Luke 2:1-20: The Light Shone All Around

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries on Christmas Day, 25 December 2023, by Major Michael Ramsay

Last night, like every night, our staff were working all night at the Bread of Life. We are open all day everyday and all night every night. Last night, today and tonight are no different. Our staff all has to take their turn working. Those who had last night, today, or tomorrow off, will need to work New Year’s Eve, night, or day – and they will need to be sober.

 

This is not entirely dissimilar to the shepherds in our text today. They are working the night shift. They have the important job of protecting the lives of the sheep from predators just like our staff have the responsibility to protect the lives of the homeless under their care from predators. Without our shelter, many of our friends would not have a safe warm place to sleep. The shepherds in our text were not in a safe warm place.

 

The text says that an Angel appeared and stood before them. The word angel just means ‘messenger’ but the appearance of this messenger certainly alludes to something more, something much more. It says the Glory of the Lord shone all around him and the shepherds were terrified. Now, I don’t know what the Glory of the Lord looks like, but if a messenger appeared before me in the middle of the night (or anytime) with anything shining about him, I would probably be a little terrified myself.

 

I can only imagine how my overnight staff would feel if the doors were locked for the night, our friends were all tucked into their beds – it is set up for communal sleeping at our shelter, there are rows of bunkbeds – and all of a sudden someone showed up shining or with something shining all around them. I imagine our staff would be quite startled. I can actually picture them telling me about it the next day. The words that would come out of their mouth when they were surprised may not be pulpit-ready words!

 

2:10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 2:11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 2:12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."

 

Again, I can picture my staff telling me this. They would be half laughing in incredulity as they expressed the nervousness or uncertainly of this experience to me and whoever else would be there. And then, they would tell me that they were still processing the person with shining all around them…

 

2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom He favours!"

 

Can you imagine? What if you were working the night shift at your work and all these people, angels, hosts showed up and they were praising God all around you and proclaiming peace for all those who are on God’s side: all those who find favour with God. Put yourself then in the place of my staff in my story or the shepherds in Luke’s story. It would make you want to be peaceful, I am sure.

 

2:15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." 2:16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 2:17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 2:18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

 

If it was the staff at the shelter, I can see them waking up the people who are staying the night with them – I think there was only a half dozen last night - and heading out for a little walk. I don’t think they needed to go that far – maybe the distance to Boomerangs or something like that. They would then walk that distance with all those in their care. Can you imagine the excitement? They must be just buzzing retelling each other what they had just seen and joking about one another’s reaction – and then I imagine, as they got close to where the child was, they would all of a sudden become deadly serious, very sober in thought and deed. I imagine they would come into the place very humbly. As they find the child and his parents, the shelter workers, the shepherds themselves become angels in the sense that they are messengers; they tell them and everyone else around what the angels, the heavenly host has told them.

 

Then Verse 2:20: “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” Again I can just picture our staff if this happened to them – they would be telling the next shift, they would be telling their bosses, they would be telling their families, they would be telling all the clients. I am sure the shepherds must have even told the sheep whom I imagine were right there with them when they took the trip into town in the middle of the night.

 

Now we know what happens in this child’s life. He is God for starters but also he becomes quite famous and then he dies, and then he is raised to life again before he goes off to heaven where he is waiting even now to return someday soon.

 

Can you imagine what it would be like for the shepherds? Every time they hear of another miracle he performs or a controversy he is in the middle of, they would tell their story about how they saw him when he was a baby and everything that happened that night. I imagine a lot of people probably became interested in Jesus or more interested in Jesus because of the testimony of these shepherds. I imagine that when they heard the news years later of his death and resurrection, if any of them were still alive, they would say, ‘huh… I guess that all makes sense now.’

 

So we know from the rest of the story that this baby is going to be killed and raised from the dead 30 or so years later. And we know that after he was raised from the dead he went to be with his Father and that he is coming back and we know that when he comes back, all upon who his favour rests will be at peace. He is the Prince of Peace. The title by which we call the baby Jesus is of course, ‘Christ’, and people who purport to follow him self-identify as Christians. One of the ways that we can tell followers of the Prince of Peace is that they are peaceful.

 

On this Christmas Day 2000 years closer to the return of the Prince of Peace, I encourage you to be and to act like his followers by being peaceful. Forgive those who harm you. Disarm your attackers with kindness. Turn the other cheek to people who strike you rather than striking them back. This world can be a very non-peaceful place. There are many wars around the world. There is much violence even in this country, this province, and this town. There is much violence down among our friends that we walk with everyday. People doing violence to them and even doing violence to ourselves. My encouragement to us is this: that when our lives and the lives of our friends, families, and co-workers are filled with strife that we may let the peace of God shine through us. May people see the Glory of God’s peace all around us. May we be a calming presence for all those around us, offering them the love of God and an amazingly powerful peace that can get them through all of life’s troubles: the peace that surpasses all understanding.

 

Let us pray.

