As Christians, we are currently in the final week before Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This week is called Holy Week and traditionally this is a week of gathering with other Christians for services. In some traditions, these services are held every day of Holy Week and in other traditions, only on some of the days of Holy Week. And then Lent 2020 arrived and with it no prospect of any social gathering for any of the days of Holy Week.
This has indeed been a Lent like no other Lent I can remember in my life-time. In years gone by, giving up chocolate and coffee for Lent were considered a sacrifice. But during this Lent, we have discovered how pale that is in comparison with where we are just now. We have had to give up on our freedoms of choice, movement, interaction, etc. etc. etc. And, like so much else in life, you often only appreciate the value of something once you have lost it. Like birds in cages, we can look out but not go out.
Which brings me to the following: we can submissive, dismissive, rebellious, depressed, disinterested, and a hundred other emotions because of what we have lost OR we can be grateful for what we (still) have. And there might even be a principle in all of this: we can live life in the rearview mirror or we can live life through the windscreen. Put in another way, the challenge is to see more than the obvious that is before you. This requires faith and trust in more than our human abilities and strength. Which brings me to the Tuesday before Jesus was crucified.
On the day, Jesus spent time in Jerusalem and on the outskirts on the mount of Olives, having encounters with, among others, the religious leaders of Jerusalem. It was on this day, that Jesus was famously challenged about the payment of taxes. Now, we don’t have the time nor space here to go into all the details of Jesus’ response to the question “Should we be paying taxes?” but there is one take away from this. While reminding those around him that coinage and taxes are important, he highlighted an even more important truth: the earth and the fulness thereof belongs to God. And, to put it bluntly, while Caesar’s of today may be concerned for the amount of taxes generated, God has a concern for the earth since it belongs to him.
Back to our situation. Friends, God is neither absent nor distant. He’s not looking the other way while the earth is struggling along. God is in the struggle. He weeps with those grieving the loss of a loved one. He shares the concern of those fearful of their prognosis. He is the silent presence to the lonely and forgotten. Since the earth and the fulness thereof belongs to the Lord (Psalm 24:1) he cares. He cares deeply. In faith, we can take a deep breath and let go of it. With faith, we can keep calm and carry on.
Take care and be safe, Jaco
