Deuteronomy 6:1-12: Songs of Salvation.

Presented to 614 Warehouse Mission, 30 April 2017, and Alberni Valley Ministries, 23 October 2022, by Major Michael Ramsay

  

This is the 2022 Alberni Valley version. To view the original 2017 Toronto version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2017/04/deuteronomy-61-12-childrens-songs.html

  

I understand that Terri, Rena and Tim’s daughter, just got back from seeing Elton John; friends of mine saw Gordon Lightfoot this weekend. My older daughters and I this summer went to see a number of bands from the 70s and 80s playing in Seattle (which we had been waiting to see since before Covid-19). It is a lot of fun.

            The best part of going to see bands from yester-year play is the memories attached to the old songs and the opportunity to share those and new memories with my kids. We have seen a lot of shows together: Meat Loaf, Joan Jett, Def Leppard, GNR, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper and more. Alice Cooper by the way is an outspoken Christian and the son of a preacher. I actually saw Alice Cooper in concert when I was 17 years-old and then 30 years later, when we lived in Toronto, I was able to see him with my then 16 and 15 year-old daughters. This sort of thing is what our text today is about: sharing our memories with our kids so they can experience all the joy we did and so we can add even more to those memories together. This may even be exactly what is happening in our text today, Moses is probably bringing the Deuteronomy generation to hear the same Ten Commandments play at Mt Sinai that the Exodus generation had heard with him, decades previous.[1]

            In our Scriptures today Moses is talking to the children of the people he received the 10 Commandments with. It is important that children are reminded of, remember and participate in their parents’ experiences. It is important to remember what the Lord has done. When we fail to remember our culture, we lose it; when we fail to remember our past, we lose our future; when we fail to remember what defines us as a people then we cease to be a nation;[3] and when we fail to remember our salvation with our children, then future generations may not experience that salvation anymore (Deuteronomy 8:19-20).[4] This may be what is happening in Canada today. This is what Moses is driving home with this next generation of Israelites. This is important. Don't just hope that our children and children’s children will learn something from a teacher, preacher, or priest. Don't just hope they'll learn life's lessons by accident. Sharing our faith history is our responsibility. Our very survival depends on what we remember from the past and how we carry that into the future.[5]

            In our world today, songs are a great way to bring memories and knowledge and experiences forward to a new generation. I am going to list some songs and see if you can tell me who sang them for one generation or the next [Answers in footnote below]:[6] (1) Cats in the Cradle (2) Signs (3) You're so Vain (4) California Girls (5) Knocking on Heaven’s Door (6) Live and Let Die (7) Landslide (8) Johnny B Goode

            I remember turning on the radio a few years ago and... There is this old Irish folk song – generations old – called 'Whiskey in the Jar'. I don’t know if anyone here knows that song or not. Susan knows all kinds of old folk songs. She really likes some of those old-fashioned numbers and so as a result I was familiar with it. Well, I got in the car one day, turned on the local radio station, and - I don’t know if anyone here is familiar with Metallica, they are a near-contemporary heavy metal band - I heard them doing a heavy metal rendition of this old Irish folk song. I was sort of in shock. I began to think of all the remakes of songs that I have heard over the years. Many times the remakes were my first exposure to the song and it got me thinking: When the words of an old song are put to a new tune they become accessible to a new generation. As we continue to sing these same songs in new ways, we remain faithful to their intent, passing it onto our children and to our children’s children.  This is like our personal testimonies and conversations about the Lord. When we put the gospel message of salvation into our own words, in our own tune and share it with our own children then we are indeed passing that eternal truth of salvation down from one generation to the next.

           When we were in Toronto, our WT leader, Krys Val (Warehouse Mission Band) would write new lyrics to popular tunes from the 60s, 70s and 80s - all of us would then hear the gospel expressed in music that resonates in our hearts and souls and memories and hopefully every time we hear that familiar, sometimes timeless tune we can remember what the Lord has done for us, with us, through us and in us.

            This is what our Scripture today sees Moses doing with the Deuteronomy generation.[7] God, through Moses, says of the lyrics of the 10 Commandments (Deuteronomy 6:7-9):

Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

 

            Moses wants the people to remember even more than just the words to these 10 Commands, of course. The Bible says God remembered Israel when they were in slavery. Now, will they remember Him when they are free? God remembers us when we are struggling. Do we remember Him when we are free? We may turn to God when things are bad; do we turn away from Him when we feel free to live our life for ourselves?[8] Do we remember what God has done for us as we are delivered from our problems? Do we remember how God saved those alongside us? Do we remember how God saved our family members before us? Do we remember how God saved our fore-parents in this country?  

Do we remember the things that God did for the Israelites before he brought them out of Egypt? How did God reveal himself to Pharaoh? Remember the Passover? Remember the plagues (Exodus 7-12)? When Sarah-Grace was 12 years-old, we hit the road with an excellent sermon she preached about the plagues.[9] Do we remember the plagues God used to save the children of Israel? What were they? Snakes, blood, frogs, gnats, flies, cows (dead livestock), boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the first born. God wants Israel to remember their salvation from, in and through these plagues. God wants them to remember how they were saved as death passed them over. And God wants us to remember also how generations and a testament later, Jesus won the ultimate victory over death so that we all might live. This is what Easter and Good Friday are all about.

            We are just about to come into the Advent season. We have many traditions around Advent: scripture readings, songs (Carols), candle lighting, and more

            When we invite our children and grandchildren to participate in Advent services; when we bring friends and family to Christmas pageants, when we invite people to a church service anytime of the year with us, we are carrying on that salvation tradition and experience.

            When we bring our children and grandchildren to church we remember and experience corporate worship and salvation together as a family. When we read our Bibles with our children and grandchildren and friends, we pass along the stories of salvation from one generation to the next - we show them what is important by what we do with each other; and as we read the Bible together, as we each experience our glorious personal salvation we can see how that fits in with salvation history and how we are included in the salvation of the whole world.

 

            When we say grace with future generations before dinner - whether at home or in public - we are teaching others the importance of prayer. When we say grace, when we pray in public, we may even be unknowingly encouraging even strangers to be faithful. They might see us and then remember that indeed they prayed with their parents as a kid and then head home and pass on that marker and catalyst for that same salvation relationship with their own children; and then they may experience that same access to all the power, mercy, grace and glory of God.

So, as Hebrews 10:25 extols us, let us not stop meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. Let us not stop singing our songs of salvation with new generations. Let us always read the stories of Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus Christ with our children, our children's children, our friends, and our family. This week, let us resolve to take the Good News of Salvation and share it with everyone we meet so that they and we may experience the fullness of God's love today and forever more.                          

Let us pray.

