abrams tanks from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment encountered a division of the Iraqi Republican Guard, including a very large number of Russian made tanks. The Russian tanks had a shorter range than the American Abrams tanks, did not have modern thermal sights and, in the middle of a blinding sandstorm were effectively blind. In the end, over one thousand Iraqi lives were lost and one thousand more were taken prisoner while only twelve American lives were lost, nineteen wounded, and one Bradley fighting vehicle was destroyed. The Iraqi survivors later reported that their tanks and other vehicles were being systematically destroyed, and they couldn’t even see who was attacking them, or from which direction they were attacking.

Last week, we discussed the blindness that stems from blaming others. Whenever we insist that someone else is at fault for our sins and other troubles, we remain at least partially, if not completely, blind to our own responsibility. This week, although we aren’t talking specifically about blame and accountability, we will find other ways in which people with otherwise normal and healthy eyesight can be blind to the things going on around them. As we read the story of David’s anointing as king by the hand of the prophet Samuel, we discover several kinds of blindness. First, as Samuel mourns the corruption and failures of King Saul, we see that he has been blinded by his dedication, his grief, and his fear. And later, as Samuel looks upon David’s older brothers with admiration, we see that he is blinded by his cultural expectations and prejudice. We begin this morning by reading this story from 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

^16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

²But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”

The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”

⁴Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”

⁵Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” ⁹Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

¹²So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

¹³So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

At the beginning of this passage, God chastises Samuel for mourning king Saul’s disobedience to God and allowing his dedication, grief, and fear to prevent him from moving forward. Later, as Samuel stands in Jesse’s home, one by one he looks over Jesse’s handsome and well built sons, and each time that Samuel thinks that the one in front of him is particularly impressive, God rejects them because Samuel is looking at these men through the lens of his culture and its prejudice which informs him that kings should be handsome. But these cultural expectations blind Samuel such that God must instead guide him to the youngest son, David, who had been overlooked and left in the fields to watch over the family’s sheep.

We see the same thing in John 9:1-41, when Jesus heals a man who had been born blind.

^9:1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷“Go,” he told him, “Wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So, the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

⁸His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

¹⁰“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

¹¹He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So, I went and washed, and then I could see.”

¹²“Where is this man?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. ¹⁴Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. ¹⁵Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So, they were divided.

¹⁷Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. ¹⁹“Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

²⁰“We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. ²¹But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” ²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. ²³That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

²⁵He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

²⁶Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

²⁸Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! ²⁹We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

³⁰The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. ³²Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

³⁴To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

³⁷Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

³⁹Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

⁴⁰Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

⁴¹Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

The pharisees could not understand how a man who had been born blind had miraculously received his sight. But, even when he told them how it had happened, they were unable to believe it because their cultural and religious expectations prejudiced them against the very things that their eyes and ears told them were true. Some of them could not believe because Jesus did not keep the sabbath in the way that they expected, and others thought that Jesus was a sinner because he was friendly with tax collectors and prostitutes. In both cases, their expectations blinded them to the truth, and a similar thing happened to the formerly blind man’s parents. When they were questioned by the pharisees, they claimed that they didn’t know how he had been healed because they were afraid of what the pharisees would do to them if they told the truth. For them, fear was the source of their blindness.

Finally, when Jesus once again meets the man that he had healed, he asks the man if he, himself, believes now that he has seen Jesus with his own eyes, and he both believes in, and worships, Jesus. Jesus then declares that the purpose of his coming was to bring judgement upon the world so that the blind would see, and those who see would become blind. But when a few Pharisees heard Jesus say this to the man, they took offense to his words and asked if he meant to say that they were blind as well. Jesus answers that the reason that they are guilty, is because they claim to know everything and therefore allow their arrogance to blind them.

If we consider all these ways in which we can blind ourselves to God’s reality, it seems a little disheartening. But more than that, we again find ourselves wondering what we should do with what we have learned. What is it that God wants? What is it that we, as the followers of Jesus Christ, should be doing? And this is one of the things that Paul explains as he wrote his letter to the church in Ephesus, saying (Ephesians 5:8-14):

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) ¹⁰and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹²It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

Paul says that you were once blind, you were once darkness, but now you are the light because you are a part of God’s family.

Simply put, Paul says, what God wants is for us to have nothing to do with the things that are done by people filled with, and inspired by darkness and blindness. What God wants us to do instead, is to expose these deeds of darkness wherever, and whenever we can because only those things that are exposed by the light can be seen for what they really are.

The American tank crews at 73 Easting were victorious over the Iraqis because the M1A1 Abrams tank outclassed the T-72 Russian tanks driven by the Iraqis. Despite the poor to nonexistent visibility in the desert sandstorm, the Abrams tank crews could see both heat signatures and radar images when the Iraqis could not. Similarly, because we are the followers of Jesus Christ, we walk in God’s light and can see darkness and corruption in the people and in the culture around us that others cannot. But because we follow Jesus, God calls us to avoid the blindness of cultural expectations, the blindness of prejudice, grief, fear, and arrogance and instead, as people who live in the light of God, we must expose these deeds of darkness, wrongdoing, and corruption whenever, and wherever we can because, only those things that are exposed by the light can be seen for what they really are.

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

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The Blindness of Blame

March 8, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon accountability, Alliance, blame, blind, blindness, Broadway, Christ, church, Exodus, faith, forgiveness, God, grace, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, Lent, Methodist, Moses, Ohio, Paul, Romans, Rome, Street

The Blindness of Blame

March 08, 2026*

(Third Sunday of Lent)

By Pastor John Partridge

Exodus 17:1-7 John 4:4-42 Romans 5:1-11

Today, I want us to consider the word… accountability.

It is often used in discussions of ministry, particularly when pastors or other ministry leaders have gone down a path upon which they should never have set foot in the first place. In recent years, we have seen the pastors of several megachurches fall into sin or other unseemly activity and often this has been the case when those pastors were held so high on a pedestal that they did not answer to anyone. There was no Staff Parish Relations Committee, no church board of elders, no district superintendent, and no Conference Board of Ministry to establish rules and boundaries. And that lack of accountability resulted in leaders who thought that they could do anything that they wanted to do and get away with it…. Until they couldn’t.

Accountability is sometimes discussed in political conversations and many politicians, at all levels, have similarly found themselves in moral, ethical, or legal trouble because they too thought that they could get away with doing whatever they wanted to do. Some did. Others got caught. But accountability is also an accusation that is thrown about in arguments between generations of Americans such that one accuses the other that “nothing is ever your fault.” And while we can never paint an entire generation with such a broad brush, we do see that attitude displayed quite often by individuals on social media and in the criminal court system.

But accountability is also something that we often find in scripture, though we won’t find it using that name. Instead, we often find failures of accountability, just as we often do today, by looking to see who is being blamed for the situations in question. And, with that in mind, let us look at some familiar stories of scripture beginning with the story of Moses and the people of Israel as they wander in the desert after their successful escape from Egypt in Exodus 17:1-7 where we read this:

^17:1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ²So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”

³But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

⁴Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

⁵The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So, Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷And he called the place Massah [which means testing] and Meribah [which means quarrelling]because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

As we read this story, it is useful to remember that no one was forced to leave their slavery in Egypt. Every adult, or at least the head of every family, made a conscious choice to follow Moses and leave slavery behind. Everyone knew that Egypt was surrounded by desert wilderness, and they had to know that their journey to freedom might not be swift, simple, or easy. And yet, when the circumstances of their journey get difficult, many of them decide to blame Moses for their trouble, rather than accept responsibility for their own choices. Grumbling against Moses and asking, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt…?” only serves to misdirect and obscure responsibility for their own decision making. Even so, God instructs Moses to strike a rock and then causes water to pour forth to east their thirst. But afterward, Moses names the place “testing and quarrelling” so that no one can ever forget the blame games and finger pointing that happened in that place.

We see something similar in the familiar story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:4-42, but in this case, the blame is used less as a way to point fingers and more to deflect the conversation away from any kind of cultural introspection or personal accountability until Jesus bypasses their deflections and arrives at the heart and substance of their faithful desire.

⁴Now he [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. ⁵So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

⁷When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

¹¹“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹²Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

¹³Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

²⁷Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

²⁸Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” ³⁰They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

³¹Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

³²But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

³³Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

³⁴“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. ³⁵Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. ³⁸I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers.

⁴²They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

We can write off the first deflection as simple curiosity. When Jesus asks for a drink, the Samaritan woman immediately asks how Jesus can do that since Jews will not share dishes or utensils with Samaritans. But the second deflection is more of a skeptical attack. She asks Jesus if his offer of living water implies that he, a Jew, is greater than the Jacob, the Samaritan and Jewish patriarch who dug the well where they were standing. But then things get personal, when the woman asks for the water that Jesus offers and then recognizes that Jesus is a prophet, she deflects by placing blame on the Jews by mentioning the violent disagreement between Jews and Samaritans regarding which temple is the correct one. The goal, by casting blame, or by opening a divisive discussion of political and religious differences, is an attempt to end the discussion. But Jesus doesn’t take the bait. Instead, Jesus follows a path that allows for discussion.

Take note, however, that as the woman invites the other townspeople to meet Jesus, the testimony that she gives has nothing to do with theology but is entirely personal. When she invites others to Jesus, she doesn’t give a memorized speech about the Romans road, or explain a path to salvation, all she does is tell them what her personal experience was with Jesus. Personal evangelism doesn’t have to be scary. You aren’t required to hand out tracts, or remember a bunch of stuff, you only need to share your story about your experiences with Jesus. Once the Samaritan woman pointed the people of her village to Jesus, her testimony led them to explore for themselves.

Finally, in his letter to the church in Rome, Paul short circuits the blame game and forces each of us to consider our own accountability. As we read Romans 5:1-11, we hear this:

^5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, wehave peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And weboast in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but wealso glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Much like the Jews and the Samaritans, Paul says that we were not good people. We were once so corrupt that we were enemies with God. But, even when we were enemies, God gave the life of his own son so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to him. And Paul says that it is for that reason that we can boast about God, meaning that we can, and should, tell others the story of Jesus. Because, when we strop pointing fingers and blaming others for our sin, when we are honest with ourselves, and finally hold ourselves accountable for our own actions, we see that our sin was entirely our fault, and God chose to forgive us anyway.

That’s a story that we can share, and a story in which we can brag about God’s goodness, grace, and mercy.

We don’t have to memorize a script, or hand out tracts, or spend hours studying theology, or have the answers to everyone’s questions. But, like the Samaritan woman at the well, we only need to stop pointing fingers, share the story about what Jesus has done in our lives, and invite others to meet him and find out for themselves.

Outside the Rules

March 1, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Abraham, Abram, Alliance, breaking rules, Broadway, Christ, church, faith, Genesis, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, John Partridge, Lent, Methodist, Ohio, Paul, Romans, rules, Street

Outside the Rules

March 01, 2026*

(Second Sunday of Lent)

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 12:1-4a John 3:1-17 Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

One of the accusations that people make against Christianity, or even against religion in general, is that it’s just a list of rules to follow. Sometimes the accusations are specifically that the rules were written by male clergy to perpetuate the existing patriarchal power structures and to enrich the church and the clergy. But while there might have been some truth to some of that at one time, and while there are certainly a few megachurches and televangelists to whom this still applies, there are very few clergy who get rich from serving the local church, and few churches that we would likely label as wealthy. Christ Church has an endowment, but while it may look like a lot, it’s less than many people have saved for retirement and generates just enough income to help offset, but not completely pay for, the maintenance costs of our building. More to the point of today’s message is that much of Christianity exists because Jesus, Jesus’ ministry, and the church that grew up to follow him, broke the accepted rules. But, before we dive too deeply into that, let’s go back to one of the origin stories of our faith, to the calling of Abram, who would become Abraham, the father of the Jews and the people whose descendants would eventually include Jesus and bring about Christianity.

Reading from Genesis 12:1-4a, we hear this:

^12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

²“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
³I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

The story itself is simple. God called Abram to trust him, to go into the unknown, to travel to an unknown place, for an undefined and undescribed future, that would, eventually, bring blessings to him and to his family. And, despite the unbelievable, and almost unimaginable, level of trust that this required, at the age of seventy-five, Abram walked away from his entire life, completely redefined who he was, and Abram went.

