Matthew 1:18-2:18: What’s Your Choice?

This is the 2021 version presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries on 26 December 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay

 

In this passage that we have just read, Matthew’s version of the Christmas story, we are faced with three responses to the miracle of the birth of Christ, the coming of the Messiah:

1. 1)    That of Joseph (his legal father),
2. 2)    Herod (King of Judea), and
3. 3)    Some magi (astrologers, astronomers, magicians or wise men, traditionally ‘we three kings’).

 

I want to look a little bit today at their three different responses to the news that Jesus was to be born and the news that he was actually born.

 

JOSEPH

First we have Joseph: Joseph is a carpenter/stone mason. He is from the tribe of Judah and – of course – a famous ancestor of his is King David. We are told in our text today that Joseph, verse 19, is righteous. In our world these days when we think of a righteous person what would we think that they would be like? They would pray, read the Bible, love God and love their neighbour (cf. Luke 10:27)?. This was very much what it would have meant for Joseph too. Joseph served God and to the first century Jews righteousness meant that one was very good at keeping the religious law of the day.

 

Matthew tells us also, Verse 1:18, that Joseph is pledged to be married to a girl named Mary - Now, betrothal in first century is not like it is today. When you are engaged then you are already bound. You are already considered as husband and wife and the union can only be dissolved through death or divorce but before Mary and Joseph ever ‘know each other’ in the Biblical sense, Mary becomes pregnant. Imagine this scenario with me, if you will: you are engaged, you have not had relations with your fiancée and all of a sudden you find out that she is pregnant. What would you do? What would you say? What would you feel? What would you think? What would you think and what would you do if your girlfriend to whom you are engaged becomes pregnant – and not by you? Would you still get married? Joseph, when he finds out that Mary is pregnant, is planning to call off the wedding altogether. Verse 19 says that he wants to do this quietly so as to not bring any disgrace upon Mary. He is a righteous man.

 

Then something happens. Joseph has a dream. He dreams about an angel and in the dream this angel tells Joseph that he should ‘take Mary home as his wife’, Verse 20, ‘because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit’. He then dreams about what to name this child and how this son will save people from even their sins. It is now that Joseph has a number of decisions to make.

 

1)    Does he believe in visions in general and does he believe in this vision in particular?

2)    Does he believe that an angel actually has spoken to him and does he believe that what this angel has told him is true?

3)    And how will he respond to his belief? Will he ignore his conviction that this vision is from God and press on with the separation/divorce anyway or will he accept the commission given to him from God through a messenger in a dream? What would you do? Do you believe in your dreams?

 

Joseph does. Joseph is a righteous man. When Joseph awakes from his sleep, Verse 24, he does everything the angel from the Lord tells him to do including taking Mary home as his wife and not having any sexual relations with her until this child is born. This is Joseph. Joseph is a righteous man. He follows his dream. He follows God.

 

KING HEROD

Our Bible reading today mentions Herod. History tells us about Herod. Herod is a regional king. He works for the Romans and he is known as ‘Herod the Great’. Herod is a great political leader and as such is involved in all the political intrigue of his era in all the ways that political intrigue is carried out in his time.  He is a king but his job is no more secure than that of a contemporary politician and Herod defends his title and his job no less vigorously: in order to secure his position, Herod needs to back the right horse and defeat all his rivals. He – like many contemporary politicians – switches his allegiances more than once as to whom he backs for Emperor – first he backs Mark Anthony’s coalition government and later crosses the floor to support Caesar Augustus. Herod is a king who leaves behind a good legacy of building and growth but he is an adept politician, cruel and insecure. The title awarded to him by Caesar Augustus is Herod, King of the Jews.

 

Imagine what it must have been like for him. Imagine you are King of the Jews and these privileged academics come to you from a foreign country and they ask, “Where is your replacement?” Matthew 2:2, they ask “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Imagine, you have this job that you have fought hard for all your life and your job title is ‘King of the Jews’ and these strangers come up to you and ask to meet your replacement, the new King of the Jews. How would you react?

 

I was a dishwasher once for about a week as a teenager; the job didn’t go well and I didn’t get along with my co-worker and one day I met a friend for coffee; he was excited as he told me that he had just been hired for a job at this SAME restaurant. When we talk for a while it becomes apparent that they have hired him for MY job. That is how I found out that I was going to be fired. This could be what it is like for Herod when he hears this news that a there is going to be a new king of the Jews. This news is a shock to him. This news is a threat to him. Current kings can be killed when new kings take over. Herod is the king. Who is this new King of the Jews? If you were Herod, what would you do? Herod is determined to eliminate his would-be-rival so Herod sends in the troops. The military massacres male babies two years and younger in order to wipe out any possible rival who may have been recently born. This is Herod’s reaction to the birth of Jesus. He tries to remove him.

 

THE MAGI

In our story today we also have the Magi. Our word ‘magic’ comes from the same root as ‘magi’. They are learned people who see this ‘star’. They come from the east (cf. Philippians 2:10-11). Remember that travel isn’t easy in that day and age: they can’t just hop a flight or drive the Trans-Palestine superhighway to Jerusalem. These wise men realize from their studies of the world around them that the King of the Jews has been born (cf. Numbers 24:17, Daniel 9:25, John 4:25, Romans 1). What do they do when they discover this? Remember that they probably aren’t Jews and they don’t live in the area. What do these foreign academics do when they find out a king of the Jews has been born? They put their whole lives on hold and come to find him in order to worship him (Matthew 2:2; cf. TSA d. 2,4).

 

Matthew provides us with these contrasting example to the birth of the king because people in the first century had a choice to make as to whether they were going to serve their contemporary systems of government or whether they were going to serve the NEW KING.

