“A Lesson in Integrity”

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

O God: The Psalms— Instruction

July 30, 2023

Psalm 119:105-112

Children’s Message:

Compass—Do you know what this is? Do you know what it does? Do you know how to use it? A compass helps guide you through places you’ve never been before. So, can a compass guide you through your future? You’ve never been to the future before. How do you know what decisions to make and how to be wise about those decisions?

We listen to people who have been where we’re going, right? Our parents and teachers can help us make wise decisions. Where else can we find help? God’s Word helps us make wise decisions, too. It might be more difficult to understand, but that’s why we have a church family. God’s Word—oh, let’s back up! Do you even know what God’s Word IS?

Yes, it’s the Bible. But even more importantly, God’s Word is Jesus! And so, God’s Word in Jesus and through the Bible helps us learn about the importance of honesty, commitment, sacrifice, love, grace, and so many other qualities that help us be wise, as well as caring. God’s Word is like a compass, showing us where to go next.

Let’s pray: Dear God, show us the way to go as we learn to follow you. Amen.

Message:

This week, Seth was tasked with writing a paper and giving a presentation on the importance of integrity. He was caught in a lie about practicing his saxophone. He likes playing it. He’s excited about band and jazz band next year. But there are other things he’d rather do. It’s understandable. Commitment often requires sacrifice, and I don’t know anyone who enjoys making sacrifices—even for willing commitments. If they enjoyed it, it wouldn’t be a sacrifice.

Right before he was to give his presentation, I was watching a show on Disney+ called, The Atlas of Cursed Places. The episode was about West Virginia and the Mothman—a large human-like moth creature whose presence foretold catastrophe. But what the researcher found was much more insidious. He found decades of preventable devastation—collapsed bridges because the builders took shortcuts, coal mine explosions because the businesses didn’t take precautions, toxic waste sludge floods because dirt dams were cheaper, whole towns wiped out by cancer because the toxic waste was just buried. What he found was a state that refused to set up safeguards, that denied culpability, and that allowed the blame for such instances to be placed on a creature of legend rather than where it truly belonged.

As he did his research, his tires were slashed, government officials cancelled meetings with him, and whistle-blowers welcomed him by pointing guns at him and telling him to leave it alone. Nope. No cover-up here. And then, Seth talked about integrity. How it is important in building relationships, developing trust, guiding decisions, and forming healthy business practices. Integrity, commitment, sacrifice—those things which promote life and well-being for a community. Things that the people in power in West Virginia sorely lack.

They aren’t the only state. We’re not the only country. This is a human thing. Because commitment often requires sacrifice, and sacrifice by definition is not self-serving. It is not pleasant. It does not give us what we want right away—but it is an element of long-term life and relationship.

And so I come to this Psalm with some skepticism. The Psalmist—really a very clever poet—talks of commitment and sacrifice. While recognizing God’s Word as the lamp that guides our path, the psalmist says that they have dedicated themselves to the Word. They are determined to keep God’s judgments. They have never strayed from God’s commandments. They have applied their heart to God’s statutes forever.

And my response is, “Yeah, right.” Because I know that human sin is often stronger than human will-power and intent. Regardless of our supposed commitment, our pride and our greed often get in the way. Our nature is a paradox of self-serving and self-giving—of immediate gratification and long-term goals. I don’t think I’m alone in this complex reality.

And that same sin is what leads us to seemingly extreme alternate approaches to God’s word. We either take it so literally that we hurt others in an effort to maintain our righteousness, or we ignore it as irrelevant. And neither is particularly faithful to the living, breathing Word of God.

Instead, through the example of the crucified and resurrected Christ, we are to approach God’s Word as a source of life. And when we apply God’s word to our lives, we can critique that application by simply asking if we are using it to give life or rob life? When the Word is used to rob life, it is no longer God’s Word but our own. When the word is used to hurt others, it is no longer God’s word but our own. When the word is used to shut down hope and health and connection, it is no longer God’s word but our own. When the word is used to protect those in power and blame those without power, it is no longer God’s word but our own. When the word is used to threaten, demean, shame, and control, it is no longer God’s word but our own.

So I found myself skeptical of the psalmist’s declared commitment to God’s word. And yet, what if that commitment is an expression of hope? What if, rather than a self-proclamation of piety, it is a prayer?

Your Word, O Lord, shows me the way to faithfulness. By your word, I can see the way to righteousness. Though my life feels like it is falling apart, you faithfully put me back together every time. I do my best to proclaim your good news; teach me how to do it better. Even when I feel the consequences of sacrifice, I am committed to you. Even when people try to trap me in my words, I trust that you give me what I will need to say, when I need to say it. Because I know that you have already promised me salvation; it is mine, regardless. Therefore, I reset my heart toward your light every day until the end.

It is a prayer of intent, of recognition that life is hard but God is faithful. It is a poem that speaks to the difficulties of staying firm in one’s convictions, especially when others’ profits may be at risk. It is a call for those who claim to follow God to live accordingly. And it is a statement of commitment—one that seeks to continue with integrity so that their relationship with God grows.

And so, with the psalmist, we sing: “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Pastor Tobi White

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church

Lincoln, NE