To Recover Is Christ, To Die from Coronavirus Is Gain

For all the puzzles completed and walks in the neighborhood, home cooked meals and learning to use technology to connect with family and friends, most hope for a return to normal. But that’s the problem, is a return to normal all that great? I want to make a bold statement to you who are Christians.

It is better for your Christian mom or dad, husband or wife, son or daughter, brother or sister, pastor or small group member to die from the coronavirus than to return to what was normal.

The magnetism of this world pulls strong on every human being including us Christians. So strong, in fact, is the attraction that many Christians would push back when the Bible says, “to die is gain” and “to depart and be with Christ is far better” (Philippians 1:21, 23). Not you? You don’t push back? Please continue to read.

Paul wrote those famous words while under arrest in the imperial city of Rome. For Paul, the previous two years delivered blow after blow to his physical and mental wellbeing (Acts 21-26). Now he finds himself perilously close to the executioner’s blade. What will happen he does not know. What he desires to happen he is quite certain. He wants to depart this life by means of his death to be with Jesus which, Paul proclaims, is far better. To which most reply, “Well, of course it’s better to die and to go be with Jesus than to live under persecution.” But that response misses Paul’s point.

Paul is not saying that departing this life via death is better than the parts of this life that stink. Paul says departing this life via death is far better than the best this life can offer to us. Paul is saying it is better for every Christian to die from COVID-19 than it is to enjoy the best of a coronavirus free world.

We agree departing this life via death to be with Jesus is better than Christian persecution, better than viruses, better than cancer, better than bankruptcy, better than fighting, better than pain, better than divorce, better than infertility, better than temptation, better than addiction, better than paralysis, better than abandonment, better than jealousies, better than bitterness, and better than heartbreak. But the Christian view is departing this life via death to be with Jesus is better than the very best this life can offer to us.

• Life on earth with Brenda, my wife, is wonderful but departing via death to be with Christ is better.

• Life on earth with two sons, two daughters, a daughter-in-law, and a son-in-law is wonderful but departing via death to be with Christ is better.

• Life on earth with a beautiful grandson is wonderful but departing via death to be with Christ is better.

• Life on earth with a healthy heart and lungs and strong arms and legs is wonderful but departing via death to be with Christ is better.

• Life on earth with expansive liberties because I am an American is wonderful but departing via death to be with Christ is better.

• Life on earth with financial freedom is wonderful but departing via death to be with Christ is better. Life on earth with family and friends enjoying good food and drink, mountain slopes, wilderness lakes, and tropical breezes is wonderful but departing via death to be with Christ is better.

• Life on earth seeing all my dreams come true is wonderful but departing via death to be with Christ is better.

Do you push back against any of those declarations? Frankly, I do. In reality, I, like many of you, have little interest to leave this world for another better world in order to be with God. “My life is good,” I think, “There is so much left to enjoy here and to look forward to here. When I get old and frail, suffer memory loss, cannot see or hear well, then I’ll want to go be with Jesus.” Our contentment with the best of what this life offers reveals how far away we are from God, from His love, and the blessed life which is in Him.

Now, don’t be argumentative or worse, foolish, and conclude that you should end your life today because the Bible says, “to depart and be with Christ, is far better.” Paul determines in the next line, “Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.” For Paul the timing of his departure via death to be with Christ belongs to heaven. Paul desired to die, but he was willing to live. While death would have been gain to him, he would endure the personal loss of living on earth if it meant a benefit to others.

What do you desire? Do you desire to depart and be with Christ or to have a little more of the good life here? Your answer determines in part how you will live your life here and what will hold the passions of your heart.

O Lord, while I am thankful for the life you have given to me here, I often find myself far more interested in this life than in the life to come with you in heaven. I want to hold this life loosely, even the very best parts of it that you have given to me to enjoy to the max. I want to be like those who have gone on before me who desired a better country, a heavenly country (Hebrews 11:17). Separate my heart from its love for this broken creation and stir my heart to want to be with you. Amen.

