In the Stillness of the Morning
Sunday, December 26, 2021
Rev. Chris Martin
The video of this message can be found here: https://youtu.be/0b1sOIQ-gx8
In the Stillness of the Morning
Street
Out of Darkness
The video of this service can be found here: https://youtu.be/TF7bDRrEhMY.
Out of Darkness
(Christmas Eve)
December 24, 2021*
By Pastor John Partridge
Isaiah 9:2-7 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-20
Scripture Readings
Isaiah 9:2-7
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Luke 2:1-20
2:1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying, and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Out of Darkness
(Christmas Eve)
December 24, 2021
By Pastor John Partridge
Eight hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah told of a messiah that would bring light to a people who walked in darkness, a savior that would bring light, joy, freedom, and the end of violence, a child that would bring endless peace, justice, and righteousness that would last forever. After hearing Isaiah’s words, generation after generation watched for the coming of the Messiah. The promise of God’s rescuer and redeemer was ever-present in the minds of the people of Israel, and even more precious, during times of hardship and suffering. And so, after a civil war that divided the country, and the arrival of an occupying Roman army, as well as a burden of taxation and mistreatment at the hands of the Romans and their (often corrupt) tax collectors, the people were starved for good news and dreamed of the day when the Messiah would rescue them and change the world.
And then, as we heard in the story of Luke, on a dark hillside, probably in the springtime (because that’s when shepherds and their flocks would have been in the mountains), darkness is overcome by the light and the glory of God. It isn’t difficult to imagine that in a world where candles and oil lamps were the state of the art, the lighting of an entire hillside was a terrifying experience. But the message that they shepherds heard was, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” The light had come. Darkness was being overthrown. The Messiah had arrived.
And when the angels had left them, even without instructions, the shepherds knew exactly what to do.
The people had been hoping and praying for this to happen for eight hundred years. Especially now, with the Roman occupation, the people needed to hear, they needed to know, because this was indeed “good news of great joy for all the people.” The shepherds knew that they couldn’t keep this news to themselves. They needed to go, immediately, with haste. They hurried so that they could see this miracle for themselves and so that they could share the good news with everyone that they could find.
But what does it mean for us two thousand years later? Of course, it is still “good news of great joy.” It is still news that gives us hope for a future, and an eternity, filled with light, joy, freedom, and peace. But what else? As Paul writes to Titus in Crete, he describes the arrival of Jesus this way (Titus 2:11-14):
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, 12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
Paul says that the arrival of Jesus brings salvation and rescue to all people, but that Jesus also came to train us to turn our backs on sin, immorality, vice and worldly passions and instead live lives that are filled with self-control, righteousness, and godliness. The Messiah, Paul says, sacrificed himself so that we could be rescued from sin and made into a nation of people who are purified and eager to do good.
Every year, we meet at this time to remember. We spend weeks celebrating the season of Advent, singing Christmas carols, watching Christmas specials on television, listening to Christmas music, decorating our homes, and whole neighborhoods, having Christmas parties at work, at home, at school, and at all sorts of clubs to which we belong. And there’s nothing wrong with that. This is, of course, good news of great joy for all the people. There is every reason to remember and celebrate. But let’s not forget God’s purpose. Let’s not forget the reason that Jesus came was not just to rescue us from sin, but to train us to turn our backs on sin, immorality, and the worldly passions that our culture passes off as normal. Instead, Jesus calls us to live lives that are filled with self-control, righteousness, and godliness. Jesus sacrificed himself so that we, the church, could be transformed into a nation of people who are eager to do good.
Let us never forget that the angel said that this was “good news of great joy for all the people.” Not just the Israeli people, not just the Jewish people, not just the Christian people, but for all the people. And so, our mission, the mission of the church and of every person in it, is to remember the shepherds; to go out from this place praising God, sharing this good news with everyone that we can find, and doing everything that we can to become a people who are eager to do good.
Merry Christmas everyone.
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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.
Christmas after Lockdown
Christmas After Lockdown
The last year and nine months has been, and continues to be, a long, strange, whirlwind of constant changes, news stories, changes, adaptations, and continued hope for a return to something approaching the “normal” that we remember. Because of the threat of the coronavirus, and the statewide lockdown, we were unable to meet in person for Christmas Eve and so we did the best that we could to “meet” one another virtually. Due to the hard work of our church staff and volunteers, and the amazing video editing of Bob Wallace, we produced a Christmas Eve video that I think surpassed almost any other similar attempt.
But as good as it was, it just wasn’t the same.
No matter how well we celebrated the arrival of the Christ child individually, there was still something missing. Christmas wasn’t the same without being together.
Families are like that. When we are apart, we can mail our gifts to one another, but it isn’t the same as being together. In fact, for many of us, giving and receiving gifts has lost the urgency and the sparkle that it had when we were children. What’s important, and treasured, now is just being together, seeing one another, sharing our stories and our lives, and just spending time together.
And Christmas Eve is all of that, and more. Because the Spirit of God dwells within each one of us as the followers of Jesus, when we are together, we feel the presence, not only of other people, but also the presence of God himself. That’s true every Sunday, and any time that we meet in groups that are large or small, but if you are like me, we feel that sensation of closeness to God most keenly only a few times each year and one of those times is on Christmas Eve.
This year, many of us will, once again, meet together, in person, for Christmas Eve, but we will also be livestreaming that worship service for anyone who is unable to attend or who still feels uncomfortable being around a crowd of people. Rest assured, however, that we continue to encourage mask wear for everyone in attendance and remember that there is ample room to find seats with plenty of “social distance” between you and others. In fact, if this year looks like others in recent history, you can probably have the balcony all to yourself.
But, whichever, option you choose, I hope that you will join us. Moreover, I hope that each one of you will invite at least five others to join us. Christmas Eve is easily one of the most attended worship services of the year in almost every church in North America and, for that reason, is a time when friends are most willing to accept an invitation to attend.
Christmas Eve and Christmas are a time when we draw close to one another, and draw close to God, in a way that is both special and memorable not just because of the people, but because it is a time when we encounter the Spirit of God in a special way. Of course, we will share the extraordinary experience of hearing our choirs, bell choirs, pipe organ, and singing traditional and meaningful carols of Christmas together. But most importantly, we will remember the story of God’s invasion of the earth and the arrival of the Christ child, who would become the rescuer and redeemer of all humanity.
I hope that you will join us as we draw closer one another, and closer to God, together.
Blessings,
Pastor John
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The Miracle of Contradictions
(Video of this service can be found here: https://youtu.be/aOLC9MA9-GA)
The Miracle of Contradictions
(Fourth Sunday of Advent)
December 19, 2021*
By Pastor John Partridge
What are your favorite Christmas gifts?
We often see television commercials that try to convince us that fifty-thousand-dollar pickup trucks are an appropriate gift with which to surprise your spouse, apparently without consulting them on such a huge expenditure. Yikes.
But advertisers also try to convince us that bigger is better and that Christmas is a time to overextend our spending and buy diamonds, or giant flat screen televisions, or other things that almost certainly don’t fit in out budgets. But is it the big things that we remember? What gifts do you have in your homes, or in your memories, that you treasure the most? I still have a Mickey Mouse watch that I wore when I was in elementary school, and I have a paperweight that my grandfather brought home from a trip to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. And I remember a Christmas when my brother Dean gave me a little plastic railroad crossing gate for the model railroad that my father and I were building in the basement. Dean didn’t know anything about our project, but he knew that I liked trains. It wasn’t an expensive gift. And it came out of the package broken. Dean was visibly disappointed that he had given me something broken. But you know what? I glued it back together and it found a place in our layout. But more than that, I knew that he cared. I’m pretty sure that crossing gate got thrown out or lost several decades ago, but I think about that gift, and the thought and love behind it often when I see crossing gates on model railroads anywhere.
