Righteousness
March 1, 2026 / 2nd Sunday in Lent
Genesis 12:1-4a and Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
By Pastor Jane Shelton
Dr. Jane Goodall was well known for her life’s mission of research and work with chimpanzees and other wild primates, protecting their environments, and understanding the importance between humans and animals and their interdependence on each other.
Today, the Jane Goodall Institute envisions a world in which humans, animals, and ecosystems coexist in harmony. Its values emphasize compassion, scientific integrity, sustainability, and community engagement, reflecting her lifelong dedication to conservation, animal welfare, and environmental stewardship.
When asked if God exists, she responded, “Did God exist? Of course. God was as real to me as the wind that rustled through our garden…my faith gives me an inner peace that gives meaning to my life…”
I would say that Dr. Jane Goodall was a descendant of Abraham and a righteous person, not because of her works, but because of her belief.
As Presbyterians, we are taught and reminded that we are children of God, not by our works, but by our faith through God’s grace to call us his own making us descendants of Abraham.
It is important to remember the difference between being righteous and being self-righteous. Being self-righteous is believing in ourselves, rather than believing in God who blesses us.
Abram, meaning “exalted father,” was named Abraham, “father of a multitude,” by God not because he was self-righteous, rather because he was righteous.
Abraham was righteous not because of his works, not because he followed the law, which he did, but because he believed and had faith in the instructions and directions delivered by God to him.
When God said “go” Abraham went because of his faith in God. A new covenant with God was made and a promise of blessings that cannot be obtained through works, because God freely blesses.
The Lord said to Abram, like Jesus said to the disciples, leave everything and go where I send you. I Jesus’ case, it was “come and follow me; come and see all that God is and go tell others.”
“Go and you will be blessed, and you will be a blessing.”
I love that! Don’t we all want to be a blessing to someone else? Someone that’s hurting due to illness or grief. Someone that’s hungry or needs clothing. It’s the most amazing thing when we are a blessing to someone else because it is proof that God is working through us, and there is no need for recognition for us because it is God’s blessings delivered through us. We are simply a vessel, and we give glory to God that we have been blessed to bless someone else.
Don’t worry about anyone who curses you because God will take care of them. There is no need for retaliation or revenge. It is not to be our concern.
When we see injustices, we rightly want to do something about it. However, we must determine is it ours to do something with, or is it God’s to do something with? Do we have faith in God to deal with the unjust?
Paul tells us that the righteous are the ones who trust God who justifies the ungodly.
It’s not easy to wait on the Lord, when we think we know best, yet God holds all the truth that we might not see or know. Sometimes it’s years before truths are revealed if they ever are, and we can have faith in God to send us where we are needed and instruct us where we are to go.
It would be great if we could know this immediately, but then there’s this thing called discernment which requires prayer. We talked about this at our Bible study Wednesday night. Discernment is not easy; it requires we wait on the Lord, and unfortunately, the Lord doesn’t work on our timeline.
God wants us to act faithfully not impulsively. God wants us to respond with love, not hatred and name calling. God does not want us to respond to violence with violence, and most importantly, God wants us to listen to his direction to discern, “is it ours to carry?” or “Is it God’s, or is it someone else’s to carry?”
Paul says the law brings wrath or anger. Why is this so? Because Biblical law exposes sin and our inability to fully follow the law. The law reflects our human insufficiencies within ourselves and alone provides no path to righteousness.
God makes the new covenant with Abraham to be the originator of future generations of believers who are righteous because of their faith in God.
Like Dr. Goodall realized the interdependence between the animals and humans, we too can recognize the interdependence between ourselves and God.
That interdependence creates a righteousness that is vertically and horizontally aligned. Vertically because it is a correct relationship with God in heaven, and then horizontally as we act justly toward fellow humans.
We can do a lot of “works” that are good; however, if it is not where God is leading us and giving us direction, then it becomes self-righteousness rather than righteousness where God blesses us so others might also be blessed.
Righteousness cannot be achieved alone, and therefore, we grow in faith and spiritually into righteousness as we pray to God, study God’s Word in scripture and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
If you recall, these are the very same things that we discussed last week that are needed to lead us out of temptation. There’s a continuing theme here, isn’t there?
God has provided the instructions for us to follow, but are we following them or going about our everyday lives being too busy to adhere to them?
In this season of Lent, may we continue to meet Jesus on the road in prayer, in scripture, and through the Holy Spirit so that like Abraham, we too can be descendants of faith and righteousness, and filled with blessings so that through us others might be blessed by God.
To God be the glory. Great things he has done, and great things he continues to do.