Bill Dogterom: Welcome to the Garden Church podcast.
Well, good morning. You all surviving this in between season where nobody knows what quite kind of day it is or whether we should put the trash cans out this today, or how do we negotiate this in between season where we're not sure what's what or who's who in the zoo or anything. We were kinda just glad we made it to Christmas and didn't fall apart before then. And as part of that, I've just kinda been praying into this.
How do we how do we look back with thanksgiving for what god has done and look forward with some level of anticipation to what god might be doing, and and and, of course, the really kind of focus of any given moment is not what's been or what will be, but what is. Where are where are we? What is our current location? Because that then establishes a foundation and a framework. So I'd like to kind of take you on a kind of a risky adventure this morning, and that is more of a mini retreat in between seasons.
Some of you have walked with me on this path before in other settings, but I wanna invite you into a familiar Psalm that asks the question and as I recited I'm going to let ask you to kind of let it just roll over you and be listening with a heart that's seeking to determine where am I today, right now? Not where do I wish I were or even where I should be, but where am I in this in this moment? So, and then I'm gonna create a little bit of space at the end of this Psalm for you to consider that and, invite the holy spirit to do what, he he wishes to do in us and through us in this moment. Alright, let's let's set our hearts before the Lord. The Lord is my Shepherd.
I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
So even when I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid because you are with me. Your rod and your staff comfort me. You spread a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You pour a cup for me. You anoint my head with oil.
Surely, goodness and mercy will follow after me all of the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the lord forever. So just consider, where in this psalm are you this morning? Still waters, green pastures, desert landscape of darkness, shadowed with loss, death. Table spread, a cup poured, generous host inviting you to sit at table with enemies or maybe in transition being led in a path with an uncertain endpoint. Just sit with that for just a moment.
Consider, where are you today? This, psalm is, as you know, probably one of the earliest and first memorized kids. It's something that we carry with us for a long time in various versions. And I want to just invite you to sit and soak in it a little bit today, to to consider it's not as much where you're going or where you've been as where you are. And this is an important transitional moment on this transitional Sunday in the in between.
So it begins with this, declaration. The lord is my shepherd. And of course this is David's Psalm. It's a Psalm about shepherding written by a shepherd who knows it from the inside out and makes this declaration with that full awareness that the Lord is my shepherd. The If you have a a version of the Bible that, indicates, the names of God, this one will probably be in all caps.
Capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. Because in behind it, the Hebrew word is Yahweh, Jehovah. The name that God gave to Moses as his, what he called, memorial name. The name by which I expect you to call upon me. The name of relationship.
The name of intimacy. The name of connection. And and and and David makes the same connection that Moses does. This God who spoke the universe into being, who is the God who is all and in all and through all in whom we live and move and have our being, this Lord, Yahweh, is my shepherd. Now most of us just no.
None of you look much like shepherds. But so we may not have an awareness of what he is saying when he makes this statement. But David, has in mind a boy or a girl, 12, 13, 14, 15 years age of age, who is charged with the single and sole responsibility to care for the flock in the family, often the youngest member of the family, who spends their life with the sheep, who who eventually and over time begins to smell like the sheep. In fact, there is some evidence that the reason sheep follow the shepherd is because they think the shepherd is just a tall sheep with a perspective that the none of the rest of us have. So here you and and and and please notice, I said boy or girl.
So the shepherd could all of the pronouns in this psalm could just as easily be feminine as masculine. She makes me lie down in green pastures, and it would be entirely in keeping with the feel and flavor of what he's saying. When he's saying the lord is my shepherd, the Lord is the one who abides with the flock, the Lord is the one who who has responsibility for the flock and that leads to this next verse and without which it doesn't make any sense to say, I shall not lack. When I first memorized this as a kid, I memorized it out of the King James version which says, I shall not want. And then I discovered it was not too long afterwards, I discovered my wanter and my neder are not always in cooperation with one another.
I usually want more than I actually need. And this psalm takes it even one more level. It's not just what I want. It's not just what I need. It says I will lack nothing.
I I have no lack, which elevates the awareness that the psalmist is bringing us to is that the provision of the shepherd is less important than the presence of the shepherd. In fact, if God isn't enough, if the Lord isn't enough, then anything the Lord brings with her when she comes is not enough either. We will always be wanting more. So the psalmist kind of rocks us back in our heels and suggests that the reason we lack nothing is because we already have the everything that is God. Jesus says eternal life is to know the father.
It's a relational knowing and the psalmist in his old testament version frames that in a way that invites us to sit with the deep truth that if I have him, even though I go through a valley, even though I go through trauma and difficulty and challenge and problems, even though I don't have enough food to eat, I lack nothing. Even if I die, I lack nothing. This is not a learning that you get from reading. This is a learning you get from living. And so we wanna stick with that shepherd as we're invited into this awareness.
She makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. When the sheep are on the move, sometimes it is a long journey from the beginning of the morning through that transitional time in the in the in the in the day on the trail, if you will, and finally coming to the new pasture. And sometimes, sheep are so exhausted at the end of the journey that they forget how to lie down. All around them are green pastures and and they can't rest because they're so tired they've forgotten how to lie down.
So the shepherd has to go around and bend their little sheepy knees to make them lie down in green pastures. Anybody know what that feels like? You just feel the weighted blanket that is the presence of the Lord forcing you to stillness, to slowness, and sometimes it's not a weighted blanket as much as it is a brick wall. And you are brought up short with your plans and pretensions and hopes to a place of stillness and then discover the grass is green on this side of the fence too. It's an awareness of a shepherd who knows our needs.
Green Pastures leads me beside quiet waters, still waters. Some of the translations will have this as gently flowing streams which is inaccurate because the point of the metaphor here is that sheep will not drink from water that is flowing. They need to be able to see their reflection in the pool to know that it's okay for us to drink. So the shepherd will often, dam up a gently flowing stream forming a pool large enough so that the sheep can see herself in the oh there's others here so we'll be fine. There is that sense of the shepherd's care knowing the nature of the sheep and what the sheep needs and and caring for the sheep individually because remember he knows them all by name and they know him, they know her, by the sound of his voice they have been imprinted since they were tiny newborn lambs with the voice of the shepherd.
Remember Jesus said, my sheep know my voice. How does that happen that the sheep know the voice of the shepherd? Well, just after the lamb is born, sometime in the journey, the shepherd will wrap that little lamb around his shoulders and carry her through the day. And in doing so, will sing over that lamb and will speak into the ear of the lamb. And by the end of that day's journey, the lamb will be imprinted with the voice of the shepherd and will never not recognize the voice of her shepherd.
You'll notice in Luke 15 where the lamb wanders off, when the shepherd finally finds the lamb, do you remember notice what he does? He puts the lamb around his shoulders and re imprints the lost lamb with the voice of the shepherd. Maybe you're being carried today and hearing the voice of the shepherd as he has rescued you, reimprint your soul with his voice. Green pastures and still waters, then he restores my soul. This way of refreshment, of rest.
I love that image. And the outcome is a restoration of soul. Soul here is the Hebrew word is nefesh, which is my life. He gives me back my life. I don't know if you've noticed, but life leaks.
Kinda drifts away with multiple obligations and tasks and responsibilities and giveaways and takeaways and all and all and all and all. How do you how do you get your life back? This psalmist says I'm not counting on myself to get my life back. He restores my soul. He gives me my life back.
I have I'm still and receiving my life from him again. And then he leads me in a path of righteousness for His name's sake. The word righteousness here, Old Testament, different than New Testament righteousness. New Testament righteousness is right standing. Old Testament righteousness is right walking, right living.
So when he says he leads me in a path of righteousness, he leads me in a way that is right for me. That and and and please notice because the shepherd in this particular instance knows each of the flock by by name, he knows that the path for you, the path of righteousness for you, the path of righteousness for you is likely to be different than the path of righteousness for the person next to you. It's very common, isn't it, for people in in families to be in different parts of the journey at at the same time in a parallel journey. Path of righteousness will be different for one than the other. A path that is right for you.
But inevitably, if you're with the shepherd, the path of righteousness becomes the valley of the shadow of death. You didn't end up in the valley because you did something wrong. You ended up in the valley because you are walking with the shepherd in a path that's right for you. Apparently, there is a a direction that can only be achieved, a destination that you can only arrive at, a place to which you are headed that can only be accomplished through pain, through difficulty, through suffering. And my guess is if we took a a survey of those who have been around the block a few times, you would probably say I've learned more about myself and God in the valley than I learned on the mountaintop.
I've become more fully who God is called and wants me to be. That's the path of righteousness and please notice it's for his name's sake. It's God's reputation that's on the line, not you. When the vine dresser in John 15 prunes the vine taking away things that would otherwise be fruitful so that what remains can bear more fruit. He does it not for the sake of the vine, but for the sake of the fruit that the vine bears, which bears witness to who he is.
The name of the Lord, remember it's in the top three of the ten words. Don't take my name in vain. I grew up thinking that means that I shouldn't swear using God's name. Then you probably shouldn't do that. But that's not what it means.
What it means is I've given you my name, my character, my personality, my temperament. I've let you know me. Don't live as if I haven't. Don't carry it in vain. Let it shape how you are in the world.
Yeah? And then you find yourself in this close proximity, close relationship to God in a valley that is terrifying, is frightening. We never want to not be afraid. We want to learn how to be afraid. Fear signals a a threat and how we respond to that threat is what we want to learn.
I will not be afraid. Why? Because you're with me. Here we go through this narrow path in the in the mountain range leading from low pasture to high pasture, and we come to those places where the canyon walls are are are are closing in on top of us and the shadows provide shelter for our enemies, for the lions that roar, for the roaring that seeks to kinda startle a little lamb into running off. But I I won't be afraid.
