VICAR

Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, I trust that my message this week finds You well and that Your family is likewise in good health. Be careful driving out there. There were plenty of branches down overnight. The slalom between puddles and branches, from our local town to the vicarage, in the early hours of this morning, was a tricky one.

This week let Us focus on Mr Trump. Love or loathe the man, it is our Christian duty to pray for those that are sick. Mr Trump is in his seventies and has Coronavirus. So far he has shown just mild symptoms but these are the critical days when his condition could worsen. Let us hope and pray that Mr Trump’s condition improves and that he conquers this horrible new illness. Let us not forget Trump’s wife Melania – first lady and beloved mother – who is also ill.

This week there have been plenty of otherwise reasonable commentators wishing Mr Trump’s death. While some of these people are not Christians, those that are have no excuse:

Ephesians 4:31-32:
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Romans 12:19:
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Romans 12:14:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

There is no “ah yes but” here. The lessons are plain and clear.

One cannot curse another person and hope to get away with it in God’s eyes. Those that curse death or bad things on a person are those who bring bad things back upon themselves. There is a cost to wishing bad on another. We have to pray with the humility of our own shortcomings, sinfulness and hypocrisy. Self-deceit is universal.

It is our Christian duty to pray for the good health even of our enemies. At times of war there is a just war argument for wishing the death of an opponent as part of a wider war strategy but that is an argument of ethics with for and against arguments which are both strong. We are not at war, certainly not with our American friends.

So, this week I ask You to pray for President Trump and the first lady. Also for those other fellow human beings who are ill and ailing. I wish You and Your families a peaceful Sunday and a good week ahead. God Bless You all.

Dear Lord Jesus,

We pray this week for Donald Trump. That the American President may recuperate from Coronavirus fast and resume his important work and duties. We pray for the first lady Melania – that she too recuperates fast. We pray for America – that America may heal and unite in coming months after fair and open elections involving two men who are fit and healthy to participate. We ask this through Your power, Lord, and pray You deliver a healthy President back to the White House in coming days.

Amen.