‘Presence’ (Psalm 23:4)

 

A Bible scholar was in Palestine in the 1800s and he noticed that the shepherds were more rugged than we tend to think.  ‘They looked more like warriors marching to the battlefield—a long gun slung from the shoulder; a dagger and heavy pistols in the belt, a light battle-axe or iron-headed club in hand.  Such were the equipment; and their fierce flashing eyes and scowling countanences showed but too plainly that they were prepared to use their weapons at any moment’ (from The Treasury of David).

There is no one more compassionate than our good shepherd, Jesus.  He is the most kind and loving person that there ever has been.  But this lamb of God is also the lion of Judah.  He has broad shoulders to carry his lost sheep home.  He has defeated our foes of death and the devil.  No one can snatch us from his mighty hand.

The structure of this Psalm is x-shaped (Hebrew chi).  In such Hebrew poems the main point is made in the centre of the x.  If we include the title for this psalm then the central words are ‘you are with me.’  This is the Immanuel Psalm—God with us!

The valley is one of the right paths

Before we enter the valley (verse 4), we are told that the good shepherd leads us in the right paths.  Dark valleys are a part of Jesus’ plan for our lives.  We might not understand why Jesus leads us there, but he promises to be with us.  The Bible scholar, Don Carson, explains that suffering is inevitable in life, if you are not suffering now, cheer up it is only a matter of time.  Don’t think that it is a sign that God has let you down simply because your circumstances are hard.

J. I. Packer writes, ‘If you have been resigning yourself to the thought that God has left you high and dry, seek the grace to be ashamed of yourself.  Such unbelieving pessimism deeply dishonours our great God and Saviour’ (Knowing God).

The valley is hard

The valley of the shadow of death/darkness includes death, but I think it includes more than death. 

Dark valleys were everything that the sheep feared—bandits, unstable footing, flash floods, snakes and wild animals.

In the valley we fear evil.  But the Hebrew word for evil (ra) means more than just moral evil.  It is a word that can be translated ‘disaster’ or ‘chaos’.  I think we can use this of depression, family strife, grief, loneliness and doubt.  I think that Jesus can bring us into a valley where he lovingly shows us our sins and where we need to change.

God is not only with us in the valley, he is in control of all that takes place there.  In the book of Job, Job responds to his wife, asking, ‘shall we accept good from God and not evil (ra)?’ (Job 2:10).  Amos asks, ‘Does disaster (ra) come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?’ (3:6).

The fact that God is in charge even over the chaos we face in life may leave us with hard questions.  We may wonder what he is at.  But I would much rather to be in the hands of a strong God who has proven his love and faithfulness to be through the life and death of his Son than be the subject of mindless chaos.

The valley is not our destination

In the valley the psalmist talks about walking.  I don’t know about you, but when I am afraid I want to either run or I freeze.  But when we stay close to the shepherd we can walk.

We walk ‘through’ the valley.  The valley is not our destination.  I have talked to a number people about the topic of depression.  They assure me that the very hardest moments of depression do not last.  We can say to those in the darkest places that ‘this too will pass.’  Sometimes there are parts of the shadow that do not lift in this life, but we are heading to a place where God himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

I was speaking at the funeral of a man who died by suicide.  I admitted that the shadow of his death would probably be somewhere in the background for his adult children all their lives.  But that they must let it be the defining feature of their lives.  They must keep walking.  The dark valley is not where we are to settle.  We walk as we seek the help of our Christian brothers and sisters.  We walk even as we seek professional help.  We walk as we pray.

Jesus is especially with us in the valley

Ray Ortland wrote a lovely book on a verse that tells us that God is with us in our brokenness.  The verse is Isaiah 57:15: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit’.  Ortland explains that the lowly in spirit are devastated people who have hit rock bottom.

The psalmist says that, ‘The LORD is near the broken-hearted and lifts up those who are crushed in spirit’ (34:18).

Notice that as the psalmist goes into the valley he stops talking about the shepherd and starts talking to the shepherd—from ‘my’ to ‘you’.  ‘The deeper the cloud the closer the Lord’ (Motyer).  One person looked back on a time of pain and admitted, ‘I miss how close I was to God then.’

Ask the good shepherd to keep you on track

When we are in pain we are faced with a fork in the road.  We can either lean in closer to our shepherd or we become bitter. 

Your rod and staff they comfort me. 

The rod was a two and a half mace with iron inserted into its head.  Anyone who threatened the sheep was likely to have the living daylights beaten out of them.  Our great enemy the devil has been defeated and death has lost its sting.

The staff was used to hook sheep out of the ditch, and also to give them a whack when they were going off path.  God disciplines those he loves, and no discipline is pleasant at the time (Hebrews 12).  A friend of mine pointed out that when she starts to ignore God, he gives her a ‘kick up the butt’.  It might be the gentle wounds of a friend, circumstances that make you realize your need of him or an increased inner restlessness.  Thank God that he will do what it takes to bring you back on path!

The valley is darkness and death

The valley isn’t just about death, but it does include death. 

In the last church I served there was a man who had a nagging fear of death.  That is not uncommon.  Jesus came to deal with that fear.  He came ‘to free those who were held in slavery all their lives to the fear of death’ (Hebrews 2:15).  Of course, we doubt and at times fear.  But Jesus wants us free from that fear.

I only got to Kinfire one day, but I heard the speaker, Glen Scrivener, give a good illustration.  He said that death is like a shroud and Jesus is like a needle.  We are the thread that Jesus bring through the death shroud.

Remember that ‘precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints’ (Psalm 116:15).

In his book, Fear No Evil, David Watson wrote about his terminal illness.  ‘The actual moment of dying is still surrounded by mystery, but as I keep my eyes on Jesus I am not afraid.  Jesus has already been through death, and he will be with us as we walk through ourselves.’

Conclusion

David Gibson says that the whole of the Bible is summed up in the words, ‘you are with me.’

When Jesus brings us into the valley with all its chaos, ‘you are with me’.

When we have every reason to fear, ‘you are with me’.

When our past comes to haunt us, our shepherd comes to our defence.  ‘You are with me.’

When the going is hard.  ‘You are with me.’

When it is hard to stand up for our faith.  ‘You are with me.’

When God’s time comes for us to leave this life, ‘you are with me.’      

Psalm 23:1-3 ‘The Voice of the shepherd’

There were two brothers with almost identical voices.  When someone would ring the home telephone they would get mixed up as to which of the boys were on the line. 

One of those boys left home to study, and was away for a few years.  When he returned to the family’s sheep farm, he wanted to see the new sheep that had been born since he left out.  He gave his call and none of the sheep came.  But when his shepherd brother called they came!

Sheep appear to be attracted primarily by the voice of the shepherd, which they know and are eager to follow (Bailey).

As we look at these verses which centre on being led by the shepherd we will remember that he leads us with his voice.

The title of this psalm tells us that it was written by David—the shepherd king.  We don’t know at what stage in his life he wrote this Psalm, but in his life he would experience the horror of falling into deep sin, losing children, family breakdown, and life threatening opponents.

When you read LORD in capital letters in a modern Bible it is a translation of the Hebrew YHWH, Yahweh/Jehovah.  To understand this name for God we need to go back to Moses’s encounter with God at the burning bush (Exodus 3).  There God calls Moses to go to his people and tell that God has heard their cries and that that He is going to free them from slavery in Egypt.  Moses asks, ‘who shall I say has sent me?’  God answers, ‘I am who I am’.  Yahweh means is related to ‘to be’.  He is!  God is saying, ‘I will be present with me people to be whatever they need me to be for them’ (Davis).

What paths are you on today?  How is following Jesus challenging for you?  Who do you struggle to love?  What temptations do you face?  Yahweh says, ‘I am with you in this situation and I am who you need me to be for this.’

The LORD is ‘my’ shepherd.  The great reformer Martin Luther says that the essence of being a Christian is being able to use personal pronouns.  ‘The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20).

‘Shepherd’.  A sheep is a defenseless animal.  Sheep don’t have a strong bite or a loud roar.  They do not have big claws or horns.  They are slow, so they can’t outrun predictors.  A sheep’s only protection is the shepherd.  Sheep are vulnerable, stubborn and prone to going off path.  Just like us!

I think that in the Christian church we put too much effort on leadership and not enough on followership.  You see the essence of being a Christian is to be a follower.  Sheep follow their shepherd.  Indeed, no matter what positions of leadership you are given, seek to look to people that you can follow as they follow Christ.