Many things happen between the time of Abraham and the time of Jesus, but it is a story with which you are familiar. After the time of Abraham, the people of Israel lived as slaves in the land of Egypt and were rescued from their slavery by the power of God working through the leadership of Moses. After leaving Egypt and escaping across the Red Sea from the pursuing Egyptian army, God gave Israel the Law and the Commandments as guides to their worship and to knowing what their God expected of them. But, by the time of Jesus, the worship of God had become so academically over-studied and so extensively over-interpreted, that it became increasingly rigid and less of what God intended for it to be. And it is in that environment that Jesus has a discussion with Nicodemus, a man who had dedicated his life to following the rules and doing the things that they believed that God wanted. We hear that story in John 3:1-17, which says:

^3:1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. (Note: This is the Sanhedrin, seventy-one members who ruled over Israel) ²He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

³Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

⁴“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spiritgives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘Youmust be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So, it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

⁹“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still, you people do not accept our testimony. ¹²I have spoken to you of earthly things, and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. ¹⁴Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Nicodemus, unlike some other Pharisees and leaders in Israel, openly accepts that Jesus is a teacher that has been sent by God. This seems obvious because of the miracles and other signs that Jesus performed. But he did not understand when Jesus said that no one could enter the kingdom of God without being born of the spirit. And, while Jesus criticizes church leadership for their failure to understand, he patiently explains to Nicodemus that anyone who wants to go to heaven must follow someone who knows how to get there and, since Jesus is the only person that has already been there, it would be wise to follow him. Anyone who believes in Jesus will have eternal life and live with him in God’s house. But Jesus also makes and important proclamation that is often ignored but is important for us to remember. Jesus says that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” And, if we make the logical conclusion that we should follow his example, we must therefore understand that our job is not to condemn sinners for sinning, but instead to point them toward Jesus so that they can find the rescue that we have already found.

But why is this conversation, and what it represents, so disruptive to the concept of following the rules? And why does Jesus, and the people that follow him, deviate so strongly from the rules that everyone thought that they knew about following God? Paul answers this question in his letter to the church in Rome, and in Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 we hear this explanation:

^4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? ²If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁴Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

¹³It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

Paul explains that Abraham was a faithful follower of God long before the rules were written, long before Moses was born, or generations of priests, scholars, and theologians studied and interpreted the Law, Commandments, and the words of the prophets. No one could ever say that Abraham wasn’t suitably Jewish, or that he couldn’t rest with God, but Abraham didn’t follow the rules that the Pharisees and the leaders of Israel thought were so important. Instead, Paul says, following God isn’t an act of labor in which we work to earn points with God or to, in some other way, earn our way to righteousness by following the rules.

Instead, like Abraham, it is our faith in God, and in Jesus, for which righteousness is credited to us. Yes, Paul says, the Law is important because it tells us about the character of God and the ways in which God wants us to behave, but it is not the law that saves us. In fact, Paul points out, the reason that Abraham would become the father of many nations as God promised, and not just the father of Israel, is that other, non-Jewish, nations can follow the faith of Abraham even if they aren’t descended from anyone in his family. We worship the God of creation and the God that has brought the dead back to life, and anyone can choose to follow God, and his son Jesus Christ. Anyone can put their faith in Jesus, just as Abraham put his faith in God, be credited with the righteousness of God, be accepted into God’s family, and find a place in God’s heavenly home.

Despite begin accused of being agenda driven rule followers, the rules never have been, and never will be, a path that allows us to work our way into the good graces of God. The only path to God is to follow in the footsteps of Abraham, trust God, and put our faith in Jesus.

The rules have their place, but they will never save a single person.

The only thing that can save us from ourselves… is faith in Jesus.

And that’s a lot easier to explain to our friends than a list of rules.

Photo by PhotoObjects.net on Freeimages.com

Lies, False Promises, and Restoring the Broken

February 22, 2026February 22, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Adam, Alliance, Broadway, Christ, church, death, decay, disease, Eve, faith, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Partridge, Matthew, Methodist, Ohio, Paul, reconciliation, restoration, restore, Romans, sin, Street

Lies, False Promises, and Restoring the Broken

February 22, 2026*

(First Sunday of Lent)

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 Matthew 4:1-11 Romans 5:12-19

Welcome to the first Sunday in Lent. And, as I have noted in our Lenten mailing, as well as at other times, Lent is a season of preparation and a time for us to explore and deepen our relationship with God. As such, this is a wonderful season in which to ask questions. And so, as I read over the scriptures for today, the obvious question that presented itself was, “What does God want?” Sometimes, when we step back from the stories and instructions of individual scriptures and we look at the wider view, we can see trends, underlying direction, and deeper purpose behind the broad arc of scripture. And so today, as we move from Genesis, to the gospel story of Matthew, and then onward to Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, we will see a shared theme that is birthed in the earliest days of scripture, watered and matured in the story of Jesus, and finally bearing fruit as it is explained to the church and expounded upon as Paul helps the church to understand what it is that God desires.

And so, as we begin this journey, let us begin at the beginning as we read the story of humanity’s fall in Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7, where we hear this:

¹⁵The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

^3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

²The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

As we read this story, we not only see the fall of humanity into sin, but also the character of the actors behind it. The serpent first warps and manipulates God’s instructions to suit his own ends, and later outright lies in saying that eating from the tree would not result in death. Eve, meanwhile, fabricates an additional instruction that God had never given declaring that God had told them never to even touch the tree of knowledge. Adam, meanwhile, who we discover had been present for the entire exchange, has every opportunity to correct any of the falsehoods, but rather than oppose them, stands by passively and agrees to everything instead. Humanity falls because Adam and Eve submit to their selfish desires, and the serpent shows himself to be a liar, thief, and manipulator in moving humanity toward his own ends and purposes.

And that is how the relationship between humanity and the enemy of our souls continues for thousands of years until that same master manipulator encounters Jesus and attempts to use the same tools of trickery in Matthew 4:1-11 where we hear this:

^4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be temptedby the devil. ²After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

⁷Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

First, the devil questions Jesus’ identity saying, “If you are the Son of God…” but also tempts Jesus with his own human weakness by suggesting that he transform stones into bread to break his fast and ease his hunger. In answer, Jesus quotes scripture, so the devil then uses scripture as a part of his next temptation. Again saying, “If you are the Son of God…” but this time testing Jesus’ limits by quoting the passage that promises angelic protection. Like the transformation of bread, this was certainly something that Jesus could have done, but Jesus sees this as not only proving something he feels no need to prove, but as a violation of boundaries by deliberately testing God. And finally, the devil offers to give Jesus influence, wealth, and power but Jesus knew that these were all false promises. Even if he wanted to do so, Satan could not give Jesus the things that he promised. While Satan is the ruler of many earthly kingdoms, God is the creator and ruler of the universe. Satan rules only because God chooses to allow him to do so. Instead, Jesus replies that the command of scripture is to worship the Lord and serve God only.

