It is a time to HEAR!

I can feel the tension rising in my children as the inexorable effect of cabin fever begins to set in and their uncaged energy spills out into bickering, fighting, yelling and general discontent. Additionally, I’ve been nursing a sore throat and ear ache and I can’t help but listen to the small voice inside my head ask “What if your illness is…?” I won’t even finish the sentence because paranoia doesn’t deserve a foothold in these times. 

Strange days indeed!

And yet, I feel at peace. The facts of what is happening are plain and they really aren’t that scary in and of themselves. We, as a nation, are taking unparalleled precautions to protect the elderly, the sick and the immune compromised people we love. This is good and noble. It almost convinces me that the world still has the capacity to make decisions for the good of people rather than for the good of merely the powerful. 

And yet, this is still a time where a few could easily ruin all the efforts of the many. It only takes one unknowingly COVID-19 infected person to ignore all the direction and advice of the medical professionals to wreak havoc on all the precautions that have been taken by the many.

It is this, the possibility of the actions of the few to affect the greater masses, that has me thinking of the Israelite situation in Deuteronomy. The first generation of Israelites out of Egyptian slavery were condemned to wander the desert for 40 years because of the faithlessness of a few spies. Those spies when faced with the terror of the enemies before them sowed seeds of doubt into the masses, infecting many with a faithlessness that led to rebellion. 

For that, an entire generation of Israelites were doomed to die in the desert and never enter the promised land. And when we get to the book of Deuteronomy it is the children of that doomed generation that are faced with the same enemies waiting for them as they attempt to enter the promised land. 

And still, a few could have ruined it for everyone.  

And this is where Moses give to His people the Shema- a prayer for each man, woman and child to say over and over again upon their lips, in their heads and in their hearts. A prayer to remind them of God’s faithfulness to them, and their need to be faithful to him. For every situation. For every generation. For every person. 

 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 

It is a good time for such a prayer. The Jews called this prayer the “Shema” which is Hebrew word that begins the prayer- HEAR! I would encourage us all to recite this prayer throughout the week. As we are helpless to control the spread of the virus outside of our own actions we know we can do these few things: Love our God with all our heart, soul and strength. We can put our trust in Him as the Israelites did when facing the unknown future before them.

I miss seeing you all already. It was a peculiar feeling to be speaking to you on Sunday, but to a nearly empty room! When Sunday service was over I was told by Hans Rasmussen that between Facebook, You Tube and our own Website we reached into over 4000 different devices. Obviously many of you had friends and family watching as well! 

Perhaps we have before us a unique opportunity to use this new and temporary reality as way for people to better see this world’s need for redemption. In times such as these where there is a fear of the unknown and there will be many whose ears have been closed to God that are now beginning to open. Let’s help them to HEAR!