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CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST June 12,
2005 LIFT UP THE FOLLOWING FAMILY MATTERS: Our
congregation Various friends, relatives, and co-workers Our nation,
military and leaders David, Leon and James in the military Yevette and
Jolene were in an accident Thursday afternoon. Both were taken to
the hospital but are home, bruised and sore. SUMMER YOUTH SERIES: June 13 - Memorial June 27 - Westbury with Jerome Williams June 20 -
Bammel July 11 - Watters Road with David Fraze DUEL
REALITIES "The
Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing" (Psalm 23:1). Psalm 23 is
one of the most familiar and popular texts of scripture, especially
in America. It uses an image made popular by kings, that of a
shepherd. Of course, it was written by King David. The idea of a
shepherd was one who gather together, protected, and takes care of
the sheep. Shepherds, especially in the prophets, were responsible
for taking care of the flock of God, especially the helpless, those
who could not take care of themselves. Jesus saw the people of His
day as sheep without a shepherd. The Psalmist sees God as the
Shepherd who deals with these ideas. Isaiah also saw God in the same
way. "He tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in
his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those
that have young" (40:11). Ezekiel spoke of God's anger at
shepherds who allowed the flock to be scattered and be threatened by
various dangers (chapter 34). In the New Testament, we see shepherds
responsible for the care of the flock, which is the church, and that
they were not to be abusive (see 1 Peter 5:1-4). There are
many things we can learn from Psalm 23. Depending on how we
emphasize the pronouns, we can see either God's role (HE leads
me…) or our care (He leads ME…) or what God does (He
LEADS me). An idea that was recently revealed to me is that of a
duel reality. There is an
external reality that we live in, the reality of life in this world.
It is a reality in which we are effected by various people and
events. Weather can have an influence on us. We all watch the news
when the skies darken, concern for thunderstorms and tornados. We
are now in hurricane season. Again, when a system forms in the
Atlantic or Gulf, we begin watching its direction. When it is
confirmed that we are in its path, we prepare. The same would be
true for winter. When temperatures drop below freezing, we wrap
pipes and turn off the water or let it drip through the night, since
our pipes run through the ceilings of many houses. In the Psalm, the
Shepherd leads us through the valley of deepest darkness. Philip
Keller, in his book on this text, speaks of traveling down from the
high grazing fields in the hills and mountains of Africa to the
valley for the winter. Sudden storms could arise and make the path
dangerous for man and sheep. Terrain is
another factor. We see still waters, green pastures, and right
paths. That implies that there is also rough waters, brown and dry
pastures, and wrong paths. Our terrain here is flat. While we live
at the edge of the Piney Woods, we know that driving an hour to the
east, south or west, we see flat land and few trees. While we have
little concern for earthquakes, which most of our nation is
susceptible to, we know that rain produces water that tends to back
up feeder roads and other areas. And while we complain about
drainage, there just isn't much that can be done. Then there
is the reality that we have enemies. 9-11 is a clear indication of
that. As Christians, we know that there are those who do not like
our positions on any number of issues. There are those out there who
want any mention of God removed from the public view, and any
subject that appears to come from scripture forbidden to be taught
at any level (abstinence, marriage, and intelligent design being
some). We are often ridiculed for our beliefs and stereotyped by
those who neither understand or have the desire to understand what a
Christian is and how they respect the authority of scripture.
We could
mention the pressures of culture, peer pressure at all ages, and
those who in their pride lord it over people, including those in the
church. So what does this Psalm have to say to us? There is a second
reality that trumps the first: God! Notice again that it is He who
deals with weather, terrain, and enemies. Who is in control of
nature? God. For those of us who hold to a deistic interpretation,
that is difficult to understand. The deist sees the world as God
creating everything, that Jesus came and died, and that the Holy
Spirit provide the scriptures, but that now He is sitting in heaven
watching the world go by, unconcerned about interfering in the
affairs of men. So when an earthquake or hurricane occurs, it is an
act of nature, or as some say an act of God, but only in the sense
that this is the way the world works. Having chosen to ignore the
Old Testament, we do not see God working in His creation. We do not
want to blame God for destructive things though God said a number of
times that He would be destructive for the redemption of His people
(see Deuteronomy 32 and Amos 4). Scripture is clear; it is God who
trumps weather and terrain. God rules and our trust is in Him, not
our forecasting, or finding the most settled ground, or the highest. Then there
are those enemies. "You prepare a table before me in the presence
of my enemies." God does this. He trumps even our enemies. At
times it does not look that way. We hear and read of Christians who
are beaten, maimed and die because they follow the Christ. We know
of churches that have been bombed, or meet in secret, because the
"ruling" authorities would imprison them for doing so. The most
familiar comes from the fall of the Soviet Union. For seventy years,
the Communist attempted to remove God from its society, closed
churches and sent ministers and other Christians to the gulags of
Siberia. The churches that remained existed because of the will of
the state. When communism collapsed, what happened? To the shock of
many, including western observers, churches began to open and people
began to attend. They could remove God from public view but not from
the hearts of people. That should
say something to the elites of our country who continue to mock God
and His people. They are still trying to understand the "values"
vote of the last election. "What is this all about?" What it is
saying is that many in America hold to Judeo-Christian values and
not to the values of those of the sixties whose philosophy was
"anything goes." In all this, God trumps those who oppose Him.
Two
realities. One we see everyday because we live in it. The other is
the realization that in reality God rules (see Daniel 2:21) and that
as His children we are pilgrims in this world (see Philippians
3:20). Revelation speaks to the seven churches of Asia about the
persecution that they either are undergoing or about to, and shows
them that while it looks bad at times, God is still on His throne,
reigning; and in the end we will be victorious (see also 1
Corinthians 15:57). It's a great life because we know, that even
though we suffer and have great difficulties in the realities of
this life, the true reality is that God is on His throne, ruling,
concerned for His creation and His people, and will ultimately trump
this life. Isn't that great?!
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