April 30 "Pictures At An Exhibition"

 

 "PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION”
Readings: 1 Kings 8:1-30, Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69, Psalm 23
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, April 30, 2023

A piece of music I remember for my youthful days, partly because it was covered by a progressive rock group known as ‘Emerson, Lake and Palmer’ was titled ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ by the composer Mussorgsky. The music in the piece reflected different pictures the composer viewed in an art gallery.

One day I was sitting in a dentist’s waiting room and thumbing through a magazine article about the 23rd Psalm. It compared the 23rd Psalm to a series of portraits about spiritual life. I neither recall what the magazine was, nor who the author may have been, and I apologize to them if I am stealing their material. This idea, of the 23rd Psalm being an exhibition of pictures that speak to us about the love and protection of God, left an impression on me, and it’s those impressions I want to share with you today.

I invite you to walk through pictures at an exhibition of the 23rd Psalm.

1)    ‘The Lord’s My Shepherd, I shall not want’.

Here is a picture of peace, rest and care. Here is a lying back, sipping a cool drink on a wonderful summer’s day, enjoying the blue sky, no clouds in sight, green pasture. The grass is rich; everything is under control, because the shepherd has taken care of it. A cool stream is gurgling by, the birds are singing, the bees are buzzing, “It is well with my soul”. You are satisfied. You want for nothing.

There is neither worry nor hurry in this picture. Feast your eyes upon it. Sink down into that cool grass. Feel the warmth of the suns rays caress your face. Problems? What problems? Just savor the moment and squeeze every ounce of joy from it that you can. Perfect peace. Perfect rest. Perfect care. The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. God is taking care of things. And we are one of the things that God is taking care of! It’s looking good in the neighborhood.

I’d like to leave you in this picture but we must move along to our next frame, and this one is not so pretty. Verse 4

2)    ‘I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.’

The sky turns black. The clouds roll in. The air becomes heavy and threatening. No more lying down in green pastures. The still waters have become an ugly torrent. The birds are no longer singing. That peaceful world has been shaken and swept away.

This is the ruins after 9/11. This is New Jersey shore after Hurricane Sandy has rolled through. I remember a congregational member I had in Liverpool describing what it was like to live through the Blitz when German planes dropped bomb after bomb upon the city. How they sheltered in a dark and suffocating concrete bunker and could hear the sirens and the sounds of the bombs falling, and prayed that the next one did not have their name on it. How much they feared the scene they would see when they emerged from the shelter.

This is a picture of dark desolation. And there is a question hanging over this picture. Where has the Shepherd gone? ‘My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?’

If this were a movie, maybe the scene would pan to a busy Jerusalem street, where bruised and battered, wearing a crown of thorns, a man is carrying a cross through a cussing and blaspheming crowd. Harsh soldiers are driving Him forward. He stumbles and they force a member of the crowd to take up His cross.

You wonder if you could really look that defeated man in the eye. Alone. Despised. Rejected by humanity. A carpenter from Nazareth who left his nails and wood to minister the love of God to us, only to find himself stumbling up a hill towards the nails and wood of a crucifixion.

Where is the Shepherd? Look. He walks through the darkest of all valleys. He does not fear evil. He takes it upon Himself. He absorbs its darkness. For us. For you. For me. As the wind blows cold and the darkness deepens remember where the shepherd is. He walks through that dark place with us. Maybe unseen. Maybe barely distinguishable among all the other sights and threatening sounds.

Bit like that story of the footprints in the sand of life’s journey... those times when only one set of prints appear in the sand, are the times that He carries us. King David, the poet to whom the 23rd Psalm is attributed, many times had to flee for fear of his life from King Saul. David stubbornly maintained, “Lord I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me!”

The music that plays in the background is not “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Rather we hear a gentle, yet confident voice that declares, “My dear child, I will walk with you. Hold my hand. We’ll talk about the “Why” and the “How” at a later time. For, now, just hold on tight. There is a light up ahead that you cannot yet see. Hold on and trust me.”

