Sermon 22nd March 2020 – 4th
Sunday in Lent
Text – Psalm 23 – The Lord is my
Shepherd – I shall not want.
So how are you coping with all that’s
going on?
Have you started to panic wondering
if you have enough food?
Do you panic when you arrive at the
supermarket and see all the empty shelves?
Did you ever think that this could
happen in Australia?
Someone said to me during the week,
the bushfires brought out the best in humankind as we gave and gave and gave.
This pandemic has brought out the
worst in humankind as we take and take and take.
What’s the difference?
The difference is because it affects
me.
The bushfires were out there.
We were happy to give to help others
in need.
But now that we are in need along
with everyone else we don’t think of others because fear and panic has hit
home.
We think about how we can protect
ourselves.
And that is at the heart of human
sinfulness.
And if we think back to the beginning
of Lent when Jesus ended his 40 day fast, the Devil tempted him to look away
from God and turn rocks into bread.
Look after yourself.
You’re hungry; use your power to do
whatever it takes.
Human nature goes into defence mode
when threatened – and that is what we are seeing.
And the devil uses our fear to create
that irrational response.
Think of Adam and Eve.
Even though God would provide for
them with everything they needed – the devil convinced them otherwise and they
panicked.
Take a bite – your eyes will be
opened and you will be like God.
Then you won’t have to rely on God
but be in control yourselves.
Fear creates an irrational response.
We keep getting told – there is
enough for everyone if we just go about our normal shopping.
There was never a shortage of toilet
paper - just a perceived fear of running out and what I would do if that
happened.
I could not have thought of a better
response to what is happening than the first verse of our Psalm today.
A few weeks ago we had the most known
bible text – John 3:16 – for God so loved the world that he gave his one and
only Son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal
life.
And today we hear what that means for
us:
The Lord is my Shepherd – I shall not
want.
Sheep don’t know where their feed is
coming from but they trust their shepherd.
Jesus once gave similar comfort when
he said in Matthew 6:
Therefore I tell you, do not worry
about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will
wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the
birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Are you not much more valuable than
they?
Do we stop and think about that?
It’s hard – and we fall into the same
temptation as Adam and Eve and Jesus of whether to keep trusting God or take
control ourselves.
We see an immediate threat and we
panic.
We have this defence mechanism in us
that believes we need to protect ourselves.
And that’s what we are seeing all
around us.
When the threat does not affect us we
are more than happy to open our hearts to help.
And we are extremely generous.
But when it affects me I go into
survival mode.
And we have seen on the news the
fighting – the stabbing – the cursing – over a roll of toilet paper.
This is what faith is all about.
This is where your faith becomes
vital.
I don’t know how long we are going to
have to live under these conditions.
I don’t know if the virus has spiked
and is levelling out or if it’s going to get worse.
I don’t know if there’s going to be
enough supplies to cope with all that’s going on.
I don’t know when the vaccine may
become available.
But I do know – The Lord is my
Shepherd – I shall not want.
And even though we don’t know what
lies ahead, again King David gives us assurance when he says:
Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me;
Friends, this is what our faith has
been preparing us for.
When times are tough – when we don’t
know what the coming days, weeks or months have for us – our faith in God is
where our strength comes from.
A couple weeks ago we had Psalm 121
which began:
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven
and earth
The Lord is my Shepherd – I shall not
want.
It doesn’t say, I lift up my eyes –
where does my help come from – a well-stocked supermarket shelf with all the
items I need.
No, my help comes from the Lord.
The Lord is my Shepherd – I shall not
want.
This is a time when we should be
staying strong in our faith.
When we should be looking out for one
another and helping one another – supporting one another.
Love your neighbour as yourself.
We live in one of the most prosperous
countries in the world and all it took was a fear of running out of toilet
paper to cause panic and pushing others out of the way to get that last packet
of rice or flour or meat.
Maybe this will be a wakeup call to
us – firstly for those who live in these conditions as part of their everyday
life in developing countries.
But secondly where our faith is in
times of tragedy and uncertainty
Let us continue to use this as an
opportunity to strengthen OUR faith but also to help our neighbour in need both
in physical terms but also in spiritual terms as we give an answer for the hope
that we have.
Lift up your eyes— where does your
help come from?
Your help comes from the Lord, the
Maker of heaven and earth.
The Lord is our Shepherd – we shall
not want.
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