Devotion 2.41/93: Hosea 7:8: Pancake

Presented to River Street Cafe, 28 February 2017 (Pancake Tuesday)

Hosea 7:8 “Ephraim, he mixes himself among the nations. Ephraim is a pancake not turned over.”

When I was asked to lead devotions on pancakes for today I looked up pancakes in the Bible and came up with that verse. The devotional thought today, however, will not deal with us being pancakes but with us eating pancakes. Today we are going to chat a little bit about the tradition of Pancake Tuesday (which is today!) in the church.

Pancake Day – also called Shrove Tuesday - always takes place on the day before the first day of Lent. Lent is typically a time a fasting from various food. Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday was a day for using up food that could not be eaten during Lent, which was a time for fasting.

It's a day of penitence, to clean the soul before lent and today as pancake Tuesday is supposed to be a day of celebration because it is last chance to have a big feast before Lent begins. But there's more to Pancake or Shrove Tuesday than feasting on pancakes.

Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving that Christians used to do. In shriving, a person confesses their sins. In the Catholic or Orthodox tradition, absolution (or forgiveness) is pronounced by a priest. This tradition is very old. Over 1000 years ago a monk wrote in the Anglo-Saxon Ecclesiastical Institutes:

In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor shall so shrive him.

So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. Giving up foods: but not wasting them. In the old days there were many foods that Christians would not eat during Lent: foods such as meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods. So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without going off.

The need to eat up the fats gave rise to the French name Mardi Gras; meaning fat Tuesday. Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour.

So then to paraphrase Marie Antoinette, let us eat pancakes!

  

Daniel 1-5: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.

Presented to The Warehouse Mission and Corps 614 Regent Park of The Salvation Army, 26 February 2017 by Captain Michael Ramsay

  

I have a challenge for us today: I will say a famous quote and you will tell me whether it is from the Bible or somewhere else. Bonus marks if you can tell me where else it is from or the scripture reference as the case may be. Bible or Not Bible?

·        An eye for an eye (Matthew 5:38)

·        3 strikes you’re out (baseball)

·        Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s (Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17, Luke 20:25)

·        Turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39, Luke 6:29)

·        The shoe/boot is on the other foot (19^th Century)

·        Beware of the Ides of March (Julius Caesar by Shakespeare)

·        May the Force be with you (Star Wars)

·        The writing is on the wall (Daniel 5)

Today we are chatting about, ‘the writing on the wall’? We know from where in the Bible that quote comes; do we know to what it is referring? It comes from the book of Daniel (Chapter 5). Immediately prior to the destruction of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire, a mysterious hand writes these words on the wall that they can read but the phrase, as such, is one no one can understand. The words themselves may have been common enough but no one knew what they meant written as they were.[1] The words spoke to the fact that their empire about to end. In very short order the Persians would attack and conquer Babylon. The expression, ‘the writing on the wall’ thus refers to the warning signs of a calamity that will strike (or any impending event).

Daniel is a very interesting book. Chapters 1-4 of the Book of Daniel deal with King Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans; what do we know about King Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans?[2]

• Their Royal City was Babylon
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the 7 wonders of the world; Nebuchadnezzar had them built for his wife who was homesick
• Nebuchadnezzar and the Chadleans (or Neo-Babylonians) were instruments for the destruction of Solomon’s Temple (This was the first temple; later there would be 2 more temples in Jerusalem – Zerubbabel’s and Herod's – and one more in Israel/Samaria that was ironically destroyed by Jewish nationalists.)[3]
• Nebuchadnezzar was a military conqueror who was involved in the final conquest of Judah
• They deported the Jews (were used to initiate the exile)
• Nebuchadnezzar is important in Biblical history, he is mentioned by Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel here in the Bible

You’d think with all of this he would be considered a ‘bad guy’ in the Bible but that is not the focus of the story of Nebuchadnezzar here. Quite the contrary. Chapters 1-4 of Daniel read like a story of true concern or even a love story for Nebuchadnezzar, embedded in HB which itself can be read as a love story between God and Israel. The Bible as a whole can be read as a love story between God and humanity and/or even a love story between God and all of creation. Chapters 1-4 even show how much God loves the Chaldeans, the Neo-Babylonians, who destroyed the Temple, razed Jerusalem, conquered Judah, and deported the Jews. The Bible’s whole love story between God and humanity – even the Chaldeans – could probably even be subtitled  with this warning of ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin'. ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin' was what was written on the wall. It was the warning that God gave to Babylon on the eve of her destruction. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.

About God's warnings even earlier in the Bible: Thousands of years prior to Nebuchadnezzar, according to the book of Genesis, do you remember Abram and the territorial blessing God gave him? God promised Abram that his descendants would inherit the Promised Land because, ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin', the writing was on the wall for the Amorites who at that time lived in the land. God was going to remove them. God, however, would leave the Amorites there presumably until their last possible opportunity had passed (Genesis 15:15).[4] But even so, ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin', even then, the writing was on the wall.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: Do you remember the Exodus? Do you remember the reason God said he sent the plagues? The Bible says, He said he did it, among other reasons, for Pharaoh’s benefit. He did it so that Pharaoh might know that the LORD is God (Exodus 8:10; cf.14:4,18). Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: The plagues served as the writing on the wall for Pharaoh: Israel was about to leave Egypt for that Promised Land from which He was about to remove from the Amorites.

