{"id":1912,"date":"2012-05-04T01:21:02","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T08:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/?p=1912"},"modified":"2012-05-09T19:37:54","modified_gmt":"2012-05-10T02:37:54","slug":"2012%e5%b9%b44%e6%9c%8829%e6%97%a5%e8%81%96%e9%9c%8a%e9%99%8d%e8%87%a8%e5%be%8c%e7%ac%ac3%e4%b8%bb%e6%97%a5%e8%81%96%e9%a4%90%e7%a4%bc%e6%8b%9d%e8%aa%ac%e6%95%99the-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/?p=1912","title":{"rendered":"2012\u5e744\u670829\u65e5\u8056\u970a\u964d\u81e8\u5f8c\u7b2c3\u4e3b\u65e5\u8056\u9910\u793c\u62dd\u8aac\u6559\u201dThe Good Shepherd” \u5cb8\u91ce\u8c4a\u7267\u5e2b"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0\u201cThe Good Shepherd\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.\u00a0 Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a pure guess, but two of the most loved Bible verses are the following: the first is from the Gospel of John 3:16, which is \u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life\u201d.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

And the other one was written by King David almost 3,000 years ago called Psalm 23 that begins by saying, \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd.\u00a0 I shall not want.\u00a0 He makes me to lie down in green pastures.\u00a0 He leads me beside the still waters.\u00a0 He restores my soul.\u00a0 He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name\u2019s sake.\u00a0 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will feel no evil for you are with me.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

This is beautiful English and it almost sounds like a poem, but for me this King James English is difficult to understand.\u00a0 So every time I have difficulty understanding the Old English Version, I read the translation through either the Bible called– Today\u2019s Revised Standard Version Bible or The Good News Bible.\u00a0 The following is Psalm 23 by the Good News Bible or another name for this Bible is The Good News for Modern Men. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Close your eyes and Listen.\u00a0 \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd; I have everything I need.\u00a0 He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water.\u00a0 He gives me new strength.\u00a0 He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised.\u00a0 Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me.\u00a0 Your shepherd\u2019s rod and staff protect me.\u00a0 You prepare a banquet for me, where all my enemies can see me; you welcome me as an honored guest and fill my cup to the brim.\u00a0 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life; and your house will be my home as long as I live.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today as well as throughout the years of history , hundreds and millions of people read and have read these Bible verses over and over again, especially when we are in need of comfort and assurance that God is with us, loving us, guiding us and comforting us.\u00a0 The following story is from my internship experience when I was a seminarian in 1977 in the city of Lebanon, PA which is not too far from the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My supervisor, Pastor Wilson Hoyer, was Pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, the congregation had about one thousand members.\u00a0\u00a0 Pastor Hoyer asked me to visit the elderly members 3 days a week and give them communion in their homes and the nursing home. There were about 200 people in this congregation who could not attend Sunday worship due to poor and declining health.\u00a0 And at any given time there were about one dozen members in the local hospitals who we visited on a regular basis.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Initially, when I visited these elderly people I was not quite sure how to carry on a conversation with them. Many of them were widows and widowers who were looking forward to having their supportive family members and friends visit them.\u00a0 However, many of these people had little to no family members visit them.\u00a0 They were lonely.\u00a0 Sometimes they were desperately lonely.\u00a0 So they were glad to have a visitor and to see me, their Student Pastor. But, when I first approached them many did not know what to make of this Japanese Intern Pastor.\u00a0 Some even told me that they were in the war and they fought with the \u201cJaps\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0A beautiful thing always seemed to happen with each of my visits and that was that conversation just flowed and flowed and time passed so quickly as we got to learn about each other. And at the end of my visit, we would celebrate communion together and before I would leave them I assured them that Jesus truly loved them and that they would never be alone because Jesus was always with them and would never ever leave them.\u00a0 One old man told me with a loving smile that he would have never guessed that he would be sharing communion with a \u201cJap\u201d Pastor.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout my internship year I visited these folks many times, and they would tell me how much they looked so forward to receiving Communion.\u00a0 I would say–This is the Body of Christ given for you.\u00a0 This is the Blood of Christ Shed for you.\u00a0 Then I would often see tears welling up in their eyes.\u00a0 I was often moved by their simple devotion of the Lord Jesus and I too often would shed my tears with them.\u00a0 Those who know me well, know that I am a person who can cry easily when I am touched and moved by emotions, and I am not ashamed about this.\u00a0 That\u2019s just me. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Now\u2026There are two tools that Shepherd\u2019s use while tending to their SHEEP. \u00a0The first tool is called a \u201cstaff\u201d.\u00a0 Well. What is a Shepherd\u2019s \u201cStaff\u201d?\u00a0 It is a wooden stick often made out of the branch of a tree and is shaped like a walking stick but it has a hook, like the letter \u201cC\u201d on the top of it.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

