The Songs of Israel: The Good Shepherd

The Songs of Israel: The Good Shepherd
Text: Psalm 23
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
August 7, 2011

One of the most beloved images in the Bible is the image of the shepherd. Shepherds pop up all over the place.

David, who was Israel’s most beloved king, started out as a shepherd.

Moses, after he fled Egypt was a shepherd.

Jesus called himself the ‘Good Shepherd.’

The word ‘Pastor’ is derived from the Greek word poimen which literally means ‘shepherd.’

And, of course, the most beloved Psalm of all is the 23rd Psalm where we say, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

The image of God as our shepherd and Jesus as our good shepherd touches and warms our hearts immensely.

But it is a bizarre image. While we think of tranquil stained glass windows and church art showing Jesus holding a baby lamb or the shepherd in the field in the moonlight holding his shepherd’s staff, we often miss the reality of the shepherding profession. On the job status ladder, they were pretty much at the bottom rung of the ladder. We are talking dishwasher at the Waffle House kind of status. It is hard, honest work, but not one of great status.

Yet it’s an image that shows up repeatedly in the Bible and one we need to really look at with great seriousness. Shepherds give us a couple of very compelling images.

For one, this image of God reminds us that God is our guide.

Two men in a truck, neither one very bright, were passing through a small town. They came to an overpass with a sign which read, "Clearance: 11'3". They got out and measured their rig. It was 12'4" tall. As they climbed back into the cab, one of them asked, "What do you think we should do?" The driver looked around, then shifted into gear saying, "No police in sight. Let's take a chance."

Many people regard God as some kind of cosmic police officer whose rules are designed to cramp our style and cheat us out of good times. So if they get a chance to beat the rap, they go for it. But the opposite is really true. God is a loving shepherd who gives us guidance, and leads us from harm.

Think for a moment at the story of these two fools. Were they going to benefit? Their future was, obviously, going to be that their truck was going to get stuck under the overpass, they would tie up traffic for hours, they would receive citations, and ultimately be fired for their stupidity. The rule wasn’t there to restrict their lives as much as it was to keep them from harm.

The 10 Commandments, all those “Thou shalt nots” are seen as restrictive----and they are; but they aren’t because God is a cosmic police officer, but a guide who tries to keep us from getting into trouble.

For example. “Thou shalt not steal.”

Most people who steal learn this lesson. They find themselves in legal trouble, they lose jobs, they have criminal record, they often become estranged from families, and do great damage to their lives. The rule is there, more often than not, to protect people, often from themselves.

“Thou shalt not commit adultery,” is much the same. The oft running joke is that this is the commandment that is there to keep people from having fun----but it’s not a very funny joke. Many people who have committed adultery find that it has dramatically impacted their lives. Marriages are destroyed as, all too often, are families. Many women and children, after a divorce, have not been treated fairly and, sadly, there is a rising poverty rate amongst women and children following a divorce----and so many divorces come as a result of adultery.

It may be a rule, but it’s not a rule put there, by God, to keep us from having fun as much as to protect ourselves from ourselves.

Secondly, in dealing with the concept of God as our shepherd there is also the image of scarcity and abundance.

The United Church of Christ Scripture Scholar, Walter Bruggeman speaks to us about the beginning of this theme in the book of Genesis. The first 46 Chapters of Genesis speak to us about abundance, the creation and the abundance of God’s love, power, and grace. The, in Chapter 47, the Pharaoh begins to become stressed about famine and the idea of scarcity shows up in the Bible.

This conflict between scarcity and abundance works its way through much of the Bible.

Peter and Jesus walk on water. It’s a story about Jesus’ abundance of faith, and Peter’s scarcity of faith.

The multiplication of the loaves and the fishes; there appears to be a scarcity of food and Jesus makes it abundant.

The turning water into wine; there was a scarcity of wine and Jesus turned it into an abundance.

The idea of love and grace is a story of scarcity and abundance. Often God is viewed as one limits how much love God shares, yet grace teaches us that God’s love is abundant beyond our wildest imagination.

The story is much the same through the entire Bible. People see a scarcity where there really is an abundance.

In so many ways, the 23rd Psalm is a reminder, to us, of God’s amazing generosity, love, and sense of abundance to all of us.

In the first eleven days of November, this year, the United Church of Christ will embark on a project entitled Mission 1, which is an eleven day mission focus on feeding the hungry. It will be an opportunity for us to join with United Church of Christ congregations around the nation to provide abundance where there is a scarcity.

And today, as we gather at the table of the Lord, this Sacrament, Holy Communion, is a demonstration of abundance in an age of scarcity. Our Closing Hymn today, one of my favorites, reminds us It is a time to share a blessed meal, bread for the journey, to fill our hearts with God’s grace.

The 23rd Psalm is a Psalm that celebrate God’s guidance and celebrates the grace of God, leading us to safe places, and giving us the abundance of God’s love and grace.