Matthew 21:1-11: Hosanna! The Triumphal entry into Holy Week

Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries on Palm Sunday, 29 March, 2026, by Major Michael Ramsay 

Today  is Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is when we commemorate the Sunday before Jesus’ death. Jerusalem was occupied then, like it is now; now it is occupied by the Israelis, then it was occupied by the Romans. The Judeans in the first century didn’t like being occupied then any more than the Palestinians like it today. The Romans were harsh, not nearly as brutal as modern Israel, but harsh enough that the first century had their version of … (Remember the suicide bombers of the ‘70s and ‘80s?) …suicide bombers: the Sicarii (zealots), Judean terrorists / revolutionaries would walk into crowds with daggers looking for Romans to kill –. One of Jesus’ followers, Simon, was arguably a Sicarii or zealot.

 

Passover is the commemoration of ancient Israel’s birth as a nation. The Angel of Death passed over Egypt and the nations of Isreal and Judah were created through the Exodus. Passover, in the Roman period, was a time when many people of Judean descent descended upon Jerusalem. I imagine it would be like Mecca during Ramadan, or if you remember Vancouver during the Olympics or Expo. The capital of Judea is Caesarea Maritima – but the historic capital is Jerusalem, so when all the people are coming to Jerusalem, the governor himself comes to town and brings all his extra security for crowd control. Jerusalem, a city of tens or even hundreds of thousands, swells to a population of more than a million potential hooligans or even revolutionaries during Passover. The Romans are there. They are ready. They are nervous.

 

Jesus is a celebrity preacher. He has been travelling the country speaking for the previous 1-3 years. Thousands of people regularly show up to hear him speak, just to catch a glimpse of him, or to see or experience some miracle that was part of his ministry. He had hundreds of disciples; 12 chief ones, that would be like his leadership team with different roles – Judas, for one example, was the treasurer.

 

So there are all these people in Jerusalem, many wanting independence from the Romans; the Roman and Jewish police are providing security. Jesus rides into the historic capital city and people run out to meet him. They line the streets as he rides in on the back of a donkey. People lay their coats before him, they wave palm branches, they shout, “hosanna”. The palm branches are a national symbol of Judah. It would be like if we in Canada would dare to speak about cancelling NAFTA, abandoning NORAD, leaving NATO, and then a celebrity rolled into Ottawa, and everyone started waving maple leaves. This is what Palm Sunday is…And more than that: “Hosanna” that they are shouting means “Save us”! The Romans (the Americans of their day) and their supporters are nervous.

 

A very popular celebrity is rolling into the historic capital of an occupied territory on a national holiday and the people are running out, waving national symbols and shouting, “save us!”, “save us!”, “hosanna”. “save us!” The Romans are nervous. They have extra security forces. The Jewish collaborators are nervous. They have a plan. They must stop this. This is Palm Sunday.

 

Where do you stand? Do you stand on the road, palm branch in hand, with Jesus saying. “set the captives free” (let the people out of jail); “you can’t serve God and money; so feed the hungry and clothe the naked” (end capitalism); “beat your swords into ploughshares” (disarmament), “give sight to the blind” (provide medical, dental and other care universally – to everyone!), “justice and mercy” (no more expensive lawyers) “love your neighbour as yourself”; “forgive your enemies” – no more war, no more hate, no more darkness. Or do you stand, without a branch, with those who want him killed and wanting retribution, revenge for wrongs, and money for fun for yourself instead of necessities for others. This is what Palm Sunday is! Jesus is riding into town. Are you with him or are you against him? Do you support the superpowers and elites of today or do you champion the downtrodden? Are you a child of the light or cowed by the hounds of hell? Where do you stand? Do you have a palm branch in hand?

 

I am going to take you through the next few days of Jesus’ life, his last before his execution. If today is Palm Sunday when he rides into town, he will go to the Temple (curse a fig tree enroute), look around, and come home to where he is staying.

 

Tomorrow he will ride back into town and go to the Temple that has just been rebuilt in or near his lifetime. He will see the people in the temple court taking people’s money and offerings and converting the different currencies into the temple shekel so that they can make the appropriate offerings. It would be very busy with everyone exchanging cash so they can make their offering, because it is Passover and so many people are in town. Jesus goes up to the booth where they provide this service, where they convert the money into the proper currency and he throws over the tables; he grabs the people working in the temple and he makes a whip and he starts to whip them right there, right in the temple of God. He calls them thieves and all kinds of stuff and then he leaves. He is not happy with the way they are making money in the temple of God.

 

Tuesday, the next day, he is back at the temple. He has a row with the people there; obviously after all that destruction and chaos he caused the day before. In his verbal exchange he says to the people working at the temple, the priests, the church people, he says, “’Blind guides!... For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness...Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?" (Matthew 23:24-33)” This is what he says in the Temple.

 

Wednesday – not much. Thursday though. Thursday is the Last Supper! We will have an event here to commemorate Maudy Thursday; you don’t want to miss it! Thursday, Jesus had his last supper with his leadership team before he dies. A couple of important things happen at this dinner. He tells his followers to keep eating and drinking together in remembrance of him; he tells his followers to serve each other like by washing others’ feet, and he tells his disciples that one of them will betray him... Each of the disciples wonders about this. When they get a chance each borrows his ear, “Jesus, is it me? Will I betray you?” When Judas, the treasurer for the group, gets a chance to pull Jesus aside, he asks “is it me?” Jesus says “yes”; the devil enters him and he leaves to do what must be done. No one knows what is going on except Jesus, John, and maybe Judas.

