Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 13 Nov. 2011
By Captain Michael Ramsay (Padre, Royal Canadian Legion #56)
God of our fathers, known of old—
Lord of our far-flung battle line—
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies—
The Captains and the Kings depart—
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Far-called our navies melt away—
On dune and headland sinks the fire—
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe—
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or [other] breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard—
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Amen.
- Rudyard Kipling (1897)
Lest we forget, lest we forget. Today’s passage, 2 Timothy 3:12-17 is near and dear to my heart. Paul reminds us that we should not forget: We should not forget the Scriptures. We have just come off the Remembrance Day ceremonies in this community where we intentionally recall the horrors of war that our soldiers suffered through on our behalf. Our soldiers: many were young people who headed oversees in aid of our friends and allies and many of these young people wound up laying down their lives for these friends (cf. John 15:13). Lest we forget, lest we forget...
When we forget the horrors of war, we are more likely to repeat the events that lead to such tragic large-scale losses of life. In the world today we seem to be forgetting. Even our new veterans aren’t joining the Royal Canadian Legions; they are isolating themselves, thus being removed from that common community. George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”[1] Canada, from the Suez Crisis until almost the end of the 20th Century, was a peacekeeping nation. Now as the veterans of WWI are gone and the veterans of WWII are being regularly promoted to glory indeed I fear we are forgetting the peace that they fought to secure. Without remembrance we forget. Lest we forget, lest we forget...
199 years ago on November 11th, arguably the most important battle in all of Canadian history occurred. Can anyone tell me what that was? The Battle of Crysler’s Farm: says military historian Donald Graves, “That battle spelled the end of the most serious American attempt to conquer Canada during the War of 1812.” Despite being the site of a true turning point in Canadian history, the Crysler’s Farm battlefield -- along with the graves of hundreds of soldiers from both sides of the fight -- was flooded during the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. The destruction of the battlefield, Mr. Graves lamented makes it “difficult, if not impossible, to stand on that mound and get any sense of the ground as it was in 1813.”[2] George Santayana said, “[O]nly the dead have seen the end of war.” [3] Lest we forget, lest we forget…
Just after Remembrance Day here, it is sad that we often seem to have forgotten those soldiers who died hoping we would live in peace with our neighbours: since the 1990s Canada has been involved in a number of aggressive – sometimes even illegal – military adventures. As bad as this may be [or may not be; depending upon your political perspective, I suppose], it is even worse when we forget what the Lord has done. Lest we forget, lest we forget…
The Scriptures are a record of what God has done for creation. The Scriptures are a record of what God has done for us. The Scriptures are a record of what God has done through creation. The Scriptures are a record of what God has done through us. The Scriptures show God’s grace and God’s power. The Scriptures show God’s love and God’s sovereignty. We should not forget this. 2 Timothy 3:12 records Paul’s repeated reminder to Timothy and the church in Ephesus that “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” It has always been this way. Christians are the followers of the one, true God. These true followers of the one, true God have experienced suffering since the beginning. Paul earlier in this very letter of 2 Timothy encourages us to join him in suffering for the Gospel (2Timothy 1:8). Let us not forget this. Lest we forget, lest we forget…
Remember Abraham left his home for a land that his descendants would inherit hundreds of years after his death (Genesis 11-15). Moses brought Israel, following God, through plagues and famine to the precipice of the Promised Land (Numbers 14; Deuteronomy 1, 34). King David saw his own sons turn against him and even killed, as he was told that a descendant of his would sit on God’s throne forever (2 Samuel 7). David’s own grandson saw that kingdom torn from him, never to be fully returned until the return of Christ (1 Kings 12, 2 Chronicles 10). Christ has now ascended the throne and when he comes back, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (Isaiah 45:43, Romans 14:11). Let us not forget this. If humanity forgets this, what a blessing and what peace we will forfeit. Lest we forget, lest we forget…
Jesus wishes that none of us would perish (2 Peter 3:9; cf. John 3:16, 10:28). He wishes us to instead be perfect as he is perfect and holy as he is holy (Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7; Matthew 5:48; 1 Peter 1:13-15; cf. Romans 8:9-17; Hebrews 10:19-40, 11-12; 2 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:28, Hebrews 11-12 cf. also TSA doc. 7, doc.10 and TSA SB 281). The Scriptures contain the record of that longing of God to be in a fully reconciled love relationship with all of us (cf. TSA doc. 6). Scriptures contain a record of that Gospel of Salvation both now and forever that God offers to each of us, and for which many generations of people all over the world have suffered. Scriptures record that ultimate victory that the faithful will celebrate with Christ both now and forevermore at the resurrection (cf. Romans 13:11-14; cf. also TSA SB 990).[4] This hope is vital to remember for it changes everything. Let us not forget. Oh, lest we forget, lest we forget…