As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Mike VerWay
Pastor for Preaching & Vision

No More Excuses - You've Got Time

The numbers from 1918 are staggering with 500,000–675,000 deaths estimated in the U.S. and 50–100 million deaths worldwide. Like our experience with COVID-19, at the beginning of the 1918 pandemic antiviral medications and effective vaccines were not widely available, so they did what we are doing by using nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to decrease disease transmission. They closed schools, band public gatherings, and asked for voluntary quarantine of infected households.

Like the difference today between New York and Minneapolis / St. Paul, the intensity of the 1918 pandemic varied widely among U.S. cities. How cities and states responded varied too. 

In mid-October 1918, the city of Minneapolis and some in state government took action. Among the various NPIs adopted by local governments, the Minneapolis Department of Health closed churches, schools, theaters, dance halls, and all other meeting places for the duration of the epidemic. Most were reopened by the end of the calendar year.

Will we follow a similar timeline to our ancestors? Who knows? What is similar is the result of all the closings. Like them, we have time.

Of course, we have not gained any more hours than the 24 we had previously. What most of us do have now is more time available to us. We now possess the time we used to need to commute to work and school. We now have the time we used to need to get ready to go to the office or classroom (Admit it, you don’t spend anywhere near the time pampering for work or school from home like you used to do).

We no longer must give up all the time dedicated to our kids’ stuff that dominated the family schedule (pastoral note: you’ve figured this out, right? You’ve experienced in these two weeks the amazing freedom of not having your kid involved in everything imaginable, and you like it, right? And when this is all over, you’re not going back to that lifestyle of kids’ activities dominating your family, right?).

So, you’ve got this available time. It’s a gift to you from God, and what’s your intention for its use? There has to be something better than watching the Star Wars saga in chronological order.

Paul wrote, “Pay careful attention, then, to how you live—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). A simple understanding is our use of time is not neutral, and use of time can be sinful if not invested for good. We are to make the most of our time while God gives it to us, and he has given to us more than what we had just a few weeks ago.

Statements about time to make to yourself during the coronavirus pandemic. Say to yourself…

• You have time to read your Bible. “If I just had more time” has been our rationale for many things over the course of our Christian lives including the reading of our Bibles. You have discretionary time you didn’t have to read what God says to the church and to the world. Read a gospel in one or two sittings. Read the book of Leviticus and then immediately read the book of Hebrews. Read Psalm 119 without putting down your Bible. You have time, so read.

• You have time to learn to pray. The late R.C. Sproul taught the reason Christians don’t pray as they should is because they don’t know how to pray. He believed the disciples’ question to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray,” is the question for all followers of Jesus. Most of us want to have a more meaningful prayer experience. You now have the time to develop your prayer life. At present, we aren’t lacking for occasions to express to God our thanks, to direct to God our adoration for who he is, and to make our requests known to him. And when it comes to learning to pray, the best way to learn is by doing. You have time, so pray.

• You have time to connect with people. Granted, the connection with people outside our homes will only be digital, or if you’re old school, handwritten or a voice call, but you have the time to connect. Without exaggeration, some sons and daughters may look back in later years on the events of these weeks and months as one of the best times they remember with dad or mom. This is the time for connection that leads to evangelism. This is the time for connection that leads to the spiritual growth of your children. You have time, so connect.

Questions about time to ask yourself during the coronavirus pandemic. Ask yourself…

• What do I want to see happen in my life before the restraints of COVID-19 end? You’ve wanted to be different if only you had the time. Hopefully this all ends before any one of us could become fluent in a new language or exceptional at an instrument, but there is time to make changes in your life. In his grace, God has given to us time to make changes or to begin practice that leads to change. We don’t have to stay what we are because we don’t have the time we wish we had. Now is the time to live in grace to become what you are not yet. You have time, so change.

• How can I better myself so that what I bring back to the gathered church makes the church better? We Christians feel deeply the limitations on gathering together. We’ve imagined what it will be like when the worship leader declares, “Let’s sing” or our pastor says, “Turn in your Bibles.” Just writing those words brings goosebumps. Paul wrote that equipped saints build the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). When the church comes together again, in what way will you be better equipped to make the church stronger, healthier, more like Christ than when the church parted? We can’t come back together the same as when we left. What a monumental waste of time that would be. You have time to better yourself for the good of the church, so make it happen.

