Romans 2:11—29: Stop ‘In the Name of the Law’.

 Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries, 27 October 2024, by Major Michael Ramsay

Who has had a chance to read through Romans? We have spent the previous 3 weeks here on Chapter 1 of Romans. Who has at least read Chapter 1? This week I will speak on Romans 2 and then next week Susan may do the same or she may still have some things to say about Romans 1 or something else – so this week, if you can spare 10 minutes in your busy lives, I encourage you to read at least Romans 1 and 2. (That is how long it takes to read those two chapters out loud really slowly – 10 minutes.) When you read them, you can also check up on what we are saying in our sermons! Keep us on track!

 

Before we begin today, there is some prerequisite knowledge required; so, let’s have a review quiz. Let’s see how we do. Quiz (Review):

1.     ‘Romans’ is written to people living in what city?

a) Damascus

b)    Rome

c)     Philadelphia

d)    Port Alberni

2.     What is a Jew?

a)    A descendant of Abraham

b)    One who was subject to the Law

c)     One of a people chosen by God to share His message of Salvation

d)    All of the above

3.     What is a Gentile?

a)    Someone who is quiet and calm

b)    A type of flooring

c)     A Greek or other non-Jewish person

d)    Short form of ‘Gentleman’

4. What is the significance of circumcision?

a) A sign of a covenant with Abraham

b) A sign that you are a Jewish male

c) A painful ritual practice

d) All of the above

5. What is the Law?

a) A note to follow ‘So’…’Doh, Rae, mi,,,’

b) Something I fought and it won.

c) Rites and rituals that are an important part of ancient Israelite covenant, culture and tradition.

d) A type of Tee-Dah; a Law-Tee-Dah

6. Who wrote Romans?

a) Roman Polanski

b) Julius Caesar

c) William Shakespeare

d) Paul

7. Who was Paul?

a) A Jew

b) A Roman

c) A Christian

d) All of the above

8. What is a Christian?

a) A follower of the Law

b) A follower of Jesus

c) A follower of Moses

d) A follower on Facebook

The Law comes up a lot in the New Testament. Today we are looking at Romans 2 and how Covenant Law relates to us as Christians. Remind me again: what does Paul mean when he refers to ‘the Law’? 

 

Those of us who have been studying Acts on Tuesday nights at the Gruenhages’ know that the early Christians struggled a lot with whether to follow the Law or not and how to follow it or not follow it. Two weeks ago at Bible study, we spoke about the Council in Jerusalem and how James and the other leaders proclaimed that the Gentiles shouldn’t have to follow the Law – but that they should follow some rules that are included in it? Do we remember what those rules are? (Acts 15:19: “...to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.") And last week in Bible Study we spoke at great length about what Paul had to say about the Law in Galatians 5:2, “Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all” versus what he encouraged Timothy to do, as recorded in Acts 16? What happened to Timothy? Timothy was circumcised (Acts 16:3). This shows some of the early confusion around the role of the Law in the lives of early Christians. It is finally more or less settled as Paul explains it to the Romans here.

Romans Chapter 2, written around the same time as Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and probably after the Council in Jerusalem, gives us a good insight into how the Law applies to believers: both Jews and Gentiles.  Remind me: What is the difference between and Jew and a Gentile? What is the Law again? Reading Verses 11-13:

11 For God does not show favoritism.12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

 

In this chapter Paul explains that even though they were chosen by God for His purposes that, as Douglas Moo writes, “contrary to popular Jewish belief, the sins of the Jews will not be treated by God significantly different from those of the Gentiles.” [1]  In Verses 12-16 Paul makes it clear that it is not those who hear the Law (Like every Jewish person attending synagogue would regularly) but rather those who obey the Law that are justified – whether they attend synagogue or not or whether they even know about the Law or not (v.13).

 

An analogy to our local laws here today: If our law says that you are not to run a stop sign, the fact that that law exists, and the fact that you know that law says you aren’t supposed to run a stop sign aren’t going to save you. What is going to save you (and others!) is if you don’t run the stop sign!

 

But there is more. Reading Verses 14-16:

14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

 

Verses 14-16 talk about the Gentiles in relation to the Law: even some Gentiles who do not even try to follow or even know Jewish Covenant Law are able to do some of what the Law states.

