Funeral Sermon for Elizabeth Radons / March 8th 2014 / Psalm 23

Audio Pre-Recorded: Funeral was held at Lee Funeral Home in Regina Saskatchewan. 

Funeral Sermon for Elizabeth Radons  / Rev. Ted Giese / March 8th 2014 / Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

                   He makes me lie down in green pastures.

          He leads me beside still waters.

                   He restores my soul.

          He leads me in paths of righteousness

                   for His name's sake.

          Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

                   I will fear no evil,

          for You are with me;

                   Your rod and Your staff,

                   they comfort me.

          You prepare a table before me

                   in the presence of my enemies;

          You anoint my head with oil;

                   my cup overflows.

          Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

                   all the days of my life,

          and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

                   forever.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord. Amen.

Grace peace and mercy to you from God our Father and from our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ. Good Christian Friends. Psalm 23 was written by King David, he like Liz lived a long life for his day and age. David was an old man when he died and it was age that finally caught up to him, not any other kind of danger; although in his life David had faced a lot of trouble and difficult family situations. He had lived a life of danger, you might remember David and Goliath, well that's this same David who wrote Psalm 23. He started out from humble beginnings, he wasn't born in the lap of luxury, he was a shepherd boy, sort of like being a farm boy, and in his work he had to fight off lions and bears to protect his sheep.[1] King David wrote this Psalm, Psalm 23 in the midst of real trouble, he had people who wanted to kill him, everything was falling apart all around him, to the world he looked like the picture of independence and resourcefulness, and yet David sits down and writes, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." The shepherd writes that the Lord is his shepherd. And that it's the LORD who "makes [him] lie down in green pastures." It's the LORD who "leads [him] beside still waters." It's the LORD who, "restores [his] soul."

Jesus in the Gospel of John says this about Himself, He says, "I Am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."[2] What does this all mean? It means that if you believe in Jesus, Jesus is your Good Shepherd and you are His sheep. In fact Jesus is the Good Shepherd whether you believe in Him or not, but for those who do believe they can find comfort in the LORD.

King David knew that it was the LORD who was his Good Shepherd not because he grew up as a shepherd and figured it out, but rather because David was a man after God's own heart[3] and in Psalm 23, by the gift of faith, David was pointing to Jesus. In Psalm 23 David pointed to the one in whom a person can always truly put their trust, a friend who will not let you down, a Shepherd who will guide you through the hardest times to bring you home to Him. One who will walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death to paradise. The person who believes in Jesus has this, and not just this, they also have these words of encouragement from Jesus, a promise from the one who keeps His promises: Jesus says "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand."[4] This is why King David can write in Psalm 23 these words, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

When David says "goodness and mercy shall follow me" What does he mean? Jesus is the Good Shepherd, Jesus is the LORD, the Bible says that "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." When David writes "goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life," he's saying that God will follow me all the days of my life. Jesus follows us, leads us, walks beside us, and carries us in the palm of His hand in the good times and in the bad times, in the happy times and in the times of trouble and all the while Jesus is bringing us to the day when we will "dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

Because she believed in Jesus, Jesus was Liz's Good Shepherd. This is not just for her, it is for you. You may not think of Jesus every day but as your Good Shepherd Jesus is always thinking of you. It was His love for you that brought Him to walk through the valley of the shadow of death carrying His cross. He struggled through the valley of the shadow of death to the place where they nailed Him to the cross and He died. By His death on the cross we see that Jesus as the Good Shepherd didn't stay removed from us; He got his hands dirty, priced with nails, running with blood. And when like a bear or lion death came threatening the sheep, seeking to eat us whole, desiring to claim our eternal souls, Jesus our Good Shepherd wrestled death to the ground, at the cross, and He died in your place, protecting you: Offering His life to save yours. And because Jesus your Good Shepherd didn't stay dead neither will you.[5] Liz with all Christians has the promise of eternal life in Christ because he took on death and death did not win. Jesus' victory is now Liz's victory, it's now your victory.

This last week end, Monday, today, they don't feel like a victory: Remember King David wrote Psalm 23 in the middle of his trouble not after the trouble was past but while he was in his trouble. He wrote it trusting in the LORD, knowing that God would follow through on His promises. Psalm 23 is a prayer prayed in a time of trouble. When you find yourself praying at your mother's side while she's dying, when you find yourself praying at your grandmothers side while she's dying, who are you praying to? To God, to the LORD, you may not us the words Good Shepherd, but your prayers went to Jesus, and in the middle of your trouble Jesus hears your prayers. He loves each and every one of His sheep and no one can snatch them out of His hand. I leave you with this short parable, it's familiar, you've heard it before. When you hear it remember that each of us are lost regardless of what the world thinks of us, regardless of what we think of ourselves, regardless of our outward spiritual or religious life, we each need the Good Shepherd to rescue us.

From the Gospel of Luke Chapter 15:  

          "Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear [Jesus]. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

          So [Jesus, hearing their complaint about who He chooses to associate with, the complaint about who He sits down to eat with, tells] them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."[6]

Think of Psalm 23 as the same story only told from the point of view of the lost sheep who has been found and who is being lead back home by the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd who is Jesus the LORD. It isn't just a Psalm for King David in his trouble, it isn't just a Psalm for Liz as she walked through life and walked through the valley of the shadow of death, it's also a Psalm for you and for me. Hear it again for yourself and think of your beloved Liz being lead by the faithful friend Jesus, who is her Good Shepherd, who is your Good Shepherd:  

          The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

                   He makes me lie down in green pastures.

          He leads me beside still waters.

                   He restores my soul.

          He leads me in paths of righteousness

                   for His name's sake.

          Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

                   I will fear no evil,

          for You are with me;

                   Your rod and Your staff,

                   they comfort me.

          You prepare a table before me

                   in the presence of my enemies;

          You anoint my head with oil;

                   my cup overflows.

          Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

                   all the days of my life,

          and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

                   forever.

 Amen.    

Let us pray:

Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us, Lord have mercy on us, “take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire; for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.