What in the World is God Up to in 2022
March 13, 2022
What in the World is God Up To in 2022?
Ephesians 1:7-14
Vs. 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
Vs. 11 predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
God is at work in all of this worldly chaos.
In all of the news, we are hearing from the secular media about the war in Ukraine, there is a perspective we are not hearing nearly enough. That is the perspective of God’s people who are literally under fire.
So today, I am going to share with you the perspective of one of the pastors in Ukraine, as he addressed his congregation on February 27th 3 days after the invasion.
And after his words, with this being Care Through Prayer Sunday, we will be uniting in prayer for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and for the world, that is literally teetering on the precipice of destruction.
The Rev. Serge Maschewski Bishop,
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine (ELCU)
February 27, 2022
Ukraine is on fire. Trouble has come to our land. On February 24th war broke out. Terrible, horrible, despicable. Automatic rifles shooting, bombing with grenades, bombing with missiles, sirens, curfews — all of this has become our reality. The dead, the wounded, the tens of thousands of refugees — a terrible reality. And now, we hear the Lord’s words to His disciples with special clarity and in a whole new way: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all that is written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.” The Lord knew what awaited Him in Jerusalem. He knew He would be betrayed to the Gentiles, that He would be mocked, insulted, humiliated, spit upon, crowned with thorns on His forehead, and killed. He knew about the Cross of Calvary.
Jesus’ heart was filled with fear. But He still goes to Jerusalem, going to offer Himself as the Sacrifice of Atonement for the sins of the world, going to bring peace to men. Now we, in the Holy Spirit, follow with Jesus the way of His suffering and death. The apostles could not imagine what the words meant: betrayed, abused, insulted, spit upon, beaten and killed. Why does this have to happen? What does it mean? Isn’t there a way to avoid it? Why is God willing to suffer such a fiasco? The disciples didn’t understand. Their hopes for the future were crumbling. Fear settled in their hearts, just as in our hearts now. A war has broken out. And we don’t understand God’s ways. Why? Why? How did God allow this to happen? We go through fear, panic, frustration. Why did this happen to us? Why? Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kherson… Why? It took the apostles some time to grasp the meaning of what Jesus had said and done. The Spirit of God had to illumine their minds and hearts. And then they began to preach: This was the only possible way for us to be saved.
At some time, it will also become clear to us why God leads us in such a strange way, and we will testify: “God’s way is for good.” We have no illusions. Our Church has experienced persecution and pursuit from the state before. We know and remember how, on the orders of the German Embassy, the Ukrainian government services destroyed our congregations. We know the hypocrisy, deceitfulness, and meanness of our state officials. But we clearly distinguish the current government from our people, our country. And now the aggression is committed not against the authorities of Ukraine, but against her people. And we, the Church, with our children, with our brothers and sisters, are on guard and ready to defend our homeland to the last drop of blood.
Are we afraid? Yes. Do we retreat? No! And we believe that God keeps and protects us. And it is no coincidence that in our Gospel passage we encounter two such different stories: Christ’s prediction of His suffering and death and the healing of a sick man! The blind man teaches us to see. He hears Jesus of Nazareth passing by and cries out, shouts even: “Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me!” The disciples silence him, but he cries even louder: “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Christ is at the center of his life. Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me! The Lord asks, “What do you want from me?” He says, “Lord, that I may see.” Jesus says to him, “See! YOUR FAITH HAS SAVED YOU!” And he immediately received his sight and followed Him, praising God.
This is how the blind, sick man meets the God who has mercy and heals — a God who does not pass by, but hears the cry for help, a God who, in suffering Himself, hastens to show mercy to those who cry out to HIM. Our crucified Lord is no stranger to our pain, our need, our despair, our fear, our weakness. Our crucified God overcame death and overcame hopelessness. He did all this for us. He walked this road to become the One who can save, the One who can help. In any situation, at any time. He gives us a blessing and a future. He rewards us with a full life. And we believe that the Lord will help us in our struggle, the Lord will not leave us, but will overcome everything with us. Therefore, fear goes away and we look boldly into the present and with hope into the future. And blindness goes away.
Those are the words spoken to the Lord’s people by our brother, Serge. That is the perspective the Lord gave this brother to share with His people. All is not lost. Even though buildings may be crumbling. Even though fires erupt. Explosions in your own neighborhood. All is not lost. The same Jesus who said, “See” and “Be healed,” The same Jesus who spoke to the storm and to nature itself, that same Jesus is with us. He is not looking from above; He is with them in the midst. He is in the shelters with them, helping them to see.
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