4th Sunday of Easter 4/25/10 Text: Psalm 23 Title: "I shall not want."
4th Sunday of Easter
Date: 04/25/10
Text: Psalm 23
Title: “I shall not want.”
You have probably realized by now that the theme for today is “The Good Shepherd.” All of our readings for this morning refer either to Jesus as the Shepherd or Jesus the Lamb, for he is both. He is the Lamb for Jesus is the final sacrifice for all of our sins. His sacrifice did what millions of sacrifices could never do; take away the punishment of our sins. Jesus is our Good Shepherd because as Psalm 23 tells us, “I shall not want.” In other words, if we let him he leads us, and he restores us, and he comforts us, and he prepares a safe place for us among the wicked of the world, and he blesses us as only our Shepherd can.
He does all this not because he owes us anything or because we deserve his love, but because he loves us. And because of that love goodness and mercy is with us, not just here on this earth, but in the new heaven and earth where we will be with God forever.
What a wonderful psalm, Psalm 23 is. It has, is, and will in the future provide comfort to believing Christians, as they face the trials of life. The imagery of sheep is perfect even if we don’t like to see ourselves compared to them. We really are, in so many ways, like sheep especially in our spiritual lives.
A sheep must live entirely by its shepherd’s help, protection, and care, even though, if you were able to communicate with a sheep I would dare say they would say rubbish to that idea, for they are independent free thinkers quite capable of living on their own. That is what they would say, if they could talk, but their lives prove otherwise, for a sheep as much as it thinks it can, cannot live for very long without a shepherd to guide and protect it.
The life of a sheep is self-centered much like we are self-centered. There lives like ours is about self; eat, drink, sleep, and play. They, like most humans are quite incapable, for the most part, of defending themselves against any kind of danger or misfortune. They, like some people I know are also directionally challenged and quite often lose track of time and responsibility to the flock. Moreover, they are by nature timid, shy, and likely to go astray. And when they do go astray chasing after that better grass over there leaving their shepherd behind, they are unable to find their way back to him; indeed quite often they merely run farther away from him. That is sheep and human behavior in a nutshell.
Just as a sheep cannot direct, guide itself, or guard and protect itself against danger and misfortune we who are poor, weak, miserable people cannot feed and guide ourselves spiritually, walk and remain on the right path, or by our own power protect ourselves against all evil and gain help and comfort for ourselves in anxiety and distress.
We would be lost, if Christ our Shepherd had not sought us, miserable, lost people bringing us back from the wilderness. By giving his life for us he has obtained for us grace, forgiveness of sin, comfort, help, strength, and eternal life against the devil and all misfortune. To those who belong to the Shepherd’s flock the voice of Jesus in the Bible is a sweet voice. They are sincerely glad to hear it, for they know it well and let themselves be guided by it.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if it is true, as many believe it is, that we can feed and rule ourselves, protect ourselves against error, gain grace and forgiveness of sins through our own merit, resist the devil and all misfortune, and conquer sin and death then all of Scripture is a lie, for it tells us the very opposite when it testifies that we are lost, scattered, wounded, weak, and defenseless. If we can do all things through our own power and piety we do not need the help of Christ at all.
If on the other hand, if each one of us recognizes our helplessness in living this life, as God wants to do, we will not be in want, for Jesus is our Good Shepherd. While his chief purpose in being our Shepherd is to safe-guard our souls he has not forgotten our bodies, for the body and soul are united not meant to be separated. We have his word on that, for in Psalm 23 he tells us that we will not be in want. Our Shepherd, our Good Shepherd will bless us through his Word so that we will bring forth good works that glorify him. His Spirit will assist and comfort us in all temptations and distresses and will also make our hearts safe and sure. Those are the Shepherd’s promises to those who listen to his voice.
