Wadhams United Church of Christ
2569 County Route 10, Wadhams, NY 12993
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Sermon by Steve Smith          Order of Service

The Shepherd’s Keep: Shadow-Walker
February 17, 2008                                                                              Psalm 23

         I know how much of a thrill-seeking crowd this is, so in my ongoing efforts to stay one step ahead of you in your addiction to adrenalin-pumping adventures, I’ve located yet another experience that you won’t want to miss. I noticed it when I went down to Garnet Hill Lodge, a mountain-top experience not far from Gore Mountain. I saw it on the map when I was exploring the snowshoeing trails on Garnet Hill: it’s called “Skullbuster Hill.” Even my spellchecker doesn’t like the place; it keeps wanting to underline it in red, like it’s dangerous or something.
I was all ready to go, but when I mentioned it to Betty, she dampened my enthusiasm by making ominous remarks about having my will in order. Then she carried on about not wanting to drive long distances, especially if she had to go visit her fool of a husband while he was recuperating from a head injury. I wasn’t fully persuaded, though, until she offered to give me the thrill of a cracked skull without me having to go all the way out to the top of a dangerous hill. Most of us can think back to sledding hills or toboggan runs that were given ominous names, usually based on someone’s unfortunate accident. I can remember places from my childhood with names like “Murder Run,” or “Suicide Hill.”
In geography class, I learned about more infamous locales, and in history class how Death Valley got its name. I’ve also learned that we moderns didn’t invent this game of giving ominous names to places perceived as being dangerous or gloomy. In fact, there is a place just outside of Jerusalem named “Kidron Valley.” Once again, my spellchecker is underlining the name to warn me about going there. It turns out that the word “Kidron” means gloomy, or dusky. One author has even identified it as the “Valley of the Shadow of Death” of Psalm 23 fame. According to that author, it may have gotten its ominous name because at sunrise, it’s overshadowed by the Mount of Olives, which from old has been a vast cemetery. Jews from all over the world have been brought here to be buried, because tradition says that this is where the resurrection of the dead will begin.
It’s interesting to note that Jesus, the one who referred to himself as “the good shepherd,” would gather here with his disciples on his fateful journey to the cross. In fact, the “Garden of Gethsemane” where Jesus wrestled mightily with his deadly destiny, was at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Gethsemane is the Hebrew word for an olive oil press. This particular location was noteworthy because this was where they pressed the olive oil to fuel the great lanterns that lit up the entire city of Jerusalem during the festival of booths. Those four lanterns were set up on enormous posts so that the light streaming from this city set on a hill would give off enough light in the far quarters of the town to be able to read by it. They were referred to as “the light of the world” because of their spectacular brilliance.
It was in Gethsemane, though, where the olives destined for fuel were to be pressed violently, according to the ancient directives found in the Book of Laws. This pure oil intended for God’s holy lights was the result of a crude but effective mechanism that allowed people to bring their olive crop and have it crushed into oil for use in cooking or lighting. Stones weighing hundreds of pounds would be loaded into one end, while the other end pressed the olives into a messy pulp, with the precious oil spurting and trickling into the carefully carved grooves, where it could be collected in the storage container of their choice.
From sunrise to the pinnacle of the festival of booths, this gloomy valley was cast into shadows, its vast graveyard reminding everyone of their final destination here on earth. But when the great lanterns were lit, they lit everything else in Jerusalem up except for this valley. How fitting that our Good Shepherd would come to this Valley of Dark Shadows, or the Valley of the Shadow of Death, as he was about to be crushed violently. The one who came as the Light of the World had come to Gethsemane to have his life poured out as a drink offering for all those who live in darkness. He had come that we might have abundant life, and that we might be the very light of God to those around us who live in darkness. And just as the great lanterns set so high on the summit in Jerusalem needed fuel for their fire, so we need the fuel that will keep our lamps burning in the darkest of nights. Just as the true light of the world had finally come to illuminate the dark and gloomy Valley of the Shadow of Death, so our Good Shepherd comes to us to illuminate the darkest corners and ravines in our lives.
Yes, even though I walk through the darkest of valleys, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Once again, the psalmist uses a negative statement to express a positive facet of faith. Once again, I have to believe that they are revealing their humanity to us, a humanity that is infused with a faith that has been put to the test in the most difficult chapters in life. Earlier this week, I was enjoying another snow day by snowshoeing through the woods near Split Rock. I found myself on a section of the trail that dipped down between the sloping hills on either side, but this section was different from the rest of the trail because of the way the descent was shaped.
While I was descending into the shadows, I clearly remember thinking to myself: this would make a great place for an ambush. I could almost picture hostile combatants lined up behind the natural ridge just above eye level. They could have easily hidden themselves along the felled trees, or the earthen mounds that lined the ridge. None of it was any further than 15 or 20 feet away from the trail I was on. How many times did King David take a trail that provided a natural setting for an ambush? How many times had he and his armies had to fight for their lives in a dark and shadowy ravine which had provided natural cover for people who wanted him dead? How many of his comrades at arms had fallen under the onslaught in one of those deadly valleys?
It’s only the psychopath and the sociopath who truly feel no fear, because their brains aren’t wired the same as the rest of us. It’s the rest of us who have to find ways of coping with our fears. It’s the rest of us who have to wrestle mightily with the dread that overshadows our days and keeps us awake at night. I can easily imagine King David doing battle with his own thoughts by repeating these words: Even though I’m going into another deadly valley, I refuse to give in to my fear, because you are with me, my Shepherd. Though I may never be physically ambushed by people intent on killing me, I have found myself in situations where it was clear that people were intent on thwarting my plans or even making my life miserable until I got the point that they didn’t want me there anymore.
I have found myself ambushed by unexpected events and tumultuous twists in life that provide a natural cover for an invading force of worrisome thoughts and anxious feelings. There have been times when it felt like I was being held captive by my dreadful fear or my catastrophizing imagination. I hate those long nights when sleep slips away from my desperate clutches and leaves me tossing and turning between the taunting voices that tell me I’m worthless, or inept, or inadequate to whatever challenge I’m facing, or that my life is a failure. While our Good Shepherd offers the fuel for the blazing light that can guide me through the deadly shadows, I have to practice the spiritual discipline of lighting the fire and letting it illuminate the dark corners of my negative thought process.
We are the ones who have to consciously bring to mind the words that will help us fight our fears and tame our dreadful worries. Whenever we find ourselves descending into another one of those dark and gloomy valleys, we can ignite the fuel of our faith by calling to mind this facet of our faith: that no matter how dark the shadows, no matter how bad we might feel, no matter how hard pressed we are by the circumstances of life, our God has not abandoned us. Our God remains right at our sides, the one who traced every step into this abyss and emerged triumphant on the other side. Our God will never forsake us, but will be a light on the gloomy path, a lantern to help us find our steps through ominous territory.
There will almost certainly be times when we wrestle with difficult or painful decisions; there will probably be times when we don’t know which way to turn next or how to proceed; there may well be times when it feels like the stress and pressure in our lives is weighing us down or even crushing us. Even then, especially then, we have a Good Shepherd who is closer than we know, wanting to bring enough illumination to be able to find our way through, one step at a time. I can’t speak for you, but I usually chafe over the notion that I have to go through it one step at a time. I want it to be over with sooner than later. I want to be able to soar to the top of the mountain without all the slow and painful steps, the arduous climbs to the top of one hill, only to discover that there’s another larger hill just ahead. I want to be able to see how it’s all going to turn out.
This one step at a time stuff frustrates me, but my life experience has taught me that this next step is the only one that I can do anything about. While I might have all kinds of ideas on what to do about tomorrow, and while I can map out a projected route on how to get there, none of us is guaranteed tomorrow. All we really have is this present moment, and when this moment is overshadowed by gloomy thoughts or depressing circumstances, the Shadow Walker would meet us there to lead us toward something better. When it feels like the weight of the world is on our shoulders, the Shadow Walker would meet us there to make our yoke easier, our burden lighter. When it seems like every step we take is shrouded in uncertainty or fear, the Shadow Walker would help guide our path toward the assurance of faith lived out in the present moment.

