Psalm 37:1-9
“Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, 2 for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. 4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday. 7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret - it leads only to evil. 9 For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land”
Matthew 5:11-16
11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely[a] on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
In the quiet and, thankfully, the coolness of this morning, I want to invite us all to take a moment. Take a deep breath. Lay aside everything, every weight, everything that lays so heavily on you, because God has a lot to say to us today.
Although we only read a portion of this powerful and lengthy psalm, it may be hard to hear the hopefulness through all the language about the wicked. In its 40 verses, the wicked are mentioned a lot. In the NRSV alone I count 11 times the word “wicked” is used. Seems like the wicked are getting more airtime than they deserve. The wicked are in our lives and our work, in our neighborhoods, our communities, sometimes even in our family or extended family. The wicked seek to derail us from what we know to be right and true and of God. And even if you're blessed not to have any wickedness in your own life, we are all battling against the wickedness of this disease, the wicked terrorists especially in Afghanistan and an angry planet.
Wicked, used in this psalm, comes from the same Hebrew root word for ‘destruction’. All sorts of things seek to destroy the peace, the harmony, the justice, the joy and the love that God intends! But do not fret—seriously, do not fret. It says it right there in the psalm, “Do not fret.” Well, maybe it's too late for that. The latest headlines about the natural disasters and the ones about to come, the devastation and destruction happening in Afghanistan, (especially for women and children) the devastation in Haiti; this all can easily and quickly rob us of our peace, our joy, let alone that wicked COVID and its variants that seek to threaten our future… just when we were beginning to think that we might find our way back to some normalcy! But still, I don't want you to fret. God doesn't want you to fret and is saying so through this psalmist. Even the commentators that talk about Psalm 37 in a sentence say that the tagline is literally “Do not fret.” Both in verse one and verse seven, we gloss over these, but as we read it—well, actually as Spencer read it--it is “Do not fret.”
Another Psalms expert, Walter Harrelson writes the repeated injunction “Do not fret”; It is an address by an older person to those who are suffering anxiety. Verse 25 reads “I have been young and now I am old and yet I have not seen the righteous ever forsaken or their children begging bread.” It's a beautiful reminder and wisdom from the psalmist (and from God) that when we are loving people, regardless of what we are enduring, by what or whom, we should not fret. And, yet, I know that is easier said than done. But this message is laced throughout the entire psalter (which is what is the name for the entire book of Psalms.
Additionally, this theme is not just restricted to this psalm. It's also the very heart of Jesus’ message all throughout the New Testament and we hear that in our Matthew text as well today. God promises to us that we are not and will not be shadowed or overcome by the wicked and the evil and even the apathetic. But to make sure that we get that, God's promises are interwoven all throughout this(holding up the bible) Holy word.
Some of you may know the author Max Lucado. He claims that in the entire Bible there are over seven thousand promises from God to us. Seven thousand! And yet, we fret. If we're not paying attention and we lose our way, it is actually like salt losing its capacity to season and we need salt in our life.
How many of you are bakers? Just give a raise of hand. All right, here's a quiz. What is the most important ingredient in baking? The answer is surprising. It’s salt. It's not sugar. It's salt. For some reason the salt brings out all the flavors in the rest of the sweets. I am not a baker, but I can taste it when I bite into my mom's chocolate chip cookies. There's just a little bit of that salt to offset the chocolate and the sugar and the brown sugar. Lack of seasoning, which is what the chefs call it, is also the number one reason for 18 seasons on Top Chef that people got eliminated!
So, if we allow ourselves to get overwhelmed (beyond short brush bursts of difficulty, disappointment and heartache), then our mission and ministry and our call as Christians also gets cast aside. Good works, loving acts caring conversations stop. We curl up into a ball and we are worried only for self. Especially these days, we all need reminding that we are meant and designed to be people of light.
We heard the text today, but we also have a tremendous visual reminder up there(pointing above): our steeple. Our steeple is something that not only shows light, but it shows hope. Hope during the day, (because you can see it from miles away), and at night when it's lit. (We're still having some lighting issues and we'll get to that in a capital campaign.) But you know, if you've lived in town long enough, you've heard someone say, “I'm not a member of that church, but when I see that steeple, I know that I am home.”
This is something that we have to pay attention to. This is something we have to pay attention to and remember, because that steeple (and what it represents) is far bigger than any of our frets put together and our call… is to be a light; not only for ourselves and for this church and for one another, but those who have hidden their light, those who have lost their salt, even temporarily.
Charles Cousar, who is another commentator on this text says there is a consistency between inner disposition and outer action when we follow God's word. Even unheard of reconciliation, truth-telling and outrageous generosity is possible if we pay attention to being God's light and even loving of one's enemies”. Even if it's in us.
May it be so. Amen.