It sounds like a contradiction, but often the most meaningful and the most memorable gifts aren’t the biggest or most expensive but were in fact the smallest and most inexpensive.
And we see those same kinds of contradictions at work in the story of Christmas as God upsets the status quo and sends the king of the universe to be born in stable and sleep in a feeding trough. And the entire story of Christmas and the coming of the messiah is steeped in, and filled with, those contradictions from the earliest prophecies of his coming. And, as we look for, and investigate, these contradictions, we find that these contradictions are some of the greatest miracles of all. We begin this morning with God’s prophecy of the coming messiah found in Micah 5:2-5a where it says:
2 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;and he shall be the one of peace.
Micah declares that the smallest of Israel’s clans will produce the greatest king that Israel would ever have and continues by saying that God was bringing something new into the world that was already ancient. Micah says that someone new is coming to rule in Israel who already existed in the dark recesses of their ancient past. And so, Judah would be both small and great, the messiah would be both new and ancient, and would have great strength but would bring peace instead of bloodshed. And then with the coming of Jesus, the contradictions continue as we read Luke 1:39-45 where he says:
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
Elizabeth declares that Mary, despite being poor, is the most blessed woman on the planet. Also, Elizabeth recognized Mary’s child, who was unborn, as her Lord and king. And if those contradictions weren’t enough, Elizabeth’s child, John, despite being blind and still inside of his mother’s womb, sees clearly, and has the perception to recognize the arrival of Jesus and Mary.
And the contradictions continue in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews as he summarizes the coming of Jesus this way in Hebrews 10:5-10:
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’
(in the scroll of the book it is written of me).”
8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Jesus said that sacrifices and offerings were not desired by God even though history, tradition, scripture, and the law of Moses required them. And then Paul says that the coming of Jesus not only abolishes God’s system of worship for his people, but also establishes a new system of worship for his people.
That’s a lot of contradiction in just a small sampling of scripture from the Christmas story. But why would I say that this is a miracle? What is this miracle of contradictions?
Simply put, the miracle of contradictions is that the story of Christmas isn’t just one big miracle about the birth of the messiah. It isn’t just a story about the birth of a king, or even the birth of God’s son. It’s a bigger and deeper story that involves ordinary people, with ordinary lives, and a story in which God, repeatedly, does the unexpected, in new, different, and surprising ways.
Judah is small, but great.
The Messiah is new, but ancient.
Would be strong enough to rule the ends of the earth but would bring peace instead of bloodshed.
Mary is poor but blessed beyond measure.
Jesus is unborn, but king.
John is blind but sees.
The sacrifices of God are required but undesired.
The messiah’s arrival abolishes but establishes.
The story of Christmas is filled with the miracle of contradictions, and it is that miracle that makes the story unexpected, fills the story with mystery and wonder, draws us in, and welcomes us, not only as spectators, but participants in the story. The story of the coming of the messiah is filled, not with kings and princes, and rich and powerful people of influence, but ordinary people like us. The story of Christmas is a story of poor people, farmers, laborers, sheep herders, scholars, infants, old people, the forgotten, the outcasts, and the unwanted. In God’s most powerful and meaningful story, the pivotal actors are all people like us. Ordinary.
God did not choose to use kings and princes. Instead, he used ordinary people of faith. God chose to trust the people who trusted him to begin his most miraculous work of all and to share the story of that miracle with the world.
And that’s still the way that God works.
That’s a part of the mystery and wonder of the story.
God still calls ordinary people; people like you and me. God still calls farmers, laborers, sheep herders, children, the elderly, the forgotten, the outcasts, the unwanted, and the unexpected. The greatest movements in history, the greatest agents of change in the world, are usually not presidents and prime ministers, bad boys, and billionaires, or even millionaires, movie stars and the monied elites. The people who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the orphans and the widows, bandage the wounded, and do the work of Jesus in the world are, most often, unsung, unheralded, unnoticed, ordinary people of faith because God trusts the people who trust him.
