Presented to Swift Current Corps Palm Sunday, 28 March 2010
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Today is Palm Sunday. We are speaking about the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I actually have a youtube video related to all the excitement as Jesus comes into town. The video is a little old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVpe0sWCQbw
That video was from 2007. When Saskatchewan defeated the BC Lions in the semi-finals and were headed to Toronto to play in the Grey Cup – people were excited. People ran out into the streets and they were shouting and they were honking their horns and they were singing the Rider’s anthem, ‘Green is the colour; football is the game.’ This was really exciting, as it seemed that everyone in Saskatchewan was celebrating: the Roughriders had defeated BC were going to Toronto to play in the Grey Cup. This atmosphere – very similar to the atmosphere last year when we made it to the cup finals –I think it is very much like it was on Palm Sunday 2000 or so years ago.
Here is Jesus – he has just raised someone from the dead; he has just raised Lazarus from the dead and people know about it. He has had a tough season of ministry to this point and has had some very close games – especially against his divisional rivals, the Pharisees – at one point he barely escapes with his life. But recently Jesus has just won this amazing (foreshadowing) victory over death (John 11). You remember that Lazarus was firmly in the grave (4 days) when Jesus raised him from the dead, stealing the victory from the grave, assuring himself a place in the final match between our Lord and Sheol[1] – just like our Roughriders last year won the semi-final victory over the Stampeders and in the year of the youtube clip, 2007, they stole victory from the Lions to set-up a final match with Winnipeg.
2007 was Susan, the girls and my first year in Saskatchewan and it was something else. I have never seen so much community pride in my life. After Saskatchewan defeated BC, everywhere I went it seemed that everything was green. There were Roughrider flags everywhere and even the nurses in the hospital had painted their faces green. Last year, our staff here all dressed in green and Susan even bought me a Roughriders coffee mug. It was in great anticipation that Sarah-Grace and I headed over to Alvin’s this past November to see the final game.
It is this very same anticipation for the crowds when Jesus comes parading into Jerusalem (Cf. Luke 19:28-40; Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11). Look at Verse 9: “a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.” And Verses 17 and 18, “Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.” And look to at his opponents. Look at what his divisional rivals, the non-Jesus fans have to say, Verse 19: “so the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’”
Jesus is coming to Jerusalem. Something big is about to happen and the crowds know it and they are sporting green – they are waving green palm branches anyway (John 12:12) – as the parade winds itself into the historic capital city of King David. The people are rushing out to meet him and instead of singing, ‘Green is the Colour’ they are singing – they are shouting “Hosanna!” They are shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They are shouting, “Blessed is the King of Israel!” (Verse 13; cf. Psalm 118:25-26) “Hosanna”, which means ‘O Save!’, ‘Salvation’, ‘Save us!’.[2] “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!” This is exciting as they are cheering their expected Messiah. This excitement is real and it is even more important than cheering the Riders en route to the Cup. It is just like cheering a king who is headed into battle – in our own history it is like cheering for our troops as they marched off to serve God, King and country in the First World War. They have faith that their team will carry the day but let’s look a little bit about the symbolism and the specifics of what the author of the book of John is telling us here…[3]
With the word “Hosanna”, John tells us that the people see Jesus as their salvation. He tells us that they see him as representing God: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” and the people here recognize him as their King. Now this isn’t just some theoretical or metaphysical or spiritual king that they think that Jesus is.[4] Honestly I don’t think that they would really care so much about that – certainly the authorities wouldn’t and we know glancing ahead to Friday that the authorities did care and they were eventually convinced to put Jesus to death and we do know that the superpower later did put many of Jesus’ followers to death, including Peter who tradition has it was also crucified but Peter at his state execution, was hung upside down on the cross (cf. also John 21:19). People don’t typically murder just for an honorary title of king; prosperous countries and extensive empires don’t murder over just honorary titles – the collaborators and the Romans had Jesus and his followers executed because Jesus is a real king; a king of both the living at the dead (cf. John 19:17-22, cf. also Romans 14:9). The crowds and the Pharisees in our text today rightfully recognise Jesus as a real political ruler as well as a spiritual one (cf. Acts 17:6-7); he, we know, is indeed the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords (1 Timothy 6:5; Revelation 17:14, 19:16). Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth (cf. Acts 4:24; Hebrews 1:10). Luke tells us that the people are even laying their cloaks on the ground in front of Jesus (Luke 19:34). The people here are waving their palm branches and loudly cheering for him (like a contemporary Roughrider fan) knowing that Jesus represents their victory and their real salvation. He is their liberator, their conqueror, their King. He is our liberator, our conqueror, our King (Acts 17:7; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 1:11; Revelation 1; cf. also John 18:36).
Now we know that around the time of the events of Palm Sunday that we are looking at today that the people in Palestine have a real nationalistic fervour. We know that people from Jesus’ and his disciples home area of Galilee that the people were especially susceptible to revolt.[5] We know that even one of Jesus’ elite group of 12 disciples; one of them was even referred to as a Zealot (cf. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 18.23ff. See also Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:8; Luke 6:15; John 18:14; Acts 1:3). Zealots in those days have a lot of parallels to the suicide bombers of today. The 20th and 21st Century’s suicide bomber will go to great lengths to kill an occupying soldier, even sacrificing their own life for their goal of ending the military occupation of Palestine.[6] The Zealot or Sacarii as they were also called, in the 1st Century would strap a dagger to himself or herself, walk into a crowed marketplace and try to murder a member of the occupying forces, the Romans.[7] The occupying forces then looked upon that about as kindly as the occupying forces do today and they were sometimes just as swift and brutal in their retribution (cf. Luke 13:1; Josephus, The Wars of the Jews VI.9.3).
The people of Palestine, the people of Israel, the people here in Jerusalem are – Hosanna – looking for a Saviour who will come in the name of the Lord to deliver them from their occupier (the superpower of their day) and establish an absolute monarchy in Jerusalem. The people are looking for a saviour (Cf. Matthew 11:1-11 and Luke 23; Psalms of Solomon 17-18 and Genesis 49:10; Psalm 22; Isaiah 6:9-10; 7:14; 9:5-7; 40:2-5; 53:1-12; 61:1-3; Micah 5:2; Hosea 11:1; etc.).
The people now have a very good idea that Jesus might be just that person. We remember that up until now in the gospel accounts Jesus did not want people to tell others about what he was doing; it would be too soon (cf. John 6:15). Remember that when both his disciples and even the demons had any idea of who he was, he hushed them up pretty quickly (cf. John Matthew 13:16-20; Mark 1:25, 8:27-30). He didn’t want the word out too soon or the occupying forces (the Romans) and their collaborators (The Sadducees and Pharisees) would prematurely seek his death, which they did and now, in our text today, ‘the cat is out of the bag’, so to speak (cf. John 2:4, 7:8, 7:30, 8:20).
Jesus publicly acknowledges here in front of everyone by accepting their praise and not sending them away quietly, Jesus acknowledges for all to see that he is the King that Israel has been waiting for and by extension – Luke tells us - the saviour of the whole world (Luke 1:55; see Genesis 12:3, 13:2; Romans 1, 2).[8]
So here we have the people of Jerusalem cheering on the new king. This new king isn’t just a threat to the religious authorities (who derive their power from collaborating with the superpower much the way that businesses and politicians who collaborate with the Americans in Iraq gain special privileges there). He is seen as a threat to all who support the old world order. The old world order is -of course - typified by the rich exploiting the poor, the strong strong-arming the weak, and the powerful lording over the powerless. It seems that some people – even today – want to serve this now defeated old world empire and put themselves ahead of others (cf. Luke 1-3; Romans 1-3).
Look at verse 15. There are some interesting things included in this verse. This verse is a quote from scripture. John is quoting Zechariah 9:9: “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt”. Early messianic prophecy spoke of a ruler coming from the tribe of Judah – which is the tribe Jesus comes from - and he will conquer and all the nations of the world will obey and serve him and this early prophecy tells how the messiah will come: riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and here comes Jesus now, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilling this prophesy (cf. Genesis 49:10-11, Isaiah 40:9, 44:2)![9]
Some of the people represented in our text today certainly recognize that Jesus is the messiah; he is the expectant king. The people are waiving branches of palm trees. Now the palm branch is significant and part of this whole thing too.[10] They didn’t just pick up palm branches because palm branches happen to be near by; they pick up the palm branches because palm branches are a nationalistic symbol (cf. 1 Maccabees 13:51, 2 Macabbees 10:7; cf. also Leviticus 23:40, Psalm 92:12, Matthew 21:8; Mark 11:8). It would be like if Canada was going to seek independence from someone and we were waiving maple leaves or flags with the maple leaf on it – everyone recognises that as a symbol of Canada. It would be like if Quebec was seeking independence again and the movement’s leader drove into a francophone town and everyone was waiving the fleur-de-lis. This moment probably would have had the same effect on the authorities of Jesus’ day as it did on Canadian authorities when Charles DeGualle cried out, ‘Vive le Quebec Libre”. These palm branches are a nationalistic symbol being raised here in the traditional capital of an occupied territory.
There is more to this too. Here we have the Lion of Judah, the Messiah who the Jewish people have been waiting for who they know will not only free them from control by the superpower but he will also subject the superpower to his control. Jesus is going to take over and rule the whole world (John 17:2; cf. Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 28:18; Romans 14:11; 1 Corinthians 15:23-25, Ephesians 1:15-22). The people know this and they are celebrating! They are crying out shouting “Hosanna!” They are shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They are shouting, “Blessed is the King of Israel!” (Verse 13; cf. Psalm 118:25-26).
