May 3, 2009
Psalm 23
1 John 3: 16-24
John 10: 11-18
"One Shepherd, One Flock"
"The Lord is my shepherd." This is a statement of faith, a confession of faith. Who is the Lord? The Lord is my shepherd. Heard this way, the 23rd Psalm takes on a whole new character. Suddenly it is not just a beautiful, pastoral poem read at funerals. It is not simply a lovely, romantically sentimental piece intended to give us comfort in the presence of death.
Who is the Lord? The Lord is my shepherd. This I believe: the Lord is my shepherd. And because the Lord is my shepherd I proclaim there is nothing that I lack. There is nothing that I want or need that is not provided to me. As my shepherd, the Lord provides all that I need.
In a society such as ours, where we are taught that we always need more, this is an absolutely radical statement of trust, an absolutely radical way of life. Because I recognize the Lord as my shepherd, my only shepherd, I proclaim that I need nothing more. I want for nothing.
Then the Psalm goes on to tell what it is the Lord provides, what it is that allows us to proclaim that, "I want for nothing." The Lord restores, the Lord guides, the Lord protects, the Lord feeds and the Lord pursues us if we go astray.
When we trust in the Lord as shepherd we proclaim that He will restore us, he will make us new, he will lead us into those places where we find peace, where we can drink of the fresh restorative waters of life. God will restore us as individuals: He will make us whole and fully human. He will send us a peace that we can find only in the presence of God. He will send us a stillness in which we can grow in grace and mercy and strength.
God will restore us as a congregation, as a church. A church that is broken, that may seem dead or confused or split will be restored to new life by trusting in the Lord as shepherd. A church that proclaims that the Lord is our shepherd will be restored to new life.
The Lord as our shepherd will feed us. God will feed us even when we are in the presence of our enemies, in the presence of those who would attack us, who would scoff at us, who would distract us from God. God will feed us with His word, with His fellowship, with his goodness and the bounty of His creation.
In every way that we need to be fed, God our Shepherd will feed us. In every time that we need to be fed, especially in the valley of the shadow of death and fear, God will feed us. Not just a skimpy snack. Not just a bare bones meal to get us by. We proclaim that our Shepherd prepares a banquet, a feast for us.
When we proclaim that the Lord is our shepherd, we are saying that we will dwell in God's house forever. We proclaim that God our Shepherd wants us with Him always. And if we are among the missing, our shepherd comes looking and searching for us. God comes looking for us so that we might dwell with Him. We proclaim that our shepherd pursues us, pursues you and me.
Why does God pursue us? Pursue you and me? Because God loves us. Our Lord the Shepherd loves us. What is the character of this love? John tells us a little about the love our Shepherd has for us.
This Shepherd of ours knows us by name. When I say that, and when it rings true in my heart, it means so much. I am known by name. You are known by name. We may not know each other, we will never know all the names of all the people God has created, but every single one is known by name. When you can proclaim, "The Lord is my shepherd and He knows my name and calls me by my name" you surround yourself with the Holy power of God. When we as a church proclaim that God is our Shepherd and God calls us by name, we are surrounded and bathed in the intimate power of God's love.
Our shepherd loves us so much that He knows us and calls us each by name.
But our Shepherd's love goes far beyond knowing us by name, far beyond calling us by name. His love is known perfectly in this: Our shepherd is willing to lay down his life for us; for you and for me. Our Lord who is our Shepherd is willing to lay down His life for us even though he knows us perfectly. That is exactly how much God loves you and me. It is enough to make me cry with gratitude. It is enough to make me laugh with joy forever. God knows me exactly and perfectly and God, my Lord the Shepherd, is still willing to lay down his life for me.
Why? Why would our Lord do that for us? There is one reason given. It is so that we might know we are loved, and in this common and sublime knowledge we might come to know that we belong together with our Shepherd. We are loved so greatly and so perfectly that we can do nothing more than to be together, to come together on the common holy ground of love with our Shepherd. One shepherd, one flock.
The only adequate and perfect response to being loved by the Lord our Shepherd is to be together with each other and with Him: One Shepherd, One Flock.
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