The Lord is my Shepherd

Scripture Lessons: 1 Peter 2: 19-25 and John 10: 1-10 Sermon Title: The Lord is My Shepherd Preached on May 3, 2020 Hearing Jesus talk about sheepfolds, gates, gatekeepers, and sheep stuck behind a wall hits a little close to home this morning. I wonder, have the walls of your house started to feel like the walls of a prison? Have the locks that were installed to keep you safe started to feel like locks that keep you trapped inside? Have you been dying to get out despite the dangers which lurk beyond the walls? I’ve never thought much about getting a tattoo before, nor have I been much of a bowling enthusiast, but knowing that the Governor has opened these places of business as well as nail salons and barber shops has made me excited about getting outside to do anything. Our kids on the other hand. I don’t know about yours, but our kids are happy just staying at home. Of course, our kids are also perfect. Maybe that’s what’s different about them. No, they’re not. Not hardly, or they’re not any more or less perfect than your kids are, though maybe your kids are happy too. I’ve been hearing stories from parents of kids who act like they’re living their best life, which has made me wonder about all kinds of things. Ours have been playing outside in this dinkey tree house I made them. Eating lunch up there. Acting like it’s the coolest thing ever. They’ve also been going on walks with us and asking us to go with them when they ride their bikes. They’ve even been getting along with each other. All of this has made me wonder about the importance of all the junk which we’ve been filling their lives with. In an effort to get the results that we’re getting now, we signed them up for Cub Scouts, basketball, and softball. We sent them to camps and we drove them to lessons. We took them to movies, and we bought them expensive toys. So, why is it that they’re so happy with a platform made from scrap lumber, no more than two feet wide and four feet long which I nailed up into a tree? Why is it that they’re so happy making brownies with their mom in the kitchen? Why is it that they look forward to Friday nights when all we do is eat dinner while watching two episodes of the Gilmore Girls together? Could it be that what matters most to them is not what they get to do, but who they are doing these things with? Could it be that more important than being entertained is feeling safe and heard and loved? I’m coming to a realization in these days of quarantine. Who is with us matters far more than what we’re doing, even more than where we are. The Proverbs speak to this truth. Proverbs 21: 9: It is better to live on the roof than in the house shared by a contentious wife. Do you know that one? I hope you’re not living it. I pray that your homelife is safe and happy. If it’s not than truly you are trapped, and many are. But if your kids are happy now then take a lesson from them. I’m trying to. I’m trying to learn that what’s beyond the gate is not as important as the one who stands guard over it. I’m trying to learn that there’s a good reason to be wary of opening the gate too quickly, and we don’t need to rush if we’re rushing just to get out there, for now is the time to notice who is here. There is one who watches over me and every member of this flock. There is comfort which he brings in walking beside us all that must not be taken for granted, though that’s what I too often do. Our Second Scripture Lesson from the Gospel of John speaks of one who is at the gate and who himself is the gate. It is Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, who promises to supply our every need. If you haven’t missed a paycheck, then he’s done it, and if you haven’t given him thanks for such a miracle, then what have you been busy paying attention to? That’s what I want to preach about this morning. The fact that I’ve been looking over the gate, longing to be some place other than where I am, longing to do some things that I’m not yet allowed to do to such a degree that I’ve been failing to notice the miracle of right here and right now. Do you know what I’m talking about? I’ll give you an example: Last Tuesday was our Lily’s 11th birthday. That seems kind of sad, or it did seem sad to me. What does it mean to turn 11 if you can’t have a party with your friends or even go out to your favorite restaurant? Knowing it would be different, my wife Sara their mother worked hard to make the day special. She knew Lily wanted her bedroom redone. So, Sara bought cute things to hang on the wall, a new bedspread and posters. Lily wanted all that to be a surprise. Subsequently she volunteered to sleep in the guest room while we worked on it. She asked us how long it would take to get her new room ready. We told her, “not too long.” “But aren’t you taking down any walls?” she asked. She’s been watching a lot of