"Fear not?" Who are they kidding?

Sunday morning I woke up feeling afraid.
There was no real reason. Sometimes it just happens. Not that frequently, thankfully. But sometimes I wake up early and find myself obsessing over things that have happened that I can't do anything about; things that are happening that I can't change; or things that "could" happen but I don't really know for sure.
Then at church, since it was the first Sunday of Advent, every song seemed to contain the phrase "Fear not!" And the sermon included a familiar Christmas refrain "Fear not!"
Fear not.
We associate that phrase with Christmas. Angels show up out of nowhere and say, "Fear not." The message is one of hope and salvation, of peace; you know, "Glad tidings of great joy."
Case in point: the sermon was from Revelation and the letter to the church at Smyrna.
Now, to me (in this meaningless aside), Smyrna is a suburb of Atlanta where I lived for a time, right near Aunt Fannie's Cabin and Cumberland Mall. Julia Roberts, the actress, grew up in Smyrna.
I didn't know her.
But in the letter to the church at Old World/Ancient World Smyrna the message is "Do not be afraid," which is the same as "Fear not!" After my morning, I fully expected this to be God's way of showing me He was aware of my morning and had prepared a message specifically to comfort me.
But of course, what does the phrase "fear not" always seem to be followed by?
And so the message to Smyrna is "Fear not! ... the devil will put some of you in prison ... you will suffer ... be faithful even to the point of death."
Fear not?
Here's the thing: almost every person or church or people group that heard the message "Fear not" could be pretty certain they were heading toward some very fearful times.
Mary was going to have this baby that would cause her great embarrassment within the community as people questioned her virtue and the parentage of this child, and it didn't stop just because the angels and shepherds and wise men appeared to celebrate His birth. Old Testament scripture suggests the whispers about Jesus' lineage continued throughout his young life. And indeed there is the whole thing about the Crucifixion.
Joseph was told to go ahead and marry this woman and raise this child as his own. He had to hear the same town gossip, the insinuations and suggestions as he lived and worked and raised a family in their home town.
And so on.

It is easy, and Lord knows I've been guilty, to make the mistake of not paying attention to what follows the "Fear not" in the Bible. I mean, it's Christmas! It's family and decorations and wonderful feel-good songs and presents and parties and celebrations of life.
But one of the things I appreciate about Scripture is the reality. If we read it honestly, we see flawed human beings who have troubles and do stupid things, when want we want to see are stories of people who loved God and so God rewarded them with comfortable, carefree lives. We read about churches that had serious problems of deceit and immorality and serious arguments over theology, not megachurches where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children above average (shout out to Lake Wobegon).
In other words, when you blow the dust off the stories of the Bible, you find stories of real people, in real situations, members of very real organizations ... who go through real situations and therefore, like the rest of us, have every reason to fear.

There is a hymn that we used to sing that goes, "This world is not my home; I'm just passing through." The problem is that the "passing through" takes a long time for most of us, and involves things like jobs and bills and family and politics and the economy and sickness and crazy neighbors and evil people and our own mistakes that cause us pain.

I wish I could write something profound that answers this question of "fear."
Perhaps the best I can do is relate a story my older brother told from when he was a seminary student. He and some classmates were playing basketball in the gym and the janitor came in to lock up. However, the janitor decided to let the guys finish their game, and he sat down on the bleachers and pulled out his Bible to read while they played (apparently he'd seen all the seminary-level basketball games he cared to watch).
Afterward, my brother says he and the other guys went over to thank the janitor and asked, "What are you reading?
The old man said, "Book of Revelations."
My brother and the others, being seminary students and therefore knowing all about theology and exegesis and interpretation, said to the old man, "Do you understand it?"
The old man said, "I think so."
My brother and his friends looked at each other, probably rather smugly, and said, "There's a lot of symbolism in that book - lamp stands and dragons and 666 and strange creatures. People have been trying to figure out what those things mean for centuries. What do you think it means?"
The old man smiled and said, "It means in the end, Jesus wins."

And that's the best answer I have for "fearing not."
Whatever we're going through now, whatever the future holds, whatever our early morning fears are and however real they may or may not be, in the end, Jesus wins.
Fear not.

Virtue as its own (limited) reward

Having had my own share of columns and news articles posted on-line and read the often bizarre 'comments' that follow, I usually don't spend much time reading the reactions to the stories that I read on-line.
However, maybe you're familiar with the story of the New York City policeman who was accidentally caught in the act of providing shoes to a shoe-and-sockless homeless man, a scene captured on camera by a tourist from Arizona.
It's a heartwarming story and a reminder that people will do the right thing ... maybe not all the time, but when moved to compassion.
Of course, some of the reaction reflected the cynical nature of our society. I read a comment that suggested the whole thing was staged as a PR stunt by the NYPD; another that said he was familiar with this particular homeless man who always sat outside shoe stores and had received several pairs of free shoes over the course of the last month; another was outraged that someone would give this man anything because so much of our taxpayer money already goes to provide "these people" with benefits; and so on.
Thankfully, most of the reaction was positive, as people responded - as I believe people usually do - with sincere appreciation toward such unselfish and random acts of kindness.
Not that we should give to every homeless or person begging we come across. Each of us has to make individual choices, and quite frankly I can't tell you why sometimes I choose to help people when I see them and why sometimes I don't. But sometimes, it just feels like the 'right' thing to do.
I know the cliche that may not always be true that by giving a street person money they will only use it on alcohol or drugs. But I also believe sometimes I can't let what I don't know paralyze me from doing something good. I can't always be responsible for how "those people" use my gift; my responsibility is for how I react ... and as I said, sometimes I feel compelled - moved by the Spirit? - to give or buy a meal, sometimes I don't. And I do believe God will hold me accountable for my lack of action as well as my action.

