✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum
Psalm 23; 33,5b.12a 2717
Miserikordias Domini (2. Sonntag nach Ostern) 037
Eutropius, Bishop of Saintes, France. Martyr middle of the 3rd c.
30. April 2017
1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, who of Your Fatherly goodness has been mindful of us poor, miserable sinners, and has given Your Beloved Son to be our Shepherd, not only to nourish us by His word, but also to defend us from sin, death and the devil: We beseech You, grant us Your Holy Spirit, so that, even as this Shepherd does know us and succor us in every affliction, we also may know Him, and, trusting in Him, seek help and comfort in Him, from our hearts obey His voice and obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One True God, world without end. Amen. (Veit Dietrich for Misericordias Domini).
2. The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord, Hallelujah. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, Hallelujah. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
3. Misericordias Domini is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday as that is the theme in today’s Gospel lection. Thus today’s Introit: »The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.« The liturgical season of Easter comforts us by proclaiming: Christ’s resurrection is the wondrous sign/miracle that God steadfastly loves you and that He blesses you.
4.» The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.« The long-lasting effect of the King James Version of the Bible (1611) still makes the powerful mark in many English-speaking Christians who know Psalm 23 by heart in the King James’ Version’s poetic language. The psalm begins by affirming the Lord’s Divine Providence upon His people: we shall not want. This is 1. Article thinking in Lutheran theology. The 1. Articles in both the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds confess God’s creative activity. He made us, cares for us and provides for us. He is not some Deistic Watchmaker who is removed from our lives except to wind us up or provide some minor repairs from time to time. This is not the God found in Holy Scripture. The God of our Scriptures is an immanent, hands on God who relates to His creation as our Father.
5. »He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters.« The Psalmist here is describing the ordinary activities of a shepherd. What applies to sheep, applies to people. How the people in the Bible regarded their sheep and goats is akin to how we regard dogs and cats: they are pets and part of the family. Having a pet is like herding sheep, goats or cattle: you need to be attentive, provide discipline and guidance as well as care for the basic needs of the animals. The first thing the Psalmist tells us is: take opportunities to lie down and rest from the stress and fast-paced world we live in. This is why the Lord commands us to take a day off and devote ourselves to worshipping Him. We need both a physical and a spiritual time to rest, and this rest is ultimately found in Jesus Himself. »Draw near to Me, all you who labor and hare heavy laden, for I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light« (Matthew 11,28-30). Jesus Himself rested in His grave after His redemptive work upon the cross had been finished. His light and easy yoke is the gospel of His Resurrection: After we take our final earthly rest, Jesus will raise us up refreshed and renewed.
6. »He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.« The Lord salvation plan is the restoration of mankind. To restore our soul is to forgive our sin, bear our guilt, purge away our original sin and to bring rest to our troubled conscience. Christ did these very things for us with His death and resurrection. The path of righteousness leads us from the cradle in Bethlehem to the cross outside Jerusalem and the empty tomb in the garden. This righteous path ends at the gates of heaven. Beyond those pearly gates the angelic choir beckons us with this hymn: »Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created. Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe, language, people and nation, and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth« (Revelation 4,8.11; 5,9-10).
7. »Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.« Our final journey to God’s heavenly presence culminates with our death. Many fear death as the great unknown, the undiscovered country, that waits to greet us. The Psalmist, however, assures us that death is only a shadowy vale and Jesus shepherds us through it. He Himself broke the bonds of death and escaped the cold clasp of the grave with the very keys to Death and Hades. With these keys He holds at bay every evil, wielding them as a rod and staff, so that He leads us through every valley of darkness that threatens to overwhelm us.
8. »Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.« Jesus told us: »In My Father’s house are many rooms, and I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, then I will return and take you so that you may be where I am, for I am the Way, the Truth and the Life« (John 14,2-3.6). Part and parcel with this is that Jesus is now preparing a table before Him. This welcoming reception will heap coals upon the heads of our enemies, our heads will be anointed and our cup overflowing. This supper is the coronation first of Jesus where He transitions from the crown price to the king of all creation. His enemies are defeated, we are anointed as sons and daughters of the King and the feasting never ends.
9. »Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.« This is the blessing that G the Father pours upon His children. First, it is a blessing from His Divine Providence that He supplies all our temporal needs. Second, it is a blessing from His Divine loving-kindness expressed in its fullness in His Only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Thus, the Apostle Paul begins his epistles with the greeting: »Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.« This was not merely a stock greeting for Paul to his congregations, but rather it was a greeting meant to remind those churches that God’s goodness and mercy are our blessing solely on account of Christ Jesus. He blesses us temporally and spiritually, therefore our life, yes all the days of our life, are good for God is our Father and Jesus is our Savior. The culmination of the divine blessing is to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
10. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He has redeemed us, purchased our forgiveness and opened up heaven to us. He gives us this promise: »My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one« (John 10,27-30). Jesus is the living personification of His Father’s merciful heart. Rightly does John the Apostle and Evangelist call Jesus the Word who is God and who is of God and who has been made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1,1.14). Jesus is the Misericordia Domini, the Mercy of the Lord, for by His death and resurrection we have the mercy of God the Father. Amen.
13. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd, send forth the Holy Spirit to gather the lost and give them faith unto life everlasting. Amen.
To God alone be the Glory
Soli Deo Gloria
✠
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
All quotations from the Book of Concord are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 12. Edition © 1998 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
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