Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
Life is an ever changing journey.
As we walk along
life’s way, there will be times of tranquility and contentedness.
And there will be
times of trial and conflict that test our souls.
For some, this
journey through times of darkness and light seems to be a daily experience, a
constant companion that shapes life.
For others, life
is more predictable. More stable. And hardship rarely shows itself.
Still for others,
each day is marked by almost constant struggles for life itself.
Psalm 23 speaks
to this journey of life.
It is in three
parts.
First it speaks
of trust, recalling God’s care for us.
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;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name's sake.
These are words
of assurance, in which the Psalmist, David, speaks about God, and all
that God has done for us.
The purpose of
these words is to encourage us to trust in the Lord for the time is coming when
we will need to have such faith.
In the next
section of the Psalm, the grammar itself changes.
No longer does
David speak about the Lord, he is speaking to the Lord.
It is a prayer in
time of need.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
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.
We are more
familiar with the older version which speaks of “the valley of the shadow of
death”.
David also lifts
up the concern about our enemies, those adversaries that would undo us and the
evil that threatens us.
It is here that
each of our experiences of life may be quite unique, and yet common to one
another as well.
We all will face
our challenges in life. That we have in
common.
But each of our
journeys will be different.
For some the
challenges of life may come early, even in childhood, with the various forces
of evil that assail us, from poverty to abuse or deprivation.
And for others,
we may escape many of life’s challenges until the end, when we must face the
final foe, death itself, and from that there is no escape.
And the prayer is
this: “I fear no evil; for you are with me; “
Having prayed to
the Lord during his time of trial, David concludes with hope and assurance.
6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all
the days of my life,
and I
shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my
whole life long.
This is the journey of faith.
We begin by
remembering all that the Lord has done for us.
Then we call out
to the Lord during our times of trial.
And we look
forward in hope to the end of our suffering.
The constant
throughout all of this is the assurance that God is by our side, present with
us at all times, in all places.
Throughout my
past, the Lord has been with me.
The Lord is with
me now.
And I will dwell
in the house of the Lord, forever.
And nothing else
matters.
Remember.
Pray.
And Hope.
This is the journey
of faith.
One of the things
I experience at this time in my life is a certain degree of anxiety with
respect to our financial security.
I have just a few
more years until I hope to retire.
I envision
retiring from the cabinet shop first, and then, when the time is right retiring
from ministry down the road a bit.
The anxiety is
quite simple. Am I adequately prepared
for retirement? Adding to that anxiety
is the simple fact that there is very little time left to make any substantial
changes in my retirement portfolio.
Sure, I hope to build up a bit more savings, but my pensions are pretty
much what they will be. Will it be
enough?
Faced with that
uncertainty, we begin by remembering.
Karla and I
started out our marriage during college.
We didn’t have
much.
Looking back at
it, I remember a number of things.
One of our
wedding gifts was a collection of coffee mugs, and bless them, also a three
pound can of coffee. I say bless them
because coffee was expensive for us.
In order to
minimize the cost we used to percolate the coffee. Then, instead of dumping the grounds out
before the making the next pot, we’d simply refresh them, putting in another
tablespoon or so, and making another pot.
We’d do this until the basket was full of grounds, and then, we’d empty
them and start over again.
I also remember
the struggles during seminary.
Karla got paid
twice a month, and as a secretary those wages were not great.
One of her
paychecks was not sufficient to pay the rent.
Rent cost us more than half of what our monthly income was. And so life was a constant scramble.
The one thing I’ll
say about those four years was that tax time was a delight, because Minnesota
had rent subsidies. The landlord would
pay the property taxes, and then the renter would receive a refund based on
your income level. It was support like
this that sustained us.
Remember.
What I remember
now is that throughout all the uncertainty, we never were in want. We had what we needed.
Throughout our
life together those experiences of our youth continue to provide us with a
reason to trust in the Lord regarding our current situation.
Another memory.
When I received
my first call to be the pastor of Our Savior’s Lutheran in Thompson Falls, I
thought that finally, after the years struggling in seminary, we’d have a
degree of financial security.
Then I saw the
offerings on Sunday morning.
I ran the numbers
through my head and quickly realized that they were not giving enough to pay my
salary. And yet, we survived.
Somehow we
survived once again.
Throughout our
lives we’ve experienced a variety of financial challenges. Major expenses. A time of disability. Changes in vocation. You name it.
We remembered how
we made it through in the past.
We prayed.
And we hoped.
The journey of
faith.
And so now, I
face the uncertainty of retirement with the conviction that if we could make it
through those early years of our marriage when we had nothing, we’ll make it
through our later years as well, because God will be with us.
It’s that simple.
And if God is
with us, nothing else will matter.
Ok, well, I do
hope that I’ll never have to go back to reusing coffee grounds to brew a pot of
coffee.
I actually hope
that I’ll be able to afford a Mocha now and then, as well.
And I hope that I’ll
be able to make our mortgage payments. I’ll
be paying on the house until I’m 85, part of the problem of having lived in a
parsonage most of my career.
But regardless
what happens, we have the assurance that God will be with us throughout our
time on this earth, that he will never forsake us, and that even if we
experience hardship or peril, he will see us through.
Remember how God
has been with you in the past.
Pray for his
support today.
And look forward
in hope to the goodness and mercy of God that will follow you all the days of
your life.
This is the life
of faith.
Amen
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