Psalm 146: Set the Captives Free (Now)!

Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries by Major Michael Ramsay, 03 August 2025

 

We have a lot of scripture readings again because I want to chat some more about a truth that this is a common theme throughout the Bible: “Set the captives free!” Most of the time when we, in church, read about the captives being set free it is in the context of the Kingdom of God. The Gospels say that the Kingdom of God is at hand. In theology we use the term ‘prolepsis’ to refer to the time when the Kingdom of God begins, which is now, the time between the resurrection of Christ and His return at the eschaton. This is the time we are living in now and as Christians it is our responsibility to try to make this time as close to what the world will be like when Jesus comes back at the end of time – which is perfect.

 

The Bible repeatedly tells us what Christian nations look like, what we as Christians need to work toward in our country. Psalm 146 is example of how we can be a part of God’s Kingdom:

 

Psalm 146

1 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul.

2 I will praise the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,

in human beings, who cannot save.

4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;

on that very day their plans come to nothing.

5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord their God.

6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,

the sea, and everything in them—

he remains faithful forever.

7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed

and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets prisoners free,

8     the Lord gives sight to the blind,

the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,

the Lord loves the righteous.

9 The Lord watches over the foreigner

and sustains the fatherless and the widow,

but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

10 The Lord reigns forever,

your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

 

Verse 7 says, “The Lord sets the prisoners free”; you can also see this sentiment in Zechariah 9:11, Psalm 68:6, Psalm 102:20, Isaiah 42:7 and elsewhere. Jesus, as recorded in Luke, quotes Isaiah 42 letting people know that the time to set the prisoners free is now. I think this is important. I think we do need to do what the Bible tells us to do. I was reading one African Liberation Theologian’s essay (I believe it was Bongajalo Goba) this week in Hammering Swords into Plowshares, a book dedicated to the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He said that one main difference between capitalist western churches and the Universal Christian Church is that western churches either spiritualize everything (for example: God doesn’t’ really want us to let people out of jail, that is just a metaphor for something else…maybe being free from our personal bad habits) or they try to say that the things that God tells us to do as a society are only in the future and God will do it; it is not our responsibility (we shouldn’t try to give sight to the blind now; we shouldn’t end hunger or homelessness now – even though we can!- God will do that when Jesus returns at the end of time). But the real Church including the churches in the third world realizes that when God tells us to make it so that no one is hungry; no one is lonely; no one is homeless; no one is thirsty, and no one is in prison; He is telling us to do it now! We are not supposed to go on propping up (western capitalist ‘democratic’) systems that are opposed to the expressed will of God and just say “oh well, when we all get to heaven we will all be okay” -both me who has so much and my neighbour who doesn’t. When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be.

 

I have been really convicted and cut to the quick with the sentiment I shared at the Summer Rain festival: Jesus speaks about a salvation society as one where the sick are healed, the captives are freed, the hungry are fed, the lonely are visited, the perpetrator is forgiven, relationships are healed. In our world, in our country, in our province, in our city there is still conflict, abuse, addiction, poverty, homelessness, murder, mental illness, hate, violence, unforgiveness… What if we didn’t have to wait until we die to experience a world without all of this? What if Christ was right and he wasn’t lying to us? What if the Kingdom of God is actually at hand? What if the Church (and our churches) is actually the body of Christ and what if we actually do this?  

 

Recently I read Wrongfully Convicted by Canadian lawyer and Founder of Innocence Canada, Kent Roach and this week I have been reading Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson, an American lawyer who has spent his career working with death row inmates. The horrors that people suffer behind bars in the USA are as bad as you imagine and even worse. Think of the TV shows you have seen and then place yourself or your loved ones in the place of the prisoners being abused by prisoners or guards, or judges, or whomever. When I studied Restorative Justice from Simon Fraser University a decade ago, we read stories of inmates who were actually lost in American prisons – it came time to release them and they had no idea where they were.

 

I have a story relating to that – when I was just a new Salvation Army Officer, I was appointed to the small town of Nipawin, Saskatchewan (Go Riders!). On Sunday a congregation member asked me if I could go see another congregation member, Zerah. “Sure” I said. “He is in cells” they said. Apparently, shortly before we had arrived to town Zerah had gone on an arson spree, lighting the town on fire. I spent the next weeks and months meeting Zerah whenever he was in town for the circuit court. In between court dates they would ship him off to prisons in Prince Albert or Regina – and I think his court cases were in Nipawin, Carrot River, or Tisdale. I would meet him in whatever small community courthouse the circuit court was meeting on that day of the week.

