Luke 16:1-13: Sudden Death Overtime (2014)

Presented to Swift Current Corps 21 March 2010 and 30 November 2014. Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps, 29 July 2007 by Captain Michael Ramsay

This is the 2014 version. To read the 2007 version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2007/08/luke-161-13-sudden-death-overtime.html

Thank you to everyone who is helping out with all of our events this Christmas season. Kettles are well under way; we have finished the first week of hamper registrations; Friday we were at the Tree Lighting and had a float in the Light Parade. The Teddy Bear, Toque, and Mitt Toss is coming up next weekend: Saturday, December 6^th at the Broncos Game.

I enjoy the SC Broncos games. It is neat going to see WHL games. I remember watching the Victoria Cougars play when I was a kid with my dad and it was always a good time too. When there was a World Juniors game here in Swift Current a few years ago I went to see the game with my girls and they actually caught the game puck! That was exciting. Hockey at the local rink can be a lot of fun.

When Rebecca was just born, I used to listen to hockey every Friday night. I worked almost every other night (and day, I owned my own business) and Friday night was my night to be home with Rebecca and clean the house; so I would listen to the junior hockey games on the radio after I put her to bed as I was doing the dishes and other things around the home.

I remember this one game. I caught the 3^rd period. The home team had just dominated the game. It was three or even four to nothing coming into the last minute of play. These players had worked really hard; completely controlling the game and they started celebrating the winning of the last game of their season… with one minute left to go. Then the other team scored. Then again. 30 seconds left. Then again. 10 seconds left. It was four nothing less than a minute ago – they were celebrating – now they are up 4-3 with only 5 seconds left and they aren’t so confident – and now there’s a face-off in their own zone. And you know what happens? The away team scores with less than a second left to force sudden-death overtime. Our team squanders their lead and as a result they face sudden death.

If you’ll turn with me back to Luke Chapter 16, the manager we read about also squanders from his position, and now he faces sudden death – or sudden unemployment anyway: he is fired.

Jesus tells this parable directly to his disciples right after he tells the story of the prodigal son. Remember, the point of that parable (which we looked at earlier today)? What happens when the son squanders what (the) God (figure) gives him? He is forgiven. The parable of the prodigal is about God’s forgiveness of the son who squanders everything on wild (NIV) or dissolute (NRSV) living. As we return to God, He will forgive us - whatever we have done.

But this parable raises another question then…can we just keep sinning and it doesn’t matter?[1] If we are members of God’s family, His household, can we just squander everything on ‘wild living’ and sin, like the son? After all, the father not only forgave him but he also threw a big party for him. So, why not just keep sinning?

And this is a question that Jesus answers right away in the next parable:[2] God (the father) in the prodigal story forgives the one that squanders what he is given but God (the owner) at the commencement of the manager story does not.

Jesus says, Luke 16:1-2, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of SQUANDERING (NRSV) his possessions.  So he called him in and asked him, ‘what is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' You face sudden death – sudden unemployment.   

The prodigal son is forgiven but the wicked manager is fired. Jesus is right away stopping any thoughts people might be having that we can just keep sinning when we work for God. If there are any who think that they can go out and waste everything that God has given us, Jesus answers us emphatically… No – No – No, He says, give me an account.

The manager is working for (the) God (figure) in this story –just like the disciples are and just like we are - and now the manager, he is fired and he never saw this coming.

Verse 3, he asks: “what shall I do now… I’m not strong enough to dig. I’m too proud to beg.” He’s being fired for squandering what God has given him and he probably didn’t see it coming.

Well, how are we doing with what God has given us? We know, of course, that our jobs, our businesses, farms, car, home, family, and all the gifts and talents we have really all belong to God and we are just managing them until Jesus returns; so, how have we been doing with that?

Are we using them for the Kingdom and God or are we squandering them on ourselves? At anytime, Jesus will come back. At anytime the owner will ask us for an account of what we’ve done with his possessions: are we using them for what he wants us to use them or are we squandering them on ourselves and on ‘wild living’?

I can think of a time when I was a pre-teen and I was in the living room when my dad was watching some telethon to help the needy kids. He was talking to me about it for a while. Trying to instil in me the values of helping others – or something like that – and then right when they are asking for money –on purpose – he says, "thanks Mike for all the help you’ve given me working around the yard this summer" ...and he gives me five bucks... while he’s picking up the telephone. He says, "now you can spend this on anything you want"…while he dials…"anything at all…Hello telethon"…and he hands me the phone…immediately, I’m thinking about giving the telethon $2.50 (or less), but I know what my father is saying that I should do with this money and I do it.

Are we doing what our Heavenly Father wants with what He gives us? What are we doing with His money, yes, but also – can you teach? Are you teaching others about Jesus? Are you organised? Are you using your administration skills for the Kingdom? Are you are social person? Are you telling people about Jesus and visiting them when they are sick? All of this is included in the first question Jesus is addressing with the parable of the manager but he doesn’t stop there.