Jesus resists the temptation of the devil and, through his life, death, and resurrection, overcomes sin for all time. The important piece here, is that Jesus did not just resist sin, or simply overcome the temptation of sin for himself, but that he defeated sin, for all time, and for all people if they choose to believe. In Romans 5:12-19, the Apostle Paul explains it to the church this way:

¹²Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all people, because all sinned—

¹³To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. ¹⁴Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

¹⁵But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ¹⁶Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

¹⁸Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Paul’s message is that Adam and Jesus are bookends to the same story, but that those two bookends are not equal. Adam, who is given the responsibility for committing the first sin, brought sin into the world and doomed humanity to both sin and death. But Jesus, Paul says, is the gift from God that came after thousands of years of humanity’s accumulated sin. That gift, the gift of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, brings the forgiveness of sins, justification before God, and the offer of life to all people.

In the measure of scripture, Adam and Eve were given life and a life of perfect closeness to God, but by their sin, destroyed that relationship and doomed humanity to disease, decay, and death. But Jesus, through his birth, life, death, and resurrection repaired what had been broken, made reconciliation possible, and restored the relationship between humanity and God. Because Jesus resisted the temptation of the devil, lived a perfect life, and was obedient to God, even unto death, all of humanity now has the opportunity to be forgiven of their sin and seen as righteous before God.

We, like uncountable generations of humanity, suffer from our inheritance of temptation and an irresistible compulsion toward sin. But we give thanks to God that Jesus has given us the gift of grace, rescue, reconciliation, restoration, righteousness… and life.

Our prayer is that might all accept the gift, and share it with our friends and neighbors.

Judgement, Destruction, and Treasure

February 19, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Ash Wednesday, Broadway, Christ, church, Corinth, Corinthians, faith, fear, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joel, John Partridge, Matthew, Methodist, Ohio, Paul, repent, repentance, Street, treasure, worry

Judgement, Destruction, and Treasure

February 18, 2026*

(Ash Wednesday)

By Pastor John Partridge

Joel 2:1-3, 6, 12-14 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 2 Corinthians 5:20b – 6:10

Joel 2:1-3, 6, 12-14

^2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.

Let all who live in the land tremble,
    for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—
²    a day of darkness and gloom,
    a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
    a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was in ancient times
    nor ever will be in ages to come.

³Before them fire devours,
    behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
    behind them, a desert waste—
    nothing escapes them.

⁶At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;
every face turns pale.

¹²“Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

¹³Rend your heart
    and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
    and he relents from sending calamity.
¹⁴Who knows? He may turn and relent
    and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
    for the Lord your God.

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

^6:1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

²“So, when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ³But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

⁵“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

¹⁶“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ¹⁷But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

————

As we read the words of the prophet Joel, God announces to the people of Israel that their future is dark and frightening. God says that judgement is coming, destruction is coming, pain, suffering and fear is coming. But, God says, it is still possible to escape the coming darkness if they will only repent of their sin and return to God. We know that Joel wasn’t specifically written to us, but we can still learn from it. The people of ancient Israel weren’t the only ones who worried about their future. They weren’t the only ones who saw enemies on their borders, corruption and internal conflict in their government, food insecurity, looming economic collapse, and fear that their children may not inherit anything more than struggle, grief, and pain. Those fears are as real today as they have ever been, and it is for that reason that Joel’s words are still relevant. God says that if you want to be ready for an uncertain future, if you want to be prepared for whatever lies ahead, if you want God to walk with you, to guide you, strengthen you, and protect you, all that is needed is to repent of your sin, return to God, and walk in his ways.

But the words that we heard from Jesus in Matthew chapter six fine tune Joel’s message. Jesus says we should not practice righteousness in front of others in order to be seen by them. We should not pray out loud on the street corner so that everyone can see and hear us and we should not deliberately look disheveled and sad so that people will know that we are fasting. In total, what Jesus is saying is that our worship and our sacrifices for God, though necessary and desirable, are not a show. Our worship, sacrifice, and other things that we do for God are just that. Our worship is intended to be a gift of thanksgiving to God and the only accounting that we should be worried about is God’s. Whatever treasure we may accumulate, is intended to accumulate in heaven and not at Chase bank, J.P. Morgan, or Golman Sachs.

But what does this all mean to how God wants us to live in the ordinary, day to day world? As we often do, we find at least a part of our answer in the words of Paul in his second letter to the church in Corinth, where he explains how he and his team had ministered in Corinth and how that ministry stands as an example to all of us in how we are to act as God’s people. In 2 Corinthians 5:20b – 6:10 Paul says:

We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sinfor us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

^6:1 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. ²For he says,

“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

³We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. ⁴Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; ⁸through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; ⁹known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; ¹⁰sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

First, Paul echoes the words of Joel and begs the people of the church to repent, and be reconciled to God, and rebuild their relationship with him. Second, he emphasizes that the time to do these things is now, “now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” Don’t wait, do these things now. And finally, Paul says that one of the core takeaways from their ministry in Corinth was their lived example of compassion, faithfulness, gratitude, sacrifice, and living in ways that gives credit to God. Specifically, Paul says that a fundamental principal for his ministry, and by extension our ministry as well, was to live in such a way that we do not discredit Jesus, our faith, or our church.

But what does that mean?

It means that we need to live the way that Jesus lived and the way that his disciples modelled for us. To live lives of compassion, faithfulness, empathy, and love for the people around us. To live lives that give sacrificially rather than hoarding selfishly. It means to live in such a way that the people who know you say things like, “I’ve never seen anyone love like that,” “I’ve never seen that kind of generosity,” “I see you do things that I think Jesus would have done,” “I don’t understand why you would care so much about me,” or “ I may not always agree with you, but you seem to genuinely live the way that I thought Christians were supposed to act.” We are not supposed to abuse others because it’s profitable, or ignore injustice because we don’t want to rock the boat, or hurt other people because we disagree with their lifestyle choices. We must not act in ways that make people think poorly of Jesus, or our faith, or our church. We cannot act in ways that cause others to see God’s people as corrupt, unloving, or hateful even when we might profoundly disagree with one another.

Doing these things, and living in this way is going to be hard. Done right, it will be one of the hardest things that we ever do.

That’s why we need to repent, be reconciled to God, and live in ways that honor God.

Because that, my friends, is how we store up treasure in heaven.

When God is Deaf and Blind

February 8, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, blind, Broadway, Christ, church, Corinth, deaf, faith, God, Isaiah, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Partridge, Matthew, Methodist, Ohio, Paul, Street

When God is Deaf and Blind

February 08, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 58:1-12 Matthew 5:13-20 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

What happens when God doesn’t hear your prayers?

Likewise, what should we think when we are going through trials and difficult circumstances and God doesn’t seem to care?

Honestly, I don’t have all the answers because every circumstance is different.

However, scripture does give us some insight that can help to clear the fog but, before we get to that, let’s think about some of the reasons that sometimes we don’t hear or see the things that are happening around us. In my case, you all know that sometimes, with my hearing loss, particularly if there is a lot of noise, or there are overlapping conversations, I simply don’t hear some things or what I hear is unintelligible. Similarly, we sometimes miss important emails or text messages because they got lost in our general busyness and the crowd of other messages that were fighting for our attention.

And, still other times, we did hear the questions that were asked of us, or we did notice what was going on around us, but we simply chose not to pay attention to them. As parents, we have told our children not to do certain things, explained to them why doing those things was a bad idea, and then watched events unfold when they did those things anyway. Certainly, we could have intervened and rescued them, but at times, the best parenting is to simply watch and let them suffer through the consequences of their actions.

But which of these kinds of actions might we attribute to God? Surely, God isn’t hearing impaired so we can easily eliminate that one. And, while it isn’t difficult to imagine that the prayers and activities of several billion humans might be an overwhelming burden, once again, from what we know about God, that shouldn’t be an issue either. We can be sure that our messages to God aren’t simply being misplaced because God is busy. So, at this point, let us look at some scripture and see what answers we can find that might help us to gain a better understanding of what is happening when God seems to be deaf to our prayers and blind to our suffering. We begin this morning reading from the words of the prophet Isaiah found in Isaiah 58:1-12, where God says:

^58:1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
²For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
³‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
⁴Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹²Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

Through Isaiah, God says that he stopped watching the fasts and the worship of the people when they stopped acting decently toward the people around them. God says that he stopped listening to their prayers when their actions showed their rebellion against him. Instead, what God wants is people who fight against injustice, free those who are enslaved and oppressed, share their food with the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, clothes to the naked, and provide care for your family when they need assistance. If we do those things, God says, then he will guide you, strengthen you, satisfy your needs, protect you, watch your back, answer your prayers for help, and give you the strength to rebuild your life.

In that passage, Isaiah explains some of the ways that we might find ourselves feeling unheard or unseen by God, and all of these seem to be an “us” problem and not a “God” problem. And, when we turn to the New Testament, we find Matthew recording Jesus as he goes farther in explaining who we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to act. As we read Matthew 5:13-20, we hear this:

¹³“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus teaches that we, his followers, are supposed to be the salt that changes the flavor of the world and seasons the people and culture around us wherever we go. We are supposed to bring light into the lives of everyone around us so that they can see the good things that we are doing and understand that God should get the credit. On top of that, Jesus is clear that we are to follow all the commandments and teachings of God and that we cannot choose some to follow and others to ignore.

Finally, in his letter to the church in Corinth, found in 1 Corinthians 2:1-16, Paul gives us all some advice on how to follow Jesus and do the things that we have been talking about. I’m not going to read it all, but this passage is in your bulletin, and I recommend that you read it for yourself.

^2:1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

⁶We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

¹⁰these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. ¹⁴The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. ¹⁵The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, ¹⁶for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

But what Paul says, is that when we teach others about Jesus, God, and the gospel message, the words that we speak are taught by the Spirit of God and explain spiritual realities that are unseen by people who are unconnected to the spirit of God. This is why we can pray to God for discernment and understanding so that we can see the world around us in ways that others cannot hope to see it.

And so, while it is possible that the reason that God doesn’t seem to be listening is because there something that he is trying to teach us, Isaiah says that often our problem is often self-caused. When we claim to be the followers of God but act as if we are not, when we defy God and do the things that he has taught us not to do, and refuse to do the things that he has commanded us to do, God may choose to leave us alone, to ignore our prayers, and turn a blind eye to our worship. Our mission is to change the flavor of the world and to bring light into the lives of the people and the community around us. Jesus made it clear that God cannot walk with us if we only choose to follow some of the commands of God that we like and ignore the others. If we are to be faithful, we must follow, and practice, all the teaching and commandments of God.

Doing so won’t be easy. But God has sent his spirit to live among us and within us, and we are invited to pray for discernment and understanding so that we can see the world the way that God sees it.

The short answer to all of this is that while God always hears our prayers and knows what we are doing, we can’t half follow God. A scout, or a football player at the Super Bowl, that only does what they are supposed to do half the time, is going to get sidelined pretty quick.

If we’re going to choose to follow God, we have to be all-in.

Photo by Comstock Images on Freeimages.com

Left, Right… Wrong?

February 1, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Broadway, Christ, church, Conservative, Democrat, faith, God, Isaiah, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Partridge, left, Liberal, Matthew, Methodist, Ohio, Paul, Republican, right, wrong

Left, Right… Wrong?

January 25, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 9:1-4 Matthew 4:12-23 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

It doesn’t take a genius to notice that our nation is increasingly divided. On top of that, or maybe because of that, our media seems to delight in defining us by our differences rather than by what we have in common. Everyone is described by adjectives like left, right, and center, with the use of “center” becoming less common every day. We have the political right and left as well as the religious right and left, and even these are sometimes subdivided by the same measure when described as the conservative republicans, or liberal Democrats, when the core assumption is that Republicans are generally conservative and Democrats generally liberal to begin with. But the center isn’t safe from this either because terms like “left-leaning” or “right-leaning” moderate are also commonly used. More to my point this morning, it likewise isn’t impossible for us to find references to conservative or liberal Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans and other denominational affiliations as well as opinions ranking various denominational affiliations by where they lie on that person’s perception of the political or religious right-left spectrum. It’s become all so common that we all take it for granted and think little, or nothing, of such descriptions.

But what if we’re all wrong?

And for us to consider that at all, we must begin by thinking about what direction and what guidance we get from scripture and from the teaching and example of Jesus. For our purposes this morning, let us begin with the words of the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 9:1-4, as he describes the purpose of the messiah and rescuer that is to come:

^9:1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future, he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

²The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.
³You have enlarged the nation
    and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
    when dividing the plunder.
⁴For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
    you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
    the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor.