 

One time I was in the court room in Carrot River and they called Zerah’s name to stand before the judge. No answer. They called it again. No answer. The judge then said, “We will need to issue a warrant for his arrest for not showing up for court.” At this point I popped up from my seat and awkwardly raised my hand. I was in uniform so he knew I wasn’t Zerah; so he asked me “do you know where Zerah is?” “Yes. He is in prison in PA” I said. Everyone in the courtroom laughed. I didn’t. The judge didn’t. “Then we better not issue a warrant for his arrest – that would look pretty bad” the judge said as he instructed the bailiff to try to find Zerah and figure out how they lost him in the system. Eventually, they did find Zerah in prison; but can you imagine if I wasn’t there? This warrant issued from the bench would be on his record. They lost Zerah in prison.

 

I was reading some research this week. Did you know that quite a few people in U.S. jails, federal, and US state prisons have never even been convicted of a crime? What percentage of people in US jails do you think have never been convicted of a crime? 80%! 80% of people suffering all that they are suffering in prison have never been convicted of an offence and some of them never will be and some of them will have their convictions overturned on appeal. I didn’t find the stats for Canada but, from experience, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are similar.

 

A member of our church in Toronto when he immigrated to Canada from Dubai about 10 years ago, they held him and his sister in jail until they processed them – I am not sure how many months they were in jail. He was separated from his sister (she was put in a different jail) and quite concerned about her. I wound up having to go to the consulate with him to figure out a whole bunch of things – this is Canada.

 

I spoke to my friends in Stony Mountain Penitentiary when I was there for two years. They told me that the prison organized the wings by gangs: the Indian Posse had one wing, the Hells Angels another. They set the rules. They told me that you never make eye contact with anyone. It was hard not to be part of a gang. We put people who have never been convicted of a crime through this and more in Canada. And they can lose you in this system, like they did Zerah. Can you imagine if it was the day of your release and no one knew where you were to release you?

 

In 2023, in Canada, 61 people died in custody.  According to StatsCan, from 2017-2020 there were 169 deaths in our prisons: there were 20 suicides, 11 confirmed homicides, 19 drug overdoses and many other natural and suspicious deaths. In 2019 alone in the USA 143 were murdered while in the care of the State.

 

We, the Church, are called to free the prisoners; we, the Church, are supposed to be good stewards of the money God entrusts us with too. The estimated total court spending in Canada for 2014 was $1,614,017,311. That is not even including the incarceration and other costs! We could provide everyone the mental health and addiction support they need in this country for that amount of money. The average hotel cost across this country is $211.00 per night. The daily average cost of keeping someone in prison here is $326.00 per night which works out to $9780.00 per month. We could afford to put everyone in a hotel and give them the mental health and addition help they need for less than putting them in prison – and there are lots of safer cheaper ways to contain someone still. The average rental cost in Canada is $2200 / month which works out to $74 a day (as opposed to the $326 /day that it costs to put someone in a cage!); the average mortgage in Canada (including Vancouver, etc.) is just $2100 a month which works out to just $70 a day. We can feed and house people at the Bread of Life, Tiny Homes, or a shelter here for a lot cheaper than that too – with all the supports to keep themselves and others safe! So why do we lock people in prisons? It doesn’t help them. It doesn’t help us! – oh and btw I read that over 70% of those in Canadian prisons have diagnosed mental health conditions.

 

Instead of locking someone up to be tortured in the cages we call prisons, we could send someone somewhere actually safe and secure for mental health and addiction support – we just choose not to! Derek, one of our regular friends at the Army and the Bread of Life, every time he gets out of jail he is healthy-ish, well fed and not visibly fighting his demons for a week or so – but when they toss him out of prison they toss him out on the street with no support; so his own mental health demons torment him so much until he hurts himself and others in unimaginable ways and then winds up back behind bars where he suffers everything that one suffers there. That doesn’t make society safe. That doesn’t make Derick safe.

 

That doesn’t need to be the case. My friend Zerah was eventually sentenced to mental health care and weekly injections for his schizophrenia instead of jail and he was able to contribute to society. Why don’t we help everyone who needs help like that? Why do we torture people like we do to Derrick instead? Why? Just because Zerah ‘lucked out’ and had a compassionate judge? Because he had a TSA Officer with him the whole time? We are called to set the captives free. There is no reason for anyone to be tortured in a cage, let alone the 80% of the people we are doing this to who have never been convicted of a crime. And how can we punish people with mental health and addiction issues for acting in manners consistent with their mental health and addiction issues?

 

And… why am I asking us this question? And to 25 people here who actually do a lot for people in our community? What do I want us to do? Are we able to go speak with Judge Wolf and ask that he never sentence someone to incarceration again? – maybe; I wouldn’t object to that. Do I want a volunteer to start a court worker program here like we had in Saskatchewan that helped keep people out of prison? - maybe; I wouldn’t object to that. Am I asking us to write letter or speak in person to Josie (our MLA) and Gord (our MP) and ask them to change the legislation so that we try to help heal our community heal rather than punish the sick and even innocent people this way; maybe. I wouldn’t object to that.

 

I guess the main thing I am asking us is to keep our eyes open; keep our ears open. Remember that Jesus and the Bible does command us set the captives free and we as members of the church are asked to do that, just as we are asked to forgive one another like we have spoken about the previous few weeks. So today, I ask that we please just leave here knowing and believing that our world can be changed and it can be changed now; there are other solutions, let us look for them; let us pray for them, and let us fight for them. Jesus tells us to set the captives free.

 

Let us pray

www.sheepspeak.com

Galatians 5:15-21, Ephesians 4:26-32, Philippians 2:14-16: Green Grenade.

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 21 April 2013; Corps 614 Regent Park, 30 August 2015; and TSA Alberni Valley Ministries, 08 June 2025 by Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay

 

This is the 2025 Version.

 

To view the 2015 version, click here:

http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2015/08/galatians-519-21-ephesians-427-32.html

 

To read the 2013 original, click here:  

http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2013/04/galatians-519-21-ephesians-427-32.html 

 

When we served in Swift Current one Sunday my friend, Tim, told me this story about why he was late for church:

 

Very early on Sunday morning before he was up and ready for church, there was a knock on the door of his new place. He had just recently moved in. He gets up, answers the door; it is a police officer. She asks, “Are you Tim?”

“Yes”

“I need you to come with me”, she says.

“Why”

She tells him what it is that he has supposedly done. Tim doesn’t think that this applies to him. As far as he knows he has never been involved in whatever the police officer is talking about but “Okay.” He's still half asleep.

“Go get dressed”, she tells him. He does.

The whole time he is wondering, of course, ‘what is going on?’ As he is getting dressed, he is thinking that there is something not right here; so, as he comes out of his room, fully clothed, he asks her again, “Who are you looking for?”

As they walk out the door, “Tim”, she says.

As they go to the police car, “Tim who?” he says. “What is the last name of the Tim you’re looking for?”

Standing beside the police car, “You tell me your last name first”, she says. He does. “Show me your ID, please”, she says. He does. “Have a nice day, Tim”, she says. He does. Apparently, some other Tim – in whom the police were interested - used to live in this apartment before him; or the new landlord thought he was some other Tim or something like that. That was Tim’s excuse for missing church that day. I thought that was a good excuse.

 

There is a possible case of mistaken identity. In our texts today – especially the one from Galatians. The pericopes we read this morning are all passages from letters that the Apostle Paul has written to the Saints (In the Bible, when we see the word 'Saints' to whom is it referring? Christians). Paul has written these letters to Saints/Christians in various communities he knows well. He is writing these letters to churches he has planted himself. He is writing these letters – in the cases of the Philippians and the Ephesians – to people he loves and respects. And to the Galatians, he writes of their common problem, Galatians 5:19-21:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

People who indulge in hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, and the like, Paul says, will not inherit the kingdom of God.[1] This is pretty serious stuff. He is concerned about his friends and congregation members. He is not talking about those who have not claimed that Jesus is Lord (See Mt 7:15-27; cf. Mt 25:31ff.); Paul is writing this letter to and for people in the churches. Matthew 7:21, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Paul says that those in the Christian churches – who he himself knows and some of these churches he actually planted himself – Paul says to his friends that they should make sure they aren’t mistaken for people who aren’t inheriting the Kingdom who live a life with hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy and the like will not inherit the kingdom of God.[2] This is serious stuff.

 

This can be a real problem too. Paul had to write this similar sentiment in many of his letters, three of which we have read from today. Paul had to warn people who were meeting in the Christian congregations. Paul had to warn the Saints in these Christian communities. Paul had to warn the good guys not to get drawn into this stuff or, he says, they may not even seem like they will inherit the kingdom of God.[3]

 

We know too that just as these things were a temptation for people in the Roman world of the first century, they are also a temptation for people in the English-speaking world today. Who of us hasn’t seen, experienced, or even been tempted ourselves to indulge in hatred (hating someone), discord (not getting along with someone), jealousy, fits of rage (getting angry at people and things), selfish ambition (wanting to be better than someone), dissentions, factions (this includes getting people on your side, gossiping, talking behind people's back), envy, and the like? Here then is Paul’s question for us pertaining to mistaken identity. Have any of us ‘good guys’ as if we are not saints by regularly partake in hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, and the like and so are in jeopardy of missing out on the benefits of the Kingdom of God? And if so, what can we do about it?

 

These behaviours can pose a real temptation to draw us away from our relationship with God and our neighbour. We have heard the analogy of yeast working its way through dough. When we are surrounded by all of this bad list stuff, it becomes contagious. We have heard the expression, ‘one bad apple spoils the whole bunch’. This is true. Where one day no one is engaged in discord, dissentions, factions, and the like; then one person indulges him or herself by gossiping with another person who then huddles in a corner with a third person, who then tells someone else about all of their problems with someone (which may or may not even be true!) and then they tell two friends and then they tell two friends and then they tell two friends, and so on and so on and so on and soon the whole congregation and community is full of cliques, factions, whispering, gossiping, fits of rage and the like. I think some of us may have been there before: that is not a good place to be. And that is exactly where some of these first century churches were and that is exactly where some of the 21st century churches appear to be and that is exactly where I would hope and pray that we would never find ourselves (again). Paul describes these things as so bad when they get a hold of us we may be in very real danger of not, as Paul puts it, inheriting the Kingdom of God.

 

The effects of these things - hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, and the like - are disastrous. It is like this: I used to be an RCMP chaplain; One time they flew a number of us in a small RCMP plane, stopping at many small communities to pick up other chaplains so we could go to an RCMP training course in Edmonton. There were many good speakers. The Edmonton ERT (SWAT) Team Leader let us play with some of their ‘toys’ (weapons) and he spoke to us about the importance of chaplains in his job when people are shooting at them and when they have to consider what course of action to take.

 

The keynote speaker that day, Gerry Fostaty, was a fellow who wrote a book entitled, As You Were: The Tragedy at Valcartier, about an incident that happened to him when he was a teenager in military cadets.[4] He was probably about 19 or 20 and he was a leader of younger cadets – probably Heather’s age or even younger. They were at a cadet camp in Valcartier, Quebec. As part of the camp, they got to play with weapons not entirely unlike we did at the conference in Edmonton. The cadets (even more) learned how to use the weapons properly and how to take care of the weapons and how the weapons worked and all kinds of things like that.

 

In one class, the adult instructor was handing out dummy grenades for the children to examine. The dummy grenades you can apparently tell from the real grenades because the dummies are brightly coloured - orange, pink, blue – not the military green of combat weaponry. The cadets, these children were encouraged to take apart these dummy grenades, put them back together, examine how they work, etc., etc., etc…

 

Apparently and disastrously in with the orange, pink, and blue-coloured grenades was at least one live green grenade. The children were passing this live green grenade – along with the toy grenades – along the line of cadets in the class. They were taking the pin out and placing it back in and they were holding (I don’t know what the term is but…) the safety and disabling and reassembling it along with the coloured grenades and then… one little boy pulled the pin on the live grenade and holding it out too long…

 

The writer of this book was out of the room at the time; he ran in when he heard the explosion and found his little brother who -was not seriously injured- along with many others who were. One deadly green grenade had mixed in with the harmless coloured grenades and this one green grenade brought destruction with it and it brought death with it.

 

The result of this green grenade in the room full of children is essentially the same as what results when hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, and the like wind up in our churches. These are our green grenades. When we put ourselves first, engaging in selfish ambition instead of thinking of others as greater than ourselves (as Paul extols us; Philippians 2) the results are essentially the same.[5] Just as the green grenade brings death when people handle it; if it goes unchecked, Paul reminds us that hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, and the like, also bring death to a church and people who are consumed with them. Paul words are ‘they will not inherit the kingdom of God’.

 

So what can we do about this? The Apostle Paul says, in essence, that we should remove the green grenades from the box; we should remove these things from the church. We should, Ephesians 4:31-5:2a:

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us…

 

Remove the green grenades before they go off. Paul says, Galatians 5:16, 22-25:

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh… But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

 

Remove the green grenades. Paul says, Philippians 2:3-4,12-13:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others... Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.

 

Friends, you are all doing very well. The Lord is calling, equipping and using you to do many great things. So today I will encourage and remind us all, as Paul did 2000 years ago, that selfishness, gossip, slander, talking about others in this way, unforgiveness, pulling each other down instead of building each other up. These are the green grenades that can blow the roof right off the top of any church, even one that to has until now been actively fighting in the good fight. When we think of ourselves as better than others, when we allow ourselves to get worked up about what other people are doing or saying, when we start to talk about others, not forgiving them but tearing them down instead of building them up, that is really our pulling the pin out of a green grenade that the Enemy has tossed into the church.[6] So today I challenge and I encourage each and every one of us here to look for the green grenades in our life and put them aside and in so doing, as TSA doc 10 says, “to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” and as Paul says, Philippians 2:3,4: let us continue to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility [let us] value others above ourselves, not looking to our own interests but each of us to the interests of the others.” As we continue to do this I have every faith that we will all continue to serve our Lord for now and forever in the Kingdom of God

 

Let us pray.

---

[1] Francis Foulkes, Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1989 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 10), S. 139: Quoting the Old Testament again, the Septuagint of Psalm 4:4, he says, Be angry but do not sin. The av rendering of the psalm, ‘Stand in awe, and sin not’, gives a different turn to it. The Hebrew verb rāgaz means basically to ‘tremble’, and it could be with fear or rage (BDB). Whichever was the psalmist’s thought, the Septuagint is meaningful and relevant. There is anger which is righteous anger, such as we see in our Lord himself (e.g. Mark 3:5; John 2:13–17); but His anger never led to sin, because His emotions were kept under perfect control.

