trauma

Moving from Tears to Victory

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Moving from Tears to Victory

November 16, 2025*

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 65:17-25                      Luke 21:5-19              2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Today, I want you to think about what the word “Childhood” means. Our ideal hope is that it refers to a time of innocence, playfulness, learning, development, and growth. But we all know that not all childhoods are created equally. Some of us had a childhood that leaned toward the ideal, but we all know of others whose childhood was less than ideal, or that ended much earlier than it should have because of a crisis, trauma, or death in the family. I have heard psychologists say that the childhood of an entire generation was shifted in important ways because of the national trauma that we all experienced on September 11th, 2001. But as much as we all would like everyone to have an idyllic childhood, our reality is that because we are imperfect humans that live in an imperfect world, even when we are doing well, most childhood fall far short of our ideals.

As parents, no matter how hard we try we cannot protect our children forever. The best that we can do is to give them the best start that we can because, sooner or later, in childhood or early adulthood, our children are going to experience loss, trauma, suffering, and other unpleasantness. If we’re honest, we can admit that experiencing those things, and learning to overcome them, or at least to survive them, contributes strongly to our maturity as adults. But even so, sometimes the tears, sorrow, suffering, trauma, and loss are hard to move past and we not only struggle with what we have experienced, but our path to maturity gets stuck, and we drag these negative experiences along with us as unwanted emotional and spiritual baggage.

And so, it’s fair for us to ask how we can move past our trauma, and to unload the baggage that we carry. And this is one of the questions for which we might find some answers as we read and think about our scriptures this morning. We begin this morning by reading the words of God from the prophet Isaiah. In these words, Isaiah writes to the people of Judah, both warning them that they will be conquered by the nation of Babylon, and that they will be carried off into captivity, but also that God would not forget them, and that they would one day return home. Reading from Isaiah 65:17-25, we hear these words:

17 “See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
    nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
    will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reacha hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
    so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
    they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
    while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
    and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

God tells the people of Judah that his creation is not done and that there will come a time when he will once again resume his work after his original seven days of creation. God promises that after all of the destruction, sorrow, suffering, and death that his people would witness, that he was one day going to start over and create a new heaven and a new earth and in that new place, the pain and grief of the our former world would fade and be forgotten. In these words, God promises a future filled with hope where weeping and crying would no longer be heard among his people and where life’s greatest sorrows and traumas would never happen again. Instead, God says that in that place everyone would be able to keep the things for which they had worked, fear of the natural world would be no more, and everyone, as well as their descendants, would be blessed.

But we all know that years of pain and suffering separated the people of Judah from the time of Isaiah’s words until the time of their return from captivity in Babylon. There was a separation between the time of the promise and the time of God’s restoration. Likewise, Jesus warns us that following him is not a magic bullet. By choosing to follow Jesus, our lives are not miraculously transformed into joy without pain. Instead, Jesus warns his disciples that while we are promised victory against our enemies, we must still endure hardship, pain, and suffering before that day comes. In Luke 21:5-19, we hear this Jesus describing the destruction of Jerusalem that would come forty years in the future in 70 CE, but Jesus also describes God’s promise of victory:

5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”

10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.

As Jesus and his disciples walk the streets of Jerusalem, and they marvel at a city that was filled with the magnificent architecture built by King Herod’s engineers as well as the most powerful kings and empires of the previous several hundred years. But Jesus warns them that many of them will live to see the day that, as marvelous as it was, it would all be destroyed and left in ruins. Further, Jesus says, they would see deceivers and imposters that would claim to be sent by Jesus, or even to be Jesus, they would hear of wars and uprisings, earthquakes, famines, pestilence, natural disasters, ominous portents, and signs, as well as personal suffering and persecution. Jesus says that everything that could go wrong, would go wrong, but no matter what happened, God would protect them if they would stand firm in their faith. The disciples understood that Jesus was saying that even if their suffering resulted in imprisonment, torture, and death, God would still greet them as they entered his kingdom as victors and conquerors and not as victims or the conquered. God’s promise is that because the war with the enemy has already been won, no matter what pain we might experience during our lives, we will stand as victors in life if we will only stand firm in our faith.