Look at Verses 4-7. These are controversial verses for some scholars but let’s see what we can make of them, shall we?[3] The manager says to himself, ‘What shall I do now? — I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’  “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

“‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’

“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’”

‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

So do you see what the manager is doing here? Now this isn’t his money, remember. This is his bosses’, the master’s money – in one way or another[4] – this is the master’s money and the manager’s plan is to give it away; isn’t this what he got in trouble for in the first place – wasting his master’s money?! Isn’t that what he was fired for in the first place?

And now he is out on his ear, this is his idea: he slashes what people owe his master and he makes a lot of friends in the process. No kidding… can you imagine? And these are not just small personal loans. This is big business, these amounts, by the way. This isn’t just a family operation. Can you imagine if the CEO of RBC –faced sudden death, sudden unemployment- can you imagine if he just got his pink slip and went out and cancelled everybody’s mortgage or student loans…no kidding people would like him and offer him jobs. Or like a politician, who looks like he’ll lose an election, bails out big business or privatises something, selling it to his friends. No kidding someone will offer him a job.

So then, what is Jesus saying here? Is he saying that it is okay to cheat God like the manager cheats the owner? This is another question inherent to the parable…and look at Verse 8. When all this happens and the owner potentially loses the equivalent of millions of dollars in the process, it says “the master commended [praised] the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly.” He commended him for wasting his money, which is what he fired him for in the first place. What?!?

What is Jesus saying? …Is Jesus saying that we can be tricky and waste God’s possessions? Well…no. And this is where the first part of this parable that we spent so much time looking at comes into play. No, the Bible says you cannot waste that which God has given you and Jesus is pretty clear about this. If we can’t be trusted, if we squander what God has given us, we will be fired. We will lose. It is the same as stopping playing hockey in the last minute. We will face sudden death overtime and - if we stop playing - we will lose.

Further, if we have any doubts about this, in Verses 10-12 Jesus is explicit. There is no ambiguity. He says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

Do you see that? Jesus is saying it is not the untrustworthiness, the shrewdness, the trickiness that is being applauded in this parable. It is not the fact that the manager has -without permission- reduced all these debts for his own personal gain; it is not this that Jesus is applauding. He says if you are dishonest with a little, you will be dishonest with a lot. And if you do squander -waste the talents and other things God gives you- you will not be eternally employed.

So then, if it is not the manager’s untrustworthiness that is being applauded? Why is the owner happy with the manager who wastes and squanders his things after he has already been fired for wasting and squandering his things? Is it that he put profit first? He cut a deal with big business to get a new job like a corrupt politician about to be kicked out the door selling off a country’s possessions. The manager doesn’t want to do any physical work but he still wants to make big bucks. Is this what the parable is talking about?[5] Is this what is being applauded: planning for his own financial security?

No. Jesus answers this question in Verses 13 and 15. He says emphatically, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” ...What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” And Jesus goes even further earlier in Luke when he says (14:33) that one should be willing to give up all one’s possessions to follow him…

So why does he commend, why does he praise the manager? What’s he talking about? What is he really talking about? Jesus makes it clear that he is NOT saying that we should aim for material gain (v.15) and if we do we are not serving God (v.13) and Jesus makes it clear that he is not applauding untrustworthiness for he says clearly that those who are untrustworthy here are not worthy of trust in the Kingdom of God; so what is Jesus talking about in this parable?

Jesus' point to his disciples in this parable and Jesus' point to us is this, if even the people of this world (v. 8), who are not even wise enough to secure the ‘true riches’ for themselves (v.11), if even the people who wickedly squander what they are entrusted with on themselves, if even the people who don’t use God’s wealth for His purposes (cf. Luke 12:13-21) – if even the people of this world are wise enough to prepare for their future when they know it is near (v.8); so should not we, who have been entrusted with so much more –the knowledge of the Kingdom of God – should not we be even more wise than they?

In context this makes sense. The prodigal son comes back. He returns to Father. He comes back to live with God. Sure he strays but he comes back and, like the son, if we stray we can return. We are welcome back and the story of the prodigal makes that clear. But don’t leave it too late.

The story of the manager picks up where the prodigal son leaves off. The manager did not return to doing what was right until it was almost too late. He is on his metaphorical deathbed before he realizes that it is just about too late. He, like the hockey players in our earlier analogy has stopped playing the game well before it is over and he is facing the natural and logical consequences.

We need to remember this. If we assume that we are in God’s employ so we can stop being holy and just start sinning because it doesn’t really matter than we will find that we are in the same spot as the manager. We shouldn’t celebrate so much that we stop playing before the game is over (cf. Lk 12:35-41,41-48), if we do we may find out that we are not actually on the winning side.

On that note, how are we doing at managing God’s time, money, and skills that He has given us? How are we doing? Are we using our gifts for the Kingdom? If we are, this is what the Kingdom looks like; this is what it is like when we have returned to the father and when we are trustworthy managers: If our dad gives us five bucks and tells us to give it to Jerry’s kids, we will give it to Jerry’s kids. If our Father lets us have a good job with good pay and invites us to give some of that money back in tithes, offerings or other ways, we will give it back. If He gives us the skills to teach Sunday school, fix the church; if He nudges us to invite our friends to church, we will do that and more. When we do this will avoid being in the same position as the manager. You see, we have already been entrusted with the true riches of the Kingdom of God. It is not too late. 