Isaiah says that the people would be rescued from the gloom and depression that comes from their oppression and says that the messiah will come from the land that was, in the Mosaic writings, defined by the inheritance of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, but was known in his time as the area of Galilee and, just to be sure that everyone was on the same page, he explained that it was the land beyond the Jordan River but which was near to the Via Maris, the Way of the Sea, the ancient road that ran along the sea and connected Judea and Israel to the nations of Mesopotamia in the East and Egypt to the West. But after identifying the place from which the messiah would come, Isaiah says that the arrival of the messiah would bring light to the darkness, enlarge the nation, increase the joy of the people, and bring freedom by shattering the yoke of oppression and breaking the rod of those who rule over them.

And it is this passage that Matthew has in mind in Matthew 4:12-23, when he notes the home of Jesus and then describes the message that Jesus preached, saying:

¹²When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶the people living in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
    a light has dawned.”

¹⁷From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

¹⁸As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

²³Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Matthew says that Jesus withdrew to Galilee when he heard the horrible news that his cousin John the Baptist had been thrown in prison, meaning that Galilee was Jesus’ safe space and home. But by using Isaiah’s imagery, Matthew reveals that Jesus was the Messiah that Israel had expected, the Messiah that would break the yoke of the oppressor and bring freedom to the people. And with that preamble, Matthew says that the message that Jesus preached was a message of repentance. And it is important at this point, to remind ourselves that the literal meaning of the word for repentance is a “change of direction.” We cannot repent and continue in the same way that we did before. Repentance means that the direction of our lives has changed because the kingdom of God has come near to us. And then, after Matthew describes the calling of Peter, Andrew, James, and John, he said that Jesus went throughout the area of Galilee proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness found among the people.

And then, as we know, many people repented, they came to faith in Jesus, they changed direction, they put their faith in him, and they followed his teaching and his example. But… they didn’t always get it right and they didn’t always agree on what it meant to follow Jesus. And that is what Paul is addressing as he writes to the church in the Greek city of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, when he says:

¹⁰I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. ¹¹My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹²What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Paul appeals the people of the church to stop dividing themselves along lines that were related to theology and personality. These were political style divisions in which groups of people had allied themselves by claiming allegiance to Paul, or Apollos, of Peter, or Jesus. Of course, none of these, originally, were in any disagreement with one another, but these groups used them as figureheads to create lines of division. And so here, Paul interjects reason by pointing out that Jesus was not divided, that Paul was not crucified, and that he had no desire or inclination to be the object of anyone’s worship. Instead, Paul reminds everyone that it was Jesus who sent him to preach the gospel. The core of the gospel message, Paul says, is that Jesus is the source of our salvation and not the cults of personality, wisdom, or eloquence that humans create to set themselves apart from one another and create division.

And as we read Paul’s words from two millennia away, we are tempted to say to ourselves that we no longer argue that one follows Peter, another Paul, another Apollos, and another Jesus. But isn’t that exactly what we’re doing when we say that we identify as Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, or any other denominational, or nondenominational affiliation? Aren’t we going through the same motions and methods of division that Paul was trying to break up when he wrote to the church in Corinth?

Paul’s argument wasn’t necessarily that disagreement was prohibited, though scripture often emphasizes that unity is our goal. Instead, Paul’s argument is that despite our disagreements, we must focus instead upon the centrality of Jesus for all of us. Worse, I think, for those of us in the church, is that many of our political disagreements fall under that same condemnation. Too often, especially in recent years, Christians proudly announce that their alignment, their identity, belongs to this or that political party. They, and if we’re honest, we, claim that we are, first and foremost members of the Christian right, left, or middle. But if we are to take scripture seriously, whenever we begin to adopt a personal identity in that way, we have already shoved Jesus out of the center.

The promised messiah has promised to free us from the yoke that burdens us and gives us freedom, only for us to shackle ourselves to another burden that demands our loyalty and allegiance.

The message of Paul is that whenever we claim allegiance to this divided group, or that other divided group, whenever begin to think of ourselves as this denomination, that denomination, or as the Christian left or the Christian right…

…we’re wrong.

Three Thousand Years of Call

January 18, 2026January 18, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Broadway, Broadway Street, call, Cephas, Christ, church, faith, God, Isaiah, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, John Partridge, John the Baptist, Methodist, Ohio, Paul, Street

Three Thousand Years of Call

January 18, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 49:1-7 John 1:29-42 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

If you’ve looked at the title of today’s message, you will have noticed that I used the world “call.” We do that a lot in church. We talk about the “call” of God, or being “called” to ministry, or even being “called” to a secular vocation of one type or another. But what does that mean? Most of us who have been in the church for any length of time probably have a feel for what we mean by a call, or a calling, even if we might have trouble writing down a dictionary style definition. At least a part of our problem grows out of us being users of the English language, which is grammatically bizarre, and while it is sometimes scientifically precise, in other cases, like this one, it leaves us with more than a dozen different dictionary definitions, and common usages, for the same word.

I could say that I called someone, and it could mean that I dialed them, messaged them, or spoke loudly so that they could hear me. I could say that I called my dog, Natasha, and it could mean that I wanted her to come to me, or that I was telling you that Natasha was the name that she had been given. If I said that I had called on one of our shut-ins, I might have used the telephone, or it might mean that I had visited them. If we saw that the weather was terrible on Sunday morning, to say that we had called, or called off, the service means that we had cancelled it. To call for an investigation is to demand one, and to call in a card game communicates a similar sort of demand. To call a meeting is an invitation, calling a strike is more of an order, but to call the stock market is to make a prediction. If we say, “I would call it an even dollar,” describes an estimate, the quarterback’s call in a football huddle is a selection, and a military call to active duty is a summons. And if that isn’t enough, most of these have several variations as well.

Are you confused yet?

So, what do we mean when we say things like “the call of God”?

As we consider that, let us begin by reading a bit about God’s call of his prophet Isaiah and his prophecy of God concerning Israel’s coming messiah almost three thousand years ago in Isaiah 49:1-7, where it says:

^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.
²He 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.
³He said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
⁴But 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.”

⁵And 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 amhonored in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength—
⁶he 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.”

⁷This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Isaiah says that God had called him, which we understand as having placed a call upon his life, even before he had been born. In calling Isaiah, God gave him the ability to speak powerfully and equipped him to represent God’s kingdom. But things didn’t always go well, and sometimes Isaiah felt as if his work and his labor was all for nothing, but he was content in knowing that the reward for his faithfulness was in God’s hands. But at the end of this passage, God says that having received the call from God, meant that God had chosen Isaiah. The call of God wasn’t and isn’t random. God knows everything that there is to know about his creation and so God’s call upon our lives is thoughtful, deliberate, and individually tailored to who we are and who we will become.

