We’re All In This Together, Right? Not So Sure About That

Several months ago, many of us figured that by now the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 would be a fading memory. One of those “good riddance” things. Obviously we were wrong. The virus and its consequences are very much with us. 

One of those “consequences” is continuing to hear famous recording artists and actors, celebrity athletes, and anyone with a “Who’s Who” type of name tell us, “We’re all in this together.” Well, not exactly. It’s true that in one way or another, we’re all in the same storm – but we’re definitely not all in the same boat.

 

Many of the we’re-all-in-this-together folks video their words of consolation from multi-million dollar mansions, or spacious ranches, or extravagantly designed urban apartments. Most of them, like our devoted and outspoken politicians, haven’t missed a single paycheck, while their fans and constituents were trying to figure out how to pay their bills each month, even every week.

 

Is the "boat" you're sailing in
going to carry you through 
life's inevitable storms?

So, to put it another way, some folks are weathering the COVID storm in jaw-dropping yachts or even ocean liners, while many of us are struggling to keep afloat in canoes, kayaks, or flimsy sailboats. Thanks for the words of encouragement, but when you tell us, “We understand,” we’re not convinced that you do.

I was thinking about this because even in non-pandemic times, the realities of everyday living can seem like a storm. Balancing a budget; trying to figure out how to pay to repair or replace things that break down unexpectedly; confronting the stresses of raising children or caring for grandchildren, who at times are just like angels, and other times, well, not so much. Coping with health issues, or the inevitable challenges of getting older. For many of these kinds of problems, it doesn’t seem to matter as much which boat you happen to be in.

 

From time to time we hear someone talk about the Titanic, the supposedly unsinkable luxury steamship that lost its close encounter with an iceberg on April 15, 1912, in the North Atlantic Ocean. On that fateful night, despite the unquestioned assurances of the ship’s designers and builders, more than 1,500 lives were lost that ill-fated night.

 

Contrast that to the simple fishing boat in which Jesus and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee. Matthew 8:24-27 tells us, “And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But Jesus was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith.' Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, ‘Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’”

 

What a difference: So many lives lost in the sinking of a ship that its makers claimed was indestructible, while a group of devoted followers survived a violent storm that developed suddenly on a vast sea, only because they were traveling in the presence of the Lord.

 

This is a valuable metaphor to cling to today, when the future remains so uncertain – not only with what is yet to unfold with COVID-19, but also the upcoming Presidential election, widespread unrest, and the daily and unpredictable events of life. Whose boat would we rather be in? As Jesus taught similarly: 

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-29).

The One Certainty We Never Want to Talk About

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty weary of all the non-stop, 24/7 COVID-19 virus reporting and commentary. Yes, it’s a serious issue. And yes, we all need to take necessary precautions. Those who don’t are endangering both themselves and others. Yes, this is not the time to cast all care to the winds. Maybe we’ll never have that kind of “time” again. So, wear a mask when in crowds, keep your distance, repress the urge to shake hands and hug, keep washing and sanitizing your hands regardless, and try to refrain from touching your face – no matter how lovely or handsome it happens to be.

But I can see the other side, too. Folks who, just as soon as restrictions began to be lifted, couldn’t wait to hop in the car, head to the mall, go to the beach, stroll through the park, or resume whatever favorite activities they’ve been denied. We’re all worn out byf the incessant gloom and doom, and have grown increasingly eager to recapture some brightness and hope. As the Scriptures affirm, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).

By now, even those most stable emotionally have nearly succumbed to the drumbeat of death tallies and less-than-optimistic projections for the future. Warding off a dreaded virus isn’t the way we desire to spend the immediate future, let alone the rest of our lives.

It seems, however, there’s an issue in play far greater than enduring the inconveniences of not being free to go here and there, doing this and that, as we were so accustomed. The daily statistics serve as a dismal reminder of a certainty: Death. They used to say, “The only things certain in life are death and taxes.” Well, even taxes have been postponed for the time being, if you haven’t yet filed your income tax return for last year. But death, it’s right there, staring us in the face. And if we forget, the grim news anchors and reporters on ABC, CBS, NBC, and cable news outlets seem to take a perverse delight in providing us with reminders.

Deep down we know the truth. Our days are numbered. One day, ready or not, we’re going to pass from this life. But not today, right? Or tomorrow, either. Or next week, or next month, or next year, if you don’t mind. As actor/director Woody Allen once said, “I’m not afraid of dying. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” We all can relate.

Not to add to the morbidity of these days, but this raises an even more profound issue. It comes down to a matter of faith – and where your faith happens to be. If you lack faith, trusting only in luck, karma, good fortune, serendipity or something similar, it’s hard to face each new day. With every tomorrow seeming more tenuous than ever, it’s easy to succumb to panic, despair, fear, or other unproductive emotions. How can one find peace amid such chaos?