The third period’s not over. We can play the full game and we can experience the victory with Jesus. We can. No matter if we’ve already started to squander our lead like the son or the manager, it is not too late. We can come back. We can come back. We can return and experience the victory with Jesus, we can. Praise the Lord. Halleluiah. Let's avoid 'sudden death' and let us build on that lead playing for the Lord for now and forever.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] This is one of the questions that is being answered for his disciples (cf. Lk 8:8-10; Mt 13:10-17; Mk 4:10-12).

[2] This is not the only place where it can be argued that Jesus answers a parable with a parable. One of Luke’s two references to the parable `hiding your light under a jar` appears to be part of his explanation to his disciples of the parable of the Soils (Luke 8).

[3] The scholars varied opinions are around things such as whether or not the manager was acting honourably or dishonourably here, whether or not this section is making a comment about the character of God, and questions about if the manager's untrustworthiness and love of money were actually rewarded; I argue alongside the majority opinion, based on the larger context as I address later in this sermon, that it is not these things that are being rewarded at all.

[4] R. Alan Culpepper, NIB IX: Luke, John, 308-309 has a good discussion of various theories around how the wealth was acquired and why or why not the manager’s actions here are justifiable. This is a contentious issue; I don’t think that it need be however. If even the ‘wicked’ are smart enough to prepare for the future in their wicked ways, how much more should the trustworthy (faithful) (v. 11) prepare for the future and how much more seriously should we take the true riches (v. 12) with which we have been entrusted

[5] Some may suggest that we act this way; you’ve heard the argument that you can only take care of others once you take care of yourself. What good would we be to the poor, if we were broke ourselves?

Week 11: Numbers 3:4a: Worship

A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 27 November 2014 and River Street Cafe, Tuesday 27 June 2017

Read Numbers 3:2-4

Two of Aaron’s children have died: his oldest two sons “fell dead before the LORD when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before Him in the Desert of Sinai. They had no sons; so only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron” (Num 3:3,4; cf. Lev.10:1).

Just as the whole generation who left Egypt will die in their sins before they enter the Promised Land (except Joshua and Caleb), two of Aaron’s children including his first-born son die here before the LORD.

Scholar Ronald B. Allen (The Expositors Bible Commentary, Version 4.0.2) comments on this passage: “‘Unauthorized fire’ translates a Hebrew expression that is seemingly deliberately obscure, as though the narrator finds the very concept to be distasteful... The essential issue here is that Nadab and Abihu were using fire that the Lord had not commanded (Lev 10:1). The pain of the account is strengthened by its brevity and mystery. We are left at a loss to explain their motivation, just as we do not know the precise form of their error. Were they rebellious or presumptuous? Were they careless or ignorant? Or was their sin some combination of these and other things? Because of the prohibition of wine and beer among the priests in their priestly service in Leviticus 10:8-11, it may be inferred that these sons of Aaron had committed their offence against God while in a drunken state.” But we do not know.

Whatever their sin – and we can only guess the specifics of it – the Lord chose him for a special task: Aaron’s oldest son, Nadab, was assumed heir to the High Priesthood. He was supposed to lead the Israelites in worship and service to the LORD. He was a significant man in a significant position to lead others in serving God. He was potentially even more in power, authority, responsibility, than many famous church leaders in our world today. He however fell short and he fell dead. And it may not have been an act of outward rebellion as much as careless neglect of the LORD.

This should be a warning to us. He fell short and he fell dead while coming before the LORD for worship. How do we come before the LORD? Are we ever rebellious or presumptuous, careless or ignorant or do we ever possess a combination of these in our worship? Are we actually worshiping as we sing in church? Are we worshiping as we listen to the Scriptures and the sermon on Sunday morning? Are we worshiping as we pray together at prayer meetings or in church? Do we love the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul, and strength (Deut 6:5) or are we sometimes careless or half-hearted in our worship? How can we prepare ourselves so that we fully worship the Lord together?

www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] Based on the sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay, Numbers 3:4: This is a test…. Presented to The Salvation Army Nipawin, March 01, 2009. On-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/02/numbers-34-this-is-test.html

Week 10: Galatians 5:24: Church

A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 20 November 2014

Read Galatians 5:18-25

Gerry Fostaty tells this story in a book entitled, As You Were: The Tragedy at Valcartier: In a class of very young army cadets, the adult instructor is handing out dummy grenades for children to examine. Apparently, one can tell dummy grenades from real grenades because the dummies are brightly coloured - orange, pink, blue – not the military green colour of live combat weaponry. The children are encouraged to take apart these dummy grenades, put them back together, and examine how they work. Apparently and disastrously in with the orange, pink, and blue grenades is at least one live green grenade. The children are passing this live green grenade along with the toy grenades down the line of cadets. They are taking the pin out and placing it back in; they are holding the safety lock and they are disassembling and reassembling the green grenade along with the coloured grenades when one little boy pulls the pin and putting the grenade in the wrong place, or holding it the wrong way, or holding the pin out for too long… There is a loud noise. This one deadly green grenade mixed in with the harmless other-coloured grenades brings much injury, destruction and death.