These Scriptures and this Gospel is more than just a remembrance. 2 Timothy 3:15b-17: The Holy Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Lest we forget…
The Salvation Army’s spiritual grandfather, John Wesley rightly put a strong emphasis on the Scriptures,[5] he said: “I want to know one thing - the way to heaven, how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach me the way, for this very end He came from heaven; He hath written it down in a book. O give me that Book! At any price, give me the Book of God. I have it; here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri!”[6] Noting that all scripture is given by God (2 Tim 3:16-17), Wesley reasoned that the Scriptures are infallible and thus profitable for each of us to engage[7] and indeed as “a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the Day-star arise in your hearts.’ (2 Peter 1:19)”, if we want to share in this experience Wesley argues that we should search the Scriptures as a means of grace.[8]
The Scriptures were of the utmost importance to all the Church Reformers. Ulrich Zwingli, the spiritual grandfather of Reformed Theology – at the forefront of the Protestant Reformation - in his work, On True and False Religion, states that the true source of all religion is the Word of God. “The Reformation as a whole was based on this principle, at least in the Reformer’s intentions and any study of Zwingli’s theology ought therefore to begin with his understanding of the Word.”[9] He said, “there is no law or word that will give greater light to the inward man than the Word of God.”[10] He insisted that the word of man must always be subject to the Word of God rather than the other way around[11] as he perceived was happening in his day and which can certainly be argued is happening in ours. We must remember, only humankind can come to know God and oneself through the Word of God; it is the Word of God, which sets us apart from the plants and the animals.[12] Let we forget. Lest we forget…
The Scriptures were of the utmost importance to all the Church Reformers. Ulrich Zwingli, the spiritual grandfather of Reformed Theology – at the forefront of the Protestant Reformation - in his work, On True and False Religion, states that the true source of all religion is the Word of God. “The Reformation as a whole was based on this principle, at least in the Reformer’s intentions and any study of Zwingli’s theology ought therefore to begin with his understanding of the Word.”[9] He said, “there is no law or word that will give greater light to the inward man than the Word of God.”[10] He insisted that the word of man must always be subject to the Word of God rather than the other way around[11] as he perceived was happening in his day and which can certainly be argued is happening in ours. We must remember, only humankind can come to know God and oneself through the Word of God; it is the Word of God, which sets us apart from the plants and the animals.[12] Let we forget. Lest we forget…
Like Wesley and like Zwingli, The Salvation Army holds a very important role for the Scriptures in our theological tradition. Our very first doctrine –my personal favourite- reads, “We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.” We hold that they are the primary authority, the ‘final court of appeal’ for the Christian that supersedes all other claims and that “as we search the Scriptures, we enter into dialogue with them and experience the transforming power of the message.”[13] Lest we forget; lest we forget…
This is – or should be – I believe, true of all Christians but sadly I think many have forgotten. We have heard of denominations recently in this country and the US arguably tossing aside the role of the Scriptures. Some who have been accused of this recently are the American Baptist Conference, the Episcopalians; and in Canada, the Lutherans, some Anglicans, and most infamously the United Church of Canada. It seems the role of the Scriptures in all our churches has been diminishing; is it any wonder that the role of Scriptures in our society is diminishing? Canada was founded upon Psalm 72. Now Canada does not read the Scriptures in the public schools and indeed the Gideons, who have handed out New Testaments for generations of students, are now banned from distributing the Scriptures to schools in many provinces in our country. Church and State are united in this, it seems: both appear to be neglecting the Word of God. We seem to be forgetting. Lest we forget, lest we forget…
What about us? How many of us spend time reading the Bible on our own? How long does it take to read some of the letters in the New Testament? An hour or less? Not very long. How many of us bother to set that time aside? We can easily just read a New Testament book or an Old Testament story while we are having our morning coffee or our afternoon tea. It doesn’t take long. How many of us read our Bibles with our children, grand children, or great-grand children as the case might be? It needn’t take very long and the blessings are eternal and amazing. And if we don’t share this history of salvation with our family, then just think of all the blessings that they will have forfeited without even knowing it (cf. TSA SB 273, 675).[14] Oh what a tragedy; many seem to be forgetting. Oh, lest we forget, lest we forget…
2 Timothy 3:14-17: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:15 - the Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation. Romans 1:16 records that the Gospel itself “…is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes ” 2 Timothy 3:15: The Scriptures are able to make us wise for Salvation.
