There’s been a little sing-song voice in my head lately, humming a simple refrain over and over in the background of my day-to-day. And it's this:
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21, AMP)
These days, when so often I feel like my only response to things is wide-spread hands and a shrug, this little chorus has pulled my focus back and put it in its proper perspective. I, like many of us, don’t recognize the old patterns of my life in the severe forms of this new one. This has been hard to navigate, and I would be lying if I said I never broke down crying for what has been lost (in my personal life and in the world at large) in this season.
But then comes the quiet voice, rising up out of the clamor. And it seems to me that wanting to go back, and pretending that I can do life as the old normal, is maybe the wrong response to this challenge when God can do immeasurably more than what might occur to me to ask or, even broader, to imagine.
We were in a rut, maybe. We were putting God in a box to think that he could only speak to us in the routines we were used to; only act in the circumstances of our lives as they had been. Instead of accepting the call to face the challenges of 2020 with fresh eyes, creative minds, and compassionate hearts, we made it into a battleground of masks vs. no masks; of social distancing vs. not social distancing.
I recently heard a pastor preach a sermon based in part on Hebrews 10:24-25:
“…
and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and
to do good deeds, not forsaking our meeting
together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some,
but encouraging one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see
the day [of Christ’s return] approaching.” (AMP)
In his message, he talked about how different it would look if we made a point, as followers of Jesus, to motivate each other toward acts of love, instead of buying into the cultural idea of friendship. Then he went on to challenge people in his congregation who have not been going into his church building to participate in a typical worship service. (Most of these people were not attending because this church had decided not to follow any of the CDC recommendations regarding COVID.) Even those who were participating in the service online were, according to him, in direct violation of this snippet of Scripture. He claimed that this was the work of Satan, who is using this to break up the church and stop Christians from gathering together.
My heart grew so heavy at those words. While that’s a true concern and challenge the church is currently facing, how is that out-of-context chastisement “encouraging one another to love and do good deeds”? How is it doing anything except widening the gap between Christians on both sides of the issue of our COVID response: metaphorically patting on the back those church members in the building, and slapping the wrists of those watching online at home. Because while it’s true that human beings are designed by a Triune God to be in community with one another, when he wrote those words Paul was not speaking to a world stricken with a virus that preys on the vulnerable members of society. And how often, in both Old and New Testaments, are we charged with looking after the defenseless among us?
John 13 tells the story of how Jesus took on the demeaning task of washing his disciples’ feet: a job usually reserved for servants, not a highly respected teacher. By doing this, he was showing us that this is what compassionate love does. It humbles itself, and serves others just as they are. When I see our culture place our desire to “take a stand” over our willingness to get down on our knees and love people where they are, that is when I see the darkness winning. Not in families sacrificing the old norm of their lives in order to protect the vulnerable among us. Not in churches stewarding well the gifts God blessed them with by seeking new and creative ways to come together for worship, instruction, and community beyond a traditional worship service and activities. And not in a willingness to wear a mask, and in so doing humbly kneeling down, rather than taking a stand, on a subject that is neither theological, spiritual, or moral. No, the darkness triumphs when we let things like COVID fracture the unity we have in Christ. Hopelessness wins when we try to confine God to old habits of church—and of life—instead of inviting him into the chaos of our present. Fear dominates when we say no to a God who is holding out his hands, ready for us to ask for immeasurably more now, in the middle of all this, than we had pre-pandemic.
“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to everyone, so that I may win more for Christ. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews for Christ; to men under the Law, I became as one under the Law, though not being under the Law myself, so that I might win those who are under the Law. To those who are without (outside) the Law, I became as one without the Law, though I am not without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became as the weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means (in any and every way) save some by leading them to faith in Jesus Christ. And I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings along with you.” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23, AMP)
Friends... let us go and do likewise.
