I went to a very rigid and legalistic Christian college in Tennessee. The larger Christian community considered those of us who came out of that school to be mindless robots, blindly believing whatever we were taught to believe. Which is interesting since it was at that school that I was introduced to the concept of ‘critical thinking.’ Critical thinking is the act of taking all the evidence of an issue, weighing the pros and cons and, in the case of Biblical things, seeing how those issues survive when held up to the bright glow of Scripture. In other words, thinking for yourself. If my old college had just wanted to turn out thoughtless clones, they would have never required a year long class of critical thinking. It was during that class that I, thinking for myself, became disenchanted of the school’s legalistic stance. But that is another story.

         It occurs to me that people now have tremendous amounts of information at their fingertips, but still choose to believe what they hear from the news media, politicians, religious leaders and the always present ‘experts’ of whatever field they are interested in at the moment. I have had this conversation with my son many times. He will inform me that something is unconstitutional. He heard it or read it on the internet or something. I’ll ask him to tell me what the Constitution actually says. How should he know? No one just reads the Constitution! I do, son, once every year. It is not very long. It can be any thing out there. The talking heads we see on TV or hear on radio or read are spoon feeding us what they want us to know, hoping we will believe what they say.

         Critical thinking prevents all that.

         A lot of people claim to be pretribulationists, pre trib for short. But when you ask what a pretribulationist believes, the usual answer is, “I believe what Revelations says!” Well, OK, but the posttribulationist also believes what the Book of the Revelation says. The autribulationist believes what the Book of the Revelation says. So, what do you base your belief on? At that point you usually get a blank stare.

         It is so much easier to believe what you are told to believe and let it go at that. We see it all the time today. So many people believe socialism is the way to go, that capitalism is bad. Most of those people have no idea that socialism and communism are the same thing and that neither has ever benefitted anyone except those in charge. Cher, the aging singer, considers herself brilliant. She tells any who will listen that socialism is the way we need to go. Recently she called president Trump another Hitler. It was said to scorn the president, but Hitler was a socialist. Of course, the media doesn’t point that out. I doubt they even know Hitler was a socialist.

         It may be that you are headed the right way when you merely believe what someone says, but if you haven’t figured it out for yourself, what have you got?

         2,000 years ago, people came running from Bethany to Jerusalem with incredible news. They were telling the amazing story that Jesus, whom most had at least heard about and many had seen and even talked to, had raised a man from the dead! Man, it was great! We were all there and the mourners were weeping and the dead guy was even in the tomb! Four days in the tomb! And Jesus just called out, ‘Lazarus! Come out!’ And, man, I am telling you right now, the dead guy, Lazarus, I guess, comes out still wrapped in grave cloths! It was awesome! And that guy Jesus, is headed here right now, he and his followers! He has to be the One promised to us! Has to be!

         The people began to gather. Off in the distance they could see a man riding a donkey’s colt. Surrounded by 10-12 men. Headed into town. People began to call out the words you say when the king is coming. They began to line the colt’s path with cloaks and palm fronds and leaves as though it were a carpet for a king’s animal. The cheers were deafening. The Jewish leaders were concerned. The people were turning to Jesus instead of them, the leaders. Something had to be done.

         And it was done. For the next few days word got around that Jesus was a blasphemer, a liar, a heretic. The words were lies, of course, but people were hearing it from their leaders. People were not examining the words against the evidence. No, people were following human nature. Easier to believe what someone says than to figure it out for themselves.

         It didn’t take long, really. In just four or five days the people had been worked into a frenzy. It usually doesn’t take long to sway people who let others think for them. One day they are loving Jesus, a few days later they are hating Jesus. In a large mob, they have gathered around Pilate’s residence in Jerusalem and are getting ugly. Pilate, trying to avoid a riot, makes the people an offer. Jesus hasn’t done anything. Pilate interviewed Him and he knew Jesus had done nothing wrong. But there was a horrible man awaiting execution. Everyone knew of Barabbas’ crimes. Terrible things. Pilate would have witnessed the scene a few days earlier of Jesus entering the city, he knew these same people were cheering Jesus then. So, he gave them the choice of the despicable Barabbas or the sin free Jesus. To his astonishment, they chose to spare Barabbas and kill Jesus. And so, it happened.

