Sydney is lovely and for the most part peaceful and so we get lulled into the sense that it will always be lovely.
Yesterday that complacency was shaken by a self-styled Islamic cleric taking people hostage in the centre of Sydney, and then with the shootout early this morning. We ask what is God doing when he allows something like this to happen?
The Lord is my Shepherd
We need to be reminded today that in Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd.’ The Lord, the covenant God of Israel, is our personal shepherd. He cares for me/us in every situation. He is present even in the café.
Shepherd is such a lovely metaphor, so personal comprehensive and intimate. God is my creator, but he is also my shepherd.
With the Lord as my shepherd the promise is, ‘I shall not be in want.’ Some wrongly think this refers to all my material wants being met by God, but the Psalmist is speaking to my needs.
This statement is to be true for people in every country, every situation, every socio economic group, every situation. It is a passage that holds true not just for the home owner in the Hills district, but for the coffee shop customer being held by a gunman.
The Lord is my Guide
The Psalmist goes on, 2 ‘He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul.’
On the one hand the Psalmist may mean that my soul is restored, as I the rebellious sheep am bought back to the flock. But on the other hand, the Psalmist may be referring to that the Lord is tenderly looking after my soul/my life in crisis/my despair as I go through a difficult physical and psychological situation. Or it could even be that the Psalmist is referring to my Shepherd tenderly looking after me as he brings me back after sin.
My Shepherd is also my guide. He doesn’t guide me necessarily to happiness, but rather 3, ‘He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.’ I keep thinking I would be happier if nothing ever went wrong. But it’s only as my spiritual muscles are stretched by being put in difficult situations, that I can develop and grow in righteousness. I think this is what happens when we are put into hardship, whether through the actions of wicked people or through circumstances.
Significantly the Psalm says I am being guided to righteousness ‘for his name’s sake.’ I need to be reminded constantly that it is not about me, but all about God. That my going through difficulty being made more righteous, is ultimately to bring glory to His name. This is something we in Sydney need to hear again and again and again.
We need to be reminded of this guidance especially as we face death. For the promise of the Psalm is to guide us 4, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.’ Today as we confront the deaths of coffee shop customers (perhaps some of whom were friends or relatives), we are reminded that as we walk here not to fear, for God is with us, ‘I will fear no evil, for you are with me.’ God is present, with me, alongside me, ‘your rod and staff, they comfort me.’
Jesus is my Shepherd, Guide and Host
After the death, there is a promise that the Shepherd will be there again, 5, ‘You prepare a table before me.’ It is more than a table, it’s relationship. After death I am welcomed at the banquet by God to sit with him, my head amounted with oil, my cup overflowing.
Jesus says in John 10:11, ’I am the good shepherd.’ Jesus is not just a hired hand. Jesus deeply cares for his sheep. In fact Jesus goes on to say, 11, ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’ Just as someone might put their body in the way of a gunman’s bullet, Jesus lays down his life for us, he dies in our place. For spiritually all of us have rejected God, and all of us deserve God’s judgement. Our shepherd so acts to protect us that he dies for us.
Jesus is also our guide and so we follow his voice. We ask today, how to respond in a situation where someone has attacked us? When the soldiers came for Jesus, rather than engage in military battle, Jesus said, ‘Put your sword away.’ (John 18:11). The New Testament teaches us not to retaliate, but rather Jesus says ‘to turn the other cheek.’ (Matthew 5:39).
And we look forward to the day when we will meet Jesus in heaven, and have the amazing privilege of Jesus, our host, having prepared a place for us (John 14:1-3).
The real paradise
Sydney and this world are not paradise. We are longing for heaven for that, I think today more than ever.
Dominic Steele will be exploring how Christians can react spiritually to this tragedy this Sunday night at 9pm on Radio 2CH in Sydney.
