June 24th Sermon

Grace and peace to you from God our father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.


It was a natural disaster of national proportions. The entire country was permanently blanketed by the bleak snows and icy coldness of winter. The talking animals and magical creatures were trapped in a perpetual twilight brought on by an evil witch, who had declared that it would “always be winter, but never Christmas.” I don’t care who you are, now THAT’S just mean!


I am of course talking about the magical land of Narnia, created C.S. Lewis, which is the backdrop for his famous “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” books, which you should really read if you haven’t already. The first book begins with four ordinary children in England during the Second World War who live with their uncle to be out of danger. Lucy, the youngest, stumbles upon Narnia through an ordinary wardrobe.  And, of course, only these children hold the key to defeating the witch and her endless winter.


But Narnia is also ruled by a good and mighty king, a lion named Aslan. The trouble is, no one has seen Aslan for a hundred years. And some of the citizens of Narnia are - understandably - wondering whether Aslan still cares about them, or even if he still exists. For all they know, Aslan could be taking a nap somewhere across the sea and not even know that his kingdom and his people are in trouble. 


C.S. Lewis made it no secret that this Aslan in his stories was a creative representation of God. And his books, though full of magical characters and fanciful lands, are brimming with events taken right out of the pages of the Bible, and even right out of the pages of our own lives. 


Jesus had just finished telling some fanciful stories of his own, in the form of parables, when he decided to take his followers for a trip across the lake. It WAS getting dark, but they got into the boat and began their journey across as Jesus wanted. Now, they were headed right for the country of the Gerasenes, an area full of non-Jewish people. I imagine that the disciples might have been both puzzled and anxious to be making their way to such a place. 


Anyway, they weren’t left long to their worries, when a great storm came upon them and threatened to sink them. The wind and rain and waves beat down on their little boat - they must have thought they were going to end up at the bottom of the lake for sure! Where was Jesus when they really, really needed help?


Oh, that’s right. Jesus was sound asleep in the back of the boat, on a cushion. Not cool, Jesus. Not cool.


I must have been thinking something similar about nine months ago, when I experienced my first-ever, real-live hurricane. Now, thunderstorms and tornadoes are common in the Midwest, so we have that routine down pat – listen to the radio, get to the basement or a windowless room or hallway, and wait till it’s over. What we didn’t know until last year was that sometimes tornadoes can form INSIDE of hurricanes, and that’s exactly what happened. It’s three A.M. and the weather radio is telling us to take cover, funnel clouds have been spotted. 


We had just moved to New Jersey to begin this new adventure God was calling us to. But we hit a few bumps along the way. It was definitely hotter than we were used to. Our furniture showed up a week late. And when it did arrive, some of our things were broken or in a new shape. One of our cats decided she couldn’t keep her food down. And then… we heard that heard that hurricane Irene was on its way. 


As we sat in our closet at three in the morning, we were pretty anxious. We didn’t know what was going to happen – if our downstairs neighbor would be flooded out, if one of our many windows would be broken, or if we would have power in the morning. And yet, by the time the tornado warnings had expired and we crawled back into bed, I wasn’t nearly as worried as I had been before. 


As we sat on the floor in our closet with the wind howling and the rain pounding, our cats did not seem the least bit concerned. Now, these are cats that will jump a foot if you make a sudden movement. And yet, they seemed more concerned about what WE were doing in the closet than what was happening outside. We tried to get them to stay with us, to make sure they would be safe – but cats will be cats, and they didn’t want to stay put. To them, it seemed more like a game. And somehow that put me more at ease. If they weren’t overly worried about the scary weather outside, then maybe I didn’t have to be either. Maybe, just maybe, we would be ok.  


In the midst of that storm on the lake, it may have seemed to the disciples that Jesus was asleep on the job. But, I might be so bold as to say that sleeping during a storm is an example of showing ultimate trust in God in the midst of a frightening situation. But Jesus also didn’t stay asleep once his frightened disciples called out to him. No – when they called out to Jesus, Jesus came to their rescue and calmed the storm. 


