3.15.20 Habakkuk 3:5-6
Where is God in the midst of the plague? Habakkuk 3 says,
5? Contagious disease goes ahead of him, and plague follows after him.
6? He stands up and shakes? the earth. He looks, and the nations jump in fright.
The ancient mountains are shattered. The age-old hills are flattened.
But he goes on forever.
According to Habakkuk, God is the God of the Plague. It goes ahead of him and follows after Him. He’s right in the middle of it. This is not easy for me to say. I wrote this sermon on a Thursday afternoon. I’m usually done with my sermon by then and preaching at two nursing homes. But I spent the night in agony with a stomach ache and then vomited. Not the coronavirus, but most likely a short type of flu.
Why did I get it? Probably because one of my children and my wife had different types of sickness, and as much as I tried to wipe the house down and keep clean of the bacteria and germs, somehow I got a short version of it anyway. Either that or it was from eating some stale broccoli. But might I also say that it was God’s will for me to get it? That God wanted me to suffer? Why would I say that? Maybe because I’m a sinner, and God never preempted me from suffering in this world. I live in a sinful body and a sinful world. I too live under the curse of death. I don’t have a perfect immune system. What did I expect to happen?
But Psalm 91 says,
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
Can I have faith that I won’t get the coronavirus if I’m a baptized believer? Should I be sure that I’ll be safe as long as I pray? Then we would have to conclude that Christians couldn’t get sick from a disease or a plague. That doesn’t seem right.
Look at the plagues from Exodus. The first three plagues struck Egyptians and Israelites equally, the blood, the frogs and the gnats. It wasn’t until AFTER the gnats that God kept the plagues from hitting Goshen. Maybe God wanted the Israelites to realize through suffering that they NEEDED Moses as their advocate and their protector from the plagues after they had to endure a few. How about this: as long as I pray and try to take proper precautions, I know that the Lord’s will be done with me and those I pray for. If we get the virus after prayer and precaution, it was God’s will.
But why would God want me or anyone to suffer or possibly even die? I think of what C.S. Lewis once said about pain, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Sometimes I need God to shout at me too. Sometimes I need to be brought to my knees to remember what a helpless sinner I am and how much I need God’s grace and protection. Suffering makes me appreciate when I have no pain. Suffering motivates me to pray more, take my sins more seriously, and also want to get out of this world and get to heaven. Suffering shows me how weak and helpless I really am.
In 2 Chronicles 6:28-31 the Bible says, “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart), so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.
When suffering happens to us as a country and even as an entire planet, then we really have to think about death more and take it seriously. As I write this much of our entertainment is being taken away, including the restaurants, plays, playoff games and professional basketball games. The stock markets have fallen. It’s all gloom and doom. But look at it from a spiritual perspective. Maybe people will start taking a more serious look at their own mortality and realize that they too need to be prepared to die. Maybe people need to stop relying so much on their bank accounts for their security. Maybe some will come back to God and realize how much they need Him. This is what God wants.
It also causes us to reflect on our sins as a nation too. Pastor Seafert wrote this on Facebook:
World wide on average there are 125,000 abortions a day- the corona virus has people crazy with fear but it doesn’t hold a candle to the murders of the unborn. Abortion can be stopped because it’s a choice yet each day people choose to end the lives of those whom God has knit together in the womb. Things are truly out of whack!!!
It’s not just abortion of course, although that’s a glaring and most wicked sin. There are plenty of other sins that have become publicly celebrated in our society, sins that used to be shameful. Might this virus be God’s wakeup call for them as well? So how do we respond to all of the suffering? We call people to repent, like God always wants us to do. Suffering has a unique way of digging into the soul.
It is interesting to note how OFTEN God used plagues either to save His people or to call His people to repentance. One of the most awesome stories of the Bible takes place in Numbers 16. Korah had led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, claiming that Moses and Aaron had usurped or abused their authority over the Israelites. He and 250 leaders were going to make an offering to the LORD, but they weren’t anointed or authorized to do so. So fire came out from the altar of the LORD and burned the men alive, while the ground opened up and swallowed Korah and part of his family alive. Now, at that point, if I was even THINKING about following Korah I would have said to myself, “No thanks.” But these were some stubborn people!
The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the LORD’s people,” they said. But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the LORD said to Moses, “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown. Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started.” So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped.
God used a plague to defend Moses and Aaron, and also to call the Israelites to repentance over their rebellion. 14,700 people died immediately as a consequence of the rebellion.
But isn’t it an interesting thing how the plague was stopped! Aaron took some incense and put it on the altar. He then took some fire from the altar and ran in the middle of the people. He wasn’t afraid of it. Moses wrote that by offering incense Aaron “made atonement” (i.e. provided a covering and payment) for the people. But he had to then take the offering and run in the middle of the people.
