Out Our Way: Mama hears! - Psalm 64:1-4

Out our way, theology can be found in the strangest places. Maybe that is why some shepherds and cowpunchers are also pastors and theologians. God speaks to those who will listen - and also listens to those who speak.  

More than once, Charlie and I have found a stray calf far from the herd that somehow wandered off. Now while it is true that the pastures are mostly fenced and the predators are seldom prowling the area, they have been known to get in. I have shared how Doc and I ran into a cougar out by the paddock in town - and some folks have reported them in their backyards. So while rare, lions and packs of coyotes are still a reality up on the Tiger Ridge.

Anyway, hazing the youngster back to the herd, he began bawling for his mama ...and it wasn't long before we heard her answering his call. That little maverick heard her and took off full speed to her. Within seconds, he was reunited with her and the rest of the herd. And both Charlie and I can tell you that as "docile" as cows may appear to be - you don't want to deal with an agitated mama cow when she thinks her baby is in danger. 

Now I think the "Prince of Darkness" and those who serve his power may relate to that, for when the scripture tells us "Vengeance is Mine," says the Lord, "I shall repay!" (Romans 12:19), history has shown that to be true time and time again. Granted, there are greenhorns and fools who ignore the old cowboys' warning not to mess with mama's calf - and eventually get stomped; and there are ignoramuses and fools who ignore the historic warnings not to mess with God's beloved (who, by the way includes you and those folks you dislike so much).

The world of the Psalmist was not that much different than our own in many ways. Like us, the Psalmist found faith sometimes hard to maintain - for the "Dark Lord" - like the hungry lion - is always on the prowl for the careless and foolish. Read of King David, who wrote most of the Psalms and see what a mess he became when power and control replaced faith and obedience to the Lord. Read of his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah (2 Samuel 11), the self destruction of his family and kingdom when his son, Absalom rebelled against him (2 Samuel 15+), and even Solomon's eventual fall from grace as he rejected God's will for his own and divided the nation of Israel for all time (1 Kings 12).

Yet - "Mama hears!" Eventually the decline of Israel and Judah led to near extinction in Babylon (Iraq) , but God did not forget. He heard their cry. Babylon conquered the Jews but did not kill the Jewish faith. In 70 years the Jews came home again. In our own time we saw the Holocaust - but we also saw the massive destruction brought upon those who built the gas chambers, and we saw the rebirth of Israel. We also saw the followers of Lenin and Stalin persecute Christians, but as a Russian priest who survived the gulags and persecutions put it, "Lenin and Stalin said the church was dying and when all the 'Babushkas' - little old ladies - died off, the Church would be dead. Lenin and Stalin died, but the church still lives. Why? Our Babushkas never die!" In other words, "Mama hears".

Now while it is true there are many powerful servants of the darkness who loudly announce the destruction of the faithful and the faith these days - they are deceived fools. Mama hears. 

The modern church is being transformed and the process is sometimes painful and even discouraging. The massive entertainment church productions that tended to focus on building an audience rather than creating disciples may have dominated our attention a few years ago, but they are dying off, and the Prince of Darkness tells his minions to rejoice as one after another of these ego-palaces closes down. But what he, and his followers don't tell you is that the actual Church - "the body of disciples who follow Christ into the world and live the faith" - is actually growing. Smaller disciple building communities of faith are rapidly popping up around the world. Mama hears.

And what of you? Regardless of your church affiliation - or lack of it - do you realize Mama hears you too? Do you not know that there is not one stray calf that does not matter to Mama? Read Psalm 64:1-4 again. That could be your voice crying out. And Mama hears!

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Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John