This sermon was delivered to the congregation in St Oswald’s in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 15th May 2011: by Gordon McCulloch (A Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
Summary: Sometimes we do not hear what God is saying to us unless we hear what he is not saying to us. To understand, we need now to go through some highs and some lows, especially the valley of the shadow of death to appreciate what a loving God we have.
Acts 2:42-47 1 Peter 2:19-25 John 10:1-10 Psalm 23
Prayer: Loving God, open our hearts and our minds by the power of your Holy Spirit that we may hear with joy your message today, and live in the assurance of your love forever. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Gospel reading
Our reading this morning is taken from John Gospel chapter 10, verses 1 to 10. Please be seated as I read. … “Jesus said, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
Introduction:
Sometimes we do not know how blessed we are until we lose it. And sometimes we do not hear what God is saying to us unless we hear the words he is not saying to us. To understand the message of today’s readings we need to go through some highs and some lows, to appreciate what a loving God we have. In fact we will be going through a lot of highs and lows; so hold on.
To start on a high, let us consider the programs we like on the Television.
I love the documentary channels, especially the ones about engineering, but that is me. My wife likes all the ones about geology and how the earth was formed; but together we like a good murder mystery or a good comedy drama about the petty politics of our fellow human beings.
You will all have your own favourites TV programs of course, but along with the good, there is the bad.
Now I do not know about you, but I hate the biased news reporting, the twisting of the truth and the promotion of fads and trends; where people think that “if it is shown on the Tele it must be ok”.
And in this theme, I do not like the decline in our standards because of TV; especially the unnecessary use of bad language.
But worse of all, are all those TV commercials, because you have no idea the harm they are doing to you; and I have recently been informed that the length of these adverts is to increase from 10 minutes per hour to 15 minutes per hour: That is a 30% increase, which basically means that instead of hearing the GoCompare add 20 per day, we are going to hear it 30 times per day.
On the positive however we heard this morning the 23rd Psalm read, a favourite Psalm by many; but in contrast, I was referred the following parody of Psalm 23, in a homily broadcast on EWTN on March 18 2002.
To us Scots, EWTN (EWTN) by the way is the American Global Catholic Network Channel. Don’t ask!
Anyway, listen to their interpretation of the 23rd Psalm with regard to Television, and I will warn you; it is not pleasant but it kind of truthful:
The TV is my shepherd I shall not want,
It makes me to lie down on the sofa.
It leads me away from the faith,
It destroys my soul.
It leads me to the paths of sex and violence for the advertiser’s sake.
Even though I walk in the shadow of Christian responsibilities,
There will be no interruption, for the TV is with me.
Its cable and remote control, they comfort me
It prepares a commercial for me in the midst of my worldliness
And anoints my head with secular humanism and consumerism.
My covetousness runs over;
Surely ignorance and laziness shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in the house of wretchedness watching TV forever.
Does that not make you sick, it certainly leaves a horrible feeling inside; what a dreadful way to live, if you call that living? But there is another more positive way to live, and I will now give you the bibles version to cheer you up.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and thy staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,
You anoint my head with oil,
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
What a contrast? One sucks the very life out of us; the other infuses life into us.
To move on the 23rd Psalm is probably the best known, most loved, and most quoted portion of Scripture; and it is so familiar that people who seldom if ever read a Bible or go to church, can often quote a portion of this Psalm.
But, since the 23rd Psalm is so often requested at death-beds and funerals; we tend therefore to associate the 23rd Psalm with death and dying.
However, the 23rd Psalm clearly speaks to the living; especially the verse which says `Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me.'
There are thousands of testimonies where many have found comfort, strength, and assurance in this short verse. The 23rd Psalm also gives courage, strength, and hope to those who are alive.
Yet to understand it better you need to understand sheep as it is steeped in the language and customs of shepherding and sheep in Palestine back in Bible times; however I do not want to give you a farming lesson as so many preachers do, I want to focus on some small parts of the Psalm, in particular verse 4 as we heard above: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me”.
Now tradition tells us that the Valley of the Shadow of Death is a very real place in Israel. It is a valley, or a mountain pass, that got its name from the shepherds themselves because of its steep sides, and sheer rock walls.
It was a pass that enabled the shepherds to lead their sheep from one mountain pasture to another. It was a terrifying place for the fearful sheep: for in the steep cliffs on both sides of the valley there were numerous caves and rocks that were perfect for hiding animals of prey; and for thieves and rogues who meant harm to passing travellers. It would also be made worse by the eerie sounds echoing and amplifying their way down through the valley making everyone nervous.
Then we here the words:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me by still water
He leads me in paths of righteousness.
These are bold and comforting word, but the sheep are still in the Valley.
Question: How did they get there?
Well we have to assume that the Good Shepherd has led the sheep into the valley of the shadow of death.
The Good Shepherd is the Lord himself. Indeed, from our Gospel reading, we hear that Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd; and, of course, we are his sheep.
Another question: What is the Valley of the Shadow of Death?
The valley, or depression, is those dark, lonely terrifying and frightening times we have in our lives: the times of sickness, and tragedy, and times of emotional stress; basically times when God may seems to be so far away.
And we see that it is the Good Shepherd who led the sheep into the Valley; so if he led them in; that good shepherd must have had a plan and a purpose to get them out.
Next question: Why?
The shepherd takes the sheep from one pasture to another all through their lifetimes. The pastures they leave are eaten up and barren; a pasture where food is scarce, and the land is parched. The shepherd has no choice but to take them to new lush green, meadows new. So there is reason, only the next pasture is always through a valley of the shadow of death.
But the sheep don't understand this; all they know is that once they we well off and comfortable, and now they are in this cold lonely place of fear and terrifying surroundings. Does this sound familiar?
The shepherd knows what he is doing; he has a reason, and purpose; he has the sheep’s welfare on hand. The sheep simply have to learn to trust the shepherd.
Let us now consider today’s Gospel reading where Jesus said:
"My sheep hear my voice.
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.
No one will snatch them out of my hand."
Yes, the sheep have grown to trust the shepherd.
The shepherd has proven trustworthy
and so the sheep follow the shepherd
even through the Valley of the Shadow of Death,
fearing no evil."
Again, fantastic words of comfort and encouragement; and so it is the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, who leads us through the troubled and difficult times of life.
He takes us from a place that is dried out onto pasture new. He has a reason, and a purpose to do so. He is leading us to new greener pastures, and to a deeper faith in him.
He calls us to trust in him, to put our faith in him, even when we cannot always see his plan or purpose, but it is our welfare he has in mind, because we are here to do his will although it may not feel like it.
Death and the shadow of death
Now another thing we need to realize is that there is a world of difference between death and the shadow of death. A shadow may be a frightening, dark, or cold thing, but it is just a shadow of something real; it is not the real thing.
So to see the difference we first must see what death is.
Death is of course that state of being where we cease to exist; it is where our mortal bodies decay into the earth. The dead body that is left is not the person; it is simply a piece of rotting flesh. This sounds harsh but even non Christians when looking at a dead body will say, “That is not a person, something somewhere has been removed.”
And we know that something to be the human spirit; spirit with a small “s”.
Where that spirit goes, is the real death according to the bible; that spirit either goes to God or is separated from God; and it is quite scary to think on these things, but the bible is quite clear what happens.
Paul tells us that Christ has taken our death into life! That means through Christ, we return to God in the resurrected life prepared for us who are believes; and remember I said two weeks ago that if you do not believe, you would not be a member of this church, least in this very building.
And also remember Jesus said to Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus before he raised Lazarus from the dead, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."
Are you part of “everyone who lives and believes in me”, well then according to the bible; you shall never die. Not my words, but the words of Jesus. The promise is that we shall never die; we will never be separated from the love of God all because of Jesus; and nothing to what so ever do with our performance. It is all because of Jesus and we can say a big amen to that.
Anyway, we will put that aside for now and concentrate upon the Shadow of death; as there are times when we experience the valley of the shadow of death; and wonder where God is in all this.
This is where the Christians and non- Christ part company. This is where the hope is, hope by knowing through Psalms like this that God, like the shepherd, is never far away; and he knows what he is doing, and he is guiding you from one pasture to another by developing your faith.
He has brought us thus far, and he will continue to deliver us through hopeless situations like he has done in the past.
He will therefore deliver us through this or our next time of trial as we know deep down that he is very near indeed. And if the next pasture is death itself, we can take comfort that the Lord Jesus Christ conquered that as well.
God promises us life; both life in this world and life in the world to come. Christians do not die, but are transformed from one life to another.
As long as we live in this world of sin and suffering, we will experience the shadow of death; but it is good to know that that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is leading us to green pastures where he restores our souls, (or as another translation puts it; give us life).
It is also good to know that he is preparing a table for us; a table that contains the bread of heaven and the wine of everlasting and abundant joy.
So listen to the voice of the shepherd when you are in the valley of the Shadow of Death. Listen and know that he is leading you to a better place.
Amen
Let us Pray.
Father, we thank you for Jesus.
We thank you that he took our sin and convictions to that cross; and we thank you that Jesus conquered death itself.
Father the valley of the shadow of death is very real to us and we know that it is Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is leading us through too pastures new, and life abundant.
Yet it is the fear of the unknown, and the loneliness of the valley that overwhelms us; that we need delivered from.
Father give us today a sense of your presence, that you are with us always, watching over us every step of the way, and delivering us safely to those green pasture anew.
And Father once we are there, prepare that table for us; a table fit for us victors, and warriors in your mighty kingdom.
We ask therefore in Jesus name,
Amen
PS. I am very grateful to the Rev. Richard J. Fairchild for his inspiration in helping me put this sermon together. I sincerely hope and pray that many are truly blessed by its contents.
