Devotion 2.50/102: Luke 9:13a: Canteen

Presented to River Street Cafe, 26 May 2017

Read Luke 9:10-20

As many of you know, this week I returned from Ottawa where I was serving with The Salvation Army’s flood relief efforts. It was a great experience to be able to help people out in their time of need. There were many stories we heard and experienced in Ottawa. Today, I want to share a story from another deployment: the 2008 Galveston Hurricane Ike relief effort.

We had around 30 food trucks from which we helped serve 75 000 hot meals every day; many people told me that without The Salvation Army they wouldn’t have eaten at all.

I heard more than one account of a contemporary miracle paralleling that of the fish and the loaves. Our canteens were instructed to make sure that they gave away all of their food before they came in for the night. One canteen had some food left. It was getting late so they were seeking 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 buses 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.

In our Scripture today, I don’t think it is an accident that God and Luke put the story of Peter’s confession of faith directly after the feeding of the 5000. Luke leaves us to draw the natural conclusion from this miracle that indeed Jesus is the Christ and that God is a God of miracles. He performed the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 two thousand years ago and he performed the miracle of the feeding of the 800 seven years ago. He is still performing miracles today and in doing so, He is providing us opportunities to know and to lead others to know Jesus just like Peter did, and just like the Red Cross worker did.

So today, as we serve people out of the food bank and the River Street Café here, let us keep our eyes open to the miracles of God and let us be willing to help others come to know Jesus’ love through them.

www.sheepspeak.com 

1 Samuel 2:18-21 & 2 John 1-13: Love and Obey

Presented to 11am River Street service of 614 Warehouse Mission 14 May 2017 by Captain Michael Ramsay

To view a similar earlier version of this sermon presented to Swift Current Corps 08 May 2011, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/05/2-john-1-13-love-and-obey.html

Today is Mother’s Day: Here we celebrate women as much as mothers in our community. All of us do have moms though and it is a big deal when one becomes a mom.

My mom had her first Mother’s Day in the hospital, I was born a couple of days prior and in those days, apparently you were left in the hospital for a few days after giving birth rather than these days in maternity where they seem to have a quick ‘catch and release policy'.

I remember when Rebecca was born, my folks were quickly in the hospital to see us and Susan’s parents stayed with us for a while afterwards. When Sarah-Grace was born my folks were kind enough to come and look after Rebecca while Susan was in the hospital with baby Sarah-Grace. That was when we lived in the same city as they did. Just prior to Heather's birth my parents came to our city for a couple of weeks planning to help out after the baby’s birth - but apparently Heather and the doctor disagreed as to what her due date was and she arrived quite a few days late so my parents just got to introduce themselves to Heather before they had to return home. And Rebecca actually had chicken pox at the time so she had to wait to meet her sister.

My mom always tells the story about how important it was to my dad that I was born. It was so important that my dad actually come down to the hospital and see me arrive, even though on that very same evening there was… a Stanley Cup play-off game on. And it wasn’t just any play-off game, it was the final series when I was born and no I wasn’t born in July. The finals actually used to be in early May.

Today we are looking at the passage where Samuel's mom - who doesn't live with him; she only gets to see Samuel once a year - has a visitation. I can only imagine what it is like for her. She had been trying to have a child for a long time and then she finally has one and he doesn't even live with her. She only gets to see him once a year. They would go to church. She would receive a blessing and then she would go home. Later Hanna had other children who lived with her in another city. They had other siblings in a blended family and I don't know if they ever did know this brother. Samuel also had a blended family of sorts - he had two older boys he was raised with - maybe they were even adults when he was born but they were bad news. Even more then, I am sure Samuel and his mom both looked forward to these quick visits every year for many reasons. I am sure she probably cried too when they ended. Today Hanna is visiting little Samuel and giving him a single robe that she has lovingly made for him as she does every year - on these rare occasions when she sees her little child.

