The first thing we should do in response to the coronavirus
By Gerry Straker, 26 Mar 2020
The first thing we should do in response to the coronavirus
by Gerry Straker
by Gerry Straker
Some of you have been forced to stay at home, with new routines and new ways of spending time, learning new technology skills you’d never thought you’d need. Some of you have been looking after others at home with all the joys and struggles that brings. Some of you have been frenetic at work, with all the extra responsibilities coming your way.
This is a time of crisis: everything has changed! Flying around at the moment are lots of advice and instructions to obey; calls to action; contact from companies saying they are changing how they do things; Christian responses; and, of course, good old British banter.
We’re in the initial turmoil of trying to work out a new normal. There has been lots to think about, and then think about again as the advice has changed again. I, for one, have found this intense flurry overwhelming. And I wonder, what should we do first in this crisis?
- What to do in a time of crisis
It’s always helpful to think about the Lord Jesus. What does Jesus do first in a crisis? Three times in Mark’s gospel, at times of extreme pressure, Jesus self-isolates to pray. The only recorded times that Jesus is on his own, he prays.
- Mark 1:32-39
Jesus has just spent an evening with a whole town at his door, healing people and driving out demons. The next morning, very early while it’s still dark, Jesus gets up, leaves the house and goes off on his own to pray. The disciples go looking for him, and when they find him, they say ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ (Mark 1:37 NIV 1984). In other words ‘Come back! You’ve done it, you’ve won the people! They want more!’ But Jesus says: no, we are going to other villages, so I can preach there. ‘That is why I have come.’ (Mark 1:38 NIV 1984). And that’s what Jesus does! This is a time of crisis for Jesus because the temptation is to go be a miracle-worker and a crowd-pleaser – that’s what the disciples and the people want. But Jesus prays and sets his face to preaching the Kingdom.
- Mark 6:41-47
Just after Jesus has fed the 5,000, Jesus makes his disciples board the boat and go on ahead, while he dismisses the crowd. Jesus goes up a mountain to pray. John tells us in his gospel that the people try to make Jesus King there and then (John 6:15). Jesus is again under huge pressure, this is another time of crisis for Him, and Jesus self-isolates to pray.
- Mark 14:32-42
On the night before he dies, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus leaves Peter, James and John, and goes a bit further before falling to the ground and praying that if possible the hour of the cross might be taken away. “Abba Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me, Yet not what I will, but what you will.’ (Mark 14:36 NIV 1984)
In a time of crisis, when Jesus is under huge pressure of what’s about to come, and the temptation to walk away, Jesus self-isolates to pray.
So what should we do first in a time of crisis? We should pray.
But what should we pray for?
In a time of crisis, when Jesus is under huge pressure of what’s about to come, and the temptation to walk away, Jesus self-isolates to pray.
So what should we do first in a time of crisis? We should pray.
But what should we pray for?
- What to do in a time of judgement
The coronavirus is a taste of judgement. The world is under God’s curse. As people reject the giver of life, we are handed over to a taste of hell on earth. It’s as if God is saying: ‘you want life without me, then here’s a taste of it.’
The coronavirus is just one taste of judgement among many. People throughout the world have many life-threatening realities to deal with: war; hunger; trafficking; dirty drinking water; and lack of actual toilets - let alone toilet paper.
C S Lewis, writing in an age where the big fear was the atomic bomb, reminds people about the plague visiting London every year in the 16th century; the age of the Vikings, when raiders might arrive any night and cut your throat; and the threats in his lifetime of cancer, syphilis, paralysis, air raids, railway accidents, and car accidents. Then he says this: ‘Do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways… chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.'
We live in a world that is sentenced to death! And this coronavirus is yet another in a long line of tastes of judgement, before judgement day.
Now, let me be clear about three things when we say this about the coronavirus.
The coronavirus is just one taste of judgement among many. People throughout the world have many life-threatening realities to deal with: war; hunger; trafficking; dirty drinking water; and lack of actual toilets - let alone toilet paper.
C S Lewis, writing in an age where the big fear was the atomic bomb, reminds people about the plague visiting London every year in the 16th century; the age of the Vikings, when raiders might arrive any night and cut your throat; and the threats in his lifetime of cancer, syphilis, paralysis, air raids, railway accidents, and car accidents. Then he says this: ‘Do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways… chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.'
We live in a world that is sentenced to death! And this coronavirus is yet another in a long line of tastes of judgement, before judgement day.
Now, let me be clear about three things when we say this about the coronavirus.
- First, it is not that one person suffering is necessarily because of that one person’s particular sins. Sometimes it might be: foolish and selfish behaviour might lead to a serious injury. But definitely not always. Jesus says the opposite – all of us deserve more suffering than we get (Luke 13:1-5).
