Matthew 27:11-54: April Fools

Presented to the Swift Current Community at the Ecumenical Lenten Lunch, 10 April 2014, at Christ the Redeemer Roman Catholic Parish by Captain Michael Ramsay.

The other week, on April Fools Day, we found out Judy, our receptionist, won $5000 from Tim Horton’s Roll up the Rim contest. On the morning of April Fools Day, Judy told us that she had won $5000 from Tim Horton’s Roll up the Rim contest. At our staff meeting on April’s Fools Day when we just had a very somber discussion about prostituted peoples in our country…on April Fool’s Day when we were each telling what we are working towards this week in our various ministries… on April Fools Day in front of almost all of our department heads and in front of many of our support staff, Judy told us that she had won $5000 on Roll up the Rim. She told us she may need time off work to go to Tim Horton’s to get her picture taken by the newspaper and she answered every question we had about her winnings on this April Fools Day. We were so happy for Judy, who is so honest and who is so trustworthy, that she had won $5000 on April Fools Day, that we were all simply stunned when an hour later when she concluded our staff meeting with the words, ‘April Fools!’

Even though we were all aware that the day was April Fools Day, even though we all had joked about it being April Fools Day, even though we all had openly spoke about April Fool’s Day, we were all completely shocked when our dear honest trustworthy Judy ended our staff meeting with the words ‘Happy April Fools Day.’

Of course now that trust was broken in our little sacred circle of department heads and support staff, someone needed to respond to this perfectly executed April Fools Day joke. So after an hour or so and phone call or two, we invited Judy to the coffee room where as well as our staff and volunteers, was waiting the newspaper reporter to take her picture and interview her about her winnings. We had tried to reach both the Booster and the Prairie Post and Matthew from the Prairie Post was nice enough to come down to the office and ask Judy about her winnings as well as to take her picture on this April Fools Day. When we called, he asked us when we would like him to come by, and we replied as long as it was before noon because that is when April Fools day ends. He was a wonderful assistant in this matter.

Now, of course, our office, as you can understand – even as we are all having a lot of fun – our office now becomes a little bit tense as we are all awaiting a further reply to the April Fools Day jokes. Once these things start you never know how they will end. And at this point in the day there is still at least another hour before April Fools Day is over. And I, for one, am watching the clock very closely as the minutes tick by very, very slowly.

Now, thanks to dear, sweet, honest, trustworthy Judy; every time someone tells me something on the morning of April Fools Day, I subtlety acknowledge their comments and I try to do it in such a way as to avoid falling prey to any further April Fools Day jokes but at the same time I have to respond in such a way as to not offend them should they be actually telling me the truth. Now, it is becoming quite difficult to know who and what to believe.

It is then that I decide upon the best course of action to take, the best way to deal with this. As a Christian leader whose job is to set an example of integrity, bravery, and leadership I decided that now is the time to end this matter in the simplest way I know. Now is the time to… lock myself in my office and hide until April fools Day is over at noon.

Now, of course, as soon as I do this, Judy -honest, trustworthy Judy- calls me: ‘Michael phone call line 1’.

‘Really?’ I said.

‘Yes. It is a lady and she’s crying.’

‘Really?’ I said. ‘What time is it? Its not noon yet.’

‘Really’, she assures me, ‘there is a lady crying on the phone’. So – I do – I pick up the phone. And as the lady on the phone is speaking I find myself straining to figure out is she crying or is she laughing? And again it is quite tense as I am trying to figure out what to believe. It turns out that this lady is a person in very real need and I am able to listen to her, to help, to provide assistance and to pray with her and this takes me quite happily until almost noon.

But the point of these stories today is that once the fun had began on this morning of April Fools Day, we didn’t know who to believe. No matter who told us something that morning, we didn’t know what to believe. No matter what happened that morning, we didn’t know what to believe. No matter how serious the need someone appeared have that morning, we didn’t know what to believe. No matter how sincere and honest a person ordinarily is, on this morning we didn’t know who to believe and we didn’t know what to believe?

It is the same thing in our text today but a little more serious. The scene in 1^st Century Jerusalem is probably potentially a lot like the recent scenes we may have seen on the news of Kiev, Cairo, Tripoli, and various Syrian cities where a foreign power has been fomenting revolt: there are people yelling in the streets and in some cases this leads to riots and in some cases this leads to full out revolutions as outsiders pour discord, money and weapons into these various communities.[1]

And just like in our world today where some diplomats have been caught on tape inciting these recent revolts so too the chief priests and elders in our text today are caught threatening the very same thing. They are whipping the people up and this is Passover; so the area is full. There are people everywhere.[2] Locals and foreigners alike are filling the area and the chief priests and elders are riling them up and Pilate knows that he doesn’t have the military might to quell this immediately if it gets out of hand.[3] Pilate knows that his very life might hang in the balance here - as much as Jesus’ – if it gets out of hand; Pilate knows he has to decide very quickly what to do?[4] Who is this man, Jesus? Who should he believe? What should he believe?

The people in the area – whether they are Diaspora, foreigners brought in for Passover who may never have even heard of Jesus before or whether they are locals who have heard all the stories and possibly even seen the Lord perform some of his miracles – the people in the square they need to quickly decide what to believe. Who to believe? Who is this person? Is he a revolutionary like the chief priests are shouting? If he is, is that bad? Maybe he will deliver us from Rome? Is so, is that good? Who is he? They need to decide quickly if they are going to do anything other than be swept up with the crowd. Imagine you are in this crowd.

Imagine that you are a visitor here for the Passover and you are celebrating with the crowds in the streets and you get drawn into this square where something important is going on. Imagine you hear your religious leaders shouting out to the crowds in this way, calling this man a rebel in need of death. What do you do? Do you join in the chants of ‘Give us Barabbas’? What do you do? Who do you believe? What do you believe?

Imagine that you are from Galilee and you have seen more than one miracle that Jesus has performed. Imagine that you - or someone you know - has been healed by this person or his disciples. Imagine that you have heard his teaching or heard of his teaching and now your religious leaders are calling for his execution. Imagine you believed him until now but now your religious leader is calling for his head. Who do you believe? Do you believe your initial thoughts or do you believe your leaders? Do you believe what people told you previously or do you believe with the mob that is quickly gaining shape before your eyes? Something is going to happen tonight and you are a part of it; what role are you going to play? Are you going to call for Jesus’ head? What do you do? Who do you believe? What do you believe? What do you believe?

The soldiers in our text today have to decide if he really is a threat or not. How to respond? Is he a revolutionary that they can make an example out of? Or is he someone they need to respect for their own life and limb and salvation in this occupied territory?

The people even later in our text, as they are walking by Jesus, while he hangs dying upon the cross, they think that the decision has been made. They see him being executed alongside two other convicted people. Someone has decided who Jesus is.

And then something happens. And then something happens. Jesus is on the cross and he calls out in a loud voice at least and with maybe even more meaning than the title and first line of the Psalm number 22 in our psalm books, ‘My God, My God Why Have You Forsaken Me.’[5] This psalm is a wonderful Messianic prophecy that tells all about the Christ and how the events that are unfolding before their eyes fulfill those prophecies. And as he calls out, people pay attention to him but they don’t necessarily know what he is calling about; he calls it out again, he breathes his last, the curtain in the temple is torn from top to bottom, the earth shakes, the rocks split, the tombs are opened and then some of the dead come to life and –after the resurrection- actually walk into the city. Can you imagine if the guest of honour at the last funeral you went to showed up here today? This is what is going on and even before all of this is known but in the midst of the earthquake, the Centurion in charge of soldiers like the ones that mocked Jesus and struck him, the Roman Centurion declares in terror, “Truly, this man was God’s Son!”

We now. here today, two millennia later, we have that very same decision to make and it is just important now as it ever was. Our very life depends upon it. Who is Jesus? What do we believe? It is my hope and prayer that today you and I will answer with the Centurion, declaring now and forever more that truly, this man Jesus is God’s own Son!

Let us pray.

---

---

[1] Cf. Kruse, Colin G.: John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 351

[2] Cf. France, R. T.: Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 1), S. 393

[3] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, John 18:28-19:16: Pilates at 6am. Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army (03 Feb 2013). Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2013/02/john-1828-1916-pilates-at-6am.html

[4] Cf. D.A. Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/VII. The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus (26:6-28:20)/A. The Passion (26:6-27:66)/11. Jesus before Pilate (27:11-26), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] Cf. William Hendriksen, Matthew, (NTC: Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2007), p. 971-972

Mark 13:28,29: the First Sprig of Spring.

Presented to The Swift Current Community Advent Lunch Series at St. Olaf’s Lutheran Church, 01 December 2011 and Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 04 December 2011.[1] 
By Captain Michael Ramsay

Mark 13:28,29: “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.”