[2] R. Alan Cole,  Galatians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1989 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 9), S. 217: Inherit the kingdom of God; although Paul is emphatic that we cannot by ‘doing’ the works of the law enter our promised inheritance (3:12, 18), but that entry is by faith alone (3:11), yet he strongly asserts here that by ‘doing’ these very different things we can bar ourselves from the kingdom …those who do such things thereby show themselves to be without the transforming gift of faith which leads to the gift of the promised Spirit, which, in turn, leads to the fruits of the Spirit, the seal of our inheritance.

[3] Cf. James Montgomery Boice, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Galatians/Exposition of Galatians/III. The Call to Godly Living (5:1-6:10)/C. Life in the Spirit (5:13-26)/2. The works of the flesh (5:19-21), Book Version: 4.0.2

[4] Gerry Fostaty, As You Were: The Tragedy at Valcartier (Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane Editions, 2011).

[5] Ralph P. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1987 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 11), S. 101: The ethical terms used here expose the spiritual malaise at the heart of the church and point to the all-sufficient remedy. Selfish ambition, eritheia (rv, ‘faction’) is the same word as in 1:17 where it is used to describe the inimical intention of Paul’s enemies. Of the Philippians it is used of party squabbles and petty conceits. We might translate it ‘quarrelsomeness’, although that does not quite convey the hint of self-seeking which the word contains. Such a display which Galatians 5:19–21 brands as an ‘act of the sinful nature’ sadly disfigured the inner life of the church.

[6] Cf. Morna D. Hooker, The Letter to the Philippians, NIB XI, 499

Philippians 1: Should I Stay or Should I Go Now, the Clash.

Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries, 01 June 2025, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Today we are going to look briefly at the first chapter of a letter that Paul (and Timothy) wrote while he was in prison in Rome. The letter is to a church he was a part of when he was living in Macedonia.

 

Reading From Philippians1:1:

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

 

So, who specifically is this letter to? The Deacons and Overseers are mentioned; they are the servers in the church: corps council, Sunday school, volunteers, etc. It is also addressed to “all God’s Holy people.” Who are “all God’s Holy people”? It's us. 'Holy People' or 'Saints' is what Christians are called in the Bible; so then, in the Bible, every time we see the word ‘saint’ or ‘holy person’ we should read ‘Christian’ and if anyone ever asks you what a Christian is, the straightforward answer is ‘a holy person, a saint’ – or what a saint is; it’s a Christian. And it should also be an encouragement for us all to actually be more saint-like in our interactions with each other and everyone else. 1 Peter 1:16, God says “…be holy because I am holy”.

Doctrine 10 of The Salvation Army says, “We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified [holy], and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now then: people who live in Vancouver are called Vancouverites; people who live in Victoria are Victorians; what are we called here in Port Alberni? Port Albernians? This letter is written to Philippians. Philippians are people who live in Philippi. They are not to be confused with Filipinos who are people from the Philippines or Philistines who are either uncouth folk or an ancient Aegean people who count among their number the giant, Goliath. Philippians are from Philippi and Philippi was a city in what is now the Greek province Macedonia, which is located just south of the current Country of North Macedonia which was named after Phillip of Macedon (Alexander the Great’s father)

So then this letter is written to Holy Christians living in Philippi in the 1^st Century and I think it actually has a lot of encouragements that apply to us today: Holy Port Albernians.

 

Verses 3 to 6:

3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

 

This is a great blessing for the people in the church in Philippi. If our Area Commander or Divisional Commander, whom many of you know, wrote that to us here, I imagine that we would feel quite blessed and rightfully so.

And these words are quite true of you and all of us here. It is true that I am proud of this team. In our community here and when we are at Salvation Army events elsewhere, I am often asked about you: who you are and all you do. I tell them all you do (food bank, seniors’ homes, soup kitchen, events, more) and they are impressed. You all do so much. I am very proud of our team and I am very confident that, like with the Philippians, Jesus’ good work will continue in each and every one of you.

 

Verses 7-8, Paul (and Timothy) writes:

7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

 

Paul is speaking about being in chains here and he is. Paul is in jail right now as he writes this letter. Paul is in jail and jails then, just like jails now, really are not the best places in the world to be and not only that; Paul is facing a capital charge. Paul, if convicted, is facing execution. He is going to die. And in this letter he writes…

 

Verses 9-11:

9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

 

This is a neat prayer - Paul prays that your love may abound more and more in knowledge... why? so that you can know what is best and so that you can be pure, blameless and righteous. It is only when we fully love that we can fully discern God's will and leading. Sometimes we can get so full of hate or unforgiveness that we can't actually discern what God is saying and doing - often times this hardness of heart that pushes God away from our heart is what we call prejudice. We can often hate groups of people, whether we know them or not: criminals, politicians, a country, a president maybe. We can hate people we don’t know (and people we do!) so much that we get upset whenever we think of them. This is an important part of what Paul is saying then: If hating our enemies is more important than loving our neighbours (who are exactly the same people) then we are at risk of not knowing what God wants us to know. And if we don’t know what God wants from us, how can we do it? If we don’t know Him, how can we be His Holy people?

