September 16, 2007

Psalm 23

Bible Memory is so helpful - to be able to call upon passage, to remind ourselves, to refresh our faith, to call upon them in time of need. At Jesus’ Temptation, he fought is off by quoting scripture: "It is written . . ."

I often think about Bible memory in nursing homes, where I see folks having a reservoir of faith to call up - favorite passages & great hymns. But what will my generation remember? What will they call upon?

Psalm 23:

  The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

    He makes me lie down in green pastures,

       he leads me beside quiet waters,

            he restores my soul.

    He guides me in paths of righteousness

       for his name's sake.

    Even though I walk

       through the valley of the shadow of death,

       I will fear no evil,

       for you are with me;

       your rod and your staff,

       they comfort me.

    You prepare a table before me

       in the presence of my enemies.

    You anoint my head with oil;

       my cup overflows.

    Surely goodness and love will follow me

       all the days of my life,

       and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The Sermon

I had a professor in school who once told our class he felt that Psalm 23 was overused and misused and that we shouldn’t read it anymore at funerals because that just added to the misuse of it. If you’ve been to any of our funerals, you know that’s one part of my training that I have not adhered to. But is the most famous and beloved passages in all the Bible misunderstood and misused?

It is when it’s sentimentalized, and that I think was his point. If we view Psalm 23 as just a literary balm, a soothing piece of writing in time of grief, similar to "Don’t Stand at my Grave & Weep, I am not there, I did not die." (Some people find that poem quite comforting.) If that’s all we experience of Psalm 23 then perhaps it is misused.

Singing "Amazing Grace" can produce a similar effect- it’s not the message that comforts many people - not the message of God’s unconditional love and grace - and how grace brought us to the place where we cried out to God and all that grace has brought us through and what grace will ultimately bring us to - into the arms of God forever. No. It isn’t all that theology that comforts many people.

It’s the melody of "Amazing Grace," - how sweet the sound - like the voice of an old friend on the phone that takes us back to a good, safe time in our lives. The familiarity covers us like a warm blanket on a cold, windy night. And that’s a nice thing, but when it comes to our faith, we need to be careful of reducing truth to sentiment, of replacing conviction with warm fuzzy sentimentality. Psalm 23 can lead us simply toward a gushy, nostalgia - green pastures, still waters, our cups runneth over.

But the power of the psalm is not in sentimentality. It’s not in its familiarity. It’s not in its soothing words or beautiful poetic images. The power of the psalm is in the Shepherd and what it means to be a sheep of this shepherd.

The Power is in the Shepherd! The Power is in having a Shepherd!

- in trusting this Shepherd, in having deep convictions about who this Shepherd is and about the passionate, fierce love of this Shepherd. The Power is in the Shepherd and what this psalm is about is commitment - the love and commitment of the Shepherd to the Sheep and about this Sheep’s commitment to the Shepherd.

The Lord is his shepherd.

Please say that with me - "The Lord is my shepherd."

Who is God to you? "The Lord is my shepherd"

What do you have to say about God? The Lord is my shepherd

How important is God in your life? The Lord is my shepherd

What do you believe about the character of God?

What do you have to say about the love of God?

How do you experience God?

How does God care for you?

How does God walk with you?

Now contrast that with "God is my co-pilot." Remember that saying? Now what would King David say about that? First he’d say, "What’s a pilot?" But then I think he’d say, "God is your co-pilot????"

Well then who’s in charge? You are.

Who’s more important? You are.

Who’s charting your course? You are.

Who’s calling the shots? You are.

Who’s the real shepherd of your life? You are.

And who’s merely along for a little advice, a little reassurance? - the co-pilot. "God is my co-pilot." David would say, That’s not what I’m talking about!

I’m talking about . . . . . (say it) The Lord is my shepherd.