 

We have to face the same choice today. The king has already been born. That is what Christmas is all about. This King has, is and will change the whole world. Jesus proclaims a new world order. Jesus is an end to capitalism, democracy, consumerism, imperialism, and whatever other ‘ism’ people are tempted to serve. The systems that raised up Herod and the Magi; Biden  and Trudeau; Horgan and whomever, will come to an end. This world where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer is coming to an end. This world where man makes war against man will end. Like White Lion proclaims, ‘no more presidents and all the wars will end, then we will have one united kingdom under God.’ This is what the Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke are about. With Jesus birth, life, death, and resurrection, Sin has been defeated. Jesus birth in a game changer; the game has now been won; and when he returns (any day now) it will be over. Whenever each of us realizes this, we need to make a decision – do we love Jesus like Joseph and acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and leader and worship him like the Magi or do we rebel against him, trying to root him out of our life and our world like Herod. It is my hope that on this day after Christmas Day 2000+ years closer to the return of Christ than on the day of his birth, that we will each choose to live forever in this New Kingdom with this new King.

 

Let us Pray

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Luke 2:1-20: Christmas Day 2021

Vaguely similar to the message spoken to TSA's Alberni Valley Ministries, Christmas Day, 25 December, 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay 

It was tough times in Judea in the 1^st Century when Jesus was born. They had been part of the Roman Empire for a while. They lived through wars and rebellions. Herod the Great, the king of this region, was instrumental in putting Caesar Augustus on the throne. This is a people torn apart by challenges, circumstances, differing opinions and sentiments - much like today.

 

Covid-19 in this country is polarizing many people. The rules, regulations, and restrictions by the governments and our organizations do not seem to be consistent. The pandemic is a real concern and each attempted solution seems to either make it worse, or at the very least, not make it any better.

 

Many people are getting sick, suffering physically: not only from Covid-19 but from our healthcare, hospitals, and/or governments being unable to treat people with other serious ailments. Many people are suffering emotionally – suicide is on the rise, as is Medical Assistance In Dying. Drug use is on the rise. The Opioid Crisis is a real concern and each attempted solution seems to either make it worse, or at the very least, not make it any better.

 

In BC, we have just had the floods that caused loss of life, destruction of homes, highways, businesses and farms and livestock – chickens and cows and other animals have perished. People have been cut off. Our supply lines have been disrupted.

 

The debt and deficit in this country are so bad that I don’t know if anyone has any idea how to find a way out.

 

And now winter is hitting our own community really very hard. We are expecting this week some of the coldest weather ever recorded in our Valley. We are partnering with many other agencies to try to find a way to keep the Drop-in Centre open so people don’t freeze to death.

 

It is into a time not unlike this that God sent His Only Begotten Son to our world in the First Century. Jesus was sent to a people who were struggling. Jesus lived and taught with a people who were struggling. Jesus died and rose again to save a people who were struggling - and he can save us too.

 

There are many struggles that we all corporately have today. There are possibly infinitely more struggles that each and every one of us has personally each and every day. Christmas Day marks the day God sent His Son so that we can be saved even in the midst of our turmoil and saved even unto eternity.

 

Advent Season is about remembering the wait for Jesus’ birth and Advent Season is about our waiting for His return. Jesus has saved us so that when He returns there will be no more death, no more suffering, no more pain, no more tears and until that time we have His Holy Spirit and Immanuel, God With Us.

 

God is with us in all of our struggles today. No matter what happens today, no matter what happens tomorrow, God is with us. We can bring all of our struggles to him – all or our pain, all of our sadness and all of our fears and He will deliver us from them. After all perfect love drives out fear and Jesus is perfect love.

 

And this my friends is what Christmas is all about. So on this Christmas Day let us celebrate the birth of our Saviour who has provided for our salvation us in the midst of all of our struggles and who has made it possible for us to live and grow in that salvation forever.

 

Let us pray.

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Isaiah 9:6-7 and John 3:16-17: Christmas Hope

Online presentation originally composed for the Salvation Army Christmas Services for the seniors' homes in the Alberni Valley by Captain Michael Ramsay

Isaiah 9:6-7a: 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: 

and the government shall be upon his shoulder: 

and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, 

The mighty God, 

The everlasting Father, 

The Prince of Peace. 

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, 

 

This was a verse that I had to memorize as a small child growing up on the Island here. It was my line in a church Christmas pageant many years ago. The Christmas pageants were always quite exciting and performing in them was always a little nerve-racking. The church was always filled to capacity – even the balconies and the lobbies were full. There were stage lights shining on us. There was a microphone in front of each of us as we spoke. With all of this going on it could be very difficult to remember your line. Thankfully, I did. And I still do. This memory verse has stayed with me decades later and there is not an Advent Season that passes without my reflecting on this passage. I am so thankful for that. 

 

This is a great reminder to me of what Christmas is all about. It is all about the birth of our saviour; the one who saves us! It is a reminder that Jesus is not only the leader of an heavenly government but He is also the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. I am reminded that at Christmas we celebrate how, John 3:16-17:

…God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

 

Jesus came into the world so that the world through Him might be saved. He came to this world so that we could all live peacefully with one another forever in His Kingdom to come.

