Deuteronomy 6:1-12: Songs of Salvation.

Presented to 614 Warehouse Mission, 30 April 2017, and Alberni Valley Ministries, 23 October 2022, by Major Michael Ramsay

  

This is the 2022 Alberni Valley version. To view the original 2017 Toronto version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2017/04/deuteronomy-61-12-childrens-songs.html

  

I understand that Terri, Rena and Tim’s daughter, just got back from seeing Elton John; friends of mine saw Gordon Lightfoot this weekend. My older daughters and I this summer went to see a number of bands from the 70s and 80s playing in Seattle (which we had been waiting to see since before Covid-19). It is a lot of fun.

            The best part of going to see bands from yester-year play is the memories attached to the old songs and the opportunity to share those and new memories with my kids. We have seen a lot of shows together: Meat Loaf, Joan Jett, Def Leppard, GNR, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper and more. Alice Cooper by the way is an outspoken Christian and the son of a preacher. I actually saw Alice Cooper in concert when I was 17 years-old and then 30 years later, when we lived in Toronto, I was able to see him with my then 16 and 15 year-old daughters. This sort of thing is what our text today is about: sharing our memories with our kids so they can experience all the joy we did and so we can add even more to those memories together. This may even be exactly what is happening in our text today, Moses is probably bringing the Deuteronomy generation to hear the same Ten Commandments play at Mt Sinai that the Exodus generation had heard with him, decades previous.[1]

            In our Scriptures today Moses is talking to the children of the people he received the 10 Commandments with. It is important that children are reminded of, remember and participate in their parents’ experiences. It is important to remember what the Lord has done. When we fail to remember our culture, we lose it; when we fail to remember our past, we lose our future; when we fail to remember what defines us as a people then we cease to be a nation;[3] and when we fail to remember our salvation with our children, then future generations may not experience that salvation anymore (Deuteronomy 8:19-20).[4] This may be what is happening in Canada today. This is what Moses is driving home with this next generation of Israelites. This is important. Don't just hope that our children and children’s children will learn something from a teacher, preacher, or priest. Don't just hope they'll learn life's lessons by accident. Sharing our faith history is our responsibility. Our very survival depends on what we remember from the past and how we carry that into the future.[5]

            In our world today, songs are a great way to bring memories and knowledge and experiences forward to a new generation. I am going to list some songs and see if you can tell me who sang them for one generation or the next [Answers in footnote below]:[6] (1) Cats in the Cradle (2) Signs (3) You're so Vain (4) California Girls (5) Knocking on Heaven’s Door (6) Live and Let Die (7) Landslide (8) Johnny B Goode

            I remember turning on the radio a few years ago and... There is this old Irish folk song – generations old – called 'Whiskey in the Jar'. I don’t know if anyone here knows that song or not. Susan knows all kinds of old folk songs. She really likes some of those old-fashioned numbers and so as a result I was familiar with it. Well, I got in the car one day, turned on the local radio station, and - I don’t know if anyone here is familiar with Metallica, they are a near-contemporary heavy metal band - I heard them doing a heavy metal rendition of this old Irish folk song. I was sort of in shock. I began to think of all the remakes of songs that I have heard over the years. Many times the remakes were my first exposure to the song and it got me thinking: When the words of an old song are put to a new tune they become accessible to a new generation. As we continue to sing these same songs in new ways, we remain faithful to their intent, passing it onto our children and to our children’s children.  This is like our personal testimonies and conversations about the Lord. When we put the gospel message of salvation into our own words, in our own tune and share it with our own children then we are indeed passing that eternal truth of salvation down from one generation to the next.

           When we were in Toronto, our WT leader, Krys Val (Warehouse Mission Band) would write new lyrics to popular tunes from the 60s, 70s and 80s - all of us would then hear the gospel expressed in music that resonates in our hearts and souls and memories and hopefully every time we hear that familiar, sometimes timeless tune we can remember what the Lord has done for us, with us, through us and in us.

            This is what our Scripture today sees Moses doing with the Deuteronomy generation.[7] God, through Moses, says of the lyrics of the 10 Commandments (Deuteronomy 6:7-9):

Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

 

            Moses wants the people to remember even more than just the words to these 10 Commands, of course. The Bible says God remembered Israel when they were in slavery. Now, will they remember Him when they are free? God remembers us when we are struggling. Do we remember Him when we are free? We may turn to God when things are bad; do we turn away from Him when we feel free to live our life for ourselves?[8] Do we remember what God has done for us as we are delivered from our problems? Do we remember how God saved those alongside us? Do we remember how God saved our family members before us? Do we remember how God saved our fore-parents in this country?  

Do we remember the things that God did for the Israelites before he brought them out of Egypt? How did God reveal himself to Pharaoh? Remember the Passover? Remember the plagues (Exodus 7-12)? When Sarah-Grace was 12 years-old, we hit the road with an excellent sermon she preached about the plagues.[9] Do we remember the plagues God used to save the children of Israel? What were they? Snakes, blood, frogs, gnats, flies, cows (dead livestock), boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the first born. God wants Israel to remember their salvation from, in and through these plagues. God wants them to remember how they were saved as death passed them over. And God wants us to remember also how generations and a testament later, Jesus won the ultimate victory over death so that we all might live. This is what Easter and Good Friday are all about.

            We are just about to come into the Advent season. We have many traditions around Advent: scripture readings, songs (Carols), candle lighting, and more

            When we invite our children and grandchildren to participate in Advent services; when we bring friends and family to Christmas pageants, when we invite people to a church service anytime of the year with us, we are carrying on that salvation tradition and experience.

            When we bring our children and grandchildren to church we remember and experience corporate worship and salvation together as a family. When we read our Bibles with our children and grandchildren and friends, we pass along the stories of salvation from one generation to the next - we show them what is important by what we do with each other; and as we read the Bible together, as we each experience our glorious personal salvation we can see how that fits in with salvation history and how we are included in the salvation of the whole world.

 

            When we say grace with future generations before dinner - whether at home or in public - we are teaching others the importance of prayer. When we say grace, when we pray in public, we may even be unknowingly encouraging even strangers to be faithful. They might see us and then remember that indeed they prayed with their parents as a kid and then head home and pass on that marker and catalyst for that same salvation relationship with their own children; and then they may experience that same access to all the power, mercy, grace and glory of God.

So, as Hebrews 10:25 extols us, let us not stop meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. Let us not stop singing our songs of salvation with new generations. Let us always read the stories of Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus Christ with our children, our children's children, our friends, and our family. This week, let us resolve to take the Good News of Salvation and share it with everyone we meet so that they and we may experience the fullness of God's love today and forever more.                          

Let us pray.

