Genesis 37: Caught in Traffic

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 26 September 2021, by Captain Michael Ramsay on the Sunday of Prayer for the Victims of Human Trafficking 

 

Joseph was trafficked. As a boy, a teenager, he was sold into slavery by his own brothers. From there he spent many years in slavery, taken to a foreign country where he served at the will of his owners and following that he spent many more years in prison – his family did not know where he was, they did not know that he was even alive.  

  

Children are still trafficked today. When we were in Toronto our corps was involved in an outreach to prostituted women and girls. Many trafficked people in Canada are prostituted. In Vancouver people in our corps had an outreach to prostituted boys and men, as well as women and girls. When we were in Saskatchewan, I went with another Corps Officer to speak to our MP about specific people we knew, who were trafficked as slave household labour here in Canada -which for them was a foreign country – very much like Joseph in Egypt. This week is Orange Shirt Day: Also enslaved in Canada are children taken from First Nations and trafficked around this country without their family even knowing if they are dead or alive. 

  

After Joseph was trafficked to Egypt, Joseph suffered many years with no recourse to escape or appeal. Joseph’s circumstances were horrible. There are many people today, even in our country, who do not have the rights of a citizen and there are people, even in our country today who are moved around from city to city or province to province without having any say in the matter and without their loved ones even knowing if they are alive – Just like Joseph. 

  

There is hope however. This hope is very important. Joseph had hope even in his darkest times. God used Joseph’s faith to make and keep him stronger, humble, and more resilient. 

  

Joseph was assaulted by his brothers, sold, trafficked to Egypt, and enslaved as a household servant.  It was in this context that this particular verse appears, Genesis 39:2a, “The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered.” 

  

Joseph was a teenager who has been sold into slavery in a foreign country – where I imagine he didn’t yet even know the language. This is the condition that he is in when where it records Genesis 39:2a, “The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered.” That doesn’t sound very prosperous. 

  

There is more. While Joseph was a slave, his master’s wife took a liking to him. She wanted to have an affair. Joseph wouldn’t do it and spent much of his time trying to avoid her. She accused him of sexual assault and Joseph was thrown into prison. This is what it looked like when and where it says that the LORD was with Joseph and he prospered. This doesn’t sound very prosperous. 

  

Joseph was in a terrible spot, as terrible as some trafficked and other people are today. It is not to be made light of at all – but there is hope. That hope was Joseph’s prosperity. That hope is that the Lord is with in our darkest times. When all the bad things are happening to us that happen to people who are trafficked, in slavery, or in prison, or whatever you or someone you know might be going through right now, God is with us. God loves us and God can get us through it.  

  

We must do anything we can to help people out of their situations. Like our friends in Toronto and Vancouver and like when Captain Ed and I intervened on behalf of someone who was trafficked as a household slave in Saskatchewan 

  

But also please know that when or if you or someone you know is in a spot as bad as Joseph (or even not as bad or even worse), God can get you through. Whatever you have gone through and are going through God will not give up on you. No one can take that hope from you. Grab hold of it and never let it go. It is how you can survive and even prosper when everything about your life is not prosperous and everything is threatening your survival 

  

God promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5). He will bring you through where you are; He will bring us through where we are: that is our hope. 

  

Let us pray. 

  

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Hebrews 13:1-6: A Gentle Reminder

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 19 September 2021, by Captain Michael Ramsay

A few interesting things happened in the previous week or two – well, lots of things actually – but one or two things I’d particularly like to share today.

 

You know of course that The Salvation Army has a drug and alcohol policy: we don’t drink or do drugs at work (or soldiers anywhere, anytime). I recently needed to print out our drug and alcohol policy and go over it with some of our volunteers, staff, or community partners. Apparently one or two folks may not have remembered (even though they all read it when they were hired or started volunteering) that they can’t use drugs at work with our clients. You'd think that would be self-evident, a ‘no-brainer’ as they say. We don’t want to harm people and we do want  to help people, but good, well-meaning folks actually needed to be reminded that they shouldn’t use drugs with our clients. There are many reasons for this and God gave us an object lesson, an example of being sober so we can help others out; as well as a lesson about the very real dangers of drug use, this week.

