“The Lord Is My Shepherd” (Psalm 23:1-6)

Psalm 23

“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” 

Probably the 23rd psalm is the most-beloved, most-sung, most-prayed, and most-studied poem in the Book of Psalms. And the image of this psalm is very personal: The Lord is my shepherd. Recently, this psalm of David personally did speak to me. Last two weeks were a dream for my family and me. It was a time of family reunion in 10 years. After Joyce and I had sent them off, we felt left behind. We felt so empty. It was so hard to even get back to normal life. But it was God’s word that sustained us. In particular, this psalm preserved our lives. It gave us strength, comfort, and even joy. So this morning I wanted to share that message with you.

“The Lord” 

The psalm begins with the word: “The Lord.” Who is the Lord? Here David is not talking about an abstract God who is distant. But he is talking about the personal God who sees us, hears us, and cares for us (cf. Ex 3:7-8). He is talking about the God we can know, we can talk to, we can feel, we can touch. Ultimately, the Lord refers to Jesus Christ. The Lord God is fully revealed in Jesus. Hebrews 1:1-3 says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son… He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (ESV). Jesus Christ is the Lord!

“My Shepherd” 

David says, “The Lord is my shepherd.” In John 10 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” Unlike a hired hand, the good shepherd protects, guides, cares for, and even lays down his life for the sheep. In fact, Christ the good shepherd became a lamb, a sheep just like us. He didn’t have to, but he chose to be that way. He entered into our experience of life – suffering, loss, sorrow, temptation, and brokenness – and has seen life from the perspective of a sheep. He was vulnerable just like us. He was hungry and weary just like us. He was tempted in every respect just like us. Why did he do that? He did this, so that we may become his sheep. We all like sheep have gone astray and were headed for the slaughter house and we didn’t know it. But, Jesus Christ, the Shepherd and the Lamb, saved us. He saved us from the slaughter house. He stepped into the line we were in, threw His body in front of ours, and he was slaughtered instead of us. He loves us this much.[1] John the Baptist declared, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) As a sacrificial lamb, he took up our weaknesses and pains. He carried our griefs and sorrows. He died in our place. But not only that, he also was raised from the dead and sat at the right hand of God. The Lamb slain is now in the center of the throne. And people from all nations praise, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:13) This Lamb of God in power, Jesus Christ, is now our shepherd. The Lord Jesus is my shepherd! 

I Will Follow (2-3) 
When Jesus is our shepherd, we would then naturally say this: I shall not want. Here we find the life of trust, the life of contentment no matter what. But what does it look like to live such a life exactly? The author David unpacks this in the following verses in three ways. First of all, he says, “Because the Lord is my shepherd, I will follow him.” 

“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.” 

Wherever he leads me, I will follow him. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). In Palestine today, we see that Bedouin shepherds bring their flocks home from the various pastures they have grazed during the day. Often those flocks will end up at the same watering hole around dusk, so that they get all mixed up together—eight or nine small flocks turning into a convention of thirsty sheep. Their shepherds do not worry about the mix-up, however. When it is time to go home, each one issues his or her own distinctive call—a special trill or whistle, or a particular tune on a particular reed pipe, and that shepherd's sheep withdraw from the crowd to follow their shepherd home. They know their shepherd's voice, and it is the only one they will follow.[2]

When we follow our shepherd, we find a life of contentment, peace, and rest. How can a husband and a wife become one? It’s impossible. How can parents and children become one? It’s impossible. But there is a way! When each of us hears the shepherd’s voice and follows him, we become one. Recently, I had that amazing experience. To be honest, before Joyce’s

family came, I was concerned. I didn’t feel comfortable to live with them for two weeks because I didn’t know them. I was concerned about what to eat, where to take them, how to plan a budget. At first it was not easy. To please each other didn’t work. But then, we all resolved to just hear the shepherd’s voice and follow him. And we experienced the miracle of unity. We became one family at the end. As we departed from each other, we all felt a great sense of loss. But our Great Shepherd said that even though we were physically going to different directions (USA and Korea), we were actually heading to the same direction as long as we follow him. Because Jesus is my shepherd, I will follow him.