The result of this green grenade in a room full of children is essentially the same as what results when hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, and the like wind up in our churches (Galatians 5:19-21). These are our green grenades. When we put ourselves first, engaging in selfish ambition instead of thinking of others as greater than ourselves (Philippians 2) the results are essentially the same. Just as the green grenade brings physical death when people handle it improperly; Paul reminds us that hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, and the like bring everlasting death to those who are consumed with them. Paul says that those who indulge in these  – Galatians 5:21 - will not inherit the kingdom of God.

So what can we do about this? The Apostle Paul says, in essence, that we need to remove the green grenades from the room; we need to remove these things from the church. We need to, Ephesians 4:31-5:2a: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us.” Christians, by definition have already done this. Galatians 5:24: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have [already] crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Today let us remove the green grenades from the room. When have you had the chance to put away the green grenades by being kind and compassionate to one another and forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you?

www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] Based on the sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 4:27-32, Philippians 2:14-16: Green Grenade. Presented to The Salvation Army Swift Current, April 21, 2013. On-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2013/04/galatians-519-21-ephesians-427-32.html

Luke 8 (Mt 13): The Jesus Show (2014)

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 16 November 2014 by Captain Michael Ramsay

The longer original 2007 version of the sermon can be seen here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2007/08/luke-81-18-jesus-show.html

There are many popular TV shows these days. TV is entertainment for the masses and so people involved in TV reach a lot of people. Actors and movie stars get a lot more exposure than professors writing for an academic journal or lawyers practicing law. A good movie producer takes the topic and makes it interesting and accessible to the public at large. The more people it is interesting for, the more popular the show, the more know the producer and his work.

The producer in this regard is actually very similar to Jesus in the first century. Jesus was always obviously very smart. He is -after all- the Son of God. Even as a child he is learned enough to discourse with the priests in the temple, later he is a teacher with his own students or disciples. He holds his own in many debates and conflicts with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Priests – the legal, intellectual, and religious leaders of his day. But here is the thing: Jesus for his purpose of teaching and bringing salvation to the world doesn’t choose to be a lawyer, he doesn’t choose to be a professor, he doesn’t choose to be a priest. Jesus chooses to reach the masses on their level instead.

Now Jesus is very popular and –just like today’s TV shows – he has many regular followers (V. 4). There are many people who actually follow Jesus around from town to town as he travels. They are like the regular viewers of THE JESUS SHOW with such sensational acts as turning water into wine, feeding the 4 or 5 thousand, healing the lame and casting demons into pigs and much, much more…tune in next week! And Jesus has many regular followers who do follow him from town to town. And a good number of them, like it says in Verse 2 and 3, were women who were so devoted that they even provided for him out of their own resources.

Now, Jesus consciously chooses not to speak exclusively in the intellectual language of his time and he chose not to appeal directly only to the elite of society. He chooses instead to speak in a language that will attract common people, the masses. His message, particularly in Luke’s account is for the poor, the needy, the oppressed and that was most people then.

Now just like I don’t always understand what is going on in some TV shows today, people didn’t always get what Jesus was saying and especially many of the intellectuals; they did not even want to understand. If you look at Verse 10, Jesus is quoting Isaiah (Isaiah –6:9-10) and it says there that ‘to you - his disciples, the regular viewers, if you like, of THE JESUS SHOW. “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.” Now this verse quoted from Isaiah is one of the signs pointing to Jesus as the Christ, and not everyone understands.

Do we understand? If you haven’t got your Bible open yet, you may wish to turn to Luke 8 now. We are going to see if we can figure out the Parable of the Sower. What is the message Jesus tells great crowds that follow him from town after town. Let’s see if we can figure it out.

First, do you remember taking quizzes in school? I remember quizzes from the math textbook. You know what the good thing about quizzes from math textbooks was? The answers were always in the back. So I could always just flip to the back and copy or check the answers.

Now I don’t really if we were supposed to do that or not but as we go through this parable today, we’re going to do the same thing: the answers to this parable are in Verses 11-15 and in Verse 11, if you’ll look with me, it tells us what the seed in the story is: the seed is the Word of God. So let’s take that information back to the parable. Verse 5: “A sower went out to sow his seed [the Word of God]; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up.”

Someone is sowing, planting, teaching the Word of God and as he does, some seed falls on the path and is trampled or the birds eat it. This is the picture Jesus is painting - and most people at this time in Palestine, since Israel is an agricultural society, instantly understand this. In first century Palestine, instead of a fence between each field, there is a narrow well-beaten path, like the one mentioned in the parable; these parts are as hard as pavement;[1] they are used to mark property lines to sections of land. They are also paths for travel.

The image here is of a person walking along with his bag of seeds and tossing them into his field and some of these seeds inevitably fall onto the trodden path where nothing can grow because it is so hard. It is like today if I were trying to throw seeds beside the highway. The ones that land on the road just will not grow.

Jesus is letting us know that even as we are faithful in sowing the seed, sharing the gospel, there are some with whom it just won’t take. We need to sow but even so there are people who just won’t - for whatever reason - let the seed of the Word of God grow. I think we all have friends and/or family for whom this may be tragically true: people we pray for daily. People we tell about Jesus on a regular basis but they harden their hearts like the path in the parable of the sower. This is what Jesus is speaking about here. Even as we are faithful, some will not believe.

