gregoryjenks

Tag: Grafton Cathedral

  • with all that I have

    Third Sunday after Pentecost
    Christchurch Cathedral, Grafton
    30 June 2019

     

    [ video ]

     

    Through this past month of Sundays we have been reflecting on the inner dynamics of our lives as Christian people.

    • What are our core values?
    • What is our mission in a nutshell?
    • What are the elements of faith which are non-negotiable and draw us into the future where God awaits?

     

    During this series we have been focusing on some key phrases from the familiar words of the great commandment:

    Shema Yisrael; Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God the Lord is one and you shall love the Lord our God with all your heart, and with all your soul, [with all your mind,] and with all your strength.

     

    On the first Sunday this month we reflected on the significance of loving God with all our heart. We saw that this means moving beyond any sense of compliance with external requirements, as we acknowledge our relationship with God as fundamental to our identity and our purpose. This stuff matters to us. We care about spiritual work.

    The following week, we reflected on the significance of soul: who we are in our innermost selves as creatures in whom the spirit of God is present and active. We saw that loving God with all our hearts is to make God the most important priority, but we also saw that to love God with our soul is to recognise that a relationship with God lies at the very heart of who we are as living creatures. Spirit people. Living souls.

    When Jesus was quoting the words of the Shema Yisrael to the lawyer who asked his advice, he took the liberty of adding one additional element. We tend not to notice this because we are so familiar with the version from the Gospels.

    The original version in Deuteronomy 6 refers to heart, soul and strength, and in today’s sermon we will be reflecting shortly on the significance of that final term. However, it is both interesting and significant that Jesus is remembered as telling his questioner that it is also absolutely essential that we love God with our minds.

    There is no place for intellectual laziness within the spiritual life. We do not mistake information for wisdom, nor do we value answers over questions. But we are called as people of faith to use our brains and to love God with our minds.

    When Camellia helped us to explore this idea a couple of weeks ago, we were observing Trinity Sunday. The concept of God as Trinity is an excellent symbol of the need to move beyond simplicity and naivety, towards a more nuanced and sophisticated faith. Loving God with our minds!

     

    Loving God with our strength

    So this week we turn to the last of the four phrases: loving God with our strength or, as we used to say the old translation, with our might.

    This is an interesting concept.

    Loving God with our heart invites us to think about the priorities in our life. Loving God with our soul invites us to reflect on our innermost identity and spirit people. But loving God with our strength—or our might—takes us to a very different place.

    The Hebrew word in Deuteronomy 6 is מאוד, which is really an adjective rather than a noun. Indeed, I have מאוד on the outside of a coffee cup that I purchased from a coffee chain in Israel several years ago: מאוד. In the context it means exceptional.

    In the context of Deuteronomy 6 as also in the context of Mark chapter 12, where the Greek word is ισχυςis used, the focus is on everything we have.

    Nothing is excluded.

    Nothing is exempt.

    Nothing is held back.

    Every resource and every asset and every ounce of energy which we have at our disposal is brought to the task of loving and serving God.

    So, instead of saying love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength we should perhaps translate it as follows: love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with everything that you have.

    Wow!

    That is a truly radical call to discipleship:

    Remember the words of Jesus to the rich young ruler: “sell your goods, give everything to the poor then come follow me.”

    Remember the comments of Jesus when he saw a widow putting her last two small coins into the collection box at the Temple. Her gift was more precious than the bags of coins being offered by wealthy people, because she gave everything that she had.

    This is not asking for 10%.

    This is not negotiating any other intermediate benchmark for splitting our assets between God and ourselves.

    This is a demand that everything we have—the whole lot—be given over to God’s purposes!

    This is the wisdom of St Francis of Assisi.

    This is the wisdom of Saul of Tarsus.

    This is the wisdom of Jesus.

    The call of God on our lives invites us to see everything we have—every asset over which we have control—as entrusted to us by God for the sake of mission.

    So how do we manage this radical demand when it comes to distributing our assets, and particularly the discretionary funds which are available to us after we have filled our primary obligation of providing for our family and ourselves?

     

    The way I deal with it is like this.

    If the amount of money which I allocate each week has no impact on my capacity to do whatever I want to do, then I have not given enough.

    Let me say that again as it sets a different kind of benchmark.

    If the amount of money which I allocate each week has no impact on my capacity to do whatever I want to do, then I have not given enough.

    There must be an element of sacrifice.

    No pain no gain.

