Worship - Sermons - 5/7/06

With Us

Psalm 23 & John 10:11-18

William F. Schnell

May 7, 2006

Our message this morning is based upon both our Old and New Testament lessons.  That is because the two are so related.  Jesus, in our New Testament text, surely had the 23^rd Psalm in mind when he spoke figuratively of himself as the good shepherd.  Most everybody is familiar with the 23^rd Psalm, even to the point of being able to recite it from memory according to the King James Version.  That is one reason Rev. Horak read our Old Testament lesson for this morning from the King James Version, because that is how most people learned this most quoted of scriptures.  For many people, it just doesn’t sound quite right read any other way.

But reading about shepherds and sheep is one thing.  Knowing about them is something else entirely.  Imagine when the Bible was first translated into the indigenous language of the Eskimos.  “What is a shepherd?” they must have thought.  What is a sheep?”  So those things had to be explained to them, perhaps with analogies to bears and seals.  But sheep, shepherding and shepherds have to be explained to us as well.  Very few, if any, of us have any experience with such things. 

I am reminded of a story about a shepherd who was herding his rather substantial flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand new Jeep Cherokee advanced toward him out of a dust cloud. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and a YSL tie, leans out of the window and asks: "If I can tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?"

The shepherd looks at the yuppie, then at his peacefully grazing flock and answers, "Sure!"  The yuppie parks the car, whips out his notebook computer, connects it to a cell phone, surfs to a NASA page where he calls up a GPS navigation system, scans the area and feeds the data into a complex program.  Finally, he prints out a report on a miniature printer, turns to our shepherd and says: "You have exactly 1586 sheep!"  "That's correct. As agreed, you can take one of the sheep," says the shepherd. He watches the young man make a selection and load it into his Cherokee.

As the car starts to pull away, he calls out: "If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me my sheep back?"  "Okay, why not?" answers the young man, stopping the car.  "You are a consultant," says the shepherd.  "That's correct," says the yuppie.  "How did you guess?"  "Easy," answers the shepherd.  "You turn up here without being asked.  You want to be paid for information I already have.  And you don't know anything about my business because you just took my dog."

So let’s familiarize ourselves with sheep.  Sheep are very dependent creatures that prefer to be led around.  You chase wild horses, you drive cattle but you lead sheep.  Otherwise they might hurt themselves.  As the Psalmist says, He leadeth me beside the still waters (Verse 2).  Left to their own devices, sheep might drink from raging waters, which can soak into their wooly coats, drag them under the surface and drown them. 

If they do not hurt themselves they might be hurt by predators, against which they have no defenses.  They have no horns, they have no fangs, the have no claws and they have no killer instinct, as attested to by the saying, “Gentle as a lamb.”  That is why they are comforted by the shepherd’s rod, which drives away their predators, and his staff, which guides them in the way that is right for them.  Again, as the Psalmist puts it, ...he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness—the paths that are right for me (Verse 3).  Sheep require leading because they are dependent and vulnerable.

Some people find that characterization insulting when applied to human beings.  I designed a shepherding program for a church I served in Milwaukee where the church’s membership directory was divided into flocks, each with its own shepherding deacon.  I was just contacted by the Senior Minister of that church who is seeking to restore that program to its original design, which is quite flattering.  But I recall some initial resistance to the program.  When I asked one member which flock he belonged to, he responded rather abruptly, “I do not belong to any flock.  I am not a sheep!”

Perhaps this gentleman did not want to be regarded as a sheep because they are so dependent and vulnerable—not exactly the qualities that speak to the alpha male (or female) in us all.  There’s a movie called “Birdcage” where a fellow is trying to coach his rather effeminate partner into acting like a manly man, which means, among other things, that he has to be able to talk about sports.  So he tests his partner with a question like, “How are you feeling about the Yankees this year?”  And his partner responds: “I’m feeling vulnerable, bewildered and betrayed.”

No guy is going to answer sports questions like that.  No guy is going to admit that he is vulnerable.  Ask any guy here how he is doing today and I guarantee you he will not say, “Vulnerable.”  No, he will say something like, “Absolutely Invulnerable, thank you, and you?”  Clark Kent is dependent and vulnerable.  Superman is independently invulnerable.  Which do you think the average guy prefers to think of himself as being?

But even Superman is made weak in the knees by Lois Lane.  Women can say they feel vulnerable without any problem, and can act like the dependent gender, but I don’t buy any of that business anymore.  Women can be more competitive than the New York Yankees when it comes to getting what they want, especially from men who, as a gender, are no match for them.  As one Anita Loos put it: “The people I'm furious with are the women's liberationists. They keep getting up on soapboxes and proclaiming women are brighter than men. That's true, but it should be kept quiet or it ruins the whole racket.”

But if a woman depends upon her womanly charms to get what she wants, those charms fade with time, just as the illusion of being Superman fades for men as their bodies age.  Health fades and even wealth fades in terms of its value for us.  If my driver’s license gets pulled because of waning eyesight or other infirmity of advancing years, there is no point in buying a new car.  If I can no longer live safely on my own, there is no point in buying a house.  Eventually someone else becomes my legal trustee who makes decisions about what used to be my money and my lifestyle.  As our end approaches, there is no escaping our lamb-like vulnerability and dependence.  But upon what can we depend, if not our health, wealth, beauty, brains or talent?

Nothing stays with us all the way through our measure of days upon the earth, from birth to death, except for God our Creator and Sustainer.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me… (Verse 4).  Even as death approaches in old age we fear no evil for not even death will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39).

Sometimes I have occasion to preach at convalescent facilities where residents have lost a lot of their capabilities.  Some are not able to communicate very well.  Some are deep into dementia and are not able to think very well.  I do not know how much they get out of my brief messages, but I do know that when we begin to sing the old hymns of faith, they are still able to do that.  The sing loud and clear, “God will take care of you, through every day, o’er all the way….”  God is with us “o’er all the way,” from beginning to end, from alpha to omega.

No wonder that when the angel announced Jesus’ birth to his father, Joseph, one of the names he gave to the Christ-child was Immanuel. Literally translated the name means: God with us (Matthew 1:23) God was with us in the Christ Child, to be sure but as, the risen Christ his parting words in the Gospel of Matthew remind us, And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20).  The Great Shepherd is always with us and will never abandon or forsake us.

Hence in our New Testament lesson Jesus contrasts himself as the Good Shepherd with the hired hand.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep.  So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.  Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.  The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep (John 10:11-13). 

The Lord is not a fair-weather friend.  Have you ever had a friend like that?  If there is a party going on, they are there for the good times.  But when times turn tough and you could use some serious help, they are nowhere to be found.  Jesus is not a friend like that.  Whether we are in the valley or on the mountaintop, Jesus is with us if we have the eyes of faith to see him and the ears that are opened to hear him trying to get through to us.

I would like to think that I have a sophisticated faith, having graduated from seminary and been a pastor these many years and all.  But on those occasions when I find myself in deep trouble, do you know what I do?  I find a solitary place and I literally get down on my knees to pray.  To me, there is no other posture that displays dependence and vulnerability more than that one.  I do not offer up well-crafted words, nor do I beat around the bush.  I admit right from the start that I am in over my head, sinking fast and in need of a power greater than myself to save me.

Folks, you have never heard my best prayers because you have never been with me at those times.  But those must be my best prayers because they get the best results.  Those prayers make me aware of the Lord’s presence with me.  I am sure that he is with me all the time, but I am not always aware of it.  During those prayers I am aware of it.  During those prayers there is no question that the Lord is with me.  The only question is whether I am with the Lord.  

The Lord leads me to understand the right thing to do.  Maybe I need to swallow my pride and admit where I have been wrong.  Maybe I need to forgive someone near and dear from whom I have become estranged.  Maybe I need to stand firm in what is right even though I have to pay a price to do it.  Whatever is the right thing to do, he leads me to understand it—he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness….

And if I have the grace to follow his lead, he restoreth my soul, because I now know I am not alone.  The Good Shepherd is with me to protect and provide, to direct and guide.  Therefore I will boast all the more about my weakness, vulnerability and dependence for when I am weak, then I am strong in the Lord.  I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  May we all find strength sufficient in Immanuel—God With Us—and eternal comfort in our role as sheep—the sheep of his pasture.