Presented to St. Stephen the Martyr Anglican Church
Swift Current, Saskatchewan, 29 November 2009
and Swift Current TSA Corps 02 December 2012
By Captain Michael Ramsay
See also http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/11/mark-132829-first-sprig-of-spring.html
Luke 21: 29-31: “He told them this parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the Kingdom of God is near.”
Now I grew up in Victoria, BC. There we would always have a green Christmas – which it looks like we might actually get here this year. Growing up there, we had snow maybe once every four years or so and when we did, it was gone in about a week. Every February, when much of our great country is still covered in snow, Victoria has its annual flower count. I recently found the statistics for 2002. In that year Victoria counted 8,521,514,876 flowers on that day in February.[1]
When I first moved to the Prairies some years ago now – we lived in Winnipeg – I noticed that Februaries in Winnipeg are a little bit different than in Victoria. Instead of + 8 billion flowers, in Winnipeg we had what felt like - 8 billion degree temperatures.
It is great here on the Prairies though. My girls really love sledding. They love skating and curling and whenever the snow is suitable you can see them building snow people. Our girls were 3 and 4 when we moved to Winnipeg and we lived a short walk from a really good sledding hill so we would go quite often and when we did it was a lot of fun. Inevitably, too, on our walk home there was a ‘Subway’ sandwich shop that we would pass so we would always stop for a hot chocolate and a cookie after sledding. The girls and I came to really look forward to that. Winter is great… but you know what? We were most recently living in northern Saskatchewan and when the end of May – or the beginning of June (!) – rolls around and there is still snow on the ground – I am ready for it to be over.
By the time the snow starts to melt, by the time the trees start to sprout and we can see for ourselves that summer is near, I am quite happy. As fun as sledding to Subway is with the kids in the winter for a cookie, it is also good to ride our bikes to Dairy Queen on a hot summer day for an ice-cream cone! And by the end of May I am more looking forward an ice-cream cone in the heat than a cookie in the cold.
Luke 21: 29-31: “He told them this parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the Kingdom of God is near.”
This is the same sort of idea that our text today is talking about.[2] We all know that in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve (Genesis 3; See also Romans 5:14) -instead of watching squirrels and counting blossoms- they decided to listen to snakes and eat a forbidden fruit. This probably wouldn’t have been quite so bad except for the problem that their Father in Heaven had just finished telling them not to do this. So when God caught his children disobeying Him and then deliberately trying to deceive Him about it, He was disappointed and He gave them a time-out from paradise, the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23-24, Hosea 6:7, Romans 5:12-14). This is the ‘fall’; we were separated from God because of this original sin – eating the fruit, disobeying God and then deliberately trying to deceive Him about it.
And this was just the beginning. We the people were not necessarily the best children of God that we should be. Genesis tells us that the people were so bad God felt that He needed to destroy the earth by flood (Genesis 6-9; see also 2 Peter 2:5). Exodus saw the Hebrews dragged kicking and screaming into the Promised Land. The generation that left Egypt was so bad that God didn’t let any of them - save Joshua and Caleb – even enter the land promised them (Numbers 14:21-24; Deuteronomy 1:31-40; see Hebrews 4:1-13). More than once they voted not to follow God, but – Praise the Lord - God’s Kingdom isn’t a democracy so He saved their children in spite of them. Judges tells us that instead of following God the people at that time just did whatever was popular. They did what was right in their own eyes: they did evil in the sight of the Lord and they suffered the natural consequences of it (see Judges 21). Solomon, the wisest man ever to live, even made the serious mistake of turning his back on God and as a result half of his Kingdom was torn from his own children and grandchildren (1 Kings 11).
Throughout the times of the kings and the prophets, often Baal worship was more popular than worshipping the Lord (See Joshua 2:11-13; Judges 3:7, 6:25ff., 8:3, 10:10; 1 Samuel 7:4, 12:10, 1 Kings 16- 22; 2 Kings 1-10, 17:16, 21:3; 2 Chronicles 28:2, 33:3; Jeremiah 2, 7, 9, 11, 19, 23, 32; Hosea 2; 9:10, 11:12). If there was something like the TV Show ‘Canadian Idol’ back then (Israelite Idol) the people many times over would have voted for Baal over the Lord. Though there were some exceptions to this: Remember when the prophets of Baal and Elijah, atop Mt. Carmel, when they had a ‘So you think you can dance’ dance-off of sorts (1 Kings 18:16-45)? The prophets of Baal anyway had quite a long and elaborate routine but God blessed Elijah by raining down fire and He won the completion (1 Kings 18:38). This was more the exception though than the rule and this is all part of the long cold winter of our consequences of the original and subsequent sins. But we know – like Jesus tells us in our scriptures today that spring is coming (see also Romans 13:11-12).
Through the Biblical record though this sin, like winter, continued of course. Leviticus tells us that we the people failed to look after the land (Leviticus 25:1-23) and Jeremiah tells us that it was taken away from the Israelites because of this (Jeremiah 15:11, 19:10; 2 Chronicles 36:20-21).[3] Isaiah, Amos and the other prophets tell us that the people cared more about wealth than about caring for the poor, the widow and the immigrant (Cf. Isaiah 3:14, 15, 10:2, 11:4, 26:6, 32:7, 41:17, 58:7, 61:1; Amos 4:1, 5:11-12, 8:4-6). In Israel of the Old Testament some became rich and some became poor and even though, as Jesus would later tell us, that the whole Law and the prophets were summed up in the command to love God and love your neighbour (Matthew 22:34-40); we the people didn’t do this. We continued to put ourselves first. We continued to do what was right in our own eyes. We continued freezing outside in the winter of our sins when the blossoms of God’s love just wanted to envelope us instead. And now when Jesus is speaking, as recorded in our text today, he tells us to “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near” (Luke 21: 29-31).
In our world today we still see a lot of problems. Crime in Canada is higher than it ever used to be. According to the CCVF, it is so bad now that many people are losing faith in the authorities abilities to stop it that in many cases charges aren’t even being filed anymore.[4] Even economic crime is on the rise in Canada with Reuters reporting that 56 percent of companies surveyed recently (more than half of them) reported falling prey to white-collar crime.[5] And – of course – in our winter of sin there is pornography, which horribly is North America’s most lucrative pastime. In the United States, pornography revenue is more than all money made from professional football, baseball and basketball combined. The money made by US pornography exceeds the combined revenues of all their major TV networks (6.2 billion) Child pornography alone generates $3 billion annually.[6]
We are still in the winter of our sin but summer is coming (See Romans 13:11-12); Jesus is coming back. The metaphorical snow of sin is still on the ground but as Jesus assures us, “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near” (Luke 21: 29-31).
There is good news if we look around. Jesus himself was the first blossom.[7] He is the branch of Jesse (Zechariah 6:11-13; Isaiah 11:1)[8] and he is the first blossom as well. He shows us and teaches us in parables about the Kingdom of God. He tells us again and again as recorded in this the Gospel of Luke that the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is here. It is in His presence. When we are in Jesus’ presence we see the buds coming through on the trees (see also John 14). It is like Matthew 25:31-40 says,
“‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”
And when we share the Good News of God’s love we too are a part of those blossoms of the spring of Christ’s love. In The Salvation Army alone – and we are only one of many Christians denominations in this country - we are one of the world’s largest social services providers; we also have the blessing of being on the frontlines against the fight against sex slavery; we run food banks, shelters, serve over 2.5 million meals a year and help more than 10 000 people out of their addictions and we are only one part of the Christian Church in Canada and as you and I, as we all share the love of Christ with are neighbours - through our actions and our words both corporate and individual – when we share the love of Christ with our neighbours as bad as the world may seem today in the winter of our sin, we can all be part of those first blossoms that have been sprouting through Jesus, the Branch of Jesse, ever since His first advent 2000 years ago. This is the first Sunday of our Advent season. As the first bud of spring sprouted with Jesus coming to live among us all those years ago and we know too that Jesus is coming back and he’s coming soon. When he does that will be when all the trees are in full bloom covered in the blossoms of salvation and when he comes what a day of rejoicing that will be. This is something for us all to look forward to in the advent season ahead.
