***
Preface
The inspiration for this manuscript came about in two ways. First was a profound statement that I read and meditated over for two days by the late theologian H. Richard Niebuhr, out a book entitled, “How my mind has been Changed.”
My second motivation for writing the COVID-19 Lamentation is a combination of the impact of this pandemic on my mind being changed concerning many issues while deeply grieving yet communicating righteous indignation for the millions of lives that are being destroyed by this mismanaged pandemic in America.
It is my willful attempt in the conclusion of this writing to offer much needed spiritual insight and biblical practical direction from God to those living souls who are God-fearers during these times of tribulations.
Usurping God’s Sovereignty
H. Richard Niebuhr (1894–1962) is considered one of the most important Christian theological ethicists in 20th-century America in 1961, was one of 12 other theologians who wrote personal articles for The Christian Century, published in 1959-1960. This work was compiled and called, “How My Mind Has Changed.” https://wipfandstock.com/how-my-mind-has-changed.html
The book, “My Mind Has Changed” offers an invaluable picture of how theologians negotiated the crisis of belief in their time, thus in my seeking for the voice of God during this pandemic, was deeply moved by the following Niebuhr’s discourse in 1961 that is so relevant to what is happening in America in 2020.
Niebuhr’s statement sandwiched between his very rich spiritual interpretation of the sovereignty of God and the movement of church reformation on this Continent. He writes “as a convinced Protestant who saw the sovereignty of God usurped by the spirit of capitalism and of nationalism I felt strongly that the times called for the rejection of “Cultural Protestantism” and the return of the church to the confession of its peculiar faith and ethos.”
God’s sovereignty communicates the ultimate source of all power, authority, and everything that exists. Only God can make those claims; therefore, it’s God’s sovereignty that makes Him superior to all other gods and makes Him, and Him alone, worthy of worship. Revelation 21:6
The Spirit of capitalism that Niebuhr and others have critiqued suggests that extreme uncivil regulations of capitalism [such as greedy corporations and the Federal Reserve], is inherently exploitative, unsustainable and creates economic inequality. Such extreme capitalism is anti-democratic and leads to an erosion of basic human rights during crises such as COVID-19.
Nationalism is an ideology and movement that promotes the interests of a particular nation [as in a group of people] especially with the intent of gaining and maintaining the nation’s sovereignty [self-governance] over its homeland.
About this matter of cultural Protestantism by the church, it has been non-existence for decades leading up to this COVID-19 outbreak. If ever there is a time for the church to exercise her pastoral and prophetic calling culturally, now is that appointed time. However, she like every other social institution, as been closed and quarantined by the government.
Not much has changed since Niebuhr’s 1961 statements!
Current reality
The combination of the powerfully wealthy oligarchs and plutocrats stronghold upon our Nation and the governments at every level, divine intervention is the only realistic hope that our nation has during this pandemic.
Americans are victimized by unemployment and underemployed at an alarmingly high rate. There is vast hunger and serve financial hardship that rivals the Great Depression. Without realistic help from the powers to be, these citizens will become bankrupt and evicted from their homes due to the economic catastrophe of the COVIV-19 virus.
The great debate on the origin of the COVID-19 virus rages yet in reality, its destructive nature this year is a daily reminder of the power, pull and consequences of the law of sin in our human experience.
Any futile attempts at usurping God’s sovereignty is grounded by sinful human-beings who fail in knowing that God as unconquerable loving and redeeming. It is God, His Kingdom, and His Word is where human-kind should place all confidence in our time on earth, as we all by His design, are working toward glorification.
There is not any easy answers nor solutions to the multi-complexity of where we are in history. God’s sovereignty is not just addition intellectual information about spirituality, it is very real and attainable in our human experience [good or bad].
We are commanded to find God in whatever condition we are placed in! The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song, I give thanks to him. The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Psalms 28:7-8
Another passage encourages us to should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us. Acts 17:27
The miracle that is needed to happen Nationally is only possible through the finished works of Christ our Lord. God is sovereign and man is not, none of us during this time, without the power and redemptive workings of God can reverse all of the events associated with COVID-19.
In the meantime, I plea to the Corporate Body of Christ, to daily pray and fast to the holy throne of God in the heavens. Let us be persistent and unwavering in our petitions to God for vindication and liberation in the lives of our citizens of this country and the world.
Let us pray that our Heavenly Father’s justice will roll down from heaven upon the earth like restorative, life-giving waters, and His eternal moral righteousness like a much-needed ever-flowing stream within the lives of millions. Amos 5:25
***
The COVID-19 Lamentation
Lord God, our cities are strange to each of us, our Nation has forfeited its sovereignty to those who are lenders of evil usury. No longer are we a great nation among all the nations of the world.
We are living in isolation in our homes, in our cities, in our states, and our Nation. We are living and dying disconnected from You! The world not only laugh at us, but all of our enemies see us as a widow.
Lord God, I know that the tens of millions of cries of those who are crying in Your ears must be breaking Your heart. Souls are weeping bitterly, non-stop for family members, neighbors, and even the stranger who live among us, are without anyone to comfort their suffering. There is a real threat that millions will line the streets with their bodies, for that are without a safe place to live.
Just like that, our Nation has lost all of its past splendor, its hope, and its promises to its citizens. The American dream universally is a horrible nightmare to each of us, for each moment in the lives of millions, life is without meaning or significance.
Lord God, have You not granted everyday people a dignified eloquence of honor and purpose as creatures that are created in Your image and Your likeness? Please rescue Your people from this evil that is out of human control.
How is it that man’s inhumanity to man has reached this level of lovelessness. I know that You see the callous heartless nature of those who now govern not only our Nation but also, they control this world. These wealthy and powerful individuals have misused their positions to mock You and Your people.
Rise Adonai, in Your anger! Let all the evil of the wicked come to an end, and establish the righteous; since You, righteous God, test hearts and minds. You are our only shield who is more than able to save the upright in heart, and convict the sinner to genuine repentance.
I plea to Your holy throne my Lord while seeking and expecting Your divine intervention into the earth. Vindicate us, Lord with Your righteous indignation toward those who are guilty of evil undertakings.
Our liberation will not be realized until you move upon our behalf there is no peace, nor happiness in the lives of Your people. Millions have lost personal self-respect while their dreams of a better life have all but disappeared. Our combined sorrow has become our faithful companion that is consistently leading us deeper into depression and extreme misery.
I beseech You, my Heavenly Father, to give ear to my lamentation. Please my Lord consider my inmost thoughts. Listen to my cry for help for Thou living souls, for none other than You are my King, my God.
My Lord God, in the morning, the noonday, the evening hours, You will hear my feeble voice. In all of my coming and going, I lay my life and my petition before Your throne while waiting expectantly for Your answer! Amen.
***