That doesn’t mean those of us who find hope and assurance from the teachings of the Bible are exempt from anxiety and stress. Faith in Jesus Christ doesn’t mitigate the fact that we’re flesh and blood, with adrenaline and other stress hormones coursing through our veins to enable us to respond to external threats, whether it be a burglar or an unseen virus.

And yet, if we make the conscious decision to reestablish our trust in the Lord, and not the doomsday newscasters, we can indeed experience “the peace of God that transcends all understanding” described in Philippians 4:7. How can we have such peace, when everything we’ve known and relied on seems under attack? That’s why we’re told this peace “transcends” or “passes” all understanding. We can’t manufacture it. It truly comes from beyond ourselves. From God.

As much as we hate hearing about those who become victims of the dreaded virus, we can draw a positive from this dire time. It gives us an opportunity to do a personal reappraisal revisiting where our faith really lies. When circumstances are going well, we can claim to have faith – but we really don’t need it then. “I’ve got this,” we deceptively tell ourselves, thinking we’ve got every duck in a row. Ultimately, we don’t.

I like what Proverbs 24:10 has to say about this: “If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength.” We’ve all been riding an emotional rollercoaster over the past few months, hoping for good news but hearing mostly bad. But in the end, what’s our foundation? From where do we draw our strength? When it feels like we’re “walking through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4), where do we find ourselves turning for comfort and reassurance?

When We Don’t Know What to Do, Do What God Said

Since I write my posts a couple weeks in advance, one of these days the COVID-19 virus pandemic will thankfully have passed, making my thoughts about it outdated. But until then, I continue to ponder what God might be seeking to teach us through this unsettling “season” of our history. Maybe, among other things, He wants to remind of what He’s said all along.

For instance, the significance of prayer. We tend to regard prayer for emergencies only, a last resort. Or as something we indulge in for a few idle moments – which, until we’re engaged in social distancing and staying in place, seem scarce. But prayer is important throughout the Scriptures, and we see repeatedly that when people pray, amazing things happen.

For instance, in Jeremiah 33:3 we read, “Call on Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.” I don’t know about you, but I’m excited about the prospect of seeing “great and might things” these days, especially if the Lord is doing them. When things seem darkest, that’s when the light of Christ shines brightest.

Another of my favorite verses about prayer offers this simple admonishment: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). As I understand it, prayer is not something that occurs only at a certain time, when we’re in a certain place or in a certain position. To pray without ceasing means engaging in it continually, kind of like a face-to-face conversation – which we haven’t had much recently – or chatting with someone over the phone. There might be a pause in the exchange of words, but after a few moments we pick things up where we left off.

Of late, when followers of Jesus have mentioned praying about the coronavirus crisis, skeptics have scoffed, as if to say, “What good will that do?” In actuality, it can do a lot. Praying about any situation doesn’t mean passivity; in fact, the Scriptures teach whenever we have the opportunity, we’re to take appropriate and prompt action. But when we pray, we’re not only acknowledging and praising our God, but also recognizing His power and that He can do what we cannot.

Jesus told us, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). Too often we fret and spit and moan and groan, when the most productive and meaningful thing we can do is pray.

There are some who have suggested COVID-19 is God’s judgment on America, or the world. I don’t know about that; such an idea is far beyond my theological pay grade. But when it comes to doing what God has said, especially when we’re unsure about what we should be doing, we have a powerful exhortation that we rarely consider.

Imagine if the millions of true followers of Jesus were to diligently and intentionally put into practice the instructions from 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Occasionally we see this passage trotted out for a community prayer breakfast or a similar event, but it’s something we all can do – individually and collectively – at any time. On numerous occasions we read about the people of Israel doing this in the Old Testament. They had lost interest in worshiping and following God, choosing instead to go their own way. Much as we’ve done in our nation. 

Then, when things turned bleak, the Israelites seemed to have one of those “Aha!” experiences. They repented, turned back to God, and He restored His blessings and protective care. Maybe that’s what the Lord is asking of us today. Things had been going well overall, seemingly without God’s help, but suddenly we’ve hit a major bump in the road. “What do we do?” we cry out in fear and despair.

Perhaps God is using this time to ask, “Are you willing to humble yourselves, and pray, and seek Me, and turn from your disobedience and rebellion? If so, I’m listening and eager to respond in ways you could never imagine.” Imagine that!

Pulling Silver Linings Out of Dark Clouds

With news about the coronavirus breaking so rapidly, it’s hard to anticipate what the latest “scoop” will be. I recall the late Gilda Radner’s “Saturday Night Live” character, Roseanne Roseannadanna, who used to say, “It’s always something!” Bad news seems to beget bad news.

But no matter: Out of any crisis, big or small, important lessons can be learned. And most of the time, good emerges out of bad, pulling silver linings out of dark clouds that hover over us. For example:

Did you know that as traffic has dramatically reduced in many cities because of people staying home, air pollution also has noticeably declined? So have traffic accidents. And did you know that in the beautiful Italian city of Venice, best known for its canals, those typically polluted waterways have cleared up in the absence of tourists? So there’s definitely some good coming out of a very bad situation.