Let us pray.
http://www.sheepspeak.com/
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[1] One of many sources for this: Human Flower Project: http://www.humanflowerproject.com/index.php/weblog/comments/whos_counting_we_and_victoria/
[2] Cf. Gerard S. Sloyan, John (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 5 and Joel B Green, The Gospel of Luke (NICNT 3: Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 25.
[3] Cf. Michael Ramsay, Leviticus 25 1-23 in the Context of the Holiness Code: The Land Shall Observe a Sabbath. Presented to William and Catherine Booth College (Fall 2006). Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com/OT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Leviticus 25 1-23
[4] LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, Canadian Crime Victim Foundation (Toronto: Oct 25, 2009), cited November 22, 2009. Available on-line: http://www.ccvf.net/articles.cfm?pageID=articles&subpageID=news&viewID=75 : Every five years, Statistics Canada conducts the General Social Survey. It asks a representative sample of Canadians, among other things, whether they have been crime victims. From the last survey in 2004 (the next one is being conducted now, with the findings to be released next year) Statistics Canada reached the following conclusions. First, progressively fewer Canadians who are crime victims are reporting the crime to police -- only 34% in 2004, compared to 37% in 1999. Second, based on the GSS, an estimated 92% of sexual assaults were never reported to police, 46% of break-ins, 51% of motor vehicle/parts thefts, 61% of physical assaults and 54% of robberies.
[5] Economic crime rate rises in Canada, report says (Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:14pm EST) cited November 21, 2009. Available on-line: http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCATRE5AI52E20091119 : "Some 56 percent of companies surveyed reported falling prey to white-collar crime during the period, the 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers' Economic Crime Survey showed. That's a 10 percentage point increase over 2003 and a 4 point increase from two years ago."
[6] Christian Technology Solutions, Pornography Industry Statistics. Cited 21 November, 2009. Available on line: http://christiantechnologysolutions.com/content/view/18/24/
[7] Cf. E. Earle Ellis. The Gospel of Luke (The New Century Bible: Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 1981), p. 242.
[8] Cf. Mary L. Coloe, “Temple Imagery in the Gospel of John.” Interpretation: a Journal of Bible and Theology 63, no. 4 (October 2009): 368-381.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Hebrews 11:1,2: Good Grace Charlie Brown!
Presented to Swift Current Corps, 22 November 2009
By Captain Michael Ramsay
Do you remember the old ‘Peanuts’ comics by George Shultz with Snoopy, Linus, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Woodstock and the gang? I don’t know if they are still in the comic strips or not but I found an old comic here that I would like to share with you.
By Captain Michael Ramsay
Do you remember the old ‘Peanuts’ comics by George Shultz with Snoopy, Linus, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Woodstock and the gang? I don’t know if they are still in the comic strips or not but I found an old comic here that I would like to share with you.
Hebrews 11: 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” They have this running theme in ‘Peanuts’ where Lucy holds the football and Charlie Brown -after much convincing- decides to put his faith in the idea that he may actually get to kick the football. This happens many, many times in the comic strip until one day Charlie Brown actually gets Lucy to promise that she will let him kick the ball.
Hebrews 11: 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Charlie Brown had faith enough in Lucy’s promise – against all the evidence – but to no avail. There is another time where Lucy actually gets a legal document citing that Charlie Brown would be permitted to kick the football. Charlie Brown’s faith is buoyed….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTUy_mlpgy4
Hebrews 11: 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Charlie Brown put his faith in Lucy. He put his faith in legal documents. He put his faith in promises and each time he fell flat on his back. But he still had faith that someday he would kick that football.
Chapter 11 tells us of some people in the Bible who had faith in God – let’s see how they fair.[1]
Remembering that faith here is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1).[2]
Abel had faith. He offered up a better sacrifice than Cain and he, instead of winding up on his back like Charlie Brown, Verse 4 says he actually wound up, well, dead (Genesis 4; but see Matthew 23:35 and Luke 11:51).
Okay, well, there is also Enoch, Verse 5. Remember Enoch, he had so much faith that – well he died too, and after he died no one ever found his body (Genesis 5:18-24).[3]
Abraham, what about Abraham? Verses 8-12 and 17: He had faith that his descendants would inherit the Promised Land (see Genesis 15). He had faith that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Hebrews 11:12; Genesis 22:17) and stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5, 22:17, 26:4); He had faith that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3) but before any of this happens of course – before Abraham sees any of this happen – he dies. He is even told in advance that – when the promise is made – that he will be dead for about 400 years before any of this happens (Genesis 15). Can you imagine? It is like you win the lottery this week somehow (someone buys you a ticket)[4] but you are not allowed to collect the prize until the year 2409, 400 years after today’s date… it is the same thing. And Abraham, shortly after Abraham was promised this, what did he do? He prepared to kill his son, Isaac, his son of the promise (Genesis 21-22; 25:5).
Hebrews 11: 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And of all the people we’ve mentioned so far from Hebrews Chapter 11, the preacher of the sermon to the Hebrews says, “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” (Hebrews 11:13).
There is more though: Moses is in the list of the heroes of the faith here (Hebrews 11:23-29). God asks Moses to lead His people out of Egypt and this is interesting (Exodus 3): where and when God asks Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, Moses is not in the heart of Egypt. God meets Moses on top of Mt. Sinai, which is in the desert outside of the direct control of Pharoah's Egypt and He asks Moses to go all the way back to Egypt, get His people and then come all the way back again to Mt. Sinai. Moses asks God for a sign before he is going to go to all this effort and God says that the sign He will give him is this: He says that AFTER he is done what he is told to do, then he will get the sign. After you lead the people out of Egypt, God says, then you will worship me here on this mountain (Exodus 3:11-12). God doesn’t grace him with a sign in advance. He says you’ll get your proof after it is done. That would be like Charlie Brown asking Lucy for proof that he could kick the football and her responding that the proof will be that after you kick it, you will do a victory dance – that would seem to be no proof. But Moses has faith and he does it and then you know what happens just before the people enter this Promised Land, Moses dies.
Hebrews 11: 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
What about some of the other people in the list? Isaac was the intended sacrifice that his dad tied up to kill and he even continued along his dad’s trajectory (Hebrews 11:17-18). His son Jacob was a liar (Hebrews 11:21-22). Rahab was a prostitute who is visited by 2 foreigners who intend to have her city destroyed– they visit this prostitute and this prostitute entertains them (Hebrews 11:31; see Joshua 2:1-21, 6:17-23). Samson, in this list, was also known to visit prostitutes and killed people in anger (Hebrews 11:32; See Judges 13-16). There is more. There is David who – among other things - sleeps around and then when the woman he commits adultery with gets pregnant he tries to hide it by killing her husband (Hebrews 11:32; see 2 Samuel 11&12 and 1 Kings 15:5). Jephthah was a mercenary who offers to sacrifice his only daughter, which may or may not involve her execution (Hebrews 11:32; see Judges 10-12).[5] Gideon kept asking for a sign to alleviate his apparent doubt (Hebrews 11:32). These are some of the heroes of the faith? These are some of the heroes of the faith.