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[1] Cf. Thompson, J. A., Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1974 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 5), S. 128

[2]Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'Deuteronomy 8: The Next Generation Thanks The Lord' (Sheepspeak.com: Swift Current, 09 October 2011). Available on-line:http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/10/deuteronomy-8-next-generation-thanks.html

[3]Cf. Thomas E. McComiskey, The Expositor's Bible Commentary,  PradisCD-ROM:Amos/Introduction to Amos/Theological Values of Amos/The doctrine of election in Amos, Book Version: 4.0.2; cf. also Willy Schottroff, “To Perceive, To Know,” in Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, Volume 3 eds. Ernst Jenni and Claus Westermann (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997),516.

[4]Deuteronomy 8:19-20: “If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.”

[5] Luciano C. Chianeque and Samuel Ngewa, '6:10-25: The Importance of Remembering', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 222.

[6] Cats in the Cradle (Harry Chapin, Ugly Kid Joe), Signs (Five Man Electrical Band), You're so Vain (Carlie Simon, Faster Pussy Cat), California Girls (Beach Boys, David Lee Roth), Knocking on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan, GNR), Live and Let Die (Paul McCarthy, GNR), Landslide (Fleetwood Mac, Smashing Pumpkins), Johnny B Goode (Chuck Berry, Elvis, Judas Priest, AC DC, Motorhead, etc).

[7]Cf. Ronald E. Clements, The Book of Deuteronomy, (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 355.

[8] Cf. Luciano C. Chianeque and Samuel Ngewa, '6:10-25: The Importance of Remembering', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 222.

[9] Sarah-Grace Ramsay, Plague Pops – Salvation only comes from God (Exodus 7-12). Presented to Maple Creek Corps of The Salvation Army, 10 August, 2014 and Swift Current, 17 August 2014, available online: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/08/plague-pops-salvation-only-comes-from.html

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Luke 4:14-30: Today!

Presented to the Alberni Valley Ministries of The Salvation Army, 14 April 2019, by Captain Michael Ramsay

We have another men’s breakfast coming up this month. The previous one we had was at Smitty’s which was good but I was told in no uncertain terms that 7am is too early for men’s breakfast; so we’ll have a later one in May.  I remember one men’s breakfast we had in inner city Toronto where we were posted just before here. We had the breakfast at the corps. There were about 50 men there. It was a great breakfast. The speaker did a good job and didn’t speak too long. There was bacon. It was a great time. At one point someone from DHQ who joined us asked me very politely who the woman was who had come to the men’s breakfast. There was one lady who showed up – a friend of ours here – one of the men was good to send her away, with some bacon. I thought that is who I was being asked about. ‘No, who was the lady who stayed and had breakfast with us for the whole meal? At the next table there?’

‘Oh. That wasn’t a woman’, I said. Our friend from DHQ was a little embarrassed – there wasn’t really any need to be our friend dressed in stereotypical women’s clothing and may have even wore some padding but he certainly identified as a man, at least as far as getting a free breakfast, and someone from headquarters who didn’t know the social structure of the inner city wouldn’t know all of this anyway - but you know what it is like when you think things are one way but they turn out to be another way. Our scripture today is a little bit like that.

Luke 4:14-30: This is really an interesting text. At least for me it is. It is one of those where you have read it maybe less than one million times but you have read it enough that you think you know what it says and then one day you slow down and read what it actually says and are somewhat surprised.

One day, a couple of years ago now, a sat down to meditate on this pericope when had we just came back from Cuba and it was also around MLK day in the US. It was at that time and in that context that I read the passage Jesus’ quotes from Isaiah here. We in The Salvation Army recognize this passage don’t we? One of our Toronto corps and the Vancouver Corps that sent Susan, the older girls, and I into the work were based on Isaiah 61:4 and Jesus here quotes Isaiah 61:1-2 and more and it is a powerful quote. Jesus says, NIV,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

19     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

This is exciting stuff and this reminds me of Martin Luther King Jr. in the US; Che, the Argentinean, Fidel Castro from Cuba– and William Booth from our Salvation Army for that matter. I don’t know if you have ever read the writings of any of these revolutionaries and I would probably add voices of Leon Trotsky, Nelson Mandela, or Leo Tolstoy to the list. These people - Booth, Castro, MLK jr. – these people can be absolutely inspiring.[1] Whether you ascribe to liberation theology or not, I don’t think you can read the words of any of these people without being impressed upon.

Our Scripture fits right in line with any of the aforementioned, Jesus quotes Isaiah and more in saying:

·        today good news is to be announced to the poor;

·        today he has sent me… to proclaim freedom for the prisoners;

·        today, he has sent me.. to preach recovery of sight to the blind;

·        today, he has sent me… to set the oppressed free;

·        TODAY, he has sent me… to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. Not tomorrow, not in some far off place, not in some far off time, but

·        Today this very scripture has been filled in your presence. Do I hear an ‘amen’?!

This reminds me so much of some of MLK’s speeches – especially his ‘I have a dream’ speech and his address to the UN on receiving the Noble Peace prize that I can’t help but hear these verses echo as MLK’s voice in my mind: Today, the oppressed shall be set free![2] Today, we proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour! Amen!

As I was preparing for this time today I was going to chat about how this passage is a fulfillment of scripture. The Christ and thus all Christians will proclaim these things alongside those revolutionaries we have mentioned today. I was going to mention how those in the synagogue rejected Jesus because he was taking on the mantel of messiah calling for these revolutionary ideas of justice. I was then going to quote some of the aforementioned and highlight how they and we have received that message - reflecting especially upon how North America has fallen short of MLK’s dream and how we killed him as we killed Christ and others… but then I read the text a little more closely.

These things – proclaiming good news to the poor, freedom to the prisoners, sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed, the year of the Lord’s favour – this isn’t what got the people in Jesus’ hometown upset at all. They weren’t upset about this or any possible messianic claims imbedded therein. In fact it was quite the opposite. Take a look at our Scripture. Jesus begins his homily on this pericope by saying that today this scripture has been fulfilled, vs. 21, he then presumably elaborates upon that premise and look at how Luke says the people respond.[3] Luke records, vs. 22, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. ‘Isn’t this Joseph’s son?’ they asked.” It says that they are amazed. They are impressed that Joseph’s son, whom they all undoubtedly know personally as this is his home synagogue in his home town, which he has visited and read scripture in many times before; they are impressed that he spoke in such a way.[4] I can imagine from Verses 21 and 22 that if this were a contemporary church, people would be shouting ‘amen!’ at full volume as Jesus winds up his message. They are amazed, it says, but then their amazement changes. It doesn’t change because he may have implied that he is the Messiah and it doesn’t change because he claims that the time of scriptural fulfillment is now; it doesn’t! The gospel notes that they were quite happy with that:[5] they were quite happy as Jesus proclaimed good news to the poor, freedom to the prisoners, sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed, the year of the Lord’s favour. What made them mad was Jesus implied very obviously that that favour - and all of the other related blessings - that this salvation is not for them.[6] Jesus says, vv. 24-28:

“24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.”

