Week 31: Matthew 25:40: Fed

A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 30 April 2015

Read Matthew 25:34-40

Sunday after Worship Service we had a special meal for self-denial. We each bought tickets in advance to raise money for overseas missions: to help those around the world who have nothing or very little. We had no idea what would happen next...

Three people were chosen at random to sit at a beautiful table in our usual dining room (which doubles as our gym) complete with a nice tablecloth, fancy cutlery, bowls, plates, etc. They were each waited on, served a multi-cultural meal and provided with more wonderful food than one could even imagine. There was so much special food that they could not even finish everything that was served to them.

The rest of us lined up and received a scoop of rice in a bowl. We did not have fancy tablecloths; we did not have special drinks; we did not even have cups or cutlery. We just had a bowl of rice.

Linda and Ora (who put on this meal) informed us that the three people at the head table, who were served and had an overabundance of food, represented us in Canada and the other ‘first world’ countries. The vast majority of us, who only had a single bowl of rice to eat, represented to vast majority of the world. The three at the head table did nothing to earn the overabundance; their names were picked at random. Those of us born into affluence here did nothing to be born into privilege and those born without food did nothing to be born without. Even though God has provided more than enough to feed our whole world many times over, this is what our world looks like today.

The question for us (especially those of us who live in countries that have much) is what are we going to do about it?

www.sheepspeak.com  


[1] Based on Linda Jaster and Ora Jansen’s Multi-Cultural Meal. Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 26 April 2015.

1 Corinthians 15:2: Elected

A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 23 April 2015 and on 16 October 2015 to the Riverside Cafe in Regent Park, Toronto.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Monday is election day. Vote and vote well. Vote for the person who reflects a love for God and a love for your neighbour in this election. You know what though...

The more elections I live through, the more I realise that the world really is crying out for a saviour. The USA every 4 years parades out at least one possible new messiah. Look at how people spoke about JFK or Obama BEFORE he was elected. He was going to be their saviour.

For all its strengths, this is one of the main downfalls of western democracies. Every election people are mistakenly looking to parties, politicians, ideologies, platitudes, and other such nonsense to solve our problems - as if that is from where our salvation comes.

You know what? Whoever wins an election is not going to disband the military (Is 2:4, Mi 4:3) or end poverty (Mt 26:11, Mk 14:7). Services will not improve so much that the blind will see and the lame will walk (Mt 15:31, Lk 7:22). A new government is not going to solve all of our problems. Not one of our leaders can walk on water and not one of them has been raised from the dead.

There is one who has done all that and he lived 2000 years ago. This leader did all these things and more. He even preached good news to the poor, meant it, they believed him and then, like all great leaders, he died. Jesus died but it didn’t end there and this is important. He, unlike any other person who has ever lived, was not defeated by death. He won. This is the most important part of the Christian faith: Paul says that it is because of the good news (gospel) that Christ died for our sins, was buried and raised from the dead that we can be saved. It was in this that He won the eternal election.

Being born and raised on the west coast, I can remember watching election returns on election night and it was always exciting but I can never remember a time when the election wasn't over before the polls closed on the Island. The Prime Minister’s party had always already won before we even finished voting. He had already defeated his foe. This is the same with Christ. Even though we each have until the last poll closes (until we breathe our last breath) to cast our vote, Christ has already won the election. The only question we have is whether we want to join Him in His victory party or not. The election results were counted on the cross and announced at the empty tomb. Christ has won the victory.

Christ has already been resurrected and he is coming back to celebrate his victory. When the eternal polls close we will be resurrected too; we will all be raised and at that point some of us will be raised to eternal salvation and some of us – those who reject the opportunity – will be outside where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (cf. Mt 8:12, 22:13). But it is our choice. The victory has already been won. We have already been invited to the victory party.

Our question for today; how will you respond to that invitation?

  

www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] Based on the article by Captain Michael Ramsay, Vote for Jesus: a look at 1 Corinthians 15:1-34. JOURNAL OF AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY 57 (Oct-Nov  2008) On-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article9-57.html

John 4:1-26,39-42: Good News for Samaria and the World!

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 19 April 2015 
by Captain Michael Ramsay

Here we have the famous story of the woman at the well. John records this first instance of Jesus’ revelation to the world that he is the Messiah, the Christ, the Saviour of the world. I think it is thus very significant to whom God chose to reveal this and the result of that revelation. If you haven’t already, please open your Bible to John 4 and let’s look at Jesus’ revelation to the world that indeed he is its Saviour. Today we are going to ask a couple of questions of the pericope:
  

1. What do we know about the first person Jesus chose to reveal that he is the Messiah?
2. What is the result?

1. What do we know about the person Jesus chose to reveal that he is the Messiah?

a.       She is a woman (4:8)

b.      She is probably in what we would call today a common-law relationship (4:18)

c.       She has had a number of men in her life (4:18)

d.      She is a Samaritan (4:8)

e.       Other…

a. Jesus chose to reveal that he was the Messiah first to a woman.

In Jesus’ day and age good synagogue-going men did not want to be caught alone with a woman, let alone a woman who has had previous boyfriends lest he be tempted to try something inappropriate or be accused of such.[1] In our own world today it is not as extreme but this idea is not entirely foreign. Billy Graham, a well-esteemed Christian leader, has been open in saying that he has not been alone with a woman to whom he is not related. Keep above reproach and remove yourself from temptation.

This caution was even more pronounced then as the rights, responsibilities, and roles of women in 1^st Century CE Roman occupied Palestine were not the same as they are in much of the world now. In recent history Turkey, Pakistan, and India have all had women Prime Ministers. The UK and later even Canada (albeit for a very short time) have had women Prime Ministers. And some people think that even the United States might someday soon have a woman leader.

In The Canadian Salvation Army, our current leader, Commissioner Susan McMillian, is a woman and The Salvation Army’s first female international leader; Evangeline Booth was chosen General almost 100 years ago.

In Roman Palestine of the First Century women, however, did not have the same roles, responsibilities, opportunities, and rights. Women were quite vulnerable to circumstance and the whims of others in their society. This I think is one of the main reasons for Jesus’ prohibition against divorce: marriage was a key protection for women, who were otherwise vulnerable in Roman Palestine (Mk 10:11-12, Lk 16:18; cf. 1Cor 7:11-13). Marriage was one of their key protections and this brings us to our next couple of points.

b. She is probably not married but rather in what we would call today a common-law relationship

c. She has had a number of men in her life

Given that marriage was a main form of security and protection for women, this woman -who is on her fifth or sixth relationship- has gone through a lot of insecurity. Now we don’t know anything about her relationships. We don’t know whether some or all of her previous husbands died. We don’t know whether they cheated on her or she on them. We don’t know whether they publicly shamed her or if they abused her. We don’t know if almost everything was her fault, the fault of the men she has been with or some combination of the two. We do know however that women did not have the right to initiate divorces; so if she was legally married five times then on 5 separate occasions, 5 separate men separated from her one way or another. We know that she is now in this situation where men are not even supposed to be seen alone or in public with one such as her. She is relegated to the margins of society. This woman is vulnerable.

Now this isn’t to say she doesn’t have friends: Verses 39-42 show that she does. It is just to say that many 'proper' people would not consider it ‘proper’ to be with her and she certainly didn’t have opportunities available to her that other ‘proper’ people would. Think of maybe yourself or definitely our friends here who have had multiple relationship or are single parents or who have had a child outside of wedlock and so have to work hard and/or collect social services just to support their children: you don’t have a lot of money and supports. There are some in this room who have struggled through similar things: no money, being abandoned, maybe attacked, and feeling that some people are judging you every time they see you. This is a little bit about the woman, who in our story here today isn’t even given a name. She has had a hard run of it!

This is the person Jesus chooses to reveal the Gospel to out of everyone who he could have revealed it too in the whole world: she is a woman,  ‘living in sin’, who has had many men – and I submit that this next detail in how she is described to us may be even more significant than all of that.[2]

d. She is Samaritan

This is where I expect a lot of our Monday Night Bible Scholars. What is Samaria? Where is Samaria? Who are Samaritans?

We remember that Israel only existed as a united kingdom for a short time in history (1050-930BCE). King David’s side won the civil wars but after that there was only one king – Solomon - who ruled a united Israel and Judah. After Solomon died the tribes of Israel threw off the yoke of Judah’s rule (1Ki 12, 2Chr 10). The two countries were then on-again, off-again enemies until and even after the final destruction of both kingdoms (720, 586BCE). The southern country, Judah, had as its capital city Jerusalem and their countrymen became known as Jews.  The northern country, Israel, had as its capital city Samaria (since King Omri in 876) and their countrymen eventually became known as Samaritans.