You who are here this morning hear his voice. Therefore do not doubt that you are his and that he is your faithful Shepherd. He will treat you gently. He will strengthen your faith and provide you with other spiritual gifts. He will comfort you in all you troubles. He will hear you when you call upon Him. He will keep the devil from being able to do you harm and finally redeem you from all misfortune. That is his promise.
“Yes,” you may say, “I hear his voice, but how shall I know that Jesus is my Shepherd? I have not experienced that he is as friendly toward me as the psalm says. In fact I have experienced the opposite. David was a holy man of God and a man dear and precious to God; so it was easy for him to speak of his faith and to believe what he spoke. But I am not him.”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you think that you have to have some type of deep spiritual feelings or experience before you can know the goodness of the Good Shepherd don’t fret about such things. For you know the voice of your Shepherd Jesus, as you are told in John 10:4, “My sheep know my voice.” His voice tells us, “I am the Good Shepherd and I lay down my life for my sheep. And I give them eternal life. And they shall never perish, and no man shall snatch them out of my hand.”
Listen to your Shepherd and be guided by his words. For, if you do, firmly believing that you are Christ’s and that he is your Shepherd, a Shepherd who knows you well and is also able to call you by your name you will surely not want, for you already have eternal life. Nor will you ever perish. Nor shall any power be so great and mighty that it could snatch you out of His hand. Of that you can be sure. For this Shepherd’s voice will surely not lead you astray. He is the Good Shepherd.
You know that. I know you do, but sometimes in the trials of life you might start thinking, “If Jesus is my Shepherd, why does he impose this upon me, that the world torments and persecutes me so cruelly through no fault of mine? I am sitting in the midst of the wolves, I am not sure of my life for a moment; but I do not see any shepherd who would protect me.” Or maybe you have sometime or other thought, “Why does He permit the devil to harm me so greatly with terror and doubts? Besides, I find myself quite unfit, weak, impatient, still laden with many sins. I feel no security but only doubt, no comfort but only fear and trembling because of God’s wrath. When will he ever begin to manifest in me that he is my Shepherd?” Such thoughts will trouble you, if you fail to heed God’s Holy Scripture, the words of the Good Shepherd. But if you hold fast to them, you will not be tempted by the devil’s lies, the world’s disfavor and raging, nor by your own weakness and unworthiness, for you belong to him the Good Shepherd.
Listen to your Shepherd and you will be able to firmly say alongside Martin Luther when the Roman Church had put a death sentence on him, “Let the devil, the world, or my own conscience oppose me as violently as they may. I will not for that reason grieve myself to death. It must be so and it shall be so, that whoever is the Lord’s sheep will surely be assailed by the wolves. Be it with me as it may, let them boil or roast me, it shall be my comfort that my Shepherd has given his life for me. Moreover, he has a sweet, kind voice, with which he comforts me and says that I shall never perish, neither shall any man snatch me out of his hand; I shall have eternal life. And he will keep this promise, no matter what happens to me. If because of my weakness some sin or other fault by chance is still found in me he will not reject me on that account. For he is a friendly Shepherd, who watches over the weak sheep, binds up their wounds, and heals them. And so that I may be all the more sure and not doubt, he has given me, as a token, his holy Sacraments.”
The writer of Psalm 23 was not always happy, nor was he at all times able to sing, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” At times he wanted much, almost too much. We see very clearly in other Psalms that he wrote that many times he felt neither justice, nor God’s comfort and help, but only sin, God’s wrath, terror, doubt, and the fear of hell. He felt pain. He felt loneliness. He felt sickness. He felt the consequences of his sin. Even then he turned to the Good Shepherd because he knew that whatever was happening or going to happen in his life that the Good Shepherd’s Word and promises would strengthen him and comfort him. Therefore he knew he shall not want.
We are told in God’s Word these things were written down for us, so that we might be sure that in the real temptations of life we can find counsel and comfort in Jesus our Good Shepherd and nowhere else. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ cling to God’s Word and promise, so that you can make judgments on the basis of his Word and not on the basis of feelings or the words of others. Then help and comfort will surely follow, and absolutely nothing will be wanting. Amen.