     

    On the other hand, if I find that there are some things I would like to have done but can no longer afford to do because I allocated a significant chunk of my disposable cash to God’s work, then I have a sense that I am beginning to love God with all my strength, with all that I have.

     

    So I will never tell you how much money you should put into the offering plate or how much money you should contribute to this charity or that charity.

    For some people, 10% is way too high because what is then left is simply too small amount on which to live. On the other hand, for some people 10% is way too low, because their 90% is still so large a sum that there has been no sacrifice at all when they surrender even 10% of their disposable assets.

    Again, remember the widow’s and the two small copper coins.

    There is a challenge, a sting at the end of the tail, as we hear the words of the great commandment.

    Yes, we will make God the most important thing in our lives; loving God with our heart.

    Yes, we will live out of the recognition that our innermost selves express the presence of God deep within us; as we love God with our soul.

    Yes, we commit to have minds that are always open to new truth; loving God with our minds.

    And yes, we will love God with everything that we have even when that means that some of the things we would have liked to do we can no longer afford to do, because we are choosing to love God with all that we have, with our strength and with our might.

    That’s a tough call, but it is the call Jesus makes.

    And wouldn’t be great if the Cathedral had a reputation around town for our generosity. Those people (us) make such an impact because they are so generous with their time and their money. They give it all they have!

  • Spirit of the living God

    Spirit of the living God

    Pentecost Sunday
    Christ Church Cathedral, Grafton
    9 June 2019

     

    [ video ]

    Last week we started a series of sermons that will extend across the five Sundays of June. During this month we are exploring the core of our mission, what I have called “Mission in a nutshell”.

    There is a famous story in the Talmud about Rabbi Hillel, who lived around the time of Jesus:

    A pagan came to him saying that he would convert to Judaism if Hillel could teach him the whole of the Torah in the time he could stand on one foot. Rabbi Hillel replied, “What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole Torah; the rest is just commentary. Go and study it.” (Talmud Shabbat 31a)

     

    That Jewish story is very much like Mark’s story about Jesus being asked (this time by a Jewish religion scholar) for a brief summary of the Law:

    One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.” (Mark 12:28–34 NRSV)

     

    Last week we focused on loving God with our HEARTS, but this week we focus on loving God with our SOULS.

    Let me suggest that the difference between last week and this week is not very big, and yet absolutely huge.

    The HEART refers to what we most value, what we most care about.

    The SOUL refers to who we are, our innermost selves.

    Today we observe Pentecost, the festival of the Holy Spirit.

    This is the last of the Great Fifty Day of Easter. It marks both the and a fresh beginning.

    It is also the perfect time to be thinking about our SOUL or our SPIRIT or our INNERMOST SELF.

    Let’s go back to the ancient Eden myth in Genesis 2.

    Unlike the poetic drama of chapter one, in Genesis 2 we find God rolling up her sleeves and getting her hands dirty as she fashioned the first human from the soil, from the earth. In the Hebrew text the term is ‘adamah, and the earth creature is called ‘adam (Adam).

    But then notice how the story describes this clay doll becoming a living person:

    “… then the LORD God formed the earthling(ha-‘adam) from the dust of the ground (ha’adamah), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the earthling became a living soul (nephesh).” (Genesis 2:7 NRSV)

     

    In that ancient myth, it is only when the spirit of God is breathed into the nostrils of the earthling that the human becomes a living soul.

    What a powerful word picture for us on Pentecost.

    Here we are, seeking to love God with all our soul, with our innermost selves.

    But our distinctive character as a living soul is itself the result of God’s Spirit already being at work in us, pulsing throughout our whole being.

    We are who we are because of the Spirit animating us.

    When we love God without innermost self, our soul, we are not only offering to God our most authentic selves, we are also returning to God the very gift of life itself.

    Last week we were invited to ensure that we value God above everything and everyone else.

    This week we are asked to go deep inside and check that our innermost self, our soul, is receptive and responsive to the enlivening presence of the Spirit of God.

    In doing this we are embracing the true meaning of Easter.

    For the earliest Christians, the Spirit was Jesus himself, alive and ever present with them and within them. Let me end with these powerful words from Paul:

    Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17–18 NRSV)

     

     

  • First things first

    Easter 7C
    Christ Church Cathedral, Grafton
    2 June 2019

     

     

     

    [ video ]

    At its last meeting, Parish Council agreed that we would use the five Sundays during June to reflect on our core mission as Christians: first of all, to love God, and secondly, to love other people just as we love ourselves.

