Dear
Friend, grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord
and Savior, Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
Kent
Crockett, in his book, “I Once Was Blind, but
Now I Squint” includes “A Pessimist's
Commentary on Psalm 23” by an author called "Ima
Whiner." It’s a spoof but it is a good way for us to
begin our thinking about today's text.
The
LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. "Shall
not want?" Says Ima Whiner. "Give
me a break. I want lots of things. I'd like to have a nicer
house, a better job, and a pay raise. I want people to do what I
say when I say. And I wouldn't mind winning the lottery either."
He
makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
"I have a problem with the words 'makes me,'" says
Whiner. "That sounds a bit legalistic
to me. First you say I can't want things; now you're making me do
things."
He
restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His
name's sake. "I don't want
to be guided down the paths of righteousness. I prefer the more
scenic routes. How about leading me to Hawaii for a change?
What about Vegas? I'm getting a little tired of the paths of
righteousness. The next thing you know, you'll be leading me
through a dark valley."
Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil,
for You are with me. "What
am I doing walking through the valley of the shadow of death? I
thought I was supposed to be lying down in green pastures. Did you
take a wrong turn, or what? And you call yourself a
Shepherd?"
Your
rod and Your staff, they comfort me. "To
tell you the truth, a rod and staff are not my idea of comfort. A
rod and reel I'll take. A back massage would be even better.
Skip the rod and staff."
You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
"Great, out of all the restaurants in the
world, you choose the one where my enemies like to eat. I'm sure
I'll relish every bite of that meal!"
You
have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. "I
don't want any oil on my head. I prefer shampoo. And for
goodness sake, can't you stop pouring before my cup overflows?
What kind of waiter are you anyway? How would you like to have hot
coffee spilled all over your hand?"
Surely
goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and
I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. "I
don't want to be confined to a house forever. That sounds like a
prison. It might be nice to step outside once every thousand years
or so. I never will understand why so many people love the 23rd
Psalm." Thus, ends Ima Whiner’s sarcastic twist.
It's
interesting how many references there are in the scriptures to sheep and
shepherds. Today's lesson from Luke's Gospel is among the best
known: Jesus said, "Which one of you, having
a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety nine
in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?
When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when
he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to
them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just
so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over ninety nine righteous persons who need no
repentance."
We are
a little surprised and maybe shocked to hear Jesus ask, "Which
one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not
leave the ninety nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is
lost until he finds it?" He left them where? In
the wilderness. A hundred sheep is a good size flock. Surely
this shepherd would not miss one sheep. But he does miss it.
That sheep is valuable, so valuable that he will risk leaving his other
ninety-nine in the wilderness where they are vulnerable to predators to
find this one that has wandered off. So valuable that, when he
gets home, "he calls together his friends and
neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep
that was lost.'"
That is
one valuable sheep. But, of course, Jesus is not talking about
sheep, at all. He's talking about you and me. As He
continues to say, "Just so, I tell you, there
will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (is found and
brought back) than over ninety nine righteous persons who need no
repentance."
Sheep
are not too bright. It's said that sheep get lost by nibbling away
at the grass and never looking up. People can be like that. Have
you ever been nibbling along one day, and all of a sudden you looked up
and thought, "How did I get here?"
Some people say they have that problem quite often. And sheep are
born followers. They'll follow you anywhere. I guess the
question is, if we are sheep of our Lord Jesus, will we follow Him
anywhere?
Mary
Alice Dyess of Phoenix, Arizona, wrote to “Guideposts”
magazine with a story about her pet lamb, Beatrice. One day,
Beatrice broke out of her pen and led the neighbor's sheep out of their
field and toward a busy intersection. Mary Alice called for the
sheep, but they continued trotting toward the street. In
desperation, she suddenly yelled, "Baaaa!"
at the top of her lungs. Beatrice stopped immediately, turned
around, and came right back to her own field, with all the neighbor's
sheep trailing meekly behind her.
A new
school teacher in a farming community in Texas asked her class, "If
there were 12 sheep in a field and one jumped over the fence, how many
would be left?" One little fellow spoke up and said "None."
The teacher said, "You don't know your
arithmetic." "No, ma'am," said the boy,
"but I know sheep."
Sheep
are followers. But sometimes they are not too wise about whom they
choose to follow. Let's face it, you and I are oftentimes like
sheep. We nibble ourselves into situations that are too big for us
to handle. We follow the other sheep, sometimes unwisely.
Does
our Shepherd care? Yes, says Dr. Luke in his gospel. He
leaves the ninety and nine. Where? Out in the wilderness, to
search for that one who has gone astray. That is great good news
because we are that sheep.
I read
about a courageous man recently. Robert "Bobo"
Bonadies was president of Connecticut Parachutists Inc. As
president of this club he had conducted thousands of jumps from
airplanes, and had instructed hundreds of students in the art of
skydiving. He had a reputation for giving confidence to even the
most timid students. But in May 2002, one of his jumps went
horribly wrong. Bonadies was jumping with a new student named
Cindy Hyland. Hyland had successfully completed two jumps under
Bonadies' guidance. But on this day, Hyland lost the rip cord to
her parachute. To protect her, Robert Bonadies grabbed hold of
Hyland and held on, stabilizing her so she could untangle her rip cord.
He knew at some point that he would have to let her go if he were to
save himself. With Bonadies' help, Hyland's parachute finally
opened. But Robert Bonadies ran out of time. He died that
day.
What do
you do when you discover that someone has given his or her life to save
you? Do you take it for granted? How much does God love you?
He left the ninety and nine in the wilderness for you - to find you, the
one lost sheep that had gone astray. Outrageous? No,
amazing!
You
matter so much to your Creator, that Jesus gave Himself in your behalf
on the cross.
Father,
we never thought our life was worth that much, that someone would die in
our behalf. But it is and You did. Help us to never forget
and to follow You faithfully. In Jesus name,
Amen.
