Loving God, you care for us just as a good shepherd cares for the sheep and provide us with all that is needed.  Empower us by your Spirit to follow where you lead, that we, too, might have life in all its fulness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    A question for you this morning: How many of you have ever spent much time with sheep?...  So how much do you know about sheep?...  They are really rather helpless creatures.  Sheep have no natural defenses against predators.  They wander off and get lost quite easily.  If a sheep falls over onto its back, it can’t get up again.  If sheep try to drink from moving water like a river, they are likely to fall in and get swept away.  And if sheep get stuck in the bushes or fall off a ledge, they can’t get themselves back to safety.  Really, without a decent shepherd to take care of them, sheep are in some serious trouble.

    Now, I’m not sure how you feel about being compared to sheep, but the Bible actually does it quite often.  The implication is not necessarily that we are helpless and stupid, but that without God as our Shepherd, we are in some serious trouble.  In order to get a sense of how this works, it might be helpful to know that Psalm 23 would have been prayed in the midst of a crisis.  It is a Psalm of Trust, which unlike a lament approaches the crisis knowing that God has brought us through that dark valley in the past and trusting that God will do it again.

    And so, imagine that you are in the midst of a crisis - all stressed out - and imagine saying to yourself, “Because the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything that I need.  God leads me to food and drink and rest.  It is God who can restore my soul and my life and my passion.  It is God who will lead me on the right path and will show me the way that I need to go.”  Imagine approaching a crisis with this attitude, and then imagine approaching a crisis without this faith in God.  Do you see a difference?...

    Certainly when we talk about restoring or giving life, or even restoring a soul, God is the only one who ultimately can do that.  Even when we talk about food and drink, God is ultimately the source.  And when we are thinking about which path to choose or even something as big as what direction we are going to take with our lives, God has certainly given us the freedom and the ability to make our own decisions.  The question is if we are going to take that walk with God or without God.  Are we going to allow God to lead, or are we leading?

    For those of you who are graduating, there are some who will tell you that God has a plan for your life and it is up to you to find out what it is and to follow it.  Others will say that God walks with you no matter what path you choose.  The truth is most likely somewhere in between.  Certainly, God has given each one of you gifts and abilities and interests that might point you in a certain direction.  At the same time, there is such a thing as vocation, which is a fancy word for “calling.”  Your vocation is something that God calls you to do.

    And so, there are church vocations, like being a pastor or diaconal minister or youth worker, and some have callings to be doctors or nurses or counselors or teachers or social workers.  Still others are called to serve as musicians, or scientists, or engineers, or builders, or web designers, or any number of other vocations.  No matter what it is that you end up pursuing, it can be done without asking for God’s guidance and direction, or it can be done in a way that glorifies God and serves others.  The key here is approaching life with the knowledge and the trust that God is the one who leads us and walks with us and cares for us, not only when things are going well, but especially during the difficult times.  
 
    The Psalm talks about the valley of the death shadow - that dark place where danger is all around and the threat of death is real and predators can appear at any moment.  The image used in the Psalm is of the shepherd who carries a stout club and a staff which are used for fighting off predators and for rescuing sheep from danger.  The dangers are very real, and yet the Psalm invites us to trust God in the midst of those dangers.  Once again, when we are talking about life and death, God is the one who has power over both.

    We’ll come back to the shepherd image in just a moment, but have you ever noticed that there are actually two images for God in Psalm 23?  The Shepherd is the most obvious one, but God is also the Table Host.  God is the one who sets the table, and does things like washing our feet and anointing our heads with oil, as any good Middle Eastern host would do.  God is also, once again, the protector, as enemies could not touch somebody who had taken refuge at the table of another.  At the same time, this is not just any table, as it comes with a cup of overflowing blessings.  So of course you would want to stay in the house of the Lord “for length of days.”

    As we might expect, when Jesus comes along, he is also both table host and shepherd.  He is the shepherd who knows the sheep by name, and who even lays down his life for the sheep.  He is the shepherd who not only gives life, but gives it abundantly (Jn. 10:10).  He is the shepherd who leads out all those who know his voice.  He is also the shepherd who is there with us when we are confronted with evil or with the dangers that are out there in our world.  For Jesus, too, has power over life and death, and it is only the name of Jesus that sends the evil one running.

    In the end, it is certainly possible to live life in this world without God as our Shepherd.  However, when we do so we miss out on the strength that goes beyond ourselves in the midst of a crisis, the one who leads us on the right path, and the one who gives us life in all its fulness.  May we, too, have our souls restored, and dwell in the house of the Lord forever, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Amen.

Pentecost 3 (NL summer)                                Psalm 23
June 25, 2017                                    John 10:1-4
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2017 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved