The Good Shepherd

“The Good Shepherd”

April 29, 2012

©Thomas B. Cundiff

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.

John 10: 11-18

The image of the “Good Shepherd” is appropriate to this season of Easter in affirming Jesus’ laying down his life so we may have hope in eternal life.

11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

 

I.

Nancy and I, while waiting for an appointment, turned to each other when we heard a familiar sound coming from a room behind the receptionist.  It’s was a sound we don’t hear much anymore – the sound of a typewriter!  An electric typewriter.  Thinking about this, I don’t even have a typewriter anymore!

I am sure there are young people who laugh when some of us “old fogies” talk about phonograph records, 8 mm videos and cassette tapes.   I still have quite a collection of some of these old tapes….and a tape player.  Some of us have our fogish way of doing things (old fashioned ways of doing things). 

We live in a high tech society with all sorts of new toys.  I recently saw a picture from a friend, on the social network called FACEBOOK – it was a photo of a young 5^th grader sitting on her front porch reading….not a traditional book but a book on her KINDLE.  On a recent plane ride back from California, I couldn’t help but notice all the passengers – including my wife – using some kind of electronic reader.   These electronic books are amazing….you can download almost any type of book in just a matter of second…..and they’re typically cheaper than regular hard-cover books. 

Another example, this IPAD.  I was looking at this technological masterpiece from APPLE…wondering, what does it look like inside?  I finally found some pictures as to what is in this expensive little contraption – batteries, CPU Board and Logic Board, WiFi card and antenna pods…several of them.  Sure glad I didn’t try to take this apart myself!   

With all these technologies – part of our world today -- something to think about today….. 

…. we are either stuck in the box of life, the way we have always liked doing things – living life looking into a rear view mirror doing the same things in the same way over and over again….

or we expand our boundaries and look beyond the horizon and live our lives focused on the future, outside the box.

Inside the box we can only do the same things over and over again – we are limited and cannot grow.  

Life outside the box allows for growth and expanding our horizons of knowledge and experience!

I would like to think I have done a pretty good job in my life and ministry staying in touch with changes in technologies.  I still don’t have a Kindle.  Never had a need for ITUNES or an IPOD….but I do have an IPAD.  These electronic devices make it much easier for me to do my job. 

Take this PALM phone, the TREO I have had for three or four years….it continues to work just fine.   I have just learned the company that supports this phone is going out of business….so I am going to be forced to make a change.  But again, no big deal.  THESE ARE JUST TOOLS! 

What is really dangerous?  When we let these high tech  tools get in the way of common, every day face to face or person to person, voice to voice communications.  The downside to all this technology – while we may be able to communicate more efficiently – effective communication is still – face to face – in case, preacher and pastor relating with each of you, face to face, pulpit to congregation.      

And the most important tool in my tool box of resources in doing ministry:  it is still this book – God’s Word, the Bible.

Specifically, the Bible is always going to be the Bible.   The bible will evolve.  There will always be better translations.  Bu basically, fundamentally, God’s inspired Word, regardless how we read the bible, is going to continue to be the most important resource we have in moving forward….living our lives outside the confines of boxes and structures, technology – barriers that keep us from living outside traditional structures / boxes in life that confine our growth.

Fundamentally, the concepts found within the bible never change. 

Specifically today, within the bible, I am always going meaning in looking at the ancient psalm – Psalm 23:   

The Lord is my shepherd….

The beautiful imagery of this scripture is timeless.  Like all good literature, this scriptural poetry has a life of its own.  This scripture will live forever.  While it may be more challenging to teach future generations just what shepherds did 2000 years ago, the image of our Shepherd Lord taking care of us, his or her flock, is timeless. 

II.   THE SHEPHERD DAVID

My original intent was to do a sermon focusing on various themes found throughout the 23^rd psalm.  I discovered in the end I could do an entire sermon on just these first five words, THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD!  Each word can have a different emphasis: 

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

One cannot look at the 23rd Psalm or our gospel lesson from John without hearing about the work David, the author of the psalm, and the ministry of shepherds. 

