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4 Easter
April 17, 2005 Sermon
by Rev. Peggy Tuttle, Interim Rector
Readings
Spring is such a fickle time
of year. We are teased with sunshine and warm temperatures on one day,
only to be surprised, the next day, with rain and cold wind or even the
amazing sounds of thunder as lightening races across the night sky. But
Spring really IS here, particularly in places like Augusta Georgia.
I marveled at all the spring flowers in Augusta and watched with awe
last Sunday as Tiger Woods won his third green jacket in a sudden death
play off at the Master’s Tournament. It reminded me of a a Golfer’s
Rendition of the 23rd Psalm, courtesy of Garrison Keilor. For those of
you who play golf and are chomping at the bit to get out on the
fairways, it starts like this:
He maketh the ball to lie in
the fairway
and leadeth it around the water hazards
yea though we walk through the rough we will fear no bogie for he
prepareth a green before us in the presence of sand traps.
. . . .
And so on.
You know, that kind of reminds me of this old joke . . . . .
Jesus, Moses and Elijah were feeling good one Spring morning so they
decided to go golfing.
Jesus being Jesus always gets to tee off first. They get to the 7th
hole, which is a long par 5 with a creek running across it at about 240
yards. Jesus gets up to tee off and selects his driver. Moses asks Jesus
if he is going to try to drive across the creek and Jesus says that he
is feeling so good that he thinks he can make it. So Jesus tees off and
it is a long drive but it lands in the middle of the creek. Jesus asks
Moses to part the water of the creek so he can retrieve his ball saying,
"You know how much I hate to lose a ball." So Moses parts the waters of
the creek and the ball is retrieved. Jesus tees it up again and because
he is Jesus he gets unlimited mulligans. Jesus says he is going to try
to drive the creek again. Moses responds, "Ok, but I am not going to
help you get it back again!" Jesus hits tee shot again and sure enough
kerr plop it lands in the creek again. So he goes down and is walking on
the water looking for his ball.
Meanwhile the next foursome has reached the tee.
One of the golfers says to Moses, "Look at that guy walking on the
water. Who does he think he is? Jesus Christ?"
Moses responds, "No, He IS Jesus Christ. He thinks he’s Tiger Woods."
But now, back to the subject at hand. Today is “Good Shepherd Sunday.”
Just a few weeks ago, during Lent, we heard the 23rd Psalm and here it
is again today. It is a favorite Psalm, but all too often it is thought
of only as a tool to lean upon in times of sudden or tragic death. By
doing so we miss its power and beauty. This Psalm is one of the songs
uttered by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. These pilgrims have
wandered through both the lush times and the arid times in a faithful
search for the presence of God. (Susan Andrews, Pilgrims in the Valley.)
Among the images it brings to our minds, is the image of a Shepard.
Shepherd imagery seems outdated in today’s world of fast-paced
technology. But to understand what the Psalmist was writing about we
need to know a little more about the times these metaphorical words were
written.
Let’s take a look at the geography the Psalmist sees as he writes. If
you’ve been to Jerusalem you know that green pastures are almost
non-existent, still waters are rarely seen, and craggy rocks surround
those dark valleys—the perfect playground for thieves and robbers intent
on violence and murder. The pilgrims in this psalm acknowledge God’s
protection and nourishment amidst the austerity and difficulty of life,
God’s presence among green pastures and still waters and safe paths,
they are responding to an eminent God, a God who stands with us in time
of trouble.
William Sloane Coffin has observed that the shepherd image in Psalm 23
is more an Eastern image and less of a Western image. It is an image of
a shepherd leading out front, not a shepherd driving the flock from
behind. God does not push us, hustle us, or make demands on us. Rather,
our God guides us with gentle wisdom and a familiar voice.
I understand from our Tuesday morning Bible study that a prominent
member of our parish has a very strong dislike for sheep. Knowing that
makes for a challenge on the Sundays we talk about Jesus as the Good
Shepherd and us as His sheep.
Artists depict Jesus as the shepherd either holding a lamb under his arm
or gently placed around his neck. We are all comforted with the
description of the Good Shepherd in Matthew 18:12 (New International
Version) “… If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away,
will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the
one that wandered off?” And isn’t that the kind of shepherd we all seek?
Not only is he known to us as the Good Shepherd but also as the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world. Yet these images of Shepherd,
sheep and lamb are unfamiliar to our modern life styles.
A friend of mine shared how she had always puzzled over the phrase, “the
Lamb of God” until one day as she was driving down a road in eastern
Washington State. She was forced to a stop by a flock of sheep that were
being herded across the road. Impulsively she jumped out of her little
Volkswagen bug, ran up to the sheepherder, and asked: “What does ‘The
Lamb of God’ mean to you?” And the shepherd explained it this way:
At lambing time in the spring, two things occur: the flock is increased but always some ewes and some newborn lambs are lost. On one side of the field there may be a ewe whose newborn lamb has died at birth; on the other side of the field, a newborn lamb whose mother has died giving birth. On the one hand a ewe ready to nurture, with milk to give and no lamb to feed that she will accept; on the other, a living lamb in danger of starving because it is without a source of nourishment. So the shepherd takes the dead lamb, slits its throat, and pours its blood on the living lamb. Then he presents this living lamb to the living ewe as her own. Now the ewe recognizes the smell of the blood, will accept the living lamb as her own, and nourishes it with life-sustaining food. The dead lamb is the means by which the living one is given new life.
Jesus has laid down his life
for the sheep, for you and for me. We have been washed in his life
giving blood.
Jesus said, “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. I lay down my life
for the sheep.”
Barbara Brown Taylor
writes,
“So if sometimes you have trouble hearing the voice of your shepherd,
be patient with yourself—because some days it sounds like a whistle and
some days like a cluck; some days it sounds like a love song and some
days like a curse. It is not a voice that always speaks in words, much
less complete sentences, but it can usually be heard sometime between
your getting up and your laying down each day, leading you beside the
still waters, restoring your soul.”
Be patient with yourself and the rest of us. You cannot follow a
shepherd all by yourself. You are stuck with this flock, or some flock,
and everyone knows that sheep are, well, sheep. We panic easily and
refuse to be pushed. We make most of our decisions based on appetites
and we tend to get into head-butting contests for no reason at all. But
stick with the flock. It is where the shepherd can be found, which makes
it our best bet not only for survival but also for joy.
“Above all, understand that you belong here, as part of the flock. If
you do not believe anything else, believe that—that whether you are here
because you believe or because you want to believe, you are here because
you belong to God’s sheep just like the rest of us. And because we do,
we hear his voice, and he knows us, and we follow him, and he gives us
eternal life, and we shall never perish, and no one shall snatch us out
of his hand. Believe it or not, here we are, and here we belong.”
For the Lord is our Shepherd what more could we want?
(Barbara Brown Taylor is the
rector of Grace-Calvary Church in Clarksville, GA and the author of
several books of sermons. The excerpts used here are from her sermon
entitled, “The Voice of the Shepherd.”)