Romans 5:8-11: God’s Enemies.

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 02 October 2022 and 12 Jan 2025, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Our passage today, Romans 5:8-11, is about reconciliation:

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

          9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

  

This passage, especially Verse 10, speaks about being enemies and this inevitably reminds me of war. Especially these days when the war rhetoric is at such a feverish pitch! War then inevitably reminds me of Remembrance Day and our need to never forget and never get drawn into a global catastrophe like the world wars again. Remembrance Day is a key event in our community and in the Royal Canadian Legion’s calendar. 

 

I am the legion padre and as such am honoured to participate in quite a few different legion events. The Legion is about remembering our service people and wars and how many died longing for peace – dreaming of the day when we have no more enemy to fight.

 

Verse 10 of our text today says this: “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” We were Christ’s enemies: When we were not under Christ’s leadership, we were by definition under our own or another’s leadership. We were not citizens of His kingdom and therefore we were citizens of a rival and that rival was at war with Christ. and thus (and possibly even by our own actions, deeds, words, and thoughts) we were His enemies. 

 

One might say, “Don’t be silly; I wasn’t God’s enemy! When I didn’t know God, I didn’t do anything against Him. I did good things. I didn’t hurt anybody. Just because I didn’t serve Him, that doesn’t mean that I was ever God’s enemy, does it?”

 

The Apostle Paul contrasts two groups of people in his letters: citizens of heaven (people who follow Jesus) whom he calls ‘saints’ and citizens of anyplace else whom he calls ‘sinners’. Paul defines the sinner simply as a member of a movement at war with Christ. This member is an enemy of God, in much the same way that whenever Canada invades another country, I, as a Canadian, am their enemy. Even if I don’t bomb their hospitals and schools myself, even if I disagree with the war, I am their enemy as I am a member of this country. Likewise, a sinner is simply anyone who is not presently experiencing the joys of “life with Christ” because they are not yet with him, they are with the enemy (cf. Ro 5:1, 12:12, 14:17, 15:13). 

 

We know that pretty much all countries at war do terrible things – just look at the news about what Israel and the US are doing in the middle east right now! Politicians, soldiers, citizens of countries at war do and our responsible for terrible things!

 

During the second Word War, we know of the horrible things Germany and Japan did. The other side, our allies and Canada as well. We treated our fellow Canadians of German, Italian, Ukrainian and especially Japanese ancestry as our enemies. We confiscated the assets of Canadians of Japanese origin and moved these citizens into interment camps. (The famous Canadian scientist and environmentalist, David Suzuki, spent part of his early life in a Canadian internment camp.) We treated people as our enemies. And as is shown through the official government apologies and tax money paid in reparations by Canadians who were not even alive during the Second World War, the repercussions and the liability for our nation’s actions rest with all of us.[1] 

 

I read a book a while ago, Girl #85: A Doukhobor Childhood.[2] It tells the story of Canadians of Russian decent here in BC whom our government took from their families, banned their language, their culture, their traditions, and put them in residential schools that were more like jails in the latter half of the 20th Century - during the lifetime of many people in this room. And, of course, as we now have TRC, Orange Shirt Day here, we all are at least vaguely familiar with the IRS that First Nations children were sent to across this country. The one here, run directly by the Canadian government, I understand, was particularly bad. The actions of politicians and others whom we may never have met, and may have died before we were ever born, have caused much damage and made us enemies of people we have never met. There has been all kinds of hardships and abuses suffered directly and indirectly (and many of those responsible such as the political parties who planned and orchestrated these things and some of the individuals who perpetrated the horrors) and as a result all of us have suffered a rift, a division from what happened and so we are all in need of reconciliation.

 

The author of Hebrews puts it this way, in the context of our relationship with God, he says that every time we sin we are taking up arms against Christ (Hebrews 10:28-30). Therefore, as Paul argues in his letter to the Romans, before we served Him, our moral self-government warred perpetually against Christ, whether we knew it or not – and we have suffered the consequence of it. Now, lest we think all is lost and that we cannot possibly be reconciled with each other and God, Paul writes, Romans 5:6, “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Verse 8: “but God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Verse 10, “while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” and not only this but, Verse 11, “also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

 

So here is the thing about reconciliation. There is nothing you and I can possibly do reconcile ourselves to God. The rift is too big; humanity was the perpetrator of that rift and we are not in a position to initiate reconciliation. We can confess, we can repent, but we cannot reconcile without the full participation of the victim and without forgiveness. Desmond Tutu says, “there is no future without forgiveness”.[3] Reconciliation is the healing of a rift. It is repairing relationships. It is making things whole again. Reconciliation is never a one-way street. Reconciliation can only occur as people walk side-by-side as brothers and sisters. 

