Finding God in the Pandemic
By Chuck Bugg
John 14:15-21
When I was a teenager in my home church, I had a pastor whom I greatly admired. Our pastor baptized my parents and me on the same Sunday night. Later, he baptized my younger brother.
Once in awhile I would hear the whispers of people in the church, "He's a good pastor, but he can't preach." Those whispers turned into shouts during our twice-a-year revival meetings. What I recall were ruggedly handsome evangelists with brightly colored sportscoats, one for each night of the week. They were far different from the gray and navy suits with bland ties that our pastor always wore. The wives of the evangelists looked like "Barbie dolls."
Could these evangelists preach! They had all been to some far country that sounded so exotic and exciting that we young people couldn't understand why they had left the appeal of the far country. These evangelists told gripping stories that had us sitting on the edges of our pews. On the other hand, our pastor, to be polite, was more pedestrian in his preaching. No hair-raising illustrations; no electrifying stories; no forays into the far country. But what our minister did Sunday after Sunday was to teach us the basic truths about our faith. I didn't listen as carefully as I should, but I did hear this: God loves me; God wants me to love his caring creation, Jesus came to Earth to give the Holy One a face; and the Holy Spirit wanted to be my friend and spiritual guide.
Our minister was hardly a mystic. However, each Sunday he took a passage of Scripture, poured it into the same deductive form, and gave us three points about this gracious God. Occasionally, our minister would assault the sinfulness of life. He would name the things that we shouldn't do. We weren't old enough to buy alcohol and cigarettes, so those were out. Dancing was off-limits to real Christian girls and boys. "Just think of what it may lead to," and, if he hadn't titillated our young imaginations, I would have thought one dance just led to the next dance. Our pastor did better in getting us not to smoke and drink than getting us off the dance floor.
What our pastor also did was to get us to think about theology for life, although I never recall his using the word "theology." Maybe, that's why the evangelists that held us spellbound have largely disappeared. We can't live on a steady diet of "You wouldn't believe what I was before I met Jesus."
The older we become, the more we need more substance, especially as we face our personal crises. Probably without his knowing it, my pastor’s preaching about love of God and love for neighbor gave me a frame in which to deal later with issues like racism, sexism, injustice, and how we view people with different sexual orientations and identities.
In the 14th chapter of John, the disciples and Jesus are headed to Jerusalem. Jesus knew what awaited him. Perhaps, at some deep level, the disciples realized that they were about to experience the greatest test of their faith. Jesus suffered and died. Jesus went through the valley. As much as you and I would like to avoid suffering, it sometimes comes and if the pain is intense, it changes the whole way we see God and the ways in which that we think and do life.
Where is God in this pandemic? Where is God in our personal and social crises? Listen to what Jesus says in a section of John that scholars call the "farewell discourse." No propositions. No bromides like, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." Jesus speaks of God in a relational, almost mystical way, because what we most need is to know the intimate involvement of God in who we are.
"I will talk to my Father," Jesus says, "and my Father will send the empowering presence of Spirit of Truth." Then, Jesus promises on that day (on this day and every day) that I am in my Father and the Creator God is living at the same time in us.
To believe is to be "alive in God." The root word of believe is "to live," and this is the central thrust of Jesus' words. We don't stand at a distance from this triune God trying to muster the words, "I believe," hoping this will get us through the valleys. Rather, we look within to trust the Creator, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the God in whom we believe but more importantly, the God who believes in us. This is the God who gives us strength for all that we face.
It's the sixth Sunday of Easter. I know Jesus died. Let's give it a little more time, and we will find that Jesus is alive.
Live simply,
Love generously,
Care deeply,
Speak kindly,
Listen reverently,
Pray daily,
And then… leave the rest to God.
— Charles “Chuck” Bugg, a pastor and former professor of preaching, is a preaching coach at the Center for Healthy Churches. May 07, 2020 Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 17)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