I won't be I won't be pushed off the path that is right for me because you're with me, and you're packing. There's a rod, 4 foot long club that is useful for warding off attacking animals. And then there's that typical shepherd staff that we think of with the little with the crook at the end of it. This this reveals an unfortunate aspect about us sheep. We can't back up.
Sheep can't back up. Endlessly curious. We stick our head through a bramble, a bush and then we discover we're stuck. We can't go forward. Our head is smaller and with it our brain than our body, but we can't back up and we're stuck.
What does our good shepherd do? He takes that staff and backs us up. Maybe that's where you're at today. It's just backing you out of the mess you got yourself into because you couldn't or wouldn't do it yourself, you know. So here we have this weapon of protection and this staff of direction and correction that enables us to sit with the presence of a good shepherd.
And then the metaphor oh, by the way, did you notice the change in pronoun? We begin with testimony. The Lord is my shepherd, but when you're in the valley of the shadow of death it's not testimony, it's presence. You are with me. It's not someone that I'm talking about that I remember as having been with me.
It is that now in this current moment you are with me. And you prepare a table, he says, before me in the presence of my enemies. You you you my my my cup is full of blessing. My head is anointed and welcome. It's a place of hospitality here in this chain.
And and and when I grew up hearing this, I had this vision of me and Jesus sitting at table, enjoying that table fellowship, you know, and all around my enemies looking on and gloating, looking on and with longing. They wish they could be at the table. And then I realized, no. Wait. This is ancient near eastern hospitality, and it's not my table.
So I'm invited to sit at table and guess who is sitting also at table? My enemies. They have a place card for them as surely as I do for me. Their cup is full. Their heads are also anointed.
He makes us to dwell in shalom even with those who are opposed to us because or at least this is the invitation. Some of you are looking at that season of your life. And then this celebration, surely goodness and mercy pursue me, follow me, chase after me. All of the words work. It's two words, goodness is is the Hebrew word is tov.
It's the same word that is used to describe at the end of each creative day. The goodness. It was good. It was very good. It's a it's a term of not a function.
It works. It operates. Surely surely your goodness, your ability to redeem all in every situation pursues me, chases after me. And in concert with that is your chesed, your lovingkindness. The name by which God introduced himself to Moses in Exodus 32, 33.
Show me your glory and God passes through and displays his hesed, his loving kindness, his tender mercy in concert with his goodness and they they chase after, they pursue. There is no place where you can be, no place where you currently are, but that goodness and mercy are not surrounding you in redemptive force. Right now, in this now, do we always see it? No. Why?
Well, some of you are now mature enough in your wall following of this good shepherd. He is asking you to trust his presence without seeing his presence. To walk by faith, not by sight or by feeling. It's a hard place to be, isn't it? But because the Lord is your shepherd, you don't need to be afraid because he is with you whether you perceive his presence or not.
And the outcome of it is, I I will I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This is written as you may know before there was a temple, before there was a house of the Lord. So what is the psalmist saying to us here? And I was helped by this by a colleague of mine at Vanguard, April Westbrook, who's a professor of old testament. She pointed out that this, in her wonderful little book, that this, Psalm is a chiastic structure.
In Hebrew poetry, that means that it starts first line and last line saying largely the same thing in parallel and then each verse stair steps down to the very center which frames everything that's gone before it and everything that comes after it. Anybody wanna guess what that middle framing line is? You are with me. You're with me. The reason I dwell in the house of the Lord forever is because you are with me.
The house of the Lord is not some place that I go with someone that I know. It is a relationship of presence. That is why wherever I am, if I'm there, all I need do is look around because God is also there. It's the house of the Lord. Whether it's a a table spread and enemies seated around or a a valley of shadow or green pastures and still waltz more more Lord or transition in between them.
The Lord is present. You're never alone. Now, you might feel like you're alone. That's why you can't trust feelings when you're learning to walk by faith. You want to know what is true and stand in the reality that is true regardless of what you feel.
So the invitation as we head out of this year into the next is to let each moment be a sanctuary, each moment be a place of meeting, Each moment be a whisper of love from the father. I'm with you. Don't be afraid. I'm with you. Sit a while and rest.
I'm with you. Pay attention. A cup is poured for you in this moment. Let's pray. Just gonna invite you to sit for just a moment.
What is the spirit inviting you into? Can you notice where having perhaps earlier on established or had some sense of where you were? Maybe in 2 or 3 places with different aspects of your life. Can you look around and notice how God is present even if you can't see him directly? By faith, you recognize his presence?
What's the invitation for you to be present in this moment? Holy Spirit, thank you for your attention to us. You're abiding with us. The deep awareness of your care for us. I pray that you would help us by the power of your spirit to be where we are, not where we should be, not where we wish we were, not where we were, but where we actually are because that is where you will meet us.
That is the place of your dwelling. That is the house of the lord. Amen.
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