Beware the Ides of March 2020

“Beware the Ides of March!” That line from Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, was uttered by a soothsayer who warned the Roman dictator about March 15 and the danger he would face that day. The year was 44 BC, and as actually happened, Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15 by a group of senators and a former friend named Brutus.

Sunday is March 15, the Ides of March according to the Roman calendar. While we probably don’t have to worry about our senators assassinating us, we have plenty to worry about if we let ourselves, given the news stories we hear every day. Particularly, the big scary news these days is about the coronavirus, or Covid-19, which as of today has spread to 142,530 confirmed cases and 5393 deaths in 135 countries. Governments and health officials are issuing warnings, areas are under quarantine, and all kinds of travel and public events are being cancelled. Some sports teams are even competing in empty stadiums! Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it to be a world-wide pandemic. Locally, we have had our first cases in Elk Grove and our first death.

My wife and I are very much aware of the effects this disease is having in the world, because we have been planning a trip to Italy and Germany this year to see the Passion Play in Oberammergau. But now, with Italy on lock-down and flights being cancelled or banned, our prospects are looking dim.

Of course, worries about epidemics, plagues, wars, and other life-threatening situation are nothing new. They have threatened and worried people throughout history. And with good reason, considering events like the 1918 flu epidemic that infected 1/3 of mankind and killed 20 to 50 million people world-wide, or the Black Death of the 14^th century, which reduced the world population by 100 million and killed 30 to 60% of Europe.

So it was that the Israelites, too, faced a serious life-threatening situation while crossing the wilderness following their escape from Egypt. Exodus 17 tells us  what happened:  “All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’

But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’

When we first read this, we may look down on the Israelites as petty ingrates because we know how the story ends. We know that God will save them, as he already had in different ways. But now, faced with no water to drink, the people feared they would die of thirst in the hot desert. Their concern was legitimate: without water they would die, and there was no sign of it to be found. Their problem was not that they feared their destruction, but how they responded to a very real danger.

1. First, they forgot those miraculous deliveries and provisions God had already shown them. They had witnessed the plagues God had rained down on Pharaoh and his people. God had saved them from the Egyptians, and brought them safely across the Red Sea, destroying the pursing Egyptian army in the process. He fed them with manna, bread from heaven. Surely they should have been grateful and expected God would take care of them. But they adopted a “What have you done for us lately?” attitude.
2. Second, instead of praying to God and submitting to his commands, they blamed God and his servant Moses, even threatening to stone Moses to death. The passage tells us that God brought them to this place, Rephidim, so they should have known he would provide where he leads.
3. Moses warned them about their grumbling, pointing out that they were not only complaining to him, but also were testing the Lord. Just as David admitted in Psalm 51 when confessing his sins to God, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” Moses’ warning should have calmed the people, but still they grumbled.
4. After providing the people with the needed water, Moses named the location Massah and Meribah, which in Hebrew mean “testing” and “quarreling,” because the people of Israel tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” This showed the people questioned God’s word, his commandments, and his promises. They even doubted his presence and his love for them. They had no faith.

Their sin paralleled that of Adam and Eve, who doubted God’s commands and word, forgot all God had given them in the Garden, and wanted what they didn’t have. And the Bible tells us that all death flows from that original sin; it has caused more deaths than thirst, plagues, and wars combined. As Romans 5:12 tells us, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”

When we understand the Israelites’ errors at Rephidim, we recognize some of the same attitudes, or at least tendencies, in ourselves:

1. Although blessed beyond measure in so many ways, we often forget not only to be grateful for what God has already provided for us, but also adopt that “What have you done for me lately?” attitude. Sure he’s provided all my needs, but what about those wants that I’m still lacking? Sure, he’s given me 68 years of a good life, but what if I get sick or die?
2. When I have a fear or unmet need, do I grumble to God, blame him for what I’m facing, or do I accept his will and look for how God will bless and grow me in this situation. As Paul wrote in Romans 5: “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
3. Do we have faith, trusting in God’s promises in Christ? Or do I doubt his existence (“A loving God wouldn’t let me go through this!”) and search elsewhere for answers? Do I believe God’s promise never to leave or forsake me, and Christ’s promise to be with me until the end of the age, taking me to be with him no matter what happens to me in this world?
4. Do we live in a world of Massah and Meribah, or by the Spirit of God with love, joy, peace, and the other fruit of the Spirit?
5. Do I face the dangers of this world, such as the coronavirus, with paralyzing fear, or with trust and confidence in the Lord? It’s certainly good to follow the protective procedures being urged by health professionals, but what if you get the virus anyway? Will it shatter your faith, or lead you to seek God’s will for you in the new circumstance you face?

Would you go into a dangerous area to save a stranger? How about an infected area where your chances are highly likely you’d catch whatever it is? A similar question became very real to a Catholic priest from Belgium named Damien who answered to call to missions, traveling in 1864 to the leper colony on Molokai, Hawaii. At first he failed in his work, and was ready to leave the island. Then, while waiting for the boat, he discovered his hands had lost feeling. Realizing he had caught leprosy from those he tried to serve, he stayed. Now accepted by his fellow lepers,    he ministered to them spiritually and practically, building houses, schools, roads, hospitals, and churches. He dressed residents’ ulcers, built a reservoir, made coffins, dug graves, shared pipes, and ate with them, providing both medical and emotional support. He served until he became too sick, dying at age 49 of leprosy.

Damien gave his life for those infected with a deadly illness. I don’t believe we are all called to find people sick with the coronavirus and try to catch it ourselves. But if it happens, or you are called to alleviate their suffering, remember this: no less did Christ come to be with, and die for us who were mortally ill with sin.

Paul closes Romans 5:1-9 with these amazing words of God’s love:

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

My prayer is that you all avoid getting the coronavirus, but whatever happens, don’t worry, even if it is the Ides of March, and rejoice in all the Lord has done for you and will do in all eternity to come.

Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-9