Luke 1:39-56: Rejoice, the Smoke Will Clear.

Presented TSA AV Ministries, 22 December 2024 Based on the Swift Current Corps, 21 Dec. 2014, which in turn was based on the 20 Dec. 2009 sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay.

 

21 Dec. 2014 homily available here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2014/12/luke-146-56-christmas-is-coming-2014.html

20 Dec. 2009 homily available here:  http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/12/luke-146-56-christmas-is-coming.html

 

 

Josie Osbourne, our MLA has just been appointed Minister of Heath. She helped out on the food truck and rang the kettle bells this week. She is a big supporter of the vulnerable through us here.

 

Wayne Cormier, a friend of mine, told me a story a few years ago about when he used to work for the Saskatchewan government. One time he found himself driving a cabinet minister around while his assistant was sitting in the back recording everything the minister said as per protocol back then in that situation. They were driving around sizing up the damage from forest fires that were raging in Saskatchewan. When, all of a sudden, their vision became impaired. It became more and more impaired. Wayne was chauffeur and he could barely see anything in front of him– it was smoke from the fire. The fire was so close you could almost feel it. The cabinet minister asked Wayne, ‘what do we do now’?

Wayne said, ‘Pray’. Wayne is a Christian and he has been for a long time. ‘Pray’, he says, ‘we can’t see anything, but we can’t stop driving or its game over; we can’t do anything else but drive and pray - so pray!’

The assistant with the tape recorder in the back begins to pray quite a bit when Wayne hears the cabinet minister start to pray. He prays, ‘God if you save us, I will go to church on Sunday.’ They sit tensely as Wayne drives slowly through the fire. They wait and they pray as they await their salvation from the fire.

When they get out of the fire and they start to relax a bit and get ready for their next tour, Wayne approaches the cabinet minister, and he asks him, ‘So you’re going to church on Sunday?”

“Oh, you heard that, did you?”

“Yes, and so will everyone; your assistant has it on tape”

“Oh, well maybe I should go to church then…”

 

Now Wayne doesn’t know whether he did go to church or not but while he was waiting for his salvation, in that moment he approached God, he encountered God, and we can only hope that once that waiting was over, he continued to wait on God.

 

This is the Advent season, and waiting is what Advent is all about. We are waiting for Christmas to come. Advent is when we remember the first coming of Christ as we are awaiting His second coming.

 

Who here like to wait? One of the keys to waiting is faith. Faith is a key element of Advent; so what is faith? There is the classic definition of faith, of course, from Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

 

Martin Luther says: “Faith is God's work in us, that changes us and gives new birth from God (John 1:13) … It changes our hearts, our spirits, our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy Spirit with it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly.”

 

The Greek word translated as ‘faith’ or ‘believe’ is pistis (noun) and this comes from pistevo (verb)[1] meaning ‘to have faith in, extend credit to; to commit, to adhere to, to trust in, to rely on.’

 

Faith isn’t just a vague belief in something. Faith is an action word. Faith and faithfulness are intertwined.[2] One cannot say they love God and not love their neighbour (Mt 25:31-46; Lk 10:27, 18:18-29). If you have faith in Christ, you will be faithful and even when we are unfaithful, Christ’s faithfulness makes our faith(fullness) possible (Ro 3:3,4). It is the faithfulness of Christ that leads to salvation. Faith is an action and the action of faith during Advent is waiting. Christmas is coming.

 

In our story today something very interesting is happening: Mary, an unwed teenager, finds out that she is pregnant and goes to her aunt’s or an older relations’ home; she goes to Elisabeth’s house (vv. 46-49):

And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— Holy is His name.

 

Mary speaks about how good the Lord has been to her. She talks about how greatly she has been blessed by the Lord. She speaks about how He has been mindful of someone such as her. Mary here is praising God.

 

Mary, the mother-to-be of Jesus, is a teenager in the occupied territory in Palestine. Mary isn’t married when she finds out she is going to be with child. Mary’s partner, her husband-to-be, had never been with her in that way.[3] Can you imagine? If you were her or her husband-to-be or if you were her parents, what would you think? … your teenage daughter comes home and tells you she is about to have a baby? In those days she could’ve received the death penalty for that.[5] Mary is vulnerable.

