A New Normal #12 – Superhero

[The following post is one of several under the heading of “A New Normal” addressing our response to the Coronavirus outbreak. They are written to the family at Bishop Creek Community Church. I was asked to make them available as an encouragement to all.]

Every superhero story seems to begin the same way. The bad guy, the villain is introduced to the world engaged in nefarious acts of superlative mayhem, plotting to undermine the City, through some extravagant mechanism. The hidden bomb, the virus – the vial of vile, the orchestrated catastrophe. The clock is ticking and lives hang in the balance. 

We in the audience are suspended on the front of our seats wondering, “will the superhero get there in time?” “Will they be strong enough to conquer the foe?” “What could possibly defeat our superhero?” 

It sounds like a work of fiction, but increasingly it parallels real life. 

Covid-19 has donned a black cape and is swirling around this little blue ball. If only we could find an anecdote, the serum which would prevail against this diabolical menace. We look desperately to governmental solutions. Or, we begin rooting for the squinty-eyed man in a white lab coat in a laboratory somewhere in Europe high atop a mountain, pouring liquids from one test tube to another looking for a solution, mixing substances in a Petri dish, peering with pursed lips and a puckered nose. 

Are these our superheroes? Mmm. Not quite. I am a fan of anyone who is trying to solve this global problem of the virus. But, remember, this present attack is another consequence, the effects of sin – that curse took place in the Garden a long time ago. Not to be a pessimist, but even after this epidemic is fading in our rear-view mirror another will be bubbling to the top. And it’s gonna be that way for quite some time – we live in a broken world. It is a reminder that we are the aliens here, and that our home is elsewhere.

So, what do we do? Well, we do cheer on the man in the lab coat, and, we pray for him/her/them. But we press into God. We nurture the Body, fellow believers, and we serve the community ­– revealing the light of Christ… that they may know. 

Know who? Know what? This will be a great time to share Christ. The true Superhero, who has overcome the world. 

Once again, I am drawn to the Psalm passage we have looked at before, Psalm 121:1-2:
“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; 
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, 
Who made heaven and earth.”

Let’s remember, that however long this present affliction lasts for the world, it is only temporary and that Christ, the roaring Lion of Judah has overcome the world. He is the Superhero of all superheroes.  If we have our eyes on anyone other than God to help us out here, we are looking in the wrong direction.

Pastor Kelly  /‘.’\