 

Wally Samuel, a Nuu-chah-nulth elder, said, I believe, on one Orange Shirt Day, that reconciliation begins when we work again, when we have jobs again , when we are part of society again alongside others again. I think of Hereditary Chief Jeff Cook who is a member of Rotary, on the board of Directors of the Sage Haven Society and the Bulldogs. I think of Judge Wolf. I think of Remi, Christina, and others who work alongside us everyday as part of our team here. This is reconciliation in action in the Canadian context and the Port Alberni context and in our context here in this place. We have all been offered this great opportunity to live out reconciliation with our friends here whom we love.

 

I think of those addicted and living with alcoholism who were once at war with themselves and others through their addiction, who have now been freed and are living sober, clean lives helping and encouraging others. Pointing them to the freedom of reconciliation.

 

It is the same with you and I and God. Jesus has made it possible for you and I and everyone to be reconciled to God. He has made it possible for you and I to come and live and work with and for Him. He has forgiven us. As such He invites us to join Him in His work, in our work, by loving our neighbour, serving others. by -for example- working on the food truck, serving in the soup kitchen, volunteering at the Thrift Store, in the Food Bank, at the seniors homes, with the kids programs and kitchen programs upcoming, with worship team and Bible studies and if we have done all that we can possibly do with any of those things and we can’t possibly do anymore, we can still live out our reconciled lives with Christ by tithing, read our Bibles, and just spending time cuddling up to God, sharing with Him the news and the joys of our life here. We are invited to reunite with our Heavenly Father today . We are invited to live reconciled lives. As such, it is my hope that we will all live out our lives fully reconciled with God – even beginning today. 

 

Let us pray.

 

www.sheepspeak.com

 

www.facebook.com/salvogesis

---

[1] Michael Ramsay, Salvogesis Guidebook to Romans Road (The Salvation Army: Vancouver Island, BC, 2022), Chapter 5

[2] Helen Chernoff freeman, Girl #85: A Doukhobor Childhood (FriesenPress, Victoria, BC, 2013)

[3] Desmond Tutu. No Future Without Forgiveness (New York, NY, USA, Double Day, 1999)

 

 

January 12, 2025

 

Responsive Reading: Psalm 118

 

Blessed be the Name of the Lord

Cry of My Heart

Step by Step

 

Offering

Prayer

Scripture Romans 5:8-11

 

This Little Light of Mine

I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

My Jesus I Love Thee

 

Message

 

Amazing Grace

Just as I am

Jesus All for Jesus

 

Extra Extras:

 

Send the Fire

Benediction

 

Romans 1:20: The Reconciliation of Creation (and more!)

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries 05 October 2024 and the Nipawin Corps, 07 June 2009, by Major Michael Ramsay

  

This is the 2024 BC Version. To view the 2009 Saskatchewan edition, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/06/appeal-of-creation-genesis-1-romans-1.html

   

We just completed a few months of looking at the book of Mark. Did everyone have an opportunity to read it on their own? Susan thought that Romans would be a good next book to look at and as I have written a book on Romans for The Salvation Army I was inclined to agree. (You can read the book here: http://www.sheepspeak.com/ebooks.htm )

 

So this week I get to welcome you to our first stop on this journey through Romans. This is an exciting stop as we can see both Romans 1 and Genesis 1 from this vantage point. Romans 1:20:

 

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities − his eternal power and divine nature − have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

 

This reminds me of a time when my wife Susan and I served as Officers in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. After a day of dealing with another vandalized window at the ministry centre, packing boxes for move day, and writing sermons, we decided to take a short walk in God’s creation. We were depressed, stressed and then… It was amazing. As we walked, our spirits immediately lifted. We strolled around the trees in some of the small forests there. This very beautiful part of the country reminds me in many ways of where I grew up. The trees are not nearly as big nor the forest as thick, but t is quite beautiful.

 

When I was a young adult my friend Dan and I went hiking almost every weekend. I lived in Victoria. He would pick me up after I finished work on Friday nights and we would drive up island as far as we could go, finding new areas to explore. It was a lot of fun. One often experiences the power of God in these times.

 

Stepping out into the wilderness can be like peeling an orange. Much of our life, it seems, has become a peel hiding the beautiful fruit of the Lord’s creation. Our cities and towns have added ever so many layers over God’s creation.

 

We have our warm houses and our heated cars – Susan’s car even has heated seats that Heather likes to turn on! – our paved streets, telephone lines and other wires obscuring the view or more and more being buried beneath the ground; and on the prairies there are ATVs, snowmobiles, and some fancy farm machinery that make life easier but also changes the simpler ways we would otherwise work and play. In our society today we also have the imaginary worlds of television, video games, social media, the Internet, and other entertainment avenues adding a further peel of distance from the realities of God’s creation.