It is interesting too that Jesus comes into Jerusalem with all of this fanfare and with all of the people and all of the nationalist symbols surrounding him and he comes in (like the prophesy says) riding on a donkey. The primary purpose of the donkey was probably to fulfill the prophecy but also it would have sent a further message to the Roman occupiers and their Jewish collaborators. The donkey was seen as a symbol of peace.[11] Jesus didn’t come in riding on a warhorse but rather on an animal of peace. This would have a number of purposes: 1) It shows that he is not taking Jerusalem by force; it is a popular conquest. 2) He is indeed the Prince of Peace (rather than of war) that both Zechariah and Isaiah herald (Zechariah 9:10; Isaiah 9:6). 3) Jesus is standing in opposition to secular and worldly superpowers ways of doing things.[12] Rome claimed (like all superpowers do) that its violence is justified and that it is in effect bringing peace to the world – the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace - they call it. Caesar is their leader. He is the king of the kings of Palestine and Judea. He is the prince of the Roman peace, the Pax Romana. Jesus riding on this donkey can serve to draw people’s attention to the fact that Jesus – not Caesar – is really the Prince of Peace. Jesus is really the King of Kings, the wonderful counsellor, mighty God, everlasting father and this Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
These are exciting times. Jesus riding into Jerusalem at this time and place in history is his crossing the Rubicon. There is no turning back. And this is what Palm Sunday is: Palm Sunday is the point of no turning back. Jesus is marching into his capital to great fanfare and we who are gathered here today, we can look back on this moment. We can cast ourselves alongside the men, women and children watching the parade as our King comes riding into town. This is a bigger deal than any Grey Cup parade. This is a bigger deal than a world curling championship. This is a bigger deal than anything that has ever happened to this or any other community. This moment in our text today is a moment when the world recognizes the arrival of the one whom, Isaiah 9:6-7: “the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” Praise the Lord. Today – Palm Sunday – is a day of celebration.
Today then I invite us all to invite our friends and family to this celebration, I invite us to tell all of our friends about Jesus. Invite them to come and see him. Invite them to serve him. Palm Sunday is an exciting event – just as you wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to introduce your friend to the Queen or the sports figure or the celebrity of your liking if she showed up in town, so we should not pass up the opportunity to introduce people to Christ who is here.
Today if there are any of us here who haven’t laid our palm branches down in front of the king of heaven and earth as a sign that we accept his lordship – now is our chance. Jesus rode into Jerusalem 2000 years ago but even now it is not too late so why don’t you join us in celebrating his arrival and join us too in looking forward to his triumphant return any time now.
Let us pray.
http://www.sheepspeak.com/
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[1] Gail O’Day, “John” in NIB IX, Ed. Leander E Keck (Abingdon Press Nashville, 1995), 687: “according to popular Jewish belief at the time of Jesus, the soul hovered around the body in the grave for three days after death, hoping to re-enter the body. But after the third day, when the soul ‘sees that the colour of its face has changed;’ the soul leaves the body for Good.”
[2] Marvin R. Vincent, ‘Hosanna’ in Word Studies in the New Testament Vol. II, (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2009), p. 216.
[3] But cf. Fred B. Craddock, Luke (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: John Knox Press: Louisville, Ken., 1990), 227. Luke (ironically) alone among the gospels does not record these inherent political overtones.
[4] Cf. William Hendriksen, John (New Testament Commentary: Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2007), 187-188.
[5] Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Exposition of Luke/V. Teaching and Travels Toward Jerusalem (9:51-19:44)/D. Teachings on Times of Crisis and Judgment (12:1-13:35)/7. A call to repentance (13:1-9), Book Version: 4.0.2
[6] Cf. The Radical Reformation, ‘Four Types of Judaism at the Time of Jesus’. Available on-line at: http://www.theradicalreformation.com/media/audio/worldview%20class/lecture%2010%20--%20five%20types%20of%20judaism%20at%20the%20time%20of%20Jesus.pdf
[7] Cf. Clayton Harrop, ‘Jewish Parties in the New Testament’ in Holman Bible Dictionary, Editor, Trent C. Butler, (Holman Bible Publishers: Nashville, Tenn., 1991), pp. 791-794.
[8] Cf. Colin G. Kruse, “John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), CD ROM Disc: Tyndale Old and New Testament Commentaries (US) (3.0f) version 2009-10-09T22:50:34Z.
[9] Andreas J. Kostenberger, ESV Study Bible note on 12:15 (Crossway Bibles: Wheaton, Illinois: 2007), page 2048.
[10] Cf. Colin G. Kruse, “John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), CD ROM Disc: Tyndale Old and New Testament Commentaries (US) (3.0f) version 2009-10-09T22:50:34Z.
[11] Cf. Colin G. Kruse, “John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), CD ROM Disc: Tyndale Old and New Testament Commentaries (US) (3.0f) version 2009-10-09T22:50:34Z.
[12] Cf. N.T. Wright, 'God and Caesar, Then and Now'. Available on-line at http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_God_Caesar.pdf
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Luke 16:1-13: Sudden Death Overtime
Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 29 July 2007
and Swift Current Corps 21 March 2010
by Captain Michael Ramsay
.
Click HERE to read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/luke-161-13-sudden-death-overtime.html
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Luke 13:1-9: Repent!
Presented to Swift Current Community Lenten Lunch on 11 March 2010
and the Swift Current Corps on 14 March 2010
and CKSW Radio on 28 March 2010
by Captain Michael Ramsay
My wife, Captain Susan Ramsay, preached on this pericope (passage) last Sunday at The Salvation Army and I think it is a very interesting passage in that it addresses both questions of eschatology (the ‘end times’) and theodicy (God is good even when bad things happen). She began her sermon quoting this story by the famous homilitician, the Reverend Tom Long:
In the little Georgia country church of my childhood, there was a story the older folks loved to tell again and again, laughing over it and savoring it and embellishing it. The tale involved a certain Sunday night in October 1938. Evening prayer services were in full swing when a man named Sam, a member of the congregation who lived down the road from the church, charged into the prayer meeting trembling with fear and excitement. Finally gaining the breath to speak, he shouted, "Martians are attacking the earth in spaceships! Some of ‘em have already landed in New Jersey!" The preacher halted in mid-sentence; the congregation stared at Sam blankly. "I s-s-swear," he stammered, now a little unsure of his footing. "I h-h-heard it on the radio."
What Sam had heard, of course, was Orson Welles’s now infamous Mercury Theatre radio production of ‘War of the Worlds’, but no one in the congregation was aware of that at the moment. For all they knew, the world outside was coming to a flaming end. The little flock looked apprehensively at the preacher, but he was mute and indecisive, never having had a sermon disrupted by interplanetary invasion. Finally one of the oldest members of the congregation, a red-clay farmer of modest education, stood up, gripped the pew in front of him with his large, callused hands, and said, "I ‘speck what Sam says ain’t completely true, but if it is true, we’re in the right place here in church. Let’s go on with the meetin’." And so they did.
Spaceships landing in New Jersey? Signs of the end of the world? The old farmer sized it all up, measured it against his rough-hewn view of providence, and decided it was better to be in church praising God than running around the cow pasture shooting buckshot into the night sky[1]
How true. What should we think, what should we do when things are happening in our world today that don’t necessarily make a lot of sense to us? In our scripture passage here people are asking Jesus about significant things going on all around them and they have some questions about what they should do in response – Luke 13:1-5:
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
Some of the questions that naturally arise in times of trouble like, why do things like this happen? Why do people have to suffer? Is it because they are sinners? In our pericope today people ask Jesus about some people from Galilee; remember that this is where Jesus and his disciples have spent a fair amount of time in ministry to this point in Luke’s narrative. You remember who Pilate was, of course, as well: he was the Super Power of the day’s (Rome’s) representative in the occupied territories of Judah and Israel in Palestine. These people from Galilee, Luke 13:1 tells us, had their blood mingled with their sacrifices. We don’t know a lot about this event historically. But we do know that social tension at this time made frequent revolutionary activity possible in (what is now called) the Middle East. Pilate’s position as the governor of these occupied territories so far distant from Rome was precarious at best. Josephus (Life, 92 [17]) tells us that the Galileans were especially susceptible to revolt.[2] Much like in that same area of Israel-Palestine today, terrorists, freedom fighters, many people were in a constant state of resistance to the military occupation. It appears from 13:1, that the Super Power of Jesus’ day quite severely put down this one particular challenge to its authority in the area, killing the aforementioned Galileans and desecrating their remains in this way. Now this would be very serious to the Galileans. It would be much the same the way various contemporary US actions have been interpreted around Abu Ghraib or Guatanamo Bay. It is not good and the text today is asking if these people deserve this horrible fate.
Luke 13:4 refers to another tragic event – a different one: this one in and around Jerusalem. There was this tower that came crumbling down in Israel’s historic capital city and this is a very significant event. When the tower came down people died and when the people died some had questions about why all of this happens including did the people who died, deserve it? This and the other event caused people to question, ‘why did God permit these people to die?’[3]
This is reminiscent of a tower or a pair of towers that came crumbling down in recent history on our own continent isn’t it? The Salvation Army was right on ground zero helping out with the relief effort immediately following 9/11. The person who has responsibility for TSA in all of Canada now was right there on the site with the other relief workers handing out food and water and offering emotional and spiritual care along with many others in the immediate wake of 9/ll. I have a friend of mine as well who served the Lord through The Salvation Army at Ground Zero. This event, 9/11, however did serve to raise a lot of the same questions about God, eschatology and theodicy that I think are still being asked being asked today both about the horrors of the terrorist attack on 9/11 and the response/reprisal too of the Super Power is still carrying on even today, almost a decade later.
Now remember the Americans churchmen, Pat Robinson and Jerry Falwell and the resultant scandal that followed their not so well thought out comments at the time? Falwell could very well have been asking the questions that the people around our text today are asking of Jesus and the conclusions they were implying about the Galileans and or the tower of Siloam seem very similar. Of 9/11, Jerry Falwell said God might have given the American nation what it deserved because of their moral decay. Falwell specifically listed a number of groups in that country (such as the ACLU, abortionists, feminists, gays, and others) as sharing in the blame. Pat Robertson responded in agreement. Much has been made of these comments. Some have even suggested that these men meant that those in the Towers may have even brought this event on themselves (They former later apologized and the latter distanced himself from the comments).[4]
These two Christian leaders in America distanced themselves from these remarks and/or actually repented of their comments and where people turn and repent there is forgiveness. I have no reason not to believe the sincerity of either man in either their comments or their repentance - but I do think that the sentiment surrounding their comments is not entirely dissimilar from that that is reflected in our text today and certainly the faulty extension that the individuals in the towers deserved to die is a stretch that Jesus addresses in his reply to the comments about the tragic events of his day.
Jesus rhetorically responds to the similar questions and accusations represented here in Luke: Did the people who died deserve it? First specifically referring to the Galilean victims of the Super Power’s military action, “Jesus answered [them, verses 2 and 3], "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! ...” Secondly referring to those who died when the tower came tumbling down, Jesus rhetorically asks, “do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in [the city]? I tell you, no!”
