from the VCC Newsletter on 3/16/2020: Coronavirus, Courage, and Christian Mission.

From the earliest days of the church the church understood that life in Christ was more than life here and now. This liberated the church to be courageous in the face of death unlike any other religion in history. The people of God were convinced that to live was Christ but to die was gain. This was not some haphazard caution to the wind, it was not a lack of respect for the precious gift of life, but rather it came from the deeper conviction that eternal life was at stake. Not their own eternal life, which was secured in Jesus, but the eternal life of those who were perishing around them. The thought of others dying and facing a Christless eternity drove them to be courageous, confident that losing their life now so that others might live eternally was worth the risk. 

One of the reasons that there are Christian hospitals today was that the early church led the way in caring for people in times of plague, disease, disaster, and uncertainty. They were not afraid of dying from disease, if that meant they might share the gospel with those who were dying. There in a person's greatest hour of need countless Christians gave their lives for the sake of the gospel. Likewise in times of famine Christians were known not for hoarding to survive but saving for sharing, until they had nothing left. Remember that when Elijah was held up in the home of the widow that it was her willingness to share her last morsel with the prophet that ultimately saved her life and the life of her son. God blessed them not for hoarding but for sharing even though they were not Israelites. The history of the church has been “they loved not their lives, even unto death.” 

So here we are in a crazy time of people hoarding, running amuck in fear, worried about the Corona Virus 19 (CoVid19). The stores are already out of hand sanitizer and toilet paper. (It’s not a stomach virus, so why are we out of toilet paper?)  My point is that panic has set in and the passing of misinformation is dangerous. So let me be clear, masks do not keep you from getting sick. They keep you from passing your sickness. It stops your germs when coughing and sneezing from spreading your infected droplets. It does not filter out airborne viruses from reaching you. If you put a mask on and you can still smell your dinner, proof that it’s not keeping things out, only in. The best solution for stopping the spread of viruses is still washing your hands (20+ seconds), and covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough with your elbow, not your hand. 

So then, as much as I hate getting sick, my real question is, what should we do? First we should pray. Pray for healing, pray for the stop of the virus spreading, and pray for all of this to stop. 

Second, we should ask God what he is doing and join him in his work. So that might mean we attend to those who are ill, so that we can be the hands and feet of the gospel to those who are sick. Sometimes faith is spelled R-I-S-K and the risk is real. You might get sick! 

And what if the threat actually becomes life and death? What do we do then? The answer is we do what we are continually doing even before the covid19, we die to ourselves. Do we close down services? Probably not, people need comfort in times like that, but you might need to refrain short-term because of your health. I urge you to be wise and to be innocent of evil. Do the right things, get rest, be kind, don’t hoard, don’t spread misinformation, and be helpful to others. And as you go, make disciples of Christ from among the lost whom you serve in their hour of need. 

Grace and peace,

Hal  

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

A few weeks ago (in March) I had a dream about the urgency of prayer in our church, followed by several confirming words, dreams and visions from others in the body. It was a real wake-up call to make sure that prayer had its proper place in the church, drawing us not to religious practice, but deeply into intimacy with Jesus.

The problem was busyness! We all get busy, we all have too much to do, but the truth is that we don't stop and pray because we have time, we pray because we need the power of the Hoy Sprit for living. We pray because we need direction from our heavenly Father. We pray because we need the mercy of Jesus. We do not pray because we must (as in law) we pray because we must (as in our deepest need to be whole).

Here we are now, about one month out form that first urgent call to pray. Since that time I have certainly changed my prayer routine, made more room in my schedule throughout lent and I have committed to keep that space for the Lord. I have heard from several people that they needed that call to action as well, and who have reoriented their lives to be more intentional in relationship with God. We have also seen a renewed interest in our prayer meeting, which we moved to Tuesdays at noon.

At the same time, I also see that the dire warning has passed and there is a tendency to let the urgent fade into the background of normalcy. It is easy to let complacency creep back in and for us to begin doing everything in our own strength. It is all too easy to let our stomach decide that we need to eat now before we pray. To let urgency demand we skip prayer meeting to spend time catching up on work. To let TV take the place of intimacy not only with God but also with those whom we live.