 

Isaiah 40:1-8, 28-31 (Luke 3:1-6): Straight Paths

Presented to The Salvation Army: Alberni Valley Ministries, 05 Dec 2021, 10 Dec 2023, and 08 Dec 2024 by Major Michael Ramsay (and 614 Warehouse Mission in Toronto on 10 December 2017)

 

This is the 2023 version. To see the 2021 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2021/12/luke-31-6-isaiah-401-8-straight-paths.html

To see the 2024 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2024/12/isaiah-40-luke-31011-today-we-are.html

To See the 2017 version, click here: https://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 used to run off and on. I haven’t really since I was injured during covid but maybe I will start up again one day. 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 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 our hope.

 

Last week we lit the candle of hope. Today we lit the candle of peace. First one has hope and then one can even dream of, let alone be at peace. One of the key things about hope and peace in the context of Isaiah and 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 – and where there is fear there is no peace.

 

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. (It is why I always try to raise $200 000 here – because I raised more than that there more than a decade ago.) 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, I did achieve good grades and made the Dean’s list and graduated with distinction – but I di become distracted by getting good marks and 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 does kill peace.

 

It was not always like that though in school – with my needing to achieve and over-acheive. 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 class 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 peace, 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 and at peace 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 fear for my finances. I can choose peace and hope instead.

 

Fear can rob us of hope. Fear can rob us of love. Fear does rob us of peace.  Our candle today is peace and peace is the opposite of fear. Jesus is the Prince of Peace! And He is who we are awaiting in Advent.

 

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 true peace 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. We can still have peace even in the midst of it all. God loves us.  There have been some troubles in the world recently – wars oversees some of which we are ignoring and some of which we are actively provoking, promoting, and pursuing. There are other things happening right here – in our very neighbourhood. For those of us who are experiencing tumbling down around us and 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 in peace and in love. Let us all walk in God’s hope, God’s love and God’s peace, 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.

 

www.sheepspeak.com 

 

 

Tied to Advent (Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-2; John 3:16-17, 10:14-15)

 Presented to Alberni Valley Salvation Army, 03 December 2023, the first Sunday of Advent (Hope) by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Advent is a time of waiting. Advent is remembering the wait for Jesus’ incarnation and the wait we have now for his triumphant return. It is about waiting with exiled Israel for a philosopher king and the Judean diaspora for a conquering hero: a wonderful counsellor, a mighty God, an everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. It is about waiting with Mary and Joseph for a baby to be born. It is like waiting with Abraham for a promise to be fulfilled. Advent is us remembering these waits even as we eagerly await now Jesus’ ultimate return.

Waiting can sometimes be difficult. As anticipation of Jesus’ return – as we really believe he is coming back - builds with every passing day. I think this growing anticipation of each successive Christmas contributed to the German Protestants inventing Advent Calendars in the nineteenth century to help with the wait. Many times when our children were growing up, Susan has made daily advent devotions with different symbols and treats in stockings leading up to Christmas.

In The Salvation Army we often remember Christ and mark the time before Christmas by preparing food, gifts, meals, and raising funds and awareness for those in greatest need in our community while we wait for Jesus and wait to commemorate the Incarnation.

One of the ways that I like to mark the Advent Season is to pull out the ties that my girls have made for me almost every Christmas since Rebecca, my eldest, was born. Today I am going to share the stories of some of these ties with us here.

2001: this is my first tie. It has on it the footprint on my 9-month-old daughter and the words, “Merry Christmas love Rebeca”. 2002 and 2003 each have a second footprint added to the first; this one is of baby Sarah-Grace. The first tie given to me by my first begotten child reminds me how God the Father gave us His only begotten child to live, die and raise from the grave for each of us and how we are now eagerly awaiting his return, hopefully even more than I eagerly await my new ties.

2004, 2005, and an unknown year shown here each then have handprints of my daughters and 2006 is something entirely new. 2006, when my daughters were 5 and 4, they created me a Christmas Tree on the tie (with help from mom of course). This reminds me that God loves each of us so much that He made all of creation. Every tree, every plant, every animal, everything for us… to take care of and to name. And He did this with even more love than children making a gift for their dad.

The 2008 tie has a picture drawn by one or both of my daughters: it has a picture of Mary and Baby Jesus in a manger as well as the Star. It says “I love you” reminding us of the Christmas story and how Jesus was lain in a manger because their way no room for him in the inn – it recalls the Father’s great love for us as recorded in John 3:16 and 17: “For God so love the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life for God did not send His Son to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.”

The 2009 tie from Rebecca and Sarah-Grace has the creativity of my young children on full display with Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus under the Christmas star and a Christmas tree. This reminds us, as well as everything else, of the faithfulness of Joseph as told in the Gospel of Luke, how he loved Jesus as his own and served God with all his heart. Matthew 1:18-25:

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Next, we have two undated ties. The hand is the handprint of a baby Heather, so we know that this tie was made in 2010 or later. And the next one is really neat. Take a look: under the Christmas Star that led the magi and shepherds to Bethlehem are three figures: one in blue representing Mary, and one in red representing Joseph and the baby Jesus is in white. If you look at the three figures you will notice that each one is the fingerprint of one of my daughters: reminding us all the God came to earth as a small child, as a baby born to His mother and adoptive father and laid in swaddling cloths in a manger.

In 2013 I received 2 ties: one from all three girls and one just from Sarah-Grace. 11-year-old Sarah-Grace made me a cow because cows were her favourite animal and because she loved me, she gave me her favourite just as God gave us His favourite, His One and Only Son, on Christmas.

The other tie I received in 2013 which was made by my daughters is of a shepherd and a sheep. The sheep’s body is the print of my bottom on my three-year-old Heather’s palm. This tie references John 10:14-15, where it is recorded: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Next in 2015 we have a picture of a lamb outside of Jerusalem reminding us that Jesus is the Lamb of God and that as, as Revelation records, He is coming back with the new Jerusalem. This is ultimately what we are all waiting for even today – in Advent and always – Christ’s triumphant return.

Next, we have a reindeer and a Christmas tree. The words Feliz Navidad are written here. These words remind us of Iris, a friend of ours from when we served in Toronto. She was our corps administrator and more. She was from Latin America and was a faithful servant of God. She received her Promotion to Glory during Advent, one Christmas, while we were in Toronto.

2017’s tie says ‘Joy’. Joy is one of the candles that we often light during Advent. You will most likely see me wear this tie on that day. Beside the word ‘Joy’ is an Angel and beneath it is the earth harkening us to remember the good tidings of great joy that the Angels brought to the whole world. Joy to the World.

2018’s tie has an Advent wreath reminding all who see my tie of the importance of Advent and a profession of faith. 2019 and 2020’s ties don’t have quite as overt Biblical themes as the others. 2019’s tie references Bohemian Rhapsody, the Song by Queen, but if you look at the faces you may notice that instead of the band members they are pictures of Heather, Sarah-Grace, Rebecca, and Susan around a Christmas Tree. Christmas Trees, off course, like the Advent wreaths, symbolize eternal life – so there is that reference to Scriptures. 2020 is an animal – a cat maybe?, the Christmas Star, and two pineapples making up the zeros in 2020. That is an inside joke. In 2020 there were a lot of pineapples in the food bank here and it made me a little concerned that we were handing these out to people who had no food and no means to eat them and  - while there were a lot of inside jokes that I won’t necessarily share here but this tie was certainly a personal act of love – just as God sending Jesus was the most perfect act of love.

2021’s tie has a picture of Augustus Caesar, a bunch of numbers, and Quirinius – because who doesn’t need a tie of Quirinius. It cites Luke 2:1-2: “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.”

Last year’s tie, 2023, which I wore at the Christmas Dinner and kick-off this year has a picture of someone standing at a kettle because indeed this is a tangible way that we can remember Christ and serve God by loving our neighbour this and every Christmas.

So today, I have shared with you a lot of my treasures; some of my most cherished gifts. Each time I put on a tie, I remember my children and how much I love them, all of them. And I remember how much God loves us that, as we commemorate at Christmas, He sent His only begotten Son as a child in a manger and even now we await his ultimate return, at the eschaton, where there will be no more suffering, no more death, no more tears; only joy to the world and the love of God. John 3:16-17: “For God so love the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life for God did not send His Son to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

 

 

 

Remembrance Day Address 2023

Presented to the Alberni Valley Community, 11 November 2023, by Major Michael Ramsay, Chaplain (Padre) Royal Canadian Legion Branch 293.

 

On May 17^th of this year, I walked the short walk from a parking lot to a monument on the ridge of a hill overlooking a town in France. There were sheep everywhere. One little lamb had escaped a fence and become separated from the flock; she desperately ran back and forth along the ridge looking, searching, hoping for someway to break through the fence; hoping to join her flock, looking for safety she bleated, she cried as she looked out terrified over the ridge. This ridge, on which she was lost and bleating, is Vimy Ridge

As I stood atop Vimy Ridge by the memorial to our Canadian soldiers, the symbolism of this bleating lamb running back and forth, looking for someway through the fence, was not lost on me.

April 9^th to 12^th, 1917, a brutal battle was fought as our Canadian soldiers desperately looked for a way to break through the fences and trenches on this very same ridge. Many had tried before. Many had died before. But here were our troops, trying to get over those fences and through those trenches; trying to climb the ridge, to succeed, to survive.

Our troops were able to secure the high ground on April 9^th; On April 10^th they secured the village and the crest of the ridge; the final objective fell to the Canadians on April 12^th. The battle was the first occasion when the four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together. Our soldiers climbed through barbed wire fences, deep trenches, hazards and perils and accomplished what others had not - but at great cost: By nightfall on 12 April 1917, the Canadians had sustained 10 602 casualties; 7 004 soldiers had been wounded, some never to recover, and 3 598 people breathed their last breath on that ridge overlooking that town in April of 1917.

