I’ve been staring at this spot for some time… What do I write?
Earlier today I received the message that someone close to me was ‘POSITIVE’ – no, it was actually a total mistake.
But it gave pause. How challenging that word ‘positive’ has suddenly become! None of us should think we are immune from the possibility, that one day… It is a sobering thought. It was a sobering moment. What a relief when it is removed.
So, no, words do not come all that easily today. All the more so as we see the numbers contracting covid-19 day after day, and saddened by the steady flow of numbers of those who died – all the more knowing that behind this are real people and real families in grief. There are people dying – and many to a Christless eternity. There are people grieving – and many with a Christless comfort.
I know that this is a daily reality around the world – yes, and perhaps we have been too easily untouched by that reality when it all seems at such a distance to us. But let’s face it we would be especially hard of soul not to be all the more sensitive to that at this present time with such a narrow yet all-encompassing community focus on it – even more so to be flippant about it, or any mention of suffering or death, whatever the cause.
Was this what it was like when during the World Wars of last century, a whole community took a deep breath when the telegram boy rode down their street with that message of death? No wonder many of them became broken individuals over time as the gravity of their work but also its impact on the community they served as message bearers weighed in on them, seemingly defining their life with its darkness.
How this should shape our prayers for those serving at the new ‘frontline’ including from within our congregation and sister churches; for those who for the good of others put themselves in places of risk to themselves, not to mention to receive inane abuse from (to put it kindly) the thoughtless; for those who have to pass on the news.
But in so writing am I not reminding us where to turn and how to think? In prayer we turn to God. In prayer, even for others, we think about His sovereign rule and holy purpose. That though we live in a world under His righteous curse because of sin, a world that continues in rebellion against Him, God is not indifferent to it nor has He turned His back on it. How could we think that He might be as we watch the sun set on even the hard day and as each new day dawns with renewed light – together reminding us of His mercy. Indeed how could we think that in light of Jesus Christ, the message of His cradle, cross and crown?
It is this that should lead and encourage our prayers and our conversations with others at this time – not criticism, conspiracy and catastrophe of Covid-19 but the cradle, cross and crown of Christ. Here is comfort, consolation and confidence in life and in death, in witness and worship.
I was reminded of reading earlier this week of Sinclair Ferguson’s reflection on the life of Thomas Boston (1676–1732), author of Human Nature in Its Fourfold State – the fourth of which was the state of glory with Christ in which he reflected on the sinlessness, the sickness-free life, and the perfect happiness the state of glory will bring. Ferguson notes: ‘In the years when Boston worked on the sermons and then the manuscript that became The Fourfold State, his beloved wife, Catherine, suffered from a debilitating and distressing illness, and infant death entered the home. So, the prospect of the glory to come was both a reality that sustained him in the midst of trials and a motivation to live for his Lord Jesus in the light of that hope.’
Do we not find our encouragement in this as we see again how Christ transforms life, transforms our sorrows and reflections? It is here even in ‘the dark valley’ that the Shepherd Psalmist sang of that we are to live “by faith, not by sight,” to as Peter puts it to love Him whom we have never seen: “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).
Here in this present day is what it means to be salt and light to our culture, to bring the realities of Jesus Christ to bear on our own lives that they may see and learn, be drawn to and seek Christ through our witness. Will we live and die as Christian people, as Christ’s people?
That too was brought home to me in another way in recent days as Kennedy shared the sad news that his sister Olive who had been living under the care of his sister in Sydney, had gone home to be with her Lord. Some of you will remember Olive from her visits over the years, intellectually challenged but spiritually full of faith and love for the Lord Jesus. The enduring memory is her love of being among the Lord’s people in worship. Remember the family in this added sorrow and loss, praising God for the grace of His love for them all as well as for Olive, for the enduring hope and comfort of Gospel realities and promises secured to us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Well, maybe the words came a bit easier once they started to flow – but if so, it is only because of the Lord of grace who is rich in mercy and love, and mediates that to us as we meditate on His Word and glory. May we daily find and show in Christ the grace to sustain us in the trials and of motivation to live for Him in the light of the hope He gives without measure. Let us worship Him with “with joy inexpressible and full of glory” tomorrow – yet even now.
Together in Christ’s love and service,
John
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