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Luke 3:1-6 (Isaiah 40:1-8) Straight Paths

Presented to The Salvation Army: Alberni Valley Ministries, 05 December 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay

 

To read a version of this presented to the 230pm service of Warehouse Mission 614 at 252 Carlton St., Toronto, on the second Sunday of Advent, 10 December 2017 by Captain Michael Ramsay, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2017/12/isaiah-401-8-sometimes-buildings-need_9.html

 

To see the 2024 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2024/12/isaiah-40-luke-31011-today-we-are.html

 

To see the 2023 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2023/12/isaiah-401-8-28-31-luke-31-6-straight.html

When we were stationed in Toronto, we participated in the Santa Shuffle, an annual fun race put on by The Salvation Army. Even Heather when she was very little participated and got a medal. I have been injured since the beginning of covid (hamstring and meniscus) but before then – off and on - since I was in my 30s, I have done a bit of running. When I lived in Vancouver, I faithfully ran every second day. I lived about 5km from my office – I used to run there and back. In Winnipeg I lived almost 10km from the College; a colleague and I did that run more than once. In Toronto I would run past the many Officers’ quarters regularly as we all seemed to live in the same area, and here in Port Alberni I even ran with Rebecca a bit before she moved and then I was later injured. Running can be fun – but when you get out of the habit and have to start again or when you start for the very first time it can be a chore. And sometimes those hills in your first few runs can feel like mountains and those valleys, ravines.  I can remember when I was first learning to run being near the end of my run and my energy... rounding a corner and seeing... another hill to try to run up...I then understand Luke 3:4-6 and Isaiah 40:3b-5:

“...make straight in the desert

a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up,

every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level,

the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

and all people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

  

This is a great verse to ponder when you are running up and down hills and around curves, looking towards a time when obstacles will disappear. Pre-covid we had a Salvation Army hiking group here that would go for walks on Mondays. There is a lot of hiking on the Island here and if one goes backpacking or on a very long hike, after a few hours following switchbacks up and down mountains, you can almost feel the relief of Luke and Isaiah’s valleys raised and mountains levelled. This is part of the Good News of Luke 3 and Isaiah 40. This is the Good News that John the Baptist proclaims: when Jesus returns with His Kingdom, obstacles will be removed. As during Advent we commemorate waiting for Jesus’ birth, we also hope for His return so our mountains of trouble will be levelled and our valleys of despair will be raised to abundance. The crookedness of our paths will be straightened. That is hope.

  

Last week we lit the candle of hope. Today we lit the candle of love. First one has hope and then one can dare to love. One of the key things about hope and love in the context of Isaiah and thus Luke is that both are to and from God and an humbled people, a conquered people, an exiled people. There is no hope when you are on top of the world...only fear that you will fall off.

  

Sarah-Grace is doing her first in-person year at college. She is going to the same college where I studied my first year or so. When I was in college, I remember looking at the marks going into one final exam and noticing that I had the 3rd highest mark in that class. I then heard the people with the two highest marks brag to each other about which of the two of them would finish top of the class, like no one else was their equal – it was at that moment that I resolved that I would beat them both.  And I did.

  

When we lived in Swift Current Saskatchewan, I believe each Christmas we would raise more money per capita for The Salvation Army than any other place. At first this was a victory – and then it was almost a fear for me. What happens if we are not the best? What if someone beats us? What if I do not beat my previous record? What if I fail?

  

It was the same in university, once I became addicted to ‘A+’s, a ‘B’ was infuriating. There was no inherent joy in achievement anymore only a fear of failure – and that fear of failure can stomp out hope and it can stomp out love.

  

It was not always like that though in school. I remember a time when I would hope and pray and celebrate even a passing grade. I remember Grade 11 French. The only French words I remember from that year we’re ‘ne lancer pas la papier’ which means ‘don’t throw the paper’. Apparently the teacher didn’t like that we threw paper airplanes in class. Every time we made one, we could hear her say, ‘ne lancer pas la papier’.

  

I don’t think I was her favourite student. One day I was in the counselling alcove and I saw my French teacher and she asked me what I was doing. I told her I was switching out of her French in 3rd period... ‘That is a very good idea to be out of my class’, she said. ‘...to your class in fourth period,’ I continued. She was not impressed.

   

But forget my tales of youth. Don’t we all have stories of a more carefree time? Look back on those times: these are usually times when you didn’t have a lot except the love of a few good friends and the hope that the future will be better. There is a lot of freedom in not having much. Is it Janet Joplin who sang that freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose?

  

Sometimes this is right. Sometimes I think we get to a place of fearing loss so much that we no longer have hope and we no longer have love. Sometimes when we have enough to get by, we don’t share what is ours for fear that we might not have something. This is reflected very much in tithing. When a person who has tithed or knows they should tithe, does not tithe... this is a sign that we are not doing well. This is a symptom that we are not free but instead bound up in fear or pride or something else that keeps us from tithing. I remember when we were Corps Officers in Tisdale, there was Ralph. He had a limited income. He only made $52.30 a week and you know what? Every week he tithed $5.23. This is an example of love. This is an example of our hope in the Lord. I think of him when sometimes I am tempted to keep God’s tithe from Him, when sometimes I fear for my finances. I can choose hope and love instead.

Fear can rob us of hope. Fear can rob us of love. In our pandemic, fear is gaining great power. Fear is grabbing a hold of many people and making them insensitive to the plight of others. Fear is making people mean to each other. Fear can be a crippler of hope and fear can detract from Love. Our candle today is love and perfect love drives out fear.

  

In Advent we talk about the Good News of the Salvation of the world. Do you know where in the Bible this Good News shows up for the first time? Genesis 12:1-3: “All the nations of the earth will be blessed” and do you know what happens just before then... Genesis 11: the tower of Babel. God told the people to move and fill the earth. The people said, ‘No. We are going to stay here, build a city and a tower, and make a name for ourselves instead.’ God levelled their tower, their city; their pride and their fear, in order to give them the hope of salvation.

  

Isaiah records how God’s own temple was destroyed, the holy city of Jerusalem, and the independent nations of Israel and Judah - until the day He will return. Their country was conquered, their city was leveled, their temple was destroyed and through this, God provided them with hope. In Isaiah comes this hope of flattened mountains, raised valleys, straight paths and the joy and love that can only come from trusting God.

