Satisfaction

Lectionary readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter.

Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30

TEXT: Psalm 23

LISTENING TO THE TEXT

This psalm is probably the best known and most oft quoted portion of the Hebrew Scriptures. Many people in our congregations could quote it word for word. And that's too bad. It's too bad in the sense that so often when we know a passage of scripture well we stop hearing it. The challenge of working with a passage like the 23rd Psalm for preaching is in really hearing it again for the first time. One scholar expresses it this way, "It is almost pretentious to comment on this psalm. The grip it has on spirituality is deep and genuine. It is such a simple statement that it can bear its own weight without comment." So here we are trying to preach from it.

The images of Psalm 23 are so simple and yet they touch something deep within our hearts. These words connect with the longing that we have to be cared for and loved by one greater than ourselves. The satisfaction for which our hearts long seems very elusive in our kind of world. So what does it take to experience true satisfaction? The psalmist discovered that when you find your satisfaction in the love and care of God, then the priorities and desires of life are set right, and genuine satisfaction comes.

ENGAGING THE TEXT
THE NEED

Our culture is constantly asking us, "Are you satisfied?" The expected and appropriate answer to that question is, "No. Regardless of where I am in life and what I have achieved, it would somehow be wrong to be satisfied. There is always one more level that is higher, better, faster, bigger, newest, latest - more!"

The message is sometimes subtle and sometimes obvious. We have been well trained by a consumer culture to think we always need more. Our culture plays on a constant sense of vague unrest that makes us question everything about our lives. This impacts Christians. God's people are often enticed by the culture of acquisition. The question that the simplicity of Psalm 23 forces us to ask is, "In a world of everything, is God enough for you?"

GOD'S ANSWER

The psalmist expresses our need for rest and renewal. That's a need that our world recognizes at some level but usually tries to answer with mechanisms for escape. God does not offer escape from the world but freedom from its values.
The writer speaks of our need for guidance and the wisdom to make right choices. Again, our world understands that need at some level. But God offers more than self-help or gurus. He offers more than the shaping of my human will but the infusion of His divine will.

The psalm talks about our need for confidence in the face of death. God does not offer the insane pursuit of immortality like the world does, but the promise of his presence all the way.

OUR RESPONSE

As we begin to see the difference between how our culture offers satisfaction and how God offers satisfaction, the response becomes pretty clear. This isn't a matter of my work and my effort. This is a matter of surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. This is a matter of seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness so that all other things are added as He sees fit (Matthew 6:33).

Psalm 23 is a contemporary call to repent from this world's way of achieving happiness and instead turn to the genuine satisfaction that comes in a life of total trust.

PREACHING THE TEXT

The first hurdle to cross in preaching from this familiar text is precisely its familiarity. One way to get at this is to first approach the trouble to which this text points from observations about how our culture breeds dissatisfaction. Did you see the computer commercial showing the guy who had just purchased the newest, fastest computer available? He was so proud, driving home with his arm around the new computer box. Then he saw a billboard going up to advertise the next generation of even faster, better machines. Suddenly he wasn't so proud of his new purchase. That's an image of what it's like to live in a society like ours.

The basic question needs to be raised about how living in this kind of environment impacts our sense of spiritual satisfaction. I used the question, "In a world of everything, is God enough for you?" Then the psalm can be approached, realizing that the writer speaks to elicit faith in a God who provides everything that I really need.
The wonderful provisions of God expressed here can be connected to the real life needs that our hearers experience. We need rest, renewal, guidance, confidence, and hope. God provides peace, freedom, wisdom, and the promise of everlasting life. The call is to trust God's provision rather than the meager solutions this world offers.