So, my dear family, this is my appeal to you by the mercies of God: offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Worship like this brings your mind into line with God’s. What’s more, don’t let yourselves be squeezed into the shape dictated by the present age. Instead, be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you can work out what God’s will is, what is good, acceptable and complete. [Romans 12:1-2 (NTE)]
Like Job, we want to know “Why?” Wanting to understand the inexplicable, there are some who claim this pandemic is a sign of the end times; indeed, it is a terrifying time. When Jesus spoke of the end times, however, He warned His disciples to be wary about the signs and not to be misled. When we start looking for signs, we begin reading meanings into things that aren’t necessarily there. While we know that chaotic and difficult times will pave the way for Jesus’ return, we also know that chaos, difficulty, and even pandemics have been characteristics of life since the exile from Eden. I don’t know if this is a sign of the end times but I am cautious of doomsday prophets who claim to know what God is doing. Let us remember Jesus’ own words: ”No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” [Matthew 24:36] If neither Jesus nor angels knew, I doubt a mere mortal does! Whether or not the Australian wildfires, African locusts, and COVID-19 are precursors of things to come doesn’t change what’s happening or our reaction to them.
“Do you suppose,” said a friend, “that God got so sick and tired of our bickering, conflicts, and complaint that He’s sent us all to our rooms as punishment?” Indeed, there are some who say this pandemic is God’s judgment upon his sinful children. He’s used plagues before and it wasn’t just the Egyptians who suffered them at His hands. After the Israelites worshiped the golden calf, God sent a plague upon them; when they complained of no meat, He struck them with another plague; and, when they complained about Moses and Aaron, a plague that killed 14,700 quickly followed. When David sinned against God by taking a census, 70,000 innocent people died in a plague. Since God used plagues to discipline His children in the past, we might wonder if COVID-19 is His punishment for our sins. We simply don’t know and I would be cautious of anyone who claims to know the answer; Job’s friends got in trouble for that very thing! God made it clear to Job that the “why” is really not ours to know.
Perhaps, rather than sending us to our rooms as punishment, our loving Father has given us a “time out” for an attitude adjustment. Could this be God’s version of a “market correction” when, following a drop of 10%, the value of over-priced stocks are adjusted to more accurate levels? Instead of stocks, however, could this be a time to correct our priorities: a time to reevaluate their value and adjust them to more godly levels? When viewed in the light of this pandemic, many of the things we once thought important have become meaningless and some things we took for granted have become precious. Just as a stock market correction is a reminder for investors to reassess their holdings, this pandemic may be a time for us to reassess our priorities and values. What is worth keeping and what should we let go?
Jesus told us that wherever our treasure is, there will be our heart. Perhaps we’ve been sent to our rooms to examine our hearts: to see ourselves in a spiritual mirror to determine how much like Christ we look, how attached we’ve become to the things of the world, and determine who and what comes first in our lives.
None of us can divine God’s purpose; He didn’t tell Jesus or Job so I don’t think we can expect to know. Rather than asking “why?” theologian and author Timothy Keller says the question we should be asking is this: “Is God to whom I look to and trust in when bad things happen?”
You must keep all earthy treasures out of your heart, and let Christ be your treasure, and let Him have your heart. [Charles Spurgeon]
While I learned about international finance and Brexit at a women-only seminar, I also learned something more important by my reaction to two of the attendees. Their plumped up lips, wrinkle free faces, and curvaceous shapes indicated the work of a plastic surgeon and their perfect coifs and make-up caused me to wonder if they’d been professionally done that morning. Dressed from head-to toe in designer wear, it was obvious they shop at stores like Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, and Fendi rather than Kohl’s, T.J Maxx, or Old Navy. One woman’s long cardigan sported Gucci’s trademark red and green stripes and her purse, belt and shoes all displayed the designer’s gold double G logo. The other woman, with her very blond hair, heavy make-up, lavender rabbit fur vest, matching silk blouse, swanky jewelry, and glittery Lucite heels, looked like she belonged in an episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. 
Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [Philippians 2:3-4 (RSV)]
Traditionally, Lent has been a time for Christians of all denominations to refocus their hearts and minds on God through prayer, fasting and giving. As a way of fasting, many people deny themselves small indulgences, such as soda, candy, or their daily latte at Starbucks, but Lenten fasting isn’t limited to food. Other ways to observe this season include not making any purchases that aren’t absolutely necessary; donating or throwing away forty things during Lent’s forty days; giving up guilty pleasures like People magazine or binge-watching Netflix; refraining from complaint or gossip; not eating out or ordering in; saying three nice things to one’s spouse and children daily; reading the four gospels; doing a weekly service project; setting aside loose change for a charity; or forty days of letter writing, acts of kindness, or phone calls to special people. Some of those, like refraining from gossip or complaint, saying nice things to the family, and Scripture reading shouldn’t be limited to just these forty days!
In my granddaughter’s ethics class, the question was posed, “Should elected officials be held to a higher standard than the population that elected them?” She maintained that everyone should be held to the same high standard and I agreed. We have no right to hold anyone to a higher standard than the one we keep. I added, however, that having taken on the public’s trust, elected officials have an obligation to hold themselves to the highest standards possible.
Because the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is the only parable in which names are used, some people in the early church believed that it was a real-life incident. Whether a true story or a parable is of no consequence because its lessons remain the same.
