In Times Like These

If you ever listened to a Billy Graham Crusade, often broadcast live on one of the three networks available at the time, you likely heard George Beverly Shea sing “In Times Like These.” The hymn was written by Ruth Caye Jones, a preacher’s wife and mother of five, during the time of World War II. That would qualify for “times like these” if ever a time period did. More than 400,000 U.S. soldiers died in that war. More than 78 million deaths worldwide.

Today seems to be another moment of “times like these.” As I am writing this in late May 2020, the death toll for the United States from COVID-19 is more than 103,000. Worldwide, it is estimated to be at least 360,000 and growing, especially in places like Brazil, for example. Global reaction to all of this has been a near shutdown of life as we knew it, with little confidence that, even as we begin to restart commerce, travel, etc., the situation is under control.

As though all of that weren’t enough, we are living during a depressingly awful period of what politely might be called “selective justice.” A less polite term might be “lynching.” To be a progressive, sophisticated, well-educated culture, we seem bent on denying the basic dignity due to every human being, regardless of gender, ethnicity, and skin color.

If you need more evidence about “times like these,” it seems the U.S. and China have made a sport of poking each other in the eyes. Who knows what is going on in North Korea? In many developing nations, the pandemic will no doubt widen the gap between the “haves” and “have nots,” and in more developed nations with higher GDPs, that gap will likely grow, as well.

Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries are desperately trying to determine what the fall will look like. Christian camps are mostly out of business for the time being. Churches are caught between the “let’s get back” and “no, not yet” ideas of their members.

Ruth Caye Jones said it well. Here is the first stanza of the hymn.

In times like these you need a Savior,
In times like these you need an anchor;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

This Rock is Jesus, Yes He’s the One,
This Rock is Jesus, the only One;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

Some suggest that Jones was reading 2 Timothy 3:1 when the idea for this hymn came to mind. It uses the phrase “there will come times of difficulty.” (ESV) The KJV translates it a bit stronger, with the phrase “perilous times.”

Surely, Jones would have thought of Hebrews 6:19, 20: “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (ESV)

I have friends who think our response to the COVID-19 pandemic is way overblown. I have friends who think we will never be a free to assemble as we once were for fear of a disease for which treatment is not yet fully developed (like it is for the flu) and for which there is no vaccine (like there is for the flu).

But I don’t think I know anyone who would deny that “times like these” are a bit troublesome. These aren’t WWII-like moments, but if you lose a loved one or good friend to COVID-19, I suspect it does feel a bit like that. “Times like these” are also complicated by the unknown. When will there be a medical approach that helps manage the disease? When will there be a vaccine? Is six feet far enough in social distancing? Will my children be at risk if they go back to school in August? And the list – well, the list seems endless.

I don’t want to either overreact or underreact. Somewhere in midst of those two reactions is probably some truth we need to figure out.

But either way – “in times like these, we need a Savior.”

(If a little nostalgic hymn listening from a very different “these times” would cheer you, here’s George Beverly Shea singing this great hymn.)