Monday, September 13, 2010

SMELL Greatness

"The Lord is my shepherd," David wrote. "I shall not be in want."

What does a good shepherd do, actually? A good shepherd protects his sheep, feeds his sheep or makes sure they have access to good grazing territory, makes them lie down beside streams of water, helps them even when the going is dificult and they must pass through a valley that is the very shadow of death itself.

A good shepherd is that and so much more. A good shepherd lives with the sheep, watches the sheep, actually bathes with the sheep. A good shepherd SMELLS like the sheep. That's a good shepherd.

Conversly, a bad shepherd doesn't watch the sheep, actually lets some wander away to their death, doesn't care if they eat or drink properly and certainly would not want to SMELL like the sheep.

What's so amazing in a number of amazing tales about the birth of Christ is that the shepherds came into town to tell everyone about it and to see the baby. Shepherds were outcasts because they SMELLED like sheep, which is no eau de lysol. They were the worst choice God could have made to announce the birth of his son. No one wanted to see, much less SMELL, the shepherds. Yet God chose them. He always does, pick the outsider I mean. He doesn't call the annointed. He annoints those he has called, giving them all they need to accomplish the tasks he needs accomplished.

The point of all this?

I will fear no evil because you ae with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.

"Your rod and your staff." The image is pastoral and exquisitely beautiful. There are few objects more picturesque than that of the shepherd and his crook.

The 'rod and the staff' are essential to the office of the shepherd as to the guidance and protection of the flock. The spiritual and practical significance of the symbol will be obvious to every reflective mind.

The first is that of designation. The first and primary use of the shepherd's rod is that of marking the sheep, by which they are distinguished from all others, and recognized as his own. This is the meaning of God's word- "I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant."

And again, "In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the valley, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of Him that tells them, says the Lord." And yet once more, "Concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord."

How clear and precious the teaching! Christ's Church is a chosen flock, distinguished and separate from all others by an act of eternal, sovereign, and most free election. Hence our Lord said- "I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep."

If a member of Christ's Fold, you have 'passed under the rod' of electing love, and have upon you His own secret and distinguishing mark that you are His.

To that everlasting love- to this election of grace from where it sprang- to your having thus passed under the Shepherd's rod- you owe all that you are as a child of God, and all that you hope for as an heir of glory.

In other words, you are marked and sealed by the Holy Spirit as one of His flock. God knows that flock completely. He knows our hearts and our minds. He knows the way we think and the way we act and he knows what's next on our agenda.

Though Shepherd is an office no one would want to be elected to necessarily, it is the metaphor God chose.

He closes this metaphoric psalm by saying, "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life."

Why? Aren't sheep lost every day?

Because we don't have just any shepherd watching over us. We have the good shepherd who will leave the 99 behind and go in search of the one lost sheep. Who will give everything to makes sure grace and mercy is extended to us all. Who will walk through that long, terrible valley with us, not just telling us about it, but actually walking along beside us.

He prepares the table, he annoints our heads with oil, he washes our dirty feet, he gives us so much our cups overflow. Surely goodnees...surely goodness...surely goodness will follow us because of that.

David was overcome with joy when he wrote this, probably sitting next to that quiet still water, a pastoral setting if ever there was one. He meditated on God's love and grace and this is what came out, like a song in our heads that plays its own tune when we awaken at 3 a.m. This psalm comes right after, amazingly, the 22nd in which David writes, "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?"

In essence, then, the psalms come together to form, for lack of a better term, life. From the bottom of the pit (or the top of the cross) to the still waters of a sheep herd, God is with us.

SMELLS like good times, doesn't it? SMELLS like greatness.

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