Romans 5:3,4: Hope and an Angel on the Downtown Eastside.

Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on April 20, 2008; Swift Current Corps on August 09, 2009; Corps 614 Regent Park on May 15, 2016; and Alberni Valley Ministries on February 16, 2025 by Captain (Now Major) Michael Ramsay

  

This is the 2025 Alberni Valley version. To view the previous version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/04/romans-534-hope-and-angel-on-downtown.html

  

I have shared this story with you previously:

 

When our oldest two children were just little, we served with The Salvation Army in North America’s poorest postal code - Vancouver’s downtown eastside. I remember one day – one morning, I was mugged. I knew better but I wasn’t paying attention. It was early in the morning and I was right on Main and Hastings – that most infamous intersection in this most infamous neighbourhood and I was on the pay phone with Susan (remember those things!) Someone came running up behind me, grabbed my briefcase and tore down Main Street. In the briefcase was my laptop and all the information for the summer school program I was running for the kids in the area; so, like anyone mugged in the depths of skid row, I’m sure, I…well, I chased the mugger.

 

I followed him down Main Street through Chinatown across busy streets and around the myriad of mazes that are Vancouver’s back alleys. Scaring rats, jumping over sleeping street folk, I pursued my assailant. When I was within reach of him… I fell right in front of a bus and though I escaped from in front of the bus with my life, the mugger escaped with my briefcase, my laptop, and my files for the kids.

 

It was when I was walking back, completely distraught and despondent from this incident, that I experienced the miracle that happened: I encountered an angel, a messenger of God, in the back alleys of Vancouver’s storied downtown eastside. I can still remember vividly; he looked like a ‘dumpster diver;’ he prayed with me and he offered me these words of encouragement from Romans 5:3,4 “...but let us also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Inside I sighed. I knew he was right. God gave me these words to encourage me.

 

When the Apostle Paul recorded these words circa 55 AD in his letter to the Romans, he himself had already seen much suffering - he had already spent so much time under arrest, so much time in prison and even now he will be ultimately killed for his faith and tradition suggests that he was even beheaded by the Romans themselves.

 

In the first few verses of Chapter 5 Paul was not only warning the Romans about the persecution and suffering that was coming for him but he was also warning them about the suffering that was coming for them and ultimately he was warning us about the suffering that may be coming for us as we do the Lord’s bidding as well.

 

Now you’ll notice from our text today, that not only are we to endure our suffering but Paul says, depending on your translation, we are to rejoice and even boast in our suffering (cf. Phil 2:17; 1 Pet 4:6, 4:13). 1 Thessalonians 5:18 states that we are even to give thanks in all circumstances (cf. Phil 4:11) and Paul in Philippians 4:4 says, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.’

 

So this is important: we aren’t supposed to lick our wounds when we suffer for doing the Lord’s work; we are to rejoice. Now we should think about what exactly God and Paul are saying here for a moment because it does go against a lot of popular culture and indeed seems to oppose the so-called ‘prosperity gospel’ that is ever so prevalent in our affluent North American culture.

 

This prosperity heresy - the idea that wealth, health and prosperity come to those whom God loves but trials, tribulations and suffering on this earth come to those whom God hates - this prosperity heresy was apparently alive and well in Paul’s day as well but just like it was a lie then, it is not true now.

 

Paul says that we should rejoice in our suffering because - if indeed our suffering is for the gospel of which Paul is not ashamed (1:16) -our suffering will produce perseverance and you know what perseverance is good for right? It gives us the ability to get through more suffering and you know why God gives us that ability to get through more suffering: because we’ve got more difficult times to get through! So as we rejoice in our perseverance through these times we can rejoice because we will be ready for – the even more difficult times that are still to come but there is even more than that.

 

Paul says that through this perseverance we will also develop character. And what is character? 

 

Character is what you get when you survive suffering (joyfully?)

 

Here are some comics that give us Bill Waterson’s perspective:

 

Character is what you get when you survive suffering (joyfully?)

 

 … In my home growing up the phrase ‘It will build character’ was always the answer to the question. “Why should I do that? Why do I have to …rake the leaves, mow the lawn, clean my room, take grade six band? ...It will build character. Well more or less this is what Paul is saying

 

Paul really does say that we should enjoy our character-building experiences. (They are a means to the strength of the Lord.) In Philippians 1 Paul says that whatever happens, everything will be okay because living is Christ and even to die is gain because there is the resurrection ahead. We really have nothing to lose! To die is gain and to live, to live is Christ! (Phil 1:21)

 

Paul had a lot that was building his character with all his time in jail and the Roman Christians had great opportunities to develop character as they faced lions in the Coliseum and my mugging on the downtown eastside wasn’t our first experience with loss nor was it our last but it was directly related to our work for the Lord and this period was extremely significant in our lives.

 

When I was mugged and my laptop containing all the information for The Salvation Army’s tutoring ministry was stolen it was only the beginning. My foot was injured, my hands were inexplicably painfully swollen, my eye was injured (so painfully that I couldn’t even get up for days) and it was later re-injured too- I required surgery; Sarah-Grace, who was 2 at the time suffered seizures in front of our eyes, our car stopped working; we ran a transition house out of the DTES then: a person in our home was struggling with heroin addiction, the police visited our home and encouraged a roommate of ours to leave and so many more things that even a chain of attacks straight from the Enemy. We were serving the Lord, openly and abundantly and we were suffering as we did so and there was more to come.

 

Knowing all this was still to come, after my mugging the Lord sent His messenger - the angel in the form of a downtown eastside resident - to encourage me to perseverance. He told me specifically from Romans 5:3,4, to “...rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

 

What is Paul saying about suffering here? He is saying we have to rejoice in it but is he talking about any kind of unpleasant event? Any suffering? Not necessarily. The Greek word here (thlipseis) refers to, more literally, ‘pressure’ that is applied to Christians from the world, from God’s opponents (cf. John 15:18, 16:20). John Stott writes that Thlipseis is “almost a technical term for the suffering which God’s people must expect in [these] last days.” This suffering is something that we can expect as we do the will of God in these last days. When we serve the Lord, there is opposition both spiritual and practical and though the war is won, the battle rages fierce.

 

As we fight in this battle that is our life, there are people, powers and principalities who oppose God and who oppose us. As we fight in this battle, it develops our perseverance, it develops our character, we become like battle-hardened veterans experienced in engaging the foe. We are no longer green. Our character is being built. We know that we can endure. We know that we may live up to what has already been obtained (cf. Phil 3). We can be bold for the gospel (cf. Phil 1). We know we can be counted on to persevere through even more of whatever opposition, whatever pressure the enemy throws our way. We know we can, like Paul says here, we can have hope - because God will never leave us nor forsake us (Romans 3:3,4).

Jesus Christ himself suffered and he rose again on the third day. Jesus Christ himself endured and he is the reason for our hope. And what is our hope in that grows through this suffering, this perseverance and character-building experiences? What is this hope? This hope through Jesus Christ is in the power of the gospel, the power to transform us all (Ro 1:16), our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ who will never leave us nor forsake us and our hope is in the resurrection of the dead.

 

Paul knows, as we know, that when our bodies fade away it is not the end. We will be in paradise with our Lord but more than that: there is the hope of the ultimate resurrection of the dead. We will rise again.

 

And as the Lord has conquered Sin and Death, he will indeed continue to conquer our own sins that lure us to death and we can have confidence, we can have faith, we can have hope in the resurrection.

 

But even more than that - now I know that there are some serious struggles that each face us each here today. I remember when we were serving in Nipawin and Tisdale, Saskatchewan a father and son perished and another family lost their home in an explosion and fire that rocked the Nipawin.

 

Now our pets are often a source of comfort. Our cats and dogs offer us comfort when we are in times of need. The family whose house was lost in the explosion, they had a dog. The dog didn’t escape. The house exploded and fell in on him. The fire raged and ravaged the site all day and in the night. In the morning, just before 7am when I was bringing the firefighters and SaskEnergy people coffee, we heard it – barking. The dog was barking. You should have heard the firefighters cheer. You should have seen the excitement on their faces. They pulled the dog from the rubble and he wasn’t even hurt, not a bit. The Lord saved the dog. This provided hope for the fire fighters, hope for the SaskEnergy guys, hope for the Emergency Operations Centre staff, and comfort and hope for this family who had already suffered such loss. The Lord provides hope in our suffering.

 

(Some of the work you do at the Army here, btw, the Lord uses to provide that hope to people too – last week alone in this small community you served people 868 Breakfasts, 877 lunches, 946 dinners ​at the Bread of Life​ and 3942 meals to the shelters ​and from the food truck​. We have had 265 overnight guests at our shelter, and so much more)

 

The enemy will attack with whatever Thlipseis (pressure) he can muster. The Enemy does and will attack those of us here that serve the Lord. There is pressure but we must not give in to the temptation to surrender to the pressure. Instead we must boast in our sufferings, experience our new found endurance and character so that we too will continue to experience the faith, the joy, the hope that is in Christ Jesus.

 

Let us all, as Romans 5 says, “...rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” And this hope will never disappoint us (v.5).

 

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com 

Mark 6:30-44 (Matthew 14:13-21, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15): The Miraculous Feeding Continues.

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 22 September 2024 by Major Michael Ramsay. Based on the Message preached on 02 May 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay.

  

This is the 2024 Version, to read the much shorter 2021 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2021/04/matthew-1413-21-mark-630-44-luke-910-17.html

 

Today is a weekend to pray for the end of human trafficking. I have spoken about that a lot recently. The Lord blessed us at The Salvation Army to be used by Him to help out those Vietnamese workers who were living in deplorable conditions – right here in our community. I wasn’t actually going to speak about that today and I wont actually speak much about it. I do hope that we as a society can put an end to closed visas in our country soon or at least some day.

 

This week I actually had to sign an affidavit about all of that. The interpreter who helped with the situation in Port Alberni, the San Group is now suing. She is just a window washer. She has no money. They are suing her. I have spoken to lawyers (plural) this past week. It does seem intimidating. I had previously been warned about San Group. In the next week or so their legal team is going to cross examine me and others. One professional commented to me that this is not what people usually do in these circumstances – sue interpreters; it seems heavy handed in the least. It is intimidating. But I am not going to speak any more about that today. I have already used that as an illustration in two sermons here and one at Summer Rain in August.

 

September, without dealing with all this, has been a busy enough month. Many of you here have been working hard away. Many of you here have blessed us and others, as you have been blessed by serving our Lord and the community.

 

Yesterday was our big annual Thanksgiving food drive, sponsored by Foodbanks BC and spear-headed by Bruce and Dorothy Patterson and their church. You may know Bruce and Dorothy. They have come to our Christmas Eve service for a number of years and in the previous year or two have actually joined our rank of volunteers at the Army. Thank you to everyone who helped. We raised about 5000 pounds of food so far and an undisclosed amount of money. This will help a lot of people this time of year.

 

The weekend before that was the Toy Run. The Salvation Army in Alberni Valley has been involved in that since before we came to town. When we arrived, the Army had already taken over serving coffee and doughnuts at Little Qualicum Falls a couple of years prior .The Salvation Army then took over the Bread of Life Soup Kitchen and for two or three years provided a chilli and hotdog lunch on behalf of the Soup Kitchen at the Glenwood Centre at the end of their ride after providing a breakfast of coffee and doughnuts on behalf of the Army at the start of the ride. That was a lot of work with all the volunteers we needed and a very long day starting at 6am or so and ending when we picked up the toys in the evening or in the afternoon. I was blessed to be able to pray for the riders and this year our team of expert workers just concentrated on serving lunch instead of both doughnuts and lunch – you all did a great job! And many toys were raised for children and others in our community.

 

You all have been busy. The week prior to that we were at the Fall Fair and we were in the Fall Fair parade. This was a great opportunity to share with the community our testimony of how the Lord has used TSA in our community to serve our neighbours in Jesus’ name. Most of that service seems to be around food too! We are blessed to be the community soup kitchen and the community food bank and feed a lot of people. More than 14 000 just at the Bread of Life in August alone – multiply that by 12! That is not including all the families we feed through the foodbank and all the kids we feed through the breakfast and lunch programs when school is out. The Lord feeds a lot us people through us. And like I said, just yesterday we raised 5000 lbs of food for those in need in our community.

 

Today, in Mark’s Gospel, we read about the feeding of the 5000 by Jesus and his disciples. This is a very significant story. The writers of all four of the Gospels included it in their biography of Jesus’ and their record of his ministry. It is actually the only miracle that all four of the Gospel-writers mention. The authors John and Matthew were both present when this event occurred, and Luke’s version of this incident is recorded after some significant research. John Mark, whose account we read today, was certainly part of the inner circle of Jesus’ followers (remember from those of us who are part of the Tuesday night Bible Study: he was Barnabus’ companion on early missionary journey’s and Barnabus and Paul had a big fight about him); so Mark undoubtedly heard about this incident quite a bit - as he himself actually may or may not have been present for this as well.

 

John and Matthew were both there when this happened. John has a little bit different of a memory of this event than Matthew but no more of a difference of a recollection than Susan and I have over some of the events of our life and ministry.

 

This story struck me anew this week as I was looking for something in Mark to preach about. I was surprised to learn this week that I haven’t preached more often on this passage; it seems like a natural one for The Salvation Army to speak about – though I did reference it in a piece I wrote that was included in the 2008 book One Thing and the 2011 book One for All both by Commissioner James Knaggs and Major Stephen Court about a miracle God did while we were helping out with Emergency Disaster Services relief work in Texas years ago.

 

I am going to read an excerpt from my account in One Thing[i]:

Our canteens were instructed to make sure that they gave away all of their food before they came in for the night. They did not want food returned when people were going without. One canteen had some food left. It was getting late so they were seeking out someone to give their last Cambro (container) of food to. They prayed. One person then saw a line of about 12-18 tired and hungry looking construction workers so they headed over to offer them their food. They were really appreciative.

 

As they were feeding these men, a number of school busses filled with people pulled up. It is my understanding that they served over 800 meals at that location – no one went away hungry. Feeling blessed by what the Lord had done they started to clean up. (Now there was a non-believer, a Red Cross worker on their canteen with them today). Someone picked up the Cambro from which they fed the 800 meals and read from the side of it, ‘serves 90 meals’. The Lord fed more than eight times that number and no one went hungry. The Red Cross worker who was helping them on the truck that day began to cry. He said that he had never believed in God – until now. 

 

That is a real-life miracle that I will never forget. We have a similar miracle happening right here in the Alberni Valley on Vancouver Island today, right now. When the crowds in the disciples’ day were without food, Jesus said ‘you feed them!’ to which they replied, ‘we don’t have enough money to feed them!’ to which the response is still ‘no really, feed them!’ They do and God provides the food needed in the miraculous way He provided the needed food.[ii]

 

In the Alberni Valley here we have for a long time, long before we arrived, been used by the Lord to feed a lot of people in the Valley here. Throughout the pandemic we fed people hundreds of thousands of times – people who may not have eaten otherwise. At our height we were feeding more than 700 individuals a day and only God could have done that. Now we are providing breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Bread of Life soup kitchen seven days a week and other evening meals off the Salvation Army truck and at the Bread of Life and we are feeding even more than the 700 a day, which during covid-19 was a miraculous number! Now the miracle continues as we feed not only people shut-in in our community, families who need the food bank and people who eat at the soup kitchen; we also feed those who reside in our own shelter, the Friendship Centre Shelter on 8^th and the Tiny Homes and many more people in crises and more.

 

Feeding all the people the Lord fed through us during the pandemic: Think about this miracle. There is no way when Covid-19 hit that we could possibly have fed that amount of people and, honestly, the Bread of Life was broke. Jesus said to us “you feed them.” “We don’t have enough money.” The soup kitchen was close to turning out the lights forever when they approached the Army about serving the Lord and the community together before the pandemic and then the Lord produced miracle after miracle after miracle: we keep breaking bread to serve the crowds which seem to be without number and the Lord keeps producing more food with which to feed them. The Soup kitchen doors are open; and the agencies in this community: we are working together like we have never done before and we are continuing to feed people to a tune of more than 14 000 times a month which works out to more than 168 000 times a year at the soup kitchen alone, not including emergencies, the food truck and Christmas (!) and not including any of the families that the Lord uses us to feed from the food bank (!) and/or the schools – and we are still going strong. This is a miracle! And through this time more people have given their lives to the Lord here and we have faithfully put them to work. We continue to experience the miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes right here in the Valley each and every day. Praise be to God. May we continue to serve the food the He has multiplied and witness His Grace in our community.

 

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com 

Lessons from Lourdes (John 7, 4 and 5)

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 11 June 2023, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

John 7:37-38: On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”  

 

 

We went to Sanctuaire de Notre-Dame de Lourdes. They have healing water in a spring there under the church that you can walk right up to. The story of the healing spring and the cathedral goes a little like this: Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old peasant girl, on 11 February 1858 saw a vision of Mary, the mother of Jesus and was told to go and drink water from a spring which was to appear inside the grotto and wash herself with it. She did and she kept going there and by mid-July had seen Mary 18 times. She was also told to tell the priests to build a chapel at the grotto site. They did. The Cathedral was built over the spring and people – like us - still visit today.

 God is a God of miracles even today. There is a whole community built up around that healing. The rocks with healing water running from them – the Cathedral is built on top of those rocks - and people line up to touch the healing water flowing through them. There are also fountains with taps and troughs where people can touch the water. (This actually reminded me of a trip we took to Santuario de Chimaya in New Mexico in the USA – but there it was healing dirt instead of healing water - I have both healing dirt and holy water from there in my office.) In Lourdes, where we just were, there were nuns in habits everywhere. There were physicians and caretakers everywhere. There were patients, sick, and infirm everywhere. People in search of God and people in search of healing everywhere: People come from all over the world to hear God and be healed by Him. It reminds me of Luke 13.

Luke 13: 29-30: People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the Kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

 

Here is a picture of the lantern procession. People from the east, west, north, and south gather to take part. It was quite something. The Cathedral was right below our hotel room. We went down, got ourselves a couple of lanterns and joined them. There were thousands of people there – from all over the world, speaking in all kinds of languages, singing in all kinds of languages, praying in many languages. It reminded me of Acts 2

Acts 2:5-8: Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?

Now I did not notice the gift of tongues or more accurately the gift of hearing languages that is mentioned in Acts Chapter 2 but I did hear the words sung, recited and prayed in English, German, French, Spanish, Latin… and people were gathered from far away places. Groups would be there flying their national flags in the holy procession showing that they are part of the gathering of the nations like in Acts 2, Matthew 25 or Revelation. Nations from all over the world were gathered here together, today, on that day, expecting a miracle and many received miracles and they were worshipping our Lord at the Cathedral in Lourdes, France.

One of the things that was quite moving about this whole experience was just like the pericope we read from John Chapter 5 about the man wasn’t able to be healed because no one would bring him to the healing water. I am sure this passage must have been in the minds of so many people there: for at the front of the line of the procession were nuns and nurses and others pushing people in wheelchairs bringing them to the front of the line of people cueing up for the healing at the waters. This love and compassion also reminded me of Luke Chapter 5. Do you remember this story?

Luke 5:17-25: One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

I was really impressed to see the parade of nuns in habits and others each pushing someone in a wheelchair in the morning to the healing water and in the evening to the parade of worship and praise. People for more than one hundred years have loved their neighbours, their family members and others enough to save up enough money for a trip and travel, enough to take time off from their lives and their day-to-day responsibilities; people since the 19^th Century and even now are sacrificing and putting everything on hold to bring others to the water in Lourdes to be healed and to be saved. This is a perfect parable, an accurate analogy for our responsibility as Christians, as friends, as family members, as people who know the healing power of God and from where it comes.  John Chapter 4, that we read earlier tells us Jesus is the Living Water!

Now we all probably know that God doesn’t heal everyone how and when we expect as they are brought to the water in Lourdes. And, we all probably know from experience and other ways that God doesn’t heal everyone here, how and when we expect – even when they are brought to the Living Water of our Lord (sometime before Jesus’ return, of course, each of us will still have to die of something) but sometimes, so we know it is a miracle and so that we know that God is sovereign and sometimes so that we know God loves us, sometimes He heals us, through the Lord’s Living Water like He has healed many people through the Cathedral healing water in Lourdes.

          It is to this end today that I would like to encourage us all. May each of us here be as bold and as loving as those who bring their friends from all over the world to be healed by the water at Lourdes. Let us not hesitate to bring our friends and family to the Spring of Eternal Life and the healing power of our Lord and Saviour. We don’t need to take time off work, like maybe people do to visit France; we don’t have to book flights to introduce people to the healing water of the Lord Jesus; we don’t have to reschedule our whole life to introduce people to the Lord. We can simply call up or sit down with our loved ones and when they tell us of the healing they need both now and forever or when the Lord reveals to us a time and a place, we can simply fill that time and that place with the love of the Lord and point all those we love to the love to the spring of Eternal Life.

Let us pray

Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15: The feeding of the 5000, the 800, and the 152 000

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 02 May 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay and on 22 September 2024 by Major Michael Ramsay

 

This is the original 2021 version, to read the longer 2024 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2024/09/mark-630-44-matthew-1413-21-luke-910-17.html

 

Today we read about the feeding of the 5000 by Jesus and his disciples. This is a very significant story. The writers of all four of the Gospels included it in their biography of Jesus’ and their record of his ministry. It is actually the only miracle that all four of them noted. The authors John and Matthew were both present when this event occurred, and Luke’s version of this incident is recorded after some significant research. And John Mark was certainly part of the inner circle of Jesus’ followers afterwards and so he undoubtedly heard about this incident quite a bit - as he himself may or may not have been there as well.

 

John and Matthew were both there when this happened. John has a little bit different of a memory of this event than Matthew but no more of a difference of a recollection than Susan and I have over some of the events of our life and ministry.

 

This story struck me anew this week for a couple of reasons. One, I was surprised to learn this week that I have never preached on this passage before – though I did reference it in a piece I wrote that was included in the 2008 book One Thing and the 2011 book One for All by Commissioner James Knaggs and Major Stephen Court about a miracle God did while we were helping out with Emergency Disaster Services relief work in Texas. And EDS work is the second reason why this story stood out to me this week.

 

I am going to read an excerpt from my account in One Thing[i]:

 

Our canteens were instructed to make sure that they gave away all of their food before they came in for the night. They did not want food returned when people were going without. One canteen had some food left. It was getting late so they were seeking out someone to give their last Cambro (container) of food to. They prayed. One person then saw a line of about 12-18 tired and hungry looking construction workers so they headed over to offer them their food. They were really appreciative.

As they were feeding these men, a number of school busses filled with people pulled up. It is my understanding that they served over 800 meals at that location – no one went away hungry. Feeling blessed by what the Lord had done they started to clean up. (Now there was a non-believer, a Red Cross worker on their canteen with them today). Someone picked up the Cambro from which they fed the 800 meals and read from the side of it, ‘serves 90 meals’. The Lord fed more than eight times that number and no one went hungry. The Red Cross worker who was helping them on the truck that day began to cry. He said that he had never believed in God – until now.  

 

That is a real-life miracle that I will never forget. We have a similar miracle happening right here in the Alberni Valley on Vancouver Island today, right now. When the crowds in the disciples’ day were without food, Jesus said ‘you feed them!’ to which they replied, ‘we don’t have enough money to feed them!’ to which the response is still ‘no really, feed them!’ They do and God provides the food needed in whatever miraculous way He provided the needed food.[ii]

 

In the Alberni Valley here we have now fed people more than 152 000 times during the pandemic. At our height we were feeding more than 700 individuals a day. Now we are providing lunch at the Bread of Life soup kitchen, dinner and weekend meals off the Salvation Army truck, and evenings at the drop-in centre with Kuu-us.

 

Feeding 152 000: Think about this miracle. There is no way when Covid-19 hit that we could possibly have fed that amount of people and, honestly, the Bread of Life was broke. Jesus said to us “you feed them.” “We don’t have enough money.” The soup kitchen was close to turning out the lights forever when they approached the Army about serving the Lord and the community together before the pandemic and then the Lord produced miracle after miracle after miracle: we keep breaking bread to serve the crowds which seem to be without number and the Lord keeps producing more food with which to feed them. The Soup kitchen doors are open and the agencies in this community, we are working together like we have never done before and we are continuing to feed people to a tune of more than 152 000 times – and we are still going strong. This is a miracle! And through this time more people have given their lives to the Lord through the Army here and we have faithfully put them to work. We continue to experience the miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes right here in the Valley each and every day. Praise be to God.

 

Let us pray.

 

www.sheepspeak.com 

https://www.facebook.com/Salvogesis

 

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[i] Commissioner James Knaggs and Major Stephen Court, One for All (The Salvation Army USA Western: Frontier Press, 2011).

[ii] Pheme Perkins, Mark (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 602

The Miracles of Matthew 8:1-9:34

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, Port Alberni, BC, 24 November 2019 by Sarah-Grace, Rebecca, and Heather Ramsay.

To view a similar version presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 01 Sept 2013 click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2013/09/matthew-81-934-you-are-healed.html

It has been said that “The Miracle stories in [Matthew] 8:1-9:34 should not be interpreted in isolation, but each should be interpreted in the context of the section as a whole”.[1] Today we will try to do that focusing on the problem, the patient, who initiates the healing, what is Jesus' response, and what is Jesus' direction.

Matthew 8:1-4: When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

What is the problem? Leprosy (which really means any skin disease)

Who is the patient? a Leper (a social outcast)

How is this started? It is started by a man with leprosy who kneels before Jesus saying, “Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean”

What does Jesus say and do? He says “I am willing”, “Be clean” and then immediately the man is healed

What does Jesus then tell the person to do? He tells him to tell no one and show himself to the priest and offer sacrifices

This healing miracle is initiated by the man suffering from a skin disease. This man is shunned by his community. He is an outcast.

There are a couple of important things about this healing. 1) The way the leper approaches Jesus: he approaches Him with respect. He doesn’t command Jesus like Jesus is a genie in a bottle. Instead the man says, Verse 2, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” And 2) as he is healed, Jesus tells the man to offer the appropriate sacrifices to God as a testimony to the priests. We need to thank God for what he does in our lives and we need to share what he does with our religious leaders so that they have the opportunity to offer Glory to God as well.

Matthew 8:5-13: When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

What is the problem? Paralysis

Who is the Patient? A Roman Centurion’s servant (the employee of a foreign military occupier)

How does this start? The Centurion approaches Jesus in person rather than just sending a servant, which he could have done.

What does Jesus do? Jesus says, “I will go and heal him” or “Shall I come and heal him?” and then immediately the man is healed. Jesus then announces that the Kingdom of God is open to ANYONE who has faith and is faithful!

What does Jesus tell him to do? Jesus just tells him to go and witness the miracle.

One of the important things about this miracle is the patient's employer. The patient is the servant of a Roman Centurion. The Romans are an occupying military power. Many of Jesus’ followers are opposed to Rome and some even support the terrorists in their fight against Rome. Jesus still delivers the Roman's servant from paralysis.

The Roman Officer could have sent a servant to Jesus but he went himself. And when Jesus offered to come to his house to heal the servant, the Officer declined declaring that 1) he is unworthy of Jesus’ entering his house, and 2) he has that faith Jesus can heal the girl even from a distance!

This brings us to an important point. Jesus announces that the Kingdom of God is open to all who have faith and are faithful. Jesus tells us also that not everyone who is currently part of the ‘in group’ of our society or our churches will be a part of His eternal Kingdom. Some will be cast out. It is not ‘who you are’; it is not ‘what you do’; like so much in this life it is simply  a matter of ‘who you know’.

