SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER 2021

 The little gallery below for this second Sunday of Easter has but three pictures: Pic #1 is a common American painting showing an idyllic scene of Jesus as the Good Shepherd; Pic #2 is the 1872 German painting "Der gute Hirte" by Josef Kehren, descriptive of how Jesus laid His life down for His sheep (note the crown of thorns and the wounds in His hands); and, Pic #3 shows a lively Peep (ohne Zucker) with a luscious lawn and flowers to express Psalm 23:6.

Der gute Hirte - Josef Kehren 1872

 

 This brings me to my address for Good Shepherd Sunday:

“Jesus Is the Christian’s Good Shepherd” Text – The 23rd Psalm KJV

23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

My Christian friends: If you were so privileged to be brought up by a Christian parent, most likely the very first scriptures you memorized by rote were those precious verses of Psalm 23. And, if you are now as old as I am, you most assuredly learned it, by much repetition, in the King James Version before any other Scriptures in the Bible.

As one of their duties, Lutheran servants of the Word are honored to take the Holy Sacrament to the sick and dying. The Lutheran Agenda, first published by Concordia Publishing House, January 1, 1940, has The Order for The Communion of the Sick, whereupon, after the sick had confessed his sins and received absolution, and confessed his faith, the precious Body and Blood is distributed from the minister’s hand after which both pastor and communicant(s) would recite together the Twenty-third Psalm followed by this edifying prayer:

“O Lord Jesus, my Savior and only Refuge, I give Thee hearty thanks that Thou hast so graciously refreshed me with Thy sacred body and blood. Uphold me with Thy grace and strengthen me by Thy power. Into Thy hands I commit my body and soul, whether for life or for death. Grant that, when my last hour shall come, I may fall asleep in firm faith in Thee and Thy sacred blood. O Thou, who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.”

Unfortunately, times have changed for the worst in that some Christians no longer see the need to confess their sins and, even if they do confess them, they still may not take to heart the absolution the pastor speaks to them in Christ’s name.

Therefore, let us review where in ancient times the prophet Samuel had written: “Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. Also, in times past, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel’” (2 Samuel 5:1-3). King David wrote the 23rd Psalm, and this same David himself was a shepherd in his youth before he was made King to be the shepherd over Israel.

This 23rd Psalm seems to run contrary to the kinds of experiences that David had...for David himself was like a sheep without a shepherd who, at times, wandered from the fold and found extreme troubles, two of which are common even today – adultery and murder. Yet David boldly says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” He knew that he would be lost forever if the Lord would not discipline and guide him as his Good Shepherd. Our Lord testifies to this in our Gospel for today when he says, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep,” and that He knows His own and is known by them.

Jesus is the Christian’s Good Shepherd; He is your Shepherd, who firstly feeds, leads, and protects you; and secondly, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who is able to keep you with Him now and into eternity.

In the very first verse, David says, “I shall not want.” How could the Christian be in want of anything as long as he has Jesus as his Shepherd? When you have those infamous pity-parties and make statement like “Nobody understands me” or “Nobody loves me” or “Why doesn’t someone help me?” etc., it is understandable according to the flesh; however, according to the spirit, statements like these are tantamount to calling Jesus a liar.

Diminishing faith always results when one trusts in anything or anyone other than God.

Luther explains the will of God simply in his explanation of the simple petition the Lord Jesus Christ taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” saying that it is “God (who) gives daily bread indeed without our prayer, also to the wicked; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.”

And just what is this daily bread? Luther explains it this way: “To put it briefly, this petition includes everything that belongs to our entire life in this world; only for its sake do we need daily bread. Now our life requires not only food and clothing and other necessities for our body, but also peace and concord in daily business and in associations of every description with the people among whom we live and move...everything that pertains to the regulation of our domestic and our civil or political affairs...Although we have received from God all good things in abundance, we cannot retain any of them or enjoy them in security and happiness unless he provides us a stable, peaceful government.”

At least the Christian should acknowledge the advice St. Paul gave to the young Bishop of Ephesus in First Timothy 6:7, 8, namely, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” Nevertheless, the Lord Christ does much more for His sheep that are expressed here within the promises of God to His people.

But, in my opinion, the main reason Christians say and confess one thing and then lament “Woe is me!” in the same breath is because the soul does not feel free and at peace. Luther explains the need for faith to achieve such peace in his treatise On Christian Liberty: “This, then, is how through faith alone without works the soul is justified by the Word of God, sanctified, made true, PEACEFUL, and FREE, filled with every blessing and truly made a child of God, as John 1:12 says: ‘But to all who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God.”

