The Bogeyman

Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed! That news is God’s good news which forgives the sins of believers, assures them of eternal life, and let’s them live out their days in His everlasting love. God grant that faith to us all. Amen.

In many Spanish speaking countries he is El Coco and he likes to hide under a person’s bed. In Germany, he is Butzeman and he likes to hang out in your closet. In the Bahamas, he is the “Small man,” a character who rides in a cart which is drawn by itself. In the Congo, he is Dongola Miso, the creature with the scary eyes. Finland has a great big, blue ghostlike thing called Morko. In Guyana, he is Jumbi and he lives in the dark, while in Russia, he is a she known as Babayka. Spain sports the mysterious figure known as El Ogro and in Pakistan, he is Jin Baba, the powerful spirit. My friends, if I wanted, I could spend most of this Lutheran Hour message listing the countries and cultures where this character is supposed to exist.

And who is the character who boasts such an array of names and who is so widely known? In North America, he is best known as “The Bogeyman.” In preparation for this message I found out just about every nation has its very own version of the Bogeyman or, in some places, the Bogeywoman. Now if you pressed the locals to give an exact description of the Bogeyman, they will hem and haw. That’s because nobody really knows exactly what the Bogeyman looks like. His appearance, his haunts, his method of operation changes from culture to culture. On the other hand there are a few things of which we are sure. In every culture the Bogeyman is unpleasant in appearance.

Surprisingly, when people are pressed to talk about what the nasty fellow actually looks like, they usually end up describing someone or somebody they don’t especially like. That’s why, in some parts of the world, in places like Libya or Afghanistan, a Bogeyman researcher might hear the locals describe someone who looks a lot like Uncle Sam or whoever happens to be living in the White House at that particular point in time. I know a number of Lakota or Sioux Native Americans, who have told me that when they were young, mischievous, misbehaving children, their parents would warn: “You’d better start being good. If you don’t, the Wasichu will get you.” The parents were threatening their youngsters with the native-American version of the Bogeyman. A translation of their words would be: “The White Man is going to take you away.”

100 years ago if you went to a black community in the South, the Bogeyman might look like a southern white man; and if you went across town to the white community, the Bogeyman probably would have been black. If you live in China, the Bogeyman is Japanese and in Japan the Bogeyman is Chinese. In previous generations if you lived in France, the Bogeyman was German and in Germany the Bogeyman had an uncanny resemblance to a Frenchman. You see how it works: go anywhere in the world you wish and the Bogeyman takes on the appearance or characteristics of the culture which you fear the most.

Now you should know, even though the Bogeyman’s skin color, size, height, weight, and gender change, his job is pretty much always the same. His job is to frighten people, especially children, into doing what is right. In Quebec, he is the “7 o’clock man” who checks houses around that hour to make sure children are in bed and asleep. “If you’re not sleeping,” parents warn, “the consequences could be catastrophic.” In Singapore, Matah is the spy who catches children in naughty acts and then snitches to parents about what their youngsters have done. Different cultures and countries, the Bogeyman is the enforcer who is used to scare children into being good. That’s why you will hear parents warning, “Take your medicine or the Bogeyman will get you.” or “Be home before dark or the Bogeyman will put you in his bag and carry you away.” or “If you’re not nice to your little brother, the Bogeyman won’t be nice to you.” The philosophy behind such statements is simple. Some parents, thankfully not all parents, but some parents believe the thought of punishment from a faceless fellow whose appearance and attitude is too terrible for words or of being kidnapped and disappearing for all time is enough to bring most terrified children into line.

Now, if you think that’s strange, well, my friends, you ain’t heard nothing yet. As weird as all this Bogeyman stuff may sound, has it ever occurred to you that many people, whether they admit it or not, often think of God as being a Bogeyman. It’s true. When they think of the Lord, many folks believe He is lurking around in the dark and unobserved shadows of their lives. They think that He is waiting and watching their every act so He might catch them committing a sin or doing something which is ethically or morally wrong.

Then, this Bogeyman god, having uncovered some major or minor transgression shows how He really feels about us. With a nasty grin he pounces on those sins; he punishes those sins by sending some kind of horrible catastrophe or terrible calamity. He may send some transgressor a calamitous illness or cause a break up in a valued relationship. Vengefully he may allow a person to be burdened by sleepless nights or days filled with concern about economic disaster. People who believe in a Bogeyman god will say, “A person can be good; he can strive for excellence in daily living, but the day is going to come when he will mess up.. and when he does… the Bogeyman god is going to jump all over his carcass.”

