Covid–19 and the Wrath of God

Someone asked me the other day if Covid-19 is the wrath of God against sinners. The question reminded me of another man who sat across the table from me one morning and asked if 9/11 was the wrath of God against gays.” Both questions sent me to a situation Luke mentions in his Gospel. 

Some folks had come to Jesus asking about “certain Galilean Jews whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices” (Luke 13:1). It seems that Pilate’s troops had surrounded and slaughtered a number of visiting Galileans as they were worshipping in the temple. We know nothing about the massacre, but it’s in keeping with what we do know of Pilate’s character. 

Jesus’ answer was wholly unexpected: “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:2-5).

These folks thought that these tragedies must be God’s wrath on a certain set of god-awful sinners. They perished in their own sins. “No,” Jesus replied, “Unless you repent you toowill perish in your sin.” Jesus’ answer laid their hearts bare. 

We, like the folks who brought this question to Jesus, are fixed on first causes: When folks suffer catastrophe we reckon that they must deserve it. But personal tragedy is no more an indication of wrong-doing then the absence of tragedy is an indication of personal righteousness. Whether our lives are tragic or tranquil we are all, as Martin Luther insisted, “dust and ashes and full of sin.” And all of us are in need of repentance. 

The question, then, is not “What about that sinner over there?” but, “What about me, this sinner under my own hat?” (Cf., Luke 18:9-14). Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you too will perish”

Repentance, In the New Testament, is metanoeo, “to change one’s mind.” The word in the Old Testament is shuv, “to turn around.” It occurs in the Song of Songs to describe the Shulamite’s dance as she twirls around: shuvi, shuvi—"turn around, turn around”( Song 6:13).

In both testaments the word repentance means something like changing one’s mind about the direction you’re going, turning around and going in another direction. As some wag has suggested, repentance is a shuv in the right direction.

Repentance does not require tears, or feelings of sorrow and remorse. It is the simple recognition that we have been going the wrong direction our entire lives and for our own salvation we must turn around and follow another.

And here’s the Good News: When we turn around we find, to our everlasting surprise and joy, that Jesus has been standing there all along, waiting to forgive and receive us with open arms. “He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). 

David Roper

4.20.20

The Little Door

"The one who offers thanksgiving honors me, and establishes a way by which I may show him the salvation of God!” (Psalm 50:23).

Gratitude is one way God brings salvation to us; the means by which He lavishes upon us all he has in mind for us. 

I forget to say, "Thank you" to the One who has graciously given me "all things richly to enjoy”; I’m much too busy complaining about what I don’t have in sequester, in consequence of which I fail to enter into the fullness of God. In fact, if I read Romans 1 right, an ungrateful heart can lead me away from God and into all sorts of god-awful behavior (Romans 1:21-23).

I picked up a copy of Alice in Wonderland the other day and read this: "Alice came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted! Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and peeked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw."

Gratitude is the "little door” that leads us into a fabulous place, the means by which we enter into a more complete, intimate relationship with God, the way by which we “more of His saving fullness see; more of His love for you and me.”

"Alice tried to squeeze through the little door, but she was much too large." Humble gratitude is the only way in. You have to become very small. (“Go ask Alice, when she's  ten feet tall.”) 

Footfalls echo in the memory

Down the passage which we did not take

Towards the door we never opened

Into the rose-garden. —T.S. Eliot

David Roper

Sheltering in Peace

 

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!

You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;

You shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;

your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.

The LORD bless you from Zion!

May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!

May you see your children's children!

Peace be upon Israel!  —Psalms 128:1-7

 

This is a picture of a “functional” family, sheltering in place, gathered in peace, sharing God’s blessings around the table and facetiming the grandkids (seeing their “children’s children.”)

 

There are number of things we can do to stay safe these days. Social distancing, personal protective gear, hand washing and other prophylactic measures are necessary precautions for us. But none of these actions can, of themselves, free us from our deepest anxiety. Our only sure protection from fear is the “fear of the Lord.”

 

The “fear of the Lord,” is not craven fear, but worship, devotion, glad adoration and a desire to do God’s will. This is our safety and our peace.