Understand then that faith is also a promised gift of God that brings contentment, peace and freedom, knowing that the Word of God is true and will supply your needs. Therefore, David writes, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” These pastures aren’t just the color green but they are fat, lush pastures. These feeding grounds are intended for Christian sheep and will always satisfy because the Lord always gives His own His best. The Christian is satisfied with the Lord, His Good Shepherd, who reminds him to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Our Lord doesn’t tell you to seek earthly things first if you want to become truly rich, and yet how many Christian pastors, who are called to shepherd their own flocks, insist that the sheep have the power to get all these things right now without ever having to sacrifice anything for the Kingdom’s sake? Oh, these false shepherds are indeed only hirelings who claim that you have to give this or that amount of money to them as a “seed offering” if you expect to get back from the Lord – that God doesn’t open up His hand to abundantly bless you with all kinds of wealth if you first don’t open up your hand. This is heresy and blasphemy! But Luther says, as he explains the Apostles Creed: Our heavenly Father… “Out of His divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me” gives these things. If God had to wait to act on your behalf until you gave something to Him, then you make God the debtor and make Him obligated to you!

Now it is that the Shepherd also leads you. And just where does He lead you according to David? He leads you “beside still waters” and “in the paths of righteousness.”

What an idyllic picture David paints for you here. You all know what troubled waters look like. Many have seen personally the devastation of flood waters, the pollution and deadly diseases left behind. Troubled waters are a reminder of our own sinful condition. Troubled waters would certainly kill you if you weren’t led to the quiet, still waters of holiness and righteousness.

The “still waters” that David mentions are not just any waters but the waters that “restore the soul.” As the hymn says, “Be still my soul; the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.” My goodness, friends, with all these promises of the Gospel how could any Christian that is led by the Good Shepherd beside these still waters struggle as if he were drowning in the present turbulent waters of this present age?

Now here’s the question: Why would the Lord lead you to such still waters and lead you in the paths of righteousness? Well, David gives you the answer. The hint is this, namely that the Lord leads you to still waters and restores your soul not because He saw something in you worthy of being restored or saving. No, this will not do. The Lord leads you in the paths of righteousness “for His name’s sake.”

You are the children of God through adoption into Christ death and resurrection, dying and rising with Him to a newness of life, in the still waters of your baptism. You are restored and saved because of the holiness and righteousness of Jesus Christ, your Elder Brother, and His name’s sake. Therefore, if you belong to His flock you too are holy and righteous. You are His sheep and the Good Shepherd continually leads and feeds you. And just as you can do no good without the Lord, you could also never find your own paths of righteousness. Remember, like David, that it is your paths that lead not to your heavenly home but to death and destruction.

David also professes, “Yea, though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I will fear no evil.” In your walk in this life there are many temptations and dangers that threaten you and yet the Lord has promised to bring you back again and to preserve you by His Holy Spirit.

We know that our Shepherd is equipped to protect us by what David says next: “Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” It is to this point, many years ago, that I became disturbed during a pastors’ conference when a pastor introduced the strange doctrine that the shepherd would sometimes beat his sheep with the rod in order to stop the sheep from wandering away into the jaws of the wolf – that the shepherd would at times even beat the sheep to the point of breaking its legs in order to protect them from possible destruction! But the Gospel never breaks but heals and comforts! Such confusion of Law and Gospel was permitted to stand as the paper was approved by the gathering of the pastors over my protests.

The rod of the shepherd could not be a comfort to the sheep if the rod was used ON the sheep. That would be simple idiocy. The rod was used to fight off predators of the sheep, to beat and to kill the predator, not the sheep! We should rather give thanks to our Shepherd and say, “Yes, Lord, you have promised to strike and kill those who would destroy me, so that I should fear no evil.” Yes, even that old predator named Death we do not have to fear.

The Lord even prepares a table for you in the presence of your enemies. You can even eat and not worry. What confidence is that! Also, check Psalm 91 for the Psalm is the Word, par excellence, for trusting in the Lord’s uttermost protection.

It is also written, “Thou anointeth my head with oil.” And that is nothing other than the oil of gladness given you in the Holy Spirit. Prophecy is given in Psalm 45:6-7 in which the Psalmist looks by faith toward the Redeemer of Israel as the Son of God, and states: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” This anointing is repeated by the New Testament writer of the Book of Hebrews: (Hebrews 1:8-9) “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’”

You, friends, are chosen of God with that oil of gladness knowing that He, the Good Shepherd, continually leads, feeds, comforts and protects you even to the super abundance of your joy. It is for this abundant joy that you should feel as David did that caused him also to pen: “My cup runneth over.”

So it is that the Shepherd leads, feeds, and protects His sheep. Now King David confidently acclaims that “Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!” And forever means forever, for as Christ now lives forever so will His sheep. Jesus, the Lamb of God and your Good Shepherd, has ransomed you with His own blood. Luther had this to say about Christ the Good Shepherd: “For if He is to be and remain a shepherd of His sheep, He must not remain in death, as He Himself afterward explains and interprets in plain words: ‘I have the power to lay My life down, and I have the power to take it up again.’”

The Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who has redeemed you also promises to keep you. Whenever you think of yourself as the Lord’s sheep, never think that you are a burden to the Lord since the Lord your chief Shepherd and Bishop of your soul doesn’t think of you in that way.

So, as you daily walk with the Lord your Good Shepherd, acknowledge your sinfulness, but also declare His great mercy while the Day of Grace is still here. Pray as David prayed in Psalm 17:15, “As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.” Amen.