There are many things in our world, our country, our province, our time, and our life that are coming crashing down all around us these days. God loves us. This is the love that God has for us: He loves us so much that if there are any untraversable valleys, mountains, crooked paths or Babel-like buildings of traditions, pride, fear, hate, or something else in our lives; He will fill in those valleys, flatten those mountains and tear down those buildings, so we can be rebuilt on His foundations.

  

There is a song by a Canadian Band, Glorious Sons, whose first two lines get stuck in my head whenever I hear it on the radio:

I spent all my money on a pack of cigarettes,

for a lady that I love with a name I forget.

The song tells a story about someone’s troubles as it moves to the chorus which proclaims, ‘everything will be alright.’ There have been some troubles in the world recently. For those of us who have already had things come tumbling down around us and are now feel as if we are in exile in our own lives, for those of us who are fearing or grieving, for those of us who feel like all is lost, God is here. When the people were scattered from the ruins of Babel, God was there with Terah and his son, Abraham, offering salvation. When Israel was slave to Egypt, God was there with Moses offering salvation; when Judah was exiled from her city, her temple, and her life, God was there pointing her towards Salvation: Jesus’ Advent; Jesus whose imminent return we eagerly await today – at that time all the insurmountable mountains in our life will be levelled, all the impassable valleys raised, and all our crooked paths made straight – and right up until that time, right until the end of this age, He is here with us in the midst of it all.

  

It is Advent. Let us start (if we haven’t already) and let us continue in hope and in love. Let us all walk in God’s hope and in God’s love for we know He will see us through and we know He is with us even as we look forward to the day of Christ’s return when all those valleys will be raised, all those mountains will be levelled and all our paths will straightened for ever more.

  

Let us pray.

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Psalm 25:1-10: Our Leader in Times of Trouble

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries by Captain Michael Ramsay, 28 November 2021

Psalm 25 is an acrostic poem which means that every line begins with a different letter in the Hebrew Alphabet. If it was our alphabet, it would run A through Z in sequence. It is a poem written during some very difficult times. We, now, are in some very difficult times: Flooding around the province, fires in the summer, the plague that still ravages the world and seems to mutate almost at will (if that were possible); our economy is in shambles and we are making it worse; our country is more and more involved in many -at best- questionable aggressive international actions; our country is divided over things like vaccine passports and vaccine mandates. People are scared. People are mean. People are uncertain. All of this is coming across on social media and in person. I have heard multiple stories of people ‘losing it’ and I think we have each probably encountered someone ‘losing it’, getting noticeably upset in public when they never would have before. That person ‘losing it’ in some cases may even have been us. These are some very difficult times. Psalm 25 is an ABC poem written by someone in very difficult times. Let us take a look at the first 10 Verses of this poem, those in the lectionary for today and let us find some encouragement from this ABC poem as we look at an equivalent of letters A through I. (I have adapted it slightly here to fit that form)

 

A.

Always to you Lord, I lift my Soul

B.

Benevolent God, in you I trust…

 

In our struggles today with all that we already mentioned and the more personal, immediate things that we are each facing today, let us take a deep breath; let us sit maybe in silence for a while; let us lift our thoughts and our hearts to God. Let us release our minds from all the things that want to work us up into a frenzy and let us instead place our trust in God.

 

… do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. 

C.

Champion us, do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 

 

Lord as we come to you today with all of the things we are struggling with; Lord as we come to you in vulnerability, aware of the forces and powers and principalities aligning against us, please champion us, please do not let those who wish to divide and conquer us succeed. Please help us not to tear at each other to bits but rather to be unified in our love for you. Please may we not tear and be torn apart. Please help us to persevere in peace. Please may we not be put to shame.

 

D.

Do make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. 

E.

Everyday lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. 

 

God, please help me to know what to do in these times; You are my salvation; God, please let me know what to think in these times; You are my salvation; God please show me how to show love to my neighbour in these times, even though they may be my accusers and tormenters in these time. Lord please help me to persevere; You are my salvation; please help me to always follow You in truth which is love and forgiveness. Lord, please help me to quiet myself so I may have Your peace in these times.

 

F.

Forgiveness and Mercy: Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. 

 

Lord you are merciful on everyone. May I be the same. May we be the same. May we be charitable with one another. We are blessed through your covenant faithfulness. Each of us can think back on troubles in our lives and the older we are and the more troubles we have had, the more experiences we have that we can remember your never-failing faithfulness. You have always been faithful in pulling us through so that we have survived even until today and you continue to pull us through so that we may survive even until tomorrow and eternity. Lord, may we never forget your love, your mercy, your faithfulness and may we always be faithful and merciful with one another.

G.

Gracious God, do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!

 

Lord, I appeal to your mercy. I appeal to your forgiveness and your never-ending love. I know that I have done and said many things in the past. I know I have thought many uncharitable things. I know I have made comments that were not and are not okay. I know I have done actions and said words that are harmful. Lord, please forgive me and thank you for forgiving me my sins and the harmful things I have done, said, and thought.

H.

He is Good and upright; therefore, the LORD instructs sinners in the way.

 

God is good. He loves all of us. Even those of us who fail and flail about. When hate grabs our heart, and despair, and helplessness, and unforgiveness, and all else that can grab ahold of us and drag us under, the Lord is here offering to teach us the ways of forgiveness that lead to peace. Unforgiveness is one of the key things that rob us of peace and love. It is only through forgiving others that any of us can ever hope to have peace. Unforgiveness is a self-inflicted wound. It is only we who can heap that debilitating injury upon ourselves. The Lord can free us from its suffocating grasp. The Lord taught us that in His life, in His Death, and He continues to teach us that in His resurrection life. Love overcomes death. In the Lord, we can be free.

