Exhibit A: Recently, I stopped into In-N-Out Burger at about 8 p.m. for a bite to eat. Having just finished my day at work, comfort food seemed the best choice before heading home.
As is usual, the business was neat, clean, and well-staffed. I mention these as one couple with children was a stark contrast to the pristine environment of the restaurant. In short, they were disheveled, the children needed bathing, and the tenor of conversation with the kids broke my heart.
The mother barked several times at one child who quickly began to cry. Having had enough, she marched the little one of four or five into the lady’s room where I can only imagine what discipline was meted out. Upon return, no more whimpering, but dead silence from the weary child combined with a broken countenance upon her face.
Exhibit B: On a major road in Kingman, people of all stripe panhandle for money, food, and necessities. Occasionally, one will notice an individual who is clearly mentally ill and/or unstable. Again, a disheveled appearance combined with various ramblings to oneself, indicate that life has crushed the person.
Exhibit C: In a grocery store parking lot, two strangers exchanged words regarding who had the right-of-way. One man cussed and gestured inappropriately, the other seemed to wish the avoidance of confrontation. The aggressor continued for several seconds only yielding when he had obtained his pound of flesh from the other. All this a result of a right-of-way infraction.
Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” This is certainly the case, and the evidence is ubiquitous. There are troubles in relationships, in resources, and in so much more. In short, there is trouble in merely surviving. Often these hardships change and shape us in a detrimental manner. We may discover ourselves to be cruel, self-serving, angry, filled with rage or malice, and/or generally struggle to function as we might if circumstances were different—if our needs were better met.
And so, we look the other way; we avoid, rationalize, and mind our own business. At some level we may fear being drawn into a fight that is not of our making. We invoke the common proverb, “Not my circus, not my monkeys,” and press on, sequestering the horror in chambers of the heart. We become ambivalent to the world around us to survive ourselves. Self-preservation is at the pinnacle of our mortal hierarchy.
Therefore, it is an astounding remark when Jesus continues, “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Of the entirety of mankind’s struggles, Jesus claims to release us from the pain and suffering that is existence. This is not to annihilate us to the dust of the ground at death, but to free us in a new paradigm, a new garden that long ago was lost.
If this is true, who among us would not want such a rescue?
This week consider what is at stake by rejecting the promise.
Life is hard…
Kent Simmons is the pastor of Canyon Community Church in Kingman, AZ.
