Presented to The Salvation Army: Alberni Valley Ministries, 05 December 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay
To read a version of this presented to the 230pm service of Warehouse Mission 614 at 252 Carlton St., Toronto, on the second Sunday of Advent, 10 December 2017 by Captain Michael Ramsay, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2017/12/isaiah-401-8-sometimes-buildings-need_9.html
When we were stationed in Toronto, we participated in the Santa Shuffle, an annual fun race put on by The Salvation Army. Even Heather when she was very little participated and got a medal. I have been injured since the beginning of covid (hamstring and meniscus) but before then – off and on - since I was in my 30s, I have done a bit of running. When I lived in Vancouver, I faithfully ran every second day. I lived about 5km from my office – I used to run there and back. In Winnipeg I lived almost 10km from the College; a colleague and I did that run more than once. In Toronto I would run past the many Officers’ quarters regularly as we all seemed to live in the same area, and here in Port Alberni I even ran with Rebecca a bit before she moved and then I was later injured. Running can be fun – but when you get out of the habit and have to start again or when you start for the very first time it can be a chore. And sometimes those hills in your first few runs can feel like mountains and those valleys, ravines. I can remember when I was first learning to run being near the end of my run and my energy... rounding a corner and seeing... another hill to try to run up...I then understand Luke 3:4-6 and Isaiah 40:3b-5:
“...make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
This is a great verse to ponder when you are running up and down hills and around curves, looking towards a time when obstacles will disappear. Pre-covid we had a Salvation Army hiking group here that would go for walks on Mondays. There is a lot of hiking on the Island here and if one goes backpacking or on a very long hike, after a few hours following switchbacks up and down mountains, you can almost feel the relief of Luke and Isaiah’s valleys raised and mountains levelled. This is part of the Good News of Luke 3 and Isaiah 40. This is the Good News that John the Baptist proclaims: when Jesus returns with His Kingdom, obstacles will be removed. As during Advent we commemorate waiting for Jesus’ birth, we also hope for His return so our mountains of trouble will be levelled and our valleys of despair will be raised to abundance. The crookedness of our paths will be straightened. That is hope.
Last week we lit the candle of hope. Today we lit the candle of love. First one has hope and then one can dare to love. One of the key things about hope and love in the context of Isaiah and thus Luke is that both are to and from God and an humbled people, a conquered people, an exiled people. There is no hope when you are on top of the world...only fear that you will fall off.
Sarah-Grace is doing her first in-person year at college. She is going to the same college where I studied my first year or so. When I was in college, I remember looking at the marks going into one final exam and noticing that I had the 3rd highest mark in that class. I then heard the people with the two highest marks brag to each other about which of the two of them would finish top of the class, like no one else was their equal – it was at that moment that I resolved that I would beat them both. And I did.
When we lived in Swift Current Saskatchewan, I believe each Christmas we would raise more money per capita for The Salvation Army than any other place. At first this was a victory – and then it was almost a fear for me. What happens if we are not the best? What if someone beats us? What if I do not beat my previous record? What if I fail?
It was the same in university, once I became addicted to ‘A+’s, a ‘B’ was infuriating. There was no inherent joy in achievement anymore only a fear of failure – and that fear of failure can stomp out hope and it can stomp out love.
It was not always like that though in school. I remember a time when I would hope and pray and celebrate even a passing grade. I remember Grade 11 French. The only French words I remember from that year we’re ‘ne lancer pas la papier’ which means ‘don’t throw the paper’. Apparently the teacher didn’t like that we threw paper airplanes in class. Every time we made one, we could hear her say, ‘ne lancer pas la papier’.
I don’t think I was her favourite student. One day I was in the counselling alcove and I saw my French teacher and she asked me what I was doing. I told her I was switching out of her French in 3rd period... ‘That is a very good idea to be out of my class’, she said. ‘...to your class in fourth period,’ I continued. She was not impressed.
But forget my tales of youth. Don’t we all have stories of a more carefree time? Look back on those times: these are usually times when you didn’t have a lot except the love of a few good friends and the hope that the future will be better. There is a lot of freedom in not having much. Is it Janet Joplin who sang that freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose?
Sometimes this is right. Sometimes I think we get to a place of fearing loss so much that we no longer have hope and we no longer have love. Sometimes when we have enough to get by, we don’t share what is ours for fear that we might not have something. This is reflected very much in tithing. When a person who has tithed or knows they should tithe, does not tithe... this is a sign that we are not doing well. This is a symptom that we are not free but instead bound up in fear or pride or something else that keeps us from tithing. I remember when we were Corps Officers in Tisdale, there was Ralph. He had a limited income. He only made $52.30 a week and you know what? Every week he tithed $5.23. This is an example of love. This is an example of our hope in the Lord. I think of him when sometimes I am tempted to keep God’s tithe from Him, when sometimes I fear for my finances. I can choose hope and love instead.
Fear can rob us of hope. Fear can rob us of love. In our pandemic, fear is gaining great power. Fear is grabbing a hold of many people and making them insensitive to the plight of others. Fear is making people mean to each other. Fear can be a crippler of hope and fear can detract from Love. Our candle today is love and perfect love drives out fear.
In Advent we talk about the Good News of the Salvation of the world. Do you know where in the Bible this Good News shows up for the first time? Genesis 12:1-3: “All the nations of the earth will be blessed” and do you know what happens just before then... Genesis 11: the tower of Babel. God told the people to move and fill the earth. The people said, ‘No. We are going to stay here, build a city and a tower, and make a name for ourselves instead.’ God levelled their tower, their city; their pride and their fear, in order to give them the hope of salvation.
Isaiah records how God’s own temple was destroyed, the holy city of Jerusalem, and the independent nations of Israel and Judah - until the day He will return. Their country was conquered, their city was leveled, their temple was destroyed and through this, God provided them with hope. In Isaiah comes this hope of flattened mountains, raised valleys, straight paths and the joy and love that can only come from trusting God.
There are many things in our world, our country, our province, our time, and our life that are coming crashing down all around us these days. God loves us. This is the love that God has for us: He loves us so much that if there are any untraversable valleys, mountains, crooked paths or Babel-like buildings of traditions, pride, fear, hate, or something else in our lives; He will fill in those valleys, flatten those mountains and tear down those buildings, so we can be rebuilt on His foundations.
There is a song by a Canadian Band, Glorious Sons, whose first two lines get stuck in my head whenever I hear it on the radio:
I spent all my money on a pack of cigarettes,
for a lady that I love with a name I forget.
The song tells a story about someone’s troubles as it moves to the chorus which proclaims, ‘everything will be alright.’ There have been some troubles in the world recently. For those of us who have already had things come tumbling down around us and are now feel as if we are in exile in our own lives, for those of us who are fearing or grieving, for those of us who feel like all is lost, God is here. When the people were scattered from the ruins of Babel, God was there with Terah and his son, Abraham, offering salvation. When Israel was slave to Egypt, God was there with Moses offering salvation; when Judah was exiled from her city, her temple, and her life, God was there pointing her towards Salvation: Jesus’ Advent; Jesus whose imminent return we eagerly await today – at that time all the insurmountable mountains in our life will be levelled, all the impassable valleys raised, and all our crooked paths made straight – and right up until that time, right until the end of this age, He is here with us in the midst of it all.
It is Advent. Let us start (if we haven’t already) and let us continue in hope and in love. Let us all walk in God’s hope and in God’s love for we know He will see us through and we know He is with us even as we look forward to the day of Christ’s return when all those valleys will be raised, all those mountains will be levelled and all our paths will straightened for ever more.
Let us pray.
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