 

After dinner Jesus and the rest of them – except for Judas who has gone off to do what has to be done – head to the garden of Gethsemane. Lots of stuff happens there and then Judas rejoins the disciples. When he does, he kisses Jesus, as is the custom, then soldiers or police, Romans or Jews, grab Jesus, attempt to arrest him. Peter grabs his sword. Swings it down at one of the soldier’s heads. The soldier moves or Peter misses or or or.. Peter chops off the soldier’s ear! Jesus stops him, stoops down, picks up the ear, and puts it back on the soldier’s head and the soldier is healed. Jesus goes peaceably with his arrestors.

 

They keep him in custody until 6am tomorrow, Friday morning, when they bring him to Governor Pontius Pilates’ place for trial and, they hope, execution. There is quite a scene there! We won’t go through it all today but Pilate’s wife had a vision and tells him to have nothing to do with this. Pilate can’t figure out what Roman law Jesus is supposed to have broken and wants to release him – but he is afraid. He is very afraid. Remember there are so many Jews everywhere, He is afraid they will overthrow the government, try to, or assassinate him, or revolt, or, or or… He still wants nothing to do with this but he compromises… and then he says it is Passover so I’ll tell you what, I will release one prisoner. You have a choice: there is this murderer, this terrorist here, Barabbas; I can release him or I can release Jesus. The people chose Barabbas. Pilate is annoyed probably even more than afraid now. He makes the Jews in his courtyard disavow God and then he hands Jesus over to them to be crucified. They go overboard with this. The young men guarding him get in on the act. They put a purple robe on him to mock him as a ‘king’. They put this crown on his head that they made of thorns. It hurts. Blood everywhere. The head bleeds. Then they start striking him and hitting him with rod. Who hit you, King of the Jews?.” Maybe Punching, hitting, kicking taunting.

 

They then take him out to be executed, along with others, on wooden frames in the shape of a cross and they make him carry his or part of his to the hill where they will assemble it and nail him to it. He stumbles and falls so they grab someone from the crowd and force them to carry Jesus’ cross the rest of the way. They then set it up beside other crosses and nail him to it. He isn’t the only one there. There are others nailed to crosses beside him for other reasons. They stab him in the side. Water comes pouring out. They go to break his legs to expediate his death but he is already dead. When he dies there is this massive eclipse, an earthquake and – by all accounts – the graves, the tombs open up and people who were dead come back to life just like Lazarus did a week or so ago. It is pretty scary, I am sure. This is Good Friday.

 

Sunday, Monday, He will raise from the grave. He will come back. ‘Vengeance is mine saith the Lord’ but the Lord is all about forgiveness. Jesus raises from the dead. Now we all can. And we all will. And when we do, if we serve Jesus instead of the leaders of this era we will spend eternity in His Kingdom of Love and forgiveness. If we don’t… if we choose capitalism, hate, vengeance instead, well then… that is what we choose isn’t it?

 

So today is Palm Sunday. Jesus is riding into town. Where do you stand? Do you stand, palm branch in hand, with Jesus saying. “set the captives free” (let the people out of jail); “you can’t serve God and money; so feed the hungry and clothe the naked” (end capitalism); “beat your swords into ploughshares” (disarm), “give sight to the blind” (provide medical, dental and other care to everyone), show “justice and mercy” (no more expensive lawyers) “love your neighbour as yourself”; “forgive your enemies” – no more war, no more hate, no more darkness. Or do you stand with those who kill Jesus, who want retribution, revenge for wrongs, money for fun for yourself instead of necessities for others.

 

This is what Palm Sunday is! Jesus is riding into town. Are you with him or are you against him? Do you support the superpowers and the elites of today or do you champion the downtrodden. Are you a child of the light or cowed by the hounds of hell?

 

Today is Palm Sunday. Where do you stand? The choice is yours. Are you against him or are you with him? If you are with him, I invite you to wave your palm branches and cry out with me ‘Hosanna’, ‘save us’ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. ‘Hosanna in the Highest’

 Let us pray

www.sheepspeak.com

Luke 2 Christmas Letter

Presented to the Alberni Valley Care Homes, December 2025, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

December 2025

 

          So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” – Luke 2:4-12

 

Christmas is the time when we remember the birth of Jesus. Jesus is God’s Son. He was born in a stable and placed in a feeding trough for a crib. His young mom and her husband-to-be were away from home and had no place to stay. God didn’t invite many people to celebrate the birth of his Son, but He did invite shepherds who were working overnight in the fields nearby.

 

Jesus, God’s Son, lived a life that we can all look to for inspiration. He preached Good News to the poor. He offered Salvation to the world. He taught how we could live together in peace and justice, goodness and mercy. He died young but that was not the end. Jesus rose from the dead and made it so that all of us can live forever. Even today, he can help us with all of our concerns. This is who Jesus is.

 

The shepherds were there on the first Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus who would go on to do all that and more. Today we are all invited to celebrate the occasion of Jesus’ birth and if you haven’t met him yet, you can; all you need to do is pray. He will hear you. He loves you.

 

Have a blessed Christmas.

 

From all of us at The Salvation Army

Major Michael Ramsay

Luke 2:1-20: Walking to Cobble Hill While Pregnant...

Presented to the Alberni Valley Community, at the 2025 Hope in the Valley Gala, held at the Italian Hall, 15 November 2025, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Among other roles I fill, I am a Christian pastor. We are entering the Christmas season. We know how the first Christmas went… What happened?

 

There is this couple – Mary and Joseph – they aren’t married. They want to be. Mary anyway is probably a teenager. She’s pregnant- very pregnant – and they have to go pay their taxes or something similar. In order to do this, they need to leave their town and travel to the capital city (or a suburb thereof). It was about the same distance as between here and Cobble Hill or Duncan. They didn’t have a car. They had to walk. It would be at least a two day walk.

 

They get there and, of course, it is time for Mary to have the baby. The water breaks or contractions start or something. They have to find a place to stay – but they don’t have a hotel room and there is no shelter. There is no hostel. Hospitals as we know them don’t exist and Mary is about to give birth. A business owner lets them use his barn and their baby is born.