Matthew 8:14-15: When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

What is the problem? a Fever

Who is the Patient? Peter’s mother-in-law

What happens to start this? Nothing specified: “When Jesus came to Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever” 

What does Jesus do? He touches her hand and heals her

What does she do: She waits on the Lord

What does Jesus tell her to do? Nothing is mentioned

What makes this healing stand out from the others? First, the others show very humble people coming before the Lord intentionally and respectfully. In this episode it seems that Jesus initiates the healing: He goes to Peter’s house; He notices Peter’s mother-in-law and He heals her on the spot.

It is interesting too that right after she gets up from her sickbed she begins to wait on Him.  Can you imagine if the doctor came to your house, healed your mother-in-law and then she immediately got up and began waiting on the doctor? This is what it was like and this is the same gratitude we should show as God delivers us from our ailments and infirmities.

Matthew 8:16: When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

What is the problem and who are the patients? Many people who are demon-possessed

What happens to start this? The people are brought to Jesus

What does Jesus do? He drives out the spirits and heals the sick

This verse mentions neither the heart of those coming before the Lord nor their actions or beliefs after being healed but merely that Jesus “drove out the spirits with a word and healed the sick” (v.16). This passage is pointing out that these miracles fulfill the prophesy of Isaiah 53:4 - that Jesus is the Messiah.

Matthew 8:28-34: When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.  Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.

What is the problem? Demon-possession

Who are the patients? Two men living in the tombs (social outcasts)

What happens to start this? The violent men or the demons in them shout to Jesus, “What do you want from us, Son of God?” The demons then beg Jesus, ‘if you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

What does Jesus do? He said “Go!” and drives them the demons out. Then they go into the pigs and kill them..

What did Jesus tell them to do? "Go!"

This healing is interesting. Notice that the demons themselves provoke the encounter. “What do you want from us, Son of God?” “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” The demons then beg Jesus, ‘if you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” And Jesus does! When everyone finds this out and that the pigs are dead, they beg him to go away.

In the other miracles we've looked at so far, some people were coming to Jesus – like the Centurion and the leper - respectfully asking for mercy and some people, it appears as if Jesus just happens upon them – like Peter’s mother-in-law . But here he we have demons provoking Jesus to an action that no one seems to want and yet Jesus still heals these men.

Matthew 9:1-8: Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

What is the problem? Paralysis

Who is the Patient? A man

How does this start? Some friends brought him to Jesus

What did Jesus do? Jesus said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven” (v.2). Then after the teachers complained, accusing Jesus of blasphemy, Jesus healed the man.

What did Jesus tell them to do?  He said “But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Get up, take your mat and go home.’”

Friends are bringing a friend to Jesus. Jesus does not respond to the man because of the man; he responds because of the faithfulness of his friends. This is similar to the case of the Roman Centurion’s servant.

One thing that is interesting here is that instead of healing the man immediately Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.” I don’t imagine that this is why this man’s friends brought him to Jesus and I could almost expect a response of “Gee, thanks…” if the teachers of the law didn’t provoke Jesus.

The religious leaders are quite upset. They know that only God can forgive sins like this. They know that Jesus is claiming to be God; so Jesus says, “But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” The man is healed. There is a certain irony here. Jesus forgives the sins of the man because of the faithfulness of the friends who bring him to Jesus for healing and he heals the man in response to the teachers’ lack of faith in Jesus’ ability to forgive sins.

Matthew 9:18-26: While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.”  Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.  After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region.

There are two incidents intertwined here: What is the problem and who is the patient in the first one? A girl who died

How did this start? A synagogue leader came and knelt before Jesus saying ‘My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.’”

What did Jesus do? Jesus and his disciples went with the man to the house and threw out the mourners saying, “Go away, the girl is not dead but asleep.” Then he raised her from the dead.

After religious teachers provoke Jesus in the previous encounter, another religious leader comes to Jesus in desperation as his daughter has passed away. The leader is faithful in beseeching Jesus - even as his relatives laugh at Jesus. The synagogue leader's friends, relatives, and the mourners are put out of his house as he invites Jesus in. Jesus then raises the girl from the dead. No one other than the man apparently believes that Jesus will do this but when people see it with their own eyes, they believe and tell everyone that they know.

If we are bold in our faith and faithfulness, even as people mock us or laugh at us, they will see the power of God in our lives and so we should boldly and faithfully proclaim our faith so that they too may believe.

Connected to this is the story of the woman who was outcast because of her infirmity of continual or frequently repeated bleeding

How does this interaction begin: she came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, thinking, “‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’”

What does Jesus do? Jesus spoke and she was healed.

What does Jesus tell her? He tells her, “Take heart, daughter”

This lady barges upon the scene. She doesn’t have any of the requisite deference of the synagogue leader who is kneeling before the Lord at the time. This lady just sneaks up to Jesus and touches His clothes almost as if she is trying to steal a healing. Jesus notices her –of course- and tells her not to be afraid; He tells her, “Take heart, daughter … your faith has healed you.” This woman is seemingly afraid of Jesus but she knows He can heal her so she comes to Him. Jesus knows her fears. Jesus knows her struggles and Jesus heals her. Even if we are afraid of God, as we approach Him, He will meet us with love and forgiveness – no matter who we are. He loves us.

Matthew 9:27-31: As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

What is the problem?  Blindness

Who are the patients: Two men

What does Jesus do? Jesus asked them, “‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’

‘Yes, Lord,’ they reply. Then he touches their eyes, says, ‘According to your faith let it be done to you’; and their sight is restored.”

What does Jesus tell them to do? “Jesus warned them sternly, ‘See that no one knows about this.’ But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.”

In this story of healing, we have two blind fellows calling out for mercy. They call out to Jesus. Jesus goes inside, so they follow Him there too. Jesus then asks them if they believe. He hasn’t asked this of the other people but He asks it of these men before He heals them.

Jesus then tells them to tell no one but what do they do? They tell everyone! This seems to always happens in the Bible, even though Jesus knows that these men will disobey His directive, He still has compassion and heals their blindness. Our healing and wholeness isn’t dependent upon our faith and faithfulness; it is dependent upon the faithfulness of Christ. He knows what is best for us and if that is healing, then Christ will heal us.

Matthew 9:32-38: While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”

What is the problem? Demon-possession and muteness

Who is the patient? a man

How does this encounter begin? He was brought to Jesus

What did Jesus do? Jesus drove the demon out and the man could speak and he crowd was amazed  but the Pharisees said, ‘It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.’”

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

You will notice that there are many different ailments and illnesses and infirmities that Jesus heals. You will also notice that some of them are tied to demon -possession and some of them are not. I have seen some very possibly well-intentioned people hurt some vulnerable people a lot as they wrongly inform them that their illnesses are a direct result of demon-possession. This is not the case in all of these healings. Jesus does have the power to heal people who are wounded by demons but not every wound in life is delivered by devils. Sometimes people’s lives are the way they are for the glory of God.

We have seen people in The Salvation Army who have really been healed of cancer. We have seen people who have really been healed of HIV and AIDS. We know people who have been healed of diabetes. There are people in our congregation here today who have been really healed and really delivered from many different infirmities, illnesses, and addiction. The power of God is real. But I want to bring this to your attention:

There are fake healers out there too. We have probably all seen them. There are people who fake the power of God for their own gain or glory. Just because there are fakes don't be tricked into disbelieving the miracles Christ has performed in many of our lives.

There are people too who will take Scripture out of context and wrongly say that God will only heal you if you have enough faith; there are people who will take Scripture out of context and wrongly say that God will only heal you if you are good enough; There are people who will take Scripture out of context and wrongly say that God will only heal you if you repent of your sins. All of this is wrong.

Today, we read about God healing many different people in many different circumstances. we read of God healing people who were brought to Him. We read of God healing people who were not brought to Him. We read of God healing people who reached out to him. We read of God healing people who were dragged defiantly before Him. We read of God healing people who had no request nor expectation of healing from Him. We read of God healing people who persistently came to Him. And we read of God healing people who sincerely humbled themselves before Him.

Our text today shows that God heals people for the Glory of God. Jesus did not heal everyone who was sick in Palestine in the first century. Jesus did not heal everyone who had faith in Him in Palestine in the first century. Jesus did not raise every dead person in Palestine in the first century. Jesus did not raise every dead person who had faith in Him in Palestine in the first century.

I have heard many people say that whether or not God heals us has to do with whether we are good enough, holy enough, pure enough, or have faith enough. Our Scriptures today show us that that is patently false. It is a lie of the devils. The truth is – Matthew 7:11- that your Father in Heaven will give good gifts to his children and sometimes that gift is prolonged life here and now and sometimes that gift is an early return to Heaven above to be with Him and sometimes it is something else. In every case, our Father loves us and will give us exactly what we need to see, experience and know to enjoy everlasting life with Him both for now and forever.

For God so loved the entire world that He sent His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Let us pray.

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[1] M. Eugene Boring, ‘Matthew’, (NIB 8: Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1995), 222

[2] Cf. Daniel J. Harrington, ‘The Gospel of Matthew’, (Sacra Pagina 1: Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2007), 113.

[3] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, ‘Matthew 8:11-12: Keep Your Eye on the Ball’ Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army (Swift Current, SK: Sheepspeak.com: 18 July 2010). Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2010/07/matthew-811-12-keep-your-eye-on-ball.html

[4] Cf. Douglas R.A. Hare, ‘Matthew’, (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1993), 105 for a discussion of this as well as how it relates to Mark 5.

[5] Rebecca, Sarah-Grace, and Captain Michael Ramsay. 'Matthew 8:1-9:34: You are Healed'.Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 01 Sept 2013 http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2013/09/matthew-81-934-you-are-healed.html