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.
But have you ever been angry at another person, and later discovered that you were the one who was really at fault? That sounds confusing. But maybe this will help, there was a time when I received some good counseling for some anger issues with which I had been struggling. And one of the sources of my anger was the disappointment that I felt in the attitude and behavior of another person. But during that conversation, my counselor said something that has stuck with me for a long time. And that was basically that there are many things that we cannot control. We can’t control the attitude and the behavior of other people, and there are many other things in our lives that are similarly out of our control. But while we can’t control the actions of other people, or the actions of government officials, or which team is going to win the football game, or your bracket for the final-four in the March Madness basketball game, the things that we can control are our expectations.
When we expect a particular team to win, and they don’t, any anger that we feel is largely our own fault for the expectation that we set. When our children don’t behave the way that we expected them to, it’s okay to be disappointed, but our anger if often our fault for expecting more from them than was reasonable. We are guaranteed to be disappointed if we expect the impossible or expect someone to do what they never intended to do. You shouldn’t expect the basketball team to win a football game, or expect a pharmacist to solve your engineering problem, or expect your doctor to solve your accounting problem. When you expect the wrong things, you are certain to be disappointed.
And, in large measure, that is exactly what we are watching in the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem in Mark 11:1-11.
11:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!” [which means “Save us”]
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
This is a wonderful story, and it is one of the most well-known stories in the New Testament as well as one of those that we read and repeat every year. But it is not just a story about Jesus being recognized as Israel’s Messiah and king, it is a story about misplaced expectations. The people shouting for Jesus to save them (remember that “Hosanna” means, “save us”) were expecting that the messiah would come as a conquering king. But scripture says that the messiah would be both a suffering servant and a conquering king. When Jesus did not immediately begin raising an army to oppose and overthrow the Roman garrison, he failed to meet the expectations of the people. And, as we mentioned earlier, when our expectations are too high, and people fail to meet them, we humans often direct our anger toward the other person rather than remembering our own failure to set reasonable expectations.
In this story, Jesus clearly demonstrates his power and authority as the messiah and redeemer of Israel, and he fulfills many of the Old Testament prophecies regarding God’s coming rescuer and king, but because he did not meet their expectations, the people were angry and easily persuaded by the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees to cast their vote to release Barabbas and crucify Jesus.
But this also serves as a cautionary tale for us in the twenty-first century because the people of Jerusalem in the first century were not the only ones who have placed unreasonable, impossible, or just plain wrong expectations on the person, purpose, mission and ministry of Jesus Christ. Many of the people who reject religion, or who have left the church, have done so because their understanding of Christianity, and the person, purpose, mission, and ministry of Jesus Christ is filled with unreasonable, impossible, misguided, and wrong expectations. Yes, Jesus came to save the world, and yes, Jesus offers everyone the opportunity to follow him, be forgiven, and receive eternal life. But the first coming of Jesus did not make suffering, pain, and death go away. Christians do not live perfect lives free from pain, suffering, inconvenience, sickness, mental illness, and death. Violence, war, crime, and all sorts of evil did not end with the resurrection and neither did poverty and injustice. When we expect Jesus to do all these things, and expect Jesus to make our lives perfect, in this present age, then our expectations are not in alignment with the teachings of scripture, and we are certain to experience profound disappointment.
The people of Jerusalem failed to accept Jesus because they expected him to do things that he had not yet come to do, and the fault was not with Jesus but with their misplaced and misguided expectations. Today, we fail in the same way when we expect Jesus to heal the sick, clothe the naked, make our lives painless and perfect, and to eliminate evil and injustice from the world. Scripture says that Jesus will do those things, after the second coming and the judgement of the world. But until then, the mission to do all those things been given to us, the church.
Let us not allow the people around us to be disappointed in Jesus.
Whenever we witness injustice and evil, or find the sick, the naked, and the hungry among us, let us not be disappointed in Jesus, but instead put on our work gloves… and get to work.
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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.
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 Luke 12:32-40
When you were growing up, did you ever do things that you thought your parents would never find out about?
Of those times, how often have you discovered that your parents knew about it all along?
More than once, I have reminded our children, particularly now that they are adults, that they really don’t need to tell us everything, but neither should they insult us by assuming that we are stupid. We may be old now, but we were their age once. Yes, the world may have changed since we were young, but the things that young people are tempted to do when they are away from their parents have been the same sorts of things for thousands of years.