Even still we must have faith and faithfulness. As we are faithful planters who share the word of God, there is the next ground upon which the seed falls. Verse 6 says that some of this seed falls on the rocks: it starts out well but it withers and dies. Verse 7 says that some of this seed that is faithfully sown will fall among thorns and these thorns choke it out.

Now I was in prison for a couple of years working with The Salvation Army in Winnipeg. I was there regularly and had many opportunities to get to know the guys and preached a bit there over the years. Sadly many of these friends were the soil of the rock and soil of the weeds. So often you see people’s lives turning around as they attend prison church services three, four, and, if possible, five times a week. So often they start to read the Word and ponder things of the Lord. So often the Lord gets a hold of their lives and starts to transform them. So often the Word of God starts to GROW! And then so often (Verse 12) the devil comes along… But it doesn’t need to be this way. The regular followers of the JESUS SHOW know that the Word of God, the gospel, is good news. It is the power to change and because of that we must keep sowing the seeds. We keep sharing the good news.

There are those who receive will this Gospel with joy - Verse 13. Like my friends who do do really well in prison but they don’t have the foundation, the background, the roots; so when they leave jail they can’t find a town, a church, a Christian, a single person for support. The seed doesn’t take root in their soil. The Word doesn’t take root in their soul. It doesn’t grow. They believe only for a time and then – they fall away. But it doesn’t need to be this way. The regular followers of the JESUS SHOW know that the gospel is good news. It is the power to change. So we keep sowing the seeds, we keep sharing the gospel.

And then there are they who are like the plants choked by the weeds. These are friends of ours, as we are faithful in sharing the Word of God with them, who seem to have enthusiasm. They seem to have that same passion for the Word of God as we do. They seem to have that same passion for Christ but then…it changes.

I think of a friend of mine from jail. He is a great musician. He plays religiously in the church band at the prison. On the outside he is a professional musician. Upon release, he immediately gets involved in a band again. He does really well too and I don’t see or hear from him for over a year, but then just before I am transferred to another town, I see him again – back in prison. Verse 14: “as for those [seeds] that fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares, and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”

The rocky and thorny soil is very common in Palestine in Jesus’ day and rocky and thorny temptations are very common in Canada in our day: cares riches and pleasures choke a out lot of people here and now. Is there anything choking the Word of God out of our life? Luke spends a lot of time in his Gospel addressing the difficulties of wealth. Luke 18:24: “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!” and we all in Canada, no matter how much we think we lack, are among the wealthiest people ever to live on the planet. Is wealth trying to choke us out of the Kingdom?

Jesus speaks about the pursuit of pleasure and he speaks of worry. Is there something choking the Word of God from our life? Is there something that we spend more energy on than reading the Word? Is there something we spend more time doing than praying? Are there weeds chocking our growth in Christ? It doesn’t need to be this way. The gospel is good news. It is itself, as it says in Romans 1:17-18, the power to transform us.

And transform us it does when it takes root. When we resist the devil, he will flee us. The one who perseveres receives the crown of life, which the Lord has promised (James 1:12). We do not need to be as hard as the beaten path and we certainly should never be discouraged from sowing the seed’s of God’s Word because - look at Verse 8 - here is good news!  “Some [seed] fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold." Verse 15: the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the Word, hold it in a their heart and bear fruit with patient endurance. And how can they not? Jesus continues, Verses 16-18: "No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lamp stand, so that those who enter may see the light.[2] For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, Jesus says.

As we are faithful in sowing the seed of God’s Word, it will produce fruit. All of us who are in the Kingdom today are there because the Lord’s seed has grown in our soil, it has grown in our soul. And as it grows more and more we can’t help but sow more seeds of the Word of God: It is evidence of our Salvation: no one hides a lamp under a lamp stand.

It is the same with our loved ones. We should not be discouraged as we are faithfully sowing seeds of the gospel of God’s Word; we never know what kind of soil it is landing on and when it hits good soil, praise be to God! When it hits good soil its yield will be thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. And we have all seen that fruit as people we have prayed for years later come to or returned to the Lord.

So even though we can’t change the soil we shouldn’t be discouraged when the seed doesn’t seem to grow. We need to keep planting God’s Word. I don’t know how everyone in your family is doing with God; I don’t know how all of your friends are doing with God; I don’t know what seeds you’ve planted or what seeds have been planted in you but I do know that Jesus loves you and he has called you and the one who calls you is faithful. If you have a loved one in whom a seed has been planted – a friend, a family member, someone, if that seed is planted, water it with prayer. 

Let us pray.

 www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] William Barkley, And Jesus Said. (Edinburgh, UK: The Saint Andrew Press, 1972), 18.

[2] The parable of the lamp under the jar follows immediately after this parable is explained; the further parable is I believe a part of Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the sower, for Luke provides no textual indicators for a topical shift in the material of 8:4-21; it is one pericope. cf. Joel B Green, The Gospel of Luke (TNICNT 3: Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 315; and R. Alan Culpepper, The Gospel of Luke (NIB 9: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1995), 180.

