“What is mysterious to us is manifest to him; where we are confounded, he is informed; where our love is slack with sin, he is perennially steadfast with holiness.”
God’s divine narrative is the story that stands alone. As J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis understood it, God’s divine narrative is the true myth, the realm of God’s creative presence and the land of our dwelling. It’s the archetypal story from which every other tale under the sun draws its light and has its substance; it’s the vista from where we gaze upon God’s glory; it’s the theater for the drama of redemption; it’s the intersection of our finite journey with God’s eternal purposes. Not only is God the author of this mythical tale, but he is also its preeminent character – the ever-present actor, the true king, the sacred priest, the poetic prophet, the sacrificial servant, the forgiving father, the loving lord, the just judge, the wise teacher, the ornate artist, the triumphant conqueror, the faithful companion, the heroic warrior, the vigilant watchman, the resolute bridegroom, the relentless seeker, the definitive savior. Since the dawn of God’s story, his symphonic mastery over every note has not waned, but the pitch of its perfection resonates with echoes of brilliance. What is mysterious to us is manifest to him; where we are confounded, he is informed; where our love is slack with sin, he is perennially steadfast with holiness.
These truths are what feed our understanding of the questions previously addressed in my earlier posts, ‘Where is God in COVID-19?’ and ‘Why would he allow such an awful thing to occur?’ These truths are also what allow us to move on with confidence to another question, ‘What is the Christian’s response to COVID-19?’
Look Intently at Jesus
‘And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.’ (2 Corinthians 3.18)
In the evil of a pandemic or the goodness of health, there is no better admonishment than that which directs us to look intently to Jesus with hearts of loving trust. For the Christian, life is to take its every cue from Christ, but how can we be like him if we never take time to behold him? A constant refrain in the Bible is the necessity of being godly, but godliness is not an autonomous morality that operates independently of the Lord Jesus. Godliness is intimately connected to having intently looked upon the glory of God. What results from gazing upon his glory is a transformation of the totality of our being, so that our once rancid lives now have the fragrant aroma of Christ-likeness. The first thing we are told by God in the Bible about ourselves is that we have the unique and blessed gift of being created as image-bearers of the divine character (Genesis 1.26). Consequently, one of the chief purposes of our existence is to have God’s moral, intellectual and spiritual beauty replicated in us, or as Paul says, our lives are to be an imitation of God’s divine life (Ephesians 5.1). Should we want to address the Christian response to a pandemic, as is the present intention of this post, or live incarnational Christ-centric lives, we must set our eyes upon Jesus and have our ears trained to his word. My previous posts were an attempt to do this, and though small in measure, they hopefully, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, adequately led us to the throne of God to drink deeply of his goodness and supremacy. Let us, therefore, venture onward seeking to understand the Father’s will for the Christian life as it is beset with many tribulations and sufferings in this true myth of his own telling.
We Are Not Fear Mongers
‘You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.’ (Psalm 91.5-6)
Why are we told not to fear the creeping terrors of the night, the silent arrows of an enemy, the hidden contagion that stalks victims in darkness, or manifest disaster? These are all genuine threats to our life; Christians have and will continue to be slain by them. But as the psalmist says in the following verses, we do not fear because Yahweh is our deliverer, dwelling place and refuge (Psalm 91.9). However, we will only recognize him to be a safe refuge if we know who he is – if we are informed of his awesome might, acquainted with his steadfast love and knowledgeable of his profound wisdom. It’s our understanding of his character that bolsters our courage and smothers our fear. Will COVID-19 hospitalize you? Perhaps. Will it result in your unemployment? Maybe. Will it kill you? Possibly. Will you fear these outcomes? Not if your hope is in Jesus who reigns over the Corona virus, your life, the life of your loved ones, the economy and your country. We, Christians, are not dualists; there is no great struggle between God and evil. Jesus is the victor, while sin, suffering, death and the spiritual forces of darkness are crushed beneath the majesty of his holy kingdom. These have a part to play in his story but are impotent characters apart from the temporary sustenance of his providence (Job 1.6-12, 2.1-6; 2 Chronicles 18.18-21; Matthew 8.28-32; James 2.9; Revelation 20.10, 21.3-8). To fear them or the destruction wrought by a virus like COVID-19 is to slip from the pedestal of faith and fall headlong into a manner of thought that is more attune to the enslaving nature of the flesh than to the Spirit of God (Romans 8.15; Hebrews 2.14-15). In the epistle of First John it is written, ‘There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, whoever fears has not been perfected in love (4.18).’ As Jesus said, there is only one thing humans ought to fear and it’s God since he alone has the power to truly destroy (Matthew 10.28). All other ‘destroyers’ are pretenders who will meet their end with bended knee before the holy one. But for those saved by grace through faith in Jesus, there is no fear of punishment for sin or that the goodness of life will slip through our fingers, but only an excellent revelry in the love and power of God that we will enjoy forever. Therefore, fear mongering, whether in the privacy of one’s own thoughts or in the public sphere, ought to be extinguished by the surpassing peace that comes from knowing the Lord Jesus. As spoken in Isaiah, ‘You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock (26.3-4).’ There are many reasons why a person may be overcome with fear, but our God is bigger than the Corona virus and every other dreaded darkness under the sun.
