I preached this sermon on April 26, 2026, at Christ Presbyterian Church in Milford, Ohio.
The lectionary text was Psalm 23 – The Divine Shepherd
Today, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, is popularly known as Good Shepherd Sunday. It’s a time for the church to reflect on Christ’s care for his followers and to pray for leadership within the church. Thus, the shepherd theme throughout today’s liturgy and Word.
Shepherds were an interesting people in the Bible. Our former pastor, Alan Landes, would tell the kids on Christmas Eve about the Christmas story, how the angels appeared to shepherds outside Bethlehem, even though they were dirty, smelly, outcasts, uneducated. I have dear friends in that church whose last name is Shephard, and every year would pretend to be offended at Rev. Landes’ unflattering description of shepherds.
The scriptures refer to shepherds many, many times, especially as it pertains to their deep devotion to their flock. King David, the author of today’s scripture reading, Psalm 23, was a shepherd in his youth, and that experience certainly influenced his writing. Jesus taps into this culture and tells a parable about a shepherd who searches for one lost sheep:
[SLIDE] Matthew 18:12–14
12 What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
Psalm 23 is the middle psalm of the “Shepherd Trilogy,” which starts with lament and agony in Psalm 22, whose opening verse is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” a verse quoted by Jesus on the cross. By contrast, Psalm 23 provides comfort and a promise of provision from the shepherd, shown in its opening verse, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” These two psalms are frequently linked to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and it’s easy to see why.
Since I teased with a trilogy, Psalm 24 concludes it with the Triumphant King. It starts with “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
David writes these three psalms to show that the same Lord feeling forsaken in Psalm 22 is the same Lord who comforts us in Psalm 23, and is the same Lord who triumphs as the reigning king in Psalm 24.
The Comforting Shepherd in Psalm 23 is our here and now. He provides a calmness in green pastures and still waters. He helps us on the path of Righteousness. He leads us through our difficult times, our darkest valleys. He’s there to comfort and reassure us, so we fear no evil.
(WE)
[SLIDE – Young Clara] Julie and I got a dog six years ago in the early days of the pandemic. We found Clara at a shelter where she rescued us. She is a mixed breed, but you see Belgian Malinois in her appearance. That breed is used by police and the military for their aggressiveness, but that’s not Clara at all. She’s the sweetest dog.
We took her to obedience classes where we all learned discipline. As she advanced through her classes, a training track for pet therapy became a possibility. [SLIDE – Pet therapy team] As a result, Clara and I are a certified pet therapy team.
We made weekly visits to the Daniel Drake Rehabilitation Hospital, you know it as the Drake Center, for most of four years, until UC Hospitals decided the land beneath the building was more valuable than the hospital or the patients in it. Don’t get me started.
Clara and I would visit the second floor, where your typical injury or surgical rehab would be needed, like knee or hip replacement, or other short-term rehabs. But we would always start on the fourth floor, where the long-term patients or residents lived.
[SLIDE – Clara visiting – 1] These fourth floor residents had traumatic brain injury, or strokes, or other debilitating issue. I didn’t know what their particular infliction was; I wasn’t allowed to know and I didn’t want to know. Clara and I treated everybody the same, with dignity and care. We wanted the residents to feel they had inherent worth the Good Shepherd’s eyes. We wanted them to feel the love of Jesus with every visit by Clara.
Some of the patients or residents were easier to visit. Diane was one of the difficult residents to visit.
Diane was non-verbal and immobile. She lay helplessly with her hospital bed, slightly inclined to raise her head. So immobile that the only thing she could move were her eyes. All she did all day was stare at the tiled ceiling – and cry. The despair, the sadness was evident on her face. Perhaps she had locked-in syndrome, which I know very little about. Or she had some other issue. Clara’s and my goal was to try to make a connection with her.
For years, a recreational therapist and I would try to get Diane to look at Clara, who would be sitting on the floor by Diane’s feet or to her side. Occasionally Diane would follow us with her eyes, but she never looked down to see Clara.
Clara had been learning new techniques during her visits, and I wanted to take advantage of a new one for her. I placed a wobbly chair beside Diane’s bed, up by her head. Clara knew her assignment; she jumped right up on that small chair and looked at Diane. Then magically, Diane, for the first time ever, tracked her eyes over and stared into Clara’s deep brown eyes.
It felt like two minutes, but it was probably less than ten seconds. The two of them stared at each other. The recreational therapist was smiling at the scene in front of her, and I was so proud of Clara for breaking through to Diane.
They broke off their gaze and Diane went back to staring at the vacant ceiling. But her face looked different. It was calm. Instead of despair, she looked peaceful. Instead of sadness, she looked serene. She felt her inherent worth in God’s eyes. She felt Jesus’ love through Clara’s gaze.
The rest of the visits that evening went great. Clara seemed to trot from room to room with a little extra prance in her pace, a little more pride in her stride. I was so happy we made that connection with Diane, delighted to see her tranquil face.
Clara and I were greeted by the entire recreational therapy department the following week! The therapist the prior week had shared with her department what had happened between Diane and Clara. I wasn’t surprised that they were all there to share in my excitement and anticipation of another breakthrough with Diane. Amy, the head of the department, came over and gave Clara a special treat and pets. Then she turned to me and said with such kindness and understanding, “David, Diane passed away last weekend.”
I couldn’t believe it. Diane’s condition never wavered in the three years we had been visiting her. Diane and Clara had a wonderful interaction the prior week, and they were primed to do the same and more. How and why did she have to die then?
Visits were tough that evening, and Clara keep turning around to see how I was doing, if I was the one needing pet therapy, a little TLC – Tender Loving Clara. It broke my heart as Clara turned into Diane’s empty hospital room, and didn’t understand why I pulled her back.
It took me many weeks to work through the situation, through my sadness and confusion of it all, through the timing of her death. The first thing I accepted was that when Jesus, the Good Shepherd, called Diane home, she would be made whole again. Instead of being bound by her broken body, she would be laughing and dancing and singing with the angels. Instead of being imprisoned, she would slip the surly bonds of Earth, put out her hand, and touch the face of God.
Next I realized that she left on God’s timing. The Good Shepherd called her home on his schedule. And it was after Clara and she made that connection. After Clara helped Diane feel her inherent worth in God’s eyes. After Diane got to see and feel Jesus’ love through Clara’s gaze.
I used to be sad about Diane’s condition, and still get sad about her passing. But now I am happier and comforted. My God had not forsaken her. Our Good Shepherd had not forgotten her. She is with the Lord, our Great Shepherd, free at last.
The Comforting Shepherd in Psalm 23 is our here and now. Are you anxious? He provides a calmness in green pastures and still waters. Are you following your own path? He helps you on the path of Righteousness. Do your challenges seem too great to handle? He leads us through our difficult times, our darkest valleys, when there’s only one set of footprints in the sand. He’s not willing to let even the little ones, the lost sheep, get away from him. He’s there to comfort and reassure us, so we fear no evil.
I hold dear memories of that experience that Diane and Clara finally shared. I wouldn’t mind if Diane was waiting for Clara at the Rainbow Bridge first, assuming I will bear the heartbreak of Clara preceding me.
The psalmist ends with this promise of provision from the Great Shepherd:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
In Jesus’ name.