It’s mysterious and it’s wonderful.
The miracle of contradictions is that the God who spoke the universe into existence, wants me, and wants you, to do his work, to represent him, to be his ambassadors, to share his story with the world, and to be Jesus to the people around us.
We see it in the Christmas story, but God has been working like that all along.
It is one of life’s greatest contradictions.
But these are the contradictions that welcome us into the story.
Not just as spectators… but as participants.
And may just be the most meaningful Christmas gift of all.
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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.
Should We Rejoice or Flee?
(Video of this service can be found here: https://youtu.be/IOd2NYgjGNk)
Should We Rejoice or Flee?
(Third Sunday of Advent)
December 12, 2021*
By Pastor John Partridge
Zephaniah 3:14-20 Luke 3:7-18 Philippians 4:4-7
What does it cost, and what is it worth to be a member of something?
Many of you will remember the advertising campaign that was used by American Express from 1974 to 1987 that said, “Membership has its privileges.” Membership, of course, cost money, but for many frequent travelers, the membership benefits were, and are, worth far more than the annual fee for the card.
Similarly, joining the local Country Club can be worthwhile if you like to play golf on a regular basis and if you use the benefits that come with membership.
If you just want to show off, you can probably find someone that will, for a small fee, make you a fake American Express Gold Card or a fake Country Club membership card that you can show off at parties. But your fake card isn’t going to give you any of the benefits that you get with the real thing. You won’t get 24 hour concierge service, or emergency airline ticketing, or collect reward points, you won’t get to play golf or even get in the door to eat in the country club banquet room. A fake card lets you pretend that you’re a member, but does not give you any of the benefits of actual membership.
All that may seem to be an odd thing to think about during Advent, but it may help us to understand some of the things we hear in our scripture passages this morning. We begin with God’s words about the coming messiah, to the people of Israel, recorded by the prophet Zephaniah (Zephaniah 3:14-20)
14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will renew youin his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
18 as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19 I will deal with all your oppressors
at that time.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes, says the Lord.
God makes it clear that the coming of the Messiah will be a reason for rejoicing and happiness. On that day fear will be taken away and replaced with joy, gladness, and love. Shame will be transformed into praise as the people who have been dispersed around the world will return and be welcomed home at last.
That fits with the joyful themes that we expect as we prepare for Christmas during the season of Advent. But we might be a little confused when we discover that this isn’t at all the picture that John the Baptist paints as he preaches in the wilderness in Luke 3:7-18.
7 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” 11 In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation and, be satisfied with your wages.”
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you withthe Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
John starts with, “You brood of vipers” and a warning to flee from God’s punishment and anger, but still ends with Luke describing his words as “good news.” How does that work? Much of John’s message is about God uprooting unproductive followers, and a reminder that we cannot rest on the faith and work of our parents or other ancestors, and he cautions everyone to be fair to others regardless of their profession, and to honor God in all that they do. But still, how does this get summarized as “good news?”
And, as it that wasn’t confusing enough, Paul seems to echo the optimism of Zephaniah as he writes to the church in Philippi (Philippians 4:4-7) saying:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
So, which is it? Should we rejoice or flee? Should we have peace, or should we be worried about God’s wrath, anger, and punishment?
And the answer is just as simple as it was for American Express or the country club across town. Membership has its privileges but the card you carry in your pocket needs to be the real one. Coming to church on Sunday just so that you can tell your friends that you are a Christian isn’t going to be enough if you live the rest of the week as if Jesus, and everything that he teaches, doesn’t matter. Putting money in the offering plate won’t make a bit of difference if your faith doesn’t change the way that you live your life when you aren’t in the church building. Saying that you are a Christian doesn’t make you one. Being a genuine follower of Jesus Christ means living a life that models the teachings of Jesus. Love your neighbor, love those how hate you and who persecute you, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger and the foreigner, care for the poor, and all those other things that you find in the Gospel message that we talk about here every week.
