I am sure you have noticed by the emphasis on v.6 in our reading of the 23rd Psalm, today is the last Sunday in our series on the 23rd Psalm. While I had hoped that you might respond like my kids did long ago with favorite childhood stories, I’m not surprised that none of you said, “No! Let’s read it again!”
I say that knowing that we could probably read the 23rd Psalm every Sunday, and it would only encourage you all the more. That is one of the reasons that we read it in the style of Lectio Divina this week, and I hope that you were able to open yourself up to some new or deeper revelation through it. If not, I encourage you to try again some other time and see what new things the Spirit may yet reveal to you through these faithfully inspired words about the providence of God.
Last time we used this technique I asked you to share what struck you anew and how you felt God was moving through this text. Today I’ll let that be between you and God unless you want to tell me after worship.
Right now I want to do a quick review for anyone who may have missed out on any part of our journey through 23rd Psalm. We began with v1, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” and we considered the abundance of God’s grace and mercy and the providence of God that begins here and flows through this entire Psalm.
With v2, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” we discussed the idea of the sabbath keeping from the perspective of Jesus in Matthew 12, which is based less on following a rule and more on compassion for all whom God loves. Jesus demonstrated this in Matthew 12 by healing on the Sabbath and reminding us that the Sabbath was created because of our limitations rather than God’s.
John and Kris Newman helped us out for vv3-4. John connected v3, “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake,” with the prophet Micah’s call to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Kris followed that up with v4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” and the recognition that – even though the “right path” can take us to places of darkness – we are never alone, and the perfect love of God casts out all fears and keeps us moving!
That led us to v5, where God “prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies. God anoints us with oil; and our cups overflow.” Along with that, we heard the words of Jesus that are perhaps the most difficult of all, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”
Fortunately, we were surrounded by our friends from Grace Presbyterian Church as we considered the idea that the table might even be a place to welcome those with whom we’ve become estranged.
In fact, loving others proactively and seeing our humanity reflected in theirs may even be a way to get past the ideologies and attitudes that divide us into enemy camps in the first place!
Well, as I was reflecting on all these things and thinking about how they are all – the green pastures and the dark valleys; friends and enemies – an expression of the providence of God, I was struck again by the end of Matthew 5:45, “so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” I was struck by the idea that it sounds so transactional, and perhaps it is, but I really think it is more invitational.
It has more to do with living into the promise of God than earning it, for God’s love and favor is not something we can earn like a merit badge. That’s not because of how God works. That’s because of how love works.
When I put gas in my wife’s car (which I rarely do) it’s not to earn her affection, it’s because I love her. All of us want to be loved in some way, and sometimes that comes out in all kinds of affirmation-seeking behaviors. That is not inherently bad, by the way. Knowing your needs and expressing them is healthy. We just have to be careful not to expect love and affirmation to be transactional.
What we can expect, at least from God, is that we have been included, through the love of Jesus who is the Christ, into the house and family of God! For those followers of the way of Jesus in Rome, Paul knew that they would hear this as those who either had been or longed to be included in families that held the status of Roman citizenship.
Surely they would hear and understand that God, through Jesus, was engrafting them into an even greater and more privileged status than Roman citizenship! He doesn’t come right out and use the word “privileged,” though. “In fact,” he says in v17, “we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”
Really, Paul? You’re not selling this following Jesus thing so well, are you? Maybe that’s why there are those that speak as though their faith does give them a privileged status, but that’s not what we’re here to celebrate today. We are here to celebrate the fact that you are God’s beloved child, and God hears you when you call out – whether in joy or sorrow.
There are certainly others who do not know that they are as beloved – though surely they are – but you and I are here because we know that we are loved by the One who is the source of all love. We are here to celebrate love made plain through Jesus, who came to teach the ways of God and to show us that love and compassion are stronger than hate and coercion!
Not only that, Jesus also came to include us in the work and compassion of God! Now some of you may be thinking, “Wait. Work? I came here to dwell in the house of the Lord. Now you want to put me to work?” I know, that makes it sound like I’m even worse than Paul. At least he was straightforward about the joy of suffering, right?