Now I grew up in Victoria, BC. There we would always have a green Christmas. Growing up there, we had snow maybe once every four years or so and when we did, it was gone in about a week. Every February, when much of our great country is still covered in snow, Victoria has its annual flower count. I recently found the statistics for 2002. In that year Victoria counted 8,521,514,876 flowers on that day in February.[2]

When I first moved to the Prairies some years ago now – we lived in Winnipeg – I noticed that Februaries in Winnipeg are a little bit different than in Victoria. Instead of + 8 billion flowers, in Winnipeg we had what felt like - 8 billion degree temperatures.

It is great here on the Prairies though. My girls really love sledding. They love skating and curling and whenever the snow is suitable you can see them building snow people. Our girls were 3 and 4 when we moved to Winnipeg and we lived a short walk from a really good sledding hill so we would go quite often and when we did it was a lot of fun. Inevitably, too, on our walk home there was a ‘Subway’ sandwich shop that we would walk past so we would always have to stop for a hot chocolate and a cookie after sledding. The girls and I came to really look forward to that. Winter is great… but you know what? We have been living on the Prairies for a few years now and when the end of May – or the beginning of June (!) – rolls around and there is still snow on the ground – I am ready for it to be over.

By the time the snow starts to melt, by the time the trees start to sprout and we can see for ourselves that summer is near, I am quite happy. As fun as sledding to the Subway for a cookie with the kids in the winter is, it is also good to ride our bikes to the Dairy Queen for an ice-cream cone on a hot summer day! And by the end of May I can tell you that I am much more looking forward an ice-cream cone in the heat than a cookie in the cold.

Mark 13:28,29: “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.”

This is the same sort of idea that our text today is talking about.[3] We all know that in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve (Genesis 3; See also Romans 5:14) -instead of watching squirrels and counting blossoms- they decided to listen to a snake and eat forbidden fruit. This probably wouldn’t have been quite so bad except for the problem that their Father in Heaven had just finished telling them not to do this. So when God caught his children disobeying Him and then deliberately trying to deceive Him about it, God was disappointed and He gave them a time-out from Paradise, the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23-24, Hosea 6:7, Romans 5:12-14). This is the ‘Fall’; we were separated from God because of this original sin – eating the fruit, disobeying God and then deliberately trying to deceive Him about it.

And this is just the beginning. We the people are not necessarily the best children of God that we should be. Genesis tells us that the people were so bad God felt that He needed to destroy the earth by a flood (Genesis 6-9; see also 2 Peter 2:5). Exodus saw the Hebrews dragged kicking and screaming into the Promised Land. The generation that left Egypt was so bad that God didn’t let any of them - save Joshua and Caleb – even enter the land promised them (Numbers 14:21-24; Deuteronomy 1:31-40; see Hebrews 4:1-13). More than once they voted not to follow God, but – Praise the Lord - God’s Kingdom isn’t a democracy so He saved their children in spite of themselves. Judges tells us that instead of following God the people at that time just did whatever was popular. They did what was right in their own eyes: they did evil in the sight of the Lord and they suffered the natural consequences of that (see Judges 21). Solomon, the wisest man ever to live, even made the serious mistake of turning his back on God and as a result half of his Kingdom was torn from his own children and grandchildren (1 Kings 11). This is all a part of the winter of our sin.

Throughout the times of the kings and the prophets, often Baal worship was more popular than worshipping the Lord (See Joshua 2:11-13; Judges 3:7, 6:25ff., 8:3, 10:10; 1 Samuel 7:4, 12:10, 1 Kings 16- 22; 2 Kings 1-10, 17:16, 21:3; 2 Chronicles 28:2, 33:3; Jeremiah 2, 7, 9, 11, 19, 23, 32; Hosea 2; 9:10, 11:12). If there was something like the TV Show ‘Canadian Idol’ back then - Israelite Idol - the people many times over would have voted for Baal over the Lord. Though there were some exceptions to this: Remember when the prophets of Baal and Elijah, atop Mt. Carmel, when they had a ‘So you think you can dance’ dance-off of sorts (1 Kings 18:16-45)? The prophets of Baal anyway had quite a long and elaborate dance routine but God blessed Elijah by raining down fire and He won the competition (1 Kings 18:38). This was more the exception than the rule though and this is all part of the long cold winter of our consequences of our original and subsequent sins. But we know – like Jesus tells us in our Scriptures today that spring is coming (see also Romans 13:11-12).

Through the Biblical record though this sin, like winter, continued of course. Leviticus tells us that we the people failed to look after the land (Leviticus 25:1-23) and Jeremiah tells us that it was taken away from the Israelites because of this (Jeremiah 15:11, 19:10; 2 Chronicles 36:20-21).[4] Isaiah, Amos and the other prophets tell us that the people cared more about wealth than about taking care of the poor, the widow and the immigrant (Cf. Isaiah 3:14, 15, 10:2, 11:4, 26:6, 32:7, 41:17, 58:7, 61:1; Amos 4:1, 5:11-12, 8:4-6). In Israel of the Old Testament some became rich and some became poor and even though, as Jesus would later tell us, that the whole Law and the prophets were summed up in the command to love God and love your neighbour (Matthew 22:34-40); we the people didn’t do this. We continued to put ourselves first. We continued to do what was right in our own eyes. We continued freezing outside in the winter of our sins when the blossoms of God’s love just wanted to envelope us instead. And now when Jesus is speaking, as recorded in our text today, he tells us to “…learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door” (Mark 13:28,29).

In our world today we still see a lot of problems. Crime in Canada is higher than it ever used to be. According to the CCVF, it is so bad now that many people are losing faith in the authorities abilities to stop it that in many cases charges aren’t even being filed anymore.[5] Even economic crime is on the rise in Canada with Reuters reporting that 56 percent of companies surveyed recently (more than half of them) reported falling prey to white-collar crime.[6]  And – of course – in our winter of sin there is pornography, which horribly is North America’s most lucrative pastime. In the United States, pornography revenue is more than all money made from professional football, baseball and basketball combined. The money made by US pornography exceeds the combined revenues of all their major TV networks (6.2 billion) Child pornography alone generates more than $3 billion annually.[7]

We are still in the winter of our sin but summer is coming (See Romans 13:11-12); Jesus is coming back. The metaphorical snow of sin is still on the ground but as Jesus assures us, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door” (Mark 13:28,29).

There is this good news if we look around. Jesus himself was the first blossom.[8] He is the branch of Jesse (Zechariah 6:11-13; Isaiah 11:1)[9] and he is the first blossom as well. He shows us and teaches us in parables about the Kingdom of God. He tells us again and again as recorded in this the Gospel of Luke that the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is here. It is in His presence. When we are in Jesus’ presence we see the buds coming through on the trees (see also John 14). It is like Matthew 25:31-40 says,

 “‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

 And when we share the Good News of God’s love we too are a part of those blossoms of the spring of Christ’s love. In The Salvation Army alone – and we are only one of many Christians denominations in this country - we are one of the world’s largest social services providers. In this country, we also have the blessing of being on the frontlines in the fight against sex slavery; we run food banks, shelters, serve over 2.5 million meals a year and help more than 10 000 people out of their addictions and –again- we are only one part of the Christian Church in Canada and as you and I, as we all share the love of Christ with our neighbours - through our actions and our words both corporate and individual – when we share the love of Christ with our neighbours as bad as the world may seem today in the winter of our sin, we can all be part of those first blossoms that have been sprouting through Jesus, the Branch of Jesse, ever since His first advent 2000 years ago. This past Sunday was the first Sunday of our Advent season. As the first bud of spring sprouted with Jesus coming to live among us all those many years ago and as we know too that Jesus is coming back and Jesus is coming back soon. When he does that will be when all the trees are in full bloom covered in the blossoms of spring and when he comes what a day of rejoicing that will be. This is something for us all to look forward to in the advent season ahead.

Let us pray.

   http://www.sheepspeak.com/
---

---

[1] Based on Captain Michael Ramsay, Luke 21:29-31: the First Sprigs of Spring, presented to St. Stephen the Martyr Anglican Church, Swift Current, Saskatchewan, 29 November 2009. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/11/luke-2129-31-first-sprigs-of-spring.html

[2] One of many sources for this: Human Flower Project: http://www.humanflowerproject.com/index.php/weblog/comments/whos_counting_we_and_victoria/

[3] Cf. Gerard S. Sloyan, John (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 5 and Joel B Green, The Gospel of Luke (NICNT 3: Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 25.

[4] Cf. Michael Ramsay, Leviticus 25 1-23 in the Context of the Holiness Code: The Land Shall Observe a Sabbath. Presented to William and Catherine Booth College (Fall 2006). Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com/OT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Leviticus 25 1-23

[5] LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, Canadian Crime Victim Foundation (Toronto: Oct 25, 2009), cited November 22, 2009. Available on-line: http://www.ccvf.net/articles.cfm?pageID=articles&subpageID=news&viewID=75 : Every five years, Statistics Canada conducts the General Social Survey. It asks a representative sample of Canadians, among other things, whether they have been crime victims.  From the last survey in 2004 (the next one is being conducted now, with the findings to be released next year) Statistics  Canada reached the following conclusions.  First, progressively fewer Canadians who are crime victims are reporting the crime to police -- only 34% in 2004, compared to 37% in 1999.  Second, based on the GSS, an estimated 92% of sexual assaults were never reported to police, 46% of break-ins, 51% of motor  vehicle/parts thefts, 61% of physical assaults and 54% of robberies.