On April 16^th, George Morton Bird, from the Alberni Valley, wrote this:

“I suppose you have read all about the Great Easter Advance, and the part the Canadians took in it. If you should get an opportunity to see any of the moving pictures of it, you might see me amongst the other boys. I am the first man in a party of 12 or 13 advancing in single file. I believe Jack Mathison and Edwin Davey were both wounded. Also one of the Greenards. Arthur Lewis, Pryde, Tom and the rest of us are all O.K.,”

George Morton Bird died of injuries sustained in a later battle in June 1917. People from our Valley served in many battles. The Roll of Honour lists the names of 25 people from our community here who gave their lives there in World War 1.

 

May 15^th and May 16^th of this year, I walked along a beach in France, in Dieppe. I looked out across this beautiful beach covered with large smooth rocks that gave way under my feet, drawing me inwards, drawing me downwards, backwards, toward the sea; as I stumbled, I looked up to see steep, steep cliffs and even ancient fortifications; in the evening they were beautifully lit up by an amazing sunset.

August 19^th, 1942, over 80 years ago, 6 100 mostly Canadian infantry arrived at this same beach. The same rocks that gave way under my feet gave way under theirs. Only they were wearing heavy packs and carrying weapons and supplies. Balance must have been near impossible. They would have been so heavy, soaking wet as the sea wanted to claim them for her own. And she claimed many. As the Canadians looked up at the sheer cliffs, I am sure it was not the beauty of the moment that captured their imagination but rather the sheer horror of having to find a way to scale those cliffs, sopping wet, heavy with gear, while being shot at. The fortifications seemed insurmountable to me this past May; the fortifications were impenetrable for many in August of 1942. 3 623 Canadians died on this small strip of beach. As I stood there 80 years later, watching the sunset over the water, this fact was not lost on me. 3 623 Canadians, after visiting this very same beach, never saw a sunset again.

Nelson Longeuay, of the Alberni Valley, was one of a few Canadians to survive Dieppe. Commenting on the raid 45 years later he asked, “what more could a man do than give his life?”

Many Canadians never returned from serving in World War 2. Twenty-two are on our honour roll from the Alberni Valley. One such person is Edward John Clutesi; born to be hereditary chief of the Tseshaht First Nation, instead he gave his life for us, in August of 1944, in Normandy, at age 26.

As I walked silently along the beach at Dieppe this past May, I looked at the stones, the cliffs, the fortress, the waves, the sea and I imagined and remembered those who had gone before. Then I noticed a monument in a garden, in a place now called Canada Square, put there by the citizens of Dieppe. It reads:

On the 19th of August 1942

on the beaches of Dieppe

our Canadian cousins

marked with their blood

the road to our final liberation

foretelling thus their victorious return

on September 1, 1944.

 

This memorial does not talk about the futility of war. Neither does this monument glorify war. This memorial simply notes that those who died, “marked with their blood the road to our final liberation, foretelling thus their victorious return”.

The monument at Dieppe remembers the sacrifices of the Canadians on their beaches, celebrates their victorious return and final liberation. May we likewise honour the lives of all our servicemen and women of every time and place. Let us remember them and their sacrifice and continue to work towards a time where there will finally be no more war and all of our service people and everyone else can safely return, and, like the little lamb on Vimy Ridge, be re-united with our families once and for all – forever in Peace. Lest we forget. Lest we forget.

John 15:9-17: Greater Love Has No Man...

Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps, 15 November 2008; Swift Current Corps, 08 November 2009;Warehouse 614, 05 November 2017; Alberni Valley 05 November 2023 by Major Michael Ramsay

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends, John 15:13.

This is a season of remembrance in the Church. In Canada and other nations that fought in World War One it has been a time to reflect on the sacrifice of our soldiers, and our citizens who lived during that era and the times of conflict since. This is a time to reflect upon sacrifice as in a few very short weeks we are going enter into the advent season where we will remember the coming of Jesus as a small child and look forward – very soon - to His return in power. He lived, sacrificed and died for us, his friends.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends, John 15:13.

On November 11, 1918, the armistice was signed to end the Great War, the war to end all wars – the First World War. Canadians, our friends and our family, in service to God, King, and country, marched overseas to lay down their lives for our friends

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

On November 11, 1813, more than 200 years ago now, Canadians repulsed an horrific American invasion in the Battle of Crysler Farm – this was the last serious attempt to conquer Canada militarily. We did this with the help of our friends, the British and the First Nations. We laid down our life for our family. They laid down their life for us, their friends. This is outside the timeframe of the State mandate for Canadian Remembrance Day ceremonies as is the Boer War, a few years later (1899-1902), but…

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

On our November 11th ceremonies we remember our friends and families who headed overseas in the World War I and World War II, in service to God, to King, and to country to lay down their lives for their friends. Many of us have friends and family who offered up their lives up for their friends. My grandmother’s brother who left un Saskatchewan never spoke of the day they were surrounded by the Germans right up until he died.