         We are quick to say that we would have stood for Jesus. But wait. Do we always choose Jesus over something else? Satan doesn’t put ugly choices before us. He puts the tempting things within our grasp. Then he whispers in our minds, “It is good. It makes sense. It will make you happy. Isn’t that what Jesus wants for you? Don’t worry. It is what you want!” And swayed by what Satan whispers to us, we take the wrong step. Career, marriage, acquisitions, whatever it might be. Someone else has done our thinking for us. Why, Satan even tells us to pray about it. And we go down Satan’s path.

         The men Jesus had chosen for followers considered themselves something special on that day walking into Jerusalem to cheering crowds. Mighty men of valor. One betrayed Him and then committed suicide. One was the favorite of Jesus, His special friend. He showed up at the cross, but then he ran and hid. Another, the swaggering one, the one who walked on water, came to the trial. But there, around a fire, he denied Jesus three different times. And then, he ran off and hid. The others, well, they just melted away in the crowds.

         I would like to think I would have been there all the way with Jesus! They would have had to have knocked me unconscious! No way I would have abandoned Jesus! And yet, I know who I am. I might have stood near John at the cross, or I might have been around the fire near Peter, but would I have actually stood with Christ? Would you?

         Even so, He did what He did for us.  

         It seems sometimes that people have stronger faith in their traditions than in their faith in Christ. By themselves, traditions are not bad. A tradition is a glorified habit, and we all have habits. For instance, it is a personal tradition, or habit, for me, every December, to grumble and complain about the commercial aspect of Christmas. (If this virus had been reported to the general public the first of December, would all the travel bans have gone into place and would they say no more than ten at any gathering? Would Wal-Mart have enacted their own measures? Just a thought.) It is my tradition, or habit, to have pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.

         As stated, not always bad.

         But what of the religious traditions?

         We celebrate Christmas in December because of tradition. Jesus was born in late May or early June. We know when the census was taken, so we know when He was born. The Roman Catholic Church decreed a December birth, and we fall into place with it. The reason why we celebrate Christmas in December is based on paganism and is something we have talked of before, but we still persist. Easter is celebrated at the correct time, but that is really accidental because the Catholic church would have gladly changed that if it had been needed. But other aspects of the holiday are pure make believe.

         For example, where in the Bible is the word ‘Lent’ and where does it say Lent lasts six weeks? Does it impress God that we give anything up for Lent? If it is to make us better, give it up for good. What Biblical grounds do we have for Ash Wednesday? And how did Fat Tuesday, which is a day of Church sanctioned debauchery and Mardi Gras, come into being!??! The Bible has nothing in it like that. Where in the Bible does it say Jesus fell beneath the Cross? He had help carrying the Cross, but Jesus falling beneath the Cross is a fabrication that we accept. All of this took place over Passover. It happened that it was also the season of worship of the pagan goddess Estre, one of the goddesses of fertility and celebrated with eggs and rabbits to symbolize fertility. When the Catholic church was formed, it incorporated the pagan religions into Christianity to placate the pagans. Estre was mixed with Christianity and, surprise! We have Easter with eggs and rabbits. At the very least we should call it Passover. The early Christians referred to it as Resurrection Day. But Catholic tradition mandates we call it Easter. If these things are not in the Scripture, why is it a part of our celebration? Tradition.  

         This week we are in what is called Holy Week. I always have wondered why it is called Holy Week. It is the week between Palm Sunday (Why is it called Palm Sunday? John 12 is the only place where palm fronds are mentioned while all four Gospels talk about people laying their cloaks on the ground. Shouldn’t we call it Cloak Sunday or Entering Sunday?) and Easter Sunday, so the Catholic Church decrees it is Holy Week. But was anything holy going on? Everything around Jesus, of course, was holy. But that had been an ongoing thing. It was during Holy Week that the Jewish leaders were plotting to take Jesus. During Holy Week they were actively seeking to turn the populace against Jesus. It was during Holy Week that Judas betrayed Jesus. It was not a holy week.

         On Friday, we will have Good Friday. Really? What exactly is good about it? Thursday and Friday of ‘Holy Week’ are the saddest days of the year. I suppose you could say it is good because that was when the sacrifice was made, but He died for us! We are to blame! That doesn’t make me feel any better.

         And then, of course, is Easter. Celebrated with eggs and rabbits and festive clothing. The end of the nightmare that is Lent and all those things we gave up. And then, it is over. Whew.

         I am going to confess something to you. If we have to have something like the corona virus, I am glad it has come now. I am very sorry for those high school and college seniors who have had their senior year ruined and I am sorry for those who have lost jobs or have been otherwise adversely affected. And, of course, my heart breaks for those who have been infected and their families. But, coming as it does at Resurrection time is a blessing in that it has shattered tradition. Now, at the time we should be celebrating our Lord, we really are celebrating Him. With our prayer life. With our reading. With taking solitary walks and talking to Him. We aren’t planning elaborate meals or selecting new clothes or looking for just the right Easter basket. We are, at this Resurrection time, turning our hearts and minds and spirits to the Lord. Maybe we are being forced to do so, but so what? It is good.

         We will not be in church for services on Resurrection Day, although we will be on-line. However, though not in the building, we will have our thoughts directed toward the Savior, toward the one who died for our sins and who could not be defeated by death, but who earned the victory over Satan. 

         All those traditions, who needs them? We have what we need!

         I shared in this blog some time back about the high school friend I had who grew up and is now attending a mega-church. When his mother died several years back, he couldn’t get anyone from the mega-church to come and do her funeral. It was going to be a small affair, just a graveside, which was all she wanted. Those that he contacted at the mega-church were involved in this or that, everyone was busy, no one could come. I tend to think it was because there would be no one there to see them perform, no cameras and the fact it was a bitter and raw November day in northeast Ohio. So, who do you call in that circumstance? Well, there is this guy you went to high school with who pastors a little nothing church in a little nothing town in a little nothing corner of Ohio. He will do it. And that is how I came to do that funeral on a cold November day.

         Now, this same high school friend is also a Facebook friend. (Actually, it just feels like an obligation.) He is always posting short videos of their amazing worship services. They are really big on light shows. (On our church video last week, we were going to have a light show, but Ed forgot the batteries for the flashlight.) Sometimes my high school friend will send out a post proudly proclaiming who the speaker is going to be that night, with the same sentence; “WE ARE GOING TO BE BLESSED TONIGHT!” Whenever he posts on Facebook, he is super excited. Claims to live life on the Spiritual mountaintop.

         Until COVID-19 hit.

Even before we had gone into the social distancing thing, he came out with one bad report after another. Now he steadily posts videos hacked from CNN that show full body bags. Three or four times a day he will post a body count from here in America or some other country. I don’t know how many times I have seen the posting on how to wash your hands, how to measure the 6 feet of distance and the command to not even go outside of your home. I am betting he hasn’t kissed his wife in over a month. However, to each their own.

But then he crossed the line. One of his Facebook friends replied to a video of refrigerated semis lined up being used as temporary morgues in New York City. “Hey, guy, where is all this faith you were always talking about?” To which my high school friend replied, “Dude, this is serious stuff here!” OK, two things I see in that reply that really bug me. First, a 65 year old man should never use the word ‘Dude.’ Really. But the thing that really floors me is his use of the word ‘serious.’ In other words, I am really into the whole God and Jesus and Holy Spirit stuff, but when the going gets really tough, when it gets SERIOUS, I become a quivering mass of Jello. This goes beyond the Spiritual. This is SERIOUS! Dude!

Maybe my mind works different than most. I don’t know. But one thought tends to lay the foundation for the next thought. The first thought that hit me was, “What are you doing? You just showed the world (at least his Facebook friends) that your Spirituality is only on display when there is pounding music, light shows and WOW preaching! DUDE!” Which gave birth to the next thought. How many people do I know who are in essentially the same mind frame? They read their devotionals. They listen to their music. They go to church and come away feeling nice but wondering why so and so wore those shoes with those pants. Then, when a crisis comes along, all that goes away and fear becomes the predominant feeling.

Please understand me here. I am taking this seriously. My son and his wife live and work in one of the Ohio hot spot areas. Kimberly is able to work from home, which is good. My son, however, travels into work and works with forty or fifty others. If he or she got sick, what would I do? If one was in the hospital, I couldn’t go see them. I couldn’t go and stay in their house. There are all kinds of people with whom I could stay under normal conditions, but these are not normal conditions. And then there is Marsha. I worry about her, in spite of what has happened. She has a severely depleted immune system and she catches everything and she lives in a hot spot. I have friends in health care who are in harm’s way, yet who get up every day and go back into harm’s way. It is their job and they are compelled to do their job by their overwhelming sense of duty. This is certainly a serious time. The economy is falling apart, the health care system in big cities is under an incredible load and we have politicians who are trying hard to make all this political gain.

 But while this is a very serious thing, the question that was asked is valid. “Hey, guy, where is all this faith you were always talking about?” All of a sudden that devotional you have read every day just doesn’t cut it. That amazing and uplifting song that you heard on the radio seems to fall flat. Now you can’t even go to church. There is nothing left but fear. And lots of it.

 While I am well aware of how serious this all is, though, I refuse to fear. That doesn’t mean I am stupid or that I am going to do stupid things. What it means is that there is absolutely nothing I can do about it, so I am content to leave it in God’s hands. “OH, BUT THERE IS A LOT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!” No, not really. I have to go out to do my laundry. I have been to the doctor’s office during this lock down. I have been to the pharmacy. I have been to the grocery store. I have talked to my neighbors. I put gas in my car. I have been in the office every day calling and e-mailing and texting and trying to figure out the technicals associated with putting out the sermon videos. “OH, THAT IS IRRESPONSIBLE!!! YOU COULD DO THAT AT HOME!!!” I could, but I am a pastor and I have to be available to the people. Everyday at least one person has come in and sat down to talk. Usually there has been more than one. We need to be concerned, but we do not need to fear!

 Please, folks, put the devotional book away and pick up your Bible. Instead of doing Facebook, go to https://factsandtrends.net/2018/06/25/the-unknown-backstories-to-3-well-loved-hymns/  and find your favorite hymn and see how that author overcame his or her crisis situation by turning to the Lord. And for heaven sake, turn off the TV and radio and quit going on line to see how many body bags FEMA needs. God will let you beat yourself up. Fear is the hammer that does the beating.

         Psalm 62:5-7 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

         Over the years it has been my blessing to know a lot of really fine pastors. I have known a lot of stinkers, too, but there are some good ones out there. Right now, there is a lot of e-mailing going back and forth about what each of us is doing during this time. Or, what we are not doing. The approaches are varied and interesting. Technology has emerged to this point and is allowing churches to remain connected.

         Yet, there are many churches that are disconnected, and it doesn’t seem to be a big deal.

         In addition to talking to pastors, I have had conversations with people in pews. I am not seeking these conversations out, they are coming to me. There are churches out there who have the capability to do what we are doing here at Urbana Yoke Parish, and even do more of it and do it better, but who are not doing anything. They are not getting messages out; they are not giving their congregation the opportunity to stay connected and they are not offering any help to their people. I have come away from these e-mails feeling depressed.

         And then it came to me the other night; if you do not have a message to bring, why worry about bringing a message?

         Over the years, we visited a lot of churches while on vacation. Marsha liked to go to churches that were interesting in their design and building style. The photographer coming out. We walked into several churches that would be considered unique, but which presented a bland and watered down message. One such church, inspiring on the outside, contained about 20 people within and featured a study on mother earth and our responsibility to her. Another church we went to, an imposing brick structure, looked like the people on the inside were already (18 years ago) practicing social distancing. Huge sanctuary. The only people sitting close to one another were husbands and wives. There were no children, just gray haired folks. No one spoke to us. The pastor walked in just in time to speak and then left the building while one of the men prayed to close.

You may not be aware that there are more churches out there with no message than there are churches with a real message, but it is true. If a church doesn’t have a real message, why bother putting whatever message they have out there? Just let everyone take a break from the monotony of church.

But, for those churches with a message of hope, of salvation, of victory, they have a message that is critical to get out. Those churches are compelled to get the message out, whatever the difficulty or the cost.

Our church here in Urbana, Indiana, is not a social club that we can turn on and off. Certainly, we have our fellowship and we have our social time. But we are first and foremost a place that is a sanctuary, a place that puts forth the Word of God and a place that has a Message! And most important, the desire to continue putting the message out.