A shepherd lovingly reaches his \u201cstaff\u201d down into a hole and slips the staff under the sheep\u2019s leg and gently pulls the sheep out of the hole where the sheep has fallen.\u00a0 And we, people, are like sheep.\u00a0 We get into holes during our lives, and God is forever pulling us out of our holes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The second tool of the Shepherd is the Shepherd\u2019s voice, and his voice is important to the sheep.\u00a0 Over time, the sheep get to know the shepherd\u2019s voice.\u00a0 By the way, the sheep of the Bible were not raised for their meat or to be eaten, but they were raised for their wool.\u00a0 The sheep were part of the family and many lived for twenty to twenty five years.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The sheep were treated like pets, often had names and became part of the family.\u00a0 The point is that, sheep had identities and they were all known by the Shepherd\u2014every one of them.\u00a0 And likewise with you, the Bible guarantees us that we all have a name and God knows each of our names. \u00a0Yes, our God, is the Good Shepherd, who knows our very name and our own personal needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Old Testament, \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd\u201d refers to God.\u00a0 In the New Testament, \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd\u201d refers to Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go onto the next phrase. \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd.\u00a0 I shall not want.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 King David wrote this Psalm when he was in his old age and when he was no longer wanting for anything.\u00a0 As a young man today, King David would have wanted the equivalent of our cars, boats, houses, and electric gear and technology.\u00a0 He wanted all the latest gadgets and things of his time in history.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the way it is, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 We get a house and we fill it up with gadgets, things and junk and then we want even more junk.\u00a0 How many of us do not have enough room in the storage areas in our homes, or enough room in our closets or in our garages?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Someone said, \u201cYou spend the early portion of your life stuffing yourself, your closets, and your garages with things, junk and stuff. Then you reach the middle age of your life and then move into a smaller house and you sell or get rid of some more of your junk.\u00a0 We call them \u201cgarage sales\u201d, but they are really junk sales and you are so glad to unload your junk and get rid of your stuff.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next, You make another move into a smaller apartment or retirement home.\u00a0 And perhaps Your children sell or keep some of your stuff and then you give all the rest away to the \u201cGood Will\u201d or you take the leftovers to the dumpster. By the end of our lives we don\u2019t have very much stuff at all.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

At the end of our lives, hopefully, the wealth that we have around us is no longer material things but the wealth of the love from your husband, wife, kids, grandkids, friends and loved ones who are standing gathered around your bed at the last moment of your life on this earth.\u00a0 Hopefully, by then we have learned that God\u2019s wealth is the wealth of the love of people around us.\u00a0\u00a0 This is what we eventually learn from life: We learn that–The TRUE happiness of life does not come from material things but from our human relationships.\u00a0 Happiness does not come from the accumulation and piles of things but happiness comes from the depth of our relationships.\u00a0\u00a0 Isn\u2019t this the lesson that the author of the Psalmist, King David is talking about?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Psalm 23 continues on and says that God makes us to lie down in green pastures.\u00a0 He leads us beside still waters and thereby restores our souls. The first thing the Shepherd does for us is that he makes us to be quiet.\u00a0 To become quiet can be a very hard thing to do for most of us who lead busy lives.\u00a0 But this is very important.\u00a0 God makes us to be quiet and thereby our spirits, our souls, our inner selves can be restored.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I ask:\u00a0 how many of you rushed to get to church today?\u00a0 We rush to school and to work.\u00a0 We rush our kids to soccer games, we rush to the next appointment and to meet clients, and sometimes we become so exhausted.\u00a0 We must examine our life and our Lifestyle.\u00a0 God is saying our souls are shriveling up because we don\u2019t take the time to honor our quiet moments and talk with him and pray with him. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Quiet time and stillness is needed in our lives so that we can reflect on God\u2019s love and blessings he has given to each one of us.\u00a0 You often hear that we are so busy that we do not take enough time to smell the roses.\u00a0 We don\u2019t take enough time to cultivate the roses and watch them grow.\u00a0 That is why God is asking each one of us to restore our spiritual lives and to take the time to pray and meditate.\u00a0 We need to take the time to RENEW OUR SPIRIT. Do you pray with your loved ones, especially with your spouse, do you take the time to pray with your children asking for God\u2019s guidance to be upon their lives?\u00a0 I am also asking myself this question.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

When we say we believe in God and the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest way we can love and honor this Good Shepherd is to share our time and our love with our family, friends, and those who still do not know God in Jesus. We also honor the Good Shepherd by the words we speak and by our actions.\u00a0 Take time TODAY to be still and RENEW YOUR SPIRIT and REFLECT on ALL the WONDERFUL Blessings \u201cTHE GOOD SHEPHERD\u201d HAS GIVEN TO EACH ONE OF US.\u00a0 Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Tweet   \u00a0\u201cThe Good Shepherd\u201d May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.\u00a0 Amen. This is a pure guess, but two of the most loved Bible verses are the following: the first is from the Gospel of John 3:16, which is \u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life\u201d.\u00a0 And the other one was written by King David almost 3,000 years ago called Psalm 23 that begins by saying, \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd.\u00a0 I shall not want.\u00a0 He makes me to lie down in green pastures.\u00a0 He leads me beside the still waters.\u00a0 He restores my soul.\u00a0 He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name\u2019s sake.\u00a0 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will feel no evil for you are with me.\u201d\u00a0 This is beautiful English and it almost sounds like a poem, but for me this King James English is difficult to understand.\u00a0 So every time I have difficulty understanding the Old English Version, I read the translation through either the Bible called– Today\u2019s Revised Standard Version Bible or The Good News Bible.\u00a0 The following is Psalm 23 by the Good News Bible or another name for this Bible is The Good News for Modern Men. \u00a0Close your eyes and Listen.\u00a0 \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd; I have everything I need.\u00a0 He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1912"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1916,"href":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1912\/revisions\/1916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/california.lcrjm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}