I will never be the same again,
I can never return; I've closed the door.
I will walk the path, I'll run the race
And I will never be the same again.
—Hillsong United
As I write this, the COVID-19 quarantine is in its ninth week here where I live in Maryland. Many of us—including me—long for things to get “back to normal.” We want to resume things we did before the pandemic. My kids want to play baseball and softball. We want to “go to church”—something our pastoral family used to take for granted as our routine every Sunday. I want to watch sports on TV—any sports! I want to go to Starbucks and enjoy the simple pleasure of a cup of coffee and enjoying my favorite “third space.” Heck, we just want to give our loved ones living outside our home a big hug!
In Maryland, Governor Hogan has declared that as of Friday May 15 at 5 PM EDT, Phase 1 of “reopening” the state may begin. Honestly, whatever his motivation for doing so, I fear the Governor may be rushing things a bit. Local authorities in several counties have been quick to indicate they are not ready to reopen.
As a follower of Christ, I’m called to learn from Jesus how he would live my life if he were me. Part of that means learning to discern whether something we’re legally allowed to do by the government is the best course of action for us to take. The Apostle Paul admonishes the Philippians to look out not just for their own interests, but also for others—i.e., for the common good of all—Philippians 2:4. In another letter, he reminded the Corinthians that: Everything is permissible, but not all things are beneficial—1 Corinthians 6:12 and 10:23. Paul was a Roman Citizen, which meant he had the “right” to do as much as anyone could in his day. But, after his conversion, Paul realized that he answered to a higher authority than Caesar. Even though he could do many things, he had to decide if he would do them. He based his decisions on what was “best” for him as to as a follower of Christ and for those he was trying to influence to follow his example as he followed Christ.
When I take all this into consideration, I just can’t see Jesus (or Paul) jeopardizing other human lives just so they could get a coffee at Starbucks.
So, as much as I long to eat out, or to get a long overdue “official” haircut, or whatever else it might be I wish I could do right now, I’m inclined to wait a bit longer—even if the authorities tell me “it’s okay” for me to do it. Denying myself these things a while longer doesn’t cause me to suffer in any way, nor am I being persecuted unjustly by having to wear a mask when I do go out in public. No, I’m merely being inconvenienced a little bit. I’m choosing to sacrifice just a little of my personal freedom, to promote the health and well-being of all. We would do well to remember Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), who suffered an excruciating death on a Roman Cross. That kind of puts my “sacrifice” of going for a few months without a Starbucks coffee and wearing a mask when I go out in public in its proper perspective—Hebrews 12:1–13.
In a devotional this week, I read: “Leadership is the ability to point out a way, direction, or goal… and to influence others towards it.” [1] I see Jesus doing this with his disciples in John 14:1–9. He told his friends he would be leaving them soon, but that they already knew the way to the place he was going. As often happened, the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus meant. Thomas was never afraid to voice his questions, so he probably spoke on behalf of the whole group when he said: “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” The response is well-known (although perhaps taken out of context): I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus showed his followers the way by being the Way. As they followed the Way in the world, as they learned to live as Jesus lived, they found the way to the place he was going. As Jesus said a few verses later: “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” Or as Albert Schweitzer put it, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.”
In a breathtakingly short amount of time, life as we knew it has been fundamentally changed because of this pandemic, in ways we are just beginning to understand. The truth is, while we will eventually resume some of the activities we did before COVID-19, we’re never going back to exactly the way things were before. (Really, can we ever really “go back” to the past?) Step by tentative step, we must find our way forward together. We have to figure out what the “new normal” will be in so many different arenas. At our church, for example, we have a Relaunch Team that—with input from many others—will “point out a way” toward resuming activity in our church building for our congregation and other activities that take place in the building—and also will discern when the time is right for various activities to return. In many other areas of “secular” life, we will need guides to “point out a way;” we need leaders who carefully discern the next steps, and influence others to follow.
Ultimately, though, as followers of Christ we look to Jesus to “point out a way”—and we can count on him to do it, because he is the Way. The way he points out likely won’t be the most convenient way we could travel or the easiest road we could choose to walk—but it will be the right way. The Way we are looking for is standing in front of us. Our choice is the same as it was for Thomas and the others: Will we recognize it—and choose to follow?
[1] Lowney, Chris, Make Today Matter. Quoted in Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2020 [2020, Loyola Press, Chicago, IL] “May 10–May 16,” p. 187,
