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

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

  

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

  

I have shared this story with you previously:

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com 

Romans 8:22-24: Unseen Hope

Unseen Hope. Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 01 January 2023, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Romans 8:24 “…Hope that is seen is no hope at all; who hopes for what they already have?”

 

We have just had Christmas. Many children (and adults) hope for gifts. Many of us hope that family will be able to visit us over the holidays or that we will be able to visit them. Officers often hope for a day or two off on boxing day or shortly thereafter. We also hope that we will raise enough funds on the kettles; we hope that we will be able to provide for the communities for which we are responsible. In the myriad things we do at Christmas time and all year long we hope that we are able to provide comfort and support for those in need.

Hope is what drives us. Hope is what helps us continue. Hope is what gives us strength. I know there were a few days during the Christmas campaign where I myself was very down. I was not all that hopeful. First I was sick, then life and circumstances arose and I was so down that people could tell just from my body language and my voice as I spoke in normal conversation. Then it is amazing how seemingly little things can change everything. I received an unexpected unrelated encouraging message from a friend and everything changed. I had hope. I had something to look forward to… it changed everything. I walked down the hallway with a spring in my step and there was hope that we would be able to what needed to be done and we did.

I find it very interesting. Actually accomplishing something is wonderful. Awards and accolades are great. I was blessed to have The Salvation Army publish my book Salvogesis' Guidebook to Romans Road this year and I was so humbled to be awarded awarded the Citizen of the Year here not that long ago for 2020 and I am always grateful to put on my Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee Medal (that I was awarded in 2012) for Remembrance Day or other such events – but the thing about any accomplishment or award is once you have achieved it, it is done; the meaning fades. The longer ago you have achieved something, the more it is just a memory like any other memory. Once you have something or have achieved something, it is immediately in the rear-view mirror. Dwelling on it pulls you back rather than propelling you forward. Hope, on the other hand, is what we have when we are waiting, when we are expecting something. It is hope that drives us on.

We have just come through the Christmas season. Advent is in part about waiting for the celebration of the birth of the Messiah. We know that the Judeans were waiting for a military ruler to deliver them from their occupiers and establish a kingdom forever. We know that the Samaritans were waiting for a teacher, a philosopher king who would instruct them in all things. In Jesus we had those hopes realized and more. Jesus was born the Son of God, the Prince of Peace. We celebrate the realization of that hope on Christmas Day.

But Jesus did not leave us without hope for the future when he fulfilled the hope for the coming Messiah. Christmas is a celebration of the incarnation of God but Advent is also about our hope as we wait for Jesus to return. On Good Friday we mourn Jesus’ death and on Easter Sunday we celebrate His resurrection. When He died, He fulfilled the Abrahamic and other covenants and when He rose again, He defeated death; so that we now can have eternal life.

This is our hope. The world has not been made anew yet and we have not received our glorified bodies yet but we will when Christ returns. This is our hope, the bodily resurrection and eternal life with Christ our Saviour. This will be realized with the return of Christ. This is our hope: that we and all those we know and love and hopefully even all those we don’t may be resurrected to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now, of course, what we are talking about is Salvation. And Salvation is for the future but it is not exclusively for the future; it is for now as well. In that regard we have a duty to share our hope with others so that they have a reason to continue striving, continue working, continue loving.

It is so easy to give up and then life will just destroy you. We have all seen people without hope and – if you are like me – you may have also had stretches where your hope was faint to say the least – but hang onto that hope, God can use it to pull you through anything. You have all heard what I think is now just called ‘Spirituals’ (I can’t really keep up on the ever-changing acceptable language; so if I have used an outdated term, please forgive me; I am not trying to harm anyone). The music that was sung by the people enslaved by the United States of America and their descendants. They sang of the future over the metaphorical River Jordan, of heaven, for that is how they continued, continuing on – hoping for heaven. Singing praises to our Lord filled them with hope from God that helped them through some horrific circumstances.

Now, of course, we can hope for more than just a future Salvation. We can have glimpses of that future hope of Salvation while living out our Salvation here and now. Life is tough still for many people today in the world. Life is tough still for many people in the US, descended from slaves or not. Life is tough for many people in Canada and life is tough for many people in BC and life is tough for many people in the Alberni Valley here. Life is tough for some of us in this room, right now.

