Introduction
Our text for today speaks of two and only two kinds of people: the righteous and the wicked. It declares “the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” And when we consider such—two and only two kinds of people—it seems then partisan divides are not a new thing.
We lament today how our country is divided, how the world is divided, how even our faith is divided. And it is a lament. We are sad, grieving, filled with a loss of hope.
But Psalm 1, and its admission that partisan divides are not new is a good thing because when we realize such divides are not new—that they have been occurring for millennia—we begin to open the door to discover how it is God has before, and still today, deals with (and teaches us to deal with) such divides—especially when it comes to people who don’t neatly fit into either of the two kinds of people— those who are neither altogether righteous nor altogether wicked, which includes us and most people.
Thank God, God is God, and God can view us however God wants and we can trust God to deal with each of us appropriately.
But the fact remains, we get into trouble when we usurp the divine prerogative and start assigning our fellow mortals to the way of the righteous or the way of the wicked. We know we do this, right? We judge people. We judge people by the way people live and where they live. We judge people by how they live out their faith and read the bible. And we certainly judge people by their political partisanship. But judgement is not our role. It’s not our job.
This Psalm, and the teachings it brings, becomes then a critically important messages for us today because it is telling us that not only is judgement not our role, but there is a better role for us. One that brings about blessing and happiness for anyone who chooses it.
Move 1
Now before we can get to how we gain blessing and happiness from Psalm 1, we do need to break down the judgmental partisan divide we are guilty of.
And so a word of warning…No one will be off the hook here. It will require all of us to hold up the mirror to our own faces and look deeply at ourselves. But when we do, we begin to find the way to blessings and happiness.
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Back in 2002, the late columnist Charles Krauthammer, who self-identified as a conservative but was often hard to nail down to any one ideology, and was widely read by liberals as well, posted a column in which he said, “To understand the workings of American politics, you have to understand this fundamental law: Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.”
Krauthammer’s point was that both groups see the other as caricatures— a caricature being when certain characteristics of a person or a group are exaggerated to a comic or grotesque effect—and that by doing so both groups treat the other as though the caricature is an accurate portrayal—which it’s not.
He said, “For example, when conservatives say liberals are stupid, they mean this ‘in the nicest way’. Liberals tend to be nice, and they believe that most everybody else is nice, too—deep down that is. Sure, you’ve got your multiple felon and your occasional war criminal, but they’re undoubtedly depraved because they’re deprived. If only we could get social conditions right— eliminate poverty, teach anger management, restore the ozone … everyone would be holding hands smiley-faced, rocking back and forth to ‘We Shall Overcome.’”
You can actually visualize the “caricature” Krauthammer is portraying right?
Then, regarding liberals’ view of conservatives, Krauthammer paints this caricature, “Liberals are not quite as reciprocally charitable. They think conservatives are mean, asking: How can conservatives believe in the things they do— self-reliance, self-discipline, competition, military power— without being soulless? How can the conservative desire to actually abolish welfare, if it is not to punish the poor? The argument that it would increase self-reliance and thus ultimately reduce poverty is dismissed as meanness rationalized.”
Again, these are Krauthammer’s examples of how opposing sides inaccurately paint a caricature of the other. But isn’t it fascinating this was written nearly 20 years ago? Not much has changed, has it? I mean, some aspects of these caricatures have changed or even flipped in the current political climate. For instance, liberals think conservatives are stupid and conservatives think liberals are evil.
Yet Krauthammer’s primary point remains the same even after all this time: We pigeonhole people who see things differently from us and assign them motivations that are often inaccurate or caricature-ly overstated. And when we do this, using the vocabulary of Psalm 1, we are assuming our way is the way of the righteous, and the others’ way is the way of the wicked. We are judging others—but that’s not our job.
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Now, hang with me here, because I know this is not as inspiring as one normally hopes for from a Sunday morning sermon. But give me a few more minutes because I believe we can discover that the divide is not as wide as we think.
And truth be told, if anything is ever going to get better—if the divide is ever going to be diminished—we have to start believing the divide is not as wide as we think.
Move 2
It’s easy to see how assigning evil motives to others plays out in legislative bodies. But when we get away from elected officials, many of the rest of us are in more agreement than we think.
A recent survey, titled “The American Aspirations Index,” is the work of a Massachusetts-based think tank called Populace. The survey revealed that despite a widespread belief that Americans are seriously divided, it’s not as bad as we think.
The survey found, “Across race, gender, income, education, generation, and the 2020 presidential vote, there is stunning agreement on the long-term national priorities that should come to characterize America.”