When I was young, there were three television shows which made an impact on me. One of the shows was the western, Bonanza, the second was Little House on the Prairie and the third was Star Trek. Watching those shows, I can understand how people might come to believe in the Bogeyman god. How did I come to that conclusion? Well, I found out that if you were a young and pretty girl and you fell in love with one of the Cartwright men, you were not going to survive the episode. Inevitably you would be struck down with smallpox or hoof-and-mouth disease or you would be kicked and killed by an upset mule. It wasn’t much different on Star Trek where, if you were an unnamed yeoman, your life would be terminated at the hands of an unfriendly alien in the first ten minutes of the show.

And the third program, Little House on the Prairie? That was the worst of all. Pa Ingalls was a pioneer farmer who, with his family, tried to make a living in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. I say “tried to make a living” because I have no idea how the Ingalls family managed to survive. In ten seasons, I can never remember Pa Ingalls bringing in a harvest. Oh, the year always started out good enough… but… if a bumper crop seemed certain, a disaster was even more so. Inevitably, invariably the harvest would be destroyed by locusts, wildfire, tornadoes, solar flares, hail storms, Viking raiders, or an ultra-rare Minnesota tsunami. Taken all together, it looked to me like some kind of divine Bogeyman was plotting against these nice folks.

Now you may think this idea of a Bogeyman god is all an exaggeration. I assure you it is not. As support of what I’m saying, I can point you to the ninth chapter of the Gospel of John. There it tells of how Jesus and His disciples were passing by a blind man, a man who had not been able to see since the day he had been born. The disciples of the Lord asked Him a question. Listening to that question some 20 centuries later, we might think they were being a bit unkind and uncaring. They wanted Jesus to explain: “Master, this man has had a terrible physical malady laid upon him. We’re wondering, why was he born blind? Did this blindness come to him because long ago his parents committed a sin and now they are being punished by having a son who is destined to be a lifelong beggar, a son who will always need to be taken care of… or is it possible that somewhere along the line, even before he was born, this man managed to commit some kind of super sin which the Lord found to be so heinous that it had to be punished in this way?”

Now while the question of the disciples might have been unkind and uncaring, it most certainly was not uncommon. Over the years I have heard it repeated and rephrased a hundred different ways. The last surviving white man of Custer’s battle at the Little Big Horn was a first sergeant by the name of Charles Windolph. On the night of the battle, Sergeant Windolph and a friend from Germany with whom he had enlisted, were dug in. All night, shots landed around them. They talked in whispered tones.

Finally, at dawn, they agreed to sneak down to the river and refill their canteens. They grabbed the containers and Sergeant Windolph rolled out of his trench. The friend didn’t. In the one, single second since they had agreed to go to the stream, a bullet had flown into the trench and killed his friend – shot him right through the heart. The friend died without making a sound. As for Sergeant Charles Windolph, he lived 70 years after the battle and received the Medal of Honor. His friend got a small white marker on the battlefield in Montana. Windolph always wondered why? Why did God “get” his friend and not him? What had his friend done wrong?

And many people wonder the same. Sometimes people think of God as a Divine Bogeyman. Like the disciples they believe that every catastrophe which comes to us is God’s punishment for our having done something wrong. Too many people believe that God, the heavenly Bogeyman is waiting for us to do something so that He can punish us. Listen to how people talk. If a farmer has a good crop, he says next year’s harvest is probably going to be a disaster. The farmer believes the Bogeyman is going to get him. Has the weather been nice? Well, God will balance the scales at a later date.

Is your car getting 40 miles to the gallon? Well, you’d better not say anything which might bring that blessing to the Lord’s attention. If you do He will make the transmission fall out on your driveway the next time you put it in gear. That’s a belief the heavenly Bogeyman is going to get you. Don’t say your children are good, because the Bogeyman might think that you’re being proud and punish your bragging tongues by allowing your children to catch an illness which hasn’t been seen in your state for 100 years. Years ago a missionary in China stayed at the house of a family which had a baby. Without thinking the man-of-God said through his interpreter, “What a beautiful baby.” As one, the family let up a howl and quickly protested, “Why this infant is ugly, plain, and destined to be the most worthless of people.” Those self-deprecating statements were voiced because the family didn’t want to enrage a Bogeyman god into punishing their child for having boastful parents.