Likewise, when we read passages of scripture, we often discover that the temptations that face the church, and its people, are often frighteningly similar to the temptations that were faced by the church three thousand years ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same. We begin this morning in Isaiah chapter one, where we hear the prophet of God condemning the people of Israel for faking their way through church. Instead of building a genuine relationship with God, they are only going through the motions and putting on a churchy looking show. (Isaiah 1:1, 10-20)
1:1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. 14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. 17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
The oddest part of understanding this passage, is found in realizing that all of the things that God, through Isaiah, is criticizing, all of the things that God is condemning, are all things that God’s people were commanded to do in the days of Moses. These things were the worship of the church. But God says that he has had more than enough of them because they have become meaningless.
So, since we live in a time when the church often argues over what music we should play, and what liturgies we should use, and what style of worship might be best, understanding this passage and what it means to us might well be a vital piece of information. As we read further, God declares that the reason that he no longer desires their worship, and no longer listens to their prayers, is that their “hands are full of blood.” Although they are showing up at church, and they are repeating their prayers, and they are bringing the required sacrifices, they are not acting like God’s people. Their worship is brought to God out of a sense of duty or tradition but their relationship with God hasn’t made a single change in their actions or in their hearts.
God wants our worship to be an outward expression of the love that we have for him and not something that we do in blind repetition out of a sense of duty or tradition.
Unless we are changed, unless our hearts are changed, then our worship is meaningless, we become a burden to God, and God stops listening to our prayers. Worship must be, first and foremost, an expression of our love for God and our lives must be lived as an act of worship.
Nearly two thousand years later, we hear Jesus explain this same concept in a different way in the gospel of Luke. (Luke 12:32-40)
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Jesus says that the things that we value most, the things upon which we spend the most time, obsess over, and the things which become the focus of our lives, are our treasure. And our hearts will live where our treasure lives. As an example, Jesus explains that waiting for God is sometimes like waiting for a boss who has gone out for the evening. Those servants who are genuinely concerned about serving their master do so even when he is absent, and even when it seems as if the master has gone missing. Our calling is to act like Jesus, to act in the best interests of Jesus’ kingdom, to do good and to serve him always, even when he seems absent, even when the world has gone crazy and it seems as if Jesus has forgotten us.
And that’s a critical point.
Yes, we know that the Spirit of God is active in the world in which we live. Yes, we know that God loves us and cares for us. Yes, we know that we have occasionally seen God at work in our lives and in the lives of the people around us. But, at the same time, when we watch the news and we see the pain and suffering, chaos and mayhem, that surrounds us and which seems to engulf our world, we struggle to understand how God can be so conspicuously absent. Jesus knew that. That’s why he told the story about the servants who were waiting for their master’s return. And that’s why Paul relates a similar story in which he reminds all of us about the faith, and the patience, of the heroes of scripture. (Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16)
11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left; they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Jesus said that we need to wait for God, and continue doing the work of Jesus Christ, even when he seems absent. Paul reminds us that many of the great heroes of the Bible waited their entire lives and never saw God’s promises fulfilled. Those promises were kept, but often not within their lifetimes. This is what faith is all about.
Faith is about remembering the times that God has done what he has promised. Remembering the times when God has been faithful to us. Remembering the times that God has been generous to us. And then trusting that God will be faithful in the things that we can’t see. Faith reminds us to act like Jesus even when Jesus seems absent. Faith is living in such a way that life itself becomes an act of worship. Faith is having our hearts changed so that everyone around us can plainly see Jesus in us. Faith looks forward to the day when God fulfills all of his promises.
Faith is looking forward.
Faith is living forward.
May we strive, every day, to have that kind of faith.
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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 references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
Have you ever watched the fireworks on the fourth of July?
Have you ever opened the newspaper and seen the mayor and a bunch of city officials at an important ribbon cutting or groundbreaking?
Have you ever seen the evening news report on a new freeway, tax cuts, or some other big news story about our local, state, or federal government?
Sure, you have. Occasionally, our government does something that is very public and splashy. But most of the time, day in, and day out, most of our government’s employees, whether they are employed by the federal, state, or local governments, toil away at computer monitors, check in on endangered children, teach school, clean streets, repair streets, fix leaks, and make sure that many things that we take for granted are so regular and reliable that we can take them for granted. You rarely see stories in the newspaper or on television about the people who showed up and did their jobs, every day, for thirty or forty years doing ordinary things.
And although God often works the same way, daily caring for our wounds, watching over us, and being so ordinary and predictable that we allow ourselves to take his presence for granted or forget about him entirely, he isn’t always so invisible. Occasionally, God does something splashy and noticeable. Sometimes God heals the incurable, moves mountains, or raises the dead. Sometimes God does things that make us say, “Wow.”
Pentecost was one of those moments.
Some time before his crucifixion, Jesus spoke with his disciples and explained that after he returned to his father, he would send the Spirit of God to be with them. That gift… would change everything. (John 14:8-17, 25-27)
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.
