Coronavirus The Just and Unjust

Coronavirus

The Just and Unjust

 

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48 NIV

The Coronavirus has caused us all to fight together

To fight against the unseen enemy

As the virus is non-discretionary

We are all humbled by the virus 

Let us as Christians be reminded to be compassionate

We are all in this pandemic together

And in the end whose light will shine the brightest

 Whose love will be the greatest 

God does not want us to live lives against others

For it is not God’s will that any should perish

So don’t just greet your brothers

Go out into all the world and greet all with love

Do more than the unbeliever

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

The Just and Unjust

During a Passover Seder most Jews remove

a few drops of wine from their goblets

at the mention of each of the ten plagues

that struck the Egyptians…

 Symbolically reducing the joy of our celebration

of the Jewish people’s liberation from slavery in Egypt.

Sometimes freedom must be purchased

with suffering, and even bloodshed.

This may be necessary, and even good…

But we should not overlook the suffering of others,

even our enemies, that was and is a part of our liberation.

The Hebrew Scriptures states…

 “Do not rejoice over the downfall of your enemy,

and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;

 for the Lord will see and be displeased,

and will turn His anger away from him.”

Proverbs 24:17-18

We often view Moses and the 10

plagues as God showing His power…

Power to liberate His people.

A clear separation where the people who heed God’s

Word are protected and those who do not heed, suffer.

 

But God does not always work that way.

When Sandy and I were expecting

our first child we were full of faith.

We believed God would show His glory by

showing those around us that His people do

not suffer like the people who have no faith.

We fully expected to go to the hospital

and the birth would be so miraculous

that the doctors and nurses would

want to know about our God.

  

I watched Sandy suffer in labor

pains for more than 24 hours.

She cried out to me where is our God?

I looked everywhere…

 I even looked under her bed,

 but I did not find God.

When Sarah was born our joy was greatly

eclipsed by our unfulfilled expectations of God.

Why should God’s people,

who Jesus died for, suffer?

Why did not the stripes on Jesus’

back by which we are healed, heal?

Why doesn’t God do more miracles?

As we live through the Covid-19 world pandemic…

 We are getting more reports of Christians

getting sick and even dying from the virus.

A missionary friend of mine posted on Facebook…

 I'm torn by the reactions to the virus.

In Paris numerous African pastors have died and,

 in some cases, whole families have died.

In one region 20 AoG pastors got the virus.

In a local church it seems +/- 40 people have died.

I have lost friends. I'm staying at home.

 I have seen the danger face to face. Fearful, no!

I'm straining to understand the reaction of people

demanding their right to be free of all constraint.

This is a very deep issue with me. And you?

Consider these words of Jesus,

 as we face the Pandemic…

He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good,

and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Matthew 5:45b

The virus is falling like the rain on

the righteous and the unrighteous.

So for what purpose?

Let’s look at the context of these words of Jesus…

"You have heard that it was said,

'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

But I tell you: Love your enemies and

 pray for those who persecute you,

that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Matthew 5:43-45a

I hope you are like me and you don’t view

others with such strong language as…

 “Enemies”

Even if you do label people as your enemy…

 God says to love them and pray for them.

This pandemic has fallen on all of us.

God has not made Christians

immune to the Coronavirus.

God has seen fit to allow believers,

people full of faith, to suffer with the world.

This suffering has caused

us all to work together.

It has kept us all humble.

 

It has made us all more compassionate.

Maybe the descriptive illustration Jesus

gives us of the tares and the wheat also is

to remind us how similar we still are to

the world after we come to Him in faith.

Sadly, it sometimes takes difficult

times for God to get our attention.

The liberation of sin does take lives

because the wages of sin is death.

We should be like the Jews at the Seder

Dinner, who take out some of the wine that

represents the blood of those Egyptians

who died for their liberty.

Covid-19 is non-discriminatory,

it demands we all love one another.

 Could it be God allows believers, who

have the promises, to suffer with the world

so we might be more compassionate?

So that our love for others might grow?

Jesus said… Love

Love those who don’t believe like you.

We are all in this pandemic together

and in the end…

 Whose light will shine the brightest?

 Whose love will be the greatest?

 

God does not want us to live lives against others.

For it is not God’s will that any should perish.

So don’t just greet your brothers.

 Go out into all the world and greet all with love.

Do more than the unbeliever.

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.   

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Scripture Reading

Matthew 5:43-48 NIV

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.