There are many miserable things in life but Christ can and will be with us in the midst of them and hope in Christ can and will help us persevere through each individual challenge in our life as it arises until our ultimate hope is fulfilled.

The Canadian Salvation Army’s motto is ‘giving hope today’ and that is what each of us are called to do and we can do and what we do do, in many ways in our community. Some of the many ways you, as part of our team here, are giving hope today is through:

·       Providing hampers and toys at Christmas time to families who wouldn’t have been able to provide for their children otherwise; this act is a glimpse of the hope we have of the future where no children will be without anything.

·       We give hope today by providing meals year-round from groceries at the food bank, plated dishes at the Bread of Life or served from the food truck. This is a glimpse of the hope we have that there will be a time when no one goes hungry while others suffer the ills of excess, like they do today.

·       We give hope here today by providing clothing to those who need clothing through the thrift store (with the dignity of letting people pay for them) and/or our community and family services (for those who cannot afford it); this is a glimpse of the hope of a future when either, like Eden, we don’t have to even worry about our clothes or, like Exodus, the clothes we have won’t ever wear out.

·       We give hope today by providing shelter from the bad weather through our EWR shelter and our ongoing shelter that we should be opening very soon – we hope. This provides a glimpse of the hope that one day everyone will have a safe place to rest for eternity, as Hebrews says we can enter His rest, God’s rest.

·       We give hope today by providing church services here and at the seniors’ homes. This provides a glimpse of the hope that there will be a day when we can praise God like the Seraphim and maybe even sing along to an angelic choir to our hearts content.

·       We give hope today by providing prayer and emotional and spiritual support to all those in need here and in our community; we look forward in hope to a day when all those who grieve and mourn will be comforted as it says in the scripture.

·       We give hope today by being there for one another – visiting, calling, texting, sending cards of encouragement. We hope for that day when there is no more isolation, no more loneliness and despair, only family, friends and the love of God.

·       We give hope today by praying for each other as we do both individually and at church every Sunday. This is a glimpse of the hope we have that in the new heavens and the new earth, as it says in scriptures, there will not even be a temple or a church building because we won’t need one; we will all, always be in the very real presence of our God. This is our hope!

So, with this in our hearts and our minds, my friends as you are able, I encourage you to continue to offer comfort and support and love to one another and to help others here in our community (and in other aspects of your life) knowing that the comfort we are providing today is only a foretaste of the hope that we have for the future, and that when Jesus returns that hope will be fully realized, and what a glorious day that will be!

Let us pray

 

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Ezra 2:68-3:13: New Normal and Hope for a Better World

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 28 August 2022, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

 

We had a good time at the Rally Day: Picnic in the Park the other day. It was a really great mix of the parts of our Salvation Army group in the Valley. Many of you here today, of course, were there on Friday. There were a number of volunteers and their families; there were a number of staff and their families; there were a number of children we know from kids’ club and other places; there were customers from the store; there were some of our friends who use or have used our services over the years. It was even an outreach as some people just dropped by and I even saw one or two people I know from the community as well: it was great. It was really great to have people from these different parts of The Salvation Army family here have an opportunity to do something together and maybe get to know each other a little better.

For the second year in a row this Picnic in the Park doubled as our Rally Day. Rally Day is a word we use in The Salvation Army to celebrate the end of Summer and getting ready for the upcoming fall programs. When we get all the final dates set with all the different people involved, when we know, we will let everyone know when everything is happening. Some of the events already starting are Della’s groups: Wednesday coffee time, Friday morning walks. We just started coffee time after church again after a couple of years absence.

Before Covid we used to have a Monday hiking group too. I was reminded of this yesterday as Susan, Heather and I when to Fossli Park. That was a place that we went to with our group before covid. 

 

This year’s fall programs do feel a little strange. As with much of the word, we are still getting into the swing of things after 2 plus years of Covid. We need to update our phone and other contact lists as people have changed, just as circumstances have. Some of the typical church activities like Bible Study we haven’t done in a long time – it will seem very strange to do this again, a good strange but strange, nonetheless. Other things have changed a few times over the last 2 plus years – sermons have become much shorter as have services. Somethings – just like with many other organizations and businesses - we have even forgotten how to do parts of them. You see this with all the community events that are starting up here and all over our world after a couple of years break: people have forgotten how to do things we used to do all the time. We are getting back to normal and maybe it is a ‘new normal’ but it doesn’t quite feel normal yet.

