PENnED

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As far as our experience is concerned, today is the first Easter Sunday of its kind—no church service, no egg hunting, no hanging out with family and friends.

So, yeah, today is Easter Sunday or, if you prefer, Resurrection Sunday. But it really feels like we’re still stuck in Holy Saturday. Although most of us have quarantined ourselves and are supposed to be insulated from the world out there, yet we smell the stench of death in a very profound way. It’s a dark Easter Sunday.

Although experts have informed us there will be an end to this pandemic, yet we do not know exactly when. And the waiting seems endless. And so we ask, except staying home and washing our hands, what are we to do?

We can think of countless things we can do but our hands are tied. No, not just our hands, our feet as well!

As I think about what the Lord might want us to do, I thought of his command to love. However, the Scripture texts in which the command show up seem to always demand the literal use of hands and feet.

For instance, Jesus said, “If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them” (Luke 6:29, NIV). Giving away one’s shirt obviously involves the use of hand.

In 1 John 3 we read:

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.*

But as I continue to read 1 John 3, I found what I think might be the word of the Lord to us today—a word that might empower us despite our very limited use of hands and feet:

²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Within the context of loving, prayer is introduced in this passage.  And it tells us exactly what would give us “confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask”: keeping God’s “commands” and doing “what pleases him” (vs. 21-22).

The first of the two commands is “to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.”

Why such command? Aren’t we supposed to believe freely?

Absolutely! However, because the image of God in us has been marred by sin, we now have the tendency to rebel against God’s good will. And when we do, we forfeit what faith in God might offer. A command could definitely motivate us to stay on the right path (although I believe that, because we are free, we can choose to disobey).

If we obey the command to believe, what does it look like?

Since it is a command to “friends” (vs. 1, 21) or “children of God” (vs. 1,2), I would consider this as a command to those who already believe in Christ. Thus, faith in this context has to do with believing God who, because he “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all” we can confidently believe that he will also “graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32, NIV), that is, everything within his will. In other words, if God could give us the grandest gift—his Son—how much more the lesser ones!

Wow! If we really ponder about that, our faith can grow exponentially—talk about faith on steroids! If small faith can move mountains (Matthew 17:20), how much more a giant faith?

The second command brings us back to the overarching theme of love of 1 John 3: “love one another as he (Jesus) commanded us.”

Loving is part of what we do as believers because of what we have become: children of God. “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister” (v. 10). Doing right and loving reveal our identity.

So, if loving should come naturally because we are children of God, why the command to love?

The reason is because although God has made us to be like Abel, who was righteous, when we put our faith in Christ, we still have the tendency to be like Cain, who was evil and murdered his brother. That’s why this command: “Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother” (v. 12). So, again, a command could remind us of and help us choose the path of righteousness.

In these days of darkness and death, our obedience can make a huge difference in the world. If we believe in what God can do and love one another, then our prayers can move the hand of God, so to speak.

How can we love when our hands and feet might not allow us to do so?

Yes, we are “not (to) love with words or speech but with actions and in truth,” but I don’t think that the emphasis on loving with actions means that the statement carries an unequivocal meaning. If that is the case, words do not mean anything. And they do.

When someone uses hate language in a politically charged conversation, for example, we cannot miss the message. The words spoken carry with them the venom of hate and we feel its lethal power. We know that when those words are directed to us, they immediately tell us that the person those words are coming from does not love us.

Conversely, the same is true with loving words. Let me illustrate that.

After Ruth, my wife, gave a sandwich to Ezra, our grandson, earlier today, I asked him, “Does lola love you?” He said yes—she made him a sandwich! Then I asked him another question, “Does lolo love you?” He also said yes. Then I asked, “How do you know that?” He said, “Because you said I’m your favorite grandson.”  (He’s my only grandson, by the way.)

What I said was as much an expression of love as his grandma’s action of making him a sandwich.

Words have power. They can be used to show hate or love. And that should make us think whether the words we write on social media, for example, are words that convey love.

I am not sure if I am free of guilt. Most likely, not. I don’t remember everything I expressed in words, but I remember negative feelings toward some of those I interacted with on Facebook. And so, for those words I said that did not make people feel loved, I am deeply sorry. Please forgive me.

To make up for that today, when I am unable to lead a congregation in worship, I am writing this to express my love to all, but especially to sisters and brothers in the Lord who need to know what to do during this dark time when even though we know the meaning of Easter Sunday in our heads yet our experience tells us that we have not really moved out of Holy Saturday—the day of darkness and death.

Aside from loving and encouraging words, we can pray.

We cannot undermine the ability of the experts and what we have come to call “frontliners” who are working so hard to put an end to the coronavirus pandemic. We thank God for them. Indeed, they are today’s heroes.

However, God’s word to us today is that we too can perform amazing things even while on quarantine—we can pray! With our faith, hopefully being on steroids, think about what prayer can do to us, our community, country, and the world!

So, let us pray.

Our heavenly Father, we bow down before you
You are God, our Creator; we are your creatures
Forgive us for trying to create you in our image
And forgive us for fashioning idols made of hands

Let us selflessly work for your kingdom while on earth
And let us be obedient subjects who freely do your will
Help us to not forget your coming perfect and glorious kingdom
So that we may not be tempted to build our own

Forgive us our sins—they are too many too count
But we know that those sins were hatched in our hearts
Please transform our hearts and let us truly love you and our neighbor
And help us to love in words, thoughts, and deeds

Thank you for cleansing our hearts and filling it with your love
Thank you for the gift of faith and for making it grow
Today we have this renewed confidence in you
And in what you will do because we pray

We pray for the suffering world because of the pandemic
We pray for those who lost loved ones
And those who are still suffering from the infection
Bring comfort, hope, and healing to them

In these dark days, help us to remember that you are with us
Not just in a metaphorical but literal sense—
In Christ, you experienced death and its darkness
And thus, you know what humankind is experiencing now

We thank you for the frontliners
Strengthen and protect them
Let them feel they are appreciated and loved
For indeed that is the truth
And provide all their needs

Give wisdom to our leaders and help them serve selflessly
We pray for the leader of our country, even if our vote was cast not for them
Give our leader good health and extend the same to her or his family
And help our leader lead as she or he should, with sincerity and dignity

We pray for our loved ones—whether members of our family or not
We ask that you continue to take care of them as you take care of us
Remind each one of them of your goodness in Christ your Son
So that they might not go astray

We pray for our “enemies” as well
Forgive us if we have hurt them in any way
And forgive them as well
Perhaps they did not know what they were doing

Most of all, please help us end this darkness
There are limits to what we can do
But with you nothing is impossible
So help us to believe in you and in what you can do

In Jesus’ name, we pray
Amen.

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*All scriptures are from the New International Version®, NIV®