 

Mary, a few months from now in the timeline, right when she is ready to have this baby, Mary and Joseph load up a pack animal and walk all the way from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea to enrol in a census so they can pay their taxes. They walk or ride on the back of this animal for that whole distance while Mary is very, very pregnant (Lk 2:1-7). I don’t know how many women here when they were nine months pregnant would like to go from here to Victoria or Cobble Hill (about the same distance) - either by foot or on the back of a donkey.

 

Mary is a humble girl and  Mary, Luke 1:46-49, says, ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— Holy is His name.’” Mary - in this state - finds herself blessed.

 

I know that there are people who are going through some really difficult times. There are so many struggles and tragedies, but Christmas is still coming. I think of those close to my own heart and family in very difficult circumstances. Mary is in her circumstance with all that is involved, and Mary is praising God.

 

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent and Advent is a time of waiting for Christmas. As the metaphorical smoke from fires of troubles, depression, oppression, adversity, sin, circumstance, and more surround us so much so that we cannot see anything through the life around us, Christmas is still coming. The lead up to Christmas is often a very stressful time. Do we, when our life seems challenging, almost overwhelming, do we –like Mary – praise the Lord, considering ourselves blessed?

 

Mary continues her greeting to Elisabeth praising God. She says of God, Luke 1: 50-55:

His mercy extends to those who fear him,
      from generation to generation.
 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
      he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
      but has lifted up the humble.
 He has filled the hungry with good things
      but has sent the rich away empty.
 He has helped his servant Israel,
      remembering to be merciful
 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
      even as he said to our fathers."

 

Mary, in the midst of all that she is in the midst of, Mary speaks about God’s mercy to all who fear Him (Luke 1:50); she remembers that He performs mighty deeds (Luke 1:51). She praises God for His covenant to bless all the nations (Lk 1:55, Gen 12:3). Mary praises God, who faithfully fulfils His covenant with Abraham and his descendants even though they – even though we – were faithless over and over again (Ro 3:3,4). Mary’s life is not easy. And Christmas is coming. Her son will be born a long way from home and placed in a feeding trough. Her son will grow up and eventually suffer a state execution at the hands of her country’s occupiers at the urging or her own religious leaders – Christmas is coming.

 

Mary is singing her song of praise to God in this circumstance. There is another interesting part of Mary’s song of praise here that refers to the time when Jesus will return. We have spoken about Christmas and waiting for the birth of Jesus; we are also waiting for Jesus to come back. Mary says that at that time – when he returns - the rulers of this age will be brought down (Luke 1:52). There will be no more corrupt politicians. There will be no more scandals; there will be no more wars – and accompanying hypocrisy, like leaders saying we will abide by the International Criminal Court ruling against genocide all the while, allegedly, clandestinely, providing those accused of genocide with the weapons to commit genocide. There will be no more handing people over to be tortured - like we did for the Americans at Guantanamo and elsewhere. There will no longer be leaders who hate the poor or Presidents who bomb foreign countries, killing children and others at will. The rulers of our age – it says in verse 52 – the rulers of our age will be brought down from their thrones. Wicked Presidents, Prime Ministers, Chancellors, leaders will be replaced by the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Prince of Peace whose government will never stop ruling and being peaceful (Is 9:6-7).

 

We will no longer be subservient to brutal economic systems in which one man get rich as over 25 000 children die every day even though the Lord has provided more than enough resources for the whole world to be fed and clothed and otherwise taken care of many, many, many times over.[6] These systems of oppression will end.

 

Mary and the Bible say the rulers of this world will be brought low. We will no longer see a situation where people become millionaires for appearing on a screen or playing sports while others cannot afford to clothe themselves. In our world today rich people fly to space for recreation while poor people die from wars, homelessness and poverty. In the United States, pornography revenue is more than all money made from professional football, baseball and basketball combined. Child pornography alone generates billions of dollars annually:[7] all this while people cannot access clean and healthy drinking water (even here!) and thousands upon thousands of people are dying daily of malnutrition – or from us bombing them. The systems and rulers who oversee all of this will be brought down. This will come to an end.