It is a tiny drop in the bucket of Christianity. But it is our drop and it is our desire. We have a message! Take the opportunity to interact with others during this period shut down. Call people and check on them. Let Christian and non-Christian alike know they are being prayed for. Go beyond your comfort zone.

What a time this is, what an opportunity and a privilege. We can bring the Message in spite of it all! I shared this with someone this morning, I share it with you. The words to Send the Light!

There's a call comes ringing over the restless wave,
"Send the light! Send the light!"
There are souls to rescue there are souls to save,
Send the light! Send the light!

We have heard the Macedonian call today,
"Send the light! Send the light!"
And a golden offering at the cross we lay,
Send the light! Send the light!

Let us pray that grace may everywhere abound,
"Send the light! Send the light!"
And a Christlike spirit everywhere be found,
Send the light! Send the light!

Let us not grow weary in the work of love,
"Send the light! Send the light!"
Let us gather jewels for a crown above,
Send the light! Send the light!

Send the light, the blessed Gospel light;
Let it shine from shore to shore!
Send the light, the blessed Gospel light;
Let it shine forevermore! 

         You may feel that your light is just a candle against the blackness of the universe, but it is just the candle that the Lord wants to use today.

         “Why doesn’t your guy Trump get off his butt and take care of this virus thing? With all our science this should be a piece of cake! What is his problem? He just wants to help the rich!”

         I read the e-mail with some disbelief. My mind went to the sender, an old ‘friend.’ ‘Wow, did we really go to the same high school? How can you even think like that, Dude?’ There are several things wrong in those four sentences. First, the president isn’t ‘my guy.’ I voted for him in the general election because Ted Cruz, a Christian whose morality and Christian outlook I admire, lost in the primaries. Second, the president is doing all he can do, and more than most would do, to halt this thing. It would scare me to see this president, or any president of my life time, emerge from a lab in a white coat where he was working to find a cure. Third, the cure. Science has never found a cure for a virus. They will eventually come up with a vaccine, but a vaccine is not a cure. It will provide an immunity of sorts if you have not already gotten the virus, at least until the virus mutates. This is why there are flu shots every year. Some viruses are talented little fellows. And fourth, being rich, or poor, has nothing to do with anything.

         But, like a lot of people, my old ‘friend’ gets his information from the media. The media wants to place blame. The president is disliked by the media, so they find ways to blame him. Of course, it wouldn’t matter who the president was, this virus would exist and would be affecting the entire country, just as it is now.

         Maybe it is human nature to always place blame. Having been in the ministry for 44 years, I have heard people place blame for a lot of things. Any church that has ever had a long lasting problem can place the beginning of the problem back to a single pastor or one or two members who wanted to control everything. During the years when I was working with churches in crisis situations, I met with a particular congregation. Their problem went back to a pastor who had been there 15 years before and had started them on their downward path. It was all his fault. He wasn’t right for the church. He had an agenda. He certainly wasn’t a Spiritual leader. He was to blame. One man was telling me the story, but everyone else was nodding their heads in agreement. I listened to them. It was their story and it would have been rude to interrupt. When the blame game ended, I asked a question.

         “So, how did this man come to be your pastor?” “Uh, what do you mean?” “I mean, how did this man come to be your pastor?” “Well, in the usual way. We were looking for a pastor and we got his resume and, well, one thing led to another and we called him as pastor.” “Oh, OK. Why did you call him as your pastor?” “What? Well, we didn’t know he was going to be like that. We thought he was a real Spiritual guy. Good preacher and all.” “Oh, OK. So, did you pray about it before you issued the call?” “Well, of course we did!” “OK, so you sought out God’s leadership. Therefore, either this pastor was so clever that he had God fooled OR, this congregation was not Spiritual enough to simply commune with God. Now we know the pastor didn’t fool God, so that makes you, as a congregation, completely at fault.”

         The meeting ended shortly thereafter. In the car, Marsha said, “It is amazing any church ever calls on you for help.”

         The point is, when we seek to place blame, we either blame someone else or we blame God or we blame whatever. We almost never blame ourselves, even when it is obvious. And sometimes, there is no blame to place.