I Will Not Fear (4-5) 

Secondly, David says, “Because the Lord is my shepherd, I will not fear.”

“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.” 

The Lord is present in the green pastures. But the Lord is also present in the darkest valley. It is suggested that David wrote Psalm 3 and 4 when he fled from Absalom his own son. What a heartbreaking tragedy! But David says, “I will not afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around” (3:6). And he continues, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in

safety” (4:8). As we go through the darkest valley, all kinds of dark bitter experiences in life, our shepherd Jesus is with us. He abides with us to comfort us, sustain us, encourage us in the valley of depression, serious illness, rejection, separation, death of loved one, even the experience of death itself. One pastor lost his oldest daughter to a sudden death when she was 34. He said, “You never get over it. And you don’t want to. And through it all, one promise was most important: God is with us.” I will not fear, I will not worry, I will not be anxious, for you are with me. 

I Will Abide (6)
Thirdly, David says, “Because the Lord is my shepherd, I will abide in him.”

“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 point of the 23rd psalm is that the destination of the paths of righteousness, the destination of the valley of the shadow of death, the destination of the end of the days of my life is none other than God’s very self. God is the psalmist’s destination.[3] David did abide in the Lord, wherever he was. Whether he was a shepherd boy, whether he was standing before Goliath, whether he was hiding in the wildness from Saul and Absalom, whether he was a king, he always did abide in the Lord.

Jesus said, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4, NRSV) Jesus is the Vine, and we are the branches. Abiding means believing,

trusting, resting, receiving, connecting to Jesus. Wherever we are, we are never lost, when we abide in Jesus, for his pursuing goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives and we will make it home safely. We only need to remember these words and hold fast them: The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

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[1] Wanye Monbleau, “Our Shepherd Became A Lamb for Us,” https://www.lovinggrace.org/single-post/2015/07/23/Our-Shepherd-Became-A-Lamb-For-Us
[2] Barbara Brown Taylor in The Preaching Life (Cowley, 1993), p. 147; https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2013/june/5061713.html
[3] deClaisse-Walford, The Book of Psalms (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2014), Kindle Edition 5368 of 32717.

“Meeting the Risen Christ in Unexpected Places” (Gen 28:10-22)

GODISNOWHERE

An atheist and a Christian were engaged in an intense public debate. The atheist did his presentation first. On the blackboard behind the podium he printed in large capital letters, “GOD IS NOWHERE.” Then, the Christian rose to offer his rebuttal. He quietly went up to the podium, and he rubbed out the W at the beginning of where and added that letter to the preceding word no. Then the statement read, “GOD IS NOW HERE.”[1]

Last Sunday we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And this morning we sang “He Lives.” We sang, “He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.” Do you experience that? How do you meet the risen Christ in everyday life? How do you experience the resurrection life today? In order to answer this question, we should first define “the resurrection.” Here we're not talking about Jesus' survival in our minds, as a result of which we can say, “Well, he's alive," or, "He is living in me." We can say that about anybody who has died. For instance, in Latin America, there are many students who have such confidence in Che Guevara as one of their leaders that they often sing and chant, "Che lives." He hadn't risen from the dead, but his influence was still living.[2] I still remember one of my colleagues said, “It doesn’t matter whether Christ has been raised from the dead or not. What matters most is to learn his teaching, his life, and his mind.” But the Bible does not say that. 1 Corinthians 15:20 says, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” We are talking not about his survival, but about his resurrection. God did conquer the death and rescue Jesus out of the realm of death; and transformed his body into a new resurrection body, so that he had a new power and was now immortal, never to die again. Jesus himself said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) We don’t have to wait until we get to heaven in order to experience this resurrection power and life. This promise is available to us today. That’s why Paul said, in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.”

God Is Now Here!

