Three Canadian blondes died and found themselves standing before St. Peter. He told them that before they could enter the Kingdom, they had to tell him what Easter represented.
The first blonde said, "Easter is a holiday where they have a big feast and we give thanks and eat ham." St. Peter said, "Noooooo," and he banished her to Hell.
The second blonde said, "Easter is when we celebrate Jesus' birth and exchange gifts." St. Peter said, "Noooooo," and he banished her to Hell.
The third blonde said she knew what Easter was, and St. Peter said, "So, tell me." She said, "Easter is a Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover. Jesus was having Passover feast with His disciples when He was betrayed by Judas, and the Romans arrested Him. The Romans hung Him on the cross and eventually He died. Then they buried Him in a tomb behind a very large boulder ... " St. Peter said, "Verrrrrry good."
Then the blonde continued, "Now, every year they roll away the boulder and Jesus comes out. If he sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of hockey."
St. Peter fainted.
Well on the lighter side of things. Most of us have friends and relatives who have at some time been struck with tragedy and suffering. Most of us can recall a time or times when pain and grief have cut us deeply. A part of the Bible that has brought comfort to many people in their time of grief and suffering is the 23rd Psalm.
I don’t think David wrote this psalm specifically for times of grief, but today there is rarely a funeral when this psalm is not sung, read, or preached on. In fact, this is a psalm for all occasions. So often it is read and sung at weddings. It is a song about our loving God who walks with those whom he loves through all the ups and downs that life brings. It is a song of trust and confidence in God’s presence and help in times of trouble. You can see why this psalm is so relevant as a couple begin their life together as husband and wife.
I don’t remember when I first came into contact with the 23rd Psalm but it was the school choir teacher at my school who insisted that we learn the words off by heart. In my mind’s eye, I can still see her face and her flabby arms as she waved them around as she conducted. She seemed terribly old to us. But she managed to make us into a choir.
I don’t know what has happened to all those other children that were part of Mrs. Djan’s choir in Ghana, but I hope the words that she made us learn has had some impact on their lives, as it has mine.
I hope that when confronted with the tragedies and the pain that afflicted them on life’s journey, those boys and girls remembered the hymn they learnt at Primary School about the Shepherd and how he cares for his sheep in such a loving way and that his goodness and mercy follows them all the days of their life. It is clear from this song about the Shepherd that the writer wants to tell us that God is intimately involved in our lives. You might, say he knows us better than we know ourselves.
He knows when we are struggling with disease and ill health, always fearing that death is just around the corner. We can say he knows every need that might have.
We don’t have shepherds these days as described in this song. The Canadian sheep farmer is a far cry from the Palestinian shepherd. The 23rd Psalm provides us with a picture of a person who knew his sheep closely and personally.
He lived with them, slept with them, roamed the hills with them day after day; he led them to good pasture, fresh water, protecting them from all kinds of danger with his shepherd’s staff. He knew individual sheep by name and each sheep responded to the familiar voice of the shepherd.
It’s no wonder that David, the writer of this song, uses the image of a shepherd to get across the idea of the intense love that God has for us and his concern for our total well-being at every turn of our life. And it is no wonder that Jesus takes up this illustration of the shepherd and applies it to himself.
He says, "I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me (John 10:14). He is saying that just as Jesus is close to God the Father and just as God the Father is close to Jesus, so also no-one is closer to us that the Good Shepherd – Jesus. He knows us and loves us so much that he is willing to put his life on the line for us.
A shepherd would often be in danger as he protected his sheep from wolves or would find himself hanging over some precipice in order to rescue a straying lamb. But I don’t think that he would go so far as to deliberately give up his life to save a dumb sheep. But "the good shepherd" does. He gave up his life on a cross so that his sheep could have eternal life.
The picture that the songwriter presents us is a comforting and reassuring one. It reminds us that even when the going gets tough and life seems almost too difficult to bear, we have a loving God who is never more than a breath away.
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. Notice the words "Even though I walk through the darkest valley". This is a little truer to the original intention language. Older translations have the valley of the shadow of death but the songwriter includes something far wider than just the moment we are facing death.
The darkest valley includes every time and situation that strike fear into our hearts. These are words of comfort when you and I are feeling lost, helpless, alone, sick and fearful. Perhaps it is a time of sickness or hospitalization. Or a time when you parted from a loved one, and felt pain so deep it seemed you were being ripped apart.
It may have been a dark night of doubt, or uncontrolled anxiety or fear. When things get on top of us like this, it is common to feel utterly alone; we think that no one in the world can possibly know what we are going through. The message of the Psalm is that the shepherd is near at hand, even if we think he is nowhere to be found.
A little 1st-grader stood in front of his classroom to make a speech about "What I want to be when I grow up." He said, "I’m going to be a lion tamer and have lots of fierce lions. I’ll walk into the cage and they will roar." He paused for a moment thinking through what he had just said and then added, "But of course, I’ll have my mummy with me."
That’s the picture that this psalm paints for us. We hear in the New Testament that Jesus Christ is "the great shepherd of the sheep," that he is the caring shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine and sets out after the one who is lost, that he is the "good shepherd," who knows his sheep and even lays down his life for the sheep.
There is something precious in the fact that the one exalted to rule the universe as king is also our shepherd, who encounters us in our private, dark desert nights, who offers the cool water of baptism and a banquet of simple bread and wine, who watches over us in every circumstance.
The Palestinian shepherd didn’t sit under the cool of a shady tree all day and watch his sheep from a distance. He walked with his sheep. He guided them, helped them and protected them. That is the kind of shepherd Jesus is.
My good Shepherd says to me, "Do not be troubled. Do not be afraid. Don't look at the danger around you. Don't be distracted by the darkness. Don't look at your sin or your own death. Look only at me, your Good Shepherd.
I laid down my life for you, and with me you are safe, even from death. My death defeats death. My life is your life. And I will be with you always, even to end of the age. Do not be afraid." The picture of Jesus the good Shepherd is a great one, well worth holding on to, and well worth sharing it with others.
It has comforted us in times of hardship; it can do the same for others whom we know are struggling at this time. Just as we have been comforted, they too will be helped knowing that "the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
May 2, 2004