Sermon for Epiphany 6

15th February 2004

Psalm 1

I love to walk in the Botanic Gardens. As soon as I hear the birds and see the trees I feel relaxed. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the serene green colour healing my eyes. Or maybe it’s because I’ve left my house and car, man made things and now I’m among God made things. I don’t know why I feel at peace. It’s hidden from me. I don’t know. God knows.

Psalm 1 talks about righteous and wicked people. The wicked seem to be easy to identify. They love to be seen. They ride the highway of life. They delight in jumping out ‘in your face’ from magazines, newspapers and TV. They love to criticize good things and good people. And they’re not all child molesters or murderers either.

But the righteous are hidden. Only God knows them. The last verse says the Lord watches over the way of the righteous. In the original Hebrew we read the Lord knows the way of the righteous. They are hidden people, like quiet trees. Like Tree Beard and the Ents in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ they are strong, steady and stable.

The psalm says that they can say ‘no’. It takes faith and wisdom to say no. Especially when everyone else is doing it. The text says that the righteous are happy to not follow the advice of the wicked, nor follow their behaviour or join in their mocking of others. They are happy because they delight in the law of the Lord. They can say ‘no’ because they have heard God say ‘yes’! Yes, here is a place for you. Yes, put down your roots here, in my Word. The righteous love to read the bible morning and night. They delight in morning and evening devotions. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.  To ‘prosper’ does not mean to be rich, but as Psalm 92 says, it means that the righteous are planted in the house of the Lord, they flourish in the courts of our God. In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap (13,14). They make good company. People like to be with them. They don’t know why. God knows.

The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of God’s special river and botanic garden. Imagine this, On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing (47:12). The righteous trees prosper, they nourish and heal others. Their roots draw water from God’s real presence. They stand in a deep, safe place. Others sense that. Here they find an oasis, a place of shelter from the heat of a hectic life. As today’s reading from Jeremiah said, Those who trust in the Lord shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.

Psalm 1 says that the wicked, however, get blown away like chaff or straw as soon as tough times come. They clear out. They can’t stand up before God the judge. They’re dead scared. So they hate to go to church where the righteous worship. They prefer to sharpen their chain saw tongues to bring down the righteous trees. They call them ‘goodie goodies’, ‘holy Joes’ or hypocrites.

Are you trees or chaff?

When I was a kid we played cowboys and Indians or cops and robbers. It was easy to tell who was ‘good’ and who was ‘bad’, just like a game of chess.

Are you a tree or a bit of straw? There is one who knows. He always delighted in the word of the Lord. He meditated on his will day and night. He put down roots deep into his Father’s heart. When he was baptized in the river Jordan God said  This is my beloved Son and his Spirit came upon him. He said ‘no’ to all temptations. He was cut down by scoffers and mockers. He was hung on the tree of the cross. But his Father made sure that he prospered. He raised him as the first fruits of those who have died. Now Jesus Christ is a tree that brings fruit, life and healing. You received the sign of the cross, the sign of this life-giving tree, when you were baptized into the river of God’s presence.

Are you chaff or tree?  By God’s Spirit you can say and sing, ‘I am a tree planted by God near streams of water, I yield my fruit in due season, and my leaves do not wither. In all that I do, I prosper. God knows. I’m hidden in him.’