Made to Lie Down

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Today, we could add:

Alleluia! Christ is our Shepherd! He is our Shepherd indeed! Alleluia!

Repeatedly, Scripture gives us the picture of God being our Shepherd and us being His sheep. It came up in all three readings today – epistle (1 Pet. 2:21-25), Gospel (Jn. 10:11-16), and this Old Testament lesson, but it comes up all over the place. I’ve seen it suggested that this shepherd-sheep metaphor is the most common way Scripture describes our relationship to God. I couldn’t verify that, but it certainly is common throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Now, sheep are probably the most desperate, vulnerable, weak, prone to wander, and defenseless creatures in all of creation. So, this imagery isn’t meant to be flattering, but that’s ok. We’re Christians and don’t need to be flattered. It isn’t meant be a complement, but it is meant to be comforting.

My fellow sheep, we have all lived down to the reputation of sheep. And, God be praised, Jesus has no expectation of us beyond being His sheep. He has no expectation that you figure out how to provide for yourself, to take care of yourself, or even to defend yourself. Sheep don’t run fast or kick hard. Sheep don’t have sharp teeth to bite back or a stinky musk to spray at their attackers. Nothing. Sheep have one defense, and that is their shepherd. God does not expect us to be anything more than a sheep, and, God be praised, He desires nothing more than to be our Shepherd.

Deep down, we all know that we are helpless and unable to do anything for ourselves, and that is probably why the sheep-shepherd imagery is so often used for comfort in times of trouble. It’s probably why Psalm 23 is so often used at funerals. Sometimes, when families are picking out texts for a funeral, they’ll ask me, “Would Psalm 23 be a good text to use? It seems so common at funerals.” Yes, of course it is a good text. Some things, no matter how often you hear them, don’t get old. Hearing your spouse or children say, “I love you,” doesn’t get old. Neither should the comforting picture of God, and specifically Jesus, being our shepherd because the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

We love to hear the many ways that Psalm 23 describes how God provides for us as our Shepherd. He provides so that we have no want, leads us beside still waters, restores our souls, leads us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake, and defends us from all evil even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And you probably noticed that I skipped over one phrase in there. But you are smart people, and if you noticed the title of the sermon at the bottom of your Scripture insert, you realize that phrase is what I am going to focus on today. Psalm 23:2 says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” And, just so you know, that phrase, “makes me lie down,” wasn’t a fluke we heard it again in this text from Ezekiel where God says, “I Myself will be the Shepherd of my sheep, and I Myself will make them lie down.”

Sure, we understand that we are sheep. We need to be protected from dangerous wolves, lions, and bears. But does God really need to make us lie down? Aren’t we capable of doing that? Can’t we just let gravity take over and lie down? Why does God need to makeus lie down?

Apparently, to lie down and rest, is even beyond the capability of a sheep of God to do. Sometimes it might be because we are bored being a sheep. Sometimes it is because we are foolishly curious. Sometimes it is because we get afraid and run from the danger, but in running from that danger, we leave the protection of our Shepherd.

In fact, our inability to lie down might be the greatest danger that we face. Peter says in our epistle lesson, “You were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” Here, Peter depicts our main problem is us going astray and leaving our Shepherd. God making us lie down is the solution. Our biggest danger is walking away from the flock and from the care of our Shepherd. So, Christ, our Good Shepherd, makes us lie down. And this is remarkable when you think about it.

The world tells us to fear all sorts of things. When you watch the news, it’s all about fear. One of the heads of a major news network this past week was caught saying that his network intentionally put the most dire, bleak news in front of their viewers in an effort to get higher ratings. He actually used the phrase, “If it bleeds it leads.” In other words, the more violent, fearful a news story is, it’s more likely to be put in front of you. The guy even talked about how he caught himself hoping that the COVID death toll ticker they kept on the screen for their viewers, he hoped that it would go higher so the station would get better ratings. Thankfully, he admitted feeling bad about it. Pray for him. Hopefully, the Holy Spirit will continue to use his conscience to bring him to repentance and faith in Christ.

But this is what the world does; the world preaches fear. Fear the virus. Fear global warming; oh, wait, it’s ‘climate change’ now, right? Fear terrorists. Fear Iran, China, North Korea, Russia. Fear riots. Fear the other political party. Fear fascists. Fear anti-fascists. Fear gun violence. Fear the government taking away your Second Amendment rights. Fear immigrants. Fear the national debt and deficit spending. Fear. Fear. Fear. They all do it – CNN, Fox, it doesn’t matter. Because the world does not have the protection Jesus, the Good Shepherd, they mock and ridicule Christians if they don’t join them in their fear.

My dear, fellow sheep, yes, we need to be vigilant and aware of what is going on around us. All of those things are predators like wolves, bears, and lions that threaten the flock, but those are not things to be afraid of. Not when we have Jesus as our Good Shepherd. Instead, those are the things we should bring to our God in prayer.

And I do want to be clear; this isn’t at all to say that you should do nothing when it comes to any of those things. Do what you can. Work, write, vote, engage, and be the change that this world needs. But as you do all of that, remember none of those things are worthy of your fear – not if your Good Shepherd is risen from the dead and is watching over you. And He is.

Instead, dear sheep, recognize that leaving the promises of the Gospel is the greatest danger we face. It is when we leave the Gospel promises and the care of our Good Shepherd that we fall into sin and are incredibly vulnerable to becoming lunch to all sorts of things in this broken, fallen world. If a sheep was smart, the thing that sheep would do is stay close to its shepherd. But since we aren’t that bright, our Shepherd makes us lie down.

And when we have been scattered, when we have wandered into the valleys and caves of the wolves, when the days of clouds and thick darkness leave us cowering in fear, God searches for us sheep and seeks us out. He brings us into His church and feeds us with the good pasture of His Word. Because that is what God does. He seeks the lost. He brings back the strayed. He binds up the injured. He strengthens the weak.

This is exactly what Christ has done. Jesus has sought you out. He Himself bore your sins in His body on the tree, that you might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. Your Good Shepherd laid down His life for you. He laid in the tomb, and now He is risen and lives forever to be your Good Shepherd.

Come now to His altar where He prepares a table for you even as you continue to live in a fallen world. Today, He brings you close to Himself. He makes you lie down so He can feed you, defend you, protect you, heal you, and deliver you. He has won the victory. So, come. Be made to lie down.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.