Letters from St Paul’s - The Righteous Living Among the Wicked

The Righteous Living Among the Wicked

I’m very glad that very intelligent people put together the lectionary for Sunday’s readings. It must’ve been so much work to carefully pick out the Scripture readings for each Sunday. If you’ll notice, the readings all follow a similar theme. Every Sunday of the year, the readings follow a similar theme.

The theme or themes this Sunday are the righteous living among the wicked during bad times, and the victory of our faith.

Habakkuk: The Cry of the Righteous

In the Old Testament lesson from Habakkuk, we hear these statements:

• “Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.”

• “For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.”

• “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?”

We read that God is using the Chaldeans as a punishment against His people for their sins. But the last verse says:

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

The Psalm: Do Not Fret Because of Evildoers

Next is the Psalm for the day. We read:

“Fret not yourself because of the ungodly, neither be envious of those who are evildoers. For they shall soon be dried up like the grass, and be withered even as the green herb. Put your trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and surely you shall be fed.”

And again:

“For evildoers shall be rooted out, but those who wait patiently for the LORD, they shall inherit the land. Yet a little while, and the ungodly shall be clean gone; you shall look for their place, and they shall not be there.”

The Epistle: A Spirit of Power, Love, and Self-Control

We then move into the New Testament readings: the Epistle and Gospel lessons.

St. Paul says:

“God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

And:

“But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.”

Paul reminds us that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of POWER, LOVE, and SELF-CONTROL.

And who makes sure that sticks? Is it us? No. Paul tells us He (God) is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to us.

The Gospel: Faith Like a Mustard Seed

Finally, in our Gospel lesson we read:

“If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

(Power.)

And finally:

“So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Living in Tumultuous Times

Habakkuk is living in a time of tumult and fear. He feels as though God has abandoned him and His people. But God has not. He promises things will be set right. And God tells us: the righteous will live by their faith—our faith, our faithfulness. Through this, we live. God knows who are His, and He keeps and guards us.

The Psalmist follows the same train of thought and says not to worry because of evildoers. God will root them out. They will eventually be “clean gone.” And those who wait patiently for the Lord will inherit the land.

Paul then reminds us that it is not God’s will that we live in fear. He did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Then we hear the apostles saying to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”Jesus tells them that if they had faith like a grain of mustard seed, they could move trees and command them to transplant themselves into the sea!

What Faith Really Is

It comes back once again to our faith. Faith is not mere “head belief.” Faith is believing in something so deeply that you know it to be true, and you pattern your life around that belief.

This faith is what saved God’s people in the Old Testament. It is what saved the believers in the New Testament. And it is what saves us today.

A Culture Where Evil Is Called Good

We live in a time where evil is called good and good is called evil. Where darkness has replaced light. Where righteousness is considered bigotry, and those who follow Christ are called bigots or homophobes or archaic or politically incorrect—or whatever adjective they pull out of their arsenal that day.

You’ve heard the phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Well, words cause more damage than sticks and stones probably ever have.

These words from those who oppose Christ are spoken so often that they have become normal. They’re embedding themselves into the minds of those opposed to Christianity. So much so that many on social media openly call for the annihilation of Christians and Christian culture.

In Europe and other places, Christian churches are burned regularly. Church shootings have happened here in the U.S. Charlie Kirk was murdered not too long ago for simply speaking common sense to people on college campuses. These assaults on churches and churchgoers, and the murder of Charlie Kirk, were all caused by words, which lead to thoughts, which lead to actions.

It Is Becoming Dangerous to Be a Christian

We truly live in a time in history where it is becoming dangerous to be a Christian. Being a Christian is now countercultural. At times, it feels as though the scales are weighed against us—especially when we scroll on our phones or watch TV shows and commercials.

Sexuality is pressed upon our children in many shows. Gender dysphoria—rather than being called what the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association categorizes it as, a mental disorder—is presented as a choice or lifestyle for children.

On Netflix, there’s a show where the main character is transgender, and the series includes other prominent LGBTQ representations. There are three other shows on Netflix aimed at preschoolers that include similar characters.

To show I’m not focusing only on those issues, most other “programming” includes sex outside of marriage, violence, gun violence, weird role reversals, stupid dads, and a host of other non-Christian themes.

In the political world, child sexual abuse is covered up, billions of dollars are sent to foreign countries to fund wars while our citizens struggle to pay medical bills, and homeless veterans remain homeless. And these things are openly accepted by the masses.

But righteousness and godliness are treated as the bad things…

The World They Hate Was Built by Christians

I guess they don’t realize that the comfortable and pleasant world they live in was created by the very people they hate—the Christians.

Universities, hospitals, orphanages, schools—all created by Christians.

The idea that we should love our enemies and pray for those who hate us? Christian ideas.

The idea of a peaceful society where everyone is allowed to believe what they want, without being coerced into being someone they’re not? A Christian idea, based on the fact that all people have dignity and are created in the image of God.

Feeling Worried for the Next Generation

If you’re a Christian and you’re paying attention, you have reason to feel sad, stressed, or worried—especially for your children going into the next generation. That’s a natural human response.

But we need to remember:

We have the victory.

We win in the end.

Jesus wins in the end.

God has all of this wrapped up.

Faith Like a Mustard Seed

When Jesus says, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed,” we should know something about a mustard seed.

A mustard seed is about 1 mm in diameter. Five mustard seeds placed side by side equal the size of a pencil eraser. The mustard seed of biblical times was called black mustard. Out of this tiny seed grows a tree or huge bush around ten feet tall, sometimes taller.

Jesus used this seed as a metaphor of unexpected growth and influence. Out of small beginnings, God grows greatness.

Our work as Christians may seem insignificant, but it is not. A mustard seed seems insignificant, but it is not.

Remaining Salt and Light

No matter how much popular culture may be against us, we must remain salt and light. And no matter how much we might feel like hating those who hate or oppose us, we need to love them and pray for them.

But tolerance of wrong is not the same as love.

If the Bible calls something a sin, it is still a sin.

All parents understand this. We love our children—probably the deepest love a human can feel. Do we not correct our children when they do wrong? Do we not protect them from walking into harm?

Do we let them put their hand on a hot stovetop because we “love” and “tolerate” them so much? No! We warn them that they will get hurt.

As they grow older, we warn them not to hurt God, the One who created us. And the only way to know what hurts God or pleases Him is by knowing what the Word of God says.

Conclusion: Remain Faithful

Don’t worry too much about the world. It’s going the way of the world. Just remain faithful. Be strong. And after you’ve done all you were commanded, say:

“We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”

We know who wins in the end.