Lament and Weep
‘When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.’ (John 11.33-35)
Lament is driven by love, but not all lament is characterized by gospel love.[1]. Lament that is focused primarily on one’s self and driven by personal adversity, while justified in a world beset with suffering, is not particularly Christian because all people, regardless of their faith, are sorrowful when plagued with trouble.[2] Lament that is truly Christian is burdened by the suffering of the other, the stranger – even the enemy. Following Jesus means to bear the cross, and to bear the cross is to willingly suffer harm for the sake of love, love of God and love of neighbor (Matthew 16.24, 22.36-40). Because our tendency is to look inward – to concern ourselves with our own preservation and well-being – looking outward to the suffering of others runs against the ingrained inclinations of our hearts. Christ-centered lamentation is a genuine experience of hurt that infringes upon our self-seeking nature – a nature that aims to avoid gratuitous pain. The Christian, however, does not seek to indulge this nature by fostering blindness of troubling realities for the sake of cultivating artificial happiness. We are not interested in being independent trailblazers who forge our own path to imagined satisfaction, but we are God-reliant imitators, mindful realists who aim to recognize the world for what it is. As Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus, we would do well to weep when we see our neighbors and enemies being brutalized by the evils of this world (John 11.28-38). You may be untouched by the pandemic crisis, but when you read of tragedies or see the stories of others in the news, will you weep with them and for them? It’s easy for our hearts to grow hardened to the pervasive suffering around us – pervasiveness no matter its object tends to breed callousness and indifference – but we cannot give ground to this sinful inclination. Request of the Holy Spirit to grant you the same sorrow over evil as he himself has. Do not quickly move to more personal or pressing matters when you hear of or see evil, for the heart that loves as Jesus loved, recognizes that the misery of others is a personal and pressing matter. Don’t be content with the artificial joy that comes through the purposeful ignorance of self-seeking, but instead live with opened eyes as Jesus did, being content to have joy and mourning mingled, to have laughter and tears interwoven. If it was befitting for the Lord, then it’s most certainly suitable for you.
Love Your Community
If you love your neighbor, and your heart is heavy with lament for whatever trial they may be enduring because of COVID-19, then let this love also drive you to action. Lament without action – when action can indeed be taken – is nothing more than pretense, a lie of the heart in order to feign love. For the Christian, the chosen response to the Corona virus is intensely important because the responses we give inherently reflect upon the God we claim to represent, whether that be an accurate or false reflection of who he is will be up to us.
1. Loving Those You are Quarantined With
Because of social-distancing and the quarantine measures put in place by governments the world over, you may have little or no contact with those in your wider community, but you will have an abundance of time with your spouse, or kids, or parents, or grandparents, or grandchildren, or roommates. Whoever you find yourself isolated with, resolve to love them well because you may never again have this much isolated time with them. Undoubtedly you will feel the sting of relationships that feel put on hold because of quarantine, but remember, God in his providential design saw fit to quarantine you with whomever you share a living space with. In his every action, even those most bitter to bear, God gives good gifts, whether an opportunity for repentance, the chance to kindle deeper love or a glimpse of his divine nature. His gifts are scattered about in your quarantine, but will we see them with the eyes of faith or overlook them with a scoff of frustration?