Is our timeline like 1918? We all hope not. We hope there is some return to what used to be, but there should not be a return to life as we left it. We’ve been given time, Christians, to do and become what we were not before.

For God’s glory and for the church, make the most of the time.

As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Mike VerWay
Pastor for Preaching & Vision

Tell Us What You Really Think!

Leadership and attitude go hand in hand. Leaders should have a “can do” attitude, a “let’s get ‘er done” attitude, an “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” attitude. When a leader sets aside or loses his positive attitude, the organization, family, or team he leads will suffer. They will not achieve their goals. They will not enjoy unity. They will not survive very long. In one way or another, every TED Talk on leadership addresses the leader’s attitude.

At present, my attitude about COVID-19 stinks.

I’m angry. I can only go on the information we all have read or heard, and I’m pretty angry. I’m angry that China withheld material evidence and distributed misinformation. I’m angry that United States senators left an Intelligence Committee meeting held January 24 and sold stocks before the market lost one-third of its value. Look, I don’t know if the senators are guilty of insider training or not, and at this point, I don’t really care. I’m just angry that I could not sell my holdings before the market crashed. That’s just the beginning of the list of things that tick me off.

I’m irritated. My life has cadence, well, it used to have cadence. My routines give me daily direction and make life comfortable. In a recent phone conversation, I had to ask what day it was. I’m not losing my mind, but I have lost much of my way of life.

I’m sad. Our youngest child finished his college education this year. For the final time we planned to sit in the audience as a VerWay name was called and a diploma awarded. Like so many others, his senior year events and our enjoyment of them are gone, never to be recovered.

I’m confused. I don’t know who I am supposed to believe. Is this a legitimate pandemic that threatens the lives of untold millions or is it something far less? Is the cure worse than the illness? Is flattening the curve the only answer? I live in an age with more information than at any time in human history, and I cannot find a sentence of unquestioned truth.

I’m worried. We are living in a world of speculation. “If” and “when” are they bywords of every commentator, medical expert, and politician. But what if “if” doesn’t happen? When will “when” arrive? And when if and when show themselves, what will that mean?

I’m afraid. I’m fearful about finances and health and bad choices. We were not created to hide and isolate, and here we are hiding and isolating. Living against the Creator’s intentions has consequences. We can talk all we want how we will come out of this stronger than before, but there is no guarantee of such an outcome. There is no assurance that life will be better or even the same on the backside.

I’m embarrassed. I am a leader on many levels, and leader attitudes are supposed to be different than mine. I am a pastor who should embrace trust in the Lord and model hope in Christ. I am ashamed that these feelings reside in me.

And this is just the beginning of my sentiments. Maybe you share my thoughts; maybe you don’t.

In his grace, God gives us hope and help from his word. As I battle my thoughts, I turn my attention to 2 Corinthians 4. Paul tells us the life changing power of the gospel experienced by Christians resides in “jars of clay.” He means easily broken bodies and minds troubled by the realities of life.

His Corinthian readers were troubled in body and mind by circumstances beyond their control. To help them he writes,

Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

Oh Lord,

I focus on what is seen. It’s why I’m angry, irritated, and afraid. I find it very difficult to focus on what is unseen. I often confuse the temporary and the eternal. I dwell on the former and do not rest on the latter. I wrongly think the temporary will provide what I need and satisfy me, and I hold too little value for the eternal that is incomparable.

More than grace to overcome my circumstances, I need grace to overcome myself. I do not want to give up. I want this renewal of my person day after day. Would you help me?

Christians, I suspect we will run the gamut of our emotions in the weeks or months to come, and this will not be the last of our experiences that exposes our broken humanity and the remnants of life before we were united with Christ. We will need to reset our thinking on a daily basis, homeschooling ourselves to value the eternal not the temporal, to focus on the unseen and not the seen.

Overcoming our emotions and thinking will not be easy. A TED Talk, a presidential press conference, or an act of congress may offer pain relief but will not kill the disease. To kill what is killing us, we need someone and something outside of this world. We need the eternal Son of God and the everlasting life he holds out to us. We need to focus on what is unseen not on what is seen.