Faith is not only what we do. Faith is more than that.[6] Faith and faithfulness are definitely intertwined[7] and Hebrews 11: 1&2: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”
This is important because God is faithful (Romans 3:3,4; see Psalm 51:4). Even when some of these heroes of the faith stumbled God picked them up. God carried them through the bonds of their covenants. Indeed what if they were unfaithful, would that nullify the faithfulness of Christ. Paul says in Romans 3:3,4, emphatically, No! And even when we do slip up and act in ways inconsistent with faith, we can repent. God can forgive us, rectify things, and set us straight and we also can be heroes of faith.
It was only through the Grace of God that these normal people sought God in faith and we even now experience the blessings of that. It was through the faithfulness of God and the faith and faithfulness of every one of these people in this list that God blesses us here today. Walking the path blazed by those who went before us, we experience the blessings we were promised through them just like our children will experience the blessing of a nation dedicated to God provided that we are faithful and reclaim our nation as a nation dedicated to Christ.
It was through God’s faithfulness and Abraham’s faith and faithfulness that the world was ultimately blessed through Jesus Christ (Genesis 12:1-3). It was through Moses that God gave the people of Israel that rest, that Hebrews 4 addresses, in the Promised Land (See also Deuteronomy 1 and Numbers 14). It was through David’s faith and faithfulness that God built His house (2 Samuel 7; see also 2 Sam. 23:5 and Psalms 89:3, 28-29; 110:4), His dynasty which culminates through Jesus – who is the Christ, the wonderful counselor, mighty God, the Prince of Peace whose government will never stop ruling and being peaceful (Isaiah 9:6). God’s government is a peaceful government.
Abel and Enoch were taken to be with the Lord and remembered forever as examples of faith (see Matthew 23:35 and Luke 11:51). Enoch himself never had to experience death (Genesis 5:24). Like Elijah later (2 Kings 2:11), he was avoided the pain of that transition between here and there.
Faith is not just what we do; it is that and more. Hebrews 11: 1&2: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”
My kids and I try to read the Bible every night: not too long ago we were studying Daniel and in the book of Daniel you see prophecies that are recorded hundreds of years into the future and almost - if not all – are fulfilled already by the advent of Christ. This is the same with Jeremiah. This is the same with Isaiah. That which these people of faith in Chapter 11 could not see in their lifetime actually came to pass. After these people died, the promises to them were fulfilled; they were vindicated. Now we know for sure what they believed to be true. We have seen what they had faith would come to pass. That they didn’t experience the complete blessing of their promises in their lifetime didn’t dissuade them of the reality.[8] They weren’t as blind as atheists who when faced with a darkened room put on sunglasses of disbelief to obscure the view even further (see Romans 14:23). We, like the crowd of witnesses recorded in Hebrews chapter 11, put on the glasses of faith that are sitting on the table in front of all of us. They are more than glasses, they are like night vision goggles and the heroes of the faith pick up these glasses of faith and see through those glasses what is right in front of our eyes (see 1 Corinthians 13:12).[9]
And as the book of Daniel says that with the resurrection of the dead we will all see the result of their faith and we will all see the result of our faith (Daniel 12:13).[10] Paul in his letter to the Romans says that at that time every knee will bow and every tongue confess whether we want to or not, we will all see what is in front of us then (Romans 14:11). At the resurrection of the dead we all will see the results of our faith. At the resurrection we will see the ultimate results of the faithfulness of Christ, the faithfulness of God. But it is only those of us who persevere who will celebrate it (see Hebrews 3:12; 6:4-8,10:25-27).
Hebrews Chapter 10 records Habakkuk’s prophecy and the warning that not all will persevere (Habakkuk 2:3,4; see further Matthew 24:9-12; Luke 8:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 1:15, 4:10; Hebrews 2:1-14, 3:12; 6:4-8,10:25-27, 31-39; 1 John 2:18-19; 2 Peter 2:17, 3:17). Some who suffer the persecution that we spoke about last week will even dawn the dark sunglasses of disbelief and join the apostate; they will not join us as victors at the resurrection of the just.[11] A different fate awaits them.
“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” (Hebrews 10:39- 11:2). This is our hope too.
Charlie Brown, in his seemingly misplaced faith, persevered and I found this clip on-line where somehow Charlie Brown finds himself invisible and…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6J1MhmQRV8
…Even Charlie Brown persevered and even Charlie Brown had his reward and so much more can you and so can I, and so can everyone who puts his/her faith not in things of this world but in Jesus Christ. God can make a way where their seems like there is no way.[12] Hebrews 10:35-37, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay…(see Habakkuk 2:3,4).”
Christ is faithful therefore we can persevere. We too can celebrate the victory with Christ as we just have faith. But we do have a choice and Chapters 10 and 11 plainly set that choice before us.[13] Our choice is like when Moses was on the precipice of the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). He said to the people, today you can either choose death or you can choose life. A generation of people then followed Joshua into the promised life. Today, as the preacher of the sermon to the Hebrews said, that promise is still open to us (Hebrews 4). Let us not forsake our Faith and die but let us rather choose life and celebrate forever at the resurrection when alongside Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and the others through of Christ’s faithfulness, we shall all be made perfect (Hebrews 11:40; see also Hebrews 7:19, 9:9, 10:1,10:14, 12:23).
Let us pray.
http://www.sheepspeak.com/
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[1] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40), Book Version: 4.0.2 The preacher of Hebrews "sees faith as that trust in God that enables the believer to press on steadfastly whatever the future holds for him. He knows that God is to be relied on implicitly. So the writer's method is to select some of the great ones in the history of the people of God and to show briefly how faith motivated all of them and led them forward, no matter how difficult the circumstances. The result is a great passage that not only encouraged his readers but also has encouraged hosts of Christians through the ages."
[2] Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998), p. 131: “One can argue that v.1 does not ‘define’ faith; after all, the word ‘pistis’, ‘faith’ will sometimes indicate trust or belief and sometimes refer to the quality of loyalty or faithfulness. Rather than offering a definition, the author focuses and gives thematic unity to discussion.”
[3] Cf. Thomas G. Long, Hebrews (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1997), pp. 115-116.
[4] The Salvation Army’s Soldiers’ Covenant states that a soldier “…will abstain from alcoholic drink, tobacco, the non-medical use of addictive drugs, gambling, pornography, the occult and all else that could enslave the body or spirit.”
[5]See Denis T. Olsen, ‘Judges’ in NIB II: Deuteronomy-2 Samuel, p.834 for a good discussion of this. See also Clarke's Commentary, vol. 2, p. 151) cited from Al Maxey, available on-line at: http://www.zianet.com/maxey/reflx224.htm
[6] John Wesley, The Sermons of John Wesley 1872 Edition (Thomas Jackson, editor) SERMON ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO On Faith
"Now faith is the evidence of things not seen." Heb. 11:1. Available on-line at http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/sermons/122.htm "Many times have I thought, many times have I spoke, many times have I wrote upon these words; and yet there appears to be a depth in them which I am in no wise able to fathom. Faith is, in one sense of the word, a divine conviction of God and of the things of God; in another, (nearly related to, yet not altogether the same,) it is a divine conviction of the invisible and eternal world."
[7] Cf. B.F. Westcott, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1950), p. 350 and Simon J. Kistemaker, Hebrews (NTC: Thessalonians, the Pastorals, and Hebrews: Baker Academic: Grand Rapids Michigan, 2007), p.311.
[8] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/A. The Meaning of Faith (11:1-3), Book Version: 4.0.2: "Christians are not helpless. They have faith and by this they test all things. "What we do not see" excludes the entire range of visible phenomena, which here stand for all things earthly. Faith extends beyond what we learn from our senses, and the author is saying that it has its reasons. Its tests are not those of the senses, which yield uncertainty."
