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[00:00:00] Good morning. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah. You are listening to the Sunday Drive to church podcast for St. Paul Lutheran Church, Austin, Texas, for the third Sunday of Easter, April 19, 2026. This Sunday is called Misericordius Domini. In the old naming of the Sundays. That comes from Psalm 33. 5, which says, the whole earth rejoices. The earth is full of the good. There it is. The earth is full of the good goodness of the Lord.
[00:00:31] And that's the old traditional introit. For today we have the psalmody instead of the introit. So we hear from Psalm 23. But you hear that misery courteous Domini, and you think, oh, it's good Shepherd Sunday.
[00:00:45] And indeed it is. I think I got a theory about this.
[00:00:49] I don't know how much you guys love, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much you love my goofball theories, but if we don't, you know, it's probably the safest to talk about it. Just the, you know, just the two of us on the Sunday drive to church. That's probably, that's probably the best.
[00:01:06] It comes from the Bethlehem prophecy, from Micah chapter six. That's where that is, right? How come I can't remember?
[00:01:19] Micah chapter.
[00:01:21] Oh, here it is.
[00:01:23] It's too early in the morning. Micah chapter 5, verse 2.
[00:01:28] But you, Bethlehem Epaphratha, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me, the one to be the ruler of Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting. That's an amazing prophecy of the birth and the everlasting never started nature of the Messiah. He is both born and eternal. Oh, then it says verse 3. Therefore he shall give them up until the time that she is in labor, has given birth. That's incarnation, birth of Jesus. Then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel, and he shall stand.
[00:02:03] Verse 4. I think that's a prophecy of the resurrection. He shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide.
[00:02:17] Now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and this one shall be peace.
[00:02:23] So that idea of the resurrection followed by the feeding of his flock, I think that's why, that's my little theory about why we have good Shepherd Sunday right after Resurrection Sunday. Now this is one of the changes, by the way of the one year to the three year lectionary is that three year lectionary is going to have good Shepherd Sunday next Sunday. They stretch out Easter a little bit. And I'm sympathetic to that because it would be nice to have a few more gospel readings of the Easter Sunday. I think the old one year lectionary assume that you have church on Easter Monday, Easter Tuesday.
[00:03:04] I think the ancient church would have a lot more services after the resurrection than before.
[00:03:11] I mean there'd be some before, but we man, we really focus on the before. We got all these services the week before Easter, none really after Easter. I think that's probably the difference. And so the three year recognizes that and it stretches out the Easter readings a little bit more so they'll have Good Shepherd Sunday next Sunday. We got it this Sunday, which is great because he is risen and he is shepherding his flock. He's taking care of us. This is the point. Jesus didn't disappear after the ascension, but continues with us. And that's going to be the burden of the gospel lessons for the next three weeks as we are leading up to the ascension anyway, we should proud pray. Here's the colic for today. Oh God, through the humiliation of your son, you raised up the fallen world.
[00:03:55] Grant to your faithful people rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
[00:04:08] Amen.
[00:04:11] Perpetual joy, eternal. Oh, sorry. Perpetual gladness and eternal joy.
[00:04:19] That collect is good. I'm going to cut this out because I'm always. You know what, we have these 10 commandment diagnostic questions just to kind of go through the commandments and see how we're doing.
[00:04:29] And like the third commandment, what's your attitude towards worship? And your fourth commandment, what's your attitude towards authority? And the fifth commandment, what is the fifth commandment? Are you angry?
[00:04:42] And the sixth commandment, are content with our vocation of chastity? Seventh commandment, am I greedy or am I generous?
[00:04:52] Each one has a question. But the 9th and 10th Commandments we put together and we put this question, am I happy?
[00:04:58] And that's the. When I talk about with pastors about my little ten Commandment diagnostic questions that I use, that's the one that they always get after me says the look, you don't have to be happy all the time. The Lord calls us to joy, not to happiness.
[00:05:12] And to my response to them is, well, all right, full of joy, but not happiness. How about it's like what, James, show me your joy without your happiness and I'll show you My joy through my happiness. It's like the two are connected now. We can't always be. We don't want to paste on happiness. We don't want to pretend like we're happy when we're gloomy.
[00:05:34] We don't want to cultivate a kind of hypocrisy that doesn't let the Christian life be one that's full of the full human experience, including sadness, depression, loneliness, affliction, suffering. All those things are there, and we go through them all. And I suppose Dr. Schultz was helpful when he said that happiness is the weather, joy is the climate.
[00:06:01] But there's also a moral obligation that we have to be happy, to be friendly to one another. You can't just go around all dour.
[00:06:10] You're supposed to present yourself as pleasant to the people around you because you're there to bless them, not to suck all the life out of the room, etc. But this little collect is really nice because it has both of them. It says, you've rescued us from the peril of everlasting death, hell, condemnation, corruption that goes on forever. The Lord's rescued us through his humble suffering and death. Therefore, give to us perpetual gladness and eternal joys.
[00:06:42] Let's have both gladness and joy, and let's underline those passages of joy, that second fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, that the Holy Spirit would. Would fill our lives with joy.
[00:06:56] Even as we face sickness, even as we face struggle, even as we face death, and we're mourning, the Lord gives us joy. It's great. Okay, we better get on with it. We're never going to. I might not even make it to church. I'm going to be sitting here recording the podcast. So. Psalm 23 is our opening psalm.
[00:07:15] Remember that? Our question for the psalm, who's talking to whom? Is going to be brilliant in Psalm 23, because it starts out as a sermon. The Lord is my shepherd.
[00:07:27] I heard someone do this one time. They read that first verse of the Psalm 23 in five different ways.
[00:07:32] The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. It's amazing. You put the affect or the accent on the different parts of the verse and it means something totally wonderful. And they're all true. The Lord is my shepherd. Result. I will not want. It's a sermon, but then it switches from a sermon to a prayer in verse 4.
[00:08:01] Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
[00:08:10] The he from verse three, he leads me in paths of righteousness, has become a you.
[00:08:16] In verse 4, you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Wow.
[00:08:20] And then the picture changes from a faithful shepherd guiding his flock to cool water protecting them from all the dangers, to a soldier having a banquet on the battlefield.
[00:08:35] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Oh, wow. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
[00:08:44] Oh, so good.
[00:08:46] No, I mean, there's a reason this is the most beloved of all the beloved Psalms, because David is preaching this beautiful comfort. The Lord's my shepherd, and we have that same shepherd.
[00:08:59] The Lord is our shepherd also. That's going to be the strong theme through all of the lessons. So Starting with Ezekiel 34, this is where Ezekiel's preaching against the false prophets, priests and false prophets of his day, who are abusing the flock instead of serving the flock and serving as shepherds. This is who the Lord always expected to shepherd his people in the Old Testament, the priests and the rulers.
[00:09:28] But they were abusing the sheep and using them to serve themselves.
[00:09:33] And the result is that the Lord is going to take over and do the shepherding work.
[00:09:41] So it's a good. It might be fun to read the first part of Ezekiel 34 this week, because we start reading in verse 11. Thus says the Lord God. Behold, I myself will shepherd the sheep.
[00:09:54] I myself.
[00:09:56] I, I myself. It repeats it. I. I myself. I'm going to be the one to do it. You've been relying on these foolish, wicked shepherds who've been abusing the sheep. And the sheep themselves have not been so good either. It talks about how the one sheep kicks another as a shepherd seeks out his flock while he's among the sheep that have been scattered. So I will seek out my sheep and I'll rescue them from the places where they have been scattered on the day of clouds and thick darkness. Sheep especially don't like storms, apparently.
[00:10:30] You know why I know that? I know that because I know Ezekiel 34 that they're scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
[00:10:37] All I know about sheep, I learned from the Bible. I'll feed them with good pasture. On the mountain heights of Israel shall be the grazing land. They shall lie down in good grazing land, on rich pasture, they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I'm. If we missed it. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make them down, declares the Lord. I will seek the lost. I will bring back the strayed. I will bind up the injured I will strengthen. The weak and the fat and the strong I will destroy.
[00:11:04] I will feed them injustice.
[00:11:07] That's so good. Jesus is this good shepherd. So when, when Jesus claims these things, when he tells the parable of the sheep that's wandered and he goes out to seek it and bring it back, he is referencing all of these Old Testament images of the Lord as our shepherd.
[00:11:28] So here's if you want another apologetic for when your Jehovah's Witness neighbors come knocking on the door to take it to Ezekiel 34 and Psalm 23 and say, who's the shepherd? Yahweh. The Lord is the shepherd. And what does it mean then when Jesus says, I am the good shepherd?
[00:11:44] Answer, he's Yahweh, he's the Lord.
[00:11:48] First Peter 2 embraces this beautiful picture of the fact that the Lord is both the Lamb and the shepherd.
[00:11:58] He is both the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and the shepherd of Israel who shepherds his people. That comes up in Revelation. I wonder if I can flip and find it in this beautiful one that the Lamb who is on the midst of the throne will be their shepherd.
[00:12:16] That's Revelation, chapter seven with the beautiful vision of the white robes. Well, this is what First Peter is doing too.
[00:12:24] Let's see.
[00:12:27] And the Lamb who sits on the throne, they serve him then. Yeah. Here. Verse 17, Revelation 7. 17. The Lamb.
[00:12:37] Lamb. Lamb. Got it. Picture. You're seeing a lamb who's in the midst of the throne. So there's a lamb where the king should be sitting on the throne. This huge throne of the universe will shepherd them and lead them to fountains of water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. So who's your shepherd is the Lamb.
[00:12:59] In other words, you say, what is it? You're either the shepherd or the Lamb. And Jesus says, nuh. And why?
[00:13:09] He does not shepherd us apart from his death for us. That's the point.
[00:13:15] Which is what Peter says. First Peter 2:21. For to this you've been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving for you an example so you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he didn't threaten, but continued entrusting himself to the to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
[00:13:43] By his wounds you've been healed.
[00:13:46] Isaiah 53 and this all is Isaiah 53. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.
[00:13:57] So he's that lamb who now stands to shepherd us.
[00:14:01] And that's what Jesus says in John 10, which is the most astonishing of all. I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[00:14:12] Can you believe what shepherd does that? The sheep normally exists to be the livelihood of the shepherd, but this shepherd dies to be the life of the sheep. It's this heroic picture of sacrifice.
[00:14:32] The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[00:14:35] What?
[00:14:36] He was a hired hand, Jesus says, and not a shepherd who doesn't own the sheep. Sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flees. The wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I'm the good shepherd.
[00:14:50] Not only does he lay down his life, but look, I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me. And I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep. There's so many pictures of the of Christ in the church that put us in the church. And the Lord deals with us as church. In other words, Jesus is the husband and the church is the bride. And Jesus doesn't have millions of different brides. We're all part of the church, which means we are his bride, as we are part of the church. Or he's the head and we're the body.
[00:15:26] It's not like Jesus has millions of bodies and I'm the body of Jesus. No, we're all together the body, it's a corporate identity, if you'll let me use that language.
[00:15:37] But the flock, we are all part of this flock of God. But here's the unique thing about this picture, is that each sheep in the flock is known by the good shepherd. He calls them by name.
[00:15:50] I know my own and my own know me.
[00:15:54] Jesus knows you. He knows your name.
[00:15:58] He knows your troubles. He knows the numbers of the hairs on your head.
[00:16:06] He knows all of these things, and you know him. The sound of his voice. I call my sheep.
[00:16:15] I call them by name, he says, and they follow me.
[00:16:20] Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. There's probably the Jews and Gentiles is the reference here. So that Jesus is gathering his own flock from the Jewish flock and from the Gentile flock. They will listen to my voice. So there's one flock and one shepherd. Now it's. It probably should not be a real flattering thing to be called a sheep. They are not the most impressive of creatures, but the one thing they do well is listen. And not even like I can hear that tiny little sound from way across the room, listening, but the kind of listening that can tell the difference between one voice and another. This is what it means to be a Christian. We of all these clamoring voices, of all these false gods and idols out there, trying to capture our fear, love and trust. We hear cutting through the. Through all of it. This voice of Jesus who forgives our sins and promises everlasting life and calls us to follow him, heals us from all of the sickness of sin and the corruption of the fall, gives us a life that partakes in joy and peace.
[00:17:38] That's. That's our Jesus. That's our good Shepherd. The one that's laying down his life for the sheep.
[00:17:45] This can't get well.
[00:17:48] Maybe I say this every Sunday, but it can't get any better than this.
[00:17:52] Wow.
[00:17:55] So we rejoice. Good Shepherd Sunday oh, the King of love My shepherd is. Well, a lot of the hymns are the Good shepherd hymns. Oh, little flock, Fear not the Foe, my favorite hymn. 666 on purpose.
[00:18:07] Have no fear, little flock the Lord's my shepherd I'll not want our Paschal Lamb that sets us free. All these good shepherd hymns are great hymn of the day. The King of love, My shepherd is. Which is the psalmic version of Psalm 23. I remember, I think if this is the psalm at some point.
[00:18:27] Oh, I don't know. A couple years ago, three years ago, four years ago, I realized that the voice in Psalm 23 changed from the preaching to the prayer.
[00:18:37] Right when it's in the valley of the shadow of death. I was sitting here. I don't know how many thousands and thousands of times I'd read and prayed Psalm 23. And then I all of a sudden noticed, oh, look at that, it changes. I said, I'll bet you these old Psalm 23 hymns didn't notice that. I was pretty proud of myself for noticing it. Thought I was some sort of Bible scholar.
[00:18:59] So I went and opened Up Mother Psalm 23. And all of them got it. It's like the most obvious thing to these poets. They could see it.
[00:19:07] And so you'll notice it in the hymns, too. Whenever we get to that valley of the shadow of death, all of a sudden we're praying that you are with me.
[00:19:16] Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. And I think there's. I mean, the theological point, or maybe the pastoral point, or maybe the comfort point for us is that when things get really. When we get into that valley, then it engenders prayer. It turns our attention to the Lord. We look up to him and he hears our prayer, and he answers our prayer because he's risen.
[00:19:43] He's risen to shepherd his flock in the power of the Lord. Wow.
[00:19:48] Well, Christ is risen. And he is risen indeed.
[00:19:51] Hallelujah. There you go. That's Sunday Drive to Church podcast, and we'll see you soon. Drive safe.