 Because it is Mothers' Day, I thought we would also look at 2 John. 2 John is a neat letter and this is how it opens: “The elder, To the chosen lady and her children whom I love in truth – and not I only, but also all who know the truth – because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever (2 John 1-2).” 2 John is addressed specifically to a woman and her children. This seems very appropriate for today. And scholars who like to research and talk about things tell us that either of the Greek words ‘chosen’ or ‘lady’ here, Electa or Kyria could also be translated as a proper name, so the opening of this letter might be ‘to the chosen Kyria’ or ‘to the Lady Electa’. This letter that we have in our NT is written to a very important Lady in the church. [1]

One more thing too: I don’t know how many people here know a little bit of Greek. Do you recognize the word ‘Kyria’? The male form of this word ‘Kyrios’- do we know, what that means? ‘Kyria’ means ‘lady’ and ‘Kyrios’, the masculine form of the word, means ‘lord’ - like Medieval language, 'Lord and Lady' - and the word is often used in the NT to refer to the Lord Jesus Christ himself.[2] This is an important term of respect. This lady is a very important lady who heads up the local Christian Church.

John[4] writes in this letter to her, 2 John 4-6:

It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

John assures them and us that God desires us to continue loving and obeying Him. God loves us and He wants us to continue experiencing that joy that comes from loving Him and the author of this letter, the presbyter, the elder, John tells the chosen lady that it gives him great joy to find some walking in the truth.

Now this letter was probably – like most of the NT letters - circulated around the churches in the Roman province of Asia. Do we know roughly what contemporary country is the old Roman province of Asia? (Turkey). This Roman province of Asia, Turkey, converted early to Christianity and ran as a near theocracy, a government dedicated to the glory of God, for the better part of a millennium (324-1453 CE): theoretically a millennial reign of Christ.[5]

The legacy of this lady in Asia here and many of her children (biological, spiritual, and otherwise) and her children’s children, and her children’s grandchildren, and her grandchildren’s grandchildren and so on all experienced the joy and the blessings that come from continuing to love and obey the Lord. This is exciting. Because of the faithfulness of this lady and other women, many are faithfully following Christ in our NT text today.

Because Hanna trusted God when she gave up her son, God used her to bless a whole nation. Hanna's little Samuel who stands before his mom in our OT text today and who will soon be missing her for another year will go on to rule and judge the whole country. God used Hanna. God used this lady in 2 John. God first revealed Jesus as Christ to a vulnerable Samaritan woman who was living with not her first man. The first people too who God ordained and commissioned to share the gospel of salvation after his resurrection where Mary, Mary, and Martha. These are each very different women from very different backgrounds who God used mightily to share His news of Salvation.

From history too I think of St. Monica of Hippo. No, just in case you were wondering, St. Monica of Hippo isn't our Monica here and she isn’t a Hippo and she isn't the patron saint of hippos. Hippo is the name of the Carthaginian city she came from. St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine, also of Hippo. We know who St. Augustine was, right? Much of western Christianity has been interpreted through the lens of his theology. I don't know if any of us have read a book or two of this ancient Carthaginian Christian academic. He wrote, most famously, ‘Confessions’ and ‘Of The City of God’. Augustine was one of the most important people to early Christianity and he was not originally a Christian. He was a pagan but his mom, Monica, prayed for him every night. She prayed for him every day. She prayed for him faithfully. St. Monica prayed for her son and she actually lived to see him transformed into a new creation as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a Mother’s Day present that would have been for her, if they had Mother’s Day back then, to see her son give his life to over to God’s will to have him continue to love and obey the Lord.

The same is true today of anyone who has ever prayed persistently for someone they love and then seen them come to the Lord. And the same must be true of Samuel's mom as she sees him grow up from a distance to be one of Israel's greatest prophets and its last judge and the lady (Kyria Electa) in 2nd John today as some of those she loves are continuing to walk in love and obedience to the Lord (2 John 4).  If we love God and love Christ, we shall show it by keeping His commands (John 14:15, 21; 15:10; 1 John 5:2–3). As we do, we will naturally love our neighbour for ‘he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law’ (Rom 13:8).[6] 

But, sadly,  there is some bad news in 2 John here too for as sure as some of Kyria Electra's spiritual children are continuing to walk in love and obedience to the Lord some are not. Some are no longer walking in love and obedience to Christ (cf. TSA doc. 9). Can anything be more sad for someone who loves you? After all, what good is it if one you love gains the whole world and yet forfeits her very own soul (Matthew 16:26, Mark 8:36)?