We often get the idea into our heads that once we become followers of Jesus, our lives will be all daisies and roses – all of our questions will be answers and all of our doubts will be put to rest. That the storms of our lives will cease to rage and it will be nothing but smooth sailing from here on out. Alas, this is not the case. Just look at the lives of Jesus’ closest followers. This storm was peanuts to what they would face as they brought the message of Jesus out into the world. They were often beaten, put in jail, and even killed for their trouble. But that didn’t stop them. They must have learned the lesson of the storm – that true faith means trusting that God is in control even then it seems like he isn’t.   


But don’t just take it from the disciples – take it from Job, who saw and heard God speak out of a storm, assuring him that even when things go wrong, God is still very much in charge of his creation. Or even better, take it from Daniel, who will be visiting us this week during VBS. The entire week’s theme is about how God is with you when things change, and when you are lonely or afraid.  We will hear how God is with us even though, as one of the songs go, “the storms of life will push and pull.. but God is in control.” We will hear how God was with Daniel and his friends in some pretty scary situations. We will hear that, though life’s storms may rage around us, God has not forgotten his people.


Aslan didn’t forget his people, either. Sightings of him increased as the witch’s power waned, but the children who found themselves in Narnia were understandably apprehensive when they thought about meeting him face to face. Seeing a lion in a zoo is one thing. Meeting Aslan would be quite different. 


One of the children asked the talking beaver, “Is he… quite safe?” 


“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”  


Following God is not a life of stability and comfort. You may not always feel safe. Some days it might seem that the storms have the upper hand. 


But our God is good. And this is something we can stake our lives on. And because of this we too, can sing along with this year’s VBS theme song, which goes:


“Through it all, God is faithful. Through it all, our God is true. God never fails, never changes. When we rise or when we fall, God is with us, with us through it all.” Amen. 

Hanging Gardens of Nelson

Our balcony garden is making excellent progress! I've harvested a few green beans already, and some of the snap peas are getting close. I've learned a few things along this journey of suburban gardening, like how to keep squirrels from digging in my plants (sprinkle some chili or curry powder on the dirt) and that green bean stalks will fall over and break with the weight if not propped up (extra wooden disposable chopsticks work well). Here is how much progress has been made in the last few weeks:

These were taken in the middle of May.

This is how it looks today: 

Fantastic, huh?

And here are our kitties, enjoying the nice weather and birds from a sunny window:

Trinity Sunday Sermon

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.

It’s that time of year again, when our weekends from now until the end of July are suddenly booked with graduations and graduation celebrations. Cake, and cards, and cake, and poster boards full of pictures and awards, and cake, and signing yearbooks, and…. Cake. Last year at this time I was among the vast number of graduates across the country receiving one sort of diploma or another. I and my seminary classmates, however, had the onerous distinction of receiving our master’s degrees. But not just ANY kind of Master’s degree. Upon receiving our hoods and diplomas, we became…. Masters of Divinity…. Oooooooh!

(Head shake) After four years of study, I now know everything about God, including by not limited to: how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, whether or not our pets go to heaven, why bad things happen to good people, why GOOD things happen to BAD people, and most importantly, what WAS God thinking when he created the mosquito?

Seriously though, there are just some aspects of our Christians faith that seem to allude easy answers, And it just so happens that today, on Holy Trinity Sunday, we celebrate one of the most perplexing parts of our Christian faith. More books and papers than could ever be read in one lifetime have been written about the Trinity. Scholars and theologians have dedicated their lives to parsing out and trying to pin down exactly what it means that we believe in a three-in-one, one-in-three kind of God. To be honest, it is also the kind of thing that makes your head hurt if you think about it for too long.

I think this is why I feel such a kinship with Nicodemus from our Gospel reading; because our friend Nick here doesn’t always “get it” either. Nicodemus is a learned man, a prominent and respected leader in his community, probably with a very deep and mature faith. This guy knows his Torah. And he STILL has a hard time grasping what Jesus had to say about the kingdom of God. Poor confused Nick can only blurt out, “How can these things be?” Had I been there, I think I would have done the same thing.

With every fiber of our being, we want our mysteries to be defined. We seek know the unknowable and to measure the un-measureable. We are driven to explore the height and depths of the earth because we don’t like seeing blank spots on the map. Similarly we persist in plumbing the depths of our faith – because if we can get a handle on God, then the confusing world that we live in might actually make sense.

All these strange ideas we’ve come up with, like this three-in-one business, are a way to answer the important questions that have plagued humankind for centuries: Who is God? And how do we see God at work in the world?

The many writers of the scriptures have spent their lives wrestling with those very questions. For the prophet Isaiah, he experienced God as a larger-than-life being on a throne, who cleanses and calls Isaiah to a holy task. For the Apostle Paul, who wrote letters, including this one to the Roman Christians, his experience of the power of God literally blinded him while on his way to persecute followers of Jesus. And Nicodemus is seeing but not comprehending as he stares the true answer to “who is God?” right in the face.

Though their experiences are very different, they have one thing in common. To them God was not an idea or a construct. God was a Someone whom they encountered, who met them face to face and wanted a relationship with them. And these people are never quite the same.

Who is God for you? If you were to think about this question, I would bet that your answer would be connected to an experience you had. Perhaps to you God is Love because of the love you have found after many years of marriage. Perhaps God is Peace because of the comfort and peace you have received after the death of a loved one. Perhaps to you God looks like your grandma because she embodies generosity and kindness.  I once heard a poem where the poet was convinced that GOD, G-O-D, must look like his DOG, D-O-G, because of the unwavering faithfulness and devotion of his pet.

Who is God for you? I bet very few of you would think first of “the Trinity.”

While imagining God in Trinitarian form may be helpful for some, you can’t have a relationship with a doctrine or set of beliefs. God does not desire to remain an idea or belief or theological construct in the mind of us, his children. How can we know this? Because God so loved the world – so loved us – that he gave to us a way by which we can know him, deeply and directly. For God so loved the world that God gave us Jesus.

In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God swept away the curtain of mystery once and for all. No longer do we have to grope around in the dark for bits and fragments of the divine. In Jesus, the light of God has shown out in the darkness. In Jesus, God came to us in a way we can understand. In Jesus we all have become “Masters” of divinity because Jesus reveals to everyone the very essence of “who God is.”

And just what kind of God does Jesus reveal to us? A loving and forgiving God who wants to be in a relationship with us. This is what we know: Jesus came to us in a way that we would find most relatable – in a body that could laugh and cry, teach and embrace, heal and feel pain. Jesus is our brother, because we both share the same loving Father. Jesus is our Lord because he calls us to emulate the life that he lived here on earth – an existence of love and sacrifice. And Jesus is our savior because of his final victory over the forces of sin and death through his death and resurrection.

But we can know all we think there is to know about God and still completely miss the boat. Like Nicodemus. But Jesus didn’t not throw his hands up in frustration and end the conversation at the first sign of confusion. No – Jesus patiently teaches on, determined to get his message across.

I suppose we should give poor Nick some credit, because he had enough wisdom to know that there was something different about this Jesus, something holy and powerful. So Nick took a chance and arranged this secret meeting that would forever change him.

Our friend Nick may not have fully absorbed the significance of his encounter with Jesus, even when confronted by “John’s greatest hit” John 3:16. But we do know that he WAS changed by his experience with Jesus that night. Because Nick pops up again at the end of the Gospel of John, at Jesus’ trial before the Jewish council. In fact, Nicodemus was the only naysayer in their otherwise unanimous “guilty” verdict. And later on, John writes that Nicodemus helped Joseph of Arimathea give Jesus a respectful burial when his body had been taken down from the cross. He is not quite the man that he used to be. And we too, when we encounter the Risen Jesus, are never quite the same afterwards.

Jesus didn’t walk this earth to answer every question we’ve ever had about God. God is still at work in the world in ways we cannot yet understand. But we can’t go wrong with Jesus as our trailblazer and navigator. Are you ready for THE Master of Divinity to take your hand and guide you down the paths of your life? I hope you are, because it’s going to be one exciting ride. Oh, the places you’ll go! AMEN.

Six Months In: or, how Internship both prepared me well and prepared me poorly for my first call

I'll start with the "bad news" so as not to end this post on a whiny, downer note. So here is some reflecting that I've been doing on ways I have felt prepared and unprepared for being a pastor in New Jersey. As a reminder for non-clergy folks, the internship year happens (most of the time) in the third of four years at seminary. A student becomes a "student-pastor" or vicar or intern at a church for a year under the supervision of a seasoned pastor. Most of the time this means moving to another location. Beau and I did our internship year in Owatonna, MN, a hour south of the Twin Cities. I'm not saying in any way was our internship bad. It was a great year and I learned a lot. But perhaps not enough for where I am now. 


I am sharing this list because I think that the realities that we have been facing here head-on on the East Coast are creeping to the rest of the country. This is also not a judgement, just a statement of reality as I am finding it.


Internship did NOT prepare me for:
1. Baptisms. Never did one. Going to do my first on June 10.


2. Weddings and pre-marital sessions. I know how they work in theory, but council a couple and officiate at a wedding is not an experience I've had yet. 


3. Shepherding a scattered flock. In Owatonna, everyone lives there, works there (some work in the cities) go to school there, have fun there. Go to the store, a movie, the park, a HS sporting event, and you will run into "your people." That's pretty common for Small Town America (but perhaps becoming less so as time goes on). Not so here. People drive from miles around, in all directions on Sunday morning. Not many of the people who are a part of St. Paul actually LIVE in the community that it is physically located - there is one person's house I could possibly walk to, but that's it. So while I am at the church during the week, I don't see "my" people most of the time unless the come TO ME (as in, attend meetings and gatherings at the church). We are yet another place that people commute to (see #4) - what does that mean? And what does it mean to be a presence in East Windsor/Hightstown NJ? 


4. Ministering to a tired people. Yes, life was busy, especially for families, all over. But out here, we are in OVERDRIVE. Afterschool activities seem off the charts here, and kids regularly miss confirmation and youth group to have a moment to breath and actually have time to do their homework. These kids are really busy. On the flip side, most people around here work in The City (NYC if you missed my last post), which means either a) a stressful 1 hour or more drive or b) at least an hour train commute. "My" people are leaving their homes early and getting home late. This particular reality hit home for me when I began to notice that nearly all of our meetings and gatherings during the week started at 7:30 PM. In my Mid-Western-Small-Town mindset, that was very late to be starting a council meeting. I even asked once why things started so "late." The answer was simple - it was so that people could actually have a moment to eat at home before coming. This makes for some late nights. But what amazes me, is that after a council meeting that goes until 9:30 or 10 PM, most of our council then has to get up and go to work the next morning. And yet, they still come. Major wow. To be completely honest, I don't know if I would be willing to do this as a lay person if I had a "normal" job I had to report to early in the morning. I am left wondering: how can we minister to people's needs and at the same time NOT add just one more thing/event/program to their already booked calender? 


5. How to be a "half-time" pastor. But I think I will save this for another post. 


Well, those were the biggies. Now on to the more positive side of things. 


Internship DID prepare me for:
1. Funerals. I did a few on internship, mostly for people in the community that didn't have a church home (this area belonged to the interns of Owatonna, it seemed). I haven't done one at St. Paul yet, and in this area I wouldn't want to rush things. 


2. Preaching. It was so nice to practice preaching in an actual CONTEXT and not to a room full of peers but geared to a pretend congregation. As I am learning more about St. Paul, preparing sermons has gotten a bit easier. 


3. Hospital visits. Thanks to internship and CPE, most of the stress is taken out of this one. However, I still have to learn my way around enough to be able to FIND the hospital... :) 


4. Working with other staff. Oh my, that was a biggie. Even though my internship church was really large, it taught me how to interact and work effectively with other people on staff - secretaries, custodians (sextans out here), or even other pastors. This helped me right off the bat when I was able to know from our first meeting that I would work well with my now-colleague at St. Paul. And so far, my gut has been right. 


5. Coming out of my "shell." Apparently, the sheer size of my internship church freaked me out at first, because my intern committee was always telling me to be more approachable (but seriously, who wouldn't be a little shy in a 4200 member congregation?). I think that my start here at St. Paul has been a strong one - my colleague is still not convinced that I truly am an introvert, no matter how many times I tell him. :) 


6. Experiencing an entire "Church Year." This may seem obvious, but at least for Princeton Seminary the "contextual ed" students (which counts the same as an internship "year" in some denominations) start in the fall and end with the academic year in the spring. I've heard that a few years when Easter is early the con ed student is "done" before Easter! They for sure miss most of the Easter season, Pentecost, and Ordinary time in the summer. 


There is probably more that could be said here, but I think that is enough for now. 

A few random cultural reflections

In no particular order.


Traffic


In Minneapolis, rush hour was very predictable. From 7 - 9 AM and 4 - 6 PM. Avoid the heavy trafficed roads during those times and you'll be fine. Or, at least be traveling in the OPPOSITE direction as everyone else. 


In NJ, rush hour is from 6 AM to 10 AM, and 4 to 9 PM. Unless it's Friday or Saturday. Or lunchtime. OK, all hours of the day and night are rush hour around here, unless it's Sunday morning at 7:30 AM. Seriously, best time to drive. (Except NPR is really boring at that time of the week, if you can believe that).


Roads


They. Make. No. Sense. Princeton is actually the worst, in a state of already bad. Really? Traffic circles? New Jersey has made an art form out of confusing intersections. And who had the bright idea of building businesses on either side of busy, four lane highways? If you want to get to the Barnes and Noble on the other side of that highway, you have to make a u-turn, then drive up THAT side of the road. Maddening. I don't shop in certain places for just that reason. 


If you want to make a left-hand turn, good luck. Actually, 'jug-handles' are kind of nice for this. 


Most roads are not north-south or east-west oriented. Most major roads go in a north-easterly direction. Why? Because all roads lead to The City (that's NYC for you non-New Jersey peeps).  Wanna go north-west or south-east? Fa-ged-a-bout-it! 


Which brings me to...


Vocabulary


The City = New York City
I'm going down the shore = I'm going to the ocean.
Trenton = Don't ever go there
Pizza = best thing you've ever tasted
Tasty Cakes = see above
Diner = ubiquitous place to eat
Wawa = most fantastic convenience store ever
Co-aw-fee = coffee
Cheesesteak = delicious hot sandwich 
Pork Roll = still not sure about that one
Tomato Pie = pizza with reverse toppings
St. Patrick's Day = Irish pride celebrated by drinking, even if you are not Irish.
water ice/ Ritas = yummy alternative to ice cream


This concludes our lesson for today.

First Communion Cuteness

Another first for me at St. Paul. Celebrating First Communion! For the past four months or so, our 10 second-graders have learned about the Eucharist through watching Davie and Goliath, scavenger hunting for things like chausables and patens, and baking their own bread. Last Sunday was their big day, getting all gussied up and taking communion for the first time with their proud parents. The church was full of chaos, but the good kind - "holy chaos." :) And some of those girls looks ADORABLE in their fancy white dresses!


I also busted out the ol' guitar during worship (another first), to teach two songs that we learned during the first communion classes. I say "we learned" because I learned them too, and then taught it to a church full of people. I was a little nervous, but it went really well!  Those kids were so funny - some were looking at me just agog, like they had never seen a guitar-playing-lady-pastor before! :)


I just gotta share this too - during communion a kid I didn't recognize (must have been a relative of someone receiving communion) looked at me as I poured the wine for him and asked in an incredulous whisper, "is this real wine?" It was all I could do not to laugh. I think I did nod, though. I just wanna know that kid's story. 


One of the interesting differences between church at home and church here is the age of first communicants. Back home, it's fifth grade. (I remember at one of my first communion classes, I basically recited the words of institution verbatim from memory. Yeah, I was a big church dork). To be honest, I was a bit shocked when I learned it was SECOND grade here. I couldn't help thinking - "that seems a little young. Are second graders really ready to take communion?" But then again, are fifth graders? Are seventh graders? are 25, 30, 50, or 90 year-olds? Is any one really "ready enough" to take communion? 


Because, you know, it's not about state of mind, it's about state of Grace, brought to you by the very body and blood of Christ that you are partaking. Just look at Sarah Miles - she took communion before she was "properly instructed" and look what happened: she became a pastor (and wrote a book). 


Second or fifth grade - it really just matters that their parents (or somebody) are bringing them to church and taking communion with them. We're all sinners together, after all - young, old, church dorks and athletes, rich and poor. 


"To the banquet come, it's not just for some;
Young and old, big and small, you may come." 

Sermon for Good Shepherd Sunday

As people came into the service, they were handed a small piece of cardstock with the 23rd Psalm printed on it. Also, I have no idea why the spacing is so weird, but oh well I guess.... 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

To be honest, I don’t know anything about sheep. But I do know a thing or two about cows. When I was a kid, I would love to help my dad let the cows out. Cows are definitely creatures of habit. They know when it’s time to go outside into the cow yard, and they know when it’s time to come back inside to eat – they are always waiting in a big crowd by the door to be let in, especially on a cold or rainy day.

Believe it or not, cows also know where to go once they are inside the barn. Every cow has its own spot and usually they go right to it, no problem. Unless of course there is a new cow that doesn’t know where it’s supposed to go. The cow will often stare at the newcomer in its spot like it doesn’t know what to do. So my dad has to come and poke the new one a bit to guide it into the correct spot. And after a few weeks the new one will remember it’s place. But my dad is always there to give some “persuasion” in the form of poke here and shove here, so that everyone can find the right place and get the food that they need.

Of what little I know about sheep, I think that they act the same way. They tend to follow whoever is in leading, putting a kind of blind trust whoever is at the front. If that person is kind and cares for the flock, he or she will lead the sheep to good pasture, clean water, and shelter. If that person does not care about the sheep, he or she could lead them into danger, or worse, abandon them all together at the first sign of trouble.

We are not unfamiliar with the second kind of shepherd - we hear about them all too often on the news or in newspapers. Just open up any newspaper  or online news blog on any day of the week, and you’ll see nothing but this CEO embezzled from his company or that senator made a secret deal or the president of some foundation lied about something that was going on. And on and on.

We like to think that our leaders know what they are doing and have our best interests in mind when they make decisions that affect us. But that is our cow-nature talking.

Everybody is going to let you down at some point. Everyone you put your trust in is going to betray you. Maybe not today. And maybe not even on purpose. But it will happen, sooner or later.

I hate to say it, but even I will let you down sometimes. Four years of seminary doesn’t purge us of all our flaws. They don’t insert a “perfection chip” at our graduations. I am trying my best to love and serve this community as one of its shepherds, but I’m not going to “get it right” every time.  Church leaders can make mistakes, just like everyone else. And often those times can feel even worse than when other kinds of leaders let us down.

There is one shepherd who will never lead us astray. He is the Good Shepherd; a shepherd so good that he would give everything, even lay down his own life for those who belong to him.  

If we follow THIS shepherd, he will not steer us wrong. Even when you go through the darkest valley, you do not have to be afraid. Even when you are surrounded by enemies, you will be sheltered, and not want for anything.

But how can we sort out reality from campaign promises? What about when things go really wrong – how is God our Good Shepherd then?

The day after Easter, on April 9^th, was the anniversary of the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a pastor and a prophet during the time of Nazi Germany. It was easy to overlook in the festivities, but not long ago I read the most recent of his biographies. Bonhoeffer was a writer and pastor, and spent his life following Jesus and no one else. When the Nazi government began using churches to promote their own interests, Bonhoeffer opposed them in every way in his power. In his preaching and his teaching, he tirelessly worked to counter the Nazi message of racial superiority. Pretty soon, the government was putting pressure on him to stop.Just before the start of the Second World War, Bonhoeffer had an opportunity to come to the United States, to live here, until the danger to his life had passed. But, almost as soon as he arrived, he regretted his decision. Here he was in the US while his own “flock” back home was faced with ever increasing danger. How could he stay, safe and sound, while they suffered for the sake of the gospel? The answer was no, he could not. So he returned to his beloved homeland and later was hanged for his involvement in a plot to kill Hitler. He was killed just weeks before the area was liberated by Allied soldiers.

Did the good shepherd let Bohoeffer down? From one angle, you could say that his devotion to Jesus lead Bonhoeffer straight to his death. You could say that the good shepherd lead a member of his flock away from safety and then abandoned him. Did the good shepherd lead him astray?

I think we might find the answer in Bonhoeffer’s own last words, which are reputed to be:  “This is the end---but for me the beginning of life.”

Long ago, a writer of the psalms once wrote: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Most of the time, we hear the 23^rd Psalm read at funerals. It is a beautiful psalm, a favorite for good reason. But this psalm is intended, not as a metaphor for death, but as a snapshot of life – of what life is like under the care of our Good Shepherd. Yes, death is a dark valley through which we all must pass. Before that, however, there are plenty of other dark valleys, plenty of enemies to face during this lifetime.

When we go through the dark valleys, evil will still be there. Bad things will still happen. There are still terrible injustices happening in the world. But we shall have no fear in the face of such evil. Why? Because we are in the fold of the Good Shepherd. Our enemies will still be present, sometimes surrounding us. But we will not be anxious. Why? Because our beloved shepherd-turned-gracious-host prepares a celebration banquet in our honor, and our cup of life is never to be found empty.Our Good Shepherd DID lay down his life for his sheep on Good Friday, and he picked it right back up again on Easter Sunday.  

And when we follow such a shepherd, when we hear his voice and obey it, we may find ourselves laying down our lives for the sake of others. Not necessarily physically dying, but instead dying to our egos and our desire to follow more glamorous shepherds.

At this time, please take out the paper with the 23rd Psalm on it that your received as you walked in. As you receive it, take a look at it. It’s such a small, short looking psalm, but there is so much tucked into it. It’s not just about a dream that we have of what we think heaven might be like. It’s so much more than that. Instead, think of it as a blueprint for what life is like in God’s flock, with Jesus as our shepherd. When you get home, I encourage you to post it somewhere where you will see it and read it, at least once a day or more. And when you do see it and read it, reflect on what it means for you that Jesus has claimed you as one of his own. Ponder how your life has been shaped by your shepherd Jesus. Especially if you are currently in a dark valley or surrounded by enemies are longing for the green pastures and still waters. Or if you know a neighbor or friend who is going through one of these valleys themselves, maybe you are being shepherded to walk with them. 

Let’s read this psalm out loud together as a statement of our faith, as our testimony to the world that our shepherd is indeed a good one.

“The Lord is my shepherd; he 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 right paths for his name’s sake. 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. 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 my whole life long.^”  AMEN.