The current crisis and how to think biblically about it
Text Revelation 6, etc Time 15 03 20 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
I realise that at the moment it is difficult to get away from the subject of corona virus and in some ways it would be good to forget about it for an hour and simply worship God. However, having thought and prayed, I thought it was best for us to look at this subject and, of course, I want us to look at it in light of what we may find to help us on it in the Bible.
So I want to say three things this morning. First, I want to say something about the present crisis. Then I want to point you to some Scriptures that will help us. Finally, I want to say some practical things that arise out of what we are facing.
1. Some basic facts about the present crisis
On March 11 the World Health Organisation classified the spreading COVID-19 coronavirus that began in Wuhan in China a pandemic. When a disease spreads over a large geographical area it is called an epidemic and when it is global, as covid19 now is, then it is called a pandemic. At the moment I think the numbers are around 157,000 known cases worldwide, about 1100 in this country. Although around 76,000 have recovered (about 20 in this country) nearly 6,000 have died (21 in this country). At present there is no vaccine to use against the disease, although they are still working on it.
In many cases the effects of the virus may be quite mild but in order to stop the spread of the disease for the sake of others, it is best for people who have it to remain isolated (14 days they recommend). This means that there are financial implications for people affected. On top of the uncertainty and the way tourism has been severely curtailed the pandemic has brought in its wake something of a financial crisis and the problem for governments is deciding what will keep people safe and yet not lead to too great a financial burden on people.
Two terms worth mentioning in this connection are containment and mitigation or delay. We have recently moved from the containment to the delay phase it seems. The containment phase is where measures are taken to slow the spread of the condition, usually for the purpose of making preparations before it becomes an epidemic or pandemic. Delay seeks simply to reduce the severity or seriousness of the condition. One of the problems governments have is that some approaches that may be beneficial during the containment stage could become counterproductive during the delay stage.
So we are being encouraged to keep washing our hands and not shaking hand with others and so on. The hope at present is that we can get through this with as few deaths as possible but quite how it is all going to unfold nobody knows.
2. Some Scriptures to help us on this subject
Let me mention some Scriptures to help us here. I have 8 altogether. Each has a valuable lesson.
1. This crisis has something to say to us
In Job 33:14 Elihu suggests that God speaks to us in different ways. He mentions dreams and suffering. More generally God does speak to us in his providences and so I think we should be seeking to learn from it. Of course, when seeking to read providence we need to be careful we do not misread it. We need to be guided by the sure word of Scripture.
2. This crisis is not something new
Firstly, in Ecclesiastes 1:9 we are reminded that What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Yes, this virus is new in that it is a new strain of coronavirus but crises are, even global crises are not new. Things like this have happened before. Think of the “Spanish flu” of 1918-1919 that killed more people than World War I or one of the most extreme pandemics ever recorded, the Black Death (1347-51).
3. This crisis reminds us of our ignorance
Then
do not forget Proverbs 27:1 Do
not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
This
verse is always true but this current crisis is a strong reminder of
the fact. $$ I am hoping to go to a conference the week after next
but if the government bans such gatherings or if the organisers
decide to call it off I won't be going. We were pleased to hear a
while back that our son Gwion had won tickets to a film festival in
New York in April but now the festival has been postponed and he
won't be going. It is good for us to remember that we are in God's
hands.
4. This crisis reminds us that God
is in control
As another biblical proverb puts it (19:21) Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. Why he has allowed this virus to arise we do not know. But we do know he has his own purposes in it.
5. This crisis reminds us of the pestilences and economic trouble that marks the last days
Then more acutely we read earlier from Revelation 6 about the famous horsemen of the Apocalypse. Revelation can be a controversial book but the way to understand it is as a book describing how it is in the last days, the period John was in and that we are still in, between the first and second comings of Jesus. Revelation 6 describes four horses - a one white, one red, one black and one pale. If we forget about the first two for a moment and concentrate on the other two then, taking them in reverse order
The pale horse and rider are in 6:7, 8 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
This is a reminder of how things like famine and plague will stalk the earth during this period. Famine and plague don't always lead to death but death and decay stalk this earth nevertheless and it comes in by many routes. Coronavirus is one of them. Our society has insulated itself as best it can from death and often refuses to discuss the subject but it continues to be a fact of life. Death and decay are everywhere as this present crisis reminds us. Like a rider on a pale horse death stalks us at every point of our lives and when it comes close we can be devastated.
Then further back in 6:5, 6 we read When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "Two pounds of wheat for a day's wages, and six pounds of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
The scales are a reminder of how food was eked out in times of siege and famine. The prices quoted for wheat and barley have been estimated at something like eight or sixteen times what they would normally have been. The reference to oil and wine has been paraphrased as “don't cheat on the oil and wine” or “don't overcharge” for it. Famine and drought and other factors can easily have economic repercussions and it is the poor who suffer, often Christians who can be pushed to the bottom of the heap in an unsympathetic world that has quite a different agenda. That is what is happening now. It is another reminder of the troubles that plague this world and that are nevertheless not out of control but all part of the sovereign purposes of Christ.
Jesus himself also tells us in Luke 21:11, 12, speaking again I think of this period Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. There will be ... pestilences in various places he says. This virus should not surprise us.
