Guided
by the Light
The 23rd Psalm is best
known as a text used during funeral services.
But did you know that it wasn’t included in the Book of Prayers for
funeral services until the early 1900’s? Instead of defaulting this text to a metaphor,
today we are going to listen to David’s words as they would have been heard
originally; connecting to the common life of shepherds in early Israel.
In our Gospel lesson from John, we
have a text that speaks about an ‘awakening’ to the light of Christ; that those
who were blind can see. There is a
connection between Psalm 23 and John’s text of Jesus and the blind man. Today we are going to visit both passages
(like two different scenes in a movie), going back and forth, and hear the
texts through the perspectives of the sheep from Psalm 23 and the blind man from
the Gospel of John.
Scene 1 takes place in the
mountainous, rocky, and dry region of Palestine. The shepherds guide their flocks up and down
paths of the rough terrain toward the valleys of lush grass and running
water. There were dangers on the
way…steep slippery slopes, wild animals, limited travel times, and straying
sheep. There were no roads for vehicle
travel, no lights other than a possible torch, and no guns for protection. The experience was necessary for nurturing
sheep.
In Scene 2, the blind man sits daily
at one of the gates into Jerusalem. He has
seen nothing but darkness since birth. People
look upon him as an outcast…it was assumed in those days handicaps were the
result of sinful parents. He could not
earn his own keep. He was unable to
perform most jobs because they required manual labor. Who will hire a man that requires another man
to direct his every move? Hiring two
people for the need of one is not efficient.
What good is he to society if he can’t work and earn a living? There he sits in the same spot day after day. He can’t help that he is blind, yet he feels
the stares, hears the whispers, and even worst, recognizes that most people
ignore him as if he doesn’t exist.
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not
want. The shepherd has purchased me and
made me one of his flock. He cares about
me and wants me to flourish. In this
flock of other sheep, many that I do not know, I try to find my way. I am skittish and fearful of others,
untrusting. Some look different and
others are bullies, using their power to grab more for themselves and limiting
my access. How will I get enough? How will I survive? Hmmm, that Shepherd keeps watching me. He seems to care more about me than these
other sheep do.
Sitting alongside the road, I hear a
crowd coming. I hope that a few
compassionate strangers will drop a coin in my cup. Or maybe the same couple that stops by for a few
minutes every week to ask how I’m doing will soon be here. I lift up my cup…they are walking past, deep
in conversation. Can’t they see me
here? Are they blind too? Suddenly a clink…that sounds like a
nickel. Maybe I can afford a loaf of
bread today. Wait, what are they talking
about? Are they talking about me? Someone is asking a man what my parents did
wrong to have a blind son. Who is this
man they are calling Jesus?
In the middle of all these sheep,
how is it possible to still feel alone?
At times it feels suffocating, surrounded by all these other sheep that
are only interested in getting enough for themselves. There goes that one ewe again…same thing
every day. She is always straying and checking
out the other side of the fence. Maybe
I’ll go over there and check it out too.
Uh oh, the Shepherd just placed his staff against my side. He must not want me going over there. And now he’s going over there to bring that
ewe back. She always seems to be doing
her own thing. But the shepherd keeps
going after her. He must really care
about her too.
Who is this Jesus guy I’ve heard
about? He said my parents didn’t do
anything wrong to cause me to be blind and he just said he is the light of the
world! What does that mean? HEY!
Why are you putting mud on my eyes?
Do I know where the pool of Siloam is?
Yes of course, it is just around the corner. Go there and wash the mud from my eyes? Ok.
Excuse me, sir, I didn’t mean to step on you. This man named Jesus put mud on my eyes and
told me to go wash it off at the pool.
Will you please save my spot? Thank you, I’ll be right back.
This shepherd is making me feel
loved and accepted. Some of these sheep
are running and pushing to be first in line for everything. But the Shepherd is making sure that we are
all taken care of. Even though sometimes
I’m last, I’m still getting enough. Why
run to be first, taking chances of getting run over by the stampede or bullied
by the bigger sheep, if he makes sure we all have enough? I’m content and he seems to have the best in
mind for me. I trust him.
The water is cool. I still can’t understand why he put mud on my
eyes and told me to come to this pool to wash.
But I trust him for some reason. HEY! What is going on!? What is this brightness? WHOA!
I can’t believe it! I can
SEE! Where is he? I must thank him!
There he is! He has come to me again. The others don’t seem to care. They are more interested in themselves. Can’t they see how much he cares? It’s almost as if they are blind even though
they can see. He doesn’t want to see
anyone suffer. He provides us
enough. No matter
what direction I go, or how little I see, He is the light that brings life out
of darkness. It is HE who comes to
me. Amen.