The thing is, there are always things to do to keep the church running, but Jesus never said to do any of that. Jesus, in his call to love our enemies, and Paul, in his call to suffer, are expressing the proclamation of the One who inspired these words, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me always, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
While books have been written about the meaning of these words, their meaning is clear in that they tell us about God’s character and our place as the object of God’s desire. God’s desire is not for our suffering. God’s desire is “goodness and mercy,” and God pursues us, just as God provides and guides and moves us from darkness into light again and again and again!
Funny as it may seem, these words always remind Treva and I of a lesson plan that someone wrote several years back for a small group at a camp. There was a game called “Surely, Goodness, and Mercy Tag” and it just sounded so silly! It was actually a version of blob tag. Players were in a contained area. Three people were “it,” and they were “Surely, Goodness, and Mercy.” When they tagged someone that person would link arms and they would both be “it.” Play continued until everyone was a part of “Surely, Goodness, and Mercy.”
Silly as it is, I think that’s a great image for the church! God’s forgiveness – God’s mercy – pursues us! God’s love is not about what we’ve done or what’s been done to us. It’s about what’s been done for us. Surely God’s love is inevitable, and through it we are moving toward “goodness and mercy” and the inclusion of all creation in the restorative work of God.
This promise of “goodness, and mercy” leads us to the promise that we, “shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” and I think it’s impossible for us to hear that without hearing the promise of heavenly bliss. While that is ultimately our hope – in fact Paul’s invitation to suffer with Christ is followed by the promise of sharing in his glory – I think there is more to it than that.
“More to it than eternity,” you say? That’s fair. What I mean to say is that we don’t have to die to enjoy God’s presence. Certainly, the intent of worship is to find a deepened connection with God. In fact, you may occasionally hear me say to a visitor, “I hope you experienced God’s presence today!”
Surely, our hope is that our experience of God here, around this table, helps us to see that God is active and present at work; in the store; at school; at home; pretty much everywhere you go. Surely, God’s hope is that someone else may experience God’s love through you, in this place and every place, because dwelling in the house of the Lord means to know yourself as God’s beloved and to encourage others to see themselves as the same.
Come to think of it, Paul told the church in 2 Corinthians 6:16 that “we are the temple of the living God. For God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
So, people of God, all I have to say is, “Tag. You’re it!” Now let’s see who else we can pursue with the love of God. Amen? Amen! And again I say, Amen!
I say that knowing that we could probably read the 23rd Psalm every Sunday, and it would only encourage you all the more. That is one of the reasons that we read it in the style of Lectio Divina this week, and I hope that you were able to open yourself up to some new or deeper revelation through it. If not, I encourage you to try again some other time and see what new things the Spirit may yet reveal to you through these faithfully inspired words about the providence of God.
Last time we used this technique I asked you to share what struck you anew and how you felt God was moving through this text. Today I’ll let that be between you and God unless you want to tell me after worship.
Right now I want to do a quick review for anyone who may have missed out on any part of our journey through 23rd Psalm. We began with v1, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” and we considered the abundance of God’s grace and mercy and the providence of God that begins here and flows through this entire Psalm.
With v2, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” we discussed the idea of the sabbath keeping from the perspective of Jesus in Matthew 12, which is based less on following a rule and more on compassion for all whom God loves. Jesus demonstrated this in Matthew 12 by healing on the Sabbath and reminding us that the Sabbath was created because of our limitations rather than God’s.
John and Kris Newman helped us out for vv3-4. John connected v3, “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake,” with the prophet Micah’s call to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Kris followed that up with v4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” and the recognition that – even though the “right path” can take us to places of darkness – we are never alone, and the perfect love of God casts out all fears and keeps us moving!
That led us to v5, where God “prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies. God anoints us with oil; and our cups overflow.” Along with that, we heard the words of Jesus that are perhaps the most difficult of all, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”
Fortunately, we were surrounded by our friends from Grace Presbyterian Church as we considered the idea that the table might even be a place to welcome those with whom we’ve become estranged.
In fact, loving others proactively and seeing our humanity reflected in theirs may even be a way to get past the ideologies and attitudes that divide us into enemy camps in the first place!
Well, as I was reflecting on all these things and thinking about how they are all – the green pastures and the dark valleys; friends and enemies – an expression of the providence of God, I was struck again by the end of Matthew 5:45, “so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” I was struck by the idea that it sounds so transactional, and perhaps it is, but I really think it is more invitational.