Now each country was conquered at a separate time. The Israelites after they were conquered became a dominant people in Palestine and many of Jews who were conquered later were deported and in exile they became a dominant people. These deported Jews then returned to Palestine and some of them claimed a certain racial purity over the Samaritans who remained in the area but that claim is debatable (Ezra-Nehemiah). One just needs to look at the genealogy of Christ to realize that the exiled Jewish bloodlines were not pure anymore than the Samaritans’ or anyone else’s (Mt 1, Lk 3). Some Samaritans, by the way, claimed that same purity for themselves. They were, after all they point out, the descendants of Joseph the son of Israel to whom all other tribes were to bow down.[3]

People in these countries historically alternated between worship of the LORD and worship of Baal or other regional deities. Samaria, like Judah prior to the exile, focused on the Pentateuch in their worship of the Lord. Judah when they were exiled, however, began to include other texts in their worship.[4]

One big religious difference between Israel and Judah, Samaritans and Jews is referenced in our text today. The Jews dating back to the reign of Solomon believed that the only proper place of worship was the temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritans believed, dating even further back, to the time of Moses, that the sacred site in the Promised Land was Shechem at Mt. Gerizim. This was a major bone of contention between Samaritans and Jews right from the time Israel was freed from Judah’s rule (John 4:20).

Now there is even more antagonism and rivalry about the place of worship: We know that Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem and that the Jews believed that that was the only proper place to worship the Lord (1Ki - 2Chr). Our Bible mentions Judah and Israel both getting in trouble time and again for not removing other ‘high places’, other places of worship in their country. We know also that Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians so then they obviously weren’t able to worship there anymore but did you know that Samaria then built a Temple to the Lord near the sacred site of Mt. Gerizim where they could worship? They built this new temple not where Solomon’s Temple was built but where God instructed Moses in Deuteronomy 27 to build an altar. I find it quite interesting that during the so-called silent years of Greco-Macedonian (Seleucids, Ptolemys) rule, God was still moving. Did you know the Samaritans’ temple, after Judah’s was destroyed, existed for hundreds of years as a centre of worship until… not so long before our scripture today (128BCE)… the Jews invaded Samaria and destroyed the temple?[5] Samaria and Judah never really got along but when the Jews invaded and destroyed their temple you can see how that might be the last straw and you can see why the woman might bring that up at the well here. Jews and people from Israel, Samaritans just don’t get along. (How is everyone doing with a fast-forward version of about a millennium’s worth of history here?)

There is something here too relating to Jews and Samaritans fighting about where is the right place to worship that reminds me of a story I heard at a men’s group recently. There were some people in the US somewhere who were talking one evening and thought that they had discovered the oldest place in the universe. They then figured that if it is the oldest place in the universe then that must be where God lives – as it was the first place to exist. They then spend over $20 000.00 to build the necessary equipment to transmit electronic impulses or radio waves or something like that into space; they build a website and offer people the opportunity to talk to God on-line. To this day, apparently many people have sent messages into deep space thinking that that is where God is and that that is the only or best way He will here them. Jesus is basically saying that this is the error that the Jews and the Samaritans are making in our text today. God is not confined to Samaria, a temple in Jerusalem or a star in deep space. God is omnipresent and God loves us.

Jesus points out that the Samaritans worship a God that they don't know and the Jews worship this same God whom they do know but Jesus says that there will come a time - and that time is now, he says - when it really doesn't matter where you worship God so long as you do worship Him and he proves this by taking the extraordinary step of choosing an Israelite, a Samaritan, as the first Christian evangelist entrusted with the Good News that Jesus is Saviour of the world (Jn 4:23). Imagine than that you are this lady. Here is a man who when you first see him you are probably thinking, ‘he thinks he is too good for me’. He is a man and men like that don’t talk to women like me and he is a Jew and Jews are openly hostile to and or bigoted towards Samaritans but then he talks to you and you listen to him. Have you ever had something like that happen? You sit angry or cross-armed because you think the person talking to you is probably so stuck up; wondering what so-and-so can possibly say that is any good. I know I have. Then they open their mouth and you think, ‘hey this person isn't so bad’. You know, I think he's onto something. Amen! He's spot on now! Wow! …And he even knows my very own heart! I'm going to tell everybody. And this lady does and everyone believes her! People come pouring into the fullness of salvation because of this first Christian preacher sharing the Good News of Salvation (Jn 4:39-42).

For those of us in Bible Study: also according to John who was the first person Jesus commissioned as a preacher of the Good News after he was raised from the dead? Mary Magdalene, a woman (Jn 20:18). And now who, in our text today, is the first recorded evangelist to preach Jesus as the Saviour of the world? This Samaritan woman is the first Christian preacher and she is a woman and later the first person after the resurrection Jesus commissions to be a preacher of the Good News is Mary Magdalene - also a woman - and some people today say that woman can’t preach: try to figure that one out!