[9] cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12: for we all only see through a glass darkly now of the future but at the resurrection we shall see so much more clearly.
[10] Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998), p. 131: “Faith here is eschatological and cannot be separated from hope.”
[11] Michael Ramsay, ‘Hebrews 10:39: We will not shrink back!” Presented to Swift Current Corps, November 15, 2007. Available on-line at http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/11/hebrews-1039-we-will-not-shrink-back.html
[12] Cf. Don Moen, “God will make a Way.” Integrity Music, 1990.
[13] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998), p. 145 and Simon J. Kistemaker, Hebrews (NTC: Thessalonians, the Pastorals, and Hebrews: Baker Academic: Grand Rapids Michigan, 2007), p.359.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Hebrews: 10:39: We will not shrink back!
Presented to Swift Current Corps, 15 November 2009
By Captain Michael Ramsay
I am hoping to see some of the football games today those should be interesting but last weekend was pretty exciting. I watched the game where our Saskatchewan Roughriders secured first place in the west for the first time since 1976. Now this game was interesting. At one point it was 18-1 for Saskatchewan. It was all Saskatchewan…but then the third quarter happened and Saskatchewan had lost big leads before by choking in the third quarter. The very next day too, Michael Bishop and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would do just that: throw the game away in the third quarter against Hamilton. And it was in the third quarter that Saskatchewan then saw their opponents come to life. We saw Calgary dominate the play. We saw Calgary score and score again until they got up to 14 points … but it was not enough. The Saskatchewan Roughriders did not shrink back and lose (unlike Bishop and the Blue Bombers the next day) but rather they persevered and were awarded the victory. I tell this story as an opening because, well, like any good Saskatchewan resident, I’m a Roughrider fan but also because this passage of scripture that we are looking at today in the original language actually has some very real similarities to this. The author (preacher) of the book (sermon) of Hebrews picking up on a 1st Century sports metaphor (10:32ff), and here is encouraging the Hebrews, like athletes, to not give up even if it appears that things are slipping away in the third quarter.[1]
Hebrews 10:39 “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
However, some people do shrink back…(Like the Blue Bombers did)
It has been a while since we looked at Hebrews together here. Reviewing a little bit: We remember that the book of Hebrews was NOT originally a book and (unlike many of the books we have in the New Testament today) it probably was not even a letter. It was most likely a sermon[2] that was preached to a congregation no larger than our own here today.[3] In this small group of believers, they had a number of problems that they were facing that should be very familiar to Canadian Christians of the 21st Century:[4]
* They had some people leaving their group and even turning their backs on their faith (Hebrews 10:25);
* They had other people who were still coming out regularly to their meetings but who had grown apathetic about their faith. They didn’t act as if they even cared about their salvation (Hebrews 2:1-14);[5]
* And worse than not getting together regularly like this and worse than stopping to come out altogether to meetings and worse than growing apathetic about their whole faith, some of them had stopped listening to God (Hebrews 6:4-8,10:25-27);[6]
* Some who used to come out regularly and meet as part of this congregation, some of this small group have even slid into apostasy (Hebrews 3:12; see Hebrews 6:4-8,10:25-27).
These were some of the problems that faced the congregation but the preacher of this first century sermon to the Hebrews, who counts himself as one of their number, encourages them that indeed, Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
There are however those that are not among the saved. There are those that do shrink back (see Matthew 24:9-12; Luke 8:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 1:15, 4:10; Hebrews 2:1-14, 3:12; 6:4-8,10:25-27, 31-39; 1 John 2:18-19; 2 Peter 2:17, 3:17). The early church had problems with people who stayed away from church gatherings which was a dangerous practice, then like now because, as James Moffatt says, “Any early Christian who attempted to live like a pious particle without the support of the community ran serious risks in an age when there was no public opinion to support him.”[7] This may mean that those that didn’t regularly, as we would say today, ‘go to church’ saw Christianity as just another religion to be either practiced or to be left alone. They may have seen it as just another way to live one’s life. They may have seen it as just another religion no better or no worse than any other. They may have seen Christ, Christianity, meeting together as the Church, as something that they could take or leave depending on their schedule: not meeting together if they had guests coming from out of town or wanted to head out to the lake. They may have seen the Christian Church as no different from any other religion, belief system or club membership. Those that did shrink back may have seen meeting together (coming to church in today’s vernacular) as not as important as other things in their lives, instead of what it really is: something that changes our whole lives. Some people did stop meeting together regularly; some people stopped praying and reading; some people started following this whole downward slide right to its conclusion: apostasy, turning one’s back on the Lord.
“But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).
In Canada the percentage of the Canadians attending religious services on a regular basis has declined significantly over the past 20 years alone. According to StatsCan only 21% of Canadians older than 15 regularly attended any religious services in 2005. At the same time, the number of Canadians that never attend religious services of any religion (not just Christianity!) has increased in the past couple of decades to around 33% of the population. About 1/5 of Canadians attend church less than regularly (on special occasions) and 1/3 of Canadians have never gone to church at all.[8]
Prior to the 1970s, our nation still went to church and at that time less than 1% of the Canadian population reported having no religion or atheism (a popular religion/worldview for the contemporary apostate in Canada). In 2001, now that a generation or more have stopped bringing their children and grandchildren to church regularly, that number has increased to almost 5 million people and that number is growing everyday (and that is not the only expression of apostasy in our culture). Where our country did used to be Christian, it is quickly slipping into apostasy, turning its back on God and each other. About 37% of people in the Yukon by 2001 reported they had no religion at all, more than a third of British Columbians and almost a quarter of all Albertans reported having faith in nothing beyond themselves.[9] Even in Saskatchewan, where we Protestants have traditionally made up the largest part of the population, we are now a minority.[10]
Many people used to go to church until very recently across this country but now many are shrinking back and becoming lost. We Canadians aren’t all part of the Church anymore and that is starting to be reflected in our society. It is no coincidence that pornography use, violence and crime are more prevalent in this country than ever before.[11] Many today are stopping to meet together regularly (there are many half-empty churches across this country this very morning.) Many are growing apathetic about their faith, and Canadians are already ceasing from listen to God; shrinking back and people in Canada are quickly becoming lost. Many are becoming apostate.
Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
Now when some do stop coming to church (even if we still believe) then, of course, our children and grandchildren can’t come with us if we coming. Then they will not be exposed to the gospel and how can they respond to that which they have not heard and how can we understand if indeed we were not here to hear either (Romans 10:14).
Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
This is a key point for the hearers of the sermon to the Hebrews. They did not shrink back (see Hebrews 6:9-12). They withstood a lot and still they stood strong. They were insulted for their faith. By people in their community, they were publicly humiliated for their faith (Hebrews 10:33; see also Jeremiah 20:8, 24:9; 1 Corinthians 4:9). Humiliated and insulted: they were mocked, belittled, made fun of, because they followed Christ and were a part of the Church. But they still kept meeting together. They kept coming out. They kept meeting together. They were not among those who shrunk back and so are lost but were among those who have faith and are saved (Hebrews 10:39). And it says that even when they weren’t specifically targeted - but others were - they stood up for those who were attacked for their faith.
In Canada today, it seems that people are less and less likely to even intervene when someone is being attacked physically – so how do we do when someone mocks us for being a part of the Church. I remember -decades ago- when I was in High School and even Victoria where I lived was primarily Christian back then. Notwithstanding, I recall an acquaintance one day when I was standing outside the school on a break with our friends. I had mentioned church or the Bible or something and, even then, he laughed and mocked and said: “you go to church. Hey get a load of this guys, Mike goes to church” – Now mind you, it was his embarrassment rather than mine that day because as I pointed out to him that almost everyone with us - Bill, Becca, Tony, Trevor, Alex, whom I listed by name - almost everyone else with us in the breezeway that day also went to church. But the insults had begun by then in BC and I imagine that they have only grown with the increased apostasy in that province.
