The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.

Easter 4

Psalm 23:1-6 (ESV)

Heavenly Father, anoint us with the oil of your Spirit so that we may hear the voice of our good Shepherd. Amen.

A Psalm of David.

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

3 He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This is a journey psalm.

It's strange that this psalm is often associated with death. It’s a psalm people like to hear before death and after death and brings great comfort.

But if we were to look for hymns and songs to support and further reflect on this psalm, it’s interesting to note many songs that are based on this psalm are in the children's section of our hymn book. If this is a psalm of death, why are there so many hymns for children to sing?

Is this a psalm just for death and dying, or is this a journey psalm? Is this a psalm you can use your whole life, and not just at the time of your death?

Well then, let’s start thinking about sheep. Sheep don't usually stay in one place for very long. Although they can stay in one spot nearly all day, most likely they will move about, going from one tuft of grass to another…a nibble here, a nibble there and so on.

We too don't stay in one place for long. Even though some of us may not have ever moved from our home town, think again. Everyone has moved. No one stays in one place. While some of us may have moved from state to state, and from home to home, nearly all of us have moved from baby to child to teenager to adult, and some to parent to grandparent and so on. Many of us have moved from school to work, from job to job and maybe to retirement. Our whole life involves changes, moves and challenges. Our life is basically a journey from one stage to the next.

Even though our idea of a shepherd today is a farmer who has a couple hundred sheep in a paddock with a fence around it, we don’t live in a paddock! We live in a big wide world with few, if any boundaries. Because we have no boundaries, we need a special type of shepherd who is not going to lock us up, but who will go with us wherever we wander.

A shepherd of the Old Testament would do just this. He would wander with his sheep, leading them to food and drink, protecting them from wolves and wild animals that tended to attack the young, the old and the sick. He would rescue them from pits, ravines or dense bush. He would talk to them, sing to them, and call them by name. The sheep learned to listen to the shepherd's voice and took great comfort from his presence.

We need a shepherd like this, someone willing to wander with us, feed us, protect us, rescue us, and talk to us. It probably comes as no surprise to say that Jesus is our good shepherd. After all, he says in the Gospel reading that he is the Good Shepherd. But is he really your Good Shepherd?

Do you try to 'go it alone' and find your own way through life, and rely on your own strength and cleverness? You may be financially ok and able to buy food for yourselves and your families. You may even have some left over for charities or church. You are insured for all foreseeable problems. You don't need help. You don't need rescuing. You are clever and don't get lost. You are healthy and strong. So why would you need a shepherd?

When things go well, you may not think you need a shepherd, but if things go wrong, then you will yell just as loudly as anyone else: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!"

It is no mistake that this psalm follows Psalm 22 which begins with that desperate and God-forsaken cry. We have recently heard this psalm at Easter. Here, a few weeks after Easter, we hear psalm 23, written and spoken by someone who has felt forsaken, yet can still say: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want".

In life, our experiences aren't always rich and rosy. We experience trouble, anxiety, hardship, sickness, and pain. The valley of the shadow of death is often referred to as the walk we face at the time of death, but we daily face our dark valleys. We daily face darkness and death.

We face the daily death of deteriorating health, or the death in our spirit which comes from dejection, rejection and verbal abuse. We experience death in our relationships. In this way we know death is real and threatens us every day; even children know this.

Our journey through life is fraught with many dangers, and many experiences of death. There is no fence to our pasture land and the wolves still attack us, the sun beats down on our backs, and we can be confused by the many paths and the tempting voices of so many false shepherds.

When we suffer, we can feel very alone, so how do we know he is really with us? If we don’t have a pastor, a shepherd we can call on in our troubles, or who will guide us and teach us and bring us words of comfort, are we alone?

Here we must not trust our own senses or experiences, but instead, whenever we doubt the presence of our shepherd, then we must pay the closest attention to his voice. Jesus says, 'My sheep know my voice'. When we hear his voice, take comfort that we are his sheep and he is our shepherd. His voice is the Gospel. Even without a pastor, we have still received the Gospel voice of the Good Shepherd. When we hear his Gospel, we are fed, led, directed, protected and comforted. By listening to his voice, through his Word, we are assured that we are his sheep and he is our shepherd.