 

The greatest in this world shall become the least and the least shall become the greatest. Jesus is the great equalizer. When he comes back those in power and luxury (which may be many of us here) will experience His justice and those who are hungry and humbled now will be lifted up and be fed.

 

Advent is about waiting, and this is what we are waiting for, and this is what we are praying for as we drive through the metaphorical smoke from the fires of our earthly leaders and their world and all of the trials and tribulations that accompany it. And as we are waiting, as we act in faith, doing our part like the sheep in Matthew’s parable of the sheep and the goats by giving the hungry something to eat, giving the thirsty something to drink, inviting in the stranger, clothing the naked, looking after the sick and visiting those in prison (Mt 25:31-40); we look forward to the day when Christ returns and all of the injustice is finally set right. Jesus’ Advent 2000 years ago was a foretaste of the justice and mercy that lies ahead when he returns. And as we show mercy to our neighbours, we show that we belong to His world that is to come rather than to this present evil age – and this is important because as sure as Christmas is coming, Christ is coming back – so as bad as things may seem as we are driving through the smoke of the fires of our troubles that make it so dark that maybe we cannot even see, we must remember that just as Jesus was dwelling in Mary’s womb and they were eagerly waiting for him to come; so too now the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us as we are eagerly waiting for Jesus to come again; the world is in its ninth month, the smoke is clearing, Jesus is coming and Jesus is coming soon and when He does, everything will be alright. I promise. Christmas is coming.

 

Let us pray.

 

www.sheepspeak.com

 

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[1] Cf. Strong's Greek Dictionary

[2] Cf. NT Wright and James Dunn. An Evening Conversation on Paul with James D.G. Dunn and N.T. Wright Available online at: http://www.thepaulpage.com/an-evening-conversation-on-paul-with-james-d-g-dunn-and-n-t-wright/

[3] Cf. Culpepper, 51. Lenski, 69, Ellis, 75.

[4] Now betrothal is not quite like engagements of today. In those days a man and his wife were committed to each other at the engagement ceremony. They did have a public ceremony with witnesses and the more. They did each gain a marital status, complete with rights and responsibilities and if Joseph had died after their engagement ceremony but prior to their marriage ceremony, Mary would still be considered a widow with all the responsibilities and rights (or lack thereof) of a widow. The betrothal was very different then anything we have today and even though Mary would be Joseph’s legal wife, after this engagement ceremony rather than going off to live with one’s husband, the wife usually returned to her father’s household for a period of up to a year. Cf. E. Earle Ellis, 71 and R. Alan Culpepper, 51. See also Captain Michael Ramsay, Luke 1:26-37: Do You Believe? Presented to the Nipawin Corps 14 December 2008. Available on-line at http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/12/luke-126-37-do-you-believe.html

[5] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Matthew 1:18-25: Do you believe? Presented to each Nipawin and Tisdale Corps, 24 December 2007 and CFOT chapel in Winnipeg, December 2006. Available on-line at http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/12/matthew-118-25-do-you-believe.html

[6] Global Issues: Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All. Cited December 15, 2009. Available on-line: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

[7] Christian Technology Solutions, Pornography Industry Statistics. Cited 21 November, 2009. Available on line: http://christiantechnologysolutions.com/content/view/18/24/

 

Isaiah 40, Luke 3:1011: Today We are Afraid; Tomorrow, Peace, We Hope.

