30 Aug Fourth Sunday of Easter, Appril 25th, 2021
Holy Gospel: John 10:11-18, Psalm 23
Ursula Schmidt
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Amen
Do you realize that we are still celebrating the most significant time in the church year?
The Eastertide which lasts until Pentecost.
Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
- we would have to lock down our churches permanently,
- our life would be meaningless,
- and our death would be eternal.
But do we still radiate the Easter joy
Or do we forget about Easter as soon as the supermarkets pack away the Easter candy?
Let us celebrate Christ´s resurrection
as the hope which enlightens the whole world
and as the confidence in God´s promise for us, especially in our times of Covid 19.
There are texts and images in the Holy Bible which are widespread all over the world,
hopeful and popular texts in all centuries, within all generations,
shaping lives,
setting outlines for thoughts and actions,
comforting in troubles and tribulations from childhood to death.
The psalm for today is one of these texts.
The words of psalm 23 are engraved in many hearts,
its metaphors are picturesque and unique.
The image of the Lord as our shepherd is irreplaceable.
In the 19th century romanticized paintings of Jesus carrying a lamb on his shoulders and crossing a dangerous gorge became very popular.
When I was a small child I saw such a painting hanging over the bed of my grandparents.
I could almost feel the safe comfort of the sheep
Which was obviously rescued from a life-threatening danger.
The equivalent to these paintings is a pietistic Sunday school song which dates back to the 18th century
„Weil ich Jesu Schäflein bin“.
Some of you might have sung the English translation of this song:
I am Jesus’ little lamb,
Ever glad at heart I am;
For my Shepherd gently guides me,
Knows my need, and well provides me,
Loves me every day the same,
Even calls me by my name.
As I grew up I never minded the idea of being guided and called by name every day by Jesus my shepherd, but I wasn´t too happy about being a “Schäflein”.
I really liked little lambs, and I still do, most of all little lambs at spring time hopping merrily about in green pastures.
But when I became a teenager, “Schäflein” started to have slightly negative overtones:
I considered a “Schäflein”, a little lamb, to be cute and cuddly,
but also, a little too naïve, even somehow stupid.
And I neither wanted to be reduced to being cuddly nor more or less stupid.
In contemporary German the general feeling about “Schäflein” is similar.
People use this word when they ask a pastor for the number of the members of his congregation: “How many “Schäflein” have you got in your parish?”
Another example: if someone is labeled as a “Schäflein”, you describe a person who doesn´t risk thinking or making decisions independently.
A “Schäflein” is someone who is easily indoctrinated,
a part of a herd, with the instinct and the mentality of a herd animal.
The Bible has a different symbolic image of a sheep or a lamb:
it is the image for the human existence which needs guidance, care and protection,
otherwise they might get lost.
In the OT “sheep” or “lamb” is mentioned 159 times.
The Israelites considered the sheep to be a ritually clean animal, used as a sacrifice for sins or thanksgiving,
but most of all it is a symbol for God´s mercy.
The 23rd psalm seems to be so simple, that even children can understand it.
At the same time the 23rd psalm is so deep that theologians can drown in it and fill libraries with their interpretations.
At first glance the 23rd psalm seems to be a beautiful poem,
memorized and prayed at bedsides from childhood to funerals.
The deeper meaning of psalm 23, however, reveals itself in a crisis or calamity.
The words are as comforting for people who are in the middle of a crisis as for those who try to help.
I imagine that in our recent times of the pandemic this psalm has been quoted and prayed more often than ever before.
The bible refers to psalm 23 as “A Psalm of David”.
Nevertheless, contemporary theologians who explore the sources and texts of the Old Testament doubt David as the author.
Since I don´t think that we would benefit now from explicit controversial theological arguments, whether or not David had written psalm 23, we’d better rely on the fact that David had definitely a great musical talent which is reflected by his many psalms.
David who must have known about the historical shepherds such as Abel, Jacob, Joseph and Moses, was a shepherd himself, before he became king of Israel.
So, he knew what shepherding was about.
He probably was an expert shepherd because he only needed a stick and a sling to protect his father´s sheep.
The psalm singer not only uses the figure of the shepherd as a metaphor for God:
God is like a shepherd, but he testifies and acclaims “The LORD is my shepherd”.
The singer is confident about it, and he is committed to God his shepherd.
The singer of psalm 23 and all those who pray this psalm — in Jewish synagogues, in Christian services or privately at home —believe in the security and refuge of the faith in God.
