Kid's Ministry Coffee Break | A Few Minutes of Spiritual Refreshment for Children & Youth Ministers.
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
"BATHING MY HEAD IN OIL" Kids Ministry Coffee Break 28: There is a line in Psalm 23 which can offer us a beautiful example for how God leads us so that we can lead others.
"BATHING MY HEAD IN OIL" Kids Ministry Coffee Break 28:
You may have heard of Psalm 23, right?
Everyone has heard of this Psalm, I’d imagine.
If you don’t know it by name, you know it by “The Lord is my shepherd…”
https://10bibleverses.com/scripture-passages/psalm-23/
or “Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death….”
It’s a psalm used in some way at about every funeral I’ve ever attended.
Songs are written about it.
It’s very familiar in church circles.
A few years ago I learned something about a little detail in the poem.
It’s about that bathing my head in oil part.
The poem is all about a shepherd—The Lord.
The work of a shepherd is then spelled out as one big metaphor for how The Lord is a part of our lives—like a shepherd.
We lack nothing,
We are led to what brings life,
We are guided to right paths in our living,
Even in the most difficult days, we are not alone.
We are protected.
We have a place even in the midst of struggle.
Our heads are bathed in oil.
So…that last line has always been a bit strange, for me.
I can figure out most of the rest, but what gives with the oil on my head?
Well, as it turns out…part of the life of a shepherd in that part of the world involved a particular fly. There was a particular biting fly which came at a particular season.
Shepherds would rub oil on the head of sheep to repel the biting fly.
Sheep are social animals—which makes sense for the metaphor…because so are humans.
If there is trouble in the flock, the sheep won’t lie down.
If there is tension,
if there is a predator,
and if there’s a parasite.
So the shepherd, who leads the sheep to lie down in rest, would protect the sheep from various things…including the biting fly.
Chances are small that the sheep made connections between the actions of the shepherd and why those actions occurred.
The oil would have been poured on the sheep’s heads to deter the flies.
The sheep would then not be anxious and tense trying to protect themselves.
Imagine the change that would occur.
The flies show up, the sheep get agitated, then the shepherd bathes there heads in oil…then the flies stop bothering them…they stop being agitated…they calm down.
I love this image in the metaphor.
As ministers, we are referred to as shepherds with a flock.
We recognize how God is the shepherd in our lives…how Jesus is the Good Shepherd…and then we tend to the flock ourselves.
John 21 connects this Psalm to our own ministry.
What is causing agitation in your flock?
What is keeping things from being calm?
What is disrupting life in the church?
How can you be a source of oil upon the heads of others?
How can you help bring peace to the agitation to allow the flock of social people experience the calm, still, and restful waters of faith?
Next time you see things getting restless, stop and picture God pouring oil upon the heads of everyone—imagine everyone calming down…lying down…and finding life and rest. Picture it…then then let that image guide you.
Be calmed yourself, and then be a source of calming.
Even in the tensest moments…may you know and embody the truth that God is with you all and leading you all to green pastures ahead.
Message brought to you be Rev. Joseph Sanford of Sanford Curriculum (Student ministry resources available on The Sunday School Store written by he and Lauren Sanford).
https://10bibleverses.com/scripture-quotes/anointing-oil-in-the-bible-verses-about-anointing-oil/
https://youthgroupministry.com/lessons/mary-anoints-jesus-john-121-8-youth-bible-lesson-on-gifts-of-great-value/
Music by The Muse Maker
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kidsministry-coffee-break/support
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free