Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Letter from Lockdown

Happy Easter!

He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Matthew 28:6

Though sin and death cover the earth, our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death, giving us cause to rejoice! Here is a special reading for today since we are on lockdown.

Enjoy parts of the Easter letter from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer, his parents, dated Easter Sunday, 25 April 1943. He wrote these words from lockdown in prison.

“Today, ten days have finally passed, and I am allowed to write to you once again. I would really like to let you know that I am celebrating a happy Easter here. What is so liberating about Good Friday and Easter is the fact that our thoughts are pulled far beyond our personal circumstances to the ultimate meaning of all life, suffering, and indeed everything that happens, and this gives us great hope. Since yesterday it has become wonderfully quiet throughout the building. One could heart many people call out “Happy Easter” to each other, and, without envy, one wishes that everyone who carries out their difficult duty in here be granted the fulfillment of that wish. I now also hear your Easter greetings as you are gathered together today with my brothers and sisters and thinking of me…

I continue to be well, I am healthy, permitted to be outside for a half hour every day… I am treated well and read a lot, besides the newspaper and novels especially the Bible. I don’t have the concentration to work properly. However, during this Holy Week, I was finally able to intensively study a section of the Passion Narrative, Jesus’ high priestly prayer, in which I have had a long-standing strong interest as you know… Surprisingly, the days are passing by quickly in here. It seems incredible to me that I have already been here for three weeks… I look forward to my dreams. In the past I never knew what a delightful gift they are. I dream every night, and they are always pleasant. Until I fall asleep, I recite the verse I memorized during the day. Then at six in the morning, I enjoy reading psalms and hymns, thinking of you, and knowing that you are thinking of me too.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Works, Volume 8: Letters and Papers from Prison (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2010) 61-63.

Notice how Bonhoeffer maximized lockdown. He memorized a verse a day. He wrote loved ones when he was able. He even started the day with psalms and hymns, remembering those he loved but from whom he was separated.

He gave thanks for small blessings like dreams. He enjoyed only a brief moment of fresh air per day, and yet, he did not waste his experience. How can his example help you endure lockdown with our risen Lord?

I suggest the best way to conclude today’s post is to meditate on the text Bonhoeffer studied in Holy Week. It’s the prayer of Jesus for us: John 17. Sit quietly and imagine Jesus praying this over you, with you, for you. Be blessed!

After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When He ascended on high He made captivity itself a captive; He gave gifts to His people.” (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that He had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same One who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) The gifts He gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. Ephesians 4:7-13

“One may picture a military leader returning to Jerusalem at the head of His followers, after routing an enemy army and taking many prisoners. The victorious procession, with the captives in the train, makes its way up the temple mount, preceded by the sacred ark, which symbolizes the invisible presence of the God of Israel…Here Christ is the subject: it is He who ascended. The expression “He ascended” is seen to imply that He first “descended”… this phrase, “the lower part of the earth,” has traditionally been interpreted as the abode of the dead…the idea that between His death and resurrection Christ invaded the abode of the dead and released the men and women of God who, from Adam onward, had been held fast there, thus “leading captivity captive”…it is emphasized that the One who gave the gifts is the One who ascended: it is because He ascended that He has given them.”

F.F. Bruce in The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984) 341-345.

Where is Jesus today on Holy Week Saturday? He’s working. He’s leading captivity captive! A beautiful picture of Him delivering the imprisoned spirits comes in 1 Peter 3:18-22.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, He went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him.

Why are those who had previously died called called spirits? Remember you and I are souls and we have a spirit and a body. When we die, our spirit now leaves the body and goes to be with the Lord. Prior to the first Easter, the weekend that changed all human history, the spirits of those who died before were held captive awaiting deliverance.

On Easter Saturday Jesus sets them free because He was victorious over death. As a result of this faithful work, He gets to bestow gifts to the Church: apostles and prophets, pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works for service. He worked and has gifted people to work and to build a community of faithful stewards.

