Which Path Are You On?
Which path are you on? Aidan, Camille, and Hannah, imagine a wreck at the side of the road. It’s one of those big semi-trucks. And its trailer is one of those huge tankers. And all around that huge tanker is a massive spill of something that looks like oil or gas. What would you do if you were driving by that? I hope that you would drive by that as far and as fast as you possibly could. You don’t want to be the guy who slows down, stops and then gets caught in the blast-radius, right?
This morning God’s word starts out with the same sort of picture: “How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!” (Psalms 1:1 CSB17) Notice here that there is a progression from bad to worse. There’s a guy walking down a road. But instead of a turned-over tanker at the side of the road there’s a group of God-hating, Christ-despising unbelievers. When you see them at the side of the road, what should you do? You should keep going and not stop. But notice what the guy does here in these words. First, he slows down and walks. Then he stands around and talks with them. Finally then he sits down and joins them and becomes one of them.
That, my students, is the bad path. And that is the path you need to avoid at all costs. But just how is it that today you can end up on the same path as the stupid guy pictured here in God’s word? It happens in a slow progression. First, you say the words to yourself, “I don’t have to.” You say to yourself, “I’m confirmed. I don’t have to come every Wednesday night to class. I don’t have to memorize parts of the bible anymore. I don’t have to.” After that, you end up saying, “I don’t want to.” This middle stage is a sneaky one because it you can so easily replace God’s word with something fun. So, for example, some of the fun parts of being a confirmed member of a church replace the fun you have found in God’s word. You the bell choir or the voice choir. You sign up to mow the lawn or care for the flowers. But very quickly your joy turns to sadness and anger. Why? You replaced the fun of growing in God’s word with the fun of service. And the same can happen at home. it is not a sin to have games to play at home. But when the fun at home is more fun that the fun you have in reading God’s word by yourself and for yourself—that is a problem. So, “I don’t have to” becomes “I don’t want to.” And finally where does it lead to? “Don’t tell me to.” You end up mocking and despising those who invite you to receive the Lord’s Supper often and grow in God’s word often.
Which path are you on? That, is the bad path. What then is the good path? We read: “2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.” (Psalms 1:2–6 CSB17)
The good path is meditating on God’s word. The word here describes something that is so much a part of you that you talk about it under your breath.1 It’s like that song you can’t get out of your brain that you heard on the radio. You spend so much time in God’s word that it flows off of you and oozes out of you.
And know that right now you are on that good path. For so many years you have been drenched and saturated with God’s word. It started when you were tiny children. And your parents carried you forward to a baptismal font where Jesus performed an amazing good work. He washed away your sin and made you his child. It continued when, week after week, your parents brought you to church to hear God’s word so that you could sink your roots into that deep, rich soil of God’s word and grow. And it continued in these last two years as you have had the opportunity to move from milk to meat in catechism class.
That is the good path. And that good path leads to good fruit. Being drenched and saturated with God’s word leads to trust. These years that you’re going through are years of working and waiting. You do your homework year after year and then what do you do? You wait. And through God’s word, God causes you to trust that he is good and kind and that he knows what is best for you.
God’s word bears the fruit of trust. But it also bears the fruit of joy. One of the saddest rotten fruit I’ve seen over the years is the anger and panic I’ve seen in leaders of the church over many years. There’s this great irony. They are doing fun activities. They sing in choirs. They mow the lawn. They plant flowers and bring yummy food to church. What fun this is. But very quickly they become sad or mad. Why? The promises they made when they were confirmed, they forgot. They forgot that the source of their joy was not serving Jesus, but instead Jesus serving them. They forgot to receive the Lord’s Supper often. They forgot to read their bibles at home and come to bible study at church often. But you, right now, are on the good path. You have the great joy of seeing your Savior, Jesus so clearly because you were brought to those waters of baptism and taught in these years of catechism.
God’s word bears fruit. It gives you trust and joy. But finally, it gives you defiance. Who would have thought that saying, “no” would be a good fruit? But it is. And being drenched in God’s word gives you the anger against the Devil enough to say “no” when death comes to you. When you die the Devil will be there to say, “See, Jesus doesn’t love you. And here’s proof: you’re dying.” And now, being drenched and saturated in God’s word, you can sing out and cry out, “No.” You can say, “I may die, but Jesus died for me. I may die, but I will never die because Jesus rose for me.”
Aidan, Camille, and Hannah, you are on the good path. Now stay on it. Amen.
1 יֶהְגֶּ֗ה