Ready for the Journey

Psalm 23:3-6

          One of the greatest problems for Jesus-followers today is that we aren’t ready for the spiritual journey ahead. We too often become complacent in our walk. We make time for everything else in our lives, but we don’t make time for refueling and re-energizing. We fill our calendars with pursuits of every imaginable shape and size, and in doing so we push our spiritual health to the back-burner. Jesus’ words “Seek first” are ringing in my ears.

          We all want stability in our lives, even if that stability is constant change. Only a few personality types thrive on the unexpected and dangerous. The rest of us want to calculate our risk. We don’t necessarily avoid risk, but we do want to have some idea about the probability of success. We want to know the reason for the risk; we don’t want to put our life on the line for nothing.

          This much loved psalm continues to talk about the LORD’s care and protection in our lives. He provides us with the refreshing that we need. But He does this in order to guide us on our journey. We can’t stay in the green pastures forever. Once we are refreshed it is time for the journey. Some people want to camp out on the mountaintop experiences of life. They want to stay on the vacations forever. But life isn’t one big long vacation.

          This is where relationship with the Shepherd is needed. He promises to guide us on safe paths. They are safe because He is with us. Even the darkest places, the most dangerous spots in life can feel safe if we are with Him.

          One of the most dangerous places in the ancient world for a traveler was a steep valley or ravine. It is easy for an enemy to ambush you from above. They can cut off the entrance and exit and you are a sitting duck. Even in Afghanistan’s mountainous regions today, soldiers hate these types of valleys. And Afghanistan is filled with these things. We always want to put one of our people up on top of the cliff to keep watch and provide a set of eyes.

          Just like sheep, in order for us to grow we must move. We can’t stay in the same pasture forever. No matter how comfortable our current circumstance, growth requires movement. And for a sheep, movement means that the shepherd is with them. The shepherd’s walking stick and protective weapon, his rod and staff, are there to keep me safe. And when I am safe I feel comforted.

          Sheep have few defenses. They are easy prey for a wolf or other predator. That is why the shepherd is armed. So even when the enemy is close at hand the sheep can graze and rest securely. The wolves wouldn’t dare attack when the shepherd is awake and vigilant. We are the honored guests at His banquet. That is what the oil did in their day. The honored guests would have perfume put on their head, something that they liked. I am not sure I want someone pouring scented oil on my head, but that is me. But I do like it when someone honors me with a meal and makes me feel special.

          The reward of a life as a sheep is present both now and in the future. How can we not experience blessing when the Creator of the Universe is at our side. He is able to satisfy our deepest longings. He has enough to fill life’s cup so that we are satisfied with His provision.

          Are you willing to submit to the Shepherd’s guidance?

Thankfulness

Mark 8:6-8

      How often are you really thankful for all that you have? How often do you express that thankfulness? How often are you ever thankful?

      I think being thankful has gotten a bad rap in our culture. Instead of being thankful, we have become a society of entitled people. We think we deserve what we have and what we want. We also think we deserve what other people have, and we try to gain it through almost any means possible.

      Even as Jesus-followers we sometimes let envy raise its ugly head. But the antidote for envy is thankfulness.

      Jesus is about to feed 4000 people with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. After organizing the people, preparing them for easy food distribution, Jesus begins the process of a miracle. He starts by placing His hands on the available resources. When Jesus gets a hold of our resources, amazing things can happen.

      But that is our first hurdle. We don’t want to give our stuff over to Him. We are often afraid that if we let Him have it, then we will suffer. We must have an image of a very miserly God, taking what isn’t His and keeping for Himself.

      So we put what we have into Jesus’ hands, and what does Jesus do next. Our text tells us that He then gives thanks. This might seem odd for God-in-the-flesh to give thanks, but it isn’t. Even though He owns everything, including the bread in His hands, He wants to teach His disciples, and us, the importance of being thankful. He does this twice, once with the bread and once with the fish. No blanket thankfulness here.

      What I find fascinating is that Jesus starts with seven loaves, and when He is finished there are seven basketfuls that get collected. Not a bad investment, indeed. I’m not saying that when we give our stuff to Jesus that He will ‘prosper’ us financially. Selfish wealth is sin. I think the lesson of the text is that we don’t need to spend time and energy worrying about our needs. When He is involved in our lives, when we surrender what we have to Him, He takes care of us. Even if persecution or famine or nakedness or armed conflict come, nothing can get between us.

       I want to encourage you to begin a life of thankfulness, or at least renew your thankfulness. Thankfulness releases us from the slavery to stuff. As the old saying goes, we can’t take it with us, so we might as well let go of it now.

Multiplication

Mark 6:41-44

      Have you ever noticed when things get really bad, really life-threatening, that people often look up and question? They raise their heads, sometimes their fists, and ask why. Even people who deny God’s existence often do this instinctually. You can see it in videos of the grieving family members from missing flights or from sunken passenger ferries. They fall to their knees and look up. Their words are often question or blame filled. They want answers and they look up.

      Jesus looks up. His disciples have presented Him with a problem. There are 5000 mouths to feed and their solution will cost them a fortune. Or it will mean that they don’t meet the need and everyone must fend for themselves. Either way their solution involves known resources and everyday solutions. But Jesus looks up.