The LORD used the Minor and the Major Prophets - and even the Pentateuch (cf. Leviticus 25:23) - to provide the warnings, ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin', the writing on the wall for Israel that she, herself, in turn was going to be displaced from the Promised Land just as the Amorites before them unless they heeded the warning.[5]  They did not (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:20-21).[6] The LORD then used Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, who are mentioned in our text today, to remove them from the land.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: are there times when the writing has been on the wall in our own world and possibly we didn’t see something that we really should have seen coming.

The Trump presidency might be one example on an international scale. Many  were surprised by that camp’s election but the writing was on the wall. There are a lot of disgruntled, marginalized Americans who were looking to speak out loud enough for the world to hear them. One party had been in the White House for eight years and there were many people fed up with the establishment - they've had the same group of people, from only two extremely similar parties ruling that country since their civil war. Fear, racism and prejudice have always run deep in the United States. We remember the Communist witch-hunts; lynchings; and that their congress, senate committees and Supreme Court upheld for a long time the fact that when Jefferson said all men were created equal, he didn’t mean people of colour.[7] The media, intentionally or not, flamed that always present prejudice significantly in their recent electoral cycle. We may have been surprised by Trump’s election -or the attention it is getting or the way it came about- but, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin, whether you like it or not, the writing was on the wall.

The same with Br-Exit. The world was surprised when the UK voted to leave the EU but there was the same writing upon the wall there.

Or going back a few years now: the second Iraq War. This was not a surprise to anyone I think. As soon as George W Bush was elected, the writing on the wall, I think was there for all of us to read that he was going to complete the US re-conquest of Iraq.

In our own lives people - friends, relatives, or even ourselves have run into health problems when we refused to follow the doctor’s advice. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: When the doctors, like Daniel, read the writing on the wall during our check-ups, we shouldn’t be surprised if our health fails if we don't listen to them. I have seen this particularly with friends with diabetes or heart conditions. I have seen heart attacks and amputations follow because friends simply don't follow the doctor's advice. Even though it is plain to see they just don’t heed it: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin

And tragically, sometimes we miss the writing on the wall when our friends, loved ones, or we ourselves fall back into addiction. ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin’, the warnings are often there but for whatever reason we miss them, ignore them, or don't know what to do with them.

The same can be said for the tragedy of many broken marriages and other relationships in our communities today.

The same can be said for students who earn a failing grade. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: the writing is usually written on the wall well before the ’F’ written on the report card.

The same can be said before the police show up at a domestic dispute or before your bosses’ boss shows up to take your keys.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin: Many times God himself writes the warnings into our lives but – as plain as they may be to see – like the Chaldeans of Daniel 5, we don’t understand it.

There is much more to these words we have been repeating - Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin - though than just this. Their meaning can be narrowed even further than we have been using it. They can mean more than just 'the writing on the wall': these actual words can be used as more of 'fait accompli'. Here is a more precise textual interpretation, what these words themselves actually mean:

• Mene, means 'numbered', 'counted out', or 'measured' but can also be interpreted as a unit of money
• Tekel, similar to 'sheckle', literally means 'weighed' but can also be interpreted as a unit of money
• Peres, means 'to divide' and the plural here written, ' Pharsin' can refer to a division of money.

Just as we are coming up on tax time and Dean and Iris are making sure that everyone has their year-end tax receipts, these are financial words plastered on the wall in the text here: Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided. This image would be like a major corporation in today's world being audited and the government who, upon looking at their books, finds that the balance sheet doesn't match up and something really isn't right, and so orders the company to be broken up and its parts sold.

Daniel 5:26-28 “Here is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peras: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

This is more than just a simple warning; this is a reminder of all that has occurred in the first four chapters of Daniel and all that the Lord has done to provide for the salvation of Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans. Chapter 1, after using the king to conquer Judah, God sends top advisors to Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, who then are set apart as holy. Chapter 2, God through Daniel reveals and then interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream that He had given him. Chapter 3, God shows Nebuchadnezzar through Shadrack, Meshack, Abendego, and the fiery furnace that indeed God is the only person or thing worthy of worship in the whole world and then in Chapter 4, as Nebuchadnezzar becomes so full of himself to believe that what has been accomplished through him was actually accomplished by him, the Lord still extends him the grace, the mercy, and the opportunity to be humble, submit to the Lord and experience forgiveness and salvation. Even if his heirs here decline it, just like the heirs of Israel and Judah, after so much grace and forgiveness were removed from the Promised Land; it certainly does appear that the king may have experienced both that salvation and even eternal salvation.

There is hope here and it is a good hope and it is not a new hope. There is hope for us. The writings in the Bible and in our lives are an encouragement from the Lord to turn and return to Him. God loves you even as much as he loves Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, the Chaldeans, the Israelites, and the Judeans. If we are living outside of his salvation in some way it is not 'fait accompli'. Just like he gave the the others opportunity and opportunity and opportunity to avail themselves of salvation and plenty of warnings before ‘the die was cast’ that salvation was available, so too with us today. If there is any way that we have been weighed and found wanting, I invite us to bring that to the Lord; it is not too late. If we are here today, it is not too late to read the writing God has written on the wall of our lives, to read it, heed it, and live out that glorious salvation here, now, and forever. All we need to do is open our eyes, see the the Lord is doing and accept His Salvation.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] cf. G. Coleman Luck, Daniel, Everyman's Bible Commentary. (Chicago, Ill: Moody Press, 1958),70., Gleason L. Archer, Jr., The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Daniel/Exposition of Daniel/V. Belshazzar's Feast (5:1-31)/D. Daniel's Interpretation (5:17-28), Book Version: 4.0.2

[2] Cf. Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1935), 218-225.

