stones

The Limits of Preparation

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The Limits of Preparation

June 23, 2024*

By Pastor John Partridge

1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49              Mark 4:35-41           Corinthians 6:1-13

German Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke was a brilliant military strategist in the 19th Century. He is known today for a quote that has gained popular traction in a shortened form that simply says, “No plan survives contact with the enemy”. This saying applies outside of its obvious military roots because no matter how much we plan or prepare, life is always more complicated and unexpected than our preparations. Olympic athletes train in all sorts of weather, they get hundreds of our nation’s best scientists to develop and oversee their training programs, nutritionists to maximize their diet for the best possible outcome, and still, on the day of the race, they can turn an ankle, trip over an unseen obstacle on the way to the race, or even stumble when a stray cat runs across the track. Life is unpredictable and while preparation must still be an important part of our planning, our preparation and planning won’t always get us across the finish line.

Let’s begin with a story that we have all probably heard before, the story of David and Goliath. I’m going to assume that most of us are familiar with the story, so I’m going skip around a little to save some time. We begin reading this story today from 1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49.

Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah.

4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. [9 ft. 9 inches, for reference, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neill are 7’1” and Andre the Giant was 7’4”] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels [125 pounds]; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. [15 pounds] His shield bearer went ahead of him.

8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.

32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So, he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

There’s a lot that can be said about what we find in that reading, but here are the things that I want to highlight: First, Goliath was the champion of the Philistine army. He wasn’t just big; he was the strongest and most skillful soldier of all the Philistines such that none of their other soldiers could beat him. Second, when Goliath offered to end the war by fighting one-on-one with anybody from Israel’s army, Saul the king, as well as his bodyguards, all of the professional soldiers, as well as all of those men, like David’s bothers, that had been conscripted, were terrified because no one, trained or not, could imagine that they could fight Goliath and win. Third, their fear was so great, that whenever they saw Goliath, they ran… but not David. Fourth, Goliath, Saul, and David all spent time in preparation.

Goliath had spent his entire life as a warrior, training with his sword, spear, and javelin. Saul had trained, but he knew that he had been prepared to lead and not to fight. And so, as best as he was able, Saul prepared David to face Goliath the ways that he knew. He gave him his own layers of armor, his helmet, and his sword. But they didn’t fit David, he hadn’t trained to use them, and was unaccustomed to how they felt. And so, instead, David prepared the way that he knew. He took off the armor, set aside the helmet and sword, picked up his shepherd’s staff, and selected five stones (which were probably just a bit smaller than baseballs) that he knew would be suitable for spinning and throwing with his sling.

Of course, David won. But there was more to his accomplishment than preparation because there were others in Saul’s army that knew how to use a sling.

Jesus points to what made David different in Mark 4:35-41, where we hear this:

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

The fishermen were prepared. They had a boat, and they had years of experience, but… there was a squall, a particularly bad, and sudden, appearance of stormy weather. The thing that separated the fishermen from success was… faith.

But, as we consider our present situation and what it takes to share in the work of the Kingdom of God, to share our faith, to grow our church, and to share the good news of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul has a few more words of advice that we find in 2 Corinthians 6:1-13. Paul says…

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.

11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. 12 We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. 13 As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

I have often said that the first rule of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ is simply… don’t be a jerk. But Paul puts a finer point on it than that. He says that because God wants to save every single person on the planet, and because God is at work trying to rescue them, in all our encounters with the people around us we should “put no stumbling block in anyone’s path.” Which means, don’t do, or say, anything to the people around you that will make it harder for them to hear the message of Jesus Christ from you, of from anyone else today, tomorrow, or ten years from now. If you were trying to save someone from drowning, you would neither put rocks in their pockets, nor do anything to make them afraid of lifeguards or Coast Guard rescue swimmers. Even if you aren’t having any success, even if they favor a brand of politics you don’t like, or participate in a lifestyle with which you disagree, don’t do anything, or say anything, that might prevent them from hearing about Jesus from someone else. Secondly, Paul says, give freely of your affection and “open wide your hearts.” And that means to ask nicely, be kind, be friendly, be loving, and be polite.

It is good for us to read the Bible, study scripture, read books, come to Sunday school and church, learn how to share our faith, and build our confidence in doing so. But the reality is, and always has been, that “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” Life is complicated, and no matter how much we prepare and plan, life doesn’t always happen the way that we had hoped. But beyond our planning and preparation, like David, we have faith that God has our backs to do the things that we can’t do and to plan for the things we cannot know. But we must also listen to Paul so that we are not the reason that someone stumbles and is unable to hear God calling them through the voices of others now, or in the future. Don’t be a jerk. Give love freely, ask nicely, be kind, be friendly, be loving, and be polite.

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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.™

Stoned, Stoners, and Stones

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Stoned, Stoners, and Stones

May 17, 2020*

By Pastor John Partridge

 

John 14:1-14              Acts 7:55-60                    1 Peter 2:2-10

 

Growing up in the 70’s and going to high school in the 80’s, we were surrounded by references to “stoner” culture even if we chose not to participate in it.  Bob Dylan sang that “Everybody must get stoned,” people tried to be cool by owning a copy of High Times magazine, most of my friends could usually quote lines from Cheech and Chong’s “Up in Smoke” movie and just about everyone was familiar with Bob Marley’s Jamaican flavored Reggae music. 

 

That explains the first part of today’s sermon title, “Stoned” and “Stoners” and, for my generation, the third one “The Stones” is simply Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood, better know collectively as, the Rolling Stones.