If you live alone, you may be in a mostly isolated state during quarantine. For some, that type of disconnectedness might be a welcomed reprieve; while for others, it may be excruciatingly hard and lonesome. Should you find yourself in isolation, make every effort to connect with others via the digital services at our disposal. Though a video chat is no substitute for gathering in-person, love, friendship, conversation and prayer, regardless of distance, can still be enriching and fruitful. God’s hand is not shortened, nor his presence stifled, even with the most invasive quarantine measures. Who knows, perhaps your brief monastic existence will be a spiritually enriching time, preparing you to serve your community in even greater capacities than before.
2. Loving Those in Need
COVID-19 will create an abundance of needs. Those needs will be spiritual, financial, emotional, relational, medical and more. As quarantines are lifted, overlooking the needy will be easy, but the church cannot be deaf to the cries for help or blind to signs of need. Everything you have, be it time, creativity, wealth, love, wisdom, a job, a house, a spiritual gifting – these are all given to you by the Lord, that you may make use of them to serve the common good of your community (John 3.27; 1 Corinthians 12.4-7).
Do you know someone who lost their job? If your financial pockets run deep, perhaps your wealth has been given to you so you can help supplement their lost income.
Do you know impoverished and sick believers abroad? Perhaps they need you to overflow with generosity as their already meager income may vanish.
Do you know someone that can’t make rent? If you have an empty room or house, perhaps you should offer it to them.
Do you know someone who is lonely? If you have an empty seat at your table, maybe they could use a good meal and conversation.
Do you know someone who has the virus but isn’t hospitalized? Will you care for them if they are too weary to do simple tasks like preparing meals for themselves?
Do you know of community services in need of extra hands? If you have the gift of time, could you volunteer to help their overwhelmed staff?
Do you know someone who lost a loved one? How will you comfort them and serve them according to their needs?
Do you know exhausted parents who haven’t had a break for weeks or months? Can you babysit their children?
Do you know someone who is a high-risk individual? Can you make grocery runs for them so their exposure to others is limited?
Do you know someone whose marriage has been strained by the quarantine? What might you do to assist or encourage the restoration of their love?
Do you know of neglected children in quarantine? How will you help them?
Do you know of anyone being subjected to injustice? How will you seek justice for them?
Being quarantined will test everyone’s patience, but as the world cowers with fear and rages with frustration, our hearts must persevere in love. The needs will be endless, and by God’s grace so will our kindness and resolve.
Hope in Our Tribulation
As I write, my quarantine seems to be winding down. For the first time in two months, my wife is back at work and my children are back in kindergarten. But even with quarantine restrictions easing in Denmark and Europe, the future is unknown. Will COVID-19 drift into oblivion as just a terrible memory or come winter will we be battling a second wave? What we can be sure of is suffering will persist and sorrow will endure. We know this to be true because Jesus said as much, ‘In the world you will have tribulation’ (John 16.33). By God’s grace you will survive this pandemic. However, we can’t escape death forever, nor should we want to. Labor faithfully in this world for as long as the Father wills, but let your desire for life lead you to hope in the new earth where God will dwell with man, wiping away our every tear and delivering us from the innumerable pains of the present world (Revelation 21.1-7). Rest assured in this future, for as Jesus promised tribulation in this world, he also affirmed his victory saying, ‘Take heart; I have overcome the world.’ We can’t solve brokenness, but he will.
Wherever you may be, I pray that the severity of the news is complemented by a security in Jesus, our bastion of eternal hope. I leave you in the solace of Paul’s comments of 2 Corinthians 4.16-18, ‘So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.’
Tyler Conrad
Assistant Pastor, Youth and Families
[1] Even the most narcissistic and empathetically bereft among us possess self-love and a desire for self-preservation, producing in even the hardest of hearts a lament for one’s own suffering. In Jesus’s confrontations with demons – who must surely be the most self-seeking and hardhearted of all God’s creatures – we see evidence of lament over the suffering that is soon to descend upon them. (cf. Mark 5.1-13)
[2] While personal lament can be a proper expression of faith and hope in God’s deliverance (as evidenced on numerous occasions in the Bible), lament over our suffering must not leave joy behind. Consider James 1.2-3, ‘Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness’ and Romans 8.28, ‘we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.’ Knowing God injects a heavenly happiness into our lament because we know that God is greater than our trials and that our suffering is ultimately working for us. Hidden in the tears of our various trials is the coming grace and blessing of the Father – which is more than enough to give us a reason to rejoice when greatly troubled.