One of the beautiful descriptions of our shepherd God is found in the prophecy of Isaiah.  ‘He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart.  He gently leads those who have young’ (40:11).

Jesus took the title of shepherd for himself.  ‘I am the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep’ (John 10:11).  Interesting Psalm 23 comes straight after a Psalm that mentions the horrors of the cross and the joy of the resurrection.

Jesus also says that ‘the sheep listen to his voice and he calls them out by name’ (John 10:3).  I find assurance in this verse.  I know that I am one of His flock because God has worked in my heart so that I listen to His voice.  He may speak to us in through an impression as we pray, but He only speaks to us unmistakably through His Word the Bible.  The fact that you let the Bible tell you what to believe and how to live is an evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in you.

One scholar writing on Psalm 23 says something that has divided opinion between myself and Caroline.  He writes, ‘A Bible read without prayer for the life and teaching of the Holy Spirit is worse (and I say this after a lot of thought) than a Bible not read at all.’  What do you think?  Will reading the Bible in a prayerless manner simply make you puffed up and pharisaical or is it good to get the knowledge into you head, whatever your motive so that it is there to draw on when you are more mature?

‘I shall not want’ is better translated ‘I shall lack nothing.’  God never promises everything that we want because that would spoil us, and He is a good shepherd who knows what is best for us.  I remember when I finished college in Dublin my pastor asked me to come and meet him.  He listened to me and diagnosed my lack of contentment.  He gave me a verse that fitted well to me: ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain’ (1 Tim. 6:6).

‘He makes me lie down’.  Have you tried to make a sheep lie down?  You can order a dog to lie down, but you cannot order a sheep to.  A sheep only lies down when it feels safe and well-fed.  The former shepherd and Bible scholar, Douglas MacMillan, points out that four things stop a sheep from lying down: fear, antagonism (he writes about a bully sheep and urges us not to be the sort of sheep that upset the flock to which we belong), annoyance (flies and insects), and hunger.

I find it interesting that the Hebrew root for shepherd comes from the verb ‘to fed’.  It is a reminder to those of us who have been called to be under-shepherds/elders/pastors that our primary job is to feed the sheep and that a health church will always be a well-fed one.

‘He leads me’.  The sheep weren’t driven from behind, they were led by the shepherd. 

By green pastures.  Apparently, the pastures were only green for about three months of the year.  It is interesting that in Mark’s account of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus looks at the crowd with compassion because they were like ‘sheep without a shepherd’ and He teaches them.  Then when he feds them he commanded them to sit down on ‘the green grass’.  It seems that Mark wants us to remember this Psalm.

Beside ‘still waters’ can also be translated ‘waters of rest’.  Sheep cannot drink from flowing water.  I think it goes up their noses.  So a shepherd will dam a stream in order for them to drink.  The theme of rest is a big one in the Bible. In Jesus’ day the religious leaders shepherd their people though the burden of rule-keeping and guilt.  Jesus comes and invites the people, ‘come onto me all you who are weary, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28).  He has done everything necessary through the cross and resurrection to free us from the guilt and power of sin.  He wants us to realize the joy of following Him.

‘He restores my soul’.  I think it is interesting that the Psalms tells us that ‘The Law [Torah=Guidance, instruction] of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul’ (Psalm 19:7).  The Bible is not the goal.  Jesus is the goal.  Jesus is revealed all the way through the Bible.  Our knowledge of Him sustains us.  Ken Bailey says that ‘he restores my soul’ can also be translated ‘he causes me to return’.  Listen to Him calling us back to Himself.             

‘He leads me in paths of righteousness/right paths.’  ‘Our generation is confused as to the nature of true freedom’ (Wilson and Roberts).  ‘On their own sheep do not walk in straight lines, if they are going in straight lines it is because they are being led by the shepherd’ (Davis).  ‘The wilderness of Palestine often exhibits a maze of faint trials worn by countless flocks of sheep.  The shepherd alone knows which of them leads out of the valley to the next stage of the days journey, rather than an abrupt end or off a cliff edge’ (Bailey).

‘For his name sake’.  ‘Hugh wonderful it is to realize that the Lord keeps us on paths of righteousness because his reputation is on the line’ (Hughes).