So as you reflect on Holy Week Saturday, let us give thanks for the faithfulness of Jesus who did this work, and for the generosity of Jesus who has given gifts to the church to help everyone work together with Him. He wants us all to be part of the story, to equip everyone for works of service and show His love to the world.

And I have a free gift for you today. It’s a 30 day devotional called STEWARD. Visit the GTP website to download it. I wrote it with Aussie mate, Nathan Buttigieg from Christian Super. Explore your identity and responsibility as a steward in this little book, and yes, it has a Van Gogh on the cover: “Bulb Fields.” Enjoy!

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:57-58

“What a grandeur of spirit it is to struggle with all the powers of an unshaken mind against so many onsets of devastation and death! What sublimity to stand erect amid the desolation of the human race and not to lie prostrate with those who have no hope in God; but rather to rejoice and to embrace the benefit of the occasion that in thus bravely showing forth our faith, and by suffering endured going forward to Christ by the narrow way that Christ trod we may receive the reward of His life and faith according to His own judgment!

Assuredly he may fear to die who not being regenerated of water and the Spirit is delivered over to the fires of Gehenna. He may fear to die who is not enrolled in the cross and passion of Christ. He may fear to die who from this death shall pass over to a second death. He may fear to die whom on his departure from this world eternal flame shall torment with never ending punishments. He may fear to die who has this advantage in a lengthened delay that in the meanwhile his groanings and his anguish are being postponed.”

Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, writing during the plague in North Africa (c. 251) in Treatise VII, On the Mortality, 14, in Treatises in The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 5 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1899) 472.

How can we have “an unshaken mind” despite the “devastation and death” all around us? The answer is simple. We can endure the struggle and stand erect because of the victory of Christ over sin and death on the cross.

In my recent blog article entitled, “Counterintuitive Advice For Ministry Fundraisers During The COVID-19 Crisis” which I wrote for the Lausanne Ministry Fundraising Network and reposted on the GTP blog, I made three points. I’ll let you click to read the article to hear the first two points, but here is a summary of the third one.

My advice is to “celebrate and unite people” during this challenging season. Why celebrate? This is the counterintuitive part. Even though the plague is spreading widely, as in the days of Cyprian, we don’t have fear of death because our Savior Jesus died on the cross and rose again, victorious over sin and death.

This victory becomes a rally cry that unites us. So, in whatever area of God’s work we are serving, we can all stay the course, as the Apostle Paul, would exhort us. We can always, even in a plague time, give ourselves fully to the Lord’s work knowing that our labor is not in vain.

So, let us resolve, now more than ever, to live, give, serve, and love generously because of the victory of Christ on the cross.

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.” John 13:8b

“Mary uses expensive oil (symbolic of death) to wash Jesus’ feet, but Jesus uses water (symbolic of life), the symbol of baptism, to cleanse the disciples in love and service. It is truly the bath that makes us dirty with all of our neighbor’s needs.

All of these images explode onto the act of footwashing on Maundy Thursday amidst the backdrop of confession and forgiveness, the Exodus story’s recounting of the Passover, Paul’s recollection of Jesus’ words at the Lord’s Supper, the prayers of intercession, the Eucharist, the stripping of the altar, and the chilling silence of Good Friday and “My God, my God…” Augustine said, “For when the body is bent at a brother’s feet, the feeling of such humility is either awakened in the heart itself, or is strengthened if already present.”

Martin Luther once said, “When you read in the gospel or hear it read that Jesus Christ comes here or goest there, that He heals the sick and raises the dead and forgives sins, you are to understand that He is coming here, that He is forgiving you, raising you from the dead, and healing you.”

This is what each Gospel book intends. In fact, this is what footwashing does. Christ, who ‘had all’ from the Father in His hands, became a servant, and invited all of us to have a share with Him (John 13:8). Jesus says He is “the Lord and Teacher” (John 13:14) and He washes the feet of the disciples, effectively becoming a slave on account of love.

