The Parable of the Virus

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Jiri, who provided the text for today's blogpost, has been on the Team of the study conference for theology students for many years.

Jesus was known for describing the Kingdom of God in parables that allowed ordinary people to relate to them. The chosen imagery from daily life allowed people to grasp how things might work in God’s kingdom. One of Jesus’ favourite motifs was a festive meal. Due to the many invitations Jesus got to such dinner parties, his enemies mockingly called him a drunkard and a glutton. I rather like the imagery of a festive party, especially after these months social distancing, because I really missed human company, the sharing, the closeness. You may have felt the same.

But I want to pick a different recurring motif that Jesus uses to describe the Kingdom of God: the parables of seeds. They are so very familiar that we might not be able to look past the surface and so I took the liberty to rephrase the image and transport it into our present situation.  How would we depict the Kingdom of God? What parables might we find helpful?

The Kingdom of God is like a virus.

It is very small, so that it cannot be seen with the naked eye, but it has the power to do great things. It is underestimated, but it can travel from one person to another and spread so fast that it can overshadow the whole world.  It often works covertly, and sometimes leaves visible traces. And even if you cannot imagine it, it can change the lives of people in a radical way, even today, and not just in the future with full impact. This could be a present-day version of the parable of the mustard seed, as Jesus might tell it today. Are you frowning? Would Jesus really say a thing like that? I think, yes, because did chose to provoke by using images deemed problematic or even immoral to describe the Kingdom of God. Just think of when he compares it with a thief in the night, another time he praises those who extort money and enrich themselves by dubious means, just to show what the Kingdom of God is worth and to provoke people to make a decision or change their minds, so they may be ready to partake in God’s kingdom.

So, let us get into this modern version of the parable. In recent weeks we have all experienced just how fast, how dramatically, how surprisingly our world and our lives could change. Because of a tiny virus, that at first seemed so far away and had only infected very few people, by and by, one city after another, one country after another was put under quarantine. Stores, churches, and public places were closed. Lockdowns and curfews were declared, and personal liberties restricted, flights were cancelled. A virus that had just recently been unknown took a few weeks to turn the lives of million, no, billions of people topsy turvy and shook the very pillars of our societies and our economies, cause us to question the values of our world and our lives. Moved us to suddenly think, live, and act in a different way. What had seemed so important a few weeks ago, so urgent and so pressing, now seems unimportant, irrelevant, questionable, had to be rethought and overthrown. Because of this – how strange that was – we suddenly had more than enough time.

And that what the virus has in common with the Kingdom of God, as Jesus proclaims and embodies  it. But unlike the viris, God’s reign waked mostly positive connotation, even though there is a dark side to that too: Judgement Day. Jesus comes into the world – his world and also ours – with the message that God is right outside our door: that God means to transform the world, that he will put an end to hate, envy, oppression, exploitation and alienation and that he offers a counter concept. He introduces that by the words and deed of Jesus. They are meant to show us what is coming from God, in the future – in eternity – they show what really matters: and that is love, being willing to forgive, devotion, as Jesus lives it by example – and to the end. They are meant to illustrate what is God’s will, what he expects from us, what he intends and plans for us and our community – with each other and with him. And even if at first, it doesn’t look like much, even if many don’t want to see it or try to wish it away, if they shut their hearts to the power of God’s forgiving love, that sees remorse as a strength not a weakness, even then, the new concept of God, this germinating seed of his kingdom begins right now, among us, in our world and it changes the world, just like a virus.

Admittedly, the kingdom of God spread much slower than a virus but it does spread. It is not aggressive but unrelenting until it has infected all people and founds its way into their deepest heart where it can begin its work. Not just a virus is contagious, not just what is the bad spreads, but also what is good. Not just evil has enormous power to dominate the world and people’s lives, but also Good. Not only Evil begin small and hidden. Good does too and Good is stronger than all powers of destruction. The message that Jesus has for us is that God’s forgiving love is for each and every one, even those who are lost, invites all of us to rethink and find new orientation. It will come in plenty one day and even today it is working and alive – for us and among us. There is no vaccine against it, not even human failure can stop it.

With his parable, Jesus invites us to put our trust completely in this power, to have faith and hope that it will bring forth good fruit; that it will be stronger than the powers of evil and destruction and that it is already working among us - even if it is often seemingly small and invisible. We just have to make room for it among us. It holds the power to change us and the world and do great things – like a virus. But towards the better. The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice, peace, and Joy in the holy spirit (Romans 14,17) and again a variation of what Jesus spoke and said: How shall I compare the Kingdom of God? “It is like an epidemic that will spread unstoppably until all is infected through and through.” (variation to Luke 13,20-21)  

Rev. ThDr Jiri Dvoracek