[6] Economic crime rate rises in Canada, report says (Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:14pm EST) cited November 21, 2009. Available on-line: http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCATRE5AI52E20091119 : "Some 56 percent of companies surveyed reported falling prey to white-collar crime during the period, the 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers' Economic Crime Survey showed. That's a 10 percentage point increase over 2003 and a 4 point increase from two years ago."

[7] Christian Technology Solutions, Pornography Industry Statistics. Cited 21 November, 2009. Available on line: http://christiantechnologysolutions.com/content/view/18/24/

[8] Cf. E. Earle Ellis. The Gospel of Luke (The New Century Bible: Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 1981), p. 242.

[9] Cf. Mary L. Coloe, “Temple Imagery in the Gospel of John.” Interpretation: a Journal of Bible and Theology 63, no. 4 (October 2009): 368-381.

Acts 2 and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Presented to Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service 16 January 2011 at St. Stephen the Martyr Anglican Church in Swift Current. Based on an earlier sermon presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on 12 August 2007 and to the Swift Current Corps on 23 May 2010. A further version was presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 12 June 2022 by Captain Michael Ramsay

To read the more detailed earlier sermons, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/acts-2-act-ii-scene-1.html

We are going to look at the reading from Acts today. Acts is a neat book. Did you know that it is the only history (book) in the NT? Did you know that the books Acts and Luke were written by the same author and these books actually come together as sort of a two volume set that many scholars like to call ‘Luke-Acts.’ Together this set comprises more than 30% of the NT. 

Acts always reminds me of a play. Maybe it’s the name (Act 1, scene 2). But particularly in the first part, Acts reminds me of a Shakespearian play. Anyone remember studying Shakespeare in school?

All right, here’s quiz for you. Who can name the play these quotes are from: ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears;’ “to be or not to be, that is the question” – here’s an easy one - “Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo”?

Shakespeare wrote very dramatic plays and some of the tragedies are pretty tragic like Hamlet. Remember, his ‘to be or not to be’ speech where, of course, he is either pretending to be insane or actually goes insane while trying catch his father’s killer who happens to be his uncle and is also married to his mother. (Sounds like a soap opera actually) And in the end - everybody dies…

Or on a happier note, there is Romeo and Juliet. Young love. But their parents object so they sneak around for a while and then eventually (pause) kill themselves…okay so not a lot of happy endings…but they are very dramatic and neat stories nonetheless.

Shakespeare was a master playwright and Acts reminds me of Shakespeare’s work. (Only its better) God uses the author, Luke, to communicate VERY dramatic REAL events that happen and he attributes to Peter some amazing speeches that could cause the post-modern reader to recall Mark Anthony, Lady MacBeth, or Hamlet.

And Luke uses the scenes and speeches that we will look at today God’s Spirit comes at Pentecost creating unity out of diversity and releasing the disciples to proclaim the gospel of Jesus’ death resurrection and the forgiveness of sins.

Acts really does remind me of a play and just before we open the curtain on Acts II, we should know a bit about the way the stage is set. When the curtain comes up not only will all the disciples still be together in the spirit of Christian unity but also in the scene will be ‘Jews from every nation under heaven (2:5)’ and they have come together in unity to celebrate Pentecost. This is hopefully like us today as Christians are prayerfully gathering from our different traditions and religious expressions of our Christian faith in unity here. The curtain opens on Acts II. Picture this with me as I read from the first verses, which are like a scene from a Shakespearian play:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing (sound effects) of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be (pillars) tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?

And this is the dramatic scene in the opening of Acts 2. And if this were a Shakespearean play, now, hundreds of years later, there would be - Cole’s Notes! – Do you remember Coles Notes? The notes so that we can all understand the nuances of what is happening before us and there are many nuances…

If we had our Cole’s Notes with us today there would probably be an asterisk beside the word ‘Pentecost’ (vs. 1) because when we think of Pentecost we usually think of this very moment: the advent of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts – but it is more than that.

Your Cole’s Notes would probably say that Pentecost is also known by various other names: the feast of weeks (Exod. 34:22; Dt 15:10, 16:9-12; Nu 28:26-31), feast of harvest (Exod 23:16), the day of first fruits (Exod 34:22; Nu 28:26; Lev 23:9-14) and this is neat: Pentecost occurs on the 50th day after the Sabbath Passover (Exod. 19:1) and in Acts II it is about 50 days after Jesus was crucified and the disciples were scattered and now 50 days later they are gathering together in prayer and Christian unity.

Now the Jewish festival of Pentecost is a time to celebrate God giving the Law to Moses on Mt Sinai: Remember the Ten Commandments and how Moses climbs the Mountain (twice; Exod. 19-20, 31, 34; Dt. 4-5, 10) and God writes the 10 Commandments on the stone tablets with his own finger (Exod. 31:18; Dt. 4:13, 10:1) and when Moses returns from the mountain his face is literally radiant (Exod. 34:29-35): it’s shining. All the events recorded in Acts 2 I think ar meant to link Jesus to Moses as a deliver – and those present in this scene are probably beginning to understand that.

And even more – you see the Bible is REAL. These things really did happen but it is also a literary masterpiece with symbolism everywhere – really would we expect anything less from God’s own Word?

Look at 2:6: “each one heard them speaking in his own language;” some have compared this passage to an un-doing, as it were, of the tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9), just before God makes his promise to Abraham. Do you remember that story? The people provoke God by disobeying His command to scatter and fill the earth through the building of this tower and as a result, the people are babbling in different languages. God confuses their talk. But now what happens in Acts II? The opposite. Christians become unified. Instead of language being confused, people can actually now hear the Gospel proclaimed in their OWN language. This sure helps Christian unity – which we are praying for today. There is so much more relating the Spirit of God in Acts 2 comparing the creation of the church to the creation of the world that we just don’t have time to get into today but this is all part of the world and understanding of the Jews present. They understand as the scene unfolds and as Peter continues to speak that Jesus is the Christ, and that we together have killed our Christ.

These people now standing in front of Peter as he delivers something akin to a masterful Shakespearian soliloquy – they are like repentant children in front of the principal, realising that they’ve done something terribly wrong. They realise that Jesus is the Christ and they realize (PAUSE) that they’ve killed him; we’ve killed him. And now Jesus is back from the dead. If we didn’t know the ending, it could be like a 1970s horror movie. You wrongfully kill someone and they come back from the dead to set things right! The people in our text today are hoping against hope to somehow make it right (cf. John 21:15-17 re: Peter’s own restoration) when in a spirit of good repentant Christian unity: Verse 37, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter says, verse 38, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” Now this is significant. Jesus is ushering in this Kingdom of God.  And what does this Kingdom look like? This is what our readings for today announce. It is a Kingdom of Christian unity and of forgiveness. It is a Kingdom –like the Lord’s Prayer says - where we, in perfect unity, forgive those who do things against us and God forgives us what we have done – even our sending [as was his purpose and with God’s perfect foreknowledge (vss. 22-23)] God’s own son to die on the cross.

What is it that one does as one is united in Christ with fellow Christians as a part of God’s Kingdom? We repent (This doesn’t just mean change our way of acting – it means change our whole way of thinking). We repent – we believe that Jesus died for our sins, rose from the dead and Jesus is Lord. We believe and are baptised (which in the text here is an initiation ceremony through which the early Christians are united); we must be initiated and united in the Kingdom of Forgiveness of Sins and the Kingdom of God, in the name of Jesus – and this is everything.

Peter says in the text “you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This same Holy Spirit who is at creation and at is the same Holy Spirit who is at Pentecost and it is the same Holy Spirit who is with us today. The Bible promises us, Acts 2:39 that, “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off —for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be united in Salvation. Isn’t that glorious? Isn’t this wonderful? Isn’t this amazing?

And look what it says, just before the curtain closes on our scene here in Acts II: Our words that we are supposed to hold as our own today. It says that as they are gathered together in Christian unity that - Verse 47- “day by day the Lord added to their number those being saved.” How wonderful? How marvellous?

And may it be continue to be so. Come; let us pray for a unity of the Spirit in our lives. Come let us pray that Christ will be our light. Amen.

To read a detailed related paper on this passage click here: http://www.sheepspeak.com./NT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Acts%202:%20An%20Interpretation

---

www.sheepspeak.com/

Bibliography

Achtemeier, Paul J., Joel B. Green, and Marianne Meye Thompson. Introducing the New Testament: Its Literature and Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.