May God grant us his grace.

As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Mike VerWay

Pastor for Preaching & Vision

Under Quarantine

“Social distancing” and “flattening the curve” has rocked our world, hasn’t it? I’m no prophet nor the son of a prophet, but the fallout is likely to be much more severe than a cancelled spring break trip to a favorite Florida theme park or no state title games. In our church are those who have already lost their jobs and more who are fearful of how COVID-19 will fundamentally change life as they now know it. As I preached on Sunday, we are not fatalists; we are providentialists. We hope in the Lord.

We’ve lived with communally transmitted diseases all our lives. Remember chickenpox? I contracted chickenpox as a kid, maybe you did too. To relieve the itching my mom coated me with calamine lotion, and I stayed home from school for more than a week. That was 1971. The chickenpox vaccine became available in the United States in 1995. Prior to then, the CDC reports, “in the early 1990s, an average of 4 million people got chickenpox, 10,500 to 13,000 were hospitalized, and 100 to 150 died each year.” But that didn’t stop some parents from doing the unthinkable.

Believe it or not, some moms intentionally exposed their littles to another child who was contagious. For some parents the thinking was, “Let’s get this over with and manage it in a time and way that minimizes the consequences.” If a child contracted chickenpox before school age, she wouldn’t have to miss school and in many cases, the symptoms were less severe. Other parents practiced social-distancing while more practiced self-quarantine.

Chickenpox and the coronavirus are not the same thing, so please do not conclude I’m headed that direction. By all accounts, the virus for COVID-19 is far more serious than the virus for chickenpox.

In the Bible the general name given for a communally transmitted disease was leprosy. In some cases, the disease was deadly while in other cases it was a mild irritation. In all cases leprosy carried significant consequences including social distancing, self-quarantine, mandatory isolation, and loss of the joy of corporate worship.

The gospels record a number of occasions where Jesus interacted with a leper. As you navigate the reality of the coronavirus, you can decide for yourself if there is something pragmatic you should learn from Jesus’s interaction with a diseased person. I just want to express how much Jesus loves us.

In Mark 1 Jesus meets a man with leprosy. Mark records the man came on his knees to Jesus, begging Jesus to heal him. Jesus, of course, heals him by the authority of his word, “‘Be made clean.’ Immediately the leprosy left him (1:41-42)”

Between the begging and the healing Mark informs us that Jesus, “Moved with compassion…reached out his hand and touched him.” I wonder, When was the last time that man had been touched by another human being? When was the last time he felt the love of another as flesh pressed against flesh? And I see in our Lord that he knows nothing of social distancing.

John writes about Jesus, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” There is no reason for him to live with us, and there is every reason for him not to come to us. Our sin makes us filthy, diseased, corrupt, vile, repulsive, odorous, and abhorrent. And yet, he comes to us. He becomes one of us. He lives among us, and then he dies for us. And soon he will take us to be with him. Some of us he will take to himself via COVID-19. Others will come to him from old age, congestive heart failure, a stroke, a car accident, or a still birth. But go to him we will because he first came to us.

Jesus loves you, Christian. He has not distanced himself from you in the past. He is not distancing himself from you in the present, and he will not distance himself from you in the future.

None of us knows what is going to happen to our churches, our jobs, our schools, our health, our finances, or our futures. And, yeah, it's more than a little scary and more than a little disruptive to our lives. But we are Christians, and we are loved by Jesus. And we know that whether we live or we die, we are the Lord's.

May you rest in Christ in the crazy times.

As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Mike VerWay

Pastor for Preaching & Vision

Simple Suggestions for Spiritual Leadership

My whole life pastors have exhorted me and the men around me to be spiritual leaders. As a kid, my home church would host a week of special meetings featuring the preaching of a traveling evangelist. Routinely, Friday night was family night. The preacher would challenge the men to lead “family devotions,” a time of Bible reading where the whole family participated.