 

These verses refer to the new covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34 where it is recorded that the Law will be ‘written on the hearts of the Israelites’ but even more than that, it is reference to the good news of Genesis 12:3: the promise to Abraham that he will be a blessing has been fulfilled – not just for the Jews but for all the nations of the earth.

 

Back to our stop sign analogy: Some people who may not even know the law about stop signs will actually arrive at an intersection and come to a complete stop. They will realize, without anyone telling them, that maybe they shouldn’t drive straight out into the traffic. Paul would say that though they were never told this law, it was indeed written on their heart. I think there are many times in life when you and I probably obey laws by accident. Maybe a speed limit would be a better example: maybe you are driving down the street and never do see the sign but find yourself going the speed limit quite by accident. This is like Gentiles who do not have the Law, following the Covenant Law.

 

 

Verses 17-24:

17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

 

Paul here addresses a Jewish claim that they can ‘know [God’s] will and determine what is best because [they] are instructed in the Law (v.18)” and that they, because they have this Law from God, are even “a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth (19-20).” Paul disagrees! He says basically, “How can one claim to be a teacher of a Law when one does not even obey the Law oneself (cf. 2.1)?” Theologian N.T. Wright goes as far as to claim that “if the [Law] was put in place to deal with evil in the world, then the failure of the covenant people [under the Law] to be the light of the world means that the [Law] itself seems to be under threat.”[2] In other words, if the purpose of the Law was to bring salvation to the world then it failed.

 

This would be like if people were bragging that we are the best drivers in the world because we have the most laws: no speeding, no running stop signs, always signal, stop for pedestrians, don’t drive on the sidewalk… but then we don’t follow all those rules. What good are those laws if no one follows them? Paul says that this is what his fellow citizens are indeed doing – claiming to be great because of all these great laws– but then not following them; Claiming to be great because they have THE LAW but then not following it any better than people who don’t have it.

 

This always reminds me of when we or our allies invade yet another  country in the name of 'democracy' and then when it comes to participating in democracy most of us don’t even bother to show up! Most of us don’t attend local political debates and read party platforms so that we can at least cast an educated ballot. And most of us certainly don’t bother to participate in more legitimate or more meaningful avenues of democracy on a regular basis (the VAST majority of people in our country don’t bother to do this at all). This is like the LAW. What good is it to you if you don't participate in it?

 

Verses 25-29:

25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. 28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

 

Verses 25-29 speak specifically about circumcision and the Law. Two groups of people are being addressed. The first is a circumcised people, Jews who do not keep the Law (cf. vv. 25, 26, 27) and the second is an uncircumcised Gentiles who do keep the Law.  Paul points out that the Law of the Covenant is only valuable if you obey the Law and he says that the circumcised Jews are not obeying the Law and thus “The Name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles (v.24; cf. Isaiah 52:5).”

 

The role of Law is to reveal how we are guilty of sin (cf. 2:1, 17-24; 3:19) like our local laws show us how we are guilty of a crime. Covenant Law points out how and where we fall short. It is the ‘doing’ of the law that counts more than having or even knowing the Law (2:13-14,18, 25-26). Both Jews (who received and know the Law) and Gentiles (who don’t and aren’t) are equally able to ‘do’ or ‘not do’ the Law (cf. 2:3, 14-15, 17-14, 25-26, 3:19-31) – just like anyone ,whether they know our laws or not, is equally able to drive through a stop sign or not, or speed through a school zone or not – and just like no one born in this country will probably spend their whole life without breaking the law - no one will likely ever keep all of the Covenant Law.

 

Just like it is really not possible for you and I to obey every law in Canada, even if we know them. And it probably isn’t even possible for us to obey every traffic law. The Lord knows I have had a few tickets and one or two accidents. But if it was possible for anyone not to break the law then they would be able to look down their nose at the rest of us. Likewise, if it was possible not to break the Covenant Law (cf. 3:20), the Gentile who did so without even knowing the Law would stand in judgement of those who did received it, knew it, and don’t follow it (contrast 2:1-3).

 

So, at the conclusion of the second chapter of Romans, it is clear that the Jew and the Gentile stand on equal footing before the Law. Neither of them can be saved by it, whether they know it or not.

 

The Law “cannot be the means of demarcating the true covenant people; they merely point up the fact of sin (3:20). Instead, the covenant faithfulness of the creator of the world is revealed through the faithfulness of Jesus, the Messiah, for the benefit of all, Jew and Gentile alike, who believe.” [3]

 

Salvation, as will be argued later in Romans, comes not through The Law, any laws or anything else. Salvation comes through Christ alone.

 ---

[1] Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT 6: Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 126. Cf. also NT Wright, The Letter to the Romans (NIB 10: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 440, where he acknowledges that God’s national impartiality was not totally unconsidered in Jewish tradition.

 

[2] N.T. Wright, “Romans and the Theology of Paul,” Pauline Theology, Volume III, ed. David M. Hay & E. Elizabeth Johnson, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995): 37.

 

[3] Douglas J. Moo, p. 126.

Deuteronomy 8: Thanksgiving Day

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 08 October 2023 and 09 October 2022, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

This is the 2023 version, to view the earlier version click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2022/10/deuteronomy-83-20-and-psalm-100.html

  

Deuteronomy 8 reminds us of an important truth that, Verse 3, because He loves us, God hungers us blessing us to rely on Him but, 8:10-11, as we enter times of abundance we must give thanks to the Lord because, 8:19-20, forgetting the Lord will result in our destruction.

 

    The book of Deuteronomy here records the time after the Hebrews had fled Egypt and before they reached Canaan. They had only what they could carry and – as they were nomadic – obviously, no farms to grow food, no permanent water source or anything like that. They were hundreds, thousands or even more people without a permanent home wandering around the desert.

 

    As the Hebrews followed God around the desert like this, He provided for them. Even their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell during this time. God provided for them when they had nothing. God provided for them. Deuteronomy 8:15,16:

 

He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.

 

    Even though one generation of Israelites was faithless upon leaving Egypt their actions did not nullify the faithfulness of God (Romans 3:3,4) who provided this desert experience as a means to their salvation. The next generation, who was born in the desert, learned to rely on God in their time of real need and God provided for them in the desert. God, through Moses and then Joshua, reminded the people not to forget this: in the desert God and God alone provided for them, preparing them to receive the Promised Land.

 

    But alas, as God warned them, these times of relying on God passed when the people acquired stability, income, relative ease and apparent self-sufficiency. They didn't think they needed Him once they settled in their promised land so they left Him and then they didn't have Him. And so when life's hard hand dealt them their blows they turned to look for God's protection but they had turned their backs, walked away and left Him behind. God didn't leave them. They left Him. They exchanged the safety of God's love for the death of wealth and the myth of self-sufficiency.

 

    In our country too: Canada was arguably founded on the Word of God: notably Psalm 72:8: that is from where our old name came – when I was growing up this country was called the Dominion of Canada; Canada Day used to be called Dominion Day. We used to have the Lord's Prayer in Parliament and Gideon Bibles in the schools. Now we don't seem to think we need or want Him anymore.

 

    This is sad but there is some good news. There is still time to return to our Lord. As long as we exist as a nation there is still the opportunity for our nation to return to acknowledging God. Now I am not pretending that Canadians of the ‘olden days’ were better than today. We made mistakes then, like we do now. We are making improvements and we are making some serious errors. We are just people after all. The key is whether we try to serve the Lord or not. He loves us and wants us on His team, as part of His family. Maybe our country as a whole never will be. We, as Christians, however, should do our best to help build God’s Kingdom here as it is in heaven, to help bring people into the family of God’s love and support. We can do this by continuing to serve God by taking care of our neighbour as well as reading our Bibles and spending time in prayer with God and, of course, also sharing about the blessings of doing all these things with others so they can experience it as well. God loves us and as such He wants us all to be part of His Dominion. As long as we exist it is not too late: we can all and each still return to the Lord.

 

    We know that Israel's Messiah did eventually come, even after all the unfaithfulness. Jesus is their and our Messiah. Jesus was born, died, and rose from the grave. And we know that Jesus will come back too and he will reign forever not only as King of the Jews but also as King of the whole world (cf. TSA doc. 6). When he does, will he find that we are walking with him or that we have walked away from Him and His Kingdom?

