The 23rd Psalm is one of those pieces of scripture we can easily quote. But when was the last time you spent anytime with it, considering just what it’s telling us, here, today?
The Lord is our shepherd. A shepherd never ever gives up on the sheep. No matter how whiny, smelly and stupid they are. Now I don’t know a lot about sheep , but I do know this, they aren’t very smart. Not at all. They get themselves into problems ALL THE TIME. They get into bramble from which they need to be carefully and lovingly extracted. They get lost as they wander around, seeking a greener pasture, a larger pool of water, a more exciting herd…when they find themselves lost they panic, baaing and bleating with a despair and longing that pierces the heart of the shepherd.
The shepherd never lets the sheep go without. The shepherd will not stop until every sheep is fed, watered and secured for the night. The shepherd makes sure that the burdens befalling each every sheep are lifted, the shepherd guards them, protects them and nurtures them.
The shepherd takes the sheep and MAKES them lie down in green pastures. The shepherd leads the sheep to still and luscious waters. Sometimes this is hard. Sheep are often uncooperative. Stubborn. Bull-headed, anxious to do what they think is best for them. But the shepherd, the shepherd uses whatever means possible to get the sheep to finally relent so that they can get the rest and refreshment they need to face come what may.
The Shepherd revives the soul of her sheep by guiding them—again often by any means necessary----along right pathways, good roads, in a direction toward light and life and love instead of the road of despair and darkness and fear.
Sometimes sheep face horrific terror: predators, drought, loss, danger. The shepherd, even when the sheep have found themselves deep within the valley of death and horror and anger and hate and loss, has his staff extended, a lifeline for the sheep, for when the crook of that staff, the length of that powerful arm of love reaches the sheep, and the sheep stop fighting it, no evil in the world---human made or nature made, will conquer them. For that rod and staff of the shepherd? It comforts, it shelters, it secures. In that grasp, all will be well.
The shepherd, marvelous as she is, spreads a feast before her sheep….the shepherd, always aware of the enemy the devil who is lurking about, spreads this feast just out of the reach of those who wish the sheep harm. Remember that rod and that staff, they keep the darkness away, they shield the flock from harm so that in joyous community, the sheep may lay their burdens down and feast on the gift of love. The sheep, when they relinquish their false sense of control, find their very beings covered in sweet oil and their “cup” overflowing with blessing. The sheep when they turn in full surrender to the loving direction of the shepherd, find themselves in a peace and security not known since they rested in their mother’s womb.
The problem with sheep, though, is that their memory stinks. They are very good forgetters. And so that’s what they do.
They forget.
They wander off.
They get mired in the bramble.
They get lost.
They resist getting found.
They get angry
Belligerent even.
And then?
Then they get sad.
Really sad.
And scared.
Really scared.
And then?
The shepherd shows up.
Well, actually, the shepherd has always been there, searching, reaching out, longing to have the sheep follow his call.
In the end, in the happy ending version of this story, the sheep end up listening. They end up hearing and they follow the call of the Shepherd. They respond to her voice, they find their way home.
Our Lord, our God is, of course, our shepherd. And we? Obviously, we are the sheep.
We are the smelly, stubborn, not all that bright sheep.
We’re lost.
We’re stuck.
We’re scared.
But just around the corner, just up beyond the hill, lies a green pasture of lusciousness and joy beyond anything we can fathom.
We’re lost.
We’re stuck.
We’re scared.
But just around the corner, just beyond the hill, is a pond of still clear waters the likes of which you’ve never seen or tasted--water so refreshing it quenches thirsts you never even knew you had.
We’re lost
We’re stuck
We’re scared
But, just around the corner, just beyond the hill, is a table spread with a manna that is heaven sent. Holy food for holy and blessed people. A food that, when we eat of it, satisfies hungers previously unknown, hungers previously so deep, so sharp, so seemingly un-fillable we long ago gave up seeking to be sated.
Even though the average American has far more ‘stuff’ than in any other time in our history, so many of us live pretty empty lives. We run from our homes to our jobs to the gym or our second jobs or our elderly parent’s house or or or….but at the end of the day when we stop to search for meaning and for hope and for joy, too many of us come up empty- handed…not because meaning, hope and joy aren’t available to us, but because we are so often too lost, too scared and too stuck to notice.
The truth is, the Lord is our shepherd and we are God’s sometimes smelly, often stubborn and really not all that bright, sheep.
May we take the 23rd psalm to heart and
may we find our way back to the fold over smooth pathways, straight roads and verdant valleys.
For the good news is, the great news is this:
the Lord is our Shepherd and we shall never ever want.
Amen and Alleluia.
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