There is no prohibition against women preaching here. There is no prohibition about poor people preaching here. There is no prohibition against people who have less than perfect lives preaching here. We are all called to preach the Gospel and we all commissioned to share the Good News. So my question for us today: When have you taken the same initiative as this ostracized Samaritan women, who was looked down upon by Jews and ‘proper’ people? When have you taken the initiative of this marginalized divorced woman who was 'living in sin'? When have you taken the opportunities God has given you to lead others to salvation: If not yesterday, then how about tomorrow?

It doesn’t matter who we are. It doesn’t matter what we’ve actually done. It doesn’t even matter who other people think we are or what other people say we’ve done, Jesus loves us and Jesus loves them and Jesus wants you and Jesus wants me to tell everyone we know that - no matter what they’ve done and no matter what other people think they have done - Jesus doesn’t worry about that so much as Jesus loves us and he loves them and he wants us all to be a part of his kingdom both now and forever more.  So when you go from here today, I encourage you to find at least one other person this week and tell them how much Jesus loves them and just like the Samaritan woman invite them to meet Jesus. And if you are here today and you have never met Jesus come chat with me or someone else now at the mercy seat or right after the service, if you prefer, and we’ll introduce you.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Cf. Merrill C. Tenney, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:John/Exposition of John/II. The Public Ministry of the Word (1:19-12:50)/A. The Beginning Ministry (1:19-4:54)/8. The Samaritan ministry (4:1-42)/a. The woman at the well (4:1-26), Book Version: 4.0.2

[2] Cf. N.T. Wright, John for Everyone Part 1 (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004), 40-41

[3] Cf. K. Haacker, "Samaritan," in The New International Dictionary of NT Theology, Vol. 3, ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979), 450-454.

[4] K. Haacker, "Samaritan," in The New International Dictionary of NT Theology, Vol. 3, ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979), 455.

[5] Gail R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995),563. 

Week 29: 1 Corinthians 7:19: Important

A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 16 April 2015

  

Read 1 Corinthians 7:17-19

We all have access to Salvation through Christ Jesus. That is what is important. We should point people to that. We shouldn’t be distracted from serving the Lord by side issues. God will take care of our needs. The concerns of this world: our employment, our status, our wealth, our pride, whatever it is that is getting under our skin, even theological issues like end times or evolution, abortion, homosexual or re-marriage; these things that mean so much to people really are eternally and Salvificly speaking, ‘indifferent matters’. Arguing about any of these issues may not save anyone from hell.

This reminds me of a story: At the end of last century there was a revolution in an African country. As it became obvious that the government was going to fall, the wealthy North Americans had to flee. They made it out by the skin of their teeth. Some boarded the last plane out of the country and others managed to get on a foreign oil tanker as it was leaving. Everyone got out just as the freedom fighters liberated the country.

A disappointing thing happened on the plane with the Americans on it: the plane was a commercial airline with a first class section that had so much more comfortable seating than the rest of the plane. Now on this plane were rich, famous and important people. One of them first got it in her mind that because of who she was she deserved one of the good seats. Then someone else thought, ‘if she deserves a good seat then how much more do I deserve a good seat’; then the next person, 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 they were fighting about who was the most important in this life, the plane crashed and they all wound up facing the next life where none of the things of this world matter anymore.

Our lives are like that plane going down or like the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. Worrying about our wealth or our status or our pride or the other things that try to bother us in this life is like, as the expression says, ‘rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic’. As Paul says, it is ‘adiaphoron’ – something of spiritual indifference- it really doesn’t matter!

Question for us today: Do we ever fight over eternally trivial issues when our world really is racing to its conclusion and we should be pointing everyone to salvation instead?

  

www.sheepspeak.com 

  

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[1] Based on the sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay, 1 Corinthians 7:17 -24: Don’t Worry About Adiaphoron, Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale corps of The Salvation on August 31, 2008,and Swift Current on 06 April 2014. On-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/04/1-corinthians-717-24-dont-worry-about.html

Week 28: Philippians 1:3: Others

A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 09 April 2015

Read Philippians 1:3-6

Imagine you are in prison. Imagine you are in an off shore American prison or in the Middle East in the hands of ISIS or another group and imagine you are facing possible execution.

