Why We Are Here

July 01, 2010

Deuteronomy 30:9-14 Jeremiah 18:1-6

As the German war machine raced across Europe, the strategy of Blitzkrieg, or lightning war, amassed vastly superior forces and rapidly defeated huge parcels of Europe. As a part of the history of WWII, there remains a persistent rumor that the Polish army was so backward that they attacked German tanks with cavalry, men on horseback, a remnant of a bygone era. The truth is, the Polish army had some of the best tanks and anti-tank weapons in all of Europe, including those brought to the field by Germany. Poland did, in fact, have mounted cavalry units in the field, but so did every other nation involved in that great conflict, including the United States who used cavalry units in the Philippines. Polands cavalry units were skilled soldiers who each carried a rifle as well as a saber and their units carried with them the single best anti-tank weapon available in that day. For the Poles, horses were simply a means of moving an infantry force with greater speed and flexibility. From our perspective on history, perhaps asking soldiers on horseback to fight against tanks was asking the impossible, but in reality, the bravery and training of the Polish troops may have achieved the impossible. Although the German Army had rolled through the contested lands between Germany and Czechoslovakia without opposition, the war for Poland lasted for thirty six days. In fact, in one battle between a Polish Cavalry Brigade and Germanys 4th Panzer Division, Germany lost over 100 armored fighting vehicles and at least 50 tanks. Ultimately, the superior size or the German military machine overcame the resistance of the Polish defenses but Polands defense was of major significance and allowed sufficient troops to be evacuated that Polish military units fought their way from Normandy, across Europe and into Germany and the surrender of her port cities. Today, as we sit in church, the question I would like to ask is this: Has God ever asked you to do the impossible? What is it that God has put on your heart? How many times have you thought or felt that you ought to do something, or even that God might be leading you to do something and yet rejected the idea because it was too hard or even seemed to be impossible? I think that at one time or another, this has probably happened to all of us, but our scripture for today promises something different. (Deuteronomy 30:9-14)
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Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. In this passage, we are reminded that it is God that does the doing. It is God that commands, it is God that rejoices in our obedience and it is God that orchestrates our success. Here, we are taught that God will bring success when we are obedient and faithful. Whats more, we are told that what we have been asked to do is not out of our reach simply because God has put his word in our mouths and in our hearts so that we might be obedient. 1

In September of 2001, along with you, I watched in horror as two commercial airliners were flown into the World Trade Center, a building that I had visited only a few years earlier. Perhaps in part because of these disturbing images, I began to reconsider the meaning of my work and of my life. Only two or three years earlier I had changed jobs in order to find work that was more tangible. With a degree in electrical engineering, I had been working at a Laboratory in Cleveland, testing gas appliances for compliance with national safety standards. There, I often felt as if we were just spinning our wheels, always doing the same thing and generating tons of paper doing it. In my new job in North Canton, we were building machines and equipment for the steel industry. It was incredibly satisfying that once every few months we could go out to the loading dock and see the end result of our work as it was shipped to its destination. Occasionally, we would also have the opportunity to travel and help with the installation. I felt challenged by my work and I was happy with what I was doing but there began to be a nagging afterthought. After 9/11 I began to wonder what good I was doing. I realized that much of the equipment we were building was replacing machines that had been designed and built by engineers (like me) twenty or thirty years earlier. Thinking along these lines, I came to the obvious realization that all of our work would likewise be torn out, melted down, and replaced in another twenty or thirty years. Less than six months later I was called into my supervisors office and informed that my services were no longer required. There was no warning, there were no memos outlining my failures, just an abrupt termination. I really struggled with that. The way in which I was let go and the resulting unemployment was very difficult on me and on my family. Not only did they have to deal with our lack of income, but also with my depression, moodiness and underlying anger. I was unemployed for two years. In an economy that was good and with a degree and a work history that was solid I should have had no trouble finding work, instead it seemed like I couldnt even buy an interview. During this time, however, I really questioned Gods will for me. I started by crying and yelling and eventually began to pray and study. I devoured books and study materials that my pastor thought might be helpful and finally reached a place where I would consider the unthinkable. I had grown up in the home of a United Methodist pastor. I had moved three times and attended school in four school districts. For forty years I swore that there was no way on Gods green earth that I would ever even consider being a pastor. God had other plans. Sometimes during the course of our lives, the game changes. Where we find ourselves is not where God wants us to be and he will use whatever tools necessary to move us from one place to another. Some faithful followers are well attuned to God and respond to his hints, suggestions and whispers but others of us are more stubborn and hard of hearing and God has been known to hit us upside the head with a 2 x 4. You need to know that it wasnt just me. When we were married Patti told me that she was glad that I was an engineer because she never wanted to be married to a doctor or a pastor. During my unemployment, Patti was involved in a regular Bible study in local church other than our own. Somehow, in that study, God was working on Pattis heart. I knew that God would never call me into ministry unless he called both of us and one day, before I had ever hinted to Patti what God might be telling me, Patti came to me and gave me news that shocked me. Patti said that God had made it clear to her that I needed to do what God wanted me to do even if that meant answering a call to pastoral ministry. You need to understand that several years earlier, during a church revival weekend, both Patti and I had felt that God might be calling us into some kind of full-time ministry. We both felt that whatever God was calling us toward was still in the future and, we both assumed, since we headed the church missions committee, that it might somehow involve missions. I was now contemplating the impossible. I asked my pastor if, as an engineer, I had any possibility of getting admitted into seminary. With a background in mathematics and physics, I wondered if I would meet any prerequisites at all. My pastor laughed. She laughed. We had learned that our pastor had gifts but one gift that Pastor Linda Somerville had in abundance was sensitivity to Gods will and an amazing ability to read and understand people. When I asked Pastor Linda about seminary and about a potential call 2

to ministry, she told me that she had known for over a year that God was calling us but was afraid that if she said anything she would mess up whatever God was trying to do. After that, things seemed to begin to fall into place. I was introduced to the Provost of Ashland University by a mutual friend, I applied for admission at Ashland Seminary, was accepted, started classes and then, finally found a part-time job. Six months later I was appointed to a student pastorate in the Mid-Ohio District just south of Mansfield, Ohio. A condition of being a student pastor was that I had a half-time ministry and was to attend seminary on a full-time basis, and I did. After four years of seminary I graduated in 2008. During our time at Johnsville/Steam Corners, the financial health of the church had been changing. While we hadnt grown much in attendance, financially we managed to grow, just a little, each year. It was expected that when I graduated, we would be moved and another student would come to take my place. Instead, Johnsville and Steam Corners decided that they were able to afford a full-time pastor and asked that we stay. As a result, instead of moving after only three or four years, as many students do and as many of Johnsville pastors had, we stayed for six. That brings us to Barnesville. For a variety of reasons, we expected that we would stay put for another year but God had other plans. Because Barnesvilles pastor, Tom Detling, was retiring, the District Superintendent, Rev. Steve Court, was looking for a new pastor. On his shopping list were several criteria that included age, worship style, children and others. Although no one anticipated that we would move, our family seemed to be a good match for Barnesville and so, we were called to move. Two years later we, once again, did not anticipate moving. This time, the Barnesville church was conflicted over their financial situation and was unsure whether or not they could afford to maintain a full-time pastor. They did eventually decide to withdraw money from their endowment to remain at full-time, but by then my name had already been circulated as being potentially available for a move. When we were told of a possible church in Stark County we initially refused because we were unwilling to uproot our family so soon but, after several conversations with two different District Superintendents and after considerable thought and prayer, Patti and I felt Gods hand in this call and decided that we should meet with you for an interview. There, we were even more convinced that this was a good match and that this was where God wanted us. We had no intention of uprooting our children. In fact, since we began out path to ministry we have consistently prayed that we would not be moved while they were in high school but here we are. We believe that God has been a part of this process. Of course there is more to our story but thats enough for today. For us, God has done the impossible and has moved the immovable. To get us where we are today, God has done miracles and changed us in ways we never thought possible. Before we close I would like to share a passage from Jeremiah 18 with you that I read just this morning in my quiet time.
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This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 Go down to the potters house, and there I will give you my message. 3 So I went down to the potters house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
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Then the word of the LORD came to me. 6 He said, Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does? declares the LORD. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

In the end, we are all like clay in the hands of the potter. If youve ever watched a pot being formed you will sometimes see that a small defect, a grain of sand or a small pebble, come to the surface while the clay is spinning on the wheel. When that happens it scars and ruins the entire piece and the only choice left is for the potter to pick up the clay, smash it into a lump, plop it back onto the wheel and start over. Our lives are like that. It is never fun when we are squashed and plopped down on the wheel but through it all we can know that God is lovingly and carefully shaping us into the people that he has created us to be. Today we stand as witnesses that God is able to accomplish whatever he has put in your heart to do. We are witness to Gods faithfulness and power. We know that it is God that does the doing. We know that God brings success when we are obedient and faithful. We know that it is God that commands, it is God that rejoices in our obedience and it is God that orchestrates our success. Today, as we sit in church, the question I would like to ask is this: Has God ever asked you to do the impossible? What is it that God has put on your heart?

You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry heights in Massillon, 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 Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. 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 subscribe@trinityperryheights.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 http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.