The Lord Is My Shepherd

John 10:22-30; Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 23

Easter 4

Psalm 23

{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 right paths for his name's sake. {4} Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I 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 my whole life long.

Revelation 7:9‑17

{9} After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. {10} They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” {11} And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, {12} singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

{13} Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” {14} I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. {16} They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; {17} for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

John 10:22-30

{22} At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, {23} and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. {24} So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” {25} Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; {26} but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. {27} My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. {28} I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. {29} What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. {30} The Father and I are one.”

The Sermon

The hillside is tranquil, and the sun is going down. The grass is green and it’s been a spectacularly pleasant and beautiful day. You have no responsibilities; everything you need is laid right before you, and there is not a thing in the world that you lack. And now the sun is low on the horizon, and just a little red crescent sticks out above the hill.

And then, in an instant, it’s gone, and the blue light of early evening begins to settle over the land.

A white moon rises in the sky, and underneath its approving light, you continue to graze and occasionally mutter something about how wonderful life is and how nice it is to feel so satisfied, so secure, so completely at peace.

And you take a moment, before the deepening indigo turns to dark, midnight blue, to congratulate yourself on having achieved so much at such an early age. If only you could reach your front hooves around, you’d give yourself a hearty pat on your own woolly back for having had the remarkable foresight to have done everything right to get to this point in your life.

Too bad for those who don’t have it so nice. They probably messed up somewhere along the line. Weaker sheep, stupider, they probably got into drugs or didn’t study in school, or just weren’t quite as savvy as you. Whatever it was, one way or another, you’re here now, and that’s great.

And then the moon disappears from the sky and it’s completely dark except for the hesitant light of the stars.

And you realize you don’t hear any other sheep around. Anybody out there? Seems like your reverie must have occupied your mind so completely that you had just stood there while everybody else went off for the night. Sure wish you could see your way to a footpath or something.

Can you stay here all night by yourself? There can’t be much to it. It’s actually probably safer, because in the dark you could lose your footing and injure yourself or go tumbling off the side of the mountain, or find yourself marching right into a pond you didn’t know was there and wouldn’t see on a moonless night.

So, just camp out here for the night, out in the middle of nowhere.

And then you see something momentarily flash in the distance—was it really something, or was it your imagination? Did it look a little bit like teeth? Was it accompanied by a growl?

This would be a wonderful time for a shepherd to come and get you.

So much for the pats on the back that you wished you could have administered to yourself a few hours ago.

We try to listen to our parents, but don’t always do it really well, and we do our homework, and we hang out with the right people, and we make the grades, and we play the dating game, and we try to say all the right things in the job interviews, and we try to pay our bills on time, and those who have children notice that they try to listen but don’t always do it really well, and the cycle goes on. We try to do our best, or we do what we can, or we do as much as we feel like we have to, and we try to get by.

We try to be the people we ought to be.

But sometimes it would be nice to have some help.

What we found, back in Jerusalem, was that we had rules to follow that kept us in line, and we had a tradition to cling to, that gave us a sense of who we were.

But day, after day, after day, we hauled our water jugs to the well, we did our meager work in the marketplace, we learned our language and we raised our kids, but we always wondered: is this all there is?

Because a quiet and peaceable life gives you everything you need, until your child gets sick, or a relationship starts to crumble. An obedient life in society is great, until war comes, and all the males of a certain age have to go fight them, regardless of whether they make any sense or not. A life lived in routine drudgery is tolerable, until you wake up one day and it isn’t tolerable anymore.

And we looked to our leaders, and they told us, this is the rule for washing before eating; this is the schedule of our holy observances; these are the rules for ordering your household.

And we remembered the psalm:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. We had been saying that for centuries. But when we looked in the places we thought we were supposed to be looking for that shepherd, we found only sets of rules, lists of expectations.

And we found that we were out on that pleasant, grassy hill; and in the daylight, when we didn’t really have to pay attention, everything was great.

But sometimes, when night falls, you look around, and you realize you’re alone, and scared, and infinitely vulnerable.

At that point, a list of rules, or a set of expectations, doesn’t do anybody much good.

This would be a really good time for a shepherd to come and get you.

From time to time I’ve done a little exercise with people where they’re invited to think about the people in their lives who are most important to them. It actually originated from the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan, but it can apply to any of us. It’s called a “support network” but I usually think of it in terms of who our friends and close people are, and what we expect out of them, or need from them, or get from them.

As we go through the exercise, I invite people to think about who the people are in your life who play these roles.

Is there someone in your life who is, for you, a listener? Someone who doesn’t feel like it’s their duty to regale you with their brilliant advice, but is willing to be there just to listen? Who is there to listen to you?

That’s the shepherd who, in the midst of your preposterously hectic life, has the time, or makes the time, to get on the phone or the couch, or sit at the table, and just listen while you say what you need to get off your chest. It’s the person who respects you enough not to feel like they need to tell you “what you need.” They just listen. They’re there.

Do you have someone who is your advocate, someone who will always be on your side, regardless of whether you’re right or wrong?

That’s the shepherd who would run through a brick wall for you, which is nice to know even when you don’t need someone to do it. They’re going to be there for you the minute you need them, and they’re going to look out for you. There are not many warmer feelings in life than knowing that that person is always on your side.

Is there someone in your life who is an evaluator? Is there someone who knows and understands your circumstances—another student, or someone who has your job or works in your industry or who’s been retired in similar circumstances to yours, or who’s been through the same things you’re going through—and understands where you are well enough to offer you honest, objective opinions and information?

That’s the shepherd who you know can give you guidance when you need it, and can help to steer you in the right direction, and keep you on green pastures, safely back from the cliffs and the hidden dangers.

Is someone in your life a challenger, somebody who can help you push against the boundaries that keep you from becoming the person you could be?

That’s the shepherd who doesn’t let you off the hook when you don’t want to reach out a little further, when you don’t want to ask for what you need, when you don’t want to do as well as you could, when you don’t want to make the decision that you need to make.

That’s the shepherd who listened politely to your theological certainties, or your political viewpoint, or your social commentary, and then poked holes in it till it dripped like a sieve. You’ll have a wider, broader, better informed perspective tomorrow than you did today because of that shepherd.

Is there someone in your life who is a diverter, who knows how and when to give you a chance to get away from the predictable routines that wear you down, the everyday traumas, the casual responsibilities that you carry with you from day to day?

That’s the shepherd who said, “You always work hard; come on, you can take a break. Your school or your career or your bills or your dependents will still be there when you get back from lunch, or Squiggley’s. Or Tahiti.”

Is there anyone in your life to be your helper, someone who’s there for you to get things done when you need them done?

That’s the shepherd who was there taking care of your baby needs when you were a baby, and sometimes it’s the person who’s there to take care of the exact same needs when you’re too sick or too old or too incapacitated to do them for yourself.

That’s the shepherd who’s always able to reach out a hand and get something done. The Helper is, in the Bible, one of the most noble, Godly titles. God is our helper. In one of the Genesis stories, woman is called helper, and those who prefer that creation story would do well to note the company she is in if that is her title.

There are a couple of others on the list, and we could probably come up with a few new ones of our own. Some people can probably go down that list and place a name or two or three next to each of those roles: Helper, Challenger, Listener; check, check, check. Most people have a number of blank spaces when we get through. Some hardly have anyone at all.

But let us give thanks to God for our shepherds, because what they are doing is walking in the footsteps, carrying on the ministry, of one who came for us long ago, when day, after day, after day, we women hauled our water jugs to the well, or we men did our meager work in the marketplace, or we children studied our language and our customs, but we always wondered: is this all there is?

One day we heard him in the Temple, in the portico of Solomon, during the festival of the Dedication. They were gathered all around him and saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

And he said, My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.

And we knew: it’s not about a set of rules, but a rule of love.

And finally, finally, we could say with absolute conviction:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Keith Grogg

Carolina Beach Presbyterian Church

Carolina Beach , NC

April 29, 2007