Psalm 146: Set the Captives Free (Now)!

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

 

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

 

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

 

Psalm 146

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

2 I will praise the Lord all my life;

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

3 Do not put your trust in princes,

in human beings, who cannot save.

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

on that very day their plans come to nothing.

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

whose hope is in the Lord their God.

6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,

the sea, and everything in them—

he remains faithful forever.

7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed

and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets prisoners free,

8     the Lord gives sight to the blind,

the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,

the Lord loves the righteous.

9 The Lord watches over the foreigner

and sustains the fatherless and the widow,

but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

10 The Lord reigns forever,

your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Let us pray

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Psalm 147:7-11: Does God Prohibit the Kilt?

 Presented to the Alberni Valley Salvation Army, 25 January 2025 and Swift Current Corps 23 January 2011 as well as 28 January 2018, an on-line homily by Captain/Major Michael Ramsay

This is the 2025 version.

 

To view the 2018 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2018/01/psalm-14710-mans-legs.html

To view the 2011 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/01/psalm-14710-neither-delighteth-he-in.html

  

Psalm 147:10: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.” I thought this was an appropriate passage to look at on Robbie Burns Day. For Christmas one year Susan bought me some Bible Commentaries on Psalms. In one of these books, Peter C. Craigie, from Scotland, writes:

 

…. It was the custom in Scotland for boys to wear the kilt to church on Sunday; to this day I can recall singing the words of Psalm 147:10 ‘Neither delighteth he in any man’s legs’. I pondered at that time the question of whether scripture condemned the kilt.

 

When I read Peter Craigie’s quote I knew immediately what I should preach on while I am wearing my kilt for Robbie Burns Day. Do we know who Robbie Burns is? Robert Burns (1759-1796) was an 18th Century Scottish poet and songwriter who wrote hundreds of lasting tributes to Scottish life in both song and poetry. Of himself, he wrote:

 

The poetic genius of my country found me, as the prophetic bard Elijah did Elisha—at the plough, and threw her inspiring mantle over me. She bade me sing the loves, the joys, the rural scenes and rural pleasures of my native soil, in my native tongue; I tuned my wild, artless notes as she inspired (ROBERT BURNS, Edinburgh, April 4, 1787).

 

Robert Burns is a poet; he is not to be confused with Scotland’s patron saint; do you know who that is? …St. Andrew from the Bible. St. Andrew’s Day is the 30th of November, and it is a national holiday in Scotland. Robert Burns Day is the 25th of January and this is a good time for the Scottish diaspora, people of Scottish heritage in this country here to get together, wear the kilt, eat haggis, and listen to the bard’s poetry, bagpipes, and watch or try some highland or Scottish country dancing.

 

Last night Susan, our parents, Sarah-Grace and I went to the Robbie Burns dinner put on by PAHDA at Echo as we do almost every year to watch Heather dance. When we were in Toronto and before, Sarah-Grace would dance too. Robbie Burns Day is always a lot of fun

  

Verse 10 of our text today is not referencing the kilt, Highland Dancing or Robert Burns. in the NIV it reads: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior [or 'man' in place of 'warrior' depending on the year published];” the rest of this sentence is contained in Verse 11: “the LORD delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”

 

Psalm 147:10 is not talking about wearing a kilt, bathing suit, or shorts when it says that God doesn’t delight in a warrior’s legs. This passage is not addressing Christian modesty. It is telling us that if we put our faith in something instead of God – in this example the passage is specifically referencing the military: ‘horse’ being calvary and ’warrior’ being ‘warrior’ – if we put our faith in people, the military, or anything else, instead of God, we will not impress God - who is the creator, preserver, and governor of all things.

 

The prophet Samuel warned the ancient Hebrews that if they were a unified country under a single political leader that the leader would press their children into military service (1 Sam 8:1-22). King Solomon and his heirs did just this and more as they ignored this advice of Psalm 147 and put their faith in themselves, their military, their legs, and their horse until God finally had enough and put an end to the Kingdom of Israel (2 Chr 36:17-21).

