In saying that, I am not talking about performance acting, like the profession on stage and screen. I mean that whatever we do to ourselves, others, systems, the environment,  God is still sovereign over everything He has made. Even things that are man-made. He steps in at His own discretion, unannounced until Christ returns. No one’s going to miss that one! I’m talking about the everyday happenings, including what happens in our own individual lives, our relationships with others, the social systems that have evolved to govern us, and our care (or lack thereof) of creation.

Let’s start with the Great Flood. Obviously, a judgment on sin. Thank God for the rainbow, Huge Promise! Then came the plagues of Exodus 7-12. Now it’s getting real and relatable to us. As we learned with the AIDS epidemic, plagues do not discriminate. Natural disasters come part and parcel with the Curse in the Garden of Eden. The woes that afflict us, such as Covid-19, are general and not specific. It comes with the territory of being sinful humans, striving toward the Final Coming when all will be set right. The Hebrew word is ra, moral evil. Ra reminds us of our need for God’s course corrections, mercy, and grace. Satan may incite, but it is God who delivers and has the final say.

We are presently enmeshed in the two-pronged “beast” of pandemic and civic unrest. This can be meant as an object lesson meant to transform. Coping, trying to get through it. Hopefully, examining our hearts and moving toward repentance. This reckoning, this tipping point, is bringing out the best and worst in us. Heroes come to the forefront – young and old, black, white, and brown. Be of good cheer. God is the primary figure, the central character in the ongoing story of His creation and His creatures. There is nothing too severe, too cataclysmic, that He cannot, will not overcome. Even though we can sure be spoiled, entitled brats at times, His love remains unconditional.

Pastor Art