Week 9: Luke 24:31: Revelation

A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 13 November 2014. Presented to River Street Cafe, 26 June 2017 and the Inner City Toronto Men's Breakfast, 21 October 2017

Read Luke 24:28-34

James V, the King of Scotland used to go around the country disguised as 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, Cramond Brig, 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 ‘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 man.

‘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 Holy 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 saved the day before, shows him around the kitchen, the dining room, the bedrooms – the whole palace. 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. 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 as we realise that indeed Jesus is King. If there are any of us here today who have not taken off our hats and laid them before the Lord, I invite us to do just that – acknowledge the truth that Jesus Christ is King.

www,sheepspeak.com 

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[1] Slightly adapted from Margaret Forrester. The Expository Times. Vol. 119 Number I Pages 47-48.

2 Kings 23:29-30: 888,246 Ceramic Poppies

Presented on behalf of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #56 to the Community Remembrance Day 11 November 2014 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan by Captain Michael Ramsay

This is the original text. To view the 2016 Toronto version click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2016/11/2-kings-2329-30-888246-ceramic-poppies.html 

Today there are 888,246 ceramic poppies encircling the famous Tower of London; they create a powerful visual image to commemorate the centennial of the commencement of the First World War. The 888,246 poppies fill the Tower's moat. Each poppy represents a military fatality during the war. We Canadians fought as part of the empire; our family members and our countrymen lived, served, and died in the ‘Great War’, the ‘war to end all wars’, the First World War.

When World War One broke out Canada was a very small and sparsely populated country of just over 7 million people. Most were farmers or involved in other primary industries. Many boys and young men left their family farms here to serve in the war there. I have read stories of bankers and teachers and minors and scientists and athletes and farmers and very young men from across this country and Newfoundland who put their jobs, their careers, their parents, their girl friends, their new wives, their young children, and their whole lives on hold until they returned home from the war - only many never did return home from the war. They were never to be seen again by their wives, their children, their brothers, their sisters, their mothers, their fathers.

Almost 7% of the total population of our country - 619,000 Canadians served in this war and 66,976 Canadians never returned. That was almost 1% (0.92%) of our country's whole population: meaning that in a city the size Swift Current now, 170 people would have been killed in the war. If you lived in Canada then, you would know more than one person who did not return. I want to share one of the many stories I happened read about young people who left their homes here on the prairies to serve in the mud of Europe:

Stanley Richard Shore (Private, 27th Battalion, CEF) was born on December 16th, 1896. He received his education in part in the King Edward School, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He was employed by the National Trust Company, Saskatoon, for a short period, but in order to complete his education he resigned and returned to school. In October 1915, at the age of 18, he entered the service of the Bank of British North America in Saskatoon. He enlisted in April 1916, as a Private in the 183rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry, and headed overseas. He then proceeded to France with a reinforcement draft for the 27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry. He was killed during the attack on Passchendaele Ridge on November 6th, 1917.[1]

He was only 20. He was a banker. He lived and worked in Saskatchewan and he was killed in the mud on Passchendaele Ridge. He is just one of the almost one percent of the population of Canada who never returned from his European service. Let us not forget.

Recently in our country a couple of young service people had their lives cut short. Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, who acted to save many in shooting the gunman on Parliament Hill, said “On behalf of all members of the House of Commons Security Services team, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. Our prayers are with you.  Our thoughts are also with Constable Son, who … suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.” I also heard reported that Kevin Vickers when asked about his shooting of the gunman, said, “All I could think of was his mother.” Let us remember her and let us remember Kevin Vickers and all that he is going through. Let us remember the service people and let us remember everyone affected there here today.

Today in the Scriptures we read about King Josiah. Josiah was the last great King of Judah. He was a good man, used by God to do good things and he was the last significant ruler of his country. Josiah, when he was 26 years old, this young leader marched out to battle and never returned. Josiah’s life was over. Josiah’s reign was over. Two chapters later, the two books of the Kings are over. And two chapters later the two Kingdoms of Israel and Judah’s are over.[2] Lest we forget the tragedies of war. Let us not forget.

Like Josiah, so many of our Canadian soldiers of the 20^th and 21^st Centuries, left their families behind, left their work behind, left those who loved them behind. Let us not forget the many good people who marched out to battles from Canada all risking and some laying down their lives for God, for King and for country.

When World War 2 broke out, Canada was a country of 11 million people and we sent more than one million of our family members to serve in the military and of those more than 100,000 sustained casualties; 45,000 gave their lives. Many of us have friends and family who marched out of Saskatchewan here to offer their lives up in service to us. My grandmother’s brother who left the farm in Saskatchewan never did speak of the day they were surrounded by the Germans in the war. We who have not served in that way can’t possibly even imagine what he and others experienced on that day.

My grandfather returned home to Saskatchewan so that he could enlist to serve God, King and country in the Second World War.  I have these cards from my family members who served in both world wars. Theses are some of my treasured possessions. This one from April 2, 1917 says:

Dear Sister, Just a line to let you know that I am alive yet, and hope to continue the same. Tell Albert when he gets time to drop me a line. Bye, Bye, Love from Frank.