 

Putting their faith in their military or the military of regional superpowers was futile. I think Canada is discovering the challenges of trusting in the benevolence of superpowers these days.

 

What about us individually? Who do we trust? We know that putting faith in anything instead of God, we know that not trusting God is basically a rejection of Him and His Kingdom. A New Testament equivalent is contained in Matthew 6:24-27:

 

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 

 

Psalm 147:10: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.” Psalm 147:11: “the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”

 

Now ‘fear’ can mean a lot of things in the Bible. The word translated ‘fear’ in this verse, ‘yare’, in the tense and context, refers quite simply to a moral reverence. It is a kind of deference but it does not include any of the moral dread that is involved with other variations of the word ‘fear’. An example of this ‘fear’, ‘yare’ in our society is sort of like when one is in court and the judge tells you specifically to remove your hat, you do it. This ‘yare-fear’ would probably be – in this context - more like if someone meets me when I am out of uniform and they are using rather rough language with a lot of profanity and swear words. As soon as they recognize me or find out that I am an Officer/ pastor, they immediately apologize for every swear word they ever uttered in their whole life it seems! ‘Watching their language’ is out of respect for my vocation, my calling. It is not out of fright. Likewise, we, in the Lord’s courtroom, need to respect his authority and we can also put our faith in His unfailing love.

 

This unfailing love, (checed), relates to a strong sense of goodwill especially as can be relied on in real times of need (cf. Deuteronomy 7:7,12; Psalm 89:24, 28, 33, 49; 2 Samuel 7:15; Isaiah 55:3).[10] Sometimes this word is translated as ‘mercy’ or ‘kindness’. This word, checed, relates to one you can turn to in a crisis. We all have friends and family but we know that when the chips are down there are some we can trust more than others. This word for love or mercy applied in this context refers to one who will never let us down in a time of need. And that one is God.

 

The Lord delights in those of us who respect Him – who care enough about Him and His feelings to watch our language around Him. And He can be trusted in our time of need because of His unfailing love for us (cf. John 3:16ff.). We don’t need to rely on horse and men’s legs. We don’t need to rely on cavalry and infantry. We don’t need to rely on man or Mammon. We don’t need to rely on people or money. We don’t need to rely on anyone in place or instead of God. God will provide.

 

How about us here today? Do we ever fall into this trap of trusting someone or something instead of God? Do we sometimes put our faith in money, the strength of the horse or the legs of a man? Do we ever put our faith in something that can let us down– instead of relying on God? 

 

So today I would like to encourage you. If there is anyone or anything in our life that we are tempted to put our trust in ahead of God, if we have been let down by others, if we have been let down by circumstances, if we have been let down by ourselves, there is still one who can deliver us. There is one, and probably only one who will never let us down – and that one is God. Really if everyone and everything else in life does let us down, God promises that He will never leave us or forsake us.

 

So today, with all the real things that our troubling us, let us trust God. He loves us and will take care of us.    Let us pray

Psalm 147:7-11: Does God Prohibit the Kilt?

Presented to Alberni Valley Salvation Army Men's Breakfast, 25 January 2025 by Major Michael Ramsay

 

7 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;

make music to our God on the harp.

 

8 He covers the sky with clouds;

he supplies the earth with rain

and makes grass grow on the hills.

9 He provides food for the cattle

and for the young ravens when they call.

 

10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,

nor his delight in the legs of a man [or ‘the warrior’];

11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,

who put their hope in his unfailing love.

 

Psalm 147:10: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.” I thought this was an appropriate passage to look at on Robbie Burns Day. For Christmas one year Susan bought me some Bible Commentaries on Psalms. In one of these books the author, Peter C. Craigie, from Scotland, writes:

 

…. It was the custom in Scotland for boys to wear the kilt to church on Sunday; to this day I can recall singing the words of Psalm 147:10 ‘Neither delighteth he in any man’s legs’. I pondered at that time the question of whether scripture condemned the kilt.[1]

 

Now, of course, this poem/psalm isn’t speaking about the kilt. When it says God doesn’t delight in the legs of a man (many translations actually say ‘warrior)’ or the strength of horse, it is talking about infantry and calvary. That was something God has spoken about lots: we can’t put our faith in the military or in anything else but him – everything else will let us down.