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[1] Cf. Thompson, J. A., Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1974 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 5), S. 128

[2]Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'Deuteronomy 8: The Next Generation Thanks The Lord' (Sheepspeak.com: Swift Current, 09 October 2011). Available on-line:http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/10/deuteronomy-8-next-generation-thanks.html

[3]Cf. Thomas E. McComiskey, The Expositor's Bible Commentary,  PradisCD-ROM:Amos/Introduction to Amos/Theological Values of Amos/The doctrine of election in Amos, Book Version: 4.0.2; cf. also Willy Schottroff, “To Perceive, To Know,” in Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, Volume 3 eds. Ernst Jenni and Claus Westermann (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997),516.

[4]Deuteronomy 8:19-20: “If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.”

[5] Luciano C. Chianeque and Samuel Ngewa, '6:10-25: The Importance of Remembering', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 222.

[6] Cats in the Cradle (Harry Chapin, Ugly Kid Joe), Signs (Five Man Electrical Band), You're so Vain (Carlie Simon, Faster Pussy Cat), California Girls (Beach Boys, David Lee Roth), Knocking on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan, GNR), Live and Let Die (Paul McCarthy, GNR), Landslide (Fleetwood Mac, Smashing Pumpkins), Johnny B Goode (Chuck Berry, Elvis, Judas Priest, AC DC, Motorhead, etc).

[7]Cf. Ronald E. Clements, The Book of Deuteronomy, (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 355.

[8] Cf. Luciano C. Chianeque and Samuel Ngewa, '6:10-25: The Importance of Remembering', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 222.

[9] Sarah-Grace Ramsay, Plague Pops – Salvation only comes from God (Exodus 7-12). Presented to Maple Creek Corps of The Salvation Army, 10 August, 2014 and Swift Current, 17 August 2014, available online: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/08/plague-pops-salvation-only-comes-from.html

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Deuteronomy 6:1-12: Children's Songs

Presented to 614 Warehouse Mission, 30 April 2017, Alberni Valley Ministries, 23 October 2022, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

This is the original 2017 Toronto version. To view the 2022 Alberni Valley version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2017/04/deuteronomy-61-12-childrens-songs.html  


The other week my teenagers and I went to the Bon Jovi concert. It was a great show. Jon Bon Jovi performed in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey the night right after they made the play-offs. It was a lot of fun. Probably the best parts of the concert were the songs that I knew - the old ones. I didn't always care so much for the newer songs; some of these 'newer songs' were over 30 years old, mind you. The encore was especially good because that is when they played most of these old songs I knew. You could tell the band was made up of experienced showmen too because of the way they ran the performance. You could also tell because the original band members all had grey hair. And it was funny: by the time he had finished the encore at about 11pm or so it looked like Jon Bon Jovi just wanted to go to bed.


It was a good show and the best part of the experience, like I said, was the memories attached to the songs and the opportunity to share those memories with my kids. It meant a lot. Later this year we have tickets to GNR, Deep Purple, and Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper by the way is an outspoken Christian and the son of a preacher. I actually saw Alice Cooper in concert when I was 17 years-old and now I am going with my 16 and 15 year-old daughters. This sort of thing is what our text today is about: sharing our memories with our kids so they can experience all the joy we did and so we can add even more to those memories together. This may even be exactly what is happening in our text today, Moses might be bringing the Deuteronomy generation to hear the same Ten Commandments play at Mt Sinai that the Exodus generation had heard before them.[1]

The part of the Scriptures we are reading from today takes place when Moses is probably reminding the children of the children of Israel who left Egypt about the 10 Commandments.[2] He is reminding them about the time he came down the mountain to their parents and originally shared these commandments. We remember that scene don't we? I think some of the women's group even watched the move, '10 Commandments' with Charleston Heston this past Tuesday. The only problem is... I think that movie is 20 hours long - okay maybe 4 hours, but still it is a very long show. That is as long as some people’s work shifts.


In our Scriptures today Moses is talking to the children of the people he received the 10 Commandments with. It is important that children are reminded of, remember and participate in their parents’ experiences. It is important to remember what the Lord has done. When we fail to remember our culture, we lose it; when we fail to remember our past, we lose our future; when we fail to remember what defines us as a people then we cease to be a nation;[3] and when we fail to remember our salvation with our children, then we will find that future generations are not experiencing that salvation anymore (Deuteronomy 8:19-20).[4] This is what is happening in Canada today. This is what Moses is driving home with this next generation of Israelites. This is important. Don't just hope that our children will learn something from a teacher, preacher, or priest. Don't just hope they'll learn life's lessons by accident. Sharing our faith history is our responsibility. Our very survival depends on what we remember from the past and how we carry that into the future.[5]


In our world today, songs are a great way to bring memories and knowledge and experiences forward to a new generation. I am going to list some songs and see if you can tell me who sang them for one generation or the next [Answers in footnote below]:[6] (1) Cats in the Cradle (2) Signs (3) You're so Vain (4) California Girls (5) Knocking on Heaven’s Door (6) Live and Let Die (7) Landslide (8) Johnny B Goode


I remember turning on the radio a few years ago now and... There is this old Irish folk song – generations old – called 'Whiskey in the Jar'. I don’t know if anyone here knows that song or not. Susan knows all kinds of these old folk songs. She really likes some of those old fashioned numbers and so as a result I was familiar with it. Well, I got in the car one day, turned on one of the local radio stations in the town where we were living at the time and – I don’t know if anyone here is familiar with Metallica, they are a contemporary heavy metal band – I heard them doing a heavy metal rendition of this old Irish folk song. I was sort of in shock. I was struck by it as I began to think of all the remakes of songs that I have heard over the years. Many times the remakes were my first exposure to the song and it got me thinking. When the words of an old song are put to a new tune they become accessible to a new generation. As we continue to sing these same songs in new ways, we remain faithful to their intent, passing it onto our children and to our children’s children. This is like our personal testimonies and conversations about the Lord. When we put the gospel message of salvation into our own words, in our own tune and share it with our own children then we are indeed passing that eternal truth of salvation down from one generation to the next.


Similarly when Krys (Warehouse Mission Band) here writes new lyrics to old tunes, all of us can hear the gospel expressed in music that resonates in our hearts and souls and hopefully every time we hear that familiar, sometimes timeless tune we can remember what the Lord has done for us, with us, through us and in us.


This is what our Scripture today sees Moses doing with the Deuteronomy generation.[7] God, through Moses, says of the lyrics of the 10 Commandments (Deuteronomy 6:7-9):


Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Moses wants the people to remember even more than just the words to these 10 Commands, of course. The Bible says God remembered Israel when they were in slavery. Now, will they remember Him when they are free? God remembers us when we are struggling. Do we remember Him when we are free? We may turn to God when things are bad; do we turn away from Him when we feel free to live our life for ourselves?[8] Do we remember what God has done for us as we are delivered from our problems? Do we remember how God saved those alongside us? Do we remember how God saved our family members before us? Do we remember how God saved the founders of our country? Do we remember how God saved the Israelites?

Do we remember the things that God did for the Israelites before he brought them out of Egypt? How did God reveal himself to Pharaoh? Remember the Passover? Remember the plagues (Exodus 7-12)? When Sarah-Grace was 12 or so we hit the road with an excellent sermon she preached about the plagues.[9] I still have it. Maybe one day she can share it with us here. Do we remember the plagues God used to save the children of Israel? What were they? Snakes, blood, frogs, gnats, flies, cows (dead livestock), boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the first born. God wants Israel to remember their salvation from, in and through these plagues. God wants them to remember how they were saved as death passed them over. And God wants us to remember also how generations and a testament later, Jesus won the ultimate victory over death so that we all might live. This is what Easter and Good Friday are all about.


We have just come out of the Lenten season. Lent is when we are invited to give up something for the Lord. When I was a kid, Catholics would give up meat - except for fish - every Friday, not just during Lent. Fish Friday: I worked in a fish and chip shop for a very short time as a teenager and I still remember Fish Fridays.


When we invite our children and grandchildren to participate in Lenten services in preparation for Easter and Advent services in advance of Christmas; when we bring friends and family to Christmas and Easter pageants, when we invite people to a church service here with us, we are carrying on that salvation tradition and experience.


When we bring our children and grandchildren to church we remember and experience corporate worship and salvation together as a family. When we read our Bibles with our children and grandchildren and friends, we pass along the stories of salvation from one generation to the next - we show them what is important by what we do with each other; and as we read the Bible together, as we each experience our glorious personal salvation we can see how that fits in with salvation history and how we are included in the salvation of the whole world.


When we say grace with future generations before dinner - whether at home or in public - we are teaching others the importance of prayer. When we say grace, when we pray in public, we may even be unknowingly encouraging even strangers to be faithful. They might see us and then remember that indeed they prayed with their parents as a kid and then head home and pass on that marker and catalyst for that same salvation relationship with their own children; and then they may experience that same access to all the power, mercy, grace and glory of God.


So, as Hebrews 10:25 extols us, let us not stop meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. Let us not stop singing our songs of salvation to new tunes for new generations, let us not stop adding those timeless words of salvation to songs that resonate in our hearts and souls as we do here every week. Let us always read the stories of Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus Christ with our children, our children's children, our friends, and our family. This week, let us resolve to take the Good News of Salvation and share it with everyone we meet so that they and we may experience the fullness of God's love today and forever more.


Let us pray.


www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Cf. Thompson, J. A., Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1974 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 5), S. 128

[2]Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'Deuteronomy 8: The Next Generation Thanks The Lord' (Sheepspeak.com: Swift Current, 09 October 2011). Available on-line:http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/10/deuteronomy-8-next-generation-thanks.html

[3]Cf. Thomas E. McComiskey, The Expositor's Bible Commentary,  PradisCD-ROM:Amos/Introduction to Amos/Theological Values of Amos/The doctrine of election in Amos, Book Version: 4.0.2; cf. also Willy Schottroff, “To Perceive, To Know,” in Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, Volume 3 eds. Ernst Jenni and Claus Westermann (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997),516.

[4]Deuteronomy 8:19-20: “If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.”

[5] Luciano C. Chianeque and Samuel Ngewa, '6:10-25: The Importance of Remembering', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 222.

[6] Cats in the Cradle (Harry Chapin, Ugly Kid Joe), Signs (Five Man Electrical Band), You're so Vain (Carlie Simon, Faster Pussy Cat), California Girls (Beach Boys, David Lee Roth), Knocking on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan, GNR), Live and Let Die (Paul McCarthy, GNR), Landslide (Fleetwood Mac, Smashing Pumpkins), Johnny B Goode (Chuck Berry, Elvis, Judas Priest, AC DC, Motorhead, etc).

[7]Cf. Ronald E. Clements, The Book of Deuteronomy, (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 355.

[8] Cf. Luciano C. Chianeque and Samuel Ngewa, '6:10-25: The Importance of Remembering', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 222.

[9] Sarah-Grace Ramsay, Plague Pops – Salvation only comes from God (Exodus 7-12). Presented to Maple Creek Corps of The Salvation Army, 10 August, 2014 and Swift Current, 17 August 2014, available online: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/08/plague-pops-salvation-only-comes-from.html

Luke 1:46-56: Christmas is Coming 2014

Presented to Swift Current Corps, 21 Dec. 2014 and Alberni Valley Ministries, 22 Dec. 2024. Based on the 20 Dec. 2009 sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay. 

Based on the 20 Dec. 2009 homily available here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/12/luke-146-56-christmas-is-coming.html

The 22 Dec. 2024 version is available here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2024/12/luke-139-56-rejoice-smoke-will-clear.html

Wayne Cormier told me a story the other day. He is currently the director of ECIP (Early Childhood Intervention Program); he used to work for the government. A few years ago he found himself driving around one of the cabinet ministers and his assistant was sitting in the back with his tape recorder taping everything the minister said as per protocol at that time in that situation. They were driving around sizing up the damage from all of the forest fires in the north when all of a sudden their vision became impaired. It became more and more impaired. Wayne was chauffeur and he could barely see anything in front of him and it wasn’t winter so it wasn’t snow – it was smoke from the fire. The fire was so close you could almost feel it. The politician asked Wayne, ‘what do we do now’?

Wayne said, ‘Pray’. Wayne is a solid Christian and he has been for a quite a long time. ‘Pray’, he says, ‘we can’t see anything but we can’t stop driving or its game over; we can’t do anything else but drive and pray - so pray!’

The assistant with the tape recorder in the back begins to pray quite a bit when Wayne hears the cabinet minister, the politician, start to pray. He prays, ‘God if you save us, I will go to church on Sunday.’ They wait patiently as Wayne drives slowly through the fire. They wait and they pray as they await their salvation from the fire.

When they get out of the fire and they start to relax a bit and get ready for their next tour, Wayne approaches the politician, the cabinet minister, and he asks him, ‘So you’re going to church on Sunday?”

“Oh, you heard that, did you?”

“Yes, and so will everyone; your assistant has it on tape”

“Oh, well maybe I should go to church then…”

Now Wayne doesn’t know whether or not the politician was true to his word. He doesn’t know whether he did go to church or not but while he was waiting for his salvation, in that moment he approached God, he encountered God and we can only hope that once that waiting was over he continued to wait on God.

 This is the Advent season and waiting is what Advent is all about. We are waiting for Christmas to come. Advent is when we remember the first coming of Christ as we are awaiting His second coming.

Who here like to wait? One of the keys to waiting is faith (see Matthew 17:20 and Hebrews 11:6). Faith is a key element of Advent; so what is faith?

There is the classic definition of faith, of course, from Hebrews 11: 1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Martin Luther says: “Faith is God's work in us, that changes us and gives new birth from God (John 1:13)… It changes our hearts, our spirits, our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy Spirit with it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly.”

Faith is a belief in the seemingly impossible. Faith is a belief that you will come home and find that your children have cleaned their rooms or done the dishes all on their own.

The Greek word translated variously as ‘faith’ or ‘believe’ is pistis (noun) and this comes from pistevo (verb)[1] meaning ‘to have faith in, extend credit to; to commit, to adhere to, to trust in, and to rely on.’

Prominent theologians James Dunn and Tom Wright drive home the point in many articles and books that faith isn’t just a vague belief in something. Faith is an action word. Faith and faithfulness are forever intertwined.[2] One cannot say they love God and not love their neighbour (Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 10:27, 18:18-29). If you have faith in Christ, you will be faithful and even when we are unfaithful, Christ’s faithfulness makes our faith(fullness) possible (Romans 3:3,4, see also Genesis Romans 1:16-17, Romans 2:1-16, Hebrews 11). It is the faithfulness of Christ that leads to humanity’s salvation. Faith is an action and the action of faith during Advent is waiting. Christmas is coming.

In our story today something very interesting is happening: Mary an unwed teenager finds out that she is pregnant and goes to her aunt’s or a much older relative’s; she goes to Elisabeth’s house and this is Mary’s greeting (vv. 46-49):

And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— Holy is His name.

Mary speaks about how good the Lord has been to her. She talks about how greatly she has been blessed by the Lord. She speaks about how He has been mindful of someone such as her. Mary here is praising God.

Mary, the mother-to-be of Jesus, is a teenager in the occupied territory in Palestine. Mary isn’t married when she finds out she is going to be with child. Mary’s partner in today’s vernacular, her husband-to-be, had never been with her in that way:[3] they have never consummated their relationship.[4] Can you imagine what people in that day and age would think of Mary who is pregnant without being married? If you were her husband-to-be or if you were her parents what would you think if your teenage daughter came home and told you she was about to have a baby? In those days she could have received the death penalty for that.[5] Mary is vulnerable and Mary is on the margins of society.

Mary isn’t a wealthy woman and months from now, right when Mary is to have this baby, she and Joseph are supposed to load up a pack animal and walk all the way from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea to enrol in a census for the purpose of paying their taxes. They are to walk and/or ride on the back of this pack animal this whole distance when Mary is very, very pregnant (Luke 2:1-7). I don’t know how many women here when they are nine months pregnant would like to hike from here down to Moose Jaw or Regina either by foot or ride there on the back of a donkey.

Mary is a poor, humble girl who isn’t yet married but is already with child in a time when she could be executed for this and Mary is anticipating a very long journey by foot or on the back of a donkey right around the time she is supposed to give birth, Luke 1:46-49, “And Mary said:  ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— Holy is His name.’” Mary - in this state - finds herself blessed.

Now, I have spoken to many people in the last few days and weeks and there are quite a few people around here who have very real troubles around this time of year. As Christmas is coming; how blessed do we feel? The lead up to Christmas is often a very stressful time. Do we, when our life seems challenging, almost overwhelming, do we –like Mary- consider ourselves blessed?

I know that there are people in this city and I know that there are people in this congregation who are going through some really difficult times. I have heard stories recently in our city of eviction notices, of addiction struggles, of custody battles, of illness, and of life and death battles. I have heard of direct demonic attack. There are families that have been torn apart who because of restraining orders can’t even see each other when they transfer their children from one home to another – they have a tragically but aptly called ‘broken family’ and Christmas is coming. There are so many people in the hospital. There is injury. There is illness. There is even death. Many have even lost almost everything but Christmas is coming. Mary is in her circumstance with all that is involved in it and Mary is praising God.

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent and Advent is a time of waiting for Christmas. As the smoke from the forest fires of troubles, of depression, of oppression, of adversity, of sin, of circumstance surround us so much so that we cannot see anything through the life around us, Christmas is still coming. The lead up to Christmas is often a very stressful time. Do we, when our life seems challenging, almost overwhelming, do we –like Mary – praise the Lord, considering ourselves blessed?

Mary continues her greeting to Elisabeth praising God. She says of God, Luke 1: 50-55:

 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
      from generation to generation.
 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
      he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
      but has lifted up the humble.
 He has filled the hungry with good things
      but has sent the rich away empty.
 He has helped his servant Israel,
      remembering to be merciful
 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
      even as he said to our fathers."

Mary in the midst of all that she is in the midst of, Mary speaks about God’s mercy to all who fear Him (Luke 1:50); she remembers that He performs mighty deeds with His arm (Luke 1:51). She praises God for remaining faithful to His covenant with Abraham, blessing all the nations of the earth (Luke 1:55, see Genesis 12:3). She praises God, Who faithfully fulfils His covenant with Abraham and his descendants even though they – even though we – were faithless over and over again (Romans 3:3,4). Mary’s life is not easy. And Christmas is coming. Her son will be born after a long way from home and placed in an animal’s feeding trough. Her son will grow up and eventually suffer a state execution at the hands of her country’s occupiers and at the urging or her own religious leaders – Christmas is coming.

Mary is singing her song of praise to God in this circumstance. There is another interesting part of Mary’s song of praise that I think merits attention here in that it refers to either just before, just after, or at the very moment when Jesus returns. We have spoken about Christmas and waiting for the birth of the Messiah, the incarnation of Christ, but we are also waiting for Jesus to come back. Mary says that at that time – when he returns the rulers of this age will be brought down (Luke 1:52). There will be no more corrupt politicians. There will be no more election fraud scandals; there will be no more bribery scandals. There will be no more handing people over to be tortured. We will not have Prime Ministers who hate the poor or Presidents in our world inventing weapons of mass destruction or picking up peace prizes en route to escalating wars against some of the poorest people on earth. The rulers of our age – it says in verse 52 – the rulers of our age will be brought down from their thrones. Corrupt Presidents and dishonest Prime Ministers will be replaced by the King of Kings and the Prince of Peace whose government will never stop ruling and being peaceful (Isaiah 9:6-7).

We will no longer be subservient to brutal economic systems in which one man get rich as over 25 000 children die every day and where today nearly 1 billion people have not even been taught how to read a book when the Lord has provided more than enough recourses for the whole world to be fed and clothed and otherwise taken care of many, many, many times over.[6] These systems of oppression will end. Mary and the Bible says the rulers of this world will be brought low. We will no longer see a situation where people become millionaires for appearing on a screen or playing baseball while others cannot afford to clothe themselves. In our world today there is pornography, which horribly is North America’s most lucrative pastime. In the United States, pornography revenue is more than all money made from professional football, baseball and basketball combined. The money made by US pornography exceeds the revenues of all their major TV networks combined. Child pornography alone generates in excess of $3 billion annually:[7] all while thousands upon thousands of people are dying of malnutrition. The systems and rulers who oversee all of this will be brought down. This will come to an end.

The greatest in this world shall become the least and the least shall become the greatest. Jesus is the great equalizer. When he comes back those in power and luxury (which may be many of us here) will experience His justice and those who are hungry and humbled here will be lifted up and be fed.

Advent is about waiting and this is what we are waiting for and this is what we are praying for as we drive through the smoke of the forest fires of corrupt leaders and their world and all of the trials and tribulations that accompany it. And as we are waiting, as we act in faith doing our part like the sheep in Matthew’s parable of the sheep and the goats by giving the hungry something to eat, giving the thirsty something to drink, inviting in the stranger, clothing the naked, looking after the sick and visiting those in prison (Matthew 25:31-40); we look forward to the day when Christ returns and all of the injustice is finally set right. Jesus’ Advent 2000 years ago was a foretaste of the justice and mercy that lies ahead when he returns. And as we show mercy to our neighbours, we show that we belong to His world that is to come rather than to this present evil age – and this is important because as sure as Christmas is coming, Christ is coming back – so as bad as things may seem as we are driving through the smoke of the forest fires of our troubles that make it so dark that maybe we cannot even see, we must remember that just as Jesus was dwelling in Mary’s womb as they were eagerly waiting for him to come, so too now as the Holy Spirit is indwelling in us as we are eagerly waiting for Jesus to come again; the world is in its ninth month, the smoke is clearing, Jesus is coming and Jesus is coming soon and when He does, everything will be alright. I promise. Christmas is coming.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Cf. Strong's Greek Dictionary

[2] Cf. NT Wright and James Dunn. An Evening Conversation on Paul with James D.G. Dunn and N.T. Wright Available online at: http://www.thepaulpage.com/an-evening-conversation-on-paul-with-james-d-g-dunn-and-n-t-wright/

[3] Cf. Culpepper, 51. Lenski, 69, Ellis, 75.

[4] Now betrothal is not quite like engagements of today. In those days a man and his wife were committed to each other at the engagement ceremony. They did have a public ceremony with witnesses and the more. They did each gain a marital status, complete with rights and responsibilities and if Joseph had died after their engagement ceremony but prior to their marriage ceremony, Mary would still be considered a widow with all the responsibilities and rights (or lack thereof) of a widow. The betrothal was very different then anything we have today and even though Mary would be Joseph’s legal wife, after this engagement ceremony rather than going off to live with one’s husband, the wife usually returned to her father’s household for a period of up to a year. Cf. E. Earle Ellis, 71 and R. Alan Culpepper, 51. See also Captain Michael Ramsay, Luke 1:26-37: Do You Believe? Presented to the Nipawin Corps 14 December 2008. Available on-line at http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/12/luke-126-37-do-you-believe.html

[5] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Matthew 1:18-25: Do you believe? Presented to each Nipawin and Tisdale Corps, 24 December 2007 and CFOT chapel in Winnipeg, December 2006. Available on-line at http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/12/matthew-118-25-do-you-believe.html

[6] Global Issues: Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All. Cited December 15, 2009. Available on-line: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

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

Week 11: Numbers 3:4a: Worship

A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 27 November 2014 and River Street Cafe, Tuesday 27 June 2017

Read Numbers 3:2-4

Two of Aaron’s children have died: his oldest two sons “fell dead before the LORD when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before Him in the Desert of Sinai. They had no sons; so only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron” (Num 3:3,4; cf. Lev.10:1).

Just as the whole generation who left Egypt will die in their sins before they enter the Promised Land (except Joshua and Caleb), two of Aaron’s children including his first-born son die here before the LORD.

Scholar Ronald B. Allen (The Expositors Bible Commentary, Version 4.0.2) comments on this passage: “‘Unauthorized fire’ translates a Hebrew expression that is seemingly deliberately obscure, as though the narrator finds the very concept to be distasteful... The essential issue here is that Nadab and Abihu were using fire that the Lord had not commanded (Lev 10:1). The pain of the account is strengthened by its brevity and mystery. We are left at a loss to explain their motivation, just as we do not know the precise form of their error. Were they rebellious or presumptuous? Were they careless or ignorant? Or was their sin some combination of these and other things? Because of the prohibition of wine and beer among the priests in their priestly service in Leviticus 10:8-11, it may be inferred that these sons of Aaron had committed their offence against God while in a drunken state.” But we do not know.

Whatever their sin – and we can only guess the specifics of it – the Lord chose him for a special task: Aaron’s oldest son, Nadab, was assumed heir to the High Priesthood. He was supposed to lead the Israelites in worship and service to the LORD. He was a significant man in a significant position to lead others in serving God. He was potentially even more in power, authority, responsibility, than many famous church leaders in our world today. He however fell short and he fell dead. And it may not have been an act of outward rebellion as much as careless neglect of the LORD.

This should be a warning to us. He fell short and he fell dead while coming before the LORD for worship. How do we come before the LORD? Are we ever rebellious or presumptuous, careless or ignorant or do we ever possess a combination of these in our worship? Are we actually worshiping as we sing in church? Are we worshiping as we listen to the Scriptures and the sermon on Sunday morning? Are we worshiping as we pray together at prayer meetings or in church? Do we love the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul, and strength (Deut 6:5) or are we sometimes careless or half-hearted in our worship? How can we prepare ourselves so that we fully worship the Lord together?

www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] Based on the sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay, Numbers 3:4: This is a test…. Presented to The Salvation Army Nipawin, March 01, 2009. On-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/02/numbers-34-this-is-test.html

Numbers 21:1-9, 2 Kings 18:1-4, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, John 3:13:16: No Nehushtan; Salvation comes from Christ Alone.

Presented to Swift Current corps of The Salvation Army, 21 September 2014 by Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay; Toronto's Warehouse Mission 614, 13 November 2017; and Alberni Valley Ministries, 07 May 2023

This is the original version. To view the 2017 Toronto version, click here:  http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2017/11/numbers-211-9-2-kings-181-4-john-31316.html

 

To view the 2023 Alberni Valley Version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2023/05/numbers-211-9-2-kings-181-4-1.html 

 

Elements of this sermon were incorporated into Major Michael Ramsay's sermon to the Alberni Valley Community Lenten Service, John 3:16-21: Snake Clowns, 10 March 2024 which you can view here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2024/03/john-316-21-snake-clowns.html
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The following is allegedly from the US Government Peace Corps Manual for its volunteers who work in the Amazon Jungle. It tells what to do in case an anaconda attacks you:

1. If you are attacked by an anaconda do not run. The snake is faster than you are.

2. Lie flat on the ground. Put your arms tight against your sides, your legs tight against one another.

3. Tuck your chin in.

4. The snake will come and begin to nudge and climb over your body.

5. Do not panic.

6. After the snake has examined you, it will begin to swallow you from your feet and always from the end. Permit the snake to swallow your feet and ankles. Do not panic.

7. The snake will now begin to swallow your legs into its body. You must lie perfectly still. This will take a long time.

8. When the snake has reached your knees, slowly and with as little movement as possible, reach down, take your knife and very gently slide it into the side of the snake’s mouth between the edge of its mouth and your leg, then suddenly rip upwards, severing the snake’s head.

9. Be sure you have your knife.

10. If at this point you notice that you have forgotten your knife, you may wish that you had paid attention in class; and now would be a good time to pray if you aren’t already.

Our pericope today is also about snakes. It is actually a passage that has interested me for quite a while, Numbers 21:1-9. We notice in Numbers 21:1-3 that the Israelites are on a spiritual high. They have just made a vow to the Lord and the Lord has given them a victory against the Canaanites.

This would be like after next weekend when all of the men who are going will be returning from Men’s Camp. We will all have great stories of not only fishing but of praying and encountering God together. Men’s camps always have such a strong spiritual component that you have the opportunity to come home filled with great spiritual food. It was at a men’s camp a few years ago where Dusty acknowledged that he was called by the Lord to Officership and he is now a Lieutenant in The Salvation Army. Men’s Camp, like youth councils and I assume women’s camp, often leaves people on fire for the Lord, on a spiritual high.

It is very much this kind of feeling that the Israelites have at this moment, verses 1-3, but there is even more than that. They have just won a military victory, a physical contest. That would be akin to and even greater than winning a significant football game, hockey game, or soccer match: the adrenaline is flowing. They are excited. The Lord has delivered them. They are celebrating and telling all the stories, I imagine.

And then, verses 4-9, the people revert to the complaining we spoke about last week that led to the Exodus generation forfeiting the salvation of the Promised Land.[1] They complain against God and against Moses and they even refer to the very bread from heaven that God has been lovingly sending to them to keep them alive. They refer to this bread from heaven through which God is saving them from starvation, they refer to this bread from heaven – to which the Lord Jesus Himself is compared (John 6:22-59) – they say about this sustenance and salvation from the Lord – they say, “We detest that miserable food” (Numbers 21:5). How does that make their Heavenly Father feel?

Just like there were consequences for their parents complaining consistently about the Lord so too there are consequences for this generation rejecting their bread of God’s salvation. This time the consequence is a plague of snakes. Who here likes snakes? Who here likes big snakes and poisonous snakes? And there is even more. “The Hebrew phrase hannehashim hasserapim, [here means literally] ‘the burning snakes’ or, better, ‘the snakes that produce burning’. The ‘fire’ was in their venom, of course… The poison in these snakebites must have been particularly virulent, leading to horrible, agonizing deaths.”[2] The Lord sends these poisonous serpents among the Israelites and they bite them and the bitten Israelites die probably painfully. They perish from the venom of the serpents. Just as Adam and Eve died at the hand of the serpent – so to speak - (Genesis 3) so too the children of Israel.

At this point they realize what they are doing in blaming God and complaining and rejecting the very life that He is providing for them. They realize their sin and they repent of it. They call out to Moses; they beseech him to speak on their behalf to God, saying that they are sorry and they ask for deliverance from the consequences of their sins.

God then tells Moses that He will yet again deliver these people. God will save them still. Verses 8-9, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’  So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.”

This is great and this is exciting. This deliverance from the serpents meant so much to the Israelites that they actually kept that bronze snake around for a long time to remember this miracle. They kept this symbol of what God had done with them their whole time in the desert. They kept this bronze snake with them throughout the whole life and leadership of Joshua, son of Nun during the conquest of Canaan. They kept the bronze snake safe and secure for generations. They kept it through the roughly 400 years of alternating oppression and liberation in the time of the Judges. They kept this bronze snake with them through the entire existence of the United Kingdom: through the reigns of Kings Saul, David, and Solomon. They kept this bronze serpent during the divided kingdoms, using it during worship, through many kings and political administrations, through many wars and trials and tribulations and throughout all these generations. They used this snake in worship for much longer a time period than the time between today and when the Europeans first organized in Quebec, Montreal, or later landed on Plymouth Rock. For hundreds of years they used this bronze snake that Moses had made in the desert as a part of their worship and then, 1 Kings 18:1-4:

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father [ancestor] David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)

This is the snake that God had Moses himself make hundreds of years earlier in the desert to deliver the people from the serpents. This is a heritage item, an historic artifact; this is a part of worship. This snake is a symbol of the healing that God did in the desert and this snake was originally a symbol of salvation and now the King of Judah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord by breaking it into pieces, destroying it forever. Why would God have this originally powerful symbol of salvation created by Moses destroyed after the people of God had gone to great effort over hundreds and hundreds of years of adversity and affluence to preserved it? Why would God have destroyed this powerful symbol of salvation that He Himself ordered created in the first place?

He had it destroyed because instead of using it as a tool to worship God; they began worshiping the bronze snake itself.[3] It had become an idol. Are there things like this in the churches today? In Bible study this week we had a great discussion around 1 Corinthians 10 and what exactly are baptism and communion.[4] Are these tools that help us to worship God or can they become ‘Nehushtan’? Can people come to think that they are saved by being baptized or taking communion rather than or as well as by Jesus? Can people take good things that may have even been ordained and commissioned by God Himself – like the snake and maybe like some contemporary church practices - and adore those things more than, instead of, or as well as God?

Worship roughly means to adore. Are there things in the churches, in our religions, in our lives; are there things – or people - that maybe God has used to great effect in our lives that we now adore as we are supposed to adore God? For those who grew up in the Army here: what if we removed the flag? What if we removed the uniform? What if we removed the Mercy Seat, the very spot where we are to come to meet with God Himself? Would we grumble every time we came here? Do we love these articles as well as we love God? Is there an author or a theologian or a pastor or a person that you follow so closely that whatever he, she or they say must be correct; so much so that you don’t even bother to test their words against the Scriptures or to refine them through the fires of prayer anymore? But just accept them blindly? Returning to our Bible study on 1 Corinthians, I have even heard some people say that it is necessary to be baptized in water to be saved. The water of baptism – just like any of these other great rituals in the churches - is Moses’ snake:[5] It was ordained to point us to the power of Christ; it is meant to point us towards Christ’s Salvation. As soon as we start thinking that salvation comes through any item like the Mercy Seat; or food like communion; or a rite like baptism we are in trouble. If we think that without that rite, item or other than we are going to hell, when we are supposed to know that salvation comes from Christ alone, then that symbol of God Himself could very well become ‘Nehushtan’ in our lives and need to be removed.