Bruce, Fredrick Frye, The Book of Acts. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988.

Durant, Will. The Story of Civilisation III: Caesar and Christ. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1944.

Gilbert. “The Lists of Nations in Acts 2.” Journal of Biblical Literature 21, no. 1 (2002): 497-529.

Harrison, Roland Kenneth. Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977.

Hays, Richard B.  The letter to the Galatians. The New Interpreter’s Bible 11. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2000.

Lenski, R.C.H. The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961.

MacGregor, G.H.C. and Theodore P. Ferris. The Acts if the Apostles. The Interpreter’s Bible 9. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1978.

Neil, William, The Acts of the Apostles. The New Century Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981.

Squires, John T., “Acts.” Pages 1213-1267 in Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Editted by James D.G. Dunn and John W. Rogerson. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003.

The Timechart of Biblical History. Chippenham, England: The Third Millenium Press, 2003.

Wall, Robert W.  Acts. The New Interpreter’s Bible 10. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2002.

Willimon, William H., Acts. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988.

Sally’s Story: A Remembrance Day Address (Psalm 71:1-2)

By Captain Michael Ramsay. Presented to the Premier of Saskatchewan, the Mayor of Swift Current, our Federal MP, Royal Canadian Legion Branch #56 and their guests on 11 November 2010 and to The Swift Current Corps 13 November 2010 and Alberni Valley Ministries 10 November 2019.[1]

On November 11th we remember our friends and families who served in the World Wars, Korea, peacekeeping missions and subsequent conflicts in the 20th and 21st centuries. My own grandfather returned home to Saskatchewan from California, where he was working when the Second World War broke out, to join the Canadian Army. He eagerly grabbed some friends from Cut Knife and they all signed up for our armed forces. Of the men that enlisted that day with my grandfather, I believe, only he lived to see the end of the war. John 15:17, in the Bible, records: ‘Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends’

The Salvation Army was also present in both these wars – actually in the trenches -offering material and emotional support and the love of God to the soldiers. I am humbled and honoured to share with you today some of what the Lord has done through the Canadian Salvation Army in the conflicts of 20th Century.

During both World Wars and throughout the Cold War, The Salvation Army was very active. We provided military personnel with basic comforts and helped maintain morale by establishing leave centres for rest and recreation providing a degree of civility amidst the loneliness and dehumanizing conditions of war. Psalm 71:1 says, “In you, O LORD, have I taken my refuge…” and this is how we were able to be used by God, like Psalm 71:2 says, to rescue and deliver others. As an Officer in The Salvation Army, I am very thankful for that opportunity we have had to serve.

In World War I, The Canadian Salvation Army ran hundreds of well-equipped huts, canteens, and rest facilities, as well as hostels in Britain, France and Belgium. At these hostels our war-weary troops could bathe, do laundry, eat decent food, and prepare themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually for the always-difficult return to the trenches. And when they returned to those trenches on the front lines they were met with more Salvation Army Officers providing refreshments and amenities. Canadian soldier Will Bird wrote: “Every front-line soldier of World War I knew that his true friend was the man in The Salvation Army canteen.”

It is at this time in WWI that we actually got our nickname: ‘Sally Ann’. The troops coined this affectionate nickname ‘Sally Ann' to describe The Salvation Army and also our Red Shield logo that we all know – it began as the symbol of our First World War relief efforts. Also – Doughnuts: did you know that doughnuts were first introduced to North America through Salvation Army canteens. Next time you go through the Timmy’s Drive Thru think of a veteran and our Wartime service to God through them. Psalm 71:1 says, “In you, O LORD, have I taken my refuge…” and this is how we were able to be used by God, like Psalm 71:2 says, to rescue and deliver others. As an Officer in The Salvation Army, I am very thankful for that opportunity we have had to serve.

In World War I, on the home front, in Canada, The Salvation Army Home League sent tens of thousands of comfort packages containing socks, underwear, Christmas presents, and other items directly to the Salvation Army chaplains for distribution to Canadian troops right in the trenches. Salvationists also visited the homes of deceased soldiers in Canada regularly to look into the welfare of their dependants and comfort many bereaved families.

The Salvation Army in 1918 organized our first ever nation-wide appeal for funds – and this was to assist returning soldiers in the often-disorienting days following their discharge. From this, we raised enough money to open hostels across Canada, each offering a quiet retreat for soldiers on their way home or awaiting demobilization. Psalm 71:1 says, “In you, O LORD, have I taken my refuge…” and this is why we were able to be used by God, like Psalm 71:2 says, to rescue and deliver others. As an Officer in The Salvation Army, I am very thankful for that opportunity we have had to serve.

Now when war broke out again in September 1939, we were there. Our responsibilities again included showing movies, establishing canteens, organizing recreational activities such as concerts and sporting events, providing reading material and stationery. At our leave centres in London, soldiers could obtain a bed, a breakfast, and a bath. We comforted the wounded and even helped bury the dead. In short, we did whatever was necessary to help maintain military morale. The Salvation Army instructed its supervisors to “care for the body, mind and soul of every [service person] irrespective of creed or personality.” This is still our mandate today. As historian Scott Young has written, the Salvation Army “provided the reassuring link between the fighting man and his world of peace and kindness and sanity.”

During Canadian training exercises in Britain, Sally Ann's mobile canteens supplied tired men with coffee, donuts, chocolates, and even cigarettes free of charge. The Salvation Army rest camp for the Royal Canadian Navy in Northern Ireland brought with it one very significant consequence: a local judge noted that following the establishment of our facility that the number of Canadian sailors appearing before the courts had dropped by 50%! Psalm 71:1 says, “In you, O LORD, have I taken my refuge…” and this is why we were able to be used by God, like Psalm 71:2 says, to rescue and deliver others. As an Officer in The Salvation Army, I am very thankful for that opportunity we have had to serve.

In July 1943, when Canadian troops participated in the Allied invasion of Sicily, The Sally Ann was there. We helped alleviate Canadians’ stressful experience of sustained combat. A number of Salvation Army personnel landed immediately after the initial assault.

When, in early September, the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, Sally Ann again quickly followed, establishing a Red Shield Club, a hostel, and canteens. And as more Canadian forces arrived in Italy, more Salvation Army supervisors came with them. In June 1944 came the invasion of Normandy.

Within days of D-Day, The Salvation Army was already set up and at work: we spread heavy tarps over the holed roofs and shattered walls of damaged buildings, proclaimed these sites ‘movie theatres', and welcomed hundreds of exhausted Canadian soldiers in need of a laugh or distraction. The Salvation Army then set up Rec. Centres, one by one in the larger cities, as the Allies liberated them. Salvation Army personnel were attached directly to many units.

During this push for the liberation of Europe each Salvation Army Officer was equipped with a large truck that carried a portable generator, movie projector, turntable, radio, sports equipment, games, and canteen supplies, etc.

In all, The Salvation Army’s Second World War relief effort in Canada and overseas provided Canadians with hundreds of millions of sheets of writing paper and envelopes, nearly 40 million hot beverages from mobile canteens, and about 35 million meals. Almost 70 million people attended Salvation Army films and concerts. The last Salvationist active in the War did not return home until December 1946. In an official letter of thanks following the end of the War in Europe, General Harry Crerar, former commander of the First Canadian Army, wrote: “It would be easier to forget one's name than fail to remember the times without number when the Salvation Army was, in truth, our comforter and friend.”

With the onset of the Cold War, The Salvation Army continued its role as friend to Canada’s military opening many hostels, snack bars, and Rec. Centres for Canadians stationed in Germany with NATO forces. The Salvation Army mobile canteens followed Canadian troops on NATO manoeuvres and served refreshments in the field throughout the Cold War. The Salvation Army also helped incoming military families adjust to their new lives overseas. Many experienced culture shock and marital problems: we assisted with drop-in centres and counselling services. We served alongside our troops throughout the Cold War. Psalm 71:1 says, “In you, O LORD, have I taken my refuge…” and this is how we were able to be used by God, like Psalm 71:2 says, to rescue and deliver others. As an Officer in The Salvation Army, I am very thankful for that opportunity we have had to serve.

During the deployment of Canadian forces to the Persian Gulf, The Salvation Army sent ‘sunshine bags' of small gifts and comforts to each of the several thousand Canadians serving in that war zone.

When Ottawa later announced that Canadian troops in Europe would be coming home. The Salvation Army stayed with them until the very end. Brigadier-General C.D. Thibeault, Commander, Canadian Forces Europe, wrote "for us, the Salvation Army symbol has always stood for a little piece of Canada and a place of peace."

