This is part of the worship series,
"Psalm 23"
Series Introduction
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5
Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
Week 11 | Week 12
Week 4
The Way of Righteousness
“He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake” (Psalm 32:3b).
Weekly Email
God leads us toward blessings, as we contemplated two weeks ago (green pastures, still waters), but God also leads us to live up to his moral and ethical standard: righteousness. What does it mean to walk in the way of righteousness? In the Bible, the idea of righteousness is almost always about being in right relationship with God and with our fellow humans. How is God helping you walk paths of right relationship this week? How is God helping you to be right with him? With your neighbor?
Sermon
Isaiah 5:1–7, John 15:1–17, “Justice and Righteousness”
Sermon notes by Rev. Stan Mast are available from the Center for Excellence in Preaching.
Children’s Message
[Spend time wondering together, asking questions and reflecting on being right with God. If you used a toy with the children’s message last week, use the same toy this week.]
Last week we talked about how God restores us. He fixes the things in us that are broken. Imagine that I let you use my toy and you broke it. You brought the broken toy to me and told me you were sorry. What should I say to you if you really are sorry? Should I say “I forgive you”? I should, shouldn’t I?
Well, the cool thing is that I know how to fix the toy, so I restore it, and then I let you play with it again. This time you play really rough with my toy. You stomp on it and break it again. If you were me, what would you do? Should I let you play with my toy again even though you keep breaking it? What if I could teach you how to play with my toy without breaking it? If you knew how to play with it gently, should I let you play with my toy again? Could I trust you to play nicely with it?
I wonder how you think you would feel knowing that I had fixed the toy, taught you how to play with it, and then gave it to you to play with. I wonder how you would feel if I let you play with all my toys even though you had broken some before. If it were me, I think I’d be pretty thankful, and I’d think you were a really good friend to trust me like that. And if I wanted to keep being your friend I’d want to keep playing with your toys in the right way, wouldn’t I?
Did you know that God has given us this whole world to play with and have fun in, and God gave us lots and lots of people to love and be friends with? Sometimes we break God’s world, though. We leave our garbage around, for example, or we aren’t always kind to other people. What do you think we should say to God when we realize that we aren’t playing with God’s world the way he wants us to? We should probably say we’re sorry, shouldn’t we? I wonder what you think God would say to us if we told him we were sorry. God would forgive us, wouldn’t he?
But God doesn’t just forgive us for all the bad things we do. God also teaches us how we should behave. That’s what we mean when we say God “leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” God shows us how we should live in this world—how we are to love God, creation, and all the people on earth. Is this easy to do? No, of course not; that is why we need God, our good shepherd, leading us. Even when we are thankful that God has forgiven us, we still are going to mess up. But God says he will keep helping us learn and get better at living how he wants us to, one step at a time.
Song Suggestions
“I Will Rise” Reeves, et al.
“The Lord, My Shepherd, Rules My Life” Idle
“Lift Up Your Hearts unto the Lord”
Prompts for Reflection
Activity with Scripture: Take a walk on a trail this week. As you walk, meditate on Psalm 23:3b or any of the following verses from Psalms that talk about the paths God leads us on and what helps us stay on them. Faith Practice: Engaging with Scripture
“You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11, NIV).
“You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip” (Psalm 18:36, NIV).
“All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies” (Psalm 25:10, NIV).
“Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105, NIV)
Artwork: Draw a path, either a bird’s-eye view or a path that recedes into the distance using a vanishing point. If this is the path of righteousness, what will you encounter along it? Wonder about what the journey into righteousness will look like. Draw or create a collage of things cut out from magazines of what you imagine you will find along the path of righteousness. They can be symbolic (a bird to represent the Holy Spirit, for example). Faith Practice: Wonder
Journaling: Journal a timeline of your life as a progression along the path of righteousness. What events in the past has God used to grow you in righteousness? What is happening right now that shows God is leading you in the path of righteousness? What do you hope will happen in the future? Faith Practice: Remembering
Revised Common Lectionary
Year A: Easter—Fourth Sunday of Easter
Year A: Season after Pentecost—Proper 23 (28)
Year B: Easter—Fourth Sunday of Easter
Year B: Season after Pentecost—Proper 11 (16)
Year C: Easter—Fourth Sunday of Easter