So hear me correctly: it is when we start to adore things in and of themselves that are meant to help us adore God that they need to removed from our lives; when good things that used to help us worship God become things we worship, then we need to remove them – no matter how important they are to us: no matter how long we have used them as part of worship, if we start to adore them alongside God than they become ‘Nehushtan’. (That is one reason why we don’t take communion here on Sunday mornings.)

Now that being said – listen carefully to me here - communion, baptism, the Mercy Seat, and any other aid to worship as it is a very important aid to bring us close to God and as any of these aids help us express our love of Christ and our joy at communing with Him, as these things bring us close to God and lead us to think of and adore Christ than these are very important but anything or anyone who we adore alongside or worship instead of Christ needs to be removed from our life so that indeed we can worship Christ alone for Salvation indeed comes from Christ alone.

There is one more thing that I want to point out here. Just like 1 Corinthians 10 points out that water is a symbol of our very important baptism into Christ; so John Chapters 12 and 3 point out that that snake in the desert is a symbol of our all important salvation in Jesus Christ.[6]

Jesus says, John 12:32: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 3:13-16: “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man [Jesus] must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

This bronze snake that God used was cast aside and destroyed after centuries of use because it began to compete with the Lord -whom it foretells- for the very hearts and minds and adoration of His people.[7] But what that bronze snakes represents is alive and well and that is our salvation through Jesus Christ, through Christ alone. So today I encourage us all that if there is anything – even something in the church or a good person or a good mentor in our lives – if there is anything that we have come to see as our salvation other than Christ, I invite us to leave it here in the sanctuary or even on the altar today and never to pick it up again. There is only one who can handle all of our problems and there is not a single thing that we can face in our lives that God cannot handle; so I invite us here today in all that we are going through, in all that we experience, in all that we do; to always look for our salvation from Christ and from Christ alone. 

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] Captain Michael Ramsay, Exodus 14, Numbers 14: Let It Go! (Sheepspeak: 14 September 2014: Swift Current, Sk.) Available online at http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/09/exodus-14-numbers-14-let-it-go.html

[2] Ronald B. Allen, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Numbers/Exposition of Numbers/I. The Experience of the First Generation in the Desert (1:1-25:18)/B. The Rebellion and Judgment of a Fearful People (11:1-25:18)/2. A climax of rebellion and hope and the end of their dying (21:1-25:18)/b. The bronze snake (21:4-9), Book Version: 4.0.2

[3] Donald J. Wiseman, 1 and 2 Kings: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1993 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 9), S. 291

[4] Cf. Simon J. Kistemaker, ‘1 Corinthians’ in New Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 324. They are ‘spiritual food’ every bit as much as manna and water from the Rock.

[5] Cf. J. Paul Sampley, ‘1 Corinthians’ in New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 10, ed Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002), 916.

[6] Cf. Merrill C. Tenney, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:John/Exposition of John/II. The Public Ministry of the Word (1:19-12:50)/A. The Beginning Ministry (1:19-4:54)/6. The interview with Nicodemus (2:23-3:21)/a. Nicodemus's visit (2:23-3:15), Book Version: 4.0.2 

[7] Cf. Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 112

1 Corinthians 1:4-18: Eternal Dividends Over Dividers

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 23 March 2014 by Captain Michael Ramsay
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Weather from Environment Canada:

Revenue Canada:

Like Rick Mercer, today we are talking about divisions; so I have a little quiz for you:

1. Who is the best football team?

2. Who is the best hockey team?

3. What is the best province in Canada?

4. What is the second greatest province in Canada?

5. Coke or Pepsi?

6. Here’s a divisive one. Don’t answer this one: Conservative, NDP, Green, or Liberal?

My father often sums up any difficulties he had with his sister growing up with their weekly rivalry: Hockey Night in Canada or Lassie.

Divisions can cause serious problems and there are some divisions showing up in the Christian church at Corinth as Paul writes them this letter. Paul eases gently into this topic with the small church. He begins by telling them how much he appreciates them: he thanks God for the grace that has been given them through Jesus. He tells them how he has noticed that Jesus has enriched them in knowledge and in speech, in sharing the testimony of Christ, and in every spiritual gift such as these. He further encourages them that Jesus will continue to strengthen them, reminding them that God is faithful and that God will make all of them holy.

Paul says, in essence, ‘I love you; God is doing these great things in you and God will continue to do great things in and through you – so much so that you will actually be completely blameless by the time Jesus comes back.’ He says, ‘you folks are wonderful but there is one little problem that needs addressing.’[1] Actually it isn’t a little problem; this is more of a big problem so Paul invokes the name and title of Jesus Christ directly in his appeal to them. 1 Corinthians 1:10, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

This congregation is doing great but there are divisions in the church. The jar is still holding together but cracks are starting to show and unless those cracks are repaired soon the whole thing will burst, fragmenting the church, breaking it to pieces through the divisions so that nothing they say or do will hold any water, anymore. This is serious. And this is the actual language he is using. The Greek word for divisions in this passage literally means ‘tears’ or ‘cracks’.[2] Paul is warning if this continues the whole church will tear, crack and break apart.

We know how divisions can tear people apart. In the news these days is Ukraine. Ukraine has been in a political association with Russia for 350 years or so now. Ukraine has long been respected by Russia as the birthplace of the Russian people. Khrushchev, a Ukrainian was one of the Soviet Union’s most famous leaders. However, political intrigue, foreign meddling, and espionage in Ukraine have now led to division that a generation ago no one could have possibly foretold. And now some of the great economic and military powers of our world today: The US, Russia, Europe are throwing around rhetoric at such a feverish pitch that world has not heard in a long time. It is even being compared to the language used by the great powers in the build up to the First World War. Lest we forget. Lest we forget. Divisions can break nations apart. Divisions can tear people apart.

It is easy to divide people. Our political system is based on it. I don’t even have TV and I have already seen the Conservative attack ads targeting Justin Trudeau. Our politicians –like the earlier Rick Mercer clip showed- have become better and better with every generation at dividing Canadians. I still remember the attack ads against Ignateiff: ‘Michael Ignatieff: just visiting’, they said. The whole point of this is to divide Canadians and it does. You see those ads and automatically you are polarized. You either believe them, despising their target or you are revolted by the ads and the people that made them: instantly we are divided. Divisions can break nations apart. Divisions can tear people apart.