6. This crisis reminds us to love our neighbourOther Scriptures worth mentioning are those that call on us to love our neighbour as ourselves. It is surely our duty at this time to do all we can to make sure we do not pass on germs. Obviously we ought to be looking out for the elderly in particular at this time.
7. This crisis reminds us of the importance of praying for those in power
In 1 Timothy 2:1, 2 Paul says I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. It is especially difficult for those in power at times like this. Do pray for them as they make their decisions and act and react.
8. This crisis is a time for faith
and prayer not fear and worry
Also those Scriptures that warn against worrying. It would be so easy to become fearful and to start worrying at such a time at this. Jesus says (Matthew 6:34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Paul says (Philippians 4:6) Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
9. This crisis reminds us that
creation is groaning and we groan too longing for redemption
In Romans 8:22, 23 Paul writes We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. When Paul writes of creation groaning he includes many things but among the groanings would be things like this virus. We too groan inwardly in the face of it for it makes us long for a day when this will all be over and God sons will be redeemed.
10. This crisis reminds us that
this present world is passing away
Similarly in 1 Corinthians 7:26-31 Paul says Because of the present crisis, (I'm not sure if he means something specific to that time or to this whole period but he says) I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
Perhaps there are other Scriptures we could mention but that is enough to be going on with.
What I want to thirdly and finally is to say three practical things that arise out of this current crisis.
3. Three practical lessons that
arise from the present crisis
Overall I think there are three things we can learn from this crisis, most obviously.
1. We are all interconnected in this one world God has made
The first known patient to have contracted the virus was identified in the City of Wuhan, China on December 1, 2019, less than four months ago.
In late December a Wuhan doctor wrote online that there were seven cases of what he described as SARS connected to the food market. The authorities later forced him to deny this.
By January 1 this year the authorities had identified the food market in Wuhan as the centre of the outbreak so it was closed and deep cleaned.
On January 7 the Chinese declared that they had discovered a new virus and on January 11 the first death came, a 61-year-old man who had bought food at the Wuhan market.
On January 24 came the first case in Europe, in Bordeaux. Two more cases were confirmed in Paris by the end of the day and a cluster of infections was discovered in the French Alps.
On January 31 came the first cases in the UK.
On February 2 came the first death outside China, in the Philippines, when a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan died in Manila.
We are in what is often called a global village. We are all interconnected and this current crisis reminds us of that. We cannot ignore what happens in China, even if we want to do so. In a few short months what began in a city far away, one we may not even have heard of, is affecting our daily lives. John Donne wrote over 400 hears ago that famous Meditation (XVII)
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
More positively, if a virus from Wuhan can come all the way here then so can the gospel message. What we say here today can go all over the world. We have a powerful message - that Jesus Christ saves sinners. Let's tell the world!
2. Death is not far from any one of us
They say that in most cases the disease will be mild. However, we know that it can kill you. Some 6,000 have already died and we are told that we can expect many more to die. Inevitably we wonder - will I die? The fact is we do not know. We know we will die but we do not know how or when. This crisis reminds us that we will die and although that may not be a pleasant thing, it is a good thing. Embrace it.
3. We all need a Saviour
Finally, it is a reminder that we all need a Saviour. This crisis probably makes us feel anxious. It remind us how vulnerable we are and how ignorant. It reminds us ultimately that we need a Saviour. There is no other name by which we must be saved except that of Jesus Christ. We must all put our faith in him and I want to urge you once again to do that.
1. We are all interconnected in this one world God has made
The first known patient to have contracted the virus was identified in the City of Wuhan, China on December 1, 2019, less than four months ago.
In late December a Wuhan doctor wrote online that there were seven cases of what he described as SARS connected to the food market. The authorities later forced him to deny this.
By January 1 this year the authorities had identified the food market in Wuhan as the centre of the outbreak so it was closed and deep cleaned.
On January 7 the Chinese declared that they had discovered a new virus and on January 11 the first death came, a 61-year-old man who had bought food at the Wuhan market.
On January 24 came the first case in Europe, in Bordeaux. Two more cases were confirmed in Paris by the end of the day and a cluster of infections was discovered in the French Alps.
On January 31 came the first cases in the UK.
On February 2 came the first death outside China, in the Philippines, when a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan died in Manila.
We are in what is often called a global village. We are all interconnected and this current crisis reminds us of that. We cannot ignore what happens in China, even if we want to do so. In a few short months what began in a city far away, one we may not even have heard of, is affecting our daily lives. John Donne wrote over 400 hears ago that famous Meditation (XVII)
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
More positively, if a virus from Wuhan can come all the way here then so can the gospel message. What we say here today can go all over the world. We have a powerful message - that Jesus Christ saves sinners. Let's tell the world!
2. Death is not far from any one of us
They say that in most cases the disease will be mild. However, we know that it can kill you. Some 6,000 have already died and we are told that we can expect many more to die. Inevitably we wonder - will I die? The fact is we do not know. We know we will die but we do not know how or when. This crisis reminds us that we will die and although that may not be a pleasant thing, it is a good thing. Embrace it.
3. We all need a Saviour
Finally, it is a reminder that we all need a Saviour. This crisis probably makes us feel anxious. It remind us how vulnerable we are and how ignorant. It reminds us ultimately that we need a Saviour. There is no other name by which we must be saved except that of Jesus Christ. We must all put our faith in him and I want to urge you once again to do that.
