Testimony
Way back when?
My great aunt Janet gave me the KJV Bible that had belonged to her father, my great grandfather, Alexander Brand.
I remember paging through it and stopping now and then to read the verses he’d highlighted. One such verse with Zachariah 3:2
“and the Lord said unto Satan, the Lord rebuke, you rebuke the, O Satan; even the Lord that has chosen is Jerusalem rebuke the: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”
I was a teenager. My perspective was limited to my experience. I immediately thought, “oh! He found our family name in the Bible; cute.”
That was 1997.
In 2012, when my father passed away, one of my brothers mentioned a story in his eulogy. I’d never heard about it in my life before.
He told us that our great grandparents, Alexander and Elizabeth Brand had made plans to immigrate to Canada in 1912. You can imagine back then moving your whole family overseas, with all your belongings. Leaving your homeland for the New World.
Back in 1912, Canada was just 45 years old having become a Dominion in 1867. In 1870, Manitoba, came to be a part of Canada, and this was where they were planning to move. There was great hype with the new world way back then with all the salesman, promotion of the New World.
As part of this, two major shipping companies were competing for the North Atlantic passenger trade:
- The White Star Line
- The Kennard line
We have always been a romantic type family, my brother explained, and it was exciting to know that they would be arriving in the New World, to start a new chapter on board a brand new state of the art ocean liner! They had bought tickets aboard The White Star Line’s Newest ship! It would be the maiden voyage! But then, a new development made their hearts sink! Great Grandma Elizabeth had become pregnant (It was Auntie Janet!)
Elizabeth’s health couldn’t handle the voyage so they had to give up their tickets and take a later boat.
But in April of that same year, a whole new emotion came along, when that ship – the Titanic! – sank.
I understood finally that day in January 2012, after having heard the whole story, what could better explain Zechariah 3’s significance.
Brand means a burning stick.
The Brand clan like Joshua, was as good as gone! When God intervened.
Now let me just say that my romantic movie, loving history, loving father, who lay there in the basket as my brother shared the story if he knew, but I think maybe he did because of one clue in 1997 when we all flock to see James Cameron‘s Titanic, my father refused to go see it. He said that’s nothing to make a movie about.
This is a story about the grace of God !Sin and death turned to grace, new clothes, and a new calling.
When I re-read that chapter, it was my first experience with the shrinking away from destiny. Maybe even you could say my identity. In Zachariah 3 there are if – then’s. But my great grandfather did not shrink away.
Jesus is alluded to in 3:8.
Abraham’s descendants have always been about God‘s grace to the whole world.
Each of us finds ourselves spared for a reason and that’s what Paul will be telling us as we look over his shoulder as he is writes to the Christians in Rome. Paul is speaking to two squabbling children, the Christian Jews and the Gentile Christians. He’s telling them that they are no better than each other chosen by grace for a purpose.
My great grandparents were sober in their call to Canada. They arrived in Winnipeg and would eventually become part of a newly planted church in the downtown core: Calvary Temple. We were spared for a reason.
Running Down Vimy 