Interpreting the Times
Another day, another check of the stats. Another day, another layer of disruption. Another day, another guess at what the right response is. Yet, at the same time, another day is another opportunity to hear the unshakeable voice of God.
Do you know what has been soothing my soul during this time of uncertainty? The rock solid, time-tested, pure and unchanging words of Jesus. I am so thankful for the writers of the New Testament who took the time to record Jesus’ life and words. Jesus’ words were spoken in a small-town context and written down on cheap non-durable parchment with low budget ink dyes. Yet, 2,000 years later, His words remain alive and powerful. They still cause our hearts to burn within us. They still set captives free. And they are still infused with absolute sovereignty and love.
During this time of Covid-19 disruption, I I have been particularly gripped by Luke 12. The chapter opens with a crowd of many thousands aggressively gathering around Jesus. Instead of addressing the crowd, Jesus speaks in a soft voice that only His disciples can hear. I can see Him smiling at them and then, with some verve in His voice, He warns them against mankind’s propensity for greed, worry, and fear. (Not hard to see these today.)
After this, Jesus stands tall and addresses the crowd with a loud voice. He challenges them by saying, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?”
Jesus was frustrated because His people were forgetting to ask what God was up to in the midst of the changes and disruptions in culture and climate.
Uh-oh. Are we interpreting this Covid-19 disruption with God in mind?
We who have entered into a relationship with the eternal God must always remember that God is at work in everything. We must never forget God uses the temporal world and the challenges we go through to produce in us something everlasting. In times of disruption, it is important to take stock of our own lives, to humble ourselves, and to make the adjustments God is directing us to make.
It is easy to focus on all the problems of society or the toilet paper hoarders around us, and forget that God desires to perfect our individual faith. God cares for our temporal life, but He died on the cross to give us a life filled with the eternal weight of His glory.
The way we go about this is by resisting greed, worry, and fear in times of societal shaking. We humble ourselves by tearing down the idols of greed masked by security, worry masked by productivity, and fear masked as concern. We get reconciled with God through worshipful obedience. We become rich toward God through compassionate generosity to the powerless around us.
Then, no matter how long the storm may last, we will get to the other side, confident that our little lives brought glory to our great God. We will have provided for ourselves purses that will not wear out and treasure in heaven that will not run out.
Please know that your life has the potential to be so beautiful and significant through the lens of eternity.
By His grace and for His glory,
David
p.s. This Sunday, again, our services will be live-stream only: livingstreams.org/live I will be preaching and we will also be taking communion together at the end. Remember to get some bread and wine or crackers and juice for you and your household.