Now all this may sound foolish to you, and you may think that you would never be guilty of such a thing, but I have seen it happen. Watch what an unbeliever says when an unexpected catastrophe or calamity befalls him. He will snort and say, “You Christians maintain God is a God of love. If He were, why has He allowed this to happen?” or he would cry out, “Why is God so unfair that He would pick on me when there are so many really bad people in this world. Why doesn’t he get one of them for once?”

Yes, it happens. I have even seen Christians who have their own suspicions about a Bogeyman god. Every pastor has made a hospital call upon one of his members who has a distressing illness. You know what suspicion wends its way into their minds? God, the heavenly Bogeyman is punishing them for some past sin. They wonder if God has deserted them or possibly has turned against them. Out loud they wonder, “Pastor, does the Lord have it in for me?” Like the disciples they rummage around the back of their brain for some sin they committed which has earned God’s displeasure and brought about this punishment. And if you ask them, “What do you think you’ve done?” they will reply: “I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately, and I’ll tell you, Pastor I’m just not sure.” You see, they’re not sure. They’re not sure they’re not being punished. They’re not sure that God isn’t a Bogeyman waiting to get them.

If that is so for you, take comfort. Be sure. God is not a Bogeyman. How do I know? Because Jesus told me. Well, actually, He told His disciples. When they asked, “Who did wrong, this man or his parents, that he has been born blind?” Jesus told them. “Boys, it doesn’t work that way. This man was born blind as the result of sin. Every catastrophe, every calamity, every sadness, and every sorrow, every pain, and every problem is the result of sin. Sin, death, and devil are the reasons people have to endure the crosses of life. On the other hand, the joys of life, the good things are gifts from God. In fact, right now God is going to counteract what sin has brought about… and with that Jesus gave sight back to that blind man.

Now I am not saying that the Bible doesn’t speak of Divine punishments. It does. But there is something my readings have taught me: when God punishes sin, He always let’s people know that’s what He is doing. When God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, it wasn’t a capricious act on His part. He told them, “You’re being punished because you disobeyed and ate from the forbidden fruit.” In the New Testament, when Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead, God told everybody it was because they had lied to the Lord. When David was punished for his murderous infidelity, he knew what he had done. No, I’m sure God isn’t impulsive and unpredictable when He punishes.

My friends, think about it. It makes no sense for God, who wants all people to be saved; Who wants everyone to be forgiven; Who is willing to sacrifice His Son, to turn around and do such a thing. God sent His Son down from heaven to be born in a stable; to fulfill all the small points of the law, so that everyone might have salvation. Why would God Who has done such great things become a Bogeyman? God watched as His Son carried our sins, was tried and beaten, spit upon and nailed to a rough-hewn cross so we might be saved. Why would God Who has done such great things become malevolent and malicious?

Has God not, in His great grace and through the Savior’s successful sacrifice, assured you that death has been conquered and you shall, with faith in Christ, rise again to life eternal? What possible interest would God have in being a spiritual Bogeyman and deny all of these acts of love? Why would God promise to listen to your prayers, allow His inspired Word to be given to you, offer the Sacrament of His Son’s body and blood, and the next minute turn around and devastate you with unpredictable and particularly nasty punishments? It would be sure and certain madness. God loves you just as much as He loved that blind man to whom He gave sight.

Years ago, a father heard his daughter say to her brother, “You’d better not do that because mom and dad won’t love you anymore.” Without hesitation the father summoned both son and daughter, had them sit down, and said this to them: “When you do good, I love you with a happy love; and when you do bad, I love you with a sad love. But remember, children, I will always, always love you.” That’s what God says to us. When a Christian is wrong, when a Christian stumbles and falls into sin, the Lord loves him with a sad love, but He still loves him. Our job as Christians is to try and make sure that we do what He wants so He can love us with a happy love. That’s the way it is for Christians.

And for those of you who are not yet Christians? Well, the Lord loves you too. The real question is, “Will you not love the Lord?” If you need an introduction to this Benevolent Lord rather than the unreliable fates whom you presently know, we are dedicated to helping you. Which is why we extend this invitation, please call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.

LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for March 30, 2014
Topic: Mind and Faith

ANNOUNCER: We’re back now with our Speaker Emeritus, Pastor Ken Klaus. I’m Mark Eischer.

KLAUS: Hi, Mark.

ANNOUNCER: Today I’d like to share a question I’ve heard expressed by both believers and unbelievers. I think it’s a question which has to do with the mind and how the church has responded to its use.

KLAUS: Tell me more.

ANNOUNCER: Well, let’s let our listener do that. His question is two-fold. First, “Why would God give us the ability to be reasonable, logical, and then not expect us to use those very qualities when it comes to faith?

KLAUS: Let me stop you right there and say I can’t ever remember any time in the Bible where God has decreed, “Thou shalt not think.” I know there are Ten Commandments and that most certainly is not one of those ten.

ANNOUNCER: Well, of course, you’re right. But maybe the second question will help to explain the first. Our listener continues, in his opinion, the church doesn’t like it when people think. Too often, when he’s asked a question, he’s told, “You just have to receive these things on faith.” In other words, the Church wants him to switch his brain off and then just buy into whatever it says without reason, rationale, or questioning.

KLAUS: Okay, I guess that makes a little bit more sense. Maybe, Mark, it makes a great deal of sense. I know where this guy is coming from. I was there once myself.

ANNOUNCER: And, when was that?

KLAUS: Back when I was in high school, I was pretty radical in my approach to things. I remember asking questions–what I believed were good questions–and being told, “You’ll just have to believe.”

ANNOUNCER: And how did that strike you?

KLAUS: It struck me a lot of different ways. The first thing that struck me was it made me frustrated. I think our listener feels that way. Then I started to think, “My teacher doesn’t know the answer and he’s hiding behind the line, ‘You just have to believe.’ When I challenged him further, that reader became quite upset.

ANNOUNCER: What happened then?

KLAUS: Like this fellow I started to question all kinds of things about the faith. I ended up throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

ANNOUNCER: But you didn’t stay that way.

KLAUS: Nah, I calmed down and started to do some serious investigating.

ANNOUNCER: And what did your investigation reveal?

KLAUS: A number of things. First, there are some things, a small, select group of things we can’t understand. BUT… that doesn’t mean we should shut down our brains.

ANNOUNCER: Could you give us an example of something we could never understand?

KLAUS: Yeah. I can’t understand and nobody in the religious world or the scientific community can completely explain the concept of eternity. We can define it. We can define it as something that has no beginning or end, but we can’t grasp the idea. We can’t understand it fully.

ANNOUNCER: That’s probably because everything else seems to have a beginning and a definite ending. Eternity, then, doesn’t fit into our finite thought processes. But you discovered that there are some things…

KLAUS: A very small group of things.

ANNOUNCER: A small group of things which were too big and too far beyond our brains ability. What else did you find?

KLAUS: I found out that, more often than not, when somebody in the religious world said, “We just have to receive this by faith,” it very often meant “I don’t want to…” or “I don’t know how to…,” or “I don’t want to take the time to…” or “I just don’t know the facts which enable me to explain.”

ANNOUNCER: But you’re saying “God wants us to use our brains?”

KLAUS: Yes. Absolutely yes!

ANNOUNCER: Could you give us an example of how that might be applied?

KLAUS: Okay. Here’s a question: “Did Jesus rise from the dead on the third day after He was crucified?” That is the central doctrine of Christianity and the one which has been challenged in recent years. Nobody around today has seen the risen Jesus, so we have to shut off our brains and just believe?

ANNOUNCER: Well, from what you’ve been saying, “We have to believe without seeing, but we don’t have to shut off our brains.”

KLAUS: Exactly. Let me amplify just a bit. Do we know Jesus was really dead when they laid Him in the tomb? Absolutely. How do we know that? The Bible says when the Roman guard stabbed Jesus with his spear, blood and water came out. Modern medicine tells us that condition only occurs after someone has died. Do we know nobody stole Jesus’ body? Absolutely. There was a guard at Jesus’ tomb. That guard wouldn’t have guarded an empty tomb. Jesus’ body was there…and then it wasn’t.

ANNOUNCER: So, we believe but we also think. Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.

Music Selections for this program:

“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.

“I Trust, O Christ, in You Alone” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.