My grandfather returned home to Canada from California, where he was working when war broke out, so that he could serve God, King and country in the Second World War. He eagerly grabbed some friends of his from Cut Knife and they drove over the Rockies to enlist. Of all of them that enlisted that day with my grandfather, I believe, only he lived to see the end of the war.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

The Salvation Army and other volunteers were present in both these wars – in the trenches -offering support and the love of God to the soldiers.

In World War One, the Canadian Salvation Army was part of a ministry that included over recreational huts, rest homes, hostels, and more than 1200 volunteers. The Salvation Army sent chaplains to the frontlines and helped operate these huts, canteens, rest facilities, and more.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

At the conclusion of the Second World War some allies turned foes and some foes turned friends in the Cold War that ensued and again Canadians headed overseas – this time to Korea – to offer our lives on behalf of our allies and to lay down our lives for our friends. 

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

As this Cold War progressed, Canadians continued to stand beside our allies but we also donned blue barrettes for the first time, intentionally standing between warring factions, some with legitimate grievances, protecting and reconciling populations, and still offering our lives for our friends. 

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

2000 years ago, Jesus died on the cross so that we all may live.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

Now, through the real horrors of the wars of the twentieth century and earlier a great thing happened: Canada’s primary foes during 1814, 1914, and 1944 are now some of our closest friends and allies. Our soldiers laid down their lives for us, their friends. And they laid down their lives so that we could be reconciled to our brothers and sisters. Canada is reconciled to her old foes and united with them more than ever because of the sacrifice of our friends, siblings, parents, grandparents, and our veterans. Thanks be to God for this reconciliation. (May this same reconciliation occur with our current foes.)

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

And, of course, it was through Jesus’ death and resurrection that we all may experience this same reconciliation with God. John 15:13 records a part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. He is giving them instructions before he voluntarily marches off to His death for them and for us.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:12-15: [Jesus says,] …My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Jesus laid down his life for us and he now asks the same of us. Do we love our God and do we love our neighbour: Are we experiencing that reconciliation for which He died? Are we a friend of Jesus? And, if we claim we are, are we willing to lay down our life for our neighbour, for our God, and for our friends like Jesus commands? Jesus after commanding this reminds us that indeed, “You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

Remember that Jesus died so that we may live. Remember that Jesus died so that we may live lives reconciled with God and with our family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, the family of God. Remember to that though this Salvation War is won, the battles still rage and these seemingly never-ending battles are not merely with flesh and blood but are in reality truly waged against other powers and principalities (Ephesians 16:11-13).

John 14:23-24, Jesus says, “… If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me”. And “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Even more than the sacrifice of many of our servicemen and women whom we remember with respect and gratitude, Jesus, the Son of God, died so that we can live reconciled lives. Jesus laid down his life for us, his friends, and not unlike the sacrifices of many service people who died that we may be reconciled with our old foes, Jesus died so that we can be reconciled with God.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

So today I urge us not to let Jesus’ death to have been in vain in our own lives. If there is anything between our neighbour and ourselves, if there is anything standing in the way of our reconciliation, today let us lay it aside. If there is anything that is preventing us from fully living out reconciliation with God, today let us cast it aside. If there is any impediment to our relationship with God, let us today confess it to Him, and experience the abundant joy that only comes with reconciliation.

Jesus died so that we may be reconciled with God and each other. May we never forget His sacrifice.

Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends.

Jonah 1: Everything Is Under Control.

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 06 May 2012.By Captain Michael Ramsay and Alberni Valley Ministries 22 October 2023. 

 

This is the 2023 Version presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, to view the longer original version, presented to Swift Current in 2012, please click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2012/05/jonah-11-33-everything-is-under-control.html

  

Susan has been looking at the prophet Ezekiel a lot lately. Today we are going to take a bit of a break and look at the prophet Jonah and think about God’s sovereignty.[1] (cf. TSA docs 6&7). Jonah 1:1-3:

The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

 

Picture this: God has told His prophet Jonah to go and do something. God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh but Jonah – to get away – runs to the sea and gets on a boat. Nineveh is landlocked. That is like if we are living here and God tells us to go to Saskatchewan and we jump on a boat to Japan instead. This isn’t just saying, ‘we’re not going to go’. This is running in the opposite direction! Look at the map here, we will notice that Jonah runs to the sea and hops on a ship to get as far away from Nineveh as he possibly can.[2]

 

God is good though. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation (cf. TSA doc. 6). Verses 4-7:

Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.” Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

 

Jonah hops on the boat and he falls asleep. Has everyone here been out on the open ocean? Even if you don’t get caught in a storm, it can be really something. And in all likelihood Jonah had never been on a sea-going vessel before.[4] And the seas are so bad now in our text that even the experienced crew is afraid. They are scared for their lives! Jonah isn’t. Jonah is sleeping! Jonah is beneath deck. Jonah isn’t helping at all! And this is an ‘all hands on deck’ situation. Everyone is working and everyone is praying – most of these people would probably be praying to the Phoenician gods but if any of the crew is from elsewhere they would be calling on their gods too.[5] You’ve heard the expression, ‘no one is an atheist in a foxhole’ – this may not be true but this is certainly one of those 'foxhole' type situations. Everyone is praying. Everyone is working, everyone… except Jonah. The Captain himself comes and finds Jonah and says, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.” Presumably Jonah does do this but maybe he doesn’t. Either way God is good. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation here.

