Waiting on the Lord

This is a message I sent to my church family on Sunday morning, March 22, 2020, the second Sunday of the COVID-19 Crisis.

       “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

       For the second consecutive Sunday we will “rejoice and be glad” in the Lord’s day without having the opportunity to attend church.  And to think that only ten days ago life was fairly normal.  

       We had been studying the book of Acts that tells the story of the birth of the church.  I am now seeing the first chapter of Acts from a different perspective.  Jesus commanded his disciples to “not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father.”  (Acts 1: 4)

       The story of the church begins with the disciples being on lockdown, they were mandated to “shelter in place.”  

       They had just experienced the resurrection and stood on the top of the Mount of Olives as Jesus ascended into heaven.  They wanted all the world to know this glorious news, but they could not go anywhere because they were under a mandate to “wait.”

       We learned in our Bible Study that the word “wait” in the first chapter of Acts is not the normal word for “wait” in the Bible.  Luke, who also wrote Acts, was the “beloved physician.”   He was a medical doctor who used many medical terms.  The word “wait” that is used in Acts 1 means to wait for the result of a medical test or treatment.  

       Most of you know about waiting for the results of a medical test—a CT Scan, a MRI, an Ultrasound.  It is often anxious waiting—fearing the worse, hoping for the best—waiting with uncertainty.  This was the waiting that the disciples experienced.  They did not know what to expect, whether it was going to be good or bad.  They did not know how long they would have to wait. 

       That is the situation we find ourselves in.  We are hoping for the best, but fearing the worse.  We don’t know how long this will last. 

       What did the disciples do while they were waiting?  They devoted themselves to prayer and they studied the Scriptures.  It wasn’t long before their waiting was over and the Holy Spirit came with power.  

       I invite you to join me in prayer during these uncertain days.  Study the Scriptures to find hope and comfort.  We need to reminded that God is still in control, that he is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. 

       It is not easy to wait, but remember the powerful words from Isaiah 40:  “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”  

When the World Falls Apart We Won't Be Afraid

It took less than 24 hours for our world to fall apart.  We all heard about the Coronavirus, but it was a long way from us.  Life was going on as usual.  The ACC Tournament was back in Greensboro and Carolina finally played a complete game dominating Virginia Tech.  NC State was on the bubble, as usual, but showed great promise as they dispatched Pitt setting up yet another critical game with Duke.  

       

I attended a Minister’s meeting Wednesday morning and we talked about how the Coronavirus was beginning to change things in worship.  No more “passing the peace” in some churches and a couple of ministers said they were not going to pass the offering plate either, which I thought was a little extreme at the time.  We talked about plans for the Community Palm Sunday Celebration that would focus on the proposed “Unity Statue.”  I told the ministers that since we were rained out last Palm Sunday, I was confident April 5 would be a beautiful spring day!   We were getting a Children’s Choir together to sing “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”  It would be a grand celebration!

       

I was also planning for a great Sunday of worship on March 15.  I was preaching my “Census Sermon” that the city asked me to write.  We had invited the Mayor, the City Council, and City Administration to attend our worship.  Our wonderful Music Minister had enlisted a small orchestra and the music was going to be moving and powerful.  

       

Our Thursday morning men’s Bible Study met as usual at the YMCA and I went to Kiwanis at noon.  During the Kiwanis meeting I saw a news alert that the ACC Tournament had been cancelled.  Even though there was no basketball to watch, I was busy Thursday afternoon preparing for Sunday worship.  Then came the word that the Governor was requesting that there be no gatherings of more than 100—including churches.

       

My first thought was that since we had no known cases in Davidson County, that we should proceed as usual.  The Governor was just suggesting this guideline, it was not a mandate.  I decided to call Lillian Koontz who is our Health Department Director.  I really thought Lillian would say something like, “Ray, we need to be careful, but it’s not really an issue for us yet in Davidson County.”  But that is not what she said.  

       

Lillian told me that this was much more serious than most of us realized and it would get a lot worse before it got better.  She strongly recommended following the Governor’s guidelines.  

       

We decided to have our service on Sunday without a congregation.  Since our service would be broadcast on the radio, we would have a large audience.  We would have a choir and I would preach.   I went to bed Thursday night thinking that would be our plan.

       

Around 5 a.m. on Friday morning I got up and saw an email from my brother in Alabama.  My mother had been admitted to the hospital and was critically ill.  It didn’t look like she would make it.  

       

In less than 24 hours my world had fallen apart.  We cancelled services altogether on Sunday and replayed a previous service on the radio.  I was in Alabama saying good-bye to my mother.

       

The COVID-19 crisis is escalating every day.  Schools are out and no one knows when they will return.   Life for everyone has been turned upside down.   But in a strange way, sitting by my mother’s hospital bed and waiting for her to die was a reminder that God is still in control.  There is a time to be born and a time to die and it was my mother’s time.  I was with her on Tuesday when she took her final breath.  I knew I was on Holy Ground.  Her death is a blessing because she is released from the limitations and the awful curse of Alzheimer’s that has dominated her life in recent years.  

       

The 46^th Psalm reads: “God is our refuge and strength, a help always near in times of great trouble.  That’s why we won’t be afraid when the world falls apart . . .” (CEB). 

       

In these unprecedented times of great trouble in which our world is falling apart, don’t be afraid.  God is our refuge and strength.  He is with us.