But as much as we might appreciate Jesus’ warning of future struggle and the hope of ultimate victory, we are still left with trying to figure out how to navigate through the life that we have been given in the world and the culture in which we live. And for that, we look once again to the Apostle Paul who gives life advice to the church in Thessalonica as he writes in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, saying:

6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teachingyou received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. 13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.

Paul tells the church that it is important how you choose your friends. While we are called to reach out to the lost people around us and to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone that we can, it remains vitally important that we protect ourselves. And one key tool that we have to do that is to surround ourselves with hardworking people of strong and solid faith who live lives of integrity and follow the teachings that have been handed down to us. Paul points out that even when he had every right to ask for some assistance from the church when he and his team were with them, he chose not to exercise his rights and instead they all worked secular jobs as well as preaching and teaching so that they would set a good example for the people of the church to model and imitate. Instead, Paul says, each of us who is able should work hard to contribute in every way that we can and not be tempted into idleness or disrupting the work that others are doing.

Taken together, what have we learned today?

First, that God promises a future filled with hope where weeping and crying would no longer be heard among his people and where life’s greatest sorrows and traumas would never happen again. But also, when we choose to follow Jesus, our lives are not miraculously transformed into joy without pain. Instead, Jesus warns his disciples that while we are promised victory against our enemies, we must still endure hardship, pain, and suffering before that day comes. We will live to see deceivers and imposters that claim to be sent by Jesus, we will hear of wars and uprisings, earthquakes, famines, pestilence, natural disasters, omens, and signs, and endure personal suffering and persecution. Jesus says that everything that can go wrong, could go wrong, but no matter what happens, God will protect us if we stand firm in our faith.

But to do that, it is important how we choose our friends. While we are called to reach out to lost people and to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone that we can, it remains vitally important that we protect ourselves. And to do that we must surround ourselves with hardworking people of strong and solid faith who live lives of integrity and follow the teachings that have been handed down to us. We must work hard to contribute in every way that we can and not be tempted into idleness or disrupting the work that others are doing.

Like Paul and his missionary team in Thessalonica, a part of our calling is to live our lives as a model for others to follow. We are called to live lives that are filled with hope because we know that although none of us will pass through this life without experiencing pain, heartbreak, suffering, grief, and loss, we keep hold of God’s promise of a new creation where there will no longer be tears, sorrow, or death. But between here and there, we must stand firm in our faith in Jesus, surround ourselves with strong, hardworking people of faith, and…

…never stop doing good.

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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.™

The Birth of Hope

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The Birth of Hope

April 19, 2020*

By Pastor John Partridge

 

John 20:19-38                        Acts 2:14a, 22-32                   1 Peter 1:3-9

 

 

Some of us have known, or might still have, family members who lived through the Great Depression, followed by World War Two.  Eighty years later, we can still see how that experience changed their lives, and their lifestyle forever.  People who watched banks collapse never completely trusted banks again.   People who lived through hard and uncertain times learned to save for a rainy day because they knew, from experience, that sometimes life rains on our parade.   People who found their way through a life filled with ration cards and nationwide shortages of practically everything, learned how to keep a garden, can and preserve their own food, and keep reasonable amounts of many staples, canned goods, and other things in stock, “just in case.”  The experiences that they had living through the Great Depression and World War Two changed them forever and shaped their lives because of the hard lessons that they taught.  And those of us who were their children, grandchildren, or even friends, only had to listen and pay attention to see the deep and enduring impact those experiences had on them.

 

It isn’t surprising then, that the events of Jesus’ crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection would also have a similarly transformational and enduring impact on the lives of the people who lived through them.  And scripture tells us that is exactly what happened.  We begin in John 20:19-31, where we rejoin the disciples, after the resurrection of Jesus, but still so frightened of the religious leaders and government authorities that they only meet with the windows closed and the doors locked.

 

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

 

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

 

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

 

 

At the beginning, the disciples are afraid.  So afraid, that when they even dare to meet, they will only meet in a house with the windows closed and the doors locked so that no one will see or hear them and know that they are there. 

 

But Jesus.