 

    There is a children’s book, Thanksgiving Day in Canada – it is a favourite book of mine. I have quoted it quite often for many years when speaking about Thanksgiving in Canada – my children all know the book very well too. As I have shared from the pulpit here on a previous Thanksgivings, the other year I found out something very interesting. You know that Susan, the kids and I lived and worked in Toronto prior to being posted here. We were the Officers responsible for The Salvation Army`s Warehouse Mission as well as 614 in downtown Toronto. One year during our time there, with Thanksgiving coming up, I happened to be speaking with our worship leader, Krys Lewicki, about the book and it turns out that he wrote that book (it was promoted by CBC as part of Canada`s 125 anniversary). Krys also wrote a Thanksgiving song that is in that book that we sang earlier and will probably sing again before we leave. About Thanksgiving, from the book:

 

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are more closely connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October. The very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in Canada when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World. That means the first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated 43 years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts!

For a few hundred years, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either late October or early November, before it was declared a national holiday in 1879. It was then, that November 6th was set aside as the official Thanksgiving holiday. But then on January 31, 1957, Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October, Thanksgiving would be "a day of general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed."

Thanksgiving was moved to the second Monday in October because after the World Wars, Remembrance Day (November 11th) and Thanksgiving kept falling in the same week. Another reason for Canadian Thanksgiving arriving earlier than its American counterpart is that Canada is geographically further north than the United States, causing the Canadian harvest season to arrive earlier than the American harvest season. And since Thanksgiving for Canadians is more about giving thanks to the Lord for the harvest season than the arrival of pilgrims, it makes sense to celebrate the holiday in October.

 

    In this day and age of the Holy being replaced by the secular in so much of our society, it is a good encouragement to each of us as individuals and as the Lord’s children here to remember that even our Parliament once declared Thanksgiving as "a day of general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed."

 

     Please this weekend let us remember not only to be thankful but to be thankful to God; and with all else that we are indeed thankful for let us not neglect our gratitude for the harvest that the farmers have reaped this year and all those who the Lord will and does provide for through that.

 

    This weekend and this day let us remember to offer thanksgiving to Almighty God for all else and for the bountiful harvest with which we have been blessed.

 

Let us pray.

 

 

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Exodus 17:1-7: Drive-Thru Complaint Deprartment

 Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries, 19 March 2023 by Major Michael Ramsay 

Do you ever get the idea that God is trying to tell you something? There might be something He is trying to teach me about Exodus 17:1-7. In a span of a couple of days, we read Exodus 17 in our family devotions, it was the text at a service we went to at the Gospel Hall, it showed up in my personal devotions, and was referenced in the lectionary when I was looking for texts to preach on the other week. With all of these hints I thought I should spend some time reflecting on this passage this week; so that is what we are doing today. And then this morning, if I was having any last moment doubts, as I was scrolling through Facebook while procrastinating reading through my message, I ran across this quote in my memories from 2017, "Great message today from Rev Deb Rapport at 77 River on Exodus 17:1-7." So here it goes...

 

The people are grumbling about God to Moses in Chapter 17 because they have nothing to drink. And In Chapter 16, they were grumbling about God to Moses because they had nothing to eat – Is God a waiter to bring them food and drink? Or is God the cook and Moses the waiter and the people have so many complaints about the food and the cook that they just keep complaining to Moses: ‘Take this back’, ‘I don’t like that’ ‘Tell the cook this!’ ‘Bring me that!’

 

I don’t think I am generally a whiny costumer, but I do have one story of being a little short with a fast-food restaurant’s drive-thru staff. A long time ago in a province far, far away, I was with my two little children going through an A&W Drive-Thru. Being that my children are vegetarians, I ordered them something with no meat: a grilled cheese sandwich, cheese on a toasted bun. The voice in the drive-thru box said, “I don’t think we can do that”. I replied, “sure you can: first you take the bun out of the package; then you toast it and then you put the cheese on it.” They did. My little children loved the episode immensely and still remember that incident to this day, even now as they are all grown up and moved away – the day we told the restaurant how to make a grilled cheese sandwich.