Can you imagine? A newly or about to become famous preacher or politician or both, whom you have grown up with (either him or his mom and dad) comes to his and your home church and speaks to us all about these wonderful things that are going to happen. We all say, ‘good job!’ ‘Well done!’ ‘You tell them Jesus!’ ‘Go get ‘em!’ Right? We are proud when people we know from the neighbourhood make good on their life. We are proud of everyone who makes it from our community here. In Saskatchewan, where we were posted for about a decade, every small town on the Canadian prairie has these big bill boards on the highway outside their community saying home of ‘Travis Moen’, ‘Zack Smith’, ‘Patrick Marleau’, 'Brian Trottier', whomever – celebrating and commemorating famous hockey players, football players, politicians or others who have come from the community. It would be the same in Jesus’ home synagogue in Nazareth. ‘That’s Jesus’, they might say, ‘I knew him when he was just a little kid. His dad and I grew up together. He was a good kid. Everything this boy is saying makes sense. He’s one of us. He’s a chip off the old block and more. Jesus is one of us and we are going to take the world by storm.’ And then, right in the middle of our voiced or imagined praise of him, it would be like he says – right when we are all puffed up about how great he is and how proud we are of our neighbourhood – Jesus says… “Oh you thought I was saying all these good things about you…?’ ‘This is not for you – no, no - this good stuff is all for someone else. Not you Nazareth, where I grew up; not for you Israel, where I live; not for you Judah.[7] This good stuff is not for you who are here thinking that you are the only children of God. This good stuff is for someone else and not just for someone else; it is for your enemies: the Sidonites and the Syrians, just like it was in the days of Elisha and Elijah before, and implied always.[8] You thought I was talking about you…no, no, no, this good stuff is for other people and not just other people; it is for other people with whom you to go to war when you get the chance. Jesus says, just like in the OT and as always, it is the Sidionites, the Syrians, and others that will experience this salvation from the Lord that you just ‘amen-ed’; I am not talking about you.” Can you imagine?

 You can see why they might get a little upset. The previous few years we lived in Toronto. It would be like if someone led a pep rally at the ACC, where the Maple Leafs play now, under all the old banners hung from the rafters, extolling the virtues of the ‘greatest hockey franchise ever’ and as everyone in Toronto is cheering about how indeed they will win another Stanley cup and maybe even someday soon –even this season - assuming the speaker is talking about the Leafs and the crowd is all worked up and then he yells out ‘and God bless Canada’s greatest hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens! Or the Vancouver Canucks or whomever else’ This would be the feelings aroused in our text. 

We lived in Saskatchewan for many years. It would be like all of Rider Nation was crammed into Mosaic Stadium dressed in green and white and singing their anthem and then in front of the thousands upon thousands of people assembles he yelled, ‘God bless the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’. 

And even more, it would be like Jesus is extolling the virtues of the greatest country on earth, working us all up into a frenzy believing he is talking about Canada on July 1^st and then says ‘God bless America’ or ‘God bless Saudi Arabia’ or 'God Bless Russia' or China … ‘Oh you, thought I was talking about Canada?’

This is what has gotten the people all riled up.[9] They came here wanting words of encouragement and wisdom and Jesus read and spoke about the Scriptures and he gave them some words alright. They thought he was blessing them and he was telling them quite plainly that just like God could have saved Israelites in the times of Elisha and Elijah but he chose rather to save their enemies; so too today. This is why they are upset.

Jesus is – as always - concerned about people on the fringes: the poor, the disabled, and the marginalized; our enemies, our rivals, and others who are on the outside. Those who think they are healthy do not seek a doctor (Luke 5:31; Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17). Those who think they are saved are not looking for salvation. Jesus here foretells Israel’s rejection of her and our messiah and how, nonetheless, Israel’s saviour is going to save her enemies and anybody else.

 Now this is offensive but honestly the people hearing this should know this. The Israelites in general should be (and the Pharisees in particular would be) very familiar with the fact that Israel was not chosen to be saved in place of other people, quite the contrary Israel was chosen to bring salvation to the entire world (John 3:16-17).[10]

God says to Abraham, in the Bible, before Israel even exists, that ALL the nations of the earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3). Israel was chosen by God not to be saved from the world but to bring salvation to the world and though they had not been faithful in that task, still God uses the Israelite, Jesus, to save the world even as many in Israel will reject that Salvation and choose to perish outside of the promised kingdom to come. God loves everyone and He wants everyone to be saved and even in this (cf. Galatians 3:28, 1 Corinthians 12:13), as John Wesley says, He has a preferential message for the poor;[11] and we need to bring and be brought that message – our message- of Isaiah 61 to ourselves, our community and to our world today.

These promises – Gospel for the poor, freedom for the prisoners, sight for the blind, freedom to the oppressed, the Lord’s favour – these promises, Jesus offers to our community and these promises tJesus offers to our world. Do we believe that? Do we claim that? And do we live that? The truth is that as John 3:16-17 proclaims, Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world but instead he came so that whosoever, anyone and everyone, might be saved. And this is wonderful news: it is not just for the privileged few of a certain class or a certain clique. It is for all of us and especially those of us when we are in real need. As Jesus says,

- today good news is to be announced to the poor;

- today he has sent me… to proclaim freedom for the prisoners;

- today, he has sent me.. to preach recovery of sight to the blind;

- today, he has sent me… to set the oppressed free;

- today, he has sent me… to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

This my friends is what Lent is leading up to; this is what Good Friday announces; this is what Easter ushers in and this is what we are eagerly awaiting its culmination at the eschaton because today, we are here to announce the day of the Lord’s favour so we can all be rebuilt, restored, and renewed; do we believe that?

Let us pray

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 [1] Cf. Paul John Isaak, 'Luke', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 1239.

[2] Cf. William Hendricksen, Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke (NTC: Baker Academic: Grand Rapids Michigan, 2007), 255, re. 'today'

[3] R. Alan Culpepper, Luke (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 105

[4] N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004),

[5] Cf. Paul John Isaak, 'Luke', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 1239.

[6] Cf. R. Alan Culpepper, Luke (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 108

[7] Cf. Amy-Jill Levine, ‘Luke and the Jewish Religion’ in Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 2014, Vol. 68 (4) 389-402.

[8] Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Exposition of Luke/IV. The Galilean Ministry (4:14-9:50)/A. Initial Phase (4:14-6:16)/1. First approach and rejection at Nazareth (4:14-30), Book Version: 4.0.2

[9] Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Exposition of Luke/IV. The Galilean Ministry (4:14-9:50)/A. Initial Phase (4:14-6:16)/1. First approach and rejection at Nazareth (4:14-30), Book Version: 4.0.2

[10] Cf. N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004), 48.

