Creekside Church Sermon of February 15, 1998 "Getting Righteousness Right " Psalms 1:1-6	Rev. David Bibbee
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When I read Psalm 1 this week, I had a pleasant association which took me back to sun shiny Sunday mornings when I was young. All dressed up and with every hair in place, we arrived at my grandparents house promptly at 9:00 a.m. The rich aroma of dinner permeated the air as Grandma was preparing the chicken for our return from Sunday school. We drove down Church Street and as the wind blew through the maples which lined the street, I imagined them as great green arms waving to us on our way to worship. Sunday morning felt good. Though I couldn't say how, I knew God would bless us for having worshipped. What we did at church helped us toward the goal of goodness. I had the notion that our Sunday observance would be a hedge against any bad things which could happen. We were not like the wild Pickens bunch that lived across the alley, nor were we like the Smeltzers or Amrines who never went to church. The distinction was clear. It was good to do what was right.

"Happy are those who do not follow the advise of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or sit with scoffers, but who delight in the law of the Lord." These are the first words in the psalms. There are two paths we can go by-the way of God's law by which we prosper, or the way of the wicked by which we perish. It draws clear distinctions. If we follow the rules, keep the shalt and shalt nots straight, and keep the right company, everything will work out. Good tidings come to good people. The rest will lay in the bed they make. Enough said. It feels right to be righteous.

But the closer I looked at Psalm 1, the more I wonder, not about living by the word of the Lord that is the light unto lives path, but about the comfortable smugness that can come over us if we push it too far. I'm glad there are one hundred forty nine psalms after this one that give the complete picture of the way life it is in all its ecstasy and agony, and the spirit in which we can best live it and be blessed by God.

Notice first how the psalmist addresses God. There are no requests. There are no petitions, no "deliver me's" or "rescue me's". He isn't asking God for anything. He seems totally sure of himself telling God the way things are. You get the impression that he is absolutely certain about the way life works. This psalm was probably written during the days of Ezra when there was a zeal for the study and practice of the law, which was the sign of Israel's righteousness. The righteous man lived by the letter of the law. "You've given all the rules, God. I just thought I'd tell you I'm holding up my end of the deal," I hear the composer of this psalm say.

The Talmud is an ancient collection of Jewish teachings, and in it is this instruction-"When you depart from the temple, say this prayer: 'I thank you, God that you have allowed me to be with those who sit in the temple and not with those on the street corners; for I rise early and they rise early: I rise early to the words of Torah, they rise early to vain things. I work and they work. I receive a reward, they receive none. I strive and they strive, but I am heading for life in the future while they are heading down to the grave.'" I could have prayed that prayer on sunny Sundays when I was young.

In an arrangement where God gives the rules and we follow them, life is like following a recipe, and church is where you go to be sure you've got the right ingredients. Have you been good boys and girls this week? Yes. Have you kept the right company? Yes. Have you kept your promises? Yes. Prayed daily? Yes. Paid your pledge? Done that. Have you been a good citizen and kept your hands clean? Absolutely! Good! You are like a tree planted by the water. You'll reap a fruitful harvest...good grades, a good job, a fine family, minimal misfortune, a carefree retirement. You'll be blessed.

The man who prayed this psalm was a good person, but judging by the words, I don't know if he really feels the need of God for anything. He knows what to do. He's comfortable with the arrangement. The righteous get rewards, the rest get just desserts. But when you push this posture too far you end up with Mark Twain said was "Goodness in the worst sense of the word." Jesus gave us two examples to ponder.

The first was a good, virtuous, righteous Pharisee who went to the temple to pray. He was compulsively religious-dotted each i, crossed each t. When he prayed he didn't ask God for anything either. He was full of self-congratulations. "God, I thank you I am in a spiritual class by myself. I'm so grateful that I'm not like those extortioners, tax collectors, liars, blasphemers, adulterers, fornicators, abusers, molesters, and sordid assorted sinners." Jesus said the Pharisee prayed thus "with himself". He didn't need God. He was just letting God know the fine job he was doing holding up his end of the bargain. He prayed as though God would be thoroughly impressed, when God in fact was weary of the Pharisee's monotonous monologue of "I, I, I" and the certainty that his Boy Scout obedience would pay fine dividends.