He then says, “Servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them” (13:16). Jesus takes the form of a slave and washes the feet of others effectively making them His master, but Jesus asks them to do this to each other (Maundy = command in Latin) which effectively makes the disciples the slaves of all if the feast is kept. Christ’s first act of freedom is to make Him a slave to all. Consequently, Christ then asks His disciples to be slaves of all as well, today, to your neighbor, to the least of these.

Footwashing is primarily observed on Maundy Thursday. The image of footwashing is transformed by its use on this particular night in this particular context. Footwashing is different than other symbols in that the act of footwashing, or receiving footwashing, gives the actor direct access into one of the primary messages of the act, humility and service.”

Carmine Pernini in “Footwashing in the Old and New Testament, the Graeco Roman World, the Early Church, and the Liturgy” posted on 15 April 2014.

Whenever we follow the commands of Jesus we discover life and joy. The command in view — footwashing — is one that transforms us through the act of humility and service. But how doe it relate to the plague season in which we find ourselves?

Two dear friends recently shared with me the impact of washing the hands of the homeless during this COVID-19 crisis. It blessed the recipients with unexpected joy and touched the washers deeply. Think about it.

There are germs everywhere. Imagine how good it felt for the homeless person to see the layers of dirt wash away. What a picture of the cleansing the Jesus does to our lives!

People need help now in a variety of ways, especially the homeless. What might it look like to bless someone in way that exhibits humble service? Sit and ponder this with the Spirit, and then go do one act of humble service today with joy.

Remember, the path of obedience to Jesus results in life and joy! I pray your act of humble service, as Augustine so aptly put it, either “awakens” or “strengthens” you for a lifetime of generous living that looks like Jesus.

Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” Mark 10:29-30

“Jesus must here be referring to the new family of the church as the replacement family members for those who join His movement…The synoptic authors’ presentation of Jesus celebrating the Passover meal with His disciples and not with His natural family points in the same direction…This shared meal is a kinship event. Thus the Passover meal of Jesus clearly reflects their perception of their community as a surrogate family…this is additional evidence for the redefinition of the family around Jesus.”

Timothy J. Murray in Restricted Generosity in the New Testament (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament – 2. Reihe; Zürich: Mohr Siebeck, 2019) 141.

Today is Passover.

It’s the meal that commemorates when God delivered the Jews from from slavery, oppression, and not one but ten plagues. Jenni and I determined yesterday that we don’t have the ingredients to observe the Passover this year, but my friend and Daily Meditations reader, Doug Christensen, shared Messiah in the Passover with me. Read through it and celebrate the meaning of the meal we know as the Last Supper during Holy Week.

And notice something in today’s Scripture.

The only thing not repeated in the two lists in the two verses is “father” because following Jesus welcomes each of us into a new family with a Heavenly Father and a hundred times more “homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields.” We experience the gift of kinship. Listen to a little story that echoes the point about a kinship event that Murray keenly makes that happened last night.

Jenni and I along with our neighbors miss human contact. This lockdown is tough. So with social distance had a “kinship event” with our neighbors, Ken and Carol Sharp. After a day filled with zooms, fruitful work, and more zooms (at least for me), we snuck just outside our home, set up a table, and remembered Jesus in lawn chairs spread back from the table and occasionally, a person would enjoy a slice of pizza rather than bread with wine.

When Jesus said to love our neighbors, we never dreamed they’d become family to us. What a gift!

So, while we endure this plague as a planet (like the Jews endured ten plagues), while we observe Passover with our neighbors (like Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with the disciples), and even if we suffer the loss of friends or family during these hard times (which is a sad reality), let us not forget the gift of kinship. We are a part of the most amazing family in the world, the family of God, thanks to the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, Jesus.

Give thanks today for Jesus, and pray for the plague to come to an end.