Order of Service            back to sermon
"NC" refers to The New Century Hymnal, The Pilgrim Press (1995)
February 17, 2008

Welcome, Announcements & Prayer Requests
A Candle for Peace NC #575, verse 2
Call to Worship  
Leader: Loving God, you delight in showing us your kingdom, a place of blessing, a place of light, a place of Spirit and truth.
People: Fill us with your Holy Spirit,  that we may see the good things you have in store for us & the world.
Leader: Gracious God, we thank you for the promises you give us. Help us to live each day in the fullness of those promises.
People: In times of anxiety, help us to trust you more fully, to cling more tightly to your promises, and to listen ever more intently for that still small voice that seeks to touch us with your love.
Leader: Fill our hearts, Good Shepherd, with your love and peace that we may worship you with joy and with love, knowing that you lead us to quiet waters and restore our souls.
Hymn NC #479                           God Is My Shepherd
Responsive Prayer        
Leader: Merciful God, with open hearts, we desire to live in your grace. Speak to us with wisdom and mercy. Call to us with patience and perseverance.
People: Compassionate God, give us courage to admit our failings; teach us to live the truth; keep us from any deceit. (Silence)
Leader: Open our souls to be honest with you, knowing that you will receive us as we are, and that only in you will we find forgiveness and a new beginning.
People: Transform our hearts by the power of your grace, that we may accept your forgiveness, and live with joy the life you give us.
Leader: Restore us to the joy of our salvation, that we may rejoice in your love and live in your grace.
People: Grant us your wisdom, that we may not only pray for those in need, but walk with them as well, offering our comfort and relief.
Leader: Help us to see others as you see them, and serve those in need. Teach us to be listeners, helpers, hand-holders, neighbors, healers in your name.
People: Loved as we are by you, now enable us to love as visitors to the sick, givers of compassion, blessers of children and youth, comforters of the crying, makers of peace, feeders of the hungry, and friends of the rejected.
Pastoral Prayer, Lord’s Prayer        
Hymn NC #455                             I Am Yours, O Lord
Psalm 18:25-36, Isaiah 45:1-7, John 8:12, 9:1-7
Sermon           The Shepherds’ Keep: Shadow-Walker
Offering, Doxology, Dedication
Hymn NC #43         Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Benediction
Leader: By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to the world.
People: By your Spirit, enable us to be your presence in the world, even as we are redeemed and reclaimed by your great love.

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