         Take our current situation. How can you blame any person because an unknown virus has emerged? The story I read is that a man at a market in Wuhon, China bought some bats to make bat soup. (I have never seen that in a Chinese restaurant, but it does sound tasty.) One of the bats had the virus, which had never been transferred to humans before. But the virus had mutated. The bat eater got the virus and, boom, the virus shut down the world. The bat wasn’t at fault. The bat eater wasn’t at fault. No one was at fault because it had never emerged before. Of course, none of that may be true, in which case it was the president’s fault. Good thinking. But if it wasn’t anyone’s fault then God must be at fault.

Except, we were told things like this would happen. We were told there would be disease and war and all manner of bad things, but that does not mean the end is here. These are things that will just happen. Man sinned and grief came into the world, but not everything that happens that is bad is a judgment of God.

SOMETIMES, BAD THINGS HAPPEN.

So, where are we with COVID-19?

Families are spending more time together with fewer distractions. It really isn’t important that there are no sports on TV or on the local fields. It really isn’t a big deal that the family has to eat at home. It really could be habit forming to touch base with loved ones. Is all this ‘shelter in place’ stuff so bad? Even the ‘stay at home’ from church isn’t so bad. God needs to be lifted up at home before lifting Him up at church can have an impact. Maybe we could get to the point of the psalmist in Psalm 63:

O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You;
my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
 So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.

 Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You.
 So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips, when I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the watches of the night;  for You have been my help,
and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

But those who seek to destroy my life  shall go down into the depths of the earth;  they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals.
But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

         Wouldn’t it be amazing if all this brought us to the point that this psalmist had arrived at? Maybe this whole thing isn’t so bad.

         Blessings and joys as we approach the Resurrection of our Lord.

  

         We had the best dog in the world. I know, you think your dog is the best, but our dog taught the course at Doggie U. Star. We got Star when she was seven and her owner died. She immediately took to Marsha. She sensed Marsha’s physical problems. She knew what Marsha could and couldn’t do. When Marsha would take her for her noon walk, she stayed right next to Marsha, always sensing her need and always ready to protect. It really was more like Star was taking Marsha for a walk than the other way around. Every morning at around 5 AM I would take her for the morning walk, and the night walk would be around 9 at night. When she was with me, she was a nut. Smelling every blade of grass, chasing butterflies, laughing at me when I said it was time to go. But for Marsha she was protective and caring. If Marsha had a bad day, Star would meet me at the door when I got home and let me know that Marsha wasn’t doing well. Our Star was a brilliant dog.

         At night Star would come to my side of the bed and lay her head on the mattress while she was still standing on the floor. She was a big dog and she had to bring her head down to lay it on the mattress. I would pet her a little and talk to her a little and then she would lick my hand and turn away and go around to the other side of the bed and lay down on the floor where she could listen for Marsha to make sure she was OK all during the night. Star considered Marsha her primary concern. “I love you, Dad, but Mom needs me.” This was her pattern for eight years until she died. Except…….

         ……for thunder.

         She could hear thunder while it was a long ways off. She would stand and nuzzle Marsha’s hand until she got a reaction from Marsha. Then Star would give her a little whispered ‘woof’ and then she would come around the bed to my side. If I was facing the side of the bed, she would stick her nose in my eye to wake me. If I was facing Marsha, Star would stick her nose on my neck. Either way, I would wake up. A little whine, a little ‘woof’ and the most pathetic pleading eyes you ever saw. “OK, girl. Lay down.” Star would lay down and I would lay so that my hand rested on her shoulder. We would be like that until the thunder passed. She would still be frightened, especially at the big boomers, but she would lay still and quiet as long as I kept my hand on her shoulder. That was her safety.

         Star didn’t know that I couldn’t protect her from the storm. All she knew was that when she was next to me the storm never hurt her. For us, we know that the Lord can protect us from the storm. But when the storm comes, we want to handle it on our own. Sometimes a dog can have more sense than we do! During this time of uncertainty and stress and worry, consider this passage from 1 Kings. Elijah’s life was threatened. He wanted God to intervene. The Lord took him out to the wilderness, and there…..;

1 Kings 19:11-12   And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the  

         The Lord isn’t always in the great and grand display. Most often, the Lord comes to us in a still, small voice. Just like the slight touch of her master’s hand could ease the only fear a great dog like Star had, so also can the slight touch of the Master’s voice ease our fears.

         Are you tense, maybe a little frightened with all that is going on? It is serious and you should be concerned. But for a while, right now, turn off the news of virus and politics and death and desperation. Stand before the Lord and listen for that soft whisper, that slight touch of the Master, that will surely bring you peace and rest.

         Have you heard anything about something called the coronavirus? Something about a pandemic? Everything disrupted? Of course you have. We all have. It is hard to think about anything else.

         Except that this is the time of year we should be focusing in on the death, burial and Resurrection of our Lord. I am greatly grieved that we will not be able to come together to worship during the last few weeks of this Resurrection season, but even without that thrill of worshiping together, we can remember the story.

         There are still four weeks until we feel the rush of triumph of His Resurrection! But what was actually happening right about now? Jesus knew how His time on earth would end and He knew when it would end. Was He preoccupied with death? Was He worried? Was He filled with hate?

         At about four weeks before His death, Jesus was teaching His disciples about the sheep and the Shepherd. Of course, as He explained the concept, the disciples failed to understand. Jesus Himself was the Shepherd, but the disciples were looking at Him to be the triumphal King, an earthly King who would set them free from foreign rule. But Jesus was talking Spiritual things.

         It was the time of the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem and Jesus and His band of men were in that ancient city. They were worshiping on the Temple grounds when a large group of Jews confronted Him. “Don’t keep us waiting! Are You or are You not the Messiah?” Jesus looked at them and said, “I have told you, but you do not believe. The things I do, I do in My Father’s name and those things say clearly who I am. But you do not believe.” It was Jesus saying HOW MUCH MORE OBVIOUS DO I HAVE TO BE??? So they picked up rocks and would have killed Him there, but the Bible says He escaped them.

         And then Jesus did a curious thing. He went from Jerusalem to the Jordan River where John the Baptizer had done so much of his baptizing at the beginning of their ministries. Here, the Bible says, Jesus stayed for a while. Many people came to see Him. We do not know what transpired there, but we do know that many believed on Him at that place. Given the time frame, He would have stayed about two weeks by the river. Apparently, He preached. He probably did some healing. But, whatever He did, many believed on Him there. He was just weeks away from death, and He went on with His Father’s business.

         What would you do in that situation? Just a short time to live. Run out of the place that was literally your father’s house. People you loved had rejected you and had already been plotting to kill you. What would you do? Your followers were so caught up in their own greed that they failed to understand the basics of your purpose. What would you do? Everywhere you turn, people were either expecting the wrong thing or rejecting you for the right thing.

         What Jesus did was to continue to love, continue to minister, continue to be there for the people who had treated Him so poorly. Of course, we can say He was Jesus. This was His mission.

         But we should never, ever forget that HE was, and is, the Son of God. HE commands the heavens. HE was with His Father at creation. Jesus was the only perfect man who ever lived. There was no spot of sin in Him. HE had all the power of God in His hands. You would have thought He would have done something different during His final days. But He kept about His Father’s business.

         Mordecai, of the Old Testament Book of Esther and a mere servant of the king, was hated by Haman, a man second in power only to the king. Years before, Mordecai had saved the life of the king. During a sleepless night, this came back to the remembrance of the king. The next day, Haman was ordered to dress Mordecai in the king's robes and place him on the king's beautiful horse and walk him through the city proclaiming in a loud voice, “This is what is done for the man the king wishes to honor!” Haman was humiliated. He felt he should be the one so honored, not the one leading the horse. When the ordeal was over for Haman, he went home and wept before his wife. This was a high honor for Mordecai, an honor anyone would think he should be proud of. What did the honored Mordecai do? He took off the king’s robes and went back to his job at the king’s gate.

         To me, the Book of Esther is inspiring for the courage of Esther, but also for the focus of Mordecai. I want to serve my King as Mordecai served his king, regardless the service or the circumstance. Jesus, in His final days, went down to the river and continued His service to His Father.

         Always remember; all of the life of Jesus, from conception to death, was a sacrifice we cannot imagine. Not just the cross, but His entire life. The One who commanded heaven went down to the riverside and quietly continued the work of His Father.

         What an awesome Savior.