The Confession of St. Peter

Donna G. Joy

Psalm 23, Matthew 16:13-20

Today we celebrate the anniversary of this parish – a place where people have gathered for more than fifty years to be fed, nurtured, comforted, challenged, empowered and refreshed by God through the gift of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. The lives of countless people here in this place have been renewed.

The readings for this celebration are those that are prescribed for the Confession of St. Peter, our namesake, and it is our psalm for today that best speaks to the very nature of this God whose presence in this place has touched lives over this span of time and continues to be made known today. I refer, of course, to the 23^rd psalm which speaks of a God, the maker of heaven and earth, who leads, refreshes, restores, protects, comforts, feeds, heals and offers a place in which we all may dwell. This God is defined as our shepherd, which suggests that the goal and focus, the center and purpose of life is Yahweh (God) and absolutely nothing else. There is to be no rival loyalty, no competing claim – not economic or political, not liberal or conservative, not sexist or racist, nor any of the other petty loyalties that are permitted seduce us. Indeed, our center and purpose in life is God and absolutely nothing else.

The psalmist draws an interesting conclusion from this statement about the centrality of God: that is, ‘I shall not want’. In other words, I shall lack nothing. I shall not have any other yearnings or desires that fall outside the gifts of God. What God gives will be enough for me. This is a statement of enormous confidence in the generosity of God, the one who knows what we need and gives well beyond it.But it is important to recognize that this phrase, “I shall not want,” is a decision that can only be made against the greed and aggressive ambition of a consumer society. Our consumer society is driven by the notion that we always must want one more thing, and we are entitled to it, and we will have it no matter what. But this God is to be God of all our wants and our needs, and we need much less when we are clear about the wonder and goodness of God.

To unpack this statement of focused trust, the psalm invites us into two images. The first is this: Imagine that you are a sheep. As you may know, sheep are not known for their smarts. They’re not the sharpest knives in the drawer. They do not know how to take care of themselves or even to come in out of the rain. Left to their own devices, they would soon be in trouble, hurt, and likely destroyed. A sheep needs a shepherd, and must learn to trust its life to the shepherd. But it matters a lot what kind of shepherd a sheep is able to have.

There are all kinds of shepherds: some better than others. But this shepherd is reliable, strong, and generous – and has done three important things for his sheep:

• He has led them into green pastures. He has found the best grazing ground, so they will have plenty to eat. Without such a shepherd, they might have gone hungry on thin pasture.
• He has led them beside still waters. He has found gentle streams of fresh water where they can drink. Without such gentle streams, they might try fast, rushing streams, and be swept away.
• He has led them in the paths of righteousness, although a translation more faithful to the original Hebrew would be, “He leads me into right paths” or “safe, straight paths”.

There are dangerous paths on which the sheep may walk – physically they could be crooked or narrow or stony, that is, dangerous terrain that could cause serious injuries to the sheep, or places of darkness where wild animals could be preparing to attack. But with this shepherd they are safe. Indeed, this good shepherd has given everything that is needed – good food, good water, good paths. What else could an average sheep need?

Notice that all the action verbs are relating to the shepherd. There are no verbs connected to the sheep. The sheep simply receives and enjoys the gifts. Because the shepherd is generous, the sheep lives a safe, trust-filled life, surrounded by generosity. No hunger, no thirst, no fear, no anxiety, no danger. “All is well” because there is one shepherd who can be trusted. The danger here, of course, is to see this as a justification for passive faith. But on the contrary, the more we submit to the care of this Good Shepherd, the more we are empowered to share that same brand of love and generosity with others. (For example: if everyone on earth was truly sharing generously no one on the planet would be thirsty or hungry or homeless.)

