Don't Panic!

If you have ever seen an episode of the comedy Dad's Army, there is often a point where the character Corporal Jones runs round saying, in his panic 'Don't panic!'. DON'T PANIC also appears in another fictional series, Douglas Adams' The hitch hiker's guide to the galaxy. These words were printed on the guide in bold print “partly because the device 'looked insanely complicated' to operate and partly to keep intergalactic travellers from, well, panicking”.

Panic is a sudden strong feeling of fear that prevents reasonable thinking and acting. We must not fall into it when trouble comes. Yet so often this is our case – we are in peril on the sea, as it were, even though Jesus is right beside us. It's as if he is there but asleep and so because we fail to think straight, we fly into a panic and start crying out to him in the way that the disciples in the boat did.

Out of Control

We are told that this man was demon-possessed. He was under occupation. Enemy forces had moved in and taken possession of him body and soul. Now, of course, as in any occupation their control was not 100%. There were pockets of resistance even at this stage. That is why the man seems to act in contradictory ways – wanting to come to Jesus yet not wanting to. If I say this is a portrait of evil gone out of control I use the term loosely. In truth there is no such thing as out of control absolutely. When a bus or a lorry runs down a street ‘out of control’ it is not so out of control that there is not a certain predictability about its movements. What we mean is that there is no-one behind the wheel or no-one competent behind the wheel. When a gunman goes berserk, out of control, again we are not speaking in absolute terms. The man knows to a certain extent what he is doing even though we cannot predict what he will do next. So when we see control and order breaking down in a person’s life or in a society we should remember that there are alien forces only too happy to seize the moment and take what control they can.

Children sharing sweets

When God converts a person he doesn't only save them. He forgives them and makes them his child and takes them to heaven and gives them all sorts of good things. That is what it is like when you put your faith in Christ. God does not just give one blessing. He doesn't give his blessings the way some children give out sweets. You know, holding on to them so that you don’t take more than one. No, he is like a very generous person pouring out the goodies. He heaps upon us one blessing after another. Oh how good he is!

Remember, you have a soul

It is important to remember that you have a soul or a spirit. We are not only bodies and minds. There is also an invisible part that makes up a human being – the soul or heart. One of the biggest problems facing us today is that people have forgotten about their souls. They think that as long as their bodies and minds are okay, all will be well. That is a foolish mistake to make. It''s like a child who thought his toy would work without plugging it in or having batteries or a child who thinks he can have fun with a balloon that has no air in it.

Never trust a chapel person

My dad was not a Christian for most of his life. He would sometimes snipe at Christians if he could. He used to say ‘Never trust a chapel person’ which I hated when I first heard it but I came to see he had a point. I remember how disgusted he was with a professing Christian we heard of in the same line of business as my dad who was found dealing with money in a less than acceptable way. He was not stealing but it was dishonest, a fiddle. Double dealing is entirely anti-Christian.

Unbeliever, don’t make hypocrites an excuse. Believer, don't give unbelievers an excuse to criticise. Above all, never forget that Christ can be fully trusted.

A good compromise

I’m always impressed with a story of Eric Liddell – the athlete famous through the film Chariots of Fire but later a missionary in China interned with other westerners when the Japanese invaded. He tried to keep the youngsters busy with games but true to his principles when he was asked to referee a Sunday hockey game, he refused. However, when he heard they’d tried to play one Sunday and hacked pieces out of each other he agreed to referee the following Sunday feeling it was better to prevent a riot rather than stick with his previous plan.

This is compromise in the good sense. This is rigidity and flexibility without forsaking integrity. You see it chiefly in Jesus himself.

Sincerity and integrity

Sometimes we hear of men dying who have lived double lives – they have two (or three) wives, even more sometimes. Deceivers live complicated lives, saying different things to different people. This is never found in God. Those who follow him must be the same - uncomplicated, straightforward in their dealings, full of integrity. Like Paul they must also follow God’s sincerity.

Paul uses an interesting word - it reminds me of shopping with my mother as a boy and how she would take an article outside the shop into the street, if she was allowed - to see it in natural light. The word could literally be "judged by the sun". The thing may look okay in the dark recesses of an ancient bazaar but what about in the sunlight?

Alternatively, it could be literally "judged by sifting/sieving". What God does is free of impurities - again his followers should do the same. Their actions should be pure, sincere, open to scrutiny.

So Paul is not simply saying that he is honest but that his inner life has been touched by God and so everything he does conforms to the Lord’s standards. He cannot but be straightforward and sincere.