Throughout the bible, some of the references to shepherds and sheep are literal – shepherds in ancient fields along the hills of Palestine taking care of their flocks of sheep, herding them into safe pastures, keeping them safe from predator wolves or coyotes. 

David, the author of this Psalm 23 was a great king – but before he was a king he was a shepherd.  In fact reading I and II Samuel we learn that David was once a shepherd, the youngest son of Jesse (I Sam 17:11).    

Some backtround to envision:  On the hills near where David lived, south of Jerusalem, were steep ridges, figs and olives and grapes were grown….not unlike the Napa and Sonoma valleys Nancy and I had a chance to visit in California just a few weeks ago.    

As a shepherd David was familiar with the challenges of tending sheep.  He was sensitive to their needs.  He spent a lot of time with his sheep.  He knew how to provide for their nourishment.  He protected them from predators.  David was there to tend to their injuries – he used oil to cover their wounds -- another image of being anointed with oil, found in the 23^rd Psalm.    

In the evening David would take the sheep to an area fenced or defined with rock walls and hand-made gates of stone:  I can only imagine the hard work involved in not only caring for the sheep but creating this secure fence around them at night with his bare hands…..and not always the same place to secure these sheep.  And for their security David would sleep with his sheep under the stars keeping them safe.

Also, in the nation of Israel, sheep were used in the sacrificial system for worship, horns were used during ceremonial observances.  The Passover lamb was to be an unblemished animal carefully tended by shepherds like David, and offered as a reminder of God’s deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. 

Simply, sheep were a precious commodity—spiritually and in a practical ways in feeding and clothing the people.  David’s responsibilities as a shepherd were great.

So back to scripture and I Sam. 17 verses 12 &13 ---  “He, David was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.  The Lord said to Samuel, rise and anoint him for this is the one…..and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.”   Time eventually came for this great shepherd, David, to be anointed king!

David knew about sheep.  More important he knew about the needs of people of his time.  David, as King, knew what he would have to do to protect his people from the challenges of the Philistines….and others…just as he did as a young shepherd.   With all this background, David became one of the greatest of all kings. 

And another, more gentle side of David:  He was also a great writer, a poet who would become one greatest song (psalm) writers the world would ever know.

III.  THE GOOD SHEPHERD JESUS

Getting beyond the 23^rd Psalm that many of us know by heart, I want to take a few moments to look briefly at our New Testament Scripture and the title passed on to our lord, from the lineage of David, to Jesus – our lord Jesus who is also known as the GOOD SHEPHERD….   

“The good shepherd who laid down his life for you and

me, the sheep of his fold.”

Jesus, with David as a model in how to do things, was a good and gracious shepherd.  He would do anything to protect his sheep.  He laid down his life for his sheep, you and me, by dying on the cross. 

Which reminds us this is still Easter. The cross is empty.  The tomb where Jesus was laid to rest is empty.  The wonderful end of this story is rests in this fact:  the Lord our shepherd is with us – with us today!  Our good and gracious, awesome shepherd is not dead but alive, living  with us and within -- all around us -- now and forever!  Jesus is not in a box.  He is not in the tomb.  He is alive with us with every breath we take!

So today I preach:  --  We have our tools to learn about the shepherd.  We also have opportunities to experience the shepherd – first hand and face to face…..

Jesus is with us in this church, the church founded and grounded;  nurtured and sustained on the rock of faith in salvation for us all.

Jesus, good and gracious shepherd, listens to and hears our confessions;  mercifully, through his death on the cross frees us from sin.   

Jesus, good and gracious shepherd, is our healer, anointing us with oil, protecting us from evil, caring for the wellbeing of us all.

Jesus, good and gracious shepherd, feeds our souls through worship, liturgy, hymns and anthems, prayers and listening and hearing God’s Holy Word.

Jesus, good and gracious shepherd, creates within us a sense of being in community – through fellowship and mission and various ministries we perform.

Jesus, good and gracious shepherd walks with us each and every day, leading us to the still waters of God’s presence; Jesus is with us each and every day with every breath we take.

Jesus, good and gracious, is with us now in this place….

LET US AFFIRM JESUS IS LORD – THE LIVING, RISEN CHRIST!

LET US BELIEVE, JESUS IS MY LORD, MY CHRIST, MY FUTURE.

AMEN

2056

PALM SUNDAY: Our Road to Jerusalem

"Our Road to Jerusalem"

Palm Sunday

April 1, 2012

©Thomas B. Cundiff

Psalm 122

Luke 19: 28-44

Psalm 122

¹          I was glad when they said to me,

            “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”

²          Our feet are standing

            within your gates, O Jerusalem.

³          Jerusalem—built as a city

            that is bound firmly together.

⁴          To it the tribes go up,

            the tribes of the LORD,

            as was decreed for Israel,

            to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

⁵          For there the thrones for judgment were set up,

            the thrones of the house of David.

⁶          Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

            “May they prosper who love you.

⁷          Peace be within your walls,

            and security within your towers.”

⁸          For the sake of my relatives and friends

            I will say, “Peace be within you.”

⁹          For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,

     I will seek your good.

Luke 19: 28-44

²⁸After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.   ²⁹When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, ³⁰saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” ³²So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them.

³³As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” ³⁴They said, “The Lord needs it.” ³⁵Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. ³⁶As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. ³⁷As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, ³⁸saying,

            “Blessed is the king

            who comes in the name of the Lord!

            Peace in heaven,

            and glory in the highest heaven!”

³⁹Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” ⁴⁰He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

⁴¹As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴²saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

I.

This is not a good week for Jesus.  We might be a bit confused because of his triumphal, jubilant entrance into Jerusalem with waving palms and people shouting hosannas!  It is supposed to be a good week but a lot of religious and political leaders just don’t get it.  They are threatened by this man the people call “king of the Jews”. 

This is not a good week for Jesus.  This is a week of suffering for Jesus.  This is a week of pain and suffering.  Scripture tells us of Jesus’ tears as he enters the city.  These are not tears of joy!  This is the week Jesus’ dies.

Yet here we are.  You decided to join with me in worship today. 

-- Perhaps together, we can contemplate what it means that Jesus had to suffer and cry and die for us.

-- Perhaps together, through the sacrament of communion, we can find a way to walk with Jesus integrating into our lives and ministries why Jesus had to die.

-- Perhaps together, we can discover within ourselves what it means to be a disciple of the one who put his life on the line for us – through death releasing us from our sins.

II.

For the last two years I taken a great book off my shelf to help me prepare for this week of Passion for our lord.  This book, The Last Week:  A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus’ final Week in Jerusalem, is written by two great scholars, Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan.  I am still trying to clear my calendar so I can hear Dr. Borg speak in DeWitt the of May.

Borg and Crossan begin their book with the striking description of Jesus’ procession entering Jerusalem on what I can only imagine to be a beautiful middle-Eastern spring day.  It was the beginning of the week of Passover, the most sacred week for the Jews. 

Something you may not know.  There were actually two processions – two parades going on that Passover day:

“One was a peasant procession, the other an imperial procession.  From the east, Jesus road a donkey down the Mount of Olives, cheered by his followers.  Jesus was from the peasant village of Nazareth, his message was about the Kingdom of God, and his followers came from the peasant class.  They had journeyed to Jerusalem from Galilee, about a hundred miles to the north …..

On the opposite side of the city from the west, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, entered Jerusalem at the head of a column of imperial cavalry and soldiers. 

Jesus’ procession proclaimed the kingdom of God;

Pilate’s (procession) proclaimed the power of the empire.”  (pg. 2) 

These two processions from different sides of the city embody the central conflict of the week that led to Jesus’ crucifixion.   Borg and Crossan continue: 

”Imagine the procession….a visual panoply of imperial power.  Cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold.  Sounds:  the marching of feet, the creaking of leather, the clinking of Bridles, the beating of drums.  The swirling dust,….”

We don’t usually associate these images with Palm Sunday!!!   

“Jesus was deliberate in entering Jerusalem on a donkey….countering what was happening (with the powerful and elite) on the other side of the city….”

