Cross Connection Service 3/22/20

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him." (John 9:1-3)

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength. (Isaiah 26:3-4)

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:4-9)

In a moment of global upheaval, three passages of Scripture point us back to the unshakable peace of God.

Living in Unprecedented Times

I think you would probably agree that we are living in unprecedented times—a truly historic period. The circumstances we find ourselves in, not just as a nation but as a world, are genuinely bizarre. As I shared last week, it sometimes feels like we're living in the midst of a movie.

At the end of 2019 I had a strong impression that 2020 would be a year of chaos, primarily because of everything happening politically in this campaign season. I certainly was not expecting the things that have unfolded over the last several weeks here and around the world. As we come to the Scriptures today, there are a number of things I believe the Lord wants to minister to us from His Word.

How Should Christians Respond?

This last week I've been confronted repeatedly with a simple question, from both people in our church and other pastors: how should we respond as Christians to everything we see going on in the world? I think there are three important things to consider.

First, we should respond with wisdom. I keep hearing people say, "Out of an abundance of caution, we're going to do this or that." That's all well and good, but I think we should decide what we do out of an abundance of wisdom, seeking it from the Scriptures. This is even reflected in the text we've been studying in Deuteronomy 1, on the importance of leaders who are wise and understanding. That's why we're doing things the way we are this weekend—gathering online rather than in our facility. Because of the recommendations from the medical community to flatten the curve and slow the spread, observing social distancing is the wise thing to do, even though for a church whose vision is life in connection, talking about social distancing feels a little strange.

Second, we will respond to circumstances as they arise. I have a tendency to think things out weeks or months in advance, but in a situation where everything is changing constantly, that simply isn't possible. As I shared last week from Max Lucado's The Woodcutter's Wisdom, the woodcutter keeps responding, "All I know is this." We can only see what's right in front of us.

The Apostle James gave wise counsel on this:

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." (James 4:13-15)

For the planners among us, it's very hard not to plan the next week or month. We simply have to say, "Lord, whatever You will in this situation."

Learning to Trust the Lord

Third, we are going to seek to keep trusting the Lord and to learn to trust Him through this. Examining my own heart this last week, I realize I have a lot to learn about trusting in the Lord. As Solomon wrote, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

We will always experience challenges in life—that is a given. As we go through them, we need to recognize that the Lord wants us to learn to trust and rely upon Him. And we respond to one another as the church has for centuries: praying for one another, comforting, supporting, and bearing one another's burdens. The "one anothers" of the Bible can teach us much during this period about being Christlike.

This strange, Sabbath-like pause may be a good time to spend quiet moments alone with the Lord and ask: Is there something You want to teach me through this? Maybe He wants to teach us to slow down in our busy culture. Maybe He wants us to disconnect—from technology, social media, or the news. I've long encouraged people to take a Sabbath or a fast from the news, because it can be so distressing, and right now we are constantly bombarded. Maybe He wants us to trust in Him more than in our job, our bank account, the government, or our investments. This is a good time to ask the Lord what He's trying to teach us and what He wants us to do—more time in His Word, more time in prayer, reaching out to friends to see how they're doing.

John 9 — That the Works of God Would Be Revealed

The first passage is from the Gospel of John. We're not really a traditional liturgical church—I grew up in one—but for those who follow the church calendar, this is the season of Lent, and this week's Gospel reading is John 9.

Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? ... Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. (John 9:2-3)

I've heard people in our culture saying this virus is the judgment of God because of our sin. But humanity has been sinful a very long time—all the way back to Genesis 3. We live in a broken and fallen world, so there is death, sickness, and viruses. But what's happening now isn't because there's any more new sin than ten or a hundred years ago; it's the manifestation of a broken world. I don't think it's right to say this is the judgment of God.

What I do believe is that in the midst of this, God wants to work. The disciples assumed bad things happen because of personal sin, and Jesus corrected them: this is an opportunity for God's works to be revealed. So I wonder—what does God want to do? There are many people far from God who need the forgiveness, grace, peace, joy, and salvation found only in Jesus Christ. When the things people trust in are shaken—their job, their bank account, their government—they're put in a place of looking for something with real strength and foundation. This is an opportunity to reach out to family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors who are far from God and freaked out, and to share something of the Lord with them. God wants to do a work in us during this time, and a work through us as His church.

Isaiah 26 — Perfect Peace in the Midst of Catastrophe

The second passage is Isaiah 26, which comes right after the prophet predicts a calamity coming upon the entire world. Isaiah 24 and 25 picture a global catastrophe—and we are living in something that feels somewhat global and catastrophic. In the midst of that, Isaiah writes:

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength. (Isaiah 26:3-4)

When people go through tumultuous times, they try to find something substantial to hold on to, and there is no better Rock than Jesus Christ. Those words "perfect peace" in the original Hebrew are shalom shalom. The ancient Hebrews emphasized something by repeating it, so the prophet says God will keep you in shalom shalom as your mind is stayed on Him and you trust in Him. I want to encourage you to commit Isaiah 26:3-4 to memory during this period and dwell on it: God will keep me in perfect peace as my mind is stayed on Him; trust in the Lord, for in Him is everlasting strength.

Philippians 4 — Rejoicing in All Circumstances

The final passage is Philippians 4:4-9. Over the last several weeks I keep returning to it, and it's a passage I've shared with literally hundreds of people over the years when praying with them through difficult trials. Four points stand out.

