Psalm 23

Last Sunday when Pastor said he was going to be out of town this week, he said there would be a special surprise for you today, well, here it is, and it is I. I do hope that this surprise is going to be a pleasant one for all of us. When I told a friend that I was working on a sermon she said, "I’ll bet you get more out of doing it than those who hear it." You know, I’m sure she is right. I know that every time I do this, especially since it isn’t my regular job, I pray extra hard for the Lord’s help. He always does and I pray that what helps me will be of some benefit to you too. One of my goals for this talk today is to help all of us know Jesus better so that we can be closer to him and think about him more and more often in many different ways. I would like us to find new things, new people, new expressions and new ideas that draw our minds and hearts to him. As you have seen from your bulletin, the title this morning is:

Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

As you have seen, all of the readings this morning point us toward Jesus as the good shepherd, an analogy which is familiar to most of us. That most favorite psalm, the 23^rd, which we just read, paints a very caring picture. Will you please open your hymnal once again to page 225 and let’s look once more. By looking at this psalm verse by verse, we can perhaps see more clearly how we are indeed sheep and how our Lord, the Good Shepherd takes care of us.

David, as you know, was a shepherd himself and came through many trials, many high and low points. He writes this psalm, not as the shepherd but as one of the sheep. He points to the Lord, his lord and ours, who LEADS us. There is a difference between an eastern and western shepherds which is interesting. A western shepherd "drives" his sheep, while an eastern shepherd "leads" his. God is an Eastern Shepherd! It is our frightening free choice to follow, or not, but when we do choose to follow his leadership we lack nothing.

He takes us to that most welcome place, the luscious, delicious, cool, green pastures. Did you look around on your way here today? Isn’t the green inviting? Even for those of us who are not golfers. Did you know that sheep will not lie down unless they have been well fed. We are fed with the Word of God and can lie down in comfort because of this feeding with the bread of Life. We won’t go gamboling off looking for greener pastures because we are already satisfied. Our shepherd wants to see us lying on our fat wooly backs kicking our hooves around in the air saying, "Oh, shepherd, I really can’t eat one more blade."

I have read that sheep will not drink from rapidly flowing water. It frightens them. When this is the only water available, the shepherd bends down, cups his hand so the water flows into it, and then the sheep can bow its head and drink.

The good shepherd leads us beside still, quiet, calm waters so that we will be free to drink without fear. This lack of fear helps to re-store, re-fresh, and quiet our souls.

Our shepherd leads us on a righteous path, a path which the dictionary defines as morally right or justifiable, in accord with divine or moral law. Our upright shepherd is leading us, his sheep, in the same way. When we follow him we glorify his name which is our primary purpose.

Like David, we all go through difficult times. We do travel through the valley of the "shadow" of death. We know too that our shepherd will lead us though and while He is with us there, the shadows will fade away. When we practice the Shepherd’s presence, our fears become like shadows, and we find it is never completely dark. What we need to remember is that where there is a shadow there is also "light" and that "light" is our shepherd savior.

When we picture Jesus, our good shepherd, we usually see him with a shepherd’s crook in his hand. Did you ever wonder why in verse 4 we have mention of both a rod and a staff? Do you have any ideas? I looked up both rod and staff in the dictionary and would suggest to you that the rod is for discipline, for correcting. The staff is for support for the shepherd and the curved end is to rescue those in trouble. This takes us back to the shepherd who leads but also cares enough about those who go astray to help them back to the path he sets for them to follow.

In the ancient Near East, covenants, contracts, and agreements were often sealed by the eating of a meal. Did your parents ever make you sit down and eat with a brother or sister after you had had a fight and weren’t even speaking to one another? I, at least, always had a hard time staying mad when we had to eat together. That meant then, that my enemies were no longer a threat to me.

Flies often bother sheep, especially around their eyes. The good shepherd puts oil on the head of the sheep so that the flies are no longer a bother. Also the anointing with oil was done to indicate the royalty or high position of a person. Kings, when they were crowned, were anointed with oil.

In looking at this next verse, think of the common illustration of a half-full/half empty cup to indicate whether we are being optimistic or pessimistic. What can you say when your cup is so full of good things that it is overflowing? Well and fully blessed, more than optimistic, perhaps "optimisticer" or "optimisticest"? We can coin a new word for it. With my cup overflowing, the goodness of the Lord and his mercy then flow through me and follow me throughout my life. With a shepherd like this who would want to live anywhere but in his sheepfold for the rest of his life?

Moms are a lot like shepherds. They are in constant contact with creatures that often get off on the wrong path and have to be brought back by kind and caring discipline. Moms always have to be alert to dangers that may distract their charges from the right and proper way. They also are very concerned with food and drink for all. We usually think of God as our Father. This image, for many of us contains the elements of strength, solidity, sternness, reserve, and for some, a lack of emotion.

When I see Jesus as the shepherd, I see these qualities, but I also see a softness, and tenderness with an underlying strength that we often associate with women. As I said, Mothers are a lot like shepherds. Moms dry tears. In Revelation 7:17 we find "For the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Mothers are more likely to lead than to push, to carry the burden of our weakness, like the picture we see in today’s bulletin. To adapt a commercial for a large department store, we could say, "there is a softer side to God". He has himself said, he wanted to gather us as a hen gathers her chicks but we did not want that. We do often rebel against the protectiveness of our mothers, too, don’t we?

My niece sent me an e-mail that I would like to share with you this morning entitled, "When God Made Moms"

AND

can get a nine-year-old to stand in the shower."

We are all in the family of God, therefore:

The Lord is my mother and my father. He will take care of everything that I need to sustain me. Like my mother, he prepares a comfortable, soft, warm bed for me. Like my father, He makes sure that I have good clean water to drink so that I will be healthy.

Like both my loving parents, he takes my hand and leads me in the most proper way so that His name is glorified.

Even though there are many dangers through which I must pass, he, like my father, protects me with his strong arm so that I do not need to fear anything.

Although my parents can not always be with me, He can be and He is. Like my loving parents who discipline me to help me learn, his rod keeps me on the path he wants me to follow. His staff protects me and rescues me when I am in difficult situations.

When enemies threaten me, He assures me of his protection when, like my mother, he prepares food for me and I can sit down to eat in spite of them or sometimes with them in order to become friends with them. Because I am so special to him, he takes care of my physical needs and pours the anointing oil of kings on my head. Like my mother, who loves me, he fills my cup so that it overflows with all kinds of good things.

Because the Lord, like a loving, caring parent, takes care of me, I know that his goodness and mercy will be with me throughout my life.

I will live forever in the home of my Lord.

May the goodness and mercy of the Good Shepherd be with you all the days of your life and may you dwell with him forever.

AMEN