He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
On 3-11-2020, the World Health Organization declared that the Covid-19 outbreak had become a global pandemic. Very shortly after that, draconian “lock-down” measures were taken in the United States.
America took the Covid test. And failed. Half a million lives and a year later, the pandemic rages on – but with hope rising for its imminent abatement.
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It is a good time to shine a light on the lives lost, the misery inflicted, the lessons learned, and the lessons unlearned during this crisis. And to this end, the Bible can help.
Some folks read the Bible as if it were the light - the divine Word of God in the form of a book, intended to guide our every choice and step.
Progressive Christians view the Bible as the filament in the light bulb through which light-generating energy flows and glows. The Bible is the mantle, the little bag made of ceramic thread placed over the gas aperture in an old-fashioned Coleman camping lantern. The mantle isn’t the light itself: rather, it is where the fuel meets the flame. The Bible gives us a treasure-trove of stories and poetry to express our spiritual experience and kindle our commitment to bring heaven to earth.
Toward that end, let us consider chapters 3, verses 11 of a few of the books of the Bible – and see if our spiritual fuel is ignited when we come in contact with them. (I learned this “algorithm” for reading the Bible from Don Knuth, the granddaddy of computer software, in my days as a campus minister at Stanford University. Don is a gifted amateur theologian who wrote a book that only a software geek would write: “3:16” – a brilliant study of chapters 3, verses 16 of all the books of the Bible that have them.)
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3: 11) If ever there was a time when everyday people have been called to serve others in extraordinary ways, the Covid era is it….
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God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word.” (1 Kings 3:11-12) If ever there was a time when disciplined discernment was needed from our leaders to do what is right for the people, the Covid era is it….
Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise. (Jesus, Luke 3:11) If ever there was a time for a redistribution of wealth to those in need – both through personal charity and public policy – the Covid era is it….
Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness… (2 Peter 3:11) If ever there was a time for putting in perspective that which really matters in life and that which does not, the Covid era is it….
But for me, this is the 3:11 passage that is the best filament or mantle for generating light on this pandemic experience:
Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3: 11-15)
The people of Israel, in their 40-year desert exodus, suffered from snakebites and asked God for relief. God told them to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole and place it before the people for them to gaze upon it. It is the symbol of medicine, which in ancient times was homeopathic: a dose of that which ails you is the cure. In the book of John, the cross is interpreted as the homeopathic remedy for the human condition of suffering – which has been particular intense since 3-11-2020. By gazing at the suffering of the Christ, we confront the reality of the pain we suffer, and the pain we inflict on each other. Through this confrontation we begin the process of transformation, healing, and reconciliation – both as individuals and as a society.
By looking very clearly at the failures of our public health infrastructure, and the skewed priorities they represent, we catch fire with commitment to change these systems for the better, for everyone’s sake. By gazing at the Coronavirus of thorns on the crucified Christ, we see that there is no such thing as “private health”. There is only public health. We’re all on this cross.
Let us put the match to the mantel of scripture, turn on the fuel, and bring to light the changes we must make as a society in order to bring Covid to heel and to prevent future pandemics from spreading among our sisters and brothers around the globe…