 

The Israelites here are being whiney drive-thru customers as they are travelling across the desert, telling Moses exactly what they want and how they want it. They are pretty dramatic about it as well: Chapter 16, about the food, verses 3-4, The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” And then after God and Moses give them meat and bread of Heaven in the very next chapter, Chapter 17:2, 'So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”'

 

And just before their whining and complaining about the food and water, just before these stories take place, is the parting of the Red Sea – remember how the people came to Moses about God then? Exodus 14:11-12: They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” And so it goes…Exodus 17:2, 'So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”'

 

The Israelites have developed a pattern of whining and complaining in their lives. If you look back at Chapter 16 you can see that people responded a little differently about the instructions they were given about the food: some obeyed, some did not; but it seems like the majority of them complained. And sometimes their complaints made me wonder, ‘do these people even believe in God?’ 17:7: “Is the Lord among us or not?” The fact that they are always going to Moses and/or Moses and Aaron with their complaints sound to me like they almost think that Moses might even be just making this whole God-thing up. You can see how Moses – and GOD – get quite upset with the people as recorded in the book of Exodus!

 

The people are so focused on the apparently bad things; the people are so focused on the difficult things (which they interpret as bad); the people are so  focused on the challenging things (which they interpret as bad); the people are so focused on an imagined ideal, comparing it to an imagined reality that falls short in their minds, so they are not happy and so they whine and so they complain about God and their leaders.

 

It is SO easy to do! …so tempting too! Whine and complain! Whine and complain about our leaders! I was able to see Pierre Poilievre, the Leader of Canada’s Official Opposition on Thursday. Gord Johns, our MP has agreed this week to appear on Heather’s TV Show (HTV: Heather’s Talk in the Valley); It is so easy to complain – either about politicians or in agreement with their complaints about other politicians or the government. Politicians are often simply people doing a difficult job and we often find something to complain about them – whether we have ever even met them or not! I remember being blessed to serve from the food truck alongside both Josie Osbourne (our MLA) and Gord Johns (our MP) at Christmas time and chatting briefly about just that: no matter what we say or do, someone will always complain! I know I can be frustrated by others complaining about me, both if I do something and if I don’t do the same thing… and so you think I would know better than to complain about others, but alas, I can still be tempted to complain about so and so, or this and that, and grumble and whine against our leaders or someone else… just like the Israelites

 

And this can be trouble. When we get into a habit of complaining and thinking negative thoughts, it can be hard to even see good in people we love. Whining and complaining about people in our lives and/or things out of our control can be all-encompassing and can really drag us down. We can get so that almost every thought is negative. Philippians 2:14: Do everything without grumbling or arguing

 

Do we ever get like this? Do we ever whine and complain? Do we ever get worked up about things that we know nothing about, things that are out of our control, things that are turning out just they way they are supposed to turn out, things that are turning out just the way they were always likely to turn out - and then do we whine about them to ourselves or others and in the process make life a lot more difficult for ourselves and everyone else!?!

 

When we are in a difficult spot, do we look to God expecting a miracle and wondering what it might be and how He might do it? Or do we complain about our leaders, our circumstances, and/or God? Do we ever whine and complain so much that if people read stories about us, like we do about the Israelites in the desert, that many of the stories would be about how much we whine… about our government (Trudeau this, Liberals, NDP, or Conservatives, that) … about our church leaders (Headquarters! or Major said this or did that!), our bosses (That Major again!), or one another (so and so always does this or never does that; why do I always have to…) do we ever whine so much that people might ask of us, “Is the Lord among them or not?” and/or “do they even believe in God?”

 

Whining and complaining can certainly come across to others as if we don’t believe in God. If we are always complaining about our lives, it certainly does look like we don’t believe that the Lord will and is taking care of us; it certainly looks like we don’t have faith in God.

 

Even worse than how it might appear, complaining can actually get in the way of our relationship with one another and with God. It can pull us away from a life of peace. Grumbling and complaining is destructive and it can be addictive like any drug or any other bad habit and it can be very destructive to our soul, our mental health, our spiritual well-being. We find what we look for: the more we look for bad things in our lives to complain about, the more we find them; the more talk about the bad things in our lives, the more we notice bad things in our lives, the more we listen to (and so encourage others to talk about) complaints about bad things in others’ lives, the more we focus on the bad things in their and our lives. And when we complain about the bad things, it is easy for us to be overcome by those bad things. But, on the other hand, when we focus on God; when we look for what God is doing in the world and in our lives, when we look to see how He will deliver us through our challenges, when we have faith in God, He can deliver us from anything, even a grumbling and complaining spirit. Jesus is, after all, the Prince of Peace.