 

Now, Joseph isn’t the baby’s biological father. This baby is God’s son and so, by definition, he is also God. Christmas is when we celebrate God becoming a person, when we celebrate the birth of God’s Son.

 

God invites specific people to celebrate the birth of His Son. It is night. And there are these shepherds, unskilled labourers working the nightshift. These aren’t the owners of the sheep or even the people who get to work the day shift – this is the night shift. God invites them – out of everyone in the world - to witness the birth of God’s baby, who by definition is also God.

 

They come to see Him. That is how God chose to enter the world. He wanted to share a most important event with unwed teenagers and people stuck working overnight on Christmas.

 

In the Christian faith, like God did at the birth of His Son, this is who we are supposed to include and honour as well – not the rich, not the self-sufficient, not those who don’t seem to need anything – but those who are on the outside looking in. John Wesley sums it up by saying that if we are God’s people, we will love and care for all God’s people and even more we will have a preferential treatment for the poor and other people on the margins. And this, my friends, is what you are doing.

In the previous 12 months you, as part of our team,

·        have housed 21 people, who were previously homeless, in a place of their own

·        have provided people with their first ever jobs

·        provided more than 144 500 meals from our Soup Kitchen

·        provided a further 11 000 meals from our food truck

·        provided a further 5000 people with groceries

·        sent kids to camp who have never been to camp

·        given clothing and school supplies to children in need

·        provided hundreds of toys to children who would otherwise get nothing for Christmas

·        You have kept 3 940 people inside, off the streets at night; providing them with a bed, shelter, a safe place, with no in-and-out privileges so that once they are inside for the night, they stay safe for the night. You have kept them off the streets.

When I was commissioned and ordained as an Officer in The Salvation Army, I took a sacred oath:

...To care for the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked. To love the unloved and befriend those who have no friends.... And, by God’s grace, to prove myself a worthy officer.

 

This we, you and I and the rest of our team, have been faithful to and, by the grace of God, will continue to do so.

Thank you.

 

My Friends you are making a difference.

Luke 16:1-13: Sudden Death Overtime (2025)

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 19 October 2025; Swift Current Corps, 21 March 2010 and 30 November 2014; Nipawin and Tisdale Corps, 29 July 2007 by Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay

 

This is the 2025 version.

 

To read the 2014 version, click here:

http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/11/luke-161-13-sudden-death-overtime-2014.html

 

To read the 2007 version, click here: 

http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2007/08/luke-161-13-sudden-death-overtime.html

 

I enjoy the Bulldogs games. It is neat going to see local hockey games. I remember watching the Victoria Cougars play when I was a kid with my dad and it was always a good time too. When we lived in Swift Current my older girls and I would often go the Broncos games – they were great supporters of the Army. Hockey at the local rink can be a lot of fun. When we were in Toronto… too bad they didn’t have a real hockey team (:

 

When Rebecca was just born, I used to listen to hockey every Friday night. I worked almost every other night (and day, I owned my own business) and Friday night was my night to be home with Rebecca and clean the house; so I would listen to the junior hockey games on the radio after I put her to bed as I was doing the dishes and other things around the home.

 

I remember this one game. I caught the 3rd period. The home team had just dominated the game. It was three or even four to nothing coming into the last minute of play. These players had worked really hard; completely controlling the game and they started celebrating the winning of the last game of their season… with one minute left to go. Then the other team scored. Then again. 30 seconds left. Then again. 10 seconds left. It was four nothing less than a minute ago – they were celebrating – now they are up 4-3 with only 5 seconds left and they aren’t so confident – and now there’s a face-off in their own zone. And you know what happens? The away team scores with less than a second left to force sudden-death overtime. Our team squanders their lead and as a result they face sudden death.

 

If you’ll turn with me back to Luke Chapter 16, the manager we read about also squanders from his position, and now he faces sudden death – or sudden unemployment anyway: he is fired.

 

Jesus tells this parable directly to his disciples right after he tells the story of the prodigal son which we spoke about 2 weeks ago. Remember, the point of that parable? What happens when the son squanders what (the) God (figure) gives him? He is forgiven. The parable of the prodigal is about God’s forgiveness of the son who squanders everything on wild (NIV) or dissolute (NRSV) living. As we return to God, He will forgive us - whatever we have done.

 

But this parable raises another question then…can we just keep sinning and it doesn’t matter?[1] If we are members of God’s family, His household, can we just squander everything on ‘wild living’ and sin, like the son? After all, the father not only forgave him but he also threw a big party for him. So, why not just keep sinning?

 

And this is a question that Jesus answers right away in the next parable:[2] God (the father) in the prodigal story forgives the one that squanders what he is given but God (the owner) at the commencement of the manager story does not.

 

Jesus says, Luke 16:1-2, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of SQUANDERING (NRSV) his possessions.  So he called him in and asked him, ‘what is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' You face sudden death – sudden unemployment.  

 

The prodigal son is forgiven but the wicked manager is fired. Jesus is right away stopping any thoughts people might be having that we can just keep sinning when we work for God. If there are any who think that they can go out and waste everything that God has given us, Jesus answers us emphatically… No – No – No, He says, give me an account.

 

The manager is working for (the) God (figure) in this story –just like the disciples are and just like we are working for God - and now the manager, he is fired and he never saw this coming.

 

Verse 3, he asks: “what shall I do now… I’m not strong enough to dig. I’m too proud to beg.” He’s being fired for squandering what God has given him and he probably didn’t see it coming.

 

Well, how are we doing with what God has given us? We know, of course, that our jobs, our businesses, car, home, family, and all the gifts and talents we have really all belong to God and we are just managing them until Jesus returns; so, how have we been doing with that?