We read from Chapter 3 of Ezra this morning. In the book of Ezra people are beginning to return to the way things were after a minimum 20-year break. We know how difficult it is trying to remember how to do things after a two year break, imagine returning to your old job after a 20 year break and trying to remember how to do everything or imagine returning to your church and having to set up the church calendar after a 20 year break or imagine returning to your old town (along with a few hundred other people) after a 20 year break and trying to find your old house, your old job, and trying to remember the way you used to do everything. Now, that 20 years is a minimum number. People who were the first to be deported could have been in exile from Jerusalem for anywhere from between 48 and 70 years, the full length of the exile.

This is what the book of Ezra-Nehemiah is: people trying to return to normal or a ‘new normal’, as we say now, but trying to make it as close to the old normal as possible – but instead of trying to pull everything together after a 2-year gap, they are trying to pull it together after a, in some cases, 70 year gap.

Now, I know that you haven’t all had the luxury of reading and reading about Ezra this week, so I’ll remind you of a bit more of the context and background. Israel was conquered by the Assyrians ca. 720 BCE and Judah was conquered in 597 BCE (586 BCE, the Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed) by the Neo-Babylonians/Chaldeans. By the year 539 BCE the Persians in turn had conquered both the Assyrians and the Chaldeans and this sets up the events in the books of Ezra-Nehemiah that tell the story of the exiles returning home from Babylon to Jerusalem, returning to the new normal.

Ezra and Nehemiah are two books in our Bible but they were actually written on one scroll called Ezra-Nehemiah and these two books, this scroll talks about many of the problems that the Judeans had returning to the new normal. In reading the book you get the feeling that some people may have thought that they could just go back to the way things were before, some people seemed to have an idealistic view, some seemed tentative, some practical, and others were afraid, very afraid.

All of these responses reminded me of people in our world, our country, our community, and our churches today. Now that the precautions and the measures adopted for Covid-19 are coming to an end, some people seem to hope that everything will return to an idealistic version of the old normal, the way things used to be – at least the good parts of the way things used to be. Some people remember times when all the churches in this country were full. Some people in The Salvation Army remember days of large bands and even large junior bands. Some people remember this and some people remember that. The longer ago the memories the more fondly we remember them too – but - at the same time we can’t quite remember the ways we used to do things just 2 plus years ago just before covid-19 struck. Sometimes it seems like we (or at least I) can’t even remember what we did yesterday.

The passage that stuck out to me as I was reading and re-reading the opening chapters of Ezra was 2:70-3:3:

The priests, the Levites, the musicians, the gatekeepers and the temple servants settled in their own towns, along with some of the other people, and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.

 

When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.

 

The people settled in their own homes – they returned to the new normal even though some of the people were very afraid; they met together and made sacrifices to the Lord. My friends there are some uncertain times still ahead here as we worship the Lord and as we return to our new normal. As we re-start Bible studies, coffee times, kids club, and other things, it will be a new normal. It won’t be they way things were 2 years ago; it won’t be the way things were 20 years ago or 70 years ago but we are returning to this new normal of worship and service and I invite you all to join us in whatever way you can as we figure out together exactly what is this new normal way of serving God in this time and place.

I want to share one more story with you today. This is from when Susan, the kids and I were in Victoria recently. I have always liked a picture my father-in-law had of Tommy Douglas and himself leaning on a fence. 

 

This is a great picture. Susan told me a little bit about the picture the other week. This picture was apparently taken at Susan’s grandma’s farm. She invited Tommy Douglas to visit one day when he was on the Island and he did. When he was there he had a good conversation with Susan’s dad – and it was during the conversation that Tommy Douglas convinced Bob Skelly to enter politics. Susan’s dad then went on to be a leader of the party and the longest ever serving MLA for this riding. It is a great picture. There is another poster at their place of Tommy Douglas with a quote that says, “Courage, my friends, it is not too late to make a better world”.  And that reminds me of a quote – almost the dying words of Jack Layton, “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world.”

