point

Is Your Religion a Spuddle?

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Is Your Religion a Spuddle?
or, Whose Religion Counts?

September 01, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

Song of Solomon 2:8-13        Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23                  James 1:17-27

Okay, this morning we’re going to do something different. We’re going to begin today’s message with a vocabulary quiz.

I’m serious. Sort of. Go ahead and get a pencil or a pen or get your phone to a place where you can take a quick note or two. It’s okay if you can’t, I only have three questions. If you can, write down the definition of the following words:

Fudgel.

Spuddle.

And the last one, which is likely to be more familiar… Boondoggle.

Did you get that? Let me repeat it. Fudgel, Spuddle, and Boondoggle.

The secret here, is that the meaning of these three words is almost the same.

Fudgel is an 18th century English word that means “to pretend to be busy while actually doing nothing.”

Spuddle is a 17th century word that means ‘to work ineffectively’ or to be extremely busy whilst achieving absolutely nothing.

And finally, Boondoggle is a modern word that describes doing work of little or no practical value for the purpose of simply keeping or looking busy.

How did you do?

All these words attempt to describe work that doesn’t matter or work that isn’t work at all. The use of these words is not to be confused with a great word like ‘putter’ or ‘puttering’ because when you putter, you might be doing several small things, but any or all of them might be needed and necessary.

Why is any of that important? Because as we read our scriptures for today, we will discover that, if we aren’t careful, our religion might be described as a fudgel, a spuddle, or a boondoggle. We begin in the Song of Solomon, in which the bride describes her beloved and, it might be supposed, that this is also an allegory that describes God’s love for us. Reading from Song of Solomon 2:8-13, we hear this:

8 Listen! My beloved!
    Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
    Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
    peering through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said to me,
    “Arise, my darling,
    my beautiful one, come with me.
11 See! The winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
    the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.

If, in these words, we hear a description of God’s relationship with us, then when we hear, “Arise, my darling,my beautiful one, come with me.” We hear God calling us to be with him. The winter is past, the rains are over, flowers appear on the earth, the season of singing has come. The darkness, the cold, and the gray ugliness is over and hope returns.

The coming of God, or the following of God, is described as the arrival of hope.

Keep that in mind as we listen to Jesus describe the religion of the Pharisees, men who had dedicated their lives to doing everything the way that God wanted them to do it. Hear what Jesus says in Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23.

7:1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. As it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’

8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

The intention of the Pharisees was to reform Judaism. They believed that for Israel to be blessed by God, that they must follow the law to the best of their ability. But with those good intentions, what they did was not to just teach the law so that everyone knew where God’s had drawn the lines around their behavior, but to draw boundaries and write rules that would prevent them from ever coming close to those boundaries. Two weeks ago, I said that rather than just avoiding sin, we should avoid the offramps that lead us to sin. And while that is good advice, and that might have been the original intention of the Pharisees, what they did instead was, over time, establish rules and traditions that went much farther than that, and applied those rules to everyone regardless of whether they had a problem with a particular sin. And then, after more time had passed, those rules, as well-intentioned as they might have been, became even more important than the original commandments of God. As a result, Jesus calls them hypocrites that honor God with their lips but whose hearts are far away. In other words, their religion had become a spuddle. It kept everyone extraordinarily busy but failed to achieve the intended goal.

Jesus’ brother James offers similar advice to the Jewish Christians who were spread across the Roman Empire and the known world in James 1:17-27.

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James reminds the church that God does not change like shifting shadows. But we were created to be God’s firstfruits, a gift from creation itself to God, and a gift that represents our hope for the future harvest. Like a gift of firstfruits, we are not the whole gift, but a gift at the beginning of the harvest that represents our hope in the abundance of the full harvest that is yet to come. But what does that look like? James says that our gift of hope does not look like anger, immorality, and evil but instead looks like the words of Jesus Christ that have been planted within us.

James says that anyone who listens, but does not do what they are taught, is fudgelling. They’re busy, but they are uselessly busy like someone forgets what they looked like in the mirror. Real religion, real faith, is looking at the law and the words of Jesus Christ and then… doing something about it. The religion that God accepts isn’t the religion of studying, listening and learning, it is the religion of caring for widows and orphans, keeping ourselves pure, being careful about what comes out of our mouths and careful to avoid thoughts of immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly.

Real religion isn’t a boondoggle that keeps us busy without producing anything of value.

Solomon said that the arrival of God, and the following of God, produces hope.

Real religion, the religion that God accepts as pure and faultless, does that. It is not an academic exercise. It is not something that keeps us busy listening and learning. It is a religion that looks after orphans and widows, feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, houses the homeless, speaks for the voiceless, protects the vulnerable, and otherwise does the things that Jesus taught.