It has more to do with living into the promise of God than earning it, for God’s love and favor is not something we can earn like a merit badge. That’s not because of how God works. That’s because of how love works.
When I put gas in my wife’s car (which I rarely do) it’s not to earn her affection, it’s because I love her. All of us want to be loved in some way, and sometimes that comes out in all kinds of affirmation-seeking behaviors. That is not inherently bad, by the way. Knowing your needs and expressing them is healthy. We just have to be careful not to expect love and affirmation to be transactional.
What we can expect, at least from God, is that we have been included, through the love of Jesus who is the Christ, into the house and family of God! For those followers of the way of Jesus in Rome, Paul knew that they would hear this as those who either had been or longed to be included in families that held the status of Roman citizenship.
Surely they would hear and understand that God, through Jesus, was engrafting them into an even greater and more privileged status than Roman citizenship! He doesn’t come right out and use the word “privileged,” though. “In fact,” he says in v17, “we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”
Really, Paul? You’re not selling this following Jesus thing so well, are you? Maybe that’s why there are those that speak as though their faith does give them a privileged status, but that’s not what we’re here to celebrate today. We are here to celebrate the fact that you are God’s beloved child, and God hears you when you call out – whether in joy or sorrow.
There are certainly others who do not know that they are as beloved – though surely they are – but you and I are here because we know that we are loved by the One who is the source of all love. We are here to celebrate love made plain through Jesus, who came to teach the ways of God and to show us that love and compassion are stronger than hate and coercion!
Not only that, Jesus also came to include us in the work and compassion of God! Now some of you may be thinking, “Wait. Work? I came here to dwell in the house of the Lord. Now you want to put me to work?” I know, that makes it sound like I’m even worse than Paul. At least he was straightforward about the joy of suffering, right?
The thing is, there are always things to do to keep the church running, but Jesus never said to do any of that. Jesus, in his call to love our enemies, and Paul, in his call to suffer, are expressing the proclamation of the One who inspired these words, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me always, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
While books have been written about the meaning of these words, their meaning is clear in that they tell us about God’s character and our place as the object of God’s desire. God’s desire is not for our suffering. God’s desire is “goodness and mercy,” and God pursues us, just as God provides and guides and moves us from darkness into light again and again and again!
Funny as it may seem, these words always remind Treva and I of a lesson plan that someone wrote several years back for a small group at a camp. There was a game called “Surely, Goodness, and Mercy Tag” and it just sounded so silly! It was actually a version of blob tag. Players were in a contained area. Three people were “it,” and they were “Surely, Goodness, and Mercy.” When they tagged someone that person would link arms and they would both be “it.” Play continued until everyone was a part of “Surely, Goodness, and Mercy.”
Silly as it is, I think that’s a great image for the church! God’s forgiveness – God’s mercy – pursues us! God’s love is not about what we’ve done or what’s been done to us. It’s about what’s been done for us. Surely God’s love is inevitable, and through it we are moving toward “goodness and mercy” and the inclusion of all creation in the restorative work of God.
This promise of “goodness, and mercy” leads us to the promise that we, “shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” and I think it’s impossible for us to hear that without hearing the promise of heavenly bliss. While that is ultimately our hope – in fact Paul’s invitation to suffer with Christ is followed by the promise of sharing in his glory – I think there is more to it than that.
“More to it than eternity,” you say? That’s fair. What I mean to say is that we don’t have to die to enjoy God’s presence. Certainly, the intent of worship is to find a deepened connection with God. In fact, you may occasionally hear me say to a visitor, “I hope you experienced God’s presence today!”
Surely, our hope is that our experience of God here, around this table, helps us to see that God is active and present at work; in the store; at school; at home; pretty much everywhere you go. Surely, God’s hope is that someone else may experience God’s love through you, in this place and every place, because dwelling in the house of the Lord means to know yourself as God’s beloved and to encourage others to see themselves as the same.
Come to think of it, Paul told the church in 2 Corinthians 6:16 that “we are the temple of the living God. For God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
So, people of God, all I have to say is, “Tag. You’re it!” Now let’s see who else we can pursue with the love of God. Amen? Amen! And again I say, Amen!
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