    We plan to do that by paying attention to some very familiar words, what we call the Two Great Commandments:

    ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ Jesus said: ‘This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbour as yourself.’

     

    The sermons during these five weeks will focus on loving God with our hearts (this week), loving God with our souls (next week), then loving God with our minds and with our strength, concluding with love for other people.

    So today we ask, where is our heart?

    Jesus famously invited people to think about where our hearts are because, as he observed, where our hearts are focused is where we will find our deepest meaning. That will also tend to be where we allocate as much of our resources as we can spare, and sometimes even more than we can spare.

    This invitation is a good place to begin as we reflect on God’s call on our lives during these five Sundays.

    Is our faith something at the very core of who we are, or simply a vague interest to which we turn our attention where there is nothing more pressing on our minds?

    Australians tend to default to a mindset that leaves God out of the picture, unless and until there is some crisis that causes us to refocus on our faith.

    Yet the call from Jesus, who was simply echoing the traditional Shema of ancient Israel urges us to make love for God the most important thing in our lives.

    Here is the original Jewish version of that great commandment:

    Shema Yisrael, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

     

    That was the divine call which Jesus accepted for himself, and he invites us—indeed he commands us—to make this obligation our own.

    A life centred around love for God cannot be a selfish life.

    We choose no longer to live for ourselves, but for God—and thus for others.

    Imagine how different our city would be, our nation would be, and our world would be, if people were driven by their love for God and then looked for ways to express that commitment by compassionate action towards other people.

    Notice, however, that Jesus is not asking people to be more religious.

    He is not asking for more actions that impress other people with our investment in religion or in personal development or in spirituality.

    Ever the radical prophet, Jesus goes to the heart of the matter. He demands that we love God, rather than act more religious.

    This is clear from the context of this statement by Jesus, which we rarely hear when these familiar words are read in church.

    In the Gospel, Jesus has just been asked about the one religious obligation that a good Jew should be sure to observe.

    There were a variety of possible answers:

    • Observe Sabbath
    • Keep the Ten Commandments
    • Pray at the temple often
    • Bring offerings: lots of them and big ones
    • Give charitable assistance to the needy
    • Keep a kosher kitchen
    • Avoid sexual immorality
    • And more

     

    Jesus declines to pick any of these external religious observances.

    Instead he cuts to the core of the issue and demands just one thing: Love God with your heart …

    From the very centre of our being, make God our first priority.

    Not the church …

    not the family …

    not the career …

    not the reputation …

    not the hobby …

     

    Just get this one thing right and the rest will sort itself out: Love God.

    Towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7 Jesus makes the same point but in very different words:

    But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. [Matt 5:33]

     

    In the Lord’s Prayer, the first thing that we actually ask is that God’s kingdom will come … we seek that blessing before we ask for our daily bread, forgiveness of our sins, or protection from temptation.

    First things first …

    First, we seek for the kingdom of God.

    Your kingdom come …

    Everything else we need will come in its own good time, if we can just get that basic orientation of our innermost self right in the first instance.

    Shema Yisrael, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart …

    … strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well

     

  • Wisdom has set a table

    CVAS Junior School Worship
    26 May 2019
    Christ Church Cathedral Grafton

     

    [ video ]

    The Table stands at the centre of our worship today.

    It is always so for Christians.

    We have lots of symbols, but the Table is the one that is distinctively Christian.

    Not a book to be mastered, but a Table at which we each have a place.

    Not even the cross. The bread and fish of the Eucharist are much older symbols for Christians. The cross comes to prominence only after the Empire has co-opted the Church for the sake of power.

    The Table is a sign of community, a sign of hospitality and a sign of abundant life. 

    We are people who are learning how to say YES to God, YES to life, YES to hope, YES to love. The Table calls us to the lesson, and the Table provides an opportunity to practice our capacity to accept their gift of life, to share it with others, and to live life to the full.

    During the last two terms, our Year Four students have been exploring the significance of the Table: the Table of Jesus, the Table of the Lord.

    Today several of them will claim their place at the Table of Jesus.

     

    The table of the universe

    I love the imagery of our first reading.

    Lady Wisdom has built a house and prepared a feast to which we are all invited. 

    What a beautiful way to speak about creation. About life itself. The mystery and wonder of being here, of being alive. Of the whole universe: it is a palace built by wisdom for us to inhabit.

    That is not a scientific explanation, but it is certainly an evocative poetic word picture. 

    God has built a house and set a table for a massive banquet. 

    We call that banquet: “life”.

    Life is good. 