 

Verses 12-14:

12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

 

This is significant. Paul, as we said, is in jail. He is literally, not metaphorically, in chains and he is well aware that he is probably going to die. In this predicament he is not complaining about his situation. Rather he is thankful that it has afforded him the opportunity to share the gospel. How many of us, instead of complaining about our misfortune, seek the opportunity in our misfortune to share the comfort of Christ and encourage others who need encouragement- people who are in the same unemployment line as us, in the same funeral home, hospital or -heaven forbid- jail cell as us. Paul, while experiencing the unpleasant circumstances of life, is offering others hope. Rather than licking his own wounds or complaining about his persecutors or rivals, he is encouraging those who are worried about him.

 

About his rivals…

 

Verses 15-18a:

15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defence of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

 

This is important! How many times is there an argument and then we have to be reminded that we are all on the same side?! How many times do we fight about things with our family or friends? How many times do we try to provoke each other? Think of the little sister – any little sister, or brother – who, knowing that their older sibling is in trouble, is all of a sudden the most helpful person in the world. “Oh mom or day. my bad brother or sister won’t help you with anything… but look, I put my book away… can I get you anything mom or dad?... me, the good child?”

 

Paul is saying that as long as the work is getting done, nothing else matters. It doesn't matter that no one is giving him credit. It doesn’t matter that people are blaming him for stuff. All that matters is that we are all sharing the gospel and working for the Kingdom. This is how it should be with us. If so and so doesn’t thank you for something, if someone else never visits or calls you, if someone else is just a big jerk, just keep your head down and keep working for the Kingdom. Verse 18 again, “…what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached…”

 

Verses 18b-26:

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

 

Paul is, in essence, like this song [from the Heavy Metal Hymnal, see below], asking the question of God

Should I stay, or should I go now?

Should I stay, or should I go now?

If I go, I'll be with You, wow!

And if I stay, I will share your love now

So I know You'll let me know

 

Saviour, You will let me know

Should I stay, or should I go?

If you say that you're inclined

I'll be here till the end of time

So I know You'll let me know

Should I stay, or should I go?

 

Paul is quite happy to die. Now, from what we have read so far in the letter we know that Paul isn’t depressed either clinically or metaphorically. Paul would absolutely love to continue working for the Lord here – but if the Lord transfers him to Heaven (or wherever the Lord is prior to the ultimate resurrection) he is more than happy with that too. Like a Salvation Army Officer in April, he is very happy to keep serving with the corps he has been serving with until now; however, if he is transferred he will be more than fine as long as he is with the Lord. Paul isn’t looking to get away from his current appointment (even as it has him chained up in jail!); he would love to continue working for the Lord and is happy to do it in this life and ready to serve in the next, if it is that time.

          I think this is very important. Like a lot of Officers, I can be tempted to whine too much. If I have whined to you, I apologize. This passage is important for me to remember. It doesn’t matter what HQ does or even why they are doing it, whether it is, like verses 15-18a says, “for good motives or bad.” What matters is that I, we, continue to serve the Lord joyfully in whatever circumstance the Lord has us in – whether it is in a prison, a headquarters’ desk job, or serving on the front lines. Whatever happens in this life, we need to press on and continue to encourage others to do so as well – it is a no lose situation after all: we can either continue to serve Christ in whatever our circumstance (which will bring us Joy because it will bring God joy) or we will go to be with our Lord fulltime – a  no lose situation, Paul says.

 

Verses 27-30: Paul has these words of encouragement then

27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

 

This is Paul’s encouragement to the congregation in Philippi and it is a good encouragement to the congregation here in Port Alberni too. Whatever happens:

·       let us conduct ourselves in a manner consistent with the Good News of Jesus Christ

·       Let us stand firm in the Spirit

·       Let us all strive together united for the Faith

·       Let us not be frightened to stand up with those who oppose us

For as we are willing to serve Him and even suffer for Him that will be comforting evidence to us that indeed we are saved. God has been using each of you and all of us in great ways. And I have faith that, as Verse 27 says, whatever happens you will conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.

 

Let us pray.

Philippians 1:21-26

Tune: 'Should I Stay or Should I Go' by The Clash

 

Saviour, You will let me know

Should I stay, or should I go?