The resurrection power and life are available to us today. The question is how. How do you meet the risen Christ in everyday life? How do you experience the resurrection life and power today? We can find the answer from the story of one man just like us – the story of “runaway Jacob.” In today’s passage we find a fascinating story how Jacob meets the living God in the most unexpected place – somewhere in the middle of nowhere! Think about what Jacob is going through. He has lied to his blind, old father. He cheated his brother. So the brother was so mad that he’s threatening to kill him. And now he has to run away in order to save his life. Socially, he is separated from his family and fleeing for his life. Materially, he has nothing but the shirt on his back. Spiritually, he is distant from God and alone and without hope.[3] In a word, Jacob is pressed on every side by troubles. He is wrestling with the past, facing an anxious present, and a very uncertain future.

It’s the very moment when Jacob is the most in need of God. It’s the very place where God breaks through into Jacob’s life. And he begins to experience God’s resurrection power and life. On the way to Haran, in the wilderness he dreams; he sees a stairway and God’s angels are ascending and descending on it. And he hears God say, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you!” Then Jacob confesses, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I wasn’t even aware of it!” Before, Jacob worked hard to take God’s blessings, but he felt like “God is nowhere.” But now, in the middle of nowhere he is empty, hungry, lonely, and he sees his great need. And he meets the living God who begins working with him and opens his eyes to see, “God is now here.” How about you? Are you somewhere in the middle of nowhere? It’s a good place to meet the living God, the risen Christ. Talk to him and admit, “Lord, I have a need I can’t handle by myself. I need you!” And he will begin to work with you.

Meeting the Risen Christ

Recently, I met the risen Christ in an unexpected place, in the middle of St. Simons Island, Georgia, where I was attending the conference. The conference theme was “evangelism” mostly in an urban context. All of the sessions were excellent, but there was a question in my mind: “How about the rural church?” Around that time, I felt “stuck” and didn’t know exactly why and where to turn. I was empty, hungry, desperate. And I waited, waited, waited on God. And God revealed to me the root cause of the problems. That had to do with my “effectiveness-driven” mentality – “Make an impact on many and change the world” mentality. When I was appointed to our church in 2014, my initial goal was to shake things up and change the church, the culture, the community for Jesus’ sake. But apparently, it didn’t work. As a result, after three years, I felt “stuck,” and my sense of significance and self-worth diminished. And I asked myself: “Am I effective? Is my ministry here effective? Am I a right person here? When am I going to make an impact on more people in a larger ministry setting?

While I was in St. Simons Island, God did speak to me through worship, fellowship, prayer and devotional times. The word given to me was “abide.” I thought I did abide, but in fact, it was revealed that what I did was tolerating and enduring, but not abiding. I did not make my home among the people and the community. Then, God showed me what Jesus did: He made his home among us (cf. John 1:14). He chose to abide with us. He brought God’s kingdom to earth. Then, God gave me assurance that I am called to abide, not to change and that my first commitment should be present to people where they are and love them as they are. That revelation changed everything. That changed me. With tears of joy, I shouted, “Surely the Lord is here in this place and I didn’t know it!” Now my pastoral vision is to “abide” where I am planted. The direction of my ministry goal has changed from the ministry of transformation to the ministry of presence. It is to stay put, to be present, and to love people and the community with all my heart. (So now you are stuck with me!) And now I see my Bethel is Houlton and Hodgdon, and I begin to see God’s kingdom here and now. Praise God!

Where Is Your Bethel? 

The area where Jesus was born, lived, did his ministry is called the Holy Land. A pilgrimage to the Holy Land would be a meaningful journey. I would like to go someday. It’s one of my bucket list. But in some sense, today we are traveling and standing on the holy land. The risen Christ is here with us. And if we walk with him and talk with him, our home is the Holy Land; our church is the Holy Land; Houlton and Hodgdon is the Holy Land!

Jesus was born at a particular time. He ministered to particular people in a particular place. But it does affect the entire world. He walked three miles in an hour. He met one person at a time, touched one person at a time. He didn’t heal all the sick. He didn’t solve all the problems. That was not his ultimate calling. But as he did teach, preach, and heal some of them, he always did reveal God’s kingdom and bring the kingdom to earth. That was his calling. So on the cross, he was able to say, “It is finished!”