The Hebrews here (they were probably in first century Rome)[12] not only withstood insult and stood up for others who were being insulted but they openly did things that would draw the attention and the ire (anger/rage) of their foes. It says that they sympathized with those in prison (Hebrews 10:34; see Matthew 25:36; Acts 23:16, 24:23, 27:3; 2 Timothy 4:13; Philippians 2:25), which was not so good in some people’s eyes.[13] In that day and age the Superpower was cracking down. There was a law and order Conservative-style government in power. Leon Morris reminds us that:
Prisoners were to be punished, not pampered. Little provision was made for them, and they were dependent on friends for their supplies. For Christians visiting prisoners was a meritorious act (Matt 25:36). But there was some risk, for the visitors became identified with the visited. The readers of the epistle had not shrunk from this. It is not pleasant to endure ignominy, and it is not pleasant to be lumped with the ignominious. They had endured both.[14]
Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
There was even more. Their property was confiscated (Hebrews 10:34). [15] If someone came to take your neighbour’s property because they broke the law by being a Christian, would you tell them you went to church? If, say, the parking inspector came around, pad in hand (where is Larry?), and was going to give you a ticket demanding you surrender your car to the city – if you say you’re a Christian. What would you do? What would you say? Would you admit that you are a Christian?
This kind of confiscation the Christians were facing then and there may or may not have even been official. The word rendered ‘confiscation’ (harpage) here in the text could have also been a mob mentality thing.[16] An angry mob of people could have shown up at your door and physically thrown you out of your house if you continued to come to weekly church meetings (See also Mark 13:19; Acts 20:23; Romans 5:3). What would you do if a mob showed up at your house demanding that you never come here again or else you will be physically thrown out of your own home and it would be confiscated forever? What would you do?
Well, these Hebrews in Rome in the first century did stand strong. They were not among those who shrunk back and so are lost but they were among those who have faith and so are saved (Hebrews 10:39). They withstood all of this and they even, Hebrews 10:34, “…joyfully accepted the confiscation of [their] property, because [they] knew that [they themselves] had better and lasting possessions” (see also Matthew 6:19-20).
Now apparently these Hebrew Christians in Rome are entering into a time of ambivalence.[17] They are entering a period where there is less persecution than this. They are entering a time where they are tolerated as one religion no different from the others and some Christians here are starting to treat their faith this same way and some are starting to slip away but the preacher and those who would have heard this sermon, are among those who still meet together regularly. They are among those who still pray and read and encourage each other. Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
Our world in 21st Century Canada seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The Hebrew Christians in Rome started out facing persecution and stood the test. They held up. They proved themselves faithful and then it was when the heat was turned off that some of them actually started to melt away. Canada on the other hand began as a Christian nation founded upon the word of God, recognizing His sovereignty. Our country’s very motto, ‘A Mari usque ad Mare’ comes from the Holy Scriptures. ‘A Mari usque ad Mare’ (‘From Sea to Sea’) comes from Psalm 72:8, which is in Latin “Et dominabitur a mari usque ad mare, et a flumine usque ad terminos terrae,” and in the AV, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” This was written by or for King Solomon’s probably shortly after he ascended the throne.[18] If he proved to be a faithful servant, than the Lord would give his descendants the job of managing the Lord’s kingdom. If we are faithful, the Lord will be faithful in letting us maintain our management position for Him of His land, this land, which we call Canada. If.
“…We are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).
Canadian Supreme Court Justice Charles Gonthier remarked not too long ago that: “…nothing in the Charter, political or democratic theory, or a proper understanding of pluralism demands that atheistically based moral positions trump religiously based moral positions on matters of public policy. I note that the preamble to the Charter itself establishes that ‘… Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.’”[19]
The Hebrews who were listening to this passage of scripture for the first time were probably in Rome or some centre that was certainly not founded in deference to Christ so at first they persecuted the Christians and that didn’t work and so then they ignored them and then some of the Christians melted away.
In Canada, we were founded on Christ, then we were ignored it and now some of us are melting away but our historical paths I imagine will meet in the middle. The persecution will accelerate. Recently we saw the Canadian courts strip some of the more conservative Hutterites of their religious freedom. When I taught in the public schools (a long time ago now) and when I ran The Salvation Army’s tutoring programme in the schools for at risk kids in BC, I was told in no uncertain terms not to mention Christ in the classroom.[20] Secularists and Atheists have been tracking down civic politicians in Ontario and charging them with a crime if they dare to pray in their town hall meetings. This is not entirely different from the persecution which the Hebrews in Rome faced and the one’s who are listening to this sermon to the Hebrews anyway, they were not among those who shrunk back and so are lost but they were among those who have faith and so are saved (Hebrews 10:39).
So then what about us? What do we do on the day that the ticket man shows up to take our car because we are Christian? What do we do on the day in this city when the mob won’t tolerate the mayor mentioning Christ in counsel here in Swift Current? What do we do when someone walks into our work or our school (like Columbine in the U.S. not too many years ago) asking us if we are Christians and then killing us if we say ‘yes’?
What do we do if we see someone being mocked for going to church? Also, what do we do when we have friends and family visiting us? Do we still say grace when we are entertaining non-believers or are we too embarrassed? Do we publicly ask the blessing when we are at a restaurant? Are we embarrassed to listen to Christian music when someone is in our car? When an acquaintance tells us their problems do we tell them that we will pray for them and then actually pray for them – or not? What do we do? I know more and more people in our country are shrinking back and even politicians (and our even PM, I believe) that claim to be Christians openly say that they don’t let that affect their work though. (As if that were possible. Your beliefs always determine your actions. If Christian belief isn’t determining our actions, then I would guess that we are not Christian.) I know that when I am at the restaurant I don’t see a lot of people bowing their heads in prayer. I know that there are many friends of mine who – if they ever even go to church – they don’t if they have company or have something else to do on Sunday.
But none of that, of course, applies to us. Right? We are here. Some people will shrink back and fall away like this, “ but we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).
“…We are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).
This is our pep talk from Hebrews as we head into the fourth quarter in this country and this is our pep talk as we head into everyday of our lives and let us pray that is true that “we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” and let us pray that it remains true throughout the rest of our lives.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
http://www.sheepspeak.com/
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[1] Thomas G. Long, Hebrews (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1997), pp. 111-112, develops this idea quite nicely.
[2] William L. Lane, Hebrews 1-8 (WBC 47A: Word Books: Dallas Texas, 1991), p. liii. Cf. Thomas G. Long, p. 3 and Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998),p. 5.
[3] William L. Lane, p. liii.
[4] William L. Lane, p. lxi.
[5] Cf. Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Everyman’s Bible Commentary: Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1962), p. 9.
[6] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, p. 9.
[7] James Moffat, cited in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VII. A New and Better Covenant (8:1-10:39)/I. The Sequel-The Right Way (10:19-25), Book Version: 4.0.2
[8] Colin Lindsay, “Canadians attend weekly religious services less than 20 years ago,” Prepared for Statistics Canada: June 2008. Cited 13 08 2009. Online: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-630-x/2008001/article/10650-eng.pdf pages 1,2.
[9] Statistics Canada, “2001 Census: analysis series: Religions in Canada”: May 2003. p. 9. Cited 13 08 2009 Online: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/rel/pdf/96F0030XIE2001015.pdf
[10] Statistics Canada, “2001 Census: analysis series: Religions in Canada,” p. 14-12.
