Faith Matters | What Christian faith can teach us in this season of the coroanvirus
To sit perched between death and life, waiting — that’s where Christians are on Holy Saturday, that somber day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Our Jewish friends also wait eagerly for the Passover liberation. Our Muslim friends will soon endure a month of fasting to draw nearer to God in Ramadan.
Each of the Abrahamic faiths brings their message of hope to the experience of longing for rescue and for God’s peace in this difficult season of coronavirus. Our friends who are Buddhists invite us to be calm and peaceful and our Hindu friends remind us to ascend to a higher spiritual plane.
In the season of Lent, we Christians challenge ourselves to give up things as a way of focusing our attention on Jesus Christ, who lost his life in full service to humanity. Yet never in our lifetime, have we Christians sacrificed so much in Lent. As one person comically wrote in a Facebook post, “This is the Lentiest Lent I have ever Lented.” Many of us have been surprised at how valuable good humor is becoming in this fearful season of coronavirus. Humor and hope are what get us through the difficult hours.
Here are a few things the Christian faith can teach us in this coronavirus season:
Doubters are welcome among the Jesus-followers. “Doubting Thomas” was one of Jesus’ favorite people. Jesus both understands and challenges doubters to believe even what they cannot see.
One of the most frequent commands in the Bible is “Do not fear!” The reason we can contain our fear is that we believe we belong to God in both life and in death. Nothing can separate us.
Before he died, Jesus not only healed and comforted many in distress, but he left, promising comfort. “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you – not as the world gives … do not let your hearts be troubled.”
Jesus can empathize with our loneliness and fear. In the garden of Gethsemane, he prayed for God to relieve him of his distress (his pending death) but then says, “not my will but yours be done.” Submission to God’s will is a huge act of trust, and it is good to lament or complain to God about injustice, about sadness, about anything that hurts – like this virus.
The Christian faith will not answer every question of why. (Why do bad things happen to good people?) Bad things happened even to pure goodness: God Incarnate – Jesus Christ. God apparently chooses a power-limitation in this world; otherwise, we would be God’s puppets.
The Christian faith may not answer why but it does answer how we can get through bad times with the abundant consolation that is ours in Jesus Christ, and with the hope.
This hope gives us courage when lesser hopes fail us. “Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love is poured into our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
This love is the answer. Jesus reminds repeatedly that true faith is seen in the way we love one another. The Great Commandment comes in two parts: Love God. Love neighbor. In the healthiest congregations you will experience the steadfast and merciful love of Christ. You will be challenged, but always in ways that build up, not tear down.
Find a church online during these fearful and uncertain times. It will strengthen you to be connected to others who, like you, are praying hard, longing for relief from this grief. We may have a very long Friday-Saturday, but Sunday’s coming!
Lastly, remember that the first Easter was not a grand celebration in a room full of people. It was the discovery of an empty tomb by a group of fearful women, followed by appearances of a risen Christ to fearful followers isolated in an upper room. So perhaps this Easter, we will find in our emptiness, grief, isolation, and fear, the fullness of Christ’s loving presence, more real than ever. Be not afraid!
Faith Matters is written by members of the Bradenton clerical community. The Rev. Elizabeth Deibert is pastor of Peace Presbyterian Church in Lakewood Ranch. She can be reached at edeibert@peacepcusa.com.