PENTECOST • 26

Are we following the Shepherd as his sheep?

SONGS FOR PRAYER

reading for: Tuesday Night, 21 november

Matthew 25:31-46

The Final Judgment

  • READ

    Matthew 25:31-46

    31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

    41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

    Commentary

    “Sheep” is frequently used to describe or represent God’s people in the Old Testament (e.g., Numbers 27:16-17, 2 Sam 24:17, 1 Kings 22:17, Zech 13:7, Isaiah 53:7, Hosea 12:12, Ezekiel 34:17). But ‘goats’ is not. It is interesting to note that in ancient Israel and both sheep and goats were valued and were often pastured together, yet in the parable, there will come a time when they are separated, the sheep to one side (the right) and the goats to the other side (the left). (vv.33-33).

    There is a reward for those on his right, whom God already knows from the beginning of time. They inherit God’s kingdom - the realm over which He rules (v.34). The basis of their election is that they served the Lord by serving those in need (vv.35-40).

    Those on the left (the goats), however, are cast away, into eternal punishment because they did not have compassion on those in need, nor did they serve the Lord by meeting their needs (vv.41-46).

    The passage focuses on “the least” for a good reason. If people had known the identity of the king, they would have acted differently. Kings we treat nicely; the little people we ignore, which only shows that we act from selfish motives. But compassion has no other motive than meeting a need. It springs from an identity shaped by its Creator.

    To hear this text for ourselves is to obey its warning and to know that all persons, especially Christians, will be held accountable for our response to the will of God, especially in acts of compassion.

    We cannot separate our relationship with God from our relationship with the people around us. To experience the compassion of God makes us a conduit of compassion, and we look like God when we act like God – when we provide for the needs of others.

  • REFLECT

Recall Ps Jason’s sermon a few Sundays ago where he brought across the point that loving God means loving neighbour and vice versa. How have you loved God through loving those around recently? Is there someone that God is speaking to you to reach out to and to show love, this Christmas? Share in your Life Group and pray for wisdom and courage for one another.

reading for: Wednesday Night, 22 november

Ezekiel 34:11-16,20-24

The sheep following the shepherd

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    Ezekiel 34:11–24

    11 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares 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, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. 17 “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? 19 And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet? 20 “Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, 22 I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.

    Commentary

    As we have seen yesterday, sheep is a common imagery used in the Scriptures to portray the people of God. Similarly, shepherd is also a common imagery used in the Scriptures to describe the leaders of the people.

    Ezekiel 34 starts with an indictment against the shepherds of Israel for they have been feeding themselves and not the sheep. The shepherds only take care of their own needs and desires and do not strengthen the weak, heal the sick or bring the stray back. As a result, the sheep were scattered with none to search and seek for them. The Lord is thus against the shepherds, and they will no longer feed themselves. The Lord will rescue the sheep from the mouths of this evil shepherds.

    Ezekiel 34 then continues with the Lord searching for his sheep and seeking them out. The Lord will rescue his sheep, bringing them out from the peoples, gathering them from the countries and bringing them into their own land. They will be fed by the Lord and will lie in green pasture. The Lord will be their shepherd. He will seek the lost sheep and strengthen the weak sheep. The Lord will also be a shepherd of justice, feeding the sheep in justice.

    The Lord will judge between the sheep to see those who tread down with their feet the rest of your pasture and those who muddy the waters with their feet so that other sheep can’t eat and drink anymore. The Lord will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep because the strong sheep will bully the weak sheep. The Lord will rescue his flock so that they will know longer be a prey and he will also be a judge between sheep and sheep. The Lord will be their God and David shall be prince among them.

    Yesterday, we read in Matthew the separation between the sheep and the goats. The sheep are the ones who love God and love people. They constantly take care of the people around them. On the other hand, the goats are the ones who do not love God and people. Ezekiel 34 tells us a similar message that the Lord will judge between sheep.  The Lord shows love and compassion to us as his sheep, but we must be careful not to misuse the grace and love of God and turn into a goat or a bad sheep.

  • REFLECT

    The Lord is our shepherd, and he will take care and rescue his sheep from the evil shepherds and evil that befalls his sheep. He will lead his sheep into green pastures and lead us beside quiet waters. The Lord is gracious to us, and he is our redeemer. Praise the Lord!