Presented to The Salvation Army: Alberni Valley Ministries, 05 Dec 2021, 10 Dec 2023, and 08 Dec 2024 by Major Michael Ramsay (and 614 Warehouse Mission in Toronto on 10 December 2017)

  

To see the 2023 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2023/12/isaiah-401-8-28-31-luke-31-6-straight.html

To see the 2021 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2021/12/luke-31-6-isaiah-401-8-straight-paths.html

To See the 2017 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2017/12/isaiah-401-8-sometimes-buildings-need_9.html

 

It is Christmas Season, there are so many great events going on. When we were stationed in Toronto, we participated in the Santa Shuffle, an annual fun race put on by The Salvation Army. When I lived in Vancouver, I faithfully ran every second day. I lived about 5km from my office – I used to run there and back. In Winnipeg I lived almost 10km from the College; a colleague and I ran there a few times. In Toronto I would run past our current DC’s (Lt.-Col. Jamie Braund’s) quarters regularly and here in Port Alberni I even ran a little bit. Running can be fun – but when you get out of the habit and have to start again, it can be a chore. And running here, sometimes those hills can feel like mountains and those valleys, ravines.  I can remember when I was first learning to run, being near the end of my run and my energy... rounding a corner and seeing... another hill to try to run up...I then understand Luke 3:4-6 and Isaiah 40:3b-5:

“...make straight in the desert

a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up,

every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level,

the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

and all people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

 

This is a great verse to ponder when you are running up and down hills and around curves, looking towards a time when obstacles will disappear. This is part of the Good News of Luke 3 and Isaiah 40. This is the Good News that John the Baptist proclaims: when Jesus returns with His Kingdom, obstacles will be removed. As during Advent we commemorate waiting for Jesus’ birth, we also hope for His return so our mountains of trouble will be levelled, and our valleys of despair will be raised to abundance. The crookedness of our paths will be straightened. That is our hope.

 

Last week we lit the candle of hope. Today we lit the candle of peace. One of the key things about hope and peace in the context of Isaiah and Luke is that both are to and from God and an humbled people, a conquered people, an exiled people. There is no hope when you are on top of the world...only fear that you will fall – and where there is fear there is no peace.

 

Today, the world is full of fear.

 

When we lived in Swift Current Saskatchewan, I believe each Christmas we would raise more money per capita for The Salvation Army than any other place. (It is why I always try to raise $200 000 here – because I raised more than that there well over a decade ago.) At first this was a victory – and then it was almost a fear for me. What happens if we are not the best? What if someone beats us? What if I do not beat my previous record? What if I fail?

 

It was the same in university, I did achieve good grades and made the Dean’s list and graduated with distinction – but I did become distracted by getting good marks and once I became addicted to ‘A+’s, a ‘B’ was infuriating. There was no inherent joy in achievement anymore only a fear of failure – and fear can stomp out hope and it kills peace.

 

It was not always like that though in school: I remember a time when I would hope and pray and celebrate even a passing grade. I remember High School French. The only French words I remember from that year we’re ‘ne lancer pas la papier’ which means ‘don’t throw the paper’. Apparently the teacher didn’t like that we threw paper airplanes in class. Every time we made one, we could hear her say, ‘ne lancer pas la papier’.

 

I don’t think I was her favourite student. One day I was in the counselling alcove and I saw her and she asked me what I was doing. I told her I was switching out of her class in 3rd period... ‘That is a very good idea to switch out of my class’, she said. ‘...to your class in fourth period,’ I continued. She was not impressed.

 

Don’t we all have stories of a more carefree time? Look back on those times: these are usually times when you didn’t have a lot except the love of a few good friends and the hope that the future will be better. There is a lot of freedom in not having much. Is it Janet Joplin who sang that freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose?

 

Sometimes this is right. Sometimes I think we get to a place of fearing loss so much that we no longer have peace, we no longer have hope, and we no longer have love. Sometimes when we do have enough to get by, we don’t share what is ours for fear that we might not have something. This is reflected very much in tithing. When a person who has tithed or knows they should tithe, does not tithe... this is a sign that we are not doing well. This is a symptom that we are not free and at peace but instead bound up in fear or pride or something else that keeps us from tithing. I remember when we were Corps Officers in Tisdale, there was Ralph. He had a limited income. As a guessed example, he only made $52.30 a week and every week he tithed $5.23. This is an example of love. This is an example of our hope in the Lord. I think of him when sometimes I fear for my finances. I can choose peace and hope instead.