We get some additional insight into the call of God from the stories of John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostle Peter. We hear that story as John introduces his own followers to Jesus in John 1:29-42:

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ³¹I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

³²Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

³⁵The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

³⁷When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So, they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

⁴⁰Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴²And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

There are several things going on here as it relates to the call of God. First, because the mission to which John was called is ending, when he sees Jesus, he points to him and announces to his disciples, and anyone else nearby, that Jesus is the one that he had been sent to announce. Further, he goes beyond his calling and testifies that he had personally seen the Spirit of God come down from heaven and that it was Jesus who would baptize others with the Holy Spirit. This act connects John’s followers to Jesus and passes their calling from following John to following Jesus. Two of John’s disciples were the brothers, Andrew, and Simon, and when Jesus met Simon, he declared that Simon would be called Cephas, or in English, Peter. In this case, the phrase, “you will be called” is a naming, and not a call of God. However, anyone reading the story would know that God had already placed a call, or a summons, on Peter’s life and that call had just passed from following John to following Jesus, so, at least two dictionary meanings are in play.

Isn’t English great?

And so finally we hear from the Apostle Paul to speaks, not only of his own call, but of the call that God has upon every follower of Jesus, including you and me. We read these words in 1 Corinthians 1:1-9:

^1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

²To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

³Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— ⁶God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. ⁷Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. ⁸He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul says that God called him to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and we know that Paul’s conversion story and subsequent call by God, also with a name change, on the road to Damascus was particularly dramatic. But Paul goes on to tell the people of the church in Corinth something about their own call. Paul says that the people of the church were called to be God’s holy people, together with those everywhere who follow Jesus. Paul goes on to say that because God has called them, that they have been enriched with all kinds of speech and knowledge as a means of confirming what they had been taught. Further, the people of the church have been, as a group, been given all the spiritual gifts as they wait for the second coming of Jesus so that they can stand firm in their faith. Paul then repeats his message that the people of the church in Corinth, and thus every follower of Jesus Christ, has been called into fellowship together with one another and with Jesus Christ.

So, let’s review what we have seen this morning about the call of God.

First, God had known everything about us since before we were born, and as such, God’s call is not generic or random but rather, thoughtful, deliberate, and individually tailored to who we are and who we will become. Second, being called by God means that God has specifically chosen you to be a part of his kingdom work in the world in which you live, and among the people that you know, encounter, and interact with every day and he has equipped you to do that work. Third, just a Simon Peter was called to follow John, and then Jesus, the calling that you have today may change. Just as the person you were ten years ago may not be the person you are today, and the skills with which you are equipped, the place that you live, and the people that you know might be different than they once were, what God calls you to do may be different as well. Fourth, you are not alone. Just as Isaiah, John the Baptist, and the Apostle Paul were called, so has everyone, everywhere, who has put their faith in Jesus Christ, though each call is as individual and unique as the life of the person involved. Fifth, because of God’s call, your life had been enriched in every way with all kinds of speech and knowledge, and that enrichment confirms the teaching that you have received from your parents, pastors, and Sunday school teachers. Sixth, along with your calling, God has given each of us spiritual gifts that he intends for us to use as we wait for the return of Jesus Christ. And finally, God has not called you to be alone. This is different from when I said that you are not alone in being called, but that God has not called you to work, or to live, or to live out your calling, alone. God is faithful and not only calls us to do his kingdom work, but he also calls us into community and into fellowship with one another and with Jesus Christ.

And so while our understanding of God’s call overlaps several dictionary definitions, and while the English language doesn’t do us any favors, I hope that our scriptures and our time together today will help us to better understand what we mean when we say that each of us are “called” by God.

And remember, every one of us has work to do, and the work to which we are called is as unique as we are, but none of us are ever called to do that work alone.

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God’s Surprise Ending

January 4, 2026 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, Broadway, Christ, church, Ephesians, epiphany, faith, God, Isaiah, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Partridge, magi, Matthew, Methodist, mystery, Ohio, Paul, Street, Street Alliance, wise men

God’s Surprise Ending

(Epiphany)

January 04, 2026*

By Pastor John Partridge

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

If you watch movies or read stories of adventure, mystery, intrigue, or detective novels, you are certainly familiar with a plot device in which there is a sudden twist near the end of the story. When the twist happens, we suddenly discover that one of the main characters has a secret motivation, or there was a secret treasure that no one knew about, or some other surprising thing happens that may have only been hinted at throughout the rest of the story. As an example, in the Fast and Furious movie, Fast Five, the team of thieves steals an entire bank vault and, after a lengthy and exciting chase, the police recover the vault as the thieves escape only to discover that the vault is empty. The twist is surprising to the audience because the viewers never see that there was even a moment when the thieves could have emptied it. It is that sort of surprise ending that we find in the story of Epiphany and the coming of the wise men.

We begin this morning by reading once again from the words of the prophet Isaiah, recorded in Isaiah 60:1-6 where we hear yet another prophecy of the promised messiah:

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

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

Isaiah says that God’s light will dawn over a darkened world, nations would be drawn to that light, and worshipers would come from faraway lands to proclaim their praise to God. For hundreds of years, when this passage was read, Jewish readers would have assumed that it was about economic and political power of the same sort that the nation Israel had seen under the rule of King Solomon. The sort where people would travel from distant places to trade good or to seek out the wisdom or the influence of their king. But then, in the story of Jesus’ birth, we come to the story of the wise men, the Magi, men from a powerful nation from the east who would have been politically powerful advisors to their king, much like our nation’s cabinet members such as the Secretary of Defense or Secretary of the Treasury. We hear this story in Matthew 2:1-12:

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

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

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

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

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

In words that mirror the words of Isaiah, we find travelers of distant lands who bring gifts of gold and incense to Jesus. But Matthew says that these important scholars and political advisors did not just come to pay their respects to Jesus, nor does it say that they honored him, Matthew is specific and saying that they did more than be respectful or bow to show honor to a child that they viewed as important. Matthew says that they bowed down and worshiped him. And that, my friends, is a twist that begins in the story of Jesus’ birth and suggests that the story of the Messiah is now going in a direction that Isaiah never anticipated. When Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, he explains it this way in Ephesians 3:1-12:

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

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

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

Paul says that the mystery of Jesus is the twist that was not made known to Isaiah or to previous generations. They had always known about God’s promised Messiah, but with the coming of Jesus, and the arrival of the Magi, it was made known to the world that the Gentiles, non-Jews, were to be included in God’s plan and adopted into God’s family as heirs together with Israel and who would, together, share in the promise of Jesus. Paul goes on to say that with the revelation of this twist, it was now known that God’s intent was for the church to spread God’s message to the entire world, to Jews and Gentiles alike, to governors, administrators, rulers, kings, and other authorities, that Jesus had come to rescue everyone and to invite the entire world to have faith in Jesus Christ, to be adopted into God’s family, so that we may approach God with freedom and confidence instead of with uncertainty through intermediaries.