Some of this lady’s spiritual children, who were raised in the truth; some of this lady’s spiritual children, who saw the power of our resurrected Lord; some of this lady’s children, who experienced the blessings of growing up in the church and  maybe even a loving Christian home; some of these people – Verses 7-11 – some of these people she loves have fallen prey to deceivers and antichrists who – Verse 7 – say that Jesus Christ never came in the flesh (TSA doc. 4).

This lady is like a mother duck watching her children fly towards a wooden decoy only to be shot down by the evil one and delivered to their end in his dogs' teeth. This is tragic. John warns us, Verse 8, “Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.” Be careful not to let your ducklings walk towards the devils decoys, If we know the story of Eli, who is the priest who raises Hanna little son - Eli's own children (even though they have everything) walk away from obedience to the Lord and later, sadly, so do Samuel's own children, Hanna's grandchildren.

I think there are many ways that we can fall into the trap of inviting the enemy into our lives and feed the hounds of Hell in this day and age  who will endeavour to pull us away from love and obedience. I think there are many ways we can abandon our ducklings, leaving them open to attack, as the enemy is prowling around (1 Peter 5:8).

That is sad because God really does love us and He really does love our friends and He really does love our children -spiritual and otherwise- even more than we love our children and God wants us to continue to walk in love and obedience so that we too can be safe from the enemy; so that we too can be saved. So, as we read the Bible with others;  as we continue to pray for; and as we continue to pray with others; and as we continue to walk in love and obedience to our Lord then -who knows- maybe even our loved ones who are presently not walking in love and obedience to our Lord; maybe even now they will recognize the decoys of the enemy before it is too late, turn and be saved. After all that is why God sent his one and only Son so that whosoever may, will turn and be saved. John 3:17 tells us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn that world but he came into the world that the world might be saved through him. God loves us even more than anyone else ever could. So this is my prayer for us today on this Mother’s Day. If there are any of us who are not right now continually walking in love and obedience to the Lord, I pray that we will turn (repent) and return to the safety of our Father’s nest. And I pray that if any of our children have begun to wander astray after the many decoys of this world that indeed they will turn around and be saved before it is too late.

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] C. Clifton Black, The First, Second, and Third Letters of John (NIB XII: Abingdon Press: Nashville, Tennessee: 1998), 449. cf. also D. Moody Smith, First, Second, and Third John (Interpretation: John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky: 1990), 139 and John R. W. Stott, The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 19), S. 210

[2] D. Moody Smith, First, Second, and Third John (Interpretation: John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky: 1990), 142 As a result many famous commentators take this phrase to refer specifically to the church rather than to a certain lady. This may be the case but either way, whether this lady referred to is a local church or whether she is a lady who heads up a local church there is a very important message in this short letter for us Cf. Glenn W. Barker, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: 2 John/Exposition of 2 John/I. Introduction (1-3), Book Version: 4.0.2

[4] Cf. C. Clifton Black, The First, Second, and Third Letters of John (NIB XII: Abingdon Press: Nashville, Tennessee: 1998), 49 for a good discussion of this authorship.

[5] Cf. Steven Runciman, 'The Byzantine Theocracy' (Cincinnati, The Weil Lectures, July 1977) and Medieval Wall, 'The Rise and Development of the Byzantine Empire', http://www.medievalwall.com/general/rise-development-byzantine-empire/

[6] John R. W. Stott, The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 19), S. 210

Devotion 2.49/101: Romans 6:2: Other-Handedness

Presented to River Street Cafe, 12 May 2017

Read Romans 6:1-4

If you can grab a pencil or a pen... hold it up. Now, put it in your other hand. I want you to write your name on a piece of paper. If you are right-handed, I want you to write it with your left hand. If you are left-handed, I want you to write it with your right hand. Everyone got their name down on the piece of paper. How was that? How did it feel to write with your non-dominant hand?

