On the Way to Wonder

 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’  (Luke 16:22-26)

We started this week watching Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary.  Lazarus had died four days earlier and been buried.  Jesus tells the sisters, “I am the resurrection and the life.”  Jesus goes to the tomb and cries, “Lazarus, come forth.”  Lazarus lives.  Resurrection is a transition to a new reality we face at death, not a transformation into another type of being.  Somehow similarly to the phoenix of Harry Potter, at death our ashes resurrect to eternal life – not over and over having to grow from an ugly chick to a bird but to eternal life as a child of Christ.  We don’t exactly know what that means but there is no indication that it is a repeated life cycle but a transition to a new reality.

We don’t have Biblical stories telling us much about eternity but we do have the story Jesus told about another Lazarus who was a poor man begging at the gate of a rich man.  Both died.  The rich man went to hades for whatever reason is not disclosed.  Lazarus is envisioned standing at Abraham’s side.  Jesus had not died for sin yet so the gates of heaven were not open but the righteous dead are understood to be standing with Abraham in Paradise.  The rich man is pictured suffering and asking Abraham to send Lazarus to his assistance.  Both men are alive and recognizable as themselves.  Jesus was recognizable after his resurrection.  They are resurrected or alive, not living in a higher or lower life form as a reward for their deeds.

Abraham speaks.  Lazarus is no longer a begger to be sent to help the rich man.  His eternal life, his resurrected existence is one without pain, with respect, standing with the heroes of the faith.  I find that encouraging as we think about resurrection.  Resurrection is not cyclical like a phoenix nor reincarnation in some eternal cycle of life but it is God bringing us into a rewarding life in community.  Thank you for that glimpse, Lord.  Blessings as you stand with loved ones dying, knowing that there will be a resurrection and reunion in the future.  A wonderful promise and something to look forward to as we grieve the separation.

Today was a teary day and my friend encouraged me.  We talked about Jesus saying that he IS the resurrection and the life after his friend Martha cried, “If you had been here my brother would not have died.”  She knew her brother would rise at the last day, at the resurrection, but she had not tied that to Jesus who is the resurrection.  My friend asked, “How did Martha know?”  Biblegateway.com does not reference “resurrection” being mentioned in the Old Testament.  I jokingly responded that there must have been two trains of religious thought because there were Sadducees (religious scholars who were sad-you-see because they did not believe in the resurrection, in after life) and Pharisees who did believe that God was the God of Abraham, Issac  and Jacob who were alive in “the bosom of Abraham.”  My friend referred me to Matthew West’s song, “Wonderful  Life.”

  It’s a ballad about a man who has ALS who embraces the highs and lows of life but he confesses that even though this life is hard, this life is not all there is.  There is resurrection where he’ll be listening to the ballad being sung by his friend.

  Resurrection is a reality of a life after death that we look forward to but it is also a reality that breaths hope into today.  The song encouraged me and I pray it will encourage you.  Blessings.

True confessions.  My alarm goes off at about 6:30 am and the challenge of the day begins.  After 47.5 years of marriage, after I had always shared a bedroom with my sister or college friends or work buddies, I now must recreate myself in this new phase of life called widowhood.  Life is just not the same after….   You can fill in your blank.  It may be a disfiguring accident, a new job, an empty marriage, a move or whatever challenge you are facing.  What helps us face the day and live into our future?

I think something that helps me face into today is hidden in the promise of “resurrection” that Jesus promises when he says, “I am the resurrection and the life,” in John 11:25.  When faced with the death of a dream, I find it challenging to face forward and not just wallow in sorrow.  Mornings offer a new day.  I may still need to mop up my messes from yesterday and I may still have to live into the reality of widowhood but the sunrise symbolizes resurrection and hope of new life for me.

Each morning I look out my bedroom window to see if the sunrise is breaking.  Each day it is different depending on the weather.  I confess I always hope it will be one of those spectacular orange and purple sunrises that appears and gradually lightens to the new day.  Each sunrise is different and each day is different and offers the hope of resurrection.  Sometimes it is foggy and I cannot see the road in front of my cottage not to mention that I cannot see the lake on the other side of the road.  Life is like that.

Resurrection is the promise that life does go on even when death feels so real.  Jesus conquered death.  Death does not have the final word.  The sunrise speaks to the potential of the day with all its different colors and shades.

  Perhaps the sunrise does not symbolize resurrection to you. Perhaps you would prefer to think of the bud of a flower, or the smile of a baby, or the opening of your email with the hope of a note from a loved one.  Let’s think today what might be your “sunrise” moment that reminds you that Jesus is the resurrection from the deaths of yesterday and the hope of life for today.  When you experience your prompt, whisper a prayer of thanksgiving for the promise of resurrection and life found in Jesus.   Blessings.

Christians talk about Jesus saying that he, Jesus, is the “resurrection and the life.”  

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. (John 11:25)

 We might notice the eyes of youth, perhaps our children or grandchildren, roll and that glazed look begin to appear.  But if you ask them about the fifth book of Harry Potter and the movie it generated, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” you might generate an animated conversation.

Dumbledor, the head magician at Hogwarts the school to train magicians, had a pet Phoenix, Fawkes, that was loyal to him.  Professor Dumbledore has an actual phoenix, Fawkes, who swallows an Avada Kedavra meant for Harry, dies, and returns as a “tiny, ugly, featherless” (37.20) chick at the end of Book 5.  The tears of the Phoenix were the only thing that could fight the bite  of the Basiliks, that giant snake.  Dumbledor’s phoenix was loyal to him because Dumbledore family had the most magic.

 The phoenix came out of Greek and Egyptian mythology and was an magical bird that would age, die going up in flames but then out of the ashes a chick would appear and grow, thus eternal life cycle.  The phoenix was a symbol of immortality, resurrection and life after death.  It may have arisen out of ponderings about the sun and how it rises daily, crosses the sky, disappears and then comes the next morning.  It was thought that the bird lives in Arabia near a cool well.

It is tempting to see Jesus as another “super hero” or the phoenix of his day.  Jesus does not die once in for one person like Harry Potter who deserves to be saved but he offers life to those who are already dead as sinners and do not deserve more life. Jesus does not repeatedly die but dies once for all who believe, who have a living relationship with him.

The phoenix is a starting point for bringing eternal truth to reality in our lives today.  So perhaps our question today is to ponder how the resurrection is a reality today in our lives and not just a promise about eternity.  Perhaps we might even pray for an opportunity to share this with someone who finds inspiration in the Harry Potter series!  Blessings.

 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”   (John 11:22-27)

We are looking at the seven “I am…” statements made by Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John.  Last week we pondered the Good Shepherd walking with us as we traveled through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  This week we dig deeper into that promise.

First we look at the context of the quote.  We often find Jesus with Mary and Martha, two sisters who lived in Bethany, outside Jerusalem.  Their brother was Lazarus.  Lazarus became ill and a message was sent to Jesus who did not quickly go to heal his friend but continued doing his thing, to the surprise of the disciples.  There were no ERs or zoom meetings with doctors.  The sisters were not seeking a second opinion as we are prone to do today.  Jesus was the only sure answer and he did not respond to their crisis.

  Does that sound a bit familiar?  How easy it is to think Jesus is MIA when our crisis comes and our world is caving in.  The Evil one loves to taunt us with doubts about the Lord’s concern.  So four days after Lazarus had died and been buried, Jesus appears and Martha runs to him and blurts out, “If you had been here.”  She went straight to the point.  Crises often call forth direct and blunt statements from us.  

Martha believed Jesus would receive whatever he asked for from God.  She is so close but had not totally grasped the truth yet.  Jesus was not a messenger who speaks to God.  He is God.  He is not interceding for us to be resurrected.  He is the resurrection.  There is only life as we stand in him.  I wonder how many times I need to be reminded that Jesus is the resurrection, the resolution itself of the dilemma I am in.  Jesus claims to be resurrection and the life.  Let’s do our acrostic on the word “life.”  L is for _____, I is for _____, F is for _____, and E is for _____.  Blessings.

First Reading: Isaiah 40:21-31

 ²¹Have you not known? Have you not heard?

  Has it not been told you from the beginning?

  Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

 ²²It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

  and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

 who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

  and spreads them like a tent to live in;

 ²³who brings princes to naught,

  and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

 ²⁴Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

  scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

 when he blows upon them, and they wither,

  and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

 ²⁵To whom then will you compare me,

  or who is my equal? says the Holy One.

 ²⁶Lift up your eyes on high and see:

  Who created these?

 He who brings out their host and numbers them,

  calling them all by name;

 because he is great in strength,

  mighty in power,

  not one is missing.

 ²⁷Why do you say, O Jacob,

  and speak, O Israel,

 “My way is hidden from the Lord,

  and my right is disregarded by my God”?

 ²⁸Have you not known? Have you not heard?

 The Lord is the everlasting God,

  the Creator of the ends of the earth.

 He does not faint or grow weary;

  his understanding is unsearchable.

 ²⁹He gives power to the faint,

  and strengthens the powerless.

 ³⁰Even youths will faint and be weary,

  and the young will fall exhausted;

 ³¹but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

  they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

 they shall run and not be weary,

  they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm: Psalm 147:1-11, 20c

The Lord heals the brokenhearted. (Ps. 147:3)

 ¹Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God!

  How pleasant it is to honor God with praise!

 ²The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,

  and gathers the exiles of Israel.

 ³The Lord heals the brokenhearted

  and binds up their wounds.

 ⁴The Lord counts the number of the stars

  and calls them all by their names. 

 ⁵Great is our Lord and mighty in power;

  there is no limit to God’s wisdom.

 ⁶The Lord lifts up the lowly,

  but casts the wicked to the ground.

 ⁷Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

  make music upon the harp to our God,

 ⁸who covers the heavens with clouds

  and prepares rain for the earth, making grass to grow upon the mountains. 

 ⁹God provides food for the cattle

  and for the young ravens when they cry.

 ¹⁰God is not impressed by the might of a horse,

  and has no pleasure in the speed of a runner,

 ¹¹but finds pleasure in those who fear the Lord,

  in those who await God’s steadfast love.  Hallelujah! 

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

¹⁶If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! ¹⁷For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. ¹⁸What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.

 ¹⁹For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. ²⁰To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. ²¹To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. ²³I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Gospel: Mark 1:29-39

²⁹As soon as [Jesus and the disciples] left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. ³¹He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

 ³²That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. ³³And the whole city was gathered around the door. ³⁴And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

 ³⁵In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. ³⁶And Simon and his companions hunted for him. ³⁷When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” ³⁸He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” ³⁹And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

CHILDREN’S SERMON         

      How many of you are planning to watch the SuperBowl next Sunday?  Turn to your neighbor and share your favorite Sunday afternoon activity.

Prayer:  Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you.

SERMON

      Today’s text continues on from last Sunday’s reading.  We stood with the crowds in the Temple on the Sabbath and declared an aha moment:  Jesus spoke with the authority of the author of life.  Jesus commanded Evil to be silent and it had to obey!  Wow.  It is not a battle between good and evil to see who wins my soul.  Today’s text continues talking about Jesus’ sabbath.  After church and the confrontation with the man with the evil spirit, Jesus does not sit back to watch the SuperBowl and have a restful Sabbath.  We are given a day of rest because we need it, God does not need rest. 

Last Sunday, Jesus, the written Word, the living Word, spoke and silenced Evil.  But the story continued.  Jesus left the Temple and headed to the house of Simon Peter for adult Sunday School, perhaps, where he would have a chance to explain to his disciples and us what that was about in church.

      As Jesus entered the house, he was told that Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever.  We go from a man with an unclean spirit casting doubts on the sermon to a nameless old woman at home in bed.  The contrast is interesting.  Probably lunch or food to welcome guests was not ready and people were tired.  Traditions of hospitality were upset.  I would guess there was tension in the air.  Again the predictable was interrupted by “evil,” illness in this case.  Why does our author, Mark, share this incident?   It is the beginning of Mark’s gospel and I am touched that he is showing us Jesus’ concern for even women, for an elderly woman, not at the synagogue,  a woman who may have been widowed like me and in need.  This scene enters into the dark recesses of people’s failures to be strong.

      “He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” 

 “At once” Jesus cares for Simon Peter’s  mother-in-law when he hears she is sick. We do not see Jesus confronting evil, as with the unclean spirit, by ordering silence and dismissal.   Instead we see a tender scene.  Jesus takes the sick woman by her hand.  No bull dozing into her space.  He offers his hand and then he lifts her up.  I can only imagine that  his an arm is around her shoulder to support her in a kind of hug, respecting her weakness and lifting her up.  Then the fever leaves.  Sometimes Jesus does do miracles and confronts evil with miracles but sometimes he enters our lives, gently, quietly, extending a hand, putting his arm around our shoulder and gradually helping us stand and get our balance.  God is not sitting back on some heavenly couch on Sunday, watching us through his cosmic television to see what we might need Monday when he is back on the job. Restoration and revival can happen any day of the week, in church or in our homes.  Restoration happens in direct confrontation with evil in our lives and restoration also happens in a gentle, encouraging approach as God’s hand reaches out to us, assisting us to stand, and returning us to service. Aha!  Jesus is the living Word, written and spoken, found in church and Jesus is a compassionate God that works in our relationships anywhere in life.

 ³²That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. ³³And the whole city was gathered around the door. 

      The Sabbath is ending and Jesus has not seemed to rest yet.  The people in the town are awed by Jesus’ dealing with evil in the synagogue and word of mouth carries the story.  By evening, people have gathered at Simon Peter’s home with the sick and demon possessed.  Jesus is healing “many.”  Interestingly it does not say all are healed.  Please note that going to Jesus does not guarantee healing.  Many sick are healed and many demons are cast out BUT again “he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.”  Twice we have now heard Jesus tell evil to be silent.  Interesting! Mark again challenges our concept of God.  God does not rest forgetting us on the Sabbath, withdrawing from his creation.  AND God does not want the testimony of evil to build his kingdom.  Why?

      I can imagine the comments by those cast-out spirits as they looked for a new home.  Jesus healed Jimmy, why not you?  Jesus healed Sam, and he was not as sick as you.  Jesus healed Eunice and she is not deserving like you.  Satan is called the Father of Lies and he twists the truth as do his followers.  Evil cannot be trusted for loyalty to God, cannot be trusted to understand God’s plan, and cannot be trusted to tell the truth. So Jesus again tells the evil spirits to be quiet.  Today, we may not be like the person with an unclean spirit like last week, we may not be like the sick woman healed, and we may not even be like one of the townspeople that gathered that evening, but that does not mean we don’t need healing and that God is not dealing with evil in our lives and in our world.  In all those scenarios, Jesus is willing to work and restore to life as he is true God with the power and true man with compassion for our situation.

“Everyone is searching for you.” ³⁸He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”

The next morning, Jesus is missing when more people come for help.  The news of a healer has spread and many need healing.  Success is so intoxicating and the needs of humanity are never ending.  But Jesus, “while it was still very dark, got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” For a third time this text challenges our concept of God.  When we think of God, we think of a being who knows all and is available to all.  When we think of God, we do not think of a being that is working out its solution to our situation or drawing aside to figure out how to work with us.  We think the God-man can just solve our problems for us. Jesus, true man withdraws to a deserted place and retreats into prayer.  Jesus has been tempted in all the ways people are tempted and he understands our doubts and confusing time when we need to withdraw and collect ourselves, to reconnect with the eternal and “charge our batteries.”  It could be that Jesus as true man also needed these times alone to think.  When the disciples find Jesus, they hear that the goal is not to heal the sick and cast out demons but to spread the good news that the kingdom is near.  Prayer seems to have given Jesus a clearer focus on his situation.  Aha.

      Jesus draws aside to refocus himself and refocuses his disciples.  Jesus has not come to make our life happy and comfortable. In the end people must still die.  Death by the virus is not sadder than death of a child with cancer or a mother in a car accident or a husband killed on the job.  Death is never welcome.  The wages of sin is death and we are all sinners.  Jesus has come to deal with death and to lead us to eternal life, not just to heal a temporary problem.  Jesus, and the gospel writer Mark, refocus us.  The focus is not the miracle but the miracle worker and the spreading the good news that the kingdom of God is near.

      This Sabbath we have gathered around the living word to refocus our hearts and minds.  Are we looking for a miracle today and the deliverance from evil that has a grip on us?  That would be nice!  Are we looking to be lifted up from that which holds us down and that which prevents us from serving?  That would be nice.   Are we looking for God who is present and restoring our lives every day? How wonderful if we could lay our hand on the TV or say the magic prayer and our problems would be gone.  We see today that God does not work that way.  Aha.   God does not rest nor does he grow weary.  He does not need a Sabbath, we do.  He does not always cure instantly but often offers his hand and lets us reach out as he gently lifts us up.  He does not need the testimony of evil to spread his fame.  And sometimes we think he is MIA as he silently walks with us or king out the best way to bring us to the Kingdom of Heaven.  AHA!  Let us close with the words of the prophet Isaiah.