[11] Cf. Donald W. Dayton, 'PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: THE WESLEYAN OPTION FOR THE POOR' in Wesleyan Theological Journal 26, 1991, 7-22. On-line: http://wesley.nnu.edu/fileadmin/imported_site/wesleyjournal/1991-wtj-26.pdf

[12] Based on the sermon, ‘Luke 4:14-30: Liberation!’ Presented to Corps 614 Regent Park of The Salvation Army, 31 January 2016. Available on-line: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2016/01/luke-414-30-liberation.html

Joshua 2: Redeemed!

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 13 January 2018 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Over the next few weeks we are looking at Joshua. Last week Tim gave us a brief overview of the book and gave us an introduction to Joshua himself I believe. Today, we are going to look a little bit at the conquest of Jericho and specifically Rahab (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25).

First, what do we know about Jericho? Jericho was this great fortified city. It was near the Jordan River. There was wonderful farmland all around. Its population was giants! It must have had some special significance for Joshua too. This isn’t the first time that Joshua had been over the Jordan River. Do we remember Joshua’s first encounter with the Promised Land? Remember that Joshua was one of the 12 spies Moses sent to check out Jericho 40 years before and at first how all of them except Caleb came back afraid to claim their inheritance. Joshua then quickly took Caleb’s perspective but the rest of that generation were afraid to enter the Promised Land before it was too late and so God in essence said ‘fine’ and the Hebrews wandered around the desert until everyone in that generation – except Caleb and Joshua - died.

Now in our text today the Hebrews have returned to Jericho and the Promised Land and Joshua is sending out the spies. He picks 2 young men and he sends them out just like Moses had sent him out 40 years before. These two young guys are on their first assignment in all probability and their first time away from their family Israel and their first time in the big city. So these two teenage boys or young twenty-somethings, where do they go when they get to the city? They go see the local prostitute! (Now we don’t know if they went there to give her some business or if they just thought that this would be a good place to blend in while they were spying on the town. We don’t know whether it was their idea or Joshua’s idea that they wind up at the home/business of Rahab the prostitute but here they are at Rahab’s house.

What do we know about Rahab? Every September the Salvation Army highlights those who are trafficked. Many of the people trafficked today in Canada are prostituted. While there is no evidence that Rahab was trafficked: her family was close to her; they lived in the same town as her (Jericho) and she went out of her way to save their lives when the opportunity arose (Joshua 2:12-13, 18; 6:23);[2] she was a prostitute [3] and though Shrine/religious prostitution was not uncommon in that area, we know, because of the specific language used to describe her work, Rahab was not a shrine prostitute. She was a secular prostitute not unlike those in our own time in this country.[4] And prostitutes then, like prostituted peoples today, were often outcasts from society.

It is significant that she is often referred to by her profession but another significant thing about Rahab of course was that she repented of her allegiances - when these young spies showed up at her door she, a probably young, marginalized prostitute was smart enough to see what was happening and she changed to support God (Joshua 2,6) and she was redeemed - James recognizes her for both her faith and her works (James 2:24-26). Rahab was saved and the author of Hebrews even records her as one of the heroes (heroines) of the faith. Hebrews 11:31: “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” Rahab, the prostitute, was saved.

Now today when we hear the name Rahab, we often think of this lady whom the LORD used to save the spies and deliver Jericho into the Hebrews’ hands. Does anyone know what the name ‘Rahab’ literally means? It - translated from Hebrew- means ‘fat’, ‘broad’, or ‘large’ and in common usage it refers to ‘fierceness’, ‘insolence’, and ‘pride’.[5] In the Bible, the country of Egypt is sometimes derogatorily referred to as a Rahab. Rahab is an insult word used of one of the Hebrews’ off again / on again enemies, the Egyptians.[6] Egypt - according to Isaiah and according to the Psalms – Egypt is a fat, insolent, Rahab (Psalm 89:10, Isaiah 51:9; cf. Psalm 87:4, Isaiah 30:7). Rahab in our story today was a prostitute. But Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed.

Many of you know some of our own personal history. Susan, the girls and I were soldiers with 614 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside prior to being commissioned as Officers in The Salvation Army. And since then we have served the LORD and the Army in Saskatchewan, in Winnipeg downtown and at Stoney Mountain Penitentiary. And of course we spent the previous few years in downtown Toronto. We made more than a few friends in these environments who –like Rahab- were relegated to the margins of society by circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. We had friends in our Bible studies, church services, and/or staying in our very home (we ran a transition residence in Vancouver) who were prostituted peoples, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and suffering everything else common to those environments.

We have had more than one friend, for whom our hearts still break, overdose, convicted of murder, and other such things – some even since knowing the Lord. Sometimes we fall back but even still I have seen God transform many lives: sometimes once, sometimes twice, sometimes thrice, or even more as need be. There are many more people still relegated to the margins of our society even here in our community - they (we) are not unredeemable; they (we) are as ready for redemption as anyone. During the many years we lived and worked in Saskatchewan between Nipawin, Tisdale, Carrot River, Maple Creek and Swift Current, I spent many hours sitting with my friends in the courts, speaking with our friends in the courts, speaking on behalf of friends in the courts, praying with friends in the courts. There are many people we knew there and in Toronto and Vancouver and that we are getting to know even here who wind up on the margins of our society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. They can be redeemed. We can be redeemed.

There are many of us in The Salvation Army who at one time or another have found ourselves outcast like Rahab. Rahab in our story today, Rahab was a prostitute. Rahab was a Canaanite. Rahab was marginalized. Rahab was an outcast. And Rahab is saved! And Rahab is redeemed! We can be saved! We can be redeemed!

I have been involved with AA at various times in my life and ministry and at AA we speak about a how a higher power, God, can deliver us. And God can redeem us and God can save us. And God offers salvation not only from alcohol; not only from addiction; not only from a horrible, storied past of abuse and other things; but from all else as well. There is one name by which we all can be saved not only for the here and the now but forever (Acts 4:12). That Name, that One is Jesus. Jesus has died and he rose again from the grave so that we don’t need to be trapped in our addictions; we don’t need to be trapped by our prejudices; we don’t need to be trapped in our sins; we don’t need to be trapped in our struggles. Jesus rose from the grave conquering sin and death so that even those of us most caught by sin and by circumstance can be saved. Rahab was prostituted in a doomed pagan city. Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed. We, no matter who we are and what we have had done to us what we have done, we can be saved. We can be redeemed (TSA docs. 6&10).