For more than a century now – we have been active since the Boer War - The Salvation Army has been allowed to provide a small ‘home away from home’ for Canada’s military personnel. Psalm 71:1 says, “In you, O LORD, have I taken my refuge…” and this is how we were able to be used by God, like Psalm 71:2 says, to rescue and deliver others. As an Officer in The Salvation Army, I am very thankful for that opportunity we have had to serve. All of our refuge and strength –or course – comes through Jesus Christ who lived, died, and rose again so that we all may live and live life abundantly. I pray that each one of us will continue to seek our refuge in the Lord and that He may use each all to offer His refuge to others in every aspect of our lives. If you have never dedicated your life to serving God and others, there really is no better time to turn to God for His protection and refuge than today.

Let us pray: Lord, Thank you for all that you have done in the lives of our military personnel and our veterans. Thank you so much for the opportunity The Salvation Army has had to serve you through serving them while they served for us. Thank you Lord that as you have already provided for our salvation between the cross and the empty tomb, you are indeed our refuge and strength and that as we turn to you, you will be our shelter in times of need. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

www.sheepspeak.com

---
[1] This is the revised text for Sunday 13 November 2010. The original text of the speech to the Legion on11 November 2010 is on-line at http://renewnetwork.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html#4283455580704371948 This address was compiled with files from Dr. Serge Durflinger, "A Touch Of Home: The War Services of the Salvation Army Dispatches: Backgrounders in Canadian Military History". Available on-line at http://www.civilization.ca/cwm/explore/military-history/dispatches/a-touch-of-home-the-war-services-of-the-salvation-army

Luke 13:1-9: Repent!

Presented to Swift Current Community Lenten Lunch on 11 March 2010
and the Swift Current Corps on 14 March 2010
and CKSW Radio on 28 March 2010
by Captain Michael Ramsay

My wife, Captain Susan Ramsay, preached on this pericope (passage) last Sunday at The Salvation Army and I think it is a very interesting passage in that it addresses both questions of eschatology (the ‘end times’) and theodicy (God is good even when bad things happen). She began her sermon quoting this story by the famous homilitician, the Reverend Tom Long:

In the little Georgia country church of my childhood, there was a story the older folks loved to tell again and again, laughing over it and savoring it and embellishing it. The tale involved a certain Sunday night in October 1938. Evening prayer services were in full swing when a man named Sam, a member of the congregation who lived down the road from the church, charged into the prayer meeting trembling with fear and excitement. Finally gaining the breath to speak, he shouted, "Martians are attacking the earth in spaceships! Some of ‘em have already landed in New Jersey!" The preacher halted in mid-sentence; the congregation stared at Sam blankly. "I s-s-swear," he stammered, now a little unsure of his footing. "I h-h-heard it on the radio."
What Sam had heard, of course, was Orson Welles’s now infamous Mercury Theatre radio production of ‘War of the Worlds’, but no one in the congregation was aware of that at the moment. For all they knew, the world outside was coming to a flaming end. The little flock looked apprehensively at the preacher, but he was mute and indecisive, never having had a sermon disrupted by interplanetary invasion. Finally one of the oldest members of the congregation, a red-clay farmer of modest education, stood up, gripped the pew in front of him with his large, callused hands, and said, "I ‘speck what Sam says ain’t completely true, but if it is true, we’re in the right place here in church. Let’s go on with the meetin’." And so they did.
Spaceships landing in New Jersey? Signs of the end of the world? The old farmer sized it all up, measured it against his rough-hewn view of providence, and decided it was better to be in church praising God than running around the cow pasture shooting buckshot into the night sky[1]

How true. What should we think, what should we do when things are happening in our world today that don’t necessarily make a lot of sense to us? In our scripture passage here people are asking Jesus about significant things going on all around them and they have some questions about what they should do in response – Luke 13:1-5:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Some of the questions that naturally arise in times of trouble like, why do things like this happen? Why do people have to suffer? Is it because they are sinners? In our pericope today people ask Jesus about some people from Galilee; remember that this is where Jesus and his disciples have spent a fair amount of time in ministry to this point in Luke’s narrative. You remember who Pilate was, of course, as well: he was the Super Power of the day’s (Rome’s) representative in the occupied territories of Judah and Israel in Palestine. These people from Galilee, Luke 13:1 tells us, had their blood mingled with their sacrifices. We don’t know a lot about this event historically. But we do know that social tension at this time made frequent revolutionary activity possible in (what is now called) the Middle East. Pilate’s position as the governor of these occupied territories so far distant from Rome was precarious at best. Josephus (Life, 92 [17]) tells us that the Galileans were especially susceptible to revolt.[2] Much like in that same area of Israel-Palestine today, terrorists, freedom fighters, many people were in a constant state of resistance to the military occupation. It appears from 13:1, that the Super Power of Jesus’ day quite severely put down this one particular challenge to its authority in the area, killing the aforementioned Galileans and desecrating their remains in this way. Now this would be very serious to the Galileans. It would be much the same the way various contemporary US actions have been interpreted around Abu Ghraib or Guatanamo Bay. It is not good and the text today is asking if these people deserve this horrible fate.

Luke 13:4 refers to another tragic event – a different one: this one in and around Jerusalem. There was this tower that came crumbling down in Israel’s historic capital city and this is a very significant event. When the tower came down people died and when the people died some had questions about why all of this happens including did the people who died, deserve it? This and the other event caused people to question, ‘why did God permit these people to die?’[3]

This is reminiscent of a tower or a pair of towers that came crumbling down in recent history on our own continent isn’t it? The Salvation Army was right on ground zero helping out with the relief effort immediately following 9/11. The person who has responsibility for TSA in all of Canada now was right there on the site with the other relief workers handing out food and water and offering emotional and spiritual care along with many others in the immediate wake of 9/ll. I have a friend of mine as well who served the Lord through The Salvation Army at Ground Zero. This event, 9/11, however did serve to raise a lot of the same questions about God, eschatology and theodicy that I think are still being asked being asked today both about the horrors of the terrorist attack on 9/11 and the response/reprisal too of the Super Power is still carrying on even today, almost a decade later.

Now remember the Americans churchmen, Pat Robinson and Jerry Falwell and the resultant scandal that followed their not so well thought out comments at the time? Falwell could very well have been asking the questions that the people around our text today are asking of Jesus and the conclusions they were implying about the Galileans and or the tower of Siloam seem very similar. Of 9/11, Jerry Falwell said God might have given the American nation what it deserved because of their moral decay. Falwell specifically listed a number of groups in that country (such as the ACLU, abortionists, feminists, gays, and others) as sharing in the blame. Pat Robertson responded in agreement. Much has been made of these comments. Some have even suggested that these men meant that those in the Towers may have even brought this event on themselves (They former later apologized and the latter distanced himself from the comments).[4]

These two Christian leaders in America distanced themselves from these remarks and/or actually repented of their comments and where people turn and repent there is forgiveness. I have no reason not to believe the sincerity of either man in either their comments or their repentance - but I do think that the sentiment surrounding their comments is not entirely dissimilar from that that is reflected in our text today and certainly the faulty extension that the individuals in the towers deserved to die is a stretch that Jesus addresses in his reply to the comments about the tragic events of his day.

Jesus rhetorically responds to the similar questions and accusations represented here in Luke: Did the people who died deserve it? First specifically referring to the Galilean victims of the Super Power’s military action, “Jesus answered [them, verses 2 and 3], "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! ...” Secondly referring to those who died when the tower came tumbling down, Jesus rhetorically asks, “do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in [the city]? I tell you, no!”

Likewise today those who died in the towers on 9/11 were no worse than those that were spared because they did not go into work that day; neither are the Afghan civilians who are added daily to the ‘collateral damage’ toll any worse or better than those who escape with their lives.

One of the many things that this passage quickly addresses is the prosperity heresy or ‘prosperity gospel’ as it is sometimes called, that is becoming more common in our affluent and materialistic society – loosely summed up it is this: that people with money and power and blessed by God and people without money and power are cursed. Anyone who has read the Bible cover-to-cover even once realizes that this is not true: one of the most prevalent themes in the scriptures is that we should take care of the poor, the widow, the immigrant, the marginalized in society (Exodus 23:6,11, Lev. 19:10,15, 23:22, 27:8, Deut. 15:7, 15:11, 24:12-15, 1 Samuel 2:8, Psalms 22:26, 34:6, 35:10, 82:3, Ezekiel 16:49, 18:12, 22:29, Amos 2:7, 4:1, 5:11-12, 8:4-6, Isaiah 3:14, 15, 10:2, 11:4, 26:6, 32:7, 41:17, 58:7, 61:1; Zechariah 7:10). How we take care of these marginalized members of our society in reality is an indicator of our own very salvation[5] (Matthew 25:31ff) and the story of Job in the Bible underlines the sovereignty of a loving God in the midst of suffering. We cannot think that we are better than anyone else because God has spared us from calamity or poverty or difficulty of circumstance (cf. Luke 10:25-27, 18:22-25; Matthew 19:21-24; Mark 10:21-25).[6] We too will meet our Maker one day and Jesus says, verses 3 and 5, that unless we – even we who have been spared this calamity – unless we repent we will likewise perish.

