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Hebrews 13:5-8
The Lord Is My Shepherd
September 1, 2013
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." {6} So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" {7} Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to
you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. {8} Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever.
Who could not like the 23rd Psalm? The picture of Jesus as a loving caring shepherd watching over his sheep
is one of the most beautiful and comforting parts of the Bible. What peace comes from reading this psalm.
It promises that the Lord will always take care of everything we need, he’s feeding us with the rich green
pastures of his word and sacrament, assuring us of his forgiveness, showering us with good things all our
days, and finally gathering us safely into his house for eternity. Several songs in our hymnbook are based on
this psalm. People often ask for this psalm to be read and explained at their wedding or at the funeral of a
loved one. Even people who ridicule Christianity will praise the 23rd Psalm as one of the most beautiful
pieces of literature ever written.
But do you think this much admired psalm can sometimes just be a matter of the mouth and not the heart? Is
it possible that these beautiful comforting words enter the ear but don’t always sink deep into the heart and
show themselves in a person’s life? Today our Lesson from Hebrews leads us to ask some penetrating
questions that about our trust in the Good Shepherd. 1. Do I know who the Good Shepherd is? 2. Do I
remember his under-shepherds? 3. Do I recognize his voice?
A shepherd is someone who guides and leads. Specifically, he guides and leads sheep. Sheep need to be
guided and led more than any other animal. At the first parish I served in the country, there was a farm with
sheep close to our church. The sheep had beautiful green grass to eat inside their fence, but they were
always sticking their noses under the fence to nibble at the weeds outside the fence. Sheep are silly,
defenseless animals. No one knew this better than David, the writer of Psalm 23. David had been a shepherd
himself. He knew firsthand how vulnerable sheep were. And when he wrote Psalm 23 he called himself a
sheep, a lost and wandering soul, and placed all this trust in the Good Shepherd. The Lord is my Shepherd,
he said.
Who is this Shepherd of whom David speaks? In John chapter 10 Jesus said, I am the Good Shepherd. By
what Jesus did and said he showed himself to be the one who really loves and cares for us. He said, I lay
down my life for the sheep.. Jesus told the story of the shepherd who leaves behind the 99 and goes after the
one lost and wandering sheep. Do we know who the Good Shepherd is? Before we rush to answer, the
writer tells us: Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because
God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Faith in Jesus is more than a matter of
the mouth. It’s a matter of faith. And faith shows itself in how we live. If we know Jesus as our Good
Shepherd we will refuse to be led around by the love of money and trust in money. We are to keep our lives
free from the love of money. Who is your Good Shepherd when you decide how much to give back to the
Lord as thanks? Who leads you, who’s your good shepherd, when you buy that lottery ticket? Are you
being led by Jesus or by love of money? When you decide how much to spend on yourself and how much to
help those in need – who leads you? Our world, our country, maybe our own heart, is more immersed and
preoccupied with money than ever before. The news never stops talking about it – how many tenths of a
percent it’s gained, how to get more of it, how to invest it – everything but how to take it with you. What’s
making you sad this morning? Is it not having something you want to have? What’s making you happy
today? Is it something you have?
We know Jeus is the Good Shepherd when our life is led by him. Faith in Jesus not in money or material
things is what led the writer to boast: "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to
me?" Jesus, the coming Messiah, was David’s Helper, and he is ours, too. Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today and forever.
Another thing that tests our faith in the Good Sheperd is our ability to recognize his undershepherds. A
shepherd that has many flocks has many shepherds under him taking care of his sheep. He remains the chief
shepherd. He’s the owner of the sheep. He’s still the one who does the leading. But he passes down his
loving direction to the shepherds who work under him. That is what Jesus does as our Good Shepherd.
Before he ascended into heaven he told his disciples: Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. Paul told the
Christians in Ephesus that Jesus gives undershepherds to his sheep from the right hand of God: It is Christ
who gives some to be prophets, some to be apostles, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers.
Paul told the pastors in Ephesus: Guard the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Next
Sunday we install our Sunday School Teachers as undershepherds of the Good Shepherd to teach our
children. We thank the Lord for graciously supplying us with undershepherds to teach our children.
The Good Shepherd gives undershepherds to take care of his sheep and lambs on this earth. We are told that
to honor the Good Shepherd is to honor his undershepherds. Remember your leaders, who spoke the word
of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. A few verses later he says
the same thing: Obey your leaders...they keep watch over you as men who must give an account...obey them
so that their work will be a joy and not a burden, for that would be of no value to you. When we honor the
Savior’s undershepherds, we honor the Good Shepherd himself. When we despise them, we despise Jesus
who gave them to us. Jesus said to his undershepherds: Whoever listens to you, listens to me; whoever
rejects you, rejects me; and whoever rejects me, rejects him that sent me. Will we promise to honor them
and pray for them and then not bring our children to hear them teach?
All of the Savior’s undershepherds on this earth are sinful imperfect human beings – pastors, teachers,
fathers, mothers. Only the Good Shepherd is perfect. Nevertheless, imperfect as they are, if they are striving
to be faithful to God, they will be an example. That’s why the Bible says: Consider the outcome of their way
of life and imitate their faith. Imitation is the highest form of flattery. There is no better way to honor the
Savior’s undershepherds than to imiate the faith and lifestyle of the pastors God has given you. Go to
church like they go to church. Read the Bible like they read. Love as they love. For in honoring the
Savior’s undershepherds, we give glory to the Good Shepherd himself.
There’s one more way the Good Shepherd has led us, the most important thing of all. In Psalm 23 it says
that he uses his rod and his staff to direct us. His rod and staff are not long wooden poles sticking out of
heaven. God’s word is the rod and staff of the Good Shepherd, by which he keeps us on the narrow road to
eternal life. Last week I heard there was an earthquake in Alaska that measured over 7 on the Richter scale.
There have been seismic changes in thinking in our country the last couple years. There have been a lot of
changes, but one thing has not changed. Heaven and earth will pass away, Jesus said, but my words will
never pass away. And our writer agrees: Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Whether
it’s an individual sheep or a whole congregation, trusting in the Good Shepherd means following his word,
hearing his word, believing his word, living his word. That word proclaims that our sins are forgiven,
announces that we are righteous because Jesus lived and died for us, gives us confidence and joy to face each
new day because our future is secure in heaven. Knowing him means knowing his voice in the Bible.
The 23rd Psalm. For so many it’s just beautiful literature. What does it mean to you and me? It means
being led by Jesus and not by this world’s money and material things. It means welcoming his
undershepherds and imitating their way of life. It means accepting his word in the Bible as the rod and staff
of our daily life. Amen.