APRIL 24, 2025

When learning to distinguish right from wrong, we often take a shortcut: those who use the word “Christian” to describe themselves are “righteous” and the rest are “the wicked.” After all, Jesus has removed our sin! No further reflection necessary!

Actually, no. While Jesus has set us free from sin and death, there’s no indication in the Bible that we are therefore free to sin, or free to ignore patterns of sin. Rather, we are set free from being enslaved to sin, freed from death in order to live lives of love and righteousness as God has commanded—for what do we have to fear? It is in our fruit and our abundant good works, the Bible says, that we demonstrate that Jesus is indeed alive.

So yes: of all people, we must study to understand what a righteous person looks like!

Here in Psalm 37, we have a glimpse:

“Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.” (vv. 3-7)

Yesterday, we saw the wicked making plans to use their power and wealth to gain for themselves at the expense of those in need. The righteous person has no temptation to do that! If Jesus is alive, if we no longer fear death, why grasp for ourselves? Instead, we are free to trust God and use our resources and energy to do good. We can delight and rejoice, even in hardship and lack, for what can happen? Even in death we go to God.

Furthermore, the righteous doesn’t fret or worry when they see evil taking over. How can this be? It’s because:

“A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy peace and prosperity.” (vv. 10-11)

But again, this cannot be a passive waiting and hoping for God. Like the faithful workers in Jesus’ many parables, we carry out Jesus’ ministry of compassion and justice while we wait. We are called to love our enemies, to overcome evil with goodness. Because we are not afraid of sin or death, we can love so actively in the face of hate, and rejoice so purely in the face of suffering, that there are only two ways to silence us: kill us or join us.

Questions for reflection and discussion:

  • What do the righteous look like in our time, do you think?
  • Would you count yourself as one of them? Why or why not?
  • Why does the Christ-follower have no reason to fear evil or even death? How does this free us to do the work Jesus gave us, to confront evil with goodness—even though evil is powerful, greedy, and violent?

Church Reading Plan:  Numbers 1; Psalm 35