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Crisis, Christ, and Confidence Episode 2: Fear

April 1, 2020 by Christina

In this episode of “Crisis, Christ, and Confidence,” Drs. Gregory Poland, David Garner, and Peter Lillback discuss updates on the COVID-19 outbreak and how believers should navigate their fear. Whether it is illness, the economy, or social isolation, the Bible has something to say about fear. Listen to this informative and pastoral discussion on the importance of (1) filling our minds with scripture, (2) looking to the sovereignty of God, and (3) stepping forth to do what is right – even when we are afraid.

“Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9)

“In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?“ (Pslams 56:4)

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Source: The Providence Forum

Katharina Luther: Faith in Christ and Love for Neighbor During the Plague

March 30, 2020 by Christina

In the course of a woman’s life, she will have many mentors. Katie Luther is one of my mine. In fact, she is the primary reason this blog has become largely inactive. Accounts of her industry and productivity challenged me to talk less and do more. Katie’s famous, “I’ve read enough, I’ve heard enough, I know enough. Would to God I lived it” fell on me hard. Luther’s own Morningstar of Wittenberg is the reason I wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning! I’m not ashamed to say it: I wanna be like Katie! 🙂 Katie Luther was a woman who was more concerned with living out the faith than she was talking about it.

With recent global/national events being what they are, I’ve been thinking a lot about her. What would she be doing? What would her priorities be? How would she be expressing her faith? Katie was a busy woman. She oversaw the entire parsonage operation and made the Luther home what it was – a safe house for many. And during the plague, that parsonage was converted into a hospital and at their own risk, the Luther’s cared for the afflicted.  

The nature of today’s epidemic is, thankfully, not as bad as the ones that Katie lived through – at least not yet – however, the call to quietly and humbly submit to God’s providence, to trust in his goodness, and love our neighbor is just as relevant. Of course, most of what we know about her is gathered from her husband’s letters. So, today I’m sharing certain excerpts of those letters that are cited in one of my favorite Katie Luther biographies, “A Reformation Life: Katharina Von Bora” by Rudolf and Marilynn Markwald.

“When the plague hit Wittenburg, the worst part of the disease was the fear it engendered. People ran from each other, as well as from the pestilence. Many fled the city during the epidemic but Katie remained. According to contemporary reports, her deep faith in Christ and her personal courage sustained her. Neither Katie nor Martin were afraid of the plague, and when people fell ill to the epidemic, the Luthers turned Lutherhaus into a hospital. After Sebald Musterer’s wife died and her husband became seriously ill, Kate took their four children, who also were sick, into Lutherhaus. What motivated the Luthers to do this? In “Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague,” Luther wrote:

First one has to submit quietly to God, trusting in His love and goodness. Then staying put and not fleeing from the plague or any disaster is to be praised because it is a sign of a strong faith. But a person needs more than milchglauben [infantile faith] for that . . . It is required (1 Corinthians 12:12ff) that everyone take care of his body and not abuse it by being dummkeck [showing off one’s courage] . . . If no one is available to take care of a sick neighbor, he should never be abandoned, and Matthew 25:34ff. teaches that all Christians are linked together so we cannot desert anyone in need but are duty-bound to help him or her in the same way as we would want this person to help us in our exigencies . . . If a city or country has a hospital, that is fine and good. But if not, then people’s residences have to become infirmities, and by God’s grace, each neighbor must become a caregiver and nurse for the suffering ones.

Luther added one more spiritual dimension to his position regarding the plague when he said,

We shall discover that God thereby tests our faith and our love – our faith so we may know how we stand in relationship with God and our love so we may learn just what is our relationship to our neighbor.

In closing, Luther encouraged the faithful with these words:

We must say to the devil, “Get out of my way with your scaring! In defiance of you I will help my sick neighbor knowing that it is pleasing to God and all His angels. Since Christ has shed His blood for me and died for me, how can I not, for His sake, place myself into this small danger of a powerless pestilence?” Say, “Satan, if you frighten me, Christ will give me courage; and if you have poison in your mouth, Christ has more than enough remedies to heal me.

In his 1539 sermon on the same subject, Luther said,

We did not flee . . . I am your preacher and visitor of the sick, and Katie is the nurse, doctor, pharmacist, counselor, etc. God has protected Kate and me and our whole family from two plagues. We have been blessed in this city in good days, why should we leave when suffering strikes.

This was Martin and Katharina Luther’s faithful commitment to serving not only each other but all who were in need.”

Again, the nature of today’s crisis does not rise to the one that Martin and Katie faced. But Katie’s faith in Christ and love for her neighbor are encouraging me today. May they encourage you, too!

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30

Markwald, Rudolf K. and Marilynn Morris, A Reformation Life: Katharina Von Bora. Concordia Publishing House, 1919, St. Louis, pages 165-167.

Crisis, Christ, and Confidence Episode 1: Wisdom for the Church about Gathering

March 25, 2020 by Christina

Listen to this discussion on the challenge the church faces in the current environment. It strikes just the right balance between biblical wisdom and medical science. Pass it on!

Source: The Providence Forum

Martin Luther on Responding to Pandemics

March 18, 2020 by Christina

“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”

Source: The Patriot Post

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