Community Church Sermons

Year B

July 22, 2012

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Questions I Asked Myself

Psalm 23

Rev. Dr. R. Tim Meadows

Associate Pastor

I am fortunate that my love of the 23^rd Psalm is a love that is shared by many. This is perhaps the most familiar and beloved passage of scripture in the entire Bible, maybe even, in all of literature. Its words are read for comfort and encouragement in trying times. Its hope is held by all who are at least somewhat familiar with the psalm.

When I realized that it was the best of the lectionary texts for the day, I quickly determined it would be a no-brainer to choose it as my preaching text for the day. Preaching this psalm however, can be dangerous. The psalm is so familiar --- so beloved --- that the preacher might find it hard to say anything new or might find it dangerous to do so! With that in mind, I contemplated what to say about the psalm. I could preach from the angle of the Good Shepherd and remind you of how God leads us, even in our darkest hours. I would include in this; the contention of the great African – American preacher, S. M.A. Lockridge, that as a good shepherd God’s primary trait is constancy “God was is, God is is, and God will be is” ---- “there (for shock effect) he said ain’t no conjugation with God”! No, there sure ain’t, shouted back his mostly college-aged, mostly Caucasian audience of which I was a part.

I could also focus on how the psalm presents God as a gracious host who provides for our deepest needs even in the most difficult of times. In a community like ours, where hosting is taken to an art form, I’m sure this image of God would be appealing. However, I was a bit concerned that presenting God as a host in this community might be a bit like the time early in his career that Elvis Presley entered an Elvis impersonator contest and placed third!

I could have done either of those things, presented God as a good shepherd or as a gracious host but I decided not to go that route. You see, as I read the Psalm, trying to make the familiar fresh, a number of nagging questions began to ring in my ears. Questions, I could not escape! Questions, I feel, deserve an answer! As I probed the psalm, the psalm probed me, and what follows is the conversation that occurred in my head with the 23^rd Psalm.

- If the Lord is my Shepherd, why do I wander, after people, places, and things, that are not good for me?

- If I shall not be in want, why am I always craving more? More of what I need, more of what I want, just more of everything.

- If the Lord leads and restores me, why do I always feel frantic, scattered, lost, and empty inside?

- If the valley of darkness and death cannot overtake me and God promises to comfort and protect me, why do I fear darkness, death, and find myself without consolation in my fears?

- If God acts as a Gracious Host in the presence of my enemies, why do I continue to make more enemies? Why can’t I receive God’s gifts and share them with others until we become friends, become one in God?

- If my days are filled with God’s goodness and God’s house is my home, why do I often dread another day and feel at times as If I have no place to go?

Well, as is often the case, the conversation in my head concluded without a lot of firm answers, but with a lot of good questions to guide my journey in faith for a time. Questions that I am sure will find an answer over time in the goodness of the Shepherd who leads me in the correct path and in the provision of a Gracious Host who gives me what I need, even in the most difficult of times. Let me encourage you today, to let this familiar psalm probe your journey. Let it prompt questions to guide your journey of faith. Let it remind you that the answers to those questions are found in the presence of a Good Shepherd who is also a Gracious Host! AMEN!