After Rahab’s faith and deeds were used by God to save the Hebrew spies and deliver Jericho over to the LORD, do you know how the Lord transformed her life? According to Jewish tradition, she became the ancestor of eight priests (Tal Megillah 14b). She is listed as one of four women of surpassing beauty (Tal Megillah 15a; the others were Sarah, Abigail, and Esther).[7] Rahab may mean ‘broad’ but this Rahab is a beauty. The Bible tells us Rahab married Salmon, one of the princes of Judah (Ruth 4:21, 1 Chronicles 2:11, Matthew 1:5). We remember too the wealthy landowner, Boaz, who married the Moabite Ruth of the book of Ruth; this rich, prominent Boaz was Rahab the Canaanite’s son. Ruth was Rahab’s daughter-in-law. Ruth and Boaz had a child, Obed, Rahab’s grandson. His son, Rahab’s great grandson was Jesse and his son, Rahab’s great great grandson... do we know who that was? Who was Jesse’s most famous son? He was King David from whose line is God’s promised Salvation; A Dominion to be established for ever! (Matthew 1:5-6; cf. 2 Samuel 7). This Dominion is of course accomplished through another descendant of Rahab the redeemed prostituted Canaanite – that is Jesus, the Redeemer himself, the Messiah! (cf. Matthew 1:16).

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” – and God chose to send His only begotten son through the ancestral line of the redeemed life of Rahab.

Scholar Richard Hess tells us that, “the story of Rahab confirms God’s welcome to all people, whatever their condition. Christ died for all the world and the opportunity is available for all to come to him through faith, even the chief of sinners [like you and like me] (1 Timothy 1:15)...Rahab exhibits faith and understanding of the God who saves her. She becomes part of the family line that leads to the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) and [she is] a model of faith for all Christians” (Hebrews 11:31).[8]

Rahab, who was once a prostituted Canaanite on the margins of society now stands redeemed, saved, holy, cleansed, and as one of the heroes of the faith. You and I here today, no matter what we done, no matter who we have been, no matter what has happened to us, we too can be saved from it all. Jesus died on the cross so that we could die to our sins and He rose from the grave so that we can live out a holy, redeemed life (cf. Romans 10:9-13). It is my prayer that today each of us would - like righteous Rahab - take God up on His offer of His Salvation and of His Redemption.

Let us pray.

Daily blogs at

https://www.facebook.com/Salvogesis/

More articles, sermons, and papers at

www.sheepspeak.com/

---
[1] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Genesis 50:15-21: Regarding Forgiveness: Do not be afraid, for are we in the place of God? Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 07 August 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/08/genesis-5015-21-regarding-forgiveness.html And Captain Michael Ramsay, Genesis 39:2a: The Lord was with Joseph and He Prospered. Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 10 July 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesis-392a-lord-was-with-joseph-and.html
[2] Cf. Robert B. Coote, The Book of Joshua, (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 592.
[3] Cf. RCMP Criminal Intelligence. Project SECLUSION: Human Trafficking in Canada (Ottawa: 2010).
[4] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2
[5] ‘Rahab’ in Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=1&wid=T0003054
[6] ‘Rahab’ in Smith’s Bible Names Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=3&wid=S10094
[7] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2
[8] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1996 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 6), S. 89

Based on the Sermon 'Rahab the Redeemed' presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 25 September 2011, the Weekend of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking and 20 October 2013 ( http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/09/rahab-redeemed-joshua-2-hebrews-1131.html ). Presented on the same same occasion 25 September 2016 at Warehouse Mission in Toronto. Presented also on the 15th Anniversary of Corps 614 Regent Park in Toronto, 01 October 2016 ( http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2016/09/rahab-redeemed-2016-jos-2-heb-1131-jas.html ).

Devotion 3.11/113: Matthew 6:14: Tutsi Forgiveness

Presented to River Street Cafe,  27 October 2017

and 614WM am service,  22 Ocotber 2017

Read Matthew 6:7-15

Immaculee Ilibagiza says, “Forgiveness is possible in every situation”; she says, “God is always right; whatever our Lord tells us to do is right. And God tells us to forgive.” Immaculee is a Rwandan and she is a Tutsi. Remember the Rwandan genocide? The Hutus slaughtered about 1 million Tutsi’s in 90 days – mostly by machete.

            Immaculee remembers her family was able to hide her in a home of a Hutu pastor. No one else in the family could hide. They were murdered. One day a death squad came to search the house where see was hiding. A chain of people surrounded the house so that if there were any Tutsi in the house they couldn't escape. Then then searchers came in the house. They searched even suitcases in case someone might be trying to hide a small child there. They were looking for Tutsis and if they found one, even a child, they would kill her.

            She remembers when searchers were close to their hiding place, a part of her wanted to run out and defy them and a part of her wanted to remain hidden. She is Catholic and she prayed, "God, if You are who You are, please don't let them look in this room" and then she fainted. When she came to, the evangelical Hutu pastor who was harbouring them said that they were by the door when one searcher said, ‘Mr. So-and-So, you are a good man, you wouldn't have anyone in your house’ and they left. God saved them.

When God answered her prayer and the searchers did not come in her room she knew God was real more than she ever knew before and so she would pray her Rosary prayers all the more. One of the prayers on the Rosary is the Lord's Prayer. She would pray it regularly but then she would get to the part that says please forgive our trespasses (our sins) as we forgive those who trespass (sin) against us and stop. Surely God didn't mean me? How can I forgive the sins of what has been done to me? How can I forgive my enemies – when they killed my mother, my father, my brothers, and my family? She got to the point where because she knows God is real and knows everything, she wouldn't even say those words in the Lord's Prayer – forgive us our sins as we forgive others - she would skip them over because she didn’t want to forgive them but then, of course, all-knowing God knows she is skipping those words. She came to realize this and so she opened her Bible to find some relief from this conviction to forgive her enemies. She opened her Bible and it said:

• Pray for your enemies, so she closed it and opened it again,
• Pray for those who persecute you, close,
• Forgive your enemies!

And then she remembered God. Jesus on Cross: do you remember what some his last recorded words are - about those who have put him up on that cross to die? Jesus said, "Father forgive them" and then Jesus said "for they do not know what they do". Jesus forgave his enemies. Jesus says, "Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." Jesus himself told us to forgive others as we want to be forgiven.

            Immaculee says, “Forgiveness is possible in every situation and God is always right; whatever our Lord tells us to do is right. God tells us to forgive.”

            And if Jesus forgives those who put him on a Cross to kill him and if Immaculee can forgive those who killed her family and extended family and the people she loves then surely we can forgive those who hurt us.

Devotion 2.55/107: 2 Corinthians 9:7 Volunteers

Presented to Volunteer Appreciation BBQ, 7 July 2017

Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-9

 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: ‘They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”

Staff and management and Officers, we receive a paycheque or a living allowance for the work we do. We are blessed by God as we serve Him and others.

Volunteers are a double blessing. You help without any payment. If there is no money to pay for the work to be done, God still uses you to do His work. It is only because of you that any of the work here is able to be done at all.