    We are invited. 

    All of us. 

    Not just a chosen few. 

     

    The bread we bless, the cup we share

    Our second reading invites us to notice what is on the Table.

    The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

    The universe can be imagined as a marvellous house designed for our delight, a table groaning under the weight of good things for us to enjoy.

    What is served up for us at the Table is nothing less than the life of Jesus.

    Again, and as always, we are working with poetic symbols. But they are symbols of generosity and abundance, of life and love, of hope and compassion.

    As Christians, we experience the irresistible love of God most clearly in the person of Jesus: who he was, what he said, and how he acted.

    God’s love is not limited to Jesus, but that is our path into the compassion of God.

    So the bread and wine that we take and bless at the Table are symbols of Jesus himself, his body and blood as it were, being placed in our hands and taken into our very selves.

    Again, poetry.

    When taken literally it turns to dust, and especially so when we hate other people because they understand the mystery of the Table differently.

    But when accepted in faith as a sacred symbol, the bread and the cup are (as St Paul wrote almost 2000 years ago) a way for us to participate in the life and the character of Jesus himself.

    At this table, we find our identity 

    At this table, we find our unity.

    At this table, we find the grace needed to live with hope and compassion.

     

    The multitude fed

    Our Gospel today is one version of a much-loved ancient Christian story in which Jesus fed a huge crowd of people with just a Junior School lunch box.

    Again it is a poetic story.

    We miss the point if we ask, “Did it happen?”

    We get the point if we ask: “What does this mean?” That is a much better question.

    In the story Jesus has a huge crowd of people with him some distance from a convenient market town: 5,000 men according to Mark; 5,000 men, not counting the women and children, according to Matthew. Even 5,000 hungry men is a catering challenge. But Matthew is suggesting a vast number of hungry mouths. 

    So what does it mean that the only miracle story to occur in all four Gospels is Jesus feeding a great crowd of people?

    What does it mean that Jesus did not first check their beliefs, or their intimate relationships, or their social media history, or shake them down for a donation to the Cathedral heritage fund?

    The open table is the ultimate Christian symbol of God’s generous love for us all.

    The love that brought the universe into being in the first place.

    The love which continues to pulse at the heart of creation.

    The love which invites us to flourish and be fully human, fully alive.

    The love which is the ultimate reason why the Cathedral set up CVAS 21 years ago.

    The love to which we can all say YES, at some stage in our lives, when the time is right.

    The love which the Table of Jesus represents, and to which it is never too late to say YES.

    As we welcome several of the Year Four students to claim their place at the Table of Jesus this morning, we join them in opening our hearts—our innermost selves—to that divine love which we see in Jesus and, in our better moments, which we see in each other.

    Come to the Table.

    Take the bread. Drink from the cup. Claim life. Reject fear.

  • Love, actually (again)

    Easter 5C
    Christchurch Cathedral, Grafton
    19 May 2019

     

    [ video ]

     

     

    Love, actually (again)#

    # “again”, because on 23 December 2018 I preached a sermon with the same title.

     

    There is a famous story—probably apocryphal—of a new priest who surprised her parishioners when the sermon she delivered on her first Sunday in the parish was simply to say: “Love one another”. She then sat down and the service continued. People were surprised, but thought they could cut her some slack as it was her first week. The following week she went up  into the pulpit and repeated the same brief statement: “Love one another”. There was some rumbling among the faithful over their coffees after the service, but things came to a head on the third Sunday morning when the new priest repeated the same brief message: “Love one another”. Next day the Churchwardens met with the priest to ask what was going on? She listened quietly to their concerns and then replied as follows: “Yes, I have other things to say. When I can see that people have understood my first point then I shall move on to my second point!”

     

    The Gospel today was from John’s account of the last supper.

    He tells the story rather differently from the other three Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. The main event in the story is not the meal, but Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. In the comments made by Jesus after that symbolic action, Jesus unpacks what it was all about (and what our faith as Christians is all about), in the words we just heard read:

    I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

    There are three big ideas in that short statement, so let’s just unpack them a little bit this morning as we prepare to baptise Cruz.

     

    A new commandment: love one another.

    Jesus did not give many commands. He was invitational rather than dictatorial.

    But among the early Jesus people who created the Gospel of John he was especially remembered as giving is followers one simple instruction: Love one another.

    I am often asked about the beliefs of various people and groups. My default response is that I do not care all that much what a religion believes, so long as they are not hurting other people.

