A Troubling Table

 

Psalm 23

Proper 11 / Year B

Psalm 23 is most closely associated with the burial office and I am always impressed how a congregation, with just a little prompting, can recite it by memory in the old King James Version.  This familiarity may limit its potential.  We tend to see it in only one way – providing comfort at the time of death – when in fact it speaks to multiple situations. 

One scholar holds the psalm has three basic sections:

The first focuses on the shepherd.  In the original Hebrew, the initial line has only two nouns and no verb: “Yahweh” and “shepherd”.  The next few verses then elaborate on the work of the Shepherd/Lord.

The next section centers on the wander; the person who is walking through a valley of deep darkness.

The final section focuses on the host; the person who prepares a table, anoints with oil, and fills a cup to overflowing.

It is not at all clear how the last section relates to the first two.  The shepherd and the wanderer are both set in a similar context.  Both draw upon the imagery of the flock and the hills.  In the third section the scene and imagery shift dramatically to a meal fraught with peril.  Is it set in a home, or at a royal hall, or perhaps even in the temple (the ‘house of the Lord’)?  The answer is not entirely clear. 

Here is what I think, although I am no scholar to be sure.  I think the first two sections of the psalm are similar to what in the movies we call a flashback.  The psalmist remembers a time in earlier years when he worked as a shepherd.  He recalls from this experience how Yahweh was present with him; providing for him the same kind of care and safety he himself sought to provide for his sheep.  Perhaps it was during this time he first made the now famous profession of faith: The Lord is my shepherd. 

The flashback ends and we find the author at a meal where his enemies also gather.  The threats may be different from what he faced in the fields, but they are every bit as real.  The experience of child-like trust in the Shepherd/Lord now translates to faith in the adult world with its adult intrigue and nuance.  The Shepherd/Lord who was with him in the past is with him even now as a Shepherd/Host who plans for and presides over this challenging event. 

Have you ever been invited to a meal with your enemies?  It can be a powerful and potent experience.  One of three things can happen:

First, your enemies can get the upper hand on you.

Second, the host can sit you in a place to demonstrate his or her support for you over and against your enemies.  In other words, the host puts them in their place.

Or third, the setting of the meal somehow transforms the relationship you have with your enemies.

The Episcopal Church is a Eucharistic church.  We believe the Shepherd/Host is Lord and present at every meal, whether it be a meal served at the table in the worship space, in the parish hall, or in our individual homes.  One reason to ‘ask a blessing’ before every meal is to acknowledge the Shepherd/Host who is present.  To eat without this awareness is a symptom of the sin of gluttony. 

Another reason to acknowledge the presence of the Shepherd/Host is to remember a meal is transformational.  We are changed by what we eat, but also by those with whom we eat.  Like the hymn says,

As Christ breaks bread and bids us share,

each proud division ends. 

That love that made us makes us one,

and strangers now are friends.

When we sit at table in the presence of our enemies, we may come looking for our legitimacy to be solidified, but the Shepherd/Host seeks transformation, reconciliation, and community.  This is a part of what it means to be a Eucharistic-centered church.  We locate our unity in the Host and nourish our oneness by sharing in the meal rather than being allied around common ideas, positions, doctrines, or policies. 

As the author of the 23^rd Psalm looks over the table set in the presence of his enemies by the Shepherd/Host, he takes great comfort from forms of hospitality and generosity.  The Shepherd/Host anoints his head with oil, a traditional sign of hospitality in the ancient Middle East where a host cools and refreshes the guests after their long, hot journey to the home.  It is a sign the Shepherd/Host is sensitive to the author’s every need as he comes to the table.  Then the Shepherd/Host fills a cup to overflowing, a sign of generosity which indicates the host will not hold back anything from his guest. 

These signs of hospitality and generosity, given in a setting of challenge, reassures the psalmist and leads him to a final profession of faith:

Only goodness and love will pursue me

all the days of my life;

I will dwell in the house of the LORD

  for years to come. (American Bible Version)

The Shepherd/Lord we so dearly love in the green pastures and beside the cool waters is also the Shepherd/Host who sets a challenging table.  Some of the other guests will make us uncomfortable.  Some may even hate our guts (and we, theirs).  Wouldn’t it be great if the table set by the Shepherd/Host was just for us and the people we like!  Surely this host would never allow our enemies to be anywhere near where we graze.  But this is not the nature of the One hosting this meal, is it?  The Host of this meal embraces the challenge because the Host seeks transformation and reconciliation.  At the Host’s table, strangers become friends and enemies find peace.