Salvogesis

Today when we hear the name Rahab, we often think of this lady whom the LORD used to save the spies and deliver Jericho into the Hebrews’ hands. Did you know the name ‘Rahab’ translated from Hebrew means ‘broad’ or ‘fat’ and in common usage it refers to ‘fierceness’, ‘insolence’, and ‘pride.’ In the Bible, the word ‘Rahab’ is used commonly as an insult for the country of Egypt. Rahab, the lady in this passage, was a marginalized, prostituted Canaanite. But Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed! After Rahab’s faith and deeds were used by God to save the Hebrew spies and deliver Jericho over to the LORD, do you know how the Lord transformed her life? According to Jewish tradition, she, a lady who was extremely marginalized, became the ancestor of eight priests (Tal Megillah 14b). She is listed as one of four women of  surpassing beauty  (Tal Megillah 15a). Rahab may mean ‘broad’ but this Rahab is nonetheless a beauty. She is – to quote Reba – she is not a back of the store l...

‘I am the vine you are the branches’, Jesus says, ‘remain in me and bear fruit’; how are the disciples able to do this? By keeping his commands. And what are his commands? Verse 9 that they abide in his love; Verse 10, that they remain in his love; and Verse 12, that they love one another. Love God and love your neighbour (Luke 10:27) and what is the greatest way to show that you love someone else? It is, Verse 13, to lay down your life for your friends. And that is what his disciples did for him. And that is what Christ first does for them. Jesus asked his disciples to remain in him and as they did they produced the fruit of love. He produced love in his friends while they were being imprisoned, tortured and killed. During their most difficult times, when many people instead choose to hurt themselves by hating others, Jesus’ love grows in his followers. We too can have that fruit of love in our lives. As we turn to Jesus, as we remain in him, we will obey his commandments, we...

As many of you know, this summer I was in Ottawa where I was serving with The Salvation Army’s flood relief efforts. It was a great experience to be able to help people out in their time of need. There were many stories we heard and experienced in Ottawa. Today, I want to share a story from another deployment: the 2008 Galveston Hurricane Ike relief effort. We had around 30 food trucks from which we helped serve 75 000 hot meals every day; many people told me that without The Salvation Army they wouldn’t have eaten at all. I heard more than one account of a contemporary miracle paralleling that of the fish and the loaves. Our canteens were instructed to make sure that they gave away all of their food before they came in for the night. One canteen had some food left. It was getting late so they were seeking someone to give their last Cambro (container) of food to. They prayed. One person then saw a line of about 12-18 tired and hungry looking construction workers so they headed over...

As you may or not not know, my children are all vegetarians; I'm not. My youngest is 8 and 9 years younger than her sisters. My eldest used to be quite a 'rabid vegetarian'. It was very important to Rebecca, my eldest daughter, that Heather become a vegetarian. Every chance she got she would tell Heather when she was just a baby - probably before she was even eating any solid food at all - that eating meat was killing animals. 'You're eating Bambi' or 'You're eating a cow, just like your stuffed animal is a cow'. It got a little bit frustrating.  So one day I sat my older two girls down and played 'Carrot Juice is Murder' by the Arrogant Worms for them. They enjoyed that. They were and are big fans of the Arrogant Worms. And I explained to them a basic truth of life. In order to stay alive people have to eat living things. People cannot maintain life without eating things that were alive. You will die. A carrot, an apple, a hamburger, and eve...

Romans 1: 18-32   Paul acknowledges the human condition of those who “by their wickedness [asebeia] suppress the truth (1:18).” This is significant. Their condition is stated as receiving the wrath of God for good reason: Paul points out that the truth they are suppressing must be plain to them for God, himself, has shown it to them (1:19) through the evidence of His creation. Ever since the beginning of the world, God’s power and nature have been understood (v.20). Though this truth was revealed to them, they neither honoured God nor gave Him the thanks He deserves; rather ‘claiming to be wise they became fools’ in that they abandoned the glory of the creator so that they might worship the image of the created (cf. Psalm 106:20). It is because they, without any good excuse, disregarded the truth and followed this lie that “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity (v.24).” The human condition here is, by way of denying the obvious truth, one of rebellion against...

One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So S...