[3] 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. Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, John 4:1-26,39-42: Good News for Samaria and the World!, (Swift Current, SK: Sheepspeak.com, 19 April 2015), on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2015/04/john-41-2639-42-samaritan.html

[4] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, ''When God is Bound", Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 52, December 2007 – January 2008, p.5-10. On-line:

http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_052.pdf

[5] Captain Michael Ramsay, "A Holy Environment", Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 72 , April – May 2011, p.38-39. On-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article8-72.html

[6] Cf. NT Wright, The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the meaning of Jesus' Crucifixion,  (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2016),118-119 about the restoration of the Kingdom.

[7] Cf. Jefferson Davies, The Rise of the Confederate Government, (New York, NY: Barnes and Noble, 2010), Part I

Devotion 2.40/92: John 21:17: Restored

Presented to River Street Cafe, 24 February 2017

Read John 21:15-17

One night when I was sixteen, I am allowed to borrow my parents’ car on one condition – that I bring my along little sister. It is bad enough that I have to bring my sister with me but what is worse is that she has a curfew; so I have to stop whatever I am doing to bring her home by 9 pm.

I take her down to the local hangout and tell her not to bother me. It is a good evening. I meet some friends. There is a party that night that we are planning to attend – there is just one problem – I have to get my sister home by 9 pm.

As my friends and I are in the middle of planning our night, my sister shows up and says, “It’s time to go” and she is not alone. She has found herself a boyfriend! And this boyfriend, Tony,  is a friend of mine! I have an idea…

He can bring Lorinda home! There are, however, a couple of details to work out: (1) my sister isn’t allowed to date yet and (2) this boy will bring her home on a motor scooter. These won’t go over so well with my mom, so I come up with a plan: I tell him he can take my sister home but to make sure he parks around the corner from our house so my mom won’t see them and I tell her to tell mom that she got a ride home from Melody, a girl from church group, instead of from a boy on a motor scooter.

He gets her home all right but rather than parking around the corner he parks on the street, under a streetlight, and he gives her a good night kiss. Then my sister has a cigarette as she walks the rest of the way home - where my mom is watching this whole scene. My sister walks in the door and mom asks, “How did you get home?”

“Melody…”

A couple of hours later I come home. All the lights are on and mom is waiting at the front door… “How did your sister get home? How did she get home? Who took her home? I am caught. I know it. I betrayed my mom’s trust and now I am being asked these questions over and over again .

‘Do you love me?’ is the question Jesus asks Peter over and over again. Peter must feel just about the same way I did. “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?” Jesus trusted him. Peter betrayed that trust and now he is in need of restoration.

Now, of course, Jesus does restore Peter. Jesus is faithful to build his church upon Peter’s work for the Kingdom. Jesus forgives him and restores him just like my mom forgave me and after grounding me for a month or so, restored me to being trusted with her car.

It is the same with each of us. Whatever it is that we may have done to deny our responsibilities or to betray Jesus’ trust we are forgiven and we can be restored; all we need to do is to come to Jesus and accept his offer to ‘feed his sheep’

What does it look like to ‘feed his sheep’? How can we do that today?

Devotion 2.35/87: 2 Corinthians 5:17: New

Presented to River Street Cafe, 06 January 2017

Read 2 Corinthians 5:16-18

We are told that when we are in Christ we are a new creation.

When we are ‘in-Christ’ we no longer act the same way as most others; we are changed through changing our minds so that we can see and do the good things God wants for us and others (Romans 12:2). Being ‘in-Christ’ is no longer thinking about ourselves.

One night I received an e-mail from an old friend of mine who works in a BC prison; I myself volunteered in the chapel in Stony Mountain Penn. We agreed that many of the fellows there who are stuck, unable to change; the ones who don’t get along with their fellow inmates and are threatening and litigious, are the people who act upon ‘a perverse sense of entitlement.’

It is this sense of entitlement, among other things, that embodies the old life for each of us.  It is this way of thinking that traps us. The new life is experienced only as we change our minds to put God, rather than ourselves, first. This is what it means to be ‘in-Christ.’ It is a simple idea - this new life.

Jesus has already provided this new life for us. It is very much like the New Year. When the New Year comes, it is like a new start. Many people stay up to midnight to celebrate this opportunity with parties, noise, making plans or resolutions for the year to come…

Today as we are coming up to a new calendar year I invite us to commit or recommit ourselves to the new lives that Jesus provided for us between the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb of being God-focused rather than self-focused.

I encourage us all in our new lives this New Year in praying, meeting together, and reading our Bibles and to welcome in the Lord like we do the New Year with celebration as we let the Lord continue to transform us into a new creation.

John 21:13-23: Welcome Back, Feed My Sheep.