 

Fear can rob us of hope. Fear can rob us of love. Fear does rob us of peace.  Our candle today is peace and peace is the opposite of fear. Today the world is full of fear. Jesus is the Prince of Peace! And He is who we are waiting for in Advent.

 

In Advent we talk about the Good News of the Salvation of the world. Do you know where in the Bible this Good News shows up for the first time? Genesis 12:1-3: “All the nations of the earth will be blessed” and do you know what happens just before... Genesis 11: the tower of Babel. God told the people to move and fill the earth. The people said, ‘No. We are going to stay here, build a city and a tower, and make a name for ourselves instead.’ God levelled their tower, their city; their pride and their fear, in order to give them the hope of salvation.

 

Isaiah records how God’s temple was destroyed, the holy city Jerusalem, and the independent nations of Israel and Judah were destroyed and, through this, God provided them with hope. In Isaiah comes this hope of flattened mountains, raised valleys, straight paths and the true peace that can only come from trusting God.

 

There are many things in our world, our country, our province, our time, and our life that are coming crashing down all around us these days. We can still have peace even in the midst of it all. God loves us.  There have been quite some troubles in the world recently – wars, some of which we are actively provoking, promoting, pursuing, and engaging in – sending arms and (our allies) troops. There are other things happening right here – in our very neighbourhood. For those of us who are experiencing life tumbling down around us it can feel as if we are in exile in our own lives, for those of us who are fearing or grieving, for those of us who feel like all is lost, God is here. When the people were scattered from the ruins of Babel, God was there with Terah and his son, Abraham, offering salvation. When Israel was slave to Egypt, God was there with Moses offering salvation; when Judah was exiled from her city, her temple, and her life, God was there pointing her towards Salvation: Jesus’ Advent; Jesus, whose imminent return we eagerly await today, when he returns all the insurmountable mountains in our life will be levelled, all the impassable valleys raised, and all our crooked paths made straight – and right up until that time, right until the end of this age, He is here with us in the midst of it all.

 

It is Advent. Let us start and let us continue living our lives  in hope, in peace and in love. Let us all walk in God’s hope, God’s love and God’s peace, for we know He will see us through and we know He is with us even as we look forward to the day of Christ’s return when all those valleys will be raised, all those mountains will be levelled and all our paths will straightened for ever more.

 

Let us pray.

 

 

 

  

Romans 5:7-8: Death, a Demonstration of Love.

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 24 November 2024. By Major Michael Ramsay. Based on a chapter in his book, Salvogesis’ Guidebook to Romans Road and sermons presented to Swift Current Corps, 26 July 2009

 

To view the earlier sermons, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/07/romans-58-while-we-were-still-sinners.html

To read ‘Salvogesis’, click here: http://www.sheepspeak.com/ebooks.htm   

See also Romans 5:10: Reconciliation Day. Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 02 October 2022, by Major Michael Ramsay: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2022/10/romans-510-reconciliation-day.html

 

Romans 5:7-8: “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die but God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

We have just had Remembrance Day the Monday before last. The Salvation Army plays a big role in Remembrance Day ceremonies across this country because of the great work the Lord did through us during the First and Second World Wars.

General Harry Crerar, former Commander of the First Canadian Army in the Second World War said, “It would be easier to forget one’s name than fail to remember the times without number when the Salvation Army was, in truth, our comforter and friend.” During both world wars and throughout the Cold War, The Salvation Army provided Canadian military personnel with comforts such as hot drinks and snacks and helped keep up spirits by manning leave centres. Very close to the front lines, the Salvation Army showed films, established canteens, organized sporting events and other recreational activities, supplied reading material, stationery, cigarettes, and other items for the troops. The Salvation Army also offered spiritual care and counselling to military personnel: comforting the wounded and to burying the dead. In short, they did whatever they could to help maintain morale. The Salvation Army instructed its supervisors to “care for the body, mind and soul of every [service person] irrespective of creed or personality.” In the midst of the horrors of war, the Salvation Army aimed to offer a glimpse of home to the military.[1]

In Canada, The Salvation Army Home League raised funds and sent thousands of comfort packages filled with socks, underwear, Christmas presents, and other items directly to The Salvation Army chaplains for distribution. Salvationists visited the homes of deceased soldiers comforting and looking into the welfare of many grieving families. Truly the Salvation Army “provided the reassuring link between the fighting man and his world of peace and kindness and sanity”[2].

