Righteous Joy

Scripture — Psalm 97:11-12 (NRSV)

Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!

Devotion

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was the tenth-highest-grossing film in 1986 in the U.S. It features the adventures of Ferris Bueller (played by Matthew Broderick), a high school student who decides to take a day off from school just for fun. During his day of truancy, he has multiple adventures as he tries to evade the authoritarian pursuit of his Dean of Students, Edward Rooney.

At one point Dean Rooney is complaining to his assistant, Grace, about Ferris and his nefarious influence on other students. Grace confirms that Ferris is popular with many student groups, including the “sportos, motorheads, geeks, . . . wasteoids, [and] dweebies.” “They all adore him,” Grace says. “They think he’s a righteous dude.”

A righteous dude? In what sense? No doubt Grace is using “righteous” as was common in the pop culture of the 1980s in the U.S. At that time, “righteous” was especially popular among surfers and used in the sense of “awesome, cool, excellent.” Large, surfable waves were “righteous.” So, to be clear, Grace was not using “righteous” in the biblical sense. In Scripture, one who is righteous does the right things in obedience to the law. But, more importantly, and deeply, the righteous person is in a right relationship with God, people, and the world. Righteousness is more about relationships than rules. As Christians, we understand righteousness as something given to us by grace, based on the unique righteousness and “right-making-ness” of Christ (Rom 3:26; 2 Cor 5:21).

Scripture promises good things to the one who is righteous. For example, in Psalm 97 the light of God’s truth and blessing “dawns for the righteous” (97:11). Moreover, those who are righteous experience joy (97:11). Thus Psalm 97 invites the righteous to rejoice in the Lord (97:12).

It might seem odd to think of joy as the fruit of righteousness, though we know how good it can feel when we choose to do the right thing. But remember, righteousness isn’t mainly a matter of right action. It’s a relational reality. Those who are righteous rejoice, not just in their hearts, but “in the LORD” (97:12). They experience and express joy in God’s presence, offering thanks and praise to God while enjoying God’s presence.

Though we don’t know anything about his personal faith, it seems unlikely that Ferris Bueller is a “righteous dude” in the biblical sense. But if you watch the movie bearing his name, you’ll be struck by the joy he experiences in life. Ironically, he shows how one way of being “righteous” can lead to joy. His distinctive joy was recognized by none other than First Lady Barbara Bush in her 1990 commencement address at Wellesley College. She said to the graduates, “Find the joy in life, because as Ferris Bueller said on his day off, ‘Life moves pretty fast; and if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you’re going to miss it.’”

The writer of Psalm 97 would agree with Barbara Bush about the value of finding joy in life. But I think he would suggest that it requires more than simply looking around once in a while. True joy, lasting joy, Advent joy comes when we are rightly related to God, other people, and the world. Thus, as it says in Psalm 97, “Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!”

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Above All Gods.