These are some of my cherished possessions. I look at these and I remember my family. I remember all those that risked their lives for us. I remember. I hope I never forget. I hope my daughters never forget. I hope we never forget. Let us not forget their sacrifices and let us not sacrifice the peace that they won for us. Let us not forsake them and let us not forget them.

It is said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Today, across the ocean, there are 888, 246 ceramic poppies to remind us of the terrible price of war. Today we are wearing poppies as a pledge that we will never forget our friends, our family, our loved ones, and our veterans who offered their lives in service to us. Let us not forsake them. Let us not forget. Lest we forget. Lest we forget.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Norm Christie, For King and Empire: The Canadians at Passchendaele October to November 1917 (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: CEF Books, 1999), 36.

[2] Choon-Leon Seow, The First and Second Book of Kings, in NIB 9, ed. Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1999): 287 points out that salvation is not meted out on a basis of works.

Luke 6:27-38: Love Your Enemies

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 09 November 2014 and Alberni Valley Ministries, 24 February 2009 by Captain Michael Ramsay. 
     
This is the original. To view the 2019 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/02/luke-627-38-love-your-enemies.html
     

Of this passage of scripture Moffet S. Churn writes, “Commentaries often call it the Sermon on the Plain. You may prefer to think of it as ‘the sermon I don’t want to preach.’…Jesus tells them plainly, pointedly, repeatedly, ‘Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.”[1]

This is most certainly an interesting passage to look at in the days leading up to Remembrance Day. It is definitely an interesting one for the Lord to put on my heart as I am at the same time preparing a message on a very different text for our community’s Remembrance Day ceremonies as the local Royal Canadian Legion chaplain.[2]

That all being said, I think this passage is as important to our world and our community today as much as it ever has been in the history of civilization. I also think that it is incredibly poignant to examine this on the day prior to the eve of our country rightfully mourning those who were killed by our country’s enemies.

I was born during the Cold War. I grew up in an era where people were horrified by the crimes even the ‘good guys’ committed in the Vietnam War. I remember peace marches and my wife remembers friends and acquaintances who were even afraid of a nuclear holocaust. Remember the Doomsday Clock?

I always went to Remembrance Day ceremonies growing up well aware of my relatives who served in the armed forces, some of whom fought overseas. I remember hearing how our soldiers fought for peace. I remember the tone of the Remembrance Day ceremonies past, as well; it was always one of thankful remembrance for our soldiers who lived and died and I remember very much the implicit message included therein: if we kill the peace they fought for by rushing off to war then they will have died in vain.

In my own preparations for addresses to veterans and those who wish to pay them their much-deserved respect, I have often clung to the old ideas of remembrance. Many times I have preached the good news from John 15 - “greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends” - and I probably will again, at least at the cenotaph. Many times I have preached the miracle of reconciliation that arose from the Second World War: even though the world was torn apart in death and destruction, at the end of the day old foes became friends and close allies: Germany, France, and England all united in Europe. Canada and the United States – the only foreign power to ever invade us – are now each other’s closest trading partners. So many times I have preached on the glorious opportunities for reconciliation after these conflicts. Our service men and women lived, died and served for us. They sacrificed much for peace. I have a question though, in light of our text, how have we repaid them for that peace? Have we now sacrificed that peace for which they fought, lived and died?

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall the tide of military aggression has flown freely over the earth with nothing to impede its wave of innocent and other blood. Today we have many enemies in our world: Terrorists, extremists, ISIS, Muslim Brotherhood, Iraq, Lybia, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Hamas, Yugoslavia, Russia, China and others have all rightfully or wrongfully been villainized and listed as our enemies in recent years. Jesus tells us to love our enemies.

When Jesus told us to love our enemies it was the first century CE. His country was an occupied country. Many from his adoptive father’s or his legal grandfather’s generation had fought and died for political independence from one foreign occupation and now many people in his generation are dreaming and fighting and dying for political independence from another foreign occupation. Rome conquered Judea shortly before Jesus was born and many people were looking for ways to free themselves, their countrymen, their families from all the horrors of military occupation.[3]

The other week we spoke here about the Zealots, the Sicarii, the fourth philosophy[4]. This was a Judean terrorist movement that would use assassination, murder, and terror as a means to extricate their country from the grasp of their enemy. One of Jesus’ twelve closest disciples was identified as a zealot. Many of the common people wanted to rise up against their enemy and fight for the liberation of their homeland. Many of them were about to die doing just that and to these people who were longing for a violent fight for freedom from their enemies, Jesus says, Verse 27-31:

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone [hits you in the face] slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

This is how Jesus says we should treat our enemies and he says even more, Verses 37-38: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.”

This is hard teaching. Imagine telling this to occupied and oppressed people today. As we said off the top, “commentaries often call it the Sermon on the Plain. You may prefer to think of it as ‘the sermon I don’t want to preach.’…Jesus tells them plainly, pointedly, repeatedly, ‘Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.” Forgive as you want to be forgiven. Give, as you wish it to be given to you.

The longer I live, the more I realize that this is true. I spent a few years as a civilian contractor at CFB Esquimalt, working at Defence Research. I was there when Canada invaded Yugoslavia. I listened to service people who were being sent overseas. When they joined the forces, they did so as peacemakers and peacekeepers whose job was to protect civilians. Now they were being asked to do something different. This was very difficult for more than one of them.