 

The people pray to their gods and cast sacred lots to figure out why all of this is happening: whose fault is it? And the lot names Jonah. God reveals to everyone present who and what the problem is. God is good. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation. The people on this boat, however, are quite afraid. Verse 8-11:

So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

      This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.) The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

 

These people are worried. God has revealed to them and Jonah has confirmed to them that he is to blame because he is blatantly defying God. Jonah has told them that he is intentionally doing the opposite of what God has told him to do. Even though Jonah knows God, even though Jonah has served God, even though Jonah has worked for LORD as a prophet, God gives him this assignment and Jonah says in effect, “No, I quit!” Can you imagine?

 

Can you imagine if you are a new non-unionized worker and your boss gives you an important task to do and you just say, “No thanks I think I’ll take my holidays instead”? Can you imagine if you are a courier and your boss gives you this package and says, “You need to get this package to Victoria in 3 hours or everyone will die”? Can you imagine then if instead of driving to Victoria you hop on the next bus to Tofino instead? This is in essence what Jonah is doing.

 

God is good though. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation but this is what Jonah is attempting here. He doesn’t want any part of pointing the Ninevites to salvation. The boat -and all of the people on it- is being tossed around in the storm and people are franticly praying and working to keep it afloat. They are terrified. They ask of Jonah, “What have you done?” The sea is getting rougher and rougher. They ask him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” They are terrified but that doesn’t stop Jonah from trying to quit his job, from trying to shirk his responsibilities, from trying to avoid at all costs his God-given mission. Verses 12-15a:

“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 

Then they cried to the LORD, “O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.”  Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard…

 

Now there are a couple of things worth remembering here. What is the task, the job that God has given Jonah to do? God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. What does Jonah do? He so much doesn’t want to do this job that he runs in the opposite direction. Now, imagine this scene that we are looking at here. Everyone with Jonah asks him, “Since you are responsible for this calamity by not obeying God, what can we do?”

 

“Kill me” is basically Jonah’s answer when he tells them to throw him overboard. Jonah, if he is anything like most Israelites of his day and age, Jonah can’t swim. Israel is not a seafaring country.  Again, I grew up on Vancouver Island here. I am a kayaker and was a SCUBA diver. Susan was a lifeguard and I don’t imagine that either of us could and I know that neither of us would want to have to try to swim through a storm and Jonah, in all probability, can’t even swim. The strangers on the boat are asking what they should do to appease his God and Jonah says, “You should kill me.” Now, God is good though. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation.

 

Jonah knows very well that God, to say the least!, discourages human sacrifice (which is basically what this would be).[6] Jonah, who knows the Lord; Jonah, who knows the scriptures; Jonah, even in the midst of this terrible storm with all these other people’s lives on the line; Jonah, I submit, is still defying God![7] God has told Jonah to go to Nineveh and Jonah hates this commission so much, Jonah hates the idea that God would use him to save the Ninevites so much that Jonah would rather die than do what God tells him to do. God is good though. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation but can you imagine?

 

When Heather was only a baby, less than 2, we went to Winnipeg for Susan’s convocation; Heather had a seizure. It wasn’t just a little one. She was sleeping in my arms in a pew with Rebecca and Sarah-Grace beside us. All of a sudden she starts shaking for about a minute or more. Her eyes roll back in her head. I grab her and the girls and I head to the door where I know the ushers will be. I ask one person specifically to get a nurse or a doctor from the congregation; I ask another person specifically –twice- to call us an ambulance. I even hand her my phone to do so. She refuses! She refuses to call for help! I have never seen anything quite like this before. My baby is turning blue and she doesn’t call for help! She even hands me my phone back. Now, I imagine that she panicked; however, at the same time as she is not calling the ambulance, someone else is trying to comfort me by telling me not to worry but I am looking down at my baby turning blue; I am looking down at my baby gasping for air; I am looking down at my baby unconscious and in those very few seconds I can’t get this person to even call an ambulance to help her. I can’t tell you the reflexive emotions that were aroused in me as someone –even though I am sure it was just that they were panicking – refused to help someone else in serious need. Now, God is good though. He still has everything under control but picture what I am feeling in that moment.

 

This must be a similar feeling to what God, the sailors, or even we reading this story centuries later, could have towards Jonah. Here is a man who has been told to help save not only one small child but to bring this news of salvation to a great city of many small children, their brothers, their sisters, their mothers, their fathers, their grandparents, their neighbours; and instead of calling the divine ambulance, Jonah hands the phone back to God, and says, “I’m not going to make the call.” Not only that. Jonah, by asking the sailors to throw him overboard, Jonah says, “I would rather die than help you save those people, God.” Can you imagine? God’s children in the ancient city of Nineveh are about to die and He asks Jonah to point them to salvation and Jonah says, “I would rather die than help You save them, God.” Now, God is good. He still has everything under control. Jonah isn’t more powerful than God. He can’t thwart God’s salvation.