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Jesus told his disciples that the words that he said, and the miracles that he performed, were being done because of the father that lived in him and was doing his work through him. And then he goes on to say that because he is returning to his father, anyone who believes in him will do the same kinds of works that Jesus was doing, and even greater things. Because Jesus was returning to his father, and because he was sending God’s Spirit to be with us, and live with us, we would do these things, and God would be glorified. And, not only would the followers of Jesus Christ do these amazing works, but because of the presence of the Spirit of God living in us, we would also receive the gift of peace.
Fast forward to a few weeks after the crucifixion to the day of Pentecost and we find this story from the book of Acts 2:1-21.
2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Remember that I said sometimes God does splashy things?
This isn’t only a splashy thing, but a whole pile of splashy things.
A sound like a violent wind comes down from heaven, tongues of fire pour into the room where the followers of Jesus have gathered to pray, the fire separates and come to rest on each and every one of them, and then, speaking all the languages of the known world, these men and women go out into the streets and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The people in the streets either heard the sound of the wind or the sound of so many people speaking different languages, but whatever they heard, people came from all over the see what was going on.
Those that came were shocked because the people who were speaking foreign languages were Galileans and, you may recall that Galileans were thought of as uneducated, country hicks. Remember that even one of the disciples, when he first heard about Jesus, said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Not only that, but remember that just a few days earlier, these same people were meeting in locked rooms with the windows bolted shut, because they were afraid that the Pharisees would have them arrested because of their association with Jesus. Not long ago, Peter had been so emotionally destroyed that he went back to his fishing boats and was beating himself up over his public denials of Jesus.
But no longer.
Suddenly, their fear and doubt are gone. Suddenly they are speaking languages that they had never learned. Suddenly, instead of hiding behind locked doors, they were speaking in public and Peter raises his voice and lectures everyone on the meaning of the scriptures.
This moment is entirely unexpected, exceptionally public and splashy, and totally transformational for both the disciples and for us. In that moment, the disciples were changed. Their fear was gone, they were filled with an urgency to tell the world about what they had seen and heard, and they went out into the streets to do it. And, as they went, God, through the power of the Holy Spirit that now lived within them, began to do exactly what Jesus had described. Suddenly they were doing something miraculous. Suddenly they were doing the work that Jesus had been doings, and even things that were more surprising and unexpected than some of the things that Jesus had done.
But if all of this was not enough, Paul’s letter to the church in Rome describes yet another amazing gift that the church received at Pentecost. (Romans 8:14-17)
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Paul says that the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost was also the symbol of our adoption by God and because we have been adopted, then we are heirs, co-heirs with Jesus so that we will share in both his suffering and in his ministry to all of the world.
Not only was Pentecost a splashy, headline news moment, the effects were not something that wore off and were forgotten. Instead, the gifts that God gave to the church at Pentecost, were gifts that were passed on from generation to generation. God’s spirit entered into the followers of Jesus as tongues of fire at Pentecost, but today still enter into each one of us as we are baptized into the service of Jesus Christ. Two thousand years later we still receive the gift of adoption, and fearlessness, and still we are empowered by God, through the Spirit that lives within us, to do the work of Jesus Christ in the world around us. Sometimes that work is ordinary and almost invisible, but all of us, working together, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, are doing amazing things as we answer his call on our lives.
Let us continue, with God’s help, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, speak for the voiceless, stand up for the oppressed, comfort the afflicted, heal the sick, and all of the other things that Jesus did, and calls us to do.
This was the call of the church two thousand years ago and it remains the call of the church today.
And we press on…
…with God’s help…
…through the power of the Spirit that lives within us.
Sometimes we are called to the ordinary, but sometimes, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are witness to the ministry… of Wow.
Did you enjoy reading this?
Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.
Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.
*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 references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12-19 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29
Sometime between 1990 and 1991, just as the U.S. and coalition forces were building up to what would eventually be called Desert Shield, I found myself with a day off in Paris during a business trip. Wanting to see as much of the city as possible, I bought a map at the first bookstore I found and walked from one end of the city to the other. I saw the Eiffel Tower and the outside of the Louvre, the palace, and many other places. But just as I was nearing the cathedral of Notre Dame, I encountered a street full of protesters carrying signs and banners speaking out against American aggression. I wondered, if I were approached, if I should pretend to be Canadian. In any case, I took the next right and made my away toward my destination on another street. Although I was never in any danger, that protest was a reminder that I was far from home. Later that afternoon, as I walked back to my hotel (in the pouring rain) I went past the US Embassy. In that place, far from home, even without going in, I felt a renewed sense of safety. This was a piece of home. This was a place, where I belonged.