My dad tried, he really did, but he was up against serious challenges. His eighth grade education combined with his very limited reading skills made reading the KJV aloud nearly impossible. His kids were in a Christian school where we had chapel five days a week and a Bible class every day. His wife was an elementary teacher in a Christian school. When it came to Bible knowledge, he was low man in the order. My memory is that my dad’s attempts to lead a Bible reading time lasted one or two days.

While I strongly encourage a man leading his family in Bible reading, that is not and should not be his only act of spiritual leadership. Here are a few simple acts for spiritual leadership.

Promote Prayer

There may not be anything more impactful that a man can do for his family, his friends, or his church than to pray for them. Consider praying at a set time each day, like on your way to or from work, over lunch, or at a morning break. You might pray impulsively when a child’s name comes to mind or your wife’s image flashes across your eyes. Pray when you are away from your family, and pray when you are with your family. Do not underestimate the impact on your children of them hearing you pray by name for them.

A great time to pray is right before they get out of the minivan when you are dropping them off at practice, rehearsal, a school or church event, at grandma’s house, or a friend’s party. Before the door opens, just say, “Let’s pray before you leave.” Then, pray for the child before she bounces away, asking for God’s protection and blessing on your little girl.

Grandpas (my bro’s in the club), here’s a great way for you to impact your grands. When you’re helping out by picking up the kids and taking them somewhere or bringing them home, let them here you pray for them. You’re the patriarchal Christian in the family. They will love that you pray for and with them. Do this enough and soon they will say to you, “Grandpa, would you pray for me? I need God in a big way.” What Christian grandpa wouldn’t smile at that request?

Resolve Conflict in Your Home

My marriage has conflicts because my marriage is made up of two sinful, selfish people. The same goes for my home. Most days require conflict resolution. The Bible tells me how to resolve conflict. Spiritual leadership takes the first steps to resolve conflict. Spiritual leadership doesn’t wait for others to resolve conflict with me. Spiritual leadership doesn’t put off on a spouse resolving conflict between children. Spiritual leadership works to bring resolution to conflicts that reflects God’s initiation of conflict with us.

Answer And Ask Questions

It was an awkward moment that I remember all too well. I was 11 or 12 and heard a sexual word at my school, a word that I didn’t know its meaning. I arrived home from school before my dad and was sitting in the living room watching after school television. My dad came in, and I dropped the bomb on the poor man who just wanted to rest from a long day of turning wrenches on heavy equipment.

“Dad, what does ‘a!G3@h%>’ mean?”

My question sucked all the oxygen from the room. To this day I recall my dad’s three-word answer. I learned there were some subjects about which I was not supposed to ask any questions, sex being one of them. When we don’t answer the questions our wives and kids ask of us, we teach them to live independently of us. They will find leadership in other places, and don’t be surprised when they decide you can’t help them with their problems.

Make Sunday a Great Day

Who is the most excited in your family about Sunday? Is it you, the spiritual leader? This is the day you get to bring your family to be part of a group that gets to meet God. What is better than that?

To make Sunday a great day, practice the principle Sunday morning begins Saturday night. Help with the baths. Get the Sunday morning clothes out before the kisses that end the day. Saturday night, find the shoes, coat, hat, and Bible that always seem to be missing when it’s time to load up the SUV.

Make the ride to the church building a great experience. Sing our songs, the ones your kids know, and sing them again and again. Make the ride the launch for your family’s worship. Then, before you empty the van, pray out loud for your family as you head in to the church building.

And one more thing, smile! This is Sunday, the day when we rest from our labors and receive from our God. Smile when you see your family first thing in the morning. Smile when you see them load up in the minivan. Smile when you buckle them in. Smile when you take them to their Sunday School class. You just dropped your kid off in a place where they will hear about Jesus. Smile when your family sits around you in worship. Smile when you leave the building after worship. Smile when you see your family together again having met with God. Show your family how happy you are for what all of you have received from God.

One last thought - it’s not too late to start. Maybe you’ve got some serious ground to recover. Maybe you haven’t been the spiritual leader your family, friends, or your church needs, but you can make up lost ground. By God’s grace you can be a spiritual leader. You can point people toward God, what a spiritual leader does.

We are in this together. You pray for me, and I will pray for you.

As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Mike VerWay

Pastor for Preaching & Vision