You come out to help at the times that you help, on the days that you help, in the seasons that you help not under any compulsion, like our scripture today says. God really does love you as you are a cheerful giver of your time. Everyday that you come to help, you are a blessing to God, to us, and to those who we help in Jesus’ name. As it is written, you who have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, your righteousness endures forever. God’s righteousness endures forever. And for all of that and all you do, we are very thankful and I praise the Lord.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com 

1 Samuel 17:46-47:The Battle belongs to the Lord

Presented to The Salvation Army: Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on July 6, 2008; Swift Current Corps on May 2, 2010; Warehouse Mission Corps, Toronto on July 17, 2016; 614 Warehouse Regent Park, Toronto, June 11, 2017. By Captain Michael Ramsay

This is the 2016-17 Toronto version; to view the earlier Saskatchewan versions, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html

So I played a bit of sports growing up.  I won a few soccer trophies. I tried baseball – my team won a trophy once for winning the season. I tried basketball too. Now given my great height and size in general (5’7”), one would think that by rights I really shouldn’t be any good at basketball. But you know what? … I’m not. I tried out however for the grade six team…and I was one of ONLY two kids in my whole class -  NOT to make the team.

One day when I was in university, we went down to the park to play some basketball. Now my friends – they were really good at basketball. Some of them actually made the teams growing up.  Because they were all good sports and had a certain degree of patience, they would actually take the time to explain to me that hip checks, slide checks and nose tweaking were not acceptable defensive manoeuvres. Who knew?

After most of guys had gone home, I was left with a few of the more serious players and they decided to have a bit of a competition to see who was the best shot. How this would work was that one player would try to pick a tricky shot and if he could make it, all the rest of us would have to make it too – or we would be knocked out of the competition. So they would be doing these reverse lay-ups, shots from the three-point line and the like and due to the grace of God, I was actually able to keep up but then came my turn…

So for my turn - I clarified that I could do any shot that I wanted – I clarified that if I made the shot that they would have to do exactly the same thing – so I would make up the most elaborate shooting routine that I could think of: I would do things like roll on the ground eight times, while singing a children’s song and then throw the ball with my back to the net. Or at one point I think I bounced the ball in off another player after tripping and falling over myself. And – guess what - by the grace of God, the ball actually found the net; so here were all these too serious, too skilled players trying to concentrate on these shots while laughing and not being able to concentrate at all and - at the end of the competition - I was indeed the last man standing. /// It was weird but in life there are times when we can’t really rely on our own skills and abilities to carry us through. After all is said and done we must confess that the battle is not to the strong and the race is not to the swift (Eccl. 9:11). The battle -as 17:47 says- the battle belongs to the Lord.

Now we all know the story of David and Goliath that we read about today (1 Samuel 17), about how a young inexperienced soldier toppled a professional fighter and we know that the battle belongs to the Lord but instead of this – the fact that the battle belongs to the Lord - we often concentrate, when retelling this story, on how a person with just a sling can topple a well-armed soldier.

While it is true that Goliath is painted as a giant of a man, somewhere between 6’9” and 9’9” tall (depending on your translation: MT or LXX, 1 Samuel 17:4) and it is true that he is portrayed as having the most advanced weaponry of his day and age. Remember that the Israelites did not have any iron technology at all (1 Samuel 13:19). Remember that the Philistines forbade them from defending themselves– and remember that after they disarmed them then they attacked them - much like the USA in the second Iraq war or today with some countries and nuclear technology where they are doing their best to make sure that they are the only ones who will use these weapons. Here in our text today, Goliath has his century’s version of the depleted uranium bombs NATO dropped on Yugoslavia: Goliath has an iron spearhead that ways about 600 sheckles of iron (17:7). He is a formidable foe with superior technology…nonetheless the battle belongs to the Lord.

That being said, sometimes in playing up Goliath we play down David a little too much  – remember that David is already referred to as a warrior in 1 Samuel 16:18 and, as a shepherd, he has a lot of experience with his weapon of choice – the sling. And you’ll note also that his weapon of choice is a real weapon that real soldiers really did use in battle. They could fire a rock from a sling at over 100 km/hr. and an expert could be deadly accurate. IT WAS LIKE A GUN SHOT (2 Ki 3:25, 1 Chr 12:2, 2 Chr 26:14): Judges 20:16 says that some men who were left-handed could even sling a stone at a hair at a distance and not miss. This is not a child’s toy; it is a pretty powerful weapon that David chooses to bring into the battle.

David is not just a child; he is a pretty powerful tool that the Lord chooses to bring into battle. So then part of the miracle of the Lord’s victory in this battle here is NOT the fact that David is good with a sling but part of the miracle could be that the Lord apparently conceals this sling from Goliath’s sight until the contest begins (notice that in his taunts of 16:43 there is no mention of the sling – only of the David’s rod) so it appears then that Goliath and his shield-bearer – even with their superior superpower class technology - are ill-prepared to face their opponent and why? … Why? Because the battle belongs to the Lord. Goliath and David’s speeches make that quite clear (17:43-47). This isn’t a contest of two men who serve different gods; this is a contest of two gods (one real and one imagined), who have chosen as their weapons/armour different men. This is a significant difference (repeat). The battle belongs to the Lord.

IT ALWAYS REMINDS ME OF THIS CLIP FROM INDIANA JONES. 

THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD.

In our own lives, this is true too and I think that we too often forget that indeed the battles we have before us actually do belong to the Lord as well. I have been involved with a couple of different AA (alcoholics anonymous) groups in my time.

You should hear some of the testimonies in these different AA / NA groups. Steps 1-3 of AA’s 12 step programme confess that we are powerless over our foe, that only a power greater then ourselves can restore us, and that we need to turn our will and our lives over to God. This is true. When they forget that in AA it is not pleasant. When we forget that in our life it is not pleasant but when we remember it…when we remember it, all of a sudden the seemingly insurmountable can be surmounted because really life’s battles do belong to the Lord. They are not ours to fight.

What about us here? What do we do when we are faced with life’s conflicts? King Saul set up monuments to what he saw as his own accomplishments. Are we any better than Saul? Do we set up monuments for ourselves by taking credit for what God does through us? Do we set up monuments to ourselves in our minds by thinking that we are the reason that we won this or that we got that or that this worked out okay for us? Do we think that we have anything to do with the price of tea in China or the price of groceries or anything else here or do we remember that the battle belongs to the Lord?

When we are faced with life’s battles, do we just strap on the amour that society offers us - our education and experience - like the amour that Saul offered David and try to fight on our own strength? When we are faced with life’s battles, when we are deciding what to tell a friend, what to do with our cheques, what jobs to take; when we are faced with the battle of deciding what to do with the time and money we have been entrusted with– do we ask God? (really)  Do we pray? Do we read the Bible when we are faced with challenges (like this one from Goliath)? Do we, like David, realise that the battle belongs to the Lord. Or, instead do we try to face life’s challenges purely on our own strength (cf. 1 Samuel 15)? God has given us our experiences, and our education and they are indeed as formidable as a stone in David’s sling but only if we remember that it is the Lord’s battle. We need to seek Him because, indeed, life’s battles do belong to the Lord.