The psalm then shifts abruptly into a second metaphor: that is, the image of a traveler going through a dangerous place. The journey is one pervaded by danger and threat. But remember, Yahweh is my shepherd. Yahweh is my guardian and protector. In the most dangerous place, “I fear no evil.” This traveler has confidence, even in ominous places, because the journey is accompanied – “You God are with me”. It is precisely the reality of God who is the antidote to our consuming anxiety. The psalmist has discovered that things on the journey are not as they seem when God is present. We are safer, more cared for than we imagined. It is the presence of God that transforms dangerous places and tough circumstances.

So, says the psalmist, let me tell you about the valley of the shadow of death (NRSV: darkest valley), when God is present: There, on the journey, we are comforted by God’s protective rod and staff, instruments of guidance. We are not on our own, but guided by God’s presence, safe from all that would rob us of richness of life.

There, on the journey, we thought there were no resources, but in the very presence of need, fear and hunger, God sets a table of generous food. It is like coming around the corner of deep threat, and there in the middle of the road a lavish table of marvellous food, water from the rock, bread from heaven.

There, on the journey, where we thought there was only scarcity, the God of generosity pours out precious oil on our heads, into our cup. Our lives brim over because of God’s inexplicable generosity.

The journey that is traveled with the power and purpose of God changes the circumstances in which we live. Wilderness becomes home, isolation becomes companionship, scarcity becomes generosity. That is how the life of faith is. It is, to be sure, very different from the life where Yahweh is not at its core.

The psalm concludes with two affirmations. First, “Goodness and mercy will follow me.” God’s friendliness and kindness will run after me and chase me down, grab me and hold me. The verb “follow” is a powerful, active verb. We are being chased by God’s powerful love. We may run from it; try to escape it. We may think that our own best efforts are better than the gift of God’s mercy. But the message of this psalm encourages us to let ourselves be caught and embraced in that love, like that of a sheep with a safe pasture.

The second concluding line is, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” I will live in attentive communion with God. This last line asserts that the true joy and purpose of life are to love God and be loved by God, no longer alone, but in communion with one another. This culture in which we live draws us into many desires – safety, security, money, power, prestige, excitement, bigger house, better shoes, new technology – but, in fact, these will never constitute a good life. This truth has been named in the first line of the psalm. This sheep-community trusts this God and wants nothing else.

As Christians we believe that this Good Shepherd has come to us in Jesus. He is everything that this psalm describes. The inclusion of this psalm as we celebrate the anniversary of this parish and commemorate the confession of Peter is appropriate at many levels, primarily because Jesus told the parable of the Good Shepherd on the occasion of the feast of the Dedication, the feast that commemorated the purification of the Temple. This feast offered an opportunity for Jesus to present himself as the Good Shepherd who defends his sheep and lays down his life for them. He is that shepherd who has deep and abiding love for each and every sheep and goes out to search for those who are lost.

When in Matthew’s Gospel Peter professes Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God, Jesus tells him that it is on this confession that the church shall be built, and that no evil will prevail against it. Even when we walk through the darkest of valleys – the darkest of places – we need fear no evil because Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has promised to be with us with powers to restore, refresh and renew. Each and every one of us is among those who have been called to follow the path of Peter. And like Peter, we know the challenges of this life.

We know what it is to be tempted by influences that take us away from the path that lead to Jesus the Good Shepherd. We know what it is to struggle with matters of faith. We know what it is to be anxious and fearful. And in the midst of all this, we gather in this place where Jesus, the Good Shepherd chases after us, fills our cup so that it is overflowing, anoints our heads with oil, refreshes us with the very essence of life and love.

I encourage each of us to see past our anxiety, our fears, our need for control; to see ourselves as the sheep of this good shepherd, as the traveler in God’s good valley, as the citizen at home in God’s good house. I encourage each of us to desire one thing and only one thing: God presence. This very place has served as a particular green pasture in which travelers have been given this nourishment and sustenance for more than fifty years. And, this very place has also served as a faith community that responds by feeding, refreshing and renewing others. I give thanks for this and for having been called to travel this road – to receive/share this gift with you and others in this time and into the future.