I think this is a very important reminder and a great encouragement for everyone and especially for us as we embark on our new normal. It is my hope that as we go forward in this new church season, we will remember “My friends, [that] love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world.” For “it is never too late to make a better world”

Let us pray.

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Psalm 126: Imagine

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

1 When the Lord restored the people,

we were like those who dream.

2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then it was said among the nations,

“The Lord has done great things for them.”

3 The Lord has done great things for us,

and we rejoiced.

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

like the watercourses in the Negeb.

5 May those who sow in tears

reap with shouts of joy.

6 Those who go out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

carrying their sheaves.

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Psalm 126

1 When the Lord restored us,

we were like those who dream.

2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then it was said among the nations,

“The Lord has done great things for them.”

3 The Lord has done great things for us,

and we rejoiced.

 

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

 

4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

like the watercourses in the Negeb.

5 May those who sow in tears

reap with shouts of joy.

6 Those who go out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

carrying their sheaves.

Let us pray.

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Ezekiel 33:7-11 and 2 Peter 3:9: Hope and the Ropes

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 05 September 2021; Swift Current Corps, 24 July 2022; the Summer Rain Evangelistic Festival, 07 August 2022, by Major Michael Ramsay

Let me tell you three stories. These are all true stories; they all happened this week and they do have some other things in common too. They all have a rope in the story. They all have peril. 2 of them have water. 2 of them have happen endings.

 

One evening this week Susan suggested that I should take Heather kayaking for a couple of hours before dinner. She said be home at 7pm. Dinner's at 7pm. Be home at 7pm.

 

I threw the kayaks in the back of the vehicle. Heather and I quickly drove out to Sproat Lake. We didn’t have that much time. We got out there. Heather was already a little tired, I think. I asked her where we wanted to go on the lake; she said, she wanted to go to Manitoba Island. (There is this small private island that you can reach from the boat launch and whoever owns the island has a Manitoba flag that they fly from it, thus Heather and I call it Manitoba Island.)

 

It was pretty choppy out there. The waves were pretty high and the wind was blowing quite a bit. And if you crossed a boat’s wake, the waves coming at different angles could really threaten to swamp or tip the boat. It was a lot of work. I paddled out for a little while and looked behind me (as best I could, I didn’t want to turn all the way around in my seat, lest I dump myself out of the kayak) and here was Heather slowly paddling. I turn back, paddle up to her and ask her how she is doing. She asks for a tow. (sometimes on a nice warm, calm day, I will tie Heather’s boat to mine and instead of paddling she will just lie in her boat – she says she doesn’t sleep but I am not always convinced.) 

 

So here I am paddling across the lake to Manitoba Island; It is hard work! Heather in tow; the waves are coming from every angle and the wind also seems to be working against me. We make it to the island. She wakes up, I mean, she sits up. I check the time because we have to be back by 7pm. Then she lowers herself in her boat again, eyes closed but not sleeping, and I start pulling her back. It is quite a struggle with the waves and the wind and towing someone in another kayak. But part way back, I feel like I am getting into the rhythm because it gets a little easier. When I get about ¾ of the way back to shore I look back - and there in no Heather.

 

I am in a panic for a moment. You know that feeling? I look back and I see the rope has broken and there is no kayak behind me and no Heather. Now Heather isn’t the greatest swimmer, she does have her life jacket on. I am looking everywhere as fast as I can to see her boat. I see it and paddle faster than I think I ever have in choppy conditions to get there. You know that feeling when you are racing somewhere, praying that it is not the worst possible result and hoping for the best!

 

While I am racing towards Heather as fast as I can, a nice gentleman, by the name of Keith, in his speedboat sees this kayak just floating around with no one apparently in it (as Heather is lying down) and goes up to the kayak. At this point Heather sits up, opens her eyes and is wondering what is going on. Keith stays with her until I get there and then he puts both of our kayaks in his boat and gives us a ride back to shore – which is good because I really don’t know how much more I could paddle that day! And then Heather and I head for home and we get there just on time. When I walk upstairs to where Susan is, she remarked on how we timed it perfectly because it was 7pm on the nose.

 

It was quite an adventure. But you know that feeling of panic when you notice your child is missing. You know that moment when you think your child might be lost or have had something horrible happen to them. That was the feeling in the pit of my stomach, even sort of after she was found and we got home safely. Though there was certainly a lot(!) of relief as well.

