In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit

In today’s Old Testament reading, we hear about two of the plagues that God brought upon the land of Egypt.  Hearing about plagues may be a little uncomfortable as we sit here today, not in the midst of a plague, but certainly in the midst of a significant health situation in our country and in the world with the Coronavirus, COVID-19.  With the constant negative news headlines, perhaps you have just a small sense of the fear that must have come over Egypt as they had to be wondering “What next?” while the Lord caused 10 different plagues to come upon them.  

Those plagues were sent as judgment against Egypt and the Pharaoh for their oppression of God’s people Israel, for the Egyptians’ idolatry, for Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness.  The plagues were the terrible consequence of their impenitence and unbelief.  Which raises the question, when things like the Coronavirus happen today, is that God’s judgment, too?  Is God punishing us?  

It’s important to note in Exodus 8 how God drew a distinction between the Egyptians and His people Israel.  Scripture clearly reveals that this was an act of divine judgment against particular people for their sin.  As the Epistle said, "The wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience."  With things like COVID-19 though, we have no such Word of God.  This virus attacks both Christians and unbelievers alike.  Someone who gets this disease or any other disease for that matter is not necessarily being punished for some particular sin.  We should be careful to note that.

However, this is still a call to repentance–not only for the unbelieving world that has rejected the Lord’s Word in so many and increasingly rebellious ways, but also for us who believe in Jesus.  For everything that robs us of comfort and ease in this life is meant to be a reminder to us to repent.  This world will pass away.  God’s kingdom will never pass away.  Too often we find our comfort and confidence and security in the things of this world.  The stock market goes down, and we feel like everything is falling apart in our life.  The love of mammon and worldly pleasures, the idolizing of economic prosperity, the fearful hoarding of supplies from store shelves is not in keeping with the love of God and faith in Him.  Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and mammon.”  Or when our health is threatened, we can suddenly start wondering if God is absent.  But does our faith rest in how well life is going at the moment or in God’s never-changing words and promises?  Are we clinging so much to this life that our hearts aren’t set on the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come?  So at this time of upheaval and uncertainty, yes, the Lord is calling you to repentance.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, that He may lift you up in due time.

But then above all, trust that He really will lift you up in due time, that He will never leave you or forsake you.  His promises hold firm even when nothing else in this world seems firm.  Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.”  To keep the Word of God does not simply mean to obey it, though it does involve that.  To keep the Word of God more literally means to hold onto it, to cling to it, to find your confidence in it, to take comfort in it.

And here is a Word of God for you to cling to today, from Isaiah 43.  The Lord says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name.  You are mine.  When you pass through the waters I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”  

There is much to legitimately fear out there, even though there is also much fear-mongering that is going on, too.  It’s a good idea not to watch too much news in the midst of a crisis.  The way they keep their ratings up sometimes is by keeping you fearful.  But in the midst of threats that are real, whether it’s the sin inside you, or the devil and the world outside you, the Lord says to you, “Fear not.  Don’t be afraid.”

And then He gives you two tremendous reasons why you need not fear.  First, He says, “I have redeemed you.”  Jesus has bought you with the price of His own blood.  He has ransomed you from the power sin and sickness, death and the devil.  Those enemies of yours are defeated and crushed by His holy cross and empty tomb.  It is worth noting especially today what is written in Matthew 8, “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”  Jesus suffered all of that for you so that now even a terminal disease cannot do you lasting harm.  For you will be raised in glory with Christ on the Last Day!  St. Paul said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

And lest you think that this is only true for other people but not for you, note what else the Lord says in Isaiah 43, “I have called you by name.  You are mine.”  Those are great and precious words.  They remind you of your baptism, where the Lord literally called you by name and then put His own name and seal upon you.  He marked you as His own.  He gave you a place in the family.  What more comforting words could there be than to hear our Maker and Redeemer say, “You are mine.  You’re with me.  I am with you always to the very close of the age.  I’ve been through the worst of it for you; and now I will walk through the worst of it with you to carry you safely out of it.  Nothing in all creation can separate you from my love.  Stick with me.  I’ve got this.”  

