Does Jesus Really Care?

I just listened to Larnell Harris sing His Eye is on the Sparrow. The backdrop was not modern, neither is the song. However, the message is poignant at this time when so many persons are in fear. 

I’ll allow Civilla Martin who wrote the song, to tell her own story. “Early in the spring of 1905, my husband and I were holidaying in Elmira, New York. We developed a deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for almost 20 years. Her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheelchair. Despite their afflictions, they lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them.

One day, while we were visiting with the Doolittles, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle’s reply was simple: ‘His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.’ The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped our hearts and fired our imagination. The song ‘His Eye Is on the Sparrow’ was the outcome of that experience.”

In other words, Mrs Doolittle knew her vulnerability and acknowledged God’s care for her in her bedridden condition. She and her crippled husband were susceptible to depression. For decades they lived against insurmountable odds. However, they were confident that as the Lord cared for the sparrow, he cared for them even more.

Song writer Civilla Martin knew the context from which Mrs Doolittle referred to God’s care for vulnerable sparrows. She was quoting Jesus, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they” (Matthew 6:26)?

Later in Matthew, the writer again quotes Jesus: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father…you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).

In both passages, Jesus is not attempting to give a lecture in Ornithology (study of birds). As the context would suggest, Jesus was commenting on how we respond in the most vulnerable of circumstances. Jesus was commenting on the fears we develop when our circumstances appear to be overwhelming.

To illustrate his point, Jesus chose the sparrow. Sparrows are small birds. They are found in great numbers. They are tame, intrusive, and nestle everywhere. Sparrows are rarely referred to in the singular. Each one is of such little value, sparrows are often referred to in the plural. The Greek word used to describe the value of two sparrows is equal to one tenth of an average day’s pay in the first century.

I don’t know about you, these days I feel like a sparrow. The global pillars of stability are shaking. Leaders who touted globalism, now want to secure their borders. Political leaders who are revered as the most powerful on earth, are succumbing to tests to ensure that they are not victims to coronavirus (COVID-19). Suddenly, persons in houses of safety are as vulnerable as the homeless.

To whom do we turn when Wall Street totters? To whom do we listen to when the voices of socialism and capitalism are silenced? Like the Apostle Paul, I ask, “Where are the wise men? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world” (1 Corinthians 1:20)?

Like the sparrow, let us acknowledge our vulnerability. Let us affirm the caring eye of the Lord. His eyes are eyes of compassion. Eyes of assurance that confirm, He never loses control when crises rage around us. Each of us should at least peruse the song, and like me, listen to Larnell Harris’ rendition of it.

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me; (repeat line)

I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me; (repeat line)

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me; (repeat line)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkTkfpOjoi8

The Church and Coronavirus

Yesterday after church, we greeted each other differently. There were more knuckle and elbow bounces than kissing and shaking hands. Some churches are encouraging no physical contact – bowing to each other is preferred. This rapidly spreading coronavirus is responsible for these innovative forms of greeting each other during and after corporate gatherings.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person; between persons who are within about six feet (183 cm) of each other. We understand it is also spread through droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These droplets can enter via the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

We understand that the virus that causes COVID-19 seems to be spreading easily and sustainably in communities in some affected geographic areas. Community spread means people can be infected with the virus in an area. Infection is also possible by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching your own mouth, nose, or possibly your eyes.

With these possibilities of infection, church people are most susceptible. Our communities are diverse and specifically welcoming to unsuspecting victims. We often greet visitors with warm embraces. We sit on pews with persons we do not know. We often share hymnals and sing enthusiastically in our worship services.

But how can I tell who has the coronavirus? Health officials caution that healthy persons who contract the virus may not even know that they have the virus. Some of these will heal without treatment. However, for persons with underlying health conditions, particularly lung and heart, the impact of the virus can be very severe. https://www.foxnews.com/health/coronavirus-everything-you-need-to-know

Some churches have discontinued the practice of placing wafers on the tongues of parishioners during communion. I know of one church that intends to discontinue the practice of allowing worshippers to pinch from one loaf of bread during communion. The new plan is to cut bread into cubes. This will ensure that the only cube you touch, is the one you will use. I hope churches which practice sharing wine or grape juice from one container, will rethink this practice.

Personally, I believe our surroundings should be sanitized more frequently and more meticulously. We should wash our hands with soap more thoroughly. Hand sanitizers should be made available at entry points to our sanctuaries. Officiating ministers should use hand sanitizers before dedicating babies, serving communion or engaging in any ritual that requires physical contact.

In addition to proceeding with care, COVID-19 provides us with a number of opportunities. One such opportunity includes reflecting on the apparent sacredness we attach to the methods we use in worship. For instance, some of the methods we use to serve communion are not hygienic. Sharing chalices for example, may be considered sacred, but is the practice hygienically safe?

Some believe Christians are safe from COVID-19 in sacred places because God promised to heal “all your diseases” (Psalm 103:3). I find it amazing to see how we so often ignore biblical contexts and interpret Scripture conveniently. Psalm 103 is an invitation to praise the Lord for “all his benefits.” Some of these include his ability to “forgive all your sins” and to “heal all your diseases.”

The thought here is that it is proper to praise God that he has the power or ability to forgive all our sins and to heal all our diseases. God’s ability to forgive and to heal does not mean that we should have no sins or diseases. Neither does it mean that God is obligated to forgive every sin and to heal every disease. Instances of forgiveness and healing of diseases are illustrations of God’s ability, not responses to an obligation to forgive and to heal.

The question is one of how God chooses to heal our diseases. Sometimes God interrupts the forces of nature and heals directly. More often, God enables skilled persons to utilize their skills to bring about healing. Using that method, we partner with God in the process of healing diseases.

The Bible often refers to human beings as “God’s fellow workers” or partners in what He is seeking to accomplish. Because of this understanding of Scripture, I pray specifically for medical researches and epidemiologists. I also pray for persons who are most susceptible to COVID-19. Interestingly, I also pray against those who exploit the situation. Like persons who increase the cost of hand sanitizers or those who dilute the ingredients in order to exploit the vulnerable.

Agreed, COVID-19 is a goliath-sized global epidemic. However, our God is able to equip persons to deal with Goliaths, just as he equipped David in the Bible (1 Samuel 17). David’s faith in God, the availability of stones and David’s ability as a skilled marksman, were all used to bring down the Philistine giant. A similar combination is necessary to destroy COVID-19, our goliath-sized global epidemic.

Why Fast During Lent?

This Lenten season is a good time to remember that there is a difference between fasting and dieting. Both involve food restrictions, but their objectives are vastly different.

Wikipedia describes dieting as “the practice of eating food in a regulated and supervised fashion to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight.” In other words, dieting is a conscious control or a restriction of the diet in order to achieve physical outcomes.

Whereas both dieting and fasting are voluntary, starving is not. Starving is the most extreme form of malnutrition. Starvation is more the absence of food, as opposed to a conscious decision to avoid eating for a specific period of time.

Fasting is quite different from dieting and most definitely, starvation. Fasting is primarily a willing abstinence or reduction from certain or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. Unlike dieting, the purpose of fasting is spiritual transformation.

In the process of seeking spiritual transformation, fasting triggers other benefits. According to Sarah Knapton, a science correspondent with the London Telegraph, “Scientists have found that fasting for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly,.”

New research is suggesting that intentionally depriving the body of food can kick-start stem cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection. Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy.

However, such benefits are only perks, when compared with the spiritual transformation that accrues from fasting. Fasting is possibly the most powerful spiritual discipline of all Christian disciplines.

Fasting was an expected discipline in both the Old and New Testament eras. For example, Moses fasted at least two recorded forty-day periods. Jesus also fasted 40 days and reminded His followers to fast. "When you fast," he said, not if you fast.

Fasting is a biblical way to truly humble oneself in the sight of God. King David was correct when he said, "I humble myself through fasting" (Psalm 35:13). Through fasting, one acknowledges and submits to another, bigger than oneself. Even as a king, David found it necessary to acknowledge a greater authority.

In essence, fasting is an external demonstration of an internal spirit of brokenness. That attitude of brokenness is fertile ground for divine transformation. It was the same King David who stated in another Psalm, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

It is therefore obvious why fasting and prayer go hand in hand. They are the only two disciplines that trigger the blessing promised to God’s people in 2 Chronicles 7:14. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

In our self-absorbed and narcissistic culture, to talk about brokenness before God is radical. To fast in our post-modern culture is a statement against conceit and egotism. It is to live with a plan of depriving oneself of something of value for something of greater value. 

Whereas fasting from food is not necessarily for everyone, other deprivations could realize similar outcomes. As the late Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Fasting should really be made to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for the sake of some special spiritual purpose.”

What benefits do you hope to derive from fasting during this Lenten season? Remember, if the benefits you derive are only physical, you are not fasting, you are on diet. Fasting brings about spiritual transformation. That transformation becomes evident in our relationship with God and attitude to others.

Remember, fasting is less about what we’re giving up and much more about what we’re making room for. When we fast, we exchange what we need to merely survive for what we need to really live—more of God.