The Lord is my shepherd"-Sermon for Proper 23, Psalm 23:
Though it perhaps goes against the sensibilities of some Episcopalians, for the tongue in cheek nickname for the Episcopal Church “the frozen chosen”, indeed, comes from somewhere, still l I’m going to ask for just a bit of audience participation here at the outset of my sermon. What I am going to do is sing a few words from some of my favorite songs, mainly pop songs, and invite you to call out either the name of the song or the performer of the song for each…either’s good…either will work. Now, before I begin, I will say that I am glad that though we are indeed among God’s beloved chosen ones, at St. Julian’s we tend to be a bit less frozen than some of our fellow Episcopalians, at least the ones I grew up with. I have very much appreciated the occasional spontaneous outburst of applause following a particularly moving piece of music prepared by our music team…and I really enjoy the occasional “that’s right” or “say it preacher” that erupts from a member of the congregation during an inspired sermon…Tony Baker is really great at that…and I really appreciate the energy and noise in the worship space as we greet friends old and new before worship begins…and I love it when one of our children drops a puzzle or box of markers or shouts out an amen at slightly the wrong time…reminding us…that it’s a tremendous blessing that they are here…for as Jesus says it is unto those to whom the kingdom of Heaven belongs. But, I digress…back to the songs…remember name of song or performer is fine…if you know it just shout it out…so here goes:
“Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand. Just like a river drifting through a dusty land…”
“Just a small-town girl, livin in a lonely world…”
“I stay our too late. Got nothin in my brain. That’s what people say…”
“Pleased to meet you. Hope you guessed my name…ooh, ooh. And what’s puzzling you. That’s the nature of my game…ooh, ooh…”
I never meant to cause you any sorrow. I never meant to cause you any pain…I only wanted to see you laughing. I only wanted to see you laughing in the…”
Now, to get us back somewhat on theme…how about this one, “I once was lost but now am found…was blind but now I see…”
Now, if you are wondering what this is all about…fair enough! So here goes…there is just something about music…I suppose the interplay of a memorable melody with poetic lyrics that make the songs we love so very memorable…so easily inscribed upon our hearts…whether songs that are just for fun…like Rio…or songs that have deep meaning in our lives…like Amazing Grace. And, I imagine it goes much deeper than that…into how the brain functions and learns…for music exists in all cultures and throughout all time…and music has always, again across culture and time, had a special relationship with religion and spirituality. You see, I think music serves as a transcendent, metaphysical conduit between human and the divine. As our early church father, Augustine, said, “To sing…is to pray twice.” And, of course, as with many of the hymns in our Episcopal hymnal, this is why much of scripture has been set to music…to help us remember…not just the words themselves…not just a memorization tool like with our ABC’s…but to remember…at a gut level…in our bones…the promise and hope to which the words point. For, indeed, we need to remember the promises and hope to which our God-breathed scriptures point if we are to…not just survive…but thrive…as Christ’s own heart and hands in the difficult days that we have and will continue to live through.
And, perhaps you know, that within the bible itself there exists an entire hymnal. It is, in fact, the only book from our scriptures that exists in its entirety from beginning to end, all 150 chapters, in our Book of Common Prayer…and further it is the only book of the bible that we read from almost every single Sunday in church…which is of course the book we call the Psalms. Psalm means song…or sacred song…or song of praise. And, though, the authorship of the Psalms, the age of each induvial Psalm, and their collective history which has led to the composition of the Book of Psalms as we have received it in our own day is widely debated and discussed among scholars…almost all of them agree that the Psalms…these songs of praise and lament…of joy and sorrow…were the hymns sung in worship by our ancient spiritual ancestors, the People of Israel, in the Temple in Jerusalem, in their synagogues, like the one that Jesus grew up in in Nazareth, and, of course, in their homes, as families gathered in times of celebration and in times of great grief. And whether sung or said…the same remains true today for our Jewish siblings and for us in the Church…the Body of Christ alive and active in the world today. We say and sing the Psalms to remember them…to inscribe them upon our hearts…and, again, not simply to memorize the words…but more so to remember the promises and hope to which they point.
Jadon spent time with us on Psalm 19 last week in his sermon at 11:30 AM…and today the lectionary places before us the granddaddy of the them all…what has to be, at least within the Christian tradition, the most well know and beloved Psalm…the 23rd Psalm…which we said together just moments ago and will actually get to sing together during communion this morning…Hymn 645 which is what we call a metrical paraphrase of the Psalm set to music…specifically, for the Irish lovers among us, it is set to a catchy and quite old Irish melody called St. Columba.
Now, as one who has worked or studied in the Church for just over three decades, I have been to more funerals than your average bear, and there have been few that didn’t include the 23rd Psalm. Two Sundays ago, I worshiped at the Episcopal Church in Vail, CO at the conclusion of a retreat I was helping lead. And, during the Sermon, the Rector, a new friend of mine named Brooks, who is famous for using props in his sermons, had with him a shepherd’s staff. I am sure you are familiar with what they look like…our bishop’s carry something intentionally similar to a shepherd’s staff in worship as a sign of their role as caretakes and protectors of the faith and witness of the Church. And, Brooks pointed us, specifically, to the two ends of the staff. The top, as you know, is curved much like a question mark. Its purpose is to hook the leg of a wayward sheep to redirect them if walking into danger or if wandering off alone…to restore them to the safety of the flock. But, I was particularly taken by what he said about the other end of the staff…the straight point at the bottom…that typically sits on the ground, as least, when standing still. Sure, it doubles as an excellent walking stick he noted, but the real purpose of the end of the staff he said was for defense. He held the staff sideways with the point jutting out almost like a defensive weapon. And, he said something like, “You see, a good shepherd…the Good Shepherd…always stands ready to defend his flock…always ready to stand between danger, even death itself, and his beloved…willing even to sacrifice his own life for the life of his sheep.” Or, as the 23rd Psalm says, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Friends, it is no wonder that remembering these words is a healing balm to those who have lost someone they love…and in losing someone they love…are also confronting their own mortality. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…you are with me…your rod and your staff…they comfort me. Further, in the very midst of times of such unknowing, such dislocation and such grief…like at the funeral of a loved one…the great Psalm concludes, “Surely…surely dear Lord…surely my Good Shepherd…surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever…forever…I will be with you dear Lord and with those I love and no longer see…till all passes away and only love is left for all time and for all people.”
Friends, I can’t tell you how many times when I felt lost…when I felt sad…when I felt grief…when I felt lonely…when I didn’t know the next right step…these words, often unbidden, flooded into my memory, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters. He revives my soul…”. That which I was fearing or facing didn’t magically disappear…but each and every time…without fail…I found my center…I found hope…and the next step forward became possible. That’s my lived experience.
Elie Wiesel, the writer, professor, activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor, who knew the suffering in this world more than most, once said, “To remember is to resurrect.” “To remember is to resurrect”. And, my simple invitation today, is to learn to sing or say…to remember…to write on your own heart…some small piece of scripture that speaks to you…perhaps a line of the 23rd Psalm…or whatever it may be…that in your own times of difficulty or want…in your own moments of present darkness…that you might be able to sing…by heart…God-breathed words that resurrect in you…the promise and hope to which they point. Amen.