Jesus is that Stronger Man in the Gospel who overcomes the strong man, the devil.  Satan likes to make like he’s some big mafia boss or gang leader you’ve got to pay protection money to.  He makes it seem like living in the “real world” means you’ve got compromise your beliefs and get with his program and follow worldly ways in order to live safely and well.  But then Jesus comes upon the scene and beats him at his own game.  He uses the weapons that the devil trusts in and turns them against him.  Scripture says that death, and particularly the fear of death, are a way in which Satan tries to hold people in his grip and make us cling to idols.  And so Jesus enters into the devil’s stronghold of death through the cross.  He uses that very weapon to crush the devil’s head, exploding the power of the grave from the inside out through His resurrection.  The mafioso devil is exposed as the pathetic creature that he is, bound and defeated.  It is written in Hebrews 2, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, Jesus Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ”

This helps us to see that diseases and disasters–while they are a call to repentance, always, while they may be discipline that God uses to draw us back to Himself–they are not the punishment of an angry God against sin.  For Jesus has already suffered the punishment for all sins.  All that judgment and wrath fell on Him.  He was plagued with everything that we deserved in order to set us free.  Even as Israel was saved from the final plague of death by putting the Lamb’s blood on their doorpost, so eternal death has passed over us who have taken refuge in Jesus and the blood He shed for us.  

So when we face fearful or uncertain times, when things don’t seem quite as solid or sure as they once did, it is here in divine service, where the words of the liturgy which have held solid and sure through the ages, the changeless words of God bring us comfort and hope and confidence.  How fitting the words of the Introit are for today.  Listen again to these words from the Psalms:

My eyes are ever | toward the LORD,

For He shall pluck my feet out | of the net.

The eyes of the LORD are on the | righteous,

And His ears are open | to their cry.

The face of the LORD is against those who do | evil,

To cut off the remembrance of them | from the earth.

The LORD is near to those who have a | broken heart,

And saves such as have a contrite | spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the | righteous,

But the LORD delivers him out | of them all.

The LORD redeems the soul of His | servants,

And none of those who trust in Him shall | be condemned.

Our eyes are ever toward the Lord, looking to Him for all that we need in body and soul.  And most importantly, His eyes are ever on us, watching over us, caring for us.  His ears are open to your cries.  Those who reject the Lord and turn away from Him are rejecting their only help and refuge and will be cut off.  But if you have a broken spirit, if you are burdened and weighed down,  He is near to you to help.  He saves those with a penitent heart.  You may suffer many afflictions, but the Lord Jesus who was afflicted for you, He delivers you out of them all.  Your soul has been redeemed.  Trusting in Christ, you shall not be condemned, but you shall be received by Him with joy forever.

So as it is written in Romans 5, let us rejoice even in the midst of tribulation.  For very often we learn much more of value in times of trouble than in the good times.  As we recently studied in Bible class in Ecclesiastes, we are reminded again that everything about this fallen world is vapor.  It’s all here one day and gone the next, a chasing after the wind.  The things of this world are no place for you to be staking your hope and your happiness.  A pastor friend noted how this Lenten tide, God is forcing us into a certain sort of fast, a fasting from sports and March Madness and concerts and entertainment of various sorts–all of these ultimately vaporous things that too often distract from the one thing needful.  So let us give thanks to God at all times, even in times such as these.  Let your eyes ever be toward the Lord, fixing your eyes on Jesus your Savior, who plucks your feet out of the net, who loves you and gave Himself for you, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.  Let us lay aside the faithless ways of this passing world.  Let us love our neighbor in need and fulfill our callings as Christians, serving one another in the stations of life into which God has placed us.  For though you were once darkness, now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as the children of light.

In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit