25 August 2024 Service: Angels and Other Things (Romans 5:1-5)

1.     Welcome: (36 sec)

Welcome to The Salvation Army. Susan, Heather and I are unable to be here this morning. Today we are very Thankful to God for Nancy Wilmot and The Scoop on Port Alberni for putting this service together on the screen. So I do invite you during the singing today to sing enthusiastically. I think we have picked some good songs you will know with which to worship our Lord.

 

2.     ANNOUNCEMENTS / Upcoming Events (2:00)

 

·       This week the kids have been at performing arts camp at The Salvation Army Camp Sunrise in Gibsons

 

·       This upcoming week the Ramsays are at Officer Retreat at Gibsons

 

·       September is always a busy time at The Salvation Army:

 

o   All our programs supporting the schools get up and running again: the breakfast programs, the lunch programs

o   All our church programs: kids, Bible studies etc get going again

 

o   Rena and Tim will be leading the services at the seniors homes

o   and each weekend it seems like we have something else:

 

·       September 7th is the fall fair parade would you like to help us decorate a float again this year?

 

·       September 14th is the toy run. Let me know if you can help cook hamburgers and hotdogs or help us collect toys or anything else

 

·       September 21st is the big community run food drive spearheaded by Bruce and Dorothy and team

 

·       and September 28th to 31st is Men's Camp. I'll be going this year. A session mate of mine is the guest speaker. Let me know if you would like to go to that and I will register you. It should be good!

 

·       And then Augst 30th and 31st TSA is involved in Overdose awareness. Travis will be heading that up if you need more information

 

·       and also on August 31st we will be helping with the Bullhead derby. I invite you to listen to what Carol-Anne had to say about last year's bullhead derby. It will be just as much fun this year!

 

3.     VIDEO: Bullhead Derby (1:51) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzSOQwsX1so

 

4.     Let us pray... (20 sec)

 

5.     SONG INTRO (7 sec): We know that we can always lean on the Lord so I would like you to Join us in singing Blessed be the Name of the Lord

 

6.     VIDEO: Blessed be the Name of the Lord (2:47) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97wp_OP3mxk

 

7.     TESTIMONY INTRO (8 sec): Did you sing? we can try another song in a moment, first here is a testimony about how God used the Army in Remi's life...

 

8.      VIDEO: Remi Tom (1:41) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq0vWJXNGOU&t=16s

 

9.     SPEAKING (3:50): The next two songs we are going to sing you should recognize them very well. We often sing them when Susan isn’t here and I need to find songs on-line. they are very important to me.

 

The second one will be I'll fly away. This one has a real special place in my heart. When I served in Stony mountain Pennitentiary for two year in Winnipeg. The worship team, every service would play this song. It talks about the prison doors being open and the guys flying away. I always think of my friends in Stony Mountain Penitentiary when I hear it.

 

And as I am recorded and there is no one to stop me I will ramble on a little about that. Those fellows will always have such a close place in my heart. My first ever sermon that I preached as an ordained and commissioned officer was to my friends in Stony Mountain penitentiary. It was among the most gloriously humbling experiences in my life. You know when God gives you a word for someone and even more than that they have a word for you. I compared their experiences getting ready to be released to prison to mine about to be released from College to Jesus' about to be released into ministry and how the temptations we all face will be similar and so we can take heart from Jesus’ story for as he can over come he can help us over come.

 

And the next song we will sing is I Saw the Light by Hank Williams. This song means the world be me because of a couple of things. one, this is one of the songs that my friends in Stoney Mountain always requested and 2 because of when I was serving down in Galveston Texas after Hurricane Ike destroyed that area. Most people escaped - except for the really poor people and those who wanted to stay. Some chose to die; some were to poor to live.

 

I was down there helping before people started returning. We were providing food for people who would be unable to eat if it wasn’t for our food trucks. There was no electricity or amenities. My job was to debrief people who were leaving, going back home as well as to provide emotional and spiritual support to people in need.

 

One day I was debriefing a fellow who was going to go back home. He himself, was in rehab, and had not that long ago given his life to the Lord. He told me about Paul, a young man who lived in the ghetto with his whole family under one roof. He came out to the food truck everyday and began helping, and getting to know the people and then he let the workers know that he wanted to give his life to the Lord. The workers had never helped anyone with that before so they invited me to come. I did. The next day, I helped our friend who was going home lead his friend, teh young Paul to the Lord. We prayed and gave him a Bible and then we met the angels. 2 angels in a pickup truck. There is no way they could have known what we were doing. They drove into the parking lot, played "I Saw the Light" on their radio and then they were gone. They had just come down from heaven to celebrate Paul's salvation with us. Let's all sing I saw the light and then I'll Fly away.

 

10. SONG: I Saw the Light (2:44) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zndKvAVUHl0&list=RDzndKvAVUHl0&start_radio=1&rv=97wp_OP3mxk

 

11. SONG: I'll Fly Away (2:11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMf5nep8Q6g&list=RDzndKvAVUHl0&index=24

 

12. VIDEO CLIP INTRO (1:00) The hope that Paul grabbed hold of is available to us all both for eternity and for now. We are going to go to a time where we can give God our tithes and our offerings but first I would like you to watch this clip. This clip is about a young man who swam Sproat lake to raise funds for his mission trip. Elly, who volunteered with our kids program in the past is also going on that same mission trip. at the end of this clip you will see how to donate to any of the kids going, or if you would like to make a donation to Elliana, just right Elly on an envelope and put it in the offering plate.

 

Please enjoy this clip.

 

13. VIDEO: Sproat Lake Swim (3:53) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z37VbGaRq0

 

14.  SONG AND OFFERING INTRO (30 sec) I will now invite the ushers forward; let us pray...

 

15. VIDEO: Tis so sweet to Trust in Jesus (5:09) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DdgkvnsHjM

 

16.  SCRIPTURE, REFLECTION, PRAYER, VIDEO INTRO (6:53)

 

a.     Read Romans 5:1-5 (51 sec)

 

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

 

b.    Reflection (5:55)

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. In the past week or so someone I knew here hanged himself. He is the third person I know since I have lived in Port Alberni, 6 years? 7 years? Who has hanged himself.

 

I can't even count on both hands, all my fingers and all my toes the number times friends of mine have overdosed. Many of those time fatal. How many of those are on purpose. I think of the hopelessness that many people struggle with every day. I implore you to please share with someone the reason for your hope so that they don't need to struggle through this life alone!

 

I have one more story to tell you today.

 

One morning when we were missionaries on Vancouver's downtown eastside, I was mugged. It was early in the morning and I was on Main and Hastings – that most infamous intersection in this most infamous neighbourhood - and I was on the phone with Susan who was out of town at the time.

 

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…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 with my life, the mugger escaped with my briefcase, my laptop, and the program files for the kids.

 

It was when I was walking back, completely distraught and despondent, that I experienced a miracle: 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. God sent His messenger to prepare us for impending challenges ahead.

 

In the next months a number of tragedies and struggles would confront our family. We were to receive serious, vocal, practical and other opposition from the Enemy through even people very close to us. We had to consciously protect even our children from harm; the foe is relentless.

 

The Apostle Paul says here that we should rejoice in our suffering because - if indeed our suffering is for the gospel - it will produce perseverance and you know what perseverance is good for, right? It gives us the ability to get through more suffering and difficult times and you know why God gives us the ability to get through more suffering and difficult times? …Because we’ve got more suffering and difficult times to get through still. So as we rejoice in our perseverance through difficult times we can rejoice because we will be ready for the even more difficult times that lay ahead.

 

Romans 5: “...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).

 

I do hope you will take my encouragement to encourage someone you know so they can experience the hope that Jesus offers us every day

 

c.     PRAYER: Let us pray (27 Sec)

 

d.     VIDEO INTRO: I want to encourage you with one more thought. Here are some ways that each of you as part of us here are contributing to hope in our community. (20 sec)

 

17. VIDEO: The Salvation Army We're Always Here (0:50) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIIvQRHGoNs

 

18. SONG INTRO (0.38) Now just before we go we will sing another song that is connected to hope and to both my time with the people in Galveston and the folks at Stony mountain penitentiary, we sang the song in both places, as we do sing it in so many place, a song about grace inspired to a person saved by grace, amazing grace.

 

19. VIDEO: Amazing Grace. (4:02) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhChKHBJFok

 

20.PRAYER AND BENEDICTION (40 sec)

Psalm 25:1-10: Our Leader in Times of Trouble

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries by Captain Michael Ramsay, 28 November 2021

Psalm 25 is an acrostic poem which means that every line begins with a different letter in the Hebrew Alphabet. If it was our alphabet, it would run A through Z in sequence. It is a poem written during some very difficult times. We, now, are in some very difficult times: Flooding around the province, fires in the summer, the plague that still ravages the world and seems to mutate almost at will (if that were possible); our economy is in shambles and we are making it worse; our country is more and more involved in many -at best- questionable aggressive international actions; our country is divided over things like vaccine passports and vaccine mandates. People are scared. People are mean. People are uncertain. All of this is coming across on social media and in person. I have heard multiple stories of people ‘losing it’ and I think we have each probably encountered someone ‘losing it’, getting noticeably upset in public when they never would have before. That person ‘losing it’ in some cases may even have been us. These are some very difficult times. Psalm 25 is an ABC poem written by someone in very difficult times. Let us take a look at the first 10 Verses of this poem, those in the lectionary for today and let us find some encouragement from this ABC poem as we look at an equivalent of letters A through I. (I have adapted it slightly here to fit that form)

 

A.

Always to you Lord, I lift my Soul

B.

Benevolent God, in you I trust…

 

In our struggles today with all that we already mentioned and the more personal, immediate things that we are each facing today, let us take a deep breath; let us sit maybe in silence for a while; let us lift our thoughts and our hearts to God. Let us release our minds from all the things that want to work us up into a frenzy and let us instead place our trust in God.

 

… do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. 

C.

Champion us, do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 

 

Lord as we come to you today with all of the things we are struggling with; Lord as we come to you in vulnerability, aware of the forces and powers and principalities aligning against us, please champion us, please do not let those who wish to divide and conquer us succeed. Please help us not to tear at each other to bits but rather to be unified in our love for you. Please may we not tear and be torn apart. Please help us to persevere in peace. Please may we not be put to shame.

 

D.

Do make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. 

E.

Everyday lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. 

 

God, please help me to know what to do in these times; You are my salvation; God, please let me know what to think in these times; You are my salvation; God please show me how to show love to my neighbour in these times, even though they may be my accusers and tormenters in these time. Lord please help me to persevere; You are my salvation; please help me to always follow You in truth which is love and forgiveness. Lord, please help me to quiet myself so I may have Your peace in these times.

 

F.

Forgiveness and Mercy: Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. 

 

Lord you are merciful on everyone. May I be the same. May we be the same. May we be charitable with one another. We are blessed through your covenant faithfulness. Each of us can think back on troubles in our lives and the older we are and the more troubles we have had, the more experiences we have that we can remember your never-failing faithfulness. You have always been faithful in pulling us through so that we have survived even until today and you continue to pull us through so that we may survive even until tomorrow and eternity. Lord, may we never forget your love, your mercy, your faithfulness and may we always be faithful and merciful with one another.

G.

Gracious God, do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!

 

Lord, I appeal to your mercy. I appeal to your forgiveness and your never-ending love. I know that I have done and said many things in the past. I know I have thought many uncharitable things. I know I have made comments that were not and are not okay. I know I have done actions and said words that are harmful. Lord, please forgive me and thank you for forgiving me my sins and the harmful things I have done, said, and thought.

H.

He is Good and upright; therefore, the LORD instructs sinners in the way.

 

God is good. He loves all of us. Even those of us who fail and flail about. When hate grabs our heart, and despair, and helplessness, and unforgiveness, and all else that can grab ahold of us and drag us under, the Lord is here offering to teach us the ways of forgiveness that lead to peace. Unforgiveness is one of the key things that rob us of peace and love. It is only through forgiving others that any of us can ever hope to have peace. Unforgiveness is a self-inflicted wound. It is only we who can heap that debilitating injury upon ourselves. The Lord can free us from its suffocating grasp. The Lord taught us that in His life, in His Death, and He continues to teach us that in His resurrection life. Love overcomes death. In the Lord, we can be free.

 

I.

In what is right, He leads the humble and teaches the humble His way.

J.

All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. 

 

As he instructs the sinners; so too does he lead the humble. As we humble ourselves before the Lord in our times of trouble, He will lead us through. As we humble ourselves to realize that we may not always be correct, as we humble ourselves to acknowledge that we do not know everything, as we humble ourselves to see that we cannot solve the problems of the world – much less the problems in our own lives – all by ourselves, as we humble ourselves to follow the LORD, He will lead us through our troubles.

And this is the hope that I wish to leave us with today. On this Advent Sunday, 2000+ years after the birth of our saviour and 2000+ years closer to His return, I want to encourage us all to turn to the Prince of Peace, experience His love and forgiveness and indeed, as we do, He can and will see us through even the most difficult of times.

Let us pray.

 

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Romans 14:4-12: The Apocalypse is Nuanced

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries by Captain Michael Ramsay, 14 November 2021

The other week the kids and I were able to join Susan and her parents in the BC Legislature as they honoured her father for all the work he did for the people of BC. It was nice to have everyone’s names mentioned too.  

We then got to stay for question period and that was ‘a whole nother matter’. It started off innocuous enough. It actually reminded me of when I was in Grade 6. We each took turns public speaking. Someone would have a timer. You had to be as close to 2 minutes as possible and not go over. The MLAs were doing this very well. I am sure they must have all passed Grade 6 with flying colours... And then it got interesting. 

The clock was set for half-an-hour or so but unlike the 2-minute speeches, this time limit meant… absolutely nothing. The time was done and the politicians were not done; so they kept talking. The opposition, all except one lowly Green Party member who obviously didn’t get the memo, were all asking the same question over and over again about a government policy around Autism: ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’  One after another would read a comment from someone in their riding and then they would ask, ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’ to which Mitzi Dean, the minister responsible, would respond, ‘it is not a claw back’; the next person would read another letter and ask the very same question ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’ to which the ever more frustrated minister would respond, ‘it is not a claw back!’ and this went on for well over the half-an-hour allocated for this: ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’ ‘It is not a claw back!’  

I got to thinking (sarcastically) during this whole show, ‘wow. What a good use of taxpayer money this is.’ Here we have some of the highest paid employees in the province giving Grade 6 level speeches followed by asking each other questions that no one really answered and that no one was really listening to anyway, even if they did. I began to think, what a colossal waste of money is our so-called democracy. 

Then we went upstairs to a ceremony where they honoured Susan’s dad for all the work he had done as leader of the NDP, leader of the Opposition, and as an MLA and MP for this community for decades. They spoke about many of the great things he accomplished, his principles, and even read from some of his speeches. His first ever speech in the house was quoted by more than one person. In it he made a great stand for the people of Port Alberni and argued passionately the case of the local First Nations (he would of course, in later years, be the federal critic for Indian Affairs, as it was then called.) Susan also made one of the best speeches honouring her father, what he had done, and who he is. 

It struck me then that on the same day as we saw question period which pointed out how seemingly useless our system of government and our leaders can be, we also saw how useful and valuable our leaders can be: both at the same time. When I was thinking about all this Romans 14: 4 came to mind: Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall.  

Then I got to thinking – well, that is life in general; isn’t it? We can all and each be equal parts good and useful and bad and useless; sometimes all at the same time, can’t we? (I know I can!) 

Sometimes maybe we paint the world a little too black and white; sometimes we can throw the baby out with the bathwater; sometimes we can say that because so-and-so was wrong or bad on this occasion then everything they say is wrong or bad. I think sometimes we need to remember that when we disagree with each other it might even be the case that neither of us is wrong… or maybe both of us are? Maybe we are both right and wrong all at the same time too. Some examples from Romans 14:5&6:  

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God… [And Verse 10] Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 

There are many things going on in this world right now. I have spoken a lot about the anguish I have experienced praying and having to make decisions about vaccine passports and Covid-19; so, I am not going to go into that too much today but any of you who have heard me talk have heard me wrestle with the nuances of this. I was chatting about how troubled I was with that the other week to Nancy Wilmot and she had some words of wisdom. She said to me something along the lines of, “Who thought the apocalypse would be so nuanced and multi-layered?” That really resonates with me. I told her I’d quote her. I immediately thought of the passage in the gospels where Jesus reminds us, Mark 13:32-33: 

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 

The Apocalypse is nuanced and multi-layered. We don’t know how precisely everything is going to unfold and when all this will end. There are many challenging things going on right now that require us to seek the Lord’s leading: all the questions around Covid-19 but also the opioid crisis and race relations and gender identity and a re-interpretation of history, and, and, and...  

I could really go on about some of the dangerous policies in place around ‘harm reduction’ these days. I have some real concerns about the way some of these policies are harming those who want to break their addictions and are even creating environments where new people are falling prey to addiction. I can get really worked up about this and Covid-19 policies and other things that directly affect us here. These are some of the many things that I am struggling with – and I know many of you have even more important, more immediate, and more personal things that you are dealing with right now. There are people we walk with on a daily basis whose actions often leave us wondering what is going on or can tempt us into anger, judgement, or frustration – but, in the midst of our frustrating time, here are two things I am learning from Romans Chapter 14 right now. 

One: outside of the body of Christ, we are not a Christian Country so, Romans 14:4, who am I to pass judgement on servants of another? Someone who doesn’t follow Christ, can’t be expected to act as if they do. (But we still should!) 

And two: even within the body of Christ, Romans 4:10-12: Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then, each of us will be accountable to God. 

Even amongst those of us who serve the Lord sometimes we are led to do different things. We shouldn’t despise one another. Life, even in our trying times, is confusing. As Nancy said, “who thought the apocalypse would be so nuanced and multi-layered?” It is - or at least our present time seems to be. 

There are many things happening right now. There are people making every kind of decision and as for myself, I probably won’t get everything right. You may not even get everything right- but maybe you will. The Lord, however, is always true and the Lord is always faithful. We need to seek Him in all we do. Verses 5&6 and this whole passage really speak to this: we need to seek the Lord in all of our decisions and whatever He tells us to do, we need to do it. As we are faithful to the Lord, He will provide.  

I will leave you with 2 testimonies here about this truth. One: Many of you know that it looked like we would have to lay off employees from the Thrift Store who are not able to get vaccinated for health and other reasons. This did not sit right with a lot of us. As we approached the Lord, He provided a way that we could provide for them and obey Headquarters’ vaccine mandate all at the same time. Both of those employees are able and willing to work at the Bread of Life until such time as they are allowed to work with the Army again. We faithfully sought the Lord in prayer and the Lord provides. 

Two: Some of you know that consultants that the government hired were trying to force us to hand out crack pipes and syringes to people struggling to be free from addiction in order for us to receive government funding that we had already been promised. We weren’t going to do that. The Salvation Army, the Bread of Life and the Drop-In Centre need to be safe places for people to go. People can already get whatever drug paraphernalia they want at ACAWS, the OPS, Island Health; what they really need is a safe place to go and be allowed to be sober if they so choose. To make a very long story short, we sought the Lord and the Lord provided. God used one of our employees to speak to people higher-up at the city and the consultants were over-ruled. We are still able to provide a safe place for people to go who are struggling with addiction. The Lord provides. 

Likewise, whatever you are struggling with today, whatever it is that is causing you to lose sleep or be preoccupied, whatever it is that threatens your peace of mind, your heart and soul, as we bring it to the Lord and stand firm in the way the Holy Spirit convicts us, He will deliver us. He will. Whatever you are facing today, He is able more than able to handle. He will bring you through to the other side. In Him and Him alone, we can place our trust. Let us pray. 

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Exodus 12:24-27 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26: Lest We Forget

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries by Captain Michael Ramsay (Padre, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 293), 07 November 2021

The Exodus passage that we read from today references the Passover. The Passover was deliverance that God brought to His people through some terrible times. We have been struggling through the plague of Covid-19 since about March of 2020. The Passover occurred after the people had suffered through, not one plague (like we are struggling to do now) but 9 plagues. Can you imagine? Can you imagine if when we get through our current plague there are 8 more of these things waiting to greet us? …Each arguably worse than its predecessor? The Israelites suffered not one plague of Covid-19 but 9 plagues of various kinds: 

1. The Nile River turns to blood (7:14–25)

2. Plague of frogs (7:25–8:11)

3. Plague of gnats (8:12–15)

4. Plague of flies (8:20–32)

5. Plague on the livestalk (9:1–7)

6. Plague of boils (9:8–12)

7. Plague of hail (9:13-35)

8. Plague of locusts (10:1–20)

9. Plague of darkness (10:21–29) 

It was after the Ninth plague, when I am sure that everyone is completed exhausted from it all, that the Passover happens: the Angel of Death comes and kills the eldest child of every person and animal in a household, in a family – unless they were fully prepared. God saved the Hebrews. The Angel of Death passed over them. This salvation was so important that God instructed those who lived through the Passover to never forget it. They were to have a ceremony that they practiced annually down through the generations. Exodus 12:24-27a again

“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”

The ancient Israelites were asked to never forget the trials and tribulations that their forebearers suffered through hoping that future generations would never suffer in that way. They shall remember, lest they forget. 

This is Remembrance Sunday in the Church. In Canada we are asked never to forget what our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents went through in the World and other Wars. It is important that we remember so that we don’t have to live through those times ever again. I can’t imagine what Reinhart and Christa lived through with bombs dropping on their town and near their home. I can’t imagine what it is like to see a soldier attacking your town. I can’t imagine what Kirk, who is a member of our group here is going through right now even. As we speak he is back east getting treatment for PTSD brought on by some of the things he has seen in wartime and some of the things he has done. We are asked to remember our veterans and we are asked to remember the horror and sorrow of war so that future generations never need to live through what others experienced.

Just like with the World Wars and the Passover, Jesus and his disciples tell us that we are never to forget what Jesus has done for us between the cross and the empty tomb. Just like we have ceremonies here on Remembrance Day and the Israelites commemorated the Passover we are told in the Gospels and 1 Corinthians here to remember Jesus’ death and resurrection, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Paul says:

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Some denominations may take communion every day, every week, or every month to remember Christ’s death. Sundays are traditionally in the Church a time when we come together to remember Jesus’ resurrection; when people take communion they do so in remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection. Just like the ancient Hebrews remembered the Passover in a ceremony every year, Good Friday, even to this day, is a time when we in the Church gather to remember Jesus’ death and Easter Sunday is a time when we gather to remember his resurrection and look forward to his return. We will remember Him. Lest We Forget.

Just like on this Thursday upcoming we will gather in the cemetery to remember our service people, who offered their lives so that we may one day see an end to war; Easter, every Sunday and every day we have an opportunity and a responsibility to remember Christ who died and rose again so that we can all live forever more (if we so choose) and so that there may one day be an end to all war and a future time and place, a future realm of peace when even we ‘ain’t gonna study war no more’.

Let us pray

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Psalm 126: Imagine

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 24 October 2021, by Captain Michael Ramsay

1 When the Lord restored the people,

we were like those who dream.

2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then it was said among the nations,

“The Lord has done great things for them.”

3 The Lord has done great things for us,

and we rejoiced.

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

like the watercourses in the Negeb.

5 May those who sow in tears

reap with shouts of joy.

6 Those who go out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

carrying their sheaves.

 

Imagine this with me. You get up and get ready for your day. You head out to pick up some groceries before doing whatever else you have planned for the day. You don’t have a mask. You don’t go back to your car to get a mask; you don’t have one there either. You don’t go all the way back home; you have no idea where one might be there even though not long ago you had 2 or 3 readily accessible everywhere. You don’t have a mask. You don’t know where you might find one. But here is the thing – imagine this: You don’t need a mask. You don’t have to look for one because no one asks for you to wear one. 

 

Imagine then that you go for brunch with a friend. The is no hand sanitizer at the door. There are no directional arrows on the floor or the wall. No one meets you at the door or at your table asking to see your papers or scan your vaccine passport. Imagine that the table next to you is full of your friends. Imagine that you shake hands with your friends or even –if you are a hugger – hug. Imagine your friends ask you to join them. Imagine that the waitstaff pulls a table up to theirs for you and your friends to all sit down together. Imagine that you go up to the counter to pay the bill when you are done and there is no plexiglass separating you and the host or hostess. 

Imagine then that you go to a coffee shop with a friend later in the day. You drive there while listening to the radio and you don’t hear about any new covid-19 cases. You get to the coffee shop early so you check your phone or a newspaper while you are waiting and you see no news of a pandemic. You wait in line and are so close that you accidently touch the person in front of you – and neither of you notices! Imagine that as you stand in this line while people are talking all around you and you don’t hear anyone complaining about daily or weekly changes to the rules that guide our society. Your friend arrives, the two of you have a conversation and out of nowhere Covid-19 does come up in the conversation but neither of you can remember the names Dr. Bonnie, Dr. Tam, or Dr. Fauci or Dr. whomever else. 

Imagine then that you go home at night – you are afraid to go to sleep because you may wake up and realize this is all just a dream. You wake up the next morning... and... it’s true. Covid-19, the pandemic is just a memory. People’s fear and anguish about the virus is just a memory. People’s confusion and anger about what to do about it is just a memory.  

This Psalm is very much like that. It was probably written either while or just after the people of Israel were in exile or when they were in some other significant predicament.  The people of Israel were experiencing or anticipating a ‘new normal’ with all of the challenges that that inevitably held. Not everyone survived the exile. People in subsequent generations suffered and died. Individuals never saw their homes again. It got to the point where people thought that the time that they were going through was never going to end – and then it did. They got through it.

God got them through it. This was very likely a psalm that was sung regularly by pilgrims as they approached Jerusalem remembering and praising God for seeing them through this time.  When people did return it was not the same as before. There were many challenges ahead. But today in this psalm there is much celebration! God has delivered them just as God is delivering and will deliver us through the pandemic

Just like we can imagine the joy in our lives when this pandemic comes to an end, the author of this psalm captured the moment of excitement for the people. It is like the end of a war or the end of a plague, a global pandemic. We are in that moment now of dreaming of times to come, like many did in the Bible and many have done since and before. It is important that psalms like this are recorded and repeated (as they were)  because soon people forget about all the things that people suffered through and in times of prosperity people forget about all that God has brought us through – how faithful He is to us. It doesn’t take long to forget. But we need to remember because remembering is hope for we know that just as God has got us through predicaments in the past, He will get us through predicaments in the future and He will get us through this one now.  He is faithful!

Picture yourself in the hopefully very near future, months from now even when this is all over. Now imagine a year or two down the road. Imagine explaining to someone a few years from now about what it was like when the whole world once-upon-a-time had a lockdown. Imagine explaining to them how people had to isolate for two weeks if they went to certain places or saw certain people. Imagine explaining that all school was homeschool or online from Spring break until the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Imagine explaining to people how churches, restaurants, businesses, and many other things were actually forcibly shut down for months. Imagine explaining to people how you weren’t allowed to visit your parents and grandparents in seniors’ homes for months on end. Imagine explaining that some people were actually denied their last rites (or equivalent) by Health Authority staff or administrators. Imagine explaining to people that you weren’t even allowed to visit your sick and injured children in the hospital. Imagine explaining that there were actually many people who never or very rarely even left their homes for the better part of a year or more. Imagine explaining to someone that many people stopped going to work and either quit, went on leave, or worked from home for a long time, a year or more without going into the office. Imagine trying to explain to people that after the businesses slowly opened that your friend lost their job because they couldn’t actually get a government approved injection. Imagine telling someone how you personally were turned away from a restaurant once because your phone died and you forgot your laminated version of a vaccine passport. Imagine explaining to someone a few years from now what a vaccine passport even is! Imagine explaining to someone that feeling you have when you walk all the way across a parking lot to the store only to get to the door, realize that you don’t have a mask, and have to walk all the way back to your car. Imagine explaining to someone that – yes – you actually did have a facemask in your car. Imagine showing someone pictures of the different masks and visors we wore. Imagine Covid-19 as a distant memory. Imagine being able to gather and celebrate and enjoy life without so much of a thought to any of these things. Imagine the pandemic as a memory that fades so much that we actually have to strain to remember the details of the plague! Imagine! Imagine when we will say:

 

Psalm 126

1 When the Lord restored us,

we were like those who dream.

2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then it was said among the nations,

“The Lord has done great things for them.”

3 The Lord has done great things for us,

and we rejoiced.

 

 Let it be, Lord; Let it be. Verse 4ff: 

 

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

like the watercourses in the Negeb.

5 May those who sow in tears

reap with shouts of joy.

6 Those who go out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

carrying their sheaves.

Let us pray.

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Mark 10:1-45: The Left and Right Privilege

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 17 October 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay

This is a very interesting passage. You need to picture this. Jesus has been teaching. His disciples are with him. They are helping. They are assisting. They are doing what needs to be done. They all serve Jesus but there isn’t really a hierarchy among the 12 of them; though some do have specific responsibilities: Home League, YPS, CSM, CFS, … okay maybe not these roles but they are a team working with Jesus as he is preaching, serving, and teaching. Jesus is a popular speaker, and he is on a speaking tour travelling from the north to the south, with his final show to be in Jerusalem in Judea. Jesus is not only teaching the large crowd of disciples, students, adherents, and interested public who come to hear him speak on his cross-Palestine tour, he is also teaching his 12 especially selected disciples, the ones with whom he will leave his ministry when he retires, is promoted, gets his raise (from the dead) and goes to be with the Father.

In the early part of Chapter 10 leading up to our passage today, Jesus has been teaching about some very important things. This chapter opens with Jesus telling the crowds and the Pharisees, that contrary to their laws, divorce is a non-starter with Jesus. He said that marriage is ordained by God and people cannot tear apart what God put together. Jesus forbids divorce.[1] He goes even one step farther when he is alone with his disciples: he says that if you remarry after you are divorced you are guilty of adultery. This may not sound like much to us today but then and there adultery was a serious legal matter: you could be killed for adultery. Jesus said if you get remarried you are guilty of a capital crime. I believe he does this to protect women.[2] They were very vulnerable to exploitation in the first century but that is another sermon for another time.[3] There is more than that too because some of the most significant victims of divorce, even still today, are children.[4]

After Jesus addresses the fate of vulnerable in and out of marriage; some moms, dads, or others who are there in the crowd with their children (children are always vulnerable and on the outside of adult activities) bring the kids to Jesus.[5] The disciples with Jesus try to stop this so that Jesus can deal with some ‘more important’ things – adult talk, or get back to what he was teaching about before he was so noticeably interrupted, or something else. Jesus stands up for the children the same way he stood up for the vulnerable by prohibiting divorce. He exalts the children. He notes that the children are coming to him with no agenda of their own. They are just coming to see him, like a little child who will hug a mascot of a character they love, or an even younger child whose face just lights up when they see their parents or even hears their voice. If we come to God like this, if we are like this, we will inherit the Kingdom of God ourselves.

A rich person probably saw this and was obviously quite concerned: he ran up to Jesus as he started on his way, it says, and fell on his knees before him, He is probably picking up on this theme: vulnerable are protected, excluded are exalted – what about him? What about the privileged people? Then, like now, it is the wealthy -far more than any other group - who have all the advantages in society. If you are part of the privileged group called ‘wealthy’, that is a trump card that cancels out any non-privileged cards you might have in your hand. (Again, this, like the preceding two pericopes, is a whole sermon series on its own.) Jesus tells this person whom I believe comes to Jesus with a very sincere heart, that he needs to give away not only all his privilege, all his excess; Jesus says he has to give away all his security, and become completely vulnerable to receive Jesus’ protection. The man is understandably heart-broken, sad. The disciples are understandably worried even; They ask in essence, ‘who is willing to do this? to give up everything? Anyone? Us even?’ They come right out and exclaim, Verse 26, ‘Who then can be saved?! Anyone?’