In case you haven’t noticed – if you’ve observed stay-at-home recommendations – gasoline prices have been dropping dramatically. And it wouldn’t be a shock to learn other forms of illness have declined due to social distancing and reduced germ transfer. We could find other positives arising out of this global negative, but what about a little closer to home – our own lives?

Many of us have found ourselves spending more quality family time in our own homes. A lot of people have re-discovered the joy of sitting around the table together, sharing a meal and actually talking with and looking at each other. TV viewing has increased, but so has the neglected practice of reading books. Some families have actually resumed playing games together. It seems silk purses still are being fashioned from sow’s ears!

Perhaps the greatest benefit from this societal pause has been the opportunity to re-examine where our hope and trust really lie. Fear and uncertainty have a way of unsettling us. That can be a good thing if it causes us to revisit important matters such as faith, purpose and meaning in life. 

During prosperous times and living in a materialistic society, it’s easy to focus on things we acquire and accumulate. But being unsure what the next day will bring can prompt to ask ourselves a question like the old movie from the ‘60s posed, “What’s it all about, Alfie?” Why are we here? What’s life all about, anyway? Should there be more to life than getting up in the morning, cleaning up, going to work, coming back home, having dinner, watching little TV, then going to bed so we can do it all over again tomorrow?

Recently I read a psalm that recounts hardships the people of Israel experienced. Many times, after enduring great bitterness and travail, “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress” (Psalm 107:6,13,19,28). In good times they would forget about God, reveling in their perceived self-sufficiency. But whenever difficult times returned, they would seek Him again.

The normal pace of life has become so hectic that many of us have lost the ability to reflect, to ponder what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. When we encounter a crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic, however, we find more time on our hands than we realized. When things seem spiraling out of control, we’re reminded once more where to go for hope and stability.

Our knee-jerk reaction is to look to the government, medical experts, scientists, whoever is “in charge.” But their wisdom and expertise go only so far. To find answers to the deeper questions of life – and death – we need to go elsewhere.

A verse often comes to my mind: “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1). Do you ever feel like that, sensing that despite being surrounded by so many material advantages, we still live in a dry and weary land?

At such times we can embrace this assurance from another of the psalms: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you” (Psalm 84:11-12).

The Scriptures tell us we are blameless in Jesus Christ, and that He offers us direct access to the Father. As we listen to news reports about COVID-19, or some other calamity, and find ourselves tempted to descend into fear, even panic, these promises urge us instead to turn to and trust the God of the past, present, and all eternity. That’s a silver lining no dark cloud can obscure. 

Celebrating an Easter Unlike Any Other

Almost forgotten in the non-stop coverage of COVID-19 is the soon-arriving celebration of Easter. In years past, people rushed around, fussing over such things as Easter bonnets and new Sunday outfits. Easter egg hunts were scheduled, and parents were “consulting” with the Easter bunny about what to leave in their children’s baskets. Then, once we got past the commercialism, we began remembering that  Easter is really about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This year, despite the hopeful optimism of some of our government leaders, it’s likely the doors of most churches will be closed, with congregants having to settle for online Easter observances. For many followers of Jesus, Easter without physically attending a worship service is almost unimaginable. How can we worship without doing so in “the house of God”?

Not to minimize the value and experience of joining with other believers to celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin and death. Some of the most powerful moments in my spiritual life have occurred on Easter, not only singing (as best I could) the traditional hymns but also hearing talented vocalists perform such selections as “We Shall Behold Him” or “Rise Again.”

However, there’s good news. The Scriptures clearly and repeatedly assert that we don’t need to go to a building, or even be in the physical presence of other followers of Jesus, to “go to church.” Because, we are told, He lives within us. Consider the following:

“Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). There was a time when I foolishly believed that when I entered a church building, I was entering into the presence of God – and that when I exited the building, I also was leaving His presence. This passage assures us this is not the case.

Another verse says much the same: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). So in a real sense, in normal times when we can “go to church” together, it amounts to an assembly of “temples of the Holy Spirit.”

Even better, we don’t have to be around others who profess their allegiance to Christ to live as He would want us to do. The fact that He lives in each of us through His Spirit means we don’t need to rely on positive peer pressure for living rightly. As Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.” As Jesus promised, “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Hopefully, once the coronavirus is under control and a vaccine has been developed, we’ll enjoy the delights of joining with fellow believers in rejoicing over Jesus’ resurrection. But even now we can reflect on what that means for us, both for the present and for eternity:

“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised…. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…. But Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:13-20).

There’s more to the story. In a time when the specter of death seems ever-present, we have the promise – the absolute confidence – that for all who have received Jesus Christ, physical death is not the end. It’s only a pause before a new beginning:

“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that was written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’

‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

Even if our contact is only through words appearing on the screen of a computer or some other electronic device, let me extend to you a greeting that Christians have shared through many centuries: “Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed!”