Real religion is not just a religion of hearing, but a religion of doing, so that we become agents of hope.

Anything else is just a spuddle.

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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.™

What’s the Point?

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What’s the Point?

August 25, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

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

We have all experienced it.

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

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

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

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

24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spiritand life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

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

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

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

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

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo by digital_a on Freeimages.com

Religion that Misses the Point

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Religion that Misses the Point

(Ash Wednesday)

February 14, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 58:1-12            Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21            2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Scripture Readings

Isaiah 58:1-12

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.
2 For 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.
4 Your 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.
5 Is 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?
7 Is 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?
8 Then 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.
9 Then 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,
10 and 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.
11 The 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.
12 Your 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.

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. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so 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. 6 But 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. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so 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. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Religion: Missing the Point

In the scriptures that we heard a few moments ago, we heard God, through the prophet Isaiah, declare that his people were in rebellion against him because, while they came to church and seemed eager to know about God, they didn’t do the things that God had called them, and taught them, to do. The asked God for wisdom, fasted, and prayed, but refused his instructions by exploiting their workers, and fighting among themselves.

God declares that his people are in rebellion against him because their religion completely misses the point. Instead of fasting and giving up food, or other comforts, God wants his people to free the oppressed and overturn injustice. Rather than just giving up food and going hungry for a day, God wants his people to feed the hungry, provide shelter for the homeless, and clothe the naked. Instead of oppressing others, blaming others for your problems, and running people down with your words, spend your time feeding the hungry and helping to ease the burden of oppression. When God’s people do these things, then we begin to understand the point of our religion, only then will people begin to see the light of God in us, and it is then that God will begin to bless his people and grow his church.

We find a good example of how things should be done in the words of the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10, when he says:

We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God 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. 2 For 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.

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

Paul declares that he, his missionary team, and those supporting them in ministry in Corinth, did everything that they could to bring people to faith without stumbling over any hypocrisy in the way that they lived their lives. They endured trouble, hardship and distress, beatings, imprisonment, riots, hard work, lack of sleep, and hunger, while living a life of purity and having an attitude that expressed understanding, patience, kindness, and love toward the people around them. Even when they were falsely accused, when they suffered for their beliefs and for their ministry, they rejoiced in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with others.

In short, they lived, and they loved, as if the teachings of scripture, and the words of Jesus Christ mattered. Unlike the people that Isaiah was rebuking, they did not just show up on Sunday morning and abuse their employees on Sunday afternoon. They didn’t tell people how great their church was, and then argue and fight with one another.

Although today is the day that we wear ashes on our forehead, and enter the season when people choose to fast from one thing or another, remember that these things are only a reminder. They are a reminder that we should never practice a religion that misses the point. They are a reminder that what God really wants, isn’t ashes and fasting from food, what God really wants for his people to feed the hungry, provide shelter for the homeless, clothe the naked, and fight against oppression and injustice.

What God really wants is obedience…. and love.

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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.™

Missing the Point

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You can find the livestream of this service here: https://youtu.be/NPJQzZy3N9U

Missing the Point Podcast

Some thoughts on how the followers of Jesus should have conversations about politics and other difficult (and divisive) subjects can be found in this special video short of today’s benediction:

https://youtu.be/K-5cLL-5p-s

Missing the Point

January 30, 2022*

By Pastor John Partridge

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Luke 4:21-30

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

To find an example for this morning’s message, I opened my search engine and entered, “People who missed the point” and I was not disappointed.  I was instantly directed to an article on Buzzfeed with a title that almost exactly matched my search, and while some of the illustrations are too visual to explain here there were still plenty of examples to make you smile… and groan a little.  There was the photo a handicap “accessible” bathroom that was at the top of two stairs, a person using the blade of a Swiss army knife to open a wine bottle while the corkscrew was plainly in view a fraction of an inch from their thumb, a photo of a CNN “Breaking News” bulletin that the Titanic had sunk 102 years ago, a “connect the dots” coloring book in which the printed dots were already connected, a company named “Just Wireless” that was selling computer cable wires, a restaurant that offered a veggie burger with bacon, and Crest mouthwash that advertised 24-hour protection with instructions to use twice per day.

Sometimes people seem to completely miss the point… and sometimes it’s funny when they do.  We probably all do it from time to time.  But sometimes missing the point isn’t funny at all, and sometimes the results of missing the point can be downright tragic.  We begin in Jeremiah 1:4-10 where we hear God cautioning a very young Jeremiah, possibly only 12 years old, that he should not miss the point.