In the same way, we live in a particular place and time. It’s April 8, 2018, we live in Houlton/ Hodgdon, ME. We don’t have to wait, or we don’t have to go somewhere to meet the risen Christ. He is now here! And this is our Bethel, the house of God. This is our mission field. On one occasion a woman wanted to join Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India. But Mother Teresa said, “Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely right there where you are — in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society — completely forgotten, completely left alone.”

Where is your Calcutta? Where is your Bethel? As Mother Teresa said, let us start with the person nearest us. Let us pick up one person. Let us love one person at a time in our family, in our church, in our community. And we will see the risen Christ in them and say, “Surely the Lord is here and I didn’t know it!”

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[1] Keith Krell, “Runaway Bride” (Gen 28:10-22), https://bible.org/seriespage/35-runaway-bribe-genesis-2810-22
[2] John Stott, “The Up-to-the-Minute Relevance of the Resurrection” (John 20:24-29), http://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2010/july/theuptotheminuterelevanceoftheresurrection.html
[3] Bob Hallman, “Nowhere To Look But Up” (Genesis 28:1-22) http://calvarychapel.com/kauai/teachings/genesis_pdf/gen_28_notes.pdf, 9.

“Still the Best News Ever” (Luke 24:13-35) - Easter Sunday 2018 -

The Best News 

What is the best news you have ever heard? For me personally, it was when Joyce said “Yes!” And she married me about 10 years ago this May. For Jewish people, the following news might be the best news they had received. During World War II, Gen. George Patton’s army had just liberated Buchenwald, Germany, and they entered the concentration camp to set people there free. There they found hundreds of starving men piled in bunks from floor to ceiling. Even though they had been freed, they remained in the barracks. They suspected that new uniforms just meant new oppression and new abuse, and they would not leave the barracks. But then, Rabbi Herschel Shacter came in with the troops and spoke to them in their own language: "Shalom Aleichem, Yidden, Ihr zint frei!"—"Peace be upon you, Jews, you are free!" Hearing the news, one man got up, then a stream of men out of that one barracks, then the stream became a flood as they went from barrack to barrack, to barrack with this news: “You are free, you are free, you are free!” What is then the best news in human history? Without slightest hesitation I would say the world’s best news is this: “Christ is risen!”

George Gallop did a poll that said 84% of people who never go to church believe Jesus rose from the dead. But many people, and perhaps some of you in this room, may wonder, “It happened 2,000 years ago. Does it really matter? Is it relevant to my life?” The answer is “YES.” Let me suggest to you at least three reasons why it is so important and relevant to your lives.

Freedom from the Past 

First, the resurrection gives us freedom from the past. One pastor received this letter: "I'm 31 years old and divorced, though I fought the divorce bitterly. I feel bad. I have no hope for my future. Often I go home and cry, but there's no one holding me when I cry. Nobody cares. Nothing changes, and I continue to fail. I'm stressed out emotionally, and I feel I'm on the verge of a collapse. Something is very wrong. But I feel so hurt and embittered that I can scarcely react or relate to others anymore. I feel as if I'm going to have to sit out the rest of my life in the penalty box."[1] 

In today’s passage we meet two disciples of Jesus who are heading home after a traumatic weekend. Verse 17 says, “And they stood still, looking sad.” Why were they sad? Part of the reason might be because of the loss of their loved one. But there was another more fundamental reason under the surface, that was guilt. Peter disowned Jesus three times; Mark fled naked, when the mob tried to grab him; none of the disciples were able to follow Jesus. And these two disciples were also suffering from guilt and shame. And now Jesus died. Everything seemed over. And they are deeply and sadly ashamed, saying, “I guess I’ll just have to live with this the rest of my life.” The thing is, many people live like that. I don’t know about you, but for me, I have been there. I have guilt. I have the past. If my past is shown like panorama on the screen, I’m sure that no one in this room will want me to be your pastor. I doubt my children would still call me “dad.” But the resurrection brings the good news that there is forgiveness with God. The risen Christ proclaims to us, “You are free! You are free from your guilt! You are free from your past!” The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation! The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!” (2Co 5:17). That is what happens in baptism. When we go under the water, we (old self) die with the crucified Christ. When we come up out of the water, we (new self) enter into a new life with the risen Christ. That’s the first message of the resurrection of Jesus: our past can be forgiven today.

