The sermon on March 22, 2020 by our pastor, Winston Pratt (Peace Mennonite Church, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada), I thought deserved a wider audience. You can listen to it here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed5LuKMNmCc and following are my notes from it:
When it comes to storm s that can rock us and shake our faith, Covid-19 is one facing us all, globally. It tells us our lives are not as secure and comfortable as we thought; we are not as self-reliant as we thought we could be.
We can learn from Daniel 3 how we can respond. When three Jewish counselors of th eking refused to worship his gods and bow down to a golden statue he had built, as commanded, they wer brought before the king.
They said to the king: “O [king], we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter (3:16).
1. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us… O king, let him deliver us (3:17)
2. But if not… O king… we will not worship your gods and we will not worship the golden statue you have set up.”
If God honours a response like #1, we bear witness to God’s goodness and power in our lives.
If not, we still have victory as, if we are secure in our faith, in death we receive the ultimate delivery and experience final victory as we end up in heaven.
This should help us maintain good faith-based thinking under pressure. It can help us:
1. Grow in the quality of our faith
2. Strengthen our character and develop greater resilience
3. Provide occasion for God to reveal his extraordinary power in us
Romans 5:1-5 also has a message like this for us. Suffering is said to yield endurance, endurance character and character hope “because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy spirit that has been given to us (Rom. 5:3-5).”
James 1:2-4 gives us the same assurance. In fact, it says “whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be nature and complete, lacking nothing.”
Mark 4:35-41 (and its parallels in Matt. 8:23-27 & Luke 8:22-25) give us another example of this situation. Jesus and the disciples are caught in a storm on the sea of Galilee and the disciples’ faith, such as it might have been, gave way to fear. Jesus is awakened – he was sleeping! – and calms the storm. Then, “He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Firstly, Jesus ability to calm the storm raised a new fear in the disciples: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” With fear, we are unable to think straight and see what might be really going on. Rather, we focus on the perceived threat.”
Secondly, the disciples failed the test. Jesus, Immanuel, ‘God with us’, was right in the boat with them. But they did not see him as such yet. This should remind us that, whatever crisis we find ourselves in as believers, Jesus is with us in his Spirit! He has told us: “…remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).”As Daniel’s three friends asserted, as such, we can be delivered, but if not, humanly speaking, on another level, we will be taken care of.
Pastor Winston also shared the story of Louise Loewen, whom we recently remembered with her passing. She had gone through some significant trials: running for her life from the enemy at age 17, coming to a new country to start a new life at 20, a couple of bouts of cancer and surgeries over a long span. However, she never lost her faith.
We can also pass the tests, personally, with God at our side. We can continue in hope because:
1. Christ is with us in the storms and trials of life
2. Tough times are not wasted. God in his grace and mercy can use them to grow our faith and character
1. There is always hope. God will give us what he knows we need; he will take us through and make us stronger
We can be a calming presence among our family, friends and community because of our faith if we believe all this. We can have the faith and strength of Daniel’s friends.
May God give us peace and use us as a witness to God’s goodness and providence and so bring him glory.
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