 

Are we using them for the Kingdom and God or are we squandering them on ourselves? At anytime, Jesus will come back. At anytime the owner will ask us for an account of what we’ve done with his possessions: are we using them for what he wants us to use them or are we squandering them on ourselves and on ‘wild living’?

 

I can think of a time when I was a pre-teen and I was in the living room when my dad was watching some telethon to help the needy kids. He was talking to me about it for a while. Trying to instil in me the values of helping others – or something like that – and then right when they are asking for money –on purpose – he says, "thanks Mike for all the help you’ve given me working around the yard this summer" ...and he gives me five bucks... while he’s picking up the telephone. He says, "now you can spend this on anything you want"…while he dials…"anything at all…Hello telethon"…and he hands me the phone…immediately, I’m thinking about giving the telethon $2.50 (or less), but I know what my father is saying that I should do with this money and I do it.

 

Are we doing what our Heavenly Father wants with what He gives us? What are we doing with His money, yes, but also – can you teach? Are you teaching others about Jesus? Are you organised? Are you using your administration skills for the Kingdom? Are you a social person? Are you telling people about Jesus and visiting them when they are sick? All of this is included in the first question Jesus is addressing with the parable of the manager but he doesn’t stop there.

 

Look at Verses 4-7. These are controversial verses for some scholars but let’s see what we can make of them, shall we?[3]

 

The manager says to himself, ‘What shall I do now? — I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’  “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

 

“‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’

“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’”

‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

 

So do you see what the manager is doing here? Now this isn’t his money, remember. This is his bosses’, the master’s [4] – this is the master’s money and the manager’s plan is to give it away; isn’t this what he got in trouble for in the first place – wasting his master’s money?! Isn’t that what he was fired for in the first place?

 

And now he is out on his ear, this is his idea: he slashes what people owe his master and he makes a lot of friends in the process. No kidding… can you imagine? And these are not just small personal loans. This is big business, these amounts, by the way. This isn’t just a family operation. Can you imagine if the CEO of RBC –faced sudden death, sudden unemployment- can you imagine if he just got his pink slip and went out and cancelled everybody’s mortgage or student loans…no kidding people would like him and offer him jobs. Or like a politician, who looks like he’ll lose an election, bails out big business or privatizes something, selling it to his friends. No kidding someone will offer him a job.

 

So then, what is Jesus saying here? Is he saying that it is okay to cheat God like the manager cheats the owner? This is another question inherent to the parable…and look at Verse 8. When all this happens and the owner potentially loses the equivalent of millions of dollars in the process, it says “the master commended [praised] the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly.” He commended him for wasting his money, which is what he fired him for in the first place. What?!?

 

What is Jesus saying? …Is Jesus saying that we can be tricky and waste God’s possessions? Well…no. And this is where the first part of this parable comes into play. No, the Bible says you cannot waste that which God has given you and Jesus is pretty clear about this. If we can’t be trusted, if we squander what God has given us, we will be fired. We will lose. It is the same as stopping playing hockey in the last minute. We will face sudden death overtime and - if we stop playing - we will lose.

 

Further, if we have any doubts about this, in Verses 10-12 Jesus is explicit. There is no ambiguity. He says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

 

Do you see that? Jesus is saying it is not the untrustworthiness, the shrewdness, the trickiness that is being applauded in this parable. It is not the fact that the manager has -without permission- reduced all these debts for his own personal gain; it is not this that Jesus is applauding. He says if you are dishonest with a little, you will be dishonest with a lot. And if you do squander -waste the talents and other things God gives you- you will not be eternally employed.

 

So then, if it is not the manager’s untrustworthiness that is being applauded? Why is the owner happy with the manager who wastes and squanders his things after he has already been fired for wasting and squandering his things? Is it that he put profit first? He cut a deal with big business to get a new job like a corrupt politician about to be kicked out the door selling off a country’s possessions. The manager doesn’t want to do any physical work but he still wants to make big bucks. Is this what the parable is talking about?[5] Is this what is being applauded: planning for his own financial security?

 

No. Jesus answers this in Verses 13 and 15. He says emphatically, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” ...What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” And Jesus goes even further earlier in Luke when he says (14:33) that one should be willing to give up all one’s possessions to follow him…

 

So why does he commend, why does he praise the manager? What’s he talking about? What is he really talking about? Jesus makes it clear that he is NOT saying that we should aim for material gain (v.15) and if we do we are not serving God (v.13) and Jesus makes it clear that he is not applauding untrustworthiness for he says clearly that those who are untrustworthy here are not worthy of trust in the Kingdom of God; so what is Jesus talking about in this parable?

 

Jesus' point to his disciples in this parable and Jesus' point to us is this, if even the people of this world (v. 8), who are not even wise enough to secure the ‘true riches’ for themselves (v.11), if even the people who wickedly squander what they are entrusted with on themselves, if even the people who don’t use God’s wealth for His purposes (cf. Luke 12:13-21) – if even the people of this world are wise enough to prepare for their future when they know it is near (v.8); so should not we, who have been entrusted with so much more –the knowledge of the Kingdom of God – should not we be even more wise than they?

 

In context this makes sense. The prodigal son comes back. He returns to Father. He comes back to live with God. Sure he strays but he comes back and, like the son, if we stray we can return. We are welcome back and the story of the prodigal makes that clear. But don’t leave it too late.

 

The story of the manager picks up where the prodigal son leaves off. The manager did not return to doing what was right until it was almost too late. He is on his metaphorical deathbed before he realizes that it is just about too late. He, like the hockey players in our earlier analogy has stopped playing the game well before it is over and he is facing the natural and logical consequences.

 

We need to remember this. If we assume that we are in God’s employ so we can stop being holy and just start sinning because it doesn’t really matter then we will find that we are in the same spot as the manager. We shouldn’t celebrate so much that we stop playing before the game is over (cf. Lk 12:35-41,41-48), if we do we may find out that we are not actually on the winning side.