The survey goes on to state, “Three priorities emerged on which the vast majority of Americans agree: 1.) high-quality healthcare as a necessity, not a privilege; 2.) an overwhelming commitment to individual rights; and 3.) upholding equal treatment for all, but not necessarily equal outcomes. I.e. equity over equality.”
Furthermore, the data showed that division in the country stems from intense disagreement on a small number of issues, rather than breadth of disagreement across many issues. They include competing views about climate change, immigration, availability of high-quality education, what workers should receive from their labor, and the degree to which people should actively participate in the democratic process.
Ok. There’s work to be done. No surprise there. But then there was this finding: “The American people don’t prioritize national unity as a long-term aspiration. They do, however, privately value restoring respect for one another.” Which is another way to say, “the divide is not as wide as we think.”
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Now all of that is a lot to process, and surveys are only as good as the questions they ask and the honesty of the responses they elicit. But perhaps we can conclude from this survey that there is enough common ground on which to build respect for one another and tone down divisive accusations and in accurate caricatures.
Perhaps we can conclude that pretty much everyone wants and needs the same thing—life, liberty, and the ability to pursue happiness. If we set such a belief at the forefront of our hearts and minds then how can we disrespect, how can we judge, someone who wants and needs—and is trying to obtain— the same thing we want and need? Why would we?
Move 3
So let’s go back to Psalm 1 and remind ourselves that the division of life lived in one of two ways— righteous or wicked— is not based on politics.
Psalm 1 is not a description of what our political views should be. Rather, the psalm is a meditation on what happiness is.
The first word in the psalm is “Happy” (or, depending on the translation you are reading, “Blessed,” which in the Bible, means the same as Happy.) The lesson in Psalm 1 is that the truly blessed have values that are God-centered, not self-centered. Psalm 1 tells us happiness comes not from enjoying oneself but from delighting in the teaching of the Lord.
Psalm 1’s use of the word “way,” as in “the way of the righteous” and “the way of the wicked,” tells us that the psalm is not about a political position or a social action, but rather a course of life.
The Hebrew word for “way” is derek, which refers to a well-worn path by constant walking. The Way of delighting in the teaching of the Lord is not an occasional meander, but a chosen path for one’s journey through life. Yes, that way may coincide from time to time with how we vote or what social programs we support, but it is not synonymous with either of those things.
What is synonymous with the way of the Lord is happiness, blessing, selflessness, respect for all, and leaving the judgement to God.
Conclusion
Our text for today speaks of two and only two kinds of people: the righteous and the wicked. But we humans get over our heads when we make ourselves arbiters of who fits into which category—and such never leads to happiness or blessing.
So let us exercise caution in assuming our fellow Americans who make different decisions about politics or social issues are on the wrong course or, worse, are vile. That judgment is up to God. Yes we can and should point out and discuss and debate issues, while speaking truth to power, but we must do so with the belief that we often agree on the ultimate goals.
Let us also work on not seeing, and not painting a caricature, of monolithic stupidity or a conspiracy of meanness, but rather see all people as our neighbors. Who we are called to love.
For in doing so we build respect for one another, and we begin to see, and believe, the divide is not as wide as we think. And maybe we begin to even see that there aren’t two kinds of people in the world—that really there’s just one. Children of God. Amen.
Prayer, September 26, 2021
Holy God, in your Holy Word you say much about unity. You say, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s children live together in unity.” You say, “Above all, put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” You say, “Maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” These and so many more. We acknowledge that unity is important to you but difficult for us. What you value so highly, we often forsake.
Lord God, we know in the deepest and most significant sense we are united. As your people we’ve all been adopted together into your family. As believers we’ve been indwelled by the Holy Spirit, so we are one body. As Christians we profess a common creed, so we are one church. As members of this local church we sit around a common table and celebrate communion together, so we are one congregation. These are all signs and reminders of our unity.
Yet we also know too often we ourselves interrupt this unity, for our natural propensity is to divide. We are petty people who are easily offended. We are sinful people who are complicit in offending others. We are self-righteous people who are quick to speak ill of others. We have a terrible habit of taking lesser matters—matters of conscience and preference—and making them into great matters that divide us from one another. We elevate small things into big things and reduce big things into small things.
And so we ask that you would forgive us for this. Forgive us for our willingness to divide and let division be the way we follow.
Instead, help us to follow your way—the way of blessings and happiness for all. Help us offer the great gift of unity to others. Help us to become eager to believe the best about others. Help us be quick to listen and slow to speak. Help us have a deep awareness of the objectively true unity that already binds us together.
Help us believe and live out what we know to be true—that because of you, and your love for all, the divisions between us are not as wide as we think.
Hear now, we ask, the prayers of our hearts as we offer them in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of Christ Jesus, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”