Likewise today those who died in the towers on 9/11 were no worse than those that were spared because they did not go into work that day; neither are the Afghan civilians who are added daily to the ‘collateral damage’ toll any worse or better than those who escape with their lives.
One of the many things that this passage quickly addresses is the prosperity heresy or ‘prosperity gospel’ as it is sometimes called, that is becoming more common in our affluent and materialistic society – loosely summed up it is this: that people with money and power and blessed by God and people without money and power are cursed. Anyone who has read the Bible cover-to-cover even once realizes that this is not true: one of the most prevalent themes in the scriptures is that we should take care of the poor, the widow, the immigrant, the marginalized in society (Exodus 23:6,11, Lev. 19:10,15, 23:22, 27:8, Deut. 15:7, 15:11, 24:12-15, 1 Samuel 2:8, Psalms 22:26, 34:6, 35:10, 82:3, Ezekiel 16:49, 18:12, 22:29, Amos 2:7, 4:1, 5:11-12, 8:4-6, Isaiah 3:14, 15, 10:2, 11:4, 26:6, 32:7, 41:17, 58:7, 61:1; Zechariah 7:10). How we take care of these marginalized members of our society in reality is an indicator of our own very salvation[5] (Matthew 25:31ff) and the story of Job in the Bible underlines the sovereignty of a loving God in the midst of suffering. We cannot think that we are better than anyone else because God has spared us from calamity or poverty or difficulty of circumstance (cf. Luke 10:25-27, 18:22-25; Matthew 19:21-24; Mark 10:21-25).[6] We too will meet our Maker one day and Jesus says, verses 3 and 5, that unless we – even we who have been spared this calamity – unless we repent we will likewise perish.
Now this passage is about judgement and look at the parable that Jesus tells in relation to all this these questions that the people are asking, it is interesting, verses 6-9:
“…A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' ”
This is neat. This is God. Look in the midst of judgement here there is grace. He gives the tree another chance. Look at this…the fruit tree now if it fails to bear fruit it will be cut down and presumably thrown into the fire but he gives it more time to bear fruit. Jesus defeated sin and death between the cross and the empty tomb but even today 2000 years later, while we each still have breath in our bodies, we still have the opportunity to repent and turn to God and be saved.
In 21st Century Canada, Saskatchewan and Swift Current we still have the opportunity to return to the Lord, love God and love our neighbour, so that we will not be cut down (and thrown into the fire, see John 15:1-7). This parable is specifically speaking about the nation of Israel but I think it equally applies to us today. If we deny God and if we do not love our neighbour the gospel of Matthew tells us that even among those of us who do call Jesus Lord, we be left on the outside looking in (Matthew 7:21-22). Matthew records that Jesus tells us that whatever we do not do for the least in our society we do not do for Christ (Matthew 25:40) and if we do not actively serve Christ, he will send us off to eternal punishment we deserve (Matthew 7:22, 25:40).[7] But remember the Good News…
This tree in Jesus’ parable that deserved judgement because it does not bear fruit, it is given grace first. Jesus said of this tree that deserves to be cast into eternal judgement, Jesus says, verse 8, to “'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it.” God not only extends this tree one more year of grace but in so doing he does everything He can to bring this tree into bearing fruit. He loves that tree.
This is good news and it is the same with us. As a society Canada is ceasing to bear fruit. Crime is way up. Income disparity is more extreme than ever before in this country. Our federal government has recently stopped saying the Lord’s Prayer in the House of Commons; Atheism is the largest and fastest growing religion in more than one province in this country including my home province of BC. Recently too I heard that only 3% of people in Vancouver, Canada’s 3rd largest city attend Christian churches on a regular basis. People in various places in Ontario are calling the police if civic politicians dare to pray in their meetings. How many of our children and grandchildren here – even in this apparently Christian community of Swift Current – how many of our very own young people are attending church? …How many are coming to Christ? We here are like the fig tree that is no longer bearing fruit in this country but God is a gardener that loves us and he has given us that extra time. God is giving us the extra time and He loves us and He is digging around us and fertilizing us right now. He loves us. He is extending us grace.
And this brings us back to the voiced question of the text: what about the person in our society who has a tower collapse on them or who runs afoul of the authorities or who is struggling with addiction or who is in need of food or shelter or is suffering from extreme poverty? What about the person in our society who is in a tough spot is that because they are any more or less evil than you or I? No! Jesus tells us in our text today that it is not because a person is a sinner that this hardship befalls him and he tells us by implication then that those of us who have an extra measure of security it is not because we are saints. We are all in need of our Lord’s salvation – no matter what our station in life. And the joys of salvation are available to us all – no matter who we are. I am reminded of a story…
At the end of the last century there was a revolution in one of the North Western African countries. As it became obvious that the government was going to fall, the wealthy North Americans had to flee. They really were spared the vengeance of the population only by the skin of their teeth. They boarded the last plane just in time before the rebels liberated their country.A disappointing thing happened on the plane. You see it was a commercial airline that had a first class section with so much more comfortable seating than the rest of the plane. Now on this plane were all rich, famous and important people. One of them first got it in their mind that because of who they were they deserved the good seats. Then someone else; then the next; soon everyone on the plane was fighting. They were so busy fighting that they did not notice that the plane was going down...in a sad irony while those who were fighting were the most important in this life – the plane crashed and then they all wound up faced with the next life – where none of the things of this world matter anymore. They were delivered from the revolution but still they perished.Our lives are like this plane going down it is not a sign of divine favour; if we have the best seat on the plane. It really is doesn’t change anything. The plane is still going to crash.
What matters is what will happen when Jesus returns to look at his fig tree. What matters is our AND OTHERS’ eternal salvation. No matter who we are, our life here is going to end and there will be judgement – regardless of who we are; regardless of our wealth and status – what really matters is what happens afterwards and afterwards though all may be eligible for heaven, some will choose to crash and burn but others - others will choose to be saved and – Luke 13:5 – unless we repent we will likewise perish.I am reminded of the 'Empress of Ireland' and a story that we like to tell in The Salvation Army. The 'Empress of Ireland' was a ship that sank in 1914:
“[It]went down with a hundred and thirty Canadian Salvation Army officers on board [29th May 1914], one hundred and nine officers were drowned, and not one [TSA] body that was picked up had on a life-belt. The few survivors told how the Salvationists, finding there were not enough life-preservers for all, took off their own belts and strapped them upon even strong men, saying, "I can die better than you can;" and from the deck of that sinking boat they flung their battle-cry around the world – Others!”[8]
They gave their lives up for others just like Christ gave his life up for all of us on the cross. The boat of our lives is sinking. No man knows the time or the hour when it will end (Matthew 24:26, 25:13; Mark 13:32; Luke 12:39-40, 46) so I ask us today do we forget that the end is coming? Are we spending our time here complaining about things like whether so and so deserved this or that of do we look for brothers and sisters who are perishing without their life jackets of Salvation, handing them the everlasting life-preservers?
It is my prayer today that each of us today as we are experiencing the same grace of the fig tree – as we are all on the same flight, the same borrowed time - that we will take advantage of whatever time we have left and instead of pointing the finger at others, we ourselves will indeed repent, put on the eternal life-preservers and assist our neighbours in doing the same.
Let us pray.
www.sheepspeak.com
---
[1] Thomas G. Long, ‘Breaking and Entering’ (Luke 13:1-9), available on-line at http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=2165
[2] Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Exposition of Luke/V. Teaching and Travels Toward Jerusalem (9:51-19:44)/D. Teachings on Times of Crisis and Judgment (12:1-13:35)/7. A call to repentance (13:1-9), Book Version: 4.0.2
[3] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, Luke (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: John Knox Press: Louisville, Ken., 1990), 167-168.
[4] Transcript of the interview and the retraction are available on line (10 Mar 2010): http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/f/falwell-robertson-wtc.htm
[5] God has always had a concern for the vulnerable even as is recorded in the OT: Deut 15:4 says, “However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,”
[6] Luke records Jesus as teaching us that one’s neighbour is one who risks one’s life and spends her time and resources on another (Luke 10:25-27). He tells one man that if he wants to obtain his treasure in heaven he must sell his possessions and give to the poor (Luke 18:22; cf. Matt 19:21, Mark 10:21). He also teaches that it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camel in enter the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25; cf. Matt 19:24, Mark 10:25).
[7] Cf. Joel B Green. ‘The Gospel of Luke’. NICNT. Vol. 3. (Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997) 25. Luke’s gospel has been called the gospel for the poor; it is interested in the oppressed and a significant theme contained within is that “Salvation embraces the totality of embodied life, including its social, economic, and political concerns:”
[8] The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre (10 Mar 10) Available on-line: http://www1.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/36c107e27b0ba7a98025692e0032abaa/df2ca83194d5599b802568cd00377023!OpenDocument
and the Swift Current Corps on 14 March 2010
and CKSW Radio on 28 March 2010
by Captain Michael Ramsay
My wife, Captain Susan Ramsay, preached on this pericope (passage) last Sunday at The Salvation Army and I think it is a very interesting passage in that it addresses both questions of eschatology (the ‘end times’) and theodicy (God is good even when bad things happen). She began her sermon quoting this story by the famous homilitician, the Reverend Tom Long:
In the little Georgia country church of my childhood, there was a story the older folks loved to tell again and again, laughing over it and savoring it and embellishing it. The tale involved a certain Sunday night in October 1938. Evening prayer services were in full swing when a man named Sam, a member of the congregation who lived down the road from the church, charged into the prayer meeting trembling with fear and excitement. Finally gaining the breath to speak, he shouted, "Martians are attacking the earth in spaceships! Some of ‘em have already landed in New Jersey!" The preacher halted in mid-sentence; the congregation stared at Sam blankly. "I s-s-swear," he stammered, now a little unsure of his footing. "I h-h-heard it on the radio."
What Sam had heard, of course, was Orson Welles’s now infamous Mercury Theatre radio production of ‘War of the Worlds’, but no one in the congregation was aware of that at the moment. For all they knew, the world outside was coming to a flaming end. The little flock looked apprehensively at the preacher, but he was mute and indecisive, never having had a sermon disrupted by interplanetary invasion. Finally one of the oldest members of the congregation, a red-clay farmer of modest education, stood up, gripped the pew in front of him with his large, callused hands, and said, "I ‘speck what Sam says ain’t completely true, but if it is true, we’re in the right place here in church. Let’s go on with the meetin’." And so they did.
