Overcoming Apathy and Indifference

Psalm 23

St. John’s United Church of Christ
Greeley, Colorado
May 5, 2024
Rev. Juvenal Cervantes

We continue our sermon series of how God helps us with our struggles. A few weeks ago, we talked about mental health and how we can normalize conversation about that topic. Last week we talked about exhaustion. Today we want to talk about spiritual apathy because we all go through seasons like these.

Speaking from a macro level, we are walking through some seismic shifts in our culture. We have a tumultuous backdrop that can bring about personal struggles. The good news is that we don’t need to respond with fear.

Phyllis Tickle, a theologian and author, wrote a book called “The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why.” She offers a framework that every 500 years the church goes through a seismic shift; it might be a cultural or theological shift.

She says, “The catalytic or kairos moment is the Christ event. God comes to us in the person of Jesus. He lives a perfect life, he dies a perfect life, he dies on the cross for our sins, he is raised again. Then around the year 300AD, Constantine makes the Catholic church the state church. By 500 you see the fall of Rome and the church becomes the prominent influence in the world. Interestingly, that leads us to the dark ages, we call it. Then one hundred years later, 1000 A.D. 1054 is the date of the great schism between the church in the west, the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox faiths, the Byzantine Church, we see this theological and ecclesiastical split. Thus a great upheaval which sets a new course for the church.

Then 500 years later, 1500, what happens? The great reformation takes place, 1517 when Martin Luther nailed the 95 thesis on the Wittenberg Church that sparked the reformation. It was a radical shift. This is why we are here today, we’re protesters who came against the church. Protestors wrote The Five Solas of the reformation that drives so much of what we do today.

And 500 years later, 2017, we have a major sociological shift, a lot of that brought about by a global pandemic, unlike anything we have ever seen.

In the American Church, and some suggest, the church around the world, we have what some call the great sort, the great sorting out of the American church, the refining of the American church in America. Think about all that has happened in the past ten years. In the marketplace it has led to what some have called “The Great Resignation.” Business wrestle with what they call “Quiet Quitting” of employees who still show up, sort of, not coming to the office always, not doing enough. That is not descriptive of all of us, but many say that we live in an age of apathy.

There are a lot of reasons why we live in an age of apathy. For example, we live in a culture of immediacy: if it doesn’t come quick, whatever I want, my health, relationships, goals, if doesn’t come quick, I’m out. This leads to indifference and apathy.

Some have said, “What we thought was the roaring twenties, the Gen Z’s are saying, ‘These are the realistic twenties.’” They are saying that they are not going to have the lives that their parents had. Many Gen Z’s say they are a lot less optimistic. Seventy percent of Gen Z’s say they will have more trouble than their parents saving money, buying a house, going to college someday. Now last week Lanetta and Sylvia survived finals week at Aims Community College and University of Northern Colorado. Certainly, not everybody is on a pessimistic trend here.

I have great hope in this generation. But for all of us the macro problems of the world serve as a backdrop, we have this immediate connection with all that is happening in the world. If we’re not careful, especially some of us who are seniors, boomers, can be overwhelmed that all is not well in our world. We live with hope, however, and I want to ask you the question, “Are you experiencing spiritual apathy or indifference in your life today?”

I’m not trying to create this in you, but some of us are in a place of apathy and indifference. We all have been in seasons like that, it is normal in the Christian life. Our passion for Jesus, it ebbs and flows. What do you do about that? There is good news: we don’t need to stay there.

In many churches, after the pandemic, the latest arrivals are those who once served in the church and no longer serve, and that may be some of us today. Now you are here, and many of us never left and we’re ready. We believe that this our moment, this is the kairos moment for us and we need all of us to be pouring out into the next generation. God is calling some of us to do that.

We can’t stay in a place of apathy and indifference. One of the ways to exit apathy and indifference is to have a renewed vision of God.

If I was to ask you, “What is your favorite Psalm?” many of you would say, “The 23rd Psalm.” We are going to go there today, maybe a surprising psalm, but we’ll see why it fits for our topic of indifference and apathy. As I was reviewing my notes for this sermon, I thought, I have preached this passage more than any other passage in scripture, often at a graveside, or a memorial, or encouragement to someone in need. 

Today’s scriptures teach us that the way out of indifference and apathy is to know the shepherd. We need a renewed vision, to follow his path, to seek his presence, and then to trust his promises.

Know the shepherd

Psalm 23:1-2

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

There is an interesting Hebrew construction in the phrase “The Lord is my Shepard.” It reads, “The Lord is my shepherd I need not, I need nothing. I don’t need anything.” Why? Check out the inflection that is found in this passage: The Lord is my shepherd (I don’t need anything). Are you kidding me? Do you know who the Lord is?

