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On July 1st, we’ll celebrate Canada’s 156th anniversary of confederation. That usually means that, right about now, there are a lot of Canadian flags flying. Did you know that the government of Canada has several web pages dedicated to preserving the dignity of the Canadian flag? You can access these guidelines (they’re not laws) at this link if you’re interested.

For instance, we preserve the flag’s dignity by using it only for its intended purpose. That’s why the website discourages using the flag as a cape or a tablecloth. We also preserve the flag’s dignity by being careful with it. Thus, the website shows how and where to hang a flag properly and how to dispose of it if it’s damaged.

But why do we Canadians want to preserve our flag’s dignity? Why would we want to honour or esteem our flag? We care about the Canadian flag’s dignity because it represents something. It represents our country, our land, our people. We give it dignity because it is an image that refers to something greater than itself.

I notice a similarity here with how we should preserve the dignity of human beings who are all made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27). Consider this description of Jesus: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). This is the one in whose image humans are made. Jesus is the reason we would want to preserve the dignity of our fellow human beings. As humans, we don’t contrive our own dignity or invent ourselves. Human dignity is a God-given gift founded on our resemblance to our Creator.

However, the Bible explains why our world doesn’t always see things this way. We are made in God’s image, but humans “became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). We habitually refuse to live out our intended purpose—to display the image of God. We try to create our own dignity instead. In doing this, we are often not careful with ourselves or each other. Consider how often we thoughtlessly speak a cruel word or dismiss someone’s deep struggle.

God has not designed us to live without purpose or carelessly. This is most clearly seen in the gospel where God the Father sent God the Son so that God the Holy Spirit could transform us into clearer images of Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18). Every human being’s greatest weakness is when we don’t know Jesus. Our greatest strength is becoming God’s children—Jesus’ siblings. That’s why John can write, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when [Jesus] appears we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

So it seems to me that the way we can preserve the dignity of God’s image bearers isn’t all that different from how we should treat our flag: with its purpose in mind and carefully. So here’s your challenge, Central:

Whenever you see a flag this Canada Day weekend, consider how to preserve the dignity of God’s image in yourself and those around you.

Don’t you love the smell of baking bread? As a young boy in the 1950s, a trip with my mother to Whites Bakery on Market St. was a pure delight. I can still smell the incredible aroma of baked goods as we entered the shop, and the little tinkling bell on the front door announced our arrival.

Eating a hunk of warm bread with butter is like eating a slice of heaven. It’s fantastic stuff.

It’s also amazing in the Bible too. It is mentioned about 500 times in scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Our first thought about bread in the Bible might be how it symbolizes God’s provision. Exodus 16 teaches how God rained manna down for forty years while the Israelites wandered in the desert. When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are reminded that God has already promised to provide what we need day in and day out. He is always faithful.

Most breads have three main ingredients, flour, water and leaven. So, just what is leaven?

Leavening includes yeast and chemical leavening agents, such as baking powder or baking soda.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of leaven is: “1. An agent, such as yeast, that, causes dough or batter to rise, especially by fermentation. 2. An element, influence, or agent that works subtly to modify a whole.”

The first definition of “leaven” is the baker’s friend. It ensures that the bread will be full of tiny air holes, making it light and fluffy instead of flat and heavy. When you add leaven (perhaps a small piece of fermented dough or “starter lump” from a previous batch) to a large quantity of flour and water, the living organisms in the leaven grow overnight so that by morning the entire quantity of dough has been permeated by the leaven. Some bake shops in New York City have been using their original “starter dough” for over 100 years!

The second definition of leaven is used in scripture as an important spiritual metaphor.

Leaven in the Bible is an illustration of influence, sometimes good, but most often it symbolizes the evil influence of sin.

In Mark 8:15, Jesus issues a warning to the disciples. “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

The leaven of the Pharisees included their false teaching and hypocritical behaviour.

The leaven of Herod was his immoral, corrupt conduct.

In the growing Sunday Morning Growth Group, we’ve been studying 1 Corinthians and the problems of division, carnality, immaturity and sexual immorality within the congregation.

In Chapter 5:6-7 the apostle Paul tells the believers in Corinth, “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover, was sacrificed.”