    So the first and most important thing about the faith into which we are baptising Cruz this morning is that it is all about love, about treating other people properly.

    We are not required to believe this or that.

    We are not required to pray in this way or some other way.

    We are not required to attend worship, donate money, go on a pilgrimage, or observe any particular religious practices.

    Yes, there are things we do and believe—and we want to get them right; but only one thing matters: LOVE.

    Imagine how different the church would be and the world would be if we all lived by that new commandment.

     

    The benchmark: Just as I have loved you

    The second point to note is the benchmark that Jesus sets.

    The measure for our loving actions is nothing less than the example of Jesus himself.

    Well, that takes the pressure off, eh?

    All we have to do is treat people the way Jesus treated them.

    Easy peasy.

    Kindness to those in need, and fierce opposition to those in power.

    What could go wrong with a plan like that?

    Are we surprised that such an attitude got Jesus into strife with the rich and powerful?

    But that is the benchmark set by Jesus: copy me!

     

     

    The outcome: everyone will know that you are my disciples

    How we do prove our authentic Christian identity?

    By acting with compassion.

    By acting out of love, not fear.

    By saying “No” to hatred and suspicion.

    By assuming that our neighbours are decent people even when their food smells different or their skin is a different colour or their religion is not the same as ours.

    How sad that such a simple statement even needs to be made, but as we have seen again this week even here in Grafton there are too many people—perhaps not many, but too many even if just a small percentage of the community—who are racist and driven by fear.

    In the aftermath of a federal election we have a chance as a community to make a fresh start, irrespective of who forms government.

    Today we launch Cruz into a life centred around the power of love to transform his life, our lives and the whole world.

    Today we say YES to God, YES to love and NO to fear.

  • The Good Shepherd

    Easter 4C / Mothers’ Day
    Christ Church Cathedral, Grafton
    12 May 2019

    [ video ]

    It is a beautiful accident that our secular Mothers’ Day this year coincides with the Fourth Sunday of Easter, with its theme of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

    Like a mother whose ear is attuned to the call of her own infant, or an infant whose ears are attuned to the sound of its mother’s voice, Jesus describes his sheep as those persons who have an ear for the wisdom he both speaks and embodies:

    “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”
    (John 10:27–28 NRSV)

    Normally I focus my sermon on the Gospel, since our core task as Christians is to listen to the wisdom of  Jesus. However, today I want us to reflect together on the meaning of the Twenty-Third Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd”.

    You have the text of the Psalm in the bulletin (or on page 243 of the Prayer Book, if you prefer). If you are keeping an eye on the APBA version, you may notice that it differs slightly from the translations found in the Bible.

    A Prayer Book for Australia, Liturgical Psalter

    1 The Lord is my shepherd:
    therefore can I lack nothing.
    2 He will make me lie down in green pastures:
    and lead me beside still waters.
    3 He will refresh my soul:
    and guide me in right pathways for his name’s sake.
    4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
    I will fear no evil:
    for you are with me, your rod and your staff comfort me.
    5 You spread a table before me
    in the face of those who trouble me:
    you have anointed my head with oil,
    and my cup shall be full.
    6 Surely your goodness and loving-kindness
    will follow me all the days of my life:
    and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

     

    Bible (New Revised Standard Version)

    1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
    2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
    he leads me beside still waters; [Heb waters of rest]
    3 he restores my soul. [Or life]
    He leads me in right paths [Or paths of righteousness]
    for his name’s sake.
    4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, [Or the valley of the shadow of death]
    I fear no evil;
    for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff—
    they comfort me.
    5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
    you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
    6 Surely [Or Only] goodness and mercy [Or kindness] shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
    and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    my whole life long. [Heb for length of days]

    For the sake of comparison in the web version of the sermon I am also providing the New International Version translation:

    1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
    2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
    he leads me beside quiet waters,
    3 he refreshes my soul.
    He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
    4 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
    I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.
    5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
    You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
    6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
    and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
    forever.

     

    Just to keep you all awake, I am going to work with the translation from the Jewish Publication Society so that we hear the sense of these ancient words with their original Jewish accent.

    1         The LORD is my shepherd;
    I lack nothing.
    2         He makes me lie down in green pastures;
    He leads me to water in places of repose;
    3         He renews my life;
    He guides me in right paths
    as befits His name.
    4         Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness,
    I fear no harm, for You are with me;
    Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.
    5         You spread a table for me in full view of my enemies;
    You anoint my head with oil;
    my drink is abundant.
    6         Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me
    all the days of my life,
    and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
    for many long years.