When I was studying to be an elementary school teacher they encouraged the ‘righties’ to learn how to write on the chalk board (remember those?) with their left hands because in our language we read and write from left to right. Thus if we write with our left hand we don’t need to turn our back on the class when we are writing on the board. I did my teacher training in the inner city. That was important.

The thing is it can be done but it feels awkward. This is sort of like sin and holiness. When we first become a Christian, sometimes it feels really awkward not sinning - especially if there are some things that you have been doing for a long time. When we try not to lie or steal (maybe) it can be like writing with your other hand.

That is similar to when I quit drinking or smoking. It felt weird. I felt embarrassed to order a non-alcoholic drink and then when everyone else was going for a smoke break at work, I didn’t know what to do with myself. This is what sin is like as God reveals it to us, as we give it over to Him.

The good news is that over time it is like we switch from being one-handed to being the other-handed. What felt strange to us now feels natural to us and what once felt natural to us feels strange. It really is like we were writing with the wrong hand our whole lives until we met God – it is only then that we discovered that we were actually other-handed. The more time we spend with God the more natural it becomes to write with the correct hand – and then why would we want to go back to writing with the wrong hand?

This is my encouragement with us today. Keep practicing writing with God’s hand. Read your Bible every day – even just a little bit of it. Come here for devotions everyday as you can. Go to church every Sunday as you can. Do unto others as God would have you do unto others. The more we do all of this, the more all of this will be as easy as writing with our dominant hand and the more we serve God the more sinning will feel like we are writing with the wrong hand.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com  

John 3:16-21: For God so loved the world...

Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 23 November 2008
Swift Current Corps on 12 March 2011
Warehouse Mission, Toronto 07 May 2017
by Captain Michael Ramsay

Click here to read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2008/11/john-316-21-for-god-so-loved-world.html 

Devotion 2.48/100: Hebrews 10:25: together

Presented to River Street Cafe, 05 May 2017

Read Hebrews 10:23-25

Today is Craig Odermatt’s birthday. Craig and I were friends since elementary school. We rode bikes together. We were locker partners all the way to Grade 12 and –of course – we have the same birthday. I haven’t seen Craig in almost 30 years. As we went to school he studied really hard and joined the track team and I didn’t. I did other things in school and we went our different directions. I no longer do the things Craig and I used to do as we no longer really know each other for we just gradually stopped seeing each other. I don’t even know where he lives. I made facebook friends with Craig just the other week. It is good to see he is doing well.

I was reminded by facebook also that a couple of days ago was Cory and Joanna’s 20^th wedding anniversary. Cory and I were involved in each other’s weddings. Cory and I used to go SCUBA diving together. We went white water rafting together – he organized a few great trips like that for us. We had great times. I haven’t gone white water rafting in 14 years. I probably haven’t seen Cory in 15. He lives on the West Coast. I live here. We just stopped meeting together. We don’t do the things we used to do together.

Bill, Alex, Trevor, Tony…we used to hang out in the smoking area every day at school. We would show up at each other’s house any time day or night. We went to many parties together growing up and got into a little bit of trouble at times. If it weren’t for facebook, I wouldn’t probably know anything about them now. We don’t do the things we used to do together and we don’t meet together anymore.

I have many friends, not only from the Island where I grew up but also from all the other places that I have lived and worked – Vancouver, Winnipeg, Maple Creek, Nipawin, Tisdale, Swift Current – that I no longer have any contact with.

Hebrews 10:25 recognizes the fact that if we don’t meet together then not only do we lose contact but if we stop doing the things we used to do then we lose our ability, love for, willingness or even knowledge of how to do those things. It is one thing if I have forgotten how to SCUBA dive, it is quite another if I forget to read my Bible, pray, and encourage other people in their faith.

This is one of the really important reasons for us to go to Sunday church. This is one of the really important reasons for us to look at the Bible and pray together as we do each morning here. This is what our scripture, Hebrews 10:25, is talking about today as it says, let us… “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

www.sheepspeak.com