Presented to TSA Warehouse Mission and Corps 614, 19 February 2017
Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 07 April 2013,
Presented to Nipawin Corps, 21 February 2009,
Presented to Weston Corps, May 2006.
By Captain Michael Ramsay

This is the 2017 version: to view the originally published text click here:  http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/02/john-2115-23-were-back.html 

     

  

 I can remember one Friday night when I am sixteen, I need to borrow my parents’ car and I am allowed on one condition – that I bring my along little sister, Lorinda – she is fifteen. If I can be trusted with the car then I can take my sister with me. It is bad enough that I have to bring my little sister with me but what makes this even worse is that she has a curfew, which I don’t, so I have to stop whatever I am doing and bring her home by 10:00.

I take her down to the local hangout where I meet my friends and tell her to just to find something to do and not bother me until it is time to go. This works well because, believe it or not, she didn’t really want to spend all Friday night with her brother either – so this thing might just work out after all. Now as the evening progresses, I am having fun. I meet some new friends. There is a party later that night that the group of us are planning to attend – there is just one problem – I have to get my sister home by 10pm.

As my friends and I are in the middle of planning our night, my sister shows up and says, “it’s time to go” and - she is not alone. She has gone off and found herself a boyfriend! And this boyfriend is actually a friend of mine! I have an idea…

He can bring Lorinda home! There are, however, a couple of details to work out: (1) my sister isn’t really allowed to date just yet and (2) this boy, Tony, will be bringing her home on his motorcycle! (actually I think it was probably more like a moped or motorized scooter). These won’t go over so well with my mom, so I come up with a plan: I tell Tony that he can take her home but to make sure that he parks around the corner from our house so my mom won’t see them when she looks out the window and I tell Lorinda to tell mom that she got a ride home from Melody, a friend from church group, instead of a boy on a motor scooter.

Tony does get her home all right but rather than parking around the corner like I told him to he parks down the street, in plain view, and under a streetlight and he decides to give her a good night kiss. And then Lorinda has a cigarette as she walks the rest of the way home where my mom is watching this whole scene from the window. Lorinda walks in the door and mom asks, “How did you get home?”

“Melody…” up oh…

Fast forward a couple of hours - I come home. All the lights are on and mom is waiting for me at the front door… “How did Lorinda get home? How did Lorinda home? Who took Lorinda home?” I hear her question - I just don’t answer. I am caught. I know it. I can tell. I betrayed my mom’s trust and now I am being asked these questions over and over again .

‘Do you love me?’ is the question the recently resurrected Jesus asks Peter over and over again. John 21:15-23: Peter must feel just about the same way I did. “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?” As recorded in John 18, Jesus trusted him. Peter said he would stand by Jesus and he did not and now he is in need of restoration. He betrayed His confidence.

Peter had a special relationship with Jesus; he was even one of the three Jesus invited up the mountain with him for his last night before Calvary. Jesus told Peter everything that would happen then; Peter still denied even knowing him 3 times in the High Priest’s courtyard… and then they led Jesus out to be crucified.

Now Jesus, who died, is sitting right here; Jesus, who was killed, has appeared to the disciples more than once; Jesus, who was denied by Peter, has just finished eating with them. Jesus, who, initially to Peter’s surprise came back to life, is sitting right in front of him asking him whether or not he actually loves him. No wonder, as it says is verse 17, Peter feels hurt. Who wouldn’t feel a little convicted, a little ashamed, a little embarrassed? You make a promise to stand by someone. He even calls you on it – “Peter, before the rooster crows YOU will deny me three times.”

“No, not me” says Peter “No, not me”…. well, 3 rooster crows later and Jesus is denied, crucified, died and now he is back from the dead staring Peter straight in the face asking, “do you love me?” “Do you love me?”

Can you imagine? You deny someone. He knows it. He’s killed. He comes back from the dead and is staring you right in the face and asking you, “do you love me?”

There is even more to it than this. Remember that Peter is the ‘Rock’ upon which Jesus is going to build His church (Matt. 16:18); he is one of the inner circle of apostles; He is sent out to proclaim the good news; he is supposed to be a leader. Now he has fallen. How can he be even a follower, if he doesn’t follow; led alone a leader, if he doesn’t lead. Peter is in need of restoration.

So with all this probably racing around in Peter’s mind and more, Jesus not only asks him, “Do you love me?” Peter also might hear, in effect, “Prove it – feed my lambs, feed my sheep, feed my sheep;” “Prove it - take care of my followers – prove it, actually feed people - prove it.” Peter hears, “Do you love me? Do you love me?”

Peter, we can imagine, is so saddened that he does not answer, “Yes, I love you and I’ll do it.” Instead Jesus’ ‘Do you love me?’ only elicits, according to some translators, “I like you…” Can you imagine?

  

“Do you love me?”

“I’m fond of you.”

“Do you love me?”

“I like you…I like you a lot.”

“But do you love me? Then feed my sheep…”

  

This is important. In the Greek it is recorded that Jesus is really asking Peter if he (agape) loves him but Peter at first is only answering “I (phillia) love you, which in its range of meanings might mean merely, “I like you,” “or I’m fond of you.” This was probably not Peter saying, ‘I don’t love you’; it is more like him responding, “I’m unworthy of loving you.”[1]

            “Do you love me?” A runaway child asks her mom, in our city today, from her cell phone. She wants to come home. She needs to be restored to her place as a loved and cared for daughter.