That is bad enough when it happens in politics; it is terrible when it happens to nations; it can be disastrous when it happens in the churches. As one denomination turns on another, people become angry, then people become apathetic and then people give up on going to church entirely and then people give up on God entirely – walking away from all the blessings of that eternal salvation that was bought for us at such a great price. It is one thing to argue about football. It is another to disagree about politics. It is unacceptable, Paul says, for there to be infighting in the Church. Christ is not divided. Divisions can break churches apart. Divisions can tear people apart.

In Bible study this week we paraphrased 1 Corinthians 1:12-13 like this: “What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to The Salvation Army”, or “I belong to a Reformed Church (Calvinist, Alliance, Presbyterian)”, or “I belong to the Catholic Church.” Has Christ been divided? Was Martin Luther (John Wesley, John Knox, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, William Booth, Menno Simons, etc.) or even your local pastor (Captain Michael Ramsay) crucified for you? Or were you baptised into the name of your minister (Captain Susan Ramsay) or the person who ‘led you to Christ’?

I think the sins of denominationalism have in no small way contributed to the lower worshipper turnout in the churches especially among the young and the marginalized. We need to be united in our message of hope to the young and we need to be united in our availability to the marginalized. We need to be united in our message. We need to be united in our hope.

But there is more than that. This passage isn’t actually explicitly addressing the sins associated with denominationalism.[3] There is only one Christian church that we know of in the city of Corinth at this time and that church isn’t probably very big. This passage is speaking about divisions in a church probably about the same size as ours. This passage is talking about cliques and this passage is talking about quarrels among its members (1 Corinthians 1:11).

There are many things that we can fight about in the church. I have heard of churches that have been divided over the colour of the choir robes or matters of equally eternal importance. The main thing that Paul is addressing here is that some people are claiming to follow one leader who has come through their local church and maybe saw a few of them baptized. Some claim that they prefer the message of another leader who has probably visited them. Still others claim that they prefer yet another. The leaders aren’t in conflict with each other but the people are.

We know that in the early church there were many people who would travel around preaching and teaching and sharing the gospel. Three really big names have either come to speak to this church in Corinth at different times or else some of its members have heard them speak somewhere else. I imagine then that when people in the church were having disagreements they could then start to say, ‘Well, I heard Cephas say something different than what you are telling me and we know that Cephas is Peter and we know that Peter is the one whom Jesus said he would build his whole church upon’ (Matthew 16:18); to this someone could reply, ‘well I heard the apostle Paul say something different and isn’t Paul the apostle for the Gentiles like us’ (Acts 15:17); and some could say, ‘Well, I knew Apollos personally and he even baptized me and my whole family so whatever I say comes out of a real relationship with a leader.’

People are using the names of the early church leaders in vain and this is making Paul quite angry. Paul says, ‘we are not divided so why are you?’ Paul says, ‘Christ didn’t give some truth for Peter to follow, some for Paul, and some for Apollos’. He asks rhetorically, Verse 13, “Is Christ divided? Was [I], Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in [my name] the name of Paul?” No.

This is important. Paul then goes on to speak about baptism. Paul says, Verses 14-17:

I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

We know what water baptism was used for in the first century, right? It was a common initiation rite (Cf. John 3:22; Acts 2:41, 8:36-38, 16:11-15; 1 Corinthians 15:28-30; see also John 4:1-2, Acts 10:48, and Mark 3, Matthew 3). Like today people will often make pledges or sign pieces of paper; in the eastern Mediterranean world of the first century, people would be baptized. In the Bible we have examples of them using baptism much the same way that evangelicals use the ‘Sinner’s Prayer’ today. You wouldn’t go through classes before you were baptized. Like with Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch: the moment he accepted Christ he was baptized (Acts 8:26-40). Not only that but in 1 Corinthians here and elsewhere we have examples of people when they come to faith baptizing their entire household – their family, their staff, their live stalk – dedicating it all to the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:16; See also Acts 16:15,33 and 18:8). We even have examples of people being baptized on behalf of those who have already died (1 Corinthians 15:29). We don’t know what this is all about but I presume it relates to recognizing what the Lord has done through people who served God and passed on before they ever heard the Good News of Jesus Christ’s Salvation for the world. Baptism was used as a rite not unlike today’s ‘Sinners Prayer’ when people come to faith.

Now this, you can tell, would often create a bond between the persons who were baptized and the person who baptized them. We often have a bond with the person who ‘leads us to the Lord.’ I know I often think about and pray for those I prayed with as they dedicated their lives to God.

In Corinth, baptism may have been contributing somewhat to the divisions. The Bible says that Jesus, Peter, Paul, and others baptized. They did not make it a part of their regular practice though (Cf. John 3:22, 4:1-2, Acts 2:41, 8:36-38, 10:48), none of them. Paul says here that his main purpose is to share the Gospel rather than to baptize. As others hear it, it is their job to baptize others; it is our job to lead people to the Lord. The Great Commission that Jesus gives us after his return from the dead is for us to baptize people in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:18-20) – Not to rally around different leaders who may have baptized one or another of us personally. Jesus doesn’t say to bring people to apostles or priests or pastors to be baptized, he tells us to go forth and baptize everyone in His name because there is only one Christ and there is only one baptism so it doesn’t matter who of us does the baptizing.[4] It doesn’t matter who of us leads people to Christ.

This is why Paul is thankful that he had not baptized many of the members of this church personally: he can honestly say that he hasn’t done something to contribute to their divisions. This is a good reason why Jesus and Peter may have had others baptizing those in the flock: so that people aren’t divided, so that the church is not divided. After all, there really is only one baptism for the Christian and that baptism – no matter who performs the rite – is into the Lord (Ephesians 4:5).

Baptism is good but the enemy used baptism to divide the Corinthians. Baptism contributed to their divisions; what contributes to ours?  What divisions are in our corps? What cracks and tears are threatening to break our congregation? Do some of us disagree about what preachers we have heard on the radio or TV? Do some of us argue about adiaphora, matters of spiritual indifference? Do some of us divide over making dinners or visiting others? Do some of us divide over who is leading a ministry or a night out? Do some of us divide over things like politics or sports or music or other such temporal divisions?

Today I invite us to ask ourselves, is there anything that divides us form our Saviour? Is there anything stopping me from worshipping alongside my neighbour? Is there anything stopping me from serving alongside my neighbour? Is there anything that the enemy can use to cause strife and division within our my own heart and soul, if so we need to hand it to the Lord so that indeed we can have the powerful unified ministry that Christ desires for us.

Let us pray.

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[1] Cf. Richard B. Hays, 1 Corinthians. Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press Press, 1985 (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Perching), 20-21

[2] Cf. W. Harold Mare, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:1 Corinthians/Exposition of 1 Corinthians/III. The Problem of Divisions in the Church (1:10-17), Book Version: 4.0.2

[3] Cf. Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 7), S. 45

[4] Cf. J. Paul Sampley, The First Letter to the Corinthians. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2002 (NIB X), 807.