Most of us have expressed some level of concern for our nation in recent months both during the election and afterwards. Some have taken to political posting, arguing, and letting fear control their view of life. Others have buried their heads in the sand or on pinterest posts to avoid the ugliness of political debate. Yet the truth is that what we are talking about when we speak of the civility of a society, its manners, it social decorum, its moral underpinnings, and the issues of justice in a society is that the real need is for revival. For people to be transformed. We cannot transform a society except one heart at a time being transformed by the love of God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The need in our land is less about making America great again, and making America good again, as in good like God is good, as in intentionally becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.

So one month later my real reason for writing is wondering, what will it take to bring us to our knees in prayer? What will convince us that our deepest need is for God? Politics do not change the world, they only reflect the condition of the hearts of those who vote and those who lead. Laws do not change people, God proved that on day one when Adam and Eve chose rebellion over relationship with God and broke his laws bring about sin and death. The Law of the Old Testament did not save us, that was Jesus who died on the cross because we were guilty of violating the Law. More laws will not make our society better or more free, or more moral. Putting the ten commandments on court house lawns will not change our society unless we first write them on our hearts.

Our deepest need is not for social transformation but personal transformation. Pray without ceasing is not a rule, but a way of life that takes me into the presence of God to know his heart, to know his will, and to empower me to do his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

The Loads and the Burdens

Many are familiar with the story of the loaves and the fishes but few are acquainted with the loads and the burdens and it may be every bit as important to our spiritual well-being as the miracles but for many of us would be tantamount to food multiplying if they knew this lesson (or at least the multiplication of your time).  What am I talking about? I am talking about healthy boundaries and knowing when to say, yes, and when to say, no. How do we as servant-hearted people know what is healthy service and what is too much?

The answer for us is in Galatians 6, where the Apostle Paul tells us bear one another’s burdens but then he advises but everyone must carry their own load. Its not always that clear to us what the Apostle means because words like burden and load are so fluid in our society. But it goes something like this, loads are the everyday responsibilities that we all need to take care of ourselves. If you do not eat, if you do not get dressed, get up for work or any of those normal activities that everyone has to do, that’s your problem, not mine. On the other hand, if you have suddenly become disabled, had tragedy befall you, or had some kind of crouching burden put on you, the call on the community of Christ is to help you get out from under that overloading burden until it either passes or life can be readjusted to make the new life situation less overwhelming and less crushing.  

Now, when we are helping those whose life has suddenly been crushed by tragedy or sudden illness it may be that the best way we can help is to take care of some of those daily loads that are otherwise normal so that the person in the tragedy can process their burden. So then I can step in and cook meals, run to the grocery store, mow the grass probably easier than I can go to the doctor, go to the lawyer or anything else like that. I come alongside in those moments and I do what I can to ease the weight of the burden. Chances are I cannot fix the problem but I can make it easier for you to get through it. 

So, if your friend, neighbor or family member is crushed by the extremes of life then we are called to bear their burdens just as Christ bore our burdens at Calvary. But if those same persons can’t seem to live without you, I have good news. You are not the Messiah; that would be Jesus Christ, and since he does not rescue them from life’s load, neither should you.

Pan Theology

They just released new statistics that our economy was flat for the first quarter of 2014, and that sent the media into a frenzy. Whose fault is it? Is it the president? Is it congress? Should we blame the Republicans or the Democrats? People are wringing their hands and wondering, what is going to happen to us. Maybe you are one of them. It didn’t take long until the questions started about the end times, the end of the world, and what my view is about them. Actually, I am a bit of a “pan” theologian on the end times. I am convinced that it will all “pan-out” at the end. 

You see, even if Jesus does come back tomorrow I do not even know if I am going to make it to tomorrow. My appointment with Jesus could be today. So I have never put much stock in worrying about the end. Matthew 6.34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Worry is like borrowing trouble. So I decided to stop worrying and do what I knew I was supposed to be doing. When Jesus returns I want him to find me doing is being faithful to my wife, faithful to do my job, faithful to share Christ with my neighbors. I want to be found being faithful. So I try everyday to live in such a way that it does not matter if Jesus comes back today, tomorrow, or in twenty years .My responsibility is to be faithful. Then it wont really matter when he returns. Every picture in the Bible of the final judgment depicts a scene where people are measured by what they do, rather than by what they say they believe. Granted what they have done has grown out of a response to what they believed, but the concern is always that they be found faithfully doing what they were told to do. 

My challenge to you this week, is that you can articulate a great faith by living a great faith, so that whenever you live your last day on the earth that the Father might say to you, Well done, good and faithful servant.