If you say that you're inclined

I'll be here till the end of time

So I know You'll let me know

Should I stay, or should I go?

 

You always please, please, please

You're happy when I'm on my knees

One day it's good, and next it's great

So if you want me to stay back

Well, I know You'll let me know

Should I stay, or should I go?

 

Should I stay, or should I go now?

Should I stay, or should I go now?

If I go, I'll be with You, wow!

And if I stay, I will share your love now

So I know You'll let me know

 

This discernment's prodding me

I'm glad You want me, set me free

Exactly where I'm supposed to be

I’m torn between the two that’s reality

I know You'll let me know

When I live here, and when to Heaven I'll go?

 

Should I stay, or should I go now?

Should I stay, or should I go now?

If I go, I'll be with You, wow!

And if I stay, I will share Your love now

I know You'll let me know

 

When I live here, and when to Heaven I'll go?

Should I stay, or should I go now?

If I go, I'll be with you, wow!

And if I stay, I will share your love now

I know You'll let me know

Should I stay, or should I go?

Romans Parts 1 and 2, 1-4 and 5-8: Preschool Class Walking the Line.

Presented to TSA AV Ministries 16 March 2025 by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Before we needed to be away for a little bit, we were looking at Paul’s letter to the Romans quite a bit. Today I want to review a little bit of what we have spoken about and look at some of the broad themes, ideas and context of the first seven or eight chapters. First some questions:

 

·       Who wrote Romans? (Paul)

·       When was it written? (Mid to late 50s CE)

·       Who was it written to? (Holy People / Saints in Rome – which means Christians)

·       Where is Rome? (Modern day Italy)

·       Who is Paul? (an Apostle, a Roman, a Pharisee from Tarsus in modern day Turkey)

·       Where and how does Paul die? (executed in Rome – probably beheaded)

 

This is important. Paul writes these words probably realizing that he is nearing the end of his life. He is respected by the letter’s recipients, and he wants them to be aware of many things. Now this is a very long letter. I have never written a letter this long – even my sermons aren’t near this long! - even in the days when I wrote letters to put in the mail – way back before email and social media, remember that? I never wrote letters this long. Now because this letter to the Romans is so long, he covers a lot of stuff. It is sort of like – do you remember the old days? – Did you ever have a friend or family friend who only sent you a letter once a year – maybe at Christmas – and it would go on and on for pages telling you more than you could ever possibly want to know about their life, children, family and pets, etc.

When Paul writes his letter, he has some things he expects that we will know before he even starts writing. When I used to teach, we would often give students vocabulary sheets of words they needed to know as they read. If the Bible was a Ginn Reader and we each had vocab sheets, words like these may be on them:

 

·       Law – rules the demarcate the people of God (separate out / reveal). Given to the Hebrews through Moses.

·       Circumcision – a sign that specific males are part of the people of God. This was given to the world through Abraham (hundreds of years before Moses was born). Looking around the room, all of us seem old enough that I don’t need to explain how that is done.

·       Flesh – our own body, our own self, our own thoughts, our own mind, as compared to ‘Spirit’ which is of God

·       Sin / Trespass - In Romans this refers to anything destructive that erodes holiness, peace, wholeness and/or life itself. Paul also uses the word to refer to things we do to hurt and decay ourselves and others (often translated ‘trespass’). He also uses the word ‘sin’ or ‘sin nature’ to refer to a desire or compulsion to do something we know that goes against peace, wholeness, and holiness. This is like addiction. We know what is right, we resolve not to do what is wrong but… and Paul spends a lot of time explaining the ‘but’.

·       Faith – this is a key word in Romans. The word faith (Greek: Pistos) also means faithfulness. It is a reciprocal word. Whenever you see it, you should probably read it as the faith of one person (either the subject or the object of the sentence) and the faithfulness of the other,

·       Grace – When one does what is best for another regardless of merit or anything else they are extending grace. Often a person experiences grace and mercy at the same time. You do something, you are awaiting the results or consequences of that action and instead you get a reprieve as grace is extended to you.

 

Romans in Review:

 

Chapter One: Romans 1:16-17 can be read as a thesis of at least the first part of the letter: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith[fulness] from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith[fulness].”

Chapter Two: Hebrews were given the Law but still they weren’t able to do what it said any more than Gentiles and others who were not given the Law.

There are good things in the Law that we should know and let people know about for their own benefit, because if they know in advance, they can be saved the consequences of these things such as: don’t murder, covet, lie, etc. These truths that are written down are all a very good standard for our life that warn us about what not to do to keep us out of trouble.

Chapters Three and Four explain the weakness of the Law. One of the weaknesses mentioned is simply temptation. Sometimes we would never even have considered doing something wrong, if someone hadn’t come up to us and said ‘no, don’t do that’! I remember I got in trouble a few times in elementary school because I just had to try whatever it was that the Teacher had told us not to do, because I had never even considered that before she told us.