 

Canada is really worked up right now. Canada, for decades, we mistakenly put our faith in free trade with the US. It didn’t ever work great but now that we are no longer economically self-sufficient the US looks like it is declaring a trade war on us, as was always inevitable from the time we signed the agreement. We can’t put our faith in foreign countries. We can’t put our faith in their militaries, their economies or ours.

 

Even more so in our own day to day life – not just countries and politicians, people let us down all the time. We believe someone when they tell us something. We trust someone when they say they are going to do something. We rely on someone when maybe we know better. The truth is we do need to work well with each other, support each other, trust and love one another but there is only one who will never let us down – and that one is God. And really if everyone and everything else in life does let us down, God promises that He will never leave us or forsake us.

SB 370: I Want to Sing it, I Want to Shout It (TB 685)

There was a time when one could access The Salvation Army Songbook online. Not only could you copy the words and the tunes easily to make slides, you could also download actual PowerPoint presentations with the lyrics. Now the words are hidden? Certainly not easily accessible.

It is more difficult to find the lyrics to Salvation Army songs than almost anything in our internet age. Other denominations have their old songs readily available for the public to sing praises to God. I guess The Salvation Army does not want the public to use their songs in worship? Are they ashamed of the Gospel? Do they despise the writers of some songs and so want to destroy their legacy? Do they just despise the songs and hope they are forgotten? Do they want to (and think this secrecy will help them) make money from songs that were written to praise God? But even for current Christian pop songs, from songwriters who write music for a living, I can easily find lyrics... 

I wonder why The Salvation Army is suppressing it's own poets, song writers and musicians?

 

 SB 370: I Want to Sing it, I Want to Shout It (TB 685)

I want to sing it, I want to shout it,
I want to tell you all about it;
The love of Jesus, the love of Jesus;
It brings the glory to my soul!

I can't compare it, I want to share it,
I feel I really must declare it,
The love of Jesus, the love of Jesus;
It bring the glory to my soul!

I want to sing it, I want to shout it;
It brings the glory to my soul!
I want to sing it, I want to shout it;
It brings the glory to my soul!

- Joy Webb (c) The General of The Salvation Army

Remembrance Day Address 2023

Presented to the Alberni Valley Community, 11 November 2023, by Major Michael Ramsay, Chaplain (Padre) Royal Canadian Legion Branch 293.

 

On May 17^th of this year, I walked the short walk from a parking lot to a monument on the ridge of a hill overlooking a town in France. There were sheep everywhere. One little lamb had escaped a fence and become separated from the flock; she desperately ran back and forth along the ridge looking, searching, hoping for someway to break through the fence; hoping to join her flock, looking for safety she bleated, she cried as she looked out terrified over the ridge. This ridge, on which she was lost and bleating, is Vimy Ridge

As I stood atop Vimy Ridge by the memorial to our Canadian soldiers, the symbolism of this bleating lamb running back and forth, looking for someway through the fence, was not lost on me.

April 9^th to 12^th, 1917, a brutal battle was fought as our Canadian soldiers desperately looked for a way to break through the fences and trenches on this very same ridge. Many had tried before. Many had died before. But here were our troops, trying to get over those fences and through those trenches; trying to climb the ridge, to succeed, to survive.

Our troops were able to secure the high ground on April 9^th; On April 10^th they secured the village and the crest of the ridge; the final objective fell to the Canadians on April 12^th. The battle was the first occasion when the four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together. Our soldiers climbed through barbed wire fences, deep trenches, hazards and perils and accomplished what others had not - but at great cost: By nightfall on 12 April 1917, the Canadians had sustained 10 602 casualties; 7 004 soldiers had been wounded, some never to recover, and 3 598 people breathed their last breath on that ridge overlooking that town in April of 1917.