 

God and Moses wanted the people to be free of the grumbling spirit that was trying to tear them from Him. You notice that all through the Exodus story, God never gives up on the Israelites. He keeps providing food for them even though they complain about it throughout. Even though they complain along the whole journey and ask, “Is the Lord among us or not?”, He continues to lead them, loving them so much that He hopes and encourages them to be free of the rain cloud of despair and complaint and to experience His Peace instead.

 

And He wishes the same for us. The temptation to grumble can certainly be strong. God knows that. And even though it seems like our complaining can be all-encompassing, tortuous, and must be exasperating even to God, He does love us, and He does want us to be free and at peace. We have that opportunity today so I encourage us all to give our worries and complaints over to Him for when we do then indeed even we can have our spirit at peace, for Jesus Himself is the Prince of peace.

 

Let us pray

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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.

---

[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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Deuteronomy 8 & Psalm 100: Thanksgiving Day

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 09 October 2022 and 08 October 2023, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

This is the original 2022 version; to view the 2023 version, click here:

 https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2023/10/deuteronomy-8-thanksgiving-day.html

  

Deuteronomy 8 reminds us of an important truth that, Verse 3, because He loves us, God hungers us blessing us to rely on Him but, 8:10-11, as we enter times of abundance we must give thanks to the Lord because, 8:19-20, forgetting the Lord will result in our destruction.

 

The book of Deuteronomy here records the time after the Hebrews had fled Egypt and before they reached Canaan. They had only what they could carry and – as they were nomadic – obviously, no farms to grow food, no permanent water source or anything like that. They were hundreds, thousands or even more people without a permanent home wandering around the desert.

 

As the Hebrews followed God around the desert like this, He provided for them. Even their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell during this time. God provided for them; when they had nothing God provided for them. Deuteronomy 8:15,16:

 

He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.

 

Even though one generation of Israelites was faithless upon leaving Egypt their actions did not nullify the faithfulness of God (Romans 3:3,4) who provided this desert experience as a means to their salvation. The next generation, who was born in the desert, learned to rely on God in their time of real need and God provided for them in the desert. God, through Moses and then Joshua, reminded the people not to forget this: in the desert God and God alone provided for them, preparing them to receive the Promised Land.

 

But alas, as God warned them, these times of relying on God passed when the people acquired stability, income, relative ease and apparent self-sufficiency. They didn't think they needed Him once they settled in their promised land so they left Him and then they didn't have Him. And so when life's hard hand dealt them their blows they turned to look for God's protection but they had turned their backs, walked away and left Him behind. God didn't leave them. They left Him. They exchanged the safety of God's love for the death of wealth and the myth of self-sufficiency.

 

In our country too: Canada was founded on the Word of God: notably Psalm 72:8: that is from where our old name came – when I was growing up this country was called the Dominion of Canada; Canada Day used to be called Dominion Day. We used to have the Lord's Prayer in Parliament and Gideon Bibles in the schools. Now we don't seem to think we need or want Him anymore.

 

This is sad but there is some good news. There is still time to return to our Lord. As long as we exist as a nation there is still the opportunity for our nation to return to God. We, as Christians, should do our best to help build God’s Kingdom here as it is in heaven. We can do this by continuing to serve God by taking care of our neighbour as well as reading our Bibles and spending time in prayer with God and, of course, also sharing about the blessings of doing all these things with others so they can experience it as well. God loves us and as such He wants us all to be part of His Dominion. As long as we exist it is not too late: we can all and each still return to the Lord.

 

We know that Israel's Messiah did eventually come, even after all the unfaithfulness. Jesus is their and our Messiah. Jesus was born, died, and rose from the grave. And we know that Jesus will come back too and he will reign forever not only as King of the Jews but also as King of the whole world (cf. TSA doc. 6).

 

When he does, will he find that we are walking with him or that we have walked away from him and his Kingdom?

