The Fourth Sunday of Easter Year AA sermon based on the 23rd Psalm.
In the name of Jesus; amen.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 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. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Well, actually there are lots of things that I want. I want some new clothes. I want a nicer car or maybe to fix up the one I already have. I want new furniture for my house. I want a little more money. I want to go on vacation… well, you get the idea.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Whenever I go online the page I see on my computer has a word of the day. I usually don’t take much notice to the words, except when one catches my eye because it looks strange. Last night one of the words was “penury” and I decided to click on it to find out what it means.
penury: DEFINITION: (noun) Extreme want or poverty; destitution. SYNONYMS: indigence, pauperism, pauperization, beggary, need.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
This past week Rachel, Scott, and I watched American Idol Gives Back. They raised over 60 million dollars from people calling in and making donations or going on line and charging their credit cards. The money they raised is meant to go to people all over the world, especially children who live in a state of extreme want.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Growing up my parents spent a great deal of time trying to get me to understand the difference between the things that I needed and the things that I wanted. Needs were much more important than wants. I didn’t always get what I wanted, but I almost always had everything that I needed.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
It’s hard to understand the concept of shepherd. We don’t live in a society where there are a lot of shepherds. So it’s easy to romanticize the notions of shepherds tending their sheep. I think I mention this every time I preach on Good Shepherd Sunday perhaps because each year that I prepare for Good Shepherd Sunday I find the same information:
Shepherds were dirty, on the fringe of society; they were necessary, but not well thought of. Sheep are stupid animals. They have a tendency to stray. They have to be well guarded. They flock together for safety because it makes it harder for predators to pick them off.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
It’s a popular psalm for funerals. Maybe because of the 4th verse which says, “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.”
But the purpose of a real shepherd’s staff is meant to push the sheep along, sometimes fairly roughly or to beat off the wolves that prey on the flock.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
To identify with this psalm means that we have to identify with being sheep, and not just sheep happily grazing in the pasture, but sheep being lead out of the safety of our pens into a world where predators wait for us, where the valley of the shadow of death is a real pathway.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
But even more so, to identify with this psalm, this well beloved psalm means understanding that it is Jesus who is our shepherd. Jesus is the shepherd whose rod isn’t just a comfort, but a protection against the enemy. Jesus is the shepherd whose staff isn’t just a comfort, but a prod meant to lead us out into the world.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
This is the anti-penury psalm. (Remember that penury is extreme want.) It is the abundance psalm; the psalm of overflowing cups and restored souls. It is the anti-fear psalm; the psalm of comfort even in the valley of the shadow of death. It is the anti-loner psalm; the psalm of being lead to green pastures, still waters, and right pathways.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Lead by Jesus it’s not just our needs that are taken care of, but all of our wants. This is a psalm of grace because Jesus is our shepherd and Jesus does lead us.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 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. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Amen.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 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. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Well, actually there are lots of things that I want. I want some new clothes. I want a nicer car or maybe to fix up the one I already have. I want new furniture for my house. I want a little more money. I want to go on vacation… well, you get the idea.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Whenever I go online the page I see on my computer has a word of the day. I usually don’t take much notice to the words, except when one catches my eye because it looks strange. Last night one of the words was “penury” and I decided to click on it to find out what it means.
penury: DEFINITION: (noun) Extreme want or poverty; destitution. SYNONYMS: indigence, pauperism, pauperization, beggary, need.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
This past week Rachel, Scott, and I watched American Idol Gives Back. They raised over 60 million dollars from people calling in and making donations or going on line and charging their credit cards. The money they raised is meant to go to people all over the world, especially children who live in a state of extreme want.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Growing up my parents spent a great deal of time trying to get me to understand the difference between the things that I needed and the things that I wanted. Needs were much more important than wants. I didn’t always get what I wanted, but I almost always had everything that I needed.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
It’s hard to understand the concept of shepherd. We don’t live in a society where there are a lot of shepherds. So it’s easy to romanticize the notions of shepherds tending their sheep. I think I mention this every time I preach on Good Shepherd Sunday perhaps because each year that I prepare for Good Shepherd Sunday I find the same information:
Shepherds were dirty, on the fringe of society; they were necessary, but not well thought of. Sheep are stupid animals. They have a tendency to stray. They have to be well guarded. They flock together for safety because it makes it harder for predators to pick them off.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
It’s a popular psalm for funerals. Maybe because of the 4th verse which says, “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.”
But the purpose of a real shepherd’s staff is meant to push the sheep along, sometimes fairly roughly or to beat off the wolves that prey on the flock.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
To identify with this psalm means that we have to identify with being sheep, and not just sheep happily grazing in the pasture, but sheep being lead out of the safety of our pens into a world where predators wait for us, where the valley of the shadow of death is a real pathway.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
But even more so, to identify with this psalm, this well beloved psalm means understanding that it is Jesus who is our shepherd. Jesus is the shepherd whose rod isn’t just a comfort, but a protection against the enemy. Jesus is the shepherd whose staff isn’t just a comfort, but a prod meant to lead us out into the world.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
This is the anti-penury psalm. (Remember that penury is extreme want.) It is the abundance psalm; the psalm of overflowing cups and restored souls. It is the anti-fear psalm; the psalm of comfort even in the valley of the shadow of death. It is the anti-loner psalm; the psalm of being lead to green pastures, still waters, and right pathways.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Lead by Jesus it’s not just our needs that are taken care of, but all of our wants. This is a psalm of grace because Jesus is our shepherd and Jesus does lead us.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 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. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Amen.
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