Today is traditionally known as ‘Good Shepherd’ Sunday and our biblical readings are strong with images of a shepherd and sheep. The image of Jesus as the ‘good shepherd’, reminds me of past Sunday school images of Jesus with flowing robes, cuddling a tiny lamb, while other sheep lie peacefully at his feet. This image was irrelevant for me growing up in Singapore because we did not have paddocks and flocks of sheep!
Biblical theologian William Loader says: “The ancient shepherd of Palestine or Asia Minor had to be tough, worked often in areas of sparse growth, frequently amid danger from wild animals and sheep stealers, and, above all, had to protect the flock, especially at night… John 10 reflects this less than idyllic world. The bland cuddly image gives way to a picture of tension: positively, a shepherd doing his job to the utmost; negatively, dangers which threaten the sheep… and which may kill him. Life and death dance together.” (WLoader web site, 2006)
Everything and everyone seems to have been sanitised and sentimentalised.
So, this morning, let’s see if we can pick up something which is helpful and hopeful.
We begin with a familiar translation of the Psalm. For most of my life, the words of the 23rd Psalm, as they were translated and interpreted by the authors of the King James Version of the Bible, have been with me.
The King James Version of the 23rd Psalm, lends itself well to the mysterious power of poetry. But I discovered another version of the 23rd Psalm translated from its ancient Hebrew origins by Rabbi Jamie Arnold. Rabbi Arnold’s translation adheres to the original Hebrew and captures the mysterious power of poetry to reveal the sacred.
Rabbi Arnold calls his translation of the 23rd Psalm Six Verses of Refuge. An even-mindedness, balance, being calm and composed, especially in difficult situation and in times of conflict. (Sourced from pastordawn.com)
It begins, “A song for LOVE’s sake:
When our LOVE’s the guide by-my-side, I want for nothing.”
For the ancient ancestors, the very essence of a being is contained in the name of that being. Is it any wonder then, that the verb “to be” in Hebrew was used by the ancients to communicate the name of the Ultimate Mystery which is the Holy One?
YAHWEH – I AM, WHO I AM, or I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE.
Or as the gospel-storytellers put it, simply, “I AM.”
JESUS becomes the embodiment of the I AM.
This storyteller’s words carry us way beyond words to the Great I AM. I AM, the very name of God. YAHWEH, the name revealed by Moses in the stories that were handed down for generations: I AM, WHO I AM. The writer we call John carries us beyond the Word; the Word that is Jesus the Christ, beyond the Word to God’s very self.
When we turn to this song of the ancients, we see, lush meadows, meandering waters, green pastures, and valleys crowed with figures of death and disgrace, pictures, images, hopes, dreams, and fears, laid out in words designed to lead us beyond our wants, beyond our fears, from death into life.
Today, each one of us can, without much difficulty, move beyond the distractions of the moment toward our wants and our fears. All around us death is very much a part of life.
At our fingertips we have access to images of plenty, of the valley of the shadow of death which no amount of hand-washing can erase. In our lives there are losses and griefs which mask our ability to see beyond our fears. We know that the lush meadows are all around us, but the enormity of the world’s pain coupled with the uncertainty of tomorrow’s worries blind us to the Way beyond.
From the isolation of our homes, so many of us lumber through these days, longing for release, while others venture out on our behalf, fearful of what lurks in unseen molecules. If only there were a shepherd to lead us, a saviour to save us, a way to move us beyond, this, whatever this, is, was, or will become. No press conference, no medical expert, no brilliant scientist, no astute economist, no canny politician, can move us beyond our wants, beyond our fears, from death into life. And yet, we long for green pastures and the memory of ONE who insisted that, “I AM”. This ONE continues to inspire possibility beyond words or images.
“The truth of the matter is, I AM the sheep gate.” “I AM the gate. Whoever enters through me will be safe – you’ll go in and out and find pasture.” “I came that you might have life and live it abundantly.” Abundant life, life beyond our wants, beyond our fears, abundant life. The gospel-storyteller we call John speaks of Jesus as ONE who claims wandering sheep as his own, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never be lost. No one will ever snatch them from my hand. Abba God, who gave them to me, is greater than anyone, and no one can steal them from Abba God. For Abba and I are ONE.”