Two examples:
Once I was hit up by a guy in downtown Birmingham who said he was hungry and wanted a meal. I said "sorry" and kept walking. Later, I was standing in McDonalds and saw this guy, standing there, looking at the menu board, carefully counting out the change he had in his hand. I have to admit I felt horrible ... I walked over and told him to order whatever he wanted, and I'd pay for it. Maybe I was still being scammed, but I don't think so.
Another time I was at an ATM when a guy came and told me he needed money to buy groceries for his wife and baby. I just happened to be going to a nearby grocery store and told him if he met me there, I'd help him out. At the store, I said "Go get what you need and meet me back here at the check-out line." When we met up, he had gathered ..... a loaf of bread, a package of baloney, and a six pack of beer. I said, "What about your baby? And your wife?" He just looked at me. I shook my head and told him I didn't appreciate the deception. He said, "Come on, man, help me out." I didn't.

You probably have stories like both of those. Most of us do.

But in the reaction to this NYPD-shoe story, there was another section of comments that caught my attention as well. They went:

TEXASGRANNY73Posted on November 29, 2012 at 12:12pm

It is not just the uniform as you seem to indicate. It is the heart inside the uniform. What a wonderful good Samaritan story and God always blesses those who give. Very very nice it is a policeman. And the young lady who took the picture, thanks.

PCDoctors4u2

Posted on November 29, 2012 at 12:15pm

There is no middle ground here on earth…
You are either Pro Jesus Christ or you are Anti-Christ!
This is just one example where people helping people is done better than
Governments helping themselves!

SoNick

Posted on November 29, 2012 at 12:29pm
@PCDoctors4u2
what a pointless comment. What if the police officer was an atheist? Would his gesture be less mora and goodl? Would it invalidate his act of selflessness? A good man did a good deed. That’s all there is to this. And yes, these random acts of kindness restores my faith in the human race. The Human race. Not the Christian race.

PCDoctors4u2

Posted on November 29, 2012 at 12:37pm

@sonick
The hypothetical you raise would never happen. By definition an atheist is a selfish non-believer.
Without truth there is no light.
It is not my job to convince you… The choice is yours! what you do with this information is up to you!

SoNick

Posted on November 29, 2012 at 3:08pm
@PCDoctors4u2
Are you seriously trying to convince anyone that no good deed has ever been performed by non believers in the history of Humanity? Then you are either: very ignorant or completely blinded by your faith.
Also, when you say : “It is not my job to convince you…” you are merely acknowledging the weakness of your arguments. It’s not that it’s not your job; you just seem incapable of convincing anyone. And while we’re at it, if you’re such a good believer, shouldn’t it be your job to convince lost souls? Just sayin’…

That this act turned into a theological debate (of sorts) reminded me that kindness is not exclusive to Christianity, or even to people who believe in God at all. The one writer is correct: much good has been done by non-Christians and atheists.
And it reminded me of something I read sometime ago by Albert Mohler, of Southern Seminary. It was an article that said "Christian Values Cannot Save Anyone."
In it, Mohler addresses a young woman who was distraught that her children had rebelled against her faith, particularly when this mother said she tried to raise her family under the same strong Christian values she grew up with.
And Mohler points out that, "Christian values are the problem. Hell will be filled with people who were avidly committed to Christian values. Christian values cannot save anyone and never will. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a Christian value, and a comfortability with Christian values can blind sinners to their need for the gospel. ..."
In this country, particularly in the part of the country I live in, most of us have some commitment to values that we'd call "Christian." I was talking to a friend recently who is looking for a place to worship, and his problem was not that there were not enough choices, but that there were so many. We're blessed in my community to have a number of good options of places to worship and grow in faith.
And while we need values, we Christians need to remember that "values" - no matter how dedicated people are to living by them - do not save. My faith and my belief is that eternal salvation comes only by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I do believe that most of us are, by nature, moralists: we want people to live together well and by a certain set of standards that produces what we believe or have learned will do the best job of promoting a safe, secure community.
Yet "moralism" can be one of the greatest dangers we face. History is filled with societies that became "culturally Christian," and too often cultural Christianity devolves into atheism, agnosticism, and other forms of non-belief as people continue to strive to do "good" without a deeper understanding of what "good" truly is.
Mohler writes, "The language of values is all that remains when the substance of belief disappears. ... We should not pray for Christian morality to disappear or for Christian values to evaporate. ... But a culture marked even by Christian values is in desperate need of evangelism, and that evangelism requires the knowledge that Christian values and the gospel of Jesus Christ are not the same thing. ..."

I normally don't spend so much time quoting someone else. It would be easier just to provide the link to the original, but I don't have it anymore.
And I know Mohler can be controversial and maybe you don't like him, but I think the point is still valid, that "values do not save anyone."
Or, to put a twist on an old saying, sometimes "virtue is its own reward."
I pray that even as I continue to help those in need, that I remember that as important as physical help is (and it's critical), spiritual help is eternal.