We can’t just go to church; we have to be the church. We can’t just say that we love Jesus, we have to live, and we have to love, like Jesus.
Once we manage that, then we will be the people that Paul was describing. Our gentleness will be known to everyone, we won’t need to worry, and we can rest in the peace of God. John’s message is that fake membership cards aren’t going to be enough, but that genuine membership is free.
And it is for that reason that we rejoice. Because this is indeed good news, of great joy, for all the people.
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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.
Prepare the… What?
(Video of this service can be found here: https://youtu.be/RJ4_5liF5cs )
Prepare the… What?
(Second Sunday of Advent)
December 05, 2021*
By Pastor John Partridge
Malachi 3:1-4 Luke 3:1-6 Philippians 1:3-11
This morning we need to talk about preparation. We know that the motto of our Troops 50 scouts is to always “Be Prepared.” But for what should we prepare? If we look at how we often use the world preparation, it appears in quite a few places and means something different in each case.
If a restaurant advertises for a Prep Cook, what they need is someone to get their day started, to make the ingredients for meals, so that food can be made to order later. Prep cooks might make bread dough, or mix batches of pancake batter in the morning, or they could be peeling potatoes or chopping vegetables that will be used later.
If we go shopping and we buy “prepared food,” what we’ve purchased is food that has already had most of the work done for us. If we cook from scratch, as we read through our cookbooks or online recipes, we find that each one often tells us how much “prep time,” or preparation time, is required before we start cooking. And, if we’re trying to pass an upcoming state board exam, we might sign up, and pay, for a “test prep” class to make sure that all the most important information is fresh on our minds.
All these things are important and I want you to keep them in mind as we read today’s scriptures and consider what it is for which we are preparing. We begin this morning with the Old Testament prophecy of the coming messiah found in Malachi 3:1-4 where we hear these words:
3:1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; 3 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Malachi says that God is sending a messenger to prepare the way ahead of his arrival and when he arrives, he will refine and purify his people until they become suitable and righteous offerings that are pleasing to God. And then in Luke 3:1-6, we hear Isaiah’s words used to describe John the Baptist as a person who has come to prepare the way before the arrival of the Lord when he says…
3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was rulerof Galilee, and his brother Philip rulerof the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias rulerof Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth;
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Luke says that John’s mission was to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah that had been foretold by Malachi, Isaiah, and other Old Testament prophets, and the purpose of his preparations were so that every human being could see the salvation and rescue of God. John’s appearance as the fulfillment of scripture, as the person whom God sent to prepare the way for the arrival of the Messiah, is an important part of Advent and the story of Christmas. But we all know that the Messiah, Jesus came. So, what does that mean for each of us? The arrival of Jesus happened more than two thousand years ago. We can’t take John’s job; we can no longer prepare for the arrival of Jesus… or can we?
In Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, he writes to a church that was established well after Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Like us, they knew the Christmas story and they knew, as we do, that they could not prepare for Jesus’ arrival. But there was still something that God was calling them to do, and we hear that calling in the words of Philippians 1:3-11 when Paul says:
3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4 constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5 because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s gracewith me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10 to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11 having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
Paul says that the calling of the church is not to prepare for Jesus’s arrival, but to be so filled with the love of Jesus that our love overflows into the world and into the lives of the people around us. But our calling to love is in addition to our calling to prepare. While we are no longer called to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah, we now have three callings instead. We are now called to prepare our minds so that we will increase our knowledge, gain insight, and grow in faith, to prepare our hearts so that we will be pure and righteous, and to prepare our actions so that we will share the message of Jesus and produce a harvest of righteousness that brings glory and praise to God.
