Anxious times

Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad.  --Proverbs 12:25

We are living in anxious times right now.  A unique confluence of events has us living in a constant state of fear.

First, a worldwide pandemic has devastated us physically, socially and economically.  Even if you personally have not come down with the sars-cov-2 strain of coronavirus (and chances are you haven't),  federal, state, and local governments have put precautions in place that mandate protective masks and social distancing.  Many businesses have shut down, and those that have not found a way to adapt and survive have gone out of business forever.  Many have lost their jobs, and fear that they may not be able to buy food, clothing, or shelter.

Second, a series of police shootings have spawned racially charged marches, some of which have turned into riots.  Even as police respond to outbreaks of violence all across the nation, there is a national call to de-fund police departments.  If police were disarmed, the thinking goes, there would be fewer incidents of "unarmed" suspects being shot.  If police departments shared responsibility with social service agencies and community groups, many Millennials and people of color feel that there would not be so much power concentrated in one department.  However, older people and people who have been victims of crimes fear that a lack of adequate police protection might bring out an "old west" mentality of vigilantism and that chaos would rule.  Unfortunately, the uniting of people of color demanding respect has caused many to fear and distrust racial minorities more than ever.

Third, due to economic slowdown, the evolving economy, and health concerns, there is a call by some to do away with cash transactions.  Some of the national minting capability has been hindered by COVID-19 lockdowns, and many banks have shut down in-person teller windows.  It's hard for businesses to get coins from ATMs, so they have a difficult time making change for cash transactions.  Almost everyone has a bank card, even if they don't have a credit card or even a banking account.  Since paper money and coins are passed from person to person to person, there is a higher probability that cash carries germs, and it would be difficult to track who had the twenty dollar bill before you if it were found to be tainted with the virus.  On the other hand, economists warn that cashless societies will hamper entrepreneurs, low paid workers with a "side hustle", and kids trying to learn to save their allowance for a skateboard, bike, or their first car.  Political conservatives fear that going cashless would cede too much power to the government, since banking is so highly regulated.  Dispensational Christians fear that this is one more step toward the "mark of the beast" where "no one could buy or sell without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name." (Revelation 13:17).

It's enough to make a normal person have an emotional breakdown.

The Bible speaks to this issue of fear on a national scale.  The prophet Ezekiel got this word from the Lord:

Son of man, eat  your bread with quaking, and drink water with trembling and with anxiety.  And say to the people of the land, "Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel:  they shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink water in dismay.  In this way her land will be stripped of all it contains, on account of the violence of all those who dwell in it."  (Ezekiel 12: 17-19)

You see, the people of Israel had turned away from God and had become religiously pluralistic.  As a result, their society had become more and more violent.  On a global scale, the two superpowers at the time were Assyria and Babylonia.  Militarily, these two superpowers could overwhelm a nation, and take the survivors as exiles to be slaves of the conquering country.  Fortunately, they were usually at war with each other, so they would leave smaller nations like Israel alone.

Enter the Chaldeans, a smaller tribe who could not compete with the two superpowers militarily, but they could make life difficult for Israel.  Chaldeans were known for astrology and witchcraft, which was antithetical to Hebrew law.  Ezekiel warned that the Chaldeans would lay siege to Jerusalem, and that could cause multiple concerns.  The Israelites were an agrarian society, but their capitol city was defended by a wall.  The Chaldeans, a more militaristic culture, could lay siege to the city, cutting it off from outside trade.

Economically, food and potable water would be scarce.  Supply routes would be cut off, and those who did work the land would be prevented from planting and harvesting their crops.  The fields would probably be burned anyway by the marauding Chaldeans, so whatever the residents of Jerusalem had stored would be all that they could eat or drink.

Politically, the people would look to their leaders for answers.  The government might have given tax relief to ease the starving, but if there was no food to buy then the people would call for more action.  On the other hand, the government might have raised taxes to try to raise an army, or maybe to send word to a neighboring nation for military assistance.  Hiring mercenaries had to be discussed, but there was the problem of getting word out if the city was surrounded.  It was a lose-lose situation.

Religiously, the people knew that the Chaldeans were radically different.  If the city fell, they would be carried off into exile, and the conquering Chaldeans would not allow them to pray to God or worship in the way they wanted.  The very foundation of their nation was based upon the worship of one supreme God, manifested in service and sacrifice.  Not only would the pagan captors prohibit them from worship of the true God, but they would introduce them to astrology and witchcraft.

The fears were well-founded, and could cause disruption in many areas of their lives.  Sound familiar?  The similarities don't end there.  There were apparently nay-sayers, deniers of the obvious.  Civic and religious leaders urged calm, and started a smear campaign against Ezekiel, who was trying to wake them up to the reality of the dangers posed against them.  A slogan was circulated, something Ezekiel called a proverb or adage.  It went something like this:  "The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing."  In other words, Ezekiel had been preaching this same doom and gloom for years.  No calamity had come against them yet, and besides, wasn't God on their side?  They began making fun of Ezekiel's message.

In chapter 4, God gave Ezekiel this same message, which the prophet portrayed on a very small scale.  He took a brick that was to represent Jerusalem.  He surrounded this brick with clay figures, like the little green army men that little boys play with.  He built models of siegeworks--little battering rams on little clay hills.  He even took an iron griddle and set it up like a siege wall, to represent the iron force that would be set against the city. (See Ezekiel 4:1-3).  Then God told him to lay on his left side for 390 days--over a year--to represent the number of years Israel would be exiled, and then to lay on his right side for 40 days to represent the number of years that the more faithful tribe of Judah would spend in exile.  Can you imagine the ridicule?  "This guy's crazy," they must have thought.  "He's playing with his little toys, and then laying around for a year and a half, and we're expected to believe he speaks for God?"