On April 16^th, George Morton Bird, from the Alberni Valley, wrote this:

“I suppose you have read all about the Great Easter Advance, and the part the Canadians took in it. If you should get an opportunity to see any of the moving pictures of it, you might see me amongst the other boys. I am the first man in a party of 12 or 13 advancing in single file. I believe Jack Mathison and Edwin Davey were both wounded. Also one of the Greenards. Arthur Lewis, Pryde, Tom and the rest of us are all O.K.,”

George Morton Bird died of injuries sustained in a later battle in June 1917. People from our Valley served in many battles. The Roll of Honour lists the names of 25 people from our community here who gave their lives there in World War 1.

 

May 15^th and May 16^th of this year, I walked along a beach in France, in Dieppe. I looked out across this beautiful beach covered with large smooth rocks that gave way under my feet, drawing me inwards, drawing me downwards, backwards, toward the sea; as I stumbled, I looked up to see steep, steep cliffs and even ancient fortifications; in the evening they were beautifully lit up by an amazing sunset.

August 19^th, 1942, over 80 years ago, 6 100 mostly Canadian infantry arrived at this same beach. The same rocks that gave way under my feet gave way under theirs. Only they were wearing heavy packs and carrying weapons and supplies. Balance must have been near impossible. They would have been so heavy, soaking wet as the sea wanted to claim them for her own. And she claimed many. As the Canadians looked up at the sheer cliffs, I am sure it was not the beauty of the moment that captured their imagination but rather the sheer horror of having to find a way to scale those cliffs, sopping wet, heavy with gear, while being shot at. The fortifications seemed insurmountable to me this past May; the fortifications were impenetrable for many in August of 1942. 3 623 Canadians died on this small strip of beach. As I stood there 80 years later, watching the sunset over the water, this fact was not lost on me. 3 623 Canadians, after visiting this very same beach, never saw a sunset again.

Nelson Longeuay, of the Alberni Valley, was one of a few Canadians to survive Dieppe. Commenting on the raid 45 years later he asked, “what more could a man do than give his life?”

Many Canadians never returned from serving in World War 2. Twenty-two are on our honour roll from the Alberni Valley. One such person is Edward John Clutesi; born to be hereditary chief of the Tseshaht First Nation, instead he gave his life for us, in August of 1944, in Normandy, at age 26.

As I walked silently along the beach at Dieppe this past May, I looked at the stones, the cliffs, the fortress, the waves, the sea and I imagined and remembered those who had gone before. Then I noticed a monument in a garden, in a place now called Canada Square, put there by the citizens of Dieppe. It reads:

On the 19th of August 1942

on the beaches of Dieppe

our Canadian cousins

marked with their blood

the road to our final liberation

foretelling thus their victorious return

on September 1, 1944.

 

This memorial does not talk about the futility of war. Neither does this monument glorify war. This memorial simply notes that those who died, “marked with their blood the road to our final liberation, foretelling thus their victorious return”.

The monument at Dieppe remembers the sacrifices of the Canadians on their beaches, celebrates their victorious return and final liberation. May we likewise honour the lives of all our servicemen and women of every time and place. Let us remember them and their sacrifice and continue to work towards a time where there will finally be no more war and all of our service people and everyone else can safely return, and, like the little lamb on Vimy Ridge, be re-united with our families once and for all – forever in Peace. Lest we forget. Lest we forget.

Deuteronomy 8: Thanksgiving Day

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

 

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

  

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Let us pray.

 

 

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Psalm 82 and Proverbs 31:8&9: Council Culture.

 Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 19 February 2023 by Major Michael Ramsay

 

This has been a tough week or two. I am so thankful for DHQ and THQ support. These past couple of weeks we have been working on budgets. I am so thankful for Oxana, who works at headquarters, she has been doing an amazing job coordinating our budget because – as you may know – it is more complicated than ever before as we may be officially folding the Bread of Life into The Salvation Army and we have a new contract with BC Housing to provide a shelter for 25 people in the Bread of Life building and we have a lot of renovations, and we still have all of our other departments to budget for, as well.

 

We have also had a risk management assessment this week – this is an audit of sorts – and I am sure we have a lot to work on when we receive the completed report. All this work will actually be a good head start because this coming year we will need to be accredited because of our shelter – I am very thankful for all the help Terri Thompson from THQ is offering through this process.

 

I am so thankful also for Derland, Michaela, and Captain Sharon Tidd through all of this because – just like Oxana know things about accounting that I have no idea about and Terri knows things about accreditation and shelters that I have no idea about, Derland and Michaela know a lot about buildings and permits that I know nothing about. And Captain Sharon has been amazing at guiding me through all of these processes.

  

This has all been on top of year-end stats and receipting that needs to done, employee reviews and everything else. All of which has added to the workload of our relatively new managerial and administrative staff at the corps: Lisa, Carol-Anne, Nancy, Laurie. I am so thankful for them!

  

Carol-Anne, our TS manager, gave me this cup a while back: it says ‘worry less, pray more’. It is a good reminder for me.

  

Another very important reminder for me is why we are doing all this anyway: We are doing this all for the Gospel of Christ. The Good News that Jesus, lived, died, and rose again so that we can all have life abundantly both forever and for now. It is our role, to share this Good News with all we meet and to stand up for the poor, disenfranchised, marginalized, and those who have no voice.

  

A number of you have verses that we handed out prior to the service, I invite you to read them now…

   

Psalm 82:3-4:

Defend the weak and the fatherless;

    uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy;

    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

 

Psalm 140:12:

I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor

    and upholds the cause of the needy.

 

Proverbs 14:21:

It is a sin to despise one’s neighbour,

    but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.

 

Proverbs 14:31:

Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,

    but whoever is kind to the needy honours God.

 

Proverbs 19:17:

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,

    and he will reward them for what they have done.

 

Proverbs 21:13:

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor

    will also cry out and not be answered.

 

Proverbs 22:22-24:

Do not exploit the poor because they are poor

    and do not crush the needy in court,

for the Lord will take up their case

    and will exact life for life.

 

Proverbs 29:7:

The righteous care about justice for the poor,

    but the wicked have no such concern.

 

Proverbs 31:8-9:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, 

for the rights of all who are destitute. 

Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy,”

 

Isaiah 61:1:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

    because the Lord has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim freedom for the captives

    and release from darkness for the prisoners,

 

1 John 3:17-18: If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

 

Matthew 25:40: “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

  

This week and a couple of weeks ago I had some Psalm 82 experiences. I don’t know how regularly you each have Psalm 82 experiences. I will read again from verses 3-4:

 

Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died.

Protect the rights of people who are poor or treated badly.

Save those who are weak and needy.

Save them from the power of sinful people.

 

On January 23^rd I went before City Council with the thoughts of this and Proverbs 31:8-9, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy,” with me.

 

As you know we have had people staying at the Warming Centre and The Salvation Army EWR shelter at the Bread of Life building off and on for a couple of years now and since we have now received the good news that it will be an ongoing BC Housing-funded shelter, we need to have some renovations done so that we can provide a safe, secure, and healthy environment for the most vulnerable in our community. In order to do this, we needed someplace for the people who were staying overnights with us at the Bread of Life to stay while we do the work.

 

We made many phone calls to see what buildings we might be able to use while we are doing our renovations, just overnights, and just for a short period of time, and in the same area as those suffering homelessness and housing insecurities are already living. We found the perfect place in the Eagles Hall (a five minute walk from here). It is right in our neighbourhood, right by the trailers, right by the OPS, right where people are living in doorways and on sidewalks. It is the perfect place that will not add any new vulnerable people to a community but on the contrary will bring many inside, out of the cold. Providence provided even one more piece: Mary Anne and Wade are both Eagles and so they were able to help us make this work.