As we walk through the season of Advent and as we read the story of Christmas, let us remember that it is not just a story from long ago and far away. It is a story of here and now, of you and me, and it is a calling for us to have hope, to have faith, and to prepare the way with just as much joy and passion as John the Baptist did two thousand years ago. But while John was called to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah, we are called to prepare ourselves, our neighbors, our friends, our communities, our nation, and our world for the King that will rule for all eternity.
(Video of this service can be found here: https://youtu.be/RJ4_5liF5cs )
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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.
Now We Must Do the Singing
Since I had the week off, there is no text to share with you. But you can still join in the fun by listening to Pastor Chris Martin by listening to this podcast…
or watching the livestream on YouTube here:
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Good News of Great Joy?
Good News of Great Joy?
As I write this, Thanksgiving is just a few days away and Sunday we will begin our celebration of the Advent season. During that season we will constantly be looking outwards, at others, and at the world. We will look at Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, Caesar Augustus, shepherds, wise men, angels, as well as a few other characters with smaller roles. We will think about the coming of the Messiah and what that means to the church, to the world, to our calling as evangelize and share the good news, and other important lessons. But, despite the value of doing all these things, we might also want to spend some time looking inwards.
Looking inwards means asking what the story means to me, what the story is calling me to be, and to do. When we see the shepherds, we should ask ourselves, “What would I have done if I were among them?” Would we have stayed behind with the sheep? Having heard the angels, and having seen the baby in a manger, would we have gone throughout the city rejoicing and telling everyone that we could find?
When we hear the story of the wise men, we might wonder how willing we are to hear the calling of God. Would we drop everything, based on our best research and study, to spend months of unpleasant travel, just so that we could witness a miracle, bring gifts, and then spend months traveling home again?
After every story, there is a moment for us to look inward and ask God what he is calling us to hear, not just about a two thousand year-old story, but how God wants that story to change our lives, us, today. Is God calling us to be more faithful, like Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Simeon the priest, Anna the prophetess, the shepherds, or the Magi? Do we hear the calling for the church, and us, to evangelize the world in the story of the shepherds and the Magi? And there is more. In every story that we read in scripture God calls to us. If we listen, our souls can feel the pull of God’s leading us in a new direction.
And so, as we celebrate the season of Advent and Christmas, I invite you to open your hearts, and take the time to reflect. Ask yourself, “What does God want me to do with this story?” What is it that God is trying to tell me? How is God asking me to change? What kind of a person is God calling me to be? Is God calling me into something new?
Every day, God is calling us to be transformed and renewed into the image of Jesus Christ. Our regular prayer on Sunday morning is to become more and more like Jesus and the person that Jesus created us to be. And so, when we hear the angels proclaim that they bring “Good news of great joy for all the people” we might ask ourselves if the same is true for us. When people hear that Christ Church is coming, is that good news? Or what do people think when they hear that we are coming? Is the arrival of _(insert your name here)_ “good news of great joy”?
The stories of Advent and Christmas are wonderful and inspiring, but they aren’t just there to stir wonder and bring inspiration. The stories are intended to transform us. The stories of Christmas, and all of scripture, are intended to change us so that we become less like Saul and more like Paul, less like Satan and more like Jesus, less like we once were and more like God intends for us to be.
As we plunge into Advent, I hope that we will do more than splash around in the shallows or swim along the surface. This year, I invite you to…
…dive deep.
Blessings,
Pastor John
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Advent 2021
Advent 2021
Do you have a friend that always ruins new television shows, movies, or books for you by telling you the ending? Online, the word that everyone uses is “spoiler.” If an online conversation is going to talk about a big surprise, or how a movie or television show end before everyone has a chance to watch them, then the beginning of the conversation is often labelled “Spoiler Alert” so that you can choose to stop reading those posts and ruin the surprise for yourself.
Avoiding spoilers is sort of the same reason that I encourage everyone to attend church and participate in all our Advent worship services between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Skipping Advent and showing up at Christmas Eve is a lot like buying a new book and reading the last chapter first, or fast forwarding and watching the ending before you watch the rest of the movie. Sure, the story is the same either way, but by starting at the end rather than at the beginning, and by skipping the character development, the plot twists, and the natural growth of the story we miss much of the excitement and anticipation as the story evolves.
All those reasons are a part of why we celebrate Advent. It isn’t because we don’t already know how the story turns out, but it’s a lot like rereading a favorite book, or rewatching a favorite movie. A week or two ago, Patti and I were re-watching Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” movie, and there were several times when one of us would say, “Oh, I didn’t remember that part.” But each of those parts made watching the whole movie even better.
Christmas is like that. Christmas Eve is the last chapter, the denouement, the conclusion, the finale, the big ending. It’s a great part of the story, but there’s so much more to it that we often forget from year to year and the story is so much stronger, and the anticipation greater, if we start at the beginning.
And so, once again, I invite you to join me as we journey through the Advent season, as we remember the whole story, dig into the character development, plot twists, and the natural evolution of the story. Trust me, just like reading a good book, or watching a favorite movie, starting at the beginning will make the ending even more awesome.
Blessings,
Pastor John
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2021 Pastor’s Report
2021 Pastor’s Report
During 2021 we continue to struggle with the fallout from the global COVID-19 pandemic. For nearly half of the year we were online only, then in-person, but outdoors, and now indoors with livestreaming to those who remain uncomfortable with a return to indoor worship. The pandemic, and its effects on worship has, not surprisingly, had enormous ripple effects throughout the life of the church. Giving, while stable through 2020, saw a major decline during the first half of 2021 but has seen some recovery since our return indoors. Church committees, which did an admirable job of pivoting to Zoom during the lockdown, have largely returned to in-person meetings but, to some extent, still struggle with finding ways to maintain effective mission and ministry while also wearing masks, social distancing, etc.
But, as we have transitioned back to worship in our sanctuary, and have retained our online presence, we are hopeful that, as the pandemic, eventually, winds down, that we will see more members return to a fact-to-face connection. We are hopeful that we will renew our connection with our friends and meet in-person with those who found us online, and whom we have only met virtually. We are hopeful that our attendance, and giving, will return to, and exceed, our pre-pandemic levels, and we look forward to a return to more active participation in mission and ministry outside the walls of our church.
But that doesn’t mean we haven’t done anything this year. Although all meals continue to be carry-out only, we continue to host the weekly community dinners which are now serving more than 130 meals each week. Christ Church once again raised considerably more than was pledged for our part in the “Apostle Build” Habitat for Humanity house constructed this summer. And, due to the unexpected spike in the price of building materials caused by the pandemic lock down, the excess funds that we raised were sorely needed and greatly appreciated. Our United Methodist Women had a successful Basement Sale fundraiser and, once again, donated a large amount of unsold clothing and housewares to our friends at the Big Creek mission in the Red Bird missionary conference. Even though we have been unable to send a mission team for two years, we hope to deliver a full trailer of donations before the snow flies. These and other mission efforts have adapted and continued despite the difficulties of the past two years. This adaptability and persistence encourages us and makes us hopeful that next year will be even better.
And so, as we move toward Thanksgiving, Advent, and a New Year, we understand that the crisis is not over. We look forward to preparing 1200 Thanksgiving meals for our community, double our number for last year and close to where we were before the pandemic. But we know that we will continue to face struggles and will have obstacles to overcome. At the same time, we are encouraged and hopeful that God will has plans for us and will continue to use Christ Church as a lighthouse of hope and an embassy of his kingdom in our community and for our world. Our prayer is that we will move from a place of struggle and surviving, to reviving, and then onward to thriving.
We may not know the future, but we know who holds the future.
And that future is full of hope.
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Pastor Partridge 