About eighteen months ago, while we were visiting Liberia, I had a similar feeling as we passed embassy row. I never felt as if we were in any danger whatsoever in Liberia, but there, where we could see the stars and stripes flying over the embassy compound, I knew that even though I had never set foot inside, this was a place where I belonged.
We all have places where we belong. We belong to families and to groups of friends, in homes, in schools, in businesses, and hopefully here in this church. But there is another, far more important, place of belonging that we should know and should never forget.
We begin this morning with a story from the life of King David. The Ark of the Covenant had been stolen by the Philistines and had been kept by them for many years, but wherever they kept it, it brought plague and pestilence. Eventually the Philistines determined to get rid of it, and although the story is a long one, eventually David determines to bring the ark to the tabernacle in Jerusalem. This is where we join the story in 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19.
6:1 David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. 2 He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.
12 So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.
David’s wife, Michal, watched David entering the city and she did not like what she saw. David was dancing before God with everything that he had. I suspect that this was not a gentle ballet, but far more energetic like hip-hop, or boogie-woogie, or maybe slam dancing. There was dancing, and music, and shouting and David gave gifts to everyone in the entire crowd. And Michal was unhappy with her husband, the king, because his behavior was too passionate and too improper. David had left his ego behind. He was so full of joy before God that he poured out his love in ways that she thought made him look foolish and did not conform with how she thought royalty should look or act. But David knew that the ark of the Lord was a symbol of God’s presence among his people. For David, they were literally welcoming God into their city and inviting him to live among his people and share life with them. There could be no better reason to throw an ecstatic, knock-down, drag-out, celebration, and David gave it everything that he had.
But in comparison, let’s look at what I’d like to call, the Nightmare on Herod Street. This happens immediately after the passage that we read last week in Mark 6:14-29, in which Jesus had been teaching, and performing miracles, and then sent his disciples out, and they also were teaching, and healing, and casting out demons.
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
For precisely the opposite reasons that David angered his wife, Herod gets in a real mess and it costs John his life. While David’s joy and passion for God allowed him to leave his ego behind, Herod is so focused on physical pleasure, desire, and lust, that he drools over his niece and offers her, in front of a roomful of people he wanted to impress, “anything she wanted.” Even though her answer was unexpected, and even though it was something that Herod didn’t want to do, Herod had painted himself into a corner. He allowed his passions for flesh and power to control him, and now his ego and his embarrassment compel him to follow through so that he can save face.
The difference between these two kings, the difference between these two men, can be seen fundamentally as the difference between the two kingdoms to which they belong. While David belongs to the kingdom of God, Herod’s loyalties are exclusively and unrepentantly dedicated to the kingdom of the flesh. While David loves God, Herod loves only himself. While David is passionate about pleasing God, Herod’s passions are all about money, and sex, and power. While David’s worship of God allows him to leave his ego behind as he expresses his joy at the arrival of God in Jerusalem, while David is willing to look foolish before men so that he can bring honor to God, Herod is willing to take an innocent life, the life of a man that he knew to be righteous and holy, because his ego demanded it.
So, what does this have to do with us?
Everything.
Three thousand years after David and two thousand years after Herod, we are still divided by our loyalties to these same two kingdoms. We are constantly pulled back and forth between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of flesh and we struggle to know where we belong. But in his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul reminds us that we need not be confused. (Ephesians 1:3-14)
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
There are several repeated ideas in this passage. You are blessed by God. You are not an accident. God knew you before the creation of time. God chose you. God predestined you, which we understand to mean that God knew, before the creation of time, that you would accept his invitation. God has not only invited you to be a part of his kingdom, he has adopted you, and not just adopted, but “adopted to sonship.” That means that we are adopted and given full and complete legal rights as if we were genetically, and biologically, born into his family. Even though we were born two thousand years after Jesus, Paul tells us that we were included in the kingdom of Jesus Christ as soon as we heard the message of truth and the gospel of salvation. When you believed, God marked you, indelibly and permanently, as his own. The Spirit of God is a down payment, a deposit, earnest money, guaranteeing our inheritance until we finally arrive in the kingdom to which we belong.
You see, although we have never set foot inside the walls of the fortress of God, it is, absolutely the place where we belong. It is our home. It is the place where we will meet our extended family and everyone else who has been adopted as brothers and sister of Jesus Christ. This is the place that God has prepared for us.
But we are constantly pulled between these two kingdoms. Just like Herod, we feel the pull of the kingdom of flesh, calling us to a life of ego, self, lust, violence and death. But, like David, we also hear the invitation of God.
The way of Herod leads to death.
But the way of David leads to life eternal.
To which kingdom will you belong?
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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 Pastor@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
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