The Mocker

When I was in college, I worked at a bank.
It was a wonderful, full-time summer job.
It soon became a part-time job during the school year as well.
I really enjoyed my work and all of the customers I met.

In the summer months, I was known as a floating bank teller.
I would go wherever they needed me to fill in while others were on vacation.
That arrangement made for a very interesting summer.
I moved around the Main Line Region at any one of eight different locations.

I was quick and efficient according to my reviews.
I settled my drawer each evening with no discrepancies.
Friday afternoons were the busiest since that is when people got their paychecks.
We always had long lines during lunch hours.

I tried to move the people through my line quickly so they had time to eat their lunch.
This was before direct deposit and before computers handled everything.
We settled our cash drawer by hand.
We added and subtracted the deposits and withdrawal slips with paper and pencil.

Since I knew the customers, there was no delay.
They seemed to appreciate that they were known and remembered.
I enjoyed conversing with the customers for the short time they were at my window.
I got to know the regulars by name.

The bank had emergency drills periodically.
A bank sign that was right inside the door was moved to a different location.
We were to take notice of that before we knocked to come in the side door in the morning.
If the sign was not there, we were to go to the nearby store and call the police.

Of course, it was just a drill but the procedure was important to know and practice.
I failed the test every time.
I had to drive a distance to get to work each day.
Often, I would get behind a slow moving truck or run into extensive traffic.

I was never terribly late, but some days, I would be a frustrating five minutes late.
Knowing that I needed to get inside, I would just knock on the side door without looking.
The sign would be gone and in my rush, I failed to notice.
Someone would answer the door with a look that told me I did it again.

I finally got it right.
I realized that everyone’s safety depended on each of us paying attention.
That realization was mainly for myself.
We never had a robbery or a need to call the police but we had to practice just in case.

One day, another teller noticed someone coming through the door.
She quickly left me by myself at the teller window.
She went into the vault that was nearby.
She could see me at all times but I could only see her peripherally.

She started to laugh.
It was very distracting to me since she was trying to stifle her laughter.
I knew that I could not let that interfere with the customer who was approaching my window.
It was an older man in cyclist attire.

He had shoes that clicked on the floor as he walked because of the cleat on the bottom.
He was wearing a bike helmet; I could see something bobbing up and down on the side.
The other teller was still laughing inside the vault.
With every step, the bobbing continued until I saw that it was a mirror attached to his helmet.

I had no idea why this man was so funny to the teller who had disappeared from sight.
He came up to the window.
Good morning. How can I help you? I asked sincerely.
He reached down into a pack around his waist and pulled out a metal object.

He held it to his throat and began to talk.
Everything about his voice caught me off guard.
The sound of his words was robotic.
I needed to pay extra attention to everything he said to me.

The teller in the vault was still laughing.
I had to tune her out completely so I could fully attend to this man.
We got through the transaction beautifully.
He seemed grateful because I had never met him and he wasn’t sure how I would react.

He left after saying goodbye through the voice box that he put back into his pack.
When he had gone, I turned towards the teller still trying to stifle her laughs.
She was not laughing at the man as much as she was laughing at me.
She was laughing at how I would react to the Robot Man, as she called him.

Don’t you ever do that again, to him or to me! I said in no uncertain terms.
It was cowardly of you to hide in the vault, I said in rebuke.
She saw that she did not have an ally.
She saw that she did not have someone with whom she could engage in a mockery session.

I have never forgotten that episode.
I have never forgotten the man’s voice.
I have never forgotten the man’s courage.
I have never forgotten the abhorrent behavior of the other teller.

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. (Proverbs 26:4)

I wanted no part of her foolishness.
Instead of helping the man, or helping me take care of my customer, she chose to mock.
I have never forgotten how that felt.
I can only imagine how the man would have felt if he knew.

Perhaps he did know.
Mockers cannot hide their mockery well.
Mockers want others around them to join them in the mockery.
Mockery is not a solitary behavior.

Mockery is fueled when others are watching.
Mockery is ignited when others join in.
It takes courage to stand against a mocker.
It takes the Lord’s help to stand.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

God’s Word has much to say about mockers.
Bullying, taunting, mocking, and denigrating have no place in Kingdom living.
God’s people are to stay away from mockers.
God’s people are to delight in God’s Word and God’s ways.

Mockers are cowards.
Bullies are cowards.
It is easy to put others down.
It is much harder to lift others up.

Lifting others up is what God calls us to do.
If we stay close to God and His Word, there will be no room for mockery in our life.
We will stay away from mockers and rebuke them when necessary.
We are not trying to please men but God.

When you delight in God and in His Word you are like a tree; a flourishing tree.
You are a tree that bears fruit in season and you do not wither.
Mockers make their prideful positions known to everyone.
Mockers are really mocking God; however God will mock them in the end.

Have nothing to do with a mocker.
Let them know that in you, they have no ally.
Be a tree planted beside the Water.
Delight in God and flourish.