            “Do you love me?” the little boy asks his big brother coming back from detention of some sort. He needs his brother back.

            “Do you love me?” a now grown child who suffered abuse in the residential schools, asks the churches? The church needs its family back; it needs to be restored.

            “Do you love me?” a sister asks her brother who left her and their mom to live with his dad years ago. He needs to be restored as big brother.[2]

            “Do you love me?” a six year-old asks her 15 year-old sister who just returned from six months of Drug rehab[3]. The sister needs to be restored as big sister.

            “Do you love me?” an estranged wife asks her recovering alcoholic husband as she returns to him. He needs to be restored as husband.

“Do you love me?” Jesus is asking each of us as we are in need of restoration in our relationships.

            Let me tell you a story: A friend of mine grows up in the church. He is almost always involved something up there. He reads his Bible all the time – everyday for years. He always prays. He never doubts that God has what is best in store for him. When others surrender, he perseveres. Even when his parents don’t want to get up to go to church, he gets himself up, gets dressed and walks all the way there by himself. He rises every morning at 6am just to spend time with God. He always has a Bible tucked away in his pocket somewhere so that he can read it or give it away to someone who might need it. God loves him and he loves God.  Then he meets a girl.

            She is a nice girl. He falls in love but…she is not quite on the same page as he is. As they grow more and more intimate, He drifts farther and farther from God. He slowly stops reading his Bible. First he just misses a day here or there, then a whole week, then –he moves in with her- he stops getting up early and talking to God; he stops listening to God. Then he stops hearing God; it is silent; it is silent. He is in need of restoration. “Do you love me?” Jesus is still asking him.

Any parts of this story strike a chord with us? Is there anything separating us from God? Are we in need of restoration? “Do you love me?” Jesus is still asking us. What have we done to remove ourselves from the will or presence of God? Are we in need of restoration? “Do you love me?” Jesus is still asking us.

Jesus is still asking Peter, ‘do you love me?’– and more. There is an important progression here. It is not only Peter whose answers possibly develop – remember the answers of  ‘I love you’ that can mean, “I’m fond of you” and “I like you” and that it may be only on the third time that Peter actually responds “You KNOW I love you.” Jesus’ questioning also develops. He starts out with, “do you love me then…. feed my lambs.” Next, do you love me, then…. take care of my sheep; then, “feed my sheep.” This is important: it apparently moves from concentrating on a subset of the flock, to overseeing all the flock, to actually feeding the whole flock. Peter’s responsibility grows.[4]

At first Jesus also asks Peter if he loves him more than these – more than the other disciples[5]. This brings one’s mind back to his boast of a couple of chapters earlier - John 13:37 (cf. Matthew 26:33) - where Peter claims that he will never leave Jesus. The threefold questioning recalls the criteria for a legal declaration.[6] This is not about apostolic succession,[7] however, Peter is not forsaken he is forgiven.

Jesus is restoring Peter. He does so in such a way as to leave no doubt. While, as we have looked at, the questions are not exactly the same, he is asked three times to confess Christ at his restoration like he denied Christ three times to put him in need of this restoration and later in Acts 10, when he is told through a dream to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, he is also told three times. The triune God is building on the significance of threes.

This is exciting and Peter gets it. Finally, he understands. Peter is restored. After he confesses, (v. 17) “Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus lets him know about what is in store for the future. In verses 18 and 19 “Jesus [says], "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. “Jesus [says] this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he [says] to him, ‘Follow me!’”

The death: Peter gets to die for Jesus. He gets his martyrs’ crown. Now, while this may not necessarily sound so good to us– the person you deny and is killed and comes back from the grave to tell you, you are going to die… (And tradition has it that Peter was actually crucified on a cross, just as Jesus was, except that he was hanged upside down.) To Peter, however, this is good news. It means he is back. He is back! Peter has been restored. His sin is forgiven, Jesus trusts him. He accepts the responsibility to ‘feed his sheep’ and this responsibility is offered to us all.[8] As Peter himself exhorts us in 2 Peter 5:2-4, “Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

“Follow me!” He is back. “Follow me”, Jesus says to Peter. He is back and he is excited. So much so that Peter starts asking about others around, such as John, ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved,’ who was right there and also sat next to Jesus at the last supper, Peter asks (v. 21) “what about him?” Jesus answers, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me’ (v. 22). Peter is forgiven. “Follow me.” That’s what is important for Peter now – that he must follow Jesus. Jesus has provided a way for him to be forgiven, reinstated and Peter is restored.

“Follow me,” Jesus says, and “welcome back.” Welcome home. Welcome home, in our world today, to the girl who ran away from her mom. Jesus loves you and you are restored. Welcome home to the big brother who has returned. He is restored. Welcome back to the alienated denominations who ran the residential schools, you can be restored. Welcome back to the big sister who slipped up and went on the binge. You are back. You are clean; you are forgiven and you are restored to your responsibilities of big sister. Welcome back to the repentant, recovering alcoholic dad. Welcome back. You are forgiven. You are sober; you are restored to your position as husband and dad. Welcome back! Jesus has restored you. Welcome back. All of us can be restored.

I, after not being allowed to use the car for a month or so, was eventually restored to being trusted again. My mom trusted me again even though I had denied my responsibilities. She forgave me and I was restored.

