Crises tend to reveal character and belief, so the not yet king bravely and confidently picks up the stones to face the giant Goliath. On the other end of the spectrum, the not yet martyr to the cause of Jesus Christ denies his lord on three separate occasions and after his betrayal weeps bitterly about his unfaithfulness.
Our current coronavirus crisis is revealing character and belief all across the globe. Darwinians don’t actually believe in the survival of the fittest while fatalists believe there isn’t really anything that can be done so just live and let live. Go to the beach if you want; if you catch it, you catch it.
God haters also declare their positions with candor. In an on-air interview with CNN, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared, “Our behavior has stopped the spread of the virus. God did not stop the spread of the virus.” Later in a press conference, the governor doubled down when he told the gathered journalists, “The number is down because we brought the number down. God did not do that. Fate did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and suffering did that.” (April 13, 2020)
Look at great Babylon that I have built.
Past political leaders have not been so brazen, and many actually called the nation to prayer. On the verge of war with France, our first ally in the War for Independence, President John Adams proclaimed May 9, 1798 a day of solemn fasting and prayer.
That the citizens of these states, abstaining on that day from their customary worldly occupations, offer their devout addresses to the Father of Mercies, agreeably to those forms or methods which they have severally adopted as the most suitable and becoming: That all religious congregations do, with the deepest humility, acknowledge before GOD the manifold sins and transgressions with which we are justly chargeable as individuals and as a nation; beseeching him, at the same time, of his infinite Grace, through the Redeemer of the world, freely to remit all our offences, and to incline us, by his holy spirit, to that sincere repentance and reformation which may afford us reason to hope for his inestimable favor and heavenly benediction.
During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln on three occasions called the nation to prayer for the purpose of bringing an end to the deep bloodshed and gaping chasm between the states.
And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins…We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God…we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own…It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the Offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
During the Spanish Flu and World War 1, President Woodrow Wilson led the nation to God with reference to Hebrews 11:10.
Almighty God, ruler of all the peoples of the earth, forgive, we pray, our shortcomings as a nation; purify our hearts to see and love truth; give wisdom to our counselors and steadfastness to our people; and bring us at last to the fair city of peace, whose foundations are mercy, justice and goodwill, and whose builder and maker you are.
June 6, 1944 D-Day President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the nation via live radio broadcast. The invasion already under way, FDR informed the citizenry of the colossal undertaking to secure a beachhead on the French coast. At the end of his address, he led the nation in a lengthy prayer. Knowing that many men would not return, he prayed,
And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them--help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts…Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.
Of course prayer in crisis is no indicator of new life in Christ, but brazen repudiation of God does indicate a life void of Christ. The coronavirus is revealing the character and belief of all including professing Christians. We cringe at Governor Cuomo’s comments, but what does the silence of Christians reveal about us? Are we any different?
Are we pleading with God in prayer for his intervention, his sustaining grace, the expansion of his kingdom, the protection of the church, for his aid to the suffering, for his emancipation of the renewed addict, and for the glory of his name?
Are Christians praying or is their lack of prayer revealing what Governor Cuomo bellowed, “Not God, but us.”
Pray, Church, pray.
As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.
Mike VerWay
Pastor for Preaching & Vision