Conclusion

Douglas MacMillan was away from the farm for three years.  Then he came home for a summer holiday.  He wanted to look at the new lambs.  His hands were dangling down at his side when he felt the nudge of a sheep’s nose against him.  This sheep had come up to him and made a point of nudging him.  He recognized this sheep.  Five years earlier, when she was a lamb, he had nursed her for six months, often taking her to the farm house to feed her by bottle.  He was thrilled.  She was saying I know you’.

When we love, we long to be loved in return.  So, when was the last time we went to Jesus and simply said, ‘Lord Jesus, I am glad I know you, I am glad that you laid down you life that I could become one of your sheep, I delight to follow you and  I love you?’

Reasons not to be afraid (Psalm 23)

We live in a fallen world.  It is a world of chaos.  It is a world of threat.  It is a world that ends in death.  Yet we are to fear no evil.  The word translated 'evil' in this Psalm ('ra'), is a word that includes ideas of disorder, distress and injury.  But we are not to be afraid.   We are to fear no evil because of the person, path and promises of God.

1.  The person of god

In your Bibles you might see that the word LORD is spelt with capitals.  That is a translation of YHWH - which we might pronounce Yahweh or Jehovah.  Yahweh bookends this psalm, being at both the beginning and the end.

Yahweh is the covenant name for God.  It is explained to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).  God tells Moses to tell the people that he is 'I am that I am.'  He is to explain that 'I am has sent me to you'  Yahweh comes from the verb, 'to be'.  Dale Ralph Davis explains that God is saying, 'I will be present with my people to be whatever they need me to be.'  Yahweh is the only God, and He is the God we need in this life.

Yahweh is my shepherd.  In the Ancient Near East the shepherd was everything to the flock.  There is a lovely picture of the shepherd in the book of Isaiah: God 'tends his flock like a shepherd.  He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart, he gently leads those who have young' (40:11).

One of the things that convinces me of the divinity of Jesus is how many of the titles of Yahweh he takes for himself.  Jesus declared, ''I am the the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep' (John 10:11).

In the last two verses the scene changes from a shepherd to a host.  One commentator suggests that what we are being told is that God shepherds his people with the generosity and kindness as the most lavish of hosts.  In that culture it was not the host who prepared the meal for his guests, but a woman or a servant.  Yet our God takes this role upon himself.

While the flock is always assumed, notice that the focus is on each of us as an individual sheep.  The LORD is 'my' shepherd.  If we are in Christ we declare with the apostle Paul that we have faith in the Son of God, 'who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).

The path of God

Shepherds in that culture did not drive the sheep but led them.  We read that the shepherd 'makes me lie down in green pastures.'.  You actually can't make a sheep lie down.  Sheep only lie down when they are well fed and feel safe.  It would be better to translate these words, 'he settles me down.'

The shepherd leads the sheep to green pastures.  It is very interesting that in Mark's account of the feeding of the five thousand Jesus directed the disciples to get the people to sit on the 'green grass' (Mark 6:39).  Jesus is showing us that he is the good shepherd.

The still waters are literally 'waters of rest'.  Sheep can't drink from lapping waters and need the water to be calm.  Rest is a key theme in the Bible.  The Promised Land of the Old Testament was referred to as God's rest.  Jesus invites us to come to him for rest (Matt. 11:28) and we look forward to an eternal rest (Rev. 14).

Ken Bailey makes the suggestion that restoring my soul, is actually better seen as 'he causes my soul to return.'  In our restlessness we are prone to wonder.  Yet we think of the good shepherd coming for the lost sheep.  We stray, but God creates a discontent within us until we know that the best place for us to be at home with the lover of our souls.

On of the right paths that the shepherd leads us through is the 'valley of the shadow of death'.  Valleys had to be travelled through but they were a nigh-mare for the sheep.  The valleys had steep and unstable sides.  They were a place of snakes, flooding and wild animals.  Yet they are not afraid because the shepherd is with them.

The valleys are passed through not settled in.  When we are going through a hard time it can be important to remind ourselves that 'this too will pass.'  At the other end of the valley is the banqueting table.  How true this is for those who are in Christ.  After we pass through the valley we will arrive at our ultimate place of rest.