My friend, the silence for him must have been as painful as the denial was for the disciple Peter. The girl he was involved with is now a Christian as well and they are married. He is restored to getting up early and spending time with God. Jesus loves them both. God is faithful. They are restored and they are feeding his sheep.

We are invited to accept forgiveness. We are invited to feed Jesus sheep. We are invited to be restored. We are invited to show the way, the truth and the light. We are invited to accept forgiveness as well. Jesus died on that cross for us and he is sitting, in effect, on the beach with you and me like he was with Peter. He knows our hearts. He knows your heart. He knows and forgiveness is offered. So let us accept that forgiveness, that restoration and that reconciliation and ‘feed his sheep.’ Let us feed his sheep. Let us look after the physically hungry. Feed his sheep. Let us look after the spiritually hungry. Feed his sheep. Let us take care of those in real need. Feed his sheep. Let us not lose any of the flock of which he has given us oversight. As we are restored and as we are forgiven, let us forgive others and let us feed his sheep.

Let us pray: “Dear God, we thank you for your example of the restoration of Peter. We thank you that forgiveness and restoration is available to us all. We confess any times we have denied and not followed you. We confess any times that we have not fed your sheep. We love you and we pray that, as you enable, like Peter claimed, we will always follow you. Amen.”

www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel. (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 1420

[2] “Statistics Canada indicates that ten percent of families with children are stepfamilies, and about a third of them include children from different unions. In the United States, it's estimated that stepfamilies may outnumber biological families by the year 2010.” Reader’s Digest Canada, “What do you think is the lasting impact for children of divorce?” n.p. [cited 25 03 2006]. On-line: http://www.readersdigest.ca/debate.html?a=v&di=116

[3] 28.6% of 15-17 year-old girls in Canada have reported illicit drug use. Michael Tjepkema, “Use of Cannabis and Other Illicit Drugs,” Statistics Canada Health Reports 15, no. 4. (2004): 47

[4] R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel. (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 1421.

[5] George R. Beasley-Murray, John. (WBC 36: Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), 405.

[6] George R. Beasley-Murray,  p. 404.

[7] Gail R. O’day, John. (TNIB 9: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1996), 861.

[8] Gail R. O’day, p. 861.

Devotion 2.38/91: Matthew 5:44: Lovely

Presented to the Riverside Cafe, 10 February 2017

Read Matthew 5:43-48

This week I have seen a lot of hatred in the news and social media. People hate this person. People hate that person. People hate this person for hating that person and people hate those people because they all hate these people.

I watched Star Wars the other evening with my daughters. There is a pivotal moment in the movie franchise, Star Wars, where Darth Vader is trying to turn Luke from the Light to the Darkness; how does he try to do this? He tries to do this by making him hate. He tells Luke that only his hatred can destroy his enemy: this is a lie of Darth Vader and this is also a lie of our enemy, the Enemy, the devil. In the real world, hate cannot defeat evil; hate can only become evil. Hate is what turns a good person, bad; it is love, Jesus’ love, which redeems us.

Martin Luther King Jr said, “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” “I have decided to stick to love...Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

‘Do you know what the stupidest expression in the world is?’ - a firefighter once asked me - ‘fight fire with fire;’ ‘you don’t fight fire with fire; that just causes a bigger fire!’ It is the same with hate. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. If I get drawn into hating someone because they hate something or someone than I have just caused love to shrink and hate to grow. If on the other hand we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, then even we may be called children of our Father in heaven. If we love more than just those who love us than indeed we may even be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Therefore let us resolve to love one another and let us wish each other well - even those who may wish us ill.

What does it look like to love our enemies?

  

www.sheepspeak.com

Matthew 5:43-48: Love Your Enemies

Presented to 614 Warehouse, 05 February 2017 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Matthew 5:43-48: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

I saw this quote on Facebook: “I went by the house I grew up in the other day. I asked if I could come in and look around. They said ‘no’ and slammed the door in my face… My parents can be so rude.”

Sarah-Grace then shared this quote with me from Lemony Snicket: “Anyone who thinks the pen is mightier than the sword has not been stabbed with both.”[1]

When I was reading a bedtime story to Heather the other night she asked, "Daddy... Donald Duck, is that Disney or the president?" I thought that was a good question. It is nice that my 6 year old is politically aware enough to comment on international politics.

Our Scripture today says, ‘Love your enemies’. This has been an interesting week. There are some interesting people doing some interesting things in the United States. There is Paul Ryan, whose name you may or may not know: he is one of the most powerful politicians in the United States since the recent general election. He is a libertarian Republican and his political philosophy is seemingly not far from Ayn Rand’s ‘rational selfishness’, as it is called, and social Darwinism. There is also Steve Bannon, whose name you equally may or may not know: he is on their National Security Council. And then, of course, there is US President Donald Trump (not to be confused with Donald Duck) who with the support and/or prompting of these people and others –he couldn’t do anything on his own; he is after all a political neophyte – he has brought some interesting legislation into play in the United States this week.

Love your enemies. This past week the American government has banned more than 280 million people from entering the United States. They have barred people from 7 predominantly Islamic countries from coming to the US for help.