Jesus' second example was the elder brother in the Prodigal Son parable. He was nothing like his brother. He was a model son. He stayed home. He worked hard. He did everything his mom and dad told him to do. Never talked back. Perfect synagogue attendance ten years straight. He was righteous, but in the worst sort of way. He blew up when his lovesick father didn't follow the "obey the rules-get a reward" system. "What's going on here, Dad? Your playboy son lived it up in Sin City and comes crawling home and you roll out the red carpet for him! This isn't how it's supposed to work! Listen to this." He pulled out his pocket Bible and read Psalm 1. "The Lord watches over the righteous. In all they do they prosper, but the way of the wicked will perish." "How do you justify a party for Junior who broke your heart when I have been obedient all these years? Good things come to good people, remember?"

I would not enjoy spending time around the Pharisee and elder son. They are at the center of their world, swimming in a sea of "I this, I that". They didn't need God. They were grandstanding to get something in return, and in the process got it all wrong.

A writer has likened righteousness to a student learning to play the piano. The teacher says, "You haven't got it right." He holds his hands as he's told. His fingering is fine. He hits all the notes with precision. His fingers are in it, but not his heart. He's sort of playing music, but voices aren't singing nor are feet tapping in time. He bores everyone to death, himself included. This writer then quotes Jesus' admonition to the disciples that their righteousness should exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, and said, "They didn't slip on a single do or don't. But they had it all wrong."

We who come here each Sunday know the notes. We get dressed up and ushered into the pews. We stand on cue. We sing the hymns, pray the prayers, pass the plates. We've done it so long we can have our bodies and voices into it with our hearts miles away. We run through a checklist of good standing. I didn't lie, cheat, fool around or philander. Didn't walk with the wicked nor stand with sinners. Everything is in order. But if this is all there is to it, then like the Pharisee, we are only praying with ourselves, and don't need God. We become like actors who know the lines, but it's not real. We go through the motions. It is cut and dried. No love, no questions, no struggles, no need.

But this sort of religion won't help you when your orderly little world of rules and rewards hits a brick wall. It is not so easy to pray this psalm when the stream runs dry and your tree bears no fruit and maybe for the first time in your life you realize you can't prosper alone and you wonder where God is now. Adversity doesn't acknowledge your record of deeds. Disease doesn't bother to ask if you are a good person. In such times your prayer changes. You notice the other psalms..."How long, O Lord?" "My God, why have you forsaken me?" "Out of the depths I cry to you." When this happens, you know how needy you really are.

Steve became a Christian during the Jesus People movement in the early seventies. He was on fire for the Lord. Studied the Bible voraciously. He then became charismatic. He quit wearing glasses because he trusted God to heal his nearsightedness. He believed every authentic Christian should pray in tongues. He had answers for everything. His certainty and righteousness made you feel spiritually inferior. I ran into Steve twenty years later, and it was obvious something had changed. He was a more mature, accessible, sensitive, vulnerable man. That part of himself that he denied years before emerged. He did things he never dreamed he was capable of doing. He became addicted to pornography. He had relationships with prostitutes. His bubble of goodness burst. He used to be the Pharisee and the elder son. But then he became the tax collector praying next to the Pharisee, "God be merciful to me a sinner." He became the prodigal son, "Father, I have sinned before heaven and against you."

Today Steve is a stronger Christian. Now he is a person you want to be around. He prays other psalms now. He has experienced Psalm 51: 17..."The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

Speaking for himself and all the rest of us, St. Paul said, "The spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought."

It is this recognition that helps us get righteousness right. It's not about being religious, and it's not about rules, and it's not about rewards. It's all about relationship. It's knowing you can't make it alone. It's knowing your life is dependent upon God and others. It's knowing that bad things do happen to good people, but that God works for good in all things to those who know him, follow him, and love him, and it is then that our lives produce fruit, and we prosper.

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