 

On this past Sunday, Rees, one of our employees, the one who saved the dog’s life a week or two previous, saved a person’s life as he was walking to work. The person overdosed outside of the OPS, the safe injection site; there was no one there who called 9-11; there was no one there who tried to revive him; there was no one there who was helping him; maybe he didn’t use inside the site, who knows? Rees saw the person on the sidewalk and Rees saw he was starting to turn blue. He stopped. He gave him some Narcan. He called 9-11. God used Rees to save his life. Praise be to God.

 

And thanks be to God as well for this gentle reminder of this self-evident, ‘no-brainer’ that we should be sober when at work and when heading to work – like Rees was – so that we can be used to help others.

 

Paul, Barnabas, Silvanus, Apollos, or whoever dictated Hebrews concludes this letter or sermon with this gentle reminder of some very important points for anyone who serves Jesus to remember as we go about our daily lives.[1] The first four of which should be self evident for all Jesus’ followers so that we are available to serve God and others.

 

1)    He says that we should have genuine affection for one another, for fellow Christians. If you see me on the street tomorrow you shouldn’t duck and hide (as tempting as it may be!); wave and smile instead; do not try and run away before I notice you. We shouldn’t try to avoid one another; we should genuinely look forward to seeing each other. We are, after all, all on the same team – or at least we should be.

 

2)    Then he says that not only should we be happy to see each other and genuinely care about one another; we should also be nice to strangers, to people who aren’t part of our group here. (This may be referring to Christians you don’t know – such as itinerant preachers – but it should certainly apply to any stranger.)[2] This week, a fellow who is a stranger to us but well known to the Parksville Salvation Army came in here seeking help. Nichi and Leslie were right there helping. They called me from another part of the building and I called Major Norm in Parksville and we prayed together offering support and other help as we were able.

 

If there is some way you can build a relationship with a stranger that is great. I love to go down to the Bread of Life many days for lunch. I often have conversations with people on the street – the fact that I almost always wear my uniform or logo-ed gear helps a lot! When needed, I also direct people to opportunities for them to help others or to be helped as the case may be.

 

3)    Paul, Barnabas, Silvanus, Apollos, or whoever dictated this letter or sermon to the Hebrews, gently reminds us that even more than genuinely looking forward to seeing each other, and being sociable to strangers; we should remember those who are in real need in our community. Pray for those who are mistreated in society. The letter/sermon here particularly mentions prisoners. As awful as our prisons are today – and they are awful – in the First Century Roman Empire, friends of the prisoners had to provide their food and basic necessities themselves;[3] so if you didn’t have any friends or if your friends were ashamed or afraid to be associated with you… Today, who are those with no friends and support? Who are those who are in real danger or jeopardy? How can we help them? How can we remember them? You can chat with people up here – I think we might start our coffee times up here again soon; we can have lunch at the soup kitchen; we can help out on the food truck – that is a great way to get to know those who are mistreated. And of course, we can all pray for those in need.

 

4)    Paul, Barnabas, Silvanus, Apollos, or whoever dictated this letter or sermon then says that as well as genuinely looking forward to seeing each other, being sociable to strangers, and remembering those who are in real need in our community; we need to pay special attention to our marriages. He mentions two ways. 1) don’t commit adultery with outsiders and 2) don’t the two of you do anything immoral.[4] Honour one another.

 

Just like how this week, we had to actually put in writing that our staff and community partners may not do drugs with our clients, something that one would think would be self-evident, these first four items are what Paul, Barnabas, Apollos, or whoever dictated this letter or sermon thinks are the self-evident. He gently reminds us that all Christians should honestly and almost instinctively:

 

1. look forward to seeing each other,
2.  be sociable to strangers,
3. remember those who are in real need in our community,
4. and pay special attention to our marriages.

 

And then Paul, Barnabas, Silvanus, Apollos, or whoever dictated this letter or sermon, tells us something a little more tricky. He says that, just as we are to genuinely care for each other and love strangers, we are NOT to care for and love money in the same way (cf. 1 Tim 6:10). This plays out a couple of different ways. 1) We as individuals aren’t supposed to love money and 2) corporately, as a society we aren’t supposed to love money. The church, we know, is not a building, it is a community, a society and it is (or should be) a society that does not love money.

