[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 23A: "The Lord Is my Shepherd"

[Joe Parrish]

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-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Oct 14, 2017 7:26 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 23A:  "The Lord Is my Shepherd"



Dear Friends,
 
This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “The Lord Is MyShepherd” and deals with the Psalm (Psalm 23). Here it is: 
 
We have one of my very favorite Psalms- the 23rdPsalm, in our Bible readings today, and I’d like to look at it.  This one passage of scripture has broughtcomfort and strength to countless Christians through-out the centuries.  It’s a good one to memorize, so you canrepeat it to yourself in stressful times. My mother had a picture of Jesus, the 
Good Shepherd in a frame in our kitchen. Over the years, it got stained with grease from cooking and dust fromthe Detroitfactories, but I can still remember that picture.  Since we’re city folk, it’s easy to misssubtleties of Jesus, the Good Shepherd image, but that shepherd carrying thelost lamb over his shoulders made an impressive statement about God’s love andcare for us.  Let’s examine the Psalm,verse by verse.
 
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”  We can counton God to supply all our needs (not wants or desires- needs).  This does not mean that God will take awaythe consequences of our sins.  In otherwords, if we gamble away our food money, we can’t expect God to provide us withmore money.
 
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.”  Sheepusually graze from early morning (around sunrise) until late morning.  After that, they need to lie down and restwhile they digest their food.  Our GoodShepherd also provides rest time for us by commanding us to remember theSabbath day and keep it holy. 
 
“He leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul”.  Sheepwill not drink from fast-moving streams. Perhaps the water going up their nostrils frightens them, since sheep frightenvery easily.  Fast-flowing streams alsopose a threat to sheep because if they lose their footing and fall in, theirheavy coats usually become saturated with water and they drown.  Often the shepherd will make a cup with hishands so the sheep can drink from it. Our Good Shepherd provides holy food and drink (his Body and Blood) togive us the strength to continue.
 
“He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for hisName’s sake.”  Sheep know the voice of their shepherd andthey follow when he or she calls.  One ofmy Internet friends visited the Holy Land andtold of her experience while in Israelregarding sheep and shepherds.  Passingby a field with many sheep while touring, she noticed that many of the sheephad different colored paint marks on their sides.  She asked the tour guide what the colorsmeant.  “Oh, those sheep don't belong tothe shepherd.  He's just a hired hand,”responded the guide.  “How can you tell?”asked the tourist.  “What do the colorspainted on have to do with that?” “A real shepherd (one who owns the sheep)knows his sheep and they know him,” said the guide.  “These sheep have paint markings because ahired hand is watching several different flocks for the shepherds and the hiredhand never gets to know any of them.  Hehas to have the paint to tell them apart. A real shepherd just knows and calls.” In John (10:27-28),Jesus says: “My sheep know my voice, and I know them. They follow me, and Igive them eternal life, so that they will never be lost.”  Sheep don’t get in trouble or danger becausethey know the voice of their shepherd and follow him.  What about us?  Do we know the voice of the Good Shepherdbecause we pray and listen daily or do we just go with whoever speaks theloudest or most convincingly?
 
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadowof death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me.  Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”  Thereis an actual valley of the shadow of death in the Holy Land.  It has an extremelynarrow path for the sheep to use.  Infact, in one spot the shepherd makes the sheep jump across a gully that isabout 18 incheswide.  Wild dogs and other wild predatorsoften wait for a sheep or lamb to fall into the gully.  When this happens, the shepherd uses his rodto beat back the attack while he uses his staff to hook the sheep or lamb andbring it up to safety.  God does the samefor us.  In those difficult times in ourlives, in the time of our death- we can count on God to protect us and reachout to bring us safely to him. 
 
“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence ofmine enemies.”  Each morning before the shepherd lets the sheep out tograze, he inspects the pasture.  Heclears it of poisonous weeds and snakes. He also fills in all the holes that might catch a sheep’s leg and causeinjury.  In the same way, our heavenlyShepherd looks over our coming day to be sure there is nothing that we can’thandle in his Name.
 
“Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runnethover.”  When the sheep come into the pen for the night, theshepherd inspects each one carefully for cuts and insects.  He applies healing oil to cleanse and beginthe healing process for wounds.  In thesame way- when we say our bedtime prayers, our Heavenly Shepherd cleanses oursouls and heals the wounds of the day.
 
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all thedays of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  Thispromise is a gift from the Lamb of God who redeemed us on Calvary.  I’m going to repeat a story I’ve toldnumerous times of how the blood of one lamb saves another, and how the Blood ofour Passover Lamb saves us.  This truestory offers the best example I’ve ever heard of how Jesus, the Lamb of God,saves us from our sins.  Remember how-just before we receive Holy Communion- I bread the Holy Bread and say, “Christ,our Passover, is sacrificed for us.” Jesus has become the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of theworld.”  Have you ever heard of JeffSmith, also known as the Frugal Gourmet? (He used to be on TV years ago.) Anyway, in his book called The Frugal Gourmet Keeps the Feast, hetells about a conversation he had with a shepherd from the Middle East.  He learned that veryoften during lambing season, the shepherd would awaken to find a dead mothersheep with a live baby lamb and another live mother sheep with a dead babylamb.  The mother sheep whose lamb hasdied has milk ready to feed a hungry lamb, but no babies.  The lamb whose mother sheep has died isstarving for lack of milk.  Easilysolved, you think.  Just let the orphanlamb suckle from the childless mother sheep. Great idea, but it won’t work; because the mother sheep knows the orphanlamb doesn’t smell like her baby.  Do youknow how the shepherd solves the problem? He drains the blood from the body of the dead lamb and washes the liveorphan lamb with that blood.  Now theorphan lamb smells like one of her own, and the mother sheep will adopt theorphan and feed it.  That’s what God didwith us- washed us in the Blood of his Lamb- Jesus, the Christ, so we could beadopted as sons and daughters of God and freed from our sins.
 
So, where are you in all of this?  Have you accepted Jesus as your GoodShepherd?  If not, just invite him intoyour life right now and then seal it at the altar as you come up forCommunion?  Do you follow him daily, ordo you just expect him to rescue you every time you get yourself introuble?  Do you spend enough quiet timewith our Lord so you recognize his voice, or do you keep busy, busy, busy withthe radio blaring, the TV on, or your ear buds blasting away?  Finally, is Jesus not only your GoodShepherd, but your MODEL Shepherd?  Doyou just happily accept God’s blessings, keeping them to yourself; or do youreach out and touch?  May God bless us aswe follow our Good Shepherd.
 
For anyone who isinterested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements areposted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .
 
Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan

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