 

On that note, how are we doing at managing God’s time, money, and skills that He has given us? How are we doing? Are we using our gifts for the Kingdom? If we are, this is what the Kingdom looks like; this is what it is like when we have returned to the father and when we are trustworthy managers: If our dad gives us five bucks and tells us to give it to Jerry’s kids, we will give it to Jerry’s kids. If our Father lets us have a good job with good pay and invites us to give some of that money back in tithes, offerings or other ways, we will give it back. If He gives us the skills to teach Sunday school, fix the church; if He nudges us to invite our friends to church, we will do that and more. When we do this we will avoid being in the same position as the manager. You see, we have already been entrusted with the true riches of the Kingdom of God. It is not too late.

 

The third period’s not over. We can play the full game, and we can experience the victory with Jesus. We can. No matter if we’ve already started to squander our lead like the son or the manager, it is not too late. We can come back. We can come back. We can return and experience the victory with Jesus, we can. Praise the Lord. Halleluiah. Let's avoid 'sudden death' and let us build on that lead playing for the Lord for now and forever.

 

Let us pray.

 

www.sheepspeak.com

 

 

 

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[1] This is one of the questions that is being answered for his disciples (cf. Lk 8:8-10; Mt 13:10-17; Mk 4:10-12).

[2] This is not the only place where it can be argued that Jesus answers a parable with a parable. One of Luke’s two references to the parable `hiding your light under a jar` appears to be part of his explanation to his disciples of the parable of the Soils (Luke 8).

[3] The scholars varied opinions are around things such as whether or not the manager was acting honourably or dishonourably here, whether or not this section is making a comment about the character of God, and questions about if the manager's untrustworthiness and love of money were actually rewarded; I argue alongside the majority opinion, based on the larger context as I address later in this sermon, that it is not these things that are being rewarded at all.

[4] R. Alan Culpepper, NIB IX: Luke, John, 308-309 has a good discussion of various theories around how the wealth was acquired and why or why not the manager’s actions here are justifiable. This is a contentious issue; I don’t think that it need be however. If even the ‘wicked’ are smart enough to prepare for the future in their wicked ways, how much more should the trustworthy (faithful) (v. 11) prepare for the future and how much more seriously should we take the true riches (v. 12) with which we have been entrusted

[5] Some may suggest that we act this way; you’ve heard the argument that you can only take care of others once you take care of yourself. What good would we be to the poor, if we were broke ourselves?

Luke 15:11-32: Lost Boy

Presented to Swift Current Community Lenten Lunch, 07 March 2013, Swift Current Salvation Army and CKSW Radio 10 Mar 13 and TSA Alberni Valley Ministries, 05 October 2025 by Captain (Major)Michael Ramsay

 

This is the 2025 version. To view the earlier version, click here: 

https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2013/03/luke-1511-32-lost-boy.html 

 

A prominent big city pastor was driving through a small town. He became a little turned around and when he was lost his eyes fell upon a child not more than two feet tall at the door of one of the houses. The boy was on tiptoes valiantly attempting to reach the doorbell. Amused at the efforts of this small boy and wanting to help, the pastor parked his car and went over to assist the boy. He reached up and pushed his finger onto the button and the chimes rang inside. Satisfied that he had done his good deed for the day, the pastor turned to the child, and said,

“Okay, what happens next?”

With a smile the child replied, “Now we run!”

.

The pastor of our story today was at a loss, as he was lost in in the small town. Today we are speaking about the lost. We read the parable of the lost son. This is actually the 3rd parable in a series of 3 or 4 parables. The parable of the lost son and especially the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the lost sheep are all speaking about how important the lost are to God and just how much He will do to bring them to salvation, to bring them back to Him.[1] The next parable after this one, after all the parables of the lost, goes on to explain just how important this salvation really is. God really loves us. As such, it bothers Him when we are lost.

.

Who here likes to lose things? How do you feel when you lose your keys? You know that feeling? You think you put them somewhere but they are not there. You are running late. You need to be somewhere and your keys are missing. This is like the parable of the lost sheep.

.

Now imagine that you find your keys and you head to the store; you go in, buy your groceries, you walk to where your car is (or at least where you think it is) and it is not there. Your car is lost. You look around. You fumble for your fob to try and make the horn honk or the lights blink but it is raining and you have your hands full and you are sure that this is where you left your car but it is lost and you are franticly scanning the parking lot wondering where it might be. This is a parable of the lost coin.

 

Now imagine that you are still standing there completely disoriented with your hands full in the middle of the parking lot franticly looking for you car and you spot it, so you walk over to the car. You are wondering why you can’t get it to unlock and then you realize that it is not your car at all. It is just one that looks like your car. You look around. You can’t find your car anywhere and you are really starting to get concerned now because, even though you know you shouldn’t have, you left your two-year-old grandchild or child in the car. This is the parable of the lost son. These are the progressive emotions that Luke is trying to evoke in his original audience as they read / hear these parables from Jesus.

 

These three parables are of the lost: the lost coin (vv. 3-7), the lost sheep (vv. 8-10) and the lost son (vv.11-32). They are a progression of intensity, and they all address the questions raised by the Pharisees in verses 1-2: “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’”

 

Jesus answers the muttering with these three parables explaining that not only does he welcome sinners and eat with them but Jesus says: Verse 10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents”; Verse 7, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent”; and Verse 32 “…we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” This is how much it means to God when we His children come to and/or return to His safety and His protection.