 

There was a meeting of the ACRD’s Emergency Support Services this week. These are some of the people who help in emergencies in our community. The Salvation Army has an MOU with the ACRD to provide various services, so I was there. The meeting was at the Beaver Creek Firehall. It was great to get a tour of the building, see the fancy expensive trucks, and hear what the fire chief and others had to tell us before our regularly scheduled meeting.

 

One thing that came out of the side conversations was how much our society’s love of money is adversely affecting volunteer fire departments, service organizations, and even employment in our country. When the Beaver Creek Fire Department was founded, they were able to staff the department entirely with volunteers from Beaver Creek and they were able to acquire enough resources to keep it going. As a result, a team could be ready to respond to a fire in 5 minutes or less. Now it takes them much longer as they have to wait for people to come from all over the valley to assist at a fire in Beaver Creek. There aren’t enough local volunteers. Even if people are interested in volunteering, now qualifications and equipment are so expensive (and/or take so long to get) that they are having trouble getting enough people and money to keep it going at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if volunteer fire departments started closing around the country the same way that service groups and other volunteer organizations are quickly vanishing from our landscape.

 

Currently, at a time when people in our country are spending more money on leisure activities than in any previous era – trips, sporting events, lessons – people are spending less and less time volunteering and working together. The more a society orients itself towards money, the more the gap between the rich and the poor grows. The larger the chasm between people grows.

 

Property is a prime example of this: a realtor friend pointed out to me that housing has now become primarily a commodity, an investment and as a result more and more people can’t afford housing. The most recent homelessness count results were published just recently – I read them this week. Did you know that the percentage of actual homeless seniors right here in Port Alberni (this doesn’t include people who live in shelters, slum housing, or on someone else’s couch) has literally doubled from 9% to 18% of the homeless population? A society cannot be oriented towards money and at the same time be oriented towards God and our neighbour (cf. Mt 6:24-34; Lk 6:13).[5] These are anchored in opposite directions. We cannot love both God and money. Corporately, how are our churches oriented? We need to be aware of this. Are we church members – like the Scriptures say - content with what we have?

 

This brings us to the individual aspect of this very important point. Do each of us here love God and people more than we love money (cf. Dt 31:6, Ps 118:6-7)? Do we spend more time acquiring, spending, and saving money or do we spend more time loving God through helping others? As Christians, we are not to look forward to getting money; we are not to be sociable in order to get money; we are not supposed to serve others with the intent of getting money, etc. He gently reminds us, we are supposed to be content with what we have. We are supposed to love our spouses, each other, and our neighbours – we are not to love money![6]

 

If you can give something to someone who will actually benefit from receiving it, instead of selling it to them for money; give it to the person. Hebrews 13:5-6 contrasts loving each other and loving money. The Bible says that if you love God, you will love your neighbour and the Bible says that if you serve money, you do not serve God (Mt 6:24). And then Paul, Barnabas, Silvanus, Apollos, or whoever dictated this letter or sermon gently reminds us that for perfect peace and harmony, for salvation, we really must be content with what we have.

 

This contentment is simple, but it is also very important – especially since we live in a capitalist society, a society that by definition has chosen to serve money. Our motivation, what we love, our reason for doing something should never be to get a paycheque and pay-off. Our motivation should always be to serve God and our neighbour. Here is a gentle reminder, Hebrews 13:1-6, that as followers of Jesus we will,

 

1. look forward to seeing each other,
2.  be sociable to strangers,
3. remember those who are in real need in our community,
4. pay special attention to our marriages,
5. and be content with what we have

 

Friends, this is key to being able to survive, to being able to be saved in our world today. We need the church and we need to be the church. And this is what the church is, it is a group of people who

1. look forward to seeing each other
2.  be sociable to strangers,
3. remember those who are in real need in our community,
4. pay special attention to our marriages,
5. and be content with what we have

 

So this is my encouragement today: May our group of people here be a people who continues to do just this for as we are, we will experience God’s salvation in our lives and He will use us to be a transformative influence in our community for now and forever more. 

Let us pray.

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[1] Cf. Thomas G. Long, Hebrews (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1997), 1.

[2] Cf Tesfaye Kassa, ‘Hebrews 13:1-21: Practical Evidence of Faith’ in Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 1532 and Simon J. Kistemaker, Hebrews, NTC (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic: 2007), 408 but conversely cf. Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998),162 which contends that ‘strangers’ are itinerant preachers or other Christians who aren’t part of one’s own congregation. While this is possible, I concur with Tesfaye Kassa’ and Simon J. Kistemaker that the term as broader than that.

[3] Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998), 163

[4] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/IX. Christian Living (12:1-13:19)/F. Love (13:1-6), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998), 164

[6] Simon J. Kistemaker, Hebrews, NTC (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic: 2007), 409

Ezekiel 33:7-11 and 2 Peter 3:9: Hope and the Ropes

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 05 September 2021; Swift Current Corps, 24 July 2022; the Summer Rain Evangelistic Festival, 07 August 2022, by Major Michael Ramsay

Let me tell you three stories. These are all true stories; they all happened this week and they do have some other things in common too. They all have a rope in the story. They all have peril. 2 of them have water. 2 of them have happen endings.

 

One evening this week Susan suggested that I should take Heather kayaking for a couple of hours before dinner. She said be home at 7pm. Dinner's at 7pm. Be home at 7pm.

 

I threw the kayaks in the back of the vehicle. Heather and I quickly drove out to Sproat Lake. We didn’t have that much time. We got out there. Heather was already a little tired, I think. I asked her where we wanted to go on the lake; she said, she wanted to go to Manitoba Island. (There is this small private island that you can reach from the boat launch and whoever owns the island has a Manitoba flag that they fly from it, thus Heather and I call it Manitoba Island.)

 

It was pretty choppy out there. The waves were pretty high and the wind was blowing quite a bit. And if you crossed a boat’s wake, the waves coming at different angles could really threaten to swamp or tip the boat. It was a lot of work. I paddled out for a little while and looked behind me (as best I could, I didn’t want to turn all the way around in my seat, lest I dump myself out of the kayak) and here was Heather slowly paddling. I turn back, paddle up to her and ask her how she is doing. She asks for a tow. (sometimes on a nice warm, calm day, I will tie Heather’s boat to mine and instead of paddling she will just lie in her boat – she says she doesn’t sleep but I am not always convinced.) 

 

So here I am paddling across the lake to Manitoba Island; It is hard work! Heather in tow; the waves are coming from every angle and the wind also seems to be working against me. We make it to the island. She wakes up, I mean, she sits up. I check the time because we have to be back by 7pm. Then she lowers herself in her boat again, eyes closed but not sleeping, and I start pulling her back. It is quite a struggle with the waves and the wind and towing someone in another kayak. But part way back, I feel like I am getting into the rhythm because it gets a little easier. When I get about ¾ of the way back to shore I look back - and there in no Heather.

 

I am in a panic for a moment. You know that feeling? I look back and I see the rope has broken and there is no kayak behind me and no Heather. Now Heather isn’t the greatest swimmer, she does have her life jacket on. I am looking everywhere as fast as I can to see her boat. I see it and paddle faster than I think I ever have in choppy conditions to get there. You know that feeling when you are racing somewhere, praying that it is not the worst possible result and hoping for the best!

 

While I am racing towards Heather as fast as I can, a nice gentleman, by the name of Keith, in his speedboat sees this kayak just floating around with no one apparently in it (as Heather is lying down) and goes up to the kayak. At this point Heather sits up, opens her eyes and is wondering what is going on. Keith stays with her until I get there and then he puts both of our kayaks in his boat and gives us a ride back to shore – which is good because I really don’t know how much more I could paddle that day! And then Heather and I head for home and we get there just on time. When I walk upstairs to where Susan is, she remarked on how we timed it perfectly because it was 7pm on the nose.