Date: 04/25/10
Text: Psalm 23
Title: “I shall not want.”
You have probably realized by now that the theme for today is “The Good Shepherd.” All of our readings for this morning refer either to Jesus as the Shepherd or Jesus the Lamb, for he is both. He is the Lamb for Jesus is the final sacrifice for all of our sins. His sacrifice did what millions of sacrifices could never do; take away the punishment of our sins. Jesus is our Good Shepherd because as Psalm 23 tells us, “I shall not want.” In other words, if we let him he leads us, and he restores us, and he comforts us, and he prepares a safe place for us among the wicked of the world, and he blesses us as only our Shepherd can.
He does all this not because he owes us anything or because we deserve his love, but because he loves us. And because of that love goodness and mercy is with us, not just here on this earth, but in the new heaven and earth where we will be with God forever.
What a wonderful psalm, Psalm 23 is. It has, is, and will in the future provide comfort to believing Christians, as they face the trials of life. The imagery of sheep is perfect even if we don’t like to see ourselves compared to them. We really are, in so many ways, like sheep especially in our spiritual lives.
A sheep must live entirely by its shepherd’s help, protection, and care, even though, if you were able to communicate with a sheep I would dare say they would say rubbish to that idea, for they are independent free thinkers quite capable of living on their own. That is what they would say, if they could talk, but their lives prove otherwise, for a sheep as much as it thinks it can, cannot live for very long without a shepherd to guide and protect it.
The life of a sheep is self-centered much like we are self-centered. There lives like ours is about self; eat, drink, sleep, and play. They, like most humans are quite incapable, for the most part, of defending themselves against any kind of danger or misfortune. They, like some people I know are also directionally challenged and quite often lose track of time and responsibility to the flock. Moreover, they are by nature timid, shy, and likely to go astray. And when they do go astray chasing after that better grass over there leaving their shepherd behind, they are unable to find their way back to him; indeed quite often they merely run farther away from him. That is sheep and human behavior in a nutshell.
Just as a sheep cannot direct, guide itself, or guard and protect itself against danger and misfortune we who are poor, weak, miserable people cannot feed and guide ourselves spiritually, walk and remain on the right path, or by our own power protect ourselves against all evil and gain help and comfort for ourselves in anxiety and distress.
We would be lost, if Christ our Shepherd had not sought us, miserable, lost people bringing us back from the wilderness. By giving his life for us he has obtained for us grace, forgiveness of sin, comfort, help, strength, and eternal life against the devil and all misfortune. To those who belong to the Shepherd’s flock the voice of Jesus in the Bible is a sweet voice. They are sincerely glad to hear it, for they know it well and let themselves be guided by it.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if it is true, as many believe it is, that we can feed and rule ourselves, protect ourselves against error, gain grace and forgiveness of sins through our own merit, resist the devil and all misfortune, and conquer sin and death then all of Scripture is a lie, for it tells us the very opposite when it testifies that we are lost, scattered, wounded, weak, and defenseless. If we can do all things through our own power and piety we do not need the help of Christ at all.
If on the other hand, if each one of us recognizes our helplessness in living this life, as God wants to do, we will not be in want, for Jesus is our Good Shepherd. While his chief purpose in being our Shepherd is to safe-guard our souls he has not forgotten our bodies, for the body and soul are united not meant to be separated. We have his word on that, for in Psalm 23 he tells us that we will not be in want. Our Shepherd, our Good Shepherd will bless us through his Word so that we will bring forth good works that glorify him. His Spirit will assist and comfort us in all temptations and distresses and will also make our hearts safe and sure. Those are the Shepherd’s promises to those who listen to his voice.
You who are here this morning hear his voice. Therefore do not doubt that you are his and that he is your faithful Shepherd. He will treat you gently. He will strengthen your faith and provide you with other spiritual gifts. He will comfort you in all you troubles. He will hear you when you call upon Him. He will keep the devil from being able to do you harm and finally redeem you from all misfortune. That is his promise.