Love your enemies. This banning, according to some, is not entirely distinct from legislation that was drafted during the previous administration; even if that argument is not strictly accurate, banning historically has been practiced by both Democrats and Republicans. The US government earlier banned Iraqi children in their time of need.  The practice has bi-partisan support. This means that Americans from both of their ruling parties have supported bans on millions of people - some of whom have gone through some of the most horrific things you can ever imagine. They have been barred from looking to the United States for refuge.

Love your enemies. Donald Trump has ordered the beginning of his wall this week; apparently his recent political opponent, the experienced, educated, and equally elite Hillary Clinton while officially opposing a ‘wall’ herself had proposed instead the building of a ‘fence’ to keep others out.

Love your enemies. The US is still torturing illegally detained people as they have been for most of this century and before; and did you know that the recent President assassinated even more people by drone attacks than the President before him?

Love your enemies. Did you know that in this century alone, since 9/11, the US has invaded or otherwise militarily intervened in about 16 foreign countries, killing thousands upon thousands upon thousands of men, women, and children? But Jesus says, 'Love your enemies'.

Love your enemies. Closer to home here in Canada: in Quebec City this week, someone, allegedly Alexandre Bissonnette, did walk into a mosque and open fire killing six people and injuring many more.

Love your enemies. In our neighbourhood here there was another fatal shooting this past Monday. An eighteen year-old boy, Ali –who has spent time here at The Salvation Army on River Street - was shot in the face and killed in his own home.

Love your enemies. Our world is full of hate. Love your enemies. Our news: CBC, the Star, the Globe and Mail, CCN, Fox News is full of hate. Love your enemies. Facebook, Twitter, social media is full of hate. Love your enemies. Classrooms and coffee shops are full of hate. But Jesus says,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Think of all the horrible things that are being done by all of the horrible mechanisms of culture, society, people in our world today. Think of ‘free speech’ and all the people who are spewing all the venomous hatred from behind that veil. Think of all the people who are casting out the vulnerable and attacking the marginalized in our world today. Think about those who are right in our midst making life difficult for others. Think about all the evil being done. Think of the people doing the evil. Think of the people who hate you and who hate others like you; think of the people who hate this group or that group and think of the people who hate the marginalized; think of all those hateful people, the ones you know personally and the ones you don’t – and love them.[2]

Jesus says, “pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” Why should we pray for those who persecute us? ...So that we indeed may be children of our Father in heaven. God still loves us when we do jerky things to each other. He doesn’t give up on us; he’s still our father and as His children, we shouldn’t give up on one another either. We love each other, as our text here says, so that we indeed may be children of our Father in heaven.[3] Love is one of the things that actually defines a Christian.[4] As the song and the Scripture (John 13:35) says, ‘They will know we are Christians by our love.’

Those people who are doing those bad things, Jesus tells us what God thinks of them and how He treats them in relation to those who do the best of the best to people, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (v.45).[5] He doesn’t want any of us to perish. He wants all of us to turn from our evil ways and experience the joy of love instead. For God so loves the whole world that He sent His only begotten Son (John 3:16) – God doesn’t just love this part of the world or that part of the world – God sent His only begotten Son to live and die, raise from the dead, and someday come back again, not just for some of the world but for the whole world. Jesus loves all the little children of the world.

Fidel Castro passed away this year that just passed: I heard people tell me they hated Castro. I have heard people tell me they hate the Russian President Vladimir Putin. I have heard some people say they hate Trudeau – Justin and/or Pierre. I have heard people tell me they hate Stephen Harper. I have heard people tell me they hate Hillary Clinton and I hear people tell me day in and day out that they hate Donald Trump. I have heard people tell me they hate Muslims. I have heard people tell me they hate Russians, Germans, French, Ukrainians, Arabs, Americans, Albertans, Newfoundlanders, even Torontonians... There is a song by an Edmonton band, the Arrogant Worms, entitled, ‘Ontario Sucks’ Its lyrics, in part, are this:

I hate the Skydome and the CN Tower too

I hate Nathan Phillips Square and the Ontario Zoo

The rents too high, the air’s unclean

The beaches are dirty and the people are mean

And the women are big and the men are dumb

And the children are loopy 'cause they live in a slum

The water is polluted and the mayor's a d**k

They dress real bad and they think they're New York

In Toronto, Ontario

"You know, actually I think I hate all of Ontario"...

"actually, now that I really think about it, 

I think I pretty much hate every gosh darn province 

and territory in our country! 

Except Alberta, yeah I love Alberta" 

[says the Edmonton based band]...

And the only really good thing about the province of 

British Columbia is that it’s right next to us!"

'cause Alberta doesn't suck... [and then the Edmonton band adds] 

But Calgary does.

Jesus says, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? …And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” (vv.47-48). They’ll know we are Christians by our love. Jesus loves all the children of the world.

Now, I want to be clear that I am not saying that we should not stand up to what is wrong. We need to definitely stand up to what is wrong. In recent months I have read a lot of Gandhi, Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr. They all stood up for right over wrong. They all stood up for the weak and oppressed. They all stood up in the face of aggression and they all stood up to their oppressors. This is important. We need to stand up to injustice. We also need, as was acknowledged by each of the aforementioned; we need to avoid the trap  of being tricked into hating our opponents.