 

Now the primary parable of the lost that we are dealing with today is that of the son. Sometimes, it seems that almost everything that could ever possibly be said about this parable has been said already. I have read I don’t know how many journal articles and books on the prodigal son; I have seen I don’t know how many pieces of artwork on the prodigal son; I have heard I don’t know how many homilies, devotional thoughts and inspirational talks on the prodigal son. I have heard sermons spoken from the father’s perspective, from the prodigal’s perspective, from the older son’s perspective and maybe even from the pigs’ perspective. I myself have even written a children’s version of this story many years ago and years before that even I remember playing the prodigal son in a musical when I was an elementary school student back in Victoria, with Emmanuel Baptist Church’s Hosanna Singers.

 

There is a story that was told and re-told quite a bit about one of our performances. I, as a 10- or 11-year-old boy, was playing the prodigal son. My costume was an old potato sack. You know the kind. I was wearing that and I had dirt and or stage make-up on. We performed this play on a number occasions and a number of locations. I remember once, we were playing for a smaller audience. We were performing at the inner city Mustard Seed Street Church in downtown Victoria. Because it was a smaller venue back then, while I was waiting to make my entrance, to return to the father, I was waiting outside in my potato sack on the streets of downtown Victoria – and I believe the door may have even been locked on me. So there I was; a child in a potato sack pounding on the door of the street mission as it is time for me to go on stage and then along comes a little old lady who instead of letting me in, kindly places a nickel in my hand and tells me everything will be alright and continues on her way. To this day, I think that nickel made me the highest paid actor ever in the history of the Hosanna Singers.

 

The main thing about the parables of the lost is that God loves us and He wants us all to be found. He doesn’t want any one of us left outside in the cold on the streets. Verse 10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Our repenting, turning to God is so important not only to us but even more so to God who loves us so much.[2]

 

There is another aspect to this parable that I should address too and that is the role of the older son in this story. He has an interesting reaction when he comes home and finds that his family is having this party that no one apparently invited him to or even told him about. Along these lines, I have another tale about the lost that I would like to share here. This one is based on a children’s story that my eldest daughter shared with us when she was in elementary school. It is from a Canadian children’s book. I believe that it is set on the east coast. There is a family. The father is a fisherman. They live by an area of the ocean that can be particularly treacherous for people caught in a storm near a place called Ledgy Island.

 

One day – as I understand the story having only heard it second hand – a young boy named Harold and his pet parrot, who is also named Harold, get up early. The boy Harold goes to play in the attic and the parrot Harold flies to the dangerous Ledgy Island. As the other members of the family wake up and get going for the day a family member calls out, “Where’s Harold?” and a voice from the attic replies, “on Ledgy Island” – the parents start to panic. There is a storm brewing and Ledgy Island is a very dangerous place in the storm so they call out the search parties to look for him on and off the island, they call all their relatives, they call the RCMP, they call the coast guard, they call everyone they can think of to help find Harold the boy whom they fear must be lost in the storm. Now of course, it is Harold the bird who did leave for the island but he arrived there without incident: he is fine. The community is searching high and low for Harold the boy however, who never did leave the safety of his own home.

 

At some point during the day, Harold the boy, who is playing in the attic hears all the noise as the searchers are gathering below and decides to come down and check it out – it sounds like a party – he walks into the midst of everyone and no one notices him. He sees people watching TV with his face on the TV, he sees the RCMP running around the living room. He sees people everywhere and He sees neighbours bringing over food and Harold figures this definitely must be a party. He stays in the middle of all this activity as – unbeknownst to him – everyone is looking for him and then Harold notices that everyone looking and sounding sad. Nobody is having fun at this party. Some people are crying; nobody looks happy; so, he pipes up in the middle of this crowd and says, “Some party this is!” It is only then – when they take a break from what they are doing that they see what is right in front of their eyes and they notice that Harold is actually standing in their midst – the lost has been found.

 

Harold’s reaction to this impromptu party in his honour that he was not aware of is not entirely dissimilar to the older brother’s reaction to the impromptu party thrown in his brother’s honour that he is not aware of. The brother is not happy. In this instance he is not upset as Harold was because everyone is sad. The brother is upset because everyone is happy. Here the brother had always been serving his father. And -as far as we know- he has constantly been doing his best at serving his father and –as the text states- he had never had such an event thrown for him (15:29); but his little brother who had just run off and partied, cavorted with gentiles and eaten with pigs, he all of a sudden shows up again and he’s the centre of all this attention. It’s not fair. He is the good son: the one who has been doing everything right. The sentiment the older son is expressing is, in essence, the same sentiment expressed by the religious leaders off the top of our text, Verses 1-2: “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered: Jesus, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” Jesus, God, the father in the parable of the lost son, celebrates when the son turns and returns to him.

 

This pericope that we have been looking at today has been referred to as, ‘the Gospel of the outcast’.[3] Here at The Salvation Army, we have sometimes been referred to as a rag-tag group; we are sometimes thought of as a group of prodigals, particularly in downtowns of large urban centres. Some of us and our friends who regularly come here and to the Bread of Life and our shelter , some have been living the life of the woman at the well -who have had so many husbands, common-law and otherwise- that she doesn’t know what to do (John 4); we have members of our group who have struggled with addiction and have even at times stolen as a means to support that addiction; we have alcoholics who are in various forms of recovery; we have members of our group who have served time in jail. I don’t know what it is like in the other congregations’ ministries in town but I hope that we will always welcome home with open arms those who have been left out on the margins of our society. I assure you that those who have been out there really do need to know that the love of Jesus can exist even here in the church.

 

This is my encouragement today: if we ever see someone who we do not know sitting next to us here, down at the Bread of Life, the Shelter; or even more, if we see someone who we do know who has done some things even as bad as the prodigal in our story - squandering his father’s wealth, his inheritance and his promise for the foreseeable future – or worse, do we welcome them with the love of Christ? We need to reach out to everyone, including the least and the last of the lost because, Verse 10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents”; Verse 7, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent”; and Verse 32 “…we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” This is how much it means to God when we his children come to and/or return to His safety and His protection. So for those of us that are already living at home with our Father, let us come in, join the party and celebrate with our brothers and sisters who were lost and now are found, who were dead and are now alive; and for those of us who have not yet come home, if you are here today and maybe thinking of coming to or returning to the Lord, I pray that you will come now and join us at the feast prepared in your honour in the Name of the Lord.