Spaceships landing in New Jersey? Signs of the end of the world? The old farmer sized it all up, measured it against his rough-hewn view of providence, and decided it was better to be in church praising God than running around the cow pasture shooting buckshot into the night sky[1]
How true. What should we think, what should we do when things are happening in our world today that don’t necessarily make a lot of sense to us? In our scripture passage here people are asking Jesus about significant things going on all around them and they have some questions about what they should do in response – Luke 13:1-5:
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
Some of the questions that naturally arise in times of trouble like, why do things like this happen? Why do people have to suffer? Is it because they are sinners? In our pericope today people ask Jesus about some people from Galilee; remember that this is where Jesus and his disciples have spent a fair amount of time in ministry to this point in Luke’s narrative. You remember who Pilate was, of course, as well: he was the Super Power of the day’s (Rome’s) representative in the occupied territories of Judah and Israel in Palestine. These people from Galilee, Luke 13:1 tells us, had their blood mingled with their sacrifices. We don’t know a lot about this event historically. But we do know that social tension at this time made frequent revolutionary activity possible in (what is now called) the Middle East. Pilate’s position as the governor of these occupied territories so far distant from Rome was precarious at best. Josephus (Life, 92 [17]) tells us that the Galileans were especially susceptible to revolt.[2] Much like in that same area of Israel-Palestine today, terrorists, freedom fighters, many people were in a constant state of resistance to the military occupation. It appears from 13:1, that the Super Power of Jesus’ day quite severely put down this one particular challenge to its authority in the area, killing the aforementioned Galileans and desecrating their remains in this way. Now this would be very serious to the Galileans. It would be much the same the way various contemporary US actions have been interpreted around Abu Ghraib or Guatanamo Bay. It is not good and the text today is asking if these people deserve this horrible fate.
Luke 13:4 refers to another tragic event – a different one: this one in and around Jerusalem. There was this tower that came crumbling down in Israel’s historic capital city and this is a very significant event. When the tower came down people died and when the people died some had questions about why all of this happens including did the people who died, deserve it? This and the other event caused people to question, ‘why did God permit these people to die?’[3]
This is reminiscent of a tower or a pair of towers that came crumbling down in recent history on our own continent isn’t it? The Salvation Army was right on ground zero helping out with the relief effort immediately following 9/11. The person who has responsibility for TSA in all of Canada now was right there on the site with the other relief workers handing out food and water and offering emotional and spiritual care along with many others in the immediate wake of 9/ll. I have a friend of mine as well who served the Lord through The Salvation Army at Ground Zero. This event, 9/11, however did serve to raise a lot of the same questions about God, eschatology and theodicy that I think are still being asked being asked today both about the horrors of the terrorist attack on 9/11 and the response/reprisal too of the Super Power is still carrying on even today, almost a decade later.
Now remember the Americans churchmen, Pat Robinson and Jerry Falwell and the resultant scandal that followed their not so well thought out comments at the time? Falwell could very well have been asking the questions that the people around our text today are asking of Jesus and the conclusions they were implying about the Galileans and or the tower of Siloam seem very similar. Of 9/11, Jerry Falwell said God might have given the American nation what it deserved because of their moral decay. Falwell specifically listed a number of groups in that country (such as the ACLU, abortionists, feminists, gays, and others) as sharing in the blame. Pat Robertson responded in agreement. Much has been made of these comments. Some have even suggested that these men meant that those in the Towers may have even brought this event on themselves (They former later apologized and the latter distanced himself from the comments).[4]
These two Christian leaders in America distanced themselves from these remarks and/or actually repented of their comments and where people turn and repent there is forgiveness. I have no reason not to believe the sincerity of either man in either their comments or their repentance - but I do think that the sentiment surrounding their comments is not entirely dissimilar from that that is reflected in our text today and certainly the faulty extension that the individuals in the towers deserved to die is a stretch that Jesus addresses in his reply to the comments about the tragic events of his day.
Jesus rhetorically responds to the similar questions and accusations represented here in Luke: Did the people who died deserve it? First specifically referring to the Galilean victims of the Super Power’s military action, “Jesus answered [them, verses 2 and 3], "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! ...” Secondly referring to those who died when the tower came tumbling down, Jesus rhetorically asks, “do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in [the city]? I tell you, no!”
Likewise today those who died in the towers on 9/11 were no worse than those that were spared because they did not go into work that day; neither are the Afghan civilians who are added daily to the ‘collateral damage’ toll any worse or better than those who escape with their lives.
One of the many things that this passage quickly addresses is the prosperity heresy or ‘prosperity gospel’ as it is sometimes called, that is becoming more common in our affluent and materialistic society – loosely summed up it is this: that people with money and power and blessed by God and people without money and power are cursed. Anyone who has read the Bible cover-to-cover even once realizes that this is not true: one of the most prevalent themes in the scriptures is that we should take care of the poor, the widow, the immigrant, the marginalized in society (Exodus 23:6,11, Lev. 19:10,15, 23:22, 27:8, Deut. 15:7, 15:11, 24:12-15, 1 Samuel 2:8, Psalms 22:26, 34:6, 35:10, 82:3, Ezekiel 16:49, 18:12, 22:29, Amos 2:7, 4:1, 5:11-12, 8:4-6, Isaiah 3:14, 15, 10:2, 11:4, 26:6, 32:7, 41:17, 58:7, 61:1; Zechariah 7:10). How we take care of these marginalized members of our society in reality is an indicator of our own very salvation[5] (Matthew 25:31ff) and the story of Job in the Bible underlines the sovereignty of a loving God in the midst of suffering. We cannot think that we are better than anyone else because God has spared us from calamity or poverty or difficulty of circumstance (cf. Luke 10:25-27, 18:22-25; Matthew 19:21-24; Mark 10:21-25).[6] We too will meet our Maker one day and Jesus says, verses 3 and 5, that unless we – even we who have been spared this calamity – unless we repent we will likewise perish.
Now this passage is about judgement and look at the parable that Jesus tells in relation to all this these questions that the people are asking, it is interesting, verses 6-9:
“…A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' ”
This is neat. This is God. Look in the midst of judgement here there is grace. He gives the tree another chance. Look at this…the fruit tree now if it fails to bear fruit it will be cut down and presumably thrown into the fire but he gives it more time to bear fruit. Jesus defeated sin and death between the cross and the empty tomb but even today 2000 years later, while we each still have breath in our bodies, we still have the opportunity to repent and turn to God and be saved.
In 21st Century Canada, Saskatchewan and Swift Current we still have the opportunity to return to the Lord, love God and love our neighbour, so that we will not be cut down (and thrown into the fire, see John 15:1-7). This parable is specifically speaking about the nation of Israel but I think it equally applies to us today. If we deny God and if we do not love our neighbour the gospel of Matthew tells us that even among those of us who do call Jesus Lord, we be left on the outside looking in (Matthew 7:21-22). Matthew records that Jesus tells us that whatever we do not do for the least in our society we do not do for Christ (Matthew 25:40) and if we do not actively serve Christ, he will send us off to eternal punishment we deserve (Matthew 7:22, 25:40).[7] But remember the Good News…
This tree in Jesus’ parable that deserved judgement because it does not bear fruit, it is given grace first. Jesus said of this tree that deserves to be cast into eternal judgement, Jesus says, verse 8, to “'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it.” God not only extends this tree one more year of grace but in so doing he does everything He can to bring this tree into bearing fruit. He loves that tree.
This is good news and it is the same with us. As a society Canada is ceasing to bear fruit. Crime is way up. Income disparity is more extreme than ever before in this country. Our federal government has recently stopped saying the Lord’s Prayer in the House of Commons; Atheism is the largest and fastest growing religion in more than one province in this country including my home province of BC. Recently too I heard that only 3% of people in Vancouver, Canada’s 3rd largest city attend Christian churches on a regular basis. People in various places in Ontario are calling the police if civic politicians dare to pray in their meetings. How many of our children and grandchildren here – even in this apparently Christian community of Swift Current – how many of our very own young people are attending church? …How many are coming to Christ? We here are like the fig tree that is no longer bearing fruit in this country but God is a gardener that loves us and he has given us that extra time. God is giving us the extra time and He loves us and He is digging around us and fertilizing us right now. He loves us. He is extending us grace.
And this brings us back to the voiced question of the text: what about the person in our society who has a tower collapse on them or who runs afoul of the authorities or who is struggling with addiction or who is in need of food or shelter or is suffering from extreme poverty? What about the person in our society who is in a tough spot is that because they are any more or less evil than you or I? No! Jesus tells us in our text today that it is not because a person is a sinner that this hardship befalls him and he tells us by implication then that those of us who have an extra measure of security it is not because we are saints. We are all in need of our Lord’s salvation – no matter what our station in life. And the joys of salvation are available to us all – no matter who we are. I am reminded of a story…
At the end of the last century there was a revolution in one of the North Western African countries. As it became obvious that the government was going to fall, the wealthy North Americans had to flee. They really were spared the vengeance of the population only by the skin of their teeth. They boarded the last plane just in time before the rebels liberated their country.A disappointing thing happened on the plane. You see it was a commercial airline that had a first class section with so much more comfortable seating than the rest of the plane. Now on this plane were all rich, famous and important people. One of them first got it in their mind that because of who they were they deserved the good seats. Then someone else; then the next; soon everyone on the plane was fighting. They were so busy fighting that they did not notice that the plane was going down...in a sad irony while those who were fighting were the most important in this life – the plane crashed and then they all wound up faced with the next life – where none of the things of this world matter anymore. They were delivered from the revolution but still they perished.Our lives are like this plane going down it is not a sign of divine favour; if we have the best seat on the plane. It really is doesn’t change anything. The plane is still going to crash.
What matters is what will happen when Jesus returns to look at his fig tree. What matters is our AND OTHERS’ eternal salvation. No matter who we are, our life here is going to end and there will be judgement – regardless of who we are; regardless of our wealth and status – what really matters is what happens afterwards and afterwards though all may be eligible for heaven, some will choose to crash and burn but others - others will choose to be saved and – Luke 13:5 – unless we repent we will likewise perish.I am reminded of the 'Empress of Ireland' and a story that we like to tell in The Salvation Army. The 'Empress of Ireland' was a ship that sank in 1914:
“[It]went down with a hundred and thirty Canadian Salvation Army officers on board [29th May 1914], one hundred and nine officers were drowned, and not one [TSA] body that was picked up had on a life-belt. The few survivors told how the Salvationists, finding there were not enough life-preservers for all, took off their own belts and strapped them upon even strong men, saying, "I can die better than you can;" and from the deck of that sinking boat they flung their battle-cry around the world – Others!”[8]
They gave their lives up for others just like Christ gave his life up for all of us on the cross. The boat of our lives is sinking. No man knows the time or the hour when it will end (Matthew 24:26, 25:13; Mark 13:32; Luke 12:39-40, 46) so I ask us today do we forget that the end is coming? Are we spending our time here complaining about things like whether so and so deserved this or that of do we look for brothers and sisters who are perishing without their life jackets of Salvation, handing them the everlasting life-preservers?
It is my prayer today that each of us today as we are experiencing the same grace of the fig tree – as we are all on the same flight, the same borrowed time - that we will take advantage of whatever time we have left and instead of pointing the finger at others, we ourselves will indeed repent, put on the eternal life-preservers and assist our neighbours in doing the same.
Let us pray.
www.sheepspeak.com
---
[1] Thomas G. Long, ‘Breaking and Entering’ (Luke 13:1-9), available on-line at http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=2165
[2] Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Exposition of Luke/V. Teaching and Travels Toward Jerusalem (9:51-19:44)/D. Teachings on Times of Crisis and Judgment (12:1-13:35)/7. A call to repentance (13:1-9), Book Version: 4.0.2
[3] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, Luke (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: John Knox Press: Louisville, Ken., 1990), 167-168.
[4] Transcript of the interview and the retraction are available on line (10 Mar 2010): http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/f/falwell-robertson-wtc.htm
[5] God has always had a concern for the vulnerable even as is recorded in the OT: Deut 15:4 says, “However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,”
[6] Luke records Jesus as teaching us that one’s neighbour is one who risks one’s life and spends her time and resources on another (Luke 10:25-27). He tells one man that if he wants to obtain his treasure in heaven he must sell his possessions and give to the poor (Luke 18:22; cf. Matt 19:21, Mark 10:21). He also teaches that it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camel in enter the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25; cf. Matt 19:24, Mark 10:25).
[7] Cf. Joel B Green. ‘The Gospel of Luke’. NICNT. Vol. 3. (Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997) 25. Luke’s gospel has been called the gospel for the poor; it is interested in the oppressed and a significant theme contained within is that “Salvation embraces the totality of embodied life, including its social, economic, and political concerns:”
[8] The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre (10 Mar 10) Available on-line: http://www1.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/36c107e27b0ba7a98025692e0032abaa/df2ca83194d5599b802568cd00377023!OpenDocument
Friday, March 5, 2010
Matthew 25: 31-46: I just want to be a sheep
Presented to Trailview Alliance Church in Swift Current
On Sunday, March 07, 2010 by Captain Michael Ramsay
I’m from the West Coast originally. I was born and raised in Victoria and lived a few years in Vancouver. On the West Coast they are always talking about the “big one.” One of these days, apparently this gigantic tsunami (aside voice: what we always called ‘tidal waves’ when I was a kid) is supposedly going to sweep over the west coast of Canada, swamping the mainland and even sinking the whole of Vancouver Island, destroying Victoria and causing death and destruction throughout the Vancouver area. I never really take this seriously but as the years go on we hear more and more about this. Scientists now reporting how the earth’s pressure there is building up to a point where it will just give out and there will be a massive underwater earthquake and tsunami. When I taught elementary school in the early 1990s- things had actually gotten so serious that we started having earthquake drills in schools. Nowadays every workplace, every school and every family is supposed to have a plan (like we do in case of a fire) for an earthquake.
Now I don’t usually worry too much about that over which I don’t have any control but when one hears something long enough, one can become a little cautious over time. And, while I really don’t believe it at first, I must admit that when I first leave the coast and move to the prairies I am a little relieved. My first prairie posting was in Winnipeg. You can’t get too much farther away from the ocean than Winnipeg, which is the geographic centre of North America. I can remember confessing to myself while working away on my computer one day that I’m glad that we’re all safe now in Winnipeg, safe from ‘the big one’ even if it never comes. And God heard my confession. No sooner had I acknowledged that I now felt secure then this reassuring headline came across my computer screen :
Tornado Alert - Winnipeg twister could kill 100, injure thousands: researcher! “Researchers are studying how the city of Winnipeg would fare — not if, but when — a major tornado strikes.”
Some in our text here, Matthew 25:31-46, are surprised when the judgement comes like a thief in the night without warning; scriptures assures us that no one knows the time or the hour of the eternal ‘big one.’
When the eschatological ‘big one’ hits, each of Matthew’s sheep and goats in turn will face the judge, their judge – our judge. We’ll face him as he passes his judgement and sentence upon us…and there are more surprises.
God tells the goats (verse 42 and 43) “I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'” You can almost hear the quiet pause before the goats deferentially, sincerely reply (verse 44) “…Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” The goats are surprised. They should not be because, as others in this courtroom scene could tell them, the importance of provision for the poor and marginalized is a very common theme in the Bible. Deuteronomy 15:9 tells us that when you give food to the poor, then God counts it as though you had given it to him. And Proverbs 19:17 states "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and will be paid in full." And now they, those that did not lend, are getting paid back in full and this should not be a surprise to the goats but it is.
When we are swept up from our world today and placed in front of our judge, there are many who may be surprised like the goats and like Matthew says earlier in his gospel in Matthew 7:21-22, “not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21-22 Records that not everyone who calls Jesus Lord will be saved. They plead. Many will list the things that they do that they think are good, the Lord replies 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'”
This brings us – I believe – quite nicely (or maybe not so nicely) to our topic for today: local missions. How do we live out our lives as sanctified sheep where God has placed us, in our local community?
Today I have the privilege and the honour of sharing with you how God is using various people in local ministries at The Salvation Army in Swift Current here and some of you may even be pleasantly surprised at how many members of this congregation our serving our Lord, in local missions. There are many in this room here who serve the Lord in many ways just like as is recorded in Matthew 25:34-36, and so “…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. (25:34-36)” These are the sheep. Let’s look at this through the lens of Swift Current for a moment:
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink: in Swift Current we are in a wonderful position to provide this service to the Lord. It is a real blessing. There is only one Foodbank in town and it is a Christian ministry – Praise the Lord. I have seen cities that have two or more foodbanks or foodbanks that are run by secular or other religious viewpoints and it is not the same at all. It is a real blessing that there are not competing foodbanks here and that everything done through that ministry can and should be for the glory and honour of God – particularly since the numbers of people in need in this community have been way up over the last year. So that many more people can come for food both physical and spiritual.
This congregation and members of it, I don’t know if everyone here knows, contributes to the foodbank in Swift Current on a regular basis and I can’t express in words my gratitude to the Lord for your Halloween food drive and other support. It goes a long way to serve God, help humanity, and build the Kingdom of God, and it is evidence of our sheep-ness, so to speak.
One of the strengths of our community foodbank is that we are connected provincially via our community services computers to every TSA foodbank in the province. We are able to communicate quickly to see if people who are transitioning from community to community are in legitimate need, and how to best help them. We can see when they came in last and what their needs usually are. Our Foodbank director is a professional social worker and an active Christian. When someone comes in for food or water or whatever else their need, Betty can discern if that really is their need and see how we can best help them.
Our scripture today mentioned people in need of shelter, in this community did you know that there is a lot of homelessness? Its not like the West Coast where you are confronted with people living on the streets daily, it is much more subtle. There is something called couch-surfing homelessness where one person who has become evicted brings their immediate family and sleeps on the couches / floors of their extended family or friends – and often times those friends really can’t afford to support them and are clients themselves. We can help. Swift Current has been able to serve the Lord through the Foodbank by discovering and helping those who need shelter too.
Other things as well come up through the foodbank ministries. I have personally taken people down to AA meetings and sat with them as a part of the group, if alcoholism led to their needing our assistance at the foodbank. I know more than one person who began their sober walk with the Lord in and around local Salvation Army foodbanks.
A new problem is really starting to identify itself through our local foodbank – gambling. We have had people come to our foodbank now that are dual income, good wage earning families that don’t have enough money for food because they have gambled it all away at the casino. In response to this, recently I went down to the casino with Betty, our CFS director, and we spoke to them about ways we could work together to help people out of their addiction. I could speak for hours about this ministry but I want to share with you so much more about the local missions here in town. Two things.
1) People come into a saving relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ through this ministry; I encourage all our people ministering with The Salvation Army to pray with those who come to us for help and we can celebrate because sometimes these prayers are eternal commitments of salvation – Praise the Lord.
2) I want to share one or two more of the many, many stories we have here. Shortly after I arrived in Swift Current, a fellow was waiting for me when I arrived at work on a Friday. He wanted to see Betty and I. We are closed Fridays to the public so I explained that to him and he asked me to pass this message onto everyone. He had arrived in Swift Current a week or two before and he had nothing – no food, no home, no job – God helped him through us and today he stopped by just to thank us and – he has food, he has a home and he has a job. We prayed. He is all right now. Praise the Lord.
a) Another story: two Christmases ago as I was handing a single mother her Christmas hamper, she cried. She said without The Salvation Army, she and her children would not have had Christmas at all. They are believers now. There are so many stories from local missions…
I am going to stop talking here about food and drink because I could share the testimonies of the miracles that God is doing in this one ministry all day.
Did you know that we are also a part of the community of Swift Current’s Emergency Disaster Response team? Our building is fully equipped for an event such as struck Chile and Haiti. We have staff trained in food services, emergency shelter provisions, emotional and spiritual care. I personally have experience counselling people and debriefing emergency personnel after disasters have struck in Saskatchewan here as well as around the world – some other time I can share some of the testimonies from that ministry with you. I am also The Army’s only Emergency Disaster preparedness trainer in Saskatchewan so if that is something you would like to learn more about let me know. This is all a part of the local mission. If you would like me to activate your congregation to help out in local emergencies, let me know, I can have you all trained, certified and activated as soon as the Lord permits.