 

My second rope story is about another water rescue that I heard about this past week, I heard this story from one of our employees, Rees. Rees was at Harbour Quay, I believe. He saw the gentleman there who always plays Frisbee with his dog. I don’t know the man’s name. The dog’s name is Wes. 

 

The man threw the Frisbee into the water and Wes went to get it. He got it in his mouth and started paddling back to shore when he accidentally got caught on a rope hidden under the water. The rope got stuck right in his mouth with the Frisbee; so maybe Wes didn’t even know it was there. He couldn’t or wouldn’t let go of the rope because he would have to let go of the Frisbee. He couldn’t get back to shore no matter how hard he struggled and  - unlike the rope between Heather’s and my kayaks – this rope wasn’t breaking. Rees then took off his shoes, gave his phone and/or wallet to the man and jumped in to save Wes. He had to really struggle to get Wes free of the rope but in the end he did and Wes and Rees both swam safely to shore.

 

My third story about a rope this week is tragic. Russell, a regular on 3rd avenue, who many of us know from the Bread of Life, the food bank, the ‘ghetto’ or other places, hanged himself behind the Friendship Centre this week. It was a tragedy for sure. He was in that tree for 3 days or so before he perished. Many friends went there to try to talk him from the tree. Selene, who used to work for us and now works for the Friendship Centre, called me and I took a turn trying to talk him down. Brandy R., who works in our Thrift Store knows Russell and tried to convince him to come down. I was there when the mother of his children was trying to get him down. One of the people who works with us at the Drop-in Centre, Mya, spent many hours with her friend trying to convince him to come down.

 

Police were there. Fire department was there. EMT was there. One of the police who chatted with me – a good Christian fellow who knew his Bible very well - told me that they would not leave as long as Russell was in the tree. Days later, whoever was on duty did leave and Russell died. Now I don’t know what happened to Russell eternally: I hope and I pray that he is eternally at peace with our Lord.

 

One tragic remark that someone made has stuck in my head since that day. I don’t think the person who said it meant it but my brain has not been able to shake it. While he was still alive and still in the tree, someone said that death was probably the best outcome for him. He is an addict. His life is terrible… I cringed when I heard that.

 

I would never want to see anyone lost – not even one – like it says in 2 Peter 3:9. And in Ezekiel 33:11 even those of us others would call wicked, God does not wish any of us to be lost for now or eternity.

 

I think about how Rees, not to mention Wes’ owner, watched Wes struggle and how Rees had to decide whether or not to dive in to save him from the rope he was trapped on. I think about how I felt when my own daughter was lost on the lake for however long it was before I noticed the rope had broken. I think about how I felt when I did not know whether she was okay or not and I didn’t know how scared she was or was not. I think about how I would have felt if something terrible had happened to Heather.

 

Our Heavenly Father feels the same way about each of us. He doesn’t want any of us to be lost – in this life or the next.

 

John 3:16-17: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

 

For any of us to perish hurts the Lord like it would hurt us to lose a member of our family, like a beloved pet, or even our own child. As such, we need to share with people the Good News of Salvation. Talk to people you meet about God, their Father who loves them. Talk to people you meet about Jesus. We don’t know how long any of us have on this earth – and that any of us would have to spend any of our time here - not to mention eternity - away from our Father’s love is tragic. 

 

Some terrible things happen in life. I know when horrifying things have happened in my life I have gone to my Heavenly Father for love and support and I know that God is eternal and His love never fails. He is faithful. If you know anyone who is struggling, please tell them about the Lord who can comfort them in their struggles and save them in their struggles. 

 

I know He will get me through all the tough things in life and He will keep me forever. All of us who love the Lord are able to experience His love and support forever and for now. With this in mind, I know there are people who are part of our church family, our Salvation Army family, and others who aren’t, who are struggling. Let us pray for them. Let us reach out to them. If you are struggling let us pray with you. The Lord loves us; He wants us to be safe in this world and the next. John 3:17: For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

 

Let us pray.

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Genesis 8 and Romans 5:3,4,5: Hope and the Receding Flood Waters

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries by Captain Michael Ramsay, 30 May 2021

 

Romans 5:3,4 “...but let us also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” We have been suffering through the pandemic for quite a while now; but today is a sign of hope.[i]

 

We are meeting inside again for a church service. Praise the Lord. It seems a little strange. It has been a little while. It reminds me of the story of Noah and the flood a little bit.[ii] It reminds me of Genesis Chapter 8 – especially the part where Noah and his family send out the birds.