 

I.

In what is right, He leads the humble and teaches the humble His way.

J.

All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. 

 

As he instructs the sinners; so too does he lead the humble. As we humble ourselves before the Lord in our times of trouble, He will lead us through. As we humble ourselves to realize that we may not always be correct, as we humble ourselves to acknowledge that we do not know everything, as we humble ourselves to see that we cannot solve the problems of the world – much less the problems in our own lives – all by ourselves, as we humble ourselves to follow the LORD, He will lead us through our troubles.

And this is the hope that I wish to leave us with today. On this Advent Sunday, 2000+ years after the birth of our saviour and 2000+ years closer to His return, I want to encourage us all to turn to the Prince of Peace, experience His love and forgiveness and indeed, as we do, He can and will see us through even the most difficult of times.

Let us pray.

 

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Romans 14:4-12: The Apocalypse is Nuanced

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries by Captain Michael Ramsay, 14 November 2021

The other week the kids and I were able to join Susan and her parents in the BC Legislature as they honoured her father for all the work he did for the people of BC. It was nice to have everyone’s names mentioned too.  

We then got to stay for question period and that was ‘a whole nother matter’. It started off innocuous enough. It actually reminded me of when I was in Grade 6. We each took turns public speaking. Someone would have a timer. You had to be as close to 2 minutes as possible and not go over. The MLAs were doing this very well. I am sure they must have all passed Grade 6 with flying colours... And then it got interesting. 

The clock was set for half-an-hour or so but unlike the 2-minute speeches, this time limit meant… absolutely nothing. The time was done and the politicians were not done; so they kept talking. The opposition, all except one lowly Green Party member who obviously didn’t get the memo, were all asking the same question over and over again about a government policy around Autism: ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’  One after another would read a comment from someone in their riding and then they would ask, ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’ to which Mitzi Dean, the minister responsible, would respond, ‘it is not a claw back’; the next person would read another letter and ask the very same question ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’ to which the ever more frustrated minister would respond, ‘it is not a claw back!’ and this went on for well over the half-an-hour allocated for this: ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’ ‘It is not a claw back!’  

I got to thinking (sarcastically) during this whole show, ‘wow. What a good use of taxpayer money this is.’ Here we have some of the highest paid employees in the province giving Grade 6 level speeches followed by asking each other questions that no one really answered and that no one was really listening to anyway, even if they did. I began to think, what a colossal waste of money is our so-called democracy. 

Then we went upstairs to a ceremony where they honoured Susan’s dad for all the work he had done as leader of the NDP, leader of the Opposition, and as an MLA and MP for this community for decades. They spoke about many of the great things he accomplished, his principles, and even read from some of his speeches. His first ever speech in the house was quoted by more than one person. In it he made a great stand for the people of Port Alberni and argued passionately the case of the local First Nations (he would of course, in later years, be the federal critic for Indian Affairs, as it was then called.) Susan also made one of the best speeches honouring her father, what he had done, and who he is. 

It struck me then that on the same day as we saw question period which pointed out how seemingly useless our system of government and our leaders can be, we also saw how useful and valuable our leaders can be: both at the same time. When I was thinking about all this Romans 14: 4 came to mind: Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall.  

Then I got to thinking – well, that is life in general; isn’t it? We can all and each be equal parts good and useful and bad and useless; sometimes all at the same time, can’t we? (I know I can!) 

Sometimes maybe we paint the world a little too black and white; sometimes we can throw the baby out with the bathwater; sometimes we can say that because so-and-so was wrong or bad on this occasion then everything they say is wrong or bad. I think sometimes we need to remember that when we disagree with each other it might even be the case that neither of us is wrong… or maybe both of us are? Maybe we are both right and wrong all at the same time too. Some examples from Romans 14:5&6:  

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God… [And Verse 10] Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 

There are many things going on in this world right now. I have spoken a lot about the anguish I have experienced praying and having to make decisions about vaccine passports and Covid-19; so, I am not going to go into that too much today but any of you who have heard me talk have heard me wrestle with the nuances of this. I was chatting about how troubled I was with that the other week to Nancy Wilmot and she had some words of wisdom. She said to me something along the lines of, “Who thought the apocalypse would be so nuanced and multi-layered?” That really resonates with me. I told her I’d quote her. I immediately thought of the passage in the gospels where Jesus reminds us, Mark 13:32-33: 

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 

The Apocalypse is nuanced and multi-layered. We don’t know how precisely everything is going to unfold and when all this will end. There are many challenging things going on right now that require us to seek the Lord’s leading: all the questions around Covid-19 but also the opioid crisis and race relations and gender identity and a re-interpretation of history, and, and, and...  

I could really go on about some of the dangerous policies in place around ‘harm reduction’ these days. I have some real concerns about the way some of these policies are harming those who want to break their addictions and are even creating environments where new people are falling prey to addiction. I can get really worked up about this and Covid-19 policies and other things that directly affect us here. These are some of the many things that I am struggling with – and I know many of you have even more important, more immediate, and more personal things that you are dealing with right now. There are people we walk with on a daily basis whose actions often leave us wondering what is going on or can tempt us into anger, judgement, or frustration – but, in the midst of our frustrating time, here are two things I am learning from Romans Chapter 14 right now. 

One: outside of the body of Christ, we are not a Christian Country so, Romans 14:4, who am I to pass judgement on servants of another? Someone who doesn’t follow Christ, can’t be expected to act as if they do. (But we still should!) 

And two: even within the body of Christ, Romans 4:10-12: Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then, each of us will be accountable to God. 

Even amongst those of us who serve the Lord sometimes we are led to do different things. We shouldn’t despise one another. Life, even in our trying times, is confusing. As Nancy said, “who thought the apocalypse would be so nuanced and multi-layered?” It is - or at least our present time seems to be. 

