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Meek, obedient, assertive, human lambs
Monday, February 22, 2016
Second Week of Lent
Psalm 23:1-3
The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want. He makes me like down in green pastures, and he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul, and he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Throughout history, millions of us look to Psalm 23 as assurance of God’s guidance, generosity and love. He is the shepherd, we are the sheep of his pasture, and we are safe. After the World Trade Center collapsed in 2001, I remember being asked to lead a prayer service at the newspaper office where I worked. What else? We read Psalm 23.
I thought this morning, though, of another shepherd story. It’s in Matthew 25: “All the nations will gather before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.”
Margaret asked, “Why does a shepherd separate the sheep from the goats?” I’m the farmboy, but I have no idea. I can make some guesses, but I didn’t. In this story, though, the goats get the short straw. Jesus says of the sheep, “When you fed and housed and clothed and visited and comforted the least of your brothers and sisters, you did this for me.”
Then he goads the goats with the opposite scenario. “When you don’t feed and house and clothe and visit and comfort the least of your brothers and sisters, you turn me out too.”
We are all sometimes sheep and sometimes goats. I guess the Shepherd has his hands full. Lucky for us if we’re sheep, this shepherd sees inside our souls. Not so lucky for the goats.
These stories allow two biblical themes to wrestle with each other. Psalm 23 invites me to be led by God, and Matthew 25 invites me to choose my own way. God’s will and mine, and they wrestle. Every day they wrestle.
My friend Nick, a pastor in Peoria, wrote about Galatians 2:16 a few days ago. There are two equally interesting translations of one particular phrase. Paul’s words either say we are made whole in God’s sight “by the faith OF Jesus Christ,” or “by faith IN Jesus Christ.” One two letter preposition changes everything! With this one short stroke of Greek ambiguity we are tossed back in the wrestling ring.
But really, what’s wrong with that? Understanding pales in importance compared to humility and obedience.
Christian eschatology and Christian ethics can both inform our daily lives. Who is God? And who am I? Where did I come and where am I going? How do I live my life today?
It’s Monday. Keep your eyes open. Enjoy the wrestling match. Feel the eros, the Life Force, the warmth that rises out of friction. Life beckons.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. You make me whole not by my works but by my faith and by the faith of Jesus. You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. Give me courage and wisdom to live assertively in the kingdom you have prepared for us from the foundation of the world.
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1445