²⁸Have you not known? Have you not heard?
 The Lord is the everlasting God,
  the Creator of the ends of the earth.
 He does not faint or grow weary;
  his understanding is unsearchable.
 ²⁹He gives power to the faint,
  and strengthens the powerless.
 ³⁰Even youths will faint and be weary,
  and the young will fall exhausted;
 ³¹but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
  they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
 they shall run and not be weary,
  they shall walk and not faint.”

And the people of God said, AMEN!

Psalm 23

This week we looked at Jesus’ claim that he is the good shepherd found in the Gospel of John.  The 23rd Psalm but flesh on this statement.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.  ¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—“.  John 10:11-14

This morning what strikes me is that little adjective, “my.”  It reminds me of the song I warbled in the 60s, “In the Stars His Handiwork I See.”  It shares the wonders of God as creator and then asks a reflective question, “What is that to me?”  Jesus, the written, spoken and living Word may be all the things the 23rd Psalm claims.  He enters a context, partners in actions, faces fears and foes and blesses …”what is that to me?  The Lord is   “My Shepherd.”  This is not antiseptic truth but living truth.  Thank you, Lord, that you are my shepherd.  May you enjoy this old psalm sung in Celtic English – a bit different order of words that I draws me into meditation and God’s presence.  Blessings!

Psalm 23: 5-6

⁵ You prepare a table before me 

    in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

    my cup overflows.

⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me

    all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

    forever.

Yesterday we rejoiced that the Good Shepherd walks with us as we face our fears and our foes.  He walks with us in those valleys but he also has the tools of a rod and staff to direct and protect us.  The psalm ends with the blessings of following the Good Shepherd.

Not only does the Lord stand “lock step” with me as I face my enemies but the psalmist envisions the Lord preparing a banquet and anointing my head with oil.  The picture that comes to mind is Jesus eating at the home of a Pharisee and a “sinner”, a woman, anointed his feet and wiped them with her hair.  The guests objects but Jesus defends her and blesses her.  The psalm reverses the picture.  The psalmist envisions us as the one being anointed and fed.

My husband used to say, even in the nursing home, “I’m drinking from the saucer cause my cup is overflowing.”  When tea was served in Kenya, children would be served also.  But of course the tea was hot and the children were young.  So the host or hostess would pour some into the saucer and blow on the tea to cool it or swirl it around in an empty cup and then give it to the child.  I think that is a good image for here.  God does not prepare a banquet that will hurt us but knows just what is right, even when I am in the presence of my enemies.  That is amazing.

And then that beautiful ending.  Surely, most certainly, it just must be true that goodness and mercy will follow me as I follow the Lord —all of my life.  The Good Shepherd is not just leading us into a good future but he is with us and helping us to have a good day even when life appears rough and unfair to us.  He is with us in our context, wherever it is.  He guides, makes us lie down and restores my weary soul.  He is with me facing fears and foes and he blesses.  I can only pray, Thank you.

Psalm 23: 4-5

Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.

Dr. Andy Stanley, a preacher we once heard via a cassette when missionaries, said to our family’s delight, “I don’t mind being dead.  It’s the getting dead that I’m afraid of!”  Most of us could agree that “getting dead” and enemies are near the top of our fears we don’t look forward to facing.  Most people vote for a quiet death in their chair.  We admire our soldiers, police, and firemen who face death for us regularly.

  King David who was a soldier and who faced death many times is famous for killing Goliath when he was a youth.  He led his men in battle.  It was as he got older and did not go to war that he got himself in trouble with Bathsheba.  So what was his secret.  “For you are with me,” he writes.  Even as a youth he recognized that it was God’s presence with him when he killed the lion and the bear attacking his flock.  That realization strengthened him as he face Goliath.  I note that faith does not mean we will not die or have enemies but it does mean we are not alone in those battles.

The shepherd/warriors we worked with carried “fimbos”.  They were sticks made from taking a branch with a swollen joint at the end, smoothing it out and they learn how to throw it or hit with it accurately.  A six foot cobra attacked our chickens one night. Our houseman came running with his stick and flailed on that snake,  Similarly the staff was a long stick carried to lean on and tap the sheep on the rumps to get them moving in the right direction.  It could also be used to poke into the holes in tall ant mounds where snakes crawled in looking for a morsel to eat.  Rods and Staffs were excellent protective tools .

The psalm reminds us that not only are we not alone as we face our fears and those who are enemies but our unseen companion has tools for protecting us that we cannot see.  Lord, help me to remember that you are present as I go to the doctor today and as others face their fears and foes.  Thank you.