 

And in our situation with Baby Heather, the person who refused to call the ambulance for us was incapable of helping; she was useless. The point is that God saved Heather regardless of that person’s inaction. God provided someone else to call an ambulance; God provided someone with some sort of medical training to be with us; God provided someone to pray with me and for Heather; God provided friends to look after Rebecca and Sarah-Grace while we were in the hospital with Heather; God provided Dr. Burke, who was the President of the College to make special arrangements even for Susan’s graduation. God provided so many great and caring people who prayed for Susan, the girls, and I, and who prayed for Heather’s salvation in the here and now.

 

As God provided for Heather, so God provided also for the sailors on that ship in that storm on that day and, as we read in the rest of the book of Jonah, God also provided for the many small children in the giant city of Nineveh. Verses 15-17:

Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him. But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

 

God saved the sailors. The raging sea grew calm and they were saved and there is more than that to this here as well. You will notice that it says that these men, the sailors, greatly feared the LORD. The word LORD is written all in capital letters. Whenever you see LORD written like this in English, in Hebrew it is YHWH; the tetragrammaton; YHWH is God’s divine name. These sailors aren’t praising the same gods at the end of this adventure that they were at the beginning. They are now praising YHWH. They are saved and they are praising the LORD.

 

God also saved Jonah but God did not save Jonah from doing the work that Jonah is supposed to do. Jonah still has to deliver God’s message of salvation to the children of Nineveh. You could even say that when He sent the giant fish, God didn’t let Jonah of the hook.

 

In Chapter 2 then - we won’t read all again now - Jonah prays to God for salvation. Jonah, like the sailors now, knows that salvation is from the LORD. He prays for salvation and salvation he gets. Jonah 2:10-3:3a records this:

And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

   Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.

 

God did not give up on Nineveh. God did not give up on the sailors. God did not give up on Jonah and God will not give up on us. As bad as everything can get in our lives: when storms kick up, when everyone around us seems to be panicking, when it looks like all those who are around us are going to perish, when we are caught in the midst of trouble, God is good. He still has everything under control. We aren’t more powerful than God. We can’t thwart God’s provided salvation.  Even after maybe we have disobeyed or even defied God like Jonah did in today’s story - as long as we still have breath in our body there is still time for us to repent, there is still time for us to turn, there is still time for us to dial that phone of Salvation which Christ provided for us between the cross and the empty tomb (cf. TSA docs 6&7). As long as we have breath in our body, even if thus far we have turned and run the opposite direction from God, as long as we have breath in our body, we can still repent, we can still return to Him and we can still be a part of His salvation both now and forever more.

 

Let us pray.

 

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] R.B.Y. Scott, "The Sign of Jonah: An Interpretation," Interpretation: a Journal of Bible and Theology Vol. 19 no. 1, ed. Balmer H. Kelly (Union Theological Seminary: Virginia, January 1965): 16. Identifies three thematic movements in Jonah of which God’s sovereignty is the first.

[2] Donald J. Wiseman, T. Desmond Alexander, and Bruce K Waltke: Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 26), S. 65

[3] H. L. Ellison, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Jonah/Exposition of Jonah/I. The Disobedient Prophet (1:1-2:10)/B. The Storm (1:4-6), Book Version: 4.0.2

[4]  H. L. Ellison, Pradis The Expositor's Bible Commentary, CD-ROM: Jonah/Exposition of Jonah/I. The Disobedient Prophet (1:1-2:10)/C. Jonah's Responsibility (1:7-10), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] H. L. Ellison, Pradis The Expositor's Bible Commentary, CD-ROM: Jonah/Exposition of Jonah/I. The Disobedient Prophet (1:1-2:10)/ B. The Storm (1:4-6), Book Version: 4.0.2

[6] R.B.Y. Scott, "The Sign of Jonah: An Interpretation," Interpretation: a Journal of Bible and Theology, Vol. 19 no. 1, ed. Balmer H. Kelly (Union Theological Seminary: Virginia, January 1965): 16.

[7] cf. Donald J. Wiseman, T. Desmond Alexander, and Bruce K Waltke: Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 26), S.

Deuteronomy 8: Thanksgiving Day

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 08 October 2023 and 09 October 2022, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

This is the 2023 version, to view the earlier version click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2022/10/deuteronomy-83-20-and-psalm-100.html

  

Deuteronomy 8 reminds us of an important truth that, Verse 3, because He loves us, God hungers us blessing us to rely on Him but, 8:10-11, as we enter times of abundance we must give thanks to the Lord because, 8:19-20, forgetting the Lord will result in our destruction.