 

As is the legal procedure for this kind of thing – because we would never want to flout the law – we went to the city staff, and they worked diligently to make sure that everything is above board. One city staff member, ironically named Marianne Wade, really went above and beyond making sure that all of the I’s were dotted and T’s were crossed – and I was sure glad of that!

 

We appeared before council for what should have been a formality as all the leg work was already done by the city staff including building inspectors, fire department, Marianne, all kinds of folks and our people as well. But there was one city counsellor who it appeared was determined to bully the city staff, The Salvation Army, me personally, and/or the vulnerable in our community through us. No reasonable person could possibly have expected such a thing.

 

This was doubly strange for it seemed to be an intentional abuse of authority by the councilor to scourge someone publicly. I will often swing by the offices of local Executive Directors – as you know it is important for me to work well with community partners. In the days prior to appearing before council, I swung by one local non-profit agency to talk to their ED but she wasn’t there; so I was going to leave. One of the city councilors was there – he is the president of the local branch of this non-profit – and he invited me in to chat. I thought we had a pleasant enough chat but in the whole conversation he never did once ask me about our shelter, he never did once ask me about the Eagles Hall or the people at the Bread of Life. He had every opportunity to raise concerns with me when we were speaking face-to-face. God provided the opportunity for any legitimate concerns to be addressed right there in a non-threatening productive manner. This councilor, however, inexplicably declined to do so – which would have been honourable. Instead, days later, at a publicly broadcast city hall meeting, he seemingly preferred to ambush city employees, me, those with me, others present, and by extension all whom we represent, in a public forum where he was provided the opportunity to abuse authority, bully others, malign the Army and demand that people be thrown out on the street. Psalm 82:1-5a, seems to refer to leaders like this:

 

1 God takes his place at the head of a large gathering of leaders. He announces His decisions among them.

2 He says, “How long will you stand up for those who aren’t fair to others?

How long will you show mercy to sinful people?

3 Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died.

Protect the rights of people who are poor or treated badly.

4 Save those who are weak and needy.

Save them from the power of sinful people.

5 “You leaders don’t know anything.

You don’t understand anything.

 

I was obviously thrown for a loop by the councilor’s behaviour. I did not expect an attack on myself and the vulnerable in our community. A number of city council members, who let his interrogation continue publicly, approached me later to extend their support, as did many community leaders here – we have so many good leaders in our community. I expressed to the councilors and community leaders that I wasn’t as much concerned about myself as I was about the staff and the members of the public that need to appear before council as this how they are treated. And later I realized that this one councilor really does seem intent on finding some way to throw the people we are housing out on the street. (You are welcome to view the video of the 13 February 2023 council meeting for evidence of this and make up your own mind) for I did speak to council about this abuse of power and the bullying. When I did, it was obvious to people present that I was met with even more bullying.

 

Now, at the end of the day I did receive public apologies from City Council members for not protecting the public from this abuse. I received assurances from the Mayor that Council should be a safe place for members of the public. Nonetheless, myself and others were put through the ringer and I don’t think this is done yet. Therefore, it is important for we, as children of God to continue to, Proverbs 31:8-9, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” And to, Psalm 82:3-4, “Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died. Protect the rights of people who are poor or treated badly. Save those who are weak and needy. Save them from the power of sinful people.”

 

This our responsibility to the Gospel of Christ. The Good News that Jesus lived, died, and rose again so that we can all have life abundantly both forever and for now. It is our role, to share this Good News with all we meet and to stand up for the poor, disenfranchised, marginalized, and those who have no voice.

 

This can be tough!

 

When I could have been tempted to be discouraged in my efforts to do just this, God gave me this word from Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” And this my friends, is my encouragement to us today, that no matter how much power over us, the enemies of the poor and the needy may seem to have, in our own lives and in our own context, Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

 

Let us pray.

 

 

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