There are many things happening right now. There are people making every kind of decision and as for myself, I probably won’t get everything right. You may not even get everything right- but maybe you will. The Lord, however, is always true and the Lord is always faithful. We need to seek Him in all we do. Verses 5&6 and this whole passage really speak to this: we need to seek the Lord in all of our decisions and whatever He tells us to do, we need to do it. As we are faithful to the Lord, He will provide.  

I will leave you with 2 testimonies here about this truth. One: Many of you know that it looked like we would have to lay off employees from the Thrift Store who are not able to get vaccinated for health and other reasons. This did not sit right with a lot of us. As we approached the Lord, He provided a way that we could provide for them and obey Headquarters’ vaccine mandate all at the same time. Both of those employees are able and willing to work at the Bread of Life until such time as they are allowed to work with the Army again. We faithfully sought the Lord in prayer and the Lord provides. 

Two: Some of you know that consultants that the government hired were trying to force us to hand out crack pipes and syringes to people struggling to be free from addiction in order for us to receive government funding that we had already been promised. We weren’t going to do that. The Salvation Army, the Bread of Life and the Drop-In Centre need to be safe places for people to go. People can already get whatever drug paraphernalia they want at ACAWS, the OPS, Island Health; what they really need is a safe place to go and be allowed to be sober if they so choose. To make a very long story short, we sought the Lord and the Lord provided. God used one of our employees to speak to people higher-up at the city and the consultants were over-ruled. We are still able to provide a safe place for people to go who are struggling with addiction. The Lord provides. 

Likewise, whatever you are struggling with today, whatever it is that is causing you to lose sleep or be preoccupied, whatever it is that threatens your peace of mind, your heart and soul, as we bring it to the Lord and stand firm in the way the Holy Spirit convicts us, He will deliver us. He will. Whatever you are facing today, He is able more than able to handle. He will bring you through to the other side. In Him and Him alone, we can place our trust. Let us pray. 

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Alberni Valley Remembrance Day Service, November 11th 2021

FIELD OF HONOUR

CAPTAIN MICHAEL RAMSAY

PADRE, ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION # 293

1. O CANADA

 

2. INVOCATION: Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth forever more.

 

At the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month, time stands still for a moment; and we remember those who died, not for war, but for a world that would be free and at peace.

 

3. OPENING REMARKS

·       MC

·       Mayor

 

4. SCRIPTURE READING: A Reading from the 23^rd Psalm.

 

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

he leadeth me beside the still waters.

 

He restoreth my soul:

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

 

Yea, though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

 

Thou preparest a table before me

in the presence of mine enemies:

thou anointest my head with oil;

my cup runneth over.

 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

 

5. PRAYER: Almighty God. You are our refuge and strength; we humble ourselves in Your presence, and, remembering the great things you have done for us, we lift up our hearts in adoration and praise. As you have gathered us together this day, we give You thanks for all who served their country in time of trial.

 

In remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice, make us better men and women, and give us peace in our time, O Lord.

 

6. LAST POST

 

7. SILENCE – 2 MINUTES

 

8. REVEILLE

 

9. LAMENT

 

10. ADDRESS: This is our second Remembrance Day where, instead of gathering in the Glenwood Centre, we are obliged only to gather outside in the cold and the weather. More than 100 years ago, from 1914-1918, Canadians, First Nations, our allies, and our foes, stood outside on days such as today and days with weather much more miserable than today. They stood in the trenches, they stood in the mud, they lived in the mud, they died in the mud.

They were in the mud in a foreign land out of loyalty to us; they were there out of love for us, their friends and their families. 1-in-5 Canadians never did return to experience the warmth and love of their home. In the Alberni Valley, of the only 1 600 people who lived here in 1914, 116 signed up to go overseas in just the first few months of the war alone. Many of them never did return home.

To put this in perspective, many of us know someone who has died in the current pandemic that is tragically sweeping our world and our country. 29 022 people out of our current population of 38 million Canadians have died of Covid-19; In World War II, when Canada had only 11 million people 45 400 of them died in that war and in World War I, when our population was a just more than 7 million people, 61 000 Canadians gave their lives. If you were alive then, someone you knew and probably someone you loved, died in the mud and in the rain and in the war. We are here to remember them today.

This July it is 100 years since the Great War Veterans Association (one of the forerunners of our Royal Canadian Legion) adopted the Poppy as our flower, our symbol of Remembrance.

The symbol comes from Lt.-Col John McCrae’s now famous poem, “In Flanders Fields”. Lt.-Col John McCrae served in World War I. He treated the wounded during the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 when his friend, Lt. Alexis Helmer, was killed in battle. Lt. Helmer’s burial inspired the poem, "In Flanders Fields", written on May 3, 1915. Less than 3 years later, on January 28, 1918, while commanding No. 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) in France, Lt.-Col. McCrae died of pneumonia he caught while serving in weather much more miserable than today: serving in the trenches, serving in the weather; He died in part from the weather and entirely due to the war. McCrae’s legacy has lived on from his poem and today as we wear our poppies, let us remember all of those who have laid down their lives for us. Let us not forget. We will remember them.

In the Christian faith, of which I am a pastor, we have a hope for a future where there will be no more wars, no more death, and no more sorrow – only peace. May that day come soon! And let us always remember all those who have lived and died so that you and I may have a chance, even now, to live out our lives in peace and security. Let us remember.

 

We will remember them.