     

    The variations in the same Psalm across these different translations invite us to move beyond the literal words and imagine how we might hear these words with fresh ears, ears and hearts attuned to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd.

    So let’s work our way through the six verses of this well-known psalm.

     

    1 The LORD is my shepherd; I lack nothing.

    “The LORD” is the conventional way to represent the ancient sacred name of God, which in the Hebrew Bible is written with just its four consonants: YHVH. This “Tetragrammaton” survives as the “Jeho/Jehu” and/or “iah/jah” syllables in many names for individuals and places in the Old Testament: Jehoshaphat, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, etc.

    It may once have been pronounced as “Yahweh”, but during the second century BCE it became customary to avoid saying the sacred name. Instead, other synonyms were used: ‘Adonai (Hebrew for “My Lord”), Kyrios or Theos (Greek terms for “Lord” and “God” respectively). In many anceint Hebrew biblical texts the vowels of ‘Adonai were written with the consonants of the Tetragrammaton to create an unpronounceable word as a reminder for readers not to say the sacred name.

    In later Christian use that was entirely misunderstood, and the term “Jehovah” was thought to be God’s name.

    This mistake survives in classic hymns such as “Guide me, O thou great Jehovah”; and in the theological gibberish that is propagated by the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses.

    This ancient covenant God is understood by the psalmist as his existential shepherd: guiding, protecting and sustaining the person of faith. With such a shepherd god, we never fear anything. We can never be in want. We lack nothing good.

     

    2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
    He leads me to water in places of repose;

    In the marginal pastoral lands of Palestine, finding a good supply of green pasture was (and remains for the Bedouin even now) a core responsibility. Along with fresh pasture, the sheep need water in a dry and rugged environment.

    The second verse of Psalm 23 draws on this familiar reality to describe the gentle presence of God in our lives.

     

    3 He renews my life;
    He guides me in right paths as befits His name.

    The familiar words—“my soul he doth restore again”—are better translated in the Jewish Publication Society version.

    The divine shepherd renews our life, fresh every morning, and guides in the right paths: the tracks that suit our needs and which lead us to the green pastures and the waters of repose.

    The track God chooses for me is the perfect path for me to follow.

     

    4 Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness,
    I fear no harm, for You are with me;
    Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.

    The “valley of the shadow of death” has been one of the most evocative phrases in the traditional version of the Twenty-Third Psalm. Notice how the Jewish translation represents that line.

    In our darkest moments, whatever they may be, the divine Shepherd is always with us. We are never alone. Never abandoned. Never bereft of hope.

    A Palestinian shepherd typically carried a club (rod) to fend off wild animals and a crook (staff) to guide the flock in his care.

    Fierce protection and gentle care are the hallmarks of the God who is always with us. Emmanuel.

     

    5 You spread a table for me in full view of my enemies;
    You anoint my head with oil;
    my drink is abundant.

    It is generally agreed that the final two verses of the Psalm involve a change of metaphor from “sheep” in the care of its shepherd to “guests” in the house of the LORD, with a place at the table of God

    This metaphor especially resonates with Christians because of the centrality of the Table of Jesus in our faith and practice.

    We gather at the Table of the Lord. The Table which Jesus has prepared for us and where Jesus is the host. The Table where we are anointed with oil: the oil of gladness, the oil of healing, the oil of discipleship. This is the Table where we drink the same cup as Jesus drank, the cup which renews us with the life of Jesus. His life poured out for others. Our lives poured out in grateful service.

     

    6 Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me all the days of my life,
    and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for many long years.

    Psalm 23 concludes with a flourish.

    The love of the divine Shepherd and the generosity of the divine host will never fail us.

    Notice that is is not an affirmation of life after death, but rather an expression of hope for God’s blessing here in this life.

    Here in this life we are guests at the Table of Lord and already living in the Lord’s House.

    The earth is not a consolation prize nor a place of exile from which to escape when we can finally go “home”. This is our home. It is the house of the Lord. And it is a good place to be.

     

    So let’s hear this Pslam one more time:

    1         The LORD is my shepherd;
    I lack nothing.
    2         He makes me lie down in green pastures;
    He leads me to water in places of repose;
    3         He renews my life;
    He guides me in right paths
    as befits His name.
    4         Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness,
    I fear no harm, for You are with me;
    Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.
    5         You spread a table for me in full view of my enemies;
    You anoint my head with oil;
    my drink is abundant.
    6         Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me
    all the days of my life,
    and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
    for many long years.

     

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