 

    The book of Deuteronomy here records the time after the Hebrews had fled Egypt and before they reached Canaan. They had only what they could carry and – as they were nomadic – obviously, no farms to grow food, no permanent water source or anything like that. They were hundreds, thousands or even more people without a permanent home wandering around the desert.

 

    As the Hebrews followed God around the desert like this, He provided for them. Even their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell during this time. God provided for them when they had nothing. God provided for them. Deuteronomy 8:15,16:

 

He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.

 

    Even though one generation of Israelites was faithless upon leaving Egypt their actions did not nullify the faithfulness of God (Romans 3:3,4) who provided this desert experience as a means to their salvation. The next generation, who was born in the desert, learned to rely on God in their time of real need and God provided for them in the desert. God, through Moses and then Joshua, reminded the people not to forget this: in the desert God and God alone provided for them, preparing them to receive the Promised Land.

 

    But alas, as God warned them, these times of relying on God passed when the people acquired stability, income, relative ease and apparent self-sufficiency. They didn't think they needed Him once they settled in their promised land so they left Him and then they didn't have Him. And so when life's hard hand dealt them their blows they turned to look for God's protection but they had turned their backs, walked away and left Him behind. God didn't leave them. They left Him. They exchanged the safety of God's love for the death of wealth and the myth of self-sufficiency.

 

    In our country too: Canada was arguably founded on the Word of God: notably Psalm 72:8: that is from where our old name came – when I was growing up this country was called the Dominion of Canada; Canada Day used to be called Dominion Day. We used to have the Lord's Prayer in Parliament and Gideon Bibles in the schools. Now we don't seem to think we need or want Him anymore.

 

    This is sad but there is some good news. There is still time to return to our Lord. As long as we exist as a nation there is still the opportunity for our nation to return to acknowledging God. Now I am not pretending that Canadians of the ‘olden days’ were better than today. We made mistakes then, like we do now. We are making improvements and we are making some serious errors. We are just people after all. The key is whether we try to serve the Lord or not. He loves us and wants us on His team, as part of His family. Maybe our country as a whole never will be. We, as Christians, however, should do our best to help build God’s Kingdom here as it is in heaven, to help bring people into the family of God’s love and support. We can do this by continuing to serve God by taking care of our neighbour as well as reading our Bibles and spending time in prayer with God and, of course, also sharing about the blessings of doing all these things with others so they can experience it as well. God loves us and as such He wants us all to be part of His Dominion. As long as we exist it is not too late: we can all and each still return to the Lord.

 

    We know that Israel's Messiah did eventually come, even after all the unfaithfulness. Jesus is their and our Messiah. Jesus was born, died, and rose from the grave. And we know that Jesus will come back too and he will reign forever not only as King of the Jews but also as King of the whole world (cf. TSA doc. 6). When he does, will he find that we are walking with him or that we have walked away from Him and His Kingdom?

 

    There is a children’s book, Thanksgiving Day in Canada – it is a favourite book of mine. I have quoted it quite often for many years when speaking about Thanksgiving in Canada – my children all know the book very well too. As I have shared from the pulpit here on a previous Thanksgivings, the other year I found out something very interesting. You know that Susan, the kids and I lived and worked in Toronto prior to being posted here. We were the Officers responsible for The Salvation Army`s Warehouse Mission as well as 614 in downtown Toronto. One year during our time there, with Thanksgiving coming up, I happened to be speaking with our worship leader, Krys Lewicki, about the book and it turns out that he wrote that book (it was promoted by CBC as part of Canada`s 125 anniversary). Krys also wrote a Thanksgiving song that is in that book that we sang earlier and will probably sing again before we leave. About Thanksgiving, from the book:

 

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are more closely connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October. The very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in Canada when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World. That means the first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated 43 years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts!

For a few hundred years, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either late October or early November, before it was declared a national holiday in 1879. It was then, that November 6th was set aside as the official Thanksgiving holiday. But then on January 31, 1957, Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October, Thanksgiving would be "a day of general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed."

Thanksgiving was moved to the second Monday in October because after the World Wars, Remembrance Day (November 11th) and Thanksgiving kept falling in the same week. Another reason for Canadian Thanksgiving arriving earlier than its American counterpart is that Canada is geographically further north than the United States, causing the Canadian harvest season to arrive earlier than the American harvest season. And since Thanksgiving for Canadians is more about giving thanks to the Lord for the harvest season than the arrival of pilgrims, it makes sense to celebrate the holiday in October.

 

    In this day and age of the Holy being replaced by the secular in so much of our society, it is a good encouragement to each of us as individuals and as the Lord’s children here to remember that even our Parliament once declared Thanksgiving as "a day of general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed."

 

     Please this weekend let us remember not only to be thankful but to be thankful to God; and with all else that we are indeed thankful for let us not neglect our gratitude for the harvest that the farmers have reaped this year and all those who the Lord will and does provide for through that.

 

    This weekend and this day let us remember to offer thanksgiving to Almighty God for all else and for the bountiful harvest with which we have been blessed.

 

Let us pray.

 

 

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