    How will we respond to his love? Will we love people, or will we choose to ignore others? In this season of Christmas, let us reflect on what kind of sheep are we? Are we sheep who put down others or muddy the clean waters for others? Perhaps in this season, let us pray for each other that we will not put others down but lift others up.

reading for: Thursday Night, 23 november

Ephesians 1:15-23

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Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23

“15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God‘s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

Commentary:

What‘s interesting to note about today’s scripture is that for most scholars believe today‘s text in the original Greek was actually one very long and complex sentence. It was the English translation that broke it up into give sentences over nine verses, but the Greek had no stops at all. It helps to imagine a breathless prose of someone gushing about something wonderful and adding layers upon layers of goodness just in the hopes that the listener could catch with him some measure of that awesomeness.

What did Paul hope his readers would catch? What did he think were things that he felt he could not leave out? And as such, what are some of the gems Paul has squeezed into this one whale of a sentence?

1.     Audience – Paul‘s target audience were the Christians of the Ephesian church who were living in faith-full response to God and love for all God’s people.

2.     A ‘Global’ Polemic – Point 1 is important for us today because it helps us to properly contextualize v17-18. Paul prayer request to His Abba Father for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation for them (v17) and that the eyes of their hearts will be enlightened (v18) was for God-fearing Christians. It is not just the lost, or those we are called to minister to who need their eyes to be opened, or even ‘inactive’ Christians.

3.     It is a relational journey of knowing – Intrinsic to the choice of words used by Paul, he paints the landscape we are to walk on as Christians as a journey of knowing – i) to know Him better (v17b), ii) to know the hope to which He has called us, iii) know the richest of the glorious inheritance in His holy people (v18), and iv) know His incomparable great power for us who believe (v19-23).

4.     God exceedingly great power – As mentioned above, verses 19-23 is actually one continuous prose related to His incomparable power. The same power that raised Jesus, established Jesus‘ rulership and dominion over all things, and that will maintain His rulership for evermore. Paul’s literary gush here was really an attempt to describe God‘s great power and Jesus supreme rulership over everything articulatable and imaginable and beyond.

5.     With Jesus as the head, we the church are His body by which He has chosen to fill all things (v23) – This is both a mind-boggling and at the same time intimate statement that the supreme and all-powerful ruler for all eternity has chosen to be our head and for us to be His body to fulfil His purposes and rule. Selah.     

REFLECT

  • How are we doing in our journey of knowing God, the hope we have, our blessed inheritance, and His exceedingly great power? Do we find ourselves dull or vastly misaligned to the picture Paul describes to us above? Come back to the place of earnest prayer before God to receive a fresh fire in your journey of knowing Him. Pray for your families, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ daily with Paul‘s prayer as a model.    

reading for: FRIDAY Night, 24 november

 Psalm 100

Cultivating Your Heart in the Mornings

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How do you start each morning? How have you been feeling for the mornings this past week?

Psalm 100, a thanksgiving Psalm actually gives us the perfect way to begin each day.

The first invitation is to start each day with joyful noises to the LORD our God! (v.1) In fact, as dawn begins to break, our Singaporean neighbourhoods also awakens with joyful noises.  The crickets begin to buzz as we first open our windows or doors. Then we hear the deep, clanging and sometimes cracking cars and lorries pass by. And very soon the high pitched zoom of our trains embrace our MRT tracks again. Serving the sleepy students as they shuffle towards their schools. As our world begins with joyful life, we first invited to join with all creation to do the same.

The second invitation is to serve Him for this new day with joy and gladness. (v.2) To be called His sons and daughters. To see life that God has created and breathes anew for 1 more day, is an absolute gift. And we are invited to serve Him with songs of praise in our hearts.

The third invitation is to know that the LORD is God. (v.4) There is no one else like Him. He made and gives us life. And we belong to Him. There is no more powerful statement than to know that we are loved and wanted. That we are cherished by Him. And He guides us as His sheep.

Thats how we enter into our day with thanksgiving. For we are entering into His world and creation. He is once again breathing new life and redeeming our world so that all corruption, all sin and evil will one day be completely gone. And all will be completely made new.

For He is good (v.5). His love is steadfast, His love will never fail, and His love will last forever. All generations, young and old, born and unborn will be reached by His faithfulness. There will not be a single person who will not taste his love and faithfulness.

  • REFLECT

    We each have our own morning routines from brushing our teeth, taking a shower, eating breakfast and getting ready. But how do these things prepare our hearts and souls for the new day?

    Is there a way you can incorporate God’s word and specifically Psalm 100 into your morning routine? Whether its reading it several times, playing it out on audio as you do your task or meditating on a a few words. I believe it can serve as a way for you to “start your day right” and cultivate a heart that looks to God in your mornings.

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