Lenten Communion Meditation - Psalm 23

April 3, 2011 4th Sunday of Lent

1 Samuel 16: 1-13, Psalm 23, Ephesians 5: 8-14, John 9: 1-41

As I have mentioned on several occasions, the season of Lent is the time before Easter when we take time to examine ourselves in the light of God. We seek to grow closer to God with intention. What does that really mean? Sometimes it means that we struggle.

If you are observing a particular discipline during Lent, for example, not eating sweets, giving up meat or caffeine, coming to weekly prayer meetings, or reading a chapter of the Scripture each day, then you are about this time in Lent, 23 days in, feeling the pressure of sticking with your commitment. Forty days is a long time.

As I have mentioned also, Sundays are not days of Lent. Every Sunday is a celebration of the Lord's day, a celebration of the resurrection, and during Lent on Sundays, fasts may be broken. It is like a reprieve of sorts, a time to take a breath, and a time to renew the commitments we've made to God.

Today, our reprieve is found in two additional places; the blessed communion meal hosted by our Lord that we will take part in in a few minutes, and in the scripture from the Old Testament book of Psalms.

Psalm 23 is one of the most beloved and well known of all David's psalms. I believe that it is the one comfort that almost every family leans on in the times of difficulty. And funny...it's all about a shepherd. I say it's funny because I venture to guess that there is not a single person here who has ever been a shepherd, known a shepherd, maybe never even seen a shepherd.

We mostly know of shepherds and shepherding from what our Sunday school teachers or preachers have told us, or something we have read in a Bible commentary. We know that David himself was a shepherd, and because he knew firsthand the importance of a shepherd in the life of a sheep, this psalm he wrote held great meaning for him.

Regardless of our own firsthand knowledge of shepherds or shepherding, the words of this psalm soothe us because we understand the metaphor that David is using to convey his understanding of God's protection, generosity, and guidance. Each in our own way are able to place into ourselves into the psalm because we deeply understand God's care and guidance in our own lives. Just as a shepherd cares for sheep, God cares for us.

What has always been of great comfort to me during the darkest times in my life is the passage that speaks of the valley of the shadow of death. Death is the great enemy of all people. It is also the enemy of God, and that is why Jesus gave his life, so to conquer that enemy once and for all. With faith in Jesus we are no longer going to suffer the eternal nature of death. In the resurrection, we are alive in Jesus.

These bodies we live in now however, do not last forever. In fact, miraculous though they are, they are also fragile and succumb to accident, disease, and aging. The lives we live take a toll on our bodies, and sooner or later our bodies do stop working and there is death. Unless Jesus returns soon...and very soon...the death of the body is something we all will experience.

Many people experience fear and anxiety when facing death. Very natural. Death is an unknown occurrence, though there are some known exceptions. This week I read the book, Heaven in for Real, that chronicles the story of Colton Burpo, who when he was 3 1/2 left his body and went to heaven for a time. According to him...heaven is for real...and apparently hell is as well.

Yet, even with testimonies like the one from Colton, death is not something we know much about. We know that there is a separation between our body and spirit, a separation between our body and the existence we know, and a separation between us and the ones left living. I believe it is the separation from all we know that instills our deepest fears.

We really don't know what death will be like. I remember once when my mother and I went to California to visit my brother who was living there. I was in my late 20's and hadn't been to San Francisco. Mom and I rented a car before our flight home and toured in that neat city. We rode the cable cars, ate on fisherman's warf, and visited and toured The Rock...Alcatraz. (Tell this story.)

We are made to be in connection with others. Remember when God created Adam. God knew that it wasn't good for Adam to be alone, and so he made Adam a companion, another human to share life with. Adam was made in God's image, and God is a communal person and exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are created to be with other people. We are communal like God.

Imagining being separated from the world is a forbidding thought. The psalm that David wrote gives the image of God walking with David through the valley of the shadow of death; that indeed, even the shepherd's rod and staff give David comfort.

A shepherd's rod was a heavy club that he used to ward off predators when he and his sheep were in a dangerous place. The staff he carried was a long handled stick with a crook at one end that the shepherd used to guide and keep the sheep from getting lost or hurt.

One of the things that the 23rd psalm says to me is this: Yes we all will go through the darkest valley, the valley of the shadow of death, but God goes with us protecting us, guiding us, keeping us from all harm. I believe that God is able to do that don't you.

A reprieve from the disciplines of Lent today is to remember that no matter what, even death, God is with us. Say with me now David's wonderful psalm. Psalm 23. King James Version.

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

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.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.