Back to Matthew 25, “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me”: You probably know as well that we are able to provide clothing to those in need – both through our family services department (our foodbank) and also through the Thrift Store. The Thrift Store – this is a very good ministry and I praise the Lord for our manager there, Lori: she is a solid Christian who serves the Lord with us Monday through Saturday and regularly worships Him here on Sundays. The Lord has blessed her ministry greatly. At the Thrift Store we offer quality pre-owed items at incredibly low prices and there are some good items there both for people in need and others who would like to help out the ministry. From this ministry we not only finance some of our other ministries but we are able to keep clothing and furniture on-hand so that those in need can come and speak with us and we can make sure that it gets to where it is most needed. This is very good because it means that no other service agency should ever need to advertise for furniture (for example, as it is very hard to store) or other items that we sell and as they contact us we can work together to share the love of Christ with those in need in the community. As we all work together we can be used a lot more effectively for God and His ministry.
I have one of again many testimonies to share with you about our Thrift Store. Our longest employee – she is now a soldier (a full member of our church) and a devoted Christian with a powerful ministry. She came to the Lord through her work at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. We begin our meetings there in prayer and through prayer Jesus saves and this employee who is such a wonderful tool for Christ came to the Lord through her service to Him through the Thrift Store.
The Thrift Store is a wonderful opportunity for different groups to minister from time to time as well – I am not sure whether Trailview has in my short time in Swift Current but I know other youth group’s have donated some of their time to serve Christ at our Thrift Store and our manager there, Lori, has been excellent at sharing our reason for that ministry – the Kingdom of God. Those here who know her, I would encourage you to thank and praise the Lord for her ministry.
One more thing about the Thrift Store – it as well as our other ministries accepts volunteers and our manager enjoys mentoring people who wind up there through the courts (fine options, CSOs, etc.) and we have had more than one testimony of people not only being blessed through this ministry but continuing to serve the Lord through the Army long after their allocated time is finished. Praise the Lord. I could go on about the Lord’s ministry at The Salvation Army Thrift Store – but I must continue with other things…
Matthew 25 records the Lord telling us that, “I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Like most churches in this congregation we minister to people in the seniors’ residences and the hospitals. I would encourage you all in this kind of local ministry. As far as the prison is concerned, I was personally involved in that somewhat in Vancouver and quite a bit in Winnipeg. I could tell you a million stories about those ministries but I will leave that for another time.
I know in Swift Current, the Christian Church has the honour of administering the Alternative Measures Programme for SW Saskatchewan through The Salvation Army and Harvey, who is another very active member of your congregation here. This is a very important ministry. Many people can be helped out of serious problems without being burdened with a criminal record. People can experience a real life object lesson of the restoration and reconciliation that we all can have with God as we confess our sins and throw ourselves on His mercy and I have certainly celebrated with our coordinator as people have received through this social justice ministry a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I can’t possible share all the miracles that God provides through this ministry but the opportunities are amazing. Harvey shared a couple of stories with me. He says,
“I was doing an intake interview with a shoplifting offender in a small town in southwest Sask. It became apparent that the offender had a problem with alcohol. I would need to ensure that -as one of the consequences for his offence- that counselling was arranged for him. As our interview progressed I felt a nudge of the Holy Spirit to share my faith story with the man. I asked his permission and when he agreed, I shared what God laid on my heart. As a result, he came to faith in Christ. Later that afternoon we moved to the next phase of the mediation. The offender (now a new believer) asked to have counselling with his wife's pastor. This was agreed to along with some other consequences.
The next day, I called the pastor of the church to make arrangements with him for counselling with the man. He was shocked when I told him the circumstances and who the man was that had asked for counselling and that he had been led to Christ. Here’s the thing: this church had been praying for this man’s salvation for YEARS.” Praise the Lord. He is faithful and He uses our prayers to do His work!"
Another story from Harv:
There had been multiple break-ins at this business over a period of time and it had nearly put the victim, the owner into bankruptcy. At the meeting the victim gave good advice to the youth and assured him that the path he had taken led to a dead end and a very steep cliff with not a pretty landing at the bottom. He spelled this out in terms the youth could easily grasp: the victim MADE IT VERY CLEAR that the youth needed help for addiction issues AND more importantly that the youth HAD to stay in school and … the victim wanted to see each of his report cards.
As the youth was part way through grade ten, this was a long process with many report cards. The young offender was faithful. In March of his Grade 12 year, he approached me for a reference letter for post secondary education and scholarships. His marks had improved from 60's when the break-in occurred to mid 80's by the time of graduation. The result was that he got two scholarships to a technical training class and is headed toward a journeyman's certificate. The Lord changes people.
It is great to be doing a job where God leads you by His Spirit. It is a great reward to see first hand the eternal results of the work that we do for the Lord in the lives of individuals in local missions like the sheep in the parable of the sheep and the goats.
I personally would like to tell you more about what God is doing here but there is not enough time. In my own work serving the Lord around Justice issues, I personally would love more time to be able to sit in the courtrooms and pray with people and walk them through this very difficult time. This is a ministry that I have enjoyed in a number of different communities – but if anyone or small group would like to volunteer to serve God and your church through the Salvation Army’s ministry in the courtroom, let me know we will train you and put you to work…the harvest is great but the workers are few. Likewise in our Thrift Store and Community and Family Services, missions opportunities abound AND it is exciting!
Oh…I have so many stories! I’m a storyteller. That is one of my favourite ways to communicate the gospel but because I haven’t been here quite a year yet many of my stories (Jesus spoke in parables, right?) of how the Lord transforms local communities through local missions are areas that are now not so local – Vancouver’s infamous downtown eastside, Winnipeg’s notorious North End, Stoney Mountain Penitentiary… all these experiences must have been just to toughen us up for Swift Current. I won’t share those stories today, I don’t want to step on the toes of the many fine speakers that the Lord and your congregation have lined up for you over the next few weeks.
Local missions really is a way that we live out the reality of our salvation on a day to day basis and when we skip over local missions and look abroad, the results are quite scary. In BC where I grew up did you know that Atheism (no religion) is the fastest growing religion? At Christmas time, I was instructed at one point in the schools there not to dare mention the name of Christ in the classroom – at Christmas! (I used to teach, once upon a time, when I was teaching we were told to no longer refer to Christmas as ‘Christmas’ either – we now had to call it a ‘winter festival’ or some such term that would represent the secular religion that is replacing the Christian worldview there). I seem to remember reading too that only 3% of people in Vancouver – Canada’s third largest city – attend Christian churches regularly. BC used to be Christian. In Ontario, I have heard stories about people tracking down civic politicians who pray during their meetings and calling the police. In Ottawa, the recent minority governments have stopped saying the Lord’s Prayer in the House of Commons.
If we neglect our local mission field than we become the international mission field for someone else. We can see this in our world today. Where is Christianity growing and thriving? – Africa and Asia. That is where we have focussed on missions in the past and that is where there is fruit today. Something to think about…
I do want to leave you with one more story about Our Lord and His local missions…let me share this story I read a couple of years ago in a theological magazine, the Expository Times.
James V, the King of Scotland used to go around the country dressed like everyone else: a common person. That is because he wanted to meet the everyday people of the country not just the rich and powerful. He wanted to see how the normal people lived.
One day he was dressed in very old clothes and was going by a place known as Cramond Brig, when he is attacked by robbers who don’t know who he is. There is a fierce struggle and he is nearly overcome when, at just the right moment, a poor farm worker - Jock Howieson - hears the commotion comes to the disguised king’s aid.
Now Jock, the poor labourer, who works on this portion of the King’s land, known as Cramond Brig, now Jock unawares takes the undercover king home and gives him a dinner of broth and Jock - as the king is recouping – naturally asks the man who he is.
The King responds – in a Scottish brogue that I am not even going to attempt – ‘Ach, I’m a good man of Edinburgh.’
‘And where do you live in that city and where do you work?’
‘Well,’ says James, ‘I live at the palace and I work there too.’
‘The palace, is it? I’d like to see the palace; if I could see the King, I’d tell him a thing or two…’
‘About what?’ asks the King in disguise.
‘I’d tell him that I should own this land that I am on. I work it every day and he never comes here & gets his hands dirty working this land’
‘You’re right enough’, says the man. You come tomorrow to the palace at Holly Rood and I’ll show you around. Come at two.’
So the next day at two o’clock, Jock Howieson, is washed, dressed and at the palace to meet his new friend at the back door. The good man, whom Jock had served and saved the day before, shows him around the kitchen, the dining room, the bedrooms – the whole place. Then, at last, the two of them come to the great rooms of the State.
‘Do you want to see the King?’ the man asks Jock.
‘Oh yes indeed’, says Jock, ‘I do. I do want to see the King.’
So they enter the great hall and as they come in, men bow and ladies curtsey. It is really quite a thing to see.
So Jock whispers to his friend, ‘How will I know who the king is?’
‘He’s the only one who keeps his hat on’…
Jock says, ‘But… there’s only us two with our hats…’ and Jock immediately takes off his hat as he realises that James is indeed the King of Scotland.
And so it is with us today. Jesus is King, what we do for the least of these through our local missions – just like Jock, just like the Matthew’s sheep in Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, what ever we do for the least, the lost and the last, we are actually doing for Christ. Today, He is walking around with each of us showing us his domain here on earth and just waiting for us to take off our hats in service to Him.
Appeal: If there are any of us here today who have not taken off our hats and lain them before the Lord, I invite you to speak to someone after the service here today and commit your life to the excitement that comes from serving Christ because the big one IS coming. The tornado, the tsunami, the eternal judgement, and those of us that love and serve the Lord are saved. We, the sheep are saved – and what a glorious salvation it is as we live it out in local missions.
- Let us pray.
www.sheepspeak.com
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Boring, M. Eugene. The New Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 8 Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1995.
British Columbia Ministry of Education. School Safety Earthquake Guidebook. Victoria, BC: Province of BC, 2000.
Civil Defence Coordinator’s Office – Department of the Provincial Secretary. “Special Report on Alberni Tidal Wave Disaster” in British Columbia Civil Defence Circular. Victoria, BC: Provincial Energy Programme, Summer 1964.
CBC News, “Winnipeg twister could kill 100, injure thousands: researcher.” Cited 06 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/story/mb-tornado-20060606.html
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005: Eradicating world hunger – key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Rome, Italy: United Nations, 2005.
Government of British Columbia. “Earthquake Preparedness.” Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.pep.bc.ca/hazard_preparedness/earthquake_preparedness.html
Hagner, Donald A. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 33. Dallas, Texas: Word Books, 2005.
