This Memorial Day, I want to honor Kenneth Wiley Walker. Kenneth was born December 2, 1922, the 6^th child and second son to my great grandparents Joe Carlie and Mary Elizabeth Walker.  That would make him my great uncle. 

The Man

He joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939 and served in Oregon until 1941.  Then in October of 1942 he volunteered to serve in the United States Navy.  The ship on which he served, the USS Thuban, deployed in the Pacific during WWII.

The Mission

In order to take Midway Island, the US Navy needed to take out a Japanese stronghold in The Gilbert Islands.  The specific Island was Betio, located in what was known as the Tarawa Atoll.  The goal was to destroy the stronghold there, establish a base in the Marianna Islands, then take Midway.  From there, the USN could launch offensives into the Philippines and eventually Japan.  The US deemed this mission vital to the success of our effort in WWII.

As I write this, we are still the uncertain days of the COVID-19 pandemic.  I also write as we anticipate, for the second Sunday in a row, severe storms to move through our area.  Suffice it to say, many people understandably are feeling a great bit of anxiety. 

Recently, my friend Bobby Simpson, wrote in his “Thought for Tuesday” about a concept he calls “our reaction to our reaction.”  Anxiety is a natural reaction a pandemic threatens our life’s normalcy or a storm threatens our safety. But the key is not to act on our first reaction. We do better to consider a positive reaction to our reaction.

Thermometer or Thermostat

I’ve written before about our feelings and our thoughts being like a thermometer and thermostat. (Here and more recently here). A thermometer measures the environment that surrounds it.  Anxiety is a feeling that hints to us that our circumstances may be less than optimal.  We cannot keep from feeling anxiety at times any more than we can keep from feeling a chill when cold. 

In  my last blog, I wrote about the one thing I most pray will remain the same post-COVID.  I pray that this apparent renewed interest in trusting God will stick.  However, today, I want to share the one thing that I most pray that COVID make different about.

I pray that we will have a new, improved attitude about church.

Let me suggest two ways this new attitude should manifest itself.

These COVID days are difficult times indeed.  However, we have endured difficult days before and these will soon pass as well.  But what will we learn?  How will COVID-19 change the way we live. What will remain the same?

The Old Testament recounts numerous times God allowed His people to suffer in order to turn their hearts to Him.  I believe God has allowed the Coronavirus and has an ultimate purpose for it. I wrote previously that my greatest coronavirus fear is that we will go back to the way we were before.

Today, I want to share with you the thing I most pray will stay the same in post-COVID times.

I pray that this apparent renewed sense of dependence on God is real and lasting, not superficial, superstitious, and fleeting.

Below are three things I pray stay the same and give evidence we individually have heard from God.

I am Barabbas in a lot of ways. Remember him? He’s the guy that Pilate, at the request of the Jewish crowd, released instead of Jesus.

At the festival Pilate used to release for the people a prisoner whom they requested. There was one named Barabbas, who was in prison with rebels who had committed murder during the rebellion. The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do for them as was his custom. Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews for you?” For he knew it was because of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that he would release Barabbas to them instead. Pilate asked them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call the King of the Jews?”

 

Again they shouted, “Crucify him!”

 

Pilate said to them, “Why? What has he done wrong?”

 

But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!”

 

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them; and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified. – Mark 15:6-15

What Do We Know About Barabbas?

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The Bible tells of that time when Jesus’ disciples were carjackers. Well, since they didn’t have cars back then I guess they weren’t technically carjackers, they were donkey-jackers.

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Easter 2020 will go down as the most unusual in my life thus far.  With the mandated Shelter-in-Place, churches will find a way to creatively celebrate the most important event in human history. But even the most creative presentations will be so different.

I hope to give us a positive perspective on a most unusual Easter.

Easter 2020 Sundays (plural)

For most if us the thought of not being at church on Easter Sunday seems almost sacrilegious.  But to the first century church, EVERY SUNDAY was Easter.  Remember that most of Jesus’ early followers came from the Jewish faith.  Saturday worship was their custom.  Saturday was their Sabbath.

But Jesus’ resurrection changed that.  The Book of Acts describes groups of believers gathering on “the first day of the week.”  For them Sunday was the first day.  They made it a practice to meet regularly on Sunday so that on a weekly basis they celebrated the Resurrection. By the 4^th Century, church leaders mandated that the Church meet on Sunday.

We’ve eaten a lot more homemade meals because of the COVID-19 induced sequester.  As a result, I’ve made a lot more iced tea than usual. In fact, I’m slipping on a fresh glass as I type this.  As I steeped today’s teabags I remembered an important lesson.

I don’t know of anyone who eats tea leaves.  In order to enjoy tea, we have to submerge the teabags in hot water.  The hot water brings out whatever is in the teabags.

I hesitate to call the effects of coronavirus on my life “suffering.”  I am merely inconvenienced.  But many are truly suffering.  Some have lost their lives or the life of a close relative.  Some are hospitalized and their families are unable to visit. 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…”

Thus began Charles Dickens’ classic A Tale of Two Cities.

The scene he depicted is not unlike what we have experienced over the last few weeks.  We have seen both the best and worst of humanity.  While some have hoarded, others have displayed unselfish generosity.  Some have complained, and others have chosen to encourage and uplift.  Many have lived in fear, but so many others have boldly verbalized and practiced confident faith in God.

The Best of Times

I’ve seen a lot of good and a lot of bad the last few days.  People have reached out to help those in need.  I’ve witnessed many people (myself included) exercise a lot more patience than usual with others.  More prayer. More positive talk.  Much more Christian witness and many more sermons online.

In the 1990’s, Pastor Mike Pilavachi of Soul Survivor Church in Watford, England did a brave thing.  He sensed his church had grown too comfortable in worship.  They seemed more interested in what they got from the music and experience than what they would bring to Jesus.

So, he decided they would strip away everything – the order of worship, the band, the sound system.  As worshipers came to church, he would ask them what they brought as their offering of worship to God.  Finally, spontaneous heartfelt worship of God broke through.

Songwriter Matt Redman would soon after pen a song influenced by that experience.  The song, The Heart of Worship, is a standard in many churches 25 years later.  However, it was birthed from a situation in which they were forced to worship differently.