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on His way back to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then He said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked. Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:18-22

“Jesus and the disciples, traveling from Bethany to Jerusalem, pass through the little village of Bethphage. The appearance of leaves on a fig tree in the region was a promise of the sweet early fig. But the tree is unproductive, with no figs at all. This becomes an appropriate object for Jesus to use to indicate Israel’s spiritual condition (cf. Hosea 9:10, where Israel is compared to a fruitful fig tree), providing a striking lesson for the disciples. Just as the fig tree’s fruitfulness was a sign of its health, so fruitfulness was a sign of Israel’s faithfulness to the covenantal standards. Now that Israel, especially represented by its religious leadership, has perverted the temple practices and has not repented at the appearance of Jesus Messiah proclaiming the arrival of the kingdom of heaven, Israel is being judged by God.

The disciples are amazed that the fig tree can wither so quickly, simply at the word of Jesus, but He tells them that they can also do such a thing and even more. Jesus’ cursing the fig tree is not a fit of temper but a symbolic act, demonstrating that God’s creatures must produce that for which they were created — to carry out God’s will, which means entering into a discipleship relationship with Him and then demonstrating fruit from that relationship in a life of faith empowered by prayer.

Using the handy object of the Mount of Olives or perhaps even the Temple Mount across the Kidron Valley, Jesus says that one with faith can throw the mountain into the sea. Then, similar to an earlier saying, Jesus declares, “If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” The point here is not the disciples’ amount of faith to do great things but rather their trust in accomplishing God’s will in God’s power. If God directs them to move a mountain, God will supply the power for it to be accomplished. They simply must be obedient to say yes to His will.”

Michael J. Wilkins in The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004) 693-694.

What’s on your tree? That’s the question for Holy Week Tuesday.

Jesus uses the fruitless fig tree as an object lesson to illustrate the imminent downfall of the temple. The practices of the religious leaders aimed to make profit off those who came to the house of prayer. Their spiritual condition was revealed by their lack of fruitfulness and their trust in the wrong source of power to sustain the the temple.

Would Jesus locate figs or find you fruitless?

If our spiritual condition is right, there will be power and fruit related to our lives and ministry. There will always be enough because God will supply. The global reset forced on every ministry with COVID-19 will reveal the true condition of people and ministries. It will show where they place their trust.

The best part, and this relates to our generosity, is that Jesus sees everything. He knows who has a discipleship relationship with Him. He knows who is trusting in Him to guide, to supply, and to thrive. And regardless of the global situation, His servants know if they need anything to do His will, they need only ask.

We reveal our spiritual condition not by our level of resources but by the fruits God produces through us. Does this mean we can control results? No, it’s really the opposite of that. It means that as people of repentance, who regularly fast, confess, and pray, we surrender our agendas and plans to Him and ask Him to work through us according to His will.

Whatever He produces, as we are attached to Him (the vine) is the fruit He desires.

For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant — to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to Him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant — these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:4-7

“To love the name of the Lord was not to join a system or identify with a people but one of personal devotion to the Lord in all that He has revealed Himself to be…They are welcome to the place where the Lord is to be found (my holy mountain), into His presence and family (my house of prayer), and to those ordinances which effect and guarantee acceptance and fellowship (my altar)…The welcome extended to foreigners and eunuchs is not a concession but a fulfillment; this is what the Lord’s house was always meant to be. By specifying it to be a house of prayer Isaiah is not in any way denigrating the fact that it was a house of sacrifice…The essential element in the house was always the enjoyment of the Lord’s presence and fellowship, with the sacrifices functioning a the basis on which the people were accepted and maintained in the divine, holy presence. It was through the ministry of the altar that Isaiah found himself enjoying a speaking relationship with the Lord…”

J. Alec Motyer in The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction Commentary (Downers Grove: IVP, 1993) 467.

It’s Holy Week Monday.

Jesus cleansed the temple and recounted this Scripture. God’s design for His house was that the nations would come enjoy His presence and find relationship and a home in community together. They had turned it into a den of robbers with merchants and moneychangers.

What does this have to do with us today as we endure this plague and approach Easter?

God wants everyone, everywhere to have a relationship with Him. We are all on the same level as we approach Him. Eunuchs tended to be prominent people in service to another authority who would not be able to have children. Foreigners were people associated with other gods.