I remember 9/11. I was at my Victoria office fuming because my marketing director was late. I hate it when my employees are late. I answer the phone. It is Glenn. He tells me to turn on the TV. I do and we watch the infamous events unfold before our eyes. I will never forget that moment. Glenn was an American. He was in shock. We were all in shock.

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you;” “commentaries often call it the Sermon on the Plain. You may prefer to think of it as ‘the sermon I don’t want to preach.’…Jesus tells them plainly, pointedly, repeatedly, ‘Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.” Forgive as you want to be forgiven. Give, as you wish it to be given to you.

This is tough teaching and believe me, I don’t think that Jesus in this text in disrespecting soldiers or service people in any regard. Like we said already, one of his closest disciples was a zealot and some of his earliest converts were members of the enemy, the occupying Roman forces. We know that a peaceful response solves problems a lot quicker and easier with less bloodshed and more success. Martin Luther King’s peaceful methods accomplished what Abraham Lincoln’s wars never could. Mandela’s forgiveness of De Klerk’s government ended Apartheid in a way that spared South Africa the horrors of civil war and unrest that their neighbours experienced during decolonization. Gandhi’s non-violent solution to occupation laid the framework for the world’s largest parliamentary democracy and unified a people who could have easily been torn apart forever. Where we extend peace, we receive peace. Do unto others and they will do unto you. Condemn and you will be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. As you give so it will be given unto you. We know that violence begets violence and peace begets peace. Jesus himself could have stood up to his attackers when they came for his arrest. However, his last recorded miracle before being led to the cross was quite different: it was to tell Peter to put away his sword as Jesus healed his attacker’s severed ear.[5]

In our world today Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, whose actions saved many in killing the gunman on Parliament Hill, said of the shooting the attacker, “All I could think of was his mother.”

Even though we know all this to be true, it is hard teaching. “Commentaries often call [this passage] the Sermon on the Plain. You may prefer to think of it as ‘the sermon I don’t want to preach.’…Jesus tells them plainly, pointedly, repeatedly, ‘Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.” Forgive as you want to be forgiven. Give, as you want it to be given to you.

Now here is the part that makes this even more difficult. It is one thing for presidents and prime ministers to forgive each other and decide not to bomb one another’s country. It is a lot more difficult for you and I to forgive each other. But the truth is that that is a big part of what this pericope is speaking about.

You know what your sister did to you? You know what your father said to you? You remember your grade 5 teacher? You know how that person treated you at the office the other day? You remember that person who did that thing to you 25 years ago? Fifty years ago? Last month? Just the other day? You know that person who did that really horrible thing to you? N.T Wright writes, “Think of the best thing you can do for the worst person and then go ahead and do it.”[6] Jesus tells us plainly, pointedly, repeatedly, lovingly, ‘love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.” Forgive as you want to be forgiven. Give, as you want it to be given to you.

One more thing about forgiveness and this is important. When you refuse to forgive someone the only one you really hurt is yourself. A lack of forgiveness is not an act of aggression it is an act of self-condemnation. If I don’t forgive you for treating me the way you did, I become upset. I suffer the psychosomatic pains. The person I don’t forgive may never even know about my unforgiveness but I do; they may just wonder why I am acting so strange. I am the one who suffers. Unforgiveness is a self-inflicted wound.

Now I know that this is hard teaching and the scriptures say that many people left Jesus from some of his more difficult teaching but the truth is like with South Africa and India, so with each of us. As we forgive those who have harmed us, God will forgive us. As we forgive those who have harmed us and God forgives us, we will forgive ourselves. As we forgive, we will be liberated. There is no greater freedom than the freedom to love and the freedom to forgive and no one can take that from us.

And so with that in mind if there are any of us here today who are seeking forgiveness for an act or a thought against their brother or sister, someone else, themselves or even our Lord. If there is anyone here who has been suffering the pains of unforgiveness toward a friend, a neighbour, a relative, the Lord, or an enemy, there is another way. It is difficult and it is easy all at the same time, for as we cast all of our hurts and all of our burdens on Jesus, he will take them and he will heal us. As we forgive, we will be forgiven. So today I invite us all to love our enemies, to be forgiven and to forgive.

Let us pray

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Moffet S. Chum, “Between Text and Sermon: Luke 6:27-36,” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 68, no. 4 (2014): 428.

[2] Captain Michael Ramsay, 2 Kings 23:29-30: Lest We Forget. Presented on behalf of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #56 to the Swift Current Community Remembrance Day Ceremonies, November 11, 2014.

[3] Cf. Leon Morris, Luke in Tyndale New Testament Commentary, ed. Leon Morris (Leicester, UK: IVP, 1999), 142 for a good discussion on this.

[4] Captain Michael Ramsay, Luke 2:21-39: Harold, Harold and Jesus. Presented to Swift Current Corps on October 26, 2014 and December 27, 2009 by Captain Michael Ramsay. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/10/luke-221-39-harold-harold-and-jesus.html

[5] Cf. Moffet S. Chum, “Between Text and Sermon: Luke 6:27-36,” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 68, no. 4 (2014): 428.

[6] N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004), 73.