Sermon by Pastor Mike Buttonnn
Imagine
Mark 6: 1-13
TNKPsalm 23:1 A psalm of David.
The LORD is my shepherd;
I lack nothing.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me to water in places of repose;
3He renews my life;
He guides me in right paths as befits His name.
4Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness, I fear no harm, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff -- they comfort me.
5You spread a table for me in full view of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; my drink is abundant.
6Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for many long years.
Sisters and Brothers in Christ, may the Lord keep all your days and deeds in the grace and peace of Jesus the Messiah. Amen.
Everybody take a deep breath. Everybody do a little stretch. Everybody just relax, because today’s Word is such great, good, and glorious news. “The Lord is my shepherd,” and yours, too, meaning that we can let go of every stress, worry, or anxious thought in our hearts, minds, and souls. The Lord knows you, by name, and to you the Lord’s given a life so deep, so strong, so steady that you need never fear again suffering any want or lack any good thing. You belong to the Shepherd God’s flock, which means you belong to the living heart of all life, which means you belong in a way that is once and for all and everlasting. If that doesn’t lower your blood pressure, I don’t know what will.
Today’s Psalm 23 is, I think, the Bible’s simplest and most profound word of trust and comfort, “The Lord is my shepherd.” This psalm of assurance describes for us a God of infinite care and patience for whom we are of infinite worth. In the words of Psalm 23 we hear Scripture hold before us a God who remains true to us in every circumstance of life, whether we are trudging through valleys of deepest darkness or reposing beside the still waters to which our shepherd God has led us. Psalm 23 opens to us a God who is on our side, who wants us to revel in the blessings of God’s own hand and who spreads a table before us in the full view of those who would feast on our misery. Scripture further expands and expounds this shepherd image to proclaim a God who will risk everything to keep us within the fold of grace, even sacrificing the only begotten Son to return us to the flock from which we habitually wander. As Psalm 23 proclaims and as Jesus embodies, the Lord God of heaven and earth is not a distant potentate or a vengeful dictator or a slave-driving boss, but a good shepherd who will interpose her life for the sake of the sheep.
Leave it to say, you’re not going to hear this message on cable news. You’re not going to hear this on talk radio. You’re not going to hear this on most religious broadcasting. Their message is be afraid. Be very afraid. Sinister forces are at work. People are coming after you and your way of life. Hunker down. Lock and load. The darkness is upon us.
Now the Bible is nothing if not unflinchingly realistic about our condition, and even sunny Psalm 23 is clearly aware of the very real threats, dangers, and terrors that stalk our every step. You may recall that after the Good Shepherd Jesus announced that he and the Father are one, that same gospel reports that Jesus’ audience took steps to kill him. Scripture’s message is not that we should stick our heads in the sand or pretend that we’re living in the best of all possible worlds. We’re not. But even with all this world’s perils swirling around our heads, Psalm 23 reminds us that there are reasons to take heart, for we know that in Jesus the world’s worst could not finally take out God’s best. Push came to shove and the Lord would not be moved. God has not let go of this creation, and through the word of the only Son, God’s claim on us has reached through our ears and into our hearts.
No word could, I think, be more comforting or consoling to the harried spirit, and let’s face it, we are very harried. Most days we are run ragged. Too often we start the day tired and end the day exhausted. When we’re not pushing ourselves, we’re getting pushed to do more, be more, have it all, and still look marvelous. Study after study confirms that more and more of us are chronically under-rested. From the halls of Congress to the local elementary adults and children alike are staying up too late, getting up too early, and otherwise burning the candle at both ends, and for what? So that we can hurry through overscheduled weekends that leave us still more sleep-deprived? When I was a younger pastor, I used to get upset when people would fall asleep in church. I was working hard and doing my best and I thought that the least people could do would be to stay awake, but now I think, “Well, at least they’re getting some rest.”
We’ve been hoisted on our own petards. We have become slaves to devices that were supposed to save us time and money but only compound our hurriedness. As a kid I remember watching “The Jetsons” on Saturday mornings and dreaming of a future where machines would pick up my shoes and hang up my clothes and relieve me and everybody else from the menial chores and tasks of daily life. That future is now but the dream has become a nightmare. There’s practically no division between work time and home time, because we’re now all electronically tethered to our work stations 24/7. Twenty-five hundred years ago the Greek philosopher Socrates warned, “Beware the barrenness of a busy life,” but now we wear our busy-ness as if it were some kind of badge of honor. Don’t raise your hand but how many of you have checked your smart phone or been tempted to check your phone at least once since you got to church this morning? What are the words from today’s Gospel? When Jesus saw the great crowd of people seeking him, he had compassion on them “because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
So imagine, instead, a life where your health and safety are in God’s rod and staff, and not in the systems of men. Imagine a life in which your value and worth are affirmed in the blood of the Lamb, and not in the scores you rack up on some standardized test. Imagine a life -- a real life, authentic, genuine, worthy of the name -- a life overflowing, uncontainable and spilling out in blessing to everyone you meet. Imagine a life with time to rest beside the still waters and the leisure to contemplate goodness and mercy of God. Imagine taking God at God’s own word and living now in the utter confidence that the Lord of heaven and earth will not let you go, will not let you down, and will not let you be crushed in the cogs of this world’s soulless machines. Imagine the Shepherd King leading you to green pastures, feeding you on the bread of life, and refreshing your soul with living water from cups that overflow with love divine, all loves excelling.
The goal of life is not in the stress we endure, or the schedules we maintain, or the busy-ness we manage. The goal of life is in the joy we share, in the banquets we set out for others, in the love and mercy we lavish on the widow, the orphan, the stranger in our midst because God has so lavished her love and mercy on us that we shall never – ever -- want.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
