For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
May we each learn how to rest in the assurance that we have not been forgotten. And let us also be assured that He can use the challenges of the moment to make us more like Christ. Remember, eternity changes everything.
COVID-19: Last week I said the COVID-19 story was starting to feel like Y2K. It does not feel that way this week. On Monday I created a special Outlook folder to hold all the Coronavirus emails. On Tuesday I spent time seeking the advice of experts. Late on Wednesday we started cancelling events. I suspect your week unfolded along similar lines. I have not had much time to reflect, but I have found myself praying that we move towards the kind of cultural softness we enjoyed in the days after 9/11. I am also hoping that we follow in the path of our Third Century predecessors. I am speaking about those who were so loving that the pagan Emperor Julian complained about the way they were winning people away from the Roman gods. He wrote:
“Atheism [I.e. the Christian faith!] has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them.”
Worshipping in the Time of a Pandemic: One of the documents I turned to this week was C. S. Lewis’s sermon Learning in Time of War. On the eve of WWII, Lewis—a WWI vet—was asked to address a group of Oxford students. The question he was asked to answer was: should I remain a student when the world is collapsing? You can read excerpts of his sermon here. Two aspects of what he said have stayed with me over the years: 1) as Christians we are always in a battle, so if something is not worth doing during a period of war, it is never worth doing, and 2) war does nothing to increase the likelihood of death. It simply clarifies what faces us.
Five Questions: The answers to five questions shape our life. We may or may not have given them much thought, but we have answers for them all the same—and those answers profoundly shape us.
- Who am I or what am I? Am I the accidental exhaust of the random collision of space, time, and chance? Am I a created being, made by an all-powerful personal God and endowed with purpose and meaning? Or am I something in between?
- What is the greatest good? What ultimately matters? Does the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob exist? Or am I the greatest good? Is love? Pleasure? Something else?
- What is expected of me? What does the good life look like? If there is no god, then it would appear as though my only thoughtful options are nihilism (saying nothing matters), existentialism (saying nothing matters but acting like some things do) or hedonism (I am going to eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow we die). If there is a god who made me and I am going to be assessed by Him, on what exactly will I be assessed?
- What happens when I die? Is what we see all we get or do I live on? And if I live on, do I come back in this world as something else—i.e. am I reincarnated? Or is the Bible right when it says that we die once and after that face judgment?
- And finally, where do I go to get answers to these questions? Do I look inside my heart? Is the answer based on reason? Science? Philosophy? A book? Has God revealed His plan in some way? How do I know what I know?
The Challenge: When I first served as a college pastor (circa 1985) we taught college students how to do inductive Bible study and then turned them loose to lead small groups. Not all thrived, but many did. However, as the years rolled by, we found that students arrived at the university knowing less about the Bible—and also less able to lead. As a result, we needed to provide them with more training. And then even more. And then we stopped suggesting that they lead a Bible study on a passage of their choosing and start leading studies we prepared for them. And then we not only prepared the study, but we prepared the questions. And then we started writing out the answers. I share all of this because it has continued… but it seems as though we are at an inflection point. Those leading Bible studies need more and more training, and yet they are less and less available for instruction.
Closing Prayer: Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it. I am weak in faith; strengthen me. I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent that my love may go out to my neighbor. I do not have strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust you altogether. O Lord, help me and strengthen my faith and trust in you. Amen. (Martin Luther, 1483 – 1546)