HE makes me, lie down in green pasture.

HE leads me beside still waters.

This whole passage is about the Lord. The Bible is not about us. When we read it, we make it about us, and then we make application that is not in the text.

This passage is encouraging, it is comforting, that all goes well with you today, but this is not about the sheep, this is about the shepherd. Because if you are a hired hand, you are going to grow bitter, if you are a leader, you are going to grow weary, but if you are a sheep, then everything you need is supplied for you, which makes you want to stay close to the shepherd. The problem is that some of us do not know the shepherd and no wonder we live lives of anxiety and struggle; we don’t know what to make of all the darkness in the world.

David is saying in this analogy, “I am the sheep, I’m sheep.”

You see, the shepherd loves the sheep, even though sometimes we may be apathetic about him at times, he’s never apathetic towards us. We know a lot more than David, don’t we? Because the shepherd has come to reveal to us. The Lord has come in Jesus Christ who says to us in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.”

We know who the good shepherd is, we don’t have to guess, what does he look like, or how does he feel about us? Jesus in that passage, he rejoices in the fact that he is the good shepherd. He repeats is as a refrain, over and over again, he congratulates himself that he is the good shepherd. He rejoices in the fact that he is the good shepherd.

This is remarkable. We laugh about sheep how they are not smart, this is an amazing thing that his love for us is triggered, even by our wandering. He says, the sheep know my voice, they know me and they know my voice. Do you know him today? And the challenge for us, are you putting yourself in position to hear from Him? Are you in His word? You’re here today, praise God, additionally as you go through your week, is He on your mind and heart?

Continue to be faithful and to give to his mission and to be all in. Every single day, this afternoon, tomorrow when you wake up, our number one goal is, “I want to know the good shepherd today. Lord, I want to know you more. What we want to do is to recapture a vision of who the shepherd is. That’s the way out of apathy and indifference, what shapes us up. Do you know him today?

Some of us need to refocus our minds and our hearts on who Jesus really is. As we capture a new vision of who our shepherd is we have a renewed vision of his love for us. As his love captures us, we respond as an act of worship, so we have this greater affection than any other affection. We talk about this: it is a single affection that dominates all other affections of our lives.

Augustine is the one who describes sin as love out of order. Dis-ordered love is our problem. Love is not the problem. Someone said, “The opposite of love is not hate, the opposite of love is indifference.” We see this in relationships, but we see this in our walk with the Lord as well. Our problem is that our greater love is often fixed on lesser things than the good shepherd. And this is why everything is out of order.

What happens is that we run after these things that are idols, in the end. We think they are going to satisfy us and we run from one to another. We say, “My job will bring all the purpose and joy that I need. Uh, not so much, I need a new job. My spouse, if I only got married, I’d be happy. No. New house, maybe a new outfit, maybe that will make me feel better about myself. I need to go shopping, that’s what I need.”

In our right minds as we worship, in this sanctuary, we know those things never provide for us, but they can lead to apathy. We find that didn’t work, that did not work, need a new job, need a new spouse, need a new family, new kids, I need a new house. None of those things will provide for us. Only the good shepherd, when we have a clear vision, primarily his love for you. Over and over again, we need to plead: “Lord, remind me of how much you love me.”

You have to know the shepherd and that’s why you are here today. Every day we come to that important reality.  

Many years ago, one of England’s leading actors was asked to recite for the pleasure of his fellow guests. He consented and asked if there was anything special that his audience would like to hear.

After a moment’s pause, an old clergyman present said: “Could you, sir, recite to us the Twenty-third Psalm?”

A strange look passed over the actor’s face; he paused for a moment, and then said: “I can, and I will, upon one condition; and that is that after I have recited it, you, my friend, will do the same.”

“I?” said the clergyman, in surprise. “But I am not an elocutionist. However, if you wish it, I will do so.”

Impressively, the great actor began the psalm. His voice and his intonation were perfect. He held his audience spell bound; and as he finished, a great burst of applause broke from the guests.

Then, as it died away, the old clergyman arose and began the psalm. His voice was not remarkable; his intonation was not faultless. When he had finished, no sound of applause broke the silence—but there was not a dry eye in the room, and many heads were bowed.

Then the actor rose to his feet again. His voice shook as he laid his hand upon the shoulder of the old clergyman and said: “I reached your eyes and ears, my friends; he reached your hearts. The difference is just this—I know the Twenty-third Psalm, but he knows the Shepherd.”

Is the Lord your shepherd today?