[11] Cf. Lance W. Roberts, Rodney A. Clifton, Barry Ferguson, Karen Kampen, Simon Langlois, Recent Social Trends in Canada, 1960-2000, (Toronto: McGill’s University Press, 2005), p. 513.
[12] William L. Lane, lviii.
[13] Fred B. Craddock, p. 125.
[14] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VII. A New and Better Covenant (8:1-10:39)/K. Choose the Right (10:32-39), Book Version: 4.0.2
[15] Fred B. Craddock, p. 125. Cf. William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-12 (WBC 47B: Word Books: Dallas Texas, 1991), p. 300: “Their enemies overran the houses now left vacant and began to loot them, dividing up spoils like spoils of war” (Philo, Against Flaccus, 56).
[16] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VII. A New and Better Covenant (8:1-10:39)/K. Choose the Right (10:32-39), Book Version: 4.0.2: “A third possibility is the readers' voluntary surrender of their goods to some Christian community when they joined it (as Buchanan holds possible). But the word harpage makes this unlikely. It is also an unlikely term for the action of officials (unless they were acting in a very "unofficial" manner; the scope for petty officialdom to tyrannize over Christians was immense). On the whole, it looks like mob violence or the like.”
[17] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, p. 127.
[18] Michael Ramsay, ‘Psalm 72: the Credit Card of Justice and Righteousness’, Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 01 July 2007. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/psalm-72-credit-card-of-justice-and.html
[19] Don Hutchinson, ‘Seven Days of Significant Change on the Landscape of Religious Freedom in Canada’. CanadianChristianity.ca. (accessed 11/08/09) on-line: http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=6885
[20] Cf.http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1040356828066_95/?hub=TopStories cf. also Christianity Today: Parents Flee Public Schools: "Christians in British Columbia, Canada, are worried that courts are undermining their religious rights in the classroom.” http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/march/12.23.html Cf. also the Atheist website, nodeity.com: http://nodeity.com/chamberlain_v_SD36.html re 'One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads' - You can read the Supreme Court Decision re. Questionable books: http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/index.html - The following phrase is interesting - 'The School Act's insistence on secularism;' this begs the question why must our be subjected to the secularist Worldview; neither BC not Canada were settled or founded upon that mythology. There were other problems with the books as well. CBC.ca: "This story has problems with punctuation and grammar throughout. The spelling of 'favourite' is inconsistent, switching from the Canadian to the American," said board chair Mary Polak about Asha's Mums. The board also criticized the book's depiction of men.(http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/06/13/samesex_books030613.html).It is serious that even though the book is unsatisfactory for education young people, that it was deemed necessary for our children to be exposed to it. The courts it appears are more interested in promoting a secular-atheist worldview than they are about providing a quality education for our children. The federal government has the jurisdiction to make laws to protect its citizens. The Supreme Court is only allowed to interpret the laws in theory. Cf. The National Post: ‘Gay couple gets input into school curriculum’, http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=80dd8007-ef56-40a7-809d-37936b9d4179&k=51593&p=1. Cf. also ‘Secular-Atheist's religion secures making the promotion of Homosexuality mandatory in the BC school system.’ Lifesite.net: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06060101.html cf. also 'Documents Reveal Government Signed Over Control of Education to Homosexual Activists': http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061907.html cf. also: Peter Corren (né Cook) and Murray Corren (né Warren) — 'Corren is a combination of their former names — are LGBT-rights activists from Vancouver, British Columbia whose complaint before the BC Human Rights Tribunal led to an agreement by which the provincial Ministry of Education will consult them on how gays are presented in the school curriculum': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_Murray_Corren. Cf. http://www.secularontario.ca/peterbexam06dec13.html, CBC.ca: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/01/26/prayer.html , CanadianChristianity.com: http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/070201prayer
By Captain Michael Ramsay
I am hoping to see some of the football games today those should be interesting but last weekend was pretty exciting. I watched the game where our Saskatchewan Roughriders secured first place in the west for the first time since 1976. Now this game was interesting. At one point it was 18-1 for Saskatchewan. It was all Saskatchewan…but then the third quarter happened and Saskatchewan had lost big leads before by choking in the third quarter. The very next day too, Michael Bishop and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would do just that: throw the game away in the third quarter against Hamilton. And it was in the third quarter that Saskatchewan then saw their opponents come to life. We saw Calgary dominate the play. We saw Calgary score and score again until they got up to 14 points … but it was not enough. The Saskatchewan Roughriders did not shrink back and lose (unlike Bishop and the Blue Bombers the next day) but rather they persevered and were awarded the victory. I tell this story as an opening because, well, like any good Saskatchewan resident, I’m a Roughrider fan but also because this passage of scripture that we are looking at today in the original language actually has some very real similarities to this. The author (preacher) of the book (sermon) of Hebrews picking up on a 1st Century sports metaphor (10:32ff), and here is encouraging the Hebrews, like athletes, to not give up even if it appears that things are slipping away in the third quarter.[1]
Hebrews 10:39 “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
However, some people do shrink back…(Like the Blue Bombers did)
It has been a while since we looked at Hebrews together here. Reviewing a little bit: We remember that the book of Hebrews was NOT originally a book and (unlike many of the books we have in the New Testament today) it probably was not even a letter. It was most likely a sermon[2] that was preached to a congregation no larger than our own here today.[3] In this small group of believers, they had a number of problems that they were facing that should be very familiar to Canadian Christians of the 21st Century:[4]
* They had some people leaving their group and even turning their backs on their faith (Hebrews 10:25);
* They had other people who were still coming out regularly to their meetings but who had grown apathetic about their faith. They didn’t act as if they even cared about their salvation (Hebrews 2:1-14);[5]
* And worse than not getting together regularly like this and worse than stopping to come out altogether to meetings and worse than growing apathetic about their whole faith, some of them had stopped listening to God (Hebrews 6:4-8,10:25-27);[6]
* Some who used to come out regularly and meet as part of this congregation, some of this small group have even slid into apostasy (Hebrews 3:12; see Hebrews 6:4-8,10:25-27).
These were some of the problems that faced the congregation but the preacher of this first century sermon to the Hebrews, who counts himself as one of their number, encourages them that indeed, Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
There are however those that are not among the saved. There are those that do shrink back (see Matthew 24:9-12; Luke 8:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 1:15, 4:10; Hebrews 2:1-14, 3:12; 6:4-8,10:25-27, 31-39; 1 John 2:18-19; 2 Peter 2:17, 3:17). The early church had problems with people who stayed away from church gatherings which was a dangerous practice, then like now because, as James Moffatt says, “Any early Christian who attempted to live like a pious particle without the support of the community ran serious risks in an age when there was no public opinion to support him.”[7] This may mean that those that didn’t regularly, as we would say today, ‘go to church’ saw Christianity as just another religion to be either practiced or to be left alone. They may have seen it as just another way to live one’s life. They may have seen it as just another religion no better or no worse than any other. They may have seen Christ, Christianity, meeting together as the Church, as something that they could take or leave depending on their schedule: not meeting together if they had guests coming from out of town or wanted to head out to the lake. They may have seen the Christian Church as no different from any other religion, belief system or club membership. Those that did shrink back may have seen meeting together (coming to church in today’s vernacular) as not as important as other things in their lives, instead of what it really is: something that changes our whole lives. Some people did stop meeting together regularly; some people stopped praying and reading; some people started following this whole downward slide right to its conclusion: apostasy, turning one’s back on the Lord.
“But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).
