Homily for Lent 4 (Laetare) - 2020

"The Real Game-Changer"
Exodus 16:2-21; Acts 2:41-47; John 6:1-15

Listen here.

Let’s talk COVID-19. Everyone’s talking about it these days. Lately, it’s been just about the only topic of conversation. Okay, some did welcome the news of Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots as a welcome diversion. But just about everything else centers on COVID-19. Social distancing. Self-quarantines and stay at home orders. The economy in general and the stock market in particular. Sports events cancelled. Certain stores and restaurants closed. You name it, we’re talking about it through the megaphone of Coronavirus. COVID-19 has even changed the way we think, talk and “meme” about toilet paper, of all things!

So let’s just do it. Let’s talk COVID-19. After all, it’s also why we’re here today in such unusual circumstances—a very small crowd allowed here in church, our first ever live-streaming service online, and receiving our Lord’s Body and Blood in shifts today and tomorrow. Everything else on the parish schedule is postponed, up in the air and otherwise uncertain. What does all of it mean? How shall we—how can we—live, survive and respond as the body of Christ? So much fear. So much anxiety. So much uncertainty.

So let’s dive right in. Let’s talk COVID-19, but let’s do so in the light of our Lord’s Word. After all, He is the light of the world. Whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness, gloom, or despair, but will have the light of life (cf. Jn. 8:12). It must be more than happenstance that we celebrate Laetare Sunday when we are suffocating with fears, anxieties, and uncertainties. That historic name for this Fourth Sunday in Lent leads us to lift up our heads and hearts for a bit of fresh air—the fresh air of rejoicing, rejoicing in our Lord Jesus, in His provision, in His refreshment.

Do we have it any worse than the people of Israel in the wilderness? The Lord’s gift of delivering them from Egyptian slavery had cut them off from their supply chains of meat pots and bread to the full. They had socially distanced themselves from their familiar homes in Egypt and were dwelling in tents out in no-man’s land. And the fear, uncertainty and grumbling began. “Would that we had died…,” they cried. No one enjoys being confronted with the unknown wilderness! It can be quite discombobulating, to be sure, but it does happen.

And yet Yahweh was gracious and merciful. It was actually His work of saving them that compelled them to confront the unknown wilderness and face their own fears. So He told Moses that He would “rain bread from heaven” for His people. With this gracious promise intended to overcome their fears, God also said He would “test them, whether they will walk in My [Word] or not.” So quail was on the menu that evening and manna would rain down day by day, and only enough for each day. Would they trust the God who loved them and had saved them? “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.” Some, of course, did not listen to Moses or the Lord. They tried to hoard and their hoarding left them with rancid, worm-infested food.

God most certainly cares for you in both body and soul. Not only has He redeemed you from sin and death through His Son, the very Bread of Life, but He also provides for your every bodily need. The test in this unknown, fearful wilderness of our COVID-19 time is this: Will you walk in His Word of promise or not? Will you rely on Him who has loved you with a love that overcomes plagues and pestilences? Will you depend on His light in the midst of any and all darkness? He is gracious and merciful, and, yes, He does provide.

Now put yourselves on that grassy knoll up on the mountain with Jesus and His disciples. You’ve seen “the signs that He was doing on the sick.” It’s evident He cares, and that He can and does heal. And the holy week of Passover is just around the corner. Through the day, you’ve been listening to Jesus teach the light and life of God’s kingdom (cf. Lk. 9:11). Now it’s evening and you’re hungry. And Jesus decides to test His disciples: “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” We can relate to such a critical question, with news and experiences of empty store shelves.

Now put yourself in Philip’s sandals. “Lord, the need is overwhelming! Even if we did have enough money, we could only buy enough food for everyone to have just a nibble.” The huge scope of the problem will do that to you. Rising numbers of those infected and dying. Shrinking mobility. Economy tanking and 401(k)s evaporating. It’s enough to lead you to despair.

Or put yourself in Andrew’s sandals. For him it’s not the massive need; it’s the meager resources. Only five barley sandwich rolls and two small fillets of fish? “What are they for so many?” Empty store shelves? No hand sanitizer? No Lysol hand wipes? Not enough protective masks or gloves for our medical heroes? What shall we do? How shall we survive? Such meager resources! It’s enough to lead to panic or hoarding.

Now notice how Jesus does not even answer Philip or Andrew. Oh, He hears their fears—and yours too. He knows the needs of the crowd—and your needs, and the needs of our city and nation, even the needs of the whole world and everyone in it. Since “He Himself knew what He would do,” He calmly tells His twelve assistants to “have the people sit down.” Then, as only Jesus can do, He faithfully gives thanks for the meager resources and distributes them into the mouths of the massive need. Everyone—5,000-plus—has full, happy tummies. All is good once again. And left over fragments even fill twelve baskets.

So fear not! Your Lord Jesus knows your needs, as well as your fears. And He knows how best to meet those needs and squelch those fears, especially when you do not. But it’s also instructive and helpful to notice what Jesus did when the crowd tried to “take Him by force to make Him king.” He “withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.” Jesus is no mere bread king to fill empty stomachs or  remove every physical malady. No, He’s a bigger king; He’s a better king than that. He can give medical authorities and governing authorities to address pandemics and bless their efforts.

But only He can address that most infectious virus we all have from birth, that most infectious virus we will ever know—our sin, our mistrust, our rebellion against God. That’s what He came to heal. And He showed His kingship by taking the throne of a cross. There He shed the healing medicine of His innocent blood. From there He went into a tomb to sanctify the graves of His saints. On the third day He rose again to bring life and immortality to light. And then He ascended to sit at the Father’s right hand, ruling all things—even pandemics—for our eternal good.

That, dear friends, is the real game-changer. Last week, when the so-called “rule of 10” came down, I called it a game-changer for how we can carry on our worship life in this time of pandemic. Another game-changer came yesterday with the City’s “stay-at-home” order. And, who knows, certain medications recently reported on may be game-changers in dealing with COVID-19. But the truest, mightiest, absolutely everlasting game-changer is our Lord’s own sacrifice, death, and resurrection. That helps us put everything else—even Coronavirus—in perspective.

We need not fear or panic or despair. We especially need not fear death itself, however it may come. Instead, we may freely and joyously devote ourselves “to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” We may happily and readily show the world the power of being fed on our Lord’s Word and Sacrament, of banding together to care for one another, and of using our possessions and belongings for all, as any has need.

Dear ones, remember these words from St. Paul: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:37-39) Amen.