The mystery of Israel’s messiah was hinted at in the words of Isaiah, but Isaiah did not realize their full meaning. When Isaiah said that nations would come from far way lands bringing gifts and praising God, he, and generations of others in Israel, understood that to mean that the messiah would have the kind of political and economic power that they had seen in King Solomon, and they still expected that God’s covenant with the Jews would remain the same as it had been since the time of Abraham. But, as we heard Paul explain, God had other plans. It was God’s intent all along to throw open the doors of his kingdom and invite the Gentiles, and the people of the entire world to come to faith in Israel’s messiah and join God’s family as brothers and sisters of Jesus, and joint heirs of God.

The unexpected twist in the story of the Messiah is the good news that invited us to be a part of God’s kingdom. But God’s intent is for us, the church, to spread God’s message to the entire world. We are happy and blessed that God has adopted us as his children, but we must also remember that God has commanded us to share the good news to all the people of the world.

We have work to do.

Let’s get busy doing it.

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Moving from Fear to Hope

November 30, 2025 PastorPartridge Sermon Advent, Alliance, Bible, Broadway, Christ, christianity, Christmas, church, faith, fear, future, God, hope, Isaiah, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Partridge, Matthew, Methodist, now, Ohio, Paul

Moving from Fear to Hope

(First Sunday of Advent)

November 30, 2025*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 2:1-5 Matthew 24:36-44 Romans 13:11-14

As we begin the season of Advent this week, we celebrate hope. Hope is both key, and central to, this season as we prepare for the arrival of the Messiah at Christmas. The subject, and the message of hope has arisen many times in our studies together throughout the year, but it is especially apparent as we read the stories of scripture to which the lectionary points during the seasons of Advent and Christmas. We begin this morning by reading the promises of God to the people of Judah given through his prophet Isaiah. In these words, Isaiah offers encouragement regarding Israel’s eventual return from their captivity in Babylon, but as we read, we will quickly realize that the promise that God gives them goes far beyond their return from Babylon in 538 BCE. Reading from Isaiah 2:1-5, we hear this:

^2:1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

²In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

³Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.

⁵Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord.

This begins simply by saying that God sent a vision to Isaiah and what follows is a description of what he saw regarding the last days of the earth before the judgement of God. And in those last days, Isaiah says that God’s temple would be built on the highest of mountains and Israel’s God will rule over all the nations and all the people of the earth. People will come to God’s city so that they can learn to walk in the ways of his teaching, and not only will they set aside their weapons, but their abandonment of war and their commitment to living in peace will be unending so that peace will prevail upon the earth for all time.

This is a message that is as relevant for us today as it was six centuries before Jesus. Like us, the people of Israel and Judah had watched centuries of wars and violence tear apart their families, villages, and their nation as well as the nations around them. Israel had been conquered by several nations, and would be conquered by several more, as well as the violence of a civil war before the coming of Jesus Christ. While we may be able to list many wars fought in the last century by memory, all the wars on Israel’s list had been fought over the land in which they lived. And so, then, as now, the promise of unending peace was an almost unbelievable message of hope.

And then, nearly six hundred years later, as Jesus speaks with his disciples about the end of the age and the coming of the Son of Man, they all understand that what Jesus is describing is the final fulfillment of the promises of God contained in the message of Isaiah. The disciples want to know when that is going to happen, when will the Romans be overthrown, when will Israel’s God be worshipped by the entire world, when will the violence end, and when would there finally be peace on earth? And in Matthew 24:36-44, Jesus says:

³⁶“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

⁴²“Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Jesus is clear in telling his followers that none of us can ever know exactly when the end of this age is going to come, but just because we cannot know, doesn’t mean that we should be unprepared. If you live on the east coast of the United States, you cannot know when a hurricane is going to hit the town in which you live, but you can be certain that it will happen eventually. And because you know, you learn how to watch for the signs. You can read the clouds, you watch the weather on television, you keep an emergency weather radio charged up during hurricane season, and you have a list of preparations made in advance. You may have a supply of food, an escape route planned out of the city, a place to stay with friends inland, precut boards or hurricane shutters to cover your windows, and a host of other preparations. And Jesus says that like the residents of the east coast we, as the followers of God, should keep watch, look for the signs of the coming of the end of the age, and to be prepared so that when it comes, we will be ready.

But how?

As we live neither in the past of the old or new testaments, and not yet at the end of the age, how do we live in the now? This is the same question that the people of the first century were asking. While Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed, at the time that Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome, there was already growing violence in Israel. Assassins had already murdered the high priest, many communities and people were in open revolt against an increasingly corrupt occupying Roman government, and the Roman army was fighting back with great violence. In less than ten years, there would be all out war between the Jews and Rome. And in this time of uneasiness and alarm, Paul gives this advice on how the followers of Jesus Christ should live their lives in Romans 13:11-14, saying:

¹¹And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

While Paul admits that we do not know when the end will come, he explains that it is obvious that the end was closer now than it was when Isaiah wrote the promises of God, or when Jesus walked with his disciples. Even though we don’t know when Jesus will return, each day that passes after the resurrection is one day closer to his return and the day of judgement. And so, as we hold tightly to the hope that we have been given through the promises that we have heard in the words of Isaiah and the gospel writers, we must live in the now by setting aside the deeds of darkness and living lives that are filled with light. We must set aside drunkenness, sexual immorality, and internal church conflicts and live in ways that reflect the teaching and the model of Jesus Christ. It is the universal temptation of humanity to live lives in the selfish pursuit of pleasure and greed, to do what feels good, or what is the most profitable. But instead, Paul tells us that our calling is to set aside these desires of the flesh, and instead do our best to wear the clothes of Jesus Christ and to represent him well. Our goal should not be to do what feels good, but to live so much like Jesus that others can see him in us.

God has given us great promises that fill us with hope for the future. But, as we live our lives today, as we live in the “now,” we must watch for the signs of the last days, and live as if Jesus were coming tomorrow so that the world can see him in us, be drawn to him, and be rescued with us.

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Pastor Partridge

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