4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knewyou,
    before you were born, I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

6 “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

God tells Jeremiah that he has known everything about him, about his life, about his purpose, and about his calling to mission and ministry since before he was even conceived by his parents.  But Jeremiah is certain that God has made a mistake, misses the point, and argues with God because he is certain that God cannot use a twelve-year-old to bring a message to the leaders, priests, royalty, and the king of Israel.  But, again, Jeremiah misses the point and God says something that amounts to, “What part of I set you apart,” or “I appointed you” did you not understand?  God says that the point is not that Jeremiah is young and will, almost certainly, be disrespected by the elders of Israel because of his age, the point is that God, the creator of the universe, is sending him, is going with him, and promises to rescue him from whatever happens.  And to make that point even clearer, God touches Jeremiah and says that he has put the words of God into his mouth and gives him the authority to uproot, tear down, destroy, overthrow, build, or to plant entire nations and kingdoms. 

Boom. 

That’s the point.

And, as we rejoin the story of Jesus that we began last week (The Power of Systems Integration), we discover that the people of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth missed the point quite spectacularly in Luke 4:21-30 after Jesus read from the Isaiah scroll and announced the fulfillment of scripture.

21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosyin the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Jesus announces that the people in the synagogue are witnesses as he begins the fulfillment of some of the messianic prophecies found in the writings of Isaiah, and the response of the people is “Who does this guy think he is?  We know him. We’ve known him his entire life.  We grew up with his parents. Obviously, the Jesus we know cannot be the Messiah.”  Jesus replies by pointing out that their attitude was expected.  Prophets throughout history were commonly misunderstood and completely disrespected in their hometowns for the same reasons that the people of Nazareth misunderstood Jesus.  And it was for that reason that Elijah performed a miracle for an outcast, outsider, and foreigner and why Elisha healed the leprosy of the commander of an enemy army rather than any of the people of Israel.

Jeremiah and the people of Nazareth made the same mistake.  They assumed that the focus was on them when God repeatedly tells us that the work of the kingdom is not about us.  It’s about God.  And when Jesus reminded them that they weren’t the center of attention, that Israel’s greatest prophets revealed God’s power to outsiders, and that he simply isn’t going to perform miracles on command, they got so angry that they transformed into a mob that tried to kill him.  And that’s when the miracle happens.  The synagogue mob tries to throw Jesus off a cliff… and he walks right through the crowd and goes on his way.  There seems to be only two possibilities.  Either Jesus simply faces down the mob and they suddenly have a change of heart, or some other miracle happened such that they were stunned, or Jesus became invisible, or something.  But from what we know about mobs, and how intense they are when they become violent, it seems obvious that God miraculously intervened at this moment so that Jesus just walks away and goes on about his business.

The people in the synagogue in Nazareth completely missed the point.

But how often are we guilty of the same thing?

In 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Paul writes to the church and cautions them not to miss the point saying:

13:1 If I speak in the tonguesof men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Paul says that the whole point of ministry in the kingdom of God, is to be loving while we’re doing it.  The point is that everything eventually ends.  Prophecies end, languages end, voices end, childhood ends, people end, knowledge ends, everything eventually ends.  The only exceptions to the rule, the only things that last forever, are faith, hope, and love.  And love is the greatest of the three.

Too often we, even in the church, miss the point.  Too often, like Jeremiah, we think that ministry is about us. That we can’t witness, that we can’t minister to others, that we can’t participate in God’s mission and ministry because of some limitation that we think we have.  We’re too young, we’re too old, we’re too shy, we’re not good with words, we’re not popular enough, or rich enough, or good looking enough, or some other excuse with which we’ve convinced ourselves.  But God’s reply to us is the same as it was to Jeremiah.  It’s not about us.  It’s all about the God who created the universe.  And if, and when, God sends us, he goes with us and give us the power to do the thing that he sent us to do.

Too often miss the point like the people in the synagogue of Nazareth.  We think that God will perform miracles for us on command.  We pray for something that we want and get angry, and even we lose faith, when God doesn’t do what we think God ought to do.

And too often we miss the point like the people of Corinth.  We want to do ministry the way that we want to do it.  We want things to be the way that we want them.  We want the rules to be the way we want them.  We want to say whatever we want to say in whatever way we feel like saying it.  We want to do whatever we want to do.  We do things our way and convince ourselves that we’re doing the work of God.  And we do all these things without any regard to how it makes other people feel.  But Paul reminds us that we’ve forgotten the point if we forget to be loving.  We can’t tell the world about a loving God while we’re hurting them.  Mission and ministry are great.  God calls all of us to kingdom work.  All of us are called to be a part of God’s mission and ministry.  But we miss the point if the people around us can’t see that our ministry is filled with faith, hope, and love.

Yes, we need to tell the people of the world about Jesus.

But they can’t, and they won’t, hear about his love if they can’t feel our love first.

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