Susan has shared her testimony here before. I won’t retell her whole story for you now - that is her story to tell – other than to remind you that as a university student she came to know the Lord through reading the Scriptures to prove those Christians wrong. Lest we forget the power of God for Salvation through His Holy Scriptures; lest we forget…
Romans 1:16, the Gospel “…is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. ” 2 Timothy 3:15: The Scriptures are able to make us wise for Salvation. This is what they have done for Larry and this is what they will do for us. Those who forget the miracles of the past are vulnerable to miss the blessings of the future: Lest we forget the power of God for Salvation for all who believe through His Holy Scripture. Lest we forget…
Let us pray.
---
[1] George Santayana, Reason in Common Sense, (The Life of Reason, Vol. 1: 1905). Cited from ‘George Santayana’ in Wikipedea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana
[2] Donald Graves, Cited by Randy Boswell, in ‘Nov. 11: the day Canadians repelled an American invasion, Historians regret so few are aware that Canada was saved by 800 men 190 years ago’, (The Ottawa Citizen: Wednesday, November 12, 2003) Accessed via Havelock Enterprises: http://www.islandnet.com/~havelock/FPNov11AmericanInvasion.html
[3] George Santayana “Soliloquy 25 in Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies, (1922). Cited from ‘George Santayana’ in Wikipedea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana
[4] James D.G. Dunn, The 1st and 2nd Letter to Timothy and the Letter to Titus, (NIB XI: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2000), 850: “The point is not to be missed here is that the reference to the traditions of Paul’s mission work is sandwiched between references to the Biblical precedent from Exodus 7 (3:8-9) and the fulsome affirmation of the role of Scripture (3:14-17). The implication is that the traditions of Paul (now preserved in Acts), like the traditions of Jesus’ teaching (1 Timothy 5:18, now preserved in the gospels), already carry a paraenetical authority similar to that of the Hebrew (or Greek) Scriptures.”
[5]Captain Michael Ramsay, John Wesley’s Means of Grace compared with Ulrich Zwingli as seen through a Salvationist Lens. Presented to William and Catherine Booth College, October 2008. Available online: http://www.sheepspeak.com/Michael_Ramsay_History_TSA.htm#Wesley1
[6] John Wesley, in The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. (London: John Mason, 1829), Thomas Jackson, editor, V:ii,iii. Cited in Arnett, William M. “John Wesley and the Bible,” Wesleyan Theological Journal 3, no. 1, (Spring 1968): http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/01-05/03-1.htm
[7] John Wesley, The Means of Grace, III.8-9
[8] John Wesley, The Means of Grace, III.10
[9] Courvoisier, Zwingli: A Reformed Theologian, (Richmond, Virginia: John Knox Press, 1963), 27.
[10] Ulrich Zwingli, Clarity and Certainty of the Word of God (Zurich: 1524), cited in Bromiley, 67.
[11] W.P. Stephens, The Theology of Huldrych Zwingli. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), 52-53.
[12] Courvoisier, Zwingli: A Reformed Theologian, (Richmond, Virginia: John Knox Press, 1963), 28.
[13] The General of The Salvation Army. Salvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine: (London: Salvation Books, 1998), 8-9.
[14] Ralph Earle, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:2 Timothy/Exposition of 2 Timothy/VIII. Persecution and Steadfastness (3:10-17)/B. The Adequacy of Scripture (3:14-17), Book Version: 4.0.2: "This was Timothy's heritage. 'The holy Scriptures' is ta hiera grammata (lit., 'the sacred writings'), an expression found in both Philo (Life of Moses, iii.39) and Josephus (Antiq. x.10.4) for the OT, which is what Timothy was taught as a child." Cf. re. the inclusion of Jesus' and Paul's teaching in this category, James D.G. Dunn, The 1st and 2nd Letter to Timothy and the Letter to Titus, (NIB XI: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2000), 850.
[15] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Matthew 21:23-32: Help Wanted! Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army on 01 August 2010 and to The Salvation Army’s College For Officer Training on 15 November 2006.
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