In Canada the percentage of the Canadians attending religious services on a regular basis has declined significantly over the past 20 years alone. According to StatsCan only 21% of Canadians older than 15 regularly attended any religious services in 2005. At the same time, the number of Canadians that never attend religious services of any religion (not just Christianity!) has increased in the past couple of decades to around 33% of the population. About 1/5 of Canadians attend church less than regularly (on special occasions) and 1/3 of Canadians have never gone to church at all.[8]
Prior to the 1970s, our nation still went to church and at that time less than 1% of the Canadian population reported having no religion or atheism (a popular religion/worldview for the contemporary apostate in Canada). In 2001, now that a generation or more have stopped bringing their children and grandchildren to church regularly, that number has increased to almost 5 million people and that number is growing everyday (and that is not the only expression of apostasy in our culture). Where our country did used to be Christian, it is quickly slipping into apostasy, turning its back on God and each other. About 37% of people in the Yukon by 2001 reported they had no religion at all, more than a third of British Columbians and almost a quarter of all Albertans reported having faith in nothing beyond themselves.[9] Even in Saskatchewan, where we Protestants have traditionally made up the largest part of the population, we are now a minority.[10]
Many people used to go to church until very recently across this country but now many are shrinking back and becoming lost. We Canadians aren’t all part of the Church anymore and that is starting to be reflected in our society. It is no coincidence that pornography use, violence and crime are more prevalent in this country than ever before.[11] Many today are stopping to meet together regularly (there are many half-empty churches across this country this very morning.) Many are growing apathetic about their faith, and Canadians are already ceasing from listen to God; shrinking back and people in Canada are quickly becoming lost. Many are becoming apostate.
Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
Now when some do stop coming to church (even if we still believe) then, of course, our children and grandchildren can’t come with us if we coming. Then they will not be exposed to the gospel and how can they respond to that which they have not heard and how can we understand if indeed we were not here to hear either (Romans 10:14).
Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
This is a key point for the hearers of the sermon to the Hebrews. They did not shrink back (see Hebrews 6:9-12). They withstood a lot and still they stood strong. They were insulted for their faith. By people in their community, they were publicly humiliated for their faith (Hebrews 10:33; see also Jeremiah 20:8, 24:9; 1 Corinthians 4:9). Humiliated and insulted: they were mocked, belittled, made fun of, because they followed Christ and were a part of the Church. But they still kept meeting together. They kept coming out. They kept meeting together. They were not among those who shrunk back and so are lost but were among those who have faith and are saved (Hebrews 10:39). And it says that even when they weren’t specifically targeted - but others were - they stood up for those who were attacked for their faith.
In Canada today, it seems that people are less and less likely to even intervene when someone is being attacked physically – so how do we do when someone mocks us for being a part of the Church. I remember -decades ago- when I was in High School and even Victoria where I lived was primarily Christian back then. Notwithstanding, I recall an acquaintance one day when I was standing outside the school on a break with our friends. I had mentioned church or the Bible or something and, even then, he laughed and mocked and said: “you go to church. Hey get a load of this guys, Mike goes to church” – Now mind you, it was his embarrassment rather than mine that day because as I pointed out to him that almost everyone with us - Bill, Becca, Tony, Trevor, Alex, whom I listed by name - almost everyone else with us in the breezeway that day also went to church. But the insults had begun by then in BC and I imagine that they have only grown with the increased apostasy in that province.
The Hebrews here (they were probably in first century Rome)[12] not only withstood insult and stood up for others who were being insulted but they openly did things that would draw the attention and the ire (anger/rage) of their foes. It says that they sympathized with those in prison (Hebrews 10:34; see Matthew 25:36; Acts 23:16, 24:23, 27:3; 2 Timothy 4:13; Philippians 2:25), which was not so good in some people’s eyes.[13] In that day and age the Superpower was cracking down. There was a law and order Conservative-style government in power. Leon Morris reminds us that:
Prisoners were to be punished, not pampered. Little provision was made for them, and they were dependent on friends for their supplies. For Christians visiting prisoners was a meritorious act (Matt 25:36). But there was some risk, for the visitors became identified with the visited. The readers of the epistle had not shrunk from this. It is not pleasant to endure ignominy, and it is not pleasant to be lumped with the ignominious. They had endured both.[14]
Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
There was even more. Their property was confiscated (Hebrews 10:34). [15] If someone came to take your neighbour’s property because they broke the law by being a Christian, would you tell them you went to church? If, say, the parking inspector came around, pad in hand (where is Larry?), and was going to give you a ticket demanding you surrender your car to the city – if you say you’re a Christian. What would you do? What would you say? Would you admit that you are a Christian?
This kind of confiscation the Christians were facing then and there may or may not have even been official. The word rendered ‘confiscation’ (harpage) here in the text could have also been a mob mentality thing.[16] An angry mob of people could have shown up at your door and physically thrown you out of your house if you continued to come to weekly church meetings (See also Mark 13:19; Acts 20:23; Romans 5:3). What would you do if a mob showed up at your house demanding that you never come here again or else you will be physically thrown out of your own home and it would be confiscated forever? What would you do?
Well, these Hebrews in Rome in the first century did stand strong. They were not among those who shrunk back and so are lost but they were among those who have faith and so are saved (Hebrews 10:39). They withstood all of this and they even, Hebrews 10:34, “…joyfully accepted the confiscation of [their] property, because [they] knew that [they themselves] had better and lasting possessions” (see also Matthew 6:19-20).
Now apparently these Hebrew Christians in Rome are entering into a time of ambivalence.[17] They are entering a period where there is less persecution than this. They are entering a time where they are tolerated as one religion no different from the others and some Christians here are starting to treat their faith this same way and some are starting to slip away but the preacher and those who would have heard this sermon, are among those who still meet together regularly. They are among those who still pray and read and encourage each other. Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved.”
Our world in 21st Century Canada seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The Hebrew Christians in Rome started out facing persecution and stood the test. They held up. They proved themselves faithful and then it was when the heat was turned off that some of them actually started to melt away. Canada on the other hand began as a Christian nation founded upon the word of God, recognizing His sovereignty. Our country’s very motto, ‘A Mari usque ad Mare’ comes from the Holy Scriptures. ‘A Mari usque ad Mare’ (‘From Sea to Sea’) comes from Psalm 72:8, which is in Latin “Et dominabitur a mari usque ad mare, et a flumine usque ad terminos terrae,” and in the AV, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” This was written by or for King Solomon’s probably shortly after he ascended the throne.[18] If he proved to be a faithful servant, than the Lord would give his descendants the job of managing the Lord’s kingdom. If we are faithful, the Lord will be faithful in letting us maintain our management position for Him of His land, this land, which we call Canada. If.
“…We are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).
Canadian Supreme Court Justice Charles Gonthier remarked not too long ago that: “…nothing in the Charter, political or democratic theory, or a proper understanding of pluralism demands that atheistically based moral positions trump religiously based moral positions on matters of public policy. I note that the preamble to the Charter itself establishes that ‘… Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.’”[19]
The Hebrews who were listening to this passage of scripture for the first time were probably in Rome or some centre that was certainly not founded in deference to Christ so at first they persecuted the Christians and that didn’t work and so then they ignored them and then some of the Christians melted away.
In Canada, we were founded on Christ, then we were ignored it and now some of us are melting away but our historical paths I imagine will meet in the middle. The persecution will accelerate. Recently we saw the Canadian courts strip some of the more conservative Hutterites of their religious freedom. When I taught in the public schools (a long time ago now) and when I ran The Salvation Army’s tutoring programme in the schools for at risk kids in BC, I was told in no uncertain terms not to mention Christ in the classroom.[20] Secularists and Atheists have been tracking down civic politicians in Ontario and charging them with a crime if they dare to pray in their town hall meetings. This is not entirely different from the persecution which the Hebrews in Rome faced and the one’s who are listening to this sermon to the Hebrews anyway, they were not among those who shrunk back and so are lost but they were among those who have faith and so are saved (Hebrews 10:39).