If you could write a letter, make a video or leave a phone message, what would it say? I imagine we would be more than a little afraid. I imagine we would ask everyone to pray for us. We would activate a prayer chain and ask everyone to pray for our safe return, right?

This is not what Paul does. Paul is in prison but it is not with his own state that he is concerned. He is concerned with how well others - free people, privileged people - are preparing for Christ’s return (cf. 1:11). He is in jail awaiting execution and he is encouraging free people to prepare for the ‘Day of the Lord’ by living in a manner worthy of the Gospel (1:27), being united in purpose (1:18), staying the course, and he is even now rejoicing (cf. 1:3, 6) in the Lord’s accomplishments through them.

Instead of ‘please pray for me’, Paul writes, ‘I thank my God every time I remember you’. Paul is not concerned about himself. He is thinking about others and their participation in the Kingdom of God. Paul tells them how confident he is that God will complete the good work in them that God has already started. He speaks of his desire that their love may overflow with wisdom and knowledge so that they are prepared when ‘Day of the Lord’ arrives.

Paul is not worried about himself. Paul is concerned about others and the Kingdom of God. This man is in chains. This man is facing a death sentence and he is in jail awaiting appeal.

He is in jail and we don’t read in his letter, “Why is this happening to me, Lord”? We don’t read, “What have I done to deserve this?” or “How could this be happening to me?” Paul is not bemoaning or even questioning his situation. Just the opposite: Paul is bold because he is prepared; he says to live or die, both are good. Death is gain (because of the resurrection) and to live… life is Christ.

We don’t hear him whining and complaining. We don’t hear accusations about his captors. We don’t hear him calling down curses upon Caesar. We don’t read complaints about the food or fellow inmates. What we read here is that his captors are hearing the Gospel and we see Paul encouraging others to be bold and to be prepared to share the Gospel.

Paul is in jail and he is concerned about others and their courage to fully participate in the Messianic Kingdom. As Paul awaited the ‘Day of our Lord’, that was his primary concern even with all that was going on in his life. So then, the question for us today: as we await the ‘Day of our Lord’, what is our primary concern - our own state of affairs or God’s Kingdom and others’ salvation?

www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] Based on the article by Captain Michael Ramsay, Be Bold for the Gospel...a look at Philippians ch.1. JOURNAL OF AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY 54 (April-May  2008) On-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article6-54.html

Week 27: Matthew 28:6: Belief

A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 02 April 2015

Read Matthew 28:1-6

Last year on April Fools Day, we found out Judy, our receptionist, won $5000 from Tim Horton’s Roll up the Rim contest. On the morning of April Fools Day, Judy told us she had won $5000. At our staff meeting on April’s Fools Day, Judy told everyone that she won $5000. We were so happy for Judy, who is so honest and who is so trustworthy, that she won $5000 on April Fools Day that we were all simply stunned an hour later when she concluded our staff meeting with the words, ‘April Fools!’

Even though we were all aware that it was April Fools Day, even though we all joked about it being April Fools Day, even though we all had openly spoken about April Fools Day, we were all completely shocked when dear, honest, trustworthy Judy ended our staff meeting with the words ‘April Fools!’

It must have been the same for the disciples with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection: even though they knew about resurrection, even though they all had discussions about the resurrection, even though Jesus repeatedly told them about His resurrection, they were all completely shocked when the angel met them with the words ‘He is risen’, the ladies (and later the other disciples) were so surprised. It would be the same effect as us hearing ‘April Fools!’ The ladies had gone to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ corpse as part of a burial ceremony. Even though Jesus’ followers should have known He would rise from the grave, they believed he was dead; just like we believed Judy had won $5000. April Fools! You thought He was dead but He has risen!

This is what is going on with the ladies in the text today and later with the other disciples still continuing in disbelief. In one account even after the others have realized that Jesus has actually risen from the dead just like He said He would, the disciple Thomas is so convinced that Jesus is dead that he only believes the truth when he sees and touches Jesus himself.

Now here we are today, two millennia later, in the conflicting seasons of April Fools and Easter we have that very same decision to make and it is just important now as it ever was. Our very life depends upon it. Who is Jesus? What do we believe? Do we believe that Jesus is God’s own Son and that He rose from the grave? And if so what are we going to do about it?

www.sheespeak.com 

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[1]Based on the sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay, Matthew 27:11-54: April Fools!, Presented to the Swift Current Community at the Ecumenical Lenten Lunch, 10 April 2014, at Christ the Redeemer Roman Catholic Parish. On-line: 

http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/04/matthew-2711-54-april-fools.html