We will livestream worship at 11:00 again on Sunday celebrating Palm Sunday. Now that we have learned how to worship virtually, we believe we can incorporate more of our normal order of worship. Becky Boone has even provided some material for our children to prepare for Palm Sunday, and I intend to address them, remembering the celebration of the children running around in the Temple shouting, “Hosanna!”
We will also livestream our Passover Communion service Thursday night at 6:00! We haven’t figured out yet if we can actually partake of the Lord’s Supper, but we can certainly celebrate it and all it signifies in worship and in communion with our Savior, who gave his life for us. We will read the Scripture passages that lead us to the cross and sing verses of hymns that fit the passages in response. It is a favorite service of mine, and it is disappointing not to be able to gather together this last time before my retirement, but we can still let the light Christ shine in our time of darkness.
Each livestream is recorded and available as soon as Google processes it. Recently it has become available one or two hours after the service.
Much focus in the news is on the need for testing so we can know who has the virus, who has had it and may be immune, and who has the symptoms, but does not have the virus.
I shared last week about my nephew-in-law, who had fever, shortness of breath, and digestive issues, who tested negative for flu and strep throat, and was awaiting the test results for the coronavirus. His results are now in and, praise God, he does not have it! It was just a stomach bug, and he is much better now and can rejoin his wife and 4 young children.
Devotional this week: THESE ARE TRYING TIMES.
As important as developing quick and accurate tests for the virus might be, there is another kind of testing going on. We are all being tested by these circumstances.
Jesus taught us to pray, “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The evil referenced here is not abstract, but personal. It could be translated “the evil one.” Our adversary, the devil, would love for us to turn away from God because of this trial. That is the underlying temptation.
The Greek word for “temptation” is the same as the word for “test” or “trial.” Every trial is a test that brings with it the temptation to turn away from God.
It is okay if you feel anxious and weary. The test is not to see if we are strong enough to handle this. It only reveals where we place our faith.
The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead!”
We humbly express in prayer, “lead us not into temptation,” in other words, “Please don’t test me. I know I am not strong enough in myself to stand. I pray to you to deliver me from evil.” And so we pray that we won’t get sick, that if we do we will survive it, and if we don’t…”
As Job put it, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” And in another place, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”
The ultimate expression of our faith is in the one who has paid the debt of our sin, who has triumphed over the grave, in whom we shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
This is not a morbid or defeatist approach to life. It enables us to sing, as did Paul in the Philippian jail, in our virtual “prisons.”
James uses the same word for temptation when he writes, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials (temptations) of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness (endurance, perseverance). And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4 ESV).
When we are tested in our faith, we are:
1. Refined in our faith by the fiery trial, as we realize the insufficiency of the things we find security in apart from Christ.
2. Strengthened in our faith when we persevere in trusting in God, who through Christ will raise us up to eternal life.
3. Humbled in our faith when we fail the test, as was Peter when he denied Christ three times as Jesus was being led to the cross to pay for Peter’s, and our, sins.
4. Glorifying to God in our faith, as we discredit the one who would accuse us that we don’t really love God, we only love his blessings.
So let us pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” And if God does allow the trial, let us “count it all joy,” knowing God is refining us, strengthening us, humbling us, and being glorified in us, as we persevere with faith in Him, who through Christ, will raise us up with Christ to glory!