Denison Forum

When the new year began, did you know that it would be dominated by this pandemic? Could you see this four months ago? Can you see four months from today? Neither can I. The good news is that we can turn to wisdom beyond ourselves. The prophet Isaiah said of Jesus: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2). Jesus demonstrated such wisdom and foreknowledge throughout his earthly ministry.

God will do his part in redeeming this crisis, but we must do ours. 

Human words cannot transform human souls. You and I cannot convict anyone of sin or confer salvation. God wants to use us, but we must be yielded to his use with the prophet’s prayer: “O Lord, you are our Father; we are clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8).

Christians around the world announced on Easter Sunday that Jesus is “risen indeed.” The grief of watching his execution and burial on Good Friday pales into the glorious sunrise of his resurrection from the grave on the third day.

Now the risen Christ wants to infuse us with this same resurrection power by the Spirit who indwells all Christians (1 Corinthians 3:16). Tragically, many of us who believe in Easter Sunday live as though it is still Good Friday.

Christians can have joy in a fallen world because the risen Christ is risen in us.

The best-known verse in the Bible declares, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, my italics). In the moment we make Christ our Lord, we have eternal life. Not just when we die—right now.

Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey is right: “Life is too short, so let’s do everything we can today to help people now.” This principle applies especially to Christians, for we are called to follow the example of the One who gave his life to help all of humanity.

Some claim that governmental restrictions on worship services are an infringement of religious liberty and a violation of the separation of church and state. Others disagree, noting that such prohibitions do not single out religious gatherings but include all events at which people could become infected with coronavirus. Still, others claim that church services should be classified as “essential” functions and allowed to continue under social distancing guidelines.

When we are focused fully on the Son and visible to others, we will reflect the light of his love to our dark world. And just as the moonscape is clearer to us as it draws nearer to us, the closer we are to others, the more they will see Jesus’ light in us.

Our Lord entered Jerusalem triumphantly on Palm Sunday (Mark 11:1-10), then spent the night in Bethany (vv. 11–12). On Holy Monday, he cursed a barren fig tree as a symbol of the “fruitless” nation of Israel (vv. 12–14; cf. Jeremiah 8:13; Micah 7:1). He next drove moneychangers from the temple (Mark 11:15-18).

In addition to the escalating numbers of victims and patients and its devastation of our economy, the pandemic is disrupting our daily lives in unprecedented ways. Adrienne Heinz, a clinical research psychologist at the Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD, notes: “Our routine is the scaffolding of life. It’s how we organize information and our time. And without it, we can feel really lost.”

As a result, she says, “I’m ... really worried about families. I’m worried about increases in alcohol use. I’m worried about domestic violence. I’m worried about child abuse, because parents are under-resourced.”

One of the most-read articles ever on Harvard Business Review is an interview with David Kessler on the grief we are feeling in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The article describes Kessler as “the world’s foremost expert on grief.” 

He notes that “we’re feeling a number of different griefs. We feel the world has changed, and it has. We know this is temporary, but it doesn’t feel that way, and we realize things will be different. ... The loss of normalcy; the fear of economic toll; the loss of connection. This is hitting us and we’re grieving. Collectively. We are not used to this kind of collective grief in the air.”