 

Noah and his family had been in their social bubble, secluded from others for a long time. The earth was covered by a flood. To me this is reminiscent of the many people who have been secluded from others in many ways and some more than others – some completely or almost completely – as the whole earth has been flooded with this pandemic.

 

Genesis Chapter 8 especially resonated with me this week in the context of church services, as we are now allowed to have them again; dedicated religious services - like so much else in our society - have been cut off by the flood waters of covid-19. Many of us have been very careful to follow all the rules as we suffer through this pandemic looking forward to the promise, the hope that one day the flood waters of covid-19 will recede.

 

When it looked like the floodwaters that were covering the earth might be dissipating, Noah sent out the birds. He sent out a raven and a dove to see if everything was okay, to see if he and his family could return to a ‘new normal’.

 

In BC here we have sent out metaphorical birds like Noah’s raven and dove to test our floodwaters, to see if the flood of coronavirus has abated. In the context of church gatherings, the first time the dove was sent out could have been when we here sent out newsletters intermittently, and when we and many other congregations posted services and/or our words of encouragement on-line. This was one dove we sent flying above the pandemic-flooded world to see if it would find a place to land. Like churches all over North America, however, we found out there was no firm ground to land upon there. The churches sent out the dove of on-line services with a lot of hope but -by and large, according to the stats, in most cases- it came back with diminishing returns; this was not the ‘new normal’ – but it was a dove that was sent out searching for hope and a place to land. It was a symbol of our hope.

 

Another time that the dove went out over the flood waters of covid-19 was when we were allowed to gather as a church, meeting for the first time – last fall. These church services were another dove sent out over the waters. And a faithful group of us gathered, hoping that maybe this dove would find a place to land and remain and flourish. For a number of weeks we tested the waters in this way (and society tested it in other ways as well – such as open restaurants which they experimented with even longer than open church buildings) but the dove of both the open restaurants and the church services was pulled back into the Ark of Isolation - the dove left the air of the church services to settle on the Ark of Isolation just before Christmas of 2020.

 

And then there was the raven in Genesis 8. The raven I think is like our service to the community. The Bible is very clear that we have to look after one another. The Bible is very clear that we are not to exclude others from the opportunities to serve God and others. We ae to include others, rather than objectify them; We are to be selfless and not selfish. Our faithfulness in doing this; our faithfulness in serving others – I think – is akin to the raven who was sent out and continued to be out there flying back and forth even as the floodwaters continued to cover the earth. The raven stayed safely apart from the floodwaters but was out there all the same. I think the raven is the hampers that we delivered straight to people’s homes; I think the raven is those who packed and sorted and delivered these hampers; I think the raven is the meals that we have served on the truck; I think the raven is those who cooked them, dished them out and served them; I think the raven is the number of people who have made sandwiches and other meals and assembled them and continue to make them to bring to those in need. I think our continued service is the raven flying back and forth above the waters of the pandemic – and we will remain flying back and forth above the waters serving and offering hope to those suffering from the pandemic as long as the pandemic remains.

 

But now we are sending out the dove again. Today we are sending out the dove of safe, sanitized, socially distanced church services, again. Today we are here testing the waters. I don’t know whether the dove with come back with an olive branch this time or not. I don’t know whether this is the beginning of the end of the pandemic today or not. I don’t even know whether we will be able to meet inside to worship our Lord and Saviour next week or not but I do know that today we – along with the rest of the Universal Church in British Columbia – are sending out that dove in the hopes that all the suffering and trials of the pandemic are soon to be over.

 

Today I want to leave us with this verse from Romans that has a very special meaning to me because an angel shared it with me before my family and I were about to go through some very difficult times and hopefully it will have a very special meaning for us all now as hopefully we are beginning to come out the other end of some significant suffering in our world.

 

The angel told me, from Romans 5:3,4 “...but let us also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” And Verse 5, “And hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

 

As we conclude are worship time today let us do so in renewed character, strength and hope that indeed our Lord with see us through this storm. He will. 