First, this passage prescribes our rejoicing in all circumstances. Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" He had already given this theme in Philippians 3:1: "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord." The word "rejoice" here is a command—it is not optional. And since it is a command, I believe it's possible even in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Remember, Paul was not in a joy-inducing situation when he wrote this. This is one of his prison epistles; he was imprisoned in Rome, awaiting a trial that would end not in release but in execution. Yet he could command rejoicing because he had learned a vital lesson, found in this same chapter:

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content... I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11-13)

We can rejoice even in difficult circumstances, but our rejoicing is not found in the circumstances. We're not rejoicing in coronavirus or in people losing their jobs. We rejoice in the Lord—which is why it's so important to spend time with Him in prayer, His Word, and worship, where our joy is kindled.

A Reputation of Steadiness

Second, this passage exhorts that our steadiness be evident to all. I get that from verse 5: "Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand."

That word "gentleness" is a challenging one for translators—you'll find "reasonableness," "graciousness," and other renderings across different versions, which tells us they had a hard time with it. In my study, I think one of the better ways to translate it is "have a reputation of steadiness."

So a simple question: do you have a reputation of steadiness in the midst of trials and difficulties? Or do outside circumstances take you up, take you down, and toss you all around? One of the dangers is being tossed around easily by the things that happen in this world. Paul says, "I want you to have a reputation for steadiness." One of my prayers for our church is that God would grant us a strong ballast and a strong keel in the water as we go through these challenges.

Peace Through Persistent Prayer

Third, this passage commands our peace by persistent prayer. Look at verses 6-7: "Be anxious for nothing"—a very simple command, yet very hard to fulfill. Every one of us breaks this regularly. But I'm convinced that God enables us to fulfill the very things He commands; He doesn't give us impossible commands. The only way to fulfill them is to do what He prescribes:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Where does anxiety happen? In my mind and in my heart. Paul says we can live at peace, without being tossed to and fro, by following these steps. Prayer, supplication, thanksgiving, and making our requests to God are all different forms of prayer. It's as if Paul says: don't worry about anything—instead, pray, pray, pray, pray, and as you do, the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds.

This might seem simplistic, like a quick platitude—we've all heard Christians say "you just need to pray" to the point that people sometimes get offended by it. But the Scriptures teach it. These forms of prayer set our mind upon the Lord, fulfilling Isaiah 26:3 and Colossians 3:1-2: "Set your mind on things above." Thanksgiving is remembering all God has done; supplication is praying for His provision in the future. As we bring all of this to the Lord, He gives us His perfect peace, guarding the very place where we deal with worry and anxiety.

Fixing Our Attention on What Promotes Peace

Fourth and finally, this passage orders our attention to be fixed on those things that promote peace. Look at verse 8: "Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."

For years, Christians got a little weirded out by the word "meditate," instantly thinking of Eastern forms of meditation. In the last five or ten years, our culture has seen a high increase in meditative practices, silence retreats, and mindfulness apps. Some of that might actually be good if we meditate the way the Bible prescribes. People often think meditation means emptying the mind. That's not biblical meditation, which is thinking deeply and focusing your attention on something.

Here's how I'd put it: if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate, because worry is a form of meditation. Over the last ten days you've probably spent a lot of time meditating on the coronavirus from every angle—how it affects your family, your business, your 401k, the culture, even toilet paper sales. That meditation is distressing; it destabilizes your heart and mind, costs you sleep, and makes you impatient with others.

God wants to reorder our focus so we experience more of His perfect peace—by thinking more about the things that are lovely, true, noble, good, praiseworthy, and of good report. All of those things describe the nature of God. I guarantee, based on what the Scriptures say, that if you fix your attention and meditate on these things, you will experience the peace of God.

From the Peace of God to the God of Peace

Notice the last verse: "The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:9). The Philippians had seen Paul live this out—praying, meditating on the Scriptures. So he moves us from the peace of God that guards our hearts and minds, to the God of peace Himself. The more you know the peace of God by spending time with Him in meditation, the more you draw near to the God of peace, and He draws near to you.

At the very least, I hope one outcome of all this chaos in 2020 will be you and me drawing closer to the God of peace and experiencing His peace in greater capacity. And that's not only good for you and your family—it gives you an opportunity to share the peace of God and the God of peace with others. There are many people we know who don't know God and have very little ultimate hope or peace when storms come. As the world has been coming apart this year, people are looking for joy, peace, and hope. If you're a Christian, we have all of those things in Christ Jesus, so we have a huge evangelistic opportunity to share the God of peace with a culture that desperately needs Him. Coronavirus is reminding people how shallow and unstable things are, and they're beginning to look for something with real substance and foundation—found only in God and His kingdom.

So I pray you'd be encouraged by these things, and that instead of meditating on the news, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, you'd spend time meditating upon the God of peace, and that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding would guard your heart during this time.

Closing Prayer

Father, I pray for us, Your people, the Church of God. I ask that You would do a work in us, that we would have a hunger and a thirst for spending time with You and Your Word, in prayer, and in worship—even if we can't do that with other people in the body of Christ, we can do it with our families. I pray that during this period You would draw us close to You, and that drawing near would pay dividends in a huge way, so we would experience exactly what the Scriptures say: Your peace that surpasses understanding.

God, would You guard the hearts and minds of Your church as we walk through these challenging situations, and would You use Your church to be a light, a city set on a hill that cannot be hid, to those who walk through these challenges without hope and without peace from You. So God, do a work in Your church, we pray, in Jesus' name. And now may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.