 

Under His wings I am safely abiding.
Tho' the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me.
He has redeemed me, and I am His child.

Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever. —William Cushing 

David Roper

4.8.20

The Problem of Evil

 

Many years ago, I was slogging through a mosquito-infested meadow with a gaggle of kids when one of them asked me, “Why does God put up with mosquitoes?”

 

I was stumped.

 

The question these days would be, “Why does God put up with Covid-19?

 

I’m still stumped.

 

Both questions go to the problem of evil: If God is both good and all-powerful why does he permit evil to exist? 

The final answer to that question awaits Heaven, but I have it on good authority that “all things work together for good,” a good Paul spells out in the rest of the chapter as the salvation, sanctification and glorification of human souls (Romans 8:28-30).  

 

As theologians put it, everything God does or allows is salvific, i.e., it leads to salvation. He, in jujitsu-fashion, takes the worst that evil can do and turns it into eternal good, though that good is not always revealed, or realized at the time. 

 

The Cross is the best example.

 

David Roper,

4.5.20

 Sometimes Mountains Move

“The mountains may move,

and the hills may be shaken,

but my love will never be removed from you,

and my covenant of peace will never be shaken,”

This is what the Lord says—the one who has compassion on you.

(Isaiah 54:10).

Sometimes mountains move, but God’s love will never be shaken or taken from us. Jesus, the Servant of the Lord bore our punishment and made peace (Isaiah 53:5), a covenanted reality more steadfast than the earth’s crust, rooted in our Lord’s compassion. Nothing can separate us from his love.

To rejigger the words of an old Gershwin tune...

In time the Rocky’s may crumble,

Gibraltar may tumble,

They're only made of clay.

But…

God's love is here to stay!

An old friend, Len Sunukjian, wrote this: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword, or Corvid-19. No, despite all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans  8:35). 

This is our heritage from the Lord (54:17).

David Roper

4.6.20

Calling It

“Who, like me, can call it?” (Isaiah 44:7).

Colorful National League umpire, Bill Klem, on one occasion, delayed calling a pitch. “Well,” complained the player, “is it a ball or a strike?” Most umpires would simply acknowledge the facts, but Klem was made of sterner stuff. “Sonny,” he replied, “it ain’t nothing ’til I call it.”

So it is: Nothing ain’t nothing (or better yet, nothing is nothing) until God “calls it.” But when he does, the word becomes fact and flesh and history, an idea so firmly imbedded in biblical thought that the Hebrew word dabar, in certain contexts, can mean at the same time both word and event. 

History and current events are not "one damn thing after another,” as Henry Ford insisted, but the end product of God’s infinite wisdom. There are no maverick molecules (or viruses) in the universe. 

Therefore, “Don’t be afraid…” (Isaiah 44:8). 

David Roper

4.4.20

"When You Think You Have To Worry…”

“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his life span?” (Matthew 6:26-27).

What Jesus precludes is not work but worry. Birds spend a lot of time and energy scratching up food, but they don’t worry about the product. Food is there to be found, provided by our Father. So, our Father provides for us. 

To be honest, our chief anxiety these days is not groceries—we can order them online and have them delivered. Our greatest concern is our “life span.” Will we pass through the corona crisis unscathed? 

Even so, our Lord tells us not to worry. Anxiety can’t add even 18” to our lifespan. (The ancients applied linear measurements—handbreadths and arm lengths—to time lines.) Worry, in fact can shorten our lives.

It’s best then to cast those anxieties on the Lord, knowing that he really, truly cares …all of which reminds me of an oft-quoted poem:

Said the robin to the sparrow,

“I should really like to know,

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and worry so.”

Said the sparrow to the robin,

“Friend I think that it must be,

That they have no Heavenly Father,

Such as cares for you and me.” 

—Elizabeth Chaney

If you have trouble believing that your Father in Heaven cares for you don’t worry. Rather ask him to help you believe. Everything, even faith, comes, in due time, from above. (Ephesians 2:8,9). 

David Roper

4.2.20