“Yes,” you may say, “I hear his voice, but how shall I know that Jesus is my Shepherd? I have not experienced that he is as friendly toward me as the psalm says. In fact I have experienced the opposite. David was a holy man of God and a man dear and precious to God; so it was easy for him to speak of his faith and to believe what he spoke. But I am not him.”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you think that you have to have some type of deep spiritual feelings or experience before you can know the goodness of the Good Shepherd don’t fret about such things. For you know the voice of your Shepherd Jesus, as you are told in John 10:4, “My sheep know my voice.” His voice tells us, “I am the Good Shepherd and I lay down my life for my sheep. And I give them eternal life. And they shall never perish, and no man shall snatch them out of my hand.”
Listen to your Shepherd and be guided by his words. For, if you do, firmly believing that you are Christ’s and that he is your Shepherd, a Shepherd who knows you well and is also able to call you by your name you will surely not want, for you already have eternal life. Nor will you ever perish. Nor shall any power be so great and mighty that it could snatch you out of His hand. Of that you can be sure. For this Shepherd’s voice will surely not lead you astray. He is the Good Shepherd.
You know that. I know you do, but sometimes in the trials of life you might start thinking, “If Jesus is my Shepherd, why does he impose this upon me, that the world torments and persecutes me so cruelly through no fault of mine? I am sitting in the midst of the wolves, I am not sure of my life for a moment; but I do not see any shepherd who would protect me.” Or maybe you have sometime or other thought, “Why does He permit the devil to harm me so greatly with terror and doubts? Besides, I find myself quite unfit, weak, impatient, still laden with many sins. I feel no security but only doubt, no comfort but only fear and trembling because of God’s wrath. When will he ever begin to manifest in me that he is my Shepherd?” Such thoughts will trouble you, if you fail to heed God’s Holy Scripture, the words of the Good Shepherd. But if you hold fast to them, you will not be tempted by the devil’s lies, the world’s disfavor and raging, nor by your own weakness and unworthiness, for you belong to him the Good Shepherd.
Listen to your Shepherd and you will be able to firmly say alongside Martin Luther when the Roman Church had put a death sentence on him, “Let the devil, the world, or my own conscience oppose me as violently as they may. I will not for that reason grieve myself to death. It must be so and it shall be so, that whoever is the Lord’s sheep will surely be assailed by the wolves. Be it with me as it may, let them boil or roast me, it shall be my comfort that my Shepherd has given his life for me. Moreover, he has a sweet, kind voice, with which he comforts me and says that I shall never perish, neither shall any man snatch me out of his hand; I shall have eternal life. And he will keep this promise, no matter what happens to me. If because of my weakness some sin or other fault by chance is still found in me he will not reject me on that account. For he is a friendly Shepherd, who watches over the weak sheep, binds up their wounds, and heals them. And so that I may be all the more sure and not doubt, he has given me, as a token, his holy Sacraments.”
The writer of Psalm 23 was not always happy, nor was he at all times able to sing, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” At times he wanted much, almost too much. We see very clearly in other Psalms that he wrote that many times he felt neither justice, nor God’s comfort and help, but only sin, God’s wrath, terror, doubt, and the fear of hell. He felt pain. He felt loneliness. He felt sickness. He felt the consequences of his sin. Even then he turned to the Good Shepherd because he knew that whatever was happening or going to happen in his life that the Good Shepherd’s Word and promises would strengthen him and comfort him. Therefore he knew he shall not want.
We are told in God’s Word these things were written down for us, so that we might be sure that in the real temptations of life we can find counsel and comfort in Jesus our Good Shepherd and nowhere else. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ cling to God’s Word and promise, so that you can make judgments on the basis of his Word and not on the basis of feelings or the words of others. Then help and comfort will surely follow, and absolutely nothing will be wanting. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 3:27 PM
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