Vaguely similar to the message spoken to TSA's Alberni Valley Ministries, Christmas Day, 25 December, 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay
It
was tough times in Judea in the 1st Century when Jesus was born.
They had been part of the Roman Empire for a while. They lived through wars and
rebellions. Herod the Great, the king of this region, was instrumental in
putting Caesar Augustus on the throne. This is a people torn apart by challenges,
circumstances, differing opinions and sentiments - much like today.
Covid-19
in this country is polarizing many people. The rules, regulations, and
restrictions by the governments and our organizations do not seem to be
consistent. The pandemic is a real concern and each attempted solution seems to
either make it worse, or at the very least, not make it any better.
Many
people are getting sick, suffering physically: not only from Covid-19 but from
our healthcare, hospitals, and/or governments being unable to treat people with
other serious ailments. Many people are suffering emotionally – suicide is on
the rise, as is Medical Assistance In Dying. Drug use is on the rise. The
Opioid Crisis is a real concern and each attempted solution seems to either
make it worse, or at the very least, not make it any better.
In
BC, we have just had the floods that caused loss of life, destruction of homes,
highways, businesses and farms and livestock – chickens and cows and other
animals have perished. People have been cut off. Our supply lines have been
disrupted.
The
debt and deficit in this country are so bad that I don’t know if anyone has any
idea how to find a way out.
And
now winter is hitting our own community really very hard. We are expecting this
week some of the coldest weather ever recorded in our Valley. We are partnering
with many other agencies to try to find a way to keep the Drop-in Centre open
so people don’t freeze to death.
It
is into a time not unlike this that God sent His Only Begotten Son to our world
in the First Century. Jesus was sent to a people who were struggling. Jesus
lived and taught with a people who were struggling. Jesus died and rose again
to save a people who were struggling - and he can save us too.
There
are many struggles that we all corporately have today. There are possibly infinitely
more struggles that each and every one of us has personally each and every day.
Christmas Day marks the day God sent His Son so that we can be saved even in the
midst of our turmoil and saved even unto eternity.
Advent
Season is about remembering the wait for Jesus’ birth and Advent Season is
about our waiting for His return. Jesus has saved us so that when He returns
there will be no more death, no more suffering, no more pain, no more tears and
until that time we have His Holy Spirit and Immanuel, God With Us.
God
is with us in all of our struggles today. No matter what happens today, no
matter what happens tomorrow, God is with us. We can bring all of our struggles
to him – all or our pain, all of our sadness and all of our fears and He will
deliver us from them. After all perfect love drives out fear and Jesus is
perfect love.
And
this my friends is what Christmas is all about. So on this Christmas Day let us
celebrate the birth of our Saviour who has provided for our salvation us in the
midst of all of our struggles and who has made it possible for us to live and
grow in that salvation forever.
Online presentation originally composed for the Salvation Army Christmas Services for the seniors' homes in the Alberni Valley by Captain Michael Ramsay
Isaiah 9:6-7a:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God,
The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
This was a verse that I had to memorize as a small child growing up on the Island here. It was my line in a church Christmas pageant many years ago. The Christmas pageants were always quite exciting and performing in them was always a little nerve-racking. The church was always filled to capacity – even the balconies and the lobbies were full. There were stage lights shining on us. There was a microphone in front of each of us as we spoke. With all of this going on it could be very difficult to remember your line. Thankfully, I did. And I still do. This memory verse has stayed with me decades later and there is not an Advent Season that passes without my reflecting on this passage. I am so thankful for that.
This is a great reminder to me of what Christmas is all about. It is all about the birth of our saviour; the one who saves us! It is a reminder that Jesus is not only the leader of an heavenly government but He is also the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. I am reminded that at Christmas we celebrate how, John 3:16-17:
…God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Jesus came into the world so that the world through Him might be saved. He came to this world so that we could all live peacefully with one another forever in His Kingdom to come.