Jesus made the intentional decision to enter the city in exactly the way the prophet Zechariah (9:9) had predicted with these words:

Lo, your king comes to you;

Humble and lowly

Riding on a colt,

The foal of a donkey –

“There is a confrontation between two kingdoms….through the last week of Jesus’ life.    The week ends with Jesus execution by the powers who ruled his world.  Holy Week is the story of this confrontation.”  (page 4-5) 

III.

We too live in a world full of such confrontations, conflicts and tough choices.    It seems that every time we open the gospel we are told to choose between Jesus or the powers of the world.  We come to church challenged to choose between discipleship and secularism.   There is no way to avoid this challenge.  When we leave worship we’re going to hear the news or read in the paper about the current battles that are taking place in the political arena…in hot spots around the globe.  Which candidate is making the news today?  What’s happening in Iran?  Syria?  Israel?  Columbia?  The Congo?  What’s happening in Jerusalem?  The occupied territories of Palestine?  When we leave this sanctuary there will be a parade of issues making it difficult to experience the joy of Jesus’ parade – his triumphal entrance into our lives.

A careful look at scripture shows us that Jesus struggled in living in two worlds -- the world of God and the world of earthly kings.   Like Jesus we ask how do we live in both worlds when it appears there are so many contradictions between them?

The answer to this dilemma is in setting our priorities and maintaining balance with the choices we make …. choosing to embrace Jesus’ triumphant entry into our lives while at the same time accepting the authority of our leaders, kings and presidents…….in our case, the allegiance we give to nation and those who lead us as “one nation under God” paralleled with faithful allegiance to God!  Palm Sunday is a good day for us to strive to achieve some balance between allegiances….between nation and God.

One lesson from the gospel of Luke comes to mind when it comes to maintaining the integrity of balance between nation and God that says: 

“Give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and to God the things that belong to God”  (Luke 20: 21)

In this country, we give allegiance to the women and men we elect to office.  We may not always agree with the politics of our leaders…..at the same time we give appropriate respect to our leaders.  This is our responsibility as citizens of this city and state and nation.

At the same time, as Christians, we have the responsibility to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in the context of the God-created world around us.  As disciples, Jesus calls us to bring into this world the love of God, the compassion God has for struggling neighbors, the values that lift up the need to be a healthy nation, a nation that defines its politics through the eyes of God.

The choices before us can sometimes be tough…..will we walk through the days and weeks ahead giving primary allegiance to the world in which we live; the consumer culture, the powers of the world that turn Easter into a secular holiday?  Or will we humble ourselves as disciples of Jesus and travel the road of faith that takes us through the struggles we experience – that brings us hope not grounded in government but rather “church” and all God has to offer us through Jesus’ life and death and resurrection? 

What this comes down to is not a choice but rather how we reconcile what it means to love this nation and all that it means to be an American with allegiance, as well, to God and faith we place in his son Jesus Christ in framing the value system that helps us live as faithful Christian-Americans. 

IV.

I want to leave you today with one final quote that comes from a brief interview the rector of the Christ Church of Gross Point had with Marcus Borg prior to his speaking to this congregation on March 17^th. 

Borg is asked:  “What is important for us to understand about the last days of Jesus’ life?”  Borg says:  “That his death was not planned or required by God, and that it was not about the forgiveness of sin.  His death was an execution:  he was killed by the powers, religious and political, that ruled his world.  They did so, not because Jesus had to die for the sins of the world, but because his vision was a threat to the way things were and he was beginning to attract a following.  So they snuffed him out.  That’s what Good Friday is about.  Easter is about God’s vindication of Jesus, God’s Yes” to Jesus and “No” to the powers that killed him.”[1]

All this being said, I pray that we can find nourishment through the sacrament of communion in receiving the bread of life and cup of salvation….knowing that Jesus lived and died for us.  I pray that through communion we integrate Christ into our lives as we walk these final days with Jesus’ toward the cross…..walking with him as well as he leaves the tomb – empty – risen in glory with God.

AMEN                                                                                                               

---

[1]   www.Christchurchgp.org, Marcus Borg Interview, March Newsletter, CROSSINGS from the Christ Church Grosse Point, MI where M Borg was invited to speak and preach March 17^th and 18^th.