Jesus says no; with man this is impossible. He then offers them this: with God nothing is impossible. God can save them. Those who give up everything, who are vulnerable and thus rely fully on God can be saved. Peter then I imagine nervously checks with Jesus, Verse 28, ‘we have left everything to follow you…’. Can we be saved? Only those fully relying on God are saved in this discourse – but God can do anything. Jesus does put the disciples’ minds at ease, Verses 29-31, “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

It is after this, and after Jesus tells them some of the horrible things he is about to suffer by way of the crucifixion, et cetera that Mark tells us about the conversation that we read earlier today.

Verse 35: Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

Jesus has just been teaching to the crowds and all the disciples about how the vulnerable are protected, the excluded are exalted, the disadvantaged will be advantaged, those who seek for themselves will be left outside by themselves and then these two brothers (whom Jesus loves) come to Jesus seeking left and right privilege for themselves! Do they learn nothing from what Jesus teaches them?[6] Do we learn nothing from what Jesus teaches us?

Verse 38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

39 “We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with,

This cup is of course persecution and death; as Jesus said, Verses 33-34, he will be condemned to die, handed over to others, mocked, spat open, flogged and killed. This is the cup from which Jesus will drink before he heads into his glory through the resurrection. This is the cup from which the disciples may drink.[7] Jesus says, Verse 40, “but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” And, of course, the people on Jesus left and right, as he moved into His Glory were the thieves on the cross. At least one of whom joined him in Paradise very quickly thereafter.

          When the rest of the disciples hear that James and John were seeking privilege for themselves, when they hear that they want to be assured status as teacher’s pet. When they hear that James and John are trying to exalt themselves above everyone else – and especially the 10 of them! - they get quite upset. Verse 41, When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.

I imagine, they are all quite excited now! So Jesus puts all their minds at rest. Verse 42ff:

 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This is important. Everyone here, I think you have been doing great. Especially through Covid-19 (and other times), not worrying about yourself but going out of your way to include and involve others.

When people were most afraid of Covid-19 in our community, when people were most vulnerable; you were making food for people, you were handing out food to the most vulnerable; you were making food for those removed from society; you were going on the truck delivering meals to people in places where (even not during a pandemic) others are afraid to go. You prayed with people. You did not stop gathering as some churches got into a habit of doing, but you met together, even daily, you met together as the Church to serve God by serving your neighbour!

We have been blessed with a great opportunity to serve God and our neighbour through the pandemic but even beyond the plague; many of you here given up a lot in your life to serve God in community here for many, many years. Some of you have served God in full-time ministry for a time; many of you have served him full-heartedly in ministry while you were employed at other things. Many of you have given up hours and hours and days and days over many, many years serving God in the Church, in community. Many of you have led people to Christ. Many of you have taught people the Scriptures. Many of you have discipled children, women, men, and others. Many of you have fed and cared for those in need. Many of you have tithed religiously for your whole Christian life. Many of you have been willing to go without, so that you can faithfully give to God and the Church, and His ministry. This is what salvation looks like! This is what many of you are continuing to do and that is what many of you are continuing to experience!

This is my encouragement to you. Sometimes we get tired. Sometimes I get tired. Sometimes we are tempted to throw in the towel. Sometimes we can be tempted to look at friends, family members, or peers who have not given up their life in service to God and the Kingdom the way you here have. Sometimes we can look at them and then look at ourselves and wonder, is it worth it?

It is. It really is. Persevere my friends, persevere.  You are doing God’s work. This is what it looks like when you are saved![8] Jesus loves you and he will get you through everything and I know that many of you have given up much for Jesus and for the Kingdom and I would like to leave you with these words for you to reflect on whenever you need to be reminded of them, Mark 10: 29-31, “Truly I tell you…no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life...”

So my friends, keep up the good work. Jesus loves you and he will see you through to victory. He promises.

 

Let us pray.

 

---

[1] Cf. Victor Babajide Cole, “Mark 10:1-12: Teaching on Divorce” in Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 1214.

[2] Cf. David Smith, Mark: A Commentary for Bible Students (Indianapolis, USA: Wesleyan Publishing house, 2007), 191.

[3] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, "Matthew 5: Jesus' Election Speech and Moore," Sheepspeak.com, 27 October 2019, https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/10/matthew-5-jesus-election-speech-and.html

[4] Cf. NT Wright, Mark for Everyone (Louisville, US: WJK, 2004), 133.

[5] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, "As Christians do we have a responsibility to take care of the poor?" Nipawin Journal, January 2008. Cited from Sheepspeak.com, http://sheepspeak.com/sasknews.htm#poor

[6] Cf. David Smith, Mark: A Commentary for Bible Students (Indianapolis, USA: Wesleyan Publishing house, 2007), 200.

[7] Cf. Victor Babajide Cole, “Mark 10:35-45: The Request of the Zebedee Brothers”, Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 1215.

[8] Cf. David Smith, Mark: A Commentary for Bible Students (Indianapolis, USA: Wesleyan Publishing house, 2007), 204.