 

Let us pray.

 

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 3), S. 254

[2] Cf. Barbara E. Reid, 'Beyond Petty Pursuits and Wearisome Widows: Three Lukan Parables'. Interpretation 56 no. 3 (July 2002): 288

[3] Walter L. Leifeld, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Luke/Exposition of Luke/V. Teaching and Travels Toward Jerusalem (9:51-19:44)/E. Further Teaching on Urgent Issues (14:1-18:30)/4. Parables of joy (15:1-32)/a. The lost sheep (15:1-7), Book Version: 4.0.2: This section begins what Manson (Sayings of Jesus, p. 282) has called the "Gospel of the Outcast." The large body of material in chapters 15-19 is unique to Luke and dramatically shows Jesus' concern for the social outcasts of his day.

Luke 4:16-21; Isaiah 2:4, (Isaiah 61:1-4; Matthew 25:31-46). Swords, Summer Rain, and Salvation.

Presented to the Summer Rain Christian Festival and TSA AVM on 19 and 20 July, 2025 by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Last year here I spoke about Human Trafficking and the workers at San Group. They said they paid between $20 000.00 and $30 000.00 to come here to work for a wage in excess of $30/hr. They said they never received that wage. They said they were subject to unsafe working conditions: working with toxic chemicals without proper protective gear, working long hours, many days in a row. They were afraid for themselves, and they were afraid for the safe transportation of their family. They showed us where they lived. They explained to us how they lived. They asked us to help them flee.

 

fifteen of the 16 workers were taken out of town to a secure Salvation Army facility in Victoria where they could have their physical, emotional and spiritual care needs met and where they could get the legal and other counsel that they needed.

 

The years prior I spoke here about our Emergency Disaster Services work and pointing people to salvation from natural disasters. This was really on my mind lately as all those children recently died in Texas. The first international deployment I was ever on was in Texas. Those children who died recently were at a Christian sleep away camp. We just sent 33 children from here to a sleep-away camp. It has been heavy on my heart. When I spoke about our EDS work here last, I spoke about a hurricane that struck Galveston where people didn’t necessarily need to perish; people who had the chance to choose to get on a bus to escape the impending disaster or to stay and perish: some chose salvation, some rejected it.

 

I often speak about how salvation is forever and how it begins right now and we can choose to take advantage of that salvation – whether it be a bus out of town to free us from human trafficking or a bus out of town to free us from impending flood or hurricane or a metaphorical bus out of sin and death into eternal life. But…

 

Salvation, of course, is more than that. Jesus, Luke, Isaiah, the Bible speaks about a salvation society as one where the sick are healed, the captives are freed, the hungry are fed, the lonely are visited, the perpetrator is forgiven, relationships are healed. Isaiah 2:4 speaks of Salvation as where the Lord:

He will judge between the nations

and will settle disputes for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for war anymore.

 

In our world, in our country, in our province, in our city there is still conflict, abuse, addiction, poverty, homelessness, murder, mental illness, hate, violence, unforgiveness…and we still pick up our swords. What if we didn’t have to wait until we die to experience a world without all of this? What if Christ was right and he wasn’t lying to us? What if the Kingdom of God is actually at hand? What if the Church (and our churches) is actually the body of Christ and what if we actually do this? It has been said that poverty isn’t a matter of scarcity: God has provided more than enough for the whole world; poverty is a matter of distribution. Countries, organizations, and people with resources simply do not share. I understand that the payroll of the NY Yankees alone could feed and clothe the world – how many sports teams are there in Canada and the US alone? Baseball? Hockey? Football? I plan to watch the game today … Is that what we choose instead of feeding a starving child? America is seemingly always at war and we are when they tell us. I read an article about their recent bombing of Iran. It was a very small American attack – nothing like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya. etc. They only used four planes: each plane cost one billion dollars, the missiles they launched each cost 1 million dollars. How many American children could they feed, shelter and educate for that? They (we) would rather spend money killing other people’s children than providing the needed care and education to save their (our) own children. It seems that they (we) would rather their (our) own children die in poverty than pass up the opportunity to kill their (our) enemies’ children. Isaiah says God’s nations will beat swords into ploughshares. We are beating ploughshares into swords. I only pick on the US because I read the article about them and they are the world’s only superpower: Israel, Britain, France, China, Russia, India, Canada, etc., etc. etc.… it all applies. Our countries: if we are sheep nations rather than goat nations, if we are saved, we will beat our swords into ploughshares and we will put more effort into saving people than we do in killing them.

 

Of the over 35 million people in Canada today, 35 485 of us are locked in cages, prisons. There are homeless people right here on the streets of our town today. In BC addiction is more in your face than anywhere else in Canada. I did not see as many people on the streets in Regent Park, Toronto, Canada’s first ghetto, as I did in front of the OPS here when I first arrived.

 

Matthew 25:31ff says that the sheep nations, the ones that are saved are ones who feed the hungry, water the thirsty, visit the lonely, sick and imprisoned, house the unhoused stranger…. Are we a saved nation or do we have unhoused, hungry, lonely people in prison and on the streets? Do you care? Are we as the church doing our part? Are we members of the Kingdom of God fighting to overthrow the powers, principalities and systems of this world?

 

Who here professes Christ as our saviour? When we look at Matthew 25:31ff – even the goat nations that don’t go to spend eternity with our Lord do that! Matthew 7 says that not everyone who calls Jesus Lord is saved. Salvation is more than that. I recently read a poem that was shared at a ‘poor persons conference’ in Albergue years ago. Here is a modified excerpt:

I was hungry

and you formed a … club

and discussed my hunger.