When we were stationed in Toronto, we participated in the Santa Shuffle, an annual fun race put on by The Salvation Army. Even Heather when she was very little participated and got a medal. I have been injured since the beginning of covid (hamstring and meniscus) but before then – off and on - since I was in my 30s, I have done a bit of running. When I lived in Vancouver, I faithfully ran every second day. I lived about 5km from my office – I used to run there and back. In Winnipeg I lived almost 10km from the College; a colleague and I did that run more than once. In Toronto I would run past the many Officers’ quarters regularly as we all seemed to live in the same area, and here in Port Alberni I even ran with Rebecca a bit before she moved and then I was later injured. Running can be fun – but when you get out of the habit and have to start again or when you start for the very first time it can be a chore. And sometimes those hills in your first few runs can feel like mountains and those valleys, ravines. I can remember when I was first learning to run being near the end of my run and my energy... rounding a corner and seeing... another hill to try to run up...I then understand Luke 3:4-6 and Isaiah 40:3b-5:
“...make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
This is a great verse to ponder when you are running up and down hills and around curves, looking towards a time when obstacles will disappear. Pre-covid we had a Salvation Army hiking group here that would go for walks on Mondays. There is a lot of hiking on the Island here and if one goes backpacking or on a very long hike, after a few hours following switchbacks up and down mountains, you can almost feel the relief of Luke and Isaiah’s valleys raised and mountains levelled. This is part of the Good News of Luke 3 and Isaiah 40. This is the Good News that John the Baptist proclaims: when Jesus returns with His Kingdom, obstacles will be removed. As during Advent we commemorate waiting for Jesus’ birth, we also hope for His return so our mountains of trouble will be levelled and our valleys of despair will be raised to abundance. The crookedness of our paths will be straightened. That is hope.
Last week we lit the candle of hope. Today we lit the candle of love. First one has hope and then one can dare to love. One of the key things about hope and love in the context of Isaiah and thus Luke is that both are to and from God and an humbled people, a conquered people, an exiled people. There is no hope when you are on top of the world...only fear that you will fall off.
Sarah-Grace is doing her first in-person year at college. She is going to the same college where I studied my first year or so. When I was in college, I remember looking at the marks going into one final exam and noticing that I had the 3rd highest mark in that class. I then heard the people with the two highest marks brag to each other about which of the two of them would finish top of the class, like no one else was their equal – it was at that moment that I resolved that I would beat them both. And I did.
When we lived in Swift Current Saskatchewan, I believe each Christmas we would raise more money per capita for The Salvation Army than any other place. At first this was a victory – and then it was almost a fear for me. What happens if we are not the best? What if someone beats us? What if I do not beat my previous record? What if I fail?
It was the same in university, once I became addicted to ‘A+’s, a ‘B’ was infuriating. There was no inherent joy in achievement anymore only a fear of failure – and that fear of failure can stomp out hope and it can stomp out love.
It was not always like that though in school. I remember a time when I would hope and pray and celebrate even a passing grade. I remember Grade 11 French. The only French words I remember from that year we’re ‘ne lancer pas la papier’ which means ‘don’t throw the paper’. Apparently the teacher didn’t like that we threw paper airplanes in class. Every time we made one, we could hear her say, ‘ne lancer pas la papier’.
I don’t think I was her favourite student. One day I was in the counselling alcove and I saw my French teacher and she asked me what I was doing. I told her I was switching out of her French in 3rd period... ‘That is a very good idea to be out of my class’, she said. ‘...to your class in fourth period,’ I continued. She was not impressed.
But forget my tales of youth. Don’t we all have stories of a more carefree time? Look back on those times: these are usually times when you didn’t have a lot except the love of a few good friends and the hope that the future will be better. There is a lot of freedom in not having much. Is it Janet Joplin who sang that freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose?
