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.
Jeremiah 31:7-12
7 For thus says the Lord: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘Save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel.’ 8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labour, together; a great company, they shall return here. 9 With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.’ 11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. 12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again.
If you have ever read the book of Jeremiah Chapter 31, then you know it’s very, very long with lots of different sections and themes. Regardless, the entire chapter is entitled “The Joyful Return of the Exiles.” That seems timely as we now formally review the past year, today, in the Annual meeting and affirm our intentions for 2023. “Joyful Return of the Exiles” I think we resemble that at least in part.
As you have hopefully seen in the annual report, a great deal of what this church treasures and values has returned in some form or another, although there is still more work to be done. Clearly, we're not in the promised land--not quite yet. There's still much to be done to re-create, shore up and reignite ministries that have been the marks of this rich and diverse community of faith. And it will happen, in God’s time.
Interesting! Scholar, Kathleen O'Connor, speaks about God’s role in this Jeremiah text, by saying, “God calls the nations (and therefore, us) to celebrate the coming reunion AND [also] takes responsibility for scattering the people.” Wow! God takes responsibility for scattering the people, but then… God promises to gather them back like a shepherd. Later in Chapter 31, Jeremiah, also, speaks of the restoration to come; but, also, speaks to God's pledge to “satisfy the weary, to replenish the faint”. That's excellent news for all of us who are still reeling from the last three years, because Covid made our already complicated lives even harder, much harder than they already were, as we see so many names who have been in our bulletin, looking for healing and restoration in body and in spirit and in soul.
In our portion of the text, God is calling on an unnamed audience, (and therefore us), to rejoice; rejoice with Jacob and his people and then for us: to intercede on behalf of the remnant, the remnant for the journey, because the journey home is now about to begin.
It sounds like a lot of what we've been through and what we're hoping for, for the future, which was affirmed by all of you in the church-wide retreat last week. What we don't hear though, in Jeremiah 31 or in the 23rd Psalm, is any fear or anxiety. We don’t have to be fearful or anxious about what God is going to do in the restoration, only that God will. And in the 23rd Psalm, the sheep? They fully trust. They fully trust the Shepherd to lead them and love them.
Yahweh, in Psalm 23, as the Shepherd, is both a fierce and gentle companion that will never let the sheep out of his sight. The loving and ever-attentive Shepherd will give rest, clear and sure direction, protect from the dangers in life, reconcile us to those that we are alienated from, bring us in and through difficulties and home again at last. This Shepherd loves us so deeply and dearly that even in the darkest valley, the Shepherd will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
Scholar James Newsome spells it out even more clearly. He says, “Not only does the Shepherd provide sheep with well-being, but even when traversing the darkest valley, where the terrain has lots of hiding places suitable for attacks and ambushes; (places that are fraught with threats), even there, the sheep aren't frightened.” The Shepherd is realistic about the danger, but not worried; because he knows that Yahweh will help him lead the sheep back to safety. The sheep trust the Shepherd. They trust the Shepherd to tend to them and the sheep know that they are never, ever, ever alone. The trust in faith in the Shepherd overrides the danger of any pasture lands!
So our role as “sheeple” is the trust in the Shepherd, to accept the Shepherd's help and to respond by following fully and completely, which, as we know, is easier said than done!
I want to tell you about a little boy named Ethan. Ethan was born with a birth defect and had a number of surgeries as a little baby. He has had a number of other procedures, so that he can have full sight as an adult. I think Ethan was probably traumatized along the way as any infant child would be with a number of surgeries. Ethan is now seven and he's a darling little boy, but he has come to start collecting sheep--stuffed animal sheep that he puts on his bed, because those sheep give him comfort. Those sheep create a safety net for him. Those sheep remind him that he is cared for by the Lord.
Ethan was in church sometime in the last couple of months and I had a stuffed lamb that’s been on my bookshelf, which I have used for a number of Children’s sermons. It was so sweet and soooo soft. I had heard Ethan was collecting sheep so I asked his mother, “Do you think he would like this lamb?” “Oh, yes” she said.”
So I asked Ethan into my office with his mother and I said, “I've got a surprise for you.” I pulled the lamb off my shelf and brought it over to him “Would you like this?” I asked. He was so overwhelmed; he did not know what to say. He took it sheepishly (ha ha)
He was back in church at Christmas time. He drew this and gave it to me. (Rev Jen holds up a crayon drawing.) It's a shepherd with sheep out in the pasture, because he knows that his Shepherd is going to care for him even when his eyesight isn't perfect; even when he's afraid in the middle of the night; even when his parents are worried and afraid.
Most of us of a certain age were probably encouraged or forced (bribed in my case) to learn the 23rd Psalm. I've told you the story about learning the 23rd Psalm when I was in sixth grade at the Presbyterian Church in Caldwell. Once a student learned the 23rd Psalm, you were given an individual devil's food cake which naturally I tried to eat in one sitting. But it worked!
There’s a story about a little boy, who was in Sunday school and could not learn the 23rd Psalm. Although he tried and tried, he couldn’t get it down. One Sunday morning all the students were brought to the front of the Chancel to recite the 23rd Psalm, one by one. When it was his turn, he got up in front of the congregation and he said, “The Lord is my Shepherd...” He couldn't think of the rest, so he started again. “The Lord is my Shepherd…” and he couldn't remember anymore. And then he said, “The Lord is my Shepherd… and that's all I need to know.”
Friends, the Lord is our Shepherd and, as James Newsome says, “The outcome of a life fully trusting in the Shepherd is that the sheep… lack… nothing.
May it be so for all of us one day. Amen.