©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 5th 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
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 23rd 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 Napa Sonoma California
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 23rd
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 Israel 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.
Getting
beyond the 23rd 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.
2056
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