Harris, Paul. “Chain Gang.” The Observer On-line (May 26, 2006): Cited 28 May 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,,1782114,00.html
Shenk, Wilbert R. New Wineskins for New Wine: Toward a Post-Christendom Ecclesiology.
Statistics Canada. “2001 Census: Religions in Canada.” Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/rel/canada.cfm
TED Case Study. “US-Canada Water Case” Cited 06 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/water.htm
The Salvation Army. Annual Review: Canada and Bermuda, 2004 –2005. Toronto, Ontario: The Salvation Army, 2005.
The Salvation Army. “Salvation Army Thrift Stores…Recycling since 1890.” Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.salvationarmy.ca/2006/06/08/salvation-army-thrift-stores%e2%80%a6recycling-since-1890/
The Salvation Army. “Vancouver Sun Run.” Salvationist.ca (May 26, 2006) Cited 28 May 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.salvationist.ca/2006/vancouver-sun-run/
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation Statistics. Cited 15 Mar. 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.fao.org/es/ess/index_en.asp
Werapitiya, Manique. “Statistics just a first step in helping the homeless.” Capital News On-line 11 (November 29, 2002): Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://temagami.carleton.ca/jmc/cnews/29112002/n4.shtml
World Socialist Movement. “How Could We Feed the World.” Cited 15 Mar. 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.worldsocialism.org/wsm-pages/food.html
*This sermon was loosley Based on a sermon by Michael Ramsay dated 14 June 2006
On Sunday, March 07, 2010 by Captain Michael Ramsay
I’m from the West Coast originally. I was born and raised in Victoria and lived a few years in Vancouver. On the West Coast they are always talking about the “big one.” One of these days, apparently this gigantic tsunami (aside voice: what we always called ‘tidal waves’ when I was a kid) is supposedly going to sweep over the west coast of Canada, swamping the mainland and even sinking the whole of Vancouver Island, destroying Victoria and causing death and destruction throughout the Vancouver area. I never really take this seriously but as the years go on we hear more and more about this. Scientists now reporting how the earth’s pressure there is building up to a point where it will just give out and there will be a massive underwater earthquake and tsunami. When I taught elementary school in the early 1990s- things had actually gotten so serious that we started having earthquake drills in schools. Nowadays every workplace, every school and every family is supposed to have a plan (like we do in case of a fire) for an earthquake.
Now I don’t usually worry too much about that over which I don’t have any control but when one hears something long enough, one can become a little cautious over time. And, while I really don’t believe it at first, I must admit that when I first leave the coast and move to the prairies I am a little relieved. My first prairie posting was in Winnipeg. You can’t get too much farther away from the ocean than Winnipeg, which is the geographic centre of North America. I can remember confessing to myself while working away on my computer one day that I’m glad that we’re all safe now in Winnipeg, safe from ‘the big one’ even if it never comes. And God heard my confession. No sooner had I acknowledged that I now felt secure then this reassuring headline came across my computer screen :
Tornado Alert - Winnipeg twister could kill 100, injure thousands: researcher! “Researchers are studying how the city of Winnipeg would fare — not if, but when — a major tornado strikes.”
Some in our text here, Matthew 25:31-46, are surprised when the judgement comes like a thief in the night without warning; scriptures assures us that no one knows the time or the hour of the eternal ‘big one.’
When the eschatological ‘big one’ hits, each of Matthew’s sheep and goats in turn will face the judge, their judge – our judge. We’ll face him as he passes his judgement and sentence upon us…and there are more surprises.
God tells the goats (verse 42 and 43) “I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'” You can almost hear the quiet pause before the goats deferentially, sincerely reply (verse 44) “…Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” The goats are surprised. They should not be because, as others in this courtroom scene could tell them, the importance of provision for the poor and marginalized is a very common theme in the Bible. Deuteronomy 15:9 tells us that when you give food to the poor, then God counts it as though you had given it to him. And Proverbs 19:17 states "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and will be paid in full." And now they, those that did not lend, are getting paid back in full and this should not be a surprise to the goats but it is.
When we are swept up from our world today and placed in front of our judge, there are many who may be surprised like the goats and like Matthew says earlier in his gospel in Matthew 7:21-22, “not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21-22 Records that not everyone who calls Jesus Lord will be saved. They plead. Many will list the things that they do that they think are good, the Lord replies 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'”
This brings us – I believe – quite nicely (or maybe not so nicely) to our topic for today: local missions. How do we live out our lives as sanctified sheep where God has placed us, in our local community?
Today I have the privilege and the honour of sharing with you how God is using various people in local ministries at The Salvation Army in Swift Current here and some of you may even be pleasantly surprised at how many members of this congregation our serving our Lord, in local missions. There are many in this room here who serve the Lord in many ways just like as is recorded in Matthew 25:34-36, and so “…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. (25:34-36)” These are the sheep. Let’s look at this through the lens of Swift Current for a moment:
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink: in Swift Current we are in a wonderful position to provide this service to the Lord. It is a real blessing. There is only one Foodbank in town and it is a Christian ministry – Praise the Lord. I have seen cities that have two or more foodbanks or foodbanks that are run by secular or other religious viewpoints and it is not the same at all. It is a real blessing that there are not competing foodbanks here and that everything done through that ministry can and should be for the glory and honour of God – particularly since the numbers of people in need in this community have been way up over the last year. So that many more people can come for food both physical and spiritual.
This congregation and members of it, I don’t know if everyone here knows, contributes to the foodbank in Swift Current on a regular basis and I can’t express in words my gratitude to the Lord for your Halloween food drive and other support. It goes a long way to serve God, help humanity, and build the Kingdom of God, and it is evidence of our sheep-ness, so to speak.
One of the strengths of our community foodbank is that we are connected provincially via our community services computers to every TSA foodbank in the province. We are able to communicate quickly to see if people who are transitioning from community to community are in legitimate need, and how to best help them. We can see when they came in last and what their needs usually are. Our Foodbank director is a professional social worker and an active Christian. When someone comes in for food or water or whatever else their need, Betty can discern if that really is their need and see how we can best help them.
Our scripture today mentioned people in need of shelter, in this community did you know that there is a lot of homelessness? Its not like the West Coast where you are confronted with people living on the streets daily, it is much more subtle. There is something called couch-surfing homelessness where one person who has become evicted brings their immediate family and sleeps on the couches / floors of their extended family or friends – and often times those friends really can’t afford to support them and are clients themselves. We can help. Swift Current has been able to serve the Lord through the Foodbank by discovering and helping those who need shelter too.
Other things as well come up through the foodbank ministries. I have personally taken people down to AA meetings and sat with them as a part of the group, if alcoholism led to their needing our assistance at the foodbank. I know more than one person who began their sober walk with the Lord in and around local Salvation Army foodbanks.
A new problem is really starting to identify itself through our local foodbank – gambling. We have had people come to our foodbank now that are dual income, good wage earning families that don’t have enough money for food because they have gambled it all away at the casino. In response to this, recently I went down to the casino with Betty, our CFS director, and we spoke to them about ways we could work together to help people out of their addiction. I could speak for hours about this ministry but I want to share with you so much more about the local missions here in town. Two things.
1) People come into a saving relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ through this ministry; I encourage all our people ministering with The Salvation Army to pray with those who come to us for help and we can celebrate because sometimes these prayers are eternal commitments of salvation – Praise the Lord.
2) I want to share one or two more of the many, many stories we have here. Shortly after I arrived in Swift Current, a fellow was waiting for me when I arrived at work on a Friday. He wanted to see Betty and I. We are closed Fridays to the public so I explained that to him and he asked me to pass this message onto everyone. He had arrived in Swift Current a week or two before and he had nothing – no food, no home, no job – God helped him through us and today he stopped by just to thank us and – he has food, he has a home and he has a job. We prayed. He is all right now. Praise the Lord.
a) Another story: two Christmases ago as I was handing a single mother her Christmas hamper, she cried. She said without The Salvation Army, she and her children would not have had Christmas at all. They are believers now. There are so many stories from local missions…
I am going to stop talking here about food and drink because I could share the testimonies of the miracles that God is doing in this one ministry all day.
Did you know that we are also a part of the community of Swift Current’s Emergency Disaster Response team? Our building is fully equipped for an event such as struck Chile and Haiti. We have staff trained in food services, emergency shelter provisions, emotional and spiritual care. I personally have experience counselling people and debriefing emergency personnel after disasters have struck in Saskatchewan here as well as around the world – some other time I can share some of the testimonies from that ministry with you. I am also The Army’s only Emergency Disaster preparedness trainer in Saskatchewan so if that is something you would like to learn more about let me know. This is all a part of the local mission. If you would like me to activate your congregation to help out in local emergencies, let me know, I can have you all trained, certified and activated as soon as the Lord permits.
Back to Matthew 25, “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me”: You probably know as well that we are able to provide clothing to those in need – both through our family services department (our foodbank) and also through the Thrift Store. The Thrift Store – this is a very good ministry and I praise the Lord for our manager there, Lori: she is a solid Christian who serves the Lord with us Monday through Saturday and regularly worships Him here on Sundays. The Lord has blessed her ministry greatly. At the Thrift Store we offer quality pre-owed items at incredibly low prices and there are some good items there both for people in need and others who would like to help out the ministry. From this ministry we not only finance some of our other ministries but we are able to keep clothing and furniture on-hand so that those in need can come and speak with us and we can make sure that it gets to where it is most needed. This is very good because it means that no other service agency should ever need to advertise for furniture (for example, as it is very hard to store) or other items that we sell and as they contact us we can work together to share the love of Christ with those in need in the community. As we all work together we can be used a lot more effectively for God and His ministry.
I have one of again many testimonies to share with you about our Thrift Store. Our longest employee – she is now a soldier (a full member of our church) and a devoted Christian with a powerful ministry. She came to the Lord through her work at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. We begin our meetings there in prayer and through prayer Jesus saves and this employee who is such a wonderful tool for Christ came to the Lord through her service to Him through the Thrift Store.
The Thrift Store is a wonderful opportunity for different groups to minister from time to time as well – I am not sure whether Trailview has in my short time in Swift Current but I know other youth group’s have donated some of their time to serve Christ at our Thrift Store and our manager there, Lori, has been excellent at sharing our reason for that ministry – the Kingdom of God. Those here who know her, I would encourage you to thank and praise the Lord for her ministry.