See the picture unfolding? Read the Scripture again.

Eunuchs wanting to serve the Lord will get something better than children. Foreigners who turn to God will no longer be lost and homeless but find a home. God’s house must be the welcoming place where all can find relationship with Him. But there is a factor that can mess everything up. It’s money.

This is why Jesus cleanses the temple on Holy week Monday. Read about it in Mark 11:15-19.

While businesses offer services to generate revenue called profit, God’s house is not sustained by financial models but by faithfulness. That’s likely what this plague will shake out across the planet. Many ministries following that paradigm may close. Alternatively, God’s work is sustained by obedience. The essential element, as Motyer puts it, is “the enjoyment of the Lord’s presence and fellowship.”

Fellowship, which in Greek is koinonia, refers to “vested participation” in the gospel. The house of prayer will be sustained by faithful people who live out an authentic relationship with God together and exhibit generous sharing because they realize all they possess has come from Him.

As we approach the cross and life after Easter and COVID-19, let us ask Jesus to cleanse our lives of any dependency on money. It won’t sustain our lives or ministries. Money must be used to help the nations find relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me drill deeper to make a point.

We are the temple in view. Our bodies are the place God wants to dwell. He wants to abundantly bless us to be a blessing. But the one opposing god we tend to hold on to is money. If that’s you, ask God to cleanse you so that your life can welcome the nations to relationship to God.

And the nations are searching, lost, and suffering. They need us now more than ever. They need you now more than ever.

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9

“Rejoice is a very common word for an expression of joy, often used for the joy prompted by the transformation of one’s own circumstances by God, although also used for the joy arising from the demise of one’s enemy, or the grace extended to another.

The word shout in triumph is used for shouting affirmation for a king; often for a war cry with voices or a war alarm with trumpets; and either the cry of despair in military defeat or the shout of triumph after victory in war. It is likely that this last meaning is in view here…

The use of the feminine imagery Daughter of Zion and Daughter of Jerusalem is a common thread throughout the prophetic and liturgical material… With the fall of Jerusalem and it’s demise there is a sharp increase in the use of feminine images…Such an image would have been useful not only for expressing the pain of loss, but also for expressing the anticipation of salvation…

The emphasis on the needy character of the human royal figure continues into the next line where the king is depicted as humble. This word is used for one who is poor, that is, without adequate resources to sustain life and thus dependent upon others producing a state of humiliation in this ancient society.

At times the term is used to refer to humility as a more general inner quality…such people are contrasted with those of “haughty eyes”… Humility is a key quality for the one able to fulfill this role of submission to and reliance upon Yahweh as the High king.”

Mark J. Boda in The Book of Zechariah (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016) 562-567.

It’s Palm Sunday.

Today’s reflections come from commentator, Mark J. Boda, on this beautiful text. With the prophet Zechariah, we rejoice and shout in triumph for our righteous and victorious King Jesus. There are three reasons this Scripture is most fitting as we celebrate Palm Sunday in a time of plague.

Firstly, we rejoice because the Savior we serve is a righteous and victorious king. As death covers the earth and there is much cause for real mourning for those who survive, we can rejoice because King Jesus has conquered death. He makes things right and makes a way of salvation for all who believe.

Secondly, the daughters are shouting. When war ravaged a region, men were killed and women were abused and enslaved. So, largely only daughters remain after difficulty to proclaim victory. This means those of us who survive COVID-19 should be the ones to shout and give glory to our King Jesus for temporal deliverance.

Thirdly, our king is humble and poor. His unfathomable generosity was sustained not by any level of hoarded wealth but by the faithfulness of the Father. Jesus showed us the posture to take so that our lives bring God glory for sustaining us. To be poor may appear socially unpopular but it just means, like King Jesus, you hold nothing back.

As we welcome Jesus today, rejoice for He is righteous and victorious. Let those of us who endure this plague praise King Jesus for salvation, and let us live, give, serve, and love with humility and generosity. He held nothing back, but gave everything for us on the cross.

