18th. November. 2020. Daily Devotion.

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.’ Joshua 1:8-9

Coronavirus began, of course, in China where the word for crisis is made up of two characters: the first means ‘danger’ and the second means’ opportunity’. The danger of this crisis is very real. Everyone is affected in some way. Hundreds of thousands are likely to die. Millions are losing their jobs. The world is heading for recession. It’s important therefore that we heed the advice of our political leaders and our medical experts for the sake of the most vulnerable in our world. But this crisis is also an opportunity for the people of God to ‘be strong and courageous’, to show his love to a world that is being shaken to its core. In the year 251AD a plague decimated the great city of Carthage. Its citizens were ‘shuddering, fleeing, shunning the contagion’. Carcases piled up in the streets. In a famous sermon on Matthew 5:43-48, the great Church Father Cyprian urged the church to stay in the city to care not just for other Christians but for their non-Christian neighbours too (who had recently been persecuting them).

Rodney Stark, in a fascinating book ‘Epidemics, Networks and the Rise of Christianity’ observes that: ‘The minority Christian community, which did not flee but stayed to provide nursing, had a higher survival rate than their pagan neighbours; and the pagans who had been nursed through the crisis by Christians were likely to be open to a faith that, unlike their own, had worked.’ (Rodney Stark, Epidemics, Networks and the Rise of Christianity, pp 159-75 cited Worship and Evangelism in Pre-Christendom by Alan Kreider Grove Books 1995, p.39)

Prayer

At this time of so much disruption and dismay I take hold of God’s promise in Isaiah drawing consolation for the day to come from this beautiful assurance : Hear the Word of the Lord: ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’

Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You, in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. Amen.

Prayer by Clement of Rome

You, Lord, through your works have revealed the everlasting structure of the world. You, Lord, created the earth. You are faithful throughout all generations, righteous in your judgments, marvellous in strength and majesty, wise in creating and prudent in establishing what exists, good in all that is observed and faithful to those who trust in you, merciful and compassionate; forgive me my sins and my injustices, my transgressions and my shortcomings.

Do not take into account every sin of your servant, but cleanse me with the cleansing of your truth, and direct my steps to walk in holiness and righteousness and purity of heart, and to do what is good and pleasing in your sight and in the sight of my rulers. Yes, Lord, let your face shine upon all your servants in peace for our good, that we may be sheltered by your mighty hand and delivered from every sin by your uplifted arm; deliver us as well from those who hate us unjustly.

Give harmony and peace to me and to all who dwell on the earth, just as you did to our fathers when they reverently called upon you in faith and trust, that we may be saved, while we render obedience to your almighty and most excellent name, and give harmony and peace to our rulers and governors on earth.Amen. Translated from a letter, 96 A.D.