“As part of the Passover commemoration, the ancient Israelites were forbidden to bake or eat leavened bread or even have leaven in their homes. This tradition was observed in remembrance of Israel’s hurried exodus from Egypt, which gave no time for preparing leavened bread (Exodus 12:33-34, 39). Knowing Christ is our Passover, Paul urges believers to remember His sacrifice by removing the “old leaven” of sin from our individual lives and congregations.” Got Questions

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

One day on my early morning walk, I was almost overwhelmed by the scent coming from a stand of lilac trees. The aroma was so pungent that it nearly took my breath away. It was like something from a fabric softener commercial! I am sure it was so strong that it would have masked the smell of an angry skunk!

As I continued on my way, I marvelled at this natural incense, and my thoughts turned to God. Incense is viewed as a picture of prayer. As the saints of old prayed, their prayers arose to heaven like a heavenly incense.

In the book of Exodus, Moses outlines how incense was to be prepared and how it was to be used (Ex. 30:34-38). It was to be offered in the morning and the evening. “Every morning, when he dresses the lamps, he shall burn it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations (Ex. 30:7,8).”

In Psalm 141:2, David says, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you.”

This fragrance came out of a life lived to God. Prayer became the aroma that lifted heavenward. It was a picture of that complete life, daily being offered to God.

There is so much that could be said about prayer. Volumes from every age of church history have been written about it. But the one thing common to all is that we need to pray. “Oh no! Not another sermon about prayer!” I hear being said, but it is a necessity for a balanced Christian life. Just to think that your prayers arise to God as a pungent aroma from incense. Like the lilac trees and their magnificent perfume, your prayers are pleasing to God.

As the early morning breeze carries the sweet perfume of the lilac trees, I have noticed that it is starting to fade as the lilac blossoms mature and will eventually fall from the branches. Let us endeavour to daily offer a sacrifice of incense that reflects our relationship to our God.

“Let my prayer be counted as incense before you.”

I stumbled across a remarkable statement in a novel I was reading. “Theology ought to be alive, vivid, related to real life, not a system debated by intellectuals.”

I wonder if that is a three-dollar way of saying what Pastor Jeremy said one Sunday.

“Jesus is real.”

When I heard it, I dismissed it as a “Captain Obvious” statement. No one in the auditorium thought otherwise.

But the statement stuck, floating around somewhere in the back of my mind.

And it pops up at the oddest time.

Laurie and I were settling down one evening to watch a movie. We even had ice cream to go with it. As I was licking my spoon, she muted the TV and said someone was knocking at the door.

Sure enough, it was my granddaughter. She’s 10. Mismatched socks, an oversized sweater, Crocs and a chocolate smear on her chin.

“Grampa, come outside.” I don’t think it occurred to her that I might be doing something else. “Of course,” I said.

We mooched around the backyard. Contemplated the baby grass that had just come up in a bare patch that had been newly seeded. We tried batting a tennis ball with a baseball bat. She flung herself onto the swing and ordered me not to tickle her, which we both knew I would try. It was part of the routine.

She pulled out a map she had drawn of the “Magic Forest,” which in our world borders her backyard and is the gateway to a fairy kingdom. To others, it’s just a narrow row of cedars that had once tried to be a hedge, but we knew better.

I never looked at my watch. I never entertained a single worry. I didn’t think about what tomorrow might bring or what might be required of me. I didn’t care if I got grass stains on my knees or that my old garden shoes were getting tired.

We just hung out. I rejoiced in her company.

Eventually, it got dark, and we both, with heavy hearts, said good night and sloped off home.

“Jesus is real.”

There is a verse in Revelation that begins, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”

The biggest mistake I have made as a Christian is pouring all my energy into acting like a

Christian. I repented and received Christ because I knew “Jesus was real.” And then I carried on as if Christianity was somehow about what I chose to wear, eat, and drink. What political opinions I should support, what service should I undertake, how much money should I give, how to resolutely resist temptation. It became spiritually exhausting.

It then occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, I had got something wrong.