We must move on through our gallery. Our next picture is plain and simple. Maybe it’s a sculpture. Or even just an item or two laid up against the wall. A Shepherd’s Rod and a Shepherd’s staff. The last part of verse 4.

3)    “Thy Rod and Thy Staff, They Comfort me”

In this verse the word ‘comfort’ is in the sense of “To make strong.” A Fort is a place of strength. When our lives are under the protection of God’s Grace and love we are in a strong place.

The Shepherds Rod was used to count the sheep. Jesus told that wonderful parable about how the good shepherd would go looking for even one that strayed from the fold. Our lives count to God. That is a strong place to be living from. We count. We matter. Our contribution to the life of our church is important. Every one of us has a vital part to play in God’s scheme of things.

The Shepherds staff, or crook, had a hook on the end of it. It could be put around the wayward sheep’s shoulders and neck to guide them back into line. As the prophet declared, “We all like sheep have gone astray." It is a strengthening thing to know that our God will come after us to guide is back into the right way when we go astray. Take a look at the rod and staff. Reach out a hand and touch it. Run your fingers over the wood. Feel the grain of the staff and know you count enough for God to guide your life with His strong love.

Now here’s our next picture. Verse 5

4)    “You prepare a table before me, in the presence of mine enemies”

A sumptuous table laden with every imaginable goody to enjoy. In West Virginia they'd call it a ‘Bean Feast’. This is not the place to be counting calories or worrying about cholesterol numbers. We walked through the valley, come through to the other side and the Father has welcomed the prodigal home. This is an Hallelujah, Amen, Resurrection bathed glory of a celebration. Enjoy the delights, the sounds, soak up that atmosphere.

God is here. You are the R.S.V.P guest. God has set the table. Your cup is bubbling over and it’s O.K. to let it. You can make a face at all the forces that told you that you would never make it, because you win, they lose. All the enemies of Christ are now revealed for what they really are, devilish losers who never had a chance of victory.

Some of you ladies, I know that before you go somewhere special you like to make a visit to the hairdressers, to the Salon. I know that when you come out of there you are glowing and woe betide us men if we don’t notice you have a hairdo that could make fashion models green with envy.

David says, “Lord, my head You anoint with oil.” That was his way of saying, “I am looking good tonight. I should be on the cover of Vogue. Look out fashion gurus, the new kid on the block has walked out on the catwalk and the flash bulbs have gone ballistic.” This is a meal to be enjoyed and basked in, and you have never looked in better shape to enjoy it!

Here is a call for us to let the goodness of God overflow upon us, to be anointed by the Holy Spirit, to allow the beauty of the presence of Jesus Christ around us and within us, to be something that we celebrate and bask in and bathe in.

One picture left. Verse 6 of our Psalm.

5)    “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever”

I realize it is a cliché, but as Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home”. I don’t know what the home in your final picture looks like, but mine is one that I haven’t reached yet, but without a doubt it looks like home.

I can offer a few clichés, “Wherever I lay my hat is my home” and “Home is where the heart is.” Going beyond the clichés I know one thing for sure. Our resting places here on earth were never meant to be our final home. We’re all just passing through. And as we travel the pictures change and God keeps moving us along through the many different scenes of our lives.

Stick with God and surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. Jesus spoke about many mansions being reserved for us in our Father’s house, that at the end of the road our hearts will find perfect peace and perfect rest. Such is the final picture in our exhibition. Let me take you through our pictures one more time.

• Firstly – a picture of tranquility where we want for nothing, for the Lord is our shepherd.
• Secondly – a picture of a dark valley, which though awful and desolate, is one that we do not travel through alone.
• Thirdly – A Shepherds Rod and Staff by which we are strengthened and comforted
• Fourthly – A feast to which we are invited and at which we are anointed by God’s love
•  Finally – a home for our restless spirits in the presence of God.

And the great thing about this exhibition is that you are not supposed to leave these pictures here. Take them home and share them with your friends.

To God’s name be the Glory.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.