Menu
Menu
×
Menu
Menu
×

Sunday School (4/19 and beyond) Covid and Contentment

Sunday School (4/19 and beyond) Covid and Contentment

April 19, 2020

    COVID-19 – A REMINDER

    When something ‘bad’ happens to us we do not immediately think about what ‘good’ might come out of it. We focus on surviving, on getting through to the other side – through the pain, through the difficulty, through the frustrations – to a place where everything will be ‘right’ again, and we can get on with our lives. Sometimes, when it is all over, we can look back and realize that, even though it was ‘bad’, some ‘good’ did result from it.

    God assures us that in all things he works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28), and many might be wondering what ‘good’ can God possibly be working in this pandemic that has so rapidly encompassed the world?

    COVID-19 has reminded us of our human weakness, our human vulnerability. Although we like to think of ourselves as self-sufficient, independent and autonomous, (and our atheistic, materialistic world wants us to believe that that is what we are), this is not the way God made us. We were not created to depend on ourselves; we were created to depend on God.

    ‘“To whom will you compare me?
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One…
    Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
    The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
    He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.’ (Isaiah 40:27, 28)

    God alone is worthy of our trust.

    Even the best efforts of humans are often proved inadequate. Even the most faithful of friends can fail. Even our own deepest commitments can weaken and dissolve. Because our efforts, our friends and our commitments are limited. Only God can be trusted. Because only God is unlimited.

    THE VALUE OF CONTENTMENT

    COVID-19 has thrown us all into a new world of restrictions, isolation and uncertainty.

    We have to stay in our homes.
    We cannot enjoy our normal sports and pastimes.
    We cannot meet with our friends and extended family.
    We cannot join our fellow-believers in worship.
    Our supermarket shelves do not have all the items we want to purchase.
    Our incomes are threatened or even lost.
    We and our loved ones are vulnerable to a potentially fatal virus.
    We do not know how long all of this will last.

    We do not want this. We did not ask for this. It was not on our agenda. But here it is. We have to live with it.

    How are we, as Christians, supposed to respond in this situation? What attitude does God require of us? The testimony of the apostle Paul is instructive:

    Philippians 4:11-13).

    Contentment presents us with a challenge. It does not come easily. Notice that Paul says ‘I have learned’. Contentment was something that he had to learn.

    Philippians contains another instructive passage. In 2:5 Paul instructs us ‘Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus’, and then describes how Jesus, who is the eternal and infinite God, became one of us – bound in time and space in a human body – putting aside his divine glory and making himself ‘nothing’.

    COVID-19 has seriously altered our lives. But these changes, these restrictions, these limitations, are insignificant compared to the changes, restrictions and limitations that Jesus Christ deliberately embraced.

    Why did he do it? He did it to bring us to glory (Hebrews 2:10).
    He did it because this end result of all he endured gives him satisfaction (Isaiah 53:11).
    He did it because this end result is joy (Hebrews 12:2; Zephaniah 3:17).

    This mindset of Christ is our example, our benchmark.

    ‘I will put my trust in him’ (Hebrews 2:13).
    ‘… he entrusted himself to him who judges justly’ (1Peter 2:23).

    Here in the context of COVID-19 the challenge of contentment is the challenge to demonstrate our trust in God. The one thing that incurred God’s displeasure with the Hebrews after their redemption from Egypt was their lack of trust in him. That lack of trust expressed itself in a lack of contentment. Repeatedly they grumbled and complained:

    They grumbled about the water (Exodus 15:24). They grumbled about food (Exodus 16:2,3). They grumbled about being thirsty (Exodus 17:1-3). They complained about their hardships (Numbers 11:1). They grumbled because of their fear (Numbers 14:2 – 4). They grumbled about God’s appointed leader (Numbers 17:1 – 13).

    God’s verdict on all this grumbling and complaining is clear: ‘How long will this wicked community grumble against me? … everyone of you who … has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land …’ (Numbers 14:27,29).

    We may think that no one is looking, that no one is listening. We are confined to our homes, not out and about for all to see, so it’s easy to argue that it doesn’t matter if we grumble and complain. But think again: how we as Christians live even in isolation demonstrates the integrity of our faith, and vindicates the wisdom of God, to all the spiritual beings in the heavenly realms. To the cherubim, seraphim and angels. To the evil spirits. To Satan. (Read Job 1:3-11; 2:1-4; Ephesians 3:10.)

    But also, more importantly, our contentment, our trust, brings joy to God our Father.

     

    REDEEMING THE TIME

    Read Ephesians 5:15 – 17; Colossians 4:5: ‘Did you notice that Paul says ‘because the days are evil’? We would agree with that! The ‘days are evil’.

    For these ‘evil’ days God gives us clear guidelines about how to live:

    Be very careful.
    Not as unwise, but as wise.
    Make the most of every opportunity.
    Don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

    The word translated ‘very careful’ is akribos, which refers to a deliberate diligence. It excludes any slackness, any carelessness, any attitude that says ‘Oh, this will be good enough; it doesn’t really matter.’ To be akribos is to strive for excellence.

    Where the NIV has ‘make the most of every opportunity’ in both Ephesians and Colossians, the KJV had ‘redeeming the time’. The phrase in the Greek text is exagorazomenoi ton kairon. It literally means ‘buying back the time’. Paul uses the same verb in Galatians 3:13, where he says ‘Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law’. Christ has set us free from the curse of the law, from that evil situation in which we were captive.

    Now he instructs us, because the days are evil, that by being wise and by being careful, we are to redeem the time. We are to set each of our moments free from evil. We are not to give in to the evil, to the darkness, to the fear, to the despair. Rather, we are to take each moment and fill it with light and love and life. We are not to let the evil and darkness of COVID-19 overwhelm and overcome us, but we are to continue to be people of faith, people of confident hope, people of compassion, people who rejoice even though we suffer, in the context of our suffering world, in the presence of ‘outsiders’ who do not yet know Christ.

    And here that controversial topic of being ‘filled with the Spirit’ becomes very simplified and grounded in the harsh realities of human life. Paul’s command ‘be filled with the Spirit’ is right here in this context (Ephesians 5:18).

    It is easy, when we feel threatened, when we are in uncharted territory, when we are in a context of unplanned change, to be foolish. To be confused. To no longer seem able to discern right from wrong. The encompassing darkness, frustration and uncertainties cloud our minds. We desperately need wisdom. Paul’s instruction is ‘don’t be foolish … understand what the Lord’s will is … be filled with the Spirit’. In other words – don’t let the evil days dictate your actions and attitudes, rather let God’s Spirit direct you.

    The prayer of Saint Francis reflects a heart and mind striving, with God’s help, to redeem the time, to make the most of every opportunity, to make every moment holy:

    Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
    Where there is hatred, let me sow love
    Where there is injury, pardon
    Where there is doubt, faith
    Where there is despair, hope
    Where there is darkness, light
    And where there is sadness, joy
    O Divine Master, grant that I may
    Not so much seek to be consoled as to console
    To be understood, as to understand
    To be loved, as to love
    For it is in giving that we receive
    And it’s in pardoning that we are pardoned
    And it’s in dying that we are born to Eternal Life
    Amen

    May we similarly seek and submit to God’s direction to live for his glory in the COVID-19 context … liberating our days and the days of others from the uncertainties and grief that encompass us and filling them with God’s glory and goodness.

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *