How Do You Make Sense of This?
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
That is one of the most frequently heard comments in these days. Covid-19 has
gone from something that seemed far away to something that is directly
affecting basically every aspect of our lives. In situations like this, it’s
very easy to lose faith and to live in fear of the unknowns. We know that the
church is not a building; the church is a people.
But when we can’t get together for such a time as this, who are we? What is the
church? How do we make sense of all this? Though there’s no easy answer,
today’s passage gives us hope and encouragement. In John 17 Jesus prays, just
hours before he was arrested. Basically Jesus prays for three things. He prays
for himself, that he would be glorified (vv. 1-5); for his disciples, that they would be sanctified (vv. 6-19); and for the church (future disciples), that it
would be unified (vv. 20-26). Today
we will mainly explore Jesus’ second petition – our sanctification, becoming like Christ himself.
By The Word
God wants us to be holy. God said to Israel, “Be holy, because
I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev 19:2). How does God make us holy? The
answer is through His Word. In John
17:17 Jesus prays, “Sanctify them by your truth; your word is truth.” God’s word makes us holy. God wants us to find
our identity, our life purpose, meaning, and mission in His Word. God wants us to anchor our soul in His Word in times of trouble. Coronavirus has become a pandemic.
As of March 28, it’s affecting 199 countries – more than 650,000 cases and
30,000 deaths. Some say, “It just happens.
And this too shall pass.” Some say, “This is God’s judgment on sinful cities
and arrogant nations.” We hear different stories, analyses and opinions. Who do
we listen to? How do we make sense of this deadly disaster? We Christians can
make sense of it in God’s Word.
A.W. Tozer said, “Has it ever
occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of
one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow…”[1]
Here “another standard” or “the same fork” to which hundreds of pianos all
tuned is the word of God. God wants
us to interpret the signs of the times in
His Word (cf. Matt 16:3). The Bible says that God’s will is always good, always acceptable, always perfect (cf.
Romans 12:2). Therefore, God has purposes for everything, even the coronavirus.
Even in this deadly disaster God has good, wise, perfect purposes. Nothing just
happens. Although it would be impossible to grasp God’s thoughts and purposes, what
we find in the Bible the signs like this – famine, pestilence, disaster – God’s
merciful wake-up call for us to turn and be drawn to God. John Piper rightly
said in this way:[2]
All natural disasters — whether
floods, famines, locusts, tsunamis, or diseases — are a thunderclap of divine mercy in the midst of judgment, calling all people everywhere to repent and
realign their lives, by grace, with the infinite worth of the glory of God.
I would like to emphasize it’s God’s
calling for all of us – you and me. “All
of us” are in this together. “All of us” are called to repent and draw near to
God. Daniel was reading the prophet
Jeremiah, where God revealed that 70 years were determined for Israel’s
captivity. He did the math and realized that the time was drawing near. But
rather than saying, “Cool!” and sitting back to watch it happen, he did seek
God with all his heart by prayer and fasting. Nehemiah heard the news that the
city of Jerusalem was in great trouble and shame. When he heard these words, he
sat down and wept, and mourned for days, fasting and praying before God,
saying, “Lord, we have sinned against
you. Both I and my family have sinned…”
(Neh 1:6) In his mercy, in his good, acceptable, perfect purposes, God allows
this deadly disaster, that we might turn and draw near to God. That we might
treasure him above health and life (Psalm 63:3). That we might anchor our soul
in His Word. God wants us to be holy. God makes us holy through His Word.
Through Trials
God also make us holy through many trials
in this world. Jesus prayed, “I am not asking you to take them out of the
world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one” (v. 15). Here we learn
that Christ thinks it better for us to remain in the world and be kept
from the evil one than to be taken out of the world and removed from the
presence of evil altogether. Through many trials and troubles God makes us more
holy, more spiritual, more pure, more resilient in every way – in thought and
word and deed, in life and character.
God works in strange ways. In Acts 11 Luke tells us how first believers
came to be called “Christians” for the first time. At that time the early church
was thriving in every way. They did everything together, enjoyed fellowship,
grew spiritually and in numbers. But then, a strange thing happened – great persecution.
All of sudden they were scattered all over. They couldn’t “stay together”
anymore. But that’s not the end of the story. What happened next? The spread of
the gospel, particularly to the gentiles. Some of the disciples went to the
city called Antioch and preached the good news. The result? “The hand of the
Lord was with them, and a great number became believers and turned to the Lord”
(v. 22). And those believers in Antioch were first called “Christians.” Before
persecution, the early church was a homogenous, isolated group, ignoring the
rest of the world. But through trials and sufferings, they became mature and
grew into inclusive, diverse Christians.
God works in strange ways. Because of the coronavirus outbreak, we the
church can’t get together. What good resulted from all this? There are many!
First of all, God has graciously and forcefully given us “time-out” as we
practice self-isolating and social-distancing. It’s a God-given time for us to stop,
think, reflect, pray, realign. We’ve never seen anything like this. It’s God’s
time-out. Another good thing is that since we can’t get together in person, we
try to find ways to stay connected with each other and stay present to
our community. So far, quite a few people have contacted and asked me, “How may
I help you?” I see people care for each other and for the vulnerable – seniors and
self-isolating neighbors. Another good
thing is that we are forced to ask “why” questions to the things we take for
granted: Why do I work? Why do I go to school? Why do I go to church? Why am I
doing or not doing all this? And we get to the bottom of our life. What’s the
purpose of life? What’s the purpose of the church? Not only on the individual
level, but also on the community and larger church level, we are forced to ask
the same questions. For instance, the UMC General Conference is postponed until
next year. I believe it’s God’s gracious wake-up call and invitation to ask
ourselves what’s the mission and purpose of the UMC.
Close to Thee
From Jesus’ prayer in John 17 we
learn what Jesus thinks of the church. He prays for us (his disciples, the church), that we would be made holy. He makes us holy and draws us
close to him mainly through His Word and trials in the world.
As I close, I would like to share
the words of Corrie ten Boom, who endured so much and has encouraged so many:[3]
I asked the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of his salvation know,
And seek more earnestly his face.
I hoped that in some favoured hour
At once He’d answer my request,
And by his love’s constraining power
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
Instead of this, he made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.
…
“Lord, why is this?” I trembling cried,
“Will you pursue your worm to death?”
“It’s in this way,” the Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.
These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set you free;
And break your schemes of earthly joy,
That you may seek your all in me.”
God works in strange ways. But his
aim is always love. Through his word
and trials, including the coronavirus crisis, God makes us holy. God draws us
close to him, that we may treasure him more than our life, health, security. So
friends, today let us listen to a thunderclap message of God, saying “Repent.” Let
us turn and realign our life with God now. Amen.
[1] R. Kent Hughes, John:
That You May Believe (Preaching the Word) (p. 400). Crossway. Kindle
Edition.
[2] John Piper, “How Do We Make Sense of
the Coronavirus?” Desiring God, https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-we-make-sense-of-the-coronavirus
[3] R. Kent
Hughes, 356.
No comments:
Post a Comment