- Second, we are not given to know if there is a particular sin that has caused a particular judgement. I do not think we can say it is because of ‘greed’ or ‘sexual sin’ or ‘selfishness’ that has caused the coronavirus.
- Third, as we’ve said before at Church by the Bay, a Christian is not paying for their sins when they are caught up in suffering. Christ has paid for all our sins and God is just and only requires one payment! Christians might suffer this virus, Christians might die from it. But when we trust in Christ, we’re not paying for our sins. More on why Christians suffer another time!
In the past, people understood that bad things happened because we live in a world under the sentence of judgement. One of my daughters was studying the Great Fire of London at school. She got all the facts down: it started at Pudding Lane, on 1st September 1666 in the bakery of Thomas Farriner. But what she didn’t learn was the reasons people thought it had happened. In the Netherlands, it was seen as God’s punishment for the burning by the English of a Dutch town during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Others thought that it was God’s judgement for the sin of gluttony. Even though they gave different reasons - which as we’ve already said we can’t do definitively - people just accepted that it was God’s judgement.
We live in a world under judgement, and the coronavirus is just one more thing, shouting to the world: “Wake up! This is not your world! Stop living as if it is!”
And so what should we do in a time of judgement? In the Bible, experiencing God’s judgement or warnings of judgement means believers pray prayers of repentance.
We live in a world under judgement, and the coronavirus is just one more thing, shouting to the world: “Wake up! This is not your world! Stop living as if it is!”
And so what should we do in a time of judgement? In the Bible, experiencing God’s judgement or warnings of judgement means believers pray prayers of repentance.
- At Church by the Bay recently, in Isaiah, we saw God sends many judgements on his people before the Exile itself, with the command to repent (e.g. Isaiah 22:12).
- In our family Bible time at home we’ve been reading the book of Jonah. In chapter 3, Jonah preaches the shortest ever sermon: ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!’ (Jonah 3:4 NIV 84). And what do the Ninevites do? The Ninevites believe God’s Word - they believe they have sinned and they deserve God’s judgement. And they take action: along with everyone fasting and putting on sackcloth, the king issues a decree which says ‘Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish’ (Jonah 3:8-9 NIV 84). And guess what? ‘When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.’ (Jonah 3:10 NIV).
- In Revelation, Jesus is among the lampstands (the seven churches) and Jesus warns five of the churches that if they don’t repent he will visit them in judgement: Ephesus (2:6), Pergamum (2:16), Thyatira (2:22); Sardis (3:3); and Laodicea (3:16-19).
God sends tastes of judgement and God warns of judgement so that people might repent!
If you’re not a Christian, now would be the perfect time to repent for the first time. It’s really very easy, you simply say to God:
- sorry for my rebellion against you
- thank you for sending your Son Jesus taking the judgement you deserve
- please help me by your Holy Spirit to follow Jesus now.
Do tell a Christian, or if you’ve prayed that prayer.
And for people already Christians? What should we do in this time of judgement from God? In this time of crisis, we should pray; in this time of judgement we should repent.
Repenting is what God’s people do. It’s one of the reasons God allows his people to suffer or to be caught up in the world’s suffering, so that we might turn back to him. Repenting is the mark of God’s people.
And so, Church by the Bay and friends: come back to the Lord! Come back to God and confess your sins with me.
- Repent of your prayerlessness.
Personally, I am rebuked for busyness rather than prayerfulness. And I’m sure it’s not just me, some of us have been just like the world, caught up in a flurry of activity. Of course, we need to do things. It’s not an either/or: prayer or action, but there is a priority: pray first; do second.
- Repent of your lack of repentance.
Maybe you have been praying, but perhaps you have not taken the opportunity to repent, to confess your sins, to pray for God’s mercy.
Here are some other ideas of things to repent of. Not all of them will be relevant to you. You’ll have some of your own to add too…
Here are some other ideas of things to repent of. Not all of them will be relevant to you. You’ll have some of your own to add too…
In the crisis:
- Jealousy over someone else’s situation now
- Impatience over your situation
- Time-wasting
- Lack of trust
- Idol of rest
- Idol of busyness
- Idol of enjoying isolation too much
- Idol of entertainment
Or perhaps, in recent times:
- Lust
- Sexual immorality
- Jealousy
- Lack of contentment
- Selfishness
- People pleasing
- Bitterness
- Lack of forgiveness
- Lack of commitment to the body of Christ
- Impatience
- Laziness
- Lack of rest
What should we do in a time of crisis? Pray
What should we do in a time of judgement? Repent
There are many more things to pray for – more on these in the coming days - but this is what to do first: repent. Will you join us?
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