Sometimes this is right. Sometimes I think we get to a place of fearing loss so much that we no longer have hope and we no longer have love. Sometimes when we have enough to get by, we don’t share what is ours for fear that we might not have something. This is reflected very much in tithing. When a person who has tithed or knows they should tithe, does not tithe... this is a sign that we are not doing well. This is a symptom that we are not free but instead bound up in fear or pride or something else that keeps us from tithing. I remember when we were Corps Officers in Tisdale, there was Ralph. He had a limited income. He only made $52.30 a week and you know what? Every week he tithed $5.23. This is an example of love. This is an example of our hope in the Lord. I think of him when sometimes I am tempted to keep God’s tithe from Him, when sometimes I fear for my finances. I can choose hope and love instead.
Fear can rob us of hope. Fear can rob us of love. In our pandemic, fear is gaining great power. Fear is grabbing a hold of many people and making them insensitive to the plight of others. Fear is making people mean to each other. Fear can be a crippler of hope and fear can detract from Love. Our candle today is love and perfect love drives out fear.
In Advent we talk about the Good News of the Salvation of the world. Do you know where in the Bible this Good News shows up for the first time? Genesis 12:1-3: “All the nations of the earth will be blessed” and do you know what happens just before then... Genesis 11: the tower of Babel. God told the people to move and fill the earth. The people said, ‘No. We are going to stay here, build a city and a tower, and make a name for ourselves instead.’ God levelled their tower, their city; their pride and their fear, in order to give them the hope of salvation.
Isaiah records how God’s own temple was destroyed, the holy city of Jerusalem, and the independent nations of Israel and Judah - until the day He will return. Their country was conquered, their city was leveled, their temple was destroyed and through this, God provided them with hope. In Isaiah comes this hope of flattened mountains, raised valleys, straight paths and the joy and love that can only come from trusting God.
There are many things in our world, our country, our province, our time, and our life that are coming crashing down all around us these days. God loves us. This is the love that God has for us: He loves us so much that if there are any untraversable valleys, mountains, crooked paths or Babel-like buildings of traditions, pride, fear, hate, or something else in our lives; He will fill in those valleys, flatten those mountains and tear down those buildings, so we can be rebuilt on His foundations.
There is a song by a Canadian Band, Glorious Sons, whose first two lines get stuck in my head whenever I hear it on the radio:
I spent all my money on a pack of cigarettes,
for a lady that I love with a name I forget.
The song tells a story about someone’s troubles as it moves to the chorus which proclaims, ‘everything will be alright.’ There have been some troubles in the world recently. For those of us who have already had things come tumbling down around us and are now feel as if we are in exile in our own lives, for those of us who are fearing or grieving, for those of us who feel like all is lost, God is here. When the people were scattered from the ruins of Babel, God was there with Terah and his son, Abraham, offering salvation. When Israel was slave to Egypt, God was there with Moses offering salvation; when Judah was exiled from her city, her temple, and her life, God was there pointing her towards Salvation: Jesus’ Advent; Jesus whose imminent return we eagerly await today – at that time all the insurmountable mountains in our life will be levelled, all the impassable valleys raised, and all our crooked paths made straight – and right up until that time, right until the end of this age, He is here with us in the midst of it all.
It is Advent. Let us start (if we haven’t already) and let us continue in hope and in love. Let us all walk in God’s hope and in God’s love for we know He will see us through and we know He is with us even as we look forward to the day of Christ’s return when all those valleys will be raised, all those mountains will be levelled and all our paths will straightened for ever more.
Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries by Captain Michael Ramsay, 28 November 2021
Psalm 25 is an acrostic poem which means that every line begins with a different letter in the Hebrew Alphabet. If it was our alphabet, it would run A through Z in sequence. It is a poem written during some very difficult times. We, now, are in some very difficult times: Flooding around the province, fires in the summer, the plague that still ravages the world and seems to mutate almost at will (if that were possible); our economy is in shambles and we are making it worse; our country is more and more involved in many -at best- questionable aggressive international actions; our country is divided over things like vaccine passports and vaccine mandates. People are scared. People are mean. People are uncertain. All of this is coming across on social media and in person. I have heard multiple stories of people ‘losing it’ and I think we have each probably encountered someone ‘losing it’, getting noticeably upset in public when they never would have before. That person ‘losing it’ in some cases may even have been us. These are some very difficult times. Psalm 25 is an ABC poem written by someone in very difficult times. Let us take a look at the first 10 Verses of this poem, those in the lectionary for today and let us find some encouragement from this ABC poem as we look at an equivalent of letters A through I. (I have adapted it slightly here to fit that form)
A.