So then what about us? What do we do on the day that the ticket man shows up to take our car because we are Christian? What do we do on the day in this city when the mob won’t tolerate the mayor mentioning Christ in counsel here in Swift Current? What do we do when someone walks into our work or our school (like Columbine in the U.S. not too many years ago) asking us if we are Christians and then killing us if we say ‘yes’?
What do we do if we see someone being mocked for going to church? Also, what do we do when we have friends and family visiting us? Do we still say grace when we are entertaining non-believers or are we too embarrassed? Do we publicly ask the blessing when we are at a restaurant? Are we embarrassed to listen to Christian music when someone is in our car? When an acquaintance tells us their problems do we tell them that we will pray for them and then actually pray for them – or not? What do we do? I know more and more people in our country are shrinking back and even politicians (and our even PM, I believe) that claim to be Christians openly say that they don’t let that affect their work though. (As if that were possible. Your beliefs always determine your actions. If Christian belief isn’t determining our actions, then I would guess that we are not Christian.) I know that when I am at the restaurant I don’t see a lot of people bowing their heads in prayer. I know that there are many friends of mine who – if they ever even go to church – they don’t if they have company or have something else to do on Sunday.
But none of that, of course, applies to us. Right? We are here. Some people will shrink back and fall away like this, “ but we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).
“…We are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39).
This is our pep talk from Hebrews as we head into the fourth quarter in this country and this is our pep talk as we head into everyday of our lives and let us pray that is true that “we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but we are among those who have faith and are saved” and let us pray that it remains true throughout the rest of our lives.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
http://www.sheepspeak.com/
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[1] Thomas G. Long, Hebrews (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1997), pp. 111-112, develops this idea quite nicely.
[2] William L. Lane, Hebrews 1-8 (WBC 47A: Word Books: Dallas Texas, 1991), p. liii. Cf. Thomas G. Long, p. 3 and Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998),p. 5.
[3] William L. Lane, p. liii.
[4] William L. Lane, p. lxi.
[5] Cf. Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Everyman’s Bible Commentary: Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1962), p. 9.
[6] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, p. 9.
[7] James Moffat, cited in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VII. A New and Better Covenant (8:1-10:39)/I. The Sequel-The Right Way (10:19-25), Book Version: 4.0.2
[8] Colin Lindsay, “Canadians attend weekly religious services less than 20 years ago,” Prepared for Statistics Canada: June 2008. Cited 13 08 2009. Online: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-630-x/2008001/article/10650-eng.pdf pages 1,2.
[9] Statistics Canada, “2001 Census: analysis series: Religions in Canada”: May 2003. p. 9. Cited 13 08 2009 Online: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/rel/pdf/96F0030XIE2001015.pdf
[10] Statistics Canada, “2001 Census: analysis series: Religions in Canada,” p. 14-12.
[11] Cf. Lance W. Roberts, Rodney A. Clifton, Barry Ferguson, Karen Kampen, Simon Langlois, Recent Social Trends in Canada, 1960-2000, (Toronto: McGill’s University Press, 2005), p. 513.
[12] William L. Lane, lviii.
[13] Fred B. Craddock, p. 125.
[14] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VII. A New and Better Covenant (8:1-10:39)/K. Choose the Right (10:32-39), Book Version: 4.0.2
[15] Fred B. Craddock, p. 125. Cf. William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-12 (WBC 47B: Word Books: Dallas Texas, 1991), p. 300: “Their enemies overran the houses now left vacant and began to loot them, dividing up spoils like spoils of war” (Philo, Against Flaccus, 56).
[16] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VII. A New and Better Covenant (8:1-10:39)/K. Choose the Right (10:32-39), Book Version: 4.0.2: “A third possibility is the readers' voluntary surrender of their goods to some Christian community when they joined it (as Buchanan holds possible). But the word harpage makes this unlikely. It is also an unlikely term for the action of officials (unless they were acting in a very "unofficial" manner; the scope for petty officialdom to tyrannize over Christians was immense). On the whole, it looks like mob violence or the like.”
[17] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, p. 127.
[18] Michael Ramsay, ‘Psalm 72: the Credit Card of Justice and Righteousness’, Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 01 July 2007. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/psalm-72-credit-card-of-justice-and.html
[19] Don Hutchinson, ‘Seven Days of Significant Change on the Landscape of Religious Freedom in Canada’. CanadianChristianity.ca. (accessed 11/08/09) on-line: http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=6885
[20] Cf.http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1040356828066_95/?hub=TopStories cf. also Christianity Today: Parents Flee Public Schools: "Christians in British Columbia, Canada, are worried that courts are undermining their religious rights in the classroom.” http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/march/12.23.html Cf. also the Atheist website, nodeity.com: http://nodeity.com/chamberlain_v_SD36.html re 'One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads' - You can read the Supreme Court Decision re. Questionable books: http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/index.html - The following phrase is interesting - 'The School Act's insistence on secularism;' this begs the question why must our be subjected to the secularist Worldview; neither BC not Canada were settled or founded upon that mythology. There were other problems with the books as well. CBC.ca: "This story has problems with punctuation and grammar throughout. The spelling of 'favourite' is inconsistent, switching from the Canadian to the American," said board chair Mary Polak about Asha's Mums. The board also criticized the book's depiction of men.(http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/06/13/samesex_books030613.html).It is serious that even though the book is unsatisfactory for education young people, that it was deemed necessary for our children to be exposed to it. The courts it appears are more interested in promoting a secular-atheist worldview than they are about providing a quality education for our children. The federal government has the jurisdiction to make laws to protect its citizens. The Supreme Court is only allowed to interpret the laws in theory. Cf. The National Post: ‘Gay couple gets input into school curriculum’, http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=80dd8007-ef56-40a7-809d-37936b9d4179&k=51593&p=1. Cf. also ‘Secular-Atheist's religion secures making the promotion of Homosexuality mandatory in the BC school system.’ Lifesite.net: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06060101.html cf. also 'Documents Reveal Government Signed Over Control of Education to Homosexual Activists': http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061907.html cf. also: Peter Corren (né Cook) and Murray Corren (né Warren) — 'Corren is a combination of their former names — are LGBT-rights activists from Vancouver, British Columbia whose complaint before the BC Human Rights Tribunal led to an agreement by which the provincial Ministry of Education will consult them on how gays are presented in the school curriculum': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_Murray_Corren. Cf. http://www.secularontario.ca/peterbexam06dec13.html, CBC.ca: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/01/26/prayer.html , CanadianChristianity.com: http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/070201prayer
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Greater Love Has No Man Than To Lay Down His Life For His Friends (John 15:13)
Presented to the community of Nipawin at the Remembrance Day Ceremony, November 11, 2007, and to the community of Swift Current at the Remembrance Day Ceremony, November 11, 2009 and 2012
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Click HERE to read the address: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/11/greater-love-has-no-man-than-to-lay.html
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Click HERE to read the address: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/11/greater-love-has-no-man-than-to-lay.html
Friday, November 6, 2009
John 15:9-17: Greater love has no man...
Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 15 November 2008
Presented to Swift Current Corps 08 November 2009
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Click HERE to read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/11/john-159-17-greater-love-has-no-man.html
Presented to Swift Current Corps 08 November 2009
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Click HERE to read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/11/john-159-17-greater-love-has-no-man.html
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