Fixer-upper. Because of that, we worried her expectations might be a little too high, only when she saw her room, she acted like we’d added her a swimming pool or something. She smiled ear to ear as though her bedroom had been completely renovated. Then a neighbor brought by coffee cake for her breakfast. Another brought by cupcakes. She opened birthday cards and received phone calls. With chalk, the kids across the street wrote, “Happy Birthday Lily” in the middle of the road. Friends from school drove by in a birthday parade. Then, right around lunch a man walked by, noticed the chalk writing in the road, and asked Lily if she would like for him to come by later and play “happy birthday” on his trombone. That was funny, when she walked inside and said, “Mama, some man just offered to come by later and play happy birthday on the trombone.” We didn’t know whether to be excited or suspicious, only then it turned out to be Bob Scarr, who many of you know. Right at 5:30, after she had talked with all her grandparents, Bob Scarr drove over with his wife and played our Lily happy birthday in the middle of the road. After that, some cake, and a small-scale fireworks display, Lily told us it was the best birthday she’d ever had. Why? Because within these gates she’s loved, and she knows it. Within these gates, she’s cared for. Within these gates she knows she’s precious, and the difference between children like her and too many of their parents is that they still know that’s all anyone needs. The rest of us are thinking: But, there’s bigger and better! For your birthday we can take you to White Water or Six Flags. What’s so funny is that I’ve seen kids have more fun in puddles lately than they ever would have at White Water, so the question becomes, who have we been taking them there for? Who convinced us that we need so much more than what we have already? There is only one Good Shepherd, but so many try to lead us, don’t they? Yet, we don’t have to work as hard as they say we do to find joy, do we? For when the dust settles from our busy lives, are there not blue skies to be seen overhead? When we can’t go anywhere, don’t we realize that we have so much of what we’ve been looking for? Sometimes it’s only after I’ve grown exhausted looking for answers and fulfilment that I look up to see that he’s always been right there. I just keep looking past him. While I’ve been searching him out, he’s been waiting for me to notice that he’s always been there, right by my side. The Lord is my shepherd, and even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil. Why? For He is with me. We have to get better at noticing that. We must all get better at seeing him as he stands at the gate, as he watches over his sheep, and as he leads the flock. And to do that I must stop looking over the hills into tomorrow, because God is present to us here today. It’s like we’re waiting for something to happen, without realizing what’s actually happening. We must stop waiting for things to change back to normal, to notice that even if normal never comes, the Lord has not abandoned us. It’s in a moment such as this one when we can open our eyes to see that still, mercy follows me. Still, he anoints my head with oil. Still, my cup overflows. Our own Chick Freud sent us pastors a TED talk, a speech, given by a National Geographic photographer and he described his job like this: I always knew that just beyond the rat race was incredible beauty. My job was to see that, to take a picture of that. To not fail to see the beauty that is always there. What I want you to hear today are the words of the Apostle Paul: that with our current suffering is glory being revealed to us. That in the midst of all this loss are gifts we are fools to take for granted. That even in the presence of death and trauma are moments of undeniable beauty. Something that has brought tears to my eyes every time I’ve thought about it, is how many are having to say goodbye to their grandmothers, fathers, or mothers through a mask in the best circumstances and over the phone in the worst. Death still comes in many forms while all our attention is on one particular virus. Matt Burnham’s father was rushed to Emory hospital after a major stroke. He was then transferred to hospice. While the family waited, they played his favorite hymn, “It is well with my soul.” I won’t sing it for you, but I want to just read you the second verse: Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed his own blood for my soul. My friends, there have been many tribulations and trials though the eras of human history, and faith will sustain us through this one. Remember that there are many highs and lows in this life, and through all the lows He’s walked beside us. Know it now as it’s always been. In this moment, in this time, it is well, because He is with us, just as he promised he would be. Amen.