I have heard many individual accounts from veterans of WWII or their widows about how much God used the “Sally Ann” during the War. Canadian soldiers were sent overseas. Many were saved and many died for our side. 

Christ died for us while we were still sinners (cf. Ro 4:5). Romans 5:10 tells us that besides our being still sinners, we were more than that: we were His enemies (cf. 1 Jn 4:10). When we were still apart from Christ, ‘sinners’ as they say, we were Christ’s enemies. When we were not under Christ’s leadership, we were not subjects of His kingdom and thus – as we are involved in a spiritual war - we were His enemies. We, through our allegiances and citizenship fought against Christ even though His only desire was for all of us to be saved and be a part of His Kingdom (1 Tim 2:4). 

One might respond, “when I didn’t know Christ, I wasn’t his enemy I led a good life. I didn’t hurt anybody. I just happened to get to know God later on in life and become ‘born again’ . . . that doesn’t mean that I was ever God’s enemy, does it?”

The Apostle Paul argues that the sinner (a sinner is anyone who doesn’t serve God) is an enemy of God; the sinner is simply like a citizen of a nation/ group that is not under Christ and thus is at war with Christ. Paul makes a strong distinction between the sinner and the saint. The sinners are not on God’s side. The saints are on God’s side.

A good way to understand how we were “as sinners” and even “as enemies of Christ” could be expressed in a further military analogy. We know of the horrors of war and the crimes that our enemies commit. We, and our allies, however, are far from innocent. In WWII, the UK and the US created an horrific firestorm carpet bombing Dresden and killing many innocent women, children and others. And, of course, the United States intentionally dropped the atomic bomb on an already defeated Japan. War crimes.

During the World Wars, in Canada we treated anyone of German, Italian, Ukrainian, and especially Japanese ancestry as our enemies. We confiscated the belongings and livelihoods of Japanese-Canadians and put them in internment camps. (The famous Canadian scientist and environmentalist, David Suzuki, spent part of his early life in such an internment camp.) We treated innocent people as our enemies. As is shown through the official government apologies and tax money paid in reparations by later generations who were not even alive during the Second World War, the responsibility and the liability for this legally rests with all of us. 

In more recent history, during the “War on Terror,” the American president declared that “Whoever isn’t with us is against us” and proceeded to sanction torture of their captives in Guantanamo Bay, as well as elsewhere in the world. Americans still have their facilities in Guantanamo Bay even today and the acts committed thete have created many enemies all over the world for the rest of us. Terrorism, counter-terrorism, suicide-bombing, assassinations, and mass political murders increase precisely because many countries in this world are falling short of the standard of the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). 

When I was younger I worked at CFB Esquimalt; then Canada was seen as a peacekeeping nation as we recognized more clearly the blessings of being a peacemaker (Matthew 5:9) Things have changed now.

The consequences of all our wars affect not only the families our country and our weapons bomb but they also affect each of us. Especially in a democracy: the consequences of our country's actions impose guilt on us all. Even today we are choosing to spend billions of dollars to kill Russians, Ukrainians, Palestinians, and others instead of feeding and caring for our own families and vulnerable people under our care. The money we spend killing children overseas could easily be spent saving children at home.

Now, just like Canada’s many wars since the end of the Cold War has made each of us (as citizens of Canada) many enemies; so sin makes us enemies of Christ. Before we were a part of His Kingdom, we were at war with Christ. And we can never win such a war so the consequence of this war against Christ; the consequence of this sin is death (Ro 6:23).