 

And, while those are the meanings that my generation would automatically assume for those three words, the meaning of those words in scripture, and what they meant to the writers of the New Testament, is entirely different.  But before we get to that, we need to understand the background behind the story of John 14:1-14, where we find the disciples of Jesus are upset because Jesus told them that he is leaving.  They do not understand where he is going and, since they have walked side-by-side with him for the last three years, they don’t understand why they can’t go with him this time.  And so, Jesus explains it this way:

 

14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

 

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

 

First, as his followers, Jesus has a powerful message for each one of us and that is, there is a place for you.  Let me say that again.  

 

There IS a place for you.

 

For everyone who has ever felt like a misfit, or has felt like an outcast, or an outsider, or like they were left out, or forgotten, or not good enough, or not pretty or handsome enough, or not smart enough, or rich enough, or old enough, or young enough, or however that you have felt that you were somehow just not… enough, Jesus wants you to know that there is a place for you.  Jesus promises his disciples, and us, that he will come back so that he can take us to the place that he is, even now, preparing for us.

 

But despite Jesus’ assurances, and despite his promise to return and take them with him, the disciples persist in their worrying.  Thomas wonders how they can go to this place if they don’t know the way, but again, Jesus explains that he is the way.  For most of us, that makes sense.  If we get in the car with a friend who is driving us to a place we have never been, we trust that, since they have been there before, that they can get us there.  When we get on a cruise ship, or an airplane, we have no idea how ships and airplanes work, or how to pilot them, or steer them, or how to get from where we are to where we want to go.  But we trust that the pilot, the captain, and the navigator know those things.  If we can trust them to know the way, surely, we can trust Jesus. If we know Jesus, that is enough.

 

But while this has enormous implications for us as we struggle to feel comfortable in our own skin, why is this important?  What difference does it make if we believe Jesus and trust that there is a place for us?

 

First, it makes a difference in our decision-making process and in how we live our lives.  In Acts 7:55-60 we hear the story of Stephen, one of the earliest followers of Jesus that we know outside of the disciples.  Stephen was a powerful preacher and was becoming well-known for the signs and wonders that he was able to perform in the name of Jesus.  And so, like Jesus, his popularity began to threaten the religious leaders of Jerusalem and they trumped up charges against him and called in some false witnesses against him.  But, rather than being intimidated by them, rather than backing down, when Stephen was given the opportunity to speak, he gave a scripture lesson to a room full of religious scholars and in it, he mercilessly rebuked them for resisting God, ignoring the teaching of scripture, and for their conspiracy to kill both John the Baptist and Jesus.

 

This did not go well.  The temple leaders were not pleased.

 

55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

 

Simply put, the example that we are given in this story, is that because Stephen knew Jesus, and because he trusted Jesus, he had the confidence, and the courage, to do whatever God called him to do, and to say whatever needed to be said, regardless of the cost of doing so.  And, even as he was being stoned to death, Stephen prayed for the forgiveness of his murderers.  But we still might be tempted to say that Stephen was special.  That there was something about him that was different than each of us, and that we could never preach, or do miracles, or performs signs and wonders. 

 

But that isn’t what Peter says and it isn’t what Jesus said.  You’ll remember that in the passage from John 14 that we read earlier, Jesus said that the power of Jesus was not his power, but the power of the Father, living in him, that was doing the work.  And, in 1 Peter 2:2-10, Peter also explains that the thing that gave Stephen the power and the courage to do what he did, is the same thing, the same Father, that lives in each one of us.  He says, …

 

2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
    will never be put to shame.”

7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

8 and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

 

In our earlier story, we discovered that the religious leaders were, literally, the stoners, and Stephen was, again, literally stoned.  But in this passage, we discover that rather that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, we are “The Stones.”  Peter says that Jesus is the “living stone” but we also are like living stones because Jesus is using us, building us, into a spiritual house.  We are being shaped, developed, and built up, so that we can be a holy priesthood, and offer spiritual sacrifices to God. 

 

Peter reminds us that Jesus was the living stone, and was chosen, by God, to be the cornerstone of his church, but the builders, the church leaders of Israel, rejected Jesus.  They stumbled over him because they could neither accept him nor his message.  For them, accepting him meant that they would have to change.  But because they disobeyed, God chose us as his people, and is making us into his royal priesthood and a holy nation.  We belong to God so that we can declare his praises.  Once we were wanderers, but we have been called, and are now the people of God.

 

Think about what that means.

 

As often as you have been in our church, or wherever your local church may be, or any church, or for that matter, any building that you can think of, name one brick, one block, one stone, that isn’t an important part of the whole.  The stones in God’s temple, or our local church, are all important to the structure and function of that building.  The collapse of the twin towers in New York on 9-11 didn’t happen when an airplane flew into them.  Both buildings survived the impact.  But they collapsed when one beam, weakened by the intense heat of the fire, lost its strength, and threw its load onto the beam below it.  And that beam, weakened and overburdened, fell upon the beam below it, and so on.  Every beam, every brick, and every stone plays a part and is vitally important to the structure and to the function of that building.

 

And God says that is you.

 

Jesus want you to know that not only is there a place for you, not only is he making a place for you in his house, but that you are, even now, a living stone, that he is building into a spiritual house.  Not only is there a place for you in his house, you are a vital and important part of that house and an integral piece of what God is doing in his church and in the world.

 

In a world of billions of people, where we often feel like we can easily get lost in the shuffle. God’s message is that you are important, and you have an important, even vital, role to play, and a job to do in his church and in his kingdom.

 

You have value. 

 

You belong. 

 

You are important. 

 

Not only are we in this together, but the church has been called do the work of Jesus Christ and you have been called to be a part of that work.

 

 

 

Have a great week everybody.

 

 

 

 

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/_Ww32oH-WF4

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