There is a verse in Revelation where Jesus tells the church at Ephesus, “I know your deeds, and your hard work and your perseverance… Yet I hold this against you; you have forsaken the love you had at first.”

If you find yourself perhaps exhausted, worn down, or struggling, then maybe, just maybe, you should listen for the knock at the door.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and him with Me.”

And then maybe the two of you could go outside, mooch around in the backyard, laugh,

rejoice in one another, hang out together, come what may and never have to say goodbye.

“Jesus is real.”

The phone rings, and I go to pick it up. The screen notification states, “Likely Fraud.” I put the phone down, so thankful for the warning. I have avoided the pitfall of the scammer’s lure by not answering that call. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fraud as “an intentional perversion of truth to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right.” StepBible defines fraud as deceit or treachery. Wouldn’t it be great if life notified us about every intentional perversion of truth or every incoming deception? We would save ourselves a lot of heartache and discontent if we were warned ahead of time about what to avoid, or where not to go, or with whom not to socialize. It would save us from the “likely fraud” of this world.

At the end of April, I attended a Greek/Hebrew Word Studies workshop and all of us in this class were introduced to StepBible.org. Step Bible is a Bible app to show you the original Greek and Hebrew meanings of words in the bible just a tap away. This helpful online tool taught me that the word fraud occurs 39 times in the Bible. Here are just a few mentions of fraud and its synonym deceit:

Genesis 27:35 “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.”

Psalm 5:6 “The Lord loathes the person of bloodshed and deceit.”

Proverbs 12:5 “The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.” Proverbs 12:20 “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counsellors of peace have joy.” Hosea 12:7 “A merchant, in whose hands are fraudulent balances, loves to exploit.”

Daniel 8:25 “And through his shrewdness he will make deceit a success by his influence; And he will make himself great in his own mind, And he will destroy many while they are at ease.”

Yes, the Bible directly tells us what is fraud or deceit and, therefore, what God abhors. I am also thankful that God teaches us how to live a life that is holy and righteous according to His Word, His precepts, His commandments, and His instructions.

During 2022 our Wednesday Morning Growth Group studied all 150 chapters of the Book of Psalms using Praising God Through Prayer and Worship, a book of praise and prayers and songs. The practical value of Psalms is so amazing that I have intentionally read this book over and over again, soaking in all of its lessons for life. The Book of Psalms serves as counsellor when I need knowledge, wisdom, and understanding breathed from the Lord God. I learned that I can share my highest joys, deepest sorrows, and my questions and fears with the Lord God just as David and the other psalmists did as they poured out their hearts to God in prayer and worship.

From the very start, Psalm 1 brings us scripture to read and heed to avoid the fraud of this world:

Psalm 1:1a “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor stand in the path of sinners,

Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”

Well, that is pretty straightforward, don’t you think? The word of God is telling you that great blessings will come to those:

1) who do not walk/proceed in the counsel/advice of the wicked,

2) who do not stand/establish themselves in the path/lifestyle of sinners,

3) who do not sit/remain in the seat/dwelling location of those who scoff/mock the Lord God.

Do you see the downward spiral from walking according to the opinions of a wicked person all the way down to living a lifestyle exactly like those who make a mockery of the Lord? Oh my! God’s Word makes it clear: “DO NOT WALK,” “DO NOT STAND,” and “DO NOT SIT” in the counsel, path, or seat of the WICKED. In other words, avoid the fraud of this world.

The amazing news is that there is a way to avoid fraud and live a blessed and happy life! Read further. Psalm 1:1b:

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.”

I love how God teaches us with simple and direct instructions.

To be blessed, God says:

1) take delight/pleasure/longing for the law/precepts/instruction of the Lord and

2) meditate/ponder over His teachings day and night. You will discover blessing/joy in reading and meditating upon scripture. “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and delight of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).

The Challenge for you and me today is three-fold:

1) open your Bibles and read God’s Word,

2) then take delight in it and ponder it throughout the day and evening.

3) Repeat, thanking God for leading you in His righteousness.

Remember, God has given us everything we need to know in His Word about detecting the fraud of our world. More importantly, God teaches us even more about living a life of godliness, giving praise, honour, and glory to the Lord God!

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6