David Watson was a great Christian leader who died in the 1980s.  He was terminally ill and wrote about his impending death.  He explained that he didn't fear evil because Jesus had already passed through the valley of the shadow of death for him and could be trusted to bring him through to the other side.  Jesus told his disciples that while he was going aware he would come back and take us to be with him (John 14;3).

The promise of God

In Hebrew poetry the poem often gravitates around the centre.  The centre of this psalm, both structurally and theologically are the words 'you are with me.'  That promise the ultimate reason that we are not afraid.  Jesus is our Immanuel, 'God with us.'  We look forward to a new heaven and a new earth where the dwelling place of God will be amongst his people (Rev. 21:3).  As we pass through this valley of death our shepherd hold a rod and staff, to protect us and discipline us.

In his beautiful book on this Psalm, David Gibson points out that when we read of goodness and mercy following us all the days of our life it would be better translated that they 'pursue' us.  Then he says, 'He is moving forward, and they are behind him.  Sometimes, only when we look back on events will we ever be able to see the goodness and the steadfast love of the Lord in them.  If you cannot feel it now, the Lord is still with you in the valley.  He will still walk with you without fail all of your days, and one day it may be that you will look back on the worst experiences, the most dreadful time, the deepest of dark valleys, and you will be able to say, "I see it now: God's goodness and God's mercy never left me, even then."'

Conclusion

Not all of life is green pastures.  Not all of life are dark valleys.  Christians can be assured that they will dwell with the Lord for ever, and that goodness and mercy now pursue us.

'The green pastures may be the normal place, the valley of the shadow of death may be the fearful place, in front of the enemies the dangerous place, and the house of the Lord the abiding place' (Dale Ralph Davis).

What tempts you to fear?  Remember the person, path and promise of our good shepherd. 

Immanuel Psalm: 'Our sins do not cause his love to take a hit, our sin causes his love to surge forward all the more.'

Application:

Green pastures - don't forget him

Dark valleys - don't think he has abandoned you

All the time - draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

John and Betty Stam, Africa, martyred 28 and 29, 1934.  John, take away everything I have, but do not take away the sweetness of worshipping and talking with the king of glory.

   

‘This year remember there is nowhere else to turn’ (Psalm 107)

 

‘This year remember there is nowhere else to turn’ (Psalm 107)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones criticised the language of ‘decision’.  He didn’t like how people claim to have made ‘a decision’ to follow Jesus.  It’s too soft.  It’s not desperate enough.  He writes, ‘A sinner does not ‘decide’ for Christ; a sinner ‘flies’ to Christ in utter helplessness and despair … the convicted sinner no more ‘decides’ for Christ than the poor drowning man ‘decides’ to take hold of that rope that is thrown to him and suddenly provides him with the only means of escape’ (Preachers and Preaching, 280).

In this psalm we see four groups of people cry out to God in their desperation: the lonely (4), the rebellious (11), the foolish (17) and the storm-tossed (23).

1.       The lonely

The lonely are in a wasteland.  They do not have a city.  They need other people.  We are not meant to live alone.

God in His great mercy puts the lonely in families (Ps. 68:6).  He brings us to Himself and He becomes our Father.  He brings us to His people and unites us with them.  We are on our way to a city—the New Jerusalem.

Do we think of our faith in simply private terms?  Do we think of it as a ‘personal’ relationship with God?  Christianity is not a solitary faith, it is to become part of a community.  If you keep other Christian’s at an arm’s length or you have no meaningful relationship with a church community then you are being immature, at best.

2.       The rebellious

In verse 11 we see those who have rebelled against God and come to painful awareness of their guilt.  Their conscience is tortured.  These verses are a little like Psalm 32, where King David had concealed his guilt after his affair with Bathsheba.  He only found relief when he acknowledged his wrong and confessed his guilt.  Then he experienced the joy of forgiveness.

The book of James tells us that we are to confess our sins to each other.  Why each other and not just God?  I think of three reasons: confessing our sins to each other humbles us, it also makes us accountable, and then, most importantly, it gives other Christians an opportunity to remind us of the gospel.  They can assure us that because of the cross, Jesus never turns away anyone who comes to Him.

3.       The fool

The fool (17) is a particular type of rebel.  Their behaviour has them on a path to death.  We might say that they have acted with a sense of self-destruction.  Tim Keller says that these people have become self-absorbed.  But God rescues us from ourselves and shows us how to live for Him.  He saves us from our own stupidity.  ‘Lord, show me how to live for you?’    

4.       The storm-tossed

The sea is a good picture of life.  Sometimes the waters are calm, often they are not.  Those who cry out, in verse 23, are in the middle of a storm, and they are scared.  Two things are noticeable.  Firstly, that the storm is under God’s control.  He sent it (25).  Our lives are never truly out of control when our trust is in Jesus.  Secondly, He speaks and stills the storm with a word.  Surely that brings our mind to the gospels where we see Jesus doing things that God does, because He is God the Son (e.g. Mark 4:35-39). 

You may be in the middle of a storm at the moment.  Jesus might come and still that storm.  We pray for deliverance.  Or, He might come and walk with is in that storm.

As you think about this psalm are you willing to admit that you are weak?  Do you see that in our loneliness we need God’s people, we need His family and that together we are traveling to a heavenly city?  Are you willing to admit that every day we let Him down, and every day we continue to receive His grace?  Can we see that our foolish choices have left us with many messes, but that He is willing to make our paths straight?  Will we look to Him, and trust Him, even when the storms in our lives make little sense to us?

Response

How are we to respond to the God who brings the lonely to a city, forgives our rebellions, sets our paths straight and still our storms?  This psalm begins by telling us, ‘Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, His love endures forever.  Let the redeemed tell their story.’ (1).  In fact, that command to give thanks come after each of the sections in this psalm (8, 15, 21 and 31).  Then the psalm finishes saying, ‘let the wise take heed and ponder’ (43).

We are the redeemed, if we trust in Christ.  That means that God paid a great price to free us for Himself.  We have reason to be glad.

We begin by pondering His goodness.  We ask God to let this fill us with gratitude.  Then it will become natural to speak to people about His kindness.

Let the church make you happy (Psalm 133)

‘I don’t want to hear gossip about my mother.  Why?  I don’t  want to hear any gossip about her because I love her.  I wouldn’t tolerate listening to you say unfair and harsh things about her.  I will defend her.  I wouldn’t want to hear nasty things said about her even if they are true.  I don’t want to hear gossip about my mother because I love her, so what does that say about people I do listen to gossip about?  It says that I don’t truly love them!

Jesus loves the church.  He asked the church-hating Paul, ‘why do you persecute me?’  Just as I wouldn’t enjoy listening to nasty things about my mother, so Jesus doesn’t enjoy listening to ungracious things said against his people.  Jesus doesn’t want to listen to your gossip!  He never starts a conversation with the words, ‘heard any scandal lately?’

So, if we know that Jesus does not want us to be harsh and unloving, then why are we so critical of each other?  Why are we so slow to love each other?  How can we say that we love Jesus if we don’t love the people who make up his body?  Why do we attempt to hurt the body when we don’t get our way?  You can’t love Jesus if you don’t love his people.  To hurt God’s people is to wound Christ!  Psalm one hundred and thirty-three tells us how good it is when we get along.

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!  It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down the beard, running down Aaron’s beard, down the collar of his robes.  It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.  For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

One of the points being made in this psalm is that the unity of God’s people brings opposites together.  This is symbolised by the high area of Hermon in the rural north and the little hill of Zion in the urban south.  For the dew that gathered on Hermon to fall on Zion would be a miracle.  In the same way it takes a miracle to unite together people from differing races and backgrounds.  One of the best things about this church fellowship is the fact that we have such a mixture of ages and nationalities.  We have over twenty language groups in this fellowship.  That is something to be celebrated.  As we live in love we become fragrant and good, like the precious oil of ancient times, like oil running down the High Priest Aaron’s beard.   So let us ‘be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace’ (Ephesians 4:2-3).

How do we deal with difficult people in this church?

How do you deal with the fact that there will be people in this fellowship that you struggle to like?  The solution is not simply to pack your bags and go to a church where the people are nicer.  It won’t be long before you find difficult people there too.  Besides, if you spend your life running away from those who get on your nerves you are not going to become very mature.

Begin by praying for them.  I remember a lecturer of pastoral care in college pointing out that it is very difficult to hate someone that you are praying regularly for.  David Murray writes, ‘Prayer never changes God.  It sometimes changes the person we are praying for.  It always changes us.’

Have a humble attitude towards them.  My dad used to tell me to try to learn something new from everyone I met.  Such thinking implies that people have things to teach us.  We see such humility in the Apostle Paul’s command to consider other people more important than ourselves.  ‘When you are in a group and people start pulling down another Christian, why not suggest areas of the person’s life and character that show the work of Christ in him or her?’ (David Murray).  Also, remember that the grace that covers their flaws is the same grace that covers yours.  What an amazing God we have who loves people like them.  Of course, what an amazing God I have that loves someone as irritating as me.

Do you ever find that you are most critical of the failings in others that you are most tempted towards?  I am most critical of preachers who promote themselves because I want to promote myself.  Sometimes we are hard on those who struggle with our failings because when I find someone worse than myself, it makes me feel superior.  Maybe I can’t stand someone else’s gossip or pride because it is so much like my own gossip and pride.  When you see your sins in other people thank God that he forgives both them and you.

In his book on happiness, David Murray tells us to springboard from Christians to Christ.  I think this is ingenious.  ‘When you are tempted to start mulling over someone’s imperfection, instead think of the opposite perfection in Jesus.’  So you are troubled by the fact that someone has a harsh or dishonest tongue, praise Jesus for the fact that his words were ‘full of grace and truth.’  If someone is proud and always wants to push themselves forward, remember how Jesus took the nature of a servant to live and die for us.  Someone is always going on about their children; remember how your heavenly Father delights in you as one of his.  Someone lives to get rich; remember how Christ, being rich, became poor for us.  ‘There is no sin found in a Christian that cannot act as a springboard to Christ and His beautiful holiness’ (Murray).     

How should we think about other churches?

Christ cares nothing for our denominational divisions.  He wants all his diverse people to be united.  This is what he prayed for the night before he was crucified.  How do we think about the other churches?  I will focus simply on some of the church’s that we are most familiar with in this city. 

Stop comparing:  Is this the church that God has led you too?  If so, stop comparing it with other churches.  Other churches may have better facilities, better speakers, better children’s ministry or have a better band.  Other churches may even have nicer people.  However, this is the preacher, the people, the facilities and the band in the church God has led you too.  You need good reasons, not just selfish reasons, to break away from one church fellowship to join another.  If he wanted us to have more talented leaders or different people, he would have given them to us.  Encourage people grow in their gifts, but don’t demand that they become someone they are not.

Stop competing:  Abundant Life has a brand new building and Elevate continues to grow.  We should be glad about these things.  These are our sister churches.  It is wonderful to co-operate with the New Testament Church and Mallow Street in Axis.  We are all a part of the family of God.  There is something spiritually sick when we want our church to be better than other churches.  There is something wrong with us when we are jealous of things in other churches.  We don’t want to encourage people to go from church to church, but if someone were to leave us and join another evangelical church that really is no big deal.  We are seek to see the God in other churches, just as we are to seek to see God in other Christians, and we are to delight when they prosper and grieve when struggle.

Conclusion

You might want church to be perfect.  But maybe the perfect church wouldn’t help you grow.  You see you won’t become more patient if there is no-one close to you who tests your patience.  You won’t become more tolerant if everything is always done the way you want it. 

The happy Christian is happy with their church.  But how do we become happier with your church? 

It is largely about how you think.  Do you simply see the faults in other people, or do you see the graces that God has given them?  When you see that other Christians are imperfect, do we celebrate the gracious God who loves imperfect people like us?  When the church lacks gifts in certain areas, are you content that if God wanted people with those gifts he would have given them to us?

God has called us into a wonderful, diverse community that he has supernaturally bonded.  We love these people because God first loved us.  Gossip, complaint, argumentativeness and back-biting not only reveal a lack of love for God’s people, it suggests that we are not allowing God’s love transform our hearts.  Remember what these people mean to God.  They are the apple of his eye, the friends of Christ, his brothers and sisters and even part of his body. 

So focus on the God of infinite patience who delights over a flawed person like you.  Mediate on the God who went to such lengths to bring you into the true fellowship of the church.  Ask his Spirt to produce within you the fruit of love, patience and self-control.  Please God as you get pleasure from his people!