Therein lies the mystery, “I and the Abba are ONE.” Therein lies the Way beyond our wants, beyond our fears, from death into life. I AM, You ARE, We ARE, ONE. “Even when” I, You, We, “descend into valleys crowded with figures of death and disgrace,” I, You, We, “will not succumb to fear, now knowing where” I, You, We, are, “I AM, I AM with YOU,” why because You ARE, We ARE, with YAHWEH, ONE with the Ultimate Mystery.
The translation says “Ancestral staff of family tree in hand, courage and comfort blossom under the sun, casting shadows revealing time in melodies measure for measure, these and these harmonies lay my frets to rest.”
“When our LOVE’s the guide by-my-your-our-side, I, You, We, they, want for nothing.” For the Ultimate Mystery which we call God, is LOVE.
The Psalm goes on to say;
“Patience and perseverance, playing with polarity, stand and say, “Send me. Send me before you; tabling shame and sorrow for tomorrow that you may feast today, head anointed with oil, LOVE’s cup pouring-over the rim with plenty.”
We can move beyond our wants, beyond our fears, from death into life. Look around, there are lush green pastures everywhere. Our cups overflow with goodness. “Gratefulness and lovingkindness run me down and up, coursing through my vines to live in all my limbs, words and ways, coming home at last to sit and sabbath. Your ever-presence, here, now embodying, housing, LOVING CONSCIOUSNESS in time-space-and-soul.”
I, You, We, and the Ultimate Mystery which we call God, and this LOVE are ONE. This ONEness into which LOVE draws us moves us beyond our wants, beyond our fears, from death into life.
It is our ONEness which transforms us into the Good Shepherd. You and the Abba are ONE. In LOVE we live and move and have our being. We set the table in the midst of all this, whatever this is, the table is set by LOVE, this, all this IS abundant life, eternal life. I, You, We ARE the LOVE who IS. We are the shepherds, we are the saviours, we ARE the ONEs. See beyond your wants, beyond your fears and let us dwell in the house of LOVE forever.
John’s second century audience would have understood his skillful use of metaphor. But down through the centuries the Christian church has mixed his metaphors to such a degree, that we don’t have much of a clue who Jesus was, let alone the great I AM to whom both Jesus and the writer we call John are trying to carry us too.
It’s not the writer we call John who mixed the metaphors up, it is the Christian Church. Somewhere along the way, the religious authorities forgot what a metaphor is for. Instead of letting the words carry them beyond the literal meaning to the Great I AM, they slaughtered the lamb of God and killed the Word which points to the wonders of the God who refuses to be pinned down by a name, the God who insists that YAHWEH is my name and will be for all generations; YAHWEH the inexpressible name that can be translated as I AM, or I AM WHO AM, or I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. The Great I AM.
Too bad we have to reduce the beauty of the great I AM sayings down to one simple figure of speech.
It is better to live with the mystery of divinity in our midst than it is to claim to have bottled divinity for easy consumption. When we bottle divinity and sell it like snake oil we do tremendous harm. We need to learn to dance among the metaphors that carried our ancestors beyond the literal words so that they could begin to relate to our God WHO WILL BE WHO GOD WILL BE, I AM, WHO I AM.
YAHWEH is more than capable of being both shepherd and lamb. We only need to remember that these metaphors operate independently of one another and God is not the shepherd who let the lamb die, nor is God the shepherd that demanded a sacrifice. The beauty of a metaphor is that it doesn’t always carry you to the same place. Metaphors have a multitude of destinations. Each of us must have the courage to go beyond the literal word and explore the places that the word takes us. If we must mix metaphors, we must take care to remember who it is who carries us beyond the beyond and beyond that also.
Let the Mystery we call GOD, live and breathe in you. Let abundant life flourish around you! Enjoy the dance! Rejoice in Mystery beyond all knowing: YAHWEH, the ONE Who Will Be, Who God Will Be!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Lord Is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-Third Psalm by Harold S. Kushner
Rabbi Jamie Arnold’s translation of Psalm 23