Paul tells us in Romans that Adam and Eve were the original sinners (Ro 5:12−21; cf.1 Cor 15). They were the first to transgress the will of God. God told them that they could do anything they wanted so long as they went forth, multiplied and did not from eat the fruit of just one tree. He graciously let them tend take care of His garden (Ge 1:28, 2:17, 9:1). And then what did they do? They disobeyed God – they sinned. In so doing, our ancestors declared war on God. Humankind has been in at War against God ever since (Ro 3:23).          

Paul was writing at a time very like our own as our society distances itself from God. He writes that, “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Ro 5:6). Verse 8: “but God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

I have heard on several occasions a story about a preacher in an English church whose sermon one Sunday caught the attention of two young boys sitting in the pews. He used the account to impress on the congregation how Christ died for us. He said:

A father and son went fishing off the coast of England with one of his son’s friends. A terrible storm came. The wind and waves tossed their boat up and down, back and forth, and both boys were thrown overboard. The father ran to grab the only life preserver. Even if there had been more than one life preserver he could not possibly have thrown two of them in time. There was only time to save one boy. The father threw the life preserver… to . . . his son’s friend. The boy grabbed it and the man pulled him into the boat. By the time the father had rescued his child’s friend there was no sign of his son. The father had sacrificed his only son, so that the other boy could live. 

 

The story reminds us of our Heavenly Father and His Only Son. God let His Only Son − whom He loves − die so that even those of us who do not know Him, those of us who are sinners, those of us who are His enemies, can be saved. God’s son died for us at just the right time so that all of us can be saved (Eph 1:7; Jn 15:1−17). 

After this sermon, the boys approached the preacher. They asked if he had made up the story. He told them it was true. They weren’t convinced. One boy asked why a father would let his own son die for a kid he didn’t even know. The preacher told him that the father knew that even if his own son were lost, yet he would be saved. He knew that his own son, even if he died, would yet live; he would see him again at the resurrection. The point, the preacher explained, was that the father had sacrificed his son to save the other boy.

“How do you know that story’s true?” demanded one of the two boys, still skeptical.

“Because I was that boy who was saved,” replied the old preacher.

And so it is with all of us. God the Father has already sacrificed His one and only son so that we can live. All we need to do is to grab hold of the life preserver of our salvation, hold tight in holiness, and not let it slip away. Christ died so that we could live. If we grab hold of him we can make it through any storm. We can.

Do not let Jesus’ death be in vain in our own lives. We can make it through anything if we grab hold of him, like a life-preserver, If there is anything we are holding onto that is preventing us from seizing this salvation, let us cast it aside, and grab hold of Jesu. If we are holding on to any aspect of our lives so tightly that we are not fully clutching that preserver of our salvation, let us cast it aside, let us immediately reach out and grab hold of His life preserver so that we can all be gloriously saved for now, in the storms of everyone’s lives and forever more.

          There are friends and family members of many of us here who are being tossed around in the storms of life and feel like they are going to drown, I am sure. Please share the Life preserver of Jesus and His salvation with them. Jesus can get us through every storm and every trouble. No matter who we are and what we have done for, Romans 5:8, “…God demonstrates His own love for us, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Let us pray

Romans 3:35-4:4: Nothing to Boast About

 Presented to TSA AV Ministries, 17 November 2024, by Major Michael Ramsay

Romans 3:35-4:4:

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his [patience] he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

 

The last two verses again: If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

 

I have been blessed. I am thankful that I received the King Charles III Coronation Medal last night – so thankful. As I said last night, I really do think this award is meant to honour all of us and  all of the work all of we do.

 

After not sleeping well the last couple of nights my mind started to wander as I read the scriptures in the very early hours of the morning. I realized that I have been blessed, I have been honoured a few times in my life.

 

These things do mean a lot to me – but - I know that I didn’t get The King Charles III medal or any other award because I work harder or better than anyone and everyone else. I know this and any and every other trinket (which mean so much to me) could easily have been given to others. I know it is the Grace of God when any of us receive honours and a blessing of God when any of us receive recognition. I do find it really humbling And I am glad that I received it for teamwork – even the MP mentioned that.

 

I am greatly humbled that God chooses to use us here in The Salvation Army the way He does. And I am very aware before God that I should never look at my ‘trinkets’ and think, “I deserved that; I am so good.” Most people work hard their whole life – many harder and better than I do -and never receive that acknowledgement. Everything is the Grace of God. I am so thankful to the Lord for that.

 

Romans 4:2-3: If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

 

Working hard is good but it is not what gets us awards and rewards. It doesn’t even, contrary to what some may think, get us better things in this life.

 

You don’t get rewarded with money by working hard. You don’t get rich by working at all (hard or not!). You know the secret to getting rich? Being rich! You get rich, if you are already rich. If you work 15 hours a day at minimum wage; if you work 20 hours a day at the average wage, you will never get rich. You may actually get poorer the way our system is set up now.

 

You know the sure-fire way to make money? – it is to have money. The richest families in the world today (apparently) by and large are the same richest families there were 400 years ago when the English first arrived in North America. If I have millions of dollars in the bank, I will make more money today in interest than I will if I work a whole day and a half without sleeping or doing anything else.

 

Hard work really does not give us temporal wealth any more than it gives us rewards. It doesn’t. Neither does working hard give us eternal rewards. It doesn’t.

 

Romans 4:2-3: If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

 

God cares about our relationship with Him. Something else struck me yesterday at the Gala. There were a number of things that went wrong – as there always will be. When the AV person came to me hat-in-hand about not having the tree on the screen at the correct time, I honestly didn’t mind. When the MC apologized anxiously from her heart about forgetting the MLA, I honestly didn’t mind. When other errors happened and people came to me and told me how things went awry, even as their boss, I didn’t mind. I encouraged them and I left feeling good about them and the work they were doing. I was proud of them. They made a mistake and because they came to me, I am confident they will strive to never make those mistakes again. They did great!... and no one was the wiser, and really, soon I will forget the little blips and just remember the great success as God really did bless us with a great event last night.

 

Now we have really great employees here who almost never complain about anything but I contrast this to when employees, in our day-to-day work, try to hide something from me, as their boss, or when I remind them that they did not do something and instead of chatting with me about it, they get defensive saying “that wasn’t me” or “its not my fault” or “I am not the only one” then I get quite upset. I lose a little respect for them. I learn that I can’t rely on them, I lose trust in them. And if this continues over time, I no longer ask them to do things and then, if it continues even more, I am not in relationship with them.

 

It is the same with God. If I do something wrong and get defensive, blame others, try to hide it, get angry, God will be hurt – just like I am as an employer. But if I make mistakes and come to God and tell Him I made a mistake, how bad I feel about it, and ask for the opportunity not to make that mistake again, God will forgive me. God loves me. God loves us.

 

The more I come to God even having made many mistakes, confessing them to Him, and remembering not to do the same thing again, the more I show God that I love Him and I trust Him. Then, just like I forgive my employees when they do that; so much more will God forgive and trust me and you and us when we come to Him in that way.

 

But when we let God down by accident or on purpose and then deny it, deflect it, excuse it, or blame God or someone else for it; we drive a wedge in our relationship with God. And then just like some employees walk away from their jobs when things start going in this direction; if we do this to God, I can’t imagine that it will be too long before we walk away from Him and that would break His heart. Because it is our relationship with God that He cares about. Our believing Him, our trusting Him, our loving Him.

 

Because God Loves us and He wants us to succeed and, as long as we come to Him, it doesn’t matter what we have done or how long ago we have done it, He will continue to love us and trust us and He will trust us even more with things of this world and the next. Let us believe God in this.

 

Romans 4:2-3: If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

 

Our salvation for here and now and forever has nothing to do with how hard we work. It has everything to do with how much we love the Lord – and by the way, when I love my boss, I work very diligently for them.

 

So my encouragement for us all today is let us work hard for the Lord -nnot striving to win or accomplish anything or out of fear of not accomplishing things - but just out of pure love for our saviour.

 

Let us pray.

 

Thank you Lord that we are saved by your faithfulness and that when we believe you and trust you our relationship with you will deepen and grow. Thank you that you love us for now and forever.

 

Amen.