 

There is a children`s book, Thanksgiving Day in Canada – it is a favourite book of mine. I have quoted it quite often for many years when speaking about Thanksgiving in Canada – my children all know the book very well too. As I have shared from the pulpit here on a previous Thanksgivings, the other year I found out something very interesting. You know that Susan, the kids and I lived and worked in Toronto prior to being posted here. We were the Officers responsible for The Salvation Army`s Warehouse Mission as well as 614 in downtown Toronto. One year during our time there, with Thanksgiving coming up, I happened to be speaking with our worship leader, Krys Lewicki, about the book and it turns out that he wrote that book (it was promoted by CBC as part of Canada`s 125 anniversary). Krys also wrote a Thanksgiving song that is in that book that we sang earlier and will probably sing again before we leave. About Thanksgiving, from the book:

 

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are more closely connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October. The very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in Canada when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World. That means the first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated 43 years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts!

 

For a few hundred years, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either late October or early November, before it was declared a national holiday in 1879. It was then, that November 6th was set aside as the official Thanksgiving holiday. But then on January 31, 1957, Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October, Thanksgiving would be "a day of general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed."

 

Thanksgiving was moved to the second Monday in October because after the World Wars, Remembrance Day (November 11th) and Thanksgiving kept falling in the same week. Another reason for Canadian Thanksgiving arriving earlier than its American counterpart is that Canada is geographically further north than the United States, causing the Canadian harvest season to arrive earlier than the American harvest season. And since Thanksgiving for Canadians is more about giving thanks to the Lord for the harvest season than the arrival of pilgrims, it makes sense to celebrate the holiday in October.

 

In this day and age of the Holy being replaced by the secular in so much of our society, it is good to remember that Parliament itself has declared Thanksgiving as "a day of general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed."

 

Please this weekend let us remember not only to be thankful but to be thankful to God; and with all else that we are indeed thankful for let us not neglect our gratitude for the harvest that the farmers have reaped this year and all those who the Lord will and does provide for through that.

 

This weekend and this day let us remember to offer thanksgiving to Almighty God for all else and for the bountiful harvest with which we have been blessed.

 

Let us pray.

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Thoughts from our Travels across Western Canada: Philippians 2:3&4, Deuteronomy 6:7, Matthew 13:44, Galatians 5:22-23

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 31 July 2022 by Major Michael Ramsay

 

We had a great furlough. Susan and Heather have been gone for about a month; Sarah-Grace and I flew out to meet them about 2 weeks ago in Winnipeg. We then all drove back across Western Canada. Today I am going to chat about a few lessons learned and/or things that were reinforced for me along the way.

  

Lesson One: Philippians 2:3&4: Human Responsibilities

 

 

One place Sarah-Grace and I visited early in our adventure was the Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg. This is a big building with lots of ramps, and stairs, and walking. They seemed to have walking for the sake of walking, as a good portion of the museum was just long empty ramps to get from one floor to the next. There were a number of exhibits in the building – but not on the ramps. There was, of course, a big section on Germany during the second world war and the holocaust. There was also information about the Rwandan genocide and other terrible things from history.

I noticed that many of the most horrible and violent atrocities in history have been incited by us focusing on our rights rather than our responsibilities: I deserve this (good thing); therefore they deserve (something bad) because they took away my rights - my rights, her rights, his rights. It really seemed clear reading about persecutions, purges, and genocides; it really struck me about times and places where human societies commit horrible atrocities that the perpetrators always seem to focus on their rights. Many in Germany in the 1930s were upset at what had been done to them, how they had been victimized and how they had to make it right. That is how the Nazis came to power. The Hutus focused on Hutu rights and the Tutsi privilege and previous atrocities that a previous generation of Tutsi or others had done to them. Looking through the displays about the many horrific things that we people have done to each other, the people committing the crimes seem to always believe that they are actually the victims, they are righting a wrong, and that the other is ‘getting what they deserve’. They are focusing on their perceived rights as more important than others’: Only Hutu lives matter. As Christians of course, we should know better. We all know the acronym J.O.Y: Jesus. Others. Yourself. Many times the scriptures tell us we should consider God first, then others, then ourselves. Philippians 2:1-4 says:

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  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.

…in humility value others above yourselves; don’t look out for your own interests but the interests of others. This is the Christian message. Social media and various social movements these days, even here in Canada, seem to be very much focused on people loudly screaming, “I have the right to do this…” Be wary. Be very wary of this. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24:

““I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.” As Christians, it is imperative that we focus not on our real, perceived or imagined rights but rather on our responsibilities and how we can help one another.