Now this passage is about judgement and look at the parable that Jesus tells in relation to all this these questions that the people are asking, it is interesting, verses 6-9:

“…A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' ”

This is neat. This is God. Look in the midst of judgement here there is grace. He gives the tree another chance. Look at this…the fruit tree now if it fails to bear fruit it will be cut down and presumably thrown into the fire but he gives it more time to bear fruit. Jesus defeated sin and death between the cross and the empty tomb but even today 2000 years later, while we each still have breath in our bodies, we still have the opportunity to repent and turn to God and be saved.

In 21st Century Canada, Saskatchewan and Swift Current we still have the opportunity to return to the Lord, love God and love our neighbour, so that we will not be cut down (and thrown into the fire, see John 15:1-7). This parable is specifically speaking about the nation of Israel but I think it equally applies to us today. If we deny God and if we do not love our neighbour the gospel of Matthew tells us that even among those of us who do call Jesus Lord, we be left on the outside looking in (Matthew 7:21-22). Matthew records that Jesus tells us that whatever we do not do for the least in our society we do not do for Christ (Matthew 25:40) and if we do not actively serve Christ, he will send us off to eternal punishment we deserve (Matthew 7:22, 25:40).[7] But remember the Good News…

This tree in Jesus’ parable that deserved judgement because it does not bear fruit, it is given grace first. Jesus said of this tree that deserves to be cast into eternal judgement, Jesus says, verse 8, to “'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it.” God not only extends this tree one more year of grace but in so doing he does everything He can to bring this tree into bearing fruit. He loves that tree.

This is good news and it is the same with us. As a society Canada is ceasing to bear fruit. Crime is way up. Income disparity is more extreme than ever before in this country. Our federal government has recently stopped saying the Lord’s Prayer in the House of Commons; Atheism is the largest and fastest growing religion in more than one province in this country including my home province of BC. Recently too I heard that only 3% of people in Vancouver, Canada’s 3rd largest city attend Christian churches on a regular basis. People in various places in Ontario are calling the police if civic politicians dare to pray in their meetings. How many of our children and grandchildren here – even in this apparently Christian community of Swift Current – how many of our very own young people are attending church? …How many are coming to Christ? We here are like the fig tree that is no longer bearing fruit in this country but God is a gardener that loves us and he has given us that extra time. God is giving us the extra time and He loves us and He is digging around us and fertilizing us right now. He loves us. He is extending us grace.

And this brings us back to the voiced question of the text: what about the person in our society who has a tower collapse on them or who runs afoul of the authorities or who is struggling with addiction or who is in need of food or shelter or is suffering from extreme poverty? What about the person in our society who is in a tough spot is that because they are any more or less evil than you or I? No! Jesus tells us in our text today that it is not because a person is a sinner that this hardship befalls him and he tells us by implication then that those of us who have an extra measure of security it is not because we are saints. We are all in need of our Lord’s salvation – no matter what our station in life. And the joys of salvation are available to us all – no matter who we are. I am reminded of a story…

At the end of the last century there was a revolution in one of the North Western African countries. As it became obvious that the government was going to fall, the wealthy North Americans had to flee. They really were spared the vengeance of the population only by the skin of their teeth. They boarded the last plane just in time before the rebels liberated their country.A disappointing thing happened on the plane. You see it was a commercial airline that had a first class section with so much more comfortable seating than the rest of the plane. Now on this plane were all rich, famous and important people. One of them first got it in their mind that because of who they were they deserved the good seats. Then someone else; then the next; soon everyone on the plane was fighting. They were so busy fighting that they did not notice that the plane was going down...in a sad irony while those who were fighting were the most important in this life – the plane crashed and then they all wound up faced with the next life – where none of the things of this world matter anymore. They were delivered from the revolution but still they perished.Our lives are like this plane going down it is not a sign of divine favour; if we have the best seat on the plane. It really is doesn’t change anything. The plane is still going to crash.
What matters is what will happen when Jesus returns to look at his fig tree. What matters is our AND OTHERS’ eternal salvation. No matter who we are, our life here is going to end and there will be judgement – regardless of who we are; regardless of our wealth and status – what really matters is what happens afterwards and afterwards though all may be eligible for heaven, some will choose to crash and burn but others - others will choose to be saved and – Luke 13:5 – unless we repent we will likewise perish.I am reminded of the 'Empress of Ireland' and a story that we like to tell in The Salvation Army. The 'Empress of Ireland' was a ship that sank in 1914:

“[It]went down with a hundred and thirty Canadian Salvation Army officers on board [29th May 1914], one hundred and nine officers were drowned, and not one [TSA] body that was picked up had on a life-belt. The few survivors told how the Salvationists, finding there were not enough life-preservers for all, took off their own belts and strapped them upon even strong men, saying, "I can die better than you can;" and from the deck of that sinking boat they flung their battle-cry around the world – Others!”[8]

They gave their lives up for others just like Christ gave his life up for all of us on the cross. The boat of our lives is sinking. No man knows the time or the hour when it will end (Matthew 24:26, 25:13; Mark 13:32; Luke 12:39-40, 46) so I ask us today do we forget that the end is coming? Are we spending our time here complaining about things like whether so and so deserved this or that of do we look for brothers and sisters who are perishing without their life jackets of Salvation, handing them the everlasting life-preservers?

It is my prayer today that each of us today as we are experiencing the same grace of the fig tree – as we are all on the same flight, the same borrowed time - that we will take advantage of whatever time we have left and instead of pointing the finger at others, we ourselves will indeed repent, put on the eternal life-preservers and assist our neighbours in doing the same.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

---
[1] Thomas G. Long, ‘Breaking and Entering’ (Luke 13:1-9), available on-line at http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=2165
[2] Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Exposition of Luke/V. Teaching and Travels Toward Jerusalem (9:51-19:44)/D. Teachings on Times of Crisis and Judgment (12:1-13:35)/7. A call to repentance (13:1-9), Book Version: 4.0.2
[3] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, Luke (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: John Knox Press: Louisville, Ken., 1990), 167-168.
[4] Transcript of the interview and the retraction are available on line (10 Mar 2010): http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/f/falwell-robertson-wtc.htm
[5] God has always had a concern for the vulnerable even as is recorded in the OT: Deut 15:4 says, “However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,”
[6] Luke records Jesus as teaching us that one’s neighbour is one who risks one’s life and spends her time and resources on another (Luke 10:25-27). He tells one man that if he wants to obtain his treasure in heaven he must sell his possessions and give to the poor (Luke 18:22; cf. Matt 19:21, Mark 10:21). He also teaches that it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camel in enter the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25; cf. Matt 19:24, Mark 10:25).
[7] Cf. Joel B Green. ‘The Gospel of Luke’. NICNT. Vol. 3. (Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997) 25. Luke’s gospel has been called the gospel for the poor; it is interested in the oppressed and a significant theme contained within is that “Salvation embraces the totality of embodied life, including its social, economic, and political concerns:”
[8] The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre (10 Mar 10) Available on-line: http://www1.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/36c107e27b0ba7a98025692e0032abaa/df2ca83194d5599b802568cd00377023!OpenDocument

Matthew 25: 31-46: I just want to be a sheep

Presented to Trailview Alliance Church in Swift Current
On Sunday, March 07, 2010 by Captain Michael Ramsay

I’m from the West Coast originally. I was born and raised in Victoria and lived a few years in Vancouver. On the West Coast they are always talking about the “big one.” One of these days, apparently this gigantic tsunami (aside voice: what we always called ‘tidal waves’ when I was a kid) is supposedly going to sweep over the west coast of Canada, swamping the mainland and even sinking the whole of Vancouver Island, destroying Victoria and causing death and destruction throughout the Vancouver area. I never really take this seriously but as the years go on we hear more and more about this. Scientists now reporting how the earth’s pressure there is building up to a point where it will just give out and there will be a massive underwater earthquake and tsunami. When I taught elementary school in the early 1990s- things had actually gotten so serious that we started having earthquake drills in schools. Nowadays every workplace, every school and every family is supposed to have a plan (like we do in case of a fire) for an earthquake.

Now I don’t usually worry too much about that over which I don’t have any control but when one hears something long enough, one can become a little cautious over time. And, while I really don’t believe it at first, I must admit that when I first leave the coast and move to the prairies I am a little relieved. My first prairie posting was in Winnipeg. You can’t get too much farther away from the ocean than Winnipeg, which is the geographic centre of North America. I can remember confessing to myself while working away on my computer one day that I’m glad that we’re all safe now in Winnipeg, safe from ‘the big one’ even if it never comes. And God heard my confession. No sooner had I acknowledged that I now felt secure then this reassuring headline came across my computer screen :

Tornado Alert - Winnipeg twister could kill 100, injure thousands: researcher! “Researchers are studying how the city of Winnipeg would fare — not if, but when — a major tornado strikes.”

Some in our text here, Matthew 25:31-46, are surprised when the judgement comes like a thief in the night without warning; scriptures assures us that no one knows the time or the hour of the eternal ‘big one.’

When the eschatological ‘big one’ hits, each of Matthew’s sheep and goats in turn will face the judge, their judge – our judge. We’ll face him as he passes his judgement and sentence upon us…and there are more surprises.

God tells the goats (verse 42 and 43) “I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'” You can almost hear the quiet pause before the goats deferentially, sincerely reply (verse 44) “…Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” The goats are surprised. They should not be because, as others in this courtroom scene could tell them, the importance of provision for the poor and marginalized is a very common theme in the Bible. Deuteronomy 15:9 tells us that when you give food to the poor, then God counts it as though you had given it to him. And Proverbs 19:17 states "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and will be paid in full." And now they, those that did not lend, are getting paid back in full and this should not be a surprise to the goats but it is.

When we are swept up from our world today and placed in front of our judge, there are many who may be surprised like the goats and like Matthew says earlier in his gospel in Matthew 7:21-22, “not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21-22 Records that not everyone who calls Jesus Lord will be saved. They plead. Many will list the things that they do that they think are good, the Lord replies 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'”

This brings us – I believe – quite nicely (or maybe not so nicely) to our topic for today: local missions. How do we live out our lives as sanctified sheep where God has placed us, in our local community?

Today I have the privilege and the honour of sharing with you how God is using various people in local ministries at The Salvation Army in Swift Current here and some of you may even be pleasantly surprised at how many members of this congregation our serving our Lord, in local missions. There are many in this room here who serve the Lord in many ways just like as is recorded in Matthew 25:34-36, and so “…the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (25:34-36)” These are the sheep. Let’s look at this through the lens of Swift Current for a moment:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink: in Swift Current we are in a wonderful position to provide this service to the Lord. It is a real blessing. There is only one Foodbank in town and it is a Christian ministry – Praise the Lord. I have seen cities that have two or more foodbanks or foodbanks that are run by secular or other religious viewpoints and it is not the same at all. It is a real blessing that there are not competing foodbanks here and that everything done through that ministry can and should be for the glory and honour of God – particularly since the numbers of people in need in this community have been way up over the last year. So that many more people can come for food both physical and spiritual.

This congregation and members of it, I don’t know if everyone here knows, contributes to the foodbank in Swift Current on a regular basis and I can’t express in words my gratitude to the Lord for your Halloween food drive and other support. It goes a long way to serve God, help humanity, and build the Kingdom of God, and it is evidence of our sheep-ness, so to speak.

One of the strengths of our community foodbank is that we are connected provincially via our community services computers to every TSA foodbank in the province. We are able to communicate quickly to see if people who are transitioning from community to community are in legitimate need, and how to best help them. We can see when they came in last and what their needs usually are. Our Foodbank director is a professional social worker and an active Christian. When someone comes in for food or water or whatever else their need, Betty can discern if that really is their need and see how we can best help them.

Our scripture today mentioned people in need of shelter, in this community did you know that there is a lot of homelessness? Its not like the West Coast where you are confronted with people living on the streets daily, it is much more subtle. There is something called couch-surfing homelessness where one person who has become evicted brings their immediate family and sleeps on the couches / floors of their extended family or friends – and often times those friends really can’t afford to support them and are clients themselves. We can help. Swift Current has been able to serve the Lord through the Foodbank by discovering and helping those who need shelter too.

Other things as well come up through the foodbank ministries. I have personally taken people down to AA meetings and sat with them as a part of the group, if alcoholism led to their needing our assistance at the foodbank. I know more than one person who began their sober walk with the Lord in and around local Salvation Army foodbanks.

A new problem is really starting to identify itself through our local foodbank – gambling. We have had people come to our foodbank now that are dual income, good wage earning families that don’t have enough money for food because they have gambled it all away at the casino. In response to this, recently I went down to the casino with Betty, our CFS director, and we spoke to them about ways we could work together to help people out of their addiction. I could speak for hours about this ministry but I want to share with you so much more about the local missions here in town. Two things.

1) People come into a saving relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ through this ministry; I encourage all our people ministering with The Salvation Army to pray with those who come to us for help and we can celebrate because sometimes these prayers are eternal commitments of salvation – Praise the Lord.
2) I want to share one or two more of the many, many stories we have here. Shortly after I arrived in Swift Current, a fellow was waiting for me when I arrived at work on a Friday. He wanted to see Betty and I. We are closed Fridays to the public so I explained that to him and he asked me to pass this message onto everyone. He had arrived in Swift Current a week or two before and he had nothing – no food, no home, no job – God helped him through us and today he stopped by just to thank us and – he has food, he has a home and he has a job. We prayed. He is all right now. Praise the Lord.
a) Another story: two Christmases ago as I was handing a single mother her Christmas hamper, she cried. She said without The Salvation Army, she and her children would not have had Christmas at all. They are believers now. There are so many stories from local missions…

I am going to stop talking here about food and drink because I could share the testimonies of the miracles that God is doing in this one ministry all day.

Did you know that we are also a part of the community of Swift Current’s Emergency Disaster Response team? Our building is fully equipped for an event such as struck Chile and Haiti. We have staff trained in food services, emergency shelter provisions, emotional and spiritual care. I personally have experience counselling people and debriefing emergency personnel after disasters have struck in Saskatchewan here as well as around the world – some other time I can share some of the testimonies from that ministry with you. I am also The Army’s only Emergency Disaster preparedness trainer in Saskatchewan so if that is something you would like to learn more about let me know. This is all a part of the local mission. If you would like me to activate your congregation to help out in local emergencies, let me know, I can have you all trained, certified and activated as soon as the Lord permits.

Back to Matthew 25, “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me”: You probably know as well that we are able to provide clothing to those in need – both through our family services department (our foodbank) and also through the Thrift Store. The Thrift Store – this is a very good ministry and I praise the Lord for our manager there, Lori: she is a solid Christian who serves the Lord with us Monday through Saturday and regularly worships Him here on Sundays. The Lord has blessed her ministry greatly. At the Thrift Store we offer quality pre-owed items at incredibly low prices and there are some good items there both for people in need and others who would like to help out the ministry. From this ministry we not only finance some of our other ministries but we are able to keep clothing and furniture on-hand so that those in need can come and speak with us and we can make sure that it gets to where it is most needed. This is very good because it means that no other service agency should ever need to advertise for furniture (for example, as it is very hard to store) or other items that we sell and as they contact us we can work together to share the love of Christ with those in need in the community. As we all work together we can be used a lot more effectively for God and His ministry.

I have one of again many testimonies to share with you about our Thrift Store. Our longest employee – she is now a soldier (a full member of our church) and a devoted Christian with a powerful ministry. She came to the Lord through her work at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. We begin our meetings there in prayer and through prayer Jesus saves and this employee who is such a wonderful tool for Christ came to the Lord through her service to Him through the Thrift Store.

The Thrift Store is a wonderful opportunity for different groups to minister from time to time as well – I am not sure whether Trailview has in my short time in Swift Current but I know other youth group’s have donated some of their time to serve Christ at our Thrift Store and our manager there, Lori, has been excellent at sharing our reason for that ministry – the Kingdom of God. Those here who know her, I would encourage you to thank and praise the Lord for her ministry.

One more thing about the Thrift Store – it as well as our other ministries accepts volunteers and our manager enjoys mentoring people who wind up there through the courts (fine options, CSOs, etc.) and we have had more than one testimony of people not only being blessed through this ministry but continuing to serve the Lord through the Army long after their allocated time is finished. Praise the Lord. I could go on about the Lord’s ministry at The Salvation Army Thrift Store – but I must continue with other things…

Matthew 25 records the Lord telling us that, “I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Like most churches in this congregation we minister to people in the seniors’ residences and the hospitals. I would encourage you all in this kind of local ministry. As far as the prison is concerned, I was personally involved in that somewhat in Vancouver and quite a bit in Winnipeg. I could tell you a million stories about those ministries but I will leave that for another time.

I know in Swift Current, the Christian Church has the honour of administering the Alternative Measures Programme for SW Saskatchewan through The Salvation Army and Harvey, who is another very active member of your congregation here. This is a very important ministry. Many people can be helped out of serious problems without being burdened with a criminal record. People can experience a real life object lesson of the restoration and reconciliation that we all can have with God as we confess our sins and throw ourselves on His mercy and I have certainly celebrated with our coordinator as people have received through this social justice ministry a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I can’t possible share all the miracles that God provides through this ministry but the opportunities are amazing. Harvey shared a couple of stories with me. He says,

“I was doing an intake interview with a shoplifting offender in a small town in southwest Sask. It became apparent that the offender had a problem with alcohol. I would need to ensure that -as one of the consequences for his offence- that counselling was arranged for him. As our interview progressed I felt a nudge of the Holy Spirit to share my faith story with the man. I asked his permission and when he agreed, I shared what God laid on my heart. As a result, he came to faith in Christ. Later that afternoon we moved to the next phase of the mediation. The offender (now a new believer) asked to have counselling with his wife's pastor. This was agreed to along with some other consequences.

