Earthly Rewards?

AM Psalm 37:1-18 • PM Psalm 37:19-42
Joshua 3:14-4:7 • Rom. 12:1-8 • Matt. 26:1-16

The Psalm appointed for today seems to contrast with the new testament readings. Psalm 37 tells the reader to keep heart because one day the wicked will be stricken down and the lowly will be lifted up and given their own land. It says that the wicked will “wither like the grass” after a brief season of flourishing. When I look at the world now, I wonder if the writer made a mistake with what kind of vegetation that the wicked resemble. The wicked seem like a bristlecone pine that can live thousands of years rather than a bit of lawn-grass that dies every winter.

I appreciate that Paul gives a different way of looking at the wicked. I don’t really believe in any sort of long season where the righteous get to rule without being corrupted. Instead, I see that power gets concentrated among those who are willing to lie and steal and if we do the morally right thing, we are likely to get left behind. Paul acknowledges this. Paul says that our bodies are to be offered as sacrifice, not to the powers of this world in order to gain property or power, but to God, who will call us to prophesy, ministry, giving, or compassion.

Written by Haley Hixson

Haley is head of the young adult TGIF reading group. If you are between 20-35 and interested in reading Love is the Way by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, email me.