Presented to The Salvation Army Warehouse 614, 18 March 2018 and Alberni Valley Ministries, 23 April 2023, by Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay
This is the 2023 TSA AV Version:
Susan is on her way to
Winnipeg in a couple of weeks. Immediately following that Susan and I are
flying to France for a couple of weeks. As we were planning for all of this, I
was thinking about some of the other trips we have taken. Our last one was, of
course, of Covid trip. Before that we took a number of trips through the US. Back
in 2018, in the span of one year we visited or drove through Washington, Oregon,
Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California; Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Tennessee, Buffalo, Brooklyn, and New York, New
York. The following are three lessons I remember from our trip to New York.
LESSON 1
Matthew
5:43-45: 43:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ 44
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 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.
Romans
5:3-5:
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that
tribulation works patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope And
hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by
the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
James
1:2-4:
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance
have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in
nothing.
Romans 12:12: Be joyful in hope,
patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
My family and I really
were blessed to visit New York with all three of our children. I think this was almost the last trip that the
five of us all took together as a family. We were still living in Toronto at
the time – later that same year we would move out west here. It was a little
bit of a drive from Toronto to Ney York but we don't mind, we used to live in
Saskatchewan, we are used to long drives.
It is great we got to
see the Brooklyn Bridge, the Barclay Centre (where the Islanders play – they
were a favourite team of mine in the early 1980s), 5th Avenue, Broadway, Times
Square, and Central Park, among other places.
We walked around
outside quite a bit and enjoyed ourselves - and then it got cold. Have you
noticed how things can change in an instant? A day can be perfectly enjoyable
and then it becomes too cold (or too hot) and all of a sudden everyone's mood
changes. The scenery hasn't changed. The neat things to see and do haven't
changed. The monuments and parks haven't changed. Your enjoyment however can
change quite a bit if it all of a sudden becomes windy and cold!
This is like life in
general. Life happens to every one of us. We all have many exciting and
enjoyable things to experience just as we have many trials and toils to endure.
The difference is how we experience these situations. If we focus on ourselves,
it is like we are inviting a cold wind into our day to make us miserable in the
midst of all the wonderful sights around us. If we, however, focus on Christ,
we will also notice others and have our hearts warmed and our lives enriched by
His love as we take in all that He is doing around, in, and through us. Today
let us take Jesus up on His offer of pleasant warmth and comfort in the midst
of everything we are seeing and experiencing in this life. Lesson one: Romans
12:12, Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
LESSON 2
1
Peter 2:11-18:
It was a lot of fun
seeing the sights in New York. We had never been there before and our family
really enjoys learning about the history of places as we visit them. We read
every plaque we see and visit as many museums as we can.
We went to Buffalo, New
York before we went to New York City. In Buffalo we saw plaques and monuments
to US President Fillmore. He was from Buffalo; he was the last Whig President.
We saw a monument to President McKinley who was assassinated in Buffalo. We saw
a statue of President Lincoln. I put a Salvation Army 614 toque on him for a
picture; we did this unknowingly on or near an anniversary of one of his massacres
of indigenous peoples. (Lincoln, sadly, was brutal: he was responsible for many
horrendous acts and a lot of death and destruction including the largest mass
execution in US history). We saw a monument to Canadian and American friendship
noting that our two flags should fly side-by-side for eternity but, alas, they
had Ireland's flag flying instead of Canada's. (This was ironically on the same
day that our Canadian government mixed up the Belgian and German flags).
In New York we saw
monuments to President Roosevelt and others and we visited the New York Museum
of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Many great things have
been accomplished by Americans. Some of the things celebrated by some of the
monuments, however, were things that offended my Canadian sensibilities. But
here is the thing: I am just a tourist. I can't vote in US elections. I can't
change their laws or their culture. I don't have the rights of a US citizen and
I shouldn't because I am not one. Even though many Canadians seem to forget it
in this day and age as in both our social and mainstream media, we weigh in on
their domestic policy as if it were our domestic policy. It is not. They are a
foreign country. I am a tourist. When I am there, I am a gracious guest and I
do not forget that I am no more than that.
It is the same in our
life here on earth for those of us who are Christians. We need to stand up for
Christ and we need to serve him. We can't get drawn into adiaphoron, matters of
spiritual indifference - things that have no relevance to his eternal kingdom.
I have seen Christians detract from the policies of Christ by promoting INSTEAD
the policies of Conservatives, Liberals, Republicans, or Democrats as if Christ
supports any of these parties over the others:
he doesn't! (They should support him!) We should support him! We need to
serve Christ remembering that if indeed we are Christians our allegiance
belongs to him for - just like us last week in New York - we Christians are
just visiting until we return to heaven or until Christ returns to earth as
Lord of it all. Let us not forget where our Citizenship belongs.
Question for reflection
rather than response necessarily: how can we act as Christians in an other than
Christian world?
LESSON 3
Matthew
28:18-20: Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where
Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some
doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am
with you always, to the very end of the age.”
This trip that we are
chatting about was our family’s first ever visit to New York City. It is not
that long of a drive from where we lived at the time, in Toronto. In the months
leading up to this trip we had also driven to Ottawa, Montreal, Kingston,
Niagara, Buffalo (and even flown to the Island here, to Victoria).
When we are in those
places, the world comes to life. In Montreal, Quebec, and Kingston, our history
and identity as a people (as Canadians) is revealed and we can understand it in
ways I never could if I never stood on the walls of the Quebec Citadel or
looked out over the plains of Abraham.
In New York, we
experienced a lot of American culture. It is really quite something to see one
of the cultural centres of the US: so many of their TV shows, movies, and
figures of their culture are set right there. We were able to walk through
Central Park, see the Statue of Liberty, stand in Times Square and see so many
other things that we recognize from their songs, books, and music. Like a great
children’s book pointed out to me once: their thanksgiving history (and other
history) is much different than ours. And so it is all the more amazing to see
things like Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, 5th Avenue, and ride the ferry
to Staten Island.
All of these sights
mean a lot more when you actually experience them for yourself rather than just
seeing them in movies and on TV. I have a much greater understanding and
appreciation for New York than ever before now that I have walked its streets
and experienced it with my family.
This is the same with
Jesus. Jesus is as real as any of the places we have visited. The more time we
spend walking around with Jesus and getting to know him with our friends and
family, the greater we will love him. He wants us, he does want you to come see
him and spend time with him. As you do, even more than visiting a new city, I
promise your life will be much better for it. As such, my final encouragement
for you today is this. If you have never experienced the joys of Christ before,
I invite you to accept his offer as tour guide, host, and Saviour today. And if
for some reason, you ha e strayed from the tour for while, I invite you to return,
I promise you will never regret it.
And that concludes the
lessons God affirmed in me from our trip to New York. It will be interesting to
see what He has to teach us in Paris, France in a couple of weeks.
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