      So why does Jesus look up? I think He does it to signal to those who are watching that the solution is not an earthly one. He holds their earthly solution in His hands, the five loaves and two fish, which can’t possibly feed all these people. But this is what His disciples have gathered. They have brought what they have to Him. And Jesus looks up.

      And when He looks up He speaks. He speaks so that the people around Him can hear what He expresses to the Father. He expressed thanks. This seems like a funny thing to do. I can imagine thanking the LORD for the semi tractor trailer that pulled up at that moment with the news that their refrigerator unit had just died and that all the food needed to be given away before it spoiled. That would deserve a Hallelujah. Or the local restaurant owner who liked Jesus and wanted at that moment to express it by sending over 5000 boxed lunches free of charge. Praise the Lord!

      But to look up and be thankful for five loaves of bread and two fish, that doesn’t seem worthy of thanks. At least it doesn’t to me. There isn’t much of substance there. To be thankful for so little seems counterintuitive. And yet, this is exactly when Jesus gives thanks.

      And the bread and fish are broken, distributed and everyone, all 5000, are fed and satisfied. And the leftovers are more than the beginning quantity. They didn’t just break even in the deal. They have one basket for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The LORD has not abandoned His people. When Jesus looks up and gives thanks so that all can see, He is showing us the way to live. When we live a life of thankfulness, it is a life filled with provision.

      Where do you look when you need help? Is your first instinct to look up to the LORD? Or do you look within yourself or to other earthly resources? Are you thankful for the amount you have, or are you always looking to get more?

God Provides

Proverbs 13:23

This proverb doesn’t make sense to my modern ears. Does it make sense to you? Well, let’s see if I can help unpack it.

One of the laws of the Old Testament was called the Jubilee Year. Every 50 years the LORD required that the land would be left unused for that 50^th year. During that year the only people who were allowed to harvest the fields were the poor. Everyone else had to trust the LORD to provide for them for that period of time. The poor had to rely on the LORD for the rest of the years.

The LORD promised that the abundance of that year would sustain them. They had to trust the LORD. That is what they had to do. Trust and justice have to go hand in hand. The rich had a responsibility to help out the poor every year.

The rich also had to trust the LORD. They had to be willing to let the land go unused for two full years. Then they would plant in the 51^st year and wait for the harvest. You see it is always about trust. It would be easy to just ignore what the LORD has commanded. I mean, it is only every 50 years. Surely the LORD really didn’t mean it, right.

The reality is that Israel never did fulfill this command! They never let the land rest as they were commanded to do, and as a result they were send to a foreign country to live for seventy years. Quite a price to pay for disobedience!

So what should we take from this proverb? Well, first we need to be obedient! There is a high price for disobedience.

Second, we need to do our part to take care of the poor. We in the US are especially wealthy, even if we don’t want to admit it. We have food. We have shelter. Much of the world has neither on a consistent basis. Do something about it.

Third, do justice! Every day, in every way, do justice. Don’t compromise. The short term gains are never worth the long term costs.

The Twenty-Plus-Three’s

Psalm 23, 53, 83, 113, 143

Psalm 23 is perhaps the most familiar psalm in all the psalms. What powerful and comforting words! Because the LORD is in charge of my life, I have no need that He doesn’t satisfy. Provision for body and soul. Guidance. Protection. Empowerment for the task at hand. Blessing. His presence. No wonder this psalm means so much to so many.

There is only one hope, and it doesn’t lie with the atheists (Ps 53:1). The sad thing is that there are so few people who really serve the LORD. Many have the appearance of a spiritual life, but spiritual is not good enough. I love verse four. “Do all these evildoers know nothing?” It is as if the psalmist is saying, “You have got to be kidding! You are going to continue to try and deny God’s existence and His authority over your life? How stupid is that!” Evil people don’t really know the stakes at hand. They think that if they ignore God they won’t have to pay the consequences for their wicked ways. The psalmist hopes that the LORD will restore His people and bring victory.

Psalm 83 is a prayer of petition. The writer wants the LORD to act, to get involved on his behalf. He wants the LORD to get involved as He has so many other times in Israel’s history. The word pictures of God’s judgment that are painted capture the vivid imagination and depth of emotional involvement of the writer. And all this to the end that the LORD’s fame would be universally understood, that they would know that He alone is God.

The universality of the message of the Scripture is capture in Psalm 113. The whole earth is His domain (v3). All nations, even the heavens themselves are nothing compared to the LORD. He is exalted above them all (vv4-6). No one is too lowly or insignificant to garner the LORD’s attention. Notice verse nine. Even the childless woman, someone at the bottom of the social ladder of her day, gets the privilege of raising children. No one gets overlooked.

The Psalmist in Psalm 143 has a picture of God, an accurate one I might add, that when the LORD turns His back on people, life is as good as over (v7). They desperately want the LORD’s answer (v8). When was the last time you desperately wanted or felt you needed the LORD’s answer? That sense of desperation can be crippling if we try to deal with it absent from God’s presence. The secret that the Psalmist discovered was to take the struggle directly into God’s presence. There he could find an answer that could satisfy.