Power in the Present 

That’s good news. We can make a fresh start. I don’t know about you, but for me I need more than just forgiveness for the past. I need power in the present. We often hear people say, “My life is out of control… I feel powerless to break a bad habit. I feel powerless to get out of debt. I feel powerless to save a relationship, and so on.” What we need is a power greater than ourselves. So our question is, “Is God really able to change human nature?” “Is it possible for the addict to break the vicious cycle?” “Is it possible for cruel people to be made kind, and sour people to be sweetened?” The answer is, “YES, it is possible!” We see numerous evidence in the Bible. Jesus’ disciples were all timid cowards when Jesus died, but after they met the risen Christ, they became fearless martyrs. 

Paul is another good example. At first, Paul hated Christians, because in his eyes what they believed, the Messiah, was nonsense. The Messiah by definition is anointed one, which means, "the chosen one, beloved one." But here is this Jesus Christ, supposed to be the Messiah, and he is dying on a cross. Deuteronomy 21:23 says, “Cursed is he who is hung on a tree.” This guy Jesus is cursed by God, abandoned by God. No wonder Paul didn’t believe this Jesus. But then, he saw Jesus raised from the dead. He says, “Wait a minute! If God did raise him from the dead and vindicate him, then when he was cursed, he must have been cursed for someone else’s sins, not his own.” God opens the eyes of his heart, and all of sudden it’s all beginning to make sense. In the same way, the two disciples in today’s scripture heard the news that Jesus had been raised from the dead. But for them these words seemed an idle tale (11). They didn’t believe, but when the risen Christ interpreted the scriptures, their hearts began to burn within them. The Scriptures became from “idle tale” to “living word of God.” And after that, they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem (33). In Ephesians 1:19-20 Paul says, “How incredibly great is his power to help those who believe him, the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead (TLB).” The same resurrection power is available to us today. And the same God of supernatural power, who raised Jesus from the dead, can raise us from spiritual death and make us alive. He can change us, because he changed Christ.

Hope for the Future

The resurrection gives us freedom from our past; the resurrection gives us power in the present. The third message is, the resurrection gives us true hope for the future. Bertland Russell said, “When I die, I believe that I shall rot, and that that is the end.” But the resurrection of Jesus tells us that there is life after death. Billy Graham once said, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.” 

What is your source of hope? In Hebrews 11 we meet heroes of faith. They are all from different times, but all of them have one thing in common. They have the hope of resurrection. For instance, when Abraham offered Isaac, “he considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead!” (19) How about Joseph? Before he died, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left (22). Some were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection (35). That’s the resurrection hope! The Bible says, “We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him… the Lord himself will come down from heaven… and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we… will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1Th 4:14-17). That’s the resurrection hope: God will raise the dead, and he will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and he will make everything new.

Still the Best New Ever 

So why does the resurrection matter to you? It matters because your sin can be forgiven. It matters because your present can be transformed. It matters because your future can be secure.

On the day of Pentecost Peter preached his first sermon. Basically, he preached Jesus and the resurrection. It was the first Easter message. People responded with this question: “Brothers, what should we do?” And Peter answered, “Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!” (Acts 2:38a MSG). That day about three thousand received his word and were baptized. After 2,000 years later today, the Easter message is still the same. “Jesus Christ is risen today.” And it’s still the best news ever. How would you respond to this good news?

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[1] Rick Warren, “What Difference Does Easter make?” (Colossians 2:13-14) http://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2005/august/223.html