 

Let us pray

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[i] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay "Romans 5:3,4: Hope and an Angel on the Downtown Eastside". Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on April 20, 2008; Swift Current Corps on August 09, 2009; Corps 614 Regent Park on May 15, 2016. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/04/romans-534-hope-and-angel-on-downtown.html

[ii] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, "Genesis 9:8-17: Salvation (Matthew 24:37-38. Luke 17:26-27, Hebrews 11:7, 1 Peter 3:20-22)". Presented to Swift Current community at Lenten Lunch Service, 26 February 2015; the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army 01 March 2015; and Corps 614 Regent Park, 28 June 2015. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2015/02/genesis-98-17-salvation-matthew-2437-38.html

Romans 12:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:18:, John 16:33: Comfort for yesterday, peace for today and hope for tomorrow.

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 28 April 2019 by Captain Michael Ramsay[1]

Romans 12:15: Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. It has been interesting in the news lately. I saw one survey published the other day in the National Post that said that we are, as a society, becoming angrier. This makes sense intuitively if we read all the social media memes and comments. Alongside this in Canada there is also the reality that more people feel less free to share their opinion at all. This has been evidenced by election polling. Polls which once used to be accurate within 3 percentage points 19 times out of 20 now seem to be way off. The Conservative election victory on PEI recently proved that again. The day before the election they were calling for the first Green party government in Canada. All of this is of course a symptom of a sense of powerlessness. And this powerlessness can lead to a feeling of loss and despair.

There are many desperate tragedies and other sad events in our world. On and since Easter there have been those horrible attacks on the churches and other locations in Sri Lanka. Just before Good Friday the new IRA tried to undo the Good Friday accord by bringing violence back in the place of peace in Northern Ireland. Floods and fires sweep across this country every year and the season for that is starting right now. Romans 12:15 says that we should Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

On my own social media feed, I was reminded that this past week we marked the one year anniversary of the bus crash on the prairies that took the lives of all  those young hockey players. Remember the Humbolt Broncos bus crash? The Broncos play in the equivalent league to the one the Bulldogs play in here. Hockey is in the blood in Saskatchewan. People all support their local teams by driving for hours across the prairies to go to practices, games, and tournaments. As you know Susan, the Girls and I spent many years on the prairies. Heather was born in Swift Current Saskatchewan and before that we were posted in Nipawin and Tisdale Saskatchewan.

The Humbolt Broncos: their hockey players, coach, and trainer perished in Saskatchewan just one year ago. When I first found I about this I was reading Romans and I read this verse, Romans 12:15, "rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn". Now, even though, we lived on the prairies for almost a decade, we had been living in Toronto for a number of years when we heard of this tragedy and I honestly did not expect to feel the amount of grief and sadness that I did. But friends of mine lost friends and family members in the crash. My heart breaks for them. My heart breaks for the young people and their families.

As I led prayer time in our services in Toronto the Sunday after the accident, I had to stop more than once to regain my composure. Songs at the Sunday service would remind me of people whom I knew would be grieving. Images would flash before my mind. I used to live near where that bus crash happened: I used to live in Nipawin and pastor churches in both Tisdale and Nipawin. I would drive that same stretch of highway where the accident occurred every week, many times a week, in all kinds of weather. I new that road well. I knew that intersection well.

One Spring afternoon, at about the same time of day, at about the same time of year, I was driving that same stretch of highway with my two (at that time) young daughters in the car. Our car crashed and rolled over and we were left dangling in the air. We were okay. I, disoriented, even wandered out into the middle of the highway at one point. We were in shock but we were okay.

I can't imagine the family members, friends and others standing later on that same stretch of road - and their loved ones weren't okay.

As I was reflecting on  sadness and my time there, My mind raced like our all do sometimes. I recalled a house fire in Nipawin that killed two very young children who were classmates of my daughters and my having to speak to the press. I thought of those families then in Nipawin and the families in Humbolt. My heart hurt. I also recalled an explosion and fire in Nipawin, right behind my office, that engulfed the downtown. I recall standing next to people dying on the sidewalk. I recall walking the streets talking and praying with everyone I saw. I recall organizing food for those who needed it and providing comfort when I could. Those were difficult times but at least in the midsts of all that I felt like I could help like I was doing something. I knew if I was still in that area when the crash happened I would be very busy - but I wasn't. I was thousands of miles away and could not help at all. I felt powerless.