 

Social barriers obscure God’s creation as well. Our education systems let us think that we have solved most of the world’s mysteries all on our own. Our political system leads us to believe that we have absolute control over our own destiny and that we should actually do as we see fit in our own eyes (cf. the sin of Judges, 21:25). We seem to believe western democracy’s line that the majority is right the majority of the time. As we move further and further away from God’s creation physically, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and practically, we are enticed more and more to believe the old serpent’s lie that as humankind evolves our “eyes will be opened, and we will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). Stepping out into God’s creation removes the peels from society and allows us to taste the fruit of the Lord (Psalm 34:8). If we don’t do this from time to time, we can fall into the trap described in Romans 1: 18−23 of ignoring and suppressing the obvious truth of God:

 

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities— his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

 

Acclaimed to be wise, Sigmund Freud – the father of modern psychology– actually believed that society had progressed beyond God. He hoped that civilization would quickly progress even further and move beyond its “illusion” of religion the same way one should outgrow a “childhood neurosis.” Freud had faith that eventually humankind would indeed do this. He thought that “nothing can withstand reason and experience and the contradiction that religion offers to both is all too palpable” [1].

 

Moving beyond the ‘illusion’ of God and religion, for Freud, “would be an important advance along the road which leads to being reconciled to the burden of civilization” (P. 41). Freud was not alone in denying the existence of God. Our society seems to want to progress beyond God’s creation -- as if that were possible.

 

Karl Marx says of religion, “Man . . . looked for a superman in the fantastic reality of heaven and found nothing but the reflection of himself.” [2] He says religion is the “opium of the people” and “the abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness” (P. 42).

 

Marx, Freud, and many others who have had a profound influence on the world even into the 21st century seem to have chosen to reject God. Even though, as Romans 1:20 states, “… since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities − his eternal power and divine nature − have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made…”

 

God loves us so much that He made it obvious through this life and all He created that He is God; all we have to do is peel back the artificial barriers we create in life, taste the fruit of Jesus Christ and see that He is good. As important as the peels are and as beneficial as many of our modern manmade developments are, it is just as important to take the time to actually see and taste God’s creation and know how good He is (Psalm 34:8).

 

We read the creation account in Genesis 1, which reminds me of a love letter of sorts akin to the Song of Solomon. Look at how poetically the creation story is related to us in Genesis 1.

·       First, on Day 1, our Heavenly Father creates light and day and night and then,

·       on Day 4, three days later, after creating this environment, He lovingly creates the sun and the moon and the stars to be placed within that light (Gen 1:13-19).

·       Next, on Day 2, our loving creator makes the water and the sky and, three days later,

·       on Day 5, He makes sea creatures to be placed in this sea. Next, He makes birds to soar into the skies God made for them (1:4−8, 20−23).

·       On Day 3, our Heavenly Father gathers together the waters to create dry land.

·       On Day 6, He creates plants and animals to be placed on this land that He made for them. God then creates man and woman in His own image (Genesis 1:9−13, 26−7), blesses them and graciously assigns them the job of filling the earth and taking care of it (Gen 1:28−31). The Lord loves His creation: it is good, and He loves us too.

 

It is obvious that God loves us but – too bad – the story of creation and of Adam and Eve doesn’t end here. As we know, Adam (the first man) disobeyed God and he − instead of taking responsibility for his actions ̶ blamed the woman, Eve, and even God.

 

When confronted with his sin Adam said to God, Genesis 3:12, “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.” And lest we think the woman was any better than Adam, she responded, in Genesis 3:13, that “the serpent deceived me, and I ate”. This was The Fall. With humankind’s sin, we separated ourselves from God’s creation and from God.

 

Now God, of course, had a remedy for this. He really does desire that all the people of the earth be blessed as He blessed Adam and Eve. Genesis 12:1−3 promises that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through Abraham. And God is faithful to that promise. God sends His only begotten son to die and rise again on the third day, so that we might live and so that we might be reconciled to God and His creation.

 

So the, as we go about our lives, let us take a moment away from our busyness; let us walk outside, and as we walk let us take in the abundant beauty that demonstrates God’s love for us. Let us peel back all that blocks the view of our hearts; let us notice each other, our family, our friends, our animals, our gardens, our plants, and all His creation. Let us notice the sun today and the stars tonight. Let us notice all of this around us; then let us bow our heads and lift our voices in praise of our God because He loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten son, so that all barriers to salvation would be removed. Now we can be fully reconciled to Him.

 

Monday was Orange Shirt Day, Truth and Reconciliation Day. Many of us from TSA walked along with the crowds to Tseshaht First Nation where we were invited to join in a meal and entertainment as a step towards reconciliation with our brothers and sisters here. As we stroll down the road of Romans through Bible Study a little further in the next few weeks and months, we will consider the eternal reconciliation up ahead at Romans 3:23 and elsewhere. For today. I encourage us all to step outside into the Lord’s glorious creation and thank Him so much for that reconciliation with Him, each other, and all of creation that He offers to us all through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

 

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com 

2 Corinthians 5:11-21: Reconciliation with Creator and Each Other.

 Presented to TSA AV Ministries, 26 March 2023, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

This poster means very much to me. It was given to me by Remi – some of you know Remi – he is a colleague here at The Salvation Army. Remi has taught me much about Nuu-Chah-Nulth culture, tradition, government, and some vocabulary (if only I can remember the words!); he is a friend!