Likewise, as He commanded, let us deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him.

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30

“To the honorable the House of Common, now assembled in Parliament. A Sermon preached before the Honorable House of Commons at their extraordinary Day of Humiliation, 22 October 1644.”

“Acts 17. Verse 30. latter part.‘But now commandeth all men every where to repent.’ The former part runs thus.‘And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but…’

Among all the texts that are in the Bible, there is no one text more suitable to these times, then this that I have read unto you; But now God commands all men every where to repent: God hath been preaching repentance to England by the Ministry of his Word almost these hundred years; but England hath turned a deaf ear to Gods preaching, and God is now preaching repen­tance, not only by his Word, but by the sword; (for the sword hath a voice as well as the Word, Micah 6:9. And the sword speaks louder then the Word).

God is riding throughout all England, upon His red and bloody horse, thundering out repentance to every city, county, town and family… Repent Oh England, repent, repent; The text is very suitable, the Lord make it as profitable as it is suitable. If any shall object and say; that the doctrine of repentance is a doctrine that we all know already. I answer, if you know this doctrine so well, the more shame you practise it so little.”

Edmund Calamy in “England’s antidote against the plague of civil war presented in a sermon before the Honorable House of Commons on their late extraordinary solemn fast, 22 October 1644” Apple Books.

As the number of COVID-19 cases grows and the death toll climbs, we can gain insight from Edmund Calamy’s “suitable” and “profitable” sermon to the House of Commons during the plague. In dark days, God has an agenda. He wants people everywhere to humble themselves in fasting, prayer, and confession of their sins.

Take time this weekend to do this. Skip a meal. Read these Scriptures and journal your response. Renounce wrongdoing (Proverbs 28:13). Change directions (Matthew 3:2). Walk in the light (1 John 1:7). Experience times of refreshing (Acts 3:19). The most generous thing we can do during a plague is to surrender our lives afresh to God.

Today’s post contains excerpts from a most godly sermon with likely the longest title ever.

“A most godly sermon preached at St. Albons in Woodstreet on Sunday last being the 10 of October 1641: showing the necessity of self-denial and humiliation by prayer and fasting before the Lord in regard of the present plague we now lie under: which God in His good time remove from amongst us.”

“The first lesson is the A. B. C. that Christ teacheth us in his school, is this, for a man to deny himself, and so is it also the highest task that is set to any… The next thing, is the duty we owe to our neighbor, as of charity, of equity, of mercy…

A Christian must deny himself [or herself] in pleasure and de­light, even the delights of meat and drink, and lawful recreation, which are in themselves lawful meat and drink in a continual moderation, keeping himself [or herself] from excess, and sometimes in a total abstinence for a time…

Sometime we should wholly abstain from [human contact] as for the removal of some calamity we lie under, or to prevent a calamity coming upon us, or to procure a blessing to be fitter for some good duties… Fa­sting keeps the spirit of prayer awake.”

Henry Burton (1578-1648) in A Most Godly Sermon… (London: B. Alsop, 1641).

Generosity in a time of plague comes into view as denying ourselves which positions us to serve others with charity, equity, and mercy. That means we do it with love, we don’t pick favorites, and we actually extend care to those the world has labeled as undeserving.

How are you extending charity, equity, and mercy in your giving? It may be monetary in nature, that is, financial sharing with those in need. Or it could also be interpersonal in nature, in other words, reaching out to many people by email or text, not just your family or close friends.

For those with more than enough resources, it may mean sacrificing meals to aim at moderation and to have margin for sharing. Burton also suggested to maintain distance from human contact to prevent disease from spreading within a family and to keep the spirit of prayer awake.

Social distance might be a fresh term but it’s behavior that God’s people have practiced during plagues for centuries. Deny yourself. Practice moderation. Prevent the spread of calamity. Commit to prayer with fasting. Why? “Fa­sting keeps the spirit of prayer awake.”