Always to you Lord, I lift my Soul
B.
Benevolent God, in you I trust…
In our struggles today with all that we already mentioned and the more personal, immediate things that we are each facing today, let us take a deep breath; let us sit maybe in silence for a while; let us lift our thoughts and our hearts to God. Let us release our minds from all the things that want to work us up into a frenzy and let us instead place our trust in God.
… do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
C.
Champion us, do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Lord as we come to you today with all of the things we are struggling with; Lord as we come to you in vulnerability, aware of the forces and powers and principalities aligning against us, please champion us, please do not let those who wish to divide and conquer us succeed. Please help us not to tear at each other to bits but rather to be unified in our love for you. Please may we not tear and be torn apart. Please help us to persevere in peace. Please may we not be put to shame.
D.
Do make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
E.
Everyday lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
God, please help me to know what to do in these times; You are my salvation; God, please let me know what to think in these times; You are my salvation; God please show me how to show love to my neighbour in these times, even though they may be my accusers and tormenters in these time. Lord please help me to persevere; You are my salvation; please help me to always follow You in truth which is love and forgiveness. Lord, please help me to quiet myself so I may have Your peace in these times.
F.
Forgiveness and Mercy: Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
Lord you are merciful on everyone. May I be the same. May we be the same. May we be charitable with one another. We are blessed through your covenant faithfulness. Each of us can think back on troubles in our lives and the older we are and the more troubles we have had, the more experiences we have that we can remember your never-failing faithfulness. You have always been faithful in pulling us through so that we have survived even until today and you continue to pull us through so that we may survive even until tomorrow and eternity. Lord, may we never forget your love, your mercy, your faithfulness and may we always be faithful and merciful with one another.
G.
Gracious God, do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!
Lord, I appeal to your mercy. I appeal to your forgiveness and your never-ending love. I know that I have done and said many things in the past. I know I have thought many uncharitable things. I know I have made comments that were not and are not okay. I know I have done actions and said words that are harmful. Lord, please forgive me and thank you for forgiving me my sins and the harmful things I have done, said, and thought.
H.
He is Good and upright; therefore, the LORD instructs sinners in the way.
God is good. He loves all of us. Even those of us who fail and flail about. When hate grabs our heart, and despair, and helplessness, and unforgiveness, and all else that can grab ahold of us and drag us under, the Lord is here offering to teach us the ways of forgiveness that lead to peace. Unforgiveness is one of the key things that rob us of peace and love. It is only through forgiving others that any of us can ever hope to have peace. Unforgiveness is a self-inflicted wound. It is only we who can heap that debilitating injury upon ourselves. The Lord can free us from its suffocating grasp. The Lord taught us that in His life, in His Death, and He continues to teach us that in His resurrection life. Love overcomes death. In the Lord, we can be free.
I.
In what is right, He leads the humble and teaches the humble His way.
J.
All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
As he instructs the sinners; so too does he lead the humble. As we humble ourselves before the Lord in our times of trouble, He will lead us through. As we humble ourselves to realize that we may not always be correct, as we humble ourselves to acknowledge that we do not know everything, as we humble ourselves to see that we cannot solve the problems of the world – much less the problems in our own lives – all by ourselves, as we humble ourselves to follow the LORD, He will lead us through our troubles.
And this is the hope that I wish to leave us with today. On this Advent Sunday, 2000+ years after the birth of our saviour and 2000+ years closer to His return, I want to encourage us all to turn to the Prince of Peace, experience His love and forgiveness and indeed, as we do, He can and will see us through even the most difficult of times.
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