 

On Shrove Tuesday this year, the Tseshaht First Nation released the preliminary findings about the residential school that was on their territory.  It is very sad. Everyday since, as before, as I enter my office and as I sit at my desk, I see the painting by Roy Henry Vickers with the words 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator) written underneath.

 

Shrove Tuesday – the day the findings were released from the residential school on Tseshaht First Nation – is the day before lent begins. It is a day to get our houses and our lives ready for the season of Lent. It is about confession and absolution. I think that it is quite fitting that the preliminary findings from the residential schools be released on a day tradition has set aside for confession and absolution. Our nation has certainly been coming to terms with the residential school systems and many other things. Our politicians, church leaders and others have certainly been confessing the sins and errors of the past. And true reconciliation is only possible with forgiveness, absolution. As Demond Tutu said in the South African context, “there is no future without forgiveness”; for it is only forgiving others that truly sets us free.

 

Lent, the season that begins after Shrove Tuesday, starts on Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is a time for fasting and praying. Lent – the word itself – means ‘fortieth’ and it references the 40 days Jesus fasted (referencing as well Elijah’s and Moses’ fasts of that length) before commencing his public ministry. Lent ends on either Maundy Thursday or Low Saturday – the day between Good Friday and Easter. It is a time for us to prepare ourselves for Easter, the day we commemorate Christ providing reconciliation for the whole world, all of Creation.

 

The symbolism of this picture is important to me. The crown of thorns on the 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator)’s head make it clear that this is a representation of Jesus. Jesus who died on the cross, Jesus is the Creator. John Chapter 1: He wasn’t just a man. He is God. He is creator of the whole world and more.

 

Doctrines 2 through 4 of The Salvation Army say this about 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator):

·       We believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship.

·       We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.

·       We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.

 

'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator) not only created us but He also went to the cross for us. The tears in this picture remind me how sad He must be. Can you imagine the sadness of 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator)? He created all of us, everything, the whole world and more; and we killed Him. He loves us and we killed Him. Can you imagine if those whom you love deeply want to kill you and you watch them as they do? In our context today, imagine you are lying in a hospital bed and your loved one comes and puts the needle in that ends everything. Now imagine that they do this NOT out of love. Imagine. This I think can cause some tears. There is more than that though.

 

'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator) went to the cross for us. The tears in this picture remind me how sad He must be for the way we have treated each other in residential schools, and wars, and poverty, and other such things and elsewhere and how sad He must be at the way we continue to treat each other today.

 

Hebrews 10:26ff says that if we continue to sin after Christ died for us, we trample the body of Christ underfoot. 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator) let His creation kill Him so that we, His creation, could be free of Sin. See the tears on His cheek. Jesus died on the cross so that sin would no longer have a hold on us. He died of the cross so that we no longer need to fall pray to sin. Look at His tears – how sad it must make Him that we still sometimes fall pray to sin; how sad it must make Him that we still do bad things to each other; how sad it must make 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator) feel to see those He created and loves, harm others whom He created and loved.

 

'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator) died and rose again so that we could be reconciled to 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator) and to one another. This is what we are preparing for in Lent after confession and absolution and this is what we hope for in Easter. We are preparing to celebrate the reconciliation that Jesus provided for us all between the cross and the empty tomb. Jesus rose from the grave leaving sin and death behind Him so that we can all do the same. And even now we have the opportunity to begin to live out that salvation; even now we have to opportunity to begin to break free from those horrible sins that are trying to drag us down; even now we have that opportunity to live out that reconciliation with God – and with one another.

 

'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator), Jesus, died and rose again so that we could be reconciled to 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator), Jesus, God, and to one another. As 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator) has done this for us, it is my hope that indeed we will all look diligently and unceasingly toward that end of living a life reconciled both with 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator) and with one another. He loves us and He wants us to get along with Him with each other just like any parent desires to have their children get along.

 

So today, if there is anything between you and another of God’s children, another of God’s creations, I encourage you to live free from the power of Sin and death and experience love and forgiveness instead. I encourage you, if there is anything between you and 'Haalapi Hawit' (Creator), that you confess it to Him now and receive His forgiveness, His Grace, His love, and His healing and reconciliation; and when we go from here in a moment or two let us all go from here in His power, and share His love and ministry of reconciliation with all whom we meet.

 

Let us pray.

