One of the questions raised in Christian circles (and probably other religions as well) is whether or not Covid 19 is the judgment of God upon our world. I can hear now the coming rants from the pulpits of fundamentalist Christians (chosen because they love to preach on judgment) once we all return to church that this virus is God’s judgment upon us for our sin and our toleration of the sins of others. (Here you get to pick the favorite sin that others do. Or, your minister will pick three for you.)
Most of the more liberal pulpits will not say a word about judgment, since as a rule they do not believe that God judges anyone — at least not their God of total love and grace. H. Richard Niebuhr’s statement re liberal protestantism fits nicely here: “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.” (The Kingdom of God in America.) After all, if God is pure love/a doting grandparent then we dare not believe that God would ever say a harsh word about anything we do or believe, much less punish or judge us.
For those of us caught in-between these two cultures of Christianity, this is a challenging time to be sure. (As far as that goes, being in-between two monoliths is always challenging at best.) To even suggest that God brings judgment upon our world is to be perceived as ignorant or harboring hatred toward others. Yet, Holy Scripture — which provides the theological & ethical basis for most Christians — speak of God’s judgment against evil. I know, we just read by those passages and act like they don’t exist. Yet, they remain ever before us, sprinkled liberally throughout the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. (Check an online concordance if you need a refresher course.) A Bible without judgment passages would be significantly thinner.
The challenge is that most of the references to judgment refer to a “Day of Judgment” the at first Jewish and then adopted Christian idea that one day we each and all will stand before God to be judged according to our thoughts and deeds. Coming out particularly bad in this process are unbelievers, pagans and those with whom I disagree. I’ve heard more than once from people going through difficult situations brought about by the actions of others: “One day God’s going to hold them accountable — and that keeps me going.” Hmm…I’m not sure my vengeance is God’s design, but I understand their emotion.
At this stage in my theological/spiritual journey my understanding of divine judgment has evolved from singular event status to one of an ongoing reality. Judgment does not just happen once; judgment occurs every single day in our world. God has so structured this world that it operates on principles of justice. Judgment is inherent in that justice. Violate the justice of God and we bring upon ourselves the judgment of God…pure and simple. A quick perusal of a couple of passages from prophetic literature ought to prove to be both illuminating and quite sufficient.
- Micah 6: 1-8: The judgment of God comes upon Judah for her abandonment of the Yahweh’s justice in exchange for superficial worship as her sign of faith. In Micah notes that God requires justice, not sacrifice, of God’s worshippers.
- Amos 5: 18-24: Probably the first prophetic book (8th center BCE), Amos speaks loud and clearly not only to Israel, but also to the nations around her. All are judged for their injustice and called to repentance, i.e., to “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everlasting stream.”
An interesting take on God’s judgment of nations as found in the Hebrew Scriptures is that these texts share a profound commonality: false pride, i.e., self-righteousness. The opposite of such self-righteousness is obvious, humility. When any nation believes operates from an elevated sense of pride rather than a deep sense of humility, forces are set in motion which result in downfall and ultimate destruction.
Did Covid 19 come from God? That was my original question so I guess I ought to take a stab at it. In a nutshell — YES and NO. I’ll begin with the negative.
NO: Covid 19 is not the judgment of God in that it was not sent by God upon the earth to inflict death and suffering upon millions. At the very least, the God I know through Jesus Christ did not send this. God does not reside outside our universe, just waiting to strike us with virulence and pestilence. God does not amuse God’s self by inflicting pain and suffering upon God’s incredible creation: vegetative, animal and human alike. God did not send AIDS, Ebola, H1N1, Zika or any other virus as a means of punishment upon any living creature upon this planet, particularly humans whom we understand to be created imago dei. The God of Jesus Christ is the God who walks with the suffering and dying; God does not stand over against us, but rather God is with us in incredible love and solidarity.
YES: Covid 19 is the judgment of God in that it is the result of human action and failure. Newton’s Third Law says that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” My first law of God’s judgment says that “for every human action which harms or violates the “laws/principles” of creation/nature/justice, there is a reaction, i.e., a consequence, which is far beyond what we ever imagine.”