Imagine the scene - Aaron would have seen the people dropping like flies from the plague - one after another. So he ran ahead into the middle of the crowd, in the middle of the plague. By the time he got in the middle of the crowd, all those to his left were dead, but all those to his right were alive. With a clear and decisive action, relying on the grace and mercy of God, he stood between death and life. A little bit of incense and coals from a fire stopped it all. It was clear that God started the plague, and He also ended the plague.
The fire and the incense shows what Jesus would do for us. When you see something that is repulsive to you, you usually stay away. When I see children sneezing at school, I stay away. But Jesus did the opposite. He walked right into our plague ridden world. When everyone else was afraid of those who had leprosy, Jesus went up to a man and touched him in order to heal him of his disease. When the men came to arrest Him and put Him to death, Jesus didn’t run from it. He faced it courageously and boldly in order to make the payment for our sins and make us one with God once again. He didn’t just run into the crowd of dying sinners with incense in His hand. He ran into the crowd knowing that the crowd would kill Him with their hands. But the only way He could save the crowd would be if He Himself died for the crowd and in the crowd. But He came back alive!
He continues to come into our sinful and dying world and touch us yet today, in the waters of baptism. He continues to touch us with His Supper, saying to us that our sins are still forgiven and we are still loved. When we have our gracious God touching us, we don’t need to be afraid of this or any plague. Our sins are forgiven! Heaven is ours! What is the worst that could happen to us? We will die. A virus can’t take our soul. Shouldn’t we be confident that in the midst of death God is still with us? He is still merciful and forgiving in the midst of suffering. He still offers us a free salvation in Jesus if we die at 20 or 100.
There will be some who fear gathering together for worship. But Jesus says “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you REST.” How many Christians throughout the centuries have risked their lives to meet in secret, knowing that they could be arrested and put to death? In the midst of the plague, now more than ever, we too need to come where Jesus is, in His Word and sacraments. We need God’s assurance of His love and forgiveness. We need to hear Him say to us, “Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be afraid, for I am your God.” We can use the medicines and doctors God gives us. We can and should take precautions as we gather together. But first and foremost we need to come to the LORD for strength and help in the midst of trials to find strength and comfort from Him.
God also calls on us to be the Aaron to our world, to offer a remedy to death to a sick and dying world. We have a sacrifice to bring to the world, the sacrifice of Jesus. His death is the only remedy for any and every death. Sometimes this takes risk and sacrifice.
Take for instance Martin Luther. When the bubonic plague hit Germany in 1527, many fled for their lives. It was known to cause large boils on the neck, leg, and armpits. And if the boils were to penetrate the lymph glands, they would infect the bloodstream and cause death within a matter of three or four days. Eighteen people died from the disease in Wittenberg alone. Since Luther felt obligated to fulfill his call to the people of Wittenberg, he risked his life and stayed behind in spite of the command of Elector John - believing that his duty to his neighbor was more important than his own life. With a great trust in Psalm 91, he and Katie trusted that the Lord would take care of his body as He promised. His own little son Hans didn’t eat for three days, and two sick women were allowed to live within Luther’s own house. Yet all of his household survived the plague, and his wife safely delivered a baby daughter named Elizabeth. (Cf. LW 43 page 115 and 54 page 434-435)
That doesn’t mean that it always works out so well. Back in 1920 the president of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary went to visit a student in the hospital who had influenza in order to have a prayer with him. He ended up dying two days later from the flu. So some might say that it was a careless sacrifice for President Schaller to make. But where is President Schaller? He is in heaven, awaiting the great resurrection. Did he lose? By no means. He died as a consequence of a sacrifice that he made.
I think of Proverbs 23:13 The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!” The one man is afraid to go anywhere because of the dangers in life. Actually, the Bible says that there are lions outside too. The devil prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour. But what does God tell us to do? Resist him! Stand firm! And the devil will flee! When Jesus was going to be abandoned by His disciples and they would all flee for their lives, Jesus had some strong and powerful words for them. They apply to us too. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
If God is indeed the God of the plague, which Habakkuk says He is, we can respond in two ways. We can blame Him and hate Him for bringing the plague, or we can beg for His mercy and strength in the midst of the plague. We can try to hide in fear of it or seek Him all the more in the middle of it. When God promises, “I am with you,” He doesn’t only promise to be with you when you are in good health or when He is blessing you and your family. He promises to be with you ALWAYS, even through the valley of the shadow of death, to the very end of the age. God, grant us strength to believe this and live this, no matter how and when we die. Amen.