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not be in want.
— God stills all my hunger.
He makes me lie down in green pastures
and leads me beside still waters.
— God grants me rest and peace.
He revives my soul
and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.
— God gives me guidance and new life.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
— God provides me comfort and protection.
You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me;
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.
— God presents me abundant defense and healing.
Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
— God grants me mercy and new eternal life.
God´s almighty presence and power occur at times when we feel a touch of paradise,
when we enjoy “green pastures, still waters, anointing oil, overflowing cups of goodness”.
But God´s almighty power is also present at times when we suffer and grieve.
When we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death”.
The result of which is that we never have to be afraid,
that we never have to despair,
that we “shall fear no evil”,
because God our shepherd is with us at all times.
Psalm 23 reflects life in the countenance of The Lord God.
The New Testament mentions the sheep or the lamb 37 times.
The shepherd stands for Christ´s love for men. Jesus is the good shepherd.
The evangelist John reports 7 famous self-designations of Jesus:
“I AM the bread of life”
“I AM the light of the world”
“I AM the gate for the sheep”
“I AM the good shepherd”
“I AM the resurrection and the life”
“I AM the way and the truth and the life”
“I AM the true vine”
With these metaphors Jesus not only describes himself as the son of God.
When Jesus says “I AM” he is putting himself at the same level as the God of Israel
because “I AM” was God’s own self-designation in the Hebrew Bible.
So many Jews were shocked when Jesus called himself the “good shepherd”.
They considered it being a blasphemy and Jesus being possessed by demons,
because like David they believed only God to be the “good shepherd”.
Right after Jesus proclaimed himself as the “good shepherd” he announced his death and resurrection.
When Jesus compares himself to a shepherd, the metaphor goes beyond the comforting and idyllic tranquility of the 23rd psalm.
The main issue of Jesus´ self-designation” I am the good shepherd.” is followed by the statement “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
This sheds a different light on David´s image of the shepherd, a light more garish and more glaring: Jesus´ most important issue is his death as a willing sacrifice for his sheep.
The “good shepherd” Jesus is not merely the guiding, caring and comforting shepherd as the singer of the 23rd psalm praised God to be.
The first thing the “good shepherd” Jesus does is not only looking out for the sheep which had gone astray or rescuing them from any danger,
but laying down his life for them, dying for them.
The “good shepherd” Jesus is not only near those who “walk through the valley of the shadow of death”,
he himself enters willingly the “valley of the shadow of death”, in fact he actually dies.
That means that God himself took death upon him in his son Jesus. He suffers death himself.
God abandoned his majesty to be close to us and to bring us back to him.
The “Good Shepherd” theme occurs in the season of Easter because the early Christians visualized Jesus as Good Shepherd descending into the realm of death in order to carry his “lost” sheep out of the dark valley of death into the green pastures of paradise.
To say it with words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who was killed by the Nazi regime.
“Only the suffering God, the seemingly helpless God is able to be close to suffering helpless men, to know, accept and strengthen them.
Only the suffering God knows how they are feeling,
only he is able to feel the depth of their despair, their culpability, their calamity.”
The “good shepherd” Jesus has a strong bond with those who believe in him; a relation which cannot be demolished or destroyed. His sheep are like next of kin:
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.”
Therefore the “good shepherd” Jesus will always be there and care for his flock whereas
“The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.”
The fact that the “good shepherd” Jesus laid down his own life is the proof that God loves all mankind.
Whereas our worldly shepherds, whether political, economic, educational and sometimes even ecclesiastical leaders, may have good intentions, they may even have idealistic altruistic goals, but self-sacrifice is not on their agenda.
These shepherds resemble the “hired hands”.
The profoundness of the metaphor of the good shepherd Jesus laying down his own life for his sheep is as incomprehensible and mysterious as God himself.
All we can do is to pray that God grants us
- to recognize Jesus as the good shepherd,
- to listen to his message
- and to follow his good news.
When we base our lives on Jesus the good shepherd,
when we focus our views, opinions and activities on him,
we don´t automatically get a herd instinct like animals.
We don´t have to deny our God given intellect and give up rational thinking.
God grants us the freedom to make choices and decisions.
Jesus gives us the freedom to accept him as our good shepherd.
He shows us
- ways out of our individual fences and our own barriers to genuine freedom,
- ways to a joyful and meaningful life in God and for our neighbors.
Holy Gospel: John 10:11-18
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
3 He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.
4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.
6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.