Hymn for the Fourth Week of Advent: My Shepherd will supply my need

Transcription

1 Andrew Scales Advent Meditation: The Shepherd December 14, 2011 Hymn for the Fourth Week of Advent: My Shepherd will supply my need My Shepherd will supply my need, Jehovah is His name, In pastures fresh He makes me feed beside the living stream; He brings my wandering spirit back when I forsake His way, And leads me for His mercy's sake in paths of truth and grace. When I walk through the shades of death His presence is my stay, One word of His supporting grace drives all my fears away; His hand in site of all my foes doth still my table spread, My cup with blessings overflows, His oil anoints my head. The sure provisions of my God attend me all my days; Oh, may Thy house be my abode and all my work be praise; There would I find a settled rest, while others go and come; No more a stranger nor a guest, but like a child at home. Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 23 Prayer for the Fourth Week of Advent: Almighty God, Shepherd of our souls, we thank you for loving us. We turn away from you and become lost in the ways of this world. We listen to voices that are not yours; we chase after our own desires. And then, after long stretches of wandering on our own, we suddenly sense your absence and cry out like frightened sheep. Though we might forget you, you never forget us. You have sent your son, Jesus, into this world to find us and draw us back to you. You have saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of your mercy. And so, we pray and ask that you would give us words of Good News to cry out, sharing your love and vision for a hurting world. Amen. Meditation for Sunday, December 18, 2011 Isaiah 40:1-2 Comfort, O Comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jersualem,

2 and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the LORD s hand double for all their sins. It has been a long time since the chosen people have heard from their God. For years, the people of Israel plugged their ears to the prophets cries against selfishness. Remodeling the house and throwing great parties mattered more to them than pursuing acts of compassion for the poor (Is. 5:8-13). They have sold out the righteous and the needy for fashionable shoes (Amos 2:6). They have trusted anything that is not God for security and peace (Is. 2:5-8). The people of Judah find themselves undone after years of playing games in politics and stomping on the poor of their own country. A superpower has torn their mansions to the ground, burned up their houses of worship, and carted them off to their foreign capital as slaves. They have become the kind of afflicted persons whom they once disdained. And there they have remained for seventy years, wondering whatever happened to their God. But now, a word of Good News has come. This word is not a warning of more judgment, or a heaping up of guilt, or a litany of past sins. The nightmare is over. God has not abandoned them after all; the Lord of heaven and earth will rebuild them as His people. It s time to go home. There are times in our lives when we feel God s absence. Sometimes those seasons come because of things out of our control: a terrible illness, the loss of a family member, a new round of downsizing at work. Then there are times when we have lost touch with God through our own doing: neglecting disciplines of prayer; giving in to temptations that set us at odds with God and neighbor; filling our lives with busyness so that we never pause to reflect on who we are, and whose we are. But God does not forget us. God s love and mercy are constant, always seeking to reconcile. The best truth-tellers, the truest prophets, are able to call us back to God while also hearing God s love in the words, Comfort, O comfort my people! Where could we find comfort, unless we discover it in you, O God? Your promises are true and right, and your love for us is everlasting. We ask that your Holy Spirit calm our souls when tragedies beyond our control befall us. We pray that your Word stir the embers of contrition in our hearts when sin and neglect of you are the cause of our distress. During this Advent season, we see and give thanks that the tenderness of Christ s love unfolds in our hearts and our world. Amen.

3 Monday, December 19, 2011 Isaiah 40:3-5 3 A voice cries out: In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. God of the prophets, you have sent your people to speak truth and proclaim Good News to us all. Help us to proclaim your Good News today, to prepare the way of the Lord in Advent through our words and actions. May we rejoice when we see you at work, transforming our world by your love. We give thanks for your Son, who has revealed your goodness and mercy. Amen. Tuesday, December 20, 2011 Isaiah 40:6-8 6 A voice says, Cry out! And I said, What shall I cry? All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades; when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. What shall we cry, Lord God? That we are invincible? That we can do all things without any help? That we will not face failure in life if we simply work hard enough? That we will live forever? Forgive us, Maker of heaven and earth, for we have deceived ourselves. Our trust, and our dependence lies in you alone. We will not live forever. We cannot do everything on

4 our own. We will fade away like the flowers of the field. All of us are like grass that withers. But your word stands forever, Almighty God. Your promise is not death, but life. You have given us your Son, so that we might rise again on that new Day. You cause us to flourish as the persons you want us to be, even as you put to death what you will not allow to remain in us. So we are constantly fading away, but also a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come. For these blessings we rejoice! Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Isaiah 40:9 9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, Here is your God! The city was abandoned and lost, O Redeemer of your people. Zion lay in ruins, forgotten and deserted. Jerusalem s streets were overgrown, its remnant left destitute. Nearly everyone had left, never expecting to return. Some of our own cities have been abandoned and lost. Children attend schools in the ghetto without proper books or meals. Gang violence and drugs dominate entire neighborhoods and city quarters. Even police officers are afraid of some districts. But you lift up the city, O God, and tell us not to fear. You will do a new thing in our communities, lifting up the poor and downtrodden. You will raise up servants who seek justice and peace on our streets, just as you did in ancient times. May we have the privilege of such a calling. We are not worthy to stand on the mountaintop and shout the good news of your deliverance. But you are calling, and we who have ears ask for the change of heart to hear. Thursday, December 22, 2011 Isaiah 40: See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

5 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep. God, you do not leave us alone, but provide us with our daily bread. Your care sustains us all the days of our life. Help us to live in a way that is grounded in thankfulness for your provision. May our gratitude not be limited to feelings of goodwill, but made real through works of love toward our neighbor. You have given us what is most precious to you in Jesus Christ; help us also to turn to others with generosity. Amen. Friday, December 23, 2011 Ezekiel 34:11-12, For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. Merciful God, your flock has been scattered throughout the world. Some Christians live in fear of persecution, and are cut off from community. Some of us have split apart your fold by our own spirit of division. Some of us have turned away on our own, forsaking your flock for something else. But you seek after us, and do not rest until we are reunited with you. You even came as one of us, strengthening the weak, binding up the injured, calling the lost back to you. Thank you for not giving up on us. Help us also to withhold judgment from brothers and sisters, trusting that all things are in your hands. Amen. Saturday, December 24, 2011 John 10:14-16 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

6 Jesus, you know the hearts of each one of us. You have seen our desires, our needs, our sins, and our hopes. You have called us, not because of who we are, but because of who you are: the good shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep. We praise you for calling all people to your fold, welcoming fellow human beings from distant lands, foreign languages, and different cultures. Help us to hold up these differences as reasons to rejoice. Bless your church, Lord Christ, with the spirit of inclusion this world so sorely needs. Show us how to love without condition, just as you have loved us. Amen.