Illustration. Denny B. - A guy I grew up with. Became a Salesmen. Later became a Christian. Started going to church. Became very successful. Still enjoyed going out too much & too late with the guys. Still told the same off-color jokes. He cleaned up his act some but by his own account he was trying to have the best of both worlds. Then one day someone said to him, "You’re a really cool Christian. You’re just like everybody else." That comment lead him to reevaluate his life to determine if he was a sheep submitted to the will of God, or was he still in charge? Had he really submitted his life to God, or was God just a nice addition to his life? Had he received the Good Shepherd or had he just gotten a "little religion" in his life? He realized that he had just gotten a little religion.

Denny then sensed God calling him to use his energies and abilities to help the poorest of the poor in Egypt. He moved to Egypt and worked in the slums outside of Cairo. Denny is now a pastor because he feels that what the Good Shepherd would have him do. That’s where God has lead him, but the point is he had to take God out of the co-pilot seat and instead put God in the Captain’s chair.

"The Lord is my shepherd" - not our co-pilot.

Illustration. Billy Graham has an analogy I’ve always liked. It’s a flu shot.

Graham points out that when you get a flu shot you actually get a little case of the flu, then your body creates antibodies that fight off the little flu and prevent you from getting the real thing. He says religion can be like a flu shot. You can get just a little bit, and it prevents you from getting the real thing.

The "real thing" is expressed so well by those first 5 words of Psalm 23.

Let’s say them again - "The Lord is my shepherd."

1 - What does it mean to you to be a Christian? - "The Lord is my shepherd."

2 - How would you describe your commitment to God? "The Lord is my shepherd."

3 - Do you have a "little religion" or did you get the real thing?"The Lord is my shepherd."

4 - How important is God in your life?

Last week we talked about having a weakened, counterfeit faith where we make it all about ourselves. We’re spiritual in that we think about God and we pray, but it’s still all about us. God functions as our "Divine Butler" or "Cosmic Therapist" God’s there to give us a little help when we need it. But what we have then is a self-focused religion instead of a God-focused religion. God is my co-pilot seems self-focused to me. The Lord is my Shepherd is God-focused. And this God is demanding. He’s not the butler! This Shepherd we belong to doesn’t leave it up to the sheep to find their way. He directs them, he leads them, he commands them.

This beautiful little passage is a bit pushy when you think about it.

"He leads me - often through places I don’t want to go.

"He leads me in the paths of righteousness - not merely for my sake, but for his name’s sake!"

"Oh, for God’s sake?" Yes. That’s right. This is all about God. "The Lord is my shepherd" reminds us of our proper place in the universe. God is God and we are not. God is the Shepherd and we are the sheep.

Who is your Shepherd? "The Lord is my shepherd."

Who is your Leader? "The Lord is my shepherd."

Who do you belong to?

What is the center of your life?

What is the focus of your life?

What is the reason for your life?

Let me close with two brief illustrations.

The first one has to do with the word "LORD" in all capital letters.

The "LORD" - means - "Yahweh" is my shepherd.

Yahweh - the name of God given to Moses at the burning bush.

That God whom we know, the God who knows us by name and the God we know by name - that God is our shepherd.

Illustration. A little girl was saying her bedtime prayers.

"I thank you for my best friend, Teddy," she prayed.

Her father who had been trying to encourage faith replied, "Isn’t God your best friend?"

"No. Teddy has a face."

Jesus puts a face on God. Jesus shows us what the invisible God looks like.

God looks like Christ. So, that God is our Shepherd - a God we know, love and trust. The LORD is MY Shepherd. What beautiful words for making a faith commitment.

This final story has to do with the word "My."

Illustration. A Chaplain in the French Army used to impress upon the soldiers in his unit the power of the 23rd Psalm. He encouraged them to call upon it, to recite it in times of grave danger. He had them write the opening words on their hands and tick off the opening line with each finger. The pinky represented "The." The ring finger represented, "LORD," and so forth. He especially impressed upon them the 4th word, "my," stressing that God is a very personal God, who cares for each one of them.

Did his words have an effect? They did for at least one soldier. For when they found this soldier, fatally wounded after a battle, they noticed that his right hand was clutching the pointer on his other hand, "My."

May we each have a faith like that.