 

It was quite an adventure. But you know that feeling of panic when you notice your child is missing. You know that moment when you think your child might be lost or have had something horrible happen to them. That was the feeling in the pit of my stomach, even sort of after she was found and we got home safely. Though there was certainly a lot(!) of relief as well.

 

My second rope story is about another water rescue that I heard about this past week, I heard this story from one of our employees, Rees. Rees was at Harbour Quay, I believe. He saw the gentleman there who always plays Frisbee with his dog. I don’t know the man’s name. The dog’s name is Wes. 

 

The man threw the Frisbee into the water and Wes went to get it. He got it in his mouth and started paddling back to shore when he accidentally got caught on a rope hidden under the water. The rope got stuck right in his mouth with the Frisbee; so maybe Wes didn’t even know it was there. He couldn’t or wouldn’t let go of the rope because he would have to let go of the Frisbee. He couldn’t get back to shore no matter how hard he struggled and  - unlike the rope between Heather’s and my kayaks – this rope wasn’t breaking. Rees then took off his shoes, gave his phone and/or wallet to the man and jumped in to save Wes. He had to really struggle to get Wes free of the rope but in the end he did and Wes and Rees both swam safely to shore.

 

My third story about a rope this week is tragic. Russell, a regular on 3rd avenue, who many of us know from the Bread of Life, the food bank, the ‘ghetto’ or other places, hanged himself behind the Friendship Centre this week. It was a tragedy for sure. He was in that tree for 3 days or so before he perished. Many friends went there to try to talk him from the tree. Selene, who used to work for us and now works for the Friendship Centre, called me and I took a turn trying to talk him down. Brandy R., who works in our Thrift Store knows Russell and tried to convince him to come down. I was there when the mother of his children was trying to get him down. One of the people who works with us at the Drop-in Centre, Mya, spent many hours with her friend trying to convince him to come down.

 

Police were there. Fire department was there. EMT was there. One of the police who chatted with me – a good Christian fellow who knew his Bible very well - told me that they would not leave as long as Russell was in the tree. Days later, whoever was on duty did leave and Russell died. Now I don’t know what happened to Russell eternally: I hope and I pray that he is eternally at peace with our Lord.

 

One tragic remark that someone made has stuck in my head since that day. I don’t think the person who said it meant it but my brain has not been able to shake it. While he was still alive and still in the tree, someone said that death was probably the best outcome for him. He is an addict. His life is terrible… I cringed when I heard that.

 

I would never want to see anyone lost – not even one – like it says in 2 Peter 3:9. And in Ezekiel 33:11 even those of us others would call wicked, God does not wish any of us to be lost for now or eternity.

 

I think about how Rees, not to mention Wes’ owner, watched Wes struggle and how Rees had to decide whether or not to dive in to save him from the rope he was trapped on. I think about how I felt when my own daughter was lost on the lake for however long it was before I noticed the rope had broken. I think about how I felt when I did not know whether she was okay or not and I didn’t know how scared she was or was not. I think about how I would have felt if something terrible had happened to Heather.

 

Our Heavenly Father feels the same way about each of us. He doesn’t want any of us to be lost – in this life or the next.

 

John 3:16-17: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

 

For any of us to perish hurts the Lord like it would hurt us to lose a member of our family, like a beloved pet, or even our own child. As such, we need to share with people the Good News of Salvation. Talk to people you meet about God, their Father who loves them. Talk to people you meet about Jesus. We don’t know how long any of us have on this earth – and that any of us would have to spend any of our time here - not to mention eternity - away from our Father’s love is tragic. 

 

Some terrible things happen in life. I know when horrifying things have happened in my life I have gone to my Heavenly Father for love and support and I know that God is eternal and His love never fails. He is faithful. If you know anyone who is struggling, please tell them about the Lord who can comfort them in their struggles and save them in their struggles. 

 

I know He will get me through all the tough things in life and He will keep me forever. All of us who love the Lord are able to experience His love and support forever and for now. With this in mind, I know there are people who are part of our church family, our Salvation Army family, and others who aren’t, who are struggling. Let us pray for them. Let us reach out to them. If you are struggling let us pray with you. The Lord loves us; He wants us to be safe in this world and the next. John 3:17: For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

 

Let us pray.

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