I then recalled my friends in Swift Current. Their hockey team, ironically also called the Broncos, had their own fatal bus crash in 1986 and it is still in people's memories and their hearts. I have one friend who was a first responder and has told me many of times about that incident. When I saw my friends grieving half a continent away. I could do nothing from a distance but pray and pray I did for peace and comfort for all who were grieving even as I, though separated by thousands of miles, mourned with those who mourn. #HumboltStrong. Sad things happen and sometimes we simply mourn with those who mourn just as in times of triumph we can rejoice with those who rejoice.

But also on my social media feed this week I was reminded that very shortly afterward this bus crash, while we were still coming to terms with it, their was another horrific van crash much closer to my home at the time, in Toronto. A fellow ran down and killed all of those unsuspecting people on Yonge Street; we lived on Millwood near Yonge Street; this killing was just a few subway stops North of there.

I was absent from Saskatchewan but I was present in Toronto. Almost exactly one year ago today I joined the Toronto community in supporting those impacted by this tragedy at the #TorontoStrong Vigil. The event was hosted in collaboration with the community groups Faith in the City and the Toronto Area Interfaith Council. I was part of those groups. I represented The Salvation Army. Maybe especially in light of my feeling of powerlessness around the other tragedy, it was a real blessing to be a part of that remembrance, that vigil. We filled the public square to overflowing and many people shared prayers, songs, words of encouragement and comfort.

One of the things that really resonated with me as I was standing with community members and then clergy from other denominations and even other faiths was a spirit of gratefulness. 1 Thessalonians 5:18: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Victims, victims families, friends, people were grateful for the support of others. People were grateful for their community. People were grateful for the response, the love, the giving, and the forgiving of others. We were thankful. We were grateful.

This gratefulness, this thankfulness to God is one thing we can always offer as a community to our community when it is in need. We can offer comfort and support to those of us who are healing through giving thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

And this is the case for all of us. Even here. Even now. None of us, I don’t think, leads a life free of mourning or tragedy. None of us, I don’t think, leads a life free of trials and tribulations. None of us, I don’t think, leads a life free of troubles and struggles.

John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

This, I think is the message of hope for us today even as there is trouble in the world. There has always been trouble in the world and there will probably for many years to come still be trouble in the world. Sad things happen. We know it is true. Jesus told us so; the Bible tells us so; and we all have lived through and will live through difficult times but, you know what? Tomorrow the sun will come up and the day will continue and we can take heart in all that because Jesus has already overcome the world; so we can turn to him and experience comfort in our sorrows of yesterday, peace in our struggles today, and a very real hope for tomorrow.

Years ago, after my own accident on that same stretch of highway in Saskatchewan that the Broncos bus was travelling, I had quite a revelation. It was a Sunday, coming back from Church, that I hit black ice and rolled over and over and wrote off my car as I said earlier. During the next week after this happened, as I travelled that same road, in a different car, I pulled over one day at that same spot. I stood there a moment or two and looked at the land and the road. I noticed the sun was out and their was no sign of accidents, no sign of black ice, no sign of even snow left only a couple of days later, no sign of anything of the sort. As dark and slippery and scary as it was days ago. Now there were no signs of that trouble - just a shining sun on a beautiful day.

So it is or so it will be with all of us and our very real troubles today whatever they may be. Just like with us on that road, like with the Broncos tragedy and #HumboltStrong, and like with the Yonge Street crash and #Torontostrong, so with all of us: God promises that He will be with us in the very midst of our struggles and our suffering. And if there are any of us here who have never prayed to him for our salvation and comfort in the thick of everything we experience in this life, I invite you to chat with me after the service here or at any time and we can pray with you. For God promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He can get us through anything and He gives us, like we said, comfort for yesterday, peace for today and a true, real, solid hope for the tomorrow.

Let us pray.

Benediction from the Bible: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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[1] Based on Michael Ramsay, 'Romans 12:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:18:, John 16:33: Comfort for yesterday, peace for today and hope for tomorrow' (The Salvation Army Maxwell Meighen Centre: 02 May 2018)  Available on-line: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2018/05/romans-1215-1-thessalonians-518-john.html