 

www.sheepspeak.com

Romans 5:10: Reconciliation Day

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 02 October 2022, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Friday was Orange Shirt Day. It was the second Truth and Reconciliation Day statutory holiday. As a result, we were closed here at The Salvation Army, at the Bread of Life Centre, and at Kuu-us Crisis Line. A number of our people (congregation, staff, volunteers) were involved in the events in town yesterday. Colin’s wife, Sharie, our Mayor,  gave a speech; Cherie, our supervisor at the Bread of Life and an hereditary Tseshaht Chief, danced; many of us, clad in orange shirts, walked either or both from the Friendship Centre down to the Harbour Quay where there were speeches, songs, dances and more and/or from the Harbour Quay to Maht Mahs, Tseshaht where there was a meal and much more still. We did this to acknowledge reconciliation. Our passage today, Romans 5:8-11, is about reconciliation:

 

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

          9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

  

This passage, especially Verse 10, speaks about being enemies and this inevitably reminds me of war. Especially these days when the war rhetoric is at such a feverish pitch. War inevitably reminds me of Remembrance Day and the need to never forget and never get drawn into a global catastrophe like the world wars again. Remembrance Day is a key event in our community and in the Royal Canadian Legion’s calendar. 

 

As many of you know I am a Legion chaplain and as such, yesterday, Heather and I were able to be at another event at the Legion: the Tour de Rock dinner. This was great. My roll was to say grace – and for that they gave us a free meal! 

 

The evening was a lot of fun. The Tour De Rock is a cycling fundraiser to help people with cancer. Yesterday, we raised, I believe, around seven thousand dollars for the cause. We also met a few of the cyclists: Ken, the fire chief from Central Saanich, and a police officer from Victoria who had previously served in 51 Division in Toronto which was the same area we worked before we were posted here. And one of the riders was Anna McMillian; she is a news anchor and TV journalist on CTV; she came over and was chatting with Heather for a bit. Many of you know that Heather (age 12) hosts a TV Show (HTV: Heather’s Talk in the Valley) on Shaw TV. At dinner Heather was able to line up a couple guests for her show from people who were sitting at our table: Mike, the Port Alberni fire chief, and Gord, our Member of Parliament. It was good.

 

Verse 10 of our text today says this: “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” We were Christ’s enemies. When we were not under Christ’s leadership, we were by definition under our own and/or someone else’s leadership. We were not citizens of His kingdom and therefore by our allegiance (and flowing from that possibly even our own actions, deeds, words, and thoughts) we were His enemies. 

 

One might say, “Don’t be silly; I wasn’t God’s enemy! When I didn’t know God, I didn’t do anything against Him. I led a good life. I didn’t hurt anybody. Just because I didn’t serve Him, that doesn’t mean that I was ever God’s enemy, does it?”

 

The Apostle Paul contrasts two groups of people in his letters: citizens of heaven (people who follow Jesus) whom he calls ‘saints’ and citizens of someplace else (people who don’t follow Jesus) whom he calls ‘sinners’. Paul argues that the sinner, by extension, as a citizen of a nation at war with Christ, is an enemy of God. In this context, a sinner is simply anyone who is not presently experiencing the joys of “life with Christ” because they are not with him, they are with someone else instead (cf. Romans 5:1, 12:12, 14:17, 15:13). 

 

Another good way to understand how we were as “enemies of Christ” could be expressed with a military analogy. We know that countries at war do terrible things. Politicians, soldiers, citizens of countries at war do terrible things – the more a country is losing, the more terrible those atrocities sometimes seem to be – but not only then.

 

During the second Word War, Canadians even treated our fellow Canadians of German, Italian, and especially Japanese ancestry as our enemies. We confiscated all the assets of Canadians of Japanese origin and moved these citizens into interment camps. (The famous Canadian scientist and environmentalist, David Suzuki, spent part of his early life in a Canadian internment camp.) We treated innocent people as our enemies. As is shown through the official government apologies and tax money paid in reparations by later generations of Canadians who were not even alive during the Second World War, the repercussions and the liability for this rested with all of us.[1] 

 

I am reading a book right now, Girl #85: A Doukhobor Childhood.[2] It tells the story of Canadians of Russian decent here in BC who the government took from their families, banned their language, their culture, their traditions, and put them in residential schools that were more like jails in the latter half of the 20th Century - during the lifetime of many people in this room. And, of course, as we just had Orange Shirt Day on Friday, we all are at least vaguely familiar with the IRS that the various First Nations children were sent to across this country. The one here, run directly by the Canadian government, I understand, was particularly bad. The actions of politicians and others whom we may never have met have caused much damage and made us enemies of people we have never met. As such there has been all kinds of hardships and abuses suffered directly and indirectly and even though some of those responsible (such as the political parties who planned and orchestrated these things and some of the individuals who perpetrated the horrors) were never held to account, all of us have suffered the rift, the division and harm from what happened. Thus the need for reconciliation in Canada.

 

As the author of Hebrews puts it, in the context of our relationship with God, every time we sin we are taking up arms against Christ (Hebrews 10:28-30). Therefore, as Paul argues in his letter to the Romans, before we served Him, our moral self-government warred perpetually against Christ, whether we knew it or not – and we have suffered the consequence of it (just like Canadians suffered through and still suffer the consequences of interment camps and residential schools). Now, lest we think all is lost and that we cannot possibly be reconciled with each other and God, Paul writes, Romans 5:6, “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Verse 8: “but God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Verse 10, “while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” and not only this but, Verse 11, “also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

 

So here is the thing about reconciliation. There is nothing you and I can possibly do reconcile ourselves to God. The rift is too big; humanity was the perpetrator of that rift and perpetrators are not in a position to initiate reconciliation. We can confess, we can repent, but we cannot reconcile without the full participation of the victim and without forgiveness. As Desmond Tutu says, “there is no future without forgiveness”.[3] Reconciliation is the healing of a rift. It is repairing relationships. It is making things whole again. Reconciliation is never a one-way street. Reconciliation can only occur as people walk side-by-side as brothers and sisters. 

 

Wally Samuel, I believe, said Friday, on Orange Shirt Day that reconciliation begins when we work again, when we have jobs, when we are part of society alongside others. I think of Hereditary Chief J Cook who is a member of Rotary, on the board of Directors of the Sage Haven Society and the Bulldogs. I think of Judge Wolf. I think of Remi, Cherie, Christina, and others who work alongside us everyday as part of our team here. This is reconciliation in action in the Canadian context and the Port Alberni context and in our context here in this place. We have all been offered this great opportunity to live out reconciliation with our friends here whom we love.

 

It is the same with you and I and God. Jesus has made it possible for you and I to be reconciled to God. He has made it possible for you and I to come and live and work with and for Him. He has forgiven us. As such He invites us to join Him in His work, in our work, by loving our neighbour, serving others. by -for example- working on the food truck, serving in the soup kitchen, volunteering at the Thrift Store, in the Food Bank, at the seniors homes, with the kids club and Bible studies and if we have done all that we can possibly do with any of those things and we can’t possibly do anymore we can still live out our reconciled lives with Christ by tithing, read our Bibles, and just spending time cuddling up to God, sharing with Him the news and the joys of our life here. We are invited to reunite with our Heavenly Father. We are invited to live reconciled lives. As such, it is my hope that we will all live out our lives fully reconciled with God even today. 

 

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

www.facebook.com/salvogesis

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[1] Michael Ramsay, Salvogesis Guidebook to Romans Road (The Salvation Army: Vancouver Island, BC, 2022), Chapter 5

[2] Helen Chernoff freeman, Girl #85: A Doukhobor Childhood (FriesenPress, Victoria, BC, 2013)

[3] Desmond Tutu. No Future Without Forgiveness (New York, NY, USA, Double Day, 1999)

A MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION ON CANADA DAY TO OUR VETERANS AND OTHERS IN LIGHT OF THE RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL REVELATIONS

 PRESENTED AT THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION, 01 JULY 2021.[1]

 

In the Alberni Valley today we would like to acknowledge Winston Joseph, who has passed on since the previous Canada Day. He was the driving force behind our community's Canada Day activities for many years.

 

Canada Day is very important to our veterans as they offered up their lives and many of them laid down their lives for Canada and for all of us.

 

Today we are gathering to remember Canada and, as always at the Legion, those who have lived, fought and died for Canada and for our future. One of the many brave people from this area who offered their lives up for the future of others was Edward John Clutesi of the Tseshaht Nation. (Our community is on the un-ceded territories of the Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations)

 

Today, heavy on our hearts is the tragedy of the horrors of the residential schools and those who suffered and even lost their lives, across this country and even in our community. This is why I am wearing this pin in the shape of the orange ribbon on my uniform today. Every child matters.

 

Our veterans fought for a brave new world. It was hoped that the First World War would be the war to end all wars. It wasn’t. After the Second World War one amazing thing did happen though and that was we were reconciled with old foes: Germany, Japan, and Italy are now some of our closest allies, trading partners and friends. 

 

Many people passed before they could see the culmination of those wars and that reconciliation. Today in Canada we do have heavy hearts remembering the residential schools and today we have grateful hearts for all of those who died for us – including Edward John Clutesi.

 

Reading from Hebrews 11:16, the verse on the Order of Canada: "But they now desire a better country, that is an heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for He has prepared for them."

 

Today We are hoping now that we will all commit to and be a part of the inauguration of a new era of reconciliation and healing in our nation and in our community in our people and in ourselves. May there be peace in our time and may there be peace in our hearts. 

 

Let us pray:

 

Eternal God, we thank you for the peace we enjoy and for the opportunity that is ours of building a better order of society in this Canada for the generations still to come. Amen. 

 

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[1] This was presented after conversations with the current and previous Chief Councillor of the Tseshaht First Nation. The current Chief Councilor was unable to attend as he was out of town but committed to send a member of the council to be present.