Psalm 147:10: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.” I thought this was an appropriate passage to look at on Robbie Burns Day. For Christmas one year Susan bought me some Bible Commentaries on Psalms. In one of these books, Peter C. Craigie, from Scotland, writes: … for years I had been mystified by the psalms. I belong to a tradition in the church in which the psalms continue to be used regularly in worship. And yet as a teenager singing the psalms, their words for the most part contained little meaning for me; they were songs of a remote and distant land, with no evident relevance to my own world. It was the custom in Scotland for boys to wear the kilt to church on Sunday; to this day I can recall singing the words of Psalm 147:10 ‘Neither delighteth he in any man’s legs’. I pondered at that time the question of whether scripture condemned the kilt.[1] When I read Peter Craigie’s quote I knew immediately what I should preach...

If you can grab a pencil or a pen... hold it up. Now, put it in your other hand. I want you to write your name on a piece of paper. If you are right-handed, I want you to write it with your left hand. If you are left-handed, I want you to write it with your right hand. Everyone got their name down on the piece of paper. How was that? How did it feel to write with your non-dominant hand? When I was studying to be an elementary school teacher they encouraged the ‘righties’ to learn how to write on the chalk board (remember those?) with their left hands because in our language we read and write from left to right. Thus if we write with our left hand we don’t need to turn our back on the class when we are writing on the board. I did my teacher training in the inner city. That was important. The thing is it can be done but it feels awkward. This is sort of like sin and holiness. When we first become a Christian, sometimes it feels really awkward not sinning - especially if there are som...

If one of a flock wanders off, you go and get them. If someone gets stuck in a sin; you do what it takes to free them from it because you love them. First you try to help them out by yourself like a shepherd would try to help his sheep from a pit and then, if you can’t help them by yourself and you need to go get help from one friend or a whole bunch of friends then that is what you do.  You do whatever you can to help them return and if they don’t wish to be a part of you then treat them like you would treat pagans or tax collectors; What does it mean to treat people like tax collectors? Who is a famous tax collector in the Bible? Matthew. Matthew is the one who wrote this text. Matthew is saying, 'treat them as Jesus treated me – with the love –' hoping that they will return to the flock. Peter asks, 'how many times must we forgive someone who sins against us, always?' 'Always times forever', Jesus replies. Jesus, the Church and Christians aren’t about at...

Romans 3:22b-23: “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” The Emperor There is a Disney movie, The Emperor’s New Groove . Basically what happens is that some people try to kill the emperor with a magic potion but they get mixed up and accidentally turn him into a lama instead. The emperor does not like being a lama. As the movie progresses, the emperor attempts to regain his throne and turn back into a person. There is one clip at the climax of the movie where the emperor finds a number of magic potions -without labels- and all the bottles have been mixed up. While the guards, who are trying to kill him, are in hot pursuit he is drinking these potions very quickly, trying to turn back into a person – because he does not like being a lama. Some potions are more advantageous than others. One potion turns him into a turtle (not so good for escaping the guards chasing him). He turns into a small bird from another potion. He is franticall...

Salvationists have sometimes been compared to the Nazirites of the Old Testament. The Nazirites, like us, are people bound by a covenant to the Lord. One aspect of their oath that obviously parallels our soldiership covenant is the promise to abstain from alcohol. Another parallel is that both Nazirites and Salvationists are easily identified as such. Salvationists have their uniform; Nazirites wore their hair long. A third aspect of the Nazirite vow which I suggest has applications for our soldiership covenant – though less immediately obvious – is their prohibition against contact with dead bodies. Numbers 6:7 states specifically that the Nazirite is not to come in contact with a dead body, even if the deceased person is the Nazirite’s own parent. The Nazirite is not allowed even to attend a funeral ceremony. Ordinarily, the Israelites have important responsibilities pertaining to the passing of one’s parents, even though it would make them ceremonially unclean (Numbers 5:2, 19:1...

Saul was Israel's first official king. He served as king for 42 years. That is twice as long as Canada's longest serving head of government; Just as Queen Elizabeth is the only monarch many of us remember, so Saul would be the only king that many of the Israelites remembered. Remember too that Saul wasn't just a figurehead. He was the head of government (such as it was then and there) and more importantly, he was not only in charge of the armed forces but he actually led them into battle. Our queen is 91 years old. Her husband, Prince Phillip, served in the armed forces from 1939 until she was about to inherit the throne, in 1952. Though he just retired from his royal duties this past Wednesday (he is in his 96), he hasn't served in the military in 60 years. King Saul, on the other hand, is 72 years old in our story today and he is actually fighting in the war and in the battle himself.  Anyone here in their 70s? Can you imagine strapping on 100+ lbs of armour, picking...