 

11. LAYING OF THE WREATHES

 

12.  BENEDICTION: Almighty God, as You have gathered your people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give You thanks for all who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of Your presence. Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us, that we at the last. Being faithful unto death, may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

13. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

 

First Nations Graves

 

O Almighty God, the great Ruler and architect of the Universe, we offer thanks for the life of those who have gone on before and we ask your divine help for the future. We desire your presence with us this day and may your guiding light penetrate the hearts of all assembled here. We pray you at this time to cherish the mothers, the widow and the fatherless of our brave men and women who made the supreme sacrifice. Give them strength to overcome. Be near them in their solitude and give us all the will to be an inspiration to all the world that the peace of God which passeth all understanding may be with us now for all eternity.

 

O God of peace, may the memory of wars strengthen our efforts for peace.

 

O Father of souls, may the memory of those who died inspire our service to the living.

 

O Builder of the Kingdom  of Love, may the memory of past destruction move us to build for the future.

 

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Exodus 12:24-27 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26: Lest We Forget

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries by Captain Michael Ramsay (Padre, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 293), 07 November 2021

The Exodus passage that we read from today references the Passover. The Passover was deliverance that God brought to His people through some terrible times. We have been struggling through the plague of Covid-19 since about March of 2020. The Passover occurred after the people had suffered through, not one plague (like we are struggling to do now) but 9 plagues. Can you imagine? Can you imagine if when we get through our current plague there are 8 more of these things waiting to greet us? …Each arguably worse than its predecessor? The Israelites suffered not one plague of Covid-19 but 9 plagues of various kinds: 

1. The Nile River turns to blood (7:14–25)

2. Plague of frogs (7:25–8:11)

3. Plague of gnats (8:12–15)

4. Plague of flies (8:20–32)

5. Plague on the livestalk (9:1–7)

6. Plague of boils (9:8–12)

7. Plague of hail (9:13-35)

8. Plague of locusts (10:1–20)

9. Plague of darkness (10:21–29) 

It was after the Ninth plague, when I am sure that everyone is completed exhausted from it all, that the Passover happens: the Angel of Death comes and kills the eldest child of every person and animal in a household, in a family – unless they were fully prepared. God saved the Hebrews. The Angel of Death passed over them. This salvation was so important that God instructed those who lived through the Passover to never forget it. They were to have a ceremony that they practiced annually down through the generations. Exodus 12:24-27a again

“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”

The ancient Israelites were asked to never forget the trials and tribulations that their forebearers suffered through hoping that future generations would never suffer in that way. They shall remember, lest they forget. 

This is Remembrance Sunday in the Church. In Canada we are asked never to forget what our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents went through in the World and other Wars. It is important that we remember so that we don’t have to live through those times ever again. I can’t imagine what Reinhart and Christa lived through with bombs dropping on their town and near their home. I can’t imagine what it is like to see a soldier attacking your town. I can’t imagine what Kirk, who is a member of our group here is going through right now even. As we speak he is back east getting treatment for PTSD brought on by some of the things he has seen in wartime and some of the things he has done. We are asked to remember our veterans and we are asked to remember the horror and sorrow of war so that future generations never need to live through what others experienced.

Just like with the World Wars and the Passover, Jesus and his disciples tell us that we are never to forget what Jesus has done for us between the cross and the empty tomb. Just like we have ceremonies here on Remembrance Day and the Israelites commemorated the Passover we are told in the Gospels and 1 Corinthians here to remember Jesus’ death and resurrection, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Paul says:

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Some denominations may take communion every day, every week, or every month to remember Christ’s death. Sundays are traditionally in the Church a time when we come together to remember Jesus’ resurrection; when people take communion they do so in remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection. Just like the ancient Hebrews remembered the Passover in a ceremony every year, Good Friday, even to this day, is a time when we in the Church gather to remember Jesus’ death and Easter Sunday is a time when we gather to remember his resurrection and look forward to his return. We will remember Him. Lest We Forget.

Just like on this Thursday upcoming we will gather in the cemetery to remember our service people, who offered their lives so that we may one day see an end to war; Easter, every Sunday and every day we have an opportunity and a responsibility to remember Christ who died and rose again so that we can all live forever more (if we so choose) and so that there may one day be an end to all war and a future time and place, a future realm of peace when even we ‘ain’t gonna study war no more’.

Let us pray

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Luke 11:14-28: The Parable of the Haunted House

Presented to Swift Current Corps 31 October 2010; Corps 614 Regent Park Toronto, 01 November 2015; and Alberni Valley Ministries, 31 October 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay

 

This is the 2021 Version presented to Alberni Valley Ministries. Links to the other versions are listed at the conclusion of this post. (There is also a video below, if you would prefer to see and hear this message)

 

Today is October 31^st so I thought that it would be good to start off with an October 31^st quiz today:

 

1)     What historic event happened in Wittenburg on this date in 1517? (Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church.)

2)     True or False: Ghosts are mentioned in the Bible. (True, especially The Holy Ghost in the Authorized Version)

3)     True or False: A king of Israel went to a witch to speak with the spirit of a dead person (True, 1 Samuel 28).

a.      Bonus Marks name the King (Saul), the dead person (Samuel), and the witch (the Witch of Endor)

4)     How many people can you name who the Bible records God used to raise others from the dead?

a.      God used Elijah to raise the son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17-23),

b.     God used Elisa to raise the Shunammite woman's son (2 Kings 4:32-37);

c.      There was the man they through into Elisha’s grave (2 Kings 13:21)

d.     Jesus raised:

                                                    i.     the widow's son (Luke 7:12-15),

                                                  ii.     Jairus' daughter (Luke 8:49-55),

                                                iii.     Lazarus (John 11:43,44),

e.      God uses Peter to raise Dorcas (Acts 9:37-40)

f.      Paul raised Eutychus (after he had bored him to death? Acts 20:9-12)

5)     The man possessed by so many demons that they called themselves Legion, where did he live? (In the tombs, the graveyard near Gerasenes; Mark 5:1,2, Luke 8:26-27)

6)     True or False: Jesus tells a parable about a haunted house? (True, Matthew 12:25-29, Mark 3:23-27, Luke 11:17-22)

 

The parable in Luke talks about a demon-possessed man and a demon-possessed house. Luke 11:24-26: “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.” The house is haunted by more demons than it was in the first place. This is in the Parable of the Haunted House.