I watched Star Wars this weekend with my daughters. There is a pivotal moment in that famous movie franchise where Darth Vader is trying to turn Luke from the Light to the Darkness; how does he try to do this? He tries to do this by making him hate. He tells Luke that only his hatred can destroy his enemy: this is a lie of Darth Vader and this is also a lie of our enemy, the Enemy, the devil. In the real world, hate cannot defeat evil; hate can only become evil. Hate is what turns a good person, bad; it is love, Jesus’ love, which redeems us.

Martin Luther King Jr – whom Kevin Moore quoted at a memorial in Regent Park this week - said, “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” “I have decided to stick to love...Hate is too great a burden to bear.”[6]

‘Do you know what the stupidest expression in the world is?’ - a firefighter once asked me - ‘fight fire with fire;’ ‘you don’t fight fire with fire; that just causes a bigger fire!’ It is the same with hate. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. If I get drawn into hating someone because they hate something else than I have just caused love to shrink and hate to grow. If on the other hand we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, then we may be called children of our Father in heaven. If we love everyone, more than just those who love us, then indeed we may even be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Therefore let us resolve to love one another and let us wish each other well - even those who may wish us ill.

Let us pray.

   

www.sheepspeak.com

   

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[1] Lemony Snicket, When Did You See Her Last? (Little, Brown and Company: 2013)

[2] Douglas R.A. Hare, Matthew (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky: John Know Press, 1993), 58: There is record of the early church doing just this: praying for and loving those who are presecuting them.

[3] Cf. Daniel Hetherington, SJ, The Gospel of Matthew (Sacra Pagina: Collegeville: Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2007) 272,89: It is important to note the the OT never says ‘hate your enemies’; this is probably a condemnation upon the way people have been living out their lives as ‘children of the Father,’

[4] D.A. Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/B. First Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29)/3. The kingdom of heaven: its demands in relation to the OT (5:17-48)/b. Application: the antitheses (5:21-48)/(6) Hatred and love (5:43-47), Book Version: 4.0.2 : There is no command to hate your enemy; however, ‘The Qumran covenanters explicitly commanded love for those within the community ("those whom God has elected") and hatred for the outsider (cf. 1QS 1:4, 10; 2:4-9; 1QM 4:1-2; 15:6; 1QH 5:4), and they doubtless represent other groups with similar positions. This love-hate antithesis may be mitigated by the covenanters' conviction that they alone were the faithful remnant; at least some of the language anticipates divine eschatological language. But not all of it can be dismissed so easily (cf. Davies, Setting, pp. 245ff.).’ Cf. Sacra Pagina, 89:

[5] M. Eugene Boring, Matthew (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995),198. Loving one’s neighbour shows that we are oriented towards God.

[6] Martin Luther King Jr, A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr (Ed. James M. Washington (HaperCollins: New York, NY, 1986) and A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend  Martin Luther King, Jr.

Devotion 2.37/09: Ecclesiastes 12:8: Groundhog Day

Presented to River Street Cafe, 03 February 2017

Read Ecclesiastes 12:8-14

February 2^nd: What happens on February 2^nd? What day is February 2^nd? I have some friends from Wiarton, Ontario; I usually send them a note on February 2^nd. February 2^nd is Groundhog Day. What happens if groundhog sees his shadow? What happens if he doesn’t? What happens if one sees his shadow and another doesn’t? What happens if they disagree? What happens if the groundhog is blind? Is that cheating? When we lived in Manitoba, groundhogs were everywhere; how do we decide which one did or did not see his or her shadow and which one’s view matters more than the next? Yesterday 2/3 of the famous groundhogs did not see their shadow; so do we just say 2 out of 3 ain’t bad and assume that Spring will be early this year? What does it really mean if a groundhog sees its shadow? Nothing.

I once heard Canadian elections cynically described in terms of metal bars. You have four metal bars in front of you: a Liberal Red one, a Conservative Blue one, an Orange NDP one, and a Green one. On Election Day you choose which of these four metal bars you will be beaten with for the next four years.

I saw a comic on one inauguration day in the US. It was a picture of the devil sitting on a throne with the American Flag behind him. He was in the process of taking off a mask of the outgoing president and putting on the mask of the incoming president. There is a line in a favourite song of mine by White Lion, that says, ‘no more Presidents and all the wars will end; one united world under God’

This week we have seen some potentially horrific things – depending on how it all rolls out – in the US. The new president has signed a ban on immigrants and refugees from 7 countries; he has signed into construction a wall to keep others out of their country. I think sometimes people think that all of this would change if the devil just wore another mask, if they had elected someone from the other ruling party. Did you know that the leading candidate from the other party, while she opposed the ‘wall’, instead supported a ‘fence’ – same thing different name; and did you know that that other party put a ban on Iraqi children entering their country when they were in the most need. The events of this week may be horrible but really we are just being hit with a different colour stick than we have been hit with before.

Now I am not saying that we don’t need to stand up to horrible things: we do! As Christians we are told that we do need to stand up to against injustice. That is part of what shows the world that we are Christians.

What we need to remember is this: don’t to look to politicians or parties or philosophies or groundhogs to solve all of our world’s problems. They won’t do it. They can't do it. As interesting as they are, they really are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. What we need is to stand up for the poor and the marginalized, but let us not do so in the name of party or a philosophy but in the Name of Jesus Christ because that is where our help comes from. There is no other name by which mankind can be saved.

www.sheepspeak.com