Here in the presence of the flock, we listen to his voice. Here our Good Shepherd speaks to us through the words of lay readers, visiting pastors and hopefully soon a resident pastor. Here the Good Shepherd leads us, guides us and comforts us. We hear his Word read to us. We hear his words of warning, we hear his words of forgiveness, and we hear his words of blessing. Since we hear these things, with or without a pastor, we are assured that Jesus truly is our shepherd, for we are his sheep who hear his voice.

When we experience hardship or troubles, we might be tempted to blame our Good Shepherd for our torments. Because we are suffering, we may think he has abandoned us. We might be upset that the church or the district has not supplied us with a pastor yet. And since God directs the church and the decisions made by people in positions of power, we might even argue that God hasn’t provided us with a new pastor! Perhaps we are actually angry with God! But even though we might feel ignored and abandoned by our Good Shepherd, we know Jesus doesn’t abandon us. He doesn't always remove us from trouble or provide a new pastor when we want one, but he is still here with us!

As sheep, we will experience times of loneliness and darkness, but Jesus reassures us at our baptism ‘I am with you always’. We will be assailed by our enemies and doubts, but we will never be snatched out of the arms of our Shepherd. Yes, we will experience the decay of relationships, of our bodies, of our minds, and of our spirit, yet in Christ, we are made alive. Yes, we will even experience death, yet we will never die.

The voice of the Good Shepherd leads us to rich food and calming drink. He guides and supports us through our darkest times, yet there is one dark moment many of us still fear. The journey through the gates of death into the valley of death is scary. This is a journey that is dangerous and lonely. But as we draw our last breath, be it tomorrow or in 80 years time, we know that there is one who knows the narrow path through this dark valley.

Jesus Christ has already walked through this valley, navigated through it and been raised to new life at the end of it. Even though we may fear this dark valley, our fear is for nothing. As Christ has crossed from death to life, we who are in Christ, who are members of his flock, have already crossed this dark chasm and live eternally with him now. We will surely dwell in his house forever, eating and drinking an endless banquet of victory.

The Good Shepherd feeds his sheep with bread and wine that overflows at a glorious banquet. Before sitting at the heavenly feast he cleans us from our dirt and grime of sin, and anoints us with the oil of his Holy Spirit. He doesn't feast on us – the sheep - but we feast on him, our host and our shepherd. We are treated like honoured guests, yet it’s even better than this! We are permanent residents at the table of our Lord. We eat and drink in the face of our adversaries. Instead of dangers seeking us out and pursuing us, the faithful sheepdogs of goodness and steadfastness will pursue us all our days.

The devil longs to snatch us out of the arms of Jesus to devour us, for he is like a lion hungry for food. But we offend the devil most when we eat and drink opposite him, 'in his face', so to speak. Our weapon against the devil is our mouth. By eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus, we harm the devil the most. Our weapon against those who assail us is eating and drinking at a feast our host provides for us. We eat and drink the body and blood of our Saviour, food rich beyond measure, where even the smallest nibble, the tiniest sip is more than enough to fill us and overflow through us to benefit others.

This is our comfort. Yes, we are sheep who stray and experience danger and darkness all our days, yet the Good Shepherd has made us his own – and continues to call us his own. That will never change! He knows we are his sheep and will never let us lack anything we need. He will provide everything at the right time. Be patient. Trust him. Be reassured he has not abandoned us.

He is still present with us. He still feeds us with his precious words, he still gives us quiet waters to drink, and still walks with us to protect and comfort us even during our darkest, loneliest moments. He protects us from the jaws of our enemies. His words warn us, protect us and comfort us. He sets a table for us in the presence of God the Father, where we live as permanent residents. He anoints us with his Holy Spirit. We feast on his body, drinking wine that never runs out. We will dwell with him forever, being treated like princes and princesses, as children of the Shepherd King.

Yes, this is a journey psalm. Whether that journey is one of abundance, like a journey through lush pastures and quiet waters, or even if it is a dark journey with many experiences of death and drought, praise the Lord we don't journey alone! Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Good Shepherd. Amen.

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