In chapter 12, God gave Ezekiel the message again.  His method of portraying the message was more direct this time, less obtuse than playing with toys.  Ezekiel packed his belongings and left his home.  Wherever he showed up, he would tell the people he was in exile from his home.  He told the people to pack their essential belongings, that they would be carried off into exile soon.

They did not listen.

Whatever message God is trying to give to America and the world should be heeded, and soon.  We should repent, and turn our hearts to the Father.  We should not be overcome by fear.  You see, fear paralyzes some; others are motivated by fear to make bad decisions.

If you grew up with a father at home, you probably know the mind-altering anxiety that came from disobedience.  At some point in your life, you probably have thought, "My Dad's going to kill me!"  We need that same reverence for God.  Like the psalmist David said, "I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin." (Psalm 38:18 NASB).

God may be gracious.  Just as we know my Dad did not kill me as I had feared, our heavenly Father may show mercy.  "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:6-7).  We must place our trust in God because He controls all things.  "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord.  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

Anxiety never solved anything.  Jesus said, "And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" (Matthew 6:27)  Instead, we should pray.  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7).

Peace.  This is what everyone needs right now.  The peace that only God can give.  Otherwise, we are all paralyzed with fear, or else we will run around like chickens with our heads cut off, accomplishing nothing.

Real Cowboys Don't Snap Beans

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.  --Romans 12:3

This past weekend my wife and I were visiting with my mother, and Mom started to reminisce about my childhood.  She reminded me of the time when I was six or seven years old, and would spend much of the summer with my grandmother.  Grandma was married to a farmer named George in the Hill Country of central Texas.  The old farmhouse they lived in was not adjacent to their farm, but did have a small pasture out back with a lean-to shed and an old brown horse.

One day I put on my cowboy boots and walked out into the pasture behind the house.  George was out in his field across the highway driving a combine, which filled his trailer with maize.  Grandma was in the kitchen on the phone with my mother.  Suddenly, Grandma let out a terrified yell, dropped the phone, and ran out back waving her arms.

"Stop!  Stop!!" she yelled, frantically.

You see, I had found a short rope with a loop.  I calmly walked to where the horse was standing, placed the loop over the horse's head, and cinched it tight around his neck.  Then I led the placid animal to a water tank, climbed up onto the tank so that I would be tall enough, and I mounted the horse, riding bare-back.  The horse started toward the shed at a trot, which was not much taller than the horse himself.  I am sure that he intended to knock me off his back when we got to the lean-to.

At this point, my grandmother burst out of the back of the house, hollering hysterically.  The horse stopped short just outside the shed, just as I was deciding in my mind whether I could duck under the shed's roofline, or if I would have to exhibit some more daring horsemanship like I had seen trick riders do at the circus or the rodeo.  Grandma demanded that I get down off that horse this instant, and come back in the house where she could keep an eye on me.

Later that day, Grandma had picked some fresh green beans out of her garden.  She and I were on the shady porch, and she handed me a bowl.  "Here," she said, "help me snap the stems off these green beans before dinner."

I took the bowl off my lap and set it on the porch.  I crossed my arms over my chest and sulked.  "What's the matter?"she asked.

"Cowboys don't snap beans," I replied.

It seems that I had some definite ideas about what cowboys did and did not do.  In my six-year-old mind, I could not imagine that an adult Cowboy would do much else than just rope and ride.  In all the old western movies I had seen, when a cowboy wasn't on his horse, he was beside a campfire, or maybe near a chuckwagon eating beans and such.  It had never occurred to me that an adult cowboy would have adult responsibilities, like paying bills or finding work or even raising a child of their own.

I think a lot of people have misconceptions like that about certain professions.  My father was a pastor, and I am sure there were people in his congregation that thought he only worked about three hours a week--preaching on Sunday morning, and leading Bible Studies on Sunday night and Wednesday night.  Those more familiar with the calling might realize that a pastor was also expected to keep office hours during the week for counseling and Deacon's meetings, as well as visit the sick and shut-in church members as needed.  However, I'll bet no one ever imagines that a pastor might get a call in the middle of the night from the police department saying that they found water flowing out the door and into the street from a broken pipe in the rest room.  I remember going to the church with my Dad after just such a call, and seeing him put on rubber boots, wade upstream to turn off the overflowing toilet, then using a broom or squeegee to push the pools of water out of the fellowship hall and drying off the tile floors.

Being an adult means sometimes doing things you never thought you'd have to do.

Similarly, being a Christian means sometimes doing things that go against your nature.  C.S. Lewis wrote:

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

As we grow in our faith and in our relationship with God, we learn more about being like His Son.  We are taught humility, because we see that Jesus washed His disciples' feet.  We are taught to be a servant to all, because Jesus said, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." (Mark 9:35).

We also learn to sometimes ignore what people think being a Christian means.  In their ignorance, the World might say that the Bible says we must love everybody all the time.  However, a deeper reading of scripture reveals that Jesus said, "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34).  The World conveniently forgets that Jesus Himself became pretty violent when He saw the commercialization of the Passover.

In the temple He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.  And making a whip out of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen.  And He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.  And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade."  His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."  --John 2:13-17

During these times, there may be criticism of those who call themselves Christians.  Some may say things like, "Real Christians don't hate." When you hear things like this, please do not let non-Christians control the narrative.  Real Christians are to be like Christ, and there are definitely things, and people, that Jesus did not love.  Pray for discernment.  Pray for the ability to educate those who attack us with lies and distortions, standing up to them with truth and power.

My fellow Christians, grow up.  Be an adult.  Do not follow some fantasy of Christianity, but strive to become more like Christ.  Read His word, and put it into practice.  Do not attack those who may be at a different point in their Christian growth, but be sure to defend your faith against those who have no idea what true Christianity really means.