 

Lesson 2: Deuteronomy 6:7: Teach your Children

 

 

          We were able to see many other interesting things while we were in Winnipeg too: the Art Gallery, the Forks, the Museum, the Hockey Sweater the musical, St. Boniface, Booth College… and we even stayed in the same room there we stayed in when we first lived in Winnipeg for a couple of nights before we camped at Birds Hill Park. In between visiting Winnipeg and reminiscing about our time living there 15 years ago we went to pick up Heather from Ukrainian Camp in Gimli – this camp is why we were here. Heather has been learning Ukrainian, as you probably know. Susan’s mom has Ukrainian heritage, and she may have even gone to this camp herself many, many years ago. Coming back, we even stopped by Vegreville to see the world’s largest pysanki (Easter Egg). This is all part of her and Susan’s heritage; just like the Highland Dancing Heather and Sarah-Grace have done is part of their heritage on both sides of the family. This got me to thinking about our Christian heritage and how important it is that we pass on our Christian life. Jesus talks about eating together in remembrance of Him and how He delivers us unto eternal life. We are commanded to never stop meeting together. The Passover, similar to and in some ways foreshadowing this, is all about remembering how God delivered the Israelites from slavery into the Promised Land. The 10 Commandments themselves are all about passing on our heritage and relationship with God to future generations. Deuteronomy 6:1-2, 7-9 and 12 says this,

These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God… 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…. be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Our heritage is important. Teaching future generations the lessons, love and forgiveness that is part and parcel of serving the Lord, is how we carry on our heritage of loving God forward through the generations and into a future of His Salvation.

 

Lesson 3: Matthew 13:44: Heaven is a Great Treasure

 

 

          After Winnipeg we were able to go to Regina, Moose Jaw and Swift Current in Saskatchewan. This is also very much a part of our children’s heritage. Not only do they have three or four great grandparents from Saskatchewan but Heather was born there and Rebecca and Sarah-Grace really grew up there. We celebrated the Riders (even though they lost); we were able to see the tunnels of Moose Jaw (a great tourist stop) and got to see a lot of old friends. It was good.

          Next we went to Alberta and stopped at the West Edmonton Mall. Heather really wanted to see the Mall. We went there on Susan’s Birthday. Susan and Sarah-Grace went shopping and spent a good day together while Heather and I spent the day in the waterpark inside the mall before we all met for a birthday dinner. There were a lot of great waterslides. We went on a few of them – not all of them by any means. We spent most of our time in the wave pool.

In the wave pool, everyone stands waiting for these giant waves to come crashing over you and then you try to either jump over them, into them, or just hold firm without being swept away. It was fun. One thing that struck me was the singularity of focus. You had fun but there was no doubt why everyone was in that pool. When the horn sounded and the waves rolled, we all responded. This reminded me of the Holy Spirt greeting the disciples in Acts 2 who were eagerly awaiting Him. It also reminded me of the pearl of great price and Matthew 13:44 where we are told that “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” This is how the Christian life is meant to work – as we focus on Christ, the results are worth more than anything else in the world.

 

Lesson 4: Galatians 5:23-24: The Mark of God Upon Us

 

 

With so many people in bathing suits, I also noticed just how many people have tattoos these days. I think the majority of people between 15 and 50 probably have a tattoo of some kind – and some have lots. The 15-year-olds, I hope they still like whatever it is that they have tattooed on their bodies when they are 50 years old. A lot will change for them between now and then but that tattoo will probably stay the same.

          What my mind thought of when I saw this was… what are the tattoos, the markings of a Christian life? What are the things that when people look at a child of God they will see? What indelible marks does the Holy Spirit put on our lives. I do hope that it is indeed the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 and 25: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

After Alberta we continued on through BC stopping to see Rebecca and heading home and as I reflect on this trip it really is my hope that it will be a reminder for me (and maybe all of us here) to

 

·       Philippians 2:3,4: “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.” Remembering that

·       Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” so

·       Deuteronomy 6:7: “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.” For

·       Galatians 5:22-23a: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

 

May we always have that in our lives.

 

Let us pray

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