Ramsay Sermon Blackburn Cathedral EP 13 11 11
Psalm 107.17-32; Isaiah 10.33-11.9; John 14.23-29
When I was asked to give the Ramsay sermon, I thought
that it must be in honour of Michael Ramsey, a muchloved Archbishop of Canterbury. Then I thought that
maybe it must be Ian Ramsey, a philosopher Bishop of
Durham who died in office, or maybe Sir Alf Ramsey. Then
I learnt it was Ramsay, with two ‘a’s, James Ramsay, a
Scot, who as doctor, councillor and churchman gave much
to the life of this town.
James Ramsay left very careful instructions about this
service, its readings, hymns and prayers, choices marked
by his life and times.
In our second reading from John 14, part of Jesus’ farewell
discourse, he prepares his disciples for his coming death
and bodily absence. It is his last will and testament. His
followers are given assurance of his continuing teaching,
his words’ abiding influence and the promised gift of the
Holy Spirit. I suggest that by choosing this reading James
Ramsay reveals that he also wanted to have a continuing
influence by his testimony to God’s providence and care.
in the Old Testament reading, ”The wolf shall dwell with
the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid.” We
can say that it’s also there in the psalm, “For he maketh
the storm to cease; so that the waves thereof are still.”
In spite of life’s struggle James Ramsay had a strong
sense of the providence of God and of “the wonders that
he doeth for the children of men.”
James Ramsay was born beside the silvery Tay. His father
worked at the harbour and his mother came from the
fishing port of Peterhead. The sea was in his veins, yet as
the fifth of ten children, he had a hard, urban upbringing.
Employed in one of Dundee’s flax mills from the age of
ten, he progressed from spinning to weaving and then to
the mechanics’ shop, completing his apprenticeship in
1872. He toiled from 5am to 6pm, studied Latin and
geometry, worked as a proof-reader for the Dundee
Advertiser, gained a scholarship, and in 1879 matriculated
at Edinburgh University, studying at the Royal College of
Surgeons. Throughout his life he remembered his origins
and his struggle.
Born in 1854 at the time of the Crimean War, James
Ramsay was in his sixties during the First World War, ,
and lived until 1937, when storm clouds gathered again
over Europe. I suggest that like many of his generation he
sought peace and the avoidance of war.
He overworked and suffered a breakdown in health, and to
combat this he took a voyage by steamship to
Newfoundland. He knew the dangers that seamen faced
and in 1885 there was an extreme gale off Newfoundland,
in which 80 vessels were lost. The trip to Newfoundland
brought healing for James Ramsay, and gratitude for
God’s providence and care.
There is evidence for this not only in the words, “Peace I
leave with you, my peace I give unto you,” but even more
It is interesting which stanzas of Psalm 107 James
Ramsay chose. It includes the section about men at
death’s door, crying to the Lord and finding healing and
deliverance. Coming close to death in early life often
contributes to a strong sense of purpose, and for a
Christian, a sense of being saved for a purpose.
strong sense of God’s hand upon my life and God’s care,
helped by the GP and by my parents, I developed a sense
of being called to serve, and briefly as a child considered
medicine.
Of course, the selected verses of Psalm 107 include the
stanza about “Those that go down to the sea in ships..”
verses engraved on the hearts of people from maritime
communities who have so often experienced awe and
wonder in the face of nature’s power, life’s precariousness
and the presence of God.
Dr Ramsay gave himself to the town of Blackburn,
marrying and settling here permanently in 1891. In frock
coat and broad-brimmed silk hat he was a familiar figure
as the Factory Doctor. By 1896 he was a Conservative
councillor for St. Mark’s Ward, by 1908 an alderman and
was Mayor of Blackburn for the years 1922-1924. He had
started his working life in a mill and served in this town as
a doctor until the day before he died.
At times of calamity and rescue we naturally rejoice with
survivors and weep with those facing loss. There are no
easy answers when some perish in the ocean depths, in
the rubble of an earthquake, in the mayhem of a terrorist
attack or a horrific road accident. Still today we cry out to
God and seek, help and meaning. Sometimes when we
look back we may see God’s hand upon our lives.
Although he lived in Blackburn for nearly fifty years, he
always had a sense of being an outsider, with roots in the
Scottish NE. Like many Scots he was hardworking, even
overworking, with a strong motivation. He trusted in
God’s purposes and was caught up in a life of service.
On the way to the D-Day landings a fellow soldier gave my
father a copy of his poem because he knew he would not
survive. My father served in the Gordon Highlanders of
whom it was written, “So Few got Through”. He was
fortunate to survive the war and to marry an attractive
Scots’ lass and two years later I was born. Maybe some
good things come even out of war.
Providence has long been a very strong theme in Scottish
Christianity, especially in its Calvinist forms, and it is
difficult to underestimate its influence. Yet we too can trust
in God’s continuing care and providence without believing
that everything is worked out for us. Choices, accidents
and errors can all be used by God who weaves a creative
design when all we may see are tangled threads.
One day I was in my pram on the front pavement, and for
some reason my mother moved me to the back. A few
minutes later a runaway pop lorry ran into the front of our
house where I had been sleeping. With that story and my
recovery from bronchial pneumonia, I too grew up with a
I guessed the hymns before I knew them. With the theme
of “the wonders of God’s providence in the world,” my
mind immediately went to “God moves in a mysterious
way, his wonders to perform.” This hymn was exceedingly
popular In Scotland, and was one of my Gran Baxter’s
favourites. It has traditionally been sung to Dundee (what
else) or London New, both dating from different versions of
the Scottish Psalter. This hymn speaks of the
impenetrable and mysterious ways of God, and there is
evidence of its influence on Lancashire millworkers in the
1840s. We can say that the hymns connect with mill and
ocean, Dundee and Blackburn.
Providence is a difficult theme, but with Dr Ramsay’s
chosen texts, hymns, sermon theme and subject for
prayer, we may realise that he was simply writing a
prescription: “Look back over your life, thank God for his
care, wonder at his purposes and continue and press on
his service where he has called you.”