“The Good Sheperd”

Psalm 23

Pastor Deb Troester, STHPC, May 11, 2025, Mother’s Day

Behind our home is a grassy hill that turns a brilliant emerald green after the winter rains. As the vegetation dries out, it becomes a soft golden color. But all this dry grass is a fire hazard. Here in Silicon Valley, an ingenious high-tech solution has been found! Something that gently removes the grass, without pulling it up by the roots, and fertilizes it at the same time. Did I say high-tech? I meant low-tech. This time of year, when I look out my back windows I see that solution: dozens of sheep have come to the rescue! With their lovely ivory-hued coats, they contentedly munch away on the grass, eliminating the danger of wild fires. When they depart, the hill looks as if it has been trimmed by a giant mower. The sheep leave only natural products in their wake, in the form of “fertilizer” for next year’s grasses.

Archeologists have found evidence that sheep may have been domesticated as early as 11,000 [eleven thousand] years ago in Turkey and the near east. Originally hunted in the wild, our ancestors found that choosing the tamest of the wild sheep and keeping them in pens eventually bred a more docile animal, kept close at hand to supply wool, meat, and milk. Sheep-herding was an important agricultural activity among the early Israelites and others throughout that region, and is often mentioned in the Bible.

The young shepherd boy, David, who later became king, is credited with writing Psalm 23. In ancient times, the youngest in the family were given the task of watching over the sheep. I saw the same patterns in Tanzania, among the Maasai. Teen-age boys and their younger siblings walked behind the herds of cattle, sheep and goats as they grazed.

The oldest boys often had spears, or even a bow and arrow, in case any danger should present itself. There are still lions there, and wild dogs. In Bible times, young women and girls would also help with the sheep.  When Jacob first saw Rachel, she was watering her father’s sheep. Moses also met his wife, Zipporah, as she and her sisters brought their sheep to the well in the wilderness of Midian, after he fled from Egypt. So we know that women, too, have been shepherds throughout the ages.

In Psalm 23 David reflected on the qualities of a good shepherd. Their basic task is to make sure that the sheep have all they need to flourish: food, water, and protection from danger. The sheep feel safe when the shepherd is near. This beloved Psalm is one of the best known scriptures, after the Lord’s Prayer and John 3:16. With something so familiar, we can take it for granted, failing to reflect on its meaning.

Paraphrases such as this one from The Message can help us hear  Psalm 23 anew:

1-3 God, my shepherd!
    I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
    you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
    you let me catch my breath
    and send me in the right direction.

4 Even when the way goes through
    Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
    when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
    makes me feel secure.

5 You serve me a six-course dinner
    right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
    my cup brims with blessing.

6 Your beauty and love chase after me
    every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
    for the rest of my life.

Amen.  

As I thought about this Psalm in the light of celebrating Mother’s Day, I was inspired to create my own paraphrase:

God is like a loving mother. She makes sure her children have everything they need: good food to eat, clean water to drink. Her home is a place of refuge, where her children feel safe. She teaches them to do what is right. She protects them from harm and watches over them constantly, comforting them when they are frightened. She gently corrects them when they do something they shouldn’t. In her arms they feel completely safe, even if something scary happens. She affirms their value and dignity as people of worth. Their well-being knows no bounds. Her guidance has a positive influence on them all of their lives. They will remember her teachings forever.

So who is this God who watches over us as a shepherd watches over their sheep or a mother cares for her children? First, let’s admit it – our brains are too small to conceive of a God who is everywhere, all the time – omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. We can only glimpse a God like this. Trying to understand God is like trying to understand the depths of the ocean by putting our toes in the surf. There is always so much more to know about God than we can ever comprehend.

Yet, the Bible gives us some help in understanding who God is. Starting at the very beginning, in Genesis, the ancient writers affirmed that God is our creator. Not only did God create us, but God is good, and creation is good. Not all religions teach this. During the time the Bible was being written, many people worshiped blood-thirsty, violent gods, gods who even demanded human sacrifice. Think about the fertility cults of Canaan mentioned in the Old Testament;

or recall the Greek and Roman gods, who had all the foibles and faults of human beings and were not necessarily kind to people, or to each other.  

The God described in the Bible is good: As Psalm 145 declares, “The Lord is just in all his ways and kind in all his doings.” Genesis tells us that this good and kind God is our creator: “So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Here it’s clear that both men and women are created in God’s image. Traditionally we think of God as male, but here we see that God must have a feminine side, too, if both male and female reflect the image of God. Some examples of feminine imagery for God in the Bible include Deuteronomy 32, where God is compared to a mother eagle, caring for her young, and is described as having given birth to humanity.

Isaiah 66:13 says, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” In chapter 49, Isaiah compares God to a nursing mother: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”

In John 4, Jesus taught, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” As a spirit, it is clear that God is neither male nor female. It is just that we have adopted the ancient Jewish tradition of referring to God as “he.” There is nothing wrong with that. Jesus called God “Abba,” father. Yet, there are those whose relationship with their earthly father has been difficult, maybe even abusive. For those persons, calling God “mother” is totally fine. For myself, I think of God as our heavenly parent – possessing qualities of both a good father and a good mother: loving their children unconditionally, gently drawing them back to the right path when they go astray, helping them to develop their full potential as human beings.

One of our church members shared two beautiful prayers with me that she learned as a child. She grew up in a faith tradition that regards God as both father and mother. As a small girl, she was taught to pray:

“Father, Mother God,

loving me,

guard me while I sleep,

guide my little feet up to thee.”

When she was a bit older, she prayed this prayer:

“Father, Mother God,

lovingly thee I seek,

patient, meek,

in the way thou hast,

be it slow or fast,

up to thee.”  

These prayers are by Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science. As Presbyterians, we would not agree with all of the things she taught, but in referring to God as “Father, Mother God” I think we can learn from her.

That brings us back to our celebration of Mother’s Day. Mothers have such an important role in the life of a child. Yet, anyone, including God, can act as a mother. Aunts, sisters, grandmothers, friends, all of us can nurture children and help them to grow up healthy, and loved. Not only women, but men can also show this tender side. I remember when our daughter Christa was a tiny baby, how Joe would cradle her gently in his arms, walking to and fro, talking to her in a soothing voice to calm her crying, so that I could catch a bit of sleep.

All of us have a responsibility to the children around us, to do what we can to make them feel loved and secure. It takes a village to raise a child, as they say.

This Mother’s Day I want to leave you with the image of Jesus, the good shepherd, cradling a lamb in his arms, with the love of Father-Mother God, who created us and cares for us; and with the gentle warmth of the Holy Spirit, who guides and leads us in the right path. The Lord is my shepherd. Amen.

Sermon ©Deborah Troester 2025