Wednesday, March 25, 2020
“Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.” (Psalm 91:6, New Living Translation) 

                It must be the end of the world!

                Although I have not intentionally gone looking for any evidence I am probably safe in saying that there are those extreme, right-wing, fundamentalist Christians who are using the Covid-19 pandemic as a sign of the end times or, at the very least, being God’s judgment and punishment on a corrupt, sinful, hell-bound world. Admittedly, this is low-lying fruit for harboring such ideas; after all this pandemic has all the ear-marks of the works of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, “to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.” (Revelation 6: 8, NLT)

Although I do not share such apocalyptic eagerness and fervor, (won’t I look silly if they are right?) the pastoral theologian in me wants at least to ask the honest question about the possible  intentions of God throughout this terrible ordeal. We can’t just stick our heads in the sand and wish it all away.

We cannot ignore the fact that in our Old Testament God uses disease as a tool for punishment and  correction, sending a clear, drastic and dire message for his people’s need for repentance, atonement, radical change, and a return to faith and trust in God. It is not a pretty picture either for humankind or, for that matter, God. Nevertheless, disease is one way through which God expressed his righteous anger, his justice, his power to affect radical change in the world.

Simplistically put, disease is a symbolic but very real force that indicates we are as far away from God as we possibly can be. It is indeed a terrible way to get our attention but apparently we won’t listen otherwise.

Our estrangement from God is killing us.

There was a poster on the Internet that pointed out that Covid19 was the world’s way of sending humankind to its room so that we can think about what we have done.

This is a good starting point. This disease is changing the world and will continue to do so for some time. So, perhaps we can and should use this time-out, this sitting in the corner, to contemplate our sins and the damage that humanity in all its politics, structures, institutions, behaviour, environmental impact, its economics, its conflicts and wars, its abuse of social media and re-think and re-set our priorities and directions.

We are being forced to slow down, to reduce our consumptive habits, to re-discover and appreciate one another more deeply, to depend on each other, to change our work habits and addictions, to find value in small things and small acts, to seek each other’s welfare, to pollute less, to appreciate health and well-being in its many  and diverse forms.

In the middle of all that is the opportunity to re-connect with the sources of our faith.  Where once we made no time for prayer, worship, meditation, contemplation or self-reflection and spiritual nourishment, now we do have the time and opening. God calls to us through this pandemic, not to punish us or harass us, although some will interpret it as such, but to ask us to trust him to lead us through to the other side and re-build a broken relationship with him. Almost ironically, it becomes a call for healing.

Jesus was the living embodiment of the antithesis to disease. “At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind.” (Luke 7:21, NLT) We are reminded by him of God’s ultimate vision for humankind’s well-being, wholeness, restoration, fullness and safety. But we need God to have the total experience of such a life. In Jesus God has begun to reverse the evil effects of  humankind’s vulnerability to disease and death. Jesus inaugurates God’s shalom with the world.

But will we get it? Will we stop our world-ending habits and take God seriously? Will we shrivel in fear and waste away in viral paralysis or listen to the Voice of God speaking through Jesus that there is no better time than the present to leap into the arms of Gods Love and begin to re-shape the future for the better?

                Be safe and keep well! Blessings! 

Dale

Wednesday, March 4, 2020
“Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart.” (1 Timothy 4:8, The Message Bible) 

                Let us all pause and give thanks to the Lord that we have Major League Baseball’s Spring Training with us once again.  It is with great joy that I have already watched three games on TV from the teams’ Florida-based camps. Better yet, we will be on our way to Florida ourselves this weekend with Katie and Gary and family. Weather permitting, I have four games which we will be seeing. God is indeed good! Those of you who know me well will know that baseball is almost my second religion.

                Spring training is that period of several weeks in which the ball players get back in playing shape, sharpen up their baseball skills, take batting practice and infield/outfield practice. Pitchers throw off their rust. Mangers start to plan their opening day rosters based on what they see developing in their players.  The very good players are pretty well guaranteed spots on the regular team.  Then, there are those who have to earn a spot and there is no guarantee. Young rookies are showcasing themselves. Old veterans may also be vying for spots. They play exhibition games and dozens of players get their shot. The season has not yet begun, hope springs eternal that this will be the season for going all the way to the World Series. Everyone starts on an even playing field with a 0-0 record.

                Practice makes a difference.

                So why not use this Lenten Season as an opportunity to exercise the muscles and skills of our faith? I will be the first to admit that I am sometimes a very flabby Christian. I should brush up on my abilities and capabilities of being in better shape to follow Christ. Even if for any other reason than life can become an uphill climb when you least expect it and one may not have the spiritual stamina or spiritual endurance when we need it the most. I shouldn’t be blaming God when it’s me who can’t keep up!

                I could, for example,  read my Bible more often, pray more regularly, listen more intentionally to  sacred whispers, be more charitable, exercise my love for others and reduce my critical or judgmental slobbery.

                Faith is not a given, even though it is a gift or at least God’s Grace is a gift which comes by faith. By faith, this unique trusting relationship we have with God through Christ, has to be exercised on a regular basis. Some thought, energy, effort, exertion need to be applied.

Stretch your mind.  Keep spiritually fit. Make your inner heart pump with blessed life. Breathe deeply. We will be much better off when we do some Spring Training and maybe a little Spring cleaning, too.

                “It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (Hebrews 12: 1 -2, The Message Bible)

                Batter up!


Dale 

[As noted, I will be away and there will be NO blogs for the next two weeks. I will be back on March 25^th.]