In our text today that is made very clear in verses 46 and 47. David says to his foe, “This day the LORD will hand you over to me…and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

It is not by the sword or the spear that the Lord saves. This is the same in our world. We can have an education that is the equivalent of the king’s armour. If we don’t use it for God it really is useless.  We can have as much money as a superpower spends on weapons. It means nothing if we don’t submit to the Lord.

So I know that life sends us many struggles. Everyday, some are facing a new Goliath. I know many people who are struggling with addiction. I know many friends who are struggling with serious health and family concerns. I know that there are those here that have real decisions to make about their home, their future, their children and their life.

As this is true, as this is all true, I invite you; I implore you to remember that the battle belongs to the Lord. So then let us load up our slings with the stones of effort, education, experience, talent, and know how but let’s do so in faith. Remember, no matter how difficult life’s challenges are; no matter how big are the Goliaths in front of us; no matter what seemingly insurmountable difficulty we are facing today – as we turn to Him, as we turn to our Lord, through prayer and Bible study – as we turn to Him, He will be successful for indeed the battle belongs to the Lord.

www.sheepspeak.com

[1] Ronald F. Youngblood. The Expositor's Bible Commentary.  Pradis CD-ROM:1 and 2 Samuel. The death of Goliath (17:1-58), Book Version: 4.0.2: The purpose of such contests was "to obviate the necessity of a general engagement of troops which would spill more blood than necessary to resolve the dispute" (Harry A. Hoffner, Jr., "A Hittite Analogue to the David and Goliath Contest of Champions?" CBQ 30 [1968]: 220). Whether this kind of radical limitation on warfare is ever sincerely accepted by either side remains in itself a matter of dispute (for a nuanced treatment of the issue, cf. George I. Mavrodes, "David, Goliath, and Limited War," Reformed Journal 33, 8 [1983]: 6-8). It is clear, however, that contests of champions (to be carefully distinguished from duels, which are individual combats not representing larger groups) such as that between David and Goliath or between Menelaus and Paris (Homer Iliad bk. 3) were not uncommon in ancient times (for additional examples, see Hoffner, "A Hittite Analogue," pp. 220-25).

2 Ibid.: By any standard of measure, the Philistine champion was a giant of a man (v.4). Some LXX MSS give his height as "four cubits and a span" (so also 1QSama; Jos. Antiq. VI, 171 [ix. 1]), others "five cubits and a span." The MT reads "six cubits and a span" (thus NIV mg.), making him "over nine feet tall." Other comparable heights in the OT are those of "an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall" (1 Chronicles 11:23) and Og king of Bashan, whose size is not specified but whose bed/sarcophagus was "more than thirteen feet long" (Deut 3:11). The MT account of Goliath's height is paralleled in modern times by reports concerning Robert Pershing Wadlow, who was eight feet eleven inches tall at the time of his death on July 15, 1940, at the age of twenty-two (Insight [18, 1985]: 51).

3 There is much debate as to whether chapters 16 and 17 are placed chronologically in order or even if they both originate from the same source or were both originally about the same people for that matter.

4 This may have contributed as well to David’s great speed in battle as he was not as encumbered with defensive amour as was Goliath. David was the light infantry as it were.

5 AA 12 Steps: www.alcoholics-anonymous.org

6 ^{http://renewnetwork.blogspot.com}

1 Samuel 2:18-21 & 2 John 1-13: Love and Obey

Presented to 11am River Street service of 614 Warehouse Mission 14 May 2017 by Captain Michael Ramsay

To view a similar earlier version of this sermon presented to Swift Current Corps 08 May 2011, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/05/2-john-1-13-love-and-obey.html

Today is Mother’s Day: Here we celebrate women as much as mothers in our community. All of us do have moms though and it is a big deal when one becomes a mom.

My mom had her first Mother’s Day in the hospital, I was born a couple of days prior and in those days, apparently you were left in the hospital for a few days after giving birth rather than these days in maternity where they seem to have a quick ‘catch and release policy'.

I remember when Rebecca was born, my folks were quickly in the hospital to see us and Susan’s parents stayed with us for a while afterwards. When Sarah-Grace was born my folks were kind enough to come and look after Rebecca while Susan was in the hospital with baby Sarah-Grace. That was when we lived in the same city as they did. Just prior to Heather's birth my parents came to our city for a couple of weeks planning to help out after the baby’s birth - but apparently Heather and the doctor disagreed as to what her due date was and she arrived quite a few days late so my parents just got to introduce themselves to Heather before they had to return home. And Rebecca actually had chicken pox at the time so she had to wait to meet her sister.

My mom always tells the story about how important it was to my dad that I was born. It was so important that my dad actually come down to the hospital and see me arrive, even though on that very same evening there was… a Stanley Cup play-off game on. And it wasn’t just any play-off game, it was the final series when I was born and no I wasn’t born in July. The finals actually used to be in early May.

Today we are looking at the passage where Samuel's mom - who doesn't live with him; she only gets to see Samuel once a year - has a visitation. I can only imagine what it is like for her. She had been trying to have a child for a long time and then she finally has one and he doesn't even live with her. She only gets to see him once a year. They would go to church. She would receive a blessing and then she would go home. Later Hanna had other children who lived with her in another city. They had other siblings in a blended family and I don't know if they ever did know this brother. Samuel also had a blended family of sorts - he had two older boys he was raised with - maybe they were even adults when he was born but they were bad news. Even more then, I am sure Samuel and his mom both looked forward to these quick visits every year for many reasons. I am sure she probably cried too when they ended. Today Hanna is visiting little Samuel and giving him a single robe that she has lovingly made for him as she does every year - on these rare occasions when she sees her little child.

 Because it is Mothers' Day, I thought we would also look at 2 John. 2 John is a neat letter and this is how it opens: “The elder, To the chosen lady and her children whom I love in truth – and not I only, but also all who know the truth – because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever (2 John 1-2).” 2 John is addressed specifically to a woman and her children. This seems very appropriate for today. And scholars who like to research and talk about things tell us that either of the Greek words ‘chosen’ or ‘lady’ here, Electa or Kyria could also be translated as a proper name, so the opening of this letter might be ‘to the chosen Kyria’ or ‘to the Lady Electa’. This letter that we have in our NT is written to a very important Lady in the church. [1]

One more thing too: I don’t know how many people here know a little bit of Greek. Do you recognize the word ‘Kyria’? The male form of this word ‘Kyrios’- do we know, what that means? ‘Kyria’ means ‘lady’ and ‘Kyrios’, the masculine form of the word, means ‘lord’ - like Medieval language, 'Lord and Lady' - and the word is often used in the NT to refer to the Lord Jesus Christ himself.[2] This is an important term of respect. This lady is a very important lady who heads up the local Christian Church.

