My last post was supposed to be a short summary of responding to the current coronavirus crisis. How we respond Christianly involves how we think about the crisis as well as how we behave in the midst of it. It ended up going a little longer than I expected! I ended the last post alluding to Peter and Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. You know the story…
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22-33)
I think this account beautifully and astutely illustrates the challenge we face living Christianly through any crisis. When Peter’s entire worldview became Christ himself, Christ called him out upon the waters (queue Taya Smith singing Oceans). As long as he was fixed on Christ, he walked on the water, but when he got sidetracked with the latest headlines, confirmed cases and deaths/day he was afraid and began to sink.
Thinking Christianly leads to Behaving Christianly
Whether we’re in the middle of a time blessing, riches and gain, or facing circumstances of illness, loss and death, or anywhere in between we’re called to act the same way. Not like the modern stoics who who is indifferent to pain, pleasure, grief, or joy, but rather like the Thessalonians who Paul urged to grieve, yet with hope:
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)
Behaving Christianly certainly involves weeping and rejoicing, but doign so in a way that recognizes that God is the author of our circumstances and when we rejoice unto the Lord and when we grieve, we likewise grieve with hope. What it doesn’t involve is living in fear.
Praise God in the Trials
Job was definitely a guy who was acquainted with suffering. After losing his wealth and his health (sound familiar?), not to mention almost all his family, except his wife that encouraged him to curse God and die, and then enduring the rebukes of his friends who tried to gaslight him into some kind of repentance, he makes the astonishing faith claim about God, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.” (Job13:15)
Jeremiah was also no stranger to suffering as he watched the kingdom of Judah fall to Babylon and was deported into captivity, never to see his home again. Yet, in the middle of Lamentation he says “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
Living Christianly is characterized by praise to God in all circumstances, not just the easy ones.
Practice Contentment
The apostle Paul tells us that godliness with contentment is great gain. The context of this particular passage is particularly apropos as he goes on to warn of those who desire to be rich, a desire that’s easy to creep into any of our thoughts when a decade long bull market and a great economy seem unstoppable.
But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:6-10)
The market activity over the last 3 weeks is an excellent barometer of our love of money.
Lay up Treasures in Heaven
Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that Where your heart is, your treasure is also. John echoes this in 1 John 2:15-16, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
If our hearts are set on riches and health and the accumulation of possessions or our illusions of control, then when those things fly away and leave us, we’ll be devastated. None of these things are guaranteed, but it’s amazing how insidious their hold on our hearts are.
C.S. Lewis wrote this in The Weigh of Glory, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Remember that God gave us everything we have to enjoy to his glory. However it’s our responsibility to hold it with a loose hand.
Acknowledge the Sovereignty of God
Coronavirus many seem to have hit us out of the blue. The speed and intensity of both the virus and the global reaction has been nothing short of amazing. But it’s not by chance. Like Jesus’ command over the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee, the scriptures are clear about God’s sovereignty as it relates to calamity.
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. (Deuteronomy 32:9)
I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:7)
To quote Job again, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Recognize that Calamity Falls on the Just and Unjust Alike
We live in a broken world. Following Christ doesn’t exempt us from the brokenness. Rather, following Christ means we experience the same brokenness that anyone else does, but we experience it Christianly. Our framework is different. Our response is distinctive. And it is our hope and the response that flows from it that is other worldly and serves as a testimony to God
Jesus made it clear that it’s not our place to draw a direct correlation between crisis and sin. In Luke 13:1-5, for example, “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Daniel Kanehman, in his excellent book on behavioral economics, Thinking Fast and Slow demonstrates that our brains are hard wired to create cause and effect links so we’re always trying to close the loop when we experience suffering. They natural human question is why and the brain is anxious to connect the dots.
Jesus says it doesn’t work that way. John recounts the story of Jesus and a blind man, “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:1-3)
Calamity often provides the stage that the works of God might be displayed in his people.
Pray for the Welfare of the City
Many of us are familiar with Jeremiah 29:11 and the promise God gives his people of a future and a hope, but he also has instruction for his people in their present circumstances, in this particular case that meant exile as slaves in a pagan nation.
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (29:7)
To live Christianly in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic means to pray for our communities, our leaders, the front line workers and medical personnel. We’re called to be people of prayer, who pray unceasingly, without losing heart, and people who seek the welfare of our land.
Paul brings several of these concepts home together when he writes to the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Make the Most of the Time
The final thought is that to life Christianly is to seek redeem the time that we’ve been given. There’s a popular quote attributed to Martin Luther, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” Even though Luther never actually said that, he would likely have agreed with the premise. As Christ followers, we’re to be about our calling and trust that whatever happens in the world around us is in God’s hands.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:10 that, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” If that’s the case, the question we should be asking ourselves is what can we do to make the most of what we’ve been given.
Again, in the same letter Paul says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15
The days of the coronavirus indeed are evil, but really when haven’t they been?