 

There are many important things to come out of this Parable of the Haunted House. We obviously don’t have time today to spend on all of them. One of the key things to come out of this parable is that God is more important than anyone in the Christian’s life. This is highlighted in the Mark’s version (Mark 3:20-35). We are not to be distracted from serving the Lord by anyone – not even our family. This is very important.

 

About the Haunted House, Luke 11:17-18, “…Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? ...” And Luke 11:23, Jesus says, “He who is not with me is against me” Jesus is drawing the line here. He is being quite clear. Jesus has had a serious accusation levelled against him. He has been accused of exorcising demons by demonic power.

 

Jesus is accused of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons (Luke 11:15, Matthew 12:24, Mark 3:22). We are familiar with the term Beelzebub, right? Milton named one of his characters in ‘Paradise Lost’ Beelzebub. In Milton’s story he was the devil’s henchman but Beelzebub here in scriptures isn’t the right-hand man of the devil. Beelzebub is the devil himself. Beelzebub is another name for the Satan. We remember that the ancient Israelites – long before the time of Jesus’ birth– were often split between those who worshipped YHWH and those who worshipped a Canaanite god by the name of Baal. One of the names people who worshipped Baal used to call him was Baal-Zebul - which literally means ‘Baal the Prince’ (Cf. 2 Kings 1:6; Matthew 10:25; 12:24,27; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 18-19). Knowing this, the people who didn’t worship Baal gave the Canaanite god a nickname. They called him Baal-Zebub, which sounds like Baal-Zebul, ‘Baal the Prince’, but in reality means Baal, Lord of the flies; Baal the pest; or Baal, Lord of the dung heap. It wasn’t a favourable name, Baal-Zebub. It was a derogatory name. By Jesus time, with Baal-worship relegated to the dustbin of history but they couldn’t let this good nickname go to waste though; so they applied it to the devil, Satan inherited this nickname. Beelzebub, in the first century CE, was a common derogatory name for Satan. Jesus in our text here is being accused of working for the devil.

 

In our society today we think nothing of people dressing up like evil characters or using the language of demon-possession and witchcraft: we hear it everyday on TV, radio, in pop culture and in casual colloquial language. There were on TV last night alone dozens of movies and TV shows trivializing or glorifying evil. It is so common in our contemporary Canadian society that many times we don’t even twig when we hear references to sorcery or divination but it was very different in Jesus’ day.

Witchcraft was punishable by death (1 Samuel 28:9, Galatians 5:20). These religious teachers who are accusing Jesus of being an agent of evil here cannot be left to make these remarks unchallenged. It must be addressed. They are accusing Jesus of divination, of witchcraft, of sorcery, and in those days people won’t stand by and let that evil go unchecked. 

 

Jesus doesn’t stand by and let these accusations stand. Knowing their thoughts Jesus tells them: “…Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges” (Luke 11:17-19; cf. Matthew 12:15-17, Mark 3:23-26). Jesus tells them that if he is driving out evil with evil than his opponents are doing exactly the same thing when they perform exorcisms and even more than that Jesus says, one won’t and one can’t even drive out evil with evil: a house divided against itself will fall. Jesus says, Verses 21-22, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armour in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils (Luke 11:21-22; cf. Matthew 12:29, Mark 3:27)” And, Verses 24-26, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first” (cf. TSA Doctrine 9). These are the only two options. A divided house cannot stand. So just like an American president said not too many years ago as they were embarking on one of their many wars, “You are either with us or against us.” Jesus says, Luke 11:23, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.”

 

Well, on this Halloween Day, on this Reformation Day, 2000 ₊ years after the birth of our Lord, where do we stand? Are we with him or are we against him? Jesus defeated sin and death between the cross and the empty tomb (TSA Doctrine 6) but if we look back in our text to Luke 11:27, we notice that a woman who hears what Jesus is saying and who witnesses what Jesus is doing; she calls out to him, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” Jesus then gives her an answer which should be our answer to the deliverance he has offered each of us through his death and resurrection. Jesus replies, Luke 11:28, “blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:23, “He who is not with me is against me.”

This is the choice set before us today. We can ask Jesus to sweep our life clean of the demons that haunt us – whatever it is that is troubling us - and he will. But in that we have to choose whom we will serve. We can serve ourselves, our own desires, we can serve the Enemy; we can invite the demons back in to haunt our lives again or we can serve the Lord and live life abundantly (TSA Docs 6 and 8).

 

Please remember too that any and all of us can ask our Lord Jesus to come and clean our haunted houses of whatever is haunting us. Even if he has already cleaned it once or a hundred times and we have subsequently messed it up. While we still have breath in our body, we can invite him back into our lives to clean them up and sort us out and then, we can continue on to receive the Lord’s blessing of eternal life, Luke 11:28, “blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” As we do this, we will continue in the blessing of the Holy Spirit. This is holiness and this holiness is available to all of us but we must make a choice (cf. TSA Doctrine 10). And, as Joshua said on the very border of the Promised Land, when faced with this very choice, Joshua said ‘as for me and my house we will serve the Lord’ (Joshua 24:15) and I pray that that will be the same response for each and all of us today.

 

Let us pray.

Swift Current 2010: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/10/luke-1114-28-matthew-1225-29-parable-of.html

Toronto: 2015: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2015/10/luke-1114-28-haunted-house.html