The next day, I called the pastor of the church to make arrangements with him for counselling with the man. He was shocked when I told him the circumstances and who the man was that had asked for counselling and that he had been led to Christ. Here’s the thing: this church had been praying for this man’s salvation for YEARS.” Praise the Lord. He is faithful and He uses our prayers to do His work!"

Another story from Harv:

There had been multiple break-ins at this business over a period of time and it had nearly put the victim, the owner into bankruptcy. At the meeting the victim gave good advice to the youth and assured him that the path he had taken led to a dead end and a very steep cliff with not a pretty landing at the bottom. He spelled this out in terms the youth could easily grasp: the victim MADE IT VERY CLEAR that the youth needed help for addiction issues AND more importantly that the youth HAD to stay in school and … the victim wanted to see each of his report cards.

As the youth was part way through grade ten, this was a long process with many report cards. The young offender was faithful. In March of his Grade 12 year, he approached me for a reference letter for post secondary education and scholarships. His marks had improved from 60's when the break-in occurred to mid 80's by the time of graduation. The result was that he got two scholarships to a technical training class and is headed toward a journeyman's certificate. The Lord changes people.

It is great to be doing a job where God leads you by His Spirit. It is a great reward to see first hand the eternal results of the work that we do for the Lord in the lives of individuals in local missions like the sheep in the parable of the sheep and the goats.

I personally would like to tell you more about what God is doing here but there is not enough time. In my own work serving the Lord around Justice issues, I personally would love more time to be able to sit in the courtrooms and pray with people and walk them through this very difficult time. This is a ministry that I have enjoyed in a number of different communities – but if anyone or small group would like to volunteer to serve God and your church through the Salvation Army’s ministry in the courtroom, let me know we will train you and put you to work…the harvest is great but the workers are few. Likewise in our Thrift Store and Community and Family Services, missions opportunities abound AND it is exciting!

Oh…I have so many stories! I’m a storyteller. That is one of my favourite ways to communicate the gospel but because I haven’t been here quite a year yet many of my stories (Jesus spoke in parables, right?) of how the Lord transforms local communities through local missions are areas that are now not so local – Vancouver’s infamous downtown eastside, Winnipeg’s notorious North End, Stoney Mountain Penitentiary… all these experiences must have been just to toughen us up for Swift Current. I won’t share those stories today, I don’t want to step on the toes of the many fine speakers that the Lord and your congregation have lined up for you over the next few weeks.

Local missions really is a way that we live out the reality of our salvation on a day to day basis and when we skip over local missions and look abroad, the results are quite scary. In BC where I grew up did you know that Atheism (no religion) is the fastest growing religion? At Christmas time, I was instructed at one point in the schools there not to dare mention the name of Christ in the classroom – at Christmas! (I used to teach, once upon a time, when I was teaching we were told to no longer refer to Christmas as ‘Christmas’ either – we now had to call it a ‘winter festival’ or some such term that would represent the secular religion that is replacing the Christian worldview there). I seem to remember reading too that only 3% of people in Vancouver – Canada’s third largest city – attend Christian churches regularly. BC used to be Christian. In Ontario, I have heard stories about people tracking down civic politicians who pray during their meetings and calling the police. In Ottawa, the recent minority governments have stopped saying the Lord’s Prayer in the House of Commons.

If we neglect our local mission field than we become the international mission field for someone else. We can see this in our world today. Where is Christianity growing and thriving? – Africa and Asia. That is where we have focussed on missions in the past and that is where there is fruit today. Something to think about…

I do want to leave you with one more story about Our Lord and His local missions…let me share this story I read a couple of years ago in a theological magazine, the Expository Times.

James V, the King of Scotland used to go around the country dressed like everyone else: a common person. That is because he wanted to meet the everyday people of the country not just the rich and powerful. He wanted to see how the normal people lived.

One day he was dressed in very old clothes and was going by a place known as Cramond Brig, when he is attacked by robbers who don’t know who he is. There is a fierce struggle and he is nearly overcome when, at just the right moment, a poor farm worker - Jock Howieson - hears the commotion comes to the disguised king’s aid.

Now Jock, the poor labourer, who works on this portion of the King’s land, known as Cramond Brig, now Jock unawares takes the undercover king home and gives him a dinner of broth and Jock - as the king is recouping – naturally asks the man who he is.

The King responds – in a Scottish brogue that I am not even going to attempt – ‘Ach, I’m a good man of Edinburgh.’

‘And where do you live in that city and where do you work?’

‘Well,’ says James, ‘I live at the palace and I work there too.’

‘The palace, is it? I’d like to see the palace; if I could see the King, I’d tell him a thing or two…’

‘About what?’ asks the King in disguise.

‘I’d tell him that I should own this land that I am on. I work it every day and he never comes here & gets his hands dirty working this land’

‘You’re right enough’, says the man. You come tomorrow to the palace at Holly Rood and I’ll show you around. Come at two.’

So the next day at two o’clock, Jock Howieson, is washed, dressed and at the palace to meet his new friend at the back door. The good man, whom Jock had served and saved the day before, shows him around the kitchen, the dining room, the bedrooms – the whole place. Then, at last, the two of them come to the great rooms of the State.

‘Do you want to see the King?’ the man asks Jock.

‘Oh yes indeed’, says Jock, ‘I do. I do want to see the King.’

So they enter the great hall and as they come in, men bow and ladies curtsey. It is really quite a thing to see.

So Jock whispers to his friend, ‘How will I know who the king is?’

‘He’s the only one who keeps his hat on’…

Jock says, ‘But… there’s only us two with our hats…’ and Jock immediately takes off his hat as he realises that James is indeed the King of Scotland.

And so it is with us today. Jesus is King, what we do for the least of these through our local missions – just like Jock, just like the Matthew’s sheep in Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, what ever we do for the least, the lost and the last, we are actually doing for Christ. Today, He is walking around with each of us showing us his domain here on earth and just waiting for us to take off our hats in service to Him.

Appeal: If there are any of us here today who have not taken off our hats and lain them before the Lord, I invite you to speak to someone after the service here today and commit your life to the excitement that comes from serving Christ because the big one IS coming. The tornado, the tsunami, the eternal judgement, and those of us that love and serve the Lord are saved. We, the sheep are saved – and what a glorious salvation it is as we live it out in local missions.

- Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

---

Boring, M. Eugene. The New Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 8 Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1995.

British Columbia Ministry of Education. School Safety Earthquake Guidebook. Victoria, BC: Province of BC, 2000.

Civil Defence Coordinator’s Office – Department of the Provincial Secretary. “Special Report on Alberni Tidal Wave Disaster” in British Columbia Civil Defence Circular. Victoria, BC: Provincial Energy Programme, Summer 1964.

CBC News, “Winnipeg twister could kill 100, injure thousands: researcher.” Cited 06 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/story/mb-tornado-20060606.html

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005: Eradicating world hunger – key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Rome, Italy: United Nations, 2005.

Government of British Columbia. “Earthquake Preparedness.” Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.pep.bc.ca/hazard_preparedness/earthquake_preparedness.html

Hagner, Donald A. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 33. Dallas, Texas: Word Books, 2005.

Harris, Paul. “Chain Gang.” The Observer On-line (May 26, 2006): Cited 28 May 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/columnists/story/0,,1782114,00.html

Shenk, Wilbert R. New Wineskins for New Wine: Toward a Post-Christendom Ecclesiology.

Statistics Canada. “2001 Census: Religions in Canada.” Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/rel/canada.cfm

TED Case Study. “US-Canada Water Case” Cited 06 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/water.htm

The Salvation Army. Annual Review: Canada and Bermuda, 2004 –2005. Toronto, Ontario: The Salvation Army, 2005.

The Salvation Army. “Salvation Army Thrift Stores…Recycling since 1890.” Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.salvationarmy.ca/2006/06/08/salvation-army-thrift-stores%e2%80%a6recycling-since-1890/

The Salvation Army. “Vancouver Sun Run.” Salvationist.ca (May 26, 2006) Cited 28 May 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.salvationist.ca/2006/vancouver-sun-run/

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation Statistics. Cited 15 Mar. 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.fao.org/es/ess/index_en.asp

Werapitiya, Manique. “Statistics just a first step in helping the homeless.” Capital News On-line 11 (November 29, 2002): Cited 07 June 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://temagami.carleton.ca/jmc/cnews/29112002/n4.shtml

World Socialist Movement. “How Could We Feed the World.” Cited 15 Mar. 2006. No Pages. On-line: http://www.worldsocialism.org/wsm-pages/food.html

*This sermon was loosley Based on a sermon by Michael Ramsay dated 14 June 2006