Thank you.

 

I was imprisoned

And you crept off quietly

To your chapel in the cellar

And prayed for my release

[Thank you]

 

I was sick

And you knelt

and thanked God

for your health

[Thank you]

 

I was homeless

And you preached to me

Of the spiritual shelter of

The love of God

[Thank you]

 

I was lonely

and you left me alone

 to pray for me.

[Thank you]

 

You seem so holy;

So close to God

But I’m still very hungry

And lonely

And cold…

 

Liberation Theologian Albert Nolan asks, “How can one speak about the church as the body of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth when church people are so healthy, well-fed and have no broken bones?”  Are we complicit with the systems of this world or are we fighting to expand the Kingdom of God? What can we do? How can you and I at least, beat our swords into ploughshares? How can you and I, at least, act like sheep? First we must advocate for real change! (to de-commodify the world for starters) Then we must do it!

 

Now there is a glimmer of hope even here. This Thursday, as every Thursday, there was I prayer meeting at the Bread of Life Centre. Friends who eat with us there, friends who sleep there, friends who live and visit us there – they pray. You should see the tears. You should hear the testimonies. The Spirit is moving (preaching Good News through the poor); God is transforming lives.

 

When I was in the Cypress Heath region, people were dying in the hospital without the congregations or their pastors even knowing they were there. People were not getting any support. The Lord used His people to set up a hospital chaplaincy program where a pastor would do the rounds everyday and visit everyone in the hospital and reach out to the pastors of the other churches when their congregation members were in the hospital.

 

When I was in Southwest Saskatchewan it was put on hearts, the number of people who were going to prison over and over again – and the number of victims of crime who never had the opportunity to face their accuser and never had the opportunity to be free of unforgiveness. Before my time, God used TSA set up restorative justice in SW Saskatchewan where the victim and offender were able to see each other, the victim would be able to have their questions answered and the victim would be given the opportunity to be freed from unforgiveness which can kill us all.

 

During my time there, God used His people to set up a transition through incarceration program where we sat with the offender (and victim) in court, kept in touch with them in prison, set them up with a place to stay, a job, a social group that was different than the one they had when they went into prison. Of all the people we sat with only one person ever re-offended. Societies can be changed. God does transform lives and He will transform the world. (We do need to get rid of prisons altogether! In the Kingdom of God people aren’t locked in cages!)

 

Since I have been in town, I have seen God use His people to set up the shelter at the Bread of Life centre, and provide food and shelter 24 hours a day, seven days a week through staff, volunteers, soldiers, and community partners (including the ministerial association and various churches) past and present. (We do need to provide supportive housing; there is no homelessness in the Kingdom of God)

 

My friends, this is what the kingdom of God looks like; this is what Salvation looks like. It is people being transformed as they come to know our Lord and Saviour; it is societies being transformed as they come to follow our Lord and Saviour. Are you a part of God’s transformative church in our society? Do you want to be? Do you want to offer food and prayer to people on the food truck? You can. Do you want to serve people at the food bank or the soup kitchen? You can. Do you want to lead a Bible Study at the shelter or the Bread of Life? You can. If service, study, or hospitality are not your gifts… maybe you would like to organize a food drive? Maybe God has given you two coats and you can donate one to the Thrift Store - so that it can either be given to someone in need, or sold to someone in need so that they can have the dignity of selecting and purchasing it themselves, and/or sold to generate funds for services to those in need? Maybe you don’t think that you have anything to offer but maybe beyond your tithes to your local congregation, God is leading you to feed the hungry in your own community by writing a cheque. There are a million ways or more to serve and be used by God as part of transforming our whole society into a salvation society and everyone is welcome to participate!

 

I often think of Randall from my time in Toronto. He is blind. I think he grew up in quite an abusive home. He lived in 220 Oak, the worst building in one of the worst areas of Toronto. Randall is a soldier in our Salvation Army. Randall played music. He was a blind man carrying a tuba (or baritone) on his back, his white cane in his hand, finding his way on subways, busses, and through the roughest most crime ridden areas of Toronto by himself to play music at churches, funerals, Christmas kettles, anywhere he went he shared the gospel in music. And every Friday morning at 7am he would join me and others as we walked around regent park and prayed for people living in the neighbourhood that was once North America’s first ghetto. This is Salvation and it begins now and continues on forever. I have friends of mine from my time serving at Stoney Mountain Penitentiary in Winnipeg who, even though they were behind bars, led people to a saving relationship with our Lord who then brought that Salvation they found behind bars to the outside world. God can use each and everyone of us to change this world, to grow His Kingdom!

 

We posted a picture recently on social media of a child who donated his birthday money to the Bread of Life Centre – most of our employees at The Salvation Army are what in contemporary vernacular we call ‘piers’ or people with ‘lived experience’ – most of us come from backgrounds of addiction, abuse, homelessness. I can’t tell you the number of people we have working with us right now who have their first ever jobs and they are in their 30s 40s and 20s, parents, people who God is using to do wonderful, amazing things.

 

God will transform Our world – He promises whole new heavens and a whole new earth. The question for us is will we be a part of it? We can. He wants us to be.

 

So, let us ask to the Lord where and how He would like each of us to live out our salvation, to be a part of His Kingdom? Let us ask Him how He can use each of us to point our neighbour to salvation both now and forever? As the Lord is leading you to help out in your church, go talk to your pastor today while it is still on your heart. As the Lord is leading you to help at the soup kitchen, shelter, foodbank, food truck, or other ways, you are welcome to chat with me today. As we all share the Gospel of Christ in word and deed, then the Lord can and will save us all and He will use even us to transform our society into His Kingdom, to make our whole world anew.

 

Let us pray

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