John[4] writes in this letter to her, 2 John 4-6:

It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

John assures them and us that God desires us to continue loving and obeying Him. God loves us and He wants us to continue experiencing that joy that comes from loving Him and the author of this letter, the presbyter, the elder, John tells the chosen lady that it gives him great joy to find some walking in the truth.

Now this letter was probably – like most of the NT letters - circulated around the churches in the Roman province of Asia. Do we know roughly what contemporary country is the old Roman province of Asia? (Turkey). This Roman province of Asia, Turkey, converted early to Christianity and ran as a near theocracy, a government dedicated to the glory of God, for the better part of a millennium (324-1453 CE): theoretically a millennial reign of Christ.[5]

The legacy of this lady in Asia here and many of her children (biological, spiritual, and otherwise) and her children’s children, and her children’s grandchildren, and her grandchildren’s grandchildren and so on all experienced the joy and the blessings that come from continuing to love and obey the Lord. This is exciting. Because of the faithfulness of this lady and other women, many are faithfully following Christ in our NT text today.

Because Hanna trusted God when she gave up her son, God used her to bless a whole nation. Hanna's little Samuel who stands before his mom in our OT text today and who will soon be missing her for another year will go on to rule and judge the whole country. God used Hanna. God used this lady in 2 John. God first revealed Jesus as Christ to a vulnerable Samaritan woman who was living with not her first man. The first people too who God ordained and commissioned to share the gospel of salvation after his resurrection where Mary, Mary, and Martha. These are each very different women from very different backgrounds who God used mightily to share His news of Salvation.

From history too I think of St. Monica of Hippo. No, just in case you were wondering, St. Monica of Hippo isn't our Monica here and she isn’t a Hippo and she isn't the patron saint of hippos. Hippo is the name of the Carthaginian city she came from. St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine, also of Hippo. We know who St. Augustine was, right? Much of western Christianity has been interpreted through the lens of his theology. I don't know if any of us have read a book or two of this ancient Carthaginian Christian academic. He wrote, most famously, ‘Confessions’ and ‘Of The City of God’. Augustine was one of the most important people to early Christianity and he was not originally a Christian. He was a pagan but his mom, Monica, prayed for him every night. She prayed for him every day. She prayed for him faithfully. St. Monica prayed for her son and she actually lived to see him transformed into a new creation as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a Mother’s Day present that would have been for her, if they had Mother’s Day back then, to see her son give his life to over to God’s will to have him continue to love and obey the Lord.

The same is true today of anyone who has ever prayed persistently for someone they love and then seen them come to the Lord. And the same must be true of Samuel's mom as she sees him grow up from a distance to be one of Israel's greatest prophets and its last judge and the lady (Kyria Electa) in 2nd John today as some of those she loves are continuing to walk in love and obedience to the Lord (2 John 4).  If we love God and love Christ, we shall show it by keeping His commands (John 14:15, 21; 15:10; 1 John 5:2–3). As we do, we will naturally love our neighbour for ‘he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law’ (Rom 13:8).[6] 

But, sadly,  there is some bad news in 2 John here too for as sure as some of Kyria Electra's spiritual children are continuing to walk in love and obedience to the Lord some are not. Some are no longer walking in love and obedience to Christ (cf. TSA doc. 9). Can anything be more sad for someone who loves you? After all, what good is it if one you love gains the whole world and yet forfeits her very own soul (Matthew 16:26, Mark 8:36)?

Some of this lady’s spiritual children, who were raised in the truth; some of this lady’s spiritual children, who saw the power of our resurrected Lord; some of this lady’s children, who experienced the blessings of growing up in the church and  maybe even a loving Christian home; some of these people – Verses 7-11 – some of these people she loves have fallen prey to deceivers and antichrists who – Verse 7 – say that Jesus Christ never came in the flesh (TSA doc. 4).

This lady is like a mother duck watching her children fly towards a wooden decoy only to be shot down by the evil one and delivered to their end in his dogs' teeth. This is tragic. John warns us, Verse 8, “Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.” Be careful not to let your ducklings walk towards the devils decoys, If we know the story of Eli, who is the priest who raises Hanna little son - Eli's own children (even though they have everything) walk away from obedience to the Lord and later, sadly, so do Samuel's own children, Hanna's grandchildren.

I think there are many ways that we can fall into the trap of inviting the enemy into our lives and feed the hounds of Hell in this day and age  who will endeavour to pull us away from love and obedience. I think there are many ways we can abandon our ducklings, leaving them open to attack, as the enemy is prowling around (1 Peter 5:8).

That is sad because God really does love us and He really does love our friends and He really does love our children -spiritual and otherwise- even more than we love our children and God wants us to continue to walk in love and obedience so that we too can be safe from the enemy; so that we too can be saved. So, as we read the Bible with others;  as we continue to pray for; and as we continue to pray with others; and as we continue to walk in love and obedience to our Lord then -who knows- maybe even our loved ones who are presently not walking in love and obedience to our Lord; maybe even now they will recognize the decoys of the enemy before it is too late, turn and be saved. After all that is why God sent his one and only Son so that whosoever may, will turn and be saved. John 3:17 tells us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn that world but he came into the world that the world might be saved through him. God loves us even more than anyone else ever could. So this is my prayer for us today on this Mother’s Day. If there are any of us who are not right now continually walking in love and obedience to the Lord, I pray that we will turn (repent) and return to the safety of our Father’s nest. And I pray that if any of our children have begun to wander astray after the many decoys of this world that indeed they will turn around and be saved before it is too late.

Let us pray.

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[1] C. Clifton Black, The First, Second, and Third Letters of John (NIB XII: Abingdon Press: Nashville, Tennessee: 1998), 449. cf. also D. Moody Smith, First, Second, and Third John (Interpretation: John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky: 1990), 139 and John R. W. Stott, The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 19), S. 210

[2] D. Moody Smith, First, Second, and Third John (Interpretation: John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky: 1990), 142 As a result many famous commentators take this phrase to refer specifically to the church rather than to a certain lady. This may be the case but either way, whether this lady referred to is a local church or whether she is a lady who heads up a local church there is a very important message in this short letter for us Cf. Glenn W. Barker, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: 2 John/Exposition of 2 John/I. Introduction (1-3), Book Version: 4.0.2

[4] Cf. C. Clifton Black, The First, Second, and Third Letters of John (NIB XII: Abingdon Press: Nashville, Tennessee: 1998), 49 for a good discussion of this authorship.

[5] Cf. Steven Runciman, 'The Byzantine Theocracy' (Cincinnati, The Weil Lectures, July 1977) and Medieval Wall, 'The Rise and Development of the Byzantine Empire', http://www.medievalwall.com/general/rise-development-byzantine-empire/

[6] John R. W. Stott, The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 19), S. 210