An analogy: a teacher gives her class a rule, ‘no walking on the street’. She gives the class this rule because she doesn’t want them to be it by a car: if they get hit by a car they might be hurt, injured, die, and also, in so doing, emotionally hurt their friends and family, the driver of the car, etc. – so there is a good rule: don’t walk on the road.

Now there are some bad things to come out of this good rule: some people tattle. Some people tell the teacher every time a classmate walks too close to the road, every time a classmate accidently touches the road, every time a classmate walks in the direction of the road. Some people are so concerned about the rule – ‘don’t walk on the road’ – that they abuse their classmates with it. That rule which is made to protect people’s lives is now being used to make their life miserable. This is legalism: when we care more about the rules than the people the rules are there to protect, when we care more about punishing people who do ‘bad things’ than helping people to ‘do good things’ and to be safe – which is the reason the law is there in the first place.

And then, of course, there is that almost uncontrollable temptation, as well. Once the teacher tells Johnny not to step on the road, he wants to try it even though he has never even considered walking on the road before: he will walk as close beside it as he can, then he will put a foot on it. Then he will pretend to fall on it – all the while he is testing to see why this rule is here. And then Cindy Lou Who telling on him all the time doesn’t help either. This all makes him want to break the rule, which makes him vulnerable to the natural consequences of breaking the rule, which is getting hit by a car.

Now if you look at your vocab sheets, you will notice that Paul talks about circumcision. Circumcision is a sign that people belong to a group: the ancient Hebrews, the descendants of Abraham. It is like when classes of children are walking near the road how they all have brightly coloured pinnies or t-shirts on. These are the kids that have been told specifically not to go on the road. Now, it would be best for us all not to go on the road, but only the kids in the class wearing the pinnies have been given that rule for their outing: so the Law is the rule not to go into the road (which could result in death and / or other things) which was given to the children wearing pinnies (which is circumcision) but it really is best for everyone not to step on the road, whether they were told the rule or not. Does that all make sense? There are many ‘pinnies’ we have in the contemporary church to identify ourselves as children of God like this today. In the modern/post-modern church I would say that whenever you read ‘circumcision’ in the Bible, it may be valuable to read ‘baptism’ or any other pinnie that Christians put on to show we are God’s children.

Chapter 5 we have talked about a lot and I will speak more about too – but for today’s purposes, it talks about getting back to the Garden of Eden, getting back to a time before we needed rules to avoid doing what is harmful and to do what is good: when we could just do that by being in a relationship with God. Perseverance through the suffering of life brings us back to the garden.

Chapters 6 through 8, which we will look at soon enough, wrestle with sin: the desire of the children in our school/pre-school analogy, to walk in the road, those telling you to (or not to sometimes) walk in the road, and -of course- the act of walking in the road itself. Basically, what Chapter 6 says is that if you just follow your teacher you won’t walk in the road. These days preschoolers, as well as wearing pinnies, often hold a rope to help them follow their teacher. Chapter 6 says just keep holding the rope and follow your teacher – if you accidently step on the road or if someone else does, don’t dwell on it, just keep looking at the teacher, holding the rope and walking – it is when you stop and focus on the road or your friend who is on the road or the one who is nagging you about walking on the road, that you run into trouble (that is not to say you shouldn’t help your friend up if they fall on the road) but you just need to keep on keeping on following the teacher.

Chapter 7 always reminds me of AA. Anyone here who has ever attended AA meetings will know just how valuable they can be. AA’s step one paraphrased, “We admitted that we were powerless over sin [alcohol] – that our lives have become unmanageable.” Chapter 7 speaks of Sin as that force, that temptation, trying to draw us into that which leads to destruction, into the peril of the open road; Sin in Chapter 7 is the Odessey’s siren song calling us to some imagined pleasure that in reality will just wreck the ships of our life on the rocks of death and destruction. Sin is calling the preschoolers away from the safety of the path towards certain doom in the road. In Chapter Seven, Paul sounds like Odysseus strapped to the mast of his ship, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate to do, I do” (7:16) “So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law but in the flesh a slave to the law of Sin” (7:25)

Chapter 8 offers us the hope. The teacher sees us on and near the road and still “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. (8:1) The teacher pulls us aside, kneels beside us and offers us much comfort. She tells us that we don’t need to worry about all the do’s and the don’ts of the rules. We don’t need to worry about getting into trouble, taunting others, or even telling on them. We just need to follow our teacher along the path she is leading us along and then we will be okay, Romans 8:14, “for those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.’

So that is my wish for us today. Let us just keep our eyes on Jesus – nothing else can save us from sin or death. Nothing else can make us holy or whole. Let us cast our eyes upon Jesus. For us we turn our eyes upon Jesus and look full in his wonderful face, all the temptations of life will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Let us pray.

 

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