Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
As we gather to celebrate confirmation, and then to celebrate the Lord's Supper today, it is especially fitting that our psalm for today is one of special thanksgiving for our Lord's guidance and provision. In the words of Psalm 23, David teaches us about the gifts our Lord gives to us, and how He sustains us in faith and life through all our days.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” With these words, David confesses what Jesus tells us in today's Gospel lesson – He is the Good Shepherd who provides for the needs of His sheep. Here we learn and confess that God our heavenly Father provides for us in all our needs of body and soul, just as surely as He has created us and all our members and senses. He gives you and me all that we need, daily and richly takes care of us, and guards and defends us from all kinds of evil.
We lack nothing, and shall never lack, because our Father has promised to give us everything that we need. He has commanded us to pray “give us this day our daily bread”, and has likewise promised that He will hear and will indeed give us our daily bread, this and every day. Like a sheep following its shepherd, we follow our Lord, because with Him are the words of eternal life. With our Shepherd are the blessings of life and salvation, in body and soul. As children ask their dear father, we ask our Father for our daily bread, and He leads us into pastures of abundant food, to untroubled waters that satisfy our deepest thirst.
The voice of the Shepherd calls to you, and you listen to His voice and follow where He leads. You follow because His voice is familiar to you. His voice has spoken to you before. He has led you to untroubled waters before and has quenched your thirst with them. You were called to the living waters of Holy Baptism, where you were engulfed into the blessed flood. There, the waters of life, sanctified by Our Lord closed over you and drowned the old, evil man within you. In that life-giving flood, the Good Shepherd restored your soul.
There, in that blessed font, the most precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ washed over you and made your deepest stains of sin to be as white as snow. The Good Shepherd who was crucified for His sheep marked you with His blood and named you as His own sheep. You have been buried with Him through that watery grave, so that He might lift you up to life with Him, here in time and in heaven for eternity. Just as the Father raised Jesus from the dead and restored Him to life, so has Jesus brought you up out of the waters and given you His life and salvation. He has filled you with His Spirit, who enlivens you with the breath of life, and sustains and keeps you in the one true faith.
Having restored your soul with the birth of new life in the Spirit, the Good Shepherd now guides you in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. The Holy Spirit calls you in paths of righteousness for the sake of Christ. He calls you to follow the path upon which Jesus set you. Follow in the footsteps of your Shepherd, who leads you to familiar pastures. Hear His voice in the Word of God preached to you. Hear His voice in the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins that removes the stain of guilt from your conscience.
You may not know the way, or where you are headed, but your Shepherd does. He says, follow me, and I will lead you to the pastures of eternal life. I will lead you and give you to drink from sweet and untroubled waters. I will lead you from the valley of sorrow through the gates of righteousness into the house of My Father, where you will find your rest.
Make no mistake – you will walk through the valley of the shadow of death. The devil will try to cast a long and deep shadow over you. He will attempt to block out the vision of your Shepherd leading you. He will fill your ears with all manner of noise and lies in order to distract you from your Shepherd's voice. He will come against you with sword and spear, with lies and deceit, with all sorts of temptations of the flesh. The prince of this world will do his best to strand you in the valley of the shadow of death, pull you off the beaten track, and isolate you so that the roaring lion can devour you.
But fear not! You need fear no evil, because the Lord is with you. He walks ahead of you, plotting the way, marking the path. He calls out to you to follow Him in the way that leads to eternal life. The Lord is with you, and His rod and staff comfort you because they fend off the assaults of that prowling lion. He keeps you on the narrow path through the rod of His holy Word. The Good Shepherd wards off the prowler's attacks by the preaching of His Word and the giving of His Holy Sacraments. These are the shield that will defend you on your journey through the valley of the shadow of death. Because you have these gifts, you need fear no evil.
The Lord has prepared before you a table, heavy laden with rich food. Today, here, in this Divine Service, the Lord spreads His table before you and offers you the very Bread of Life to satisfy your hunger. In the presence of your enemies, He feeds you with His very Body and Blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins. He has anointed your head with the oil of gladness and has made you ready to receive this blessed Meal with true faith in His Word and promise. Your cup overflows with all His blessings poured out for you. Take, eat, and be filled. Take, drink, and be quenched. Your sins are forgiven. Your faith is strengthened.
Behold, goodness and mercy will attend closely upon you all the days of your life. The Lord Jesus Christ will never leave you nor forsake you. He will call to you each and every day in His Word. He will strengthen and fortify you for the journey with His Body and Blood. The Holy Spirit will remain with you, comforting you in times of sorrow, rejoicing with you in times of blessing, strengthening you in times of tribulation. The blessings of God are with you, and will be with you forever, because your Good Shepherd will never leave you. Your heavenly Father provides for you every step of the way, and He will never fail you nor leave you wanting.
Because the Spirit of the Most High dwells within you, you will dwell in safety all the days of your life, surrounded by His steadfast love and grace. You will dwell in the house of the Lord for the length of days, here on earth throughout your life, and eternally in heaven. As you pray “deliver us from evil”, your Lord and Shepherd will lead you through the valley of the shadow of death in this life, and will at last take you from this vale of tears to Himself in heaven, where you will join the multitude of saints in glory everlasting. Just as surely as Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, lives, and reigns to all eternity, He forgives your sins and leads you in the paths of righteousness.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
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