Colossians 3:1-15: No Future without Forgiveness

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries of The Salvation Army, 18 October 2020, by Captain Michael Ramsay

 

This week I watched most of the BC Leaders debate with Susan – I wasn’t going to. I don’t really care so much about what the leaders say on TV; I care more about their performance in the legislative assembly. The cynical side of me thinks that they are just guessing what the most popular positions are and then trying to say how good they are at those things while they belittle their opponents. I must say though that I thought this was the least ‘naggy’ and ‘interupty’ leadership debate I have seen in a while. My wife will disagree with me on that. She didn’t care for this debate at all. Myself, I honestly don’t care as much about who the next premier will be as I do about who our next MLA will be as we will inevitably have to work with them around important issues in our community: housing and homelessness, addiction and mental health, etc., so I definitely plan to listen to the debate between Josie, Helen, Graham, and others here.

 

As far as leaders debates are concerned I am always more interested in seeing who wins the media war after the debate than who wins the live engagement. I think that matters more because more people follow the news than bother to tune into a debate. I noticed that our premier felt that he needed to apologize, retract, and/or re-think some of the comments that he made. To me that is good – very good. In my job I deal with people’s apologies all the time. I pray with people who apologize to God and their neighbours. I, myself, apologize when I should. Apologizing is a first step in repentance. You have to acknowledge you did something wrong in order to change and acknowledging that to someone else can be a blessing for both of you as you each get a chance to see into the other person’s heart a little bit.

 

AA, with which I have had a lot of dealing over the years and who rent our space during the week have as their 5^th step to recovery “Admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs”. Apologizing is an important step in our own growth in relationship with God and others.

 

I was shocked when I read a Facebook post from a Facebook friend who is a community leader in our town. This person, who I thought actually supported the premier’s party said that he can’t forgive him. The comments went on quite a while with many people weighing in and this person – who I thought was on the same political page as our premier – was determined to use the Premier’s particular turn of phrase to paint our Premier (rightly or wrongly) as a racist. It was a point of no turning back. It was a Rubicon. I was shocked and saddened.

 

There is a lot of racism - straight up, reverse, systematic and otherwise in our world today. There was a lot of racism, systematic and otherwise in NT times too. Our text today repeats a common NT theme when Paul communicates, “Here [in the Christian community] there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” African scholar Solomon Andria writes in the Africa Bible Commentary, “The person in whom this image [of God] is restored is capable of overcoming the racial, religious, and social barriers that separate Greek from Jew, circumcised from uncircumcised, foreigner from locals,  and slave from free…in Christ they are all equally members of the Christian community.” Solomon Andria further says, “This text is highly relevant in Africa, where ethnic tensions still persist, even among Christians.”[1] I would say that applies to North America as well.

 

We can understand that when most people say ‘Black lives matter’ that they mean ‘Black lives matter too”; we can understand that when most people say ‘all lives matter’ they mean ‘all lives matter – even and especially black lives and indigenous lives and barbarian lives, and Scythian lives, and slave lives…’.  If a person says they are colour blind they may be ill-informed but they are probably not trying to offend you. They are probably not saying you are invisible. They are probably using what was once thought of as inclusive language (even if now it is not!) They are probably trying to communicate to you that they care about everyone. As far as the Kingdom of God is concerned, after all, “…there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free…” We don’t need to pick fights over words. We should try to be gentle and inoffensive in the words we use – don’t use the words and phrases we know are going to wind some people up! (And if you inadvertently do, apologize) Also try not to be so offended. A nation where everyone is fragile soon breaks apart – a nation where people constantly throw hate and insults at each other soon shatters. Where there is no forgiveness there is no reconciliation. Where there is no forgiveness there is no future.

 

Also this week I read an interview with Arsene Wagner, he managed Arsenal FC for 22 years. One comment he made about the difference between managing a high profile professional football club when he first did and now was that 20 years ago people paid more attention to the 60 000 people who would be actually watching a match; now they pay more attention to 50 or so people who complain about the match on-line – whether they bothered to buy a ticket to the game or not! That struck me. Is this what we have become? …A bunch of people who would rather complain about something than participate in it?

 

Those who know me know there are a few authors whose ideas resonate with me quite a bit. Tolstoy (a Russian author and former soldier), MLK (an American pastor), Immaculée Ilibagiza (a Tutsi from Rwanda) are three of them. A key part of God’s message which He shares with us through them is the need for forgiveness. Yes, the need for us to be forgiven but even more so the need for us to forgive others: there is no future without forgiveness.

 

Not long ago, I picked up this book from the retired South African Archbishop, Desmond Tutu. Do we know who Desmond Tutu was? He was a key figure God used to liberate South Africans from apartheid. This book is entitled “No Future without Forgiveness”. This I think is one of the key lessons that one can learn from life. This I think is a major part of the secret to living in God’s proleptic Kingdom both for now and forever. There is no future without forgiveness.