Judgment can be spelled another way: c-o-n-s-e-q-u-e-n-c-e-s. Yes, that is correct — judgment = consequences. When we violate the basic laws of nature and justice, we create environments in which consequences take place. Did we really think life could exist otherwise? Regardless of what we believe about Darwin’s theory of evolution, we must know that embedded in his work is the reality that all of life is inter-connected. There is no such entity as an isolated act. Every action has a result and in today’s world we see those results magnified across our planet. Whereas in earlier centuries plagues were thought to be the result of the demonic (or even God’s judgment), today we know that there were biological reasons for the the 20+ plagues of which we are aware in human history. Covid 19 is just the latest version — there will be more.
As more and more information regarding Covid 19 has come to light, we are seeing a disproportionate number of cases among those toward and at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. The racial disparity noted by the data is really economic inequity. Persons at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid tend to either be homeless or living in multi-generational family units in very dense conditions. What could be a better atmosphere for Covid 19 to flourish than this? Could part of God’s judgment be that our disregard and even dismissal of the basic principles of social justice has produced conditions in which Covid 19 thrived and spread so quickly?
These judgment/consequences conditions inherent in our world have communal, not just individual, results. Regardless of the source Covid 19 did not merely infect the person/persons who mishandled it, but went “viral” as there are no immunities present in our human population. Like the boa constrictors taking over parts of the Everglades, a new virus runs free until it either exhausts the source of victims or a vaccine is developed. Whether we personally did anything to be infected with this virus is a moot point; viral infection falls upon the innocent and guilty alike. In any pandemic there are far more of the former than the latter. The drive to discover a source and lay guilt is often far more about our human desire for innocence than it is to prevent a future outbreak. Judgment is inherent in our world; we see it every day, if we have the eyes to look.
Actually, the question before us is not whether Covid 19 is the judgment of God. The question now relates to how we respond to this pandemic which has shattered our world, our economy, our stability and countless lives? Will we only consider that which benefits us personally as well as our cultural tribe? Or, will we consider what is most beneficial for all of us going forward, i.e., the long-lost “common good?” Are we capable of discovering God’s actions in the present? Can we unite to proleptically anticipate God’s action in our actions? How ought I/we to act (as followers of Jesus Christ) so as to bring God’s peace and presence — the Kingdom of God — one step closer to reality?
In Luke 13: 1-5 Jesus is questioned concerning a mass murder of worshipping Galileans by Pilate, as to whether or not this act indicated that they were worse sinners, i.e., was it the judgment of God? He adds to this act a reference to the 18 persons in Siloam killed when a tower fell upon them, says “no” to both regarding them as judgment — but then gives an odd warning: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
What is Jesus doing? Is Jesus pronouncing judgment upon all of us? Here he almost sounds like our caricature of the fundamentalist preacher! Quite simply, this whole matter turns on one word: repent. In Greek it is metanoia — to turn around and go in the opposite direction. Repentance is not remorse; it is not regret. These may be emotions associated with repentance, but they are not repentance. Repentance is an action, not a feeling. Repentance is not only learning from what has transpired; repentance is literally going/living in a radically different direction with my life. Jesus is merely stating the obvious: if you keep engaging in war and violence, you will all die. You are playing a game you cannot win — no matter who keeps score.
For most our lives have changed during these days, some more dramatically than others. Going forward I have deep and fervent hopes for the church and even, just maybe, our country and our world:
- I would hope that we would take a step back and evaluate how we are living now versus how we lived them — and see that there was a lot of activity/stuff that we need to let go and live without.
- I would hope that we have learned that when we ignore the values and principles of life and the Kingdom of God, that we will bring suffering/judgment upon our world.
- I would hope that we even have decided to repent and re-orient our lives by the values of the coming Kingdom.
- I would hope that we have seen that relationships are more important than stuff; that time to relax, to reflect, and to remember is as important as the time of activity and engagement.
- I would hope that we have allowed the Spirit to open our ears, our hearts, our arms and our minds to the presence of our Lord in, among, and through us.
- I would hope…
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