 

At this point, they already know that Jesus has risen from the dead, but they are still afraid.  And Jesus shows up again, this time there are no missing disciples.  Peter and John are there, and so is Thomas.  And this passage concludes by saying that Jesus performed many other signs so that they, would believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and that by believing we could have life in his name.

 

Why is this important? 

 

Because it is after this, and after the events of Pentecost, that the events witnessed by the disciples and the other followers of Jesus, begin to completely transform their behavior.  Nowhere is that change clearer than when we see Peter speaking in Acts 2:14a, 22-32, where this happens:

 

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd:

 

22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:

“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
    Because he is at my right hand,
    I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    you will not let your holy one see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.

 

Peter was the one who was so afraid of the Pharisees and the leaders of the Temple that, three times, he denied that he even knew Jesus.  Peter was the one who was so disheartened and emotionally wounded from his denial, and from witnessing Jesus’s crucifixion, that he went home to Galilee and back to his fishing boat.  Peter, even when he was personally summoned back to Jerusalem at the request of the resurrected Jesus is, with the other disciples, still so afraid of being arrested that they will only meet with the windows closed and the doors locked.

 

But that isn’t the person that we see in Acts.  The difference in Peter, and in the other disciples, is nothing short of a total transformation.  It is as if this is a totally different person.  Suddenly, Peter not only stands up and preaches, but he openly confronts the very same people of whom he was so very recently afraid.  Peter not only stands up in public and preaches in front of them, he openly confronts them, and reminds them that they were the ones who killed Jesus, and in his summation says that it is because of what he has seen, and because of what he has heard, and because of the experiences that they have had, that they now understand what must be done.  Like those who lived through the Great Depression and World War Two, the experiences, and the trauma, of the disciples and the first followers of Jesus have transformed their lives.  They are changed forever and will never be the same as they once were.

 

But so, what?

 

What does that mean to us in the twenty-first century, particularly as we endure the changes, and the strangeness, of our collective fight against the Corona virus?

 

For that, let us listen to what Peter thought in 1 Peter 1:3-9 where he says,

 

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 

Peter says that in his mercy, through the experience, and through the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, God has given us all a new birth into a new life filled with hope.  And not only hope, but a living hope into an inheritance in heaven that can never be taken away from us.  Although, Peter admits, that in this life we may have to suffer grief from all kinds of trials, including disease and pandemics, through it all we can still rejoice greatly.  It is through our trials that our faith is revealed, proven, and refined as if by fire and it is through those same trials that may result in praise, honor, and glory when Jesus Christ is finally revealed at the end of days.  It is because of the experiences, stories, and trials of Peter and the other disciples that we too have seen Jesus, why we too have come to love him and believe in him as they did, and why we are also filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.

 

And, from that, I want to draw a conclusion specifically for us as we endure the unusual circumstances of this present pandemic.  Certainly, from everything we know about the Great Depression, and World War Two, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and the story of Easter, we all know that our experiences, especially the experiences of trauma, change us.  Regardless of what we endure, or the illnesses that we suffer, or the friends or family members that are lost, those trials, those experiences, will change us.  These experiences will change us all, whether we go to church, or whether we have faith, or not.  And, if we are paying attention, we will notice that these experiences are already changing us.  Whether this ends in six months, or eighteen months, or in thirty-six months, we will not come away from this the same as we were at the beginning. 

 

We will be changed.

 

But we do have faith.  We have already heard the stories, and we have experienced the difference that faith in Jesus Christ has made in our lives.  We are already a people who are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy because we have been given new birth into a new life filled with hope.

 

May these trials prove the genuineness of our faith.  May we be so determined, so hopeful, and so anchored by our faith, that the change that God brings to us through this pandemic is not a change wrought by fear, but a change that only amplifies our courage, our hope, and our joy.  Let us pray that we may we emerge from this experience, and from whatever trauma we are called to endure, like Peter and the other disciples.  Let us pray that we emerge as a people who are more courageous, more fearless, more faithful, and more loving than ever before.

 

May we emerge from this pandemic so much like Jesus that the world cannot help but to stand up and take notice.

 

 

Have a great week everybody.

 

 

 

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/Kb9-bPHeny0

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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.