One more thing about the Thrift Store – it as well as our other ministries accepts volunteers and our manager enjoys mentoring people who wind up there through the courts (fine options, CSOs, etc.) and we have had more than one testimony of people not only being blessed through this ministry but continuing to serve the Lord through the Army long after their allocated time is finished. Praise the Lord. I could go on about the Lord’s ministry at The Salvation Army Thrift Store – but I must continue with other things…
Matthew 25 records the Lord telling us that, “I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Like most churches in this congregation we minister to people in the seniors’ residences and the hospitals. I would encourage you all in this kind of local ministry. As far as the prison is concerned, I was personally involved in that somewhat in Vancouver and quite a bit in Winnipeg. I could tell you a million stories about those ministries but I will leave that for another time.
I know in Swift Current, the Christian Church has the honour of administering the Alternative Measures Programme for SW Saskatchewan through The Salvation Army and Harvey, who is another very active member of your congregation here. This is a very important ministry. Many people can be helped out of serious problems without being burdened with a criminal record. People can experience a real life object lesson of the restoration and reconciliation that we all can have with God as we confess our sins and throw ourselves on His mercy and I have certainly celebrated with our coordinator as people have received through this social justice ministry a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I can’t possible share all the miracles that God provides through this ministry but the opportunities are amazing. Harvey shared a couple of stories with me. He says,
“I was doing an intake interview with a shoplifting offender in a small town in southwest Sask. It became apparent that the offender had a problem with alcohol. I would need to ensure that -as one of the consequences for his offence- that counselling was arranged for him. As our interview progressed I felt a nudge of the Holy Spirit to share my faith story with the man. I asked his permission and when he agreed, I shared what God laid on my heart. As a result, he came to faith in Christ. Later that afternoon we moved to the next phase of the mediation. The offender (now a new believer) asked to have counselling with his wife's pastor. This was agreed to along with some other consequences.
The next day, I called the pastor of the church to make arrangements with him for counselling with the man. He was shocked when I told him the circumstances and who the man was that had asked for counselling and that he had been led to Christ. Here’s the thing: this church had been praying for this man’s salvation for YEARS.” Praise the Lord. He is faithful and He uses our prayers to do His work!"
Another story from Harv:
There had been multiple break-ins at this business over a period of time and it had nearly put the victim, the owner into bankruptcy. At the meeting the victim gave good advice to the youth and assured him that the path he had taken led to a dead end and a very steep cliff with not a pretty landing at the bottom. He spelled this out in terms the youth could easily grasp: the victim MADE IT VERY CLEAR that the youth needed help for addiction issues AND more importantly that the youth HAD to stay in school and … the victim wanted to see each of his report cards.
As the youth was part way through grade ten, this was a long process with many report cards. The young offender was faithful. In March of his Grade 12 year, he approached me for a reference letter for post secondary education and scholarships. His marks had improved from 60's when the break-in occurred to mid 80's by the time of graduation. The result was that he got two scholarships to a technical training class and is headed toward a journeyman's certificate. The Lord changes people.
It is great to be doing a job where God leads you by His Spirit. It is a great reward to see first hand the eternal results of the work that we do for the Lord in the lives of individuals in local missions like the sheep in the parable of the sheep and the goats.
I personally would like to tell you more about what God is doing here but there is not enough time. In my own work serving the Lord around Justice issues, I personally would love more time to be able to sit in the courtrooms and pray with people and walk them through this very difficult time. This is a ministry that I have enjoyed in a number of different communities – but if anyone or small group would like to volunteer to serve God and your church through the Salvation Army’s ministry in the courtroom, let me know we will train you and put you to work…the harvest is great but the workers are few. Likewise in our Thrift Store and Community and Family Services, missions opportunities abound AND it is exciting!
Oh…I have so many stories! I’m a storyteller. That is one of my favourite ways to communicate the gospel but because I haven’t been here quite a year yet many of my stories (Jesus spoke in parables, right?) of how the Lord transforms local communities through local missions are areas that are now not so local – Vancouver’s infamous downtown eastside, Winnipeg’s notorious North End, Stoney Mountain Penitentiary… all these experiences must have been just to toughen us up for Swift Current. I won’t share those stories today, I don’t want to step on the toes of the many fine speakers that the Lord and your congregation have lined up for you over the next few weeks.
Local missions really is a way that we live out the reality of our salvation on a day to day basis and when we skip over local missions and look abroad, the results are quite scary. In BC where I grew up did you know that Atheism (no religion) is the fastest growing religion? At Christmas time, I was instructed at one point in the schools there not to dare mention the name of Christ in the classroom – at Christmas! (I used to teach, once upon a time, when I was teaching we were told to no longer refer to Christmas as ‘Christmas’ either – we now had to call it a ‘winter festival’ or some such term that would represent the secular religion that is replacing the Christian worldview there). I seem to remember reading too that only 3% of people in Vancouver – Canada’s third largest city – attend Christian churches regularly. BC used to be Christian. In Ontario, I have heard stories about people tracking down civic politicians who pray during their meetings and calling the police. In Ottawa, the recent minority governments have stopped saying the Lord’s Prayer in the House of Commons.
If we neglect our local mission field than we become the international mission field for someone else. We can see this in our world today. Where is Christianity growing and thriving? – Africa and Asia. That is where we have focussed on missions in the past and that is where there is fruit today. Something to think about…
I do want to leave you with one more story about Our Lord and His local missions…let me share this story I read a couple of years ago in a theological magazine, the Expository Times.
James V, the King of Scotland used to go around the country dressed like everyone else: a common person. That is because he wanted to meet the everyday people of the country not just the rich and powerful. He wanted to see how the normal people lived.
One day he was dressed in very old clothes and was going by a place known as Cramond Brig, when he is attacked by robbers who don’t know who he is. There is a fierce struggle and he is nearly overcome when, at just the right moment, a poor farm worker - Jock Howieson - hears the commotion comes to the disguised king’s aid.
Now Jock, the poor labourer, who works on this portion of the King’s land, known as Cramond Brig, now Jock unawares takes the undercover king home and gives him a dinner of broth and Jock - as the king is recouping – naturally asks the man who he is.
The King responds – in a Scottish brogue that I am not even going to attempt – ‘Ach, I’m a good man of Edinburgh.’
‘And where do you live in that city and where do you work?’
‘Well,’ says James, ‘I live at the palace and I work there too.’
‘The palace, is it? I’d like to see the palace; if I could see the King, I’d tell him a thing or two…’
‘About what?’ asks the King in disguise.
‘I’d tell him that I should own this land that I am on. I work it every day and he never comes here & gets his hands dirty working this land’
‘You’re right enough’, says the man. You come tomorrow to the palace at Holly Rood and I’ll show you around. Come at two.’
So the next day at two o’clock, Jock Howieson, is washed, dressed and at the palace to meet his new friend at the back door. The good man, whom Jock had served and saved the day before, shows him around the kitchen, the dining room, the bedrooms – the whole place. Then, at last, the two of them come to the great rooms of the State.
‘Do you want to see the King?’ the man asks Jock.
‘Oh yes indeed’, says Jock, ‘I do. I do want to see the King.’
So they enter the great hall and as they come in, men bow and ladies curtsey. It is really quite a thing to see.
So Jock whispers to his friend, ‘How will I know who the king is?’
‘He’s the only one who keeps his hat on’…
Jock says, ‘But… there’s only us two with our hats…’ and Jock immediately takes off his hat as he realises that James is indeed the King of Scotland.
And so it is with us today. Jesus is King, what we do for the least of these through our local missions – just like Jock, just like the Matthew’s sheep in Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, what ever we do for the least, the lost and the last, we are actually doing for Christ. Today, He is walking around with each of us showing us his domain here on earth and just waiting for us to take off our hats in service to Him.
Appeal: If there are any of us here today who have not taken off our hats and lain them before the Lord, I invite you to speak to someone after the service here today and commit your life to the excitement that comes from serving Christ because the big one IS coming. The tornado, the tsunami, the eternal judgement, and those of us that love and serve the Lord are saved. We, the sheep are saved – and what a glorious salvation it is as we live it out in local missions.
- Let us pray.
www.sheepspeak.com
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Boring, M. Eugene. The New Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 8 Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1995.
British Columbia Ministry of Education. School Safety Earthquake Guidebook. Victoria, BC: Province of BC, 2000.
Civil Defence Coordinator’s Office – Department of the Provincial Secretary. “Special Report on Alberni Tidal Wave Disaster” in British Columbia Civil Defence Circular. Victoria, BC: Provincial Energy Programme, Summer 1964.
CBC News, “Winnipeg twister could kill 100, injure thousands: researcher.” Cited 06 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/story/mb-tornado-20060606.html
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005: Eradicating world hunger – key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Rome, Italy: United Nations, 2005.
Government of British Columbia. “Earthquake Preparedness.” Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.pep.bc.ca/hazard_preparedness/earthquake_preparedness.html
Hagner, Donald A. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 33. Dallas, Texas: Word Books, 2005.
Harris, Paul. “Chain Gang.” The Observer On-line (May 26, 2006): Cited 28 May 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,,1782114,00.html
Shenk, Wilbert R. New Wineskins for New Wine: Toward a Post-Christendom Ecclesiology.
Statistics Canada. “2001 Census: Religions in Canada.” Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/rel/canada.cfm
TED Case Study. “US-Canada Water Case” Cited 06 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/water.htm
The Salvation Army. Annual Review: Canada and Bermuda, 2004 –2005. Toronto, Ontario: The Salvation Army, 2005.
The Salvation Army. “Salvation Army Thrift Stores…Recycling since 1890.” Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.salvationarmy.ca/2006/06/08/salvation-army-thrift-stores%e2%80%a6recycling-since-1890/
The Salvation Army. “Vancouver Sun Run.” Salvationist.ca (May 26, 2006) Cited 28 May 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.salvationist.ca/2006/vancouver-sun-run/
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation Statistics. Cited 15 Mar. 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.fao.org/es/ess/index_en.asp
Werapitiya, Manique. “Statistics just a first step in helping the homeless.” Capital News On-line 11 (November 29, 2002): Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://temagami.carleton.ca/jmc/cnews/29112002/n4.shtml
World Socialist Movement. “How Could We Feed the World.” Cited 15 Mar. 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.worldsocialism.org/wsm-pages/food.html
*This sermon was loosley Based on a sermon by Michael Ramsay dated 14 June 2006
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