 

Desmond Tutu tells this story about his decision to serve Jesus as an Anglican Priest. When he was 12 years old, his family moved to Johannesburg. Tutu and his mom had an encounter with an Anglican priest from England, Trevor Huddleston. Tutu said, “I was standing in the street with my mother when a white man in a priest's clothing walked past. As he passed us [stepping off the path rather than expecting us to do so] he took off his hat to my mother. I couldn't believe my eyes.” It was at that moment young Desmond Tutu decided to be an Anglican Priest. Just think. The power of God in that Trevor Huddleston helped transform a whole nation simply by tipping his hat and greeting someone as his sister in Christ (Trevor Huddleston also did a lot of other work for the Kingdom and to end apartheid!); in the Christian community, Colossians 3:11, “there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”

 

2 Corinthians 5:17-19: “… if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

 

I think this is very important. As movements such as BLM emphasize, we do need to recognize the special needs, talents, and gifts of different people in our society (I think this is what is meant by not being colour blind). Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians through his beautiful analogy to the human body, points out that we all have special gifts and abilities and some of us do need to be treated more delicately than others (1 Corinthians 12:12ff). And Paul here and in other letters points out that we need to avoid dwelling on our differences, instead we need to realize that we are all God’s people building His Kingdom here together. Solomon Andria writes in the Africa Bible Commentary, “Christian virtues will restore human relationships. But they can only be shown if we are willing to forgive each other.”[2] There is no future without forgiveness.

 

There were a lot of legitimate grievances between different groups in NT times, just like in OT times, just like today. There were obviously power differences between slaves and masters, challenges between males and females, disagreements between the circumcised and the uncircumcised, and very real culture clashes and overt prejudices between the Jews and the Gentiles and others. There is only one way these systemic abuses, historic and other grievances can be settled. There is only one way Jews and Greeks, male and female, slave and free, black and white, x and y can be reconciled and that is through forgiveness. We can only be reconciled in Christ to God and our neighbour if we no longer hold each other’s sins against each other. There can be no reconciliation without forgiveness. There can be no future without forgiveness.

 

This works – not only in relationship to Heaven, the Kingdom to Come, but also in our day-to-day lives. In the South African version of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission people traded truth for reconciliation. People admitted their guilt even in some horrendous crimes: murder, rape, assault, etc. And instead of being castigated, caged and killed they were forgiven and as a result South Africa has survived and thrived in ways that other nations can only dream of. Bishop Tutu points out that none of this would be possible if South Africa had pursued a Nuremberg vision of justice. It was only possible because they were willing to forgive one another. There can be no reconciliation without forgiveness. There can be no future without forgiveness.

 

Today Canada is as divided as at any time in my life. I have never heard so much hate. Today the churches are more divided than I think the Apostles could ever have foreseen. As long as we keep pointing out flaws of others, as long as we keep taking the sliver out of another’s eye instead of the plank out of our own (Matthew 7:5), as long as we keep talking about people instead of to them, as long as we let ourselves get worked up by others' errors and omissions more than our own, we will never experience freedom in Christ.

 

Here is a key point - one I have made before and one I will make again: Un-forgiveness is a self-inflicted wound. If I don’t forgive you I am not hurting you, I am only hurting myself. You might not even know that I am upset – but I do!

 

Un-forgiveness can get into our soul and drive a wedge between ourselves and our neighbour and even between ourselves and God. Matthew even says that if we do not forgive our neighbour their sins God will not forgive us ours (Matthew 6:15).

 

In South Africa they have a word ‘Ubuntu’ which both Bishop Tutu and President Mandela refer to frequently in their books.[3] It means something like ‘a person is a person through other people’. As John Donne would say, ‘no man is an island unto himself’.[4]  We are all connected and whatever I do to you I feel in myself: Ubuntu. My friends, that is what forgiveness is about. Un-forgiveness is hurting yourself when you are mad at your neighbour. Un-forgiveness is removing yourself from the Kingdom of Love and Forgiveness. Un-forgiveness drives a wedge between you, me and Christ.

 

But Christ died on the Cross and rose from the grave so that you and I can forgive and be forgiven. And forgiveness is receiving God’s healing by loving your neighbour; forgiveness is being restored to His Kingdom of Love and Forgiveness; and forgiveness is the force by which you and I can be reconciled to God and to one another.

 

By forgiving others and accepting Christ’s forgiveness we will become a new creation, Tutu says we will live in a new dispensation. The old pain and suffering of hate and retribution will be gone. Christ can cleanse our soul, remove our sins and grant us the full power to forgive others - even has he has forgiven us. Make it so!

 

Let us pray.

 

Further reading:

N.T. Wright, NT Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters (Louisville, Kentucky, USA.: John Knox Press, 2004). 395.

Ralph P. Martin, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky, USA.: John Knox Press, 1991).

  

Notes:

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[1] Solomon Andria, Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 1482.

[2] Solomon Andria, Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), Colossians 3:12-14: Clothe yourself in virtue, 1482.  

[3] Desmond Tutu. No Future Without Forgiveness (New York, NY, USA, Double Day, 1999)31and Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (New York, NY, USA, Little Brown & Co,, 1994)

[4] John Donne, Meditation 17: Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (London, UK,1614)