Psalm 1
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
Object:
This psalm could have been written yesterday! It is striking in its contemporaneous feel. Think about it. Today the airwaves are full of those who would offer advice. From familiar newspaper advice columns to the proliferation of so-called professionals who offer advice on everything from dating to careers to investing and back again, everyone wants to get in on the act. Moreover, the media and its corporate handlers offer the seductive sinner's path to anyone who is willing to take the hike. Violence is chic, infidelity is standard, and religion is a joke. The "scoffer's seat" is held up as an ideal place to be in this day of cynical derision and near universal lack of trust. It is a desolate and joyless landscape, indeed.
Thus it is that this psalm offers a way out. Those who refuse the addled advice of commerce-driven talking heads are more likely to find happiness. Those who resist the manifold temptations to walk the paths that sinners tread, similarly have access to happiness.
And the scoffers? How can there be joy in the process of tearing down others? How can there be happiness in positioning oneself as an adversary to anything and everyone that comes along with a new idea or a creative option? Cynicism may be trendy, but it is devoid of happiness except for a sneering kind of schadenfreude that is best left on the shelf next to the latest tabloid.
Real happiness comes in the clarity that emerges from a community of faith that is rooted in God. Like a tree next to a river, such a people do not thirst or grow weary. Instead, as nourished and connected people, they grow and flourish in the ways of trust, hope, and new beginnings.
Creating such communities within our churches is one of the most critical callings of the church today. In a world of vaunted and narcissistic individualism, the caring voice of community beckons. In a time when noble and good efforts are ridiculed as silly and useless in the so-called "real world," the idealism of Christian community stands as an island in the storm. In the midst of a runaway, consumerist culture where feelings and instincts are numbed by the ever-present pressure to acquire more and more, God's yearning reaches out to awaken us.
Yes, indeed. This psalm could have been written yesterday. Perhaps, today a new psalm might emerge celebrating the joy of those who have staked their claim in loving, authentic Christian community.
Thus it is that this psalm offers a way out. Those who refuse the addled advice of commerce-driven talking heads are more likely to find happiness. Those who resist the manifold temptations to walk the paths that sinners tread, similarly have access to happiness.
And the scoffers? How can there be joy in the process of tearing down others? How can there be happiness in positioning oneself as an adversary to anything and everyone that comes along with a new idea or a creative option? Cynicism may be trendy, but it is devoid of happiness except for a sneering kind of schadenfreude that is best left on the shelf next to the latest tabloid.
Real happiness comes in the clarity that emerges from a community of faith that is rooted in God. Like a tree next to a river, such a people do not thirst or grow weary. Instead, as nourished and connected people, they grow and flourish in the ways of trust, hope, and new beginnings.
Creating such communities within our churches is one of the most critical callings of the church today. In a world of vaunted and narcissistic individualism, the caring voice of community beckons. In a time when noble and good efforts are ridiculed as silly and useless in the so-called "real world," the idealism of Christian community stands as an island in the storm. In the midst of a runaway, consumerist culture where feelings and instincts are numbed by the ever-present pressure to